Friday, February 19, 2010

A Sequel to the Charter School Research Wars - Inside School Research - Education Week

A Sequel to the Charter School Research Wars

By Debra Viadero on February 18, 2010 3:35 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

There has been no shortage of newsmaking charter school studies over the last year. The biggest of the bunch was a national study of charter schools by Margaret Raymond and her colleagues at the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University. It compared learning gains over the course of a school year for charter school students in 16 states to those of demographically similar students in nearby traditional schools. The bottom line: Although there was huge variation among the charter schools studied, the traditional school students, on the whole, appeared to learn slightly more than their charter school counterparts.

The study came in for some heavy criticism, though, in October from Caroline Hoxby, another Stanford researcher, after she conducted her own study of charter schools in New York City and reached the opposite conclusion. She said the CREDO study suffered from "a serious mathematical mistake" that may have biased the results in a downward direction.

Now the federal What Works Clearinghouse has waded into the debate. In itslatest "quick review," the research agency concludes that the CREDO study was "consistent with WWC standards with reservations." It also adds a word of caution, though:

"Although the study matched charter school students to traditional public school students based on demographic characteristics and test scores, it is

Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge | The White House

Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge

February 18, 2010 | 1:24

President Obama announces a new Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge and invites public schools across the country to compete to have him speak at their graduation. Visit WhiteHouse.gov/Commencement to apply.

Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Notes from the news, Feb. 19

Submitted by Erika Owens on Fri, 02/19/2010 - 09:27 Posted in Notes from the news | Permalink

Fairhill pupils await Michelle Obama The Inquirer
Mrs. Obama is visiting the elementary school Friday to talk about her campaign against childhood obesity.

Ackerman: Youth violence a public health issue The Inquirer
Superintendent Ackerman explained that the 15,000 violent and nonviolent incidents are far too many.

See also: Jackson: prevent flash mobs with better schools Philly.com

Why can't they just teach their kids English? The Notebook blog
Len Rieser wrote in response to a recent Inquirer op-ed that questioned spending District dollars to teach immigrant kids English.

Gubernatorial candidates debate in Center City Philly.com
PSU and YUC students spoke at the forum. The discussion of education referenced the costing-out study and importance of early childhood ed.

Please email us if we missed anything today or if you have any suggestions of publications, email lists, or other places for us to check for news.

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Notes from the news

Discussion with Author Dympna Ugwu-Oju at Folsom Lake College on Feb. 24 — The Rancho Cordova Post

he community is invited to a discussion with author Dympna Ugwu-Oju entitled “A Woman in Tribal Africa, a Black in White America” on Wednesday, February 24, at 7pm at Folsom Lake College, 10 College Parkway in Folsom. The event will take place in the college’s Community Room (Aspen Hall room FL1-20) and is sponsored by Folsom Lake College’s Multicultural Sub-Committee as part of African American History Month.

Dympna Ugwu-Oju was born in Nsukka, Nigeria. She has been published extensively in national newspapers and magazines, including Newsweek and the New York Times. Her first book, What Will My Mother Say (A Tribal African Girl Comes of Age in America), describes her childhood in the traditional Ibo culture of Nigeria where a woman’s value is determined by factors she does not control and chronicles her war-torn childhood.

Her second book, In the Eyes of God (A Biafran story) is awaiting publication. Dympna holds her Bachelor’s Degree (English, minor in Magazine Journalism) from Briarcliff College, a Master’s of Science (Print Journalism) from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications, and a Doctorate Degree (Educational Leadership) from California State University, Fresno, and University of California, Davis. She is currently an instructor of Journalism at Fresno City College and previously taught at Middlesex County College in New Jersey and the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Admission to the event is free (a daily parking pass can be purchased for $1). For a map with

Elk Grove Citizen : 10 percent layoffs loom for school district

Elk Grove Citizen : News

10 percent layoffs loom for school district

By Citizen staff

Published: Thursday, February 18, 2010 9:11 AM PST

Last year, the Elk Grove Unified School District (EGUSD) sent out 220 full-time employee (FTE) pink slips on March 3. Many employees, however, kept their positions as funds came from the state and other sources.

This year, with the district’s $42 million budget shortfall, 600 FTE pink slips will be sent out on March 15.

