Monday, November 1, 2010

Suit: District pushed students to vote for Dems - Boston.com

Suit: District pushed students to vote for Dems

November 1, 2010

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CINCINNATI—A high school principal has been suspended after a claim that students were taken to a voting precinct house on a field trip, shown how to vote and given Democratic sample ballots.

An anti-tax group sued Cincinnati Public Schools over the Oct. 13 trip by Hughes High School students to the Hamilton County Board of Elections. The Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes charges the trip violated a pact with the district.

The district suspended Hughes principal Virginia Rhodes on Friday for as long as two weeks with pay. A disciplinary hearing will be held Wednesday for Dennis McFadden, social studies teacher who took the students to the board

Cyber Bullies Leave Rutgers and Deny Allegations | Gay Rights | Change.org

2:41 PM (26 minutes ago)

Cyber Bullies Leave Rutgers and Deny Allegations

by Jordan Rubenstein

On September 22, Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi committed suicide. His roommate, Dharun Ravi, and his friend Molly Wei, secretly videotaped him during a sexual encounter with another man, and then broadcast the videos over the Internet.

So whatever happened to Ravi and Wei?

Last week, they officially dropped out of Rutgers University. Ravi transferred to another school, while Wei dropped out and is waiting for the controversy to die out, due to concerns about her safety.

Apparently, both students were vilified and shunned by most of their classmates, and the University itself was considering disciplining the two. Now they’re free from disciplinary action, but they may face five years in prison. They’re charged with invasion of privacy for allegedly using a webcam to watch Clementi during a sexual

The Answer Sheet - The peculiar ‘ovation’ for D.C. teachers

The peculiar ‘ovation’ for D.C. teachers

It’s hard to settle on the strangest part of Monday night’s grand event at the Kennedy Center called “A Standing Ovation for D.C. Teachers.” My colleague Bill Turque wrote on his D.C. Schools Insider blog about the event, which is meant to honor 663 D.C. public school system teachers who were rated “highly effective” by the IMPACT teacher evaluation system. According to Turque, members of the host committee include some of the bigger names in Washington edu-philanthropy: Katherine and David Bradley, Jean-Marie and Raul Fernandez, and Trish and George Vradenberg, to list a few. Proceeds from the evening will go to the D.C. Public Education Fund, the nonprofit fundraising arm of the public schools. So what’s so strange about the event?

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Chicago forum on teacher evaluation

Chicago forum on teacher evaluation

by Mike Klonsky

I even put a tie on

It's the day after Halloween so I didn't feel so bad about putting on a tie and dressing up like a downtown school reformer. The reason? It's the first of this year's Schools Policy Luncheon Series, organized jointly by BPI and Catalyst. This one, titled: Teacher evaluation and compensation: Getting it right, grabbed my interest for obvious reasons. The biggest crowd ever, packed the main lounge at the Union League Club (business attire required). Thus the tie.

Lunching on sliced chicken, salad greens, chocolate cake with a blackberry next to it, and lots of coffee, I heard Susan Moore Johnson from Harvard, CTU prez,Karen Lewis, and Peter Martinez, the head of UIC's Urban Leadership Program.

Johnson, coming from Harvard, of course had a Power-Point nobody could read. But her assessment of Value-Added based on standardized tests, "which measure only part of what teachers are expected to do," was great. She basically argued that VA and standardized tests should NOT be used to make important decisions about schools firing or paying teachers; that VA doesn't show teachers how to improve; and that it doesn't improve collaboration within schools. She hit hard on the L.A. Times publication of

What Would it Take to Change Your Mind? � InterACT

What Would it Take to Change Your Mind?

by David B. Cohen

ACT member Larry Ferlazzo recently wrote a blog post that was picked up in The Answer Sheet at the Washington Post. He started off writing about the value of being “unprincipled” – a provocative idea, but in fact, it just means that absolute certainty can be a liability when dealing with complex issues and problems. To support his argument, Larry linked to a blog post titled “Strong Opinions, Weakly Held,” by one of my favorite writers, Bob Sutton. To sum up the advice, I’d put it this way; leaders should have strong opinions about the work they do and the direction in which they’re headed, and they must be willing to change those opinions when new evidence and stronger arguments come along.

