Children's Book Bank planning citywide book drive in Portland | OregonLive.com

Children's Book Bank planning citywide book drive in Portland | OregonLive.com

Children's Book Bank planning citywide book drive in Portland

By Noelle Crombie, The Oregonian

April 14, 2010, 2:49PM

View full sizeBrent Wojahn/The OregonianJen Lind of Portland, a volunteer for the Children's Book Bank, carries bags of books to be delivered to Bridger Elementary School. The bank is going to hold a book drive later this month.The Children's Book Bank is holding a citywide book drive from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday, April 24. Organizers are inviting people to bring gently used children's books to any of New Seasons' nine locations, as well as the Whole Foods in Laurelhurst and Bridgeport Village.

Learning First Alliance Calls For Family Engagement Priority | Engaging Parents In School...

Learning First Alliance Calls For Family Engagement Priority

April 14th, 2010 by Larry Ferlazzo

Today, the Learning First Alliance, a partnership of 17 national education associations representing over ten million parents, educators and policymakers, released a statement calling for the Obama Administration to make family engagement a higher priority in its education plans.

• Learning First Alliance Calls For Family Engagement Priority
• “Ideas To Increase Parent Communication In Schools”
• Teacher Ideas For Parent Engagement
• “Sebelius calls for schools to become community havens”
• “Home Libraries Provide Huge Educational Advantage”
• “Parent Involvement Matters” March Newsletter
• “School Matters: Parents Must Be Key to Education Reform”
• “Family Engagement Across the Developmental Continuum”
• Parent/Teacher Home Visit Project
• Now You Can “Search Inside” My Book On Engaging Parents In School

Remarks by the First Lady at Youth Forum -- Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, Mexico | The White House

Remarks by the First Lady at Youth Forum -- Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, Mexico | The White House

Remarks by the First Lady at Youth Forum -- Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, Mexico

Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, Mexico

2:19 P.M. (Local)

MRS. OBAMA: Thank you. Thank you. (Applause.) Good afternoon, and thank you so much. Thank you, Jaime, for that very kind and profound introduction. It is such a pleasure and an honor to be in this beautiful country, at this great university, with so many outstanding young people from all across Mexico.

Let me start by thanking your First Lady, Mrs. Margarita Zavala. (Applause.) I want to thank her for her tremendous kindness not just to me but to my family. She is smart. She is tough. She is passionate. And she is my friend. We’ve had a wonderful time together, both here in Mexico and during her visits to the United States. And I look forward to welcoming her and her husband, President Calderón, to Washington for a state dinner next month. And I told her to prepare to have fun. (Laughter.)

I also want to recognize the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Ambassador Pascual. And I want to thank the rector of this school, Dr. Jose Morales Orozco, for his leadership and for hosting me here today. And finally, I want to thank all of the people of this country for your incredible warmth and hospitality during my visit here. From the moment I arrived, I felt like I was entre amigos –- (laughter) -- which is only natural given the close and enduring friendship between our two nations.

Mexico is home to more U.S. citizens living abroad than anywhere else in the world, and tens of millions of Americans trace their roots right here to this country. And for generations, Mexico and the U.S. have been bound together not just by a shared border, but by shared values and aspirations -– devotion to family and to faith; a willingness to work hard and to sacrifice for our children; a commitment to democracy rooted in struggles for independence that have defined our nations.

So when it came time for me to decide where to make my first solo international trip as First Lady, the choice was clear: Mexico, por supuesto! (Applause.)

And there’s also a reason why I wanted to come here to the Ibero and speak with all of you. It’s the same reason why, when my husband travels abroad to talk about the challenges we face –- from extremism to nuclear weapons, from poverty and hunger to climate change and to pandemics –- he doesn’t just meet with presidents and prime ministers. He doesn’t just visit palaces and parliaments. He goes to schools and to universities and he meets with young people just like all of you.

And this isn’t an accident. Today, we’re seeing what has come to be called a “youth bulge” –- an explosion of the youth population in nations around the world. And here in Mexico, nearly half the population is under the age of 25. In the Middle East, it’s 60 percent. And young people between the ages of 15 and 24 alone now make up 20 percent of the world’s citizens. This is the largest group in history making the transition to adulthood.

