Deployments Taking Toll on Military’s Children - NYTimes.com

Deployments Taking Toll on Military’s Children - NYTimes.com:

"After eight years of war, children with parents in the military are reporting signs of emotional wear and tear from long and repeated deployments, a new study shows.

The study by the RAND Corporation found that children in military families were more likely to report anxiety than children in the general population. The researchers also found that the longer a parent had been deployed in the previous three years, the more likely their children were to have difficulties in school and at home."

Class Struggle - Why can't regular schools expand learning time?

Class Struggle - Why can't regular schools expand learning time?:

"I got an advance look at the first ever count of U.S. public schools that have significantly expanded learning time. The report by the National Center on Time & Learning, released today, reveals a surprisingly large number--655--give students an average of 25 percent more time than the standard six-and-a-half hours a day, 180 days a year. But I was disappointed that only about 160 of that group are regular public schools.

The District has 18 schools on the list, more than in all but ten states. But they are charter public schools. The majority of D.C. children are still in regular schools. They have not had a chance to see what a big jump in learning time might do for them."

DPS teachers decry $10,000 deferment | freep.com | Detroit Free Press

DPS teachers decry $10,000 deferment freep.com Detroit Free Press:

"The 3-year tentative agreement, outlined during a heated 2-hour union meeting at Cobo Hall, would save the deficit-ridden district $62.8 million, Robert Bobb, emergency financial manager for Detroit Public Schools, said after the meeting. It also would eliminate the need for DPS to file bankruptcy, he said.Members will vote over the next two weeks.

Bobb said the deferred pay -- the issue that raised the most hostility Sunday -- is not a wage cut but will reduce DPS cash-flow problems while placing those wages in protected accounts.
Money will be returned upon the employee's departure.DFT President Keith Johnson urged teachers to consider that rejecting the contract could lead to bankruptcy, in which job protection could be disregarded.'I suggest you go back to the negotiation table,' Kimberly Porter, a teacher at Cass Tech High, said amid cheers."

District may pay millions for consulting firm to stay

District may pay millions for consulting firm to stay:

"The consulting firm hired for a four-month review of Maricopa Community Colleges could be in line for a multimillion-dollar contract to stay on with the college system, overseeing implementation of its own recommendations.

An Arizona Republic examination of e-mails between MCCCD Chancellor Rufus Glasper and Colleen Clark, the president of the Maricopa County Community College District governing board, reveal that Clark has asked Glasper for input on the value of keeping Alvarez & Marsal consultants in the Valley as part of an 'extended relationship.'

At least one board member is openly critical of the idea, suggesting the district can put the recommended changes into effect. It also has raised questions, e-mails suggest, about whether such a contract would need to be competitively bid."

Sacramento Press / Google Wave Hit’s The River City (Sacramento)

Sacramento Press / Google Wave Hit’s The River City (Sacramento):

"What is a Google Wave? Why do I need a Google Wave Account? I’m just learning Facebook and Twitter, how does it compare to those social media sites? All of those are very good questions, let’s take them one at a time.

What is a Google Wave? A Google Wave is a great many things and in its simplest form, it is a (hosted) document as a conversation. Google Wave is a new online communications tool that enables groups of people to edit and discuss documents simultaneously on the web. The Google Wave team says Wave is 'what email would look like if it were invented today.' Google Wave is Google’s ambitious attempt to change the way we collaborate with each other."

85+ Resources: Educator Guide for Integrating Social Media « emergent by design

85+ Resources: Educator Guide for Integrating Social Media « emergent by design

85+ Resources: Educator Guide for Integrating Social Media

Capistrano Unified teachers protest proposed 10% pay cut -- latimes.com

Capistrano Unified teachers protest proposed 10% pay cut -- latimes.com:


"Teachers angry at the Capistrano Unified School District's proposal to cut their pay by 10% held a rally Saturday to protest the move.

The demonstration, which took place near the Mission Viejo Mall, drew more than 300 people, according to organizers of the event. It marked the latest in a series of actions highlighting teachers' dissatisfaction with contract negotiations and the school board.

