4-22-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum:

Tuesday Open Thread

Is your 5th grade and up student looking for a great sport that offers individual achievement as well as the benefits of participating on a team?  Seattle Canoe & Kayak Club is having an Open House on Sunday, April 27th and Saturday, May 17th from 10 am -1 pm.  Come join us at the Small Craft Center on Green Lake at 9:45AM.  Get to see the competitive Junior Team finish their training session,

by Melissa Westbrook / 0min  

4-21-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle Schools News RoundupFrom SPS:Seattle Public Schools seeks members for School Family Partnerships Task force Seattle Public Schools is starting the process of revising the current School Family Partnerships District Plan. An important part of the review is to engage with our families, staff and community members and gather as much feedback as possible to hel

by mike simpson / 6min 

4-22-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District):

LAUSD board approves multi-year contracts for senior staffers

In another sign of improving financial fortunes for LA Unified, the school board today approved multi-year contracts for many of the district’s most senior staff. In a break from previous years, when high level administration staffers worked on one-year contracts, several of Superintendent John Deasy’s most senior aides were given contracts of two and, in some cases, three years. Deasy declined to

2 by Vanessa Romo / 4h 

LA Unified board issues warning to CHAMPS over theft

Despite hearing assurances that there are no longer fiscal mismanagement problems at Charter High School of Arts – Multimedia and Performing, better known as CHAMPS, the LA Unified school board voted unanimously today to issue a Notice of Violations, usually the first step in revoking a charter. At issue is how the school responded to an employee misusing a school-issued credit card. Appearing bef

2 by Vanessa Romo / 1h

A new $33,600 grant is music to LA Unified’s ears

Music is returning to LA Unified, at least in some schools, thanks to a grant from the SoCal Acura Dealers Association and EcoMedia, a company that helps provide financial support for underfunded projects. The grant, totaling $33,600, will help national nonprofit Little Kids Rock to expand its music education programming to more than 8,400 music students in LAUSD. As part of the donation, musical

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Rachel Johnson using experience to boost District 1 chances

Rachel Johnson Beginning today, LA School Report is taking a longer look at each of the seven candidates running for LA Unified’s vacant District 1 board seat. The series starts today with Rachel Johnson and will continue over the weeks ahead. After three decades as a LAUSD elementary school teacher and nine years as a member of the Gardena City Council, Rachel Johnson is hoping her extensive teac

by Yana Gracile / 19min 

LA County Fed decides not to endorse in the school board race

Delegates of the LA County Federation of Labor AFL-CIO, which represents 600,000 workers in the Los Angeles area, decided last night not to endorse any of the seven candidates for LA Unified school board after a motion to endorse candidate Alex Johnson failed to carry a required two-thirds majority vote. The decision mirrors that of SEIU Local 99, the LA Unified support staff union, which also vot

19min 

LIVESTREAM coverage of today’s LAUSD school board meeting

This morning, the Los Angeles Unified School Board meets at 9 a.m. with an agenda that includes a discussion about the future of CHAMPS, a charter high school which has recently been under investigation on allegations an employee misused school funds. Other items include a resolution by school board members Bennett Kayser and Monica Ratliff to proclaim April as “Parkinson’s Disease Awareness” mont

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Morning Read: No criminal charges warranted for iPads

D.A. reviews report on iPad contract; no charges to come The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has reviewed an internal L.A. school district report on its iPad contract and concluded that criminal charges are not warranted. The report, which has not been released publicly, raises issues about the handling of the bidding process, according to L.A. Unified School District officials who s

1min 

4-21-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District): Morning Read: Counties going easy on spending plansCounty offices to cut districts some slack for now on their LCAPs State and county education officials are seeking to reassure school districts that might be worried that county superintendents will reject the new accountability plans they’ll submit by Ju

by mike simpson / 22h 

4-22-13 Curmudgucation

CURMUDGUCATION:

Trials of the Traveling Student

What about the students who move?It's a question often raised in support of the CCSS, or just national standards in general. Don't we need national standards so that students who move won't be thrown for a loop when they change schools, even across state lines? I'm unconvinced by this argument.I'll admit up front that, as both my regular readers know, I am not a believer in national standards at a

by Peter Greene / 21min 

4-21-13 Curmudgucation

CURMUDGUCATION: Why Are Teachers So Quiet?Some recent comments on this blog took teachers to task. A parent activist noted her own work against the current reformy regime and then added "and teachers as a profession and individually refused/refuse to step up and do their share of push back - paychecks were/are more important than the principles at stake and our children's wellbeing."Rece

by mike simpson / 33min 

Teachers’ Licenses No Longer Jeopardized by THE Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS) |

Teachers’ Licenses No Longer Jeopardized by THE Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS) 



Teachers’ Licenses No Longer Jeopardized by THE Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS)

 On Friday, April 12th, the Tennessee Board of Education met and rescinded much of the policy that ties teachers’ licenses to their value-added, as determined by the growth in their students’ performance on tests over time as calculated by the all-too-familiar Tennessee Education Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS), and its all-too-familiar mother-ship the Education Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS). This means that “teachers’ licenses can no longer be jeopardized by the changes in their students’ test.”

What a victory for teachers in Tennessee! Especially given the TVAAS has been in place in the state since 1993, and Tennessee is the state with the longest running history using value-added (thanks to education “value-added” creator William Sanders).

Although, again, it might be too soon to celebrate, as rumors have it that some of the other consequences tied to TVAAS output are still to be pushed forward. Rather, this might be viewed or interpreted as a symbolic gesture or compromise, to open up room for further compromising in the future.

Accordingly, David Sevier, the Tennessee State Board’s Deputy Executive Director also noted that the Board of Education can “now begin to find a measure that is comparable to Teachers’ Licenses No Longer Jeopardized by THE Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS) 

4-22-14 The Whole Child Blog — Free Webinar: Connecting the Cultural Divide: What Do Great Teachers in the United States and China Do? — Whole Child Education

Free Webinar—Connecting the Cultural Divide: What Do Great Teachers in the United States and China Do? — Whole Child Education:

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

Free Webinar—Connecting the Cultural Divide: What Do Great Teachers in the United States and China Do?

April 22, 2014 by Klea Scharberg

Join Leslie Grant and James Stronge, authors of the new ASCD book West Meets East, in an exciting, free webinar as they discuss what teachers in the East (China) can learn from their counterparts in the West (United States) and vice versa.

Wednesday, April 29, 2014, 3:00 p.m. eastern time
Register now!

Teaching practice occurs in specific cultural settings and evolves in ways that can reflect the underlying cultural values advocated and nurtured by the wider society. The United States and China—two nations that are drastically different in demographics, history, political systems, and socioeconomic status—also differ dramatically in teaching systems and instructional practices. What can the two nations learn from each other?

With that in mind, Grant and Stronge set out to answer a set of questions regarding effective teachers in the two countries, not least of which were: What beliefs and practices of effective teachers are common to both U.S. and Chinese teachers? What beliefs and practices are unique to each culture?

In many school visits, teacher interviews, and observations Grant and Stronge uncovered striking and exciting similarities and differences among teachers. This webinar will focus on sharing stories that illuminate how teachers in each country viewed their personal relationships with students, planning as a part of the instructional process, best practices in instructional delivery, and classroom management and student engagement.

Leslie Grant is an assistant professor of education at the College of William and Mary, and teaches in the Educational Policy, Planning, and Leadership Area. Her research interests focus on cross-cultural comparisons of teaching, teacher effectiveness, and assessment literacy for classroom teachers and educational leaders. James Stronge is the Heritage Professor of Education, a distinguished professorship, in the Educational Policy, Planning, and Leadership Area at the College of William and Mary. His research interests include policy and practice related to teacher quality and effectiveness, and teacher and administrator evaluation. Stronge will also be featured in the upcoming Whole Child Symposium Virtual panelon May 14 discussing what's currently happening in schools and what’s needed in the future to be successful.

Explore forthcoming and archived ASCD webinars.

