Editorial - The ‘Highly Qualified Teacher’ Dodge - NYTimes.com

Editorial - The ‘Highly Qualified Teacher’ Dodge - NYTimes.com:

"Education Secretary Arne Duncan has been widely held in high regard since he was appointed in January, but no honeymoon lasts forever. Mr. Duncan’s came to an abrupt end earlier this week when he issued long-awaited rules that the states must follow to apply for his $4.3 billion discretionary fund, known as the Race to the Top Fund, and the second round of federal financing under the $49 billion federal stimulus package known as the state fiscal stabilization fund."

The rules for the Race to the Top Fund, which is designed to reward states that embrace reform and bypass those that do not, are generally sound and have been greeted with enthusiasm. But some school reform groups and some in Congress have reacted with dismay to the part of the stabilization fund that was supposed to require the states to end the longstanding and reprehensible practice of shunting unprepared and unqualified teachers into the schools serving the poorest students.

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 was clear in requiring states to remedy situations in which high poverty schools were being disproportionately staffed by teachers who were inexperienced, unqualified or teaching in fields that they had not majored in.

The country would be much further along on the reform trail had the Bush administration followed the law. Instead, it allowed the states to define away the problem by re-labeling the existing, inadequate teacher corps as “highly qualified.”

America's Top College Professor - WSJ.com

America's Top College Professor - WSJ.com:

"Elliott West doesn't seem like the coolest guy on campus. With his tweed coat and thinning hair, he appears to be the stereotype of a studious professor, only truly at home among library stacks or in a dusty archive. But Prof. West, who teaches American history at the University of Arkansas, is in the midst of a heated public competition: He is one of three finalists in a contest that will confer a prize on the best college teacher in America. In the highest sense of the word, Prof. West is a competitive performer."

The prize itself—sponsored by Baylor University and called the Cherry Teaching Award, after the late alumnus whose donation made it possible—is one of the biggest money awards that an American professor can win ($200,000). And its measure of merit is not scholarly output but classroom performance—that crucial aspect of the teaching mission that is so often overshadowed, these days, by the arcana of specialized research and the mad race for publication and tenure.

The Cherry award seeks out college teachers who, according to both students and fellow teachers, are especially good at making clear, forceful, inspiring, knowledge-rich classroom presentations that actually help students to learn. The finalists this year include, in addition to Prof. West, Roger Rosenblatt of Stony Brook University and Edward Burger of Williams College. Each has been asked to deliver a public lecture at Baylor and another lecture on his home campus. The winner—chosen by a panel of Baylor-appointed judges—will have the privilege of spending a semester teaching at Baylor (as well as cashing that hefty award-check).

D.C. school uneasy about Rhee's plans for it - washingtonpost.com

D.C. school uneasy about Rhee's plans for it - washingtonpost.com:

"For much of the past decade, Rose L. Hardy Middle School has been a small gem in the District's public education system, a place where large numbers of sixth- seventh- and eighth-graders have found academic success.

Nearly three-quarters of its students are proficient in reading, according to last spring's standardized test. Its acclaimed fine arts and instrumental music program, built by longtime Principal Patrick Pope, draws students from across the city and has helped develop artists such as bassist Ben Williams, winner of the 2009 Thelonious Monk jazz competition."

Final Rules On Charter Schools In $4 Billion Federal Grants Criticized | AHN

Final Rules On Charter Schools In $4 Billion Federal Grants Criticized AHN:

"Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The Education Department's final rules on its 'Race to the Top' competition for states is being both praised and criticized for its de-emphasis on charter schools and student achievement to measure teacher performance.

The $4.35 billion program announced in July awards grants to states that show a record of undertaking reforms and a plan for further improvements, such raising caps or changing laws that prohibit charter schools, supporting merit pay and using student test scores to evaluate teachers, and establishing effective data systems for students. The funds are part of the $100 billion set aside for education in the administration's stimulus, or $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

But the final rules released by the Education Department on Thursday put less emphasis on the use of test scores and the expansion of charter schools. 'Multiple measures' will now be used to evaluate teachers but these measures 'includ[e] a strong emphasis on the growth in achievement of students.'"


