Class Struggle - Why not junk teacher evaluations in favor of more preparation time?

Class Struggle - Why not junk teacher evaluations in favor of more preparation time?:

"I thought rating teachers would be a hot issue, but that was an understatement. Emails and online comments are still popping up on my screen in reaction to the columns I wrote on Nov. 1 and Nov. 8 describing the perils of the District's new teacher evaluation system and the apparent lack of any serious effort towards one in the Washington suburbs. I expect more strenuous comment after next Monday's column, which will explore, for the first time, the secrets of a D.C. teacher's evaluation report.

But in this torrent of interesting feedback on assessing teachers, I have detected rising support among some experts for a radical change of direction that appeals to me."

Blindness is no handicap to great teaching, educator shows

Blindness is no handicap to great teaching, educator shows:

"Though the Yankee parade was in full swing right outside the window, the High School of Economics and Finance’s marine biology class began without any hesitation. Homer Panteloglou, 38, paced up and down the aisle of his classroom. Nobody was talking, on their cell phones, or doodling, even though the kids in the back could easily have gotten away with it. Because Panteloglou can’t see past the first two rows, he usually paces the room to make sure everyone’s engaged and on track.

Working with only one hand and legally blind in both eyes, Panteloglou refuses to slow down. In fact, he’s become one the most popular teachers in the high school. “He’s a little crazy, so we have more fun with him than with any other teacher,” said Gissette Guzman. “He’s not a regular teacher.”

He doesn’t write on the board much because he only has one hand, so PowerPoint has been a longtime teaching tool for him, even before other teachers started to incorporate it into their classrooms. “You know what to do when you see a picture,” he told the class as he pulled it up on the projector. “Write the caption.”

He also teaches honors living environment, A.P. biology, and introduction to business."

After Gerson feud, Downtown club is splitting up

After Gerson feud, Downtown club is splitting up:

"One option for zoning Lower Manhattan’s elementary schools would cut through the Whole Foods building, giving luxury condo owners the key to P.S. 234 while the middle and low-income renters would go to the Spruce Street School half a mile away.

Parents at 89 Murray St., the affordable rental portion of the development, are angry about possibly being excluded from P.S. 234.

“Tribeca is our neighborhood,” said Ilya Mazur, who lives at 89 Murray and has a 2-year-old son. “A lot of us can see [P.S. 234] from our windows. We can hear the school. This breaks the neighborhood for us.”"

Learning to Teach to Bridge the Achievement Gap - NYTimes.com

Learning to Teach to Bridge the Achievement Gap - NYTimes.com:

"Kathleen Martin stood in front of a white board covered with math problems, her class clustered at her feet. As they talked through the solutions together, the students repeated the headings over each problem on the board: “Algebra and Function,” “Probability,” “Data Analysis.”"

“So I see three addends here,” said Mrs. Martin, in her third year of teaching, “and I know I am going to find the sum.” The children then call out the addends — make that the numbers — in unison. They are adding six, four and zero.

Mrs. Martin teaches first grade at Leroy Anderson Elementary School in San Jose, a regular public school. Of its 430 students, 90 percent receive subsidized lunches. For 70 percent, English is a second language and 70 percent are Hispanic.

Those can be the demographic ingredients for a watered-down curriculum and the excuses for academic failure. Indeed, four years ago Anderson was, academically, the worst elementary school in Santa Clara County, with the lowest score on California’s Academic Performance Index. But when scores were released this fall, Anderson had jumped 136 points in a year, to 810 out of a possible 1,000.

Only a handful of Bay Area schools notched triple digit increases. In the past three years, Anderson’s scores rose 206 points.

Teachers at Some Low-Performing Schools Get Bonuses

W.H. Maxwell Career and Technical Education High School

Teachers at Some Low-Performing Schools Get Bonuses

Teachers at W.H. Maxwell Career and Technical Education High School in Brooklyn were among those at 23 high schools citywide awarded a total of $3.5 million in performance bonuses on Thursday, even though the school received a D on its progress report earlier this week.

The Jane Addams High School for Academic Careers in the Bronx and three other schools earned C’s on their report cards, and their teachers will be getting bonuses, too.
The reason for the discrepancy between the two measures of progress, school officials said, is that the teacher bonuses — awarded by the Department of Education — are determined by individual targets set for each school, and the bonus-eligible schools serve students starting from a very low threshold. It may also be rewarding improvement within each letter grade.

