1-22-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL:

January’s Best Tweets – Part Four

Every month I make a few short lists highlighting my choices of the best resources I through (and learned from) Twitter, but didn’t necessarily include them in posts here on my blog. I’ve already shared in earlier posts several new resources I found on Twitter — and where I gave credit to those from whom I learned about them. Those are not included again in this post. If you don’t use Twitter, yo

by Larry Ferlazzo / 3h 

Quote Of The Day: “Does it take more strength to restrain yourself or does it take more strength to fight back?”

Public Radio International just aired an interview with the first Hmong-American judge in U.S. history. They titled it First Days: The first Hmong American judge didn’t always acknowledge his roots. Here’s an excerpt when he’s talking about being ridiculed by classmates: This is a particularly useful article and quote for our school, since our student population is about one-third Hmong. I’m addi

by Larry Ferlazzo / 4h 

“Should We Teach ‘Character’ In Schools? If So, How?”

Should We Teach ‘Character’ In Schools? If So, How? is the new “question of the week” at my Education Week Teacher blog. Feel free to leave your responses in the comments here or there….

by Larry Ferlazzo / 4h hide  //  save

“ClassFlow” Is Live, Available & Free

Last month, I posted about the upcoming unveiling of a new web tool called ClassFlow. Here’s what I wrote then: ClassFlow is a new tool being unveiled by Promethean in January. They say that “Beginning in January 2014, teachers will be able to sign up for a complimentary ClassFlow account.” It looks pretty interesting, though I’ve got to wonder what it’s cost structure is going to end up being. I

by Larry Ferlazzo / 5h 

Testing On The Brain

Something must be in the air these past twenty-four hours, as the idea of tests (or their alternatives) have been appearing in various media outlets. Jessica Lahey, who I like and respect, seemed to start it off yesterday, with her Students Should Be Tested More, Not Less in the Atlantic. She tried hard to temper the headline with the content of the article, but Paul Thomas eloquently points out

by Larry Ferlazzo / 46min 

“Trove” Is A New Personalized Newsreader With Promise

Trove has just been launched by the previous owners of The Washington Post. I’m not sure that it’s radically different from the other sites on The Best Sites For Creating Personalized “Newspapers” Online list, but it seems like it’s worth trying out — especially since my previous favorite tool (Trap.it) discontinued their service last week. My primary concern about it is that — for now, at least

by Larry Ferlazzo / 28min 

1-21-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: This Week’s “Links I Should Have Posted About, But Didn’t” — January (Part Three)I have a huge backlog of resources that I’ve been planning to post about in blog but, just because of time constraints, have not gotten around to doing. Instead of letting that backlog grow bigger, I regularly grab a few and list them here with

by mike simpson / 8min 

My Take on Duncan and Murnane's New Book: "Restoring Opportunity" :: Frederick M. Hess

My Take on Duncan and Murnane's New Book: "Restoring Opportunity" :: Frederick M. Hess:

My Take on Duncan and Murnane's New Book: "Restoring Opportunity"

by Frederick M. Hess  •  Jan 22, 2014 at 12:05 pm
Cross-posted from Education Week

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Three years ago, UC-Irvine's Greg Duncan and Harvard's Dick Murnane published a terrific edited volume titledWhither Opportunity? That volume summarized a slew of evidence on trends in educational outcomes and on how families, schools, and all the rest shape life outcomes for kids. Anyway, that's the backdrop for Duncan and Murnane's new book, Restoring Opportunity: The Crisis of Inequality and the Challenge for American Education, which has just been published by my good friends at Harvard Education Press. (Full disclosure: I edited the "Innovations" series for HEP).

Their timing is auspicious, given that President Obama has recently initiated a national discussion about economic inequality. Those enmeshed in debates will benefit from this concise survey of where things stand, how we've gotten here, and what schools can help do about it.

If you haven't read the prior book, no worries. As Murnane and Duncan explain, they were concerned that the research bent of the first book may have turned off folks who weren't academics or data junkies. They also note that the first book focused on diagnosis rather than prescription. This short volume (144 pages of text) is all about recommending policies and prescriptions for educators, advocates, and public officials.

