“Most Get Rehired Back Anyway” | Intercepts

“Most Get Rehired Back Anyway” | Intercepts

“Most Get Rehired Back Anyway”

by Mike Antonucci

The stories just keep rolling in.
New Jersey:

Due to more retirements than normal, only 15 Egg Harbor Township school employees will be laid off, Superintendent Scott McCartney said Tuesday.
Of those 15 employees, four are teachers and five are unionized support staff, he said. Six other positions are nonunion.
…Initially, 61 positions were slated for elimination. And after the township committee set the tax

ED’s Glenn Cummings Talks About Education and Workforce Development – ED.gov Blog

ED’s Glenn Cummings Talks About Education and Workforce Development – ED.gov Blog

ED’s Glenn Cummings Talks About Education and Workforce Development

Glenn Cummings, Deputy Assistant Secretary in ED’s Office of Vocational and Adult Education, recently addressed a gathering of policymakers convened by the Association for Career and Technical Education. 

The event was the National Leadership Forum: Skills for America — NOW. Cummings spoke about President Obama’s goal to make America first in the world in college graduations by 2020.
Here Cummings talks about the administration’s new initiatives to promote college and career readiness, expand college access, enhance career and technical education, and align adult education with workforce training. He also answers questions from the audience.
ED Staff

Autism Spectrum Support Group* Sacramento , CA

Autism Spectrum Support Group*
For Teens 11-15 years old

~A.S.P.I.E.~ A Special Purpose In Everyone

We are forming a social networking support group for you and your teen with an autistic spectrum diagnosis*

Please come to our meeting on Monday, June 28
We are very interested in your input and participation!

Location: St. Patrick Succeed Academy, 5045 Franklin Blvd , Sacramento , CA 95824

Time: 6:30pm

Directions:
Northbound 99, exit 47th St. West , right on Franklin Blvd , 1 mile down on your right hand side is the Parish and School. Enter at the 3rd entrance that leads to the Kavanaugh Center .
Southbound on 99, take the Fruitridge exit, keep right at the fork to continue toward Fruitridge Rd and merge onto Fruitridge, turn left at Franklin Blvd until you get to St. Pat's.

Do you know an 11-15 year old on the autistic spectrum who would like to meet peers more like themselves? As parents, we are looking to organize a social group or "meetup" for our teens. This group would meet up twic a month with organized activities to help our teens practice their social skills through games and field trips. Parents will participate so we all can benefit and learn from each other!

* Autism Spectrum includes Asperger Syndrome, PDD-NOS, and Autistic Disorder diagnosis

Please email your questions and RSVP to Andrea Raymond : apltreadv@yahoo.com with ASPIE group in the subject line.

Disclaimer: This group will be an informal gathering and this is not to be construed as a formal Social Skills Training Group. We have no formal training other than our experience as parents, and are purely motivated by the desire to provide our teens with social skills practice for the real world.

Lynne Weissmann

The Answer Sheet - Question raised about new KIPP study

The Answer Sheet - Question raised about new KIPP study

Question raised about new KIPP study

No sooner had a new study been released saying that middle school students in the charter school network called Knowledge Is Power Program significantly outperform their public school peers on reading and math tests than critics raised an important question about the report.

Mathematica Policy Research issued the study yesterday, my colleague Bill Turque reported, about the KIPP network, which now has 82 schools that serve children from low-income households. Seven are in the District, including three middle schools -- KEY, WILL and AIM academies -- which are among the highest performing on the DC-CAS standardized tests.

The study looked at 22 KIPP middle schools including AIM and KEY, and discovered that by seventh grade, half of them showed growth in math scores equal to an additional 1.2 years of school. Reading gains for KIPP were not as dramatic but still significant, the researchers reported, reflecting an additional three-quarters of a year of growth.

However, an initial analysis of the study conducted by Professor Gary Miron of Western Michigan University found that attrition data appears to have been misrepresented.

Miron conducted his initial analysis at the request of the Think Tank Review Project, a collaboration of the Education and Public Interest Center (EPIC) at the University of Colorado at Boulder and theEducation Policy Research Unit (EPRU) at Arizona State University. Here’s a post from the project on Miron’s conclusions:

A key finding of the study is that attrition at KIPP schools is not much

Study says KIPP students outperform peers

Students in a charter school network outscored public school kids in reading and math, says a new report.

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Progress report from big study of KIPP

In this study, any student who spends at least a year at KIPP is considered part of the KIPP group, not the control group, even if they spend sixth through eighth grade in a non-KIPP school. So if KIPP's achievement rate increase looks good after four years, it will be in spite of, not because of, low achieving students leaving early.

Continue reading this post »

Is charter school board getting tough?

It looks that way, given the recent run of schools that have had charters revoked by the D.C. Public Charter School Board, or that have beaten the board to the punch and relinquished them on their own. On April 27th, the board pulled the charter of Young America Works, a vocational/technical high school in Northeast DC, citing health and safety issues along with academic problems.

At Monday evening's board meeting, two schools targeted for revocation surrendered their charters: Children's Studio and Academy for Learning through the Arts (ALTA). The board also moved to begin revocation proceedings against Kamit Institute for Magnificent Achievers (KIMA). If the board follows through as expected, it will mean that it has effectively closed nine schools since the beginning of 2009. In 2008, two schools relinquished sharters.

"Closure of a school at any time is disruptive to families. It has always been the priority of the Board and staff to ease the transition, and as always we will help families bring closure and find new schools," Board Chair Brian Jones said Monday, according to a statement. "But the fact of the matter remains that this Board is highly focused on offering the highest quality alternatives to D.C. families. Closing under-performing schools is a painful but necessary part of this process."