“Maybe a school didn’t go from a D to a C, or stayed at a C, but it’s still making progress,” said Ann Forte, a department spokeswoman, defending both the report cards and the awards program.

Michael Mulgrew, the head of the teachers’ union, the United Federation of Teachers, disagreed, saying that the difference underscored that the report cards are a flawed measurement. “The D.O.E. tools really don’t capture a lot of the challenges that the teachers and students face. There are teachers in the A schools doing a great job, and teachers in the D schools doing a great job,” he said.

School Committee faces angry parents - Littleton, MA - Littleton Independent

School Committee faces angry parents - Littleton, MA - Littleton Independent:

"Littleton - The School Committee faced an angry, cynical but mostly respectful crowd of parents and students Thursday night all of whom object to the decision by Superintendent Diane Bemis not to renew the contract of middle school Principal Kevin Moran.

The schools are still negotiating a new contract with the teachers’ association, or union. But when the news of Moran’s dismissal leaked out, the reaction was immediate and vociferous. Parents pleaded for a reason as to why Bemis would ax a beloved principal, but they got no response.

The committee and Bemis sat in silence in the high school library, citing the confidentiality of personnel matters and the state law.

A petition signed by more than 300 parents asking for reconsideration was presented to School Committee Chairman Charlie Ellis by Rose Wing, who read passages from letters that came in from current and former students at the middle school supporting Moran."

Gov. Deval Patrick to Legislature: Get back to work - BostonHerald.com

Gov. Deval Patrick to Legislature: Get back to work - BostonHerald.com:

"A steamed Gov. Deval Patrick slammed lawmakers yesterday for abruptly clocking out and taking an early holiday break as pending education and crime reforms along with budget cuts hang in the balance.

“The Legislature ought to get back in here and finish this work before they go off for six weeks,” Patrick said at a hastily called afternoon news conference. “Whatever they have to do, it’s my understanding they can get it done in plenty of time and still enjoy their holidays.”

Patrick called both House Speaker Robert DeLeo (D-Winthrop) and Senate President Therese Murray (D-Plymouth) and asked them to come back and vote on key legislation, including education reform and additional cuts to the budget."

Choosing the public they school | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/20/2009

Choosing the public they school Philadelphia Inquirer 11/20/2009:

"Advocates of charter schools claim they can offer something traditional public schools cannot. Each charter school touts its own special conditions for success: longer hours, better approaches, less bureaucracy, etc. Even though six charter schools in Philadelphia are being investigated for irregularities, their improved achievement scores - as well as fewer discipline problems in some cases - seem to be convincing arguments for dismantling traditional schools in favor of charters.

However, as much as we all yearn for a neat answer to our educational problems, the current charter school model is not it. Despite constant claims that charter schools do much more with exactly the same students, they don't.

Recently, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, the Rev. Al Sharpton, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich visited and praised two Philadelphia public schools. They found that the traditional McDaniel Elementary School had made admirable progress. But Mastery Charter Schools' Shoemaker Campus, which was a traditional high school until 2006, had made giant leaps in social and academic progress - all while purportedly educating the same students in the same building."

State rates teacher prep programs - St. Petersburg Times

State rates teacher prep programs - St. Petersburg Times:

"Out of the blue, the FCAT has a new job: measuring the programs across the state that produce teachers.
And it is already waving a red flag at the University of South Florida.

For the first time, the state Department of Education has examined the effectiveness of rookie teachers from a wide variety of teacher preparation programs, using their students' scores on the math and reading portions of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test in 2008. It determined what percentage of graduates from each program had 50 percent or more of their students make a year's worth of progress."

Gates to spend $365m on helping teachers

Gates to spend $365m on helping teachers:

"WASHINGTON: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced a $US335 million ($365 million) investment in teacher effectiveness in three large US school systems and some public charter schools.

The grants, which amount to one of the largest privately sponsored school-improvement initiatives in recent years, will focus on experiments in tenure, evaluation, compensation, training and mentoring.

The foundation aims to reshape how policymakers approach teaching, and its goal is to focus on performance rather than qualifications."

VOVNEWS.VN | Success of “Meet Vietnam” in US beyond expectations - Success of “Meet Vietnam” in US beyond expectations

VOVNEWS.VN Success of “Meet Vietnam” in US beyond expectations - Success of “Meet Vietnam” in US beyond expectations:

"The recent “Meet Vietnam 2009' programme in the US has attracted due attention and won great applause from international friends.