We’ve seen what happens to politicians when they change their minds, unfortunately. Accusations of a flip-flop can be devastating. I have trouble believing that voters truly want leaders who would never change their minds, but for those who oppose the politician or candidate anyways, it’s an opportunity to go on the offensive. Once the attack begins, the media report the reactions much better than they do the background, or the subtle and ambivalent set of quiet reactions many of us might have. So, I don’t hold out much hope that, in the education debate, we’ll see Arne Duncan or Barack Obama own up to any weakly held opinions – although they absolutely should. They’ve come too far down the road of more tests, more standards, more accountability to hit the brakes now, or ask for directions.

Romero to Lead DFER-CA � DFER Watch

ROMERO TO LEAD DFER-CA

Posted by kennethlibby on November 1, 2010 · Leave a Comment

From Marketwire:

SOURCE: Democrats for Education Reform

Nov 01, 2010 11:00 ET

DEMOCRATS FOR EDUCATION REFORM TAPS STATE SENATOR GLORIA ROMERO TO LEAD 2011 CALIFORNIA EXPANSION

SACRAMENTO, CA–(Marketwire – November 1, 2010) – California State Senator Gloria Romero (D — East Los Angeles), Chair of the Senate Education Committee, has been selected to lead the expansion of Democrats for Education Reform to California, the national organization announced today.

“With a bold vision and a fearless approach, Senator Romero has been leading the way on critical education reform in California for years,” said Joe Williams, DFER’s Executive Director. “Gloria recognizes the destructiveness of California’s achievement gap, and she’s committed to closing it for the benefit of all of the state’s young people. There’s simply no better person to steer our Golden State

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS: Utah charter schools

Utah charter schools

by The Perimeter Primate

UTAH CHARTER SCHOOLS IN NEED OF GREATER OVERSIGHT, AUDIT SAYS, October 22, 2010, Salt Lake Tribune (UT)

The State Charter School Board needs to polish its practices to more effectively regulate Utah’s growing number of charter schools, according to a legislative audit released Thursday.

The number of charter schools in Utah has surged from 7 in 2001 to 76 this year with no increase in the charter board’s support staff at the Utah State Office of Education. In fact, the six-member staff has been cut to five.
The report highlights the board’s handling last year of financial struggles at Beehive Science and Technology Academy in Holladay. The board voted to revoke Beehive’s charter but later reversed that decision because of its own “ambiguous standards” for charter finances, the audit states.

Advocates call for review of District expulsion process | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Advocates call for review of District expulsion process

by Erika Owens

Featured Title:

From the November NEWSFLASH

About a quarter of students initially referred for expulsion by their schools since August 2009 were not ultimately expelled by the School Reform Commission, according to an analysis of 13 months of data by the Education Law Center (ELC).

And the rate of rejection is going up. Since April, more than one-third of the cases brought to the SRC did not result in expulsion.

Author:

by Dale Mezzacappa

Author Bio:

Dale Mezzacappa is the Notebook's contributing editor.

Sacramento Press / Student Associations Register 40,000 New California Voters for Tomorrow’s Election

Student Associations Register 40,000 New California Voters for Tomorrow’s Election

by Henry Giron

California Universities Collaborate in Voter Registration Initiative

Student Associations Register 40,000 New California Voters for Tomorrow’s Election

Students in California’s state universities partnered in a major statewide voter registration initiative this season, resulting in 40,000 additional college students registered and mobilized for tomorrow’s election. Sponsored by the California State Student Association (CSSA) and University of California Student Association (UCSA), each of the 23 CSU and ten UC campuses encouraged students to become more active in and to vote in the 2010 California Midterm election.

Campuses from San Diego to Humboldt participated in the bold initiative, recognizing tomorrow’s election will be a critical decision making time for California voters. Each of the universities set to register 10 percent of campus

Jon Stewart's speech at the Rally For Sanity.

Bullying Race and Class | Race in America | Change.org

Bullying Race and Class

by Prerna Lal

The media has finally woken up to the specter of gay teenage suicide and bullying. In the past month, my inbox has been flooded with stories and faces of young gay men who killed themselves due to bullying and homophobia. The mainstream attention that this issue is getting is greatly welcomed. At the same time, I wonder if there's a certain type of inappropriate value judgment given to some stories over others.