The three schools on the chopping block Monday suffered from shaky academics, spotty staffing, and in one case, breaking the rules by enrolling athletes who did not meet D.C residency requirements, according to board officials.

Continue reading this post »

Myla Clark, a 10-year-old fifth grader, attends a KIPP charter school in the district(TWP)

“Innovations That Rocked The World” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

“Innovations That Rocked The World” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

“Innovations That Rocked The World” “Innovations That Rocked The World” is a pretty interesting slideshow from Newsweek. I’m adding the link to The Best Sites Where Students Can Learn About Inventions.

There May Be Fewer Posts Here This Summer… My “job” this summer is writing my third book. It doesn’t have a title yet, but here is how I’m describing it: It’s focused on instructional and classroom management strategies geared towards developing student autonomy and personal responsibility ...

Critical Past Has 57,000 Historic Videos Critical Past is a new site that has 57,000 “historic” videos from 1893 to the 1990’s — many of them appear to be old newsreels. It seems to be designed to sell them for download, but anyone can view them online for free. It has a very nice search ...

SMART volunteer reading program ousts chief executive, looks to reverse declines | OregonLive.com

SMART volunteer reading program ousts chief executive, looks to reverse declines | OregonLive.com

SMART volunteer reading program ousts chief executive, looks to reverse declines

Published: Tuesday, June 22, 2010, 5:30 PM Updated: Tuesday, June 22, 2010, 5:33 PM

Betsy Hammond, The Oregonian
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Concerned about a continuing drop in the number of students served by the early literacy program known as SMART, the group's board has removed chief executive Terry Shanley and is searching for an interim and permanent replacement.

The Start Making a Reader Today program, established in 1991, arranges for volunteer adults to read one-on-one for an hour each week with students who need to build reading skills. It operates in more than 200 elementary schools in 28 of Oregon's 36 counties.

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At its peak in 2006-07, the nonprofit reached 11,500 students in kindergarten through grade three. But this school year, the third under Shanley's leadership, it served about 7,000 students, marking the third consecutive year of declining numbers.

The main reason SMART is facing a challenge raising enough donations to grow its operation is the same reason that most nonprofits are struggling: Oregon's long-slumping economy, according toCharles Wilhoite, chairman of the board of directors.

But he said some practices at the $3 million-a-year organization need to be strengthened and stabilized.

"We truly appreciate Terry's dedication to the cause of children's literacy and the enthusiasm he brought to the organization," Wilhoite said. But "the board has really lost confidence in our ability to continue to grow the number of children we are serving" under Shanley's leadership.

Patients rank Portland-area hospitals for an insider's view of quality Problem with rating hospitals is, most ratings are crude, tough to interpret and potentially misleading. In Oregon's annual reporting on hospital death rates, for example, nearly every hospital looks alike. Most differences in patient mortality are ...

SMART volunteer reading program ousts chief executive, looks to reverse declines The proven early literacy program served barely 7,000 students, down from its peak of 11,500, this year. Board members hope a new leader and new direction can help the group grow again.

Wilsonville to hold wildlife tracking workshop Local scientist will share her wildlife tracking and findings with the community.

School reformer named to top LA district job Education — San Francisco Bay Area Schools, Performance, Profiles, News — SFGate

Education — San Francisco Bay Area Schools, Performance, Profiles, News — SFGate

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NorthJersey.com: NJ Gov. Chris Christie to review changes to school choice bill

NorthJersey.com: NJ Gov. Chris Christie to review changes to school choice bill

NJ Gov. Chris Christie to review changes to school choice bill

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

STATE HOUSE BUREAU

TRENTON — The fate of a school-choice bill backed by Gov. Chris Christie was in flux after a sponsor announced significant changes in hopes of winning quick legislative approval.

AP FILE PHOTO

N.J. Gov. Chris Christie

The Republican governor — who has called the bill a first step that could "lead to school vouchers across the state of New Jersey" — said he will review the proposed changes. He also warned lawmakers not to "gut the purpose of the program" just to attract enough votes.
Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union) said the bill now limits the pilot program to "chronically failing schools in specific municipalities" based on local legislators’ support, rather than about 200 troubled schools in more than 30 districts. He declined to say how many schools might be eligible, but said districts include Newark, Camden and Elizabeth.
"In some respects, it may work even better because there will be more scholarships available in the targeted municipalities," he sai
The new version (S1872) would also eliminate an innovation fund that would award grants to improve struggling schools. The money would have come out of a

Dr. Jane (Ph.D.) Can't Network, Either - THE DAILY RIFF - Be Smarter. About Education.

Dr. Jane (Ph.D.) Can't Network, Either - THE DAILY RIFF - Be Smarter. About Education.

Dr. Jane (Ph.D.) Can't Network, Either

"Dr. Jane knows how to narrowly present herself
to a unique audience of like-minded individuals.
Is it any surprise that students aren't well-equipped for our present economy?"


Dr. Jane Can't Network, Either
Johnny Can't (Net) Work, But neither can Dr. Jane

By Dr. Lee E. Skallerup, Ph.D

As academics (especially in the humanities), we are trained to network as academics, in order to be academics. Conferences are spent meeting other academics, creating valuable links that will either lead to jobs or academic collaborations (which lead to jobs). We shouldn't waste our time meeting people outside of academia, heck, outside of our field, because what good would that serve?

We work -- as pointed out by a recent article in Inside Higher Ed -- as teachers or researchers inside our discipline and sometimes even more narrowly in our specialty. Why work outside of