Monday, January 11, 2010

Education Week's Digital Directions: Schools Fuel Demand for High-Tech Language Labs

Education Week's Digital Directions: Schools Fuel Demand for High-Tech Language Labs:

"When students of Spanish teacher Sean M. Boettinger put on their headsets in his Maryland high school’s language lab, their concentration heightens, he says. The up-to-date digital equipment, says the teacher, keeps them engaged with teenage-friendly electronics, allows them to get more practice listening and speaking Spanish, and, most important, blocks out distractions.
“Particularly in classes that have a hard time paying attention, having those headphones on, and me being able to speak through that microphone directly into their ears with no outside noises, is a great focusing tool,” says Boettinger, who teaches at Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. High School in the 134,000-student Prince George’s County district."

Schools Matter: New York Times Confirms Loyalty to Bloomberg's Charter Propaganda Machine

Schools Matter

New York Times Confirms Loyalty to Bloomberg's Charter Propaganda Machine

Brent Staples has been stupid about education for a long time, and today's NYTimes Editorial on charter schools in NYC shows that he is only getting stupider by the day. A recent report on NYC charters showed 51% of students in NYC charter do better in math than the public schools, which means of course that in 49% of charters, they do worse or no better than the publics.

In reading, only 29% of NYC charters have higher reading scores than the public schools, which means that that in 71% of the charters, reading scores are no better or lower than the public schools. Now here is how Staples and Co. reports these findings in their corporate editorial today:

. . . .A new study from the center [CREDO] has

A TIPPING POINT IN EDUCATION - THE DAILY RIFF - Be Smarter. About Education.

A TIPPING POINT IN EDUCATION - THE DAILY RIFF - Be Smarter. About Education.

Joe Scarborough and the Rev. Al Sharpton shook up the education world on Friday during a segment of "Morning Joe", where they had a very direct exchange and agreed on key points in education reform. Topics included unions, merit pay and whether teachers should be fired (the new "f" word in education?).

Sharpton is a civil right activist and president of the National Action Network. Scarborough is a former conservative Republican Congressman who served on the Committee for Education and the Workforce and is author of the recent book, The Last Best Hope. He is host of MSNBC's "Morning Joe".

See and hear for yourself. Vid 3 min. clip below. Unofficial Transcript - 1/8/10:

JS: And you also are talking about it in a way that a lot of civil rights leaders haven't talked in some time about teachers unions about education reform.

You're ready to turn the tables over in the temple and say, hey schools are not about unions, schools are not about jobs, they're about kids.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Rosemont High School - Home Page

News and Information

Get Your Rosemont NewsBlast!

1/9/10 edition

1. Math Tutoring Available!

The following are dates, times, and locations for free math tutoring at Rosemont High School.

Monday - Mrs. Austin, B120, (Alg. 1-2, and Geom.)
Tuesday - Mr. Dresser, B213, (Alg 1. Geom)
Mr. Prashar, E106, (Alg. 2, Pre-Cal, Calculus)
Wednesday: CSF tutoring, B120 (all subjects)
Thursday: Mr. Warren, E212, (Alg. 1-2, and Geom)
Friday: Mr. Bodene, B210, or Mr. Dresser, B213 (Alg. 1 and Geom)

Mr. Velazquez, E204 (Alg. 2, Pre-Cal, Calculus)

2.Diapers to Diplomas! Senior Memory Ads

Parents and family order a memory page for your graduating senior. Express your love, pride and congratulations for your senior. Limited number of pages available so get yours now. Deadline is October 2, 2009. Click here to get the order form.

3.New 2009 Big Blue Review!

The 2009 Big Blue Review is now here! Download your copy to get the latest updates on school activities, general information, support services, athletics, and more! Click here to view it now.

4. Sports Physicals

Athletic physicals will be held Monday, August 10th at 10:00 am in the training room. Cost will be $25.00, cash only! Athletes, please fill out the physical packet before arrival. If they are not completed and signed by a parent, you will not be given a physical. Click here to download the 2009-2010 athletic participation forms.

