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Friday, October 1, 2010

Facebook-Driven Newark Overhaul Lurches Forward Education Week American Education News Site of Record

Education Week American Education News Site of Record

Facebook-Driven Newark Overhaul Lurches Forward

Questions about legality and governance surround a plan, fueled by $100 million from Facebook's founder, to remake Newark's schools. (October 1, 2010)

State Campaigns Draw Unions' Money, Muscle

Democratic candidates on state-level ballots this fall are drawing the lion's share of support from teachers' unions, with the maintenance of school funding a prime concern. (September 30, 2010) | Comments (3)

New Sex Ed. Funding Ends Decade of Abstinence-Only

(October 1, 2010)

Judge Removes Texas Schools From Court Supervision

(October 1, 2010)

School's New Fundraiser: Selling Ads on Notes Sent Home

(October 1, 2010)

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DROPOUTS

Attendance Monitor Deidre Reeder walks Pre-K student Markell Foster, 4, to class at Franklin Square Elementary and Middle School within Baltimore, MD. Foster missed his transportation to the school in the morning and his mother was unable to drop him off, so Reeder drove to his home to picked him up.
—Stephen Voss for Education Week

Spurred by Statistics, Districts Combat Absenteeism

Research linking absenteeism to dropping out of school is mobilizing some districts to take action. (October 1, 2010)

TEACHER BEAT BLOG

Survey of Teacher Educators Finds 'Churn, Ambivalence'

(September 30, 2010)

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Rahm: Does Emanuel Care About Schools? - District 299: Chicago Public Schools Blog

Rahm: Does Emanuel Care About Schools? - District 299: Chicago Public Schools Blog

Rahm: Does Emanuel Care About Schools?

by Alexander Russo
05rahm_650a.JPGToday's the big day when Rahm Emanuel leaves the White House and returns to Chicago to run for mayor, which has me wondering whether Emanuel has any real interest in education, or record of accomplishments, or anything else we can us to figure out how he'd do as the person in

RIP, Chicago Teacher Lovie Sanders

by Alexander Russo

Lovie Sanders
I'm two weeks late with this - sorry. It's still a good reminder that there are a lot of nice people working in CPS and that while we think we're all around forever we're not"

"Lovie Sanders, a 39-year-old Forest Park woman who was a teaching coach in Chicago public schools, was struck
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Education Commissioner Dwight Jones is still on the job The Daily Churn: Friday | EdNewsColorado

The Daily Churn: Friday | EdNewsColorado

The Daily Churn: Friday

by EdNews staff

Daily Churn logoWhat’s churning:

Education Commissioner Dwight Jones is still on the job in Colorado, but chatter already has started about who might be next to fill the corner office at 201 E. Colfax Ave.

We’re at the early, “mentioning” stage of the speculation game. It’s that time when possible candidates are mentioned by “folks other than the ‘named,’ so I have no idea how reliable they are,” as one state official put it.

With that in mind, here are names being mentioned, in no order but alphabetical:

  • Elliott Asp, Cherry Creek assistant superintendent
  • Ken DeLay, executive director of the Colorado Association of School Boards
  • Former Littleton Superintendent Stan Scheer, who now heads a school district in Southern California
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RIP for HQT? — Joanne Jacobs

RIP for HQT? — Joanne Jacobs

RIP for HQT?

by Joanne

“No Child Left Behind’s highly qualified teachers provision deserves to die,” writes Mike Petrilli on Education Gadfly.

In a ruling last week, the Ninth Circuit said Teach For America teachers and others with alternative certification should not be considered “highly qualified” while they work toward state certification. A public-interest law firm had challenged the practice, complaining that low-income, minority students are more likely to be taught by uncertified “interns.”

The law’s wording is ambiguous, Petrilli writes, though Congress signaled its intent by supporting alternative

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Education Research Report: Nontraditional K-12 Schools in Michigan

Education Research Report: Nontraditional K-12 Schools in Michigan

Nontraditional K-12 Schools in Michigan

by Jonathan Kantrowitz
Ω



Michigan statutes allow a variety of public education entities to authorize PSAs, and impose a number of restrictions, such as requiring certified teachers, standardized testing, and the new high school curriculum, seeking to balance restraints on PSAs with opportunities to innovate and tailor programs to target students. Some charters have contracted with national school management organizations that have developed, and seek to replicate, successful education models that include longer school days and years, and specific governance, personnel, assessment, and community relations approaches. Advocates claim the competition from charter schools will force traditional schools to improve in order to compete.

Critics fear charters will skim the students who are the easiest or cheapest to educate, leaving the neediest (and most expensive to educate) students concentrated in traditional schools. As charters attract students and the

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This Week In Education: AM News: Seattle Recall Fails

This Week In Education: AM News: Seattle Recall Fails

AM News: Seattle Recall Fails

by Alexander Russo

News2Filibuster the top priority AP: Republican Senate hopeful Christine O'Donnell says her first priority if elected would be to help the GOP block Democrats' priorities in a lame-duck session... Calls for longer school years face budget reality AP: In Massachusetts, the state issues grants to districts with plans to constructively lengthen instructional class time, said Kathy Christie, chief of staff at the Education Commission of the States. Obama's Education Department already is using competitions among states for curriculum grant money through its "Race to the Top" initiative... In Louisville, a new turn in school integration AP: Louisville is taking another swing at school integration. Under a new student-assignment plan that's tied to household income and dependent ... Special-needs students named homecoming queens and kingsAP: As special-needs students integrate in schools, classmates are accepting them socially and electing them to homecoming courts.. Seattle school board recall effort fails An effort to recall five of the Seattle School Board's seven members has failed.