Capistrano Unified needs to slash about $25 million from its 2010-11 budget, board officials have said. They have suggested cutting teachers' pay by 10% and making the decrease retroactive to July by deducting it from upcoming paychecks."

Tea and education to solve Afghan crisis - Taiwan News Online

Tea and education to solve Afghan crisis - Taiwan News Online:

"Mortenson believes causes of religious extremism, such as ignorance, illiteracy, joblessness can be blunted by education"

Greg Mortenson doesn't need to rely on think tanks or arcane policy documents to find the road to a better Afghanistan. The mountaineer-turned-school builder from Montana - recently nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize - depends on what might be called his own show-of-hands index, based on his visits to speak with children in the United States and Afghanistan. In the past few months alone, he's spoken to tens of thousands of them.

"I always ask American schoolchildren how often they talk with their grandparents about the important events of history in the past. Invariably, maybe 10 percent at most will raise their hands," he says.

He poses the same question in the remotest corners of Afghanistan, where he has successfully erected 80 schools, many of them focusing on education for girls. There, the range of responses he receives seems to reflect the social health of a particular community.

In rural villages where the Taliban has not exerted its will on the community, Mr. Mortenson says perhaps 80 percent of kids respond affirmatively. But in areas where home-grown and foreign Taliban fighters have established brutal strongholds, sometimes with connections to Al Qaeda, almost no child raises a hand.

As President Obama pledged another 30,000 U.S. troops Dec. 1 to root out terrorists in Afghanistan, Mortenson is suggesting that effort must go hand in hand with another: grass-roots education.

California Comprehensive Center at WestEd

California Comprehensive Center at WestEd:

Parent Involvement

Involving parents in school decisions and activities is a key principle embedded in Title I of the NCLB Act. Schools must include parents in their school improvement planning process and are encouraged to develop strategies to reach out to parents.

Guidance, Regulations, Legislation, and Announcements

Guidance

Non-Regulatory Guidance, Title 1, Part A, Parental Involvement   
For specific information on parental involvement, refer to section A1-A14.

Regulations

Final Regulation, Title 1- Improving The Academic Achievement Of The Disadvantaged   
For specific information on parental involvement, refer to page 71732.

Legislation

Final Legislation, Public Law print of PL 107-110, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001; Title I, Part A, Subpart 1, Sec. 1118. PARENTAL INVOLVMENT   

Announcements

Department to Provide More Educational Options for Parents (March 2004)   

For Information Specific to California:

Parent/Family/Community
Information resources for parents, family, and the community.

California State Action Plan for School, Family, and Community Partnerships (State APP) Draft revision dated November 17, 2009 (PDF; 1.7MB; 52pp.)

Title I Parental Involvement Information and Resources
Information and resources on parental involvement requirements under Title I for administrators, teachers, parent involvement liaisons and other stakeholders and partners.

Other Resources

Useful Links

Family Involvement in Children's Education: Successful Local Approaches   
Lists elements of successful local approaches for involving families in education, insights about establishing and sustaining parent-school partnerships, examples of successful partnerships, and general resources.

Guide to Tool Kit for Hispanic Families   
Informs all families of the roles schools and teachers will play in their child's education and provides them with resources to support their child's education. Developed by the US Department of Education.

National Center for Family and Community Connections with Schools   
Offers to parents and communities research-based information that can be put into practice to increase student achievement. The "Connection Collection" under the Resources tab is an easy-to-use searchable publication database.

Parent Information and Resource Centers (PIRC)   
Provides parents, schools, and community organizations with information on NCLB and links them to their nearest PIRCs, which provide training, information, and technical assistance to strengthen partnerships that help all children achieve high academic standards. Sponsored by the US Department of Education.

What NCLB Means for Parents (in English)   
Explains to parents what high standards mean and do, what to look for in test scores, how to hold schools accountable for results, how to prepare children to be strong readers, how to help children with homework, and where to turn for help in specific academic subjects. Developed by the US Department of Education.

