EducationNews.org - A Global Leading News Source - EdNewsToday

EducationNews.org - A Global Leading News Source - EdNewsToday

EdNewsToday

Grier wants new offers to run alternative school

3.9.10 - Houston Federation of Teachers President Gayle Fallon “That jerk is willing to throw these kids away rather than save them so he can divert a few dollars into his asinine new programs that no one wants,” she said.

Full story

Labour's push for 50% to attend university 'has devalued degrees'

3.9.10 - The Association of Graduate Recruiters said an 'obsession' with higher education had led to a boom in unchallenging courses at below-average institutions. ... 

Full story

Judge to end oversight of city schools

3.9.10 - The often-contentious 26-year-old lawsuit that attempted to provide equality for Baltimore's special-education students but ultimately helped to change the course of the public school system is nearing an end after a federal judge agreed Monday to end his oversight. ... 

Full story

Jay Mathews: Ravitch, unpredictable, still likes NCLB basics

3.9.10- Ravitch is our best living historian of education. In my view she is the best ever, since those who preceded her, including some of her mentors, did not write nearly as well. Her "Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms" is a masterpiece.... 

Full story

Generation Y children are 'harder to teach'

3.8.10 - A culture of "instant gratification" is making today's schoolchildren harder to teach, a headteachers' leader said yesterday.... 

Full story

$2b later, Kansas City, Mo., may close half its schools

3.8.10 - KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Kansas City was viewed as a national example of bold thinking when it tried to integrate its schools by making them better than the suburban districts where many children were moving. The result was one school with an Olympic-size swimming pool and another with recording studios ... 

Full story

Officials Step Up Enforcement of Rights Laws in Education

3.8.10 - Seeking to step up enforcement of civil rights laws, the federal Department of Education says it will be sending letters in coming weeks to thousands of school districts and colleges, outlining their responsibilities on issues of fairness and equal opportunity. ... 

Full story

Julia Steiny: Fun career software is ‘Way to go’

3.7.10 - Today we meet the team of trainers implementing WaytogoRI’s career-exploration software at Westerly Middle School. Anthony, Kyle, Taylor, Justin, Jana and other eighth graders join me in a conference room. Except for a couple of prim girls, the kids all but melt with nonchalance into the furniture, and squirm discreetly as we talk, per the habits of their age group. ... 

Full story

Top home-school texts dismiss Darwin, evolution

3.7.10 - AP - Home-school mom Susan Mule wishes she hadn't taken a friend's advice and tried a textbook from a popular Christian publisher for her 10-year-old's biology lessons.... 

Full story

10 Dallas ISD high schools fail to make the grade time and again

3.7.10 - Where is the black outrage? Is it only all about job entitlement and not teaching children....... 

Full story

In Harlem, Epicenter for Charter Schools, a Senator Wars Against Them

3.7.10 - When hundreds of parents went to Albany last month to rally for charter schools, they were greeted by a parade of politicians offering encouragement and promises. ... 

Full story

Charter school's seniors: They're all in

3.6.10 - The entire senior class of 107 students at Chicago's only public all-male, all-African-American high school has been accepted to four-year colleges.... 

Full story

Jay Mathews: KIPP helps worst students, study says

3.6.10 - Among the many controversies surrounding the Knowledge Is Power Program, the nation's most successful charter school network, is the suggestion that KIPP scores look good because their weakest students drop out. A new and unusually careful survey has found that in the case of at least one KIPP school, that's not true. ... 

Full story

Analysis documents college 'grade inflation' over decades

3.6.10 - Grades awarded to U.S. undergraduates have risen substantially in the last few decades, and grade inflation has become particularly pronounced at selective and private colleges, a new analysis of data on grading practices has found.... 

Full story

Fire teachers in failing schools? It may work

3.6.10 - PROVIDENCE — When all the teachers were fired from Central Falls High School last week in a sweeping effort at school reform... 

Full story

After Harvard Controversy, Conditions Change but Reputation Lingers

3.6.10 - TAMAR LEWIN - Harvard has changed in the five years since Lawrence H. Summers suggested that innate differences might explain why fewer women than men succeed in science and math.... 

Full story

Government diplomas are too easy for the brightest children

3.5.10 - Its report concluded: "Some question papers did not provide enough opportunities for more able candidates to demonstrate the extent of their knowledge, understanding and skills."... 

Full story

California disqualified from receiving federal school funds

3.5.10 - No reason was given for the decision. Education leaders announced that 15 other states and Washington, D.C., are in the running for billions in grants under the Race to the Top reform program. ... 

Full story

In New Book, Ravitch Recants Long-Held Beliefs

3.5.10 - Once an avid supporter of improving schools through accountability and choice, the scholar now says those ideas have led education astray. ... 

