Friday, November 18, 2011

Fail - Feature Story - Local Stories - November 17, 2011 - Sacramento News & Review

Fail - Feature Story - Local Stories - November 17, 2011 - Sacramento News & Review:

Fail

Test scores are mixed, costs are high and teachers are pissed. Why critics say Sacramento city school reform could …

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cosmog@newsreview.com

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This article was published on .


School districts all over the country are struggling to turn around “failing schools.” It’s a harsh label, but the pressure to raise student test scores and graduation rates is enormous. The system created by No Child Left Behind and its offspring, Race to the Top, can impose tough penalties for schools and school districts that don’t make steady gains.
In Sacramento City Unified School District, the same schools often lag behind on the alphabet soup of standards that schools are measured by these days: the Academic Performance Index, the California Standards Tests, the Early Assessment Program, the list goes on. And these struggling schools tend to cluster in low-income neighborhoods.
But last year, SCUSD’s Superintendent Jonathan Raymond launched a plan to turn around the failing schools.
Out of the 80-plus elementary, middle and high schools in the district, Raymond declared the seven with the worst test scores to be “priority schools” and candidates for an array of reforms.
He said these would be “incubators of innovation”—they’d get more money, more attention. He got rid of the principals at these schools and many of the teachers. He brought in new, reform-

TEACHERS – RECORD YOURSELF « Teachers Fight Back

TEACHERS – RECORD YOURSELF « Teachers Fight Back:

TEACHERS – RECORD YOURSELF

I saw a news item which showed a video of a special education teacher screaming at one of his students. Another horrible example of a teacher caught in an unprofessional act.

I have a suggestion for teachers everywhere. It’s an excellent idea to record yourself as you teach. Record yourself at various times of the week and the day. Listen to the recording at home and see if there are areas of your delivery that you can improve on.

Ask yourself questions as you listen to the recording. Am I being enthusiastic in my delivery? Am I being professional at all times? Am I being positive with my students? Do I sound interesting? Am I talking too much and not involving the students enough? Have I made it very clear what my students are expected to know by the

Schools Matter: Great Reporting in The Nation on the Big Online Biz in K-12

Schools Matter: Great Reporting in The Nation on the Big Online Biz in K-12:

Great Reporting in The Nation on the Big Online Biz in K-12

Great reporting. An introductory clip:
Lee Fang | November 16, 2011
This article was reported in partnership with The Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute.

If the national movement to “reform” public education through vouchers, charters and privatization has a laboratory, it is Florida. It was one of the first states to undertake a program of “virtual schools”—charters operated online, with teachers instructing students over the Internet—as well as one of the first to use vouchers to channel taxpayer money to charter schools run by for-profits.

Jersey Jazzman: Scrubbing Reformy Rhetoric

Jersey Jazzman: Scrubbing Reformy Rhetoric:

Scrubbing Reformy Rhetoric

Derrell Bradford's most infamous performance, where he admitted that he is all about "advancing the people that advance the reforms, not the reforms themselves," is no longer freely available on YouTube. It is now a "private" video.

Gosh, whatever could he have said that would be embarrassing to a man who says those who oppose his views (like me) are guilty of caring less about student achievement than he does?


Well, we still have the highlight reel. Enjoy:

Students Arrested & Pepper Sprayed at Occupy UC Davis Camp (VIDEOS) - Davis, CA Patch #ows

Students Arrested & Pepper Sprayed at Occupy UC Davis Camp (VIDEOS) - Davis, CA Patch:

Students Arrested & Pepper Sprayed at Occupy UC Davis Camp (VIDEOS)

Like Davis Patch on Facebook to stay updated.

The Occupy protest in the UC Davis quad swelled rapidly after the group was quietly removed from Mrak Hall this week. On Friday, Chancellor Katehi warned that police would remove the camp if it was not cleared out by 3pm.

Safe to say, it was not.

So dozens of police in riot gear descended on the scene, giving several verbal warnings as they closed in on the camp.

Many of the occupiers grabbed the tents and left so they could not be confiscated. Other occupiers remained with their arms locked. They streamed live video as the police approached.

Big Education Ape: 11-18-11 PM OccupyUSA Blog EDition #OWS #EDREFORM

Big Education Ape: Ed News Now:

Published by Coopmike48 – 7 news spotters today

Bloomberg: Unions hijacked Occupy protest - MJ Lee

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