5. Paying for College
Students, are you interested in find out ways to pay for college? Follow this link to access a comprehensive guide and listing of scholarships, internships, and websites.

2008-2009 RHS Athletics!

It was a very succesful spring for the Rosemont Athletic Department . Baseball, Softball and Womens Soccer all won Metro League Championships. Brienna Crimmins won Sac - Joaquin Section Championship in Womens Long Jump. Both the Men's Golf and Tennis Teams qualified for the CIF Section Playoffs. Both the Men's and Women's Track Teams qualified more than 25 athletes for the Sac - Joaquin Divisional Meet as well as 6 for the Masters Meet at Sacramento City College.

Individual Honors went to Several Athletes and Coaches . Brandon Creel was named the Metro League Player of the Year in Baseball as well as being a Sacramento Bee First all city Selection. Stephanie Malone was named Metro League Player of the Year Womens Soccer. Paul Martinez was named Metro League Coach of the Year for Baseball as well as Bill Kapp for Softball.

CAHSEE Test Prep.

Visit the following link to find study guides and release test questions for the CAHSEE exam. Click Here.

Shelly Mendoza - News 10 Teacher

of the Month

Congratulations to Shelly Mendoza for being chosen as News 10's Teacher of the Month for August 2008. Click here to read the article.

Discount Driver's Ed Online

Online driver's education available for $70 (regularly $99). To enroll, visithttp://www.idrivesafely.com/ca-rosemont/ I Drive Safely Logo

Online Registration by Cvent | Event Summary - Coalition for Community Schools National Forum 2010

Building Innovative Partnerships for Student Success: The Key to America's Future is this year’s theme. This year we celebrate partnerships because they are at the heart of the community schools approach—bringing schools, families, community residents, higher education and an array of other community partners together around a common result—student success.

Innovation is the word of the day in education reform, as the U.S. Department of Education rolls out its new education reform strategy. Community schools are an innovation that is turning around student performance as it builds on a very American principle, that schools are inextricably connected to their communities and best educate students when they function as centers of community. Student success is the result that everyone is seeking for young people...enabling them to graduate from high school ready for careers, college, and citizenship. Attaining this goal is vital to the future for our nation.

What’s Different This Year? As in the past, workshops will provide engaging opportunities to learn about the “hot topics” or “how to do the nuts & bolts” of the community schools approach. The Forum will also feature field-building dialogue/affinity group sessions designed to provide time for networking and deeper dialogue on particular topics and/or for particular audiences.

Workshop strands will focus on; 1) Community Schools in Action, 2) Scaling Up & Sustaining Community School Initiatives, 3) Leadership, 4) Opportunities & Supports in Community Schools, 5) Supportive Policy, 6) Results and Research, 7) Communications and Advocacy, and 8) University-Assisted Community Schools.

We’re planning an exciting line up of plenary sessions, affinity groups, and workshop session. Please plan to join us in beautiful Philadelphia this spring.

Seasonal Classes and Recreation Programs - Department of Parks and Recreation

Seasonal Classes and Recreation Programs - Department of Parks and Recreation
Seasonal Special Interest Leisure Classes and Recreation Programs

Spring 2010 Recreation and Programs Directory(16.77 MB) This 64-page directory is available online in Portable Document Format, requiring Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Free online registration is now available. Browse online to see what is available, and sign up quickly for classes and activities for all family members.

Do you want to teach a class? We are accepting proposals from potential new instructors.

Hundreds of classes, workshops and programs to meet your or your family’s leisure needs are offered at sites throughout the city. Learn something new, improve a skill, develop a hobby, meet new people, enjoy friendly competition or explore a neighborhood or community facility. Classes include guitar, piano, aerobics, yoga, hip hop, ballroom dance, dog obedience, tennis, gymnastics, ballet, tap, and martial arts. Other program listings include Aquatics and swim lessons, seasonal programs at the Children's Services, Teen Services, Services for Older Adults, City Safari Tours, Access Leisure, Adult Sports Leagues including softball and Special Events.

