Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Fact Check: Business Leaders on the School Board? - voiceofsandiego.org: San Diego Fact Check

Reader Patricia Eastman offered up another idea on how City Heights schools could quash student transiency: A walking school bus. She write:

I know it might be a problem finding volunteers that would run these walking buses, but it seems the most feasible when you are talking about kids walking a mile to school. Imagine my surprise when I just googled it and found there is a national organization to help schools created their own. Here's the link:http://www.walkingschoolbus.org/

What's fascinating to me about the conundrum in City Heights is that technically, there's no reason why the kids can't keep going to the same school after they move.

Fact Check: Business Leaders on the School Board?Comments (2) | 2:59 pm

Statement: "People need to realize that in this proposal that the president or CEO or somebody designated from the EDC, also I think the Chamber of Commerce, would be just basically put on the (school) board," City Council President Tony Young said at a March 30 forum in Scripps Ranch on education reform. Image: False

Determination: False

Analysis: A new campaign aims to expand the school board to include four new appointed members, on top of the five who are now elected.

Backers from a group of philanthropists, parents and others called San Diegans 4 Great Schools say the effort will stabilize

School Churn and Military KidsComments (2) | 12:44 pm

My article on the churn at Marshall Elementary focused mainly on economic factors that force some City Heights families to move a lot. But one of our readers, Russ Connelly, pointed out another big factor in student transiency rates in San Diego: Military families.

We first wrote about this issue a few years back when legislators were weighing an interstate agreement to smooth graduation requirements for military kids:

Military transfer students are so common at Farb Middle School that it trains its students as "ambassadors" to show new kids the ropes at the Tierrasanta school, which estimates that only 50 percent of its students remain from year

More on the Endangered School NurseComments (1) | 11:33 am

The Motherlode blog from The New York Times is exploring the costs and benefits of school nurses, riffing off a troubling Parenting.com article about the possible consequences of nursing cutbacks.
Curious how this could play out here in San Diego? Check out our article about the endangered school nurse in San Diego schools, which notes:
Forced to figure out how to gut their own budgets to close an estimated $120 million deficit, principals across San Diego Unified planned to slash half of the nurses who are stationed at their schools and a fourth of the health

Wisconsin’s Prosser-Kloppenburg Court Race a Test of Gov. Walker - NYTimes.com

Wisconsin Election Is Referendum on Governor

By MONICA DAVEY

Published: April 4, 2011

Enlarge This ImageMEQUON, Wis. — Until a few weeks ago, this state’s election on Tuesday for a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court was widely expected to be dull and predictable.

Michael Sears/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, via Associated Press

David Prosser, who is seeking re-election to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and JoAnne Kloppenburg, his rival, before a debate.

Unions Rally, Linking Their Cause to Dr. King (April 5, 2011)
Judge’s Order Delays Wisconsin Union Law (April 2, 2011)

But fights over the agenda of Wisconsin’s newly powerful Republicans, including cuts to collective bargaining rights, have turned this quiet judicial match into a bitter, expensive, highly personal and politicized battle, inflamed with advertising dollars expected to reach into the millions from outside liberal and conservative groups, including the Tea Party Express.

The race has turned into a referendum on Wisconsin’s new Republican governor, Scott Walker, his collective bargaining bill, and, more broadly, the Republican

Berkeley’s Wheeler Ledge Protesters Charged « Student Activism

Berkeley’s Wheeler Ledge Protesters Charged

by Angus Johnston

Seven of the nine students who “occupied” a high ledge on the face of Berkeley’s Wheeler Hall last month have been charged with trespassing.

The Wheeler ledge action was the first Berkeley protest in recent memory to end in a negotiated settlement with the university, as administrators agreed to drop conduct charges against students who had participated in previous protests … and to forego such charges against the ledge protesters themselves.

But although Berkeley’s chief of police apparently promised one student that he would recommend against criminal charges, that promise was not part of the formal agreement. The students were cited and released when they came down off the ledge, and misdemeanor charges of “trespass with intent to interfere” were brought

¡WEPA! Google Wants to Learn Your Kind of Spanish | ClickZ

¡WEPA! Google Wants to Learn Your Kind of Spanish

Giovanni Rodriguez | April 5, 2011 | 1 comments

I got a long email last week from one of my PR contacts at Google, and it was entirely in Spanish. My Spanish is not very strong, so I did what I do on most occasions like this: I read the email once, then ran it through Google Translate.

It's always fun – and very instructive – to do this. Google Translate enables me to check how well I am relearning Spanish while at the same time checking how well Google is doing. For the past couple of years, I've been following Google's progress on this front, and I have been impressed – not just with how well it is learning Spanish, but also with how it's actually doing the learning. Among other approaches, Google Translate has been using crowdsourcing to scale its ability to translate across a broadening range of languages and dialects. You can say that crowdsourcing is the Google way. The more that people use it, the smarter it gets.

chancleta

Which brings me to the subject of this week's column, which happens to be the subject of the email I

This Week In Education: Kindergarten: Chicago Bans Redshirting For Magnets

Kindergarten: Chicago Bans Redshirting For Magnets

by Alexander Russo

Chicago is now taking an unusually hard line against magnet school "redshirting" kindergartners (ie, holding them back so they're "ready" for school), according to this Tribune article -- insisting that kids who are too old apply directly to 1st grade even if their parents think they're not ready. Not even LA or NYC do that, according to the paper. The ban is an attempt to prevent gaming of the system by parents trying to increase their kid's

Why We'll Never Get to Stop Talking About Wisconsin - Politics - The Atlantic Wire

Why We'll Never Get to Stop Talking About Wisconsin

The thousands of people who gathered for weeks in Madison to protest an anti-union bill have gone home. The legislators who fled the state to prevent the bill from passing have come home. The bill has passed, though a judge has blocked its implementation. But even though the frenzy has passed, Wisconsin appears set to stay with us for a while. Why? Because President Obama will have a hard time getting reelected if he doesn't win the state.

Tuesday's election there--for a state Supreme Court judge and Milwaukee County executive--would have gone without notice if it hadn't been for Gov. Scott Walker's push to curb public service workers' ability to collectively bargain. The vote is now seen as a referendum on Walker and GOP momentum. "The total number of votes cast may be small, but the impact could be huge," Salon's Andrew Leonard writes. He continues:

Whoever wins will receive a jolt of energy, and potentially influence the national conversation. If [the liberal Joanne] Kloppenburg triumphs, the possibility of a successful recall of Republican state

Education Research Report: Teacher Incentives for Student Performance Study

Teacher Incentives for Student Performance Study

by Jonathan Kantrowitz

Ω

Teacher Pay for Performance: Experimental Evidence From the Project on Incentives in Teaching.

This study examines whether offering financial incentives to teachers of fifth- through eighth-grade math students improves their students’ achievement on the math section of the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program. The study found that students with math teachers who were offered financial incentives performed no better or worse than students with teachers who were not

Scott Walker by other means. The little man threatens CTU. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Scott Walker by other means. The little man threatens CTU.

by Fred Klonsky

Not a good way to start things off, little man.

I’ve negotiated a lot of contracts.

Here’s what doesn’t work: Threats, bluster, demands, yelling and shouting.

Here’s what works: Respect, give and take, listening and an understanding of mutual interests.

Wisconsin’s Scott Walker took the doesn’t work approach. But, he really neve

Emanuel: Girls' Charters Yes, Strike Rights No - District 299: Chicago Public Schools Blog

AM News: Consolidation Pushback Intensifies

by Alexander Russo

Stage set for showdowns over Chicago school consolidations Tribune: Opposition is mounting against the proposed consolidation of 14 Chicago Public Schools, setting the stage for a contentious two weeks of public hearings before a new regime comes to power... Weekend Shootings: At Least 15 Wounded As Weather Warms Up Tribune: Chicago's first weekend in April was unseasonably warm, with temperatures breaking 75 after a week of highs in the 50s. And like clockwork, the gunfire began... Digital World Re-Shapes Learning WBEZ: Digital technology and video games have a big impact on many kids' lives--and some believe they could play a bigger role in education. Chicago is getting a new school that some believe might be a window into the future of learning... Controversial Richton Park Charter Opens: Students at a controversial charter school in the south suburbs will be moving Monday into their new building...

Emanuel: Girls' Charters Yes, Strike Rights No

by Alexander Russo

He wants to create another popular but not that good all-girls' charters (Emanuel promises expansion of all-girl CPS charter high school, Emanuel Pushes for 2nd All-Girls High, Emanuel calls for another all-girls charter school, glosses over academic stats) and he

Schools Matter: Not an Entrance Exam*

Not an Entrance Exam*

by Kenneth Libby

It's not an "entrance exam*," it's just a test they give potential students during the enrollment process - with the kind of asterisk that should be listed after "Barry Bonds" on the MLB all-time home run list.

From the Baltimore Sun:

One of the most sought-after public charter schools in Baltimore has stopped administering an entrance placement exam after city schools CEO Andrés Alonso expressed concern that the practice — the only one of its kind in the city — could discourage some applicants.

The test at Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) Ujima Academy in Northwest Baltimore, Alonso

Jersey Jazzman: Self-Pimping Journalism

Self-Pimping Journalism

by Duke

Still waiting for Superman? Wait no more: he's here, disguised as mild-manner reporter Jason Felch!

In February, fifth-grade teacher Miguel Aguilar stood in the front of a class, nervous and sweating.

The subject — reading and comprehension — was nothing new. But on this day, his students weren't 11-year-olds in sneakers and sweatshirts: They were 30 of his fellow teachers.

It was the first time anyone at Broadous Elementary School in Pacoima could remember a teacher there being singled out for his skill and called upon to share his secrets school-wide.

Things I Learn From NJ 101.5

by Duke

So the at-least-he's-sane Eric Scott filled in for Former Education Commissioner Jim Gearhart on 101.5 FM this morning. He did an hour of taking calls about teachers who are doing a good job in the schools. Great! I'm all for that...

... except, over and over, he referred to these teachers as working in a "broken public school system."

