Education Roundup for Week Ending November 18, 2011
SACRAMENTO—The California Department of Education (CDE) today issued this week's Education Roundup featuring education-related announcements of public interest.
Mathematics Framework Focus Group Recruitment
The CDE is recruiting educators from throughout California to participate in focus groups to revise the Mathematics Framework for California Public Schools: Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve.
Revisions are necessary to incorporate and support the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and reflect current research on effective instructional strategies to meet the needs of California's diverse student population.
Four focus group meetings are being scheduled. They will be open to the public for comment. The comments will be forwarded to the Instructional Quality Commission and the State Board of Education for consideration.
Each of the focus group meetings will be in the late afternoon:
- February 23, 2012, San Bernardino County Office of Education;
- February 28, 2012, California Department of Education, Sacramento;
- March 1, 2012, San Diego County Office of Education; and
- March 6, 2012, San Mateo County Office of Education.
Applications for appointment to the focus groups must be received by January 5, 2012. In late January, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction will appoint between 10 to 15 people for each meeting location.
For more information, the application form, and an online version of the current Mathematics Framework, please visit the CDE Web site at Curriculum Frameworks - Mathematics.
California Early Childhood Educator Competencies
The CDE is releasing a new online publication for people working in or interested in working in the profession of high-quality early care and education services for young children and their families.
California Early Childhood Educator Competencies was developed by the CDE's Child Development Division, in partnership with First 5 California, and the WestEd Center for Child and Family Studies.
This document describes the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that current and pre-service early childhood educators should possess. The information is designed to promote the development of skillful, knowledgeable educators and administrators of California's early childhood workforce and defines 12 areas of professional competence across four competency contexts.
To access this online only document, please visit the CDE's Web site at California Early Childhood Educator Competencies - Child Development.
StudentCam – C-SPAN's Annual Student Documentary Competition
California middle and high school students can compete for $50,000 in prizes by creating a five-to-eight-minute video documentary about this year's topic, "The Constitution and You."
Time Warner Cable is offering this opportunity to students in California through the support in the past 30 years of C-SPAN—Cable's Gift to America. The goal is to engage youth in the principles of our democracy to ensure its preservation.
Students are asked to select any provision of the U.S. Constitution and create a video illustrating why it is important to them. Videos must reflect varying points of view on the topic and also include C-SPAN video that supports the topic. Winners in both middle and high school categories receive cash prizes. Teachers listed as faculty advisors, can also win equipment for their schools. One California student videographer and a parent or guardian, will win a trip to Washington, D.C., including a VIP tour of the C-SPAN studios.
Entry forms and completed videos must be submitted online by January 20, 2012. For more information on the competition, please visit the C-SPAN StudentCam 2012 Web site at C-SPAN StudentCam 2012 (Outside Source) or C-SPAN Classroom ateducate@c-span.org.
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Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100