The agency said it made the changes after reviewing comments from more than 1,100 people. "The comments helped us clarify that we want states to think through how they will create a comprehensive agenda to drive reform forward," announced Education Sec. Arne Duncan.

The changes seemed to assuage teachers.

"The Department of Education worked hard to strike the right balance between what it takes to get systemwide improvement for schools and kids, and how to measure that improvement," the American Federation of Teachers said in a statement. "Policy is made in Washington, but reform happens where students are taught-in the classroom. Race to the Top creates a real opportunity, but it will work only if all stakeholders come together to make it work."

Read more: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7016985939?Final%20Rules%20On%20Charter%20Schools%20In%20$4%20Billion%20Federal%20Grants%20Criticized#ixzz0WkcXiGMs

A Key Step for California’s Youngest Learners | California Progress Report

A Key Step for California’s Youngest Learners California Progress Report:

"Earlier this week, early learning advocates were excited to see Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger take a critical step forward for California’s youngest learners by signing an executive order to create the California State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care.

Establishing the council is critical because it positions California to receive millions in federal funds for early education programs.

The new council will ensure efficiency, effectiveness and accountability in California’s early childhood education system. It will lead efforts to develop a high-quality, comprehensive system and strengthen state-level coordination and collaboration among California’s early learning and child care programs."

Program offers students and adults a second chance | fdlreporter.com | Fond du Lac Reporter

Program offers students and adults a second chance fdlreporter.com Fond du Lac Reporter:

"Failure never has to be an option at Fond du Lac High School."

An after school credit recovery program ensures that seniors who have fallen behind can catch up in time to graduate with their class.

Known as E20/20, the Tuesday afternoon and evening offering also invites community residents to come in and earn their high school diploma. Cost for adults is $100.

“All they have to do is bring in their school transcript and they can start working online or with pass packets. When they’ve earned enough credits, they get a diploma. They can even participate in the ceremony,” said Assistant Principal John Meznarich.

E20/20 started during the second semester of the last school year as a continuation of the alternative education concept offered for years through the Fond du Lac School District. The new twist is wireless access to classes.

Go to the e2020 web site: http://www.e2020inc.com/

11.12.2009 - How to solve California's fiscal crisis? First, don't think of an elephant

11.12.2009 - How to solve California's fiscal crisis? First, don't think of an elephant:

"BERKELEY — If they noticed it at all, readers of the Contra Costa Times must have found the brief announcement utterly commonplace. 'Linguistics expert and UC Berkeley professor George Lakoff will speak at the Nov. 12 meeting of the Lamorinda Democratic Club,' it began, just another routine listing in the paper's 'Political Notes' column. Few would have blinked at its characterization of the evening's topic: Lakoff's ballot proposal to 'eliminate the two-thirds voting requirement for a state budget or new taxes.'

George Lakoff (Peg Skorpinski photo)Yet the item's very innocuousness — with its seemingly neutral reference to taxes — hints at the size of the challenge Lakoff faces in his fledgling quest to end gridlock in Sacramento. For Lakoff, a cognitive scientist best known for his work on 'framing' and for dissecting the political mind in such books as Moral Politics and Don't Think of an Elephant, language is anything but neutral. And for his initiative to have a shot at becoming law, it's crucial that voters don't think of it as a license to boost their taxes."

"This isn't about taxes," he insists, slapping the desk in his small Dwinelle Hall office for emphasis. "It's about democracy."

In that spirit, he's named the initiative, submitted recently to the attorney general's office, "The California Democracy Act." But the newspaper's phrasing underscores a point to which Lakoff returns again and again: The way we think is governed by cognitive frames, largely unconscious metaphors burned into our brains. Thanks to three decades of Republican framing, he explains, "taxes" has come to mean politicians taking citizens' hard-earned money to waste on government. He advises supporters to avoid the term and focus instead on democracy and "revenue."

