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About Gulen charter schools
Preview: The Gulen Movement
May 10, 2012 1:02 PM
A worldwide Islamic movement that has inspired scores of public charter schools here in the U.S. is led by a Turkish cleric living in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. Lesley Stahl reports on Fethullah Gulen and his message of education on Sunday, May 13 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
There May Not Be an App for That
Post submitted by Sandi Lauzon and Helen Erickson
My name is Sandi Lauzon and I am the vice principal at Byrne Creek Secondary School responsible for technology. I try to attend the Computer Using Educators of British Columbia (CUEBC) conference every year, as it is without a doubt the best way to connect with like-minded educators, who ultimately leave you inspired by the techno-risks they have taken in their classrooms. Their stories of innovative practices always start with a passion to shift learning and teaching in a new direction, but more often than not, they include bureaucratic hiccups, creative work-arounds, young heroic teachers willing to take risks, and students who adapt, engage, learn, and, ultimately, teach us all.
At the end of the conference, I like to mill about and catch up with
Detroit Future in Puerto Rico
Ammerah Saidi and Jenny Lee speak to a packed room on the work of Detroit Future Schools.
“Could you slow down–my English is good but not so good,” said a blonde woman from Germany (if I remember correctly).In a way that points out my greatest public speaking flaw, her request (and the agreement from other audience members) let me know that what we’re doing in Detroit with education is a simple yet innovative and engaging type of work.
In March, Jenny Lee, co-director of Allied Media Projects, and I presented at the International Democratic
RIF is Gonna to Git Yo Mama
The 4LAKids Blog suggests that a new term has taken hold in California schools: "the RIFing season," which refers to the time of the year in which "reduction in force" letters are sent out notifying teachers they may be laid off at the end of the school year.
Lately the numbers have grown ridiculously high. In March, 20,000 RIF letters went out to California teachers. Yet in the previous three years, only 25% of those receiving RIFs actually lost their jobs. While this is still a large number of layoffs (11% of the state’s entire teacher workforce) and it is certainly anxiety-provoking for those who receive RIFs, it seems excessive, cruel and unnecessary to send out layoff notices to 3 times more teachers than will actually be laid off.
The layoff notices destroy teacher morale and create uncertainty in school communities that
3rd Annual TSJ ItAG Cycle
Teachers for Social Justice’s 3rd Annual Cycle of Inquiry to Action Groups, or ItAGs, wrapped up on Saturday, March 17 with a report-back event held at Marwen, a youth arts organization. ItAGs are groups of educators and activists who meet for 8 weeks to study a topic related to social justice and education. They also commit to taking on a project that addresses the focus of their learning, thereby integrating study, reflection, and action. TSJ adopted the ItAG model from NYCORE, the New York Collective of Radical Educators, our sister education activist organization. Since 2010, TSJ has supported a yearly cycle of ItAGs running from January through March. This year, 4 ItAGs completed the cycle – Anti-Military Recruitment in High Schools, Queer Issues in Education, Youth Activism, and the Community Writing Project.
The Anti-Military Recruitment group is focusing their action on educating the community about policies requiring parents and students to give consent for Chicago Public Schools to release their
State Schools Chief Torlakson Notes Gains Among LatinoStudents on NAEP 2011 Grade Eight Science Assessment
SACRAMENTO—While California eighth grade students showed little progress overall on the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) science test, the state's Latino students made significant gains, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced today.
"We've got a long way to go, and clearly we need to do more to support students and school science programs," Torlakson said. "But given the enormous challenges facing our schools, it's noteworthy that we are continuing to see signs of progress in science—a field that is crucial to the future of our students and our state."
Significant gains were made by the state's Latino and socioeconomically disadvantaged students from 2009, the last time the NAEP science test was given. In California and nationally, however, large gaps persist between the average scores of Latino and African American students and their white and Asian peers. As a group, white and Asian students continue to perform at the NAEP Basic achievement level, while Hispanic and black students perform below the NAEP Basic achievement level.
Large score gaps also remain between English learners and English fluent students, as well as between socioeconomically and non-socioeconomically disadvantaged students.
In comparing scores between California and the nation, California's Asian and black student groups performed comparably to their peers nationally, while the State's Latino and white student groups scored lower than their peers nationally.
