Thursday, July 22, 2010

News: Key Title IX Ruling - Inside Higher Ed

Key Title IX Ruling

July 22, 2010

A federal judge determined Wednesday that competitive cheerleading, at least the brand offered at a small Connecticut institution this past season, is not a varsity sport that can be counted for the purposes of meeting gender equity requirements.

Last year, Quinnipiac University announced that, primarily due to budget constraints, it planned to cut its women’s volleyball team and replace it with a competitive cheerleading squad for the 2009-10 season. A competitive cheerleading squad is typically much cheaper to run than a women's volleyball team. Five players from the women’s volleyball team and their coach, however, sued Quinnipiac with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut, arguing that its decision to cut their team violated Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

Retooling the GI Bill

July 22, 2010

Senators push for equitable college benefits across states, but the simplified formula could actually lower benefits for some veterans at private colleges.

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When Faculty Aren't Supposed to Talk

July 22, 2010

Hamilton tells professor he can't participate in searches because of column he wrote on search whose result disappointed him. Is college protecting confidentiality or squelching dissent?

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Texas A&M Can't Spare a Square

July 22, 2010

University, slashing its budget, plans to get rid of dormitory bathroom toilet paper.

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New Programs: Sports Management, Art Education, Recreation Therapy

July 22, 2010

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This Week In Education: Campaign 2010: Tea Party / RNC Asleep At Wheel On Common Core

Campaign 2010: Tea Party / RNC Asleep At Wheel On Common Core

by Alexander Russo

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Amazing how little attention this whole Common Core thing has gotten, what with the Tea Party and the RNC pushing hard against government intrusion. They've been asleep at the wheel on this one, which bodes poorly for their chances to take the House in November. Meantime, here's a sampling of mainstream commentary, courtesy of the Atlantic Wire:

U.S. goes from leading to lagging in young college graduates

By Daniel de Vise

Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 22, 2010; 6:07 AM

The United States has fallen from first to 12th in the share of adults ages 25 to 34 with postsecondary degrees, according to a new report from the College Board.

Canada is now the global leader in higher education among young adults, with 55.8 percent of that population holding an associate degree or better as of 2007, the year of the latest international ranking. The United States sits 11 places back, with 40.4 percent of young adults holding postsecondary credentials.
The report, to be presented Thursday to Capitol Hill

D.C. adopts "common core" school standards

D.C. adopts new national standards for English and math, joining more than two dozen states.

MORE ON EDUCATION

Shealah Richardson, a sixth-grader at Sousa Middle School, attends math class. (Susan Biddle for The Washington Post)

More On The Harlem Children’s Zone | Engaging Parents In School...

More On The Harlem Children’s Zone Yesterday, I wrote about several columns appearing in the Washington Post about a just-released study on the Harlem Children’s Zone. Well, another excellent one appeared today. Check-out “Poverty, student achievement, HCZ: Berliner.”

Great Discussion on Harlem Children’s Zone I’ve written a lot about the Harlem Children’s Zone, including applause for its great work and some concerns, too. The release this week of a Brookings Institute report on the HCZ has prompted some interesting discussion in the the educational ...

Wow! What A Study On School Leadership… Learning from Leadership: Investigating the Links to Improved Student Learning is a very important study that was released today. You can read a summary here – Large national study strongly links educational leadership to student achievement. You ...

“High-Tech, Low-Tech, and “No-Tech” Ways to Help ELLs Develop Language and Higher Order Thinking Skills” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

“High-Tech, Low-Tech, and “No-Tech” Ways to Help ELLs Develop Language and Higher Order Thinking Skills”*High-Tech, Low-Tech, and “No-Tech” Ways to Help ELLs Develop Language and Higher Order Thinking Skills* is the title of a Webinar I’ll be doing on October 20th. It’s sponsored by Linworth Publishing, who have published my books, English Language ...

“As Arizona immigration law looms, local tensions mount” As Arizona immigration law looms, local tensions mount is the title of a Washington Post slideshow on the law. I’m adding it to The Best Sites To Learn About Arizona’s New Immigration Law.

“7 Basic Rules for Making Charts and Graphs” 7 Basic Rules for Making Charts and Graphs is a great post from Flowing Data about creating infographics. It’s not accessible to English Language Learners, but a teacher can easily use the main points to guide any kind of instruction. I’m planning of ...

