Saturday, September 25, 2010

Eating Vegetables | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

Eating Vegetables Today’s New York Times has an article headlined Told to Eat Its Vegetables, America Orders Fries. It’s all about the lack of success efforts are having at convincing Americans to eat more vegetables. The primary solutions that suggested are to make ...

“Oil Well Finally Plugged” “Oil Well Finally Plugged” is an interactive from The Associated Press. I’m adding it to The Best Sites To Learn About The Gulf Oil Spill.

“But Teachers Never Apologize” I’ve written posts about the importance of students hearing teachers say “I’m sorry” when we mess-up. You can read them at: More On Saying “I’m Sorry” To Students The Importance Of Saying “I’m Sorry” To Students I believe hearing an adult make a ...

2 arrested after 400 riot in Ore. college town - Boston.com

2 arrested after 400 riot in Ore. college town

September 25, 2010

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EUGENE, Ore.—Police in the Oregon college town of Eugene used tear gas to disperse about a crowd of 400 people who threw bottles at officers, broke car windows, and tore down street signs in a residential neighborhood.

Police say no injuries were reported, but two people were arrested on charges stemming from the riot late Friday.

Eugene is the home of the University of Oregon. Officers say college students often rent large

GLOBE EDUCATION NEWS

Brown criticizes Harvard leader on ROTC policy

Senator Scott Brown chastised Harvard president Drew Gilpin Faust yesterday for not allowing ROTC programs back on campus while she lobbies for illegal immigrants who want to attend college, saying Harvard and its leader have their priorities “upside down.’’ (By Matt Viser, Globe Staff)

College dropouts increase

There now are more collegiate rifle teams for women than there are for men. More schools offer women’s equestrian teams than men’s water polo teams. Quinnipiac has seven sports for men and 14 for women. UCLA has a swimming team for women but not for men.(By John Powers, Globe Staff)

At Williams, they trim expenses, not programs

When money got tight at Williams, as it has on virtually every campus from Lewiston to Los Angeles, the athletic department got out its pruning shears and began snipping away at the budget. (Boston Globe)

Ohio State places high value on variety

Unlike most major conferences, the Big Ten offers a hefty athletic plate for both men and women, holding championships in 19 sports. But Ohio State spreads a smorgasbord with three dozen offerings, including what have become rare dishes such as men’s gymnastics and wrestling and rifle and pistol for both genders as well as synchronized swimming. (Boston Globe)

Would-be school volunteers can be thwarted by their past

Wendy Cross wants to chaperone field trips and join other parents in supervising activities at her children’s school in Grand Rapids, Mich. But because of some bad checks she wrote a decade ago, that’s out of the question.(By Eric Tucker, Associated Press)

Local News | More schools trying to serve Washington-grown food — but it isn't easy | Seattle Times Newspaper

More schools trying to serve Washington-grown food — but it isn't easy More schools are putting Washington-grown food on the cafeteria menu and farms are increasingly interested in selling to schools, but getting locally grown products onto lunch trays is no easy matter. Washington - Food - United States - Cafeteria - ...

State lottery's new pitch: Buy a ticket, send a kid to college The proceeds from lottery ticket sales are now going to support college financial aid, a move that state officials hope will increase the number of people who buy lottery tickets.

ERN and Waiting for “Superman”: the Done Waiting Coalition � DFER Watch

ERN and Waiting for “Superman”: the Done Waiting Coalition

by kennethlibby

Education Reform Now, the 501c3 branch of DFER, recently announced a new campaign composed of a variety of education reformers reformers, including the Broad Foundation, Center for Education Reform, (Milton and Rose) Friedman Foundation, Charter School Growth Fund, GreatSchools, Education Equality Project, and Education Breakthrough Network. The coalition, Done Waiting, launched yesterday (9/24/2010) to coincide with the opening of … Read more

Queens Teacher: Ravitch: Issue of Teacher Evaluation is a Red Herring

Ravitch: Issue of Teacher Evaluation is a Red Herring

by Queens Teacher

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Diane Ravitch takes on value-added teacher assessment.
Los Angeles
September 24, 2010

Parents & Teachers Protest "Waiting for Superman"

by Queens Teacher

Teachers Protest 'Waiting for Superman'

KATHERINE CREAG

MYFOXNY.COM - Along with the films being shown inside a movie theatre in Manhattan, another show unfolded outside: Public school teachers, parents of students, and others protested the film "Waiting for Superman."