Duncan and Murnane argue that the answer is not more money, test-based accountability, revamping district 

Voucher Programs, Private Schools, and State Tests

Last week, there was something of a kerfuffle over the Thomas B. Fordham Institute's proposal to impose new regulations on voucher and tax-credit scholarship programs. Fordham called for requiring all participating students to take state assessments;...

1h 

Dream school? | Deborah Meier on Education

Dream school? | Deborah Meier on Education:

Dream school?

Posted on January 22, 2014 by debmeier

I just finished reading “Banding Together,” by David Kirp in the latest issue of the American Educator. It’s all about how schools improve their test scores when labor and management work together, rather than battling each other. Facing, as we are, a “catastrophe”—that “puts United States’ future economic prosperity, global position, and physical safety at risk” according to a 2012 report published by the Council of Foreign Relations, (led by Joel Klein and Condoleeza Rice)—Kirp has some suggestions to make. Kirp mocks it lightly, with an aside on “physical safety?” but his main point is that the best answer is labor-management collaboration. He highlights the work going on in Union City, N.J. They have made a real turn around in test scores AND college graduation rates, he reports. He focuses on what he calls a “dream team” of 3rd grade teachers in one low-income school with lots of non-English speakers. In 25 years they went from one of the most “wretched” to shining stardom. He visited their school and judged it by his own Golden Rule (which I like), “I’d be happy if my own child went there.” The school as a whole, but the dream team in 

Parent Poll Informs Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF)'s Implementation or Does it?

Parent Poll Informs Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF)'s Implementation or Does it?

Real Parent Engagement or Just Another Sash and Scepter Parent involvement show

For far too long Sacramento City Unified School District has "talked" about Parent Involvement in the education of their children with little results. We have set up parent committees that represent District Advisory Council,  School Sites, English Language Learners, Special Education, Gifted students, PTA and PTO, etc. We have said these committees give "voice" to parents. In reality these committee have little effect on the policies and direction of the district.   Parents and other community organizations have been forced to take legal actions to try change direction of the district. 

So now we have Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) and a new SCUSD Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) Advisory Committee. What will change? If history is any guide, not much.

So what could be done to get REAL PARENT ENGAGEMENT?

Maybe a little democracy is in order. How about using the current structure of parent committees and add in some of the community organizations such as the Black Parallel School Board, HIP Hmong in Politics, Sacramento Coalition to Save Public Education and others (yes including the Charter School Companies)  that have participated in Sacramento Education. Instead of a new committee use the established committees and groups to hold the district accountable. Stop dividing  parents into groups that represents how the district see parents and start bringing the community together. Simply ask these existing organization to vote on Major Policy issues and post the results. While not binding on the district this voice might be a little more productive when compare to current Parent Involvement efforts.

Sacramento-area school districts are soliciting ideas on how to spend new state money intended to aid disadvantaged students.
The Sacramento City Unified School District is inviting parents and community members to a public forum Wednesday at the Serna Center, 5735 47th Ave.
The meeting, which starts at 6 p.m., will include information on existing programs that satisfy new goals the state wants districts to achieve with the money. Those include implementation of Common Core State Standards, improving parental involvement and reducing absences. (Sacramento BEE... http://bit.ly/KH7Rib)

 Parents are critical stakeholders to ensure that the transition to the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) is successful and a new poll gauges how they currently interact with schools, their knowledge about LCFF and their eagerness to get more engaged in influencing funding decisions – an essential element in LCFF’s implementation.  

LCFF is clear that parents, community members and stakeholders should be involved in the process to make decisions at the school district level and at each individual school site. This poll is an important benchmark to inform the ongoing work to implement the funding formula and what’s needed to help engage parents in the decision-making process.

Here are the survey findings:

• More than three in four parents (76%) say they are involved in their children’s schools; however, parents with lower incomes report less involvement.

• The majority of parents mentioned a lack of time (69%) and intense work schedules (66%) as reasons for why they are less involved than they would like in their children’s schools.

• California public school parents (72%) are generally pleased with the performance of local public schools. When asked to evaluate school performance, 30% of parents gave an “A” and 42% gave a “B” letter grade.  

• Parents are most likely to learn about what goes on in their children’s schools through their children and the leading sources include direct conversations (97%), information sent home with students (87%) and conversations with their child’s teacher (85%).

