Monday, August 23, 2010

Dan Walters: New school data fuel old debate - Sacramento Politics - California Politics | Sacramento Bee

Dan Walters: New school data fuel old debate

Published: Sunday, Aug. 22, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 3A

Last Modified: Sunday, Aug. 22, 2010 - 10:18 am

As 6 million California kids head back to school, the adults who are supposed to provide for their educations are engaged, as usual, in their circular debate over effects and causes.

A few days ago, the state Department of Education began releasing the annual flood of data about educational performance that is supposed to shed light on what's happening but more often causes confusion and generates political heat.

The first wave was a report on standardized testing aimed

School year starts with bigger classes, reduced resources

By Diana Lambert and Melody Gutierrez - Published: Sunday, August 22 2010 - 12:00 am

School is back in session in most local districts, and students and staff are noticing big changes.

Rocklin's Sierra College gets serious about video games

By Mark Glover - Published: Sunday, August 22 2010 - 12:00 am

Parents who have been riding their kids about playing too many video games might want to reconsider.

Program aims to get teen girls excited about surgery, biomedical engineering

By Gina Kim - Published: Sunday, August 22 2010 - 12:00 am

Tanya Vincent, 16, wanted to be a nurse one day.

More information about the Perry Initiative

Ex-legislator Ortiz's name can stay on Los Rios ballot, judge says

By Robert D. Dávila - Updated: 11:54 am

A judge cleared the way Friday for former state lawmaker Deborah Ortiz's name to appear on the Nov. 2 ballot for a seat on the Los Rios Community College District board.

With limited training, Teach for America recruits play expanding role in schools

GALLERY

From student to teacher, in five weeks

Jamila Best graduated from Howard University in the spring. Monday will be her first day teaching special education in a D.C. charter school. After taking part in a Teach for America boot camp this summer, she says she's ready for the job.

» LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY

By Michael Birnbaum

Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 23, 2010

Four months ago, Jamila Best was still in college. Two months ago, she started training to become a teacher. Monday morning, the 21-year-old will walk into a D.C. classroom, take a deep breath and dive into one of the most difficult assignments in public education.

Best is one of 4,500 Teach for America recruits placed in public schools this year after five weeks of summer

Democratic primary could determine fate of D.C. schools, for better or worse

by Jay Mathews

School opens today in the District. For the next three weeks, Americans who care about the future of urban schools will watch the city closely.

A Few Noteworthy Thoughts from ECS :: Frederick M. Hess

A Few Noteworthy Thoughts from ECS

by Frederick M. Hess • Aug 23, 2010 at 9:22 am
Cross-posted from Education Week

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I spent the tail end of last week out in Portland, Oregon, at the Education Commission of the States annual confab. ECS honcho Roger Sampson quarterbacked an impressive gathering, chock full of state chiefs and key legislators. The chiefs in attendance were buzzing that the Department of Ed was sending word on Friday that governors should expect calls tomorrow morning from Duncan regarding round two Race to the Top (RTT) results (unless ED reprises its not-so-smooth i3 goof and accidentally posts the winners on TMZ this afternoon).

On Friday, I had the chance to do a panel on state-federal dynamics with Tennessee's razor-sharp governor Phil Bredesen and two of the state chiefs I admire most--MA's Mitch Chester and CO's Dwight Jones. Bob Wise

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

by Mike Klonsky

Pres. Obama

"We can't allow the corporate takeover of our democracy." (Weekly Address)

Diane Ravitch responds

"What about our schools?" (Tweet)

Wapo's Jay Mathews

If Mayor Adrian M. Fenty loses the Democratic primary, Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee -- the

The Educated Guess � LAUSD, teachers negotiating use of test scores

LAUSD, teachers negotiating use of test scores

Posted in Teacher Development, Tenure, Turning around failing schools, pay

The Los Angeles Times’ impending plan to publish the performance rankings of 6,000 elementary school teachers, based on student test scores, has become the catalyst for sudden negotiations between Los Angeles Unified and its teachers union over teacher evaluations. One likely reason: Incorporating test scores into teachers’ personnel reviews could provide the legal basis in the future to deny releasing the scores, tied to individual teachers, to the public and to the Times.

The Times reported Sunday that United Teachers Los Angeles has accepted Deputy Superintendent John Deasy’s offer to restart talks on performance reviews of teachers. UTLA President A.J. Duffy declined to say whether that should include using test scores, although Duffy, who has flatly ruled out the use of test scores until now, is facing pressure to do so.

(Read more and comment on this post)

By John Fensterwald on August 23rd, 2010

CSBA board admits it was in the dark on pay

Tags: CSBA, Scott Plotkin
Posted in Advocacy organizations

In belatedly releasing more details about former executive director Scott Plotkin’s pay, the California School Board Assn. board of directors fessed up last week that they really didn’t know how much he made in total ($308,000 in 2006, $384K in ’07, $517K in ’08 and $403K in ’09).

“The Board reviewed the executive director’s compensation incrementally, and determined the level of compensation based on snapshots of information – rather than looking comprehensively at compensation history and the long-term implications,” said a statement posted on the organization’s web site.

The immediate consequence is a serious setback in the leadership of a critical organization representing K-12 education at a time when all interest groups in Sacramento are scrapping over every penny. CSBA is facing a swarm of school board members who are angry over how their taxpayer-funded dues, which comprised about 40 percent of CSBA’s $16 million budget, have been handled.

(Read more and comment on this post)

By John Fensterwald on August 22nd, 2010

Schools Matter: Obama Makes Nice: Union Chiefs Pucker Up

Obama Makes Nice: Union Chiefs Pucker Up

by Jim Horn

George Bush or Margaret Spellings were no worse for education than Obama and Duncan, and they did not even come close in the outright hostility to the teaching profession. While the union prostisuits talked tough at the union conventions recently, that is all in the past now that the Dems need the 3.5 million teacher votes for November. A few nods, a wink, and a backroom deal here and there, and all is peaceful once more.

At a time when Van Roekel and Weingarten could be leveraging some of the liquid rage among the nation's teachers to get some relief from the corporate deformers, all we get are smiles and appreciative bows to the Oligarchs. From Politico:

. . . .Yet, as Obama’s outreach has continued, tensions have simmered down.

“In the last month, there’s been a shift in tone,” said American Federation of Teachers President

Perspectives from the Other Side of the Fence � InterACT

Perspectives from the Other Side of the Fence

by Kelly Kovacic

My grandmother often repeated the familiar adage, “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.” I kind of got the point, which was that things possessed by others tended to look a bit better than what I had, even though they really weren’t.

We are used to hearing that the American public school system is “failing” or “broken.” There is a constant drone of criticism from multiple mouths that we are losing a global race to excellence; that we are being passed

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Big Education Ape on Vacation

Please continue to read my favorite blog's latest and greatest below in the
Big Education Ape's

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FROM Education

I will be posting at Parents 4 democratic Schools when the mouse will let me!

Last night of my LA vacation Downtown Disney Brother Yusef

Downtown Disney Blues Man Brother Yusef

This guy Rocks (actually the Blues)

Bluesman Brother Yusef, awesome Solo Blues Guitarist, as seen performing live in the 'House of Blues District', inside Downtown Disney, at the Disneyland Resort, Anaheim, California, USA, at night

Kids Get The Blues Too/

Blues For Beginners

The Program

Kids get the Blues too/Blues for Beginners is a program created by Blues musician Brother Yusef for the purpose of introducing young children to the early African American tradition of the Blues. Through dancing, singing, and audience participation, children and adults will discover the many expressions of the Blues. Brother Yusef will touch on the early history of instrument making, vocal styles such as call and response and musical styles such as spirituals, work songs and songs just for fun. He will also talk about the influence Blues has in contemporary music. The program concludes with everyone grabbing an instrument and participating in a grand jam session.Kids get the Blues too/Blues for Beginners is a program created by Blues musician Brother Yusef for the purpose of introducing young children to the early African American tradition of the Blues. Through dancing, singing, and audience participation, children and adults will discover the many expressions of the Blues. Brother Yusef will touch on the early history of instrument making, vocal styles such as call and response and musical styles such as spirituals, work songs and songs just for fun. He will also talk about the influence Blues has in contemporary music. The program concludes with everyone grabbing an instrument and participating in a grand jam session.

go to the Organic Deep Fried Fattback Blues Brother Yusef Website

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Elect Adam Chaleff-Freudenthaler TDSB Trustee, St. Paul’s – Ward 11 #edu � Parents 4 democratic Schools

Elect Adam Chaleff-Freudenthaler TDSB Trustee, St. Paul’s – Ward 11.

Dear Neighbour,

Like many of you, I’ve lived in St. Paul’s for most of my life. I was a student during the tumultuous Harris years and experienced firsthand what it was like to have an education system in turmoil. I worked with everyone from parents and students to teachers and trustees to make the best of that bad situation.

Having grappled with school closure, increased class sizes and labour strife, it made me resolve to do better for the next generation of learners.

Today I’m working to make St. Paul’s stronger. I’m the chair of the board of a local drop-in centre, a director on the Toronto Public Library Board and vice-chair of the community coalition that earlier this year saved the Winona/McMurrich swimming pool from closure and now offers swim classes for children.

I’m running for school trustee because I believe in the power of public education: its power to give our kids the push they need to get on the right track for life; its power to create strong and safe communities by using the local school as a central hub; and its power to build acceptance across our diverse communities through fostering mutual understanding and respect.

Strong public schools will help all our kids achieve their potential and keep our community vibrant. If you share this vision, I ask you to join me. Help me advance our shared vision by making a donation, volunteering on this campaign, or simply signing up for our email list.

I look forward to discussing my vision for public education with you over the coming months and hope you will share your vision with me. Together we can overcome the challenges that face our schools today.

Thank you for your support,

Adam

Saturday, August 14, 2010

School Tech Connect: The Alamo For Sanity

The Alamo For Sanity

by effacethefacade@yahoo.com (Tim)

Roland Burris

I had a nice note from Senator Roland Burris today; I'm not going to post it because it appears not to be boilerplate. Nobody wants to write to a constituent who's just going to post every little thing. I sent him a letter when I was still mortified about the food stamp swap-out in the recent EduStarve bill.

I like Roland Burris. He's a decent man. If he were on the ballot in the next election, I'd vote for him. But his letter to me had more than one gulp of Kool-

L.A. Times Prints Cheap Shot At Teachers | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

L.A. Times Prints Cheap Shot At Teachers

Filed under school reform

The Los Angeles Times today published what I think is an incredibly “cheap shot” at teachers today headlined “Grading The Teachers: Who’s teaching L.A.’s kids?”

The paper collected data from student test scores on teachers in the district, put them in a data base on the newspaper site, and identified the supposed “value-added” increase each teacher provided. The article itself also highlighted — by name and photo — supposedly “effective” and “ineffective” teachers.

The Times could have chosen to write an article examining the

Pupil Survey of Instruction (SB 1422) � SCUSD Observer

SCUSD Observer

Pupil Survey of Instruction (SB 1422)

Back-to-school Fla. sales tax holiday starts - Boston.com

Back-to-school Fla. sales tax holiday starts

By Annie Greenberg

Associated Press Writer / August 13, 2010

Text size – +

SUNRISE, Fla.—Francesca Tillem took the day off from work Friday to shop during Florida's back-to-school sales tax holiday, pushing a huge shopping cart alongside her two daughters.

"I'm getting everything today. I got here at 10 a.m. and will stay here until they close," Tillem, 45, said at Sawgrass Mills Mall in Sunrise.

"I have to get polos for their school uniforms, sneakers, shoes, underwear, everything," she said of her shopping experience with her children, who will be starting the sixth and eighth grades.

The tax break, which started at 12:01 a.m. Friday and runs through midnight Sunday, lifts the state's 6 percent sales tax on many school supplies priced les

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