The documentary has stirred up debate. The director follows five children -- four of whom attend unsuccessful public schools. They're hoping to get into a charter school, including ones in Harlem.

Accepting Responsibility for Bullying � Whole Child Blog - Whole Child Education

Accepting Responsibility for Bullying
September 24, 2010 by ASCD Whole Child Bloggers
Research continuously shows us that bullying has its roots in adult behavior: Children and youth replicate the actions and words they see and hear in their environments. If not parents, then teachers; if not teachers, then television -- somewhere, somehow young people learn they can use intimidation to get other people to do things. Despite the temptation to say otherwise, not just "bad" adults perpetuate bullying. Almost every single one of us has relied on intimidation to get a student to do something, and that behavior is at the heart of bullying.
Read more »
On Superman, Oprah, and Dinner
September 23, 2010 by Molly McCloskey
I believe movies should be rated based on how many dinner conversations you get out of them. A top-notch film will provoke at least five conversations, the dregs produce zero, etc. And it’s not always the quality of the film itself (or song, or photograph, or piece of art) but the impact it has on [...]
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Free Webinar: The Well-Balanced Teacher
September 22, 2010 by Klea Scharberg
Join Mike Anderson, author of The Well-Balanced Teacher: How to Work Smarter and Stay Sane Inside the Classroom and Out, for a free webinar on on staying healthy and well-balanced as a teacher. A former elementary school teacher, Anderson now works to strengthen on-site professional development for schools that are working with the Responsive Classroom [...]
Read more »

Dear APS board: Go get Michelle Rhee | Kyle Wingfield

Dear APS board: Go get Michelle Rhee

7:00 pm September 24, 2010, by Kyle Wingfield

Whatever you think of the cheating scandal in Atlanta Public Schools, the system will probably need a new superintendent when Beverly Hall’s contract expires next summer. All indications are that Hall will leave then on her own, if she isn’t pushed out before.

For once, there’s a good solution waiting in Washington.

Her name is Michelle Rhee, and she’s been chancellor of the District of Columbia’s public schools for three years. Now, her tenure may be coming to an abrupt end after her sponsor, Mayor Adrian Fenty, lost his re-election bid earlier this month.

Let APS board members waste no time before trying to recruit her here.

Rhee is just 40 years old, but already she has built an impressive record of tackling the stasis

UPDATE: US Education Dept To Delay Release Of Gainful Employment Rule - WSJ.com

UPDATE: US Education Dept To Delay Release Of Gainful Employment Rule

(Updates with comments from companies and trade association, fresh stock quotes.)

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--The U.S. Department of Education will delay the publication of a controversial rule that could strip a number of higher education programs of access to federal student aid, though the rule is still scheduled to be implemented "on or around July 1, 2012, as planned."

The department, "on or around Nov. 1," will release 13 of 14 new rules governing a wide array of higher education issues, including compensation for student recruiters, the definition of a credit hour and verifying information on federal student aid forms, ...

White knights and false villains — Joanne Jacobs

White knights and false villains "Bad teachers, bad unions and heroic white saviors" are the staples of Hollywood school movies, writes Deborah Meier on Bridging Differences. Small Wonders, a documentary about her East Harlem school's violin program, inspired Music of the Heart, ...

If GOP wins, ed reform could lose

NYC retains 8% of eighth graders New York City schools are holding back many more third through eighth graders this year, reports the New York Times. Eight percent of eighth graders failed to move on to high school. Last year, less than 1 percent of the city’s third to eighth graders

Texas school boards group presents new plan for education finance - Web's #1 Source for K12 and Higher Education News and Commentary - EducationNews.org ��

Texas school boards group presents new plan for education finance 9.25.10 - The proposed system aims to increase equity among districts. A coalition representing Texas school boards unveiled its plan to fix the state's school finance system Friday.