Vietnam recently held an exchange programme entitled “Meet Vietnam in San Francisco, California, the US. The event was raised by the Overseas Vietnamese community in the US and by foreign friends. A VOV correspondent in the US interviewed Le Quoc Hung, Vietnam’s Counsellor General in San Francisco, about the event’s outcomes."

Reporter: What is your assessment of the “Meet Vietnam 2009" programme, which was held in California for the first time?

Le Quoc Hung: The event was more successful than we expected. The programme was of great political significance and received due attention from Overseas Vietnamese people in the US. During the event, we also held two seminars on trade promotion and education, which drew a large number of people. This has demonstrated that many foreigners have an interest in Vietnam’s investment environment and education sector. Many of the participants were also keen to invest in building universities in Vietnam to the standard of developed countries. In addition, we also held a concert and an exhibition to present Vietnam’s traditional culture.

SDUSD Adopts New Guidelines For School Fees - San Diego News Story - KGTV San Diego

SDUSD Adopts New Guidelines For School Fees - San Diego News Story - KGTV San Diego:

"SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego Unified School District has adopted new guidelines after a 10News story in September questioned the legality of fees for specialized classes and activities."

Teachers now have strict rules to follow when it comes to requiring students to buy supplies, 10News learned.

"It's a matter of the state constitution; if you got a class then, you provide the materials," said school board member John DeBeck.

On Thursday, SD Unified distributed new guidelines regarding student fees after 10News exposed possible violations by the school district.

The California Constitution mandates public education be provided free of charge, which means no parent or student should be required to pay for supplies to join a class or activity like cheerleading, music or a photography class.

Deficit only real issue in guv race | San Francisco Examiner

Deficit only real issue in guv race San Francisco Examiner:

"As much as voters may want to hear candidates for governor wax rhapsodic on the intricacies of prison overcrowding, global warming and pension reform, only one subject will dominate the race — that is, if anybody’s paying attention.

It’s the economy, stupid, and it will be until 2014 and beyond.

A new legislative analyst report released this week paints a picture for California that definitely does the word “grim” justice. Next year, the state faces a $21 billion budget deficit, $23 billion after that, to be followed by fiscal shortfalls of $20 billion and $18.4 billion. For those keeping score at home, that’s nearly $83 billion during the next four years."

State of the Schools event addresses financial woes

State of the Schools event addresses financial woes:

"OCEAN PARK BLVD. — First the bad news about the local public schools.

A financial predicament is about to become even more problematic for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, which is projecting an operating deficit of $10 million this year and is sure to feel a big hit from an estimated $21 billion state budget shortfall.

The good news is despite the fiscal woes of the district, students are continuing to show improvement in academic achievement, scoring high marks on advanced placement and mandatory state tests."

MexEd Brings Hope Across Educational Borders

MexEd Brings Hope Across Educational Borders:

"Five months ago, students Micaela Lara and Silvia Leon traveled from their home at the University of California, Santa Cruz to help New York immigrant students graduate from high school and go on to college.

Lara and Leon, seniors majoring in community studies and education, came to the Big Apple to intern and work at The Mexican Educational Foundation of New York, or MexEd, which is a non-profit organization devoted to providing academic support with their after school programs and personal support through their mentoring program to Mexican and other immigrant students. The program is small and works out of a cramped office at Baruch Collge but in the last nine years their impact has been strong in young immigrant's lives, they said."

Assemblyman seeks support for Bill 656 : The Collegian Online

Assemblyman seeks support for Bill 656 : The Collegian Online:

"The majority leader of the California State Assembly spoke Wednesday in a meeting open to the public at California State University, Fresno.

Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, D-Fremont, is the author of the recently debated Assembly Bill 656. He is making the rounds to colleges in California to drum up support for his bill. Fresno State is the 10th college campus he has visited in the past two weeks.

Torrico said he wants to gather 100,000 signatures to take to Sacramento to show support for the bill."

Assembly Bill 656 would tax oil companies that extract oil from the state. Torrico said that the bill would specifically prohibit oil companies from passing that cost onto consumers.

“Not only does it prohibit it in the bill, the bill sets up a commission,” Torrico said. “For the first time in California, we’re going to oversee the ongoing operations of oil companies.”

