Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, November 9, 2013

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 11-9-13


4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit:

4LAKIDS - SOME OF THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT


  


iPads: A MIDNIGHT SURPRISE
by email from: BoardAgenda@LAUSD.NET Sat, Nov 9, 2013 12:06 amAttached is the Revised Order of Business for the Regular Board Meeting of November 12, 2013. The Order of Business was revised to include revised language for Tab 41, Resolution on Common Core Technology Project, and adding Tab 43, Common Core Technology Plan: Phase II and Beyond, Old Business for Action.For information or questions

YESTERDAY

Kids Count Data Book Stresses Need For Early Education
Associated Administrators of Los Angeles Weekly Update | Week of November 11, 2013 |  http://bit.ly/HMiqQl 7 November 2013  ::  Since 1989, the Annie E. Casey Foundation has published the KIDS COUNT Data Book which tracks the well-being of the country’s children. It includes data on early childhood development for every state, the District of Columbia and the nation. The Annie E. Casey
NAEP: ONE TEST, THREE SCORING RUBRICS? ….or it isn’t how you play the game, it’s who keeps sccore that counts
California students among worst performers on national assessment of reading and math By Lillian Mongeau |EdSource Today | http://bit.ly/1et9Aob

NOV 07

Building School District Stability Extends Beyond The Superintendent
By Charles Taylor Kerchner / Special to EdSource Today | http://bit.ly/HKnfcZ November 7th, 2013   ::  The Los Angeles Unified School District board bought itself a little stability last week when it extended Superintendent John Deasy’s contract for a year by handing him a “satisfactory” rating in his annual evaluation. LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy>> Buying stability can be a good
Free Wi-Fi Across Los Angeles? City Leaders Make New Push
By Kate Linthicum, LA Times  ||  http://lat.ms/1abk4nG 12:06 PM PST, November 6, 2013  ::  Angelenos may no longer have to squat at cafes for free wireless Internet. On Tuesday, the L.A. City Council approved a request for proposals to build a citywide Wi-Fi network in an effort to stimulate economic growth and "bridge the digital divide." The exact cost of the effort and the type of Int
School Survey Examines California’S Common Core Readiness
Posted by Jeremy B. White, sACRAMENTO bEE cAPITOL aLERT | http://bit.ly/HKiiRv November 7, 2013  2:06 PM   ::  Late last session, after Gov. Jerry Brown had already won approval of his new school funding formula, a bill to nix California's existing standardized tests again pushed education policy into the spotlight. The bill sought to ease the arrival of new assessments aligned to the Common
L.A. Unified Loses Round In Effort To Keep Teacher Ratings Secret
By Howard Blume, L.A. Times | http://lat.ms/17hnw26 November 7, 2013, 7:28 p.m.  ::  The Los Angeles Unified School District has lost a key round in a legal battle to keep the performance ratings of individual teachers confidential. The 2nd District Court of Appeal declined this week to consider the case after a lower court ordered the school system to turn over the information to the Los
LAUSD iPAD STATUS LOOKS GOOD, SCHOOL BOARD VOWS ‘WE ARE COMMITTED TO THIS. WE WILL MOVE FORWARD’
from the Huffington Post via the Los Angeles Daily News  |  By Barbara Jones and Brenda Gazzar  | http://huff.to/17hlf7e Posted: 11/06/2013 4:08 pm EST  ::  After taking a second, deeper look at Los Angeles Unified's controversial iPad project, school board members reiterated their support Tuesday for the plan to equip all 600,000 students with tablet computers while hearing about lessons
HOW TO GRADE A TEACHER: The usefulness of test scores is limited and should be treated that way + smf’s 2¢
By The LA Times editorial board  |  http://lat.ms/1hmJVjd November 7, 2013  ::  As the recent job evaluation of Los Angeles Unified Supt. John Deasy showed, test scores and other metrics can be a useful addition to the assessment process — as long as they're not allowed to substitute for the bigger, more meaningful picture. Progress should be measured. Data matter. But rigid adherence to them

