Wednesday, July 16, 2014

7-16-14 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):

McKenna is the union candidate, but CTA gave to Johnson backers

McKenna is the union candidate, but CTA gave to Johnson backers California’s biggest teacher union contributed $20,000 to an organization that is a major supporter of the LA Unified school board District 1 candidate that UTLA is trying to defeat. According to the California Secretary of State, which tracks political contributions, the California Teachers Association (CTA) gave the money to the Afr

by Vanessa Romo / 36min

With budget boost, LAUSD police gearing up for new year

With budget boost, LAUSD police gearing up for new year A budget increase of $4 million is enabling the LASPD, the police force that serves LA Unified, to build on the safety practices the department began implementing last year. The additional funding came as a result of a growing number of school shootings across the country, including the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn

by Yana Gracile / 3min

Morning Read: California schools mislabeling English learners

Morning Read: California schools mislabeling English learners California ‘English learner’ tests incorrectly label bilingual kids Arianna Anderson is one of 180,000 students enrolled in the Los Angeles Unified School District’s program for English learners. Over 90 percent of students in the program speak Spanish. Most everyone else speaks Armenian, Korean or Filipino. And Arianna? “I’m not an Eng

17min

7-15-14 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: Pension fund for CA teachers looking upCalSTRS reports a big year of earnings Riding the wave of record high stock prices on Wall Street, the fund providing pension benefits for California teachers and school administrators reported Monday that it earned a return of 18.66 percent on its asse

by mike simpson / 22h

7-16-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum:

Homeless Students? How best to help them

This fall we see the opening of First Place School as a charter school serving mobile, high-risk students (mostly homeless). The Times had a story about how homeless students are served in schools in Washington state with an interesting question to it.The Times reports that there are about 30,000 homeless kids in our state today (and that number has steadily risen over the last decade). School ca

by Melissa Westbrook / 30min

7-15-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Who Was Using What Math (and how did Principals feel about the Math Adoption)?I'm not sure this information will answer all questions, but I did put in a public disclosure request from SPS on the issue of what schools had been using enVision. Here's the feedback I received on June 23rd. (It is not complete as they are still trying to see if there were any MOU/agr

by mike simpson / 21h

NYC Public School Parents: Our comments on how the city's proposed Contract for Excellence plan violates the language and the spirit of the law

NYC Public School Parents: Our comments on how the city's proposed Contract for Excellence plan violates the language and the spirit of the law:

Our comments on how the city's proposed Contract for Excellence plan violates the language and the spirit of the law

Please send your comments to ContractsForExcellence@schools.nyc.gov by the deadline of July 19; Mine are below. thanks!

Comments on the proposed Contract for Excellence plan from the NYC Department of Education

July 16, 2014

To: ContractsForExcellence@schools.nyc.gov

cc: bdeblasio@cityhall.nyc.gov

From: Leonie Haimson, Class Size Matters

The Contract for Excellence law (C4E) was passed in 2007 as a direct result of the Court of Appeals decision in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE) case, in which the state’s highest court found that New York City schoolchildren were deprived of their constitutional right to receive a “sound basic education,” in large part because of excessive class sizes. For example, the court found that “over half of New York City schoolchildren are in classes of 26 or more, and tens of thousands are in classes of over 30.”

The Court ordered the state to reform its school funding system, and for the state to “ensure[s] a system of accountability to measure whether the reforms actually provide the opportunity for a sound basic education.”

The Contracts for Excellence law promised additional state funding to struggling districts in return for a pledge that they would spend them on five evidence-based reforms, later expanded to six. For NYC, they added one crucial requirement: that the city would submit a plan with annual targets to reduce class size in all grades to be achieved over five years. Here are the regulations:

In the city school district of the City of New York, include a plan that meets the requirements of clause (c)(2)(i)(a) of this section, to reduce average class sizes within five years for the following grade ranges:

prekindergarten through grade three;
grades four through eight; and
grades nine through twelve.

Such plan shall be aligned with the capital plan of the city school district of the City of New York and include continuous class size reduction for low performing and overcrowded schools beginning in the 2007-2008 school year and thereafter.

Though the city’s original C4E plan, approved in Nov. 2007, called for the city to lower class size in all grades, instead class sizes have increased each year, and are now the largest in 15 years in grades K-3 and the largest since 2002 in grades 4-8. As news account attest,more than 330,000 students attended classes of 30 or larger last year.

Recent reports by Class Size Matters, the Independent Budget Office and the City Comptroller’s office show that school overcrowding has also worsened since 2007, in part because the school capital plan was never aligned with the city’s class size reduction plan.

How do we know this? The class size standards in school utilization formula in the annual school capacity report known as the Blue Book, which are supposed to drive the capital plan, are larger in every grade (28 in grades 4-8 and 30 in high school) than current class size averages except in K-3, and thus will tend to force class sizes even higher. There are no class size standards at all in the Instructional Footprint that the DOE devised to decide where to put school co-locations, as these standards were eliminated in 2010. Thus, wherever there is “excess” space in a school building, DOE inserts another school rather than lower class size.