4-21-14 The Whole Child Blog — Getting Back to the Real Policy Basics — Whole Child Education

Getting Back to the Real Policy Basics — Whole Child Education: Getting Back to the Real Policy BasicsPost written by Howard Adelman, PhD, and Linda Taylor, PhD, codirectors of whole child partner Center for Mental Health in Schools at UCLA. The Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Model provides another opportunity to get back to policy basics. A fundamental societal need is to end the marg

1 by mike simpson / 16h 

FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Tuesday, April 22, 2014

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

EdSource: Santa Ana Unified caters to parents to boost accountability meeting attendance

Education Headlines

Tuesday, April 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.

Common Core boosts push for technology in classrooms

If there’s one thing certain about Common Core, it’s that technology will play a much bigger role in Ventura County classrooms.

Yoga program to expand beyond Encinitas

The foundation that brought yoga to Encinitas elementary schools will hold an open house to announce plans to expand the program nationally Wednesday night.

Sweetwater board backs agreement with teachers

The three remaining trustees on the Sweetwater Union High School District board voted unanimously Monday to approve a contract agreement with the district’s teachers union.

Credit card spending could cost Van Nuys school its charter

Charter High School of the Arts in Van Nuys could lose its charter because officials failed to act when a former employee racked up $27,000 in personal expenses on her school credit card.

Orinda school board refuses to hear complaint against principal

Three years after hearing complaints from parents about what they claim is strict and overly harsh punishment of students by an elementary school principal, a majority of Orinda School District trustees have voted down an appeal to hear a new complaint filed by a teacher against the administrator.

D.A. says no charges warranted over L.A. schools' iPad contract

The Los Angeles County district attorney's office has reviewed an internal L.A. school district report on its iPad contract and concluded that criminal charges are not warranted.

EdSource: Santa Ana Unified caters to parents to boost accountability meeting attendance

Retired principal Frances Byfield used translators, meals, babysitting, and prize raffles to motivate parents to attend the district’s 23 LCAP community workshops. Each meeting venue was prepped in advance to identify locations to set up audio-visual equipment, childcare services, and meals consisting of turkey sandwiches in the evenings and coffeecake in the mornings.

Monday, April 21, 2014

Shoreline superintendent dismissal unpopular among parents, school employees

The Shoreline School District Board of Trustees has opted to move on from first-year Superintendent Tom Stubbs, upsetting many of the district's parents and employees who want him to stay.

Three new high schools in the works in Long Beach Unified

Plans are underway to open three new high schools in Long Beach Unified — two small public schools and a charter school.

High-paid Centinela Valley school chief can cash in lucrative whole-life insurance policies

The embattled superintendent of the Centinela Valley school district — who is under investigation for his massive pay — took out a $750,000 life insurance policy before securing approval from the school board to do so, the Daily Breeze has learned.

Former Woodside principal won't face charges in molestation-by-teacher case

Contra Costa prosecutors said Friday they will not file criminal charges against a former Woodside Elementary School principal for how she responded to the conduct of teacher Joseph Martin, who faces 150 child molestation counts involving 14 Woodside students.

Republican congressmen join legal flap over Cinco de Mayo incident at South Bay high school

Several conservative groups and 20 Republican members of Congress have jumped into the legal fray over a South Bay high school's decision to order a group of students wearing American-flag adorned shirts to turn them inside out during a 2010 Cinco de Mayo celebration.

How can a teacher fired for molestation allegations get another job in East Bay classroom?

The news both shocked and outraged: How did a suspected child molester land a job teaching children after being fired by a different school two months earlier?

Probes target Centinela Valley school district superintendent's pay

County, state and federal authorities are investigating the compensation of a South Bay school district superintendent who received nearly $675,000 last year, far more than the leaders of much larger systems.

California fails to adequately educate youth inmates, report says

California and other states are largely failing to adequately educate most of the 70,000 youth locked up at any given time in juvenile detention facilities, according to a national report released Thursday.

Charter school bill stirs debate over autonomy

Charter school advocates from the county and state rallied Wednesday in San Diego against legislation they believe would chip away at the autonomy that’s crucial to their brand of education.

Santa Monica teacher who scuffled with student to be reinstated

Santa Monica school district officials will reinstate a teacher who was placed on paid administrative leave after video clips showed him locked in a tussle with a student in a classroom.

