Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, July 20, 2013

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 7-20--13


4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit:

4LAKIDS - SOME OF THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT


YESTERDAY

Lausd Superintendent John Deasy Ordered To Submit A Succession Plan
By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer, LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/12Rjcmm ONLINE: To view the July 19, 2013 letter from Bennett Kayser to LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy regarding the district's succession plan, click HERE 7/19/2013 9:35:37 PM PDT } Updated:   7/19/2013 9:44:38 PM PDT  ::  The one-page letter from Kayser said he wants Deasy to submit a succession plan for himself and his senior
What handwriting? What wall?: BOARDMEMBER KAYSER REQUESTS THAT SUPERINTENDENT DEASY LAY OUT A SUCCESSION PLAN
letter posted online by L.A. Times Reporter Howard Blume twitter feed: All about 6pm 7/19/2013 Howard Blume ‏@howardblume Board member Kayser asks L.A. Unified Supt. Deasy for "succession plan." Just standard, prudent advance planning, he says. More TK. Howard Blume ‏@howardblume Should L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy be nervous about this letter? http://ow.ly/n96uE Howard Blume ‏@
House Passes Partisan Nclb/Esea Rewrite, But Rocky Road Still Ahead
By Alyson Klein, EdWeek |  Politics k-12 Blog | http://bit.ly/13TaQNK July 19, 2013 11:21 AM  ::  After two days of partisan debate on an issue that used to bring Democrats and Republicans together in a kumbaya chorus, the House of Representatives passed a GOP-only reauthorization of the long-stalled No Child Left Behind Act. The bill, approved 221-207, with no Democratic support, would
How An Obscure Regulatory Process Could Spark An Education Revolution
By Ronald Brownstein, National Journal | http://bit.ly/16OCypO also in some editions of the LA Times as: AN ELECTRONIC LEG UP FOR U.S. STUDENTS (7/29) Noa Bashuk uses a tablet to follow along with her teacher in an eighth grade Spanish class at Autrey Mill Middle School in Johns Creek, Ga. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) July 18, 2013 | 10:45 a.m. ::  Few, if any, of the

JUL 18

High School #9: LAUSD’s STRUGGLING ARTS SCHOOL
Turmoil at the $232-million Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts threatens to turn it into just a terribly overpriced neighborhood school. Editorial By The L.A, Times editorial board  |  http://lat.ms/12zCl8L The L.A. Unified school district has had a difficult time funding the expensive and controversial Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts. (Los Angeles Times
TEACHER BURNOUT: Four Warning Signs + You are not a failure. You are not alone.
TEACHER BURNOUT: Four Warning Signs Nicholas Provenzano’s blog | Edutopia | http://bit.ly/196hl0C Image credit: iStockphoto May 22, 2013  ::  I'm just going to come out and say it: I'm burnt out. I didn't realize I was burning out. I only noticed when it was too late. I've always been the type of teacher who's tired at the end of the school year because I've given my all --
Old news or rewriting history? - LOS ANGELES SCHOOL BOARD CRACKS DOWN ON SUSPENSIONS FOR MINOR INFRACTIONS + smf’s 2¢
Amid national debate, new ‘bill of rights’ seeks to clarify police role in school discipline By: Susan Ferris in the  Juvenile Justice Information Exchange  /Originally published at The Center for Public Integrity| http://bit.ly/13ABJ1w File photo Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times/MCT May 17, 2013  ::  Amid a deepening debate over appropriate school discipline, board members of the nation’s
School Services of California on LCFF: A NEW K-12 FUNDING SYSTEM DEMANDS NEW THINKING IN BUILDING LOCAL BUDGETS
By John Fensterwald, EdSource Today | http://bit.ly/18pVaTP July 18th, 2013 :: As the most sweeping change in K-12 school funding in decades, the new school finance system  that took effect this month will require school officials to clear their minds of old formulas and assumptions and to think anew in constructing their budgets. That’s the advice of School Services of California, a
LAUSD’s GRUMPY OLD MAN RICHARD VLADOVIC COULD SQUELCH ®EFORM + smf’s 2¢
By Hillel Aron in L.A. WEEKLY | http://bit.ly/12N7BzK Thursday, Jul 18 2013  ::  For the first time in six years, the politicians on the L.A. Unified School District Board of Education, responsible for educating one in every 10 children in California, have chosen a new president, the inscrutable Richard Vladovic. ILLUSTRATION BY ERIC DAVISON>> After two years of dramatic changes in which