Full story

New York Is Among Finalists for U.S. School Grants

3.5.10 - Sam Dillon - WASHINGTON — New York, Florida and Pennsylvania are among the 16 first-round finalists in the federal grant competition known as Race to the Top, in which states compete for a share of $4 billion in school improvement money, the federal Department of Education said Thursday. ... 

Full story

voiceofsandiego.org | Bright and Early: The Education Newsblitz

voiceofsandiego.org | News. Investigation. Analysis. Conversation. Intelligence.

Bright and Early: The Education Newsblitz

Don't let the newsblitz hit you on your way out:

• California released a list of persistently struggling schools that will have to take drastic steps to improve. We blogged the list of low performers. 
• The North County Times writes that in Escondido, school leaders were surprised to see their school on the list. The Union-Tribune talks to a principals' union leader who says district principals shouldn't have to face those choices unless they can choose their teachers. 
• Torrey Pines High is known as "the drug school," SDNN writes.
• Also in the UT: Poway schools will appeal a court ruling that allows a teacher to keep banners with slogans like "In God We Trust" in the classroom.
• The Sacramento Bee has a nice explanation of what being on that low-performing schools list means. Educated Guess dissects why so few schools were on the list.

In Wake of Protests, Campus and City Consider Next Steps - The Daily Californian

In Wake of Protests, Campus and City Consider Next Steps - The Daily Californian:

"UC Berkeley Officials, Student Activists Split On How to Pursue Fight For Public Education"

Tens of thousands united March 4 in support of public education, but the UC Berkeley community remains divided as to whether to direct efforts toward state legislators or the public at large.

Protests in support of public education grabbed headlines nationwide as more than 10,000 people took to the streets in the Bay Area alone. While many UC Berkeley students remain disconnected from ongoing activism, campus officials and student activists are following diverging paths to secure increased funding for the university.

Student organizers of the March 4 Day of Action have said they will pursue a broader strategy to rectify "a crisis in government priorities" on the state and national levels. According to senior Eric Garcia, a member of the March 4 committee, plans for the movement will be determined this week but collaboration with other interest groups is already under way.

"It is unnecessary to spend so much money on wars and prisons and so little on public education," he said. "That is why on March 20, many organizers will participate in the anti-war rally in San Francisco."

He added that protests are likely to be staged in the near future as part of efforts to inspire sweeping changes in national and state policy through mass mobilization.

"National organizers are using their individual connections to contact international organizers and plan a collective day of action for public education throughout the world," said senior Alejandro Lara-Briseno, a member of the committee.

A rally held March 4 at the intersection of Bancroft Way and Telegraph Avenue drew about 800 participants. But the vast majority of students did not participate in demonstrations due to class conflicts, lack of familiarity with the movement as well as disagreement with the methods of demonstrators.

"I am here for my education, and in my opinion, (the rally) is stupid," freshman Barrett Glasauer said on March 4. "I am here to go to school and come back."

Freshman Katie Rue said she joined protesters outside Wheeler Hall Nov. 20 when a crowd of about 2,000 students surrounded Wheeler Hall to protest a large police presence which threatened to arrest 40 activists who had occupied the building. But Rue said she went to class on March 4.

"I was really turned off by the riots the week before," she said. "It seemed dangerous to participate (March 4)."

Freshman Jesse Yeh said the multiple "coalitions" on campus on March 4 hurt rather than helped organizing for the day of action.

"There were too many different coalitions thrown into the mix, like for example the impeach Obama people," Yeh said. 

Nuggets? Fries? Pizza? School Lunches Are Doing More Harm Than Good... - Perdaily.com

Nuggets? Fries? Pizza? School Lunches Are Doing More Harm Than Good... - Perdaily.com

On several recent posts and comments to people have wondered how our view of public education might differ from that which is presently being proposed. While a variety of our prior posts have given major dos and don'ts of such a viable plan for education reform, today I would like to take a microcosm look at only one aspect of what should go on in an American public school that would have a profound effect on the students being educated, even though it is not normally given the important place it should have in a discussion of school reform.

At nutrition and lunch every day, I would watch my students eat greasy and highly processed chicken nuggets or pizza that occupied the menu several times a week, while the melon, apple, salad, and vegetables wound up getting thrown in the trash. If someone -- whose parents had perhaps gone through the Great Depression -- did not take this food and stop on the way home to give it to the homeless, it was essentially wasted everyday. What drives this school lunch program are the food stuffs e.g. milk, apples, etc., that thefederal government buys from farmers throughout this country to keep them out of the market, thereby keeping prices up. Food is not seen as an integral and necessary part of nurturing the complete student, but rather as a clever way to feed students while artificially maintaining price supports. Therefore, it is no accident that most students who were in my class were moderately obese.

Education - Everything you need to know about the world of education.

Education- Everything you need to know about the world of education.

Churchill can't determine who changed grades

Grade hacking won't hurt college chances for students, principal says.

