Sunday, April 18, 2010

This Week In Education Media: Darling-Hammond Tells Her Version

Media: Darling-Hammond Tells Her Version

by Alexander Russo

In this email, Linda Darling-Hammond decries this recent New York Times' article as riddled with errors and describes the ins and outs of her involvement with the elementary school and the high school. I meant to contact her earlier in the week, and will now see what the Times reporter Carol Pogash has to say. Meantime, read the email below. Picture unrelated.
The couple of stories I’ve seen, especially one from the New York Times, were riddled with errors. I thought you might want to have the facts.
I was one of a number of people who helped to start the high school in 2001 at the district's request, because they lost their only community high school during desegregation and the students were bussed out. I was a faculty advisor until spring of 2008 when I left the board while working on the Obama campaign and later transition. I have just returned to the Stanford New Schools board as an advisor to the high school, and am getting up to speed myself on the last couple of years of its work.
The high school has made great progress over the years since it was founded. It has created a strong, highly personalized college-going program and currently has a graduation rate of 86 percent,

The Perimeter Primate: Grannan: Is firing bad teachers really the solution?

Grannan: Is firing bad teachers really the solution?

by The Perimeter Primate

Guest post by Caroline Grannan

Education historian/commentator Diane Ravitch points out that the states with non-union teachers (who thus have little or no job security) tend to have lower academic achievement than the states with strong teachers' unions.
That should put to rest the myth that bad teachers with ironclad job security are the cause of the challenges facing public education.
As Ravitch adds, the state reported to have the consistently highest academic achievement is Massachusetts -- a strong union state. (It’s also widely called "Taxachusetts" by the right -- could there be a connection?) Ravitch emphasizes that she's not necessarily saying that unionization and job security LEAD TO higher academic achievement, but the facts show that unionization and job security clearly don't work AGAINST higher academic achievement. They are correlated.
I thought it was worth looking for some data. But not officially being a statistician, I wasn’t really

This Week In Education Weekend: Catching Up On A Busy Week

This Week In Education

Weekend: Catching Up On A Busy Week

by Alexander Russo

New York City To Stop Paying Teachers For Doing Nothing NPR: The centers have been a source of embarrassment for both the Bloomberg administration and the United Federation of Teachers, as articles in newspapers and magazines detailed teachers running businesses out of the rubber rooms or dozing off for hours on end.

Add National Prayer Day Ruling To Reading List NPR: Because her legal opinion is likely to be a subject of discussion for a while, it's well worth taking some time to read U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb's controversial decision Thursday that holds that it is unconstitutional for the president to proclaim, under Congress' direction, a National Day of Prayer.

Your Text Messages And E-Mails May Not Be 'Private' If You Use Co. Equipment NPR: There's a case coming before the U.S. Supreme Court that should be of interest to anyone who has an employer-provided cell phone, computer or other device that can be used to send electronic messages.

Arizona School Bans Lunches With 'Processed' Foods NPR: Children's Success Academy in Tucson, Ariz. doesn't allow any foods made with processed and refined ingredients.
Judge To Mississippi County: Stop Segregating Schools NPR: The order issued today by the court requires the district to modify its transfer policy to permit students to transfer to a school outside their residential zone only if the student can demonstrate a compelling justification for the trans

On-Line Learning Going Mainstream: Your Pace & On Demand - Ready Or Not, It is Here - THE DAILY RIFF - Be Smarter. About Education.

On-Line Learning Going Mainstream: Your Pace & On Demand - Ready Or Not, It is Here

A Fad? It's Like Calling The Internet A Fad!
The NY Times: Free On-Line Courseware In "Education Life" Special Report

When I decided to have my tween "opt-out" of a Spanish class mid-year to do Rosetta Stoneinstead, (with the school very cool about it), other parents looked at me with wide eyes and jaws-dropping. "Wha'?? Why did you do it? How did you do it?" My answer?

She tried it and liked it better, plus she can continue through the summer and when she is out sick/weekends.