Change the frames of the budget debate, Lakoff argues, and you can change California history.

To that end, he's crafted a one-sentence, 14-word proposition he aims to get on the November 2010 ballot: "All legislative actions on revenue and budget must be determined by a majority vote." The measure would roll back the two-thirds votes needed to pass a budget and raise taxes in a state that's inarguably an economic basket case — exceptionally high hurdles Lakoff and many others blame for draconian cuts to state-funded programs and services, including the University of California. The provisions were inserted into the state constitution by the granddaddy of all California ballot initiatives, 1978's property-tax-reform Proposition 13.

Is Cloud Computing a Credible Solution for Education? -- Campus Technology

Is Cloud Computing a Credible Solution for Education? -- Campus Technology:

"Can cloud computing live up to its hype, or is it just another empty promise designed to create demand and liberate more funds from already strapped IT budgets?

'Hype aside, cloud computing is nothing new,' according to Bruce Schneier, an internationally renowned security technologist and author of numerous books on the subject. 'It's the modern version of the timesharing model from the 1960s, which was eventually killed by the rise of the personal computer. It's what Hotmail and Gmail have been doing all these years, and it's social networking sites, remote backup companies, and remote e-mail filtering companies such as MessageLabs. Any IT outsourcing--network infrastructure, security monitoring, remote hosting--is a form of cloud computing.'"

Part-time MBA program ranks in national top ten - News

Part-time MBA program ranks in national top ten - News:

"BusinessWeek has ranked the part-time MBA program at Drexel University's LeBow College of Business first in the country for academic quality, and tenth overall in its 2009 rankings. LeBow was the only Philadelphia part-time MBA program to rank within the top thirty.

'The Drexel part-time MBA is committed to exceeding the needs of our students and alumni and is a key factor in their upward mobility, as evidenced by the achievements of our MBA students and alumni,' George Tsetsekos, dean of the LeBow College of Business, stated in an article on the LeBow website.

'To be ranked No. 1 in academic quality by BusinessWeek is a testament to our growing stature as one of the world's leading resources for business education. This ranking validates the rigorous experiential education, leadership assessment, and global perspective that LeBow provides,' Tsetsekos stated."

First release for Napa Valley College | Napa Valley Register

First release for Napa Valley College Napa Valley Register:

"The public is invited to celebrate the first release of Napa Valley College wines for sale at the Napa Valley Vintners’ Teaching Winery, on Monday 5:30-8:30 p.m. The following Napa Valley College Estate wines will be poured for tastings: 2008 Estate Chardonnay, 2008 Estate Pinot Noir, and 2008 Estate Sauvignon Blanc.

Rose of Cabernet is a special release from the student label series and will also be poured. Light refreshments will be served.
Napa Valley College is the first California community college with a bonded winery, allowing the sale of college wine. However, no wine will be for sale at the event. All of the wine available for sale will be pre-sold online, and pre-sold wine can be picked up at the event. Wine quantities are limited this year, and college wine will be sold on a first- come, first-serve basis. Sale proceeds will be used to help support the program"

Beverly Hills Courier, Beverly Hills Newspaper, News, Celebrity, 90211, 90210: 2010 Report Says: ‘No BHUSD Distinguished Schools’

Beverly Hills Courier, Beverly Hills Newspaper, News, Celebrity, 90211, 90210: 2010 Report Says: ‘No BHUSD Distinguished Schools’:

"Despite increasing API scores for most BHUSD school sites, the district has no eligible candidates for the 2010 California School Recognition Program. The program designates high performing schools in the state as a “distinguished” school, an award BHUSD has received in the past.

