Sunday, October 17, 2010

More intellectually disabled youths go to college - Boston.com

More intellectually disabled youths go to college

In this photo taken Oct. 19, 2010, Gabe Savage, right, Alex Schaffer, center, and Mallory Graves, walk across campus at Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg, Mo. The three are part of a handful of students participating in a two-year program at the school tailored to students with mental disabilities. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

By Heather Hollingsworth

Associated Press Writer / October 16, 2010

Text size – +

WARRENSBURG, Mo.—Zach Neff is all high-fives as he walks through his college campus in western Missouri. The 27-year-old with Down syndrome hugs most everybody, repeatedly. He tells teachers he loves them.

"I told Zach we are putting him on a hug diet -- one to say hello and one to say goodbye," said Joyce Downing, who helped start a new program at the University of Central Missouri that serves students with disabilities.

The hope is that polishing up on social skills, like cutting back on the hugs, living in residence halls and going to classes with non-disabled classmates will help

LAUSD report comes as board gets ready to OK $320 million in loans - LA Daily News

LAUSD report comes as board gets ready to OK $320 million in loans

By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer

Posted: 10/16/2010 06:54:24 PM PDT

Updated: 10/16/2010 08:05:24 PM PDT

A new audit of Los Angeles Unified's massive $20 billion building program raises concerns about the district using overly optimistic projections in its budgeting and cautions officials about authorizing new construction projects.

The report comes as the school board is set Tuesday to finalize $320 million in loans for new capital improvement projects such as installing solar panels and relocating a police station.

The report by Capital Program Management, Inc. warns the district that while it expects nearly $900 million in bond funds owed by the state, it should only count on receiving about $220 million for now.

That could force the district to dip into its general fund - used to pay for salaries, programs and supplies - to pay back future loans, rather than count on money it already has on hand in its bond reserves.

The report has at least one board member rethinking Tuesday's scheduled vote. Board member Yolie Flores said the report makes her question whether the board should approve all $320 million, but she acknowledged that

Coming Soon, to a Theater Near You � Failing Schools

Coming Soon, to a Theater Near You

OCTOBER 16, 2010

by mariasallee

I caught these films at a recent screening in an abandoned warehouse, or some other undisclosed location. Here are this season’s offerings and my impression of them:

D.C. Follies

A brash newcomer with little practical experience but plenty of mettle (Michelle Rhee) is abruptly promoted to a position of authority in D.C. Schools. She wastes no time in converting this authority into a bully pulpit, yielding mixed results. The movie has no heart. There is no evidence of growth taking place within the protagonist–she’s just not a very sympathetic

University World News - COLOMBIA: Groups rally to free imprisoned professor

COLOMBIA: Groups rally to free imprisoned professor

Eileen Travers
17 October 2010
Issue: 143

Education International, a Belgium-based global teachers' federation, has ramped up its protest against the incarceration of Colombian professor and trade unionist Miguel Beltrán by launching an online petition to free him. The petition went online after its launch on 10 September at the International Conference on Higher Education and Research in Vancouver, Canada.

Beltrán was tried last year by the Colombian government on charges of 'rebellion' and 'breaking the law for terrorist purposes'. There is no evidence to support the allegations against him, say the organisations that have been gathering signatures across the globe to demand his release.

Beltrán was deported from Mexico in 2008 by the Colombian government for suspected involvement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, commonly known as FARC.

Education International has repeatedly condemned abuses of teachers' human and trade union rights in Colombia. As part of its campaign to release Beltrán, the organisation has written

Es el momento - Educacion, Becas, Universidades, Aprendizaje

Obtén una beca

Ayuda para estudiantes con y sin papeles

123

Involúcrate

>> Más

Alertas para tu Móvil

Términos y condiciones

NASA y Tú

Noticias

>> Más

Buscan recortar brecha educativa
Iniciativa educativa de la fundación Gates

Pierden billones por deserción
El gobierno federal gastó $ 1.5 millones de dólares.

Obtén una beca
Becas para estudiantes indocumentados y residentes.

Un diploma en cada hogar
Unen esfuerzo Univision y el Hispanic Scholarship Fund.

Hispanic Scholarship Fund
Ha otorgado más de 82 mil becas para latinos.

Departamento de Educación

Es el Momento en tu ciudad

Encuesta

¿Ayudas a tu hijo a hacer tareas?
	Sí, siempre
	A veces
	Dejo que su hermano ayude
	Nunca, no tengo tiempo

Preescolar

Elemental/Media

High School

Universidad

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Sir Ken Robinson "Changing the Education Paradigm" with New Video - THE DAILY RIFF - Be Smarter. About Education.