When I asked my daughter what she liked about it (after more grilling from parents - not even from the same school or even state!), she said, "because I can work at my own speed. . . .going back if I need to . . . and it's not a big deal".

What a concept. A bit more background?

We tried it briefly this summer as an enhancement but since it did not parallel with her Spanish class once the school year started, we stopped

EducationCEO's Blog

And another one bites the dust!

April 18, 2010

It’s official! As of this past Friday, DeKalb County Superintendent Crawford Lewis’ contract was terminated by the school board amid allegations of less-than-legitimate involvement with the district’s construction bids. I am not surprised that he was fired, just surprised that he was able to serve as the superintendent for so long. Especially considering the manner in which he came into the position.
I first started working for the DeKalb County School Systemin August 2002; that was my first teaching job and I was excited about leaving South Bend for Atlanta. Yep, I was wearing some big-A rose-colored glasses back then! That year also marked the first year for then-superintendentJohnny Brown. Now I will say that Brown made a lot of (incompetent and probably lazy) people uncomfortable when he started in DeKalb because he was committed to making some significant changes, e.g., those who were not qualified or worthy of district-level positions were sent back to schools. No leader will be popular with the masses; Brown was no exception. I did appreciate his desire to clean-house because there were secretaries making nearly 6-figures when he came in, while degreed teachers were barely making $36,000. I also liked his challenge of teaching Algebra to all

California Progress Report Joint Letter At Democratic Convention Urges Delegates To Oppose Water Bond

California Progress Report

Joint Letter At Democratic Convention Urges Delegates To Oppose Water Bond

by kaldveer

By Traci Sheehan
Planning and Conservation League

Leading California Democrats are joining environmentalists, consumer advocates and environmental justice groups in urging Democratic Party activists to oppose an $11 billion water bond slated for the November ballot. In a joint letter distributed at this weekend's convention of the California Democratic Party in Los Angeles, signatories called the bond measure "ill-timed, unaffordable [and] loaded with political pork."
The bond does little to address our immediate water needs or to create a more

Feuer, Fuentes Discuss Progress on Reforming Broken System

by kaldveer

By Assemblymembers Mike Feuer and Felipe Fuentes

In this Democratic weekly address, Assemblymember Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles), Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Improving State Government, and Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes (D-Sylmar) provide updates on legislation being heard before the Assembly and Senate budget committees that will fix the state’s budget process by advancing reforms proposed by the bipartisan good-government group California Forward.
Click onto the following link for the English language MP3 file. The running time is 3:12.
http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/Newsline/Audio/20100416RadioAddressGovt...
Click onto the following link for the Spanish language MP3 file. The running time is 3:33.
http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/Newsline/Audio/20100416RadioAddressFuen...
Website of Assemblymember Mike Feuer: www.asm.ca.gov/feuer
read more

D.C. School Principal Found Fatally Shot - AssociatedPress

Young Native Writers Essay Contest

The 2009 winners at their Honor Ceremony, held July 30, 2009, at the National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C.

REACHING OUT TO NATIVE AMERICAN YOUTH TO INSPIRE READING, STUDYING, AND HIGHER EDUCATION

The Young Native Writers Essay Contest is a writing contest for Native American high school students and is designed to encourage young Native Americans to think about the critical issues impacting their tribal communities today.

The voices that emerge from this program honor the legacy of every Native American who has ever lived. Add your words to the thousands submitted

The California Majority Report // CDP Morning Report

SHERRY GREENBERG

CDP Morning Report

April 18, 2010 @ 1:08 PM

On the final day of the California Democratic Convention, various speakers, including CDP officials and legislative leadership, threw red meat to the base. Several speakers rejected the Maldonado "open primary" initiative, noting that the two likely results are: Republicans picking the Democratic nominee they prefer to run against in swing districts and Democrats having to spend vast sums in Democrat against Democrat general elections in safe seats.

New Assembly Speaker Perez gave a powerful speech, noting how exciting it was to be able to say that we now have health care reform. Perez also spoke about how not so far in the past, gays and Latinos could not be elected to office, but he, a gay Latino is now Speaker.

