U.S. Department of Education Releases School-Level Assessment Data in Reading and Math for All Schools for 2008-09 to 2010-11 | U.S. Department of Education

U.S. Department of Education Releases School-Level Assessment Data in Reading and Math for All Schools for 2008-09 to 2010-11 | U.S. Department of Education:

U.S. Department of Education Releases School-Level Assessment Data in Reading and Math for All Schools for 2008-09 to 2010-11

JANUARY 31, 2013

Contact:  

 Press Office, (202) 401-1576, press@ed.gov 

The U.S. Department of Education announced today the release of student performance data in reading and math for all schools in the country for school years 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11. This is the first time the Department is releasing school-level state assessment data. The data are being released as part of the Department’s ongoing transparency efforts.

“It is important for the Department to continually provide transparency into our programs and the performance of our schools,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “Releasing this school-level assessment data is an important step toward that goal. As we know, test scores alone will never determine how effective our schools are, and we are working to release more varied school-level data that we collect over the coming months.”

The data the Department is releasing are reported to the Department under the requirements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended. They provide information on the total number of students who were assessed and received a valid score, along with the calculated percent of those students who score at or above state grade level proficiency. Information is presented on student subgroups at each grade level assessed within the school, along with information on the school as a whole.

In order to protect the privacy of individuals represented within the data, the percentage of students at or above grade level proficiency has been suppressed for very small student groups and ‘blurred’ for larger groups.

The data being released today are being made available through data.gov, the Administration’s online site providing public access to high value, machine readable datasets generated by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. Six new tables are being published as part of this release and may be accessed by visiting http://explore.data.gov.

**Detailed access instructions: 

1. Go to http://explore.data.gov
2. Change the sort order to reflect “Newest” in the dropdown menu on the right.
3. Using the filters on the left side of the screen, select “Education” under ‘Categories’
4. Today’s release is made up of the six datasets named “Achievement Results for State Assessments….”

1. Users can also access the individual datasets directly using the following links:

Mathematics Results, School Year 2008-09 (https://explore.data.gov/d/jie4-w22m)
Mathematics Results, School Year 2009-10 (https://explore.data.gov/d/hhtw-4eb7)
Mathematics Results, School Year 2010-11 (https://explore.data.gov/d/r3ix-z65i)
Reading/Language Arts Results, School Year 2008-09 (https://explore.data.gov/d/mvz4-m3zh)
Reading/Language Arts Results, School Year 2009-10 (https://explore.data.gov/d/s5rp-twp9)
Reading/Language Arts Results, School Year 2010-11 (https://explore.data.gov/d/6qru-yfc5)

A double dose of algebra improves math and verbal skills as well as college enrollment | Get Schooled

A double dose of algebra improves math and verbal skills as well as college enrollment | Get Schooled:

A double dose of algebra improves math and verbal skills as well as college enrollment

by Maureen Downey

Doubling up on algebra classes in high schools has big payoffs, according to a new study.

Interesting study out of Texas A&M on the impact of increased algebra exposure in high school:

When students’ time learning algebra is doubled, both their math and verbal skills improve and their rates of college enrollment increase, reveals a study conducted in part by a Texas A&M University researcher.
Kalena Cortes is an assistant professor at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M, and along with Joshua Goodman, assistant professor of public policy at Harvard 

Update: Board Meeting on Interim Plan Seattle Schools Community Forum: Updates for Today's Seattle School Board Meeting

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Updates for Today's Seattle School Board Meeting:

Part Two of Interim Meeting

by Melissa Westbrook

Sorry, having some issue live blogging.

Director Peaslee is submitting her amendment.   She stated that her amendment was basically what the staff said a week ago with just a few modification.  She believes that it does include relief for Eckstein and Hamilton (but just as with the staff's rec, who really knows because there is so much churn that it is near impossible to know what or where students will be enrolled).  She also says that Principal Debbie Nelson at JA K-8 supports this plan and Laurelhurst supports being moved to Eckstein.  She says, "This will give parents choice. And I believe they will choose well for their students."

