Tuesday, March 9, 2010

What Do Bicycles and Copiers Have to Do With Student Data Systems? � The Quick and the Ed

What Do Bicycles and Copiers Have to Do With Student Data Systems?

Part III of this week’s Five Principles for Smarter Data Systems series–a guest post from Vincent Cho, M.Ed., former teacher and assistant principal, now a PhD student and researcher on educational data use at The University of Texas at Austin:

Education Sector’s Five Design Principles raises important questions about the technology tools we provide to schools. A lot of us think about what data can do for school improvement, but we don’t pay enough attention to the unprecedented role that new technologies play in analyzing and distributing that data. These tools have the potential to shape what we see, and thus, what we attend to as educators and policymakers.

In these design principles we continue to search for the right metaphors, and I like that. We stretch to comprehend how it is that our phones, navigation systems, and other technologies have become so interwoven into everyday life. Besides this, the edges around our technologies have blurred such that our phones aren’t even really phones anymore. So, when it comes to tomorrow’s educational data systems, we have high hopes for the malleability and richness of new technologies, knowing that tomorrow’s tools may be unrecognizable to us.

Even so, we can start with good products, but the real work will be dealing with people and what they understand about the data systems in their lives and jobs. No tool, no matter how well designed, will ever “fit” perfectly. On one hand, tools are made by people at a particular time and place, guessing at the needs of others. On the other, it is up to users to embrace or resist them; they will adapt, work around, or expand their uses in unexpected ways.

For example, my wife, in her vehement loyalty to MS Office 2003, goes

The Educated Reporter: The NMJC kids and college.

The NMJC kids and college.

People often ask me for updates about the kids from Not Much Just Chillin’, who were in middle school eight years ago. I’m in touch with all of them to varying degrees, from Facebook friend to practically siblings—way too close to retain any professional distance. So despite Lily’s mother’s pleas to write another book about her daughter so that she might get into her brain again, I never did so.

But now that the national conversation on education is so focused on college preparation and completion, I think about these kids—sorry, “kids” is a hard habit to break when you have spent ages with them at the roller rink—all the time. These six people grew up all but one squarely planted in the middle and upper-middle class, went through an affluent (according to some measures, “best”) school system in an affluent state and got decent grades. Yet only a few are on track to graduate from college on time.

Jimmy attends a big state university, and Elizabeth goes to a small private college with a synchronized swimming program. They are both full-time and I think on a solid track toward graduation. Mia moved from community college to an elite private university, then withdrew for reasons I can’t get into here. (They had nothing to do with academic preparation,

Sacramento Press / Disabled residents urge RT to save paratransit services

Many disabled local residents who regularly ride paratransit buses were among the approximately 250 people who turned out for a Monday afternoon public hearing on proposed cuts to Sacramento’s Regional Transit.

The disabled transit riders — which included many people in wheelchairs — urged the RT board of directors to maintain paratransit services.

In the 2011 fiscal year, RT predicts it will have a $25 million budget gap according to a statement on the RT website. The statement notes that RT has been hammered by low revenues from state and local taxes, as well as by the state’s discontinuation of State Transit Assistance funding. In addition, the statement points out that furloughs and the high unemployment rate have resulted in RT taking in less money from fares.

The board is analyzing nine different ways it could make cuts to balance its budget. RT is planning for layoffs to be part of the budget cuts.

RT’s board of directors will make a decision on budget cuts at its March 22 meeting. The cuts would take effect June 20.

At Monday’s hearing, many people waited in line outside the RT building at N and 29th Streets to enter the meeting rooms. Once the hearing room was filled, RT officials opened up several nearby rooms so that people could watch the hearing on televisions. At least 250 people attended the meeting, according to Mike Mattos, RT’s chief of facilities and business support.

Beverly King, who has used paratransit since 1979, said she started crying when she addressed the RT board. She said outside the meeting that she appreciates the service, and does not have an alternate transit service that she can use.

