Sunday, October 16, 2011

Study: Student scores, teacher's college linked | Seattle Times Newspaper

Local News | Study: Student scores, teacher's college linked | Seattle Times Newspaper:

Study: Student scores, teacher's college linked

How well public-school students perform can be traced, in part, to where their teachers went to college, according to a new study by the University of Washington. But the study's director cautions that the findings are but one measure of effective teacher-teaching.

By Donna Gordon Blankinship

The Associated Press

PREV 1 of 2 NEXT

Dan Goldhaber

Top comments Hide / Show comments

No comments have been posted to this article.
Start the conversation >

The academic progress of public-school students can be traced, in part, to where their teachers went to college, according to new research by the University of Washington Center for Education Data & Research.

But the center's director, Dan Goldhaber, cautioned that the study is just a first step toward determining what kind of training — not where the training occurred — best prepares teachers for excellence in the classroom.

Even so, it's the kind of information U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan would like every school to have access to, and that's why he recently announced a new program to use federal dollars

Jersey Jazzman: Cerf and Murdoch: BFFs!

Jersey Jazzman: Cerf and Murdoch: BFFs!:

Cerf and Murdoch: BFFs!

by Duke

These poor, unloved reformy types! I mean, they're just trying to have a nice, quiet conference where they come up with new ways to screw unions, screw teachers, and enrich education profiteers. But the rabble just won't leave them alone, what with their uncivil calls for "transparency" and such:

About 50-75 protesters picketed a conference hosted by Bush's Foundation for Excellence in Education Thursday in San Francisco. Those protests came in part because of its inclusion of News Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rupert Murdoch, who last year launched an education division within the global media conglomerate that also includes the conservative leaning—and some say teacher unfriendly—Fox News Network, as well as a British newspaper recently indicted in aphone-hacking scandal.

Apparently, these plebes actually have the temerity to want to ask questions!

During the Q&A session, Steve Begley, a blogger from the K-12 News Network, asked

The Barack Obamas [2011, Meet 2008] | The Jose Vilson

The Barack Obamas [2011, Meet 2008] | The Jose Vilson:

The Barack Obamas [2011, Meet 2008]

by Jose

For months, possibly years, I’ve been waiting for this Barack Obama to make an appearance to the general public:

Popout

Hot-damn. The Barack Obama of 2008 made an appearance again at the MLK Memorial today to thousands of people watching in DC and on CSPAN. (For full text, here’s more.) I was not aware that any version of the President would show up to this memorial today, but if I did, I would have asked this one to come. This is the one I swung open the curtains for, the one I pulled the lever with. This is the one I cast my post-destructive-George-Bush-the-2nd upon, and whom I believed that, despite his positions on education, would improve the bottom line for those who needed this help the most. This is the same Barack Obama who I thought would walk

Grumpy Educators: Ed Week follows up on S.C. parent

Grumpy Educators: Ed Week follows up on S.C. parent:

Ed Week follows up on S.C. parent

Ed Week followed up on parent Gretchen Herrera. What I found interesting was this comment at the end of the article:

This is a classic instance of retaliation under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the ADA. I hope the parent pursues an OCR complaint and other remedies. She and others needing help with lawless school districts might want to join the Council of Parents, Advocates, and Attorneys (COPAA) at www.copaa.org and

Jersey Jazzman: Pension Delusions

Jersey Jazzman: Pension Delusions:

Pension Delusions

by Duke

Earlier this month, Chris Christie, the Christiecrats, and a large faction of the the commentariat decided to pat each other on the rump over the "savings" that are allegedly coming from ~~screwing public workers out of their justly earned compensation~~ pension "reform."

Give great credit to the Asbury Park Press for seeing through this nonsense:

Ordinarily, an annual savings of $267 million to state government is nothing to sneeze at. But when you’re talking about New Jersey’s unfunded liability of $54 billion to public workers’ pension funds, there really isn’t much to say except “gesundheit.”

Because that savings, which the Christie administration was crowing about last week, is a drop in

Cheap Thrills - #edreform

Big Brother and the Holding Company (and Janis Joplin)

Oh, come on, come on, come on, come on!

Didnt I make you feel like you were the only man —yeah!
Didnt I give you nearly everything that a woman possibly can ?
Honey, you know I did!
And each time I tell myself that I, well I think Ive had enough,
But Im gonna show you, baby, that a woman can be tough.

I want you to come on, come on, come on, come on and take it,
Take it!
Take another little piece of my heart now, baby!
Oh, oh, break it!
Break another little bit of my heart now, darling, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Oh, oh, have a!
Have another little piece of my heart now, baby,
You know you got it if it makes you feel good,
Oh, yes indeed.

Youre out on the streets looking good,
And baby deep down in your heart I guess you know that it aint right,
Never, never, never, never, never, never hear me when I cry at night,
Babe, I cry all the time!
And each time I tell myself that I, well I cant stand the pain,
But when you hold me in your arms, Ill sing it once again.

Ill say come on, come on, come on, come on and take it!
Take it!
Take another little piece of my heart now, baby.
Oh, oh, break it!
Break another little bit of my heart now, darling, yeah,
Oh, oh, have a!
Have another little piece of my heart now, baby,
You know you got it, child, if it makes you feel good.

I need you to come on, come on, come on, come on and take it,
Take it!
Take another little piece of my heart now, baby!
oh, oh, break it!
Break another little bit of my heart, now darling, yeah, cmon now.
oh, oh, have a
Have another little piece of my heart now, baby.
You know you got it —whoahhhhh!!

Take it!
Take it! Take another little piece of my heart now, baby,
Oh, oh, break it!
Break another little bit of my heart, now darling, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Oh, oh, have a
Have another little piece of my heart now, baby, hey,
You know you got it, child, if it makes you feel good.

Modern School: Occupy DOE—Opt Out of High Stakes Testing

Modern School: Occupy DOE—Opt Out of High Stakes Testing:

Occupy DOE—Opt Out of High Stakes Testing

by Michael Dunn

United Opt Out National is calling for the occupation of the federal Department of Education next year, from March 30 to April 2, to bring an end to high stakes testing and corporate profiteering from public education. The movement encourages parents to use “opt out” rules(available in many school districts) to keep their children home when standardized tests are given.

Unlike the Occupy Wall Street movement, United Opt Out has a concrete list of demands. Furthermore, unlike the occupiers’ nebulous desire to “make the rich pay,” United Opt Out’s demands are relatively modest and could actually be achieved quickly with the right pressure