DeBell question:  K-8 capacity in 6th grade except for Pinehurst?  Are we going to change the enrollment caps that we have in place?  Physical space for K-8s for additional 6th graders except at JA K-8 (but that enlarges JA K-8).
Morello - capacity at K-8 is 841 for 608 is about 439 and these numbers are without portables on site.  Looking 

Seattle Schools Board Meeting on Interim Plan

by Melissa Westbrook

I will be trying to live blog (iPad is not making it easy) from the meeting.  The Board is just finishing up a Work Session on the Budget.

Well, this is interesting.  In the handout from Pegi McEvoy, it states that they need $1M for  "kitchen remodel and other necessary facilities upgrades from BTA III balance fund."  What the heck is this?  And they need $112k for a planning principal for JA Middle School (fine) but then $920,000 for mitigation and support for the JA Middle School 6th grade rollup fro General Funds.

We need to take nearly $1M from our General Fund for this effort.  Wow, that's a lot of money.

Ah, so I asked Pegi McEvoy.  That kitchen remodel is for JA's kitchen because they are moving from a K-8 to a 

Updates for Today's Seattle School Board Meeting

by Melissa Westbrook

It appears that a couple of people dropping off the speakers list so there is at least one spot open if you want to call in to claim it, 252-0040.   As well, they will have a waitlist in case any of the scheduled speakers do not come forward.

Also, Director Peaslee has put forth her own amendment.  I agree with her thinking.

Basically, she is asking for two things:

- wait a year for implementing the new JA Middle School with planning for it ongoing and a planning principal in place by September 2013
- reassign Laurelhurst students to Eckstein to take the pressure off of Hamilton (and fit in those APP students).

As well, it asks for the Superintendent to support an effort to recruit students for JA K-8, Pinehurst, TOPS and Salmon Bay.

Over enrollment at Hamilton can be relieved with minimal disruption by assigning the 6th
graders from Laurelhurst to Eckstein. Pressure on Eckstein and Hamilton can be relieved by

Petition | Sacramento City Unified School District: Vote NO on the school closures! | Change.org

Petition | Sacramento City Unified School District: Vote NO on the school closures! | Change.org:

Petitioning Sacramento City Unified School District Board Members 

Sacramento City Unified School District: Vote NO on the school closures

Too many questions, too little time!

On January 17, 2013, the Sacramento Unified School District proposed to close 11 elementary schools. The District plans to take a vote on February 21, 2013 on a finalized closure plan, providing parents, students and the community with very short notification of this sweeping proposal and little-to-no involvement in the process. We – the parents, students, and community – demand the District follow “Closing a School Best Practices” guidelines, as enumerated by the California Department of Education, by extending the decision-making process to 7 months.

We believe the current process to close 11 schools is not transparent and does not allow enough time for our parents and community members to understand the process and provide the District informed input.

We, the undersigned, urge all SCUSD Board Members to vote NO on February 21st and for the District to create a process, using best practices, that takes into consideration the concerns and needs of parents and students. We need to put our children first! Thank you.

To:
Sacramento City Unified School District Board Members
Jeff Cuneo, President, Board of Education, Area 2
Patrick Kennedy, Vice President, Area 7
Darrel Woo, Second Vice President, Board of Education, Area 6
Gustavo Arroyo, Board of Education Member, Area 4
Jay Hansen, Board of Education Member, Area 1
Diana Rodriguez, Board of Education Member, Area 5
Christina Pritchett, Board of Education Member, Area 3 

Please put students first by voting NO on the school closures at the February 21st Board Meeting. Please create a process that takes into consideration the concerns and needs of parents and community.

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Diane in the Evening 1-31-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:

If I Were Secretary of Education…(2)

by dianerav

From a reader:
1, Dispose of Teach for America and alternative certification (except for vocational courses) or revise it completely as follows. Hire TFAs as paraprofessionals to work under experienced teachers for their first year.
2. Require a commitment of 5 years, not 2, so the schools get full benefit from them
3. Do not place them in schools with high percentages of disadvantaged and disabled students. Instead, put them in middle class schools and create incentives for the best teachers to go to the disadvantaged schools 