My problem with the recent coverage of gay teen suicides is that it comes with an inherent condemnation that whatever led to these acts is abhorrent. It's the kind of condemnation missing from media coverage (and mostly ignorance) of black urban violence or the death of indigenous youth. I get it -- it is easier to sensationalize good-looking, mostly white teenage boys than start a conversation on how systemic racism is killing our young black people. I don't intend to play oppression Olympics or start a contest on who is dying fastest and what issue is

I am a survivor of teenage bullying. But like Bob Braun at the Star Ledger, I do wonder why the media ignored the story of Jessica Moore who threw herself in front of a friend to save her life, while hyping that of Tyler Clementi. Both incidents happened in New Jersey in the space of a few days. By sensationalizing one over another,

Closing the Achievement Gap: Public Policy That Banks Too Heavily on Schools � Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Closing the Achievement Gap: Public Policy That Banks Too Heavily on Schools

by larrycuban

The mantra of “closing the gap” in test scores between whites and minorities has become public policy. Why? Because closing the gap is linked to more economic growth and less social inequities in the U.S. Such reductions in the test score gap and income inequality between blacks and whites did occur between 1971 and 1989 (e.g., black salaries rose nearly 30 percent in comparison to white salaries). A substantial victory. Since 1989, however, reductions in the gaps in scores and income distribution have ceased. No one can say why with any certainty.

Policy advocates have their own theories as to what caused the substantial decrease in that earlier period and also why subsequent regress has occurred. Some explanations depend upon the strong linkage between family income and test scores. Social scientists estimate the percentage of the test score gap due to family income to

MoveOn.org Political Action: CNNBC Reports

MoveOn.org Political Action: CNNBC Reports:

CHECK THIS OUT

I just got this great video from MoveOn.org about the election on Tuesday. It's really funny, but also really important. Check it out here:

http://cnnbc.moveon.org/?rc=autoemail3.pulse1073809&r_by=-15154288-SytcZ2x&bid=DLaGt.bCCySEYsFqN04chXYtMzkwNDEx

One Year Later, Berkeley Protesters’ Hearings Just Getting Underway � Student Activism

One Year Later, Berkeley Protesters’ Hearings Just Getting Underway

by Angus Johnston

Last Wednesday UC Berkeley Junior Laura Zelko finally got her day in court. Or “court.”

Sort of.

Zelko has been charged with five violations of the Berkeley code of conduct for her involvement in last November’s student protests. She’s the second such student to have received a hearing, and the first to choose to have her hearing conducted in public. (According to the Berkeley Daily Cal, seventeen students’ conduct cases remain unresolved.)

Zelko’s panel, composed of two professors, two students, and an assistant dean, met for eleven hours on Wednesday, but were unable to conclude their work. They will meet again sometime after November 8 to

Schools Matter: Update: KIPP Fresno Principal in Brooklyn

Update: KIPP Fresno Principal in Brooklyn

by Kenneth Libby

From the NY Post:

School big 'bullies' kids
By LACHLAN CARTWRIGHT and YOAV GONEN
Last Updated: 11:25 AM, November 1, 2010
Posted: 1:29 AM, November 1, 2010

A Brooklyn charter school administrator who gave up his old gig in California amid charges that he had been physically and emotionally abusive to students is at it again, fed-up parents told The Post.

Just over a year into Chi Tschang's role as assistant superintendent of middle schools for the Achievement First charter school network in Brooklyn, a student’s mother said he aggressively grabbed an 11-year-old boy he was kicking out of class last month.

READ THE CALIFORNIA REPORT

"[Tschang’s] not supposed to do that," said the AF Crown Heights mom, who asked to be identified only as Lorna. "He’s supposed to speak with his mouth, not grab him."

Teach Mom to Read and the Kids Will Follow | Poverty in America | Change.org

Teach Mom to Read and the Kids Will Follow

by Charlotte Hill

Watch out, mothers — you may start receiving homework assignments from your kids' schoolteachers. A new study by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) finds that when children are young, the "most critical factor" to their academic success is not income level, ethnicity, or even school demographics. It's their mothers' reading level.

As kids grow older and start spending more time outside the home, other factors take precedence; "neighborhood income," for example, "was the most important factor for children ages 8 to 17." But for kids under 8, the fact remains: mom's book smarts are crucial to performing well in kindergarten and beyond.

