UC files court brief supporting race-based admissions policy - latimes.com

UC files court brief supporting race-based admissions policy - latimes.com:

UC files court brief supporting race-based admissions policy

The University of California on Monday submitted a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court supporting the use of race as a factor in college admissions.
UC President Mark G. Yudof and the system’s 10 chancellors filed the “friend of the court” brief in support of the University of Texas at Austin, which admits applicants who rank in the top 10% of their high school class and uses race and other criteria for admissions decisions.
A white applicant who was rejected under the policy sued.
In their brief, UC leaders argued that race-conscious admissions are necessary to ensure a diverse student 

The news from Lake Gonetowoe | AMPS

The news from Lake Gonetowoe | AMPS:

The news from Lake Gonetowoe

by Thomas J. Mertz

On the agenda at tonight’s (08/13/2012) Madison Metropolitan School District Board of Education Student Achievement and Performance Monitoring Committee meeting (5:00 PM, rm 103, Doyle Building) is a presentation on the first year Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) scores in MMSD.  Explicitly and implicitly this presentation makes assumptions about test scores, cut scores, standards and achievement that are both wrong and dangerous, creating what I am calling the Lake Gonetowoe Effect, the inverse of the Lake Wobegone Effect, which posits “all the children are above average.”  In Madison we’ve decided that only half the students in the nation are “proficient,” while retaining the idea that all of our students should be “above average.”  The worst of both worlds.
 Matt DeFour’s State Journal story on the MAP scores emphasized that these test scores offer another way to 

Jersey Jazzman: "Teachers Rock 2012": An Insult To Teachers

Jersey Jazzman: "Teachers Rock 2012": An Insult To Teachers:

"Teachers Rock 2012": An Insult To Teachers

by Duke

Tomorrow there will be a concert in Los Angeles called "Teachers Rock 2012." Portions will be broadcast on CBS this Friday.

The entire thing is an insult to teachers. No one who cares at all about teachers should watch, and we should all be demanding that the stars who have aligned themselves with this thing immediately pull out and disavow any connection to it. Here's why:

- "Teachers Rock 2012" is a promotional scheme for the upcoming anti-teacher movie, Won't Back Down. AsParents Across America explains:

But the storyline about the parent takeover has no resemblance to reality, says New York parent activist Leonie Haimson, a PAA co-founder. “The movie is supposedly 

Walmart, Right-Wing Media Company Hold Star-Studded Benefit Promoting Education Reform Film - Working In These Times

Walmart, Right-Wing Media Company Hold Star-Studded Benefit Promoting Education Reform Film - Working In These Times:

Walmart, Right-Wing Media Company Hold Star-Studded Benefit Promoting Education Reform Film

BY JOSH EIDELSON

Viola Davis, shown here with her SAG award for Outstanding Performance by an Female Actor in a Leading Performance for "The Help," will be appearing soon in anti-teachers union propaganda at a theater near you.   (Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images)

The world’s largest private-sector employer and the country’s most prominent conservative entertainment company have teamed up to sponsor a fundraiser called “Teachers Rock.” Backed by Walmart and Anschutz Film Group, the August 14 event will feature live performances from musicians like Josh Groban and appearances from actresses like Viola Davis; it will be broadcast August 18 as a CBS special with messages from actresses like Meryl Streep. And it will promote the upcoming feature film Won’t Back Down, Anschutz’s entry in the “education reform” wars.

Won’t Back Down is reportedly a highly sympathetic fictional portrayal of “parent trigger” laws, a major flashpoint in debates over education and collective bargaining. Under such laws, the 

FAQ re “Won’t Back Down” and the Parent Trigger « Parents Across America

FAQ re “Won’t Back Down” and the Parent Trigger « Parents Across America:

FAQ re “Won’t Back Down” and the Parent Trigger

by leoniehaimson

On Tuesday, August 14 a Concert called TEACHERS ROCK, presented by Walmart  & promoting the movie “Won’t Back Down” will be held in LA: with appearances from Carrie Underwood, Meryl Streep, Jennifer Garner, Matthew Morrison, Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl, Usher, Maroon 5’s Adam Levine and others. On Saturday, August 18 the concert will be aired on CBS.

