Series Introduction: Helping Our Teachers : NPR

Series Introduction: Helping Our Teachers : NPR:

"Everyone from President Obama on down seems to agree that a good teacher can make a huge difference in a child's life. American schools have been trying for decades to improve teacher quality. The results are mixed. Over the next year, NPR will explore those efforts and take a look at the latest crop of teachers entering the profession."

Newsom plans college 'savings bond'

Newsom plans college 'savings bond':

"Mayor and new daddy Gavin Newsom will unveil a plan to provide every San Francisco kindergartener with a $50 'savings bond' for college - just as soon as he can figure out how to make sure illegal immigrants can qualify."

The idea behind the Kindergarten to College program would be for San Francisco to seed an account for each of the 4,500 children who enter kindergarten in the city's public schools each year. The students and their families would take it from there.Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/28/BA4019SSEV.DTL&feed=rss.matierandross#ixzz0SSDcBhQZ

Cash for the classrooms -- latimes.com

Cash for the classrooms -- latimes.com:

"The teachers are still mostly young -- well, one tough year older -- and passionate about the mission of teaching disadvantaged students. The big difference: There are 43 more of them than last year, a 25% increase. And a tour of classrooms -- English, math, chemistry -- shows fewer students in each. Average class sizes, which had hovered in the low 30s last year, are now in the mid-20s.

This isn't just a change from the year before; it stands in marked contrast to the Los Angeles Unified School District and many other public school systems that have laid off teachers and increased class sizes because of miserable education funding. At the same time, Green Dot maintains order on what was a traditionally unruly campus by spending hundreds of thousands of dollars more on security than most schools."

Bridge to college | bridge, college - Local News - Victorville Daily Press

Bridge to college bridge, college - Local News - Victorville Daily Press:

"It’s a feat that’s brought tears to the eyes of Sacramento bureaucrats, local educators and proud parents: A whopping 100 percent of Serrano High School’s roughly 500 graduating seniors have accepted their diplomas with plans to go on to post-secondary education or the military for the past two years."

Bottled Water Giant Nestle Coming to Most Threatened River Delta in America? : TreeHugger

Bottled Water Giant Nestle Coming to Most Threatened River Delta in America? : TreeHugger:

"That's right, reports the Sacramento News & Review, - Nestle Waters North America has pulled out of its bid to get water from McCloud, near Mt. Shasta and instead is setting up shop in Sacramento. We reported just this year that this area is the #1 most threatened river basin, so why would a water bottling company come here of all places? Is there anything you can do? Click through the jump to find out more."

Sacramento News & Review,

http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/content?oid=1263766

ACLU Opposes Surveillance Camera Plan - Sacramento News Story - KCRA Sacramento

ACLU Opposes Surveillance Camera Plan - Sacramento News Story - KCRA Sacramento:

"'We didn't have $615,000 in our budget for security cameras, but there was Homeland Security money available. I fought for the money and got it. Public safety is a top priority for my administration, and I will use every tool to help reduce crime in our city,' Johnson said in a statement. 'Cameras alone won't solve crime, but they can be part of the solution. If technology helps keep our residents and visitors safe, we'd be foolish not to use it.'"

The School Issue - College - When Your Dorm Goes Green and Local - NYTimes.com

The School Issue - College - When Your Dorm Goes Green and Local - NYTimes.com:

"Thoreau said education often made straight-cut ditches out of meandering brooks. But not at the EcoDorm, which houses 36 undergraduates and is the spiritual heart of Warren Wilson College, a liberal-arts school of fewer than 1,000 students in Swannanoa, N.C."

Up for Debate: Should Kids Be Taught How to Argue? - The Juggle - WSJ

Up for Debate: Should Kids Be Taught How to Argue? - The Juggle - WSJ:

"Studies of high school and college students show they are able to identify the main claims and reasons in an argument only 30% of the time, says M. Anne Britt, a researcher at Northern Illinois University. Much of the time, they wrongly identified the counterclaim as the main argument. Students have an even harder time thinking up logical arguments to weaken an opposing argument. Instead, a Columbia University researcher says, “they tend to … give all the reasons supporting their side, and absolutely ignore the alternative. They say what they have to say, and then say it louder, and hope the other side will go away.” The federal government has funded 13 studies since 2002 on how teachers can instruct students on improving their arguing skills."