MORE ON EDUCATION

• Rats infest MoCo elementary school
• Evaluation of D.C. ed reform begins
• 'Everyday math' helps D.C. test scores
• K.C. may shut down half of it schools
• Duncan pushing schools on civil rights
• Latinos fear loss of parent liaisons
• Cops: T-J official stole to fund gambling
• Lanier: One teacher arrested for abuse
• R.I. officials back down on firings

Officials assured parents that the grade-changing scandal will not tarnish Churchill's reputation. (Jim Lo Scalzo-TWP)

Ravitch, unpredictable, still likes NCLB basics

Everybody (okay, everybody among the few thousand education obsessives who might read this) is talking about Diane Ravitch's new book, "The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education."

Some of us who also write books are envious of the news stories in both the Post and the New York Times about Ravitch's new work. But she is one of the grande dames of education commentary, like her fellowBridging Differences blogger Deborah Meier. When she significantly shifts her view of what we should be doing for schools, that's news.

But did she really change her mind that much? I am not so sure.

Continue reading this post »

Higher ed gender gap seems stable--except for Hispanics

A new study shows that the gender gap in higher education--females outnumber males--may have stabilized.

According to the report by the American Council on Education’s Center for Policy Analysis, the distribution of enrollment and undergraduate degrees by gender has remained consistent since about 2000.

Ten years ago males represented 43 percent of enrollment in higher education--and earned 43 percent of the bachelor’s degrees, according to the report, “Gender Equity in Higher Education: 2010.”

Continue reading this post »

Independent evaluation of school reform begins

The four principal figures in D.C. school reform were on their best behavior Monday when they visited with the National Research Council (NRC) committee that will conduct an independent evaluation of their efforts.

The rare joint appearance by D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray, Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, State Superintendent of Education Kerri L. Briggs and Deputy Mayor for Education Victor Reinoso was part of an inaugural public meeting for the 13-member panel.

The evaluation is required by the 2007 law that gave Mayor Adrian M. Fenty control of the school system. After months of political squabbling and stalemate over the choice of an evaluator, the Fenty Administration and Gray settled on the NRC, the research arm of the National Academies.

The NRC has assembled a committee loaded with big names in the academic and education policy sectors, led by former Clinton White House adviser Christopher F. Edley, Jr., now dean of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, and University of Wisconsin sociologist Robert M. Hauser.

The panel's principal mission -- which will play out in a series of reports over the next three to five years -- is to determine what significant improvements in the school system, if any, are attributable to the Fenty-Rhee effort. On Monday, all four speakers said they welcomed the NRC inquiry, and committee members asked them what questions they would like to see answered by the study.

Continue reading this post »

The Washington Teacher: DCPS Central Office Firings Confirmed !

The Washington Teacher: DCPS Central Office Firings Confirmed !

DCPS Central Office Firings Confirmed !

Whether you were just a naysayer or someone who actually still works in the central office and doubted the validity of The Washington Teacher's weekend report, please be advised that DCPS has officially confirmed that the central office firings did take place as I reported. Please read Bill Turque's excerpt in the DC Schools Insider below. If you have read this blog more than once, you will note that my informant's have been quite accurate in their reporting of what's going on in terms of Rhee-form in our public schools. Often times what has been reported here has been the impetus for stories in the mainstream press like The Washington Post, DC Examiner and Washington City Paper. It is most unfortunate that we cannot rely on city government to be transparent about what is happening in the DC central administration offices What is good for the goose isn't good for the gander as they say.

Well now my inside sources are still telling me that the recent terminations were actually much higher than the eighteen confirmed by DCPS. Some say that the Rhee administration are expert liars. It wouldn't surprise me if the number of layoffs was not accurately reported especially in light of the controversy surrounding the November 2 layoffs. As I understand it, while most of the terminations were from the Office of Special Education, other staff were also terminated from the Medicaid division, finance office, records division and the resolution team. Stay tuned for further developments on this story.

I encourage you to recommend to any of the recently laid off DCPS employees to consider testifying at the upcoming March 15 City Council oversight hearing. Feel free to call Aretha Latta @ 202-724-8196 or email alatta@dccouncil.us to be placed on the list to testify. The hearing begins @ 10:am at the John Wilson Building located at 1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW

New firings in central office

by Bill Turque, Washington Post writer

DCPS confirmed Candi Peterson's weekend reports in The Washington Teacher that 18 Office of Special Education (OSE) staffers were let go on Friday. No details yet on what jobs they held or what exactly drove the dismissals, although spending pressures seem to be in the mix. Spokeswoman Jennifer Calloway said Sunday evening that "in an effort to control costs and improve operations OSE made personnel decisions based on each of their department's overarching goals and initiatives."