New guidelines implemented by the California Department of Education deem Beverly Hills Unified School District as “category 3,” or as containing schools with no numerically significant disadvantaged subgroups. Category 3 schools must have an API in the 75th (above 940) percentile school-wide to qualify. Hawthorne School earned the district’s highest API score in 2009 of 908, 32 points below the designation requirements. With increased diversity, the API requirement drops to 840."

Californians Worry About Education, Sacramento Still Unpopular - Bay Area Blog - NYTimes.com

Californians Worry About Education, Sacramento Still Unpopular - Bay Area Blog - NYTimes.com:

"Update 1:54 p.m. Our colleague over at The Choice blog, Jacques Steinberg, points out that Mark Yudof of the University of California system has been named one of Time Magazine’s “10 Best College Presidents.” Sure, he walked into “one of the toughest jobs in higher education” last year, but the article, which ran with a photo of Mr. Yudof rolling up his sleeves, suggests he’s the right man to guide UC to safe harbor. Thoughts on Mr. Yudof, anyone?

California’s foundering higher education system is a source of both pride and worry for state residents, a new poll finds, but most are wary of tuition and fee hikes."

If you or your family or friends work for, attend or live nearby some of the Bay Area schools, we’d like to get your reaction to the plight of public higher eduction and to the poll by the Public Policy Institute of California.

The poll shows that roughly two in three residents consider the California Community College, California State University and University of California systems “good” or “excellent” — the same level of confidence state-funded higher education has enjoyed for the past two years.

Some interesting divisions along party lines:

California Corrections Teachers Protest Layoffs - 11/13/09 - Fresno News - abc30.com

California Corrections Teachers Protest Layoffs - 11/13/09 - Fresno News - abc30.com:

"Chowchilla, California (KFSN) -- The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is planning to cut between 600 and 900 prison staff members across the state to deal with a more than one billion dollar budget deficit. But employees at the two prisons in Chowchilla say the proposed lay-offs come with too high of a price for the public. Dozens of staff members from the two women's prisons in Chowchilla rallied outside the gates of the Central California Women's Facility in hopes of sending a message to the community. John Plain said, 'The state of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to severely cut the number of teachers who work in prisons and that will severely impact public safety, and we want them to know what's coming"

Watch video: http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/video?id=7116192

Federal schools grant program adds a bit of flexibility - Sacramento Politics - California Politics | Sacramento Bee

Federal schools grant program adds a bit of flexibility - Sacramento Politics - California Politics Sacramento Bee:

"Race to the Top, the nation's largest competition for school grants, quieted some critics by adding flexibility to final rules released by the Obama administration this week – but the fighting is far from over in California.

The stage is set now for school officials to craft competing applications for a slice of $4.35 billion designed to reward innovation in meeting goals ranging from enhancing academic standards to improving teacher effectiveness and turning failing schools around."

News: Liberal Arts in Jeopardy? - Inside Higher Ed

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/11/13/ccas:

"BALTIMORE — As colleges across the country continue to cinch their belts, both administrators and students have been forced to decide which sorts of programs are good investments and which are now unaffordable luxuries. And with students sweating a cutthroat job market that favors specific skills, many in higher education have been left wonder how the recession stands to affect the liberal arts.

That was much on the minds of liberal arts leaders gathered here at the annual meeting of the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences. How to maintain the appeal of “an education for wisdom and virtue” as families and institutions fixate anxiously on their bottom lines was the question of the day."

Numbers Don't Lie - The Daily Californian

Numbers Don't Lie - The Daily Californian:

"Forty thousand spots to be cut in three years. 266,152 total applications for the 2010-11 academic year. A 230-percent increase in transfer applications. The numbers of the ongoing crisis at the California State University are staggering.

The University of California faces similar obstacles: an estimated 4,600 fewer spots in two years and a potential 32 percent fee hike for the next academic year. But the sheer magnitude of the CSU enrollment cuts, especially in the face of a 53-percent increase in total applications, may better represent the dire situation faced by California's public universities."