“We won’t be able to do things on the weekends,” King said.

Rise & Shine: Budget cuts could cost teens summer camp jobs | GothamSchools

The city schools are spending this week focusing on tolerance and respect. (NY1)
Parents are organizing a “bake-in” to protest the city’s new bake sale rules. (Daily News)
City Limits offers an overview of the city schools’ dismal budget outlook.
The proposed state budget would eliminate many summer camp jobs for teenagers. (Times)
Diane Ravitch summarizes why her education policy views changed over time. (Wall Street Journal)
A man with a gun was killed by police outside Brooklyn’s PS 194 just after school let out. (Times)
The Everyday Math program used in NYC is credited with test-score gains in D.C. (Washington Post)

EducationNews.org - A Global Leading News Source

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UC system agrees with lecturer's union to contract extension - Santa Cruz Sentinel

UC system agrees with lecturer's union to contract extension

By Megha Satyanarayana

Posted: 03/09/2010 01:30:00 AM PST

SANTA CRUZ -- The union representing some 3,000 University of California lecturers, including 400 at UC Santa Cruz, has come to an agreement with the university system to extend its contract until July 2011, officials said Friday.
The announcement came the day after students system-wide struck on behalf of higher education cuts on campus and Sacramento.
But, the economy drove the extension, rather than a renegotiation, said Mike Rotkin, a lecturer in the social-justice driven Community Studies Department, a union leader and city council member in Santa Cruz.
"They pushed it off because they didn't think it would be a good time for bargaining," he said, even though, "we have issues of concern."
Several lecturers' jobs are in turmoil because of lost state funding, and an extension might give dust time to settle before negotiations re-emerge.
An estimated 21 lecturers at UCSC with six years or more of experience have received preliminary layoff notices since January 2009, including Rotkin, who received one last year that was later rescinded. Lecturers with less than six years' experience are not rehired and do not receive notices, so it is difficult to quantify their numbers, said Allison Guevara, an American Federation of Teachers field representative.
Lecturers are non-tenured faculty that have become the bedrock of basic education at UCSC, teaching nearly half the classes on campus, said Rotkin. He's been at the university some four
decades and believes he will get a short extension or this pink slip will stick. His last day would be June 30.
University officials earlier this year asked all academic and support departments to submit budget reduction scenarios totalling 5.5 percent or 11 percent. UCSC has cut about $50 million in the past two years.
At UCSC, several lecturers attended the March 4 rally, and in February, language lecturers rallied outside

Skyline unites to march against educational cuts - Budget Cuts

Skyline unites to march against educational cuts

Chris Haynes

Issue date: 3/8/10 Section: Budget Cuts

Page 1 of 1

Media Credit: Chris Haynes

Students marched at Skyline College, Thursday March 4, to protest educational budget cuts.

The students of Skyline college took action to make their voices heard, along with many other college campuses state wide.

March 4 was organized as a day of statewide marches to oppose the budget cuts taking place amongst many colleges in California.

Members of the Skyline community participated in a walkout, approved by most faculty, to let their voice be heard.

"They say cut back, we say fight back," Students chanted.

Students also came together to sing an old civil rights song, "An't gonna let nobody turn me around," a song which gave people hope.

The students united, despite rumored controversy in recent weeks.

"It was all a misconception, all artificial," said Skyline Student Senator Raymond Kurttila. "We are all working together."

Students marched around the school chanting with one voice.

"No cuts no fees, education should be free," they said.

UC Students: Get Up, Stand Up! >>

UC Students: Get Up, Stand Up!

By Mengfei Chen on Mar. 8, 2010

Diane Jong | Staff Photographer
Students protest outside of the Capitol building in Sacramento.

