Oakland's American Indian Model Schools board members face ouster under pressure from AIMS teachers, parents to save charter
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| Interim AIMS executive director Sylvester Hodges addresses the OUSD board at the public hearing Wednesday. Photo by Lauren Kawana. |
Posted: 04/14/2013 10:42:57 PM PDT
Updated: 04/15/2013 05:15:03 AM PDT
OAKLAND -- An emergency meeting of the embattled American Indian Model Schools board ended Sunday night with no resolution despite looming threats to the institution's survival.
AIMS board members have until the end of April 19 to appeal the termination of its charter by the Oakland Unified School District.
On Sunday, the AIMS board had proposed the resignation of board members Nedir Bey and Jean Martinez, blamed for costing the institution its charter by holding up key reforms demanded by OUSD.
Those demands included hiring a consultant to put the institution's finances in order and severing the relationship of
Budget cuts may harm California program aimed at getting kids into college
Posted: 04/15/2013 11:06:59 AM PDT
Updated: 04/15/2013 01:11:47 PM PDT
Getting kids onto a college track is not rocket science. But it is a social science, one that takes deliberate engineering and investment and can be honed to a fine art -- as one long-standing program, known as AVID, has proven.
But with Gov. Jerry Brown's veto last year of $8.1 million in funding, some fear that AVID for middle and high schools in California could veer off track.
AVID -- Advancement Via Individual Determination -- prescribes 11 practices to steer middle-achieving students toward college success. It guides them to college-prep classes, offers tutorials and fortifies skills like critical thinking and reading, collaboration, organization and time management. The program, run as an elective course, offers test preparation, helps explore college choices and assists in seeking financial aid and scholarships. Started in one San Diego school three decades ago, when few talked about narrowing the academic "achievement gap," AVID spread
San Jose State and Udacity expand online courses for Cal State credit
Posted: 04/15/2013 11:08:55 AM PDT
Updated: 04/15/2013 12:15:57 PM PDT
SAN JOSE -- San Jose State and online education startup Udacity are offering for-credit, online-only courses for $150 this summer, the company announced Monday.
Enrollment is capped at 1,000 each for the new introduction to programming and psychology courses and will likely grow for the existing, lower-level math classes.
The courses are an extension of a pilot project launched in January at San Jose State with Udacity that has been deemed successful. Going into midterm exams, 85 percent of students (including university and high school students) were still enrolled in the test courses, Udacity reports.
The credits for all the course are transferable to any California State University campus.
Information about the new courses is at www.udacity.com/collegecredit.