Agreement Will Alter Teacher Evaluations
By JENNIFER MEDINA
A new deal, reached in time for a second bid at federal grants, would tie ratings to student test scores.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
The First Rule of Holes :: Frederick M. Hess
The First Rule of Holes :: Frederick M. Hess
Frederick M. Hess's Blog
The First Rule of Holes
by Frederick M. Hess • May 11, 2010 at 9:17 am
Cross-posted from Education Week
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After yesterday's post on NYC teachers and the fiscal crunch elicited such an appreciative and cheery response (or not), thought I'd stay with the theme for another day. This week, over on the National Journal's"Education Experts" blog, there's a debate about what conditions (if any) ought to be attached to Senator Tom Harkin's $23 billion education bailout. For those of you who thought yesterday's post to be harsh, fair warning: my stance is harder-edged than most.
The first rule of holes is: When you're in one, stop digging. Well, we're in a massive hole. And Senator Harkin's solution seems to be to call for another shovel.
Mike Antonucci does a nice job laying out the problem with Harkin's premise. In the past decade, states and districts spent the windfall that inflated property tax rolls generated during the good times. Now that the bill's come due, Harkin is calling for the feds to subsidize this inflated level of spending even as the economy clanks and grinds its way out of the bubble years. Other organizations, public and private, for-profit and non-profit, are responsibly cutting staffing, salaries, and benefits in light of changed circumstances. Indeed, that willingness to
Education Research Report: New survey finds parents need help encouraging their kids in science
New survey finds parents need help encouraging their kids in science
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A new survey announced today finds the vast majority (94%) of science teachers wish their students' parents had more opportunities to engage in science with their children. However, more than half (53%) of parents of school-aged children admit that they could use more help to support their child's interest in science. The survey was conducted by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., among a sample of 500 science teachers and 506 parents, including 406 parents of school-aged children.
While science teachers agree (98%) that parental involvement is important for children's interest in science, the survey shows it to be among the subjects parents are least comfortable discussing with their kids. In fact, barely
A new survey announced today finds the vast majority (94%) of science teachers wish their students' parents had more opportunities to engage in science with their children. However, more than half (53%) of parents of school-aged children admit that they could use more help to support their child's interest in science. The survey was conducted by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., among a sample of 500 science teachers and 506 parents, including 406 parents of school-aged children.
While science teachers agree (98%) that parental involvement is important for children's interest in science, the survey shows it to be among the subjects parents are least comfortable discussing with their kids. In fact, barely
Zero tolerance ineffective in schools, MSU study finds
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Zero tolerance in schools is failing to make students feel safe, two Michigan State researchers argue in a new study.
The policy, established in the mid-1990s to address gun violence in schools, has become plagued by inconsistent enforcement and inadequate security, according to the study, which appears in the May issue of the journal Urban Education.
As a result, the very students zero tolerance was designed to protect overwhelmingly say the policy is
Zero tolerance in schools is failing to make students feel safe, two Michigan State researchers argue in a new study.
The policy, established in the mid-1990s to address gun violence in schools, has become plagued by inconsistent enforcement and inadequate security, according to the study, which appears in the May issue of the journal Urban Education.
As a result, the very students zero tolerance was designed to protect overwhelmingly say the policy is
Reading Institute: Reading Comprehension, Early Learning – ED.gov Blog
Reading Institute: Reading Comprehension, Early Learning
ED is convening its 2010 Reading Institute, in Anaheim, California, July 19-21.
The Institute is part of ED’s strategy to support educators in providing high-quality literacy instruction and to assist state and local policymakers in developing effective, comprehensive pre-kindergarten to third grade literacy programs.
The focus of this year’s Institute is reading comprehension. And this year, for the first time, ED is partnering with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to offer a separate Early Learning and Development Strand at the Institute.
The Early Learning Strand will offer sessions on developmentally appropriate practices in language and literacy for children from birth to third grade, and on planning and building comprehensive early learning systems and infrastructure.
There is no registration fee for the Reading Institute and Early Learning Strand, and all federally funded grantees, educators, state and local decision makers, and other stakeholders in early learning are invited to attend. Registration is permitted through July 5, 2010.
For registration, a draft agenda for the early learning strand, information on pre-conference webinars, and more, please visithttp://www.mikogroup.com/2010readinginstitute
We hope to see you in Anaheim!
ED Staff
The Institute is part of ED’s strategy to support educators in providing high-quality literacy instruction and to assist state and local policymakers in developing effective, comprehensive pre-kindergarten to third grade literacy programs.
The focus of this year’s Institute is reading comprehension. And this year, for the first time, ED is partnering with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to offer a separate Early Learning and Development Strand at the Institute.
The Early Learning Strand will offer sessions on developmentally appropriate practices in language and literacy for children from birth to third grade, and on planning and building comprehensive early learning systems and infrastructure.
There is no registration fee for the Reading Institute and Early Learning Strand, and all federally funded grantees, educators, state and local decision makers, and other stakeholders in early learning are invited to attend. Registration is permitted through July 5, 2010.
