UC online degree proposal rattles academics

UC online degree proposal rattles academics

Nanette Asimov, Chronicle Staff Writer

Monday, July 12, 2010

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Paul Chinn / The Chronicle

UC Dean Christopher Edley advocates an online program.

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Taking online college courses is, to many, like eating at McDonald's: convenient, fast and filling. You may not get filet mignon, but afterward you're just as full.
Now the University of California wants to jump into online education for undergraduates, hoping to become the nation's first top-tier research institution to offer a bachelor's degree over the Internet comparable in quality to its prestigious campus program.
"We want to do a highly selective, fully online, credit-bearing program on a large scale - and that has not been done," said UC Berkeley law school Dean Christopher Edley, who is leading the effort.
But a number of skeptical faculty members and graduate student instructors fear that a cyber UC

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/12/MN581EAQR0.DTL&type=education#ixzz0tTRUEPnH

UC online degree proposal rattles academics

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National Journal Online -- Education Experts -- Defining Effective Teachers

National Journal Online -- Education Experts -- Defining Effective Teachers

Defining Effective Teachers

The administration's blueprint for reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the law that governs K-12 education, calls for states to develop definitions of "effective teachers" and "effective principals." Student growth and classroom observations, according to the blueprint, should be included in the definition.

What do you think should define an effective teacher or principal? Will these definitions lead to systems with better educators?

-- Eliza Krigman, NationalJournal.com

Nation & World | Gates Foundation puts its stamp on education | Seattle Times Newspaper

Nation & World | Gates Foundation puts its stamp on education | Seattle Times Newspaper

Gates Foundation puts its stamp on education

Across the country, public education is in the midst of a quiet revolution.

By Nick Anderson

The Washington Post

KIICHIRO SATO / AP

Bill Gates meets with Nelson Smith, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, last month in Chicago. The Gates Foundation "has influence everywhere in absolutely every branch of education," said Tom Loveless, a Brookings Institution education analyst.

Related

• Bill Gates wins teachers' applause

TAMPA, Fla. — Across the country, public education is in the midst of a quiet revolution. States are embracing voluntary national standards for English and math, while schools are paying teachers based on student performance.

It's an agenda propelled, in part, by a flood of money from a Seattle billionaire prep-school graduate best known for his software empire: Bill Gates.

In the past 2-<133>1/2 years, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged more than $650 million to schools, public agencies and other groups that buy into its main education priorities.

The largest awards are powering experiments in teacher evaluation and performance pay.

The Pittsburgh, Pa., school district landed $40 million; Los Angeles charter schools, $60 million; and Memphis, Tenn., schools, $90 million.

The Hillsborough County district, which includes Tampa, won the biggest grant: $100 million. That has set the nation's eighth-largest school system on a quest to reshape its 15,000-member teaching corps by rewarding

Bellevue district's Cudeiro tackles oft-overlooked achievement gap

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This Week In Education: Video: HCZ Founder Highlights Charter Firing Power

This Week In Education: Video: HCZ Founder Highlights Charter Firing Power

Video: HCZ Founder Highlights Charter Firing Power

AM News: Schools Opting For Weakest Turnaround Model (Again)

by Alexander Russo

"Transformation" Most Popular School Improvement Model EdWeek: Schools receiving millions of dollars in federal money meant to reverse years of low achievement are overwhelmingly opting for "transformation," the least disruptive of four intervention methods endorsed by the USDE... Education" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(34, 68, 187); ">A Chosen Few Are Teaching for AmericaNYT: Teach for America has become an elite brand that will help build a résumé, and in a bad economy, it’s a two-year job guarantee with a good paycheck... Beyond the Test-Prep Bounds WSJ: For the last 10 years, this New Jersey elementary school has stuck to a teaching system based on more visceral indicators: how a child treats peers, and aptitude in the school's garden, musical and athletic areas... Education" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(34, 68, 187); ">Students, Meet Your New Teacher, Mr. Robot NYT: Computer scientists are developing machines that can teach people simple skills, like household tasks and vocabulary... Education" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(34, 68, 187); ">Educational Hope vs. Teenage Reality NYT: Researchers measuring a home computer’s educational value to a schoolchild in a low-income household are finding that test scores tend to go down, not up... Duncan: Congress needs to act now on school money AP: U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is urging Congress to act soon to increase education funding because cash-strapped states can't wait until the fall to determine if they must lay off thousands of teachers.