JUL 17

H.R. 5: House Gop Rolls Out Conservative Education Bill
‘THE STUDENT SUCCESS ACT” a massive NCLB/ESEA rewrite By LIBBY A. NELSON  Politico.com |  http://politi.co/110rwyR The Student Success Act would end federal performance goals for schools. | AP Photo 7/16/13 6:10 PM EDT Updated: 7/17/13 12:43 AM EDT House Majority Leader Eric Cantor made a fresh push Tuesday to pass a massive rewrite of No Child Left Behind, as Republicans try to roll
H.R. 5: Interest – Perhaps Transient – Gathers In The House For Esea/Nclb Reauthorization
By Kimberly Beltran | SI&A Cabinet Report | http://bit.ly/15mqqx7 Wednesday, July 17, 2013  ::  A key House panel is set today to consider some 76 amendments to a Republican bill reauthorizing the nation’s top education law – activity that might otherwise suggest that Congress is finally serious about updating the 12-year-old legislation. Possible additions to H.R. 5 – U.S. Rep. John Kline’s
Deasy, Other California Superintendents In Dc To Lobby For Last Minute Waiver From No Child Left Behind
Jed Kim | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC |  http://bit.ly/15GDcGm Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images --  U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan addresses the National School Board Association's Federal Relations Network Conference in January 28, 2013. Nine California school districts are hoping he'll grant them waivers to the penalties in No Child Left Behind. July 17th, 2013, 5:01am  ::  Time is running
SLEEP AND THE TEENAGE BRAIN: How a seemingly simple change can have a profound effect on everything from academic performance to bullying.
by Maria Popova, Brainpickings Newsletter | http://bit.ly/14dAbAT  “Sleep is the greatest creative aphrodisiac,” Debbie Millman asserted in her advice on breaking through your creative block. “Sleep deprivation will profoundly affect your creativity, your productivity, and your decision-making,” Arianna Huffington cautioned graduating seniors in her Smith College commencement address on

JUL 16

Rafe Esquth: WHY TOP TEACHER IGNORES LATEST ®EFORM DIRECTIVES
smf:  In case you just woke up from a two-week napp, LAUSD teacher Rafe Esquith (“Teach Like Your Hair’s on Fire”) has a new book out; he is on all the chat shows, from NPR to the BBC.  Last weekend I caught him on LAUSD’s own KLCS @ an ungodly hour on a Tavis Smiley re-broadcast  -- gently sticking it to the LAUSD ®eformers, unProfessional Development
THW WORLD’S (and L.A.’s) MOST FAMOUS TEACHER BLASTS SCHOOL REFORM
By Valerie Strauss, Washington Post Answer Sheet blog,  http://wapo.st/13gtxrv July 16 at 8:00 am  ::  The most famous teacher in the world is not a fan of high-stakes standardized tests,  Teach For America or the Common Core State Standards. But he loves teaching and teachers, and he has written a new book giving advice to colleagues at all stages of their careers. He is fifth-grade teacher
Former School Board Member/City Council Candidate Nury Martinez Discloses Childhood Sexual Abuse
Nury Martinez makes the sexual abuse revelation to counter attack ads by her opponent in an L.A. City Council special election. By Catherine Saillant, LA Times | http://lat.ms/190Mqmj Los Angeles City Council candidate Nury Martinez said she was coming forward with allegations that a man sexually abused her as a child because her rival for the 6th District council seat, Cindy Montanez,
OMG! SURVEY, LIKE, SAYS DIGITAL SAVVY STUDENTS ARE GOOD AT WRITING! + Overview+Report
Despite popular perceptions that digital technologies are ruining writing skills, a Pew survey of teachers finds some advantages. By Teresa Watanabe| LA Times | http://lat.ms/13gpR94 Students seen texting. A new survey finds the rapid increase of texting, tweeting and other digital communication among students gives youths greater creativity, personal expression and increased

JUL 15

CHARTER SCHOOLS — A REPORT CARD + Stanford study + smf’s 2¢
When they're good, they're very good. But mandatory standards and oversight are key. Los Angeles Times Editorial By The Times editorial board | http://lat.ms/12rYNAF July 15, 2013, 5:00 a.m.  ::  What can the education world conclude about charter schools after their first couple of decades in existence? Something so simple that it's almost earth-shattering: The best ones benefit students
California Holds Out Against Obama’S Education Vision
The state has made a rare break with the administration, refusing to follow its lead on evaluating teachers, in a standoff that reflects a union's lasting influence. Anonymous federal officials call California position ‘delusional’. Quoted California official says  fed policy is ‘foolish’. U.S. Secretary of Education cites California
#5 @ No. 9: L.A.’s CORTINES ARTS HIGH SCHOOL LOSES ANOTHER PRINCIPAL
Norman Isaacs, the Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts' fifth principal in four years, quits over lack of arts funding. SEE: 4LAKidsNews: Thursday, June 13, 2013: ANOTHER PRINCIPAL AT CORTINES HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS - The school formerly known as High School #9 – RESIGNS | http://bit.ly/18YfXgr By Howard Blume, L,A. Times | http://lat.ms/15xQwgb Students at Ramon C.