• While parents are very involved in many aspects of their kids’ schools as they attend parent teacher conferences (87%) and assemblies, or sporting or performing arts events (77%), few attend school site council or committee meetings (24%).

• About one-third of parents believe that only a small group of parents are given the opportunity to participate in decision-making at their school, and two in five parents with incomes of 30,000 or less say that only a small groups of parents have the opportunity to engage in decision-making. 

• Close to three in four parents (72%) say they would be willing to spend more time guiding school decision-making, with a majority (61%) saying they could commit between one and three hours per week.

• When asked what actions schools could take to increase parent involvement, parents supported efforts that aim to:  
  • Get advance notice of scheduled meetings (83%)
  • Be informed when their voice will have meaning in the decision-making process (80%)
  • Increased frequency of information on LCFF (76%)
  • Provide classes or training for parents on how they can get engaged (64%)
  • Provide child care at meetings (45%)
  • Offer communications in languages other than English (33%)
  • Provide transportation to meetings (27%)

Read this EdSource article for a full summary of the poll findings. To help parents, community members and stakeholders remain engaged in the state and local process to implement LCFF, Children Now recently launch a new website, lcff.childrennow.org, with the latest facts, tools and resources. 

Parents are critical stakeholders to ensure that the transition to the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) is successful and a new poll gauges how they currently interact with schools, their knowledge about LCFF and their eagerness to get more engaged in influencing funding decisions – an essential element in LCFF’s implementation.  Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/01/21/6089673/sacramento-city-unified-holds.html#storylink=cpy

FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Wednesday, January 22, 2014

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

The charter school tipping point

Education Headlines

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

FCMAT provides links to California K-12 news stories as a service to the industry. However, some stories may not be accessible because of newspapers' subscription policies.

Positive behavior support pays off

Positive behavior and character reinforcing programs are gaining popularity - and apparent results - in Mother Lode schools.

Julian Crocker, San Luis Obispo County superintendent of schools, to retire

After 16 years supporting San Luis Obispo County's school districts and advocating for public education, county schools Superintendent Julian Crocker announced Tuesday that he will retire when his term ends next January.

Concerns mount about number of school nurses in Long Beach

Long Beach Unified students are being put at risk because of a lack of funded nursing positions, according to the district’s head nurse.

Sacramento City Unified holds school spending forum

Sacramento-area school districts are soliciting ideas on how to spend new state money intended to aid disadvantaged students.

Denair district, union reach deal; contract will end fears of takeover

Denair Unified School District and its teachers have reached a deal, ending fears of a state takeover, district and union spokesmen said Tuesday.

California schools compete for $250 million in job training grants

California's economy and retiring baby boomers are stoking a growing demand for trained workers the state hopes to fill by handing out $250 million in grants for job training programs at the high school and community college level.

The charter school tipping point

The San Diego Unified School board recently shot down a proposed charter school, opening the door to questions about how many charter schools are too many, and whether the district is on the road to creating a parallel school system.

Should kindergarten be required?

San Diego Assemblywoman Shirley Weber says the state has long centered education policy on the assumption that students attend kindergarten. But kindergarten is not mandatory in California — a shortcoming some say has left too many children unprepared for their first day of school and possibly causing them to fall farther behind in later grades.

Los Angeles City Hall takes a fresh look at LAUSD

Los Angeles Unified Superintendent John Deasy made a rare appearance before a City Council committee on Tuesday, marking the potential start of a closer relationship between City Hall and the school district.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Stockton USD takes shot at keeping kids free of flu and in school

To combat flu illness absences, Stockton Unified has been proactive in offering vaccines at all of its schools.

Bellflower teachers protest for pay raises amid contract negotiations

About 80 teachers from the Bellflower Unified School District lined the blocks in front of the district headquarters on Clark Avenue on Thursday night with signs requesting higher salaries in a silent march before the Board of Education meeting.

LAUSD schools for special-needs students take a more vocational bent

The district is moving toward a model in which all of its 8,000 students with moderate-to-severe disabilities receive some sort of vocational training.

Clovis Unified to hire at least 125 new teachers

After more than a decade of budget cuts and a bout of hiring freezes, Clovis Unified is changing course and planning to recruit several dozen new teachers.