Rise & Shine: Principal gave students a second try on state test | GothamSchools

Rise & Shine: Principal gave students a second try on state test | GothamSchools

Rise & Shine: Principal gave students a second try on state test

by Philissa Cramer

News from New York City:

• The principal of Queens’ PS 86 let students answer state test questions a week after the test. (Times)
• Large education nonprofits and local colleges have applied to open new charter schools. (Post)
• Private school tuition for special needs students is a growing expense for the city. (Wall Street Journal)
• Some hiring restrictions for teachers have been relaxed. (GothamSchools, WNYC)
• A major donor wants each SUNY school to be able to set its own tuition. (Times)
• Parents fought for air-conditioned school buses for special needs students and won. (NY1)
• State Sen. Bill Perkins’ main opponent, pro-charter Basil Smikle, has raised $130,000. (Post)
• A real estate developer has given more than $1 million for students’ summer jobs. (Wall Street Journal)
• The Post says any administrator who lets a no-show student graduate should be fired.
• The Post praises Gov. Paterson for vetoing a funding bill that would have capped charter school aid.

And beyond:

• The Gates Foundation continues to play a major role in setting the education agenda. (Washington Post)
• A New Jersey school tossed test prep to boost diversity and test scores. (Wall Street Journal)
• The head of Britain’s schools inspectors says bad teachers can be good for students. (Mirror UK)
• Teach for America continues to attract far more students from top colleges than it can accept. (Times)
• Computers in the home might actually hurt poor students’ performance, a study says. (Times)
• Sacramento’s superintendent is making his schools look and feel more corporate. (Sacramento Bee)

Ode to Mrs. Stringos-Arias, Arts Teacher � InterACT

Ode to Mrs. Stringos-Arias, Arts Teacher � InterACT

Ode to Mrs. Stringos-Arias, Arts Teacher

by Martha Infante

Helen Stringos-Arias with unknown student, 1984

Thanks to social networking, I was recently informed that my elementary school arts teacher, Helen Stringos-Arias recently passed away. Her passing gave me pause, as a confluence of thoughts, ideas, and reflections about my elementary school experience came together in a coherent way. This, mostly due to the incredible efforts of a public school teacher in 1970′s East L.A.
Students at Lorena Street elementary in Boyle Heights lived in the heyday of arts instruction. I vividly remember participating in chorus, dance, orchestra, and drama classes on a weekly basis and constantly rehearsing for large performances in each of these disciplines. Our dance and drama teacher, Helen Stringos was known as a “tough love” teacher who demanded excellence from all of her students and was not scared to call you out if your effort was lackluster. In the classroom, she taught the gifted cluster of students and her instruction was

School districts back lawsuit claiming California's school finance system is unconstitutional - SGVTribune.com

School districts back lawsuit claiming California's school finance system is unconstitutional - SGVTribune.com

School districts back lawsuit claiming California's school finance system is unconstitutional

By Maritza Velazquez, Staff Writer

Posted: 07/11/2010 07:54:22 AM PDT

Education

Get the scoop on schools, teachers and students. Visit our Education pagefor more articles and photos.

School districts are rallying behind a lawsuit calling for an overhaul of the way California pays for its public schools.

Baldwin Park Unified, Bonita Unified, Walnut Valley Unified, Alhambra Unified and East Whittier City school districts recently approved resolutions backing the Robles-Wong v. California lawsuit, filed in Alameda County in May.

It alleges the resources allocated to state schools are disjointed from the educational program school districts are required to provide.

In addition it claims students are being denied equal access to a quality education because of the broken and unconstitutional finance system.