For registration, a draft agenda for the early learning strand, information on pre-conference webinars, and more, please visithttp://www.mikogroup.com/2010readinginstitute
We hope to see you in Anaheim!
ED Staff
In New York’s Suburbs, Teachers Feel Budget Axes Education News - The New York Times
In New York’s Suburbs, Teachers Feel Budget Axes
By WINNIE HU
Cost-saving measures such as wage freezes and pay cuts have spread even to upscale suburban communities.
Court Pick Can Still Rise on Her High School’s Alumni List
By SHARON OTTERMAN
Elena Kagan’s alma mater in Manhattan, Hunter College High School, has produced a number of jurists and college presidents, and at least one well-known actress.
Guest-Teaching Chinese, and Learning America
By SAM DILLON
A program brings teachers from China to the U.S. to teach language and culture, but the learning goes both ways.
Charter Schools’ New Cheerleaders: Financiers
By TRIP GABRIEL and JENNIFER MEDINA
Financial heavyweights are spending freely to expand charters in New York, in opposition to the teachers unions.
A Football Coach Used to Tests Insists Her Players Pass Theirs
By JULIET MACUR
Natalie Randolph, the football coach of Calvin Coolidge Senior High School in Washington, has emphasized helping players in the classroom.
What’s in a Name? A Lot, as It Turns Out
By ERIK ECKHOLM
Max Pauson’s strong sense of self was hard-earned, forged in an unstable childhood with no legal name. His birth certificate read “(baby boy) Pauson.”
David E. Apter, Yale Political Scientist, Is Dead at 85
By DENNIS HEVESI
Professor Apter wove his expertise in political science and sociology into influential treatises on the often-tortured birth of developing nations.
SUNDAY ROUTINE | DAVID LEVIN
Six Days of School, and Then a Day Not of Rest
By ELISSA GOOTMAN
David Levin, co-founder of the KIPP charter school network, spends Sundays with his wife, their 1-year-old son and friends and family.
This Week In Education Media: Second Brookings Education Report As Bad As First One
Media: Second Brookings Education Report As Bad As First One
Yes, it's true. Given the chance to provide some keen insight and new information, this second Brookings report on education media is just as obvious and forgettable as the first one -- nothing that any old blogger couldn't pull together with a bit of web research and a few conversations with some of the usual suspects. In fact, my guess is that's how it was done. Ostensibly authored by Darrell West, EJ Dionne, and Russ Whitehurst, the real work
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Huberman's version of "reform" in Chicago
Huberman's version of "reform" in Chicago
What's causing all that wind in the Windy City? It could be the revolving door of principals.
C.E.O. Huberman, an education know-nothing, is left with the tired old game of replacing managers. Now he says he will get rid of 80 principals in one shot. If there ever was a recipe for chaos and instability, this is it. I'm still waiting to hear where Huberman will find 80 great (but unemployed) principals to replace them. Maybe we can switch with Milwaukee. Sounds like a windfall for the Harvard Business School- spawned New Leaders for New Schools.
The mass firings come 15 years after the mayor took over the schools system and imposed his so-called Renaissance 2010 on the district. They signal the complete and total failure of Daley's and Arne Duncan's reform plan with the blame being once again thrown completely on educators.
The lamest line on this came, as you might expect, from one of Chicago's know-nothing aldermen. 31st Ward
Hechinger Report | We need a K-16 education system
We need a K-16 education system
By Bill Maxwell
Three out of every five community college students take remedial courses, which typically cover middle school or high school material. This is evidence of the yawning gap between those who are eligible to enroll in college and those who are actually ready to attend.
Bill Maxwell
This gap is inexcusable. Students should come to college ready to do college-level work. The gap could be reduced or even erased if we change how we educate people. With their “open-door” policies, community colleges tend to admit anyone with a high school diploma. But this comes at an extreme cost: they spend about $2 billion a year on remediation, teaching things that could or should have been learned in K-12.
In their book, From High School to College: Improving Opportunities for Success in Postsecondary Education, Michael W. Kirst and Andrea Venezia argue that the causes of remediation can be traced in part to the traditional “split between levels of our educational system and the subsequent lack of communication and connection between them.”
Indeed, we have two distinct systems: the K-12 system of elementary and secondary schools, and the postsecondary system of colleges and universities. Because we do not think of K-12 education and higher education as one continuous system, we often see rifts between public school teachers and college professors. Community college professors blame secondary school teachers for the remediation crisis; secondary teachers, in turn, point fingers at
Brother Can You Spare a Dime for Education News? | Intercepts
Brother Can You Spare a Dime for Education News?
The Brookings Institution has a webcast of its panel on its new report, Re-Imagining Education Journalism. It’s starting right now, and the report was embargoed until right now, so I’ll have to work fast.
While the 25-page report has some great insights on the substance of education journalism these days, it is mostly concerned with the business of education journalism – that is, how to get people to pay for it.