“Ain’t no power like the power of the student (unions)
Cuz the power of students (unions) don’t stop!” [sic]
-Chant No. 9 as written on the Unite for Public Education March 4 chant sheet.
The 2000 (plus or minus) protestors gathered at Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles last Thursday proved two things: California’s public education apparatus is really complicated and involves a lot of people, and many of these people are angry with the status quo.
“Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho,
Budget Cuts Have Got to Go!
Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho,
Fee Hikes Have Got to Go!” the crowd chanted.
Of the 111 protests that took place across the nation on National Day of Action to Defend Public Education, this rally was among the largest and most diverse. Unlike the protests taking place at University of California and California State University campuses, this rally attracted unions, students and educators from high schools, community colleges, CSUs, UCs and adult schools. The odd LaRouche evangelist and all five members of the local International Students for Social Equality, a Socialist offshoot, also showed up.
Eighty members of the Los Angeles Police Department were present. One person, not a protestor, was arrested. According to police, the arrested man was a homeless bystander. Angered by LaRouche posters that depicted Obama with a Hitler mustache, the man had gotten into scuffle with LaRouche supporters. When police attempted to stop the altercation, the man hit a police officer and was arrested to chants of “Let him go.”

UC, CSU, community colleges collaborate on transfers

UC, CSU, community colleges collaborate on transfers

The leaders of the three segments of California public higher education released areport today (March 8) from the Community College Transfer Task Force outlining steps to improve access and opportunity for California transfer students in the face of dramatic budget challenges.
The task force met in the spring and summer of 2009 following an announcement by University of California President Mark Yudof, California State University Chancellor Charles Reed and California Community Colleges Chancellor Jack Scott stating that the state's historic commitment to the transfer of students from two-year colleges to four-year institutions must be reinvigorated.
The task force makes recommendations that members agree would produce significant improvements in transfer preparation, access and student success yet are achievable in the current budget climate. As the introduction to the interim report states, "These findings should not be considered exhaustive - in fact, they are just a beginning."
"The report of the Transfer Task Force is a great start, and the recommendations represent considerable improvements that all of us can work toward," said UC president Mark Yudof. "What we need to do now is continue in this spirit of collaboration and collectively roll up our sleeves. We at UC will actively partner with the CSU and the community colleges to help students understand that the transfer option is achievable and affordable."
The eight recommendations identified by the task force cover a broad range of challenges facing students who wish to transfer, from strategies for enhancing student academic preparation - the Early Assessment Program and enhancing the course articulation process - to the availability of information on financial aid and smoothing the process of transfer by adopting similar academic calendars across colleges and universities. A copy of the report is available here.
Despite the challenges students face in negotiating the transfer process, the system does work for many students in California. Currently, approximately 14,000 students per year transfer from the California Community Colleges to UC campuses and another 55,000 matriculate to CSU campuses.
"The task force has given us a roadmap to make the process easier and more understandable for students to navigate. However, there is considerable need for continued improvements to help more students achieve their goal of a college degree," said CSU Chancellor Charles Reed.
The community colleges enroll approximately 2.9 million students per year, many of whom are the first in their families to go to college. Community colleges serve a variety of educational needs, and many students in the colleges are not on a four-year degree path, but those with interest in obtaining a baccalaureate degree should be given every opportunity to achieve it, the three segment leaders agreed.
"A seamless transfer process would enable California to produce more college graduates at a lower cost and that's where we need to be," said CCC Chancellor Jack Scott. "This report reaffirms for California, as President Obama has done at the national level, the important role that community colleges play in educating our future citizens and work force and emphasizes the importance of making transfer work for everyone."

LBPOST.com: Education Protests Pass & Fail

Education Protests Pass & Fail

by John Greet | Our Liberty | 03.08.10 |

| Text Size:

7:00am | As mentioned here, and here and here, thousands of teachers, students, parents and community members gathered at Cal State Long Beach, Long Beach City College and Wilson High School on March 4th ostensibly to protest cuts in public education funding. The Wilson event attracted some 2,000 protesters. The rallies in Long Beach were but a part of a larger “Day of Action” that took place on the same day throughout California and was organized by the California Teachers Association (CTA). A group called “Unite for Education”, which was described in a press release and on its Facebook page as “…a coalition of parents, teachers, nurses, librarians, students, and community members” organized the rallies in Long Beach.