The CSU system has already slashed nearly 10,000 spots and on Tuesday Chancellor Charles B. Reed announced the system would go forward with further cuts over the next two years.
According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, California public colleges plan to cut nearly 300,000 students from their campuses in the next year and a half. For these students, the enrollment cuts could very well make the prospect of attending college an impossibility.

Especially for Californians of limited means, higher education is increasingly becoming out of reach. The door of opportunity is being shut in the faces of more and more qualified students each year.

Final Race to the Top Documents Released « The Enterprise Blog

Final Race to the Top Documents Released « The Enterprise Blog:

"Today, the Department of Education releases its much-anticipated final criteria for the Race to the Top program (RTT). I’m not as keen on the final versions as I was on the draft “proposed priorities” released a couple months ago, but overall it’s still mostly laudable.

Unions and others roundly criticized the first versions, but reformers were pretty excited by their scope and verve. The amended documents are less intrepid, much more palatable to the establishment. But I don’t think we necessarily need to see this as a loss; elsewhere I compared the shift to the difference between campaigning in poetry and governing in prose.

In terms of timing and process, there will be two competitions, with awards given in the spring and fall of 2010. The few awards will reflect the winning states’ populations (for example, should Wyoming win, it will get far less than California). Education Week does an excellent job providing more details."

Race to the Top Fund Final priorities, requirements, definitions, and selection criteria. -

Race to the Top Program Executive Summary Rules November 2009 -

Higher education master plan getting ignored

Higher education master plan getting ignored:

"California's Master Plan for Higher Education - which set academics ablaze with the promise of a nearly free college education for all who qualified - is limping toward the half-century mark largely ignored by lawmakers who don't even pretend they can live up to its expensive commitment."

That's the finding of a report released Thursday by the state's Office of the Legislative Analyst. It says today's reality of soaring student fees, volatile college budgets and enrollment caps are so far removed from the guiding Master Plan, that something must be done to bring them in line.

The Master Plan was crafted in 1960 to establish a coordinated system of colleges and universities, with the goal of steering students appropriately toward the University of California, California State University or community college largely free of charge.

"Today its assumptions look pretty quaint," said Steve Boilard, the report's author. "There's a big disconnect between what the state's priorities are and what's actually going on.

"Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/13/BADC1AJG4C.DTL#ixzz0WkNuQFPX

Higher education master plan getting ignored

Higher education master plan getting ignored:

"California's Master Plan for Higher Education - which set academics ablaze with the promise of a nearly free college education for all who qualified - is limping toward the half-century mark largely ignored by lawmakers who don't even pretend they can live up to its expensive commitment."

That's the finding of a report released Thursday by the state's Office of the Legislative Analyst. It says today's reality of soaring student fees, volatile college budgets and enrollment caps are so far removed from the guiding Master Plan, that something must be done to bring them in line.

The Master Plan was crafted in 1960 to establish a coordinated system of colleges and universities, with the goal of steering students appropriately toward the University of California, California State University or community college largely free of charge.

"Today its assumptions look pretty quaint," said Steve Boilard, the report's author. "There's a big disconnect between what the state's priorities are and what's actually going on.

"Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/13/BADC1AJG4C.DTL#ixzz0WkNuQFPX

KCBS - CA Competes for Billions in Ed. Stimulus Funds

KCBS - CA Competes for Billions in Ed. Stimulus Funds:

"The announcement was made by Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who made it clear that for California to win a chunk of this 'Race to the Top' Grant, the state must show that it has a strong commitment to teacher excellence and student performance.

”We’re going to fund those states that have demonstrated the ability to raise the bar and close the gap,” said Duncan. “But most importantly this is for those who have the capacity to get dramatically better, and take scale of what’s working.”

California has cut funding to education this year to balance the budget, and secretary Duncan says that how the state prioritizes the money it does have will determine whether it wins a piece of this $4.35 billion education stimulus grant."

KCBS’ Barbara Taylor Reports