Friday, October 1, 2010

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Restorative Justice Invites a Fundamental Shift in the Way We Think About Justice

01 OCTOBER 2010

In the last few decades, different programs have arisen out of a profound, virtually universal frustration with the dysfunction of our justice system. What distinguishes restorative justice from all these programs is that it is not a program.

Webinar: Developing Leadership that Contributes to Racial Justice

24 SEPTEMBER 2010

Announcing the launch of the first publication of the Leadership for a New Era Series - How to Develop and Support Leadership that Contributes to Racial Justice, produced by the Leadership Learning Community and other thought leaders.

U.S. District Court for NJ Grants NAACP Motion for Summary Judgment Against N. Hudson Fire & Rescue

24 SEPTEMBER 2010

Recently, the U.S. District Court of New Jersey granted the NAACP’s motion for summary judgment in a disparate impact case challenging the North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue’s (NHRFR) use of residency requirements for hiring.

Supporting Leadership that Promotes Racial Justice

01 OCTOBER 2010

Leadership Learning Community Oakland made the headlines again this summer when a jury delivered a verdict of involuntary manslaughter in the trial of Johannes Mehserle. Mehserle, a BART police officer, was on trial for shooting Oscar Grant, a young, African American in 2009.

$43.4 Million of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Funds Awarded to NCDOT

24 SEPTEMBER 2010

(RALEIGH) - The North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Rail Division to spend $43.4 million for improvements to better accommodate passengers at nine train stations along the Southeast High Speed Rail (SEHSR) corridor between Raleigh and Charlotte.

More Satisfied at Work with Higher Level of Emotional Intelligence

17 SEPTEMBER 2010

General intelligence alone is not enough: An employee with a higher level of emotional intelligence is more dedicated and satisfied at work. A new study shows that emotional intelligence plays an important role in coping with organizational politics.

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.

Poor Children and Educational Doom � The Quick and the Ed

Poor Children and Educational Doom

by Kevin Carey

In the course of a long post explaining that poor children are educationally doomed, Valerie Strauss says:

…we need to accept this reality: The strongest predictor of student success in school has long been family income and parents’ education level. So we can applaud and shower with attention the students and teachers and schools that beat the odds, but it’s a bad idea to pretend that the exceptions are anything but exceptions.
New statistics released by the Census Bureau this week show that three out of 10 children in the

Queens Teacher: Grade Shock: Regular Schools Top Charters

Grade Shock: Regular Schools Top Charters

by Queens Teacher

Grade shock: Regular schools top charters
By YOAV GONEN Education Reporter

City charters fell harder.

Traditional public schools bested the city's charter schools on annual report-card grades --scoring 10 points higher on average on a 100-point scale, new data shows.

The city's more than 1,000 public elementary and middle schools averaged a B on their so-called "progress reports," which assign letter grades to schools based largely on how much students improve on state math and reading tests in a given year.

By comparison, the city's 60 charter schools that received letter grades this year

Benjamin Todd Jealous Talks Education on Morning Joe | NAACP

Posted on September 29, 2010 by Eric Wingerter, Director of NAACP Web Campaigns and New Media

On Wednesday, September 29 NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe to talk about the state of education and this weekend's One Nation Working Together rally in Washington, DC. Watch the video:

New York Charter Schools: Bad Behavior and Out. Where are the Special Ed Students? Where are the ELL students? � Larry Miller's Blog

New York Charter Schools: Bad Behavior and Out. Where are the Special Ed Students? Where are the ELL students?

by millerlf

This is an excerpt from a New Yorker article on Success Charter Network represented in the documentaryWaiting for Superman.

“…when the schools are vexed by behavioral problems: “They don’t provide the counseling these kids need.”If students are deemed bad “fits” and theirparents refuse to move them, the staffer says, the administration “makes it a nightmare” with repeated suspensions and midday summonses. After a 5-year-old was suspended for two days for allegedly running out of the building, the child’s mother says the school began calling her every day “saying he’s doing this, he’s doing that. Maybe they’re just trying to get rid of me and my child, but I’m not going to give them that satisfaction.”