EGUSD Superintendent Dr. Steven Ladd’s staff and cabinet adjourned Friday afternoon after three days of meetings to cope with the ongoing financial crisis of their district.

The EGUSD administration had expected to make more adjustments in expenditures from another shortfall of $13 million from the state for the school year 2010-11. But last week it was announced there may be an additional $5 million funding loss.

How many more FTE pink slips will be issued is unknown.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s budget proposal includes a negative .38-percent Cost Of Living Adjustment. That equates to another budget cut of about $24 per student for EGUSD for the 2010-2011 school year. The district has 60,000 students.

In addition, the governor’s budget further proposes a $1.5 billion cut to K-12. While his proposal indicates that the $1.5 billion would come out of school district administrative costs, financial experts agree that after years of budget reductions, the target of the cut will likely change.

In addition, the governor also proposed eliminating the sales tax on gasoline, and changing it

Schools Matter: The Wrong Cuts

The wrong cuts
Published in the Herald Times (Bloomington, Indiana)
Feb. 19, 2010
To the editor:
The proposed budget cuts in education (“MCCSC: Teaching, librarian and coaching jobs cut, no summer school, Aurora to be moved,” Feb. 12) are typical of what is going on nationwide, and are a tragedy that need not happen.
In order to save $4.5 million, MCCSC is eliminating crucial and important programs, while the state continues to spend education dollars on expenditures that harm students.
For example: The plans include eliminating librarians while research shows that the presence of credentialed school librarians is related to increased reading scores.
At the same time, Indiana has a high school exit exam that costs the state about $450 million per year, over $400 per student.

Consultant: shut down CALPADS now The Educated Guess

The Educated Guess
Consultant: shut down CALPADS now

Posted in CALPADS

CALPADS, the new comprehensive student data system on which huge hopes for school and student improvement are riding, is hobbled by serious problems.
Acting on a consultant’s report bluntly critical of state managers and of IBM, the system vendor, Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell has shut CALPADS down for two months and ordered all efforts focused on fixing it. The hiatus will put data collection from the state’s 1,000 districts months, if not a year, behind schedule. O’Connell had little choice but to act quickly. After studying the system for a month, Sabot Technologies of Folsom predicted a “high probability of system failure should the project continue on the current path” as a result of “anomalies, errors and defects throughout” the system.
(Read more and comment on this post)

By John Fensterwald on February 18th, 2010

Full Circle Fund’s Rx for schools

Posted in Education Excellence Committee, Revenue and taxes, Student spending, Teacher Development

Members of the Full Circle Fund, a Bay Area philanthropy made up of socially active leaders and entrepreneurs, has joined the call for giving school districts more autonomy and taxing authority.
Granting local voters the power to pass a limited surcharge of the property tax rate is one policy recommendation of “EACH: A Vision for California’s Future.”The 11-page policy platform is the product of nine months of work by the 60-member Education Circle, one of four study groups within the Full Circle Fund.
A property surcharge would directly challenge of the limits imposed by Proposition 13. It also could create equity problems – and likely lead to a lawsuit – since rich communities would more readily pass such a measure. So the Education Circle also urges establishing a state matching fund as an incentive for low-wealth communities to raise revenue. The platform also urges bringing up California’s level of funding to the “national norm” and includes a useful graph that compares states’ per student spending relative to its teachers’ salaries.
(Read more and comment on this post)

U.S. education chief praises Georgia inquiry �| ajc.com

U.S. education chief praises Georgia inquiry �| ajc.com:

"U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan applauded Gov. Sonny Perdue on Wednesday for taking a tough stance on cheating and said the federal government is offering to help, if asked."

But Duncan gave no indication federal education officials would punish Georgia if some test scores turn out to be fraudulent. States report tests results as part of legal requirements under the No Child Left Behind Act, which governs some federal funding.

The test score scandal also isn’t likely to affect the state’s chance at a lucrative federal Race to the Top grant, he said.

“I think the governor has really stepped up proactively to get to the bottom of this,” Duncan said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I wish more states would look at this kind of thing.”

Duncan’s comments came a week after state officials announced an analysis of erasure marks on student answer sheets implicated one in five schools statewide in potential test tampering.

The state school board ordered local officials to investigate 191 schools with the most classrooms exhibiting suspicious erasures.