N.J. schools lack disaster preparedness, report says | NJ.com

N.J. schools lack disaster preparedness, report says

By The Star-Ledger Continuous News Desk

July 22, 2010, 9:34AM

A new report finds that New Jersey's private schools and child-care facilities are lacking in emergency response preparedness, according to NorthJersey.com. The report, put out by the non-profit Save the Children, found that in the event of a disaster New Jersey isn't comprehensively covered in the categories of an evacuation/relocation plan, reunification with families and caring for children with... Full story »

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Union County College athletic director is accused of videotaping woman in shower

By Carmen Juri/The Star-Ledger

July 21, 2010, 7:08PM

BERKELEY TWP — The athletic director at Union County College in Cranford was arrested and released on bail today after police charged him with invasion of privacy and filing a false police report in connection to a July 11 incident at his Berkeley Township home, authorities said. Police were called to James McCue’s home on Roberts Avenue after a... Full story »

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Sea Isle City to pay $500K in discrimination lawsuit settlement

By The Associated Press

July 21, 2010, 5:55PM

SEA ISLE CITY — A black family who sued a New Jersey shore town for racial discrimination has settled part of the lawsuit for more than $500,000. Dorthea Waters-Rice, her son and granddaughter sued Sea Isle City, its police department and school board in 2004. They alleged the girl was subjected to racial slurs by teachers and was excluded from... Full story »

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UMDNJ to raise tuition as much as 21 percent for some students

By Kelly Heyboer/ The Star-Ledger

July 21, 2010, 4:54PM

UMDNJ officials say the increases were needed to cover severe cuts in N.J. funding at the 6,000-student university Full story »

Tea Party's Racism Deeper Than One Black Woman's Confession | California Progress Report

Tea Party's Racism Deeper Than One Black Woman's Confession

by christine

By Earl Ofari Hutchinson
Fox News, and the gaggle of rightside bloggers, and assorted tea party activists were delirous when they dug up an old tape of Shirley Sherrod. The Agriculture Department’s director of rural development in Georgia was supposedly getting caught with her racism hanging down.
The tape was of a speech Sherrod made at a local NAACP banquet on March 27. Her alleged racist sin was that she admitted that she did less to help a needy white farmer than she could—it happened twenty years earlier.
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Prop 8 is Going Down...One Way or Another

by christine

By Brian Leubitz
On Tuesday, the Field Poll released their latest study on California opinions regarding marriage equality (PDF). It's good news on the whole, with a slight majority favoring marriage equality. But there are some caveats:
The poll's results - 51 percent in favor, 42 percent opposed, 7 percent undecided - show big differences among age groups, geography and party affiliation.
The results were close to those the Field Poll found in May 2008, six months before voters banned gay marriage by approving Proposition 8, 52 to 48 percent.
The current survey also found that support for same-sex marriage drops below a majority when voters are given another option - civil unions.(SacBee)
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Earth To California Voters: We Have Created A Train Wreck!

by christine

By Hannah Beth Jackson
Speak Out California
The latest poll shows that Arnold Schwarzenegger now holds the embarassing distinction of having the same 22% favorability rate as Gray Davis had when Davis became the first Governor in modern-day California to be recalled by an angry electorate.
Of course the public is angry again and for good reason: we're at a 12.3% unemployment rate; we have one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country; the Republicans in the legislature continue to demand that we cut the taxes of fat-cat corporations and the well-heeled oil industry and yet demand more from hard-working Californians, while providing us with less.
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"Frog, I Said Stay in that Wheelbarrow!" :: Frederick M. Hess

"Frog, I Said Stay in that Wheelbarrow!"

by Frederick M. Hess • Jul 22, 2010 at 9:27 am
Cross-posted from Education Week

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This week, over on the National Journal "education experts" blog, we're debating our earnest Secretary of Education's declaration to the NAACP last week that the administration wants a reauthorized NCLB (nee ESEA) to "require parent and community input" in turning around persistently low-performing schools. Joanne Jacobs has another quick take here. My two cents:

Duncan's sentiment is a fine one. Community and parental involvement are enormously important. And low-performing schools often suffer from a paucity of both. Of course, it's not like others haven't tried to previously address this. I especially love Duncan's pledge that the feds will "require" parent and community input. Not only that, but Uncle Sam will require "honest, open discussion" as well. Man, what a great idea. Here are a few other suggestions, while Duncan's on a roll.