Alternatively, you can visit one of our community centers or offices to pick up your copy of the Directory. Please call to check for availability.
Administrative Offices, 915 I Street, Fifth Floor, 95814; (916) 808-5200

Education | Barnes & Noble launches text rental service | Seattle Times Newspaper

Education | Barnes & Noble launches text rental service
| Seattle Times Newspaper: "Barnes & Noble Inc. said Monday that it's launching a textbook rental program for college students.

The new program, available though campus bookstores or the stores' Web sites managed by the world's largest bookseller, is designed to cut textbook costs by as much as 50 percent for some titles.

Textbooks rented online will be shipped to a campus bookstore.

The effort, operated through the New York company's subsidiary Barnes & Noble College Booksellers LLC., is already in place in about 25 campus bookstores nationwide.

Barnes & Noble operates bookstores at nearly 640 colleges across the country."

The Educated Guess � Governor targets seniority protections

The Educated Guess � Governor targets seniority protections

Four years ago, Gov. Schwarzenegger failed to persuade voters to change the tenure laws for teachers. But that hasn’t deterred him from pushing again in his final year in office.

In his budget message, the governor said he’d propose eliminating the law requiring that teacher layoffs and reassignments be done strictly on the basis of seniority. He also wants school boards, not the Commission on Professional Competence, to have the final say on teacher firings. In a study last year, the Los Angeles Times determined that the commission overturns school boards’ decisions about a third of the time – one more factor discouraging administrators from seeking to get rid of incompetent teachers.

You can bet the California Teachers Assn. will fight both bills.

In many districts, principals do have the ability to hire whom they want and to reject veteran teachers who they determine won’t fit in. But rules change with a reduction in force.

I’ve talked with principals who complain bitterly that they no choice but to let go among their best, young teachers with the rapport and expertise they needed; they were bumped by veteran teachers and sometimes administrators who have

Sacramento Press / Democratic Party of Sacramento County Responds to Governor’s State of the State and Budget

The six years of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s administration have not treated California well. We have lost our jobs, lost our houses and lost the services that were supposed to protect us and build a stronger state. While Governor Schwarzenegger has read a well-written script about post partisanship and teamwork, he has consistently failed to deliver on these promises – siding time and again with conservative interest groups that do not represent California’s values and proposing quick fix paper solutions instead of doing the hard work and showing the real leadership that is necessary to achieve real progress.

While it is laudable that after years of cutting education budgets and increasing prison populations, the Governor has come to realize this is not a sustainable, wise or just course of action, we need to see actual leadership to reverse the course the Governor has set and to overcome the numerous shortcomings of years one through six of his administration. There are hard decisions that need to be made and important values that need to be protected. To date, Schwarzenegger has not shown the ability or desire to fight for Californians.

We are particularly concerned with the Governor’s proposals for closing the budget gap. Funding he has predicted from the federal government is

Ax falls on two District PR staffers | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

At the end of a difficult news week for Superintendent Arlene Ackerman, two veteran media relations specialists in the District'scommunications office were abruptly terminated Friday, effective immediately.

Vincent Thompson and Felecia Ward, the District's two media managers, "were laid off due to a reorganization of the department based on the needs and the strategic plan of the School District of Philadelphia," said Evelyn Sample-Oates, chief communications officer, in a one-sentence email to the Notebookcommenting on the terminations.

Both Thompson and Ward had joined the communications office during the Paul Vallas administration, when it was headed by Cecilia Cummings. Thompson served two separate stints beginning in 2002, while Ward joined the office in 2005. Along with Fernando Gallard, who continues as director of media relations, Thompson and Ward had handled most media inquiries to the District.

Ackerman has also been drawing on outside public relations firms for her media strategy, including Cárdenas-Grant Communications and Ross Associates.

The terminations come days after a critical story about the superintendent

Class Struggle - Study shows how dumb we can be

Class Struggle- Study shows how dumb we can be:

"A little-noticed but unusually detailed study of teaching practices, reported by Robert Rothman in the November/December issue of the Harvard Education Letter, delivers a depressing message you should keep in mind whenever you read anything about raising school achievement. I don’t care if it’s by an education school dean, or a state governor, or the U.S. secretary of education, or even me. If this new study is true then none of us really knows what we are talking about.

