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Monday, February 3, 2014

State finds errors in L.A. schools' iPad math lessons | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC

State finds errors in L.A. schools' iPad math lessons | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC:



State finds errors in L.A. schools' iPad math lessons

Baldwin Hills iPad - 8

Maya Sugarman/KPCC

The California Department of Education has held off complete state approval for global publishing giant Pearson's Common Core math curriculum until it corrects errors found in every grade. The lessons are the same that were loaded onto iPads purchased by the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Among the mistakes in Pearson's Common Core System of Courses are misapplyied standards, software pathway inconsistencies and typos, according to state officials. The product otherwise meets Common Core standards, so it was given conditional approval.
Pearson officials declined an interview, but said in a statement the required changes "were minor in nature and for things like punctuation" and that "minor changes following submission is a standard practice among all publishers."
Among the errors found by state officials: One 3rd grade lesson tells students to "find the area of the green figure," but the figure appears blue. In a 6th grade lesson, students are asked to talk "about what Nana did wrong in the recipe, it was actually 
Low performing Pasadena middle school transforming itself into arts magnet
Eliot Middle School dance students get ready to perform at Madison Elementary in Pasadena. The students are helping Eliot recruit more students to attend the new arts magnet. ; Credit: Mary Plummer/KPCC Of the Pasadena Unified School District's seven middle school options, Eliot Middle School is the lowest performer on the most recent statewide tests, scoring about 150 points below the statewide

5 ways to teach kids about the California drought
A pipe emerges from dried and cracked earth that used to be the bottom of the Almaden Reservoir on January 28, 2014 in San Jose, California. Now in its third straight year of drought conditions, California is experiencing its driest year on record, dating back 119 years, and reservoirs throughout the state have low water levels. California Gov. Jerry Brown officially declared a drought emergency