And the fact is, is that responsibility for meeting the defining challenges of our time will soon fall to all of you. Soon, the world will be looking to your generation to make the discoveries and to build the industries that will fuel our prosperity and ensure our well-being for decades to come.

We’re going to be looking to your generation to seize the promise of clean energy to power our economies and

New Questions About UCSC Fines � Student Activism

New Questions About UCSC Fines � Student Activism

New Questions About UCSC Fines

by Angus Johnston

A UC Santa Cruz blog has posted what it says is the itemized list of charges on which the university based the $944 fines that it has assessed against students involved in last semester’s Kerr Hall occupation. (Photos of the document can be found here, with a transcript here.)
If this document is genuine, a few aspects of it seem quite significant.
First, though news reports based on administration statements have characterized the takeover as causing “nearly $34,000 in damage,” several of the line items on the list appear to be unrelated to physical damage to the building. The list includes a $1242.60 charge for the university’s lockshop to “check locks, panic bars,” a $121 charge for an “HVAC check out” that found “no damage to equip,” and a $242 charge for a check of fire alarms’ “signal history” that found “no problems.”
Second, many of the listed charges appear to refer to the cost of university employees’ labor. These entries include those listed above, as well as listings for carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and even $720 for Physical

We’re the NEA. We think so that you don’t have to. � The Quick and the Ed

We’re the NEA. We think so that you don’t have to. � The Quick and the Ed

We’re the NEA. We think so that you don’t have to.

by Forrest Hinton

For almost a decade, No Child Left Behind has tested and labeled our kids and our schools. We know you care about your students, and we are eager to let Washington know just what you think about NCLB. Please take a few minutes to complete the following survey so we can let your representatives know exactly how this legislation has affected you and your students, and how it needs to be changed.

This is the introductory text to a new survey the National Education Association is using to ostensibly guage where its members stand on ESEA reauthorization.
But this “survey” is hardly a survey. C’mon.
Although the NEA claims to be eager to “let Washington know just what [its member-teachers] think about

Nice one TDSB �Ideas and Thoughts from an EdTech

Nice one TDSB �Ideas and Thoughts from an EdTech

Nice one TDSB

by Dean Shareski

Warning: This post was written in about 10 minutes with a fair bit of emotion. While I’m hoping for clarity, I’m there’s no guarantee.

These are the types of decisions that continue to promote the “us vs. them” mentality. What incites me is the reason they give for banning cell phones:

There’s the disruptive nature of the phone ringing or vibrating during class.
Students can text message each other and send answers about exams, a high tech way to cheat.
They can also access the Internet over the phones, making it too easy to surf or find answers they’re supposed to know while class is in session.
Phones can also act as MP3 players, another interruption.

Disruptive? That might be a good thing. But even if we don’t view the term disruptive in a positive sense, can we not involve students in developing policies that everyone agrees upon? In my experience, anytime students are given the opportunity to develop rules, it saves everyone a great deal of trouble in enforcing them.
Students can text message and cheat? Read this.

Schools Matter: Sign the Petition: Veto SB 6 in Florida

Schools Matter: Sign the Petition: Veto SB 6 in Florida

Sign the Petition: Veto SB 6 in Florida

by Jim Horn

by Alex Sink at HuffPo:

Florida's students, parents, teachers and communities are in a knock-down, drag-out fight right now -- and it's a fight we have to win for our kids.
Late last week Florida's Republican-controlled legislature passed a bill dictating a rigid, one-size-fits-all policy that diminishes our local schools' ability to pay and retain strong teachers. Now, it is on Governor Charlie Crist's desk, waiting for his signature, which could happen at any time.
Floridians are standing with me to oppose this harmful bill and making it clear that we don't want Tallahassee politicians making these types of decisions for our local school districts.
That's why so far over 13,000 citizens have signed my petition asking Governor Crist to listen to

Student Union campaign aims to quell school violence | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Student Union campaign aims to quell school violence | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Student Union campaign aims to quell school violence

Philadelphia Student Union activists believe that respect and open communication between students and administrators can stop most school violence before it starts. Through its Campaign for Non-Violent Schools, PSU organizers hope to improve relations among these groups citywide.

