Wednesday, October 23, 2013

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The shit has hit the fan

It’s shocking to hear that Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios’ name would come up in a discussion of questionable activity. SHOCKING, I say. -- Evening Rush

Rahm & Joe "The Boss" Berrios

I no sooner finished responding to Laura Washington, who practically wrote off the anti-Rahm opposition in upcoming elections, than a significant chunk of the mayor's team imploded.

It started with reports of another layer of UNO scandal.

Sun-Times reported that the federal Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating UNO for possible securities fraud related to state-backed bonds used to finance school construction projects. This is the second time this year that Quinn has suspended UNO’s funding.

D’Escoto Inc., is listed on the board’s agenda as a minority-owned business subcontractor for construction projects under CPS’ capital improvement plan. The $4.3 million project director services contract is slated to be awarded to the Jacobs Project Management Company, according to the agenda. If approved, D’Escoto stands to earn about 17.5 percent, or about $731,000, according to

CTE Model Curriculum Standards - Standards & Framework (CA Dept of Education)

CTE Model Curriculum Standards - Standards & Framework (CA Dept of Education):

CTE Model Curriculum Standards

Web page for those interested in following the revision of Career Technical Education Model Curriculum (CTE) standards.

CTE Standards

Career Technical Education Standards for California Public Schools

Education Code Section 51226 provides legal authority to develop the CTE standards and framework. This legislation requires the development and adoption of CTE standards that incorporate the integration of career technical and academic education no later than June 1, 2005. The original CTE Model Curriculum Standards were adopted by the State Board of Education (SBE) on May 11, 2005. The standards, written for grades seven through twelve, specify learning goals in 58 career pathways organized around 15 industry sectors.

The California State Plan for Career Technical Education, A BRIDGE TO THE FUTURE 2008–2012, approved by the State Board of Education in May 2008, provides guidance for California’s CTE programs in California. The State Plan states, “CTE programs are dynamic; curricula need to stay current with rapid changes in the workplace, requiring ongoing updates and learning on the part of CTE faculty.” The adoption of the English Language Arts and Mathematics Common Core State Standards furthered the need to revise and align the CTE Standards with this new academic core.

Commencing in May 2011, 117 individuals representing secondary and post-secondary education and business and industry met to review the 2005 standards and make recommendations for improvement. Following the May 2011 meeting, industry sector meetings were held to develop the revised CTE standards based on the recommendations. Subsequently, the revised CTE Standards were share with the general public for public review, comment, and suggestions. Once the CTE Standards were revised, academic and CTE teachers collaborated on the alignment with the Common Core State Standards, Next Generation Science Core Ideas, and the History/Social Science Standards. The newly revised CTE Model Curriculum Standards designed to prepare students to be both Career and College ready were adopted by the SBE on January 16, 2013.

CTE Standards Introduction (PDF; 4MB) - Executive Summary

By Industry Sector

Agriculture and Natural Resources (PDF)
Arts, Media, and Entertainment (PDF)
Building and Construction Trades (PDF)
Business and Finance (PDF)
Education, Child Development, and Family Services (PDF)
Energy, Environment, and Utilities (PDF)
Engineering and Architecture (PDF)
Fashion and Interior Design (PDF)
Health Science and Medical Technology (PDF)
Hospitality, Tourism, and Recreation (PDF)
Information and Communication Technologies (PDF)
Manufacturing and Product Design (PDF)
Marketing Sales and Service (PDF)
Public Services (PDF)
Transportation (PDF)

Resources

Top of page

Timeline

Activity	Schedule
Industry sector stakeholder meetings	May 2011
Standards Alignment Project	August 2011
Industry sector writing team	November 2011
CTE Pathway-Academic Standards Alignment	February 2012
Revisions and academic alignment by Project Team	March – June 2012
Project Team reviews and edits all 15 industry Sector standards	July 2012
Public Input	September 2012
Instructional Quality Commission briefing	September 2012
SSPI issues recommended CTE Standards	December 2012
State Board of Education (SBE) action on Recommended standards	January 2013
Professional Development begins	February 2013

Project Team

Last Name	First Name	Location
Campbell	Bev	California Department of Education
Weikle	Russ	California Department of Education
Zachry	Carolyn	California Department of Education
Caceres	Lindsay	Solano County Office of Education/CTE
Harden	Janet	Solano County Office of Education/CTE
Long	Christine	Solano County Office of Education/CTE
Miller	Gillie	Solano County Office of Education/CTE

Industry Sector Stakeholder Team

In order to accomplish this important work, the California Department of Education (CDE) has requested the assistance of the Solano County Office of Education (SCOE). SCOE is working in concert with CDE to organize stakeholder meetings, review, analyze and edit work completed by the stakeholder groups. SCOE is responsible to the CDE for the organization of the CTE standards product. SCOE and CDE convened industry sector stakeholder meetings to being the review and revisions to the CTE standards.

SCOE and CDE Team

Protesters rally at Vare-Washington over loss of teachers, services | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Protesters rally at Vare-Washington over loss of teachers, services | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:

Protesters rally at Vare-Washington over loss of teachers, services

by thenotebook on Oct 23 2013 Posted in Latest news

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Photo: Isaac Riddle

Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, addresses a crowd of protesters at Vare-Washington Elementary.

by Isaac Riddle

About 50 parents, teachers, students, and community members joined Philadelphia Federation of Teachers president Jerry Jordan in a protest about budget cuts outside of Vare-Washington Elementary School Wednesday afternoon.