Bad Ideas from NY StudentsFirst

by dianerav

Matt Di Carlo of the Shanker Institute demonstrates what bad ideas StudentsFirst (NY) has when it comes to improving teacher quality.
The organization discovered that most teachers with unsatisfactory ratings are in high poverty schools. SFNY has a strategy to solve the problem: punishments and rewards.
Di Carlo points out that the organization seems woefully uninformed by research, experience, or evidence. He 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 1-31-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Walton Funds School Closing Hearing in Chicago by dianerav This is amazing. According to the Chicago education research journal Catalyst, the Chicago Public Schoolsreceived nearly half a million dollars from one of the nation’s most rightwing foundations to sponsor “community engagement” on school closings. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants to close as many as 200 schools. He also wants to open more charters, which would be non-union and would mean another dramatic decline in the number of African-American ... more »

Big Education Ape - SPECIAL Mid Day Banana Break 1-31-13 #soschat #edreform

Big Education Ape - Mid Day Banana Break

Central Park East I & II’s Future

by debmeier

Dear friends,
Please support the wonderful, historic, progressive Central Park East I and II elementary schools as they try to expand into a middle school to provide a much-needed progressive middle school alternative in upper Manhattan. Their proposal to open a middle school has been turned down by the DOE four years in a row, most recently because there was allegedly no space for the middle school. But at the same time a new charter school, the East Harlem Scholars’ Academy, was allowed to open on the third floor of CPE I’s building. It was supposed to be temporary, for two years only, but now they have applied for a three-year extension and in addition–on the basis of their “proven” year-and-a-half of excellence (!)– to start a second school, East Harlem Scholars’ 

  Parents and Students Demand Nationwide Moratorium on School Closings  

Popout 

BUT... Melissa Harris-Perry Buries The Lead Story on National Wave of Public School Closings

By BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon

When print or broadcast news outlets grab a compelling story, only to distract attention away from what the public needs to know, that's called “burying the lead.” That's what Melissa Harris-Perry did in her Jan. 26 segment on whether the nationwide wave of public school closings were “racist” or not.

Melissa Harris-Perry devoted an eight minute segment of her January 26 MSNBC show to the question of whether the 

What's Fit For Poor Kids

by noreply@blogger.com (Tim Furman)

Check out this picture from a member of the Dubois Elementary School community at last night's school-closing marketing session. I saw this picture on the Raise Your Hand Twitter stream.

Yes, that's a destroyed room that hasn't been fixed. Water damage? It's hard to tell.  It's factored in as an "ancillary" room at Dubois, and as such, it contributes to the nonsensical utilization rating that CPS is using to plan its attack on the Dubois community.

These rooms are all over the city. There's one at Gale in Rogers Park. An unusable room. I know the parents at Gale--- I spoke to one this morning. Trust me, if CPS would fix that room, Gale would find an excellent use for it,as they have for every single room in the building.

However, in the city, public school students must be crammed into buildings where 77% of the classrooms are 

Fault lines emerge in mayoral hopefuls’ consensus on schools

by Philissa Cramer

Mayoral candidates mingle after discussing education at an event Wednesday hosted by the principals union.

If education policy discussions among mayoral candidates were a song, the second verse would be the same as the first.
With two recent entrants to the Republican race absent, the lineup for Wednesday evening’s discussion, hosted by the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, was identical to the first education debate held in 

Morning Read: UTLA Backs Garcetti for Mayor

by Samantha Oltman

Teachers Union Backs Eric Garcetti for Mayor 
The Los Angeles Teachers Union voted late Wednesday to endorse Eric Garcetti for mayor and Mike Feuer for city attorney in the March 5 primary election. LA Daily News
See also: LA School Report

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GOP Legislators Propose California School Districts Arm Teachers
Democratic legislators say bill that would allow districts to spend education funds to train teachers, administrators and janitors in gun use doesn’t have a chance. LA Times

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Charter School Growth Fund Paying Off, Study Says
For the past seven years, an organization called the Charter School Growth Fund has been providing those schools with millions of dollars in grants and low-interest loans, after putting them through a screening process to try to gauge whether their promise is worth the investment. EdWeek

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Principal at Center of LAUSD’s Latest Sex Abuse Scandal May Lose Credential
The Commission on Teacher Credentialing will decide today whether to suspend a principal for allegedly failing to report abuse by one of her teachers. KPCC

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Support Builds for Tougher School Safety Plan Requirements
Bipartisan support appears to have coalesced behind a proposal to better enforce a state requirement that all schools have updated safety plans. SI&A Cabinet Report

