Friday, September 10, 2010
Eduflack: Teacher Incentives and Australia-Bound Felons
8 D.C. area schools win National Blue Ribbon award for academic achievement
8 D.C. area schools win National Blue Ribbon award for academic achievement

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Friday, September 10, 2010
Eight public and private schools in the Washington area received one of the highest distinctions in U.S. education Thursday as Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced the 304 winners of the National Blue Ribbon School awards.
Duncan spoke at the District's School Without Walls on Thursday, citing the school -- the only one in the District to receive the award -- for its progress in raising achievement levels among disadvantaged and minority students.
The school, on the campus of George Washington University, requires an application for admission and
voiceofsandiego.org: Schooled: The Education Blog
Inequitable class offerings, poor grades and other problems have prevented San Diego Unified students from meeting the minimum requirements to apply to the University of California or California State University system, a long-awaited report on college readiness has found.
The issue looms larger for African American and Latino students, who are less likely to meet the bar than their white or Asian classmates.
To even apply for public universities in California, students must take 15 courses that meet specific requirements and get a C or better in each, a set of classes known as the A-G sequence. The San Diego Unified school board has pledged to make those classes part of its
San Diego Unified is projecting that it will spend nearly $4 million more on gas, electricity, water and sewer charges this school year than last. The budgeted increase in utility bills comes as the school district faces another year of state budget cuts, pressuring it to findmore savings outside the classroom.
School officials say their budget just reflects the worst case scenario. They hope schools and district offices will ultimately conserve and spend less than budgeted. Several factors led the school district to plan for higher bills, said Jay Naish, energy management supervisor for
Three public schools in San Diego County were tapped for national honors today. Otay Elementary in Chula Vista, the School of Digital Media and Design (one of the schools-within-a-school at Kearny High)and Preuss School UCSD, a charter school on a university campus that targets disadvantaged students, were chosen as National Blue Ribbon Schools.
The national awards honor schools that are either high performing -- in the top 10 percent in the state on both reading and math tests -- or greatly improved, especially when it comes to the academic performance of disadvantaged children. Private schools are also eligible.
The "Buy-In" Tar Pit :: Frederick M. Hess
The "Buy-In" Tar Pit
by Frederick M. Hess • Sep 10, 2010 at 10:53 am
Cross-posted from Education Week
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The "buy-in" tar pit is located adjacent to other similar geographical oddities, like the "consensus-seeking" sinkhole and the "capacity-building" briar patch. These are all easy ways to blame process rather than substance when the complaint is really about substance. So efforts to close lousy schools, trim benefits, or toughen up evaluation are inevitably attacked for a lack of buy-in or stakeholder support, no matter how much time was spent on just those things. (Meanwhile, you hardly ever hear any complaints that across-the-board pay raises were decided with insufficient input.)
Right now, the Washington Teachers Union (the AFT's D.C. local) is throwing everything it has behind D.C. City Council Chairman Vincent Gray in a push to unseat Mayor Adrian Fenty. The media have reported mass mailings, nightly phone banks, and big bucks, in addition to the hard-to-miss radio ads. This all follows, by just a few months, the groundbreaking collective bargaining deal between the WTU and Fenty's schools chief
Collecting spare change for the schools
Collecting spare change for the schools
Andrew S. Ross
Friday, September 10, 2010
Spare change?
Starting Monday, your pennies, nickels and dimes will be gratefully received in collection boxes at public schools in San Francisco and South San Francisco, and Walgreens stores in both cities.
In another sign of the economic times, the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce is teaming up with local businesses, banks and the two cities' school districts in a three-week campaign cheerfully called "The Coin Rush!"
"If you do the math," said Chamber of Commerce CEO Steve Falk, citing a U.S. Mint estimate that $80 million worth of pennies alone are circulating or unaccounted for in the Bay Area, "we can see that collecting pennies, nickels and dimes can add up to a significant amount for our schools."
Yes, it has come to this. "There's a bittersweet aspect, certainly," said Chris
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/10/BUVI1FASCE.DTL&type=education#ixzz0z8dNH3TW
9/11 Resources | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...
Obama to give back-to-school speech Tuesday at Masterman Notes from the news, Sept. 10 | Philadelphia Public School Notebook
Notes from the news, Sept. 10
Obama to give back-to-school speech Tuesday at Masterman The Inquirer
Big get for the Philly schools! President Obama is giving an address during the school day again this year.
See also: Obama Chooses Phila. School for Speech Site KYW
Philadelphia is our city - and they're our schools Daily News (opinion)
The legislative director of ACTION United writes about how the community is a "substantial resource" for the District.
False goals for city schools The Inquirer (opinion)
Chalk and Talk blogger Christopher Paslay writes that maybe every student isn't going to get high test scores.
Changing Skyline: Philadelphia learns a lesson in school design The Inquirer
A look at the new Kensington Creative and Performing Arts High School, which YUC students were heavily involved in designing.
Filling the Need for Skilled Workers Requires Smarter Education Huffington Post
Philadelphia Education Fund board chair Diane Melley writes about "the pressing need to keep students in school."
What Comes Before Filtering, Fearlessness and Foresight Practical Theory blog
Those are the top three leadership skills, which SLA principal Chris Leahmann describe in a Technology and Learning magazine article.
Close eye on South Phila. High School Philadelphia Tribune
Superintendent Ackerman to make first visit to Imhotep Institute Charter High School The Examiner
public school teacher bashing in local media Young Philly Politics
Please email us if we missed anything today or if you have any suggestions of publications, email lists, or other places for us to check for news.
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Education Week American Education News Site of Record
Jobs Money Flowing, but Not Smoothly
Texas saw its $830 million request rejected by the Department of Education, and charter school advocates are dismayed that some may have trouble tapping the $10 billion layoff-prevention fund.(September 10, 2010)
Race to Top Winners Embed STEM Projects in Plans
The winning states proposed in their applications a variety of ways to improve science, technology, engineering, and math in schools. (September 9, 2010) | Comments (1)
INSIDE SCHOOL RESEARCH BLOG
Extra Reading Class Boosts Pupil Skills, but Not Permanently
Learning-Disabled Enrollment Dips After Long Climb
(September 8, 2010) | Comments (3)
Community Colleges Get Creative With Remedial Ed.
With 60 percent of their students needing remedial classes, the colleges are experimenting with new support structures and better assessments in high school and college. (September 9, 2010) | Comments (3)
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