What NCLB Means for Parents (in Spanish)   
Explains to parents what high standards mean and do, what to look for in test scores, how to hold schools accountable for results, how to prepare children to be strong readers, how to help children with homework, and where to turn for help in specific academic subjects. Developed by the US Department of Education.

TEA set to intervene in S.A. charter school district

TEA set to intervene in S.A. charter school district:

"A state-appointed official soon could be calling the shots at the School of Excellence in Education charter district — unless officials can give the Texas Education Agency a compelling reason by next week not to name one.

Citing ongoing financial problems, the agency released its decision Friday to place a conservator at the district. It's Bexar County's largest charter system with eight campuses and about 2,100 students.

“As a result of School of Excellence in Education's continued deficiencies in the area of financial performance, I am compelled to exercise my authority and intervene,” Education Commissioner Robert Scott wrote in a letter dated Nov. 30."

Strongest voucher schools thrive - JSOnline

Strongest voucher schools thrive - JSOnline:

"Michelle Lukacs grew up in Mequon and worked as a teacher in Milwaukee. Then she was a teacher and guidance counselor in Jefferson. She got a school principal's license through a program at Edgewood College in Madison.

She moved back to Milwaukee and decided to open a school as part of the publicly funded private school voucher program. She called it Atlas Preparatory Academy because she liked the image of Atlas holding the whole world up and because it was the name of a refrigeration company her husband owns.

On the first day of classes in September 2001, Atlas had 23 students in leased space in an old school building at 2911 S. 32nd St."

This September, Atlas had 814 students, a growth of 3,439% over eight years. It now uses three buildings on the south side and has grown, grade by grade, to be a full kindergarten through 12th-grade program.

Atlas' growth is explosive, even within the continually growing, nationally significant voucher program. Voucher enrollment over the same period has roughly doubled from 10,882 in September 2001 to 21,062 this fall.

The Atlas story underscores an interesting trend: The number of voucher schools in recent years has leveled off, and this year, fell significantly. But the total number of students using vouchers to attend private schools in the city has gone up, and a few schools have become particular powerhouses, at least when it comes to enrollment.

Many Asian students fear return to S. Phila. classes | Philadelphia Inquirer | 12/05/2009

Many Asian students fear return to S. Phila. classes Philadelphia Inquirer 12/05/2009:

"Chaofei Zheng hiked up his shirt to reveal an angry bruise, about four inches long, on his right side. He pointed to a matching yellow-and-purple mark above his left eyebrow.
'I'm scared to go to school,' Zheng, 19, a freshman at South Philadelphia High School, said through a translator yesterday.

Zheng is one of several - community organizers say 30 or more - students who were attacked at the school on Thursday, targeted, they said, because they're Asian.

Racial violence at the school is not new, but students and activists say this week's attacks are emblematic of a problem that's not going away."

State Considers Shifting Charter-School Tuition Costs To Local School Systems -- Courant.com

State Considers Shifting Charter-School Tuition Costs To Local School Systems -- Courant.com:

"HARTFORD — - The State Board of Education is considering four proposals that would overhaul the law governing charter schools, including one that would shift the cost of tuition to local school systems.

The changes, meant to expand the number of charter schools, also are designed to increase the state's chances to get as much as $150 million in school-reform grants from the federal Race to the Top competition. States across the country are competing for $5 billion in federal stimulus money set aside to encourage school reform by expanding charter schools and tying teacher pay to student performance."

The most controversial proposal essentially would require towns to pay tuition for students attending the state's 18 charter schools. Now, the state pays $9,300 for each child attending a charter school. Under the new plan, cities and towns would pay for each local student who goes to a charter school.

The theory is that the towns would use money from state education cost-sharing grants to help pay for charter school tuition. Rather than pay for the child to attend a local school, the money would "follow the child" to the charter school.

Advocates say that plan would put charter schools on equal financial footing with traditional schools because charters are now given less money, on average, per student.

More Texas students taking, failing Advanced Placement exams | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Latest News

More Texas students taking, failing Advanced Placement exams News for Dallas, Texas Dallas Morning News Latest News:

"Robust Advanced Placement programs are often seen as a seal of quality for high schools. And in its quest for excellence, Texas has seen an explosion of the classes that offer the promise and prestige of college credit.