Schools Matter: If Arne Duncan Were Serious About Civil Rights

Schools Matter: If Arne Duncan Were Serious About Civil Rights

If Arne Duncan Were Serious About Civil Rights

Yesterday corporate foundation stooge, Arne Duncan, was marched out to declare a commitment to civil rights enforcement that was absent during the reign of Bush II. And yet Duncan seems intent to apply a civil rights litmus test that even Bush would approve of, one that could not have been imagined by Gandhi or King or anyone else beyond the education policy roundtable of the corporate foundations: instead of looking to see if school systems are complying with Civil Rights Law, Duncan wants to use "outcomes" i. e. test scores to measure a school or system's level of civil rights compliance. Really, I'm not joking:

Rather than just determining whether a district complies with the letter of the law in certain areas, the department will look at what the outcomes are for students, Duncan said in the conference call. “This is really about us trying to close achievement gaps,” he said.

To say the least, civil rights scholars like Gary Orfield are a bit skeptical of an Administration that, thus far, seems immune to 

Imperfect list of ‘worst’ schools The Educated Guess

The Educated Guess

Imperfect list of ‘worst’ schools

Posted in No Child Left Behind, Turning around failing schools

State education officials are still tinkering with the list of 188 of the “worst” schools two days before the State Board of Education is required to approve it.
The continued delays in completing the list and uncertainties about a federal improvement program have frustrated school district officials. They won’t know until the state board votes on Thursday whether some schools they’ve already told to expect drastic interventions will actually have to go through with them. Some superintendents are arguing that their schools shouldn’t  have been put on the list in the first place.
They may be right; there are quirks in the methodology. But making the list could be viewed as an opportunity, not just a label of failure. Each school will be entitled to between $150,000 and $6 million over three years, depending on their size and improvement strategy.
(Read more and comment on this post)

Schools Matter: Ohanian Speaks to Our Canadian Friends and Lovers of Freedom Around the World

Schools Matter: Ohanian Speaks to Our Canadian Friends and Lovers of Freedom Around the World

Ohanian Speaks to Our Canadian Friends and Lovers of Freedom Around the World

by Jim Horn

Ooh, good one. Posted at Susan's place:

from Our Schools/Our Selves, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Vol. 19, Number 2 (#98), Winter 2010

What's going on here?

Make no mistake: the assault on teachers in New York and Chicago also threatens teachers in Seoul (1) and London and Vancouver.

Worldwide, corporate interest strive to keep teachers intellectually barefoot. They want people who follow the script to train future workers for the global economy.

My bumper sticker reads Republicans/Democrats: Same shit, different piles. These two halves of the Corporate Party showed corporate loyalty by passing the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in 2001 by huge margins.

When this happened, Kathy Emery, my co-author for Why Is Corporate America Bashing Our Public Schools? noted, "When Ted Kennedy and George Bush agree on something, you need to worry about who the man behind the curtain is." While writing our book, it became clear to us that the men behind the curtain are the members of the Business Roundtable.

People are so used to thinking of issues as right wing and left wing that they miss the corporate wing. In the name of preparing students for "the 21st century workplace," the Business roundtable (BRT) wrote the NCLB Business Leaders Toolkit, urging CEOs to take advantage of this "exceptional window of opportunity...[to] act strategically and with a common voice."

In addition to declaring all public schools failures, opening the door to vouchers and privatization, the Business Roundtable plan also paved the way for school-to-work plans sitting on the back burner ever since President Clinton failed to get the national test he wanted.

By 2000, the Business Roundtable had managed to create an interlocking network of business associations, corporate foundations, governors' associations, non-profits, and educational institutions. This network includes the Education Trust, Annenberg Center, Harvard Graduate School, Public Agenda, Achieve, Inc., Education Commission of the States, the Broad Foundation, Institute for Educational Leadership, federally funded regional laboratories, and most newspaper 

Imagine Schools is on a Roll!

by Kenneth Libby

The for-profit Imagine Schools are on a roll these days. Just weeks ago, the Kennesaw Charter School celebrated their official separation from the charter manager, and it wasn't long before that that two Florida charters run by Imagine were found to be $900,000 in debt (to Imagine, of course). And this article from Karen Francisco at the Journal Gazette makes it three scandals in less than a month. Here's a little snippet, but the whole thing is worth a read:

A founding board member of the [Imagine Indiana Life Sciences Academy East] charter school, he said members of the mostly African American community surrounding the school now believe they have been shut out of a role in its operation.
Williams, who is no longer a board member, said questions have been raised about how discipline is handled at the school, with an enrollment that's 84 percent African American, 9 percent Hispanic and 5 percent multiracial. Williams said he was told that a teacher at Imagine East made the comment that "my little black students are retarded," and another disciplined students by making them get on their hands and knees on the floor.
He was also critical of the hiring process at the school, which he said mostly excluded people from the immediate community.