Sir Ken Robinson "Changing the Education Paradigm" with New Video

"Changing the Education Paradigm"
Must-Watch Video of 2010
Below

Sir Ken Robinson hits another home run with his most recent presentation of the "academic model" of education taking on standardized testing, standardization of curriculum, ADHD, the decrease of importance in arts education, and a few other myth/reality comparisons:

"Deep in the gene pool of public education: There are two types of people in education: academic and non-academic, smart people and dumb people.

This model has created chaos for many people and has worked very well for some . . ."

At 3:45, he takes on the "fictitious epidemic" of ADHD: check it out.

Summerhill: Fully Engaging Youth in their Education | Lefty Parent

Summerhill: Fully Engaging Youth in their Education

by Cooper Zale

The Summerhill school in England was one of the world’s first, and along with the Sudbury Valley School in Massachusetts, one of the world’s most successful and enduring “democratic-free” schools. “Free” in that the students are completely in charge of what, when, where, how and from whom they learn. “Democratic” in that the students and the staff jointly participate in school governance through use of the democratic process, with youth and adults having an equal voice and vote in most

Why We All Can be Superheroes for Education � InterACT

Why We All Can be Superheroes for Education

by ACT Guest Blog Posts

This guest post comes to us from ACT member Valerie Ziegler. Valerie is a California Teacher of the Year for 2010, and she teaches in San Francisco.

About a month ago I took 14 of my Lincoln High School Teacher Academy seniors to see a premier of the new documentary Waiting for Superman. All of these students plan to pursue a career in education, and I was interested to see their reactions to a movie about the failure of our education system. I feared that the movie might dissuade them from wanting to become teachers, but the next morning at school all they wanted to talk about was the film. I gave them a chance to share their reactions and have a discussion in our class. “I cried!” said one student, “How sad to be in 1^st grade and want to go to a school and not be able to.” Another student

Jay Report Card - Sacramento City Teachers Association

Jay Report Card

Sacramento teachers give Jay Schenirer an F.
Here’s why—

The city of Bell turned into California’s political outrage of the year with its never-ending parade of revelations about gargantuan salaries and retirement perks for a select group of city officials. Meanwhile in Sacramento a similar story has continued to unfold concerning fat cat benefits with Jay Schenirer — a City Council candidate — at center stage.

Back in 2000, Schenirer was a board member of the Sacramento City Unified School District who voted to triple the pensions of three top administrators by creating a controversial pension scheme known as “CASA” – despite community warnings about the proposal. Eventually those warnings would be entirely substantiated. CASA became the subject of a Sacramento Bee investigation and a scathing grand jury report. It was deemed illegal by the California Public Employees Retirement System and dismantled.
Now, the financially struggling district has been forced to go to court to seek more than $4 million in reimbursement for unwinding the complicated retirement plan. Thanks Jay!

The idea behind CASA was to remove it from CalPERS and Social Security, allowing administrators to pay less into a pension plan but recoup heftier retirements. It was dreamed up by the top administrator who was to benefit most – chief financial officer Laura Bruno. Superintendent Jim Sweeney and general counsel Martin Fine were also recipients of the

Education Research Report: Deliberate Practice Spells Success: Why Grittier Competitors Triumph at the National Spelling Bee

Deliberate Practice Spells Success: Why Grittier Competitors Triumph at the National Spelling Bee Ω The expert performance framework distinguishes between deliberate practice and less effective practice activities. This longitudinal study is the first to use this framework to understand how children improve in an academic skill. Specifically, the ...

Cutting to the bone: How the economic crisis affects schools Ω Although the recession technically ended in 2009, district budgets are not expected to regain their pre-recession (2008) funding levels until late in the decade, for a number of reasons: - Reduced local revenues from real estate taxes. Home prices ...

Far Too Many States Are Allowing High School Science Teachers To Teach Subjects They May Know Very Little About Ω National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has released a report, THE ALL-PURPOSE SCIENCE TEACHER, revealing a little-known aspect of “the STEM crisis,” usually recognized as a shortage of publicschool teachers in the areas of science, technology, ...

BUMPING HR: GIVING PRINCIPALS MORE SAY OVER STAFFING Ω The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has released a policy brief, BUMPING HR: GIVING PRINCIPALS MORE SAY OVER STAFFING that identifies the contractual and institutional obstacles that stand in the way of principals having the authority to ...

Literary Study in Grades 9, 10, And 11: A National Survey, Ω A newly released study by the Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers (ALSCW) strongly suggests that two factors—a fragmented English curriculum and a neglect of close reading—may explain why the reading skills of American high school ...

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Sunday, October 17, 2010