The movie itself, “Won’t Back Down,” will premiere September 28. This film already has sparked much controversy.  Below see an FAQ explaining why.  This fact sheet is also available as  a downloadable pdf. – Leonie Haimson

I’m hearing there’s a lot of controversy about the movie “Won’t Back Down.”  Why?  Many people believe the film promotes the privatization of public education and inflames a 

Five Ways Privatization Degrades America | NationofChange

Five Ways Privatization Degrades America | NationofChange:

Five Ways Privatization Degrades America

 A grand delusion has been planted in the minds of Americans, that privately run systems are more efficient and less costly than those in the public sector. Most of the evidence points the other way. Private initiatives generally produce mediocre or substandard results while experiencing the usual travails of unregulated capitalism -- higher prices, limited services, and lower wages for all but a few 'entrepreneurs.'

With perverse irony, the corruption and incompetence of private industry has actually furthered the cause of privatization, as the collapse of the financial markets has deprived state and local governments of necessary public funding, leading to an even greater call for private development.

As aptly expressed by a finance company chairman in 2008, 

Your Feedback Wanted: Making ED Online More Mobile | ED.gov Blog

Your Feedback Wanted: Making ED Online More Mobile | ED.gov Blog:

Your Feedback Wanted: Making ED Online More Mobile

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Jill James

Are you reading this on a smartphone right now?  Would you be having a better reading experience if we offered a mobile-friendly version of the Homeroom Blog?

The web managers at the Department of Education, including myself, know the number of smartphone and tablet owning Americans is on the rise.  In the past 12 months the number of ED.gov visits on mobile devices increased by about 143%.

Our team is looking at ways to enhance the Department’s digital services and respond to the White House’s Digital Government Strategy.  We are spearheading a new initiative to make our websites and online applications more mobile friendly – by optimizing web pages for viewing on mobile devices or creating apps for mobile devices.

With the recent launch of the new StudentAid.gov by ED’s office of Federal Student Aid, the department has taken the first steps in meeting the demands of mobile users. StudentAid.gov always looks great because the site’s display adjusts depending on whether a visitor is browsing on a desktop, tablet, or smartphone.  StudentAid.gov provides consumers with a one-stop website where they can access federal student aid information, apply for federal aid, repay student loans and navigate the college decision-making process.

Additionally, the Answers.ed.gov site is optimized for mobile browsing and searching. The National Center for Educational Statistics created a mobile version of the School Districts Demographic System and a mobile application of selected NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) Results (for Apple iOS| for Android).

This is just a start and we have still have work to do.

We want to hear from you. Tell us which of ED sites and applications you think are the most important to make more mobile friendly. Your input will help us prioritize the suggestions made here and some of the ideas we already have in mind.

To get the conversation started, here are a few candidates to make more mobile friendly:

• College Navigator
• Homeroom Blog
• ED.gov website
• G5 Grants Management System (an online tool for grant applicants, grantees, and ED staff)

For more ideas, see our lists of ED-funded websites and online tools.

Comments open on this blog post will be open through August 20. Our team plans to analyze your feedback and set out a plan for making more of our websites and tools more mobile in the coming months.

Thanks for taking the time to tell us what you think!

Jill James is Web Director at the U.S. Department of Education

This Week In Education: Thompson: Living in Dialogue with the Gates Foundation

This Week In Education: Thompson: Living in Dialogue with the Gates Foundation:

Thompson: Living in Dialogue with the Gates Foundation

by john thompson

Anthony Cody is hosting a dialogue with the Gates Foundation at Living in Dialogue.  In the latest round, the Foundation’s Director of the College Ready Education, Vicki Phillips, says that “Education debates are often characterized wrongly as two warring camps: blame teachers for everything that's not working in our schools or defend all teachers at all costs.”  Dr. Phillips also asserts, “But there's actually serious work going on in the middle.”  The good news is that the Measuring Effective Teaching (MET) project, and districts from Hillsborough to Tulsa, have made constructive, collaborative efforts to serve a “common purpose.”
If the past continues to be prologue, there will be state and local leaders with the moral integrity necessary to help teachers use Gates’ research to “get better at their craft.”  There will also be plenty of administrators who use a new evaluation system as a weapon against “the status quo,” i.e. teachers and our unions.  Others will use it to settle scores and drive out dissenters.   So, it seems certain that some schools, educators, and students will benefit from the MET, while others will be damaged by its misuse.