To read the full article go to the following link:

Patron Saint (and Scourge) of Lost Schools

Imagining a conversation between Klein and Zuckerberg | GothamSchools

Imagining a conversation between Klein and Zuckerberg

by Elizabeth Green

What if Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg had met and been wooed not by Newark Mayor Cory Booker, asreportedly happened this July in Idaho, setting the stage for Zuckerberg’s dramatic $100 million gift, but by our own Joel Klein? A hawk-eyed reader alerted us to the counterintuitive advice Klein might have given him.

The clue lies in a March 2008 issue of the New York Times Magazine in which Paul Tough led a roundtable discussion of education leaders about educational philanthropy. Tough proposed a hypothetical: A “high-

DPS believes enrollment numbers will reflect middle schools' turnaround - The Denver Post

DPS believes enrollment numbers will reflect middle schools' turnaround 210/01/2010Not too long ago, Denver parents would begin fretting when their children would hit fifth grade, wondering which middle school they should choose.

Senate hopeful Buck speaking in public less these days 6610/01/2010 - Of the many differences between the primary election and the general election in the U.S. Senate race, one stands out as perhaps the most stark: GOP hopeful Ken Buck rarely speaks publicly anymore.

Teachers, families making connections at kids' homes09/30/2010 - Teachers at one of Denver's poorest schools have discovered a key to improving student achievement that's as easy as stepping out the door.

Colorado education commissioner takes job as Las Vegas schools chief09/29/2010 - Colorado Education Commissioner Dwight Jones was selected as superintendent of the nation's fifth-largest school district Wednesday, when Clark County, Nev., board members picked him to be their leader.

The Answer Sheet - The poverty gap: There are always exceptions, but they make bad education policy

The poverty gap: There are always exceptions, but they make bad education policy

This week I wrote about a discussion on school reform between President Obama and NBC's Matt Lauer that walked right up to the issue of the effects of poverty on student achievement but then veered away. Calling the issue "the elephant" that the two ignored, I cited statistics and studies showing the strong connection between poverty and education and noted that today’s crop of education reformers like to dismiss the issue and say that teachers use it an excuse when their students consistently have low standardized test scores. Some readers pointed out that some high-poverty schools are successful with needy children without changing the conditions of their life outside school.

How Zuckerberg should have spent $100 million

My guest is Robert Pondiscio, director of communications at .the Core Knowledge Foundation who launched the Core Knowledge Blog. This post first appeared there. By Robert Pondiscio When Charles Lindbergh flew to Paris in 1927, he was aiming for more than glory. His flight netted him the $25,000 Orteig Prize, a reward offered a decade earlier by a wealthy New Yorker to the first aviator to to fly from New York to Paris. Such prizes were a common means of spurring achievement in the early days of aviation. More recently, the $10 million Ansari X Prize was offered for the first non-government group to launch a reusable manned spacecraft twice in two weeks. Big prizes get attention, capture the imagination, and create a multiplier effect as competitors battle it out for the money. The team that won the Ansari X prize spent $25 million of Paul Allen’s money in pursuit

France Scores An F in Education - TIME

France Scores An F in Education

By PETER GUMBEL / PARIS Monday, Oct. 04, 2010

French lessons Originally  designed to level out class differences, France's education  system instead perpetuates them

CLAUDINE DOURY / AGENCE VU / AURORA PHOTOS

Digg

Every June, toward the end of the school year, a ritual takes place in France that speaks volumes about a nation that is both passionately proud of its education system and, at the same time, deeply worried about why it has gone so awry. It is the publication, in most

96 Historically Black Institutions Receive $84.775 Million to Strengthen Their Programs | U.S. Department of Education

96 Historically Black Institutions Receive $84.775 Million to Strengthen Their Programs

OCTOBER 1, 2010

Contact:

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

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced the award of $84.775 million to 96 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to strengthen their facilities and academic programs to improve education for their students.