Senate Pro-Tem Steinberg spoke at the confab despite having just lost his father-in-law this weekend. Steinberg passionately addressed the economic hardships and state budget crisis. Steinberg noted that in the last budget crisis, he saw Republicans unfairly blame immigrants. The Pro-Tem said that Poizner's immigrant-bashing ads remind him of Pete Wilson's commercials.

After speeches came the consent vote on endorsements. That immediately lead to the Winograd challenge. Chairman Burton allowed each side four minutes to make its case. Winograd forces attempted to paint Harman as a Bush enabler, if not

Schools Matter: Rethinking Schools Article on TFA

Rethinking Schools Article on TFA

by Kenneth Libby

Be sure not to miss Barbara Miner's article, TFA: Looking Past the Spin, which appeared in the most recent issue of Rethinking Schools.

InterACT Can Schools Teach Parents to be Involved?

InterACT

Photo credit: ashcroftinfantandnursery.com

As my school’s Gifted and Talented Education coordinator, a large portion of my time is spent working with middle school parents on how to understand the Los Angeles Unified School District’sbyzantine web of programs and school options. Doing this work for over 15 years has led me to some understandings about parents in this urban, minority district, and a realization about how much work we have left to do to fully maximize their potential.

In my school’s community, GATE parents usually demonstrate a strong interest in all aspects of their child’s education. They seem to understand that their Gifted child is different, has unique needs, and the school is a good place to get help. Many times, gifted children have gifted parents, and these see the pivotal role school plays in improving their child’s future possibilities. This is not to say general ed parents don’t care about education; but for every 10 conferences requested by parents, 8 out of 10 are usually for my Gifted/Honors students.

Our school participates in the Schools for Advanced Studies (SAS) Program, where gifted and advanced students from throughout the city are allowed to attend SAS schools outside of their attendance area. When we first started the program, we admitted 25 students. The next year, as the acclaim grew, we admitted 100 more students. Last year, we admitted around 125, bringing our advanced studies total to 250 students from all over South Central Los Angeles, a low socio-economic community in Los Angeles.

The admissions process has introduced me to a whole subset of parents that impress me with their scope and diligence in securing the best educational opportunities for their children. These parents actively researched all options available to them and sometimes landed at my school, 5, 10, 15 miles from their own neighborhood in a program that does not offer transportation, only solid academics.

Some of these parents and students take the public transportation to get to our school. Some carpool with their Advanced Studies neighbors. Some bite the bullet and make that round trip journey by car twice a day, through traffic congestion and gasoline spikes. Several pay someone to pick up or drop off students every day.

Sounds an awful lot like middle class parents, doesn’t it? But I’m getting to that.

Once at our school, these parents become fixtures. They participate in the shared governance councils. They attend every single parent conference and back to school night. They schedule meetings with teachers if their child’s grades fall below an A. In the GATE program, there are mandatory and optional parent meetings, and they are sitting in the front row, at every meeting.

Chancellor Joel Klein claims victory on rubber rooms, goes after seniority to keep best teachers

Chancellor Joel Klein claims victory on rubber rooms, goes after seniority to keep best teachers

Chancellor Joel Klein took a victory lap Friday to celebrate a deal to close the "rubber rooms," but skeptics question whether the city can transform teacher discipline.

Bolstered by the agreement with the teachers union to shutter the notorious reassignment centers, Klein told "Morning Joe" on MSNBC that he hopes to build a similar groundswell to tackle teachers' rights to seniority during layoffs.

"That's what I think happened with the rubber rooms. Now I'd like to deal with this seniority issue," said Klein, who wants a possible 8,500 upcoming layoffs to be based on teacher quality, not seniority.

Some education watchers said it was too soon for Klein to declare victory, since it's unclear if the city will meet its deadline of closing the rubber rooms and eliminating the backlog of accused teachers by year's end.

"It remains to be seen," said Brooklyn College education Prof. David Bloomfield, a former General Counsel for the old Board of Education. "I'm dubious, but at least both sides are attending to the right things."

