Engineering for Kids Day - March 13th, 2010

Engineering for Kids Day - March 13th, 2010

FAQs

Do I need to pre-register my child in order to participate in the event?

Yes. Due to the high demand, all participants must be registered in advanced. Online reservations will be avilable February 22nd, 2010. Reservation ensures your student a spot for all of the activities and a meal ticket. If families cannot make it to the event for the whole day, they are still encouraged to attend the event for any part of the day, as the activities and demonstrations will continue until 3:00pm. However, the more time the students spend at Engineering for Kids Day, the more they will learn as well as having a better opportunity to receive prizes based on event participation.

Do you need a list of attendance from us as a school, or can parents sign up their children individually and attend with their children?

Parents can sign up individually. A registration needs to be submitted to us that accounts for each participating child so that we have an accurate count of the number of kids participating.

Can a 7th grader attend? I have two children, 4th and 7th grades, and both would be very interested.

Children older than the recommended group can attend, but it should be noted that the activities are designed for students grades 4th to 6th, so some of the activities might seem a bit easy for students above 6th grade. Conversely, students below 4th grade are welcome to attend; however, the activities might prove to be too difficult for the student to fully understand and enjoy. The benefits of the program are related to the learning level of the student.

Do I need to be there to accompany my child?

Not necessarily. If you feel that your child is responsible enough to be left unsupervised, then you may leave your child at the event. However, most parents choose to either hang out in the back of the classrooms and observe their child participating in the activities, while others wait in the hallway and mingle with other parents. We encourage all parents to stay for the parent lectures and seminars!

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

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

Catholic schools mix prayer and special ed

Though exempt from federal rules, schools are expanding services

MORE ON EDUCATION

• DC fired 12 teachers for abuse
• Va. politics: "Save our schools!"
• Va. budgets have major school cuts
• Duncan warns of teacher layoffs
• Muslims turn to home schooling
• Snow didn't stop some teachers
• Obama pushes higher standards
• Teacher allegedly impregnated student

Paul VI students in the "Options Program" walk to drama class with their peer mentors. (Tracy A. Woodward-TWP)

Senior to parents: Let kids pick their own college

My guest is Adam Turay, a senior at South County Secondary School in Fairfax County. He is editor-in-chief of his school paper, The Courier, a member of his school’s "It’s Academic" team and plays guitar and keyboards in a rock band. 

By Adam Turay
Over the summer and at the start of this school year, I was one of many college-obsessed young students. I checked out numerous schools and tried to figure out which would be best for me. I looked at class size, best programs of study, and requirements for admission. All in all, I did a pretty good job of deciding where I wanted to apply and what I wanted from each of the schools that I chose.

I thought I had more or less figured things out. Between information sessions at school and all the research I’d done, I felt prepared to begin applying to the colleges I’d chosen. I had taken the classes, sat for the standardized tests and written the essays. Bring on the application process! I was ready to go.

Or so I thought.

Continue reading this post »

Welcoming a new school rating

My clever colleague Valerie Strauss suggested readers come up with alternatives to my high school rating system, the Challenge Index. On Feb. 20 she posted an intriguing suggestion by Montgomery County parent Louis Wilen, which she dubbed the Wilen Index, on how to move school rankings to a new level. This was smart because not only did it reveal she was working on Saturday, and thus winning our editors' untold devotion (I was at the supermarket with the other househusbands), but it showed how easily and cheaply I can be replaced.

Wilen, who has also favored me with some wise emails, showed a way we could use the trend toward rating schools under federal and state law by measuring how much students improve each year. Since thePSAT has become a popular tool for getting high school ninth and tenth graders ready for college-entrance tests (and seeing what kind of high school courses they might be ready for), he suggested that we take the average for all PSAT tests given