Value-added education in the race to the top

Value-added education in the race to the top:

"Bill Clinton may have invented triangulation - the art of finding a 'third way' out of a policy dilemma - but U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is practicing it to make desperately needed improvements in K-12 education. Unfortunately, his promotion of value-added education through 'Race to the Top' grants to states could be thrown under the bus by powerful teachers' unions that view reforms more for how they affect pay and job security than whether they improve student learning."

The traditional view of education holds that it is more process than product. Educators design a process, hire teachers and administrators to run it, put students through it and consider it a success. The focus is on the inputs - how much can we spend, what curriculum shall we use, what class size is best - with very little on measuring outputs, whether students actually learn. The popular surveys of America's best schools and colleges reinforce this, measuring resources and reputation, not results. As they say, Harvard University has good graduates because it admits strong applicants, not necessarily because of what happens in the educational process.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/29/INRD1ANKU6.DTL#ixzz0YFzmNsUU

Online university of hope

Online university of hope:

"It has no campus, no lecture theatres and hardly any paid staff, but the international University of the People has at least one big plus: no tuition fees.

This, and the fact its courses are taught entirely online and are designed to make it accessible to people who, because of poverty, geography or personal restrictions, would never contemplate university study.

'Hundreds of millions of people deserve to get education and don't,' says UoPeople's founder Shai Reshef, a Californian businessman. 'We are showing a way that this mass of people can be educated in a very efficient and inexpensive way.'"

Opinion: UC students need a teach-in on California's budget mess - San Jose Mercury News

Opinion: UC students need a teach-in on California's budget mess - San Jose Mercury News:

"Two voices called out when I heard that dozens of students on University of California campuses had been arrested for occupying college buildings in protest of the 32 percent fee increase that UC regents had passed.

One was that of the indignant college sophomore who was hauled off to the city jail in Boston in 1970 after refusing to leave the plaza at Government Center during a Vietnam War protest. The other was that of my disbelieving father who asked, 'You were taken where for doing what?'

I am the age my dad was then and closer in sensibility to him now than to the youth I once was. I also have a daughter who's a freshman at UC-Davis and, much to my relief, was busy studying calculus when others took over Mrak Hall."

White House party crasher is a UC Davis grad - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

White House party crasher is a UC Davis grad - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News Sacramento Bee:

"Tareq Salahi, a Virginia winery owner who made national headlines when he and his wife crashed a White House state dinner Tuesday as part of audition for a TV reality show, has ties to the Sacramento area.

University of California, Davis officials confirmed today that Salahi is, in reality, an Aggie.

UC Davis spokeswoman Pat Bailey said records show that Salahi began his studies at the campus in 1987 and received a bachelor's degree from the College of Agriculture and Environmental Science in 1994. Bailey said Salahi had an "individual major," meaning he designed his own course of study in enology and management.

Professor emeritus Ann Noble remembers Salahi as a "delightful person," but one who was more interested in campus social life than academics.

"He was a kid in a candy shop," she said.

Noble said she had the impression Salahi was reared in a strict family and that he had enjoyed a new-found freedom at UC Davis. But she said he was not a prankster."

Joblessness adds to burden on D.C. area schools - washingtonpost.com

Joblessness adds to burden on D.C. area schools - washingtonpost.com:

"Schools throughout the Washington area are feeding an unprecedented number of poor students as unemployment continues to rise.

One in four students in Fairfax County qualifies for free or reduced-price meals this fall, up from one in five three years ago. In Montgomery County, 29 percent of students were deemed eligible for meal subsidies in October, up from 26 percent in October 2007. In Prince William County, the eligibility rate increased from 29 to 33 percent, and in Prince George's County, from 46 to 52 percent."

As the lunchroom poverty barometer rises, schools are solidifying their role as centers for social services.

"If basic needs are not met, children cannot learn," said Karen Thompson, a guidance counselor at Guilford Elementary School in Sterling. "If we have children coming to school hungry, that is our first concern. We also have to make sure they have shoes, warm clothing. Have they slept? Do they have a place to live?"

Charter founder's pension benefits cut | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/23/2009

Charter founder's pension benefits cut Philadelphia Inquirer 11/23/2009:

"Eighteen months after Pennsylvania's retirement system began investigating Dorothy June Brown for collecting full-time salaries from two charter schools, Brown's pension benefits have been slashed.

The state Public School Employees' Retirement System (PSERS) has informed Brown that her monthly benefit is being cut from $14,150 to $3,254 - a 77 percent drop.
Ruling that Brown had provided incomplete and conflicting information, the system wiped out all employment credit she had claimed since July 2004."

The information was contained in an Oct. 14 letter to Brown, who founded three traditional charter schools in Philadelphia and the Agora Cyber Charter School in Devon. The Inquirer obtained a copy after filing a request under the state Right-to-Know Law.

Brown, 72, has appealed. She disputes the findings and says she is entitled to the pension, which is partly based on her 19.3 years of service as a Philadelphia School District administrator.

"They are going to end up paying me my money," she said recently. "PSERS owes me money."