NAEP is a longitudinal national assessment that tests a representative sample of students in grades four, eight, and twelve in various subjects such as reading, writing, mathematics, and science. NAEP provides a common yardstick for measuring student achievement nationwide, allowing for state comparisons. In comparing results between states, it is important to focus subgroup level performance rather than overall performance, since demographic differences (e.g., percentage of English learners) between states can affect overall state scores. Additionally, in evaluating NAEP results, it is important to consider sampling error because score differences may not be statistically significant.
NAEP assessments are based on assessment frameworks developed under the direction of the National Assessment Governing Board, which sets policy for NAEP. Because NAEP assessments are not directly aligned to California's content standards, direct comparisons of NAEP and California Standardized Test results are not appropriate. A key difference in grade eight science is the focus on Physical Science in California's content standards and greater emphasis on Earth and Space Sciences in the NAEP assessment framework.
Complete state and national results for the 2011 NAEP grade eight science assessment are available online at The Nation's Report Card - National Assessment of Educational Progress - NAEP 
. No results will be released for individual students, schools, or districts.
. No results will be released for individual students, schools, or districts.
The U.S. Department of Education will link results from the 2011 NAEP grade eight mathematics and science assessments to those from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), which also assessed grade eight students in science and mathematics in 2011. Every state will receive a projected state-level TIMSS score, and California will be one of nine states to receive detailed subgroup-level results that can be compared to the more than 60 countries which participated in TIMSS 2011. Results from this linking study are expected to be available in late 2012 or early 2013.
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Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100
California Seeks State-Defined Waiver to Provide Relief From Unworkable Mandates of 'No Child Left Behind'
SACRAMENTO—The State Board of Education (SBE) today voted to seek a state-defined waiver (DOC) of selected provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which would allow the state to use its accountability system to focus improvement efforts on the lowest performing schools and provide schools greater flexibility over the use of federal funds.
On behalf of all California school districts, SBE President Michael Kirst and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson will ask the U.S. Department of Education to set aside select requirements of Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which inaccurately labels too many schools as failing. The request would allow California to use its own accountability system to ensure that all schools are held accountable for improving learning outcomes for all students.
California's request differs from those filed by other states in response to an invitation extended by the U.S. Department of Education to each state to request flexibility from certain provisions of ESEA in exchange for specified policies to improve student learning and increase the quality of instruction. State officials thoroughly considered the federal waiver proposal, but opted to craft a state-defined waiver request because California's budget challenges and mandate reimbursement laws make it impossible to comply with the wide-ranging new requirements of the federal waiver package.
"It's time to leave behind No Child Left Behind," Torlakson said. "This request capitalizes on our strengths—our well-established accountability system. It also provides school districts an opportunity to get the relief they deserve now, and the flexibility they need to direct limited funds where they will do the most good."
Added Kirst, "We think our targeted approach is appropriate for a federal waiver. It addresses our specific needs and fits within the goals and parameters of ESEA."
California's waiver request has three main objectives:
- End the ineffective practice of over-identifying schools and districts for program improvement, a formal designation that has confused parents and the public, demoralized teachers, and tied up funds that could have been more precisely targeted on schools that are most in need of improvement.
- Give districts greater spending flexibility to improve student achievement.
- Transition to a single transparent accountability system.
If approved, the waiver would set aside the requirement that any school that fails to meet federal proficiency targets be labeled a failing school, and enter a federally mandated system of program improvement. Such schools are required to dedicate some of their federal funds to specific uses—even if they conflict with local priorities.
The ever-increasing ESEA performance targets have forced the California Department of Education to brand 63 percent of Title I schools and 47 percent of school districts receiving Title I funds as "needing improvement" and to apply sanctions that do not necessarily lead to improved learning for the students in those schools.
California schools are currently subject to two accountability measures—the federal government's Adequate Yearly Progress and the state's Academic Performance Index that was established through the Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999. Since the inception of the federal model, the two measures have often led to confusion for the public and at times have been at odds with each other.
The federal system has subsumed increasing numbers of schools and districts under the banner of failure for the past decade while California's system has consistently differentiated between schools that are improving and those that are not.
If the waiver is granted, California will return to a single method for monitoring school performance, applying sanctions and requiring improvement activities in a targeted set of schools that have failed to improve.
Said Kirst, "We want relief from the parts of the federal law that aren't working, but that doesn't mean we're retreating from accountability. Our system is better than NCLB at identifying which schools need help."
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Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100
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Big Education Ape Nite Cap 5-9-12 #SOSCHAT #EDCHAT #P2
James Baldwin said it best:
"For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."
A Big Education Ape Nite Cap