Another 178 schools with fewer classrooms in question must adopt new test security measures, such as increasing monitoring or rotating teachers during this spring’s Criterion-Referenced Competency Test. Students in grades one through eight take the yearly exam.

The Atlanta district has the most schools under scrutiny, 58. That is 69 percent of elementary and middle schools.

The district is unusual in Georgia for using a complex reward syste

Pennsylvania School Accused of Spying on Students at Home

Pennsylvania School Accused of Spying on Students at Home:

"If accusations made by a suit filed against Pennsylvania's Lower Merion School District on behalf of Harriton High School student Blake Robbins are true, we can't imagine a single valid defense for the school system's actions. According to the court documents, Robbins was disciplined last November by assistant principle Lindy Matsko for 'improper behavior in the home.' As evidence of this misconduct, Matsko produced a photo, secretly taken by the webcam on Robbins's laptop, which had been -- like those of all other Harriton High students -- issued to him by the school.

Let's ignore the fact that the student was disciplined for extracurricular actions, already a rather absurd concept. (Imagine if your child was given detention for failing to eat her vegetables and talking back to you.) The school is not accused of tracking student's"

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

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

METRO

NEW PAGE

Your essential guide to college news, campus life and admissions advice

Bipartisan move to rewrite No Child Left Behind

Following Obama's lead, both parties begin tackling education law.

MORE ON EDUCATION

President Obama. (AP).

YOUR TURN

Those aren't just cuts. They are mutilations to core services that Virginia is well renown for."

TwoSons, 2:05 P.M. » In private, Virginia governor pushes deep budget cuts | Weigh in

The six standards of school quality

My guest is George Wood, principal of Federal Hocking High School in Stewart, Ohio, and executive director of The Forum for Education and Democracy, a nonprofit organization ithat s a collaboration of educators from around the country

By George Wood
Years ago, I learned that if you want to communicate with people, it’s best to avoid jargon.

It was my fourth year as principal, and I’d decided to add a portfolio requirement for graduation. After two years of study, meetings, and hearings, we were ready to move forward and decided to share the plan with the entire community. Feeling creative, we decided to put the entire proposal in a booklet and mail it to every district resident.

Then, mistakenly, we decided I would write the booklet.

Continue reading this post »

Down with parent power

I have been exchanging emails with Gabe Rose, communications director of something called the Parent Revolution in my home state, California. Rose and his organization are part of a movement that has, to my open-mouthed amazement, persuaded the state government to give parents the power to close or change the leadership of low-performing public schools.

It sounds great. It has many parents excited. It could shake up the state educational establishment, including the education department, school boards and teacher unions. They could use some shaking up.

Yet I can't shake my feeling it is a bad idea, a confusing distraction that will bring parents more frustration, not less, and do little to improve their children's educations.

Continue reading this post »

Capitol Hill neighbors wary of proposed charter

One of the 13 groups seeking to open a new public charter school in the fall of 2011 is drawing questions from its prospective Capitol Hill neighbors--both for a lack of candor and the financial backing it is receiving from the International Graduate University (IGU), which has had its license revoked by the District.

University High Public Charter School wants to lease space at IGU, on D Street SE, for a college preparatory program targeted to at-risk youth. It proposes partnering with the Community College of the District of Columbia to give students exposure to college-level courses by their junior year. The D.C. Public Charter School Board, which authorizes the publicly-funded, independently operated schools, will review all the applications at public hearings on March 15 and 16.

Capitol Hill residents have been frustrated by their inability to get information from University High's executive director, Terry Shelton, a former treatment team coordinator at Oak Hill Youth Center and probation officer for D.C. Superior Court.

During a bizarre two-hour meeting at IGU Wednesday evening, Shelton would not disclose the members of the group's founding board, although they are listed in the application on file with the charter board. The founding group includes Virginia Elizabeth Hayes Williams, mother of former mayor Anthony Williams, and William Stancil, managing attorney for Neighbohrood Legal Services.

The application also names Wilma Gaines, a former DCPS principal, as interim principal.

Continue reading this post »

Delaware schools: Moyer Academy loses charter | delawareonline.com | The News Journal

Delaware schools: Moyer Academy loses charter | delawareonline.com | The News Journal:

"DOVER -- The State Board of Education voted unanimously Thursday to close Maurice J. Moyer Academy charter school in Wilmington.