PSU announced the campaign at a School Reform Commission meeting in February. In March, PSU organizer DeVante Wilson testified before the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations about lessons he learned from the recent violence at South Philadelphia High School.

“One thing that was going around the school was that the African American students felt that the Asians had more resources,” Wilson said.

“We found that wasn’t true, but the whole breakdown of communication brought that [violence] on.”

Wilson, a senior at Carver High School, told the commissioners that students are 

Congress Scores Race to the Top Scoring System - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Congress Scores Race to the Top Scoring System - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Congress Scores Race to the Top Scoring System

by Alyson Klein

So now that the first round of winners have been announced, powerful members of Congress are starting to question the scoring system for the Race to the Top program.
During a hearing of today of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees education spending, Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., went off on the Race to the Top's 500-point scoring system. (Remember, Louisiana was afinalist and widely viewed as a front-runner, but then came in 11th.)
Some folks said that Louisiana's plan was bolder than the two winners, Delaware and Tennessee. But those states had near universal support from districts and unions. Louisiana, on the other hand, only got buy-in from 67 percent of its districts and 78 percent of their unions. (You should also remember that Louisiana lost out on an easy 15 points for not having a strong STEM component in its plan, points that all other finalists got.)
That scoring system's emphasis on district and union buy-in shouldn't have mattered so much, Landrieu told

California Teacher Corps - Year 2010 (CA Dept of Education)

California Teacher Corps - Year 2010 (CA Dept of Education)

California Department of Education

California Teacher Corps

Providing Pink-Slipped Educators Retraining to Shift to High-Need Teaching Positions.

Special Education Teachers in Demand; Alternative
Certification Programs Successfully Placed
3,500 New Special Education Teachers Last Year Alone

Contact: Mira Browne, Larson Communications, 415-793-3543
Chris Bertelli, Larson Communications, 916-273-9559

SACRAMENTO, CA — To ensure that effective teachers remain in the profession, the California Teacher Corps, the statewide organization representing alternative certification programs, today announced that its programs are reaching out to school districts to provide pink-slipped and laid-off teachers retraining to move into the high-need field of special education. The announcement follows the state's notification in March, when more than 26,000 teachers received notices of potential lay-offs.

Alternative certification programs will work closely with school districts to offer many of these teachers continued opportunities within the teaching profession, including accelerated programs for general education teachers to become credentialed in special education. Last year alone, alternative certification programs placed 3,500 teachers, many of whom were initially pink-slipped, and then retrained into special education teaching positions.

In the midst of the state budget crisis, California is experiencing a critical shortage of qualified special education teachers to serve the nearly 680,000 special education students enrolled in public schools. School districts are pursuing retraining options through alternative certification programs to fill this shortage with pink-slipped general education teachers. For example, through California State University's San Bernardino alternative certification program, approximately 50 percent of its new special education teachers were pink-slipped general education teachers. Also, last year in San Joaquin County, 31 special education teaching positions were filled by pink-slipped general education teachers who were retrained by the Teachers College of San Joaquin.

"The California Teacher Corps is taking bold action to ensure that talented teachers are able to remain in the profession," said California Teacher Corps President Catherine Kearney. "By retraining teachers to shift to the in-demand field of special education, we are giving them the opportunity to continue to teach, while serving the students who need them the most. The Teacher Corps also recognizes that school districts are searching for solutions in these difficult budgetary times, and we look forward to working with school districts across the state to help provide an alternative to losing their best teachers."

"It is tragic to see so many talented and enthusiastic beginning teachers handed pink slips due to the state budget crisis, and it has a chilling effect on our teacher pipeline," said California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell. "Fortunately, the California Teacher Corps is helping to keep effective teachers in the classroom, and address California's special education teacher shortage. The California Teacher Corps is an important partner in our effort to improve student achievement for all students and close the achievement gap."

Alternative certification programs have the ability to create an expedient pathway for fully credentialed teachers to become retrained and shift to the special education field. Building on a teacher's established experience in the classroom, enhanced training includes coursework on behavior management, best practices in working with students with disabilities, special education law, collaborating with para-educators in the classroom, as well as coaching and support from veteran educators and mentors. Teachers are immediately placed into the classroom where they are needed while they concurrently earn their special education credential. The retraining option allows many teachers to remain teaching in the same school district, and oftentimes, in the same school where they previously taught.