New Report Ranks States on Programs and Oversight «

New Report Ranks States on Programs and Oversight

April 5, 2011 by Irene Sege

Photo: Kate Samp for Strategies for Children

“We Can Do Better: 2011 Update,” a recently released report from the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA), finds modest improvements in 10 program requirements and five oversight benchmarks for the nation’s early education and care centers. The report, the third since 2007, ranks the 50 states, District of Columbia and U.S. Department of Defense. More than 11 million children under age 5 spend an average of 35 hours a week in an early education and care setting, NACCRRA notes.

The average state score was 87 out of 150 points, up from 83 in 2009 and 70 in 2007. “States have made progress, but more progress is needed,” NACCRRA notes. “Using a standard grading scale, no state earned an A. The Department of Defense earned a B, and four states earned a C. Twenty-one states earned a D. Half of the states (26 states) earned a failing grade. While we should be

Daily Kos: E. J. Dionne asks, The end of progressive government?

E. J. Dionne asks, The end of progressive government?

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

in this Washington Post op ed this morning. As if often the case, Dionne absolutely hits the mark with this one.

The key, in my mind, to his piece, can be seen in this one paragraph, then 3rd in the pieice:

And you wonder: Will President Obama welcome the responsibility of engaging the country in this big argument, or will he shrink from it? Will his political advisers remain robotically obsessed with poll results about the 2012 election, or will they embrace Obama’s historic obligation — and opportunity — to win the most important struggle over the role of government since the New Deal?

reread those words: the most important struggle over the role of government since the New Deal - absolutely on target, because what is at risk is the entire architecture of programs that support the less well off, as Republicans try to shift even more wealth - and power - to the already wealth, powerful, advantaged at the expense of the rest of us.

Can You Explain Your Sudden Objection to Going Potty? - Lily's Blackboard – Lily's Blackboard

Can You Explain Your Sudden Objection to Going Potty?

Apr 5th, 2011

by Lily.

Ah, where to begin this tale? I was in the ladies’ room in the airport. Honestly, I was minding my own business. Honestly, I wasn’t eavesdropping on the next stall. On purpose.

Honestly, this is what I heard from the young mother to her child. “Stephanie, can you explain to Mommy your sudden objection to going potty?”

Now. Put aside the fact that this child is going to have inevitable problems of various sorts which may require her to recall this conversation on a therapist’s couch someday, but I was particularly interested in Stephanie and her Mommy because the week before I had been in the kitchenware department of Bed, Bath & Beyond where I heard, quite clearly, this exchange between another Mommy and little Timmy who could not have been three years old, and who had just picked up a rolling pin and was

The DREAM Act: The need to expand Latino political influence | Being Latino Online Magazine

The DREAM Act: The need to expand Latino political influence

by beinglatino

by Orlando Rodriguez

Photo by JustinValas

The DREAM Act passed in the House of Representatives in December because of overwhelming support from Democrats. Gracias! The vast majority of Yes votes – 208 – were from Democrats. Only eight Republicans voted for the DREAM Act, and five were minorities. But the DREAM Act did not pass in the Senate, so the House will have to vote again on this legislation. There were 257 Democrats in the House in December; now there are only 192. About 218 votes are needed to pass the DREAM Act, so it is unlikely it will pass anytime soon because there are too many Anglo Republicans to vote against it. Unless…

We have to put enough Latino “voters” in Republican districts to influence Anglo Republicans in the House. And now is a good opportunity to do this. Every 10 years, the boundaries of congressional districts change to reflect changes in population over the previous 10 years. This is called redistricting, and it is going on now: the first

Jersey Jazzman: An Injection of Stupid

An Injection of Stupid

by Duke

See, this here is what I'm talking about. Why would a writer for EdWeek, supposedly a "serious" forum for education policy discussion, ever link to a piece of sexist inanity like this?

The "Girlie Man" culture teaches government dependency. Government schools are in the business of turning the next generation into social parasites. Where would the next crop of union teachers and careerist administrators come from if they are not trained to be a government welfare recipient in the public school system? Surely having to get a real job in the business world does not fit into the scheme of entitled government employees.
Stopping this rip off should be self-evident. However, the lack of guts to abolish public education demonstrates the triumph of folly over prudence. Home schooling avoids the
The Definition of Insanity
by Duke
...is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result:
In 2007, New York City and its teachers union launched an experiment to determine whether rewarding teachers with extra cash would boost student performance.
Four years and $57 million later, the answer appears to be no. Backers of incentive pay are blaming the way New York's program was structured, and school and union officials are pointing fingers at each other.
The hope was that the program would result in improved student test scores. But scores didn't budge, according to two studies, and the city recently suspended the program. The Department

Latest News and Comment from Education

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Wisconsin Election Is Referendum on Governor

By MONICA DAVEY

Published: April 4, 2011

Michael Sears/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, via Associated Press

Related

Unions Rally, Linking Their Cause to Dr. King (April 5, 2011)

Judge’s Order Delays Wisconsin Union Law (April 2, 2011)

¡WEPA! Google Wants to Learn Your Kind of Spanish

New Report Ranks States on Programs and Oversight

Can You Explain Your Sudden Objection to Going Potty?