"The state finance system does not support the educational program that is necessary to make kids successful in the 21st century," said Abe Hajela, who represents the California School Boards Association, the state Parent Teacher Association and the Association of California Administrators, all plaintiffs in the suit.

In addition to the three associations, plaintiffs include nine school districts and 60 parents and students.

The governor said the system needs to be reformed in order to provide a better education to California's students.

"The governor is ready to work with the plaintiffs in this case, but his main priority is to reform the way that money is spent in our education system so that we put the needs of our students in the classroom first," said Matt Connelly, deputy press secretary for

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. "Multiple studies show that throwing more money into our broken education

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FREE RESOURCES AND LESSON PLANS FOR TEACHING WITH TECHNOLOGY

Comestic Changes to Free Technology for Teachers

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There are two major changes that you'll notice when you visit the blog. Those changes are both right at the top of the blog in the form of a new

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by The Perimeter Primate

JUDGE DISMISSES EX-CAPO CHIEF'S $5.5 MILLION LAWSUIT, January 26, 2010, The Orange County Register

SANTA ANA – An Orange County judge has dismissed a $5.5 million breach-of-contract lawsuit filed by fired schools chief A. Woodrow Carter against the Capistrano Unified School District, his second such ruling since Carter's termination more than a year ago.
Superior Court Judge Steven Perk in Santa Ana said Friday that Carter had "no facts" to support the argument that he was wrongfully terminated under state labor laws, and no right to have been notified of performance-related issues before he was fired…
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UMass-Amherst raises school's Boston profile - Boston.com

UMass-Amherst raises school's Boston profile - Boston.com:

UMass-Amherst raises school's Boston profile

July 11, 2010

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AMHERST, Mass.—The University of Massachusetts flagship Amherst campus has hired a veteran state Senate staffer to help raise the school's profile in Boston.

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Christopher Dunn Jr. will join the university's new Boston office next month as director of public and constituent relations.

The job is part of an administrative reorganization aimed at improving the university's support in Boston from the Legislature, business community and alumni.

Dunn has served in the Office of the Counsel to the Senate since 2007, most recently as associate counsel. From 2003 to 2007, he worked in the Office of the Clerk of the Senate.

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NorthJersey.com: N.J. Gov. Christie named to NGA's executive committee

NorthJersey.com: N.J. Gov. Christie named to NGA's executive committee

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THE RECORD

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

TRENTON — Governor Christie has been named to the executive committee of the National Governor's Association.

AP

Governor Christie, left, talks with Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick during a committee session at the annual meeting of the National Governors Association in Boston.

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Democurmudgeon: Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett's Wife just Another Teacher Layoff, One of over 400 Valuable Educators.

Democurmudgeon

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Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett's Wife just Another Teacher Layoff, One of over 400 Valuable Educators.

While conservatives slime balls salivate over the prospect of seeing both Barrett's in the unemployment line, something you wouldn't wish on anybody, you can't help but wonder how many other dedicated experienced teachers have been let go due to the Republican caused recession.

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Oscar Grant/Mehserle verdict protest, arrests: a teacher’s account The #Education Report

The Education Report

Oscar Grant/Mehserle verdict protest, arrests: a teacher’s account

By Katy Murphy
Sunday, July 11th, 2010 at 10:06 am in Uncategorized
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I’ve been out of commission the last couple of days, so you’ve probably heard this news already, but in case you haven’t:

Those arrested in Thursday night’s protest included Oakland school board member Jumoke Hinton Hodge — who was playing chess at the intersection of Broadway and 14th Street and refused to stop, theEast Bay Express reported — and Susan Harman, a former school principal and activist.

Pamela Drake, an adult education teacher who

Reducing the dropout rate: the economic argument

By Katy Murphy
Thursday, July 8th, 2010 at 1:26 pm in dropouts, high schools
1 Comment

The D.C.-based advocacy group Alliance for Excellent Education has come out with a new report that estimates the San Francisco-Oakland metro area would gain $8 million in tax revenues and generate 350 jobs by cutting its high school dropout rate in half.

You can read the Bay Area report, which estimates additional earnings (and