Woodson High, South County Secondary Leave National PTA - washingtonpost.com

Woodson High, South County Secondary Leave National PTA - washingtonpost.com:

"The growing number of splinter parent groups, which typically focus on an individual school's needs, is a continuing challenge for the 'Every child/one voice' mission of the national PTA.

'People today look more for: 'What's in it for me? How will this help my child?' ' said Melissa Nehrbass, president of the Virginia PTA. Declining PTA membership, she said, means fewer people who will fight for children who don't have a parent speaking out for them."

District Dossier: Tackling Bullying Based on Sexual Identity

District Dossier: Tackling Bullying Based on Sexual Identity:

"School bullying is a serious issue almost everywhere. But there's a growing concern about bullying targeting a particular population of students.

Students who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender (or who other students assume are) experience not only taunting and ridicule, but physical violence from some of their peers.

A new research brief, published by GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, found many 'GLBT-identifying' middle school students were reporting harassment and hearing homophobic epithets at school on a regular basis."

Read Brief here: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/12223279/THE-EXPERIENCES-OF-LESBIAN-GAY-BISEXUAL-AND-TRANSGENDER-MIDDLE-SCHOOLSTUDENTS-FINDINGS-FROM-THE-2007-NATIONAL-SCHOOL-CLIMATE-SURVEY

Read the full report here: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/11567105/2007-National-School-Climate-Survey-GLSEN-the-Gay-Lesbian-and-Straight-Education-Network

Inside School Research: Post Editorial Says Study 'Demolishes' Anti-Charter Debates

Inside School Research: Post Editorial Says Study 'Demolishes' Anti-Charter Debates:

"That kind of enthusiam might be a little premature. New York is just one city—and one that charter school experts tell me is known for the quality of its authorizing system for charter schools. What's more, the promising practices that the report identifies were merely linked to higher student achievement. Even study author Caroline M. Hoxby points out that her findings don't suggest that things like longer school days, performance pay, or strict classroom management caused the charter school students to outperform their peers in traditional schools."

Education Week: Management Guru Says 'Student Load' Key to Achievement

Education Week: Management Guru Says 'Student Load' Key to Achievement:

"Mr. Ouchi lays out that message in a new book, The Secret of TSL, published this month by Simon & Schuster of New York City. The letters stand for “total student load,” which Mr. Ouchi defines as the number of students that teachers come in contact with each academic term and the number of papers they grade.

In a not-yet-published study of 442 schools in eight large urban districts that have devolved power to local principals, Mr. Ouchi finds that schools that have reduced TSL in measurable ways also tend to have higher passing rates on state exams."

Schools becoming more 'tolerant' as 'zero tolerance' rules end | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | News: Education

Schools becoming more 'tolerant' as 'zero tolerance' rules end News for Dallas, Texas Dallas Morning News News: Education:

"That's welcome news for Robert Hess, whose son Taylor was briefly expelled from L.D. Bell High School in Hurst after a bread knife fell out of a 20-year-old cutlery set bound for Goodwill, and was found in his truck bed on campus.

'That certainly would have saved us an awful lot of trouble,' said Hess, who holds no ill will toward school administrators over the 2002 incident. 'They were bound by their own rules that they had written to dole out this ridiculous punishment, which was one year in alternative education.'"

Despite Test Scores, Shaw Is on the Right Track - Class Struggle - Jay Mathews on Education

Despite Test Scores, Shaw Is on the Right Track - Class Struggle - Jay Mathews on Education:

"Now her poster boy for reform appears to be in trouble, bringing I-told-you-so blog posts from many people who don’t like Rhee, her ideas or her brash style.