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6 LAUSD High Schools to Compete for Participation in National Cooking Contest
LAUSD high school students will go head-to-head in a cooking contest Thursday for a chance to participate in a national cooking competition. CBS LA

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School Boards and Parents Should Consider the Rising Pay of District Chiefs
Californians should be equally upset to learn about the bigger paychecks going to superintendents of many of the state’s struggling school districts. LA Daily News Editorial

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Californians Upbeat on Ed Budget, Poll Finds
Californians are expressing a long-lost sentiment: optimism. A new survey by the Public Policy Institute of California found growing support for Gov. Brown, for his education finance proposal and for making it easier for local communities to pass parcel taxes to help fund their schools. EdSource

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Banning High in Wilmington to Host Meeting on Plans to Split School
The public is invited to a meeting Thursday night at Banning High School in Wilmington to discuss a plan by the Los Angeles Unified School District to split the school into two separate schools with two principals come next fall. Daily Breeze

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International Space Station Patch Designed by Astronomy Buffs at Granada Hills’ Valley Academy of Arts and Sciences
Narek Baghosian and Florian Storz, members of the Astronomy Club at Valley Academy of Arts and Sciences in Granada Hills, have designed a patch that will be carried on a privately funded flight to the International Space Station. LA Daily News

HotSeat Interview: Former Duncan Comms Guy Peter Cunningham

by Alexander Russo

Safely back in Chicago after four years commuting to DC, former USDE communications chief Peter Cunningham shares his thoughts about the ups and downs of working in the Obama administration, the differences and similarities between working for a local Board of Education and the US Secretary of Education -- the local reporters are more obnoxious, apparently -- and what makes Arne Duncan better than most other appointees and elected officials.
Finally on the HotSeat, Cunningham credits Joanne Weiss for making Race to the Top a big success, and Carmel Martin for the NCLB waiver program. (Despite all my feeble attempts to give him credit/blame for naming RTTT, he says it wasn't him.) Cunningham describes how difficult it is to do parent engagement from 

New pre-kindergarten moves quickly in Mississippi

by Jackie Mader

Mississippi is one step closer to funding state-wide pre-kindergarten after a new bill passed the Senate Education Committee Thursday morning. The bill would phase in a pre-k program, and mandate early childhood programs in underperforming school districts, in a state that has adamantly refused to prioritize early childhood education for years. The proposal, and subsequent passage by the Senate Education Committee, comes as a surprise to advocates of early childhood education. Mississippi is the only state in the south, and one of 11 in the nation that does not currently fund pre-k. Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant has stated that education will be the focus of this year’s legislative session, but his budget proposal left out funding for pre-k except for a 

UFT--Champion of Junk Science

by NYC Educator

It's pretty remarkable the situation we now find ourselves in. If there's a problem with an evaluation system, you wouldn't expect a teacher union to see the addition of junk science as an improvement. You'd be wrong, of course, You'd think, if the uber-reformy mayor opposed the new junk science system, union leadership would say, "Whew! What a relief," and move on. Wrong again.

In fact, now, with the mayor insisting that any junk science system we institute must be written in stone and  carry the gravatas of the Ten Commandments, you'd think the union would say, "Well, any system ought to be subject to review, and when the mayor chooses to be reasonable, we'll be happy to negotate." I guess you'd be wrong again.

Because when Andy "I am the government" Cuomo announced he wanted to simply impose a system, the UFT President said, in 

Kochs pour $24M more into phony think tanks, schools

by Teamster Power

A new report says the  Benedict Arnold Koch brothers spent another $24 million in 2011 to destroy workers' rights, foul the environment, enhance corporate monopoly power and rig elections for their political puppets. 

And believe it or not, they did it through nonprofit "charitable" foundations. 

The Center for Public Integrity reported that the Kochs run foundations with a staggering $310 million in assets last 

Business leaders urge Congress to rewrite No Child Left Behind

by Valerie Strauss

A group of chief executive officers at leading U.S. companies is urging Congress to rewrite No Child Left Behind as part of its recommendations for policies that promote business growth in 2013. The Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive … Continue reading →

Obama’s 2nd-term Education Agenda: Where Do Latinos Fit?

by NewsTaco

By Gabriel Sanchez Zinny, Huffington Post Latino Voices

Amidst all of the election-year sniping, education reform never became a major issue in the 2012 presidential campaign. Even though both candidates released their competing proposals, the closest education came to center stage was a couple of sharp exchanges during the debates, quickly forgotten.