"The findings indicate that programs to improve maternal literacy skills may provide an effective means to overcome the disparity in academic achievement between children in poor and affluent neighborhoods," explainedDr. Rebecca Clark, chief of the Demographic and Behavioral Sciences Branch at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

Knowing the Score � EdVox

Knowing the Score

by edvoxny

Starting this week, public elementary schools across the city will be hosting fall parent-teacher conferences. Given the test score recalibration of this past summer there are a few things that families should keep in their minds when attending these events:

Have you received printed copies of your child’s 2010 state test scores in both English Language Arts (ELA) and Math? If not, CONTACT YOUR SCHOOL NOW and ask to receive them before next week’s conference so you can review them first. Your school does have the scores and must give you a copy even if you’ve viewed them online via ARIS Parent Link.
Do you fully understand what these scores mean for your child? If not, ask the teacher to explain them to you. Children who scored a Level 1 or Level 2 are entitled to receive academic intervention services (AIS). You must be notified in writing by the school of your child’s need for AIS and of their plan to provide them. Further, while your child is receiving AIS, the teacher must provide you with

Newark Mayor Cory Booker kicks off first phase of $100M school reform | NJ.com

Newark Mayor Cory Booker kicks off first phase of $100M school reform

Published: Monday, November 01, 2010, 12:49 PM Updated: Monday, November 01, 2010, 12:50 PM

Jeanette Rundquist/The Star-Ledger
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Aristide Economopoulos/The Star-LedgerNewark Mayor Cory Booker speaks with Gov. Christie and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg during the official announcement of a $100 million grant for Newark schools.

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NEWARK — Newark Mayor Cory Booker, School Superintendent Clifford Janey and a host of other Newark leaders this morning kicked off a city-wide community engagement effort designed to start turning around the city's schools, the first step in a $100 million makeover of the troubled school system. Funded by a $100 million gift from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, which is to be matched through donations — Booker said pledges are up to $43 million and counting — the school reform initiative is aimed at turning around a school system that now has a dropout rate near 50 percent.

The first step will be an orchestrated campaign aimed at engaging the community, and reaching out to Newark parents and others to find out what is

Shanker Blog � Michelle Rhee's Testing Legacy: An Open Question

MICHELLE RHEE’S TESTING LEGACY: AN OPEN QUESTION

by Matthew Di Carlo

Michelle Rhee’s resignation and departure have, predictably, provoked a flurry of conflicting reactions. Yet virtually all of them, from opponents and supporters alike, seem to assume that her tenure at the helm of the D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) helped to boost student test scores dramatically. She and D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty made similar claims themselves in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) just last week.

Hardly anybody, regardless of their opinion about Michelle Rhee, thinks that test scores alone are an adequate indicator of student success. But, in no small part because of her own emphasis on them, that is how this debate has unfolded. Her aim was to raise scores and, with few exceptions (also here and here), even those who objected to her “abrasive” style and controversial policies seem to believe that she succeeded wildly in the testing area.

This conclusion is premature. A review of the record shows that Michelle Rhee’s test score “legacy” is an open question.

There are three main points to consider:

First, (by Rhee’s own admission) two simple policy changes enacted in 2007 were made, in part, to

What's On The Menu For School Lunch Reform? Lame Duck | Education | Change.org

What's On The Menu For School Lunch Reform? Lame Duck

by Carol Scott

When it comes to improving school lunch, it's up to the ducks -- the lame ducks, that is. Will they be too chicken to do the right thing?

As lefties across the country brace for a thrashing this Election Day, those of us who care about schools and school lunch are looking ahead to the coming month, where a lame duck Congress will be deciding what's on the menu for school lunch.

Lame ducks - Congressmen and women who will be leaving office in January due to resignation or being voted out of office - are slated to vote on the Child Nutrition Act, a proposed piece of legislation that would create stricter guidelines about what can be served at school, make meals healthier and most importantly, allow more children to qualify for free and reduced-price lunches.

Sounds good, right? There hasn't been an expansion of the free- and reduced-price lunch program since th

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Monday, November 1, 2010

Suit: District pushed students to vote for Dems

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ROMERO TO LEAD DFER-CA

DEMOCRATS FOR EDUCATION REFORM TAPS STATE SENATOR GLORIA ROMERO TO LEAD 2011 CALIFORNIA EXPANSION

Newark Mayor Cory Booker kicks off first phase of $100M school reform

Published: Monday, November 01, 2010, 12:49 PM Updated: Monday, November 01, 2010, 12:50 PM