How bad was Shaw’s first year? It depends a bit on how you read the data. According to the State Superintendent of Education’s web site, Shaw dropped from 38.7 to 30.5 in the percent of students scoring at least proficient in reading, and from 32.7 to 29.2 in math.
But those were not the numbers Rhee read to Betts over the phone."

Religion remains sticky in social studies debate | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

Religion remains sticky in social studies debate Houston & Texas News Chron.com - Houston Chronicle:

"“It is absolutely right to suggest that Puritans who settled New England came here with a vision for a Christian commonwealth,” Hughes said. “It is absolutely wrong to suggest that America's founders had that same vision. They simply didn't.”

Many of the Founding Fathers were connected with churches and many were not, he said. Letters written by Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, indicated he held the Christian church in utter contempt, the religion professor said. Jefferson viewed Jesus as a moral teacher, but believed that churches had corrupted those teachings, Hughes said."

The Perimeter Primate: Introducing "The Broad Report"

The Perimeter Primate: Introducing "The Broad Report"

I’m not the only one who is bothered by what Eli Broad has been up to over the last several years. Since I started this blog in February 2008, I’ve been contacted by other people via private emails and blog comments. As it turns out, there are many other public school parents, public school teachers, and a variety of people all across the U.S. who are greatly disturbed by things that are happening to the public school systems where they live, courtesy of Eli Broad's "philanthropy." We certainly don’t feel like our communities, or our kids, are benefiting from his largess.

Because the dissatisfaction is definitely out there, I thought it was time to create a place where people could come come together and share what they know. The result is a website I put together over this past weekend called The Broad Report.

Fourth Annual National Bullying Prevention Awareness Week Is Oct. 4 - 10,

Fourth Annual National Bullying Prevention Awareness Week Is Oct. 4 - 10,:

"As part of PACER Center's fourth annual National Bullying Prevention Awareness Week, Oct. 4-10, 2009, children, teens, adults, schools, and communities across the country are encouraged to partner with PACER to prevent bullying. The movement is being given a boost with the launch of PACERTeensAgainstBullying.org -- a relevant, edgy Web site created by and for teens. In addition to videos, stories, blogs, and social networking, the site features a toolbox of things teens and schools can do to address bullying -- from creating their own videos to performing role plays for younger students.

Every day, more than 160,000 children nationwide stay home from school to avoid bullying. Up to one-third of the nation's students are bullied during the academic year, and more than 60 percent witness bullying daily. The results of bullying can be devastating -- or even tragic."

The American Spectator : Running from Reform

The American Spectator : Running from Reform:

"In August, Fenty's integrity took a hit after the mayor -- who makes much of chauffeuring himself around town -- got into a fender-bender. It turns out that Fenty may have violated the spirit (if not the letter) or city regulations by allowing a friend and campaign donor, Keith Lomax, to tool around in city-owned Lincoln Navigators and Smart Cars. Lomax's landscaping firm, by the way, garnered $11 million in city contracts since Fenty took office."

Editorial - Mr. Duncan and That $4.3 Billion - NYTimes.com

Editorial - Mr. Duncan and That $4.3 Billion - NYTimes.com:

"His power to press for reforms was dramatically enhanced earlier this year when Congress gave him control of $4.3 billion in grant money — the Race to the Top fund — that is to be disbursed to the states on a competitive basis. Mr. Duncan will need to resist political pressure and special pleadings and reward only the states that are committed to effective and clearly measurable reform."

Faculty Walkout Teaches an Important Lesson - Daily Nexus

Faculty Walkout Teaches an Important Lesson - Daily Nexus:

"These cuts will have a severely negative impact on all aspects of University operations: Employees will be forced to accept involuntary work reductions (furloughs) and many will even be laid off. There will be much less support for lecturers and TAs, as courses will be cut and many others reduced in size. With fewer classes being taught and less room in the remaining classes, it will take you longer to finish your degrees. The quality of the instruction you receive, indeed, your educational experience as a whole, will also suffer"