But the latest data show Texas high school students fail more than half of the college-level exams, and their performance trails national averages.

Some say Texas failure rates are higher because more students from an increasingly diverse pool take AP classes here. But high failure rates from some of the Dallas area's elite campuses raise questions about whether our most advantaged high school students are prepared for college work."

Internet addicts more likely to self harm - Herald Scotland | News | Health

Internet addicts more likely to self harm - Herald Scotland News Health:

"Teenagers who are addicted to the internet are more likely to self-harm than their peers, a new study has claimed.

Researchers from China and Australia surveyed 1,618 adolescents aged 13 to 18 from China’s Guangdong Province, asking them whether they pulled their own hair or hit, pinched or burned themselves. They then gave them a test to assess whether they were suffering internet addiction, a mental health problem that has been recognised since the 1990s.

The test found that about 10 percent of the students surveyed were moderately addicted to the Internet, while less than one percent were severely addicted."

With no limits in place, another college fee hike likely - ContraCostaTimes.com

With no limits in place, another college fee hike likely - ContraCostaTimes.com:

"With the state budget hole headed toward new depths next year, community college students likely will pay more than ever for their classes.

Although the 2010 state budget is still months away from adoption, college and state leaders have begun discussing the new fees. Many say there's little chance students will avoid paying more.

'We're definitely going to include it as an option for the Legislature,' said Paul Steenhausen of the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office. 'We've got some really tough years coming up, and the Legislature will have some difficult choices to make.'"

Members say school board shouldn't bicker - CharlotteObserver.com

Members say school board shouldn't bicker - CharlotteObserver.com:

"Facing its biggest leadership turnover in 14 years, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board will plunge quickly into decisions that can build or erode confidence in public education for years to come.
On the list:
Clean up a student-assignment process that has created months of anger and confusion. Make teacher performance-pay work. Figure out how to staff schools and honor construction promises in a lingering recession.
Before all that, though, members say they must forge a team that can dispel the board's reputation for sniping and grandstanding."

Qatar Tribune - Crisis in US Education

Qatar Tribune - Crisis in US Education :

"FOR me, the greatest national security crisis in the United States is the crisis in education.

We are turning out new generations of Americans who are whizzes at video games and may be capable of tweeting 24 hours a day but are nowhere near ready to cope with the great challenges of the 21st century.

An American kid drops out of high school at an average rate of one every 26 seconds.

In some large urban districts, only half of the students ever graduate.

Of the kids who manage to get through high school, only about a third are ready to move on to a fouryear college."

Budget cuts inspiring advocacy for schools

Budget cuts inspiring advocacy for schools:

"Frustration has simmered among school supporters this year since state lawmakers began slashing the K-12 budget, most recently cutting $144 million from a fund that pays for desks and other classroom needs to offset a state revenue shortfall that tops $2 billion.

The pre-Thanksgiving budget cut was one of several rounds this year that have inspired parents to attend the Arizona School Boards Association's new statewide workshops on grass-roots advocacy.

ASBA spokeswoman Tracey Benson said the organization, a non-profit representing school boards across the state, has held nine workshops on advocacy so far this year in all but a few Arizona counties."

Tackling truancy

Tackling truancy:

"Any way you cut it, skipping class has consequences.

Attendance at school correlates to higher academic achievement, and the more likely students will perform well on standardized tests that are required for federal education accountability measures.

'We can't educate a child who is not here,' said Mandan Superintendent Wilfred Volesky."

When students ditch class without permission, they are considered truant. It's an ongoing problem that is difficult to track because of inconsistencies in how truancy is reported to the state. The number of truant students in the state appears to have dropped 75 percent between the 2007-08 and 2008-09 school years, but even the Department of Public Instruction, which collects the data, doesn't believe it.

School administrators and school boards try to curb truancy through attendance policies, reward programs and partnerships with law enforcement. Now educators are looking to the state Legislature to make the truancy law more enforceable.

Chronic truancy can result in a student receiving a citation from police and losing academic credit. Parents also could receive citations for educational neglect.