"If not for California State University's alternative certification program in San Bernardino, I would not be teaching today," said Special Education Teacher Shannon Rochelle Garibay. "I am forever grateful that I was able to remain in the field that I love by shifting to special education. Formerly a fifth grade elementary school teacher, I am now making a real difference in the classroom by serving students who are most in need of a caring and qualified teacher. I also know that by obtaining a second credential in special education, I am today a better teacher."

Alternative certification programs in California have historically met the varying needs of public schools, including attracting talented individuals and second-career professionals who bring with them deep content expertise and professional experience. In addition to special education, last year, more than half of all new math teachers were placed from alternative certification programs. Over the past six years, alternative certification programs have placed more than 50,000 highly-qualified teachers in California public schools.
About the California Teacher Corps

The California Teacher Corps is a nonprofit organization established in 2009 with the goal of placing 100,000 highly-qualified teachers in California's communities by 2020. The CA Teacher Corps provides a unified voice for the state's alternative certification programs, effectively and proactively addresses teacher preparation issues facing California and recruits the best and the brightest professionals to teach in the public schools that need them most. CA Teacher Corps membership trains second-career teachers, and others committed to working in hard-to-staff schools, who have deep subject-area expertise and who remain in the teaching profession. For more information, visit theCalifornia Teacher Corps (Outside Source).

Watch Out Jacksonville – KIPP Is Coming | The Jacksonville Observer

Watch Out Jacksonville – KIPP Is Coming | The Jacksonville Observer

Watch Out Jacksonville – KIPP Is Coming

In September of 2010, a new school will open in Jacksonville. That is too poorly stated. In September an educational system titled KIPP is going to affect a region of Jacksonville, Florida, in such a way that its students

will have a life changing experience and a real opportunity to attend college. In fact, KIPP could RIP the fabric of public education in Jacksonville in half.

I was fortunate enough to hear the story directly from Tom Madjanics, the stellar executive director of KIPP this last week. Stellar because of his outstanding resume and his superb delivery – spoken like a professional speaker.

KIPP stands for Knowledge Is Power Program. It is currently in 82 cities and even “Oprah” has recognized its high achievements. Yes, Oprah has put her stamp of approval on the program. Now over the years I’ve heard educator after educator expound the qualities of new ideas and ways to educate the masses but this is the first “real” idea that may have traction.

WATCH VIDEO: Great Expectations, KIPP Schools Close the Gap

Jacksonville is under attack, in fact, the entire country is under attack. This is what we were told

Thomas Ratliff's triumph in the second most important race THE EDUCATION FRONT Blog | The Dallas Morning News

THE EDUCATION FRONT Blog | The Dallas Morning News

Thomas Ratliff's triumph in the second most important race 12:03 PM Thu, Mar 04, 2010 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz William McKenzie/Editorial Columnist Bio | E-mail | News tips

Here's an update from an earlier post this week about the second most important race in Texas, the one involving State Board of Education incumbent Don McLeroy and his Republican challenger Thomas Ratliff.

Ratliff, as you may have seen, won that race. As a result, his triumph creates the potential for a tectonic shift in the board's politics. That will be a good thing for Texas students.

McLeroy, a Bryan dentist, was a ringleader of the socially conservative faction that questioned the study of evolution, went to war over reading comprehension standards, argued for students to learn more about conservatives than liberals in social studies and generally saw the board as a place to extend fights about the culture. The McLeroy faction also made some questionable calls in hiring firms to invest the state's school money.

McLeroy's exit means the dynamics of the board should shift. Instead of eight social conservatives battling the board's seven other members, some of whom are Republicans and some of whom are Democrats, the less ideological members should have the upper hand.

I say "should" because no one really knows how Republican George Clayton will shake out. He upset fellow Dallas Republican Tincy Miller, a longtime incumbent who was part of the moderate wing.

Clayton prides himself on being a voice for teachers, who he believes are

Cleaning Up School Lunches -- KTXL

Cleaning Up School Lunches -- KTXL

 

UC system reports lowest admission rates - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

UC system reports lowest admission rates - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

UC system reports lowest admission rates

Published: Wednesday, Apr. 14, 2010 - 12:14 pmBy Laurel Rosenhall
lrosenhall@sacbee.com

It was a tough year to get into the University of California, data released this morning shows. With a larger number of students seeking a college education and budget cuts reducing the university's ability to serve them, seven out of nine UC campuses reported their lowest admission rates on record.

UC Davis admitted 44.5 percent of applicants -- compared with 46.2 percent last year. UC Berkeley admitted 24.5 percent of applicants, compared with 29.5 percent last year. UC Santa Barbara admitted 41.7 percent of applicants, compared with 48.4 percent last year. The average grade-point-average of admitted students was

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/04/14/2678697/uc-system-reports-lowest-admission.html#mi_rss=Education#ixzz0l6c1tOBk

Don’t Move the Goalposts � The Quick and the Ed

Don’t Move the Goalposts � The Quick and the Ed

Don’t Move the Goalposts

by Ben Miller

The U.S. Department of Education started a firestorm a few months ago with news that it might enact strict borrowing limits at for-profit institutions. The announced plan would cap borrowing in strictly vocational programs such that a student’s annual debt repayment would not exceed 8 percent of their expected starting salary in that field (i.e. someone pursuing a library science degree would not be allowed to borrow more than $22,600 based upon a starting salary of $38,660). Schools exceeding that threshold could be kicked out of the federal aid programs–a fatal blow for most for-profit schools given the extent to which they subsist on student aid.
But now it looks like the Department is backing down slightly from its tough talk on this matter. According toreports published in the Wall Street Journal, the department’s new plan is to keep the 8 percent standard, but provide a safe harbor that allows schools to avoid this penalty so long as their graduation rates are at 50 percent or above and their job placement rate is at 70 percent or above. By contrast, the last version of the proposal

Duncan, Barnes Answer Questions from College Students – ED.gov Blog

Duncan, Barnes Answer Questions from College Students – ED.gov Blog:

Duncan, Barnes Answer Questions from College Students

Last week Secretary Arne Duncan and White House Director of Domestic Policy Melody Barnes participated in a live chat with HuffPost College.
They answered a number of questions, including…

How does the White House plan to encourage high school minority students to pursue higher education?

How can the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, which takes effect in 2014, help students who are in college today?

What can the federal government do about the ever-increasing cost of higher education?

Questions came from HuffPost College’s network of college newspaper sites across the U.S.
Watch a video of the interview, or read the transcript.

Spanish English Emersion San Juan School District | News10.net | Sacramento, California | Education

Spanish English Emersion San Juan School District | News10.net | Sacramento, California | Education

Spanish English Emersion San Juan School District

Monica Woods Last updated 2 hrs ago

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SACRAMENTO, CA - Realizing the importance of knowing more than just English, the San Juan Unified School District will offer a Dual Language English/Spanish Immersion program at Edison Elementary.

According to William Spalding, the program manager for the district's English Learner and Multicultural Education department, the immersion program is set to start this fall even though other programs are being cut.

Spalding said teachers have seen great success in other immersion programs at various schools and hope their students can benefit especially in the formative years when language learning is critical.

Spalding joined News10 Good Morning to talk about the challenging times with education, but said

The Educated Reporter: Rankings fail?

The Educated Reporter: Rankings fail?

Rankings fail?

by Linda Perlstein

If you know me, you know I am inherently skeptical about ratings and rankings. As an authority of both cake andpie, I lowered my guard and developed high hopes for the Jezebel dessert March Madness, and look what happened: cheesecake won! As a PIE! Which is it not.

Daveen Kurutz McLaughlin of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review called my attention last week to an effort from GreatSchools.net and Forbes magazine to identify the “best cities to live and learn,” or “the best schools for your housing buck.” They calculated the list using a combination of test data and home prices. It seemed odd to Daveen because the Pittsburgh Public Schools were featured, even though they are hurting academically and, as she put it, “barely made AYP this year.” We looked into the methodology.

According to GreatSchools, the “education quality score” was determined by state test scores and NAEP data. I