I give these rallies a passing grade in the subjects of “Community Activism”, “Political Activism”, “Labor Activism”, “Media and Public Relations”, Music Appreciation” and “Art”. If the one goal was to instruct LBUSD students in community, political and labor activism, these protests were a fine example of each. Organizing a successful statewide protest of this type is a daunting task and the CTA is to be commended for pulling this off so well although it appears that they forgot to mention to some of those protesting in Oakland that they were supposed to comply with the law while doing so. 150 arrests later, I think those folks have gotten that message loud and clear, courtesy of Oakland (and former Long Beach) Police Chief Batts and the OPD.

Is it just me or does the fellow in the foreground in the L.A. Times picture, the gentleman with one hand holding a banner and the other raised in a fist, look like he’s smoking a joint? Perhaps he was doing double duty and protesting medical marijuana laws at the same time. But I digress…

Let’s try to think more critically, for a moment, about what the CTA and TALB are.

The CTA boasts 325,000 members across California. It was founded in 1863 and claims on its website to

African Americans remain underrepresented, underserved in state's higher education system / UCLA Newsroom

African Americans remain underrepresented, underserved in state's higher education system

By Letisia Marquez March 08, 2010

Despite California's significant number of African American residents, the state has seen a disproportionate decline in African American males in higher education, according to a new report from the UCLA CHOICES project and the College Access Project for African Americans, a project of the UCLA Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies.

"Till Victory Is Won: The African American Struggle for Higher Education in California" explores the reasons behind the underrepresentation of African Americans in higher education and opens a broader dialogue related to educational equity, student access and achievement.

"Historically, African Americans are disproportionately excluded or underserved by California's higher education system," said study co-author Walter Allen, UCLA's Allan Murray Cartter Professor of Higher Education and director of CHOICES, which addresses African American and Latino access, equity and diversity in education. "Additionally, blacks are overrepresented among the state's poor and incarcerated.

"Affirmative action policies that were previously successful in improving representation of blacks and other disadvantaged students are now either dismantled or greatly restricted. Ironically, African Americans who were at the forefront of the successful struggle to open America's colleges and universities to more diverse participation now face exclusion from California's and the nation's most prestigious institutions," he said.

Significant findings from the report include:

Chronic underrepresentation of African Americans in California higher education is a result of historic, systemic and persistent racial inequities in K–12 educational opportunities and restricted access to postsecondary programs.
African American high school graduates are not graduating from college at rates equal to their white and Asian peers.
Higher education in California displays characteristics of segregation: Whites and Asians disproportionately enroll at University of California campuses, while African Americans and Latinos most often attend California State University campuses and California community colleges.
Higher education opportunities in California reflect extreme socioeconomic inequities in which the poor subsidize higher education for the rich.
Proposition 209, which banned consideration of race in public contracting, education and employment, has had a disproportionately negative effect on African American participation in California higher education.
California prisons house mostly poor, uneducated inmates of color.
The state has a growing gender gap in which females outnumber males in college eligibility, high school graduation and college enrollment.
The current state economic crisis has further reduced educational opportunities for African Americans in the UC and CSU systems.

"This report reveals findings that can no longer be ignored," Allen said. "The diminished, declining opportunities for blacks and other underrepresented students of color in

Calif. lists schools that need to reform or close - San Jose Mercury News

Calif. lists schools that need to reform or close

By TERENCE CHEA Associated Press Writer

Posted: 03/08/2010 12:38:10 PM PST

Updated: 03/08/2010 02:36:43 PM PST

SAN FRANCISCO—California education officials on Monday identified dozens of low-performing public schools that will be required to adopt draconian reforms or close entirely.