After discussing various models, the authors conclude, “Outlets that have a well-defined niche and offer content that is hard to get elsewhere have been successful at developing premium content and subscription web sites.”
There a couple of areas where I disagree with the report. The authors concur with a statement by theWashington Post’s Jay Mathews that national education coverage is too focused on “ideology, politics and budget fights.”
We can all pray for the day when education decisions are made based on unbiased research and sound
While the 25-page report has some great insights on the substance of education journalism these days, it is mostly concerned with the business of education journalism – that is, how to get people to pay for it.
After discussing various models, the authors conclude, “Outlets that have a well-defined niche and offer content that is hard to get elsewhere have been successful at developing premium content and subscription web sites.”
There a couple of areas where I disagree with the report. The authors concur with a statement by theWashington Post’s Jay Mathews that national education coverage is too focused on “ideology, politics and budget fights.”
We can all pray for the day when education decisions are made based on unbiased research and sound
There's Gold In Them Charters! - Perdaily.com
There's Gold In Them Charters!
AMY GOODMAN: Juan, before we move on to the Gulf, you have a very interesting column in the "New York Daily News" today, an exposé around big banks and charter schools.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Yes, Amy, one of the things I've been trying now for a couple of years is to try to figure out why is it that so many hedge fund managers, wealthy Americans, and big banks, Wall Street banks- executives of Wall Street banks, have all lined-up supporting and getting involved in the development of charter schools. I think I may have come across one of the reasons. There's a lot of money to be made in charter schools, and I'm not talking just about the for-profit management companies that run a lot of these charter schools. It turns out that at the tail end of the Clinton administration in 2000, Congress passed a new kind of tax credit called a New Markets tax credit. What this allows is it gives enormous federal tax credit to banks and equity funds that invest in community projects in underserved communities and it's been used heavily now for the last several years for charter schools. I have focused on Albany, New York, which in New York state, is the district with the highest percentage of children in charter schools, twenty percent of the schoolchildren in Albany attend are now attending charter schools. I discovered that quite a few of the charter schools there have been built using these New Markets tax credits. What happens is the investors who put up the money to build charter schools get to
Daroff Council picks Universal | Philadelphia Public School Notebook
Daroff Council picks Universal
In a surprise move, the Daroff School Advisory Council (SAC) Tuesday recommended to Superintendent Arlene Ackerman that Universal Companies assume management of the troubled elementary school at 57th and Race.
Featured Title:
Today is deadline for SAC recommendations
Image:
Image Caption:
The Daroff SAC interviews members of the Universal Companies team before deciding on the South Philadelphia community development organization as their choice to assume management of Daroff.
How Students Are Losing Their Bearings - Myths & Opportunities: Technology In The Classroom - THE DAILY RIFF - Be Smarter. About Education.
How Students Are Losing Their Bearings - Myths & Opportunities: Technology In The Classroom
Part One Of Two: The Video (below)
Apprenticeship, Learning & Motivation
Apprenticeship, Learning & Motivation
Alan November captures our attention and tweaks our sensibilities with his deft observations about learning. In this fascinating video, November tackles two of our favorite subjects, apprenticeship and purpose, or in this case - - the lack of - - - and how this void of "contribution" from a new generation of students is negatively impacting them and society as a whole. He makes a strong case how contribution is a key motivator for engagement and life-long learning - the most critical kind of learning for our rapidly changing world society.
The video below is an interesting journey with Marblehead, Massachusetts as a symbolic background juxtaposition to the frenetic pace of technology, the subject at the forefront of the conversation. November lays out a plan for technology and discusses how it can either help or hurt education - - the myths and opportunities - - depending upon which direction we choose to take with it as a learning tool. (Link HERE to The Daily Riff's "Part 2: Six Ways Our Students Can Contribute To Their Learning Community" for November's specific recommendations with links for bringing technology into the classroom). Link to Alan November's bio, founder of November Learning, is here.
El Camino High School Field Maintenance Crew Recognized by Pioneer Athletics — Citrus Heights Herald
El Camino High School Field Maintenance Crew Recognized by Pioneer Athletics
Every year since 1998, the Field of Excellence Award Program has been recognizing schools, institutions and organizations in North America who regularly maintain either natural grass or synthetic turf athletic fields. This annual program is sponsored by Pioneer Athletics, described on their website as the nation’s leading manufacturer and developer of specialized field marking paints. Along with having a great field, a crucial part to the recognition decision process is for an institution or organization to have a dedicated, hard working field maintenance crew made up of individuals who show team spirit.
Recently, the 2009 Field of Excellence Award winners and recognition recipients were announced after being chosen from over 200 applicants and field nominations nation wide. There were 57 different fields and field maintenance crews selected by Pioneer Athletics to be honored, and two of them were awarded a $1,000 student scholarship each. Receiving recognition for their excellent athletic field is the San Juan Unified School District’s very own El Camino High School. Though not a scholarship winner, El Camino High School and the school
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