Lessons from Virginia's shift on Confederate history 9.25.10 - Several months after issuing a proclamation about “Confederate History Month” in Virginia without mentioning slavery’s role in the Civil War, the state’s governor, Robert F. McDonnell, has decided to call it “Civil War in Virginia Month” ...

How to make teacher salaries look better 9.25.10 - McKinsey & Company, the giant management consulting firm, has taken a deep, detailed look at teacher compensation and concluded that teachers are making significantly more than most of us, particularly our most academically successful college ...

NEA’s Priority Schools Campaign | Engaging Parents In School...

NEA’s Priority Schools Campaign The National Education Association has launched a $6 Priority Schools Campaign which includes a strong focus on parent engagement. You can read more about it at Ed Week’s article, NEA’s Brand of School Improvement. Here’s an excerpt: Q*. The scope ...

“Is This What It Takes To Get Parents Involved?” Is This What It Takes To Get Parents Involved? is the title of a thoughtful blog post at InterAct, the blog from Accomplished California Teachers (of which I am a member). Make a point of reading the comments, too, if you have time….

“Lessons Learned From Immigrant Families” “Lessons Learned From Immigrant Families” is a good article by Young-Chan Han, a a Family Involvement Specialist for the Maryland State Department of Education. It appears on the Colorin Colorado website.

Education - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Two Natomas Unified candidates duke it out on Facebook and Twitter

By Diana Lambert - Published: 12:00 am

Tit for tat has become tweet for tweet in the Natomas Unified school board race.

Law professor to speak at UC Davis about Supreme Court decisions

By Cathy Locke - Published: 4:19 pm

Stanford Law School professor Pamela S. Karlan will discuss recent Supreme Court decisions on campaign finance, television in the courtroom and the rights of citizens who sign petitions in a lecture Wednesday at the University of California, Davis.

Documentary films ratchet up pressure on teachers unions

By Laurel Rosenhall - Published: Friday, September 24 2010 - 12:00 am

Political pressure on teachers unions has been mounting for months, with national attention focused on charter schools, merit pay and other approaches to education that unions generally hate.

State panel to appeal student-loan change

Published: Friday, September 24 2010 - 12:00 am

The California Student Aid Commission announced Wednesday it will appeal a federal decision to remove California's student loan guaranty, charging that the federal move would cost the state tens of millions of dollars annually.

Why wait for Superman? � Failing Schools

Why wait for Superman?

SEPTEMBER 24, 2010

by mariasallee

Of course, there is already buzz about Davis Guggenheim’s new film “Waiting for Superman”. Guggenheim’s recent Oprah appearance as “expert” on education was a perfectly timed PR move. I was already bothered by something that I’d read on the film, and over the week the grain of irritation grew by degrees. It occurred to me, after I had read Trip Gabriel’s Sunday New York Times piece on this one-sided film that I am really pretty annoyed by the social paternalist implication of the title. The title purportedly refers to a childhood memory recounted by an Harlem educator interviewed in the film, who once yearned for Superman to arrive and save the neighborhood’s problems. It also vexes me that Guggenheim, with his money and potential

Pennsylvania Education Department schedules hearing over Phildadelphia district's dispute with charter school | Philadelphia Inquirer | 09/24/2010

Pennsylvania Education Department schedules hearing over Phildadelphia district's dispute with charter school

By Martha Woodall

Inquirer Staff Writer

The Pennsylvania Department of Education will wade into a funding and enrollment dispute between the Philadelphia School District and a city charter school.

The department has scheduled a hearing for Thursday to consider funding for the Walter D. Palmer Leadership Learning Partners high school. The charter has asked the department to divert $1.7 million in district state aid to it for its high school.

The district says it doesn't owe money to the charter because the high school was not approved and Palmer has enrolled more students than the 675 permitted by its operating charter.

The Walter D. Palmer Leadership Learning Academy, which opened in 2000, has campuses at 910 N. Sixth St. and 1415 N. Broad St.

"The district maintains its position that the charter school acted contrary to its charter agreement and added students which the School Reform Commission did not authorize," district spokesman Fernando Gallard wrote in an e-mailed statement.

Walter D. Palmer, the charter's founder and board president, has said the district owes his school $1.7 million

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