MLA Partner Schools shows promise in turning around Manual Arts High -- latimes.com

MLA Partner Schools shows promise in turning around Manual Arts High -- latimes.com:

"It's difficult keeping track of all the reformers circling the Los Angeles Unified School District, vying to take charge of dozens of schools the district plans to spin off this year.

The school board and Supt. Ray Cortines plan to farm out operations for its 200 lowest-performing schools, in what is either a sign of new openness or an admission that L.A. Unified is incapable of raising achievement at failing schools.

Already, a handful of schools have been siphoned off by charter groups and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's Partnership for Los Angeles Schools. So far, about all they've shown is how hard reform is."

Slowing Expansion, Harvard Suspends Work on Tower - NYTimes.com

Slowing Expansion, Harvard Suspends Work on Tower - NYTimes.com:

"BOSTON — Harvard announced Thursday that it would indefinitely suspend construction on a high-tech science complex in the Allston neighborhood of Boston because of money problems."


“The altered financial landscape of the university, and of the wider world, necessitates a shift away from rapid development in Allston,” Drew Gilpin Faust, Harvard’s president, wrote in a letter released Thursday.

As part of a larger long-term expansion into Allston — a pet project of Lawrence H. Summers, Dr. Faust’s predecessor at Harvard and now President Obama’s chief economic adviser — the university also bought a string of buildings there over the last 20 years. But many have remained vacant, to the chagrin of Allston residents who have accused the university of buying land and holding onto it, a practice known as land banking.

The four-building science center, estimated to cost at least $1 billion, was originally scheduled to be finished in 2011. Dr. Faust’s announcement comes 10 months after she announced plans to slow the pace of the project while the university assessed whether it could continue. Harvard has since disclosed that its endowment declined 27 percent from June 2008 to June 2009, to $26 billion, and the university has made several cost-cutting moves.

Teachers and schools understanding of online communications can help parental involvement

Teachers and schools understanding of online communications can help parental involvement:

"A recent report released by Becta into parent teacher relationships reveals that the vast majority (89 percent) of parents say technology could play a more powerful role in their child’s education if they better understood how to use it. Schools and teachers need to talk to pupil’s parents early on and consider what they want to see. Becta suggests that schools ask parents questions such as what technology do you use most regularly? what technology do you have access to at home? how comfortable are you, or your child, with using the technology you have? Once such questions have been answered, schools can then proceed in making communications as efficient and effective as possible."

Becta is the government agency aiming to advertise and implement the productive and innovative use of technology throughout the teaching and learning process. The Schools & Parents: A New Partnership report is part of the ‘Next Generation Learning’ campaign, which encourages the move towards online reporting by using an integrated range of technologies helping parents engage with their child’s learning.

According to the report, forty-eight percent of teachers believe that while parents are a great source of support, they dont always know the best ways to get involved with their child’s education. Forty percent of parents say they think technology could help, however they don’t fully understand the ways in which they can use it. Consequently schools need to review how they currently communicate different types of information with parents by consulting with the parents themselves and establishing whether their current form of communication is suitable.

Education bill has its critics - Education - SignOnSanDiego.com

Education bill has its critics - Education - SignOnSanDiego.com:

"SAN DIEGO — As state lawmakers approved controversial education legislation yesterday that is intended to get California into the race for federal reform funds, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan weighed in on the debate during an appearance in San Diego.

Passed by a 47-25 vote, the legislation by Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, D-Santa Monica, would lift the cap on the number of charter schools in California, overhaul state academic standards and target federal funding to the poorest-performing schools."

Although the legislation could make California eligible for up to $700 million in federal funds, many education reformers have criticized it as a weak effort that does little to improve the education for underachieving poor and minority children.

After speaking at the National Conference of State Legislatures in downtown San Diego yesterday, Duncan all but joined the critics. He said California has a chance to regain its long-departed status as a national leader in public education.

New Show about U.S. Success of U.S. Hispanics | Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations website and podcast

New Show about U.S. Success of U.S. Hispanics | Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations website and podcast:

"Fort Lauderdale, FL–(HISPANIC PR WIRE)–May 9, 2005–“Raza de Campeones”, the first and only Spanish-language television show that highlights the achievements and cultural values of U.S. Hispanics premiered in April. Viewers in Los Angeles, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Santa Barbara and Reno, can watch the first season of the show every Sunday during prime time. Currently, syndication negotiations take place with other local broadcast channels in the country, including Puerto Rico, to make this program available to a broader audience."

Raza de Campeones, a production of Picabú Productions, has traveled throughout the United States to meet with Spanish-speaking people that have achieved success in the arts, business, sports and other areas. Moreover, this hour long show includes a street survey about topics of general interest that reflect the lifestyles and culture of the Latin community. The show also presents a section about the Latin traditions incorporated into American culture and reports about social organizations that help Latin people in the United States.

26 Students Arrested in Protest Over Tuition Increases - NYTimes.com

26 Students Arrested in Protest Over Tuition Increases - NYTimes.com:

"SAN FRANCISCO — Twenty-six students were arrested at San Francisco State University before dawn on Thursday after some students barricaded themselves inside a building to protest budget cuts and tuition increases across the state’s public university system."


“The doors were locked with chains from the inside so police broke through a window to get in,” a university spokeswoman, Ellen Griffin, said. “We’re approaching final exams and the end of the semester, and as many as 3,200 students have classes in that building.”
On Wednesday, classes in the building were canceled after the occupation began.
Along with indignation over budget cuts, a blog listing the protesters’ demands included forgiveness of all student loans and ending the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. With demands far beyond the purview of school administrators, negotiations with the students was nearly impossible, Ms. Griffin said.

Texas lawmakers seeking fix for prepaid tuition plan | News | Star-Telegram.com

Texas lawmakers seeking fix for prepaid tuition plan | News | Star-Telegram.com:

"Texas lawmakers plan to look at college costs and tuition deregulation as they try to solve a projected billion-dollar-plus shortfall in a state prepaid college tuition plan.

The Texas House Appropriations Committee will review the Texas Guaranteed Tuition Plan in the context of providing more avenues for Texans to get a college education, said state Rep. Richard Pena Raymond, D-Laredo, the committee’s vice chairman. Tuition deregulation will likely be discussed as college expenses soar during hard economic times, he said Thursday.

He said he expects recommendations by next November in preparation for the 2011 legislative session."

The Answer Sheet - The effects of tracking students in school

The Answer Sheet
- The effects of tracking students in school

The effects of tracking students in school

A new report out today makes the case that students do better in school when they are separated into groups based on their achievement.

The study is published by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, is byBrookings institute scholar Tom Loveless. It looks at tracking in Massachusetts middle schools and middle schools there that once had tracking systems but eliminated them.

Loveless found that de-tracked schools have fewer advanced students in math than do tracked schools--and that de-tracking is more popular in schools that serve disadvantaged students.

You can read the report here.

Let's discuss the issue of tracking. Please relate here--or send me attheanswersheet@washpost.com--any experiences you and your children have had with tracking and what you think about its effects.

Follow Valerie’s blog all day, every day athttp://washingtonpost.com/answersheet/

For all the Post’s Education coverage, please seehttp://washingtonpost.com/education

Class Struggle - Finally some sense about 21st century skills--part two, the Wagner book

Class Struggle
- Finally some sense about 21st century skills--part two, the Wagner book:

"My wife was enjoying a quiet flight back to Washington after a week off in California when I, sitting next to her, started thrashing around. I was reading a book, but in a way that any person would find disturbing. I was marking and remarking pages. I was filling margins with unreadable scrawls. I was flipping back and forth. I was talking to myself: 'Whoa! No! Yes!'

'What is that?' she asked.

It's a good question. The simple answer is: the latest book by school improvement activist Tony Wagner: 'The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don't Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need.' Wagner is co-director of the Change Leadership Group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He is also a great writer and speaker. I consider this book more of an experience than a read."

Illegal Immigrant Students Publicly Take Up a Cause - NYTimes.com

Illegal Immigrant Students Publicly Take Up a Cause - NYTimes.com

It has not been easy for the Obama administration to deport Rigoberto Padilla, a Mexican-born college student in Chicago who has been an illegal immigrant in this country since he was 6.



On Thursday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said they would delay Mr. Padilla’s deportation for one year.

Mr. Padilla’s case had seemed straightforward toimmigration agents who detained him for deportation in January after he was arrested by the Chicago police for running a stop sign and charged with driving under the influence.

But since then, students held two street rallies on his behalf and sent thousands of e-mail messages and faxes to Congress. The Chicago City Council passed a resolution calling for a stay of his deportation and five members of Congress from Illinois came out in support of his cause. One of them was Representative Jan Schakowsky, a Democrat, who offered a private bill to cancel his removal.

Obama administration officials said they would review cases like Mr. Padilla’s as they arose. They said the situation of Mr. Padilla, 21, pointed to the need for an immigration overhaul that would include a path to legal status for people in the United States illegally.

Low-performing Queens high schools face closure after poor grades on city's annual report card

Low-performing Queens high schools face closure after poor grades on city's annual report card

Two Queens high schools that received D grades on the city's annual report card are now on the chopping block.

The city is recommending the closure of Beach Channel High School, in Rockaway Park, and the Business, ComputerApplications and Entrepreneurship High School in CambriaHeights. The Education Department announced its proposal to shutter Jamaica High School last week.

"They're not fulfilling the promise that we make to students and their families that we're going to prepare students for life beyond high school," said Deputy Schools Chancellor John White.

The final decision on whether the schools will be phased out one year at a time lies with the Panel for Educational Policy. A vote is set for Jan. 26.

Read more:http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2009/12/11/2009-12-11_two_more_lowperforming_boro_high_schools_face_closure.html#ixzz0ZNxzRzRC

Both current and former teachers ask judge to nix 'rubber rooms' for teachers booted from classroom

Both current and former teachers ask judge to nix 'rubber rooms' for teachers booted from classroom:

"The infamous�'rubber rooms' where teachers twiddle their thumbs while under investigation are unconstitutional, inhumane and even toxic, a new federal suit charges.

Six current and former teachers are asking a judge to shut down the detention centers for teachers who have been booted from the classroom.

Their lawyer, Joy Hochstadt, said terrible rubber room conditions are designed to humiliate teachers into quitting before a disciplinary hearing."

Adding Value to Discussions About Value-Added

Adding Value to Discussions About Value-Added:

"The quality of the U.S. teacher workforce is under the microscope, and rightly so. Teachers represent the most important school-based resource determining students’ academic success, and a shortage of graduates with knowledge and skills necessary to drive innovation or to command premium wages in a global economy threatens the nation’s economic prosperity. Moreover, children from low-income families and children of color are disproportionately assigned to the least effective teachers, a finding that helps explain yawning gaps between average educational outcomes of groups defined by family income or ethnicity. Broad improvements in teacher quality will thus serve the strategic goals of raising student achievement overall and reducing disparity in achievement between groups."

Editorial: Pie fight ignores economic reality - Chico Enterprise Record

Editorial: Pie fight ignores economic reality - Chico Enterprise Record:

"Our view: Everyone agrees the state's colleges need more funding. Nobody can answer where that funding should come from.

As college administrators plead their case, students protest higher fees and legislators get an earful about the state of higher education, it's safe to say there's nearly universal agreement on one thing — California's colleges are in disarray and need more funding.

Who doesn't?

Even legislators would agree that the state is reneging on its contract as written in the 50-year-old Master Plan for Higher Education. A different compact negotiated with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2004 for steady funding in exchange for predictable student-fee hikes has also been thrown out the window."

The Way Forward | California Progress Report

The Way Forward | California Progress Report:

"President Obama's latest speech on the economy and the White House's recent job summit highlight the fragility of the economy. Meanwhile, in California crippling budget cuts and a structural budget deficit have sapped the ability of the state to advance the general welfare of its citizens. Indeed, California is forecast to lag the rest of the nation in economic recovery. That is why Sacramento must take seriously a recent report by the Los Angeles Times that found evidence of billions of dollars of waste associated with the state's use of private contractors."

India Journal - South Asian News for Southern California

India Journal - South Asian News for Southern California:

"SACRAMENTO, CA - The idea to run for California’s 3rd Congressional District office occurred to Dr Amerish “ Ami” Bera about a year ago. When asked why the thought even struck him, he said it was his concern that the opportunities that he had had in this country as a youngster to exploit through access to education and hard work may not be available to the next generations. He believes that consistently, things that are the responsibilities of the Government, are being dismantled which will make it much tougher in the future to achieve a better life. Even educational institutions like Universities which, he said, should be serving the public seem to be losing sight of their mission and the public schools are getting worse by the day in California. He looked back momentarily on his medical education and could not imagine what had cost him only $ 393 a quarter has catapulted today to several thousands annually."

California assembly elects its first openly gay speaker - Politics AP - MiamiHerald.com

California assembly elects its first openly gay speaker - Politics AP - MiamiHerald.com:

"Assembly Democrats this afternoon chose Assemblyman John A. Perez as their new speaker, making the first-term Democrat the first openly gay man to hold the post.

Members emerged from a closed-door caucus at the historic Stanford Mansion to announce that Democrats had chosen Perez, of Los Angeles, on an unanimous vote.

The move came after Assemblyman Kevin de Leon agreed to bow out. A public vote on the Assembly floor is expected later this afternoon."

Duncan Visits San Diego, Pushes Education Reform | KPBS.org

Duncan Visits San Diego, Pushes Education Reform

| KPBS.org:

"SAN DIEGO — U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan says the eyes of the nation are on California as Sacramento lawmakers battle to approve legislation aimed at education reform.

Duncan made those remarks during the National Conference of State Legislatures in downtown San Diego yesterday. During his address, Duncan called on legislators around the country to lead education reform by competing for federal education stimulus grants.

States will get the money if they take on reforms outlined by the Obama administration. The reforms include closing struggling schools, lifting bureaucratic roadblocks for charter schools and linking teacher pay to student test scores."

Calif Assembly passes Race to the Top package - San Jose Mercury News

Calif Assembly passes Race to the Top package - San Jose Mercury News:

"SACRAMENTO, Calif.—The California Assembly on Thursday approved a controversial package of legislation that would allow the state to compete for a piece of the $4.3 billion being offered by the Obama administration to reform the nation's worst-performing schools.

By a 47-25 vote, the Assembly approved legislation by Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, D-Santa Monica, that would lift the cap on the number of charter schools in California, revamp the state's academic standards and target federal funding to the worst-of-the-worst failing schools.

The legislation is intended to clear the way for California to compete in the Race to the Top program. The state is eligible for up to $700 million."

San Mateo Daily Journal

San Mateo Daily Journal:

"SACRAMENTO — The California Assembly on Thursday approved a controversial package of legislation that would allow the state to compete for a piece of the $4.3 billion being offered by the Obama administration to reform the nation’s worst-performing schools.
By a 47-25 vote, the Assembly approved legislation by Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, D-Santa Monica, that would lift the cap on the number of charter schools in California, revamp the state’s academic standards and target federal funding to the worst-of-the-worst failing schools.
The legislation is intended to clear the way for California to compete in the Race to the Top program. The state is eligible for up to $700 million."