State education officials said the school, which opened in September 2006, failed to meet three of the 14 criteria necessary for charter renewal: student performance goals, hiring of enough highly qualified teachers and development of a curriculum that met state standards. Nor was Moyer's leadership able to provide a clear plan to improve performance going forward, Dan Cruce, Delaware's deputy education secretary, told the board.

Moyer currently has 484 students enrolled in grades six through 12. It will lose its charter at the end of this school year.

'I'm devastated,' Theo Gregory, Moyer's director, said just after the meeting. 'I can't believe this.'

Moyer is only the second charter school to be denied renewal since the General Assembly approved Delaware's charter law in 1995. Marion T. Academy Charter School was denied in 2008 after state officials cited poor student performance at the Wilmington K-8 school. Two others have relinquished their charters, Richard Milburn Academy in July of 2000 and Georgetown Charter School in March of 2002."

Ramon Cortines resigns from Scholastic board | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times

L.A. schools Supt. Ramon C. Cortines resigned Thursday from the board of Scholastic Inc., a position that paid him compensation worth more than $150,000 last year.

Cortines’ dual role with the company and the district received scrutiny in the wake of an articleon that subject last week in The Times. In defending his position with Scholastic in a recent interview, Cortines said he avoided any issue at the district involving the leading educational publishing company. And his senior staff said this recusal included any decision involving academic intervention programs.

Scholastic provides the district’s primary reading intervention program for high schools. And, as of this year, Scholastic’s program also became a key component for middle schools. The company has earned more than $5.2 million from the L.A. Unified School District since Cortines joined the school system as its No. 2 administrator in April 2008. He became superintendent in December 2008.

Cortines is paid $250,000 a year by L.A. Unified.

The superintendent’s brief letter to Scholastic's president and chief executive officer, Richard Robinson, read as follows:

“Per my telephone conversation with you and attorney Andy Hedden on Thursday, February 18, 2010, this correspondence serves as a formal notice of resignation from the corporate board at Scholastic Corporation. A hard copy of this correspondence has been mailed to you.”

Copies of the letter were sent to members of the Board of Education and school district general counsel David Holmquist.

Board members had been placing no pressure on Cortines to resign from Scholastic last week, but it’s

Melinda French Gates - Education reform, one classroom at a time - washingtonpost.com

Melinda French Gates - Education reform, one classroom at a time - washingtonpost.com:

"Sitting on the desk of the secretary of education are dozens of ideas bold enough to finally start solving our country's education crisis. They are contained in applications by 40 states and the District of Columbia for grants from the Race to the Top fund, a $4.35 billion piece of the stimulus package designed to dramatically improve student achievement.

Congress established strong guidelines to guarantee that states spend Race to the Top money on audacious reforms. Many states responded with equal fortitude, submitting proposals to radically improve how they use data or to adopt college- and career-ready standards -- concepts that used to be considered third rails in the world of education. Never before has this country had such an opportunity to remake the way we teach young people."

Assemblyman disputes cost of free student MetroCards - NYPOST.com

Assemblyman disputes cost of free student MetroCards - NYPOST.com:

"Someone needs to take an accounting class.

The MTA and the assemblyman who oversees the agency have a $214 million disagreement over how much it costs the system to transport 500,000 students for free every school day.

The dispute was set off by the MTA's plan to eliminate free student MetroCards starting in September.

The agency says the city and state have not increased their contributions to the program as costs went up.

But Assemblyman Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester) charged in a letter yesterday that it barely costs the MTA a dime to transport the students.

'They're using these kids as pawns,' Brodsky charged, saying MTA officials told him they would still run the same number of buses and subways with or without the free fares.

MTA officials said it would rake in an additional $214 million a year by charging the kids.

Meanwhile, students and teachers rallied yesterday in lower Manhattan to keep the free fares.

If Valerie Bynaar, a Philip Randolph HS student, had to pay the full amount, 'that would be another $1,000 a year for my mother -- it means I won't get new clothes for the new school year,' she said."

Teacher Seniority Rules Resisted Amid Layoffs - WSJ.com

Teacher Seniority Rules Resisted Amid Layoffs - WSJ.com:

"Teacher seniority rules are meeting resistance from government officials and parents as a wave of layoffs is hitting public schools and driving newer teachers out of classrooms.