High school hacking probe began months before scandal broke

A cheating scandal at Corona del Mar High School, which surfaced publicly last month, first came to the attention of school officials and the police six months earlier, when a teacher reported that “someone had possibly accessed her computer and altered student's grades,” according to a search warrant for the home of a private tutor suspected in the case.

Hayward truants targeted in business campaign

Decals have begun showing up in store windows throughout the city that warn, "This merchant will report truant students during school hours."

California signals intention to sell former mental institution for schools, parkland

After years of often frustrating negotiations, the state of California has signaled its intention to sell part of the shuttered Agnews Developmental Center for a high school, K-8 school and a park.

1-22-14 Wait What?

Wait What?:

“Yale College seeks smart students from poor families. They’re out there—but hard to find.”

According to the cover of the most recent issue of Yale Alumni Magazine: “Yale College seeks smart students from poor families. They’re out there—but hard to find.” The cover of the January/February issue of Yale Alumni Magazine is a drawing of what appears to be a man in a suite precariously standing on the top […]The post “Yale College seeks smart students from poor families. They’re out there—b

by jonpelto / 1h 

School Bus Seat Belt Fund: A prime example of Connecticut’s budget gimmickry

According to Governor Malloy and his administration, the State of Connecticut is on target to end this Fiscal Year (FY14) with a $506.1 million surplus. Malloy administration officials are so excited about the notion of a budget surplus that they are talking about proposing a targeted election year tax cut to win over middle-class voters […]The post School Bus Seat Belt Fund: A prime example of Co

2 by jonpelto / 1h 

1-21-14 Wait What?

Wait What?: Connecticut Fiscal Policy: Surplus First, Deficit LaterAccording to Governor Malloy, Connecticut’s fiscal house is in order and thanks to “surging” revenue the state of Connecticut will have a significant budget surplus this year and a balanced state budget going into the 2014 gubernatorial campaign.  The Malloy administration is so excited about the news that it rumored to be contempl

by mike simpson / 3min 

1-22-14 Jersey Jazzman

Jersey Jazzman:

Jersey City BOE To Citizens: STFU

Well, isn't this lovely:The Jersey City school board approved a measure this week that significantly curtails when residents can speak at board meetings, an action critics say is an effort to silence them.The changes force all speakers to notify school officials at least one day in advance if they want to make general comments or speak on a specific agenda item. Previously, notice was only require

2 by Duke / 10min 

Charter Schools Are NOT Public Schools: Snow Day Edition

I've brought it up many times here: charter schools are not public schools. They do not operate the same way; they aren't subject to the same laws and regulations about transparency; and students, parents, and teachers don't have the same rights when affiliated with them.Here's an admittedly somewhat trivial but still instructive example. Yesterday, we had a pretty bad snowstorm here in Jersey. Ma

71 by Duke / 42min

1-21-14 Jersey Jazzman

Jersey Jazzman: The Newark 5 Are Not Alone: NJ's Reformy Bullying EpidemicIt's gratifying to see the Newark 5 story getting the coverage it's started to get. Five principals who spoke out against One Newark -- the plan by the Newark Public Schools to close some schools, turn others over to charter operators, and "renew" others -- were suspended Friday for the crime of exercising their Fi

by mike simpson / 9min 

Should Schools Teach About Healthy, Romantic Relationships? | NEA Today

Should Schools Teach About Healthy, Romantic Relationships? | NEA Today:

Should Schools Teach About Healthy, Romantic Relationships?

January 22, 2014 by twalker  
Filed under Featured News, Top Stories

Leave a Comment

By Tim Walker

Very few school boards, superintendents, and principals welcome the prospect of dealing with issues around sex education, often an invitation to controversy and a divided community. If  three Harvard University researchers had their way, however, districts across the country would not only teach sex education, but also retool it to focus on healthy relationships.

Sex education courses in most states (22 states and the District of Columbia mandate it) tend to be built around some form of abstinence education. Thirty-seven states require coverage of abstinence, compared to the 18 that require information on contraception, according to the Guttmacher Institute. While sex ed should continue to address these specific issues, say Richard Weissbourd, Amelia Peterson, and Emily Weinstein in the latest issue of Phi Delta Kappan, they argue that it’s time to shift focus away from “self-control” issues and what they call “disaster prevention” – preventing teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, etc.

Instead, the authors believe sex education should primarily be about helping young people navigate through the rocky emotional terrain of romantic relationships.