Torrico said California is an anomaly among oil-producing states. He said that a similar bill in Texas raises $400 million per year that funds higher education. He also said that Alaska has a 25 percent tax on companies that extract oil from the state.

KCBS - Teachers Sound the Alarm Over CA Budget

KCBS - Teachers Sound the Alarm Over CA Budget:

"SAN JOSE, Calif. (KCBS) -- The latest bad budget news out of Sacramento has teachers concerned about even deeper cuts to education. To say that California educators are concerned about next year's budget would be an understatement."

”Once again, we are starting to hear that the budget deficit for the State of California is going to impact our schools,” said Rudy Herrera with the Franklyn McKinley School District in San Jose.

He joined other educators to basically sound the alarm early about the more than $20 billion budget deficit projected for fiscal 2010.

Teacher Scott Schulimson says they are still reeling from earlier cuts to education.

”I don’t know how our district will bridge that gap,” said Schulimson. “I don’t know what’s left that can be cut.”

The legislative analysis has estimated the state will face $20 billion deficits through 2015 unless permanent fixes are made.

Don Dawson, California Teachers Association board member says one solution is to tax the wealthy.

”Everyone needs to pay their fair share, and what has happened is that those who have been paying proportionally less as time has gone by, and that’s not right,” said Dawson.
Governor Schwarzenegger has said he will not support any new tax increases.

Elk Grove Citizen : Archives > News > Sen. Steinberg says water package is good for Nor Cal, pledges support for EGUSD

Elk Grove Citizen : Archives & News Sen. Steinberg says water package is good for Nor Cal, pledges support for EGUSD:

"Although the Elk Grove City Council voted last month to oppose the water legislation package championed by State Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), the legislator said he doesn’t have any hard feelings toward Elk Grove or any of the other cities that joined together to oppose the bills.

“Now that the laws are passed, it’s incumbent on us to make (them) work,” he said after a town hall meeting held Nov. 17 at the Valley Hi North Laguna Library in Sacramento.

A few dozen people attended the meeting, and Steinberg led with the topic he thought everyone would want to talk about – the package of five water bills that was passed by the state legislature on Nov. 4."

Glendale News Press > Columns

Glendale News Press > Columns:

"Before launching into this week’s topic, I want to tie up a few loose ends from last week’s. Part of what I wrote got lopped off due to space limitations, so I’ll just tack it on here. I don’t want to belabor the point, but I would like to finish a point only partially made last Friday.

Just to recap, the state of California and our school district are telling me that my 35 years of service will count for nothing and I will be terminated if I do not acquire a supplementary credential for teaching limited English speakers in my class (which last year amounted to three such students)."

The CLAD (Cross-cultural Language and Academic Development) program offers some good suggestions, but unfortunately they come in the form of mandates, and that will inevitably engender resentment among some of us who have spent the greater part of our lives teaching.

By all means, some of us would ask in our ongoing quest to become better teachers, give us more arrows for our quivers, but let each of us who call ourselves teachers choose which arrows we will use. Like the students we serve, we are individuals, and there is a tendency for some of us to resist being lumped together with all others, as if we were all common dispensaries of information.

The state should have offered, and school districts throughout the state should have demanded, that there be a grandfather clause in this whole thing for those of us who, for whatever the reason, have not found the need to supplement our teaching with “new methodologies.”

13-year-old Oroville girl presents students' school discipline proposal to California Board of Education - Chico Enterprise Record

13-year-old Oroville girl presents students' school discipline proposal to California Board of Education - Chico Enterprise Record:

"OROVILLE -- Tatum Duckett may or may not realize her dream of becoming an astronaut, but she is carving a niche for herself as a budding leader.

Duckett, 13, is student council president at Central Middle School in Oroville. She was one of five teens selected by peers at a conference to speak Wednesday before the California Board of Education in Sacramento.

Addressing the board was the culmination of a five-day conference hosted by the California Association of Student Councils in Sacramento."

Duckett was chosen to represent Central at the conference after speaking with an adviser, filling out an application and submitting an essay.

Duckett was the only student from north of Sacramento who went to the conference, and only one of 12 from a middle school.

Once at the conference, the students were divided into five groups, each with a proposal topic to make to the board.

Duckett's group's topic was discipline and policy. They researched the problem, came up with a solution and drafted a proposal. The long hours each day -- until midnight -- was exhausting, she said, but well worth it.