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Saturday, April 3, 2010

UC, CSU wait-listing students for the first time - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

UC, CSU wait-listing students for the first time - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

UC, CSU wait-listing students for the first time

Published: Saturday, Apr. 3, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 1A
California's public universities are using waiting lists this year for the first time, telling some top-notch students to wait two more months before they find out if they're in.
The practice – long common at selective private colleges – is yet another fallout from the state's budget crisis, as the University of California and California State University look for ways to trim enrollment in response to last year's historic funding cuts.
The public universities want to admit as many students as the state funds them for – but not a single person more. Waiting lists allow campuses to fine-tune the process so they hit their enrollment targets right on the mark.
"This gives them the opportunity to take additional students if it turns out they have a little bit of space at the end of the (admissions) process," said Susan Wilbur, UC's director of undergraduate admissions.
The UC system received a record number of applications this year: 134,029. The same is true at CSU, where more than 609,000 students

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/04/03/2652551/uc-csu-wait-listing-students-for.html#ixzz0k2zYQCAa

Education - Everything you need to know about the world of education.

Education - Everything you need to know about the world of education.














The illusion of ever-lower college acceptance rates

It may just be me, but I found myself getting increasingly annoyed as I read my colleague Jenna Johnson’s blogpost detailing the latest admissions statistics for some of the nation’s most elite schools.
For example, Harvard University’s 7 percent overall rate of admissions last year was apparently not low enough. This year, it dropped to 6.9 percent. Harvard received more than 30,000 applications this year, a 5 percent increase from last year, and accepted 2,110 students.
“That’s 28,000 broken hearts,” one admissions staff member said as several passed trays stuffed with rejections into a car to be mailed,according to the student newspaper the Harvard Crimson.
Continue reading this post »



Ed Buzz: The Nation

EducationNews.org - EducationNewsToday

EducationNews.org - EducationNewsToday

EducationNewsToday

Utah Parents Challenge 'Democracy' in School's Motto

A group of Utah County parents is challenging a school district's use of the word democracy in its mission statement, saying it's historically inaccurate and an endorsement of socialist ideas.
Full story

Voluntary program to raise money for teachers hauls in $261

This must be why paying taxes isn’t voluntary. Nevada teachers should not count on a timely bonus from the fund created by Gov. Jim Gibbons to supplement their pay with voluntary donations. ...
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Union fails to restrict charter schools

An unsuccessful suit tried to prohibit charters from operating 30 new L.A. unified schools. ...
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Theaters adjust for autism

Most of the moviegoers who had nestled into their seats probably didn't realize the screening was a special event part of a program that welcomes those affected by autism to gobble some popcorn, slurp a pop and enjoy the show....
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Fading planetariums: End of an era

The David M. Brown Planetarium opened a few months after the United States put a man on the moon. More than 40 years later, little has changed in the weathered white dome that marks the entrance to ...
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Budget axes fall on N.J. school districts

Bill Conley was frustrated. Standing amid more than 100 people in the Cinnaminson Middle School cafeteria this week, the township resident questioned a school district budget proposal that calls for laying off 18 teachers and hiking taxes $383 for the average homeowner...
Full story

Charter school families find they have little say over company

On paper, charter schools are supposed to give parents more of a voice in their children’s education. But families at Imagine in the Valle, one of two Clark County campuses operated by a private Virginia company, say they are finding it difficult to make themselves heard. ...
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Fort Worth students to spend a special Easter holiday at the White House

Alena "Laney" De Leon is ready to let everyone at the White House know just why Texas is known as the friendship state. ...
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DPS offering early retirement to some tenured teachers - 04/02/2010 12:41 AM MDT

Some tenured teachers facing involuntary placement into Denver schools may opt for early retirement in exchange for a year's worth of pay under a new incentive plan offered by the district this year....
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After long campaign for '10 Broad Prize, Dallas schools chief says goal is 2011

turns out the Dallas school district's longtime quest to win the 2010 Broad Prize for most improved urban district wasn't a goal for this year, at least not for Superintendent Michael Hinojosa. ...
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Second Ind. Virtual Charter School Can Enroll 280