Diane in the Afternoon Deja Vu for This Miracle Charter School « Diane Ravitch's blog

Deja Vu for This Miracle Charter School « Diane Ravitch's blog:

Time to Play. Here is Why.

by dianerav

Stephanie, a reader, sent this short video.
Please stop and watch it.
The point is about how important play is.
It happens that play matters for little children, but it matters for adolescents and for adults.
When we rob our children of play, we rob them of their childhood.
When we rob adolescents and adults of play time, we rob them of time for laughter, time for creativity, and time 

Saving School Districts Is Not a Full-time Job

by dianerav

Paul Vallas is superintendent of schools in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He is paid more than $200,000 a year. He also runs a private consulting business that just landed an $18 million contract to reorganize the Indianapolis school district even as he remains full-time superintendent in Bridgeport. The board that appointed Vallas has been declared illegal by a court in Connecticut, but they extended Vallas’ contract so he will be superintendent 

How to Destroy Childhood

by dianerav

A reader writes:
I teach pre-k and every year more and more play time is removed for more “academics”. And every year I have more behavior issues in my class.  At the end of the year our cots were removed because the “suits” determined that resting was a waste of time and we were losing valuable teaching time.  We no longer go to the playground 

Not Needed: Carrots and Sticks

by dianerav

A librarian and a teacher of teachers responds to the New York Times’ editorial demand for more carrots (merit pay) and sticks (firings) for teachers in schools with low test scores.

Re “Carrots and Sticks for School Systems” (editorial, Aug. 6):
It is not surprising that many school managers do not distinguish between high- and low-performing teachers. Most schools are still based on an industrial model of moving students through an assembly line of classes and grades to achieve outcomes measured by standardized tests.
Standardized teaching can be done by mediocre teachers using scripted lessons. Excellent teaching requires 

Advice to My Readers: House Rules

by dianerav

When this blog started, I imagined a cozy conversation among friends, which it was, in my virtual living room.
But as the weeks went on, the daily readership began to exceed 10,000, and the living room sometimes seems crowded.
I hope it continues to grow. We can move from my living room to the nearest football stadium and take turns at the microphone.
The only dark cloud, to be frank, is that a very small number of people take up a disproportionate amount of space in the comments section.
Sometimes they are angry, because they don’t like our conversation, so they jump in again and again and keep

The Reformers’ Game Plan

by dianerav

This reader offers a succinct summary of the reformers’ game plan. He might have added additional elements: a) budget cuts to disable public schools; and b) laws that remove accountability and transparency with privately managed charters; c) evaluating teachers on a bell curve, so that half will always be “below average,” thus creating a “crisis”; d) demanding 100% perfection, 100% proficiency and saying that anything less proves failure.
You can see it played out in state after state, especially in those with Republican governors, and in the pronouncements of the U.S. Department of Education, and it is fully developed in the Romney education agenda. They think that that private management of public education is the wave of the future, preferably it is generates 

A Nice Hat Tip from England

by dianerav

A reader in England writes this.
The blog has readers around the world, literally on every continent. Most readers, of course, are in the U.S., but followed by readers in Canada, the U.K., New Zealand, Australia, Korea, Japan, Russia, Israel, and dozens of other nations in South America, Africa, Latin America, Europe, and Asia, and on and on, even some small islands.
Isn’t the Internet wonderful? Hats off to social media!
We are everywhere!