Republicans see political wedge in Common Core

The health care law may be Republicans’ favorite weapon against Democrats this year, but there is another issue roiling their party and shaping the establishment-versus-grass-roots divide ahead of the 2016 presidential primaries: the Common Core.

Two more managers in Centinela Valley school district put on paid leave

The scandal in the Centinela Valley school district is widening, with two mid-level managers being placed on paid leave as several investigations continue into the excessive compensation of Superintendent Jose Fernandez.

Oceanside Unified adopts ‘zero waste’ goal

The 23 schools in the Oceanside Unified School District are the first in California to adopt a zero waste program. The commitment pushes the district to reduce waste at all school sites and the district office by 75 percent by 2020.

Mentoring group gives L.A. Unified students an extra way to connect

Los Angeles Unified School District teachers say extra support by City Year volunteers in the classroom is instrumental to helping struggling students

Fensterwald: County offices to cut districts some slack for now on their LCAPs

State and county education officials are seeking to reassure school districts that might be worried that county superintendents will reject the new accountability plans they’ll submit by July 1 for the 2014-15 year. Tighter scrutiny will come, just not for the initial plan.

My Students Don't Know How to Have a Conversation - Paul Barnwell - The Atlantic

My Students Don't Know How to Have a Conversation - Paul Barnwell - The Atlantic:

My Students Don't Know How to Have a Conversation

"Students’ reliance on screens for communication is detracting—and distracting—from their engagement in real-time talk."

 Recently I stood in front of my class, observing an all-too-familiar scene. Most of my students were covertly—or so they thought—pecking away at their smartphones under their desks, checking their Facebook feeds and texts.

As I called their attention, students’ heads slowly lifted, their eyes reluctantly glancing forward. I then cheerfully explained that their next project would practice a skill they all desperately needed: holding a conversation.

Several students looked perplexed. Others fidgeted in their seats, waiting for me to stop watching the class so they could return to their phones. Finally, one student raised his hand. “How is this going to work?” he asked. 

My junior English class had spent time researching different education issues. We had held whole-class discussions surrounding school reform issues and also practiced one-on-one discussions. Next, they would create podcasts in small groups, demonstrating their ability to communicate about the topics—the project represented a culminating assessment of their ability to speak about the issues in real time.

Even with plenty of practice, the task proved daunting to students. I watched trial runs of their podcasts frequently fall silent. Unless the student facilitator asked a question, most kids were unable to converse effectively. Instead of chiming in or following up on comments, they conducted rigid interviews. They shuffled papers and looked down at their hands. Some even reached for their My Students Don't Know How to Have a Conversation - Paul Barnwell - The Atlantic:

4-22-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter:

The brave new technology

Sent to the Wall Street Journal, April 22, 2014I do not share the enthusiasm about new digital technology in education ("Founding principles in the digital age," April 22). There is no evidence that the brave new online tests that promise "real time testing" will be any better than those we have now. In fact, we have not even seen them in action: According to Fair Test (fairtes

by skrashen / 18min 

KIPP Counts on Teach for America for a Reliable Supply Chain of Expendable Teachers

Teach for America plays a crucial role in providing a never-ending supply of disposable teachers for KIPP and the other corporate welfare charter reform schools that are so popular among the cultural sterilization advocates and the vampires of Wall Street.  In the interview segment below, a survivor of KIPP discusses the ongoing teacher sacrifices to CorpEd's Great Maw.INT:  Let me ask you this qu

2 by Jim Horn / 17min 

How Much Will Shelby County Slash to Pay for the Increasing Burden of Charter Schools?

