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CORPORATE ED REFORM
Sacramento School Kids Paying for City's Privatization Scheme?
At last night's SCUSD board meeting there was a proposal to "lease" Fremont Adult School to the Studios for the Performing Arts Operating Company. A wonderful concept when you follow the presentation. My first thought was WOW! great Idea! Then I heard the "rest". I assume who the champions and who the uninformed were by the defenses offered and questions asked. I don't want to
Nite Cap 10-22-13 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #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 CAPTODAYSPECIAL Mid Day Banana Break 10-22-13 #RealEdTalk #edreformBig Education Ape - Mid Day Banana BreakFund This: Social justice and public education in the spotlight in Curtis Chin's TestedDocumentary feature examines race, class and public edu
Q&A: Cultural Fluency Key to Improving Latino Student Success
By New America Media Ed. Note: Latino students comprise over half the K-12 student population in California, and while graduation rates for Latinos are on the rise, a persistent achievement gap continues to separate them from their white and Asian counterparts. Sergio Cuellar is statewide campaign coordinator with Californians for Justice, a grassroots advocacy group that works with Latino and oth
Getting past Morningstar's neutral rating on the Oregon College Savings Plan
The state income tax credit still makes the plan "a reliable workhorse for in-state investors," Morningstar says.
Committee of Seventy: Governor should form panel to fill SRC seats
The sudden resignation of School Reform Commission Chairman Pedro Ramos has many asking who his replacement will be. For others, his departure raises the question of how the five-member panel should be selected, especially as the term of another commissioner is set to expire in about three months. Joseph Dworetzky, a gubernatorial nominee who was named by former Gov. Rendell, will reach the end of
Stephen Colbert was hilarious Monday night on “The Colbert Report” in a brief bit on the Common Core State Standards and the “robo teachers” — computers — that will be grading standardized tests aligned to the core. Here’s the video and a partial transcript. Excerpts from transcript: It’s no secret that America has fallen […]
The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, nonpartisan education-news outlet affiliated with Teachers College, Columbia University, sent reporters across the country to take a closer look at the new Common Core State Standards. You can find out more about the project (carried out with support from EWA) at EdMedia Commons. Today's guest post comes from Liz Willen, editor of THR and director of The Hechinge
sdg MSNBC: Michael Landsberry, a 45–year-old mathematics teacher, dies protecting students in Nevada.
Grassroots Organizing Leaders Summit at 2013 OTL
Publication Date: Tue, 10/22/2013 At the 2013 OTL Organizing Summit in Los Angeles, Cheyanne Smith from Make the Road NY and Pecolia Manigo from the Parent Leadership Action Network staff Their practice telling stories as part of a training With The New Organizing Institute on the Story of Self, Story of Us, and the Story of Now narrative structure. At the 2013 OTL Organizing Sum
The Making of an Education Catastrophe-One Activist's Journey of Discovery An Education Catastrophe have you down upon the Nation's public schools, while most of it the public has been asleep. It is making our children hate school, our best teachers leave the profession, and is Maximizing inequality in our schools and the larger society. It is totally bi-partisan, and is as visible in Democr
Thanks, Johnny! (There is no teacher Admits Crisis board)
Dear Senate President John Cullerton, Thank you from the bottom of my heart for Admitting aloud That There is NO board crises ... (Read the full Tribune article HERE.) Wait a minute! What am I saying? Since 1979, before you were even Illinois Senate President (D), you voted and Agreed to steal from our pensions. Theft. Took money from our pockets That We earned as deferred compensation to receiv
District judge expedites case involving residency challenge in Dallas ISD contest
Miguel Solis (left) and Kristi Lara A Dallas County district judge has granted “expedited discovery” in a case involving a residency challenge in Dallas … [visit site to read more]
Theatre Offers Promise for Youth with Autism
A novel autism intervention program using theatre to teach reciprocal communication skills is improving social deficits in adolescents with the disorder that now affects an estimated one in 88 children, Vanderbilt University researchers released today in the journal Autism Research.The newly released study assessed the effectiveness of a two-week theatre camp on children with autism spectrum disor
Effective Arts Integration Improves Test Scores
Effective classroom arts integration can reduce or eliminate educational achievement gaps for economically disadvantaged students, according to a Mississippi State University research report.In other words, when teachers reinforce academic concepts with the arts, students learn more and score higher on standardized tests.MSU’s John C. Stennis Institute of Government and Community Development gener
Spatial, written language skills predict math competence
Early math skills are emerging as important to later academic achievement. As many countries seek to strengthen their workforces in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields, understanding the early contributions to math skills becomes increasingly vital. New longitudinal research from Finland has found that children's early spatial skills and knowledge of written letters
Report: ‘Excellence Gap’ Growing Among American Students
The circle of high-achieving American students is becoming a preserve for the white and well-off, with potentially severe consequences for the country’s promise of equal opportunity, according to a new report by UConn professor Jonathan Plucker and colleagues at two other universities.“Talent on the Sidelines: Excellence Gaps and the Persistence of America’s Permanent Talent Underclass” examines t
Poor housing quality = poor school performance
A new report from researchers at Boston College and Tufts University shows the distinct emotional and educational price children pay when their families live in run down apartments and homes.Data culled from a six-year study of 2,400 children, teens and young adults found emotional and behavioral symptoms such as anxiety, depression, lying and aggressive behavior are closely connected to poor hous