Evelyn Tatkovski, a spokeswoman for the retirement system, could not say how often the state takes such actions. She said the agency must follow the retirement law and cut benefits "if a benefit was improperly paid to a member."

Employees at most of the 127 publicly funded charter schools statewide participate in PSERS.

Cyber school founder gets $3 million to cut ties | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/23/2009

Cyber school founder gets $3 million to cut ties Philadelphia Inquirer 11/23/2009:

"The founder of a charter school in Devon that is under federal investigation has received $3 million to sever all ties to the institution, according to terms of a settlement that includes the state Department of Education.

The payment to Dorothy June Brown's firm settles four lawsuits involving Agora Cyber Charter, an Internet-based school that has 5,500 students throughout the state. Agora is one of at least six Philadelphia-area charters whose finances and operations are under federal scrutiny."

The New Cost Of A UC Education - KTXL

The New Cost Of A UC Education - KTXL:

"SACRAMENTO - Students from across the University of California system are outraged over future fee increases approved one week ago by members of the university system's board of regents. But just how much will students now have to dish out to pay for their education?

According to a document released on November 19th by the UC Board of Regents Committee on Finance, graduate professional students with majors in business, law, theatre and most medicinal fields currently pay $6,822 in student fees. This fee will increase to $7,401 during the current academic calendar in time for the Spring Quarter in January 2010.

Fees will inflate onece again for graduate student professionals to $9,312 -- an increase of $1,911 per semester -- to fulfill the full 32% fee increase over nearly two school years."

Next Steps Being Determined in Rancho Cordova School Closures — The Rancho Cordova Post

Next Steps Being Determined in Rancho Cordova School Closures — The Rancho Cordova Post:

"The FCUSD school board has already handed down their decision to close two Rancho Cordova schools, and the district is now gathering its resources to begin students’ transitions to new schools.

Students currently attending Riverview Elementary will be transitioned to Peter J. Shields Elementary, located at 10434 Georgetown Drive; students attending Cordova Lane Elementary will either be attending Williamson Elementary at 2275 Benita Drive or Rancho Cordova Elementary at 2562 Chassella Way. Cordova Lane students will be split up because its population is “too large to fit into one school,” Public Information officer Stephen Nichols said."

Self-Advocacy: Student Resources: Education: Disability.gov

Self-Advocacy: Student Resources: Education: Disability.gov:

"Tips for Teens: Use Your IEP Meetings to Learn How to Advocate for Yourself

Information for teens on how to begin to express their needs and wants by participating in their Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings. At these meetings, teens can learn ways to talk about their disability to others, set goals, build teamwork skills, ask for accommodation and practice other self-advocacy skills. This link opens a PDF document."

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity | Video on TED.com

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity Video on TED.com

Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.

About Sir Ken Robinson
Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson challenges the way we're educating our children. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types… Full bio and more links

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Cutback in class supplies puts strain on educators

Cutback in class supplies puts strain on educators:

"Some Valley educators teach in high-tech classrooms, some in low-tech versions, but they now all have to deal with the same issue: shrinking classroom supplies.

On Monday, the Legislature cut $144 million from Arizona districts in what's known as soft capital, or books, technology and classroom supplies.

Gov. Jan Brewer signed the bill for the current fiscal year, which will end June 30."

And more K-12 education cuts will likely be on the horizon. Brewer and top legislators will meet Monday to begin planning for their fifth special Legislative session this year.

From paper to plastic tubs, there isn't much Tiffany Larsen hasn't bought for her Mesa students, much of it out of her own pocket.

Although the school year began only three months ago, the fourth-grade Whitman Elementary teacher already has spent $500 on classroom supplies, a personal expense that she said comes with being a teacher.

Class Struggle - Should we inflate Advanced Placement grades?

Class Struggle - Should we inflate Advanced Placement grades?:

"The Rochester Community public schools in Michigan do a fine job. Their leaders often have great ideas. But according to school board member Mike Reno, they are talking about doing something to their Advanced Placement courses that could be troublesome, even though I once thought it was a good idea. (Some people who know me say that is the very definition of a bad idea.)

Here is what Reno revealed in an email to me:"

"Our district, in an effort to increase AP participation, is proposing to lower the grading scale for AP classes. The idea is based on the notion that kids in Rochester don’t want to take AP classes because they are afraid that the tougher work will lead to a lower grade, and they don’t want to damage their GPA for fear it will harm their college entrance chances. The district’s logic suggests by that lowering the grading scale, students will have a better chance of getting a better grade, and therefore be more willing to take the class.

"This is not their brainchild. They claim other districts are doing it. They are calling it internal weighting. They believe this is a better approach than grade weighting, where an A in an AP class would be worth, say, 5.0 instead of 4.0. The district argues that colleges strip off weighted grades, whereas an internal weight benefits the student during college entrance. (I believe grade weighting has value when calculating class ranking, vals, sals, top scholars, etc, but think colleges are free to recalculate anything they’d like). Am a crazy to think this is a bunch of nonsense?"

Carroll ISD considers ranking only top 10 percent of high-schoolers | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Latest News

Carroll ISD considers ranking only top 10 percent of high-schoolers News for Dallas, Texas Dallas Morning News Latest News:

"Carroll ISD could soon become the latest exemplary district in the area to stop ranking all but the top 10 percent of high school students.

District officials in the northeast Tarrant County district started looking at abolishing rankings after Highland Park ISD chose to do so over the summer because of concerns that high grades in the academically competitive district don't guarantee top rankings. As a result, strong students with a low rank are at a disadvantage when applying to college.

Many students rank lower in their graduating class than administrators believe they would at a less-rigorous school."

Support for good teachers key to federal funds bid, Doyle says - JSOnline

Support for good teachers key to federal funds bid, Doyle says - JSOnline:

"Wisconsin's application for a slice of federal stimulus dollars for education reform must include provisions for getting quality teachers into more classrooms and supporting them so they stay there, Gov. Jim Doyle said this week at Alverno College.

While praising two of Alverno's alternative-track education programs that allow mid-career professionals or other people with degrees in other subjects the opportunity to become teachers, Doyle also outlined the state's progress on its federal Race to the Top application, which is due in mid-January.

'Programs like Alverno will be a major part of our application,' Doyle said Tuesday."

Teaching plan: America 'an oppressive hellhole'

Teaching plan: America 'an oppressive hellhole':

"A program proposed at the University of Minnesota would result in required examinations of teacher candidates on 'white privilege' as well as 'remedial re-education' for those who hold the 'wrong' views, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.

The organization, which promotes civil liberties on the campuses of America's colleges and universities, has dispatched a letter to University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks asking him to intervene to prevent the adoption of policies proposed in his College of Education and Human Development."

Teachers begin using cell phones for class lessons

Teachers begin using cell phones for class lessons

WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. - Ariana Leonard's high school students shuffled in their seats, eagerly awaiting a cue from their Spanish teacher that the assignment would begin.

"Take out your cell phones," she said in Spanish.

The teens pulled out an array of colorful flip phones, iPhones and SideKicks. They divided into groups and Leonard began sending them text messages in Spanish: Find something green. Go to the cafeteria. Take a picture with the school secretary.

Leonard's class at Wiregrass Ranch High School in Wesley Chapel, a middle-class Florida suburb about 30 miles north of Tampa, is one of a growing number around the country that are abandoning traditional policies of cell phone prohibition and incorporating them into class lessons. Spanish vocabulary becomes a digital scavenger hunt. Notes are copied with a cell phone camera. Text messages serve as homework reminders.

"I can use my cell phone for all these things, why can't I use it for learning purposes?'" Leonard said. "Giving them something, a mobile device, that they use every day for fun, giving them another avenue to learn outside of the classroom with that."

Much more attention has gone to the ways students might use phones to cheat or take inappropriate pictures. But as the technology becomes cheaper, more advanced and more ingrained in students' lives that mentality is changing.

"It really is taking advantage of the love affair that kids have with technology today," said Dan Domevech, executive director of the nonprofit American Association of School Administrators. "The kids are much more motivated to use their cell phone in an educational manner."

Citizen's Voice: Be honest about state's test scores » Knoxville News Sentinel

Citizen's Voice: Be honest about state's test scores » Knoxville News Sentinel:

"Can education exist without all the dishonesty and lying?

When did the deceit and lying begin? Answer: When the GOP attempted to reform education using standardized test scores to make educational decisions.

What was education politics like before all the lying? Before the Tennessee Education Report Card, for example?"

Tennessee is not the only state to declare students to have grade-level mastery of reading and math when they do not, but Tennessee is a target because we have chosen to set the "state's standards at a low bar," to use the words of The Associated Press.

Our Tennessee education officials are lying to our kids when they tell them they're proficient, but they're not achieving at a level that will prepare them for success once they graduate and have to compete.

Tennesseans - parents, kids, citizens - are told that our Tennessee standardized test that is used to satisfy the No Child Left Behind's "Adequate Yearly Progress" and "Achievement Value Added" says we're in "good standing." Rubbish!

Our kids and schools do fine on the tests that only Tennesseans take, but when our kids take national tests, they end up at the bottom. Why is that?

What did the conservative newspapers of Tennessee tell their readers recently when the Tennessee Department of Education released its 2009 Report Card?

Md. improves data collection to track students' performance -- baltimoresun.com

Md. improves data collection to track students' performance -- baltimoresun.com:

"Maryland has made significant progress in assembling an educational data system that would allow the state to track every student's experience through the public school system from pre-kindergarten to post-secondary education.

In a report released this week, the Data Quality Campaign said that Maryland, which was behind 48 other states in completing its data collection system, has now given each student a unique number, an important step in collecting data that will allow it to eventually link student test data to teacher performance."

State teachers union OK with using test scores for evaluations - News - ReviewJournal.com

State teachers union OK with using test scores for evaluations - News - ReviewJournal.com:

"In dropping their opposition to student test scores being used in teachers' performance evaluations, Nevada's teachers unions appear to be essentially adopting a compromise by the Obama administration.

While it earlier emphasized that student achievement data need to be linked with teacher performance evaluations, the Obama administration has since softened its tone after months of taking policy input from the public."