The agreement ridding the city of the rubber rooms - where accused teachers sit and do nothing while awaiting judgment - focuses on a faster timeline for charging teachers and completing hearings, shortening the process from an average of 18 months to less than six months.

Officials hope to bypass the lengthy hearing process and use mediation to clear the existing backlog of cases - 550 teachers and 90 school employees.

That could be a tall order. Since July 2009, the city has fired just 19 teachers for

Will Fla. Gov. Charlie Crist's veto of education bill impact race | Gainesville.com

Will Crist's education bill veto impact race?

Experts differ on whether he will run as an independent, stick it out in the GOP primary or drop out.

By Ron Word
Capitol correspondent

Published: Sunday, April 18, 2010 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, April 17, 2010 at 11:56 p.m.

TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Charlie Crist's whole life has been tied to education.

He is the son of a former school board chairman, his two sisters are teachers, and he once served as the state's education commissioner.

But in the end, it will be his decision last week to veto an education reform bill that could determine his political future.

In his veto message, the governor said his decision was not political but the result of "the incredible outpouring of opposition by teachers, parents, students, superintendents, school boards and legislators."

School boards and teachers unions across Florida came out against the bill, including some South Florida educators who stayed home from school in protest.

All week, those opposed to the bill came to the Capitol to try to buttonhole lawmakers and the governor to express their opposition to the bill, which would have tied future salary increases to student test performance, would have ended tenure for new teachers and would not have considered a teacher's advanced education or experience.

Supporters say the bill's goal was to reward the state's best teachers and make it easier to get

Bill White derides Texas education board's actions | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | News: Education

Bill White derides Texas education board's actions

08:57 AM CDT on Saturday, April 17, 2010

By TERRENCE STUTZ / The Dallas Morning News
tstutz@dallasnews.com

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Democratic gubernatorial nominee Bill Whiteon Friday joined in the criticism of the State Board of Education for its version of new curriculum standards for history and other social studies classes.

Speaking to several hundred teachers, White attacked Gov. Rick Perryand his appointed chair of the education board as he called for a new direction in public education in the state.

Referring to the months of heated debate over the curriculum standards, White said, "Wouldn't it be great to have a governor who appointed a State Board of Education chair who understood that you ought to leave the curriculum to professionals?"

His reference was to a bloc of social conservative Republicans on the board, including chairwoman Gail Lowe, who have rejected many of the recommendations of teachers and academics who were appointed to write new curriculum standards for Texas schools – subject to board approval. Perry appointed Lowe as chairwoman in July.

The changes made by the board – many reflecting a more conservative and religious view of U.S. history – have aroused opposition from educators and lawmakers in Texas and other states.

Many states will wind up with those standards as publishers often market textbooks geared for Texas across the nation.

"Help me tell the rest of the nation that Texas is better than some of the actions taken by our State Board of Education," White said in urging teachers to support him at the annual convention of the Texas

CSU Stanislaus' Stockton campus feels empty News10.net | Sacramento, California | Education Home

News10.net | Sacramento, California | Education Home

Education News

CSU Stanislaus' Stockton campus feels empty

Comments

Class cuts and declining student interest at CSU Stanislaus is leaving some classes with just a single student.

Campus bigamy: More students taking classes at multiple colleges to get a higher education

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With college cuts forcing fewer and fewer class options for students, many are being forced to take whichever classes they can get -- even if they're at different schools.

Horizon Charter School's abrupt shutdown leaves students, parents puzzled, angry

Comments

Parents are upset about Horizon Charter School closing down classes for an independent study program in south Sacramento.

CSU Stanislaus: Palin fee paid with no public money

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Officials at CSU Stanislaus are explaining how the university is paying for Sarah Palin to speak at a June event as well as how an addendum to Palin's contract reportedly ended up in a dumpster.

UC campuses report record low admission rates

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Officials attributed the increased competition to a record number of applicants vying for fewer spots on most campuses.

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