During this school year now winding down, Shelby County Schools will give up $67 million to corporate charter schools in Memphis.  Next year that amount will increase almost 16 percent to over $78 million, so that almost one dollar of every ten spent will be for charter schools.  That's $145 million in two years.The 39 charter schools will get more, then, than all monies in the budget for student

by Jim Horn / 13min 

4-21-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter: Will Harry Be Held Back in Kindergarten?Back in December I reported on Harry, a little boy I have come to know who goes to kindergarten in the leafy suburbs of Germantown, TN.  I talked with Harry's dad yesterday and got an update on how school is going, with only 4 weeks left in the year. Harry's dexterity has improved since December, so that now he is not being downgraded for not

by mike simpson / 22h 

Organizing Resistance to Teach for America Coalition for Public Education/Coalición por la Educación Pública

Coalition for Public Education/Coalición por la Educación Pública:



Organizing Resistance to Teach for America

by Kerry Kretchmar and Beth Sondel

 In July 2013, we were two of the facilitators of the “Organizing Resistance to Teach For America and Its Role in Privatization” people’s assembly at the Free Minds, Free People conference in Chicago. Our goals were to learn from those fighting for equity in communities and help connect the myriad resistance efforts to TFA—in communities, among TFA alumni, and on college campuses where TFA participants are recruited. The planning committee included parents, community activists, veteran teachers, and TFA alumni. Together, we learned more about TFA and made some important advances in resistance. We also made some mistakes. Here is our story so far.

Why Organize?

Will we seize the moment? I challenge us to make this our Egypt moment, folks. Our country can’t wait. –Joel Klein, TFA 20th Anniversary Summit

We watched incredulously. There we were, celebrating TFA’s 20th anniversary in a room with 11,000 other TFA alumni. In addition to Klein (then-chancellor of the New York City schools), speakers at the plenary included Michelle Rhee, Dave Levin, Geoffrey Canada, John Deasy, and other high-profile promoters of market-based reform. The messages from the panelists were consistent and dire: Schools are in crisis; ineffective or lazy teachers and the union that protects them are to blame. The solution lies in the radical transformation of our public school system, which must, they argued, be led and staffed by those in the room. And then it became surreal: Joel Klein compared TFA to the democratic revolution then erupting in Egypt, prompting the crowd to rise to their feet cheering.
We attended the summit as critical alumni and as graduate students researching TFA. Speaker after speaker promoted market-based solutions: charter district reform, deregulation of teacher education, and merit-based pay. And focused on the role of TFA alumni in promoting these efforts. We arrived at the summit with strong reservations and left with the unequivocal understanding that TFA has fully embraced a corporate-sponsored agenda. After we returned from this pep rally for privatization, we began to trace the connections between TFA and corporate reform.
Through our research, we realized that TFA has emerged as a primary supplier of teachers and leaders for the expansion of charters at the school, local, regional, and national level. The organization has done an unparalleled Coalition for Public Education/Coalición por la Educación Pública:

Florida charter schools - Sun Sentinel

Florida charter schools - Sun Sentinel:

Chan Lowe: The truth about charter schools

The conviction that divine right is on one’s side can be a laudable motivator in the cause of good, but it can also rob people of perspective, and impel them to act in irrational ways.



The Spanish Inquisition and the Crusades, for example, may have arisen out of relatively pure motives, but in retrospect they only show us how unchecked righteous zeal can be perverted and culminate in a horrific outcome.

In a less extreme way, zealots who otherwise revere the Bill of Rights occasionally have a blind spot when it comes to the part of the First Amendment that prohibits the establishment of religion. Periodically, we hear of legal confrontations where someone tried to have a monument to the Ten Commandments located inside the rotunda of a state capitol, or in the lobby of a supreme court. Some drive-through town will paint a cross on its municipal water tower. An annual battle will flare over allowing nativity scenes on public property.

The Republican-dominated Florida Legislature has a soft spot in its heart for charter schools. The stated rationale for establishing such facilities was that the state’s public schools were so lousy that parents should be allowed to send their children to an alternative venue — a publicly funded school outside the local system. Never mind that if more money were spent on public education in this state, the conventional systems would be quite adequate, obviating the need for alternatives.

The unspoken reason conservatives are so enamored of charter schools is that many of these operations are religiously-based, which means that the charter school concept is really a back-door way of financing faith-based education with public tax money. To some people, that would appear to be aprima facie violation of the First Amendment. To a politician trying to please a special-interest constituent base, it’s a mere legal nicety to be casually dismissed.

We also happen to live in a country where many of our citizens believe that God Himself wrote the U.S. Constitution. Maybe they don’t mind that everyone’s taxes are being used to nurture and perpetuate their religion. The question is: What about the rest of us?