Let's require colleges to get meaningful input as to how they can be more cost-effective. Let's require airlines to make a sincere effort to seek customer input about baggage fees and cabin comfort. Let's require the Deepwater Horizon cap not to leak. And let's require frogs not to jump out of wheelbarrows.

Encouraging schools and districts to reach out to parents and communities, providing them with useful tools for

This Week In Education: Business: High-Priced Report Promi$es Unique Insight$

Business: High-Priced Report Promi$es Unique Insight$

by Alexander Russo

Reports and conferences are a dime a dozen in Washington -- the vast majority are free. But that's not the approach being tried by Dutko's new ed policy endeavor, Whiteboard Advisors, which is putting out a July 29 report/webinar on ESEA reauthorization. It's just $499 for the single event(Margaret Spellings and Alice Cain will be there!) or $4,900 for a year's wort

AM News: MA Approves Common Core

by Alexander Russo

Mass. Adopts Common Standards Amid Fiery Debate EdWeek/AP: The state board’s vote is seen as a tipping point in the effort to set common guidelines for what students learn in school... Has Obama’s “Race to the Top” Lost its Shine? Fox News: Randi Weingarten, president of the American Teachers Union, called the program a mixed bag. “The real issue is that ‘Race to the Top’ in principle would be a good program if we didn’t have the kind of budget shortfalls that we have right now. It’s hard to be innovative and to do new and different things that require time and resources when we’re seeing state after state having devastating budget cuts.”

... Arrests highlight education busing issues CNN: The arrest of 19 protesters at a rancorous school board meeting Tuesday brings the issue of busing and diversity in education into the national spotlight... In tough economy, Arkansas' lottery launch exceeds expectations Stateline: Arkansas is the latest state to create a lottery whose proceeds fund college scholarships for state residents. In less than a year, revenues have come in well above what was expected, and 28,000 students will get money this fall... Sodexo to pay $20M for overcharging NY schools Boston Globe: Food services giant Sodexo Inc. has agreed to pay $20 million to settle claims that it overcharged 21 New York school districts and the State University of New York over a five-year span.. Borders introduces textbook marketplace online Boston Globe: Bookseller Borders Group on Wednesday said it is introducing a texbook marketplace on its website in an effort to gain market share in that area.

Rise & Shine: SUNY tuition policy fueling newest budget delay | GothamSchools

Rise & Shine: SUNY tuition policy fueling newest budget delay

by Philissa Cramer

An obstacle to a state budget is how SUNY schools should be allowed to set tuition. (WNYC)
Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy is mourning a student who drowned on Sunday. (Riverdale Press)
Investigators: PS 114’s ex-principal mismanaged the school. (GothamSchools, Daily News, Post, NY1)
Wake County could adopt “controlled choice” admissions policy to foster diversity. (News & Observer)
Chicago is laying off 400 teachers this week, possibly only temporarily. (Sun-Times)
Philly’s charter school chief resigned in the city’s latest round of schools shakeups. (Inquirer)

PA standards get low marks in study | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

PA standards get low marks in study

by Dale Mezzacappa

The Fordham Institute, a big promoter of national education standards, released a report Wednesday comparing existing state standards with the new Common Core standards that a majority of states, including Pennsylvania, have vowed to adopt. And Pennsylvania's standards received some of the lowest scores - a D in English-Language Arts and an F in Math.

Notes from the news, July 22

by Erika Owens

District’s top charter school administrator resigns The Inquirer
Brief overview of Benjamin Rayer's 18-month tenure as chief charter, partnership and new schools officer.
Bill Gates: Money to learn, or burn? The Notebook blog
Bill Gates recently spoke to the AFT convention, and his comments and foundation's spending are generating front-page coverage and blogger commentary.
Grassroots Efforts in Philadelphia Creating an “Edutopia”? Philly School Search blog
Grassroots work to improve Philly schools helps encourage this blogger to send his child to public school.
An Unlevel Playing Field; An Epidemic Ignored Philly Teacher Talks blog
Attendance seems to be handled differently at charter and District schools.
Turning Up the Heat on Learning (Part II) PFT blog
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