JUL 14

4LAKids Someday Funnies
7/14/2013 Bizzaro by Dan Pizaro, from the Seattle PI (7/14)- http://bit.ly/12BgnRv Crankshaft From the Seattle Times (7/13)  | http://bit.ly/15FJYhN And doubly apropos of that, today being Bastille Day and apropos being French…
NY Times Editorial: THE TROUBLE WITH TESTING MANIA
By THE EDITORIAL BOARD of the New York Times | http://nyti.ms/13IYgQS Published: July 13, 2013  ::   Congress made a sensible decision a decade ago when it required the states to administer yearly tests to public school students in exchange for federal education aid. The theory behind the No Child Left Behind Act was that holding schools accountable for test scores would force them to improve
“ONE CHILD, ONE TEACHER, ONE BOOK AND ONE PEN CAN CHANGE THE WORLD. EDUCATION IS THE ONLY SOLUTION. EDUCATION FIRST.” - Malala Yousafzai’s Speech To UN
Full Text+Video International Business Times | http://bit.ly/15FyqLu Video: Malala Yousafzai Addressing U.N. On 16th Birthday | from YouTube/Aljazeera English July 12 2013 1:04 PM  ::  Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenage girl who became a global beacon for women’s rights, delivered the following speech before the United Nations Youth Assembly on 'Malala Day', to celebrate her 16th

JUL 13

L.A. UNIFIED’S HISTORICAL COLLECTION: from Mesopotamian artifacts to report cards
Jed Kim | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC http://bit.ly/1bbMvEF @LASchools A report card from 1896 is just one of more than 30,000 items archived within LA Unified's Art and Artifact Collection. July 11th, 2013, 6:00am  ::  If you've ever wanted to check whether your great-great-grandmother really was a straight-A student, you may be in luck. The Los Angeles Unified School District has a public
Ca To Apply To Feds For Waiver Of “Double Testing” Mandate & Schools+State Struggle W/ Lcff Accountabilty Timelines
► CA TO APPLY FOR FEDERAL WAIVER TO REMOVE “DOUBLE TEST’ REQUIREMENT NEXT YEAR By Tom Chorneau, SI&A Cabinet Report | http://bit.ly/12zVWEp Thursday, July 11, 2013  ::  As California transitions from its existing student testing system to one based on new national common standards, school administrators face the unhappy prospect next year of subjecting a large number of students to both
The view from the other coast - LOS ANGELES: GROUND ZERØ IN THE FIGHT OVER CLASS SIZE AND ©ORPORATE ®EFORM
by Leonie Haimson in the NYC Public School Parents blog  |  http://bit.ly/15ElW6Z Saturday, July 13, 2013 | 1:32PM EDT  ::  The Los Angeles school board has a new president, Dr. Richard Vladovic, and a new member, Monica Ratliff, a working fifth grade teacher, who won her seat despite being hugely outspent more than 10-1 by the corporate reform crowd, including $1 million from NYC Mayor
Despite Drop In Numbers Of Foster Youth, Significant Obstacles Remain
By Kathryn Baron, EdSource Today |  http://bit.ly/1duZHBk July 10th, 2013     Children’s advocates are welcoming a new report showing a sharp drop in the number of foster youth in California, but also caution that less isn’t necessarily a sign of improvement. This is especially the case in education, where most schools still have not figured out how to help foster youth succeed academically. “
LARGE DONATION WILL BENEFIT ARTS PROGRAMS IN LAUSD SCHOOLS + smf’s 2¢
$750,000 committed to the arts for Los Angeles schools By City News Service, posted on the Marina del Rey Patch | http://bit.ly/1ajAkTl July 13, 2013 at 05:30 am   ::  A Los Angeles philanthropic group has committed $750,000 to fund arts programs in the public schools throughout the city over the next three years, it was announced today. The Los Angeles Fund for Public Education,