"HBCUs play an essential role in helping our Nation boost college completion rates and achieve the President's goal for America to again have the highest percentage of college graduates in the world by 2020," Duncan said. "These grants provide HBCUs with needed resources to enhance their programs and services that will enable their students to graduate and succeed in the workplace."

Grants awarded under the Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and Universities Program support a variety of activities that improve and expand course offerings, student services, campus facilities, and faculty and staff development. Funds may also be used to establish teacher education programs designed to qualify students to teach in public schools, financial and economic literacy programs for students and families, and community outreach programs that encourage elementary and secondary school students to develop high-level academic skills and interest in postsecondary education.

The awards are formula grants based on data provided by eligible institutions. To be eligible for funding, institutions must have been established prior to 1964 and have as a principal mission the education of African Americans.

Note to Editors: A list of grantees and award amounts are attached.
FY 2010 Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)

Andrew Shirvell, Gay-Student-Obsessed Michigan Assistant AG, Takes a Breather � Student Activism

Andrew Shirvell, Gay-Student-Obsessed Michigan Assistant AG, Takes a Breather

by Angus Johnston

Andrew Shirvell, the Michigan Assistant Attorney General who has been waging a creepy internet campaign against an openly gay student government leader for half a year, is temporarily stepping down from his position. The AG’s office announced Shirvell’s “voluntary leave of absence” this morning.

Shirvell has been running an increasingly unhinged blog devoted to sliming Chris Armstrong, president of the

'Waiting for Superman' Exposes Education Crisis; Christians Respond | Christianpost.com

'Waiting for Superman' Exposes Education Crisis; Christians Respond

By Felicia Howard|Christian Post Correspondent

A failing education system, bad teachers, below average students, and a country falling behind – the film “Waiting for Superman” explores education in the United States and its continuing failing factors. This suspenseful tear-jerker takes viewers into the lives of promising students in a school system that hinders instead of helps them to reach academic success.

View Full Image

Grace Hill Media

(Photo: Poster, Waiting for Superman)

The film, a Davis Guggenheim documentary, analyzes what it calls “dropout factories” and “academic sinkholes” that the nation’s students are trapped in, with teachers who cannot be fired, and a system that allows even bad

The Answer Sheet - The poverty gap: There are always exceptions, but they make bad education policy

The poverty gap: There are always exceptions, but they make bad education policy

Calling the issue "the elephant" that the two ignored, I cited statistics and studies showing the strong connection between poverty and education and noted that today’s crop of education reformers like to dismiss the issue and say that teachers use it an excuse when their students consistently have low standardized test scores.

Some readers pointed out that some high-poverty schools are

Here we go again: UW Dean of Ed suggests charters & TFA for Seattle: My response | Seattle Education 2010

Here we go again: UW Dean of Ed suggests charters & TFA for Seattle: My response

by seattleducation2010

Today’s Seattle Times features yet another pro-charter, pro-ed-reform editorial, “Urgent education needs demand bold new thinking: It might be time for Washington voters to reconsider their ballot-box rejection of charter schools, writes Tom Stritikus, the University of Washington’s dean of the College of Education. A new documentary, “Waiting for Superman,” explores the possibilities of alternative-school approaches.”

This time, it’s by Tom Stitikus, dean of the College of Education at UW. Here is my response, originally posted on the Times’ site:

Here we go again.

First off, we already HAVE successful, popular alternative and innovative schools and programs in Seattle —

Inside the dropping charter school grades, some diversity | GothamSchools

Inside the dropping charter school grades, some diversity

by Elizabeth Green

Kim Gittleson's data tool chronicles all the city's charter schools results on the city's progress report cards.

Kim Gittleson's report on charter schools' performance on the city's progress reports lets users sift through every school.

We already know that charter schools’ scores progress report scores fell

Latest News and Comment from Education

Friday, October 1, 2010

France Scores An F in Education

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96 Historically Black Institutions Receive $84.775 Million to Strengthen Their Programs

'Waiting for Superman' Exposes Education Crisis; Christians Respond

The poverty gap: There are always exceptions, but they make bad education policy