The DOE has made many other policy decisions that have undermined the efforts of school principals to reduce class size, including cutting NYC Public School Parents: Our comments on how the city's proposed Contract for Excellence plan violates the language and the spirit of the law:

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 7-16-14

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit:

How Music Ed Powers The Steam Movement

By Richard Naithram, NEA Today Online | http://bit.ly/Wb0zcQ July 16, 2014 :: With many of the nation’s education leaders focused on the importance of STEM education, the movement to add music to the equation is getting more attention. Recently, a panel of experts gathered on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC to discuss ways to elevate music education– and the arts in general – and turn STEM (

by smf / 5min hide // save

Arne Duncan Flubbed On Common Core …And Then He Made It Worse

Opinion by Karin Klein, member of the L.A. Times editorial board, in the Times | http://lat.ms/1jy0yKh Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, speaks at its convention over the weekend in Los Angeles. (Los Angeles Times) July 14, 2014 :: The scaffolding of support for the Common Core curriculum standards continues, right and left, to lose a beam here, a platform

by smf / 23min

Better Educated Public School Kids – For A Price

By The Los Angeles Times Editorial Board | http://lat.ms/1oHUdbq Peninsula High School students listen as biology teacher Julie Maemoto explains how to do an upcoming experiment in her summer biology class. (Los Angeles Times) July 16, 2014 :: Children in the United States get unequal educations; that's unfair but unlikely to change in the near future. Some school districts have more

by smf / 12min hide // save

La Schools: California ‘English Learner’ Tests Incorrectly Label Bilingual Kids

by Annie Gilbertson | 89.3 KPCC | http://bit.ly/1mhhkrZ Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC | Arianna Anderson, 9, looks at a book at the Torrance Public Library. Her parents, Hilda and Brent, worry she is losing her love of reading, because the school is not providing services tailored to her needs. Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC | Brent Anderson looks at books with his daughter, Arianna, at the

by smf / 15min

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 7-14-14

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: American Federation of Teachers: “REMEDIATING” DUNCAN AND RETAINING THE “CORRUPTED” COMMON CORE + smf’s 2¢by Mercedes Schneider | New post on deutsch29 blog /http://bit.ly/1mOAPwc July 14, 2014 :: I'm wondering what of substance was accomplished thus far at the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) national convention in Los Angeles July 11-14, 2014.

by mike simpson / 21h

Confessions of a D-List Reformer | EduShyster

Confessions of a D-List Reformer | EduShyster:

Confessions of a D-List Reformer

Everything you ever wanted to know about education reform land but were afraid to ask…

By *The 49er*
I have a confession—I am an education reformer. So what am I doing here, hooking up with the likes of EduShyster? I got involved in the education reform movement because I honestly believe that all kids in this country deserve a better public education system. I wish that the same could be said of all of my peers in the movement. My insider’s perspective has given me some unique insights into the education reform movement and I’ll be sharing them with you here.

Why the 49er?
I’ve picked for my moniker *the 49er.* ( I have to remain anonymous for now, unfortunately.) And no, the 49er is not a reference to the better football team in the Bay Area. I’m channeling the original 49ers (not the ones from Charlotte, either) who *first* settled California. If you remember your history, you’ll recall that the 49ers came west in search of gold. They came by the wagonload across the country on a difficult journey, and while most of them never found the gold and riches they were looking for, they did find the land of California. In most cases, California turned out to be more pleasant from where they came from, so they stayed, and California started its path towards becoming our most populous Confessions of a D-List Reformer | EduShyster:

A head teacher tells students: These test results don't tell... | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com

A head teacher tells students: These test results don't tell... | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com:

A head teacher tells students: These test results don't tell your whole story. And the Internet concurs.

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A new study finds that drilling and worksheets help first graders struggling in math more than group activities or other student-centered activities.

By Maureen Downey

The Internet is celebrating a letter sent to students in a British elementary school from the head teacher.

Addressed to each student by name, the printed letter cites the recent results of England’s national curriculum test for students in Key Stage 2, which covers children ages 7 to 11.

First the letter from Barrowford Primary School to its students:

Please find enclosed your end of KS2 test results. We are very proud of you as you demonstrated huge amounts of commitment and tried your very best during this tricky week.
However, we are concerned that these tests do not always assess all of what it is that make each of you special and unique. The people who create these tests and score them do not know each of you... the way your teachers do, the way I hope to, and certainly not the way your families do.
They do not know that many of you speak two languages. They do not know that you can play a musical instrument or that you can dance or paint a picture.
They do not know that your friends count on you to be there for them or that your laughter can brighten the dreariest day. They do not know that you write poetry or songs, play or participate in sports, wonder about the future, or that sometimes you take care of your little brother or sister after school.
They do not know that you have travelled to a really neat place or that you know how to tell a great story or that you really love spending time with special family members and friends.
They do not know that you can be trustworthy, kind or thoughtful, and that you try, every day, to be your very best... the scores you get will tell you something, but they will not tell you everything.
So enjoy your results and be very proud of these but remember there are many ways of being smart.