Consider all the ink and electrons my Post colleagues and I, plus the leaders of our local schools and commentators far and wide, expend on how each of our public schools have performed on the annual tests. These assessments are required under No Child Left Behind. They are wired into the culture now. They will continue in some form no matter how Congress changes that law."

Chicago Public Schools chief Ron Huberman has not one, but two cars paid for by you - chicagotribune.com

Chicago Public Schools chief Ron Huberman has not one, but two cars paid for by you - chicagotribune.com:

"In mid-October, Chicago Public Schools chief Ron Huberman made a special trip to Springfield to implore legislators to restore funding cuts that were aggravating an already painful budget season.

What he didn't mention to legislators was how he got there, in the literal sense. The schools chief drove himself in a 2009 Ford Escape hybrid that costs taxpayers more than $800 a month. That vehicle is in addition to the Crown Victoria that Huberman rides around in while in Chicago; the school district leases it for about $1,000 a month, not including the driver's pay. Huberman, who was appointed a year ago, makes $230,000 a year.

While previous school chiefs Paul Vallas and Arne Duncan both had a car and driver, neither had an additional vehicle leased for them by the nation's third-largest school system. For that matter, the leaders of the nation's two largest school districts don't have that perquisite either.

In a tough year for the city's schools, with nearly a thousand layoffs expected and millions of dollars in program cuts, some are questioning the necessity of two cars for a CEO who"

7 charter schools to get OK as state nears limit of 200 - NYPOST.com

The state Board of Regents is expected to approve seven new city charter schools at its monthly meeting Tuesday -- slicing to 23 the number of charters that can be issued statewide.

The move comes as lawmakers work feverishly under Gov. Paterson's deadline of Thursday for passing legislation to eliminate -- or at least raise -- the state's cap of 200 charter schools.

Lifting or removing the cap would boost the state's odds of snaring as much as $700 million in federal education-reform aid, for which the application due date is Jan. 19.

The charter schools set for approval early next week include the fifth clone of the successful Icahn Charter School in The Bronx, as well as replacements for two shuttering Catholic schools.

If approved, Riverton Street Charter School will open in September in the former home of St. Catherine of Sienna in Queens, and Bedford-Stuyvesant New Beginnings Charter School will open in the closing St. John the Baptist School in Brooklyn.

The Regents are expected to return two other charter-school applications approved by SUNY for revision.

Later this month, the city's Department of Education is planning to put out its first-ever parent guide to charter schools, with details on the 99 schools already operating as well as the 26 expected to open this fall.

Critics see a lose-lose situation with 15 city high schools on closure list

They saw it coming.

Officials at Norman Thomas High School warned the Education Department in 2004 that a spike in enrollment after other nearby schools were shuttered had created "an overcrowding situation that dooms us to failure."

Last month, their fears came true. It's now among 15 high schools slated for closure.

"Are they trying to fix the schools or ... trying to destroy them?" asked Nick Licari, a social studies teacher at the midtownManhattan school.

The Bloomberg administration has closed 21 large high schools since 2002. Critics say those left standing have been flooded with students, causing enrollment to balloon, attendance to drop and crime to spike.

At Norman Thomas - where officials will hold a hearing about the closure tonight - a building meant for 2,000 students saw enrollment jump to 3,000 in 2005 after three large Manhattan high schools were closed.

"I think there was collateral damage to the remaining large schools," said Clara Hemphill, author of the "The New Marketplace" study for

Editorial - Promises and Facts on Charter Schools - NYTimes.com

Editorial - Promises and Facts on Charter Schools - NYTimes.com:

"Charter schools — which are run with public money but subject to fewer state regulations — have a lot of supporters in Washington. Education Secretary Arne Duncan wants states to close some chronically failing schools and turn them into charters. Congress is so enthusiastic that it has created a $50 million fund and given Mr. Duncan the authority to directly finance charter school operators who want to replicate or expand successful programs."