Deja Vu for This Miracle Charter School

by dianerav

Two months ago I wrote a post about a charter school in Oakland that had been the beneficiary of a massive public relations campaign, abetted by gullible journalists at the Wall Street Journal, Jonathan Alter, and others eager to declare the triumph of the charter idea.
I mention this again because a reader sent a comment extolling this school as an example of what charters can accomplish, if freed of all regulation by the state.
The school–really three schools–is the American Indian Charter School. According to legend, it served the poorest of the poor, the needy children of American Indians, and through the grit of its founder Ben Chavis, it rose to become one of the highest performing schools in the state.
Then came news of an audit, and it was a shocker. 
It seems that Chavis was under investigation because millions of dollars were missing. Closer investigation

A Mississippi View of Charter Schools

by dianerav

A reader in Mississippi writes:

Why build separate schools for a select few? Why create separate laws and separate governing bodies for these schools? Why not change existing laws for ALL schools?? What the hell kind of country are we living in where our tax dollars can be used to operate a school that is not open to all children??? I have always considered myself lucky to have been educated in a post-segregation American school system. Unfortunately, it is starting to look as if my children won’t be so lucky. I won’t allow this to happen in my community.

Are Standardized Tests Like IQ Tests?

by dianerav

The secret is out. Pass it on.
Professor Walter Stroup of the University of Texas has determined that the annual state tests are superb at measuring how well students will do on the annual state tests, plus how well they performed on the same test in the past and how well they will perform on the same test by the same test publisher in the future. No matter how hard teachers try, the best they can is to teach students how to do well on that particular test. If they teach 

Voucher schools exempt from Louisiana's new curriculum | The Town Talk | thetowntalk.com

Voucher schools exempt from Louisiana's new curriculum | The Town Talk | thetowntalk.com:

Voucher schools exempt from Louisiana's new curriculum

BATON ROUGE -- Students enrolled in Louisiana public schools this year will have a tougher curriculum and have to meet higher standards to make the grades they need to advance to the next level.

But students who have transferred to private and parochial schools through the new statewide voucher program won't have to comply with the tougher standards.

The state is moving to the Common Core Curriculum that's being used by 46 states. The biggest differences from what's being taught now, said Nick Bolt, Department of Education deputy chief of staff, are "higher standards, higher expectations" for student performance.

"The standards themselves are more rigorous," Bolt said. "The 

Debunking Gates | Truth in American Education

Debunking Gates | Truth in American Education:

Debunking Gates

by Shane Vander Hart

Jay P. Greene offers a post that documents a pattern of Bill Gates & company abusing the idea of “research” and “evidence” to support their policy preferences which which includes the Common Core.

An excerpt:

In education reform debates it is far too common to hear someone say “the evidence shows” something that is just their preferred policy that is not supported by research at all.  People confuse what makes good sense and is good politics with what is actually supported by evidence.  At the Gates Foundation this problem is endemic.  They have repeatedly confused evidence and politics.

I think I can clearly illustrate this confusion of evidence and policy 

Oakland Liberates Shuttered Library | OccupyWallSt.org

Oakland Liberates Shuttered Library | OccupyWallSt.org:

Oakland Liberates Shuttered Library

by OccupyWallSt

Where: 1449 Miller Ave, Oakland CA
More info: Biblioteca Popular Victor Martinez on Facebook | @bibliotecapopul, #peopleslibrary
The building unveiled today as the Victor Martinez Community Library was part of a Carnegie Foundation endowment of four libraries given to the city of Oakland between 1916 and 1918. Oakland’s librarian at the time, Charles S. Greene, believed that the city’s people would benefit most from libraries placed within their communities.
Despite this vision, the building was one of seven branch casualties of budget cuts in the late seventies, severing vital library life-lines in poor and working communities. Since then, the “Latin American Branch” library building 

FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Monday, August 13, 2012

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

Its Hot in California

Education Headlines

Monday, August 13, 2012

East Bay school bans social media in student campaigns

Although technology is king on campuses these days, student government campaigns at Heritage High are strictly old-school. Leading up to this week's election of freshman class officers, candidates put up all the usual posters and handed out fliers around the Brentwood campus, but one communications tool was missing: social media. No Twitter. No Facebook. No Instagram.

Baldwin Park Unified celebrates completion of $21 million science building

A 10-year effort came to fruition on Friday as the community celebrated the completion of Sierra Vista High School's new science and classroom building.

Beltran: Bill would force creation of standards for transitional kindergarten

Even as hundreds of California schools prepare to launch transitional kindergarten for the first time this year, a bill awaiting a Senate vote would create standards for what and how the program’s not-quite 5-year olds should be taught.

New South Gate high school is finally opening

Los Angeles Unified's South Region High School No. 9 has been more than 25 years coming to fruition. First, its contaminated site had to be cleaned up.