NOV 06

LAUSD’s COSTLY iPAD PROGRAM REASSSESED
Neon Tommy | Brianna Sacks, Sara Newman, Elisabeth Roberts, Alexa Liacko, Emmanuel Martinez | http://bit.ly/1hMIx79 This story was produced by Annenberg's three daily media outlets, ARN, ATVN and Neon Tommy, and Strategic Public Relations Studies students conducting up-to-the-minute social media analysis .November 5, 2013 | 4:29 p.m. PST  ::  The Los Angeles Unified School District

NOV 05

“Remember, remember, the fifth of November…”: HAPPY GUY FAWKES’ DAY
  "Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth." -Oscar Wilde “People should not be afraid of their governments; Governments should be afraid of their people.”  -V, in V for Vendetta
LAUSD RELEASES iPAD BUDGET: COSTS FOR IT SUPPORT, TEACHER COACHES RISE
Annie Gilbertson | | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC http://bit.ly/19y6QlK Flickingerbrad via Flickr : technology in the classroom November 4th, 2013, 5:56pm  ::  L.A. Unified is calling for more hands on deck to help steer the iPad project. Documents released in advance of Tuesday's special iPad project meeting show a tripling of staffing estimates for IT. Officials are now estimating they’ll need
Separation Of English Language Learners From Their Classes In The Middle Of The School Year Upsets Parents, Teachers & Administrators
Taking parents out of the equation: Principals  are "subject to disciplinary action" if they don’t reorganize their classes as demanded. Opinion: L.A. schools should not separate non-English-speaking children by Raul A. Reyes, NBCLatino |http://on.nbclatino.co/1b8NTTH 5:00 am on 11/04/2013  ::  An education controversy is brewing in Los Angeles.  The Los Angeles Unified School District (
Lausd Issuing Far Fewer Truanct Tickets, Report Says
NIn a push to lessen police presence in schools, LAUSD is using positive incentives and mediation to curb student misbehavior By Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/HxFOAB November 4, 2013  ::  Los Angeles school police have sharply curtailed the number of tickets issued for truancy to L.A. Unified students by 93.7% over the last four years, reflecting a step back from

NOV 04

Lausd’S Group Therapy Session
By Rick Orlov, Los Angeles Daily News | http://bit.ly/1hdLPSW 11/3/13, 11:44 AM PST | Updated: 11/4/13  ::  The puzzling saga of Superintendent John Deasy and the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education that played out over the past two weeks ended in a nearly five-hour closed door meeting last Tuesday in what more resembled a group therapy session than a review of a manager’s

NOV 03

California, Federal Education Officials Must Find Common Ground On Suspension Of Testing
San Jose Mercury News Editorial | http://bit.ly/17FSgIt 11/1/2013 02:00:00 PM PDT  ::  There's more than meets the eye in the U.S. Education Department's threat last week to take billions of dollars from California schools as punishment for the state's decision to end most current standardized tests a year early in violation of federal regulations. California and the Education Department have

NOV 02

Where Have You Gone, Steve Zimmer? Our District Turns It'S Lonely Eyes To You
Julie Tran writes in a comment to the Diane Ravitch Blog | “L.A. Teacher Asks: Will Deasy’s iPad Deal Bankrupt Los Angeles Schools?” | http://bit.ly/17EX0y3 October 31, 2013 at 9:45 am  ::  I have a better question regarding Steve Zimmer, who had the power to vote to fire the I-pad promoter Deasy two days ago, but chose not to. I stayed up all night transcribing a transcript of Zimmer’s
THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF LAUSD’S FINANCES + (there’s no accounting for) smf’s 2¢
by Richard J. Riordan and Tim Rutten | LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/1hDk3gs 11/01/13, 3:15 PM PDT | Updated: 9AM 11/2/13 9AM   ::  Now that the drama over the Los Angeles Unified School District’s superintendent is behind us, there are some other, deeper issues worth exploring. For example, ask anybody who’s looked at the budget for one of America’s urban school districts how much money
LAUSD BOARD SET TO TACKLE iPAD PROJECT ON TUESDAY MORNING + Staff Report to Board
By Barbara Jones, Los Angeles Daily News |http://bit.ly/1faCk2E Posted: 10/31/13, 6:46 PM PDT   ::  The Los Angeles Unified board will delve into the district’s controversial iPad project — everything from curriculum and keyboards to infrastructure and electricity — during a special meeting on the $1 billion plan set for Tuesday. Beginning at 8:30 a.m., the board will hear from officials