A second virtual charter school in Indiana can enroll up to 280 students in grades one through eight next year and an existing online school will expand to the sixth grade....
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School cuts and closures prompt student walk-outs

All over the United States students are walking out of schools to protest devastating budget cuts and neo-liberal economics like the insidious Race to the Top. You would never know it by looking or listening to the corporate media. Bought and paid for, they simply conceal more than they reveal....
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Phoebe Prince case a 'watershed' in fight against school bullying

A Massachusetts district attorney recently filed charges against nine students for allegedly bullying Phoebe Prince to the point that she committed suicide. Prosecution of such cases are rare. ...
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Md. House rejects shifting cost of teacher pensions

More debate set Friday; budget must be reconciled with Senate plan ...
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Teaching Twitter in Havana

4.2.10 - HAVANA, Cuba — As an educational institution, Cuba’s Blogger Academy suffers from a few notable deficiencies. Its six-month course doesn’t grant an accredited degree, and its single, cramped classroom — the living room of founder Yoani Sanchez — isn’t even hooked up to the internet....
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Escalante Stood and Delivered. It's Our Turn.

Andrew J. Coulson - The teachers union opposed his effort to expand his class beyond 35 students....
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Gray-Janey-Saunders

The gathering at the Wilson Building Wednesday night was billed as a community forum and panel discussion on education reform. But it didn't take long to morph into an emotionally-charged rally for what the 150 or so in attendance clearly saw as their dream ticket for 2010: Gray-Janey-Saunders. ...
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Seeking to Help Budding Researchers With a Click of the Mouse

The Eureka Fund hopes to finance small-scale, independent scientific research through online contributions. ...
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Paterson Pick for Board Lacks Requirement

Beverly S. Mack, named a trustee of one of New York’s best-known state schools, is not a city resident. ...
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Where in the world is...?

After Hurricane Katrina, one-third of Americans aged 18-24 could not locate Louisiana on a map, and almost half couldn’t find Mississippi. The country's general lack of geographic knowledge is why the National Geographic Society holds its annual geograpy bee for kids. ...
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Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Detroit--New Orleans without the flood

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Detroit--New Orleans without the flood

Detroit--New Orleans without the flood

Democracy Now! reports that the closures of 45 schools to be replaced by 75 privately-run charters is actually a move to privatize the entire public school system. Private foundations are ponying up hundreds of millions of dollars to fund school reform, but the public has little to no say in how the money is spent.
The foundations are not only going to be providing money to start new schools, they’re also setting

Budget axes fall on N.J. school districts | Philadelphia Inquirer | 04/02/2010

Budget axes fall on N.J. school districts | Philadelphia Inquirer | 04/02/2010

Budget axes fall on N.J. school districts

Bill Conley was frustrated.
Standing amid more than 100 people in the Cinnaminson Middle School cafeteria this week, the township resident questioned a school district budget proposal that calls for laying off 18 teachers and hiking taxes $383 for the average homeowner.
"Why is it always the teachers" who make the sacrifices, and not administrators earning three times as much, he asked Tuesday night.
"Some people might say, 'It's only $380 in taxes,' " said Conley, who has two children in the district. "I don't have any more to give."
Such scenes are playing out in similar meetings across the region this week, as school officials scramble to finalize their budgets by Saturday's deadline. At the hearings, often before overflow crowds, school boards are delivering the final tally of layoffs and eliminated programs, and making their cases for voters to approve the budgets on April 20.
The cost savings are largely to compensate for Gov. Christie's proposed $819 million reduction in aid to districts in the 2010-11 state budget. As they struggle to compensate for the unexpectedly deep cuts, many school officials have complained that Trenton has passed the burden to local taxpayers.
One-third of the districts in Burlington, Gloucester and Camden Counties have received permission to seek property-tax increases that exceed the state-mandated 4 percent cap, according to local officials.
Nearly all of the state's districts expect to lay off staff, and two-thirds will suspend some extracurricular activities, according to a survey by the New Jersey School Boards Association. Eighty-three percent of districts said the aid

Schools Matter: Test and punish doesn't work (Monty Neill in USA Today)

Schools Matter: Test and punish doesn't work (Monty Neill in USA Today)

Test and punish doesn't work (Monty Neill in USA Today)

Test-and-punish system is ineffective
Published in USA Today, April 2, 2010
Monty Neill, Interim executive director, National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest) - Boston
Despite fresh evidence of No Child Left Behind's (NCLB) failure, USA TODAY and Education Secretary Arne Duncan want to keep its test-and-punish paradigm. Duncan at least acknowledges that the law is not working, but both responses call to mind Albert Einstein's definition of insanity: "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" ("Changes to 'No Child' ease up on middle-class schools," Our view; "We're flexible but tough," Opposing view; Education standards debate, Tuesday).
Last week's National Assessment of Educational Progress report should have been the final nail in the coffin for

Just Updated Three “The Best…” Lists | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

Just Updated Three “The Best…” Lists | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

Just Updated Three “The Best…” Lists

I’ve just revised and updated these three “The Best…” Lists:
The Best ESL/EFL Blogs
The Best Guides To ESL/EFL/ELL Terminology
The Best (& Most Thoughtful) Blogs On “Big Picture” Education Issues


Health Animations & Slideshows

Minority high school youth nurture middle-schoolers in a Tigard-Tualatin mentor program | OregonLive.com

Minority high school youth nurture middle-schoolers in a Tigard-Tualatin mentor program | OregonLive.com

Minority high school youth nurture middle-schoolers in a Tigard-Tualatin mentor program

By Melissa Navas, The Oregonian

April 02, 2010, 9:00PM
mentor.15086785.JPGView full sizeIntercambio students participate in ice breakers and skits to learn about the qualities of good leaders. Most students in the mentoring program are Latino; which is the district's largest minority group. Jose Gutierrez, left, a senior at Tigard High School, said, "There are not many Latino students who are seen doing good things. People don't even know about us. That's why I had to step up. All my classmates, we've been doing pretty good stuff in the community."TIGARD -- Jose Gutierrez watched as kids in his East Los Angeles neighborhood strayed from school and found trouble. Their actions reinforced the stereotypes he heard while growing up: Latino students were lazy and didn't care about academics.

"I thought it was kind of a tradition that Latinos didn't graduate high school," Gutierrez said.

He still battles these notions today because he knows some people think his Latino surname, brown skin and dark hair destine him for failure. If there's one thing this 18-year-old senior hopes to impart on younger students is that those ideas are a bunch of baloney.

Gutierrez is part of a new mentoring program for students of color in theTigard-Tualatin School District that pairs high school students with at-risk middle schoolers once a week. Intercambio, which means "exchange" in Spanish, began in the fall using federal grant money and aims to boost

UWM rally ends in 16 arrests - News

UWM rally ends in 16 arrests - News

UWM rally ends in 16 arrests

Tuition increases cause campus protests nationwide

Miho Kaimori

Issue date: 4/1/10 Section: News
  • Page 1 of 1
On Thursday, March 4, a rally against raising tuition was held at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM). More than 100 people joined it and 16 protesters were arrested.

The rally started at UWM's Student Union at noon with people clamoring to stop UWM's tuition increase. Then, the protestors marched to Chapman Hall, where UWM's executive offices are located.

The protestors demanded that Chancellor Carlos E. Santiago take a pay cut. Only one representative was invited to talk with the chancellor in his office, but others also tried to enter the room.

When Santiago refused, some protesters became violent. UWM security reacted first, but UWM's security chief asked Milwaukee police for assistance. The police used pepper spray against the protesters to stop the rally.

Similar protests against tuition increases occurred in about 30 other states.

It was a part of a National Day to Defend Higher Education.

California's huge budget cut is serious is gaining national attention. For instance, the University