Now a comment: This is a lovely letter, but British students face highly competitive exams in high school to qualify for university.

Along those lines, here is an article from yesterday’s Telegraph in London about a push in England to increase high school rigor, a familiar lament to Americans. Note the end of the course exam reference – something Georgia students will recognize.

GCSEs and A-levels will be overhauled with a greater focus on developing the higher level skills that teenagers need at university and in the workplace, it has been announced.
New draft syllabuses will be published by the Department for Education on Tuesday as part of a wide-ranging plan to improve the “integrity” of school leaving exams and ensure pupils are properly prepared for later life.
For the first time, new maths A-levels will require sixth-formers to interpret at least one large data set such as mortality and health statistics – placing a greater emphasis on interpretation and problem solving skills.
In foreign language courses, pupils will be expected to learn about sociological and
A head teacher tells students: These test results don't tell... | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com:

Is teaching an art or a science?

Is teaching an art or a science?:

this was written and posted in March 2012. As I begin to prepare to teach in yet another school/district including a course I have never taught before, I have been rereading my ideas on education. I thought this worth sharing again. Do with it what you will.

The thoughts in this piece were occasioned by a conversation where i was asked if I thought teaching more of an art rather than a science. I responded that the question was a false frame, and was asked to explain.

My explanation comes in part from my background and formal education in music.

I think what we are seeing in education is neither art nor science, but the attempt to turn education into an engineering problem. In engineering, it is of course important to have rigorous standards. In manufacturing the ideal of exactly the same interchangeable parts is an important component of mass production, which provides consistency, and may even save on cost.

But students are not, and should not be, widgets or other manufactured outputs. They are absolutely unique individuals, and should be respected as such, even as we try to assist them in growing and developing and learning how to learn. Please note that last phrase - learning how to learn - we thereby empower them to lifelong learning that does not depend upon a formal school/educational setting.

Is music composition an art or a science? Is performance of a pre-composed piece an art or a science? Is the improvisation one sees in jazz, which is part of fulfilling the continuo of many baroque works, which was originally what was done in the cadenza of a concerto, an art or a science?

The answer is, as far as I can tell, both and to a lesser degree neither. It is both because it is not an absolute dichotomy. If I compose and have in mind how the piece is going to sound, there are elements of science - harmony, acoustics, timbre, the range of instruments or of human voices - but by itself that does not a meaningful musical work create. I might create a work that technically follows the rules of strict counterpoint or sonata allegro format, which is performable by the instruments and/or singers for who it is written, but is absolutely boring. It is then equivalent of much of what we are seeing happen as a result of 'reform' in American education.

There is more.

When I play a piece of music previously composed, I have material with which to work: the Is teaching an art or a science?:

Improving revenues hasn’t rolled back class sizes :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet

Improving revenues hasn’t rolled back class sizes :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet:

JULY 16, 2014

Improving revenues hasn’t rolled back class sizes

by Tom Chorneau

(Wash.) A rebounding economy and expectations that recreational marijuana will deliver a windfall in state revenues has raised hopes for an initiative aimed at decreasing class sizes in Washington’s K-12 schools.

But a survey of budget battles in other places, however, suggests educators are still fighting an uphill battle to restore funding cut during the recession even though there’s a lot of public support for smaller student-teacher ratios.

“It's something everyone recognizes needs to happen, but how will we pay for it?” asked state Sen. Ann Rivers of Vancouver, in an interview earlier this month with The Columbian. “Everything's on the table. Everything must be on the table. We must proceed with that in mind.”

An often debated strategy for improving student achievement, small class sizes have been a goal pursued generally across the country for much of the past 40 years.

According to data from the Digest of Education Statistics, however, that trend changed abruptly between 2008 and 2010 when the average student-teacher ratio nationally jumped 5 percent from 15.3 to 16 – a figure that is thought to still under value the actual class size because it includes special education where teacher-student ratios are often much smaller.

Classroom overcrowding has become a major issue in a number of places – perhaps most prominently in New York where an audit released earlier this month found nearly a third of the city’s schools were as much as 200 percent over-capacity in 2012. The finding prompted Mayor Bill de Blasio to call the conditions “unacceptable” and vowed to address it.

The situation in Washington state may not be quite as dramatic, but perhaps it is not far off in the wake of a 2012 court ruling that found the Legislature has illegally underfunded schools. Part of that neglect, critics say, has left Washington 47th in the nation.

In response, an effort led by the state’s teachers association appears to have qualified a measure for the November ballot that would gradually decrease class sizes, giving priority to the lower Improving revenues hasn’t rolled back class sizes :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet:

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