Baby's innate number sense predicts future math skill
Babies who are good at telling the difference between large and small groups of items even before learning how to count are more likely to do better with numbers in the future, according to new research from the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences.The use of Arabic numerals to represent different values is a characteristic unique to humans, not seen outside our species. But we aren't born with this
First-graders with attention problems lag for years afterward; second-graders, less so
When it comes to children's attention problems, the difference between first and second grade is profound, says a new study from Duke University.The study, which appears online in the November issue of the Journal of Attention Disorders, says the age at which attention problems emerge makes a critical difference in a child's later academic performance.When the problems emerged in first grade, chil
Call your legislators toll-free now at 888-412-6570 and tell them to oppose the draft plan by the conference committee. The legislature will be in fall veto session over the dates of October 22-24 and November 5-7. At any time, the legislature could vote on a draft plan formed by the conference committee that’s just as bad as House Speaker Michael Madigan’s Senate Bill 1. At this point, credible
Remainders: The many definitions of “English language learner”
Geographic differences in who gets the “English language learner” label have big impacts. (Stateline) Paul Hill wrote a lengthy defense of Bloomberg’s education policies, with recommendations. (Atlantic) A new nonprofit is focusing on how to get more students with disabilities into charter schools. (EdWeek) A Massachusetts senator is investigating how student data is shared with tech companies. (
King to hit Harlem schools circuit with top Democratic lawmaker
Assemblyman Keith Wright, in white, with Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer at Wadleigh Secondary School for the Performing & Visual Arts for hearing in support of the school. Commissioner John King has a busy day scheduled in New York City tomorrow. First, King and Chancellor Merryl Tisch are meeting up in Harlem where they’ll visit schools in the district of Assemblyman Keith Wright,
Board, not Schools, Get Final Say on Spending New CA Money
Ending a debate that was just getting underway within LA Unified, an official from the California School Boards Association said today school boards make all decisions on how Local Control Funding Formula money is spent, not individual schools. Appearing before the LA Unified Board’s Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Committee, Teri Burns, the association’s senior director for policy and prog
Ed. Note: Latino students comprise over half the K-12 student population in California, and while graduation rates for Latinos are on the rise, a persistent achievement gap continues to separate them from their white and Asian counterparts. Sergio Cuellar is statewide campaign coordinator with Californians for Justice, a grassroots advocacy group that works with Latino and other minority groups in
Denver’s after school initiative shows few programs in poor areas - Big Picture
Students who live medium to high poverty areas of Denver may have less access to after school programming. That’s the picture drawn by the first release of data from Denver’s after school initiative. Officials caution that the data is not complete but say that it raises issues of how city services are distributed. “It brings up questions of are the right services being provided to the right kids,”
Now this was a school boycott. Fifty years ago, on Oct. 22, 1963, more than 200,000 students in Chicago stayed out of class and marched in the streets with tens of thousands of other people to protest segregation and inequality in the public schools. Read full article >>
George Washington University, which until a few days ago advertised that financial-aid requests “do not affect admissions decisions,” now says that it considers the financial need of some applicants when it is in the final stages of choosing its incoming classes. Read full article >>
Secretary of Commerce Duncan to Deliver Remarks at the Public Meeting of the Financial Literacy and Education Commission
On Wednesday, October 23, 2013, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will deliver remarks at the public meeting of the Financial Literacy and Education Commission (FLEC). The Commission is comprised of 21 federal agencies that work together to promote the financial literacy of Americans.
Stop The Presses! Thomas Friedman Actually Writes Something Semi-Coherent About Education
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman is infamous for his uninformed pieces on education though, fortunately, he doesn’t seem to write about the topic as his colleague, David Brooks, who is equally off-base. In today’s column, The Shanghai Secret, he talks about a visit he made to Shanghai schools with Wendy Kopp of Teach For America. Though I’m not sure I’d make Shanghai my first stop to see
“Put The Gun In My Hand” — Stories Of Teacher Bravery
Yesterday, close to Sacramento in Sparks, Nevada, another teacher lost his life protecting students: Student Jose Cazares said he was hanging out with friends when they heard what they thought were firecrackers. He said he saw a boy shoot two students. He said the boy then aimed the gun at his chest, but Landsberry stepped between him and the shooter. “He was telling him to stop and put the gun do
According to a poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, more than 4 in 5 older Americans expect to keep working in their later years, a sign that traditional retirement is out of reach for much of society. Among Americans age 50 and older who have jobs, 82 percent expect to work in some form during retirement. “The survey illuminates an important shift in A
Fifty years ago today, the school boycott that rocked Chicago
Now this was a school boycott. Fifty years ago, on Oct. 22, 1963, more than 200,000 students in Chicago stayed out of class and marched in the streets with tens of thousands of other people to protest segregation and inequality in the public schools. Just a few months after the 1963 March on Washington during […]