In a majority of the country's school districts, teacher layoffs are handled on a 'last in, first out' basis. Critics of seniority rules worry that many effective and talented teachers who have been hired in recent years will lose their jobs.

Unions say that seniority rules are the only objective way to carry out layoffs, and that they protect teachers from the whims and bias of managers, who might fire effective teachers they don't like.

This year, because of cuts in state aid to New York City, the city could be facing a loss of about 8,500 teacher jobs out of a total of 80,000. The last time the nation's largest school system laid off a teacher was 1976.

If New York City is forced to lay off some of the more than 30,000 new teachers it has hired in the past five years, it is 'going to be catastrophic,' said Joel Klein, chancellor of the city's school system. 'We're going to be losing a lot of great new teachers that we hired' in recent years, the chancellor said."

Haitian Students Hit Placement Roadblock - NY1.com

Most New Yorkers may not know it but city schools have already become a refuge for hundreds of students who have escaped the devastation in Haiti -- a transition that's proving to be anything but smooth. NY1's Lindsey Christ filed the following report.

Chesna Gelin, 17, has had many reasons to cry since her house in Port-au-Prince, Haiti fell down around her last month, but she says the latest was how hard it's been to enroll in a New York City school.

"It was very, very sad. I even cried," said Gelin.

The Department of Education says 219 Haitian students have enrolled in city schools since the earthquake -- a process that should take five days at most.

It often takes longer for high schoolers since they have to go to an enrollment center to get placed. As a result, schools can refuse to take them for a variety of reasons, which means back to the enrollment center to start the process over.

"When you have immigrant students who still need to learn English, who are coming in mid-year, there aren't many spots for them, there aren't very good programs to begin with, and now we are going to have a number of students coming -- some now, some later, some down the road -- and the system still isn't equipped to deal with them," said Guisela Alvarez of Advocates for Children of New York.

Chesna joined her father in New York on January 26th. But she still hasn't started school. She waited hours in an enrollment center three times during the past three weeks before she was assigned to a school that said it had no room until next fall.

Educational Symposium: Educating African-Americans for The 21st Century: 'A Call to Action' - Education and Schools News - Send2Press Feb 18, 2010

OAKLAND, Calif., Feb. 18 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- Inward Journeys Consulting, an educational consulting company founded by Dr. Chris Harrison and NNeka Harrison, Ed.D. (ABD) is hosting an educational symposium titled Educating African-Americans for the 21st Century: "A Call to Action." This symposium will be held on Saturday, April 24, 2010 at Mills College (in Lisser Hall) in Oakland, Calif.

Academic preparation for the 21st Century is essential for African-Americans to successfully compete in the global marketplace. This seminar will address key topics and issues in education, motivate attendees to take action, and provide direction for educators, parents, school leaders, and other concerned community-stakeholders on how to improve the quality of education for African-Americans.

Inward Journeys Consulting is honored to host its Co-Founder and COO, Dr. Chris Harrison, as the keynote speaker. Dr. Chris Harrison, who is a native of Oakland, Calif., is a graduate of Oakland Public Schools, Morehouse College, and the Mills College School of Education. He is a man on a mission and is known as a passionate educator who is committed to raising the bar for the delivery of quality education to African-American and other students of color. Over a 14-year span, Dr. Harrison has developed expertise as a classroom teacher, researcher, educational administrator, curriculum developer, and professional development trainer. Dr. Harrison is the co-author (with his wife NNeka) of "How to Help Your Child Achieve Academic Success in School: Educating Your Child During the Elementary, Middle, & High School Years."

Accomplished and committed guest speakers who are leaders and practitioners in education have also partnered with Inward Journeys Consulting for this event. Attendees will also be graced with a special message from the former California Superintendent of Public Instruction, Delaine Eastin.

Each attendee will receive handouts, freebies, and have the opportunity to interact with community vendors who will provide information, books, CDs, and other resources related to education.

REGISTRATION INFORMATION:
When registering for this symposium titled, Educating African-Americans for the 21st Century, registrants will have the option to pay online by credit card or check. Registrants will also have the option to complete their registration information online, print out a confirmation page, and mail a check (with a copy of their confirmation page) to the following address: Acteva, c/o Inward

Friday, February 19, 2010