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Alameda School board begins mulling over budget cuts - ContraCostaTimes.com

Alameda School board begins mulling over budget cuts - ContraCostaTimes.com

Alameda School board begins mulling over budget cuts

Posted: 09/30/2010 10:49:47 PM PDT

Their goal is to save about $5 million for the upcoming school year and an additional $8 million between 2012-13.

The list of proposed cuts includes closing a high school, which would save about $1 million annually, and four elementary schools, which would save about $1.2 million.

Also on the table is eliminating the entire adult education program, shuttering swim centers and a 7 percent pay cut for administrators.

Over the next few weeks, the public will be asked to rank their preferences to help trustees make their decision, said the district's Chief Business Officer Robert Shemwell.

He called the upcoming cuts "disastrous and drastic and draconian."

What makes them especially difficult for teachers and parents is that they follow district officials slashing $7

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ASCD Inservice: Madeline Hunter Was Right

ASCD Inservice: Madeline Hunter Was Right

Madeline Hunter Was Right

In the last quarter of the 20th century, numerous school districts and even whole states adopted the instructional model of influential educator Madeline Hunter. Then, as Hunter herself laments, her teaching ideas were reduced to a lockstep process that critics said was too rigid, and the model was eclipsed by other teaching fads. But Hunter's legacy is that she based her model on observing master teachers and using research-based principles. So what are the "new," old basics of sound instruction that every teacher should use to help students achieve? How do student motivation and engagement

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Still a Long Climb for Online Universities - US News and World Report

Still a Long Climb for Online Universities - US News and World Report

Still a Long Climb for Online Universities

Online degrees gain respect among hiring managers, but traditional degrees are still far more reputable.

Doreen Clark graduated from Metropolitan State University in Minneapolis in 2006 and immediately considered pursuing an M.B.A. When someone suggested she try an online degree, she was incredulous. "Who does that?" she says. "Online? I remember thinking it was just crazy."

But after some research, and realizing she would have difficulty obtaining an M.B.A. while working as a full-time public relations representative, the once-crazy idea seemed sane. A year after graduating from Metropolitan State, she enrolled in the University of Phoenix in hopes of obtaining an M.B.A. in marketing. She finished the program in October 2009 with a 3.91 GPA, but has been unable to find a job. She did, however, start her own PR company and lure a national retail client. "My education gave me added background and credentials for this step," she says. "[But] I still see that many large

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Two face off for state superintendent of public instruction - ContraCostaTimes.com

Two face off for state superintendent of public instruction - ContraCostaTimes.com

Two face off for state superintendent of public instruction

Posted: 09/30/2010 06:34:22 PM PDT
Updated: 09/30/2010 09:27:34 PM PDT

DOWNEY - Candidates Larry Aceves and Tom Torlakson sharpened their pencils Wednesday evening at a forum to discuss critical issues affecting preschool through 12th grade education.

The purpose of the forum at the Los Angeles County Offices of Education was to help voters learn about the positions and perspectives of the two candidates for the statewide, nonpartisan post of superintendent of public instruction in the Nov. 2 general election.

The current state superintendent is Jack O'Connell, who is not running for re-election.

"The future of California, the state education system will be shaped by those who we elect on Nov. 2," said Scott Svonkin of the Los Angeles County School Trustee Association, part of a panel who questioned the candidates.

Aceves, who prefaced his opening statement by saying he is an educator and not a politician, has taught in

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Courtland Milloy on Michelle Rhee: Fair? | TBD.com

Courtland Milloy on Michelle Rhee: Fair? | TBD.com

Courtland Milloy on Michelle Rhee: Fair?

By Erik Wemple
September 30, 2010 - 02:56 pm
TBD

In a Monday column, Washington Post columnist Courtland Milloy leveled a number of tough allegations against D.C. public schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee. Titled "Rhee needs to take a look in the mirror," the piece claims the following:

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Editorial: School reform: Fill in blanks | Asbury Park Press

Editorial: School reform: Fill in blanks | Asbury Park Press

School reform: Fill in blanks

SEPTEMBER 30, 2010

No one wants lousy teachers in public school classrooms. Obviously, getting rid of bad teachers and rewarding those educators who truly make a difference in the lives of their students should be at the heart of any education reform program.

When Gov. Chris Christie talks about education reform, those are the things he says he's after. But, as with so much else in life, the devil is in the details. So far, the governor is a little short on them.

Christie unveiled his education reform proposals this week. In a few cases he hit the bull's eye; in others

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Teacher: City teacher evaluation system will rely heavily on state reforms - baltimoresun.com

Teacher: City teacher evaluation system will rely heavily on state reforms - baltimoresun.com

City teacher evaluation system will rely heavily on state reforms

Method to be used under landmark contract still undecided

By Erica L. Green, The Baltimore Sun

7:15 p.m. EST, September 30, 2010

The system that Baltimore will need to devise to assess its teachers under a new groundbreaking contract will rely heavily on statewide reforms of teacher evaluations, education officials say.

The unprecedented autonomy and performance-based pay scale outlined for teachers in the tentative Baltimore Teachers Union contract announced Wednesday comes at a time when Maryland is developing a plan for 50 percent of a teacher's evaluation to reflect student achievement.

This was a critical point in negotiating the Baltimore contract, said schools CEO Andrés Alonso. "We wanted the contract to be aligned with [the state] and about outcomes, which is so murky right now," he said.

The new agreement would give city teachers the highest starting

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