4LAKIDS - SOME OF THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT
STEERING CLEAR OF THE TEXTBOOK: Using History to Invigorate Common-Core Lessons
By Sam Wineburg | Education Week | http://bit.ly/1b6wniE —Kali Ciesemier Published Online: December 10, 2013/Published in Print: December 11, 2013 :: Common-core anxiety sweeps the land, and professional developers of curriculum and assessment smell dollars. Flashy brochures promise that once that purchase order is signed, every child will pass the new tests. For a pittance more, they'll
History Of Improvement Efforts Points To Early Years As Key
Letter to the Editor of Education Week | http://bit.ly/1haJsNj Published in Print: December 11, 2013, To The Editor: I just read your recent coverage on the work of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on teacher quality ("Gates Foundation Places Big Bet on Its Teacher Agenda," Nov. 6, 2013). It reminded me of other efforts to improve student learning that I have also read about over
Who Decides What Is Taught In Our Schools?
Will California History be taught in the Fifth Grade once the Common Core sets in? smf: Here’s my question: I’m an old guy and for as long as I can remember – and I went to school in the fifties – California History was taught in the fifth grade – with the flour, salt and water bas relief map of the Golden State and with the California Missions Project, Where does that fit in
mark as read
from npr/ read aloud at http://n.pr/TU38rZ published in 4LAKids 12/23/12 :: http://bit.ly/1j6dmXu The river stones are listening because we have something to say. The trees lean closer today. The singing in the electrical woods has gone down. It looks like rain, because it is too warm to snow. Guardian angels, wherever you're hiding, we know you can't be everywhere
By JAVIER C. HERNÁNDEZ, New York Times | http://nyti.ms/1bCJcVl Published: December 12, 2013 :: The Pearson Foundation, the charitable arm of one of the nation’s largest educational publishers, will pay $7.7 million to settle accusations that it repeatedly broke New York State law by assisting in for-profit ventures. An inquiry by Eric T. Schneiderman, the New York State attorney
Guest commentary By Bennett Kayser in the LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/1j0aUlp 12/12/13 :: It is with a very heavy heart that I must assert that the Los Angeles Unified School District's Board of Education should appoint an interim board member to fill the now vacant seat of Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte, and do so swiftly. Ms. LaMotte was a friend and colleague, one who I know would demand
DEC 11
Q. Do I need to purchase new computers just for the Smarter Balanced Assessment? A. No
from the Smarter Balanced FAQ | http://1.usa.gov/1bWZ8UZ Decisions regarding new computers should be made as part of a larger technology plan to support instruction and individual student needs. Smarter Balanced is committed to achieving a successful compromise between allowing the oldest hardware possible, while still meeting the requirements to assess the full depth and breadth of the Common
Smarter Balanced Tests Ease Access For Disabled
by Tom Chorneau | SI&A Cabinet Report | http://bit.ly/1kA2mgp December 11, 2013 (Wash.) :: Among the improvements anticipated with the new Smarter Balanced assessment system, set for rollout in many states next year, are a variety of embedded accommodations for students with disabilities. From a text-to-speech option to color contrast and magnification tools, the new computer-based tests
Parent Support, Food Key To Student Success
Commentary By Stephen Fong /| EdSource Today http://bit.ly/1e5GQm5 December 11th, 2013 :: Through most of elementary school I believed myself to be truly stupid. Unaware then that I have dyslexia, all I knew, and all my parents could see, was that I hated anything and everything to do with reading or writing. But instead of trying to force better grades out of me, whether by hiring
GOOGLE CHROMEBOOKS GET THE NOD OVER iPADS IN SOME SOUTH BAY SCHOOLS
By Rob Kuznia, LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/18UA2Wu Courtney Hengl-Crowson, left, uses a Chromebook for a class project. 5th graders in Jeff Jennewein's class at Victor Elementary School are now using Google Chromebooks to do homework and class projects. Dec 5, 2013. Brad Graverson - Staff photographer Nadia Goiset did her class research from a couch at Victor Elementary School in
Godspeed Jack Moscowitz
Jack Moscowitz passed away on December 9, 2013 . He went into the hospital and had a procedure and everything was fine and then it wasn’t. He was a father and husband and grandfather and uncle and friend. He was a teacher and an administrator and union honcho at AALA and ACSA. Maybe he was a fixer; certainly he was a mensch. He was one of those who quietly-but-not-silently holds
DEC 10
Services For Lausd Board Member Marguerite Poindexter Lamotte
LA Times Thursday, December 19, 2013 Lying in Repose Visitation Hours – Noon to 5 p.m. Angelus Funeral Home 3875 S. Crenshaw Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90008 Friday, December 20, 2013 Lying in Repose Visitation Hours – 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Angelus Funeral Home 3875 S. Crenshaw Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90008 Saturday, December 21,
CHARTER SCHOOL GROUP WRITES REPORT THAT SAYS REGULAR SCHOOLS SUCK - 6 months later newspaper reports it as news
Report: In Silicon Valley, 'successful' schools fail poor and English-learning students By Sharon Noguchi snoguchi@mercurynews.com | http://bit.ly/1bv3egM Posted: 12/09/2013 12:18:29 PM PST | Updated: a day ago :: MOUNTAIN VIEW -- Silicon Valley public schools are largely failing poor students and English learners, a report issued Monday in May asserts, indicating that even schools in
LA Times Editorial: ELECT, DON’T APPOINT, TO REPLACE MARGUERITE POINDEXTER LAMOTTE