This is unfortunate, because the evidence on educational attainment, as demonstrated by recently released reports, including the important TIMSS and PIRLSS reading 

Has Testing Reached A Tipping Point?

by Sam

(This article also appeared on the SmartBlog on Education.)

It wasn’t that long ago that suggesting America’s schools had become test-obsessed was a lonely endeavor.  Although organizations like FairTest and campaigns like Time Out From Testinghave been decrying the flawed logic behind high-stakes tests for years, the reality is that for the past decade, many of us kept our complaints reserved for the privacy of the parking lot

People vented. Policymakers nodded. And absent any real noise, the tests continued.

In 2008, however, the election of Barack Obama seemed to

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 1-31-13 Diane Ravitch's blog

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Walton Funds School Closing Hearing in Chicago by dianerav This is amazing. According to the Chicago education research journal Catalyst, the Chicago Public Schoolsreceived nearly half a million dollars from one of the nation’s most rightwing foundations to sponsor “community engagement” on school closings. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants to close as many as 200 schools. He also wants to open more charters, which would be non-union and would mean another dramatic decline in the number of African-American ... more »

Opportunity to Learn, Teach, and Lead — Whole Child Education

Opportunity to Learn, Teach, and Lead — Whole Child Education:

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

Opportunity to Learn, Teach, and Lead

January 31, 2013 by Klea Scharberg

What does it mean to be a teacher, a learner, and a leader in today's schools and classrooms? What do we need to be effective? How will the current standards movement affect us, as professionals, and our students? How do we find out the answers to these questions?

The Common Core State Standards lead us to focus on the ways students make transitions between grade levels. They provide a new definition of what it means for students to be knowledgeable and achieve mastery in English language arts and mathematics. But these standards are not the whole answer; they do not address all the facets of learning under a whole child approach to education. We can use the Common Core State Standards as a beginning—a starting point in transforming our teaching practices; learning new ways to collaborate and connect professionally; and taking leadership roles in seeking out professional development, finding resources to build new curricula, and making ourselves heard for what we and our kids need.

Let's get started. Let's take the next step. Achieve, an independent, bipartisan, nonprofit education reform 

Schools Matter: New from CREDO: Charter Schools are No Better than Public Schools, and Don't Expect Them to Change

Schools Matter: New from CREDO: Charter Schools are No Better than Public Schools, and Don't Expect Them to Change:

New from CREDO: Charter Schools are No Better than Public Schools, and Don't Expect Them to Change

by Jim Horn

A new analysis of charter schools in the U. S. is out from CREDO, the Stanford-based outfit that found in 2009, when there were 4,700 charters across 40 states, that 17 percent of the nation’s charter schools were scoring better on standardized tests than the public schools they were created to replace:

While the report recognized a robust national demand for more charter schools from parents and local communities, it found that 17 percent of charter schools reported academic gains that were significantly better than traditional public schools, while 37 percent of charter schools showed gains that were worse than their traditional public school 

Do parent trigger laws fire blanks? Is it parents who really take over schools or management companies? | Get Schooled

Do parent trigger laws fire blanks? Is it parents who really take over schools or management companies? | Get Schooled:

Do parent trigger laws fire blanks? Is it parents who really take over schools or management companies?

by Maureen Downey

In explaining the impetus for his parent trigger bill,  House Majority Whip Edward Lindsey, R-Atlanta, cited the need to get parents and school boards talking.
“It creates an additional avenue of communication directly from the parents to the school board, which I think is critically important.” Lindsey told a media assemblage earlier this month.
Wouldn’t coffee chats be an easier way to get parents and school boards talking?
House Bill 123 allows a majority of the parents or a majority of the faculty and instructional staff  to petition for a complete overhaul of the school by converting to charter school status or another turnaround model.
The bill specifies that the parents can:

1) Remove school personnel, including the principal and personnel whose performance has