“Failure to prepare young people for healthy love and sex can reverberate destructively throughout their lives,” they write. “Divorce (which ends nearly half of all first marriages), constant marital conflict or quieter marital misery, and the inability to even form a relationship all reflect this failure. Sexual education would be far more meaningful and productive if it focused on developing, maintaining, and ending romantic and 

Stop Special Needs Vouchers Wisconsin Coalition Fights Re-introduced Voucher Bill | Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!

Stop Special Needs Vouchers Wisconsin Coalition Fights Re-introduced Voucher Bill | Larry Miller's Blog: Educate All Students!:

Stop Special Needs Vouchers Wisconsin Coalition Fights Re-introduced Voucher Bill

Filed under: Special Education,Vouchers — millerlf @ 10:16 am 

Families of Students with Disabilities Oppose Re-Introduced Special Needs Vouchers Bill

https://www.facebook.com/StopSpecialNeedsVouchers

http://stopspecialneedsvouchers.blogspot.com

Contact: Joanne Juhnke, joannethatsme@yahoo.com; 608-320-6165

Terri Hart-Ellis, terrihar6@hotmail.com; 414-217-8999

Madison, WI – Families of students with disabilities and their supporters across Wisconsin are responding with opposition and dismay to the January 21st return of the harmful special needs voucher proposal to the Wisconsin legislature. The unwelcome return of the special needs vouchers proposal, which failed to pass in previous attempts, would funnel critical taxpayer funding out of public schools and into private voucher schools which lack vital accountability. In addition, these private schools would not be required to abide by the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This re-introduction of a failed proposal comes at a time when the underside of Wisconsin’s voucher program has been on stark display given the sudden folding of Milwaukee’s failed LifeSkills Academy, a private voucher school whose owners had also recently opened a special needs voucher school in Florida.

For Nancy Gapinski, parent from Glendale, the failure of LifeSkills Academy looms large in her concerns about the new special needs voucher proposal. “LifeSkills Academy took our tax money, failed to educate their students, and left families in the lurch in the middle of the night, all while re-inventing themselves as a special needs voucher school in Florida. How can we be considering new vouchers in Wisconsin when this kind of disaster is happening with our current vouchers?”

The bill’s most prominent revision is reportedly a new requirement that voucher recipients must first be denied an open enrollment request to attend public school in a district other than the one in which they live. The 

Republican News Conference on Special Ed Vouchers

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by millerlf / 4min hide  //  save

New Orleans: Appeals Court Affirms that Teachers from Mass Firing Deserve Damages | janresseger

New Orleans: Appeals Court Affirms that Teachers from Mass Firing Deserve Damages | janresseger:

New Orleans: Appeals Court Affirms that Teachers from Mass Firing Deserve Damages

Posted on January 22, 2014 by janresseger

“Before and After.  New Orleans has a new timeline.  A new zero point.  However, a natural event is by no means the sole cause for our new era.  To understand post-Katrina, you have to understand pre-Katrina.  Many folks in post-Katrina New Orleans, particularly in terms of public education, don’t follow this simple pre- and post-postulate.  They are salivating to start from scratch, to establish a new day and a new order, with nothing but disdain for the prezero…  In New Orleans we do have a new moment.  But it is not a moment out of time.  And it is not a story that only those in power will tell…  The before and the after.  The respect for elders and ancestors and cultural traditions.  Without this full picture, our public education, our culture, our souls cannot continue to grow.  Without imparting the knowledge of and action in history and struggle, we cannot teach our children well.”    —Jim Randels and Kalamu ya Salaam, teachers at Students at the Center, a student writing program at New Orleans’ Frederick Douglass High School and Eleanor McMain Secondary School. (Kristen Buras, Jim Randels, Kalamu Ya Salaam and Students at the Center, Pedagogy, Policy, and the Privatized City: Stories of Dispossession and Defiance from New Orleans,[New York: Teachers College Press, 2010], p. 15)

Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in early September of 2005.  The story of what happened to public education in that city after the hurricane remains highly contested.

The Scott Cowen Institute at Tulane continues to publish data said to prove the schools—now well over 80 percent privately managed charters—have been transformed.

Mercedes Schneider, a Louisiana public school teacher and statistician, blogs regularly about