Despite the cost of a special election, L.A. Unified should let voters decide who should take her seat. Editorial By The Times editorial board | http://lat.ms/1kvOfbT LAUSD board member Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte, seen above in 2011, died last week at an education conference in San Diego. (Los Angeles Time / December 9, 2013) December 10, 2013 :: The Los Angeles Unified school
Filling Lamotte Seat By Election Or Appointment? Board Is Decider
by Jamie Alter Lynton, Publisher, LA SCHOOL REPORT | http://bit.ly/1aRHhZj December 9, 2013 :: If history is any guide, a school board election is in the offing. As officials at the LA Unified school board scramble to work out options with the city and county on how best to fill the school board seat left vacant last week by the sudden death of longtime member Marguerite LaMotte, they are
L.A. SCHOOLS WANT ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND MORE iPADS
The Los Angeles Unified School District wants to triple its supply of iPads, even while a citizen’s oversight committee wants to hit the brakes. Annie Gilbertson | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC http://bit.ly/1buz7tw Maya Sugarman/KPCC December 9th, 2013, 5:43pm :: Superintendent John Deasy's administration released a request this week, asking for about 100,00 more iPads for students and
Teachers Protest Lausd Misconduct Investigation Process, ‘Teacher Jails’
Teachers protest L.A. Unified's process for misconduct investigations Critics say district's approach to misconduct allegations presumes guilt and results in dismissal for even small infractions. By Stephen Ceasar, LA Times | http://lat.ms/18zpgSM William Pasderin, a teacher at Bravo Medical Magnet High School, demonstrates
[CORE] CALIFORNIA SCHOOLS FEAR LOSING MILLIONS FOR LO-INCOME SCHOOLS + smf’s 2¢
District officials say having to annually verify students' family income to qualify for extra state dollars costs time and money. By Teresa Watanabe | L,A, Times | http://lat.ms/1bTHl0O December 9, 2013, 7:30 p.m. :: Major California school districts fear they will be shortchanged millions of dollars in funding for their low-income students under new state rules requiring them to verify
DEC 09
San Jose Unified Rewards Long-Term Employees With Return Of Furlough Pay
By Lillian Mongeau | EdSource Today http://bit.ly/IB4YyZ December 2nd, 2013 | Long-term employees of San Jose Unified School District received an unexpected bonus payment the day before Thanksgiving to replace pay they lost to five furlough days in the 2010-2011 school year. The one-time payment, a total of $3.1 million, was divided among the nearly 2,400 current employees – 74 percent
ARE AMERICA’S STUDENTS FALLING BEHIND THE WORLD? In a word: “No!” + smf’s 2¢ more
Testing to the test? Though the latest PISA test results indicate faults in the U.S. school system, the test requires skills the Common Core curriculum is aiming to improve. Editorial By The LA Times editorial board | http://lat.ms/18wHami Students take the National Center Test for University Admissions at the University of Tokyo earlier this year. Students from Shanghai, Hong Kong,
Some Sober Words For School Boards Amid Predictions Of Plenty
By John Fensterwald | EdSource Today http://bit.ly/18P7a1V 1 December 8th, 2013 | For the first time since the Great Recession, school districts are getting more money this year from the state; some – big beneficiaries of the new Local Control Funding Formula – are getting a lot. And that increase is expected to be larger next year, in one-time and ongoing money, if the Legislative
Schools And Guns Remain An Issue A Year After Sandy Hook
by Kimberly Beltran | SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet http://bit.ly/19bYnVJ December 09, 2013 As the nation turns later this week to acknowledge the one-year anniversary of the mass killing at Connecticut’s Sandy Hook Elementary School, clashes over school safety and Second Amendment rights are becoming increasingly common. What once
DEC 08
No Friends Left In the Dark: SEND A FREE GIFT SUBSCRIPTION TO 4LAKids – the gift that keeps on giving!
Why should YOU be the only one who knows what’s going on? Friends don’t let friends be under-and/or misinformed! Everything you need to know is not contained in: The Parent Handbook The Teacher’s Edition of the Textbook Pink memos and policy bulletins The principal’s EdConnect
A Teacher’S Goal-Line Stand
When soon-to-be USC coach Steve Sarkisian visited Veronica Bennett's class to check on a star student, she made the right play. By Steve Lopez, LA Times columnist | http://lat.ms/1btqTmh Veronica Bennett is shown in her classroom at Narbonne High School. When future USC football coach Steve Sarkisian tried to talk to a star student in her honors class, she turned him away. The young man
SCHOOL LIBRARIAN HELPS STUDENTS STRUGGLING WITH READING + smf’s 2¢
TIMES HOLIDAY CAMPAIGN: Program aims to help young children, most with Spanish-speaking parents, whose reading scores aren't where they should be. By Paresh Dave | LA Times | http://lat.ms/IUDpAs The Los Angeles Times Family Fund helps to support area literacy programs. (Los Angeles Times) December 7, 2013, 6:04 p.m. :: After each school day, librarian Dinora Arteaga leads a
DEC 07
Black Leaders Speak Out On How To Fill La Motte’S Board Seat
by Vanessa Romo, LA School Report http://bit.ly/1chDllH US Representatives Maxine Waters and Karen Bass Posted on December 6, 2013 :: A day after the death of the LA Unified school board’s only African American member, Marguerite LaMotte, community leaders with ties to her south Los Angeles district began speaking out about how to fill the vacancy and who should fill it. “Unfortunately in
Two Options For L.A. School Board In Filling Marguerite Lamotte’S Seat
L.A. Unified can replace LaMotte by appointment or by special election. Each option comes with varying consequences. By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/1gNOC1C December 6, 2013, 7:38 p.m. :: The death this week of Los Angeles school board member Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte will have immediate pragmatic and political implications for L.A. Unified, including the challenge