The group gathered to voice concerns over the latest loss of programs and services at the South Philadelphia school and to talk about the impact the District’s leveling efforts will have on a school already hurting from staffing shortages brought on by districtwide budget cuts.

With leveling, every Fall the District aligns staffing projections with actual student enrollment. This often means having to shuffle teaching staff from one school to another to keep student-to-teacher ratios in line with contract requirements. With the District in the middle of a funding crisis, leveling has become a potentially devasting process for many schools in need of every available staffer.

Protesters at Vare-Washington said as a result of leveling -- which the District is expected to complete next week -- the school anticipates the loss of six teachers, a

Wall to wall at Roxborough: Career academies come back from the brink

by Bill Hangley Jr. Principal Dana Jenkins with teacher Mark Dumsha of Roxborough High School. (Photo: Bill Hangley Jr.) At Philadelphia Academies Inc., staff members are thinking big: They hope their handful of newly funded career academies are soon common in a school district that struggles to keep students engaged. At Roxborough High School in Northwest Philadelphia, students are just glad

1 by thenotebook / 5h

An interview with Superintendent Hite

Superintendent William Hite took the helm of the city's schools last September amid historic turbulence. One year into his post, the superintendent will be sitting down with the Notebook's Dale Mezzacappa for a live interview at 11:30 a.m. today, where he will talk about the latest School District developments, such as the school funding crisis, contract negotiations, as well his plans for innova

5 by thenotebook / 5h

Philly schools a big issue in controller debate

by Holly Otterbein for NewsWorks City controller candidates Alan Butkovitz and Terry Tracy might be running for the most overlooked office in Philadelphia, but their feisty debate Tuesday night centered on the hottest topic in the city: the cash-strapped School District. The face-off, co-sponsored by the Committee of Seventy, the League of Women Voters of Philadelphia and Young Involved Philadelph

2 by thenotebook / 6h mark as read // save

Notes from the news, Oct. 23

Philly teachers' union, District at odds over two hires. Daily News Nutter: Council won't share info on schools plan. Inquirer Philly schools a big issue in Controller debate. NewsWorks New curriculum adds arts literacy to classrooms. Notebook Committee of Seventy: Governor should form panel to fill SRC seats. Notebook Replacing Pedro Ramos. AxisPhilly On eve of federal fraud trial, charter scho

by thenotebook / 7h

It Takes A Classroom To Learn The Family Language : Code Switch : NPR

It Takes A Classroom To Learn The Family Language : Code Switch : NPR:

It Takes A Classroom To Learn The Family Language

by NADYA FAULX

October 23, 201311:28 AM

Enlarge image

Many first- and second-generation Americans are turning to classrooms to relearn their heritage languages.

Corbis

Call it a linguistic identity crisis.

Growing up in Westchester, N.Y., 25-year-old Danielle Alvarez says, she and her two siblings didn't have much need for Spanish. With few other Hispanic families around, she got by with the few phrases she had picked up from her Mexican-born father: good night, put a coat on, be careful.

Her half-Colombian mother didn't speak Spanish either; it wasn't a big priority. Alvarez says she felt inadequate, though, when she was around her cousins — all of whom did speak Spanish. "I didn't feel quite as Mexican or Colombian compared to my cousins," she says. "I didn't quite know where to place myself."

The linguistic shortcoming weighed on Alvarez. People would hear her Spanish surname and assume she could speak the language; she felt bad that she didn't. When it came time in high

What’s next for standardized testing in California? | EdSource Today

What’s next for standardized testing in California? | EdSource Today:

What’s next for standardized testing in California?

October 22nd, 2013 | 7 Comments |
By John Fensterwald

California students will take far fewer standardized tests for the next few years. Credit: iStockphoto.com

Like high school graduates who pause to figure out what to do in life, most standardized tests in California and the Academic Performance Index that measures them are about to take a gap year – or longer – to give the State Board of Education and legislators time to decide what comes next now that the state’s current testing program is ending.

Last month, Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation that effectively terminates the California Standards Tests, or CSTs, and other assessments that formed the state’s Standardized Testing and Reporting program, known as STAR, for the past 15 years.

Assembly Bill 484 gives the state two years to create a master plan for future state tests and an unspecified period after that to implement the plan. And it gives the State Board the power for the next two years to suspend the Academic Performance Index, the three-digit number that is based on the test results and that defines schools’ and districts’ performance.

It will be years before it’s clear what standardized tests in California will look like. What follows are some of the questions raised by AB 484, some answers

NYC Educator: From the Gotham Charter Schools Mailbag

NYC Educator: From the Gotham Charter Schools Mailbag:

From the Gotham Charter Schools Mailbag

After we ran an innocent little piece encouraging teachers to take photos of their classes for Gotham Charter Schools, we received this message:

You need explicit permission to take photographs in a school building and any employee who does so without it runs risk of dismissal. Employees also need explicit permission from parents or guardians of any students if you are going to publish their photos.

In this climate, teachers whipping out their prohibited cell phones and sending photos to Gotham Charter Schools is not the best of ideas.

I never take photos in the building, only from the street, and I never take photos of students. When I did video projects with my kids last year I got written consent forms from every parent before sharing them with anyone.

We certainly understand that teachers can get into trouble for taking photographs without permission from administration or releases for minor students. In fact, we received another email stating that a principal went crazy when a teacher procured a grant for his school. The principal observed him every day, placed multiple letters in his

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Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Nite Cap 10-23-13 #BATsACT #RealEdTalk #EDCHAT #P2

James Baldwin said it best:

"For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."

TODAY

YESTERDAY

Nite Cap 10-16-13

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