Proponents initially argued that charter schools could provide a better education because they were allowed to operate independently. But the research has turned up mixed results. To ensure that this new money goes only to operators with proven records of success, Mr. Duncan will need to be guided by well-designed studies like the one being carried out by Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes.
The center startled many education specialists last summer with a report that showed that a large number of charter schools are failing to deliver on their promises. It compared the performance of charter schools and traditional schools in 15 states and the District of Columbia and found that only about 17 percent of charters offered students a better education than traditional schools — and that 37 percent were worse.
A new study from the center has turned up a brighter picture in New York City, where students at more than half of the charter schools are showing more academic improvement in math than their traditional-school counterparts. The reading numbers were not as strong, but still nearly 30 percent of charters outperformed traditional schools.

Un-chartered waters, unaccountable schools - NYPOST.com

* The real "UFT Charter Chicanery" (Editorial, Jan. 5) is that charter schools are just another way for fat cats to channel public money into their own pockets.

Charters pay teachers less than the public-school system pays while making them work longer hours and more days.

Thanks to Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel Klein, the charters get free space in public-school buildings, which saves them a bundle of money. Then the charter schools can pay exorbitant fees to their "management groups," a k a the fat cats.

If New York drops the cap on charter schools and gets the $700 million, where will it go? Into the fat cats' pockets.

Educators await Obama's mark on No Child Left Behind - washingtonpost.com

Educators await Obama's mark on No Child Left Behind - washingtonpost.com:

"Eight years after President George W. Bush signed the bill that branded an era of school reform, the education world is wondering when President Obama will seek to rewrite the No Child Left Behind law.

Obama officials, who for months have been on a 'listening and learning' tour, are expected to propose a framework for the successor to a law that is two years overdue for reauthorization. Time is growing short if Obama aims for action before midterm elections, which could weaken Democratic majorities in Congress."

Teacher certification prestigious but too costly, Rhee says - washingtonpost.com

Teacher certification prestigious but too costly, Rhee says - washingtonpost.com:

"Judy Leak-Bowers has 18 fidgety third-graders arrayed in a circle on the carpet of her classroom at Watkins Elementary in Southeast Washington, but each seems to have her undivided attention.

No one escapes her stream of questions about temperature on the Celsius scale or a recent class visit to Ben's Chili Bowl. The queries are all open-ended, requiring a thoughtful answer, not just a 'Yes' or 'No.'

'Why is it a big deal about the president ordering a half-smoke?' she asks when someone mentions President Obama's visit to the landmark U Street eater"

In Suburban Schools, an Alternative to A.P. - NYTimes.com

In Suburban Schools, an Alternative to A.P. - NYTimes.com:

"JERICHO, N.Y. — In a St. John’s University English class the other day, 10 students tackled George Orwell’s “1984” like generations of collegians before them. But while there was plenty of higher-order thinking, the class — and the students — were technically still in high school."

The college class is one of 16 being taught at Jericho High School here on Long Island, half of them added in the past two years through new partnerships with St. John’s in Queens, Molloy College in Rockville Centre and the Rochester Institute of Technology. The Jericho students simultaneously fulfill their high school graduation requirements and, for a reduced fee, earn college credit.
These so-called dual-enrollment courses have long been used in urban schools to provide some higher education to poor and minority students and encourage them to go on to college. But now many top suburban high schools are embracing dual enrollment as a way to challenge their brightest students and ward off senioritis once college applications are done. They say the college

Governor seeks to ease rules on firing weak teachers - latimes.com

Governor seeks to ease rules on firing weak teachers

Schwarzenegger calls for other criteria besides seniority in dismissals and advocates reducing power of state panel that can overturn decisions.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed on Friday to make it easier for school districts to fire weak teachers by changing a law that mandates instructors be laid off only according to seniority. He also recommended reducing the role of a state commission that has the power to overturn teachers' dismissals.

The move to take away final say over teachers' dismissals from the Commission on Professional Competence was spurred by a Times investigation last spring, according to the governor's staff. The investigation found that the commission overturned nearly a third of teachers' dismissals statewide over the last 15 years.

The Times also found that the process of firing a tenured teacher is so difficult that districts typically try to remove only instructors accused of egregious acts and that poor teaching is rarely a factor in dismissals.

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