Fired charter school executive receives $245,000 in settlement

Crescendo charter schools founder John Allen sued for wrongful dismissal after he was fired for allegedly ordering staff to cheat on state standardized tests.

Novato school officials plan regional technology center

With laptops, iPads and other devices becoming more popular in schools, Novato school officials hope to build a new center that would train teachers from throughout the Bay Area on using technology in the classroom.

LAUSD rolls out new batch of healthy menus

After last year's failed experiment with exotic vegetarian fare, LAUSD has revamped its lunch menu with healthful dishes that officials hope will also appeal to the kids' palates. Instead of unexpected dishes such as hummus and chick-pea stew, cafeterias will be serving up pulled-pork sandwiches, hamburger sliders, whole-grain spaghetti and meatballs and the like.

Moir: Surefire way to know if a teacher evaluation system will succeed or fail

Whether a district’s teacher evaluation system works or not will depend on a few things: whether the system is correctly conceived of and designed, how well the system is implemented, and, after evaluation, the district’s level of commitment to ongoing teacher learning.

Frey: Summer programs turning struggling students into readers

Lori Carr’s program is one of several across the state that are focusing on turning struggling readers into lifelong bookworms. With the demise of district–supported summer school during the past few years, these programs are trying to fill the gap, though they serve a small fraction of the state’s 6.2 million students. More than half of those students live in low-income families, making them particularly vulnerable

State moving forward on plan to upgrade schools, seek 2014 bond

State officials have set to work on an ambitious plan to upgrade California’s aging and outdated school facilities and, in doing so, lay the groundwork for a 2014 bond measure to help pay for it.

Fensterwald: Court backs union, sends LAUSD layoffs case back to judge

Handing United Teachers Los Angeles a significant procedural victory, a state appeals court has overturned a landmark ruling challenging the contractual rights of teachers in Los Angeles Unified.

Friday, August 10, 2012

Do-or-die time for teacher evaluation bill

After lying dormant for a year, a bill to overhaul the state’s teacher evaluation law will resurface Monday, subject to continuing negotiations over its cost and some disagreements over its content.

Alvord to keep police on campuses

Riverside police officers will be stationed at La Sierra and Norte Vista high schools when classes start Monday, the Alvord school board decided in a 3-2 decision.

Security cameras to roll at Novato high schools

A presence at most of Marin's high schools for several years, security cameras will roll at Novato's two main high schools for the first time this fall after the district completes a $177,000 installation project.

Jersey Jazzman: For Christie, EVERYTHING Is Political

Jersey Jazzman: For Christie, EVERYTHING Is Political:

For Christie, EVERYTHING Is Political

by Duke

Cross-posted from Blue Jersey.

Why does Chris Christie do anything and everything? For political advantage. Here's a great example:

The NJ Senate and Assembly unanimously passed the teacher tenure reform bill, TEACHNJ, on June 25, 2012. All through July, I and other education watchers wondered when he would get around to signing the bill. He kept hemming and hawing, saying he was "considering" it, even though his own party passed it unanimously. What was the hold up?

Then suddenly, on Friday, August 3, his office announced he would be signing the bill that coming Monday. What had changed? Why was he ready to sign now after waiting all this time?

Now we know: he was waiting for Mitt Romney to announce his choice of running mate.

After extensive deliberations over his short list, Romney settled on the 42-year-old 

Education Olympics: How Does the U.S. Rank? | PBS NewsHour

Education Olympics: How Does the U.S. Rank? | PBS NewsHour:

Education Olympics: How Does the U.S. Rank?

BY: NEWS DESK

The United States left the 2012 London Olympics with 104 medals in tow. But how do we stack up against the world when it comes to education?

According to this infograph by Certification Map, the U.S. -- which leads in gold medal count -- is ranked seventh in high school graduation rates, trailing countries like Germany, Japan and Great Britain.

Click to enlarge this graphic by Certification Map.

Fourth to last place was not always the case, reports American Graduate partner station WAMU's Kavitha Cardoza. The United States used to lead in high school graduation rates, but as developed countries continued to improve, our progress plateaued around 76 percent. Here are some key findings from her report: