Thursday, September 30, 2010

FOXNews.com - Coburn Report Shows Billions in Education Budget Spent on 'School House Pork'

Coburn Report Shows Billions in Education Budget Spent on 'School House Pork'

Published September 30, 2010

| FoxNews.com

What do mariachi classes, wine studies and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame have in common?

They were all funded by federal Department of Education earmarks, according to an extensive new report released Thursday by Sen. Tom Coburn.

The Oklahoma Republican, in a study called "School House Pork," is urging the federal government to suspend these education "slush funds" after finding

What, specifically, do you stand for? � Failing Schools

What, specifically, do you stand for?

SEPTEMBER 30, 2010

by Sabrina

(Note: This post isn’t just a reflection; it also includes a survey at the end, about what you mean when you talk about school reform.)

At the suggestion of a friend, I went to a Stand for Children meeting last night. The school reform crowd I run with is naturally a little skeptical of this group, because of their connections to the “Billionaire Boys Club” (For example, the SfC Leadership Center has received over $5.2 million dollars from the Gates Foundation since 2005) and their support of certain tenets of the corporate school reform movement.

None of that was obvious at last night’s meeting, though, or from the promotional materials they provided. For instance, the brochure they use to solicit donations says things like “We’ve

'Churn, Ambivalence, Confusion' in Teacher Ed.? - Teacher Beat - Education Week

'Churn, Ambivalence, Confusion' in Teacher Ed.?

by Stephen Sawchuk

Education professors continue to hold beliefs consistent with Dewey-inspired progressive-education principles. But they also seem to be warming up to some changes, most notably the Teach For America program and a tougher teacher-tenure bar, according to a national survey of teacher educators, released yesterday.

Overall, said the authors of the survey analysis, such findings are evidence that teacher educators hold a variety of disparate, even conflicting opinions about the state of the profession today and the changes occurring in the field in the post-accountability era.

"Much of what we find reveals a great deal of churn, ambivalence, and even confusion," said Steve Farkas an

QUICK Hits � The Quick and the Ed

QUICK Hits

by Forrest Hinton

Quick Hits is a short compilation of question-raising news stories, blog posts, and video clips that Education Sector team members are reading or viewing each day.

Have education reformers “won?” Should they be out celebrating that their ideas are finally moving both the public and the policy-making elite? (Jay P. Greene’s Blog)
Is cheating rampant in American high schools? (Class Struggle)
Just how much can research reports spur colleges with low graduation rates towards improvement?(Omaha World-Herald)
Do prospective college students still need a website that compares student loan rates and conditions now that the FFEL program has been ended? (The Chronicle of Higher Education)

U.S. Department of Education Awards Nearly $100 Million to Improve Academic Performance and Support Dropout Prevention | U.S. Department of Education

U.S. Department of Education Awards Nearly $100 Million to Improve Academic Performance and Support Dropout Prevention

SEPTEMBER 30, 2010

Contact:

(202) 401-1576, press@ed.gov

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced almost $100 million in grants to support state and local efforts to reform high schools and improve the educational outcomes of students.

“These grants will help our local communities and states in working towards President Obama’s goal of once again having the highest college completion rate in the world by the end of the decade,” Secretary Duncan said. “To achieve this goal, high schools must ensure more students graduate and are prepared for success in college and careers.”

Twenty-eight high schools will receive $52.2 million under the Smaller Learning Communities program and 29 states and districts will receive $46.6 million under High School Graduation Initiative program.

The Smaller Learning Communities grants support large comprehensive high schools to create smaller, personalized learning environments with the goal of improving the academic achievement of their students and preparing them for postsecondary education. Grantees will also focus on improving teaching and learning by providing teachers with more common planning time to meet the needs of their students.

For example, the St. Louis Public Schools in Missouri will use some of their grant funding to partner with College Summit. Together, they will offer a new course for juniors on how to plan and prepare for college, create College Resource Centers for students, and carry out a school-wide initiative to equip students with the skills they need to succeed in more academically challenging courses. In the Robbinsdale Independent School District in Minnesota, the district will be aligning its curriculum with college-ready standards, establishing rigorous college-prep programs in the lower grades, and supporting teachers by providing instructional coaching and more time to collaborate during the school day.

The U.S. Department of Education’s High School Graduation Initiative supports activities such as early warning systems designed to identify students at risk of dropping out, rigorous academic programs and support services to engage students and implement dropout prevention, credit recovery programs, and targeted re-engagement programs that identify out-of-school youth and encourage them to reenter school. The Initiative targets high schools with high dropout rates or middle schools that feed into schools with high dropout rates.

The Massachusetts Department of Education will implement a statewide dropout prevention strategy that includes the creation of three Gateway to College programs. The work will enable high school dropouts and other at-risk students to complete their high school diploma at a community college while earning college credits toward an associate’s degree or certificate. Washoe County School District in Nevada will create new options for at-risk youth, establishing a network of small schools that will give dropouts, and students at risk of dropping out, the opportunity to pursue an individualized education program to earn their diploma.

The 28 Smaller Learning Communities grantees are:

10,000 math, science teachers, but how? — Joanne Jacobs

10,000 math, science teachers, but how?

by Joanne

President Obama wants to recruit 10,000 new math and science teachers over the next two years to improve STEM achievement in line with an advisory council report. The feds will develop “a new website and a partnership with Facebook to connect current and aspiring teachers,” reports Education Week, based on Secretary Arne Duncan’s conversation with Tom Brokaw on MSNBC.

In other words, Obama isn’t offering federal money to pay the salaries of new hires — or fund the early retirement of poorly qualified math and science teachers. He’s not talking about a federal bonus to lure chemists,

Student's Suicide After Sex Video Stirs Outrage : NPR

Student's Suicide After Sex Video Stirs Outrage

Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi jumped off a bridge after a recording of him having sex with a man was broadcast online. Two students have been charged with invading his privacy. Gay-rights groups say his suicide brings attention to a problem they are increasingly working to combat: young people who kill themselves after being tormented over their sexuality.

Most schools’ grades drop as city releases report cards | GothamSchools

Most schools’ grades drop as city releases report cards

by Anna Phillips

The percentage of elementary and middle schools to get A’s on their city-issued report cards fell this year from 84 to 25 percent — a drop precipitated by more students failing the exams and the city grading schools on a curve.

Of the city’s 1,140 elementary and middle schools, 35 percent (396 schools) received B’s, 35 (398 schools) got C’s, 4 percent (49 schools) got D’s and 1 percent (8 schools) got F’s. More schools scored low enough to get failing grades, but their final marks were buoyed by city officials’ decision to limit the amount by which a school’s

Who You Gonna Call? | Intercepts

Who You Gonna Call?

by Mike Antonucci

Apparently Indiana taxpayers are so rotten with cash that they spent almost $94 million last year for 16,315 public school students who are corporally challenged. They have ceased to be. They are ghosts.

Indiana school districts are funded according to enrollment. Each additional student brings additional funding. But when a student leaves the district, the money doesn’t leave. The district continues to receive funding for that

The Answer Sheet - How Joel Klein insulted physical education teachers

How Joel Klein insulted physical education teachers

Physical education teachers across the country are not taking kindly to New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein's televised comment that they shouldn’t earn as much as math and science teachers. Klein appeared on the “The View” this week to discuss New York City’s public schools. When the conversation turned to the issue of merit pay for teachers, he said, “Math and science teachers receive the same pay as physical educators,” a statement that, in context, suggested that math and science teachers should earn more than PE teachers. That, naturally, sparked a backlash from physical education teachers who rightly see their field as important as academics, and believe that Klein betrayed an ignorance of the importance of regular physical activity and its positive effect on student achievement.

Meggie Dearest | California Progress Report

Meggie Dearest

by kaldveer

By Robert Cruickshank

This isn't Meg Whitman's week. Fresh off a poor debate performance, her campaign was rocked by the story of Nicky Diaz Santillan, Whitman's longtime housekeeper who held ariveting press conference yesterday to explain her mistreatment at the hands of Whitman. The most explosive allegation is that Whitman knew about Santillan's immigration status but did nothing about it, even after reportedly being notified by the Social Security Administration that Santillan's SSN did not match the records.

As others have noted, if true this makes Whitman a massive hypocrite - just last night she called for tougher enforcement of immigration laws. And Carly Fiorina, in the video clip at right, has said on two recent occasions that anyone who knowingly employs an undocumented worker should be jailed.

Justin Cohen is Making Sense � The Quick and the Ed

Justin Cohen is Making Sense

by Kevin Carey

In response to what he aptly dubs the “eh, it’s not so bad” critique of Waiting for Superman,” Justin Cohen says:

If our systems persistently and woefully under-prepare certain populations of students, our response should not be anything less than systemic. To believe otherwise means thinking that our great schools exist in a leafy suburban policy vacuum, and that our urban and rural failing schools are similarly isolated. Geographically, that may be true, but from a public policy and operational perspective, it isn’t. Take human capital as an example. We can’t just increase human capital flows of the most effective teachers to poor neighborhoods without considering the inevitable

The Connection between High-tech Innovations and School Reform � Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

The Connection between High-tech Innovations and School Reform

by larrycuban

When asked how I got interested in the uses of technology in schools and classrooms, I answer that I was the target for a quarter-century of high-tech innovations and classroom reforms when I taught high school history and as a district administrator in two urban school systems.

I then say that I have been trained as an historian and studied many efforts of reformers to improve schooling over the past century in U.S. classrooms, schools, and districts. I examined how teachers have taught since the 1890s. I investigated policymakers’ constant changes in curriculum since the 1880s. I analyzed the origins of the

Research: More Bad News For Performance Pay - District 299: Chicago Public Schools Blog

Research: More Bad News For Performance Pay

by Alexander Russo

Here's a second study suggesting that the approach doesn't have any big effects on student achievement. The first came out of Vanderbilt last week, and it was pretty damning (though limited to performance pay alone not in conjunction with other supports and systems). This one is about Chicago's TAP program -- the program that was adopted a few years ago, expanded, then .... changed and expanded again with more USDE TIF money

On the Campaign Trail for Early Education and Literacy �

On the Campaign Trail for Early Education and Literacy

September 30, 2010 by Irene Sege

HYANNIS – A candidate for U.S. Congress brought along a supporter dressed as Uncle Sam. A candidate for state representative grew emotional describing the help his son received from early intervention. One candidate for state senator is a fan of Dr. Seuss, and another reads A.A. Milne to his daughters on their birthdays. All expressed support for high-quality education and reading proficiency.

The occasion was a candidates’ forum sponsored by the Cape Cod Association for the Education of Young Children and the Child Care Network. The evening was an on-the-ground example of early educators engaging candidates. OurElection 2010 Web page offers information, resources and suggestions for raising the issues of high-quality early education and reading proficiency with candidates and voters. Massachusetts voters go to the polls November 2. The deadline to register to vote in this election is October 13.

At last week’s forum, Amy O’Leary and Mike McLaughlin from Strategies for Children’s Early Education for All Campaign briefed the candidates about high-quality early education and early literacy. Audience members related their

18 Etiquette Tips for E-mailing Your Professor - Professors' Guide (usnews.com) #UCDavis

18 Etiquette Tips for E-mailing Your Professor - Professors' Guide (usnews.com)

18 Etiquette Tips for E-mailing Your Professor

Professors, like everyone else, have gone electronic. In addition to the one-on-one office hour, they're quite willing to communicate by e-mail. Here are some things to consider before clicking the "Send" button:

1. E-mail is forever. Once you send it off, you can't get it back. Once your professor has it, he or she owns it and can save it or, in the worst case, forward it onto colleagues for a good laugh—at your expense.

2. E-mail goes where it's told. Check—and double check—to see that the right address appears in the "To" line. Just because your mom and your professor are both named "Lynn" is no reason to send all your love to Professor Lynn.

3. Professors might not be using the cruddy university e-mail system. So send it to the address they actually use, not the one on the university directory. (Check the syllabus or assignment sheet for clues.)

4. Professors might not open mail sent from luckydogpig@thepound.com. They prefer to open mail sent from more reputable addresses, like you@theCruddyUniversityE-mailSystem.edu.

“Seven Essentials For Project-Based Learning” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

“Seven Essentials For Project-Based Learning” Seven Essentials For Project-Based Learning is the title of a very useful article in this month’s issue of Educational Leadership. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Cooperative Learning Ideas.

“Show Us What Homework’s For” Show Us What Homework’s For is an article in Educational Leadership interviewing teenagers about their perspectives on homework. I’m adding the link to The Best Resources For Learning About Homework Issues .

Vt. school contract has no teacher step raises - Boston.com

Vt. school contract has no teacher step raises

September 30, 2010

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WINOOSKI, Vt.—The new teachers contract in Winooski doesn't contain step raises for teachers, long a stable of Vermont teacher contracts.

Step increases are salary increases given to teachers based on factors such as experience and education. They are in addition to base pay increases.

Teachers and the Winooski school board reached the contract earlier this month, just hours before the teachers were to go on strike.

Teachers union spokesman Brent Litterer says a committee will study the step-

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