The state Department of Education released a preliminary list of 188 of the state's "persistently lowest achieving" schools. Some schools could be replaced by others before the state Board of Education finalizes the list Thursday.

The listed schools will have to implement reform measures that could include replacing the principal and most of the staff; closing and sending students to other schools; or closing and reopening as a charter school.

The schools on the list will be eligible to apply for federal school improvement grants ranging from $50,000 to $2 million for the 2010-2011 academic year.

"We think this gives schools an opportunity to undertake some reform efforts that, absent this, they would not be able to do," said Deputy Superintendent Deborah Sigman.

State law requires the listed schools to adopt severe reforms or shut down, but does not specify when.

Some education advocates disagree with the sanctions, which almost all involve replacing principals in the state's most challenging schools.

"Just singling out a principal for blame when scores don't improve fast enough isn't fair," said Bob Wells, executive director of the Association of California School Administrators. "Pretty soon you'll have trouble recruiting new principals to take these

jobs."

Daily 49er - Statewide education cuts should be protested not ‘celebrated’

Statewide education cuts should be protested not ‘celebrated’

By Duke Rescola

Published: Monday, March 8, 2010

Friday’s headlines should have read something like, “College students celebrate education cuts.”

This isn’t an indictment against the estimated 3,000 activists that showed up at Cal State Long Beach for Thursday’s nationwide “Day of Action for Public Education.” Many of the demonstrators recognize that what is happening to education at all levels in California is a human rights tragedy in the making.

Although their objectives were not defined clearly enough to qualify as effective civil disobedience, they at least brought passion to the pavement.

Unfortunately, Thursday’s action was more celebration than protest. Rock bands, singing, face painting and dancing? Get real. What victory justified a carnival? The tactic only diffused the intended message that students — the ultimate consumers in higher education — demand better treatment. Woodstock was a concert, not a student movement.

Dissent would have been better served by opening the microphone so all stakeholders had an opportunity to express their grief with the systemic abandonment of public education. That chance was denied by short-sighted organizers. Ask the student who tried to access the mic, only to have it yanked away by a faculty union representative.

Every politician on the map knew they only had to hide for a heartbeat before it was safe to show their faces. The silence from those students who refused to join the fray echoed loudly in the chambers where budgets are inked. You could practically hear your elected representatives chuckling, “No noise in the streets means the masses are satisfied.”

When lawmakers perceive the overwhelming majority is content with the status quo, their day is done; they simply move on to the next special interest. At best, they heard mild whimpers of discontent buried 20 minutes into local news broadcasts. Most mainstream newspapers either tucked student protest stories below the fold or relegated them to inside pages.

In essence, it was a non-event. Certainly, no students, parents, faculty or employees darkened political offices, which should have been the next step on a continuum of meaningful physical protest. Letter writing campaigns and e-mail bombs are largely ignored. Paid staffers handle that mess with the delete button or a trash compactor.

The main reason most students didn’t show up was because it wasn’t about them, or at least that’s what they believe. Present conditions are nothing near what the future might be if this downward spiral continues; current students’ children will be deprived of educational opportunities. But they see no sense of urgency if it means skipping a class to carry a sign.

The trend for student complacency and apathy was replicated nationally. It wasn’t an anomaly of CSULB. Today’s students must realize that the current emergency will worsen dramatically if they don’t take a stand now and address this as a potentially crippling civil rights dilemma.

Day of Action evinces disdain for education

Day of Action evinces disdain for education:

"The biggest problem with last week's March 4 Day of Action to Defend Education, which was organized to protests cuts in California's education spending: The event showed how little educators and students value education."

After all, if teachers believed that class time is sacrosanct, they would have scheduled the protests for a Saturday, not a school day.
Of course, on a Saturday, educrats in schools like Oceana High in Pacifica or San Francisco's Commodore Sloat Elementary could not have used other people's children as props for their politics. Fewer students would have shown up. So they gave up class time.
Activists have been equally ready to dispense with college course work. Now I understand why University of California students would be angry at the cuts imposed on the UC system in the face of a 32 percent fee increase in the fall.
What I do not understand is the decision to protest the cuts and fee increases by protesting during precious (and expensive) class time. Ditto, as has happened, faculty and students walking out of classrooms to protest classroom funding cuts.
Whom do these actions punish? Not UC executives. Not Sacramento politicians. They punish only those students who care so much about their education that they don't want to miss a day of it.
As one who worked her way through college, I cannot help but see walkouts and weekday protests as proof that many UC students do not value the jewel that has been handed to them. Students could be learning a language, studying the stars or exploring the chemistry of the human body. Instead, they have chosen to chant and obstruct.
That goes doubly for students who engage in violence or vandalism. If UC administrators had any spine, they would make demonstrators prosecuted for vandalism clean toilets for a semester - or forfeit the education they blithely undervalue.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2010/03/08/EDCK1CCJIU.DTL#ixzz0hgXBDFHI

Charter school betting $5 million soundstage will be a star

Charter school betting $5 million soundstage will be a star:

"PALM SPRINGS — At a time when Florida is struggling to attract filmmakers, a local charter school is looking to the future and building a multimillion-dollar movie studio.

G-Star School of the Arts is about halfway through construction of a new, 50,000-square-foot soundstage — in filmmaking terms, a medium-sized facility — on its property along Congress Avenue. When completed in late May, it will be able to shoot all kinds of movie scenes, even those involving water and fire.

The price tag is about $5 million, coming from federal dollars earmarked to build or renovate school structures. At the same time, G-Star founder and CEO Greg Hauptner is looking to buy other contiguous properties, because his charter school can handle only 1,000 students and he's already got 860 after seven years of operation.

'The primary goal is to provide an education, but the secondary goal is to give kids hands-on experience in filmmaking,' Hauptner said.

This is all coming at a time when Florida's position as a filmmaking center is in rapid decline. Once the third most popular state for filmmaking, after California and New York, Florida has fallen out of the Top 10. Orlando's studio facilities now do production only for their indigenous theme parks."

Google introduces its Public Data Explorer

Google introduces its Public Data Explorer:

"(PhysOrg.com) -- Google's latest release is an application that allows users to create their own interactive, animated graphs and charts using public data such as census data or government statistics on unemployment or mortality rates. The charts and graphs created can then be embedded into web pages"

The application is called the Public Data Explorer, and is built on the visualization technology Google obtained in 2007 when it acquired Trendalyzer. The same technology powers Google’s Chart Tools, which can be used to easily add graphs and charts to web pages.

Google statistician Jürgen Schwärzler, said the Public Data Explorer allows users to “mash up” data using different kind of graphs, charts and maps. Once a chart is prepared it is dynamic, and changes can easily be made, such as altering the scale or highlighting entries. The application makes it simple to embed the chart on a web page or blog, or share it with friends. It cannot be downloaded or exported yet, but Google is working on options to allow both.

The Google Public Data Explorer website allows users to play with the application, to select the data set and create animated visualizations that change over time. A number of examples already created demonstrate how the tool works. They include fertility rates in selected regions of the world, increase in per capita income in various counties of California, and rising unemployment in the US.

Unemployment in the U.S.

The Public Data Explorer is an extension of Google’s aim to add visual data such as charts to searches. Early last year, charts originating from the US census and the US Bureau of Labor Statistics were added to relevant search results. Then in November indicators derived from the World Bank were added. The new application adds a further five sources: the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, Eurostat, the US Center for Disease Control, the California Department of Education, and the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD).

9th Circuit candidate's career marked by rapid ascent, wide-ranging roles - latimes.com

9th Circuit candidate's career marked by rapid ascent, wide-ranging roles - latimes.com:

"Berkeley professor Goodwin Liu, son of immigrants, would be youngest judge on the appeals court. He clerked for Ruth Bader Ginsburg and worked in government offices during the Clinton administration."

Reporting from Berkeley, Calif. - Goodwin Liu may be poised to become the youngest judge on the nation's busiest appeals court, but he was nonetheless a late bloomer.

Born to Taiwanese immigrant parents, Liu didn't learn English until he went to school in rural Florida. His parents nudged along his math skills during summer vacations by leaving problems on the kitchen table before they left for work. He wasn't a good reader, he concedes, and had to bone up on vocabulary during all-nighters with the dictionary to get an SAT score good enough to get into Stanford.

But like the marathon runner he has become in recent years, Liu might have been pacing himself.

In the mere dozen years since he graduated from Yale Law School after earning a biology degree and a stint as a Rhodes Scholar, Liu has clerked for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and federal Circuit Judge David S. Tatel. He's worked in private practice for one of the country's biggest law firms, O'Melveny & Myers, and for two government offices during the Clinton administration. He earned tenure, a distinguished teaching award and promotion to associate dean at UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law, consulted for San Francisco Unified School District and served on the boards of Stanford, the Public Welfare Foundation, the Alliance for Education and the National Women's Law Center. He has also chaired the American Constitution Society and co-written a book on theories of constitutional interpretation.

President Obama's nomination of Liu to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals crowns a legal resume that for most lawyers would span four decades. If confirmed by the Senate, Liu, 39, would become the 28th active judge on the court and the youngest by 16 years. He would also be the only Asian American among the nation's 175 federal appellate judges.

Colleagues describe him as brilliant, indefatigable and likely to apply the law as determined by the Supreme Court even when he disagrees with it. Nevertheless, they expect a rigorous confirmation

Sacramento-area schools fared well; 3 on low-performing list - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Sacramento-area schools fared well; 3 on low-performing list - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee:

"Sacramento-area schools did fairly well Monday when the preliminary list of the state's lowest-performing schools was released.

Three schools made the roster, a big improvement over places such as San Joaquin County with nine, San Francisco County with eight and Los Angeles with 35 on the list.

'That's not a bad showing for this region,' said David Gordon, superintendent of Sacramento County schools.

The California Department of Education released the list of 188 schools in the bottom 5 percent of the state's persistently lowest-performing schools, based on how students have scored on standardized tests.

The listed schools are under the gun to improve if they want a share of $415 million in federal School Improvement Grants the state expects to receive over three years.

The area schools included: Oak Ridge Elementary in Oak Park, Sacramento City Unified; Natomas High School, Natomas Unified; and Woodland High School, Woodland Joint Unified in Yolo County.
Underperforming schools will be eligible for between $50,000 and $2 million in federal money each year for three years."

Seven South Bay schools ranked among lowest performers in the state - San Jose Mercury News

In a declaration that raised hackles for its vague, complicated — and some say unfair — criteria, state officials on Monday named seven schools in Santa Clara County and four in San Mateo County among California's "persistently lowest-achieving schools," a designation that could lead to drastic overhauls.

Yet, underscoring the politics of labeling the worst schools in California, the state plans to release an alternate version today that could remove some schools and substitute in others.

It's the first time California has drawn up a list of its bottom 5 percent of schools, part of an attempt to attract federal education stimulus funds. Schools on the list have four alternatives: shut down; convert to a charter; replace the principal and staff; or institute other far-reaching reforms.

Education officials say the list isn't meant as punishment, but is a way to identify schools that need help and offer them financial incentives of up to $2 million a year to improve.

The preliminary list of 188 schools in California includes seven schools in San Jose: Hoover and Burnett middle schools in the San Jose Unified School District; Cesar Chavez Elementary and Ocala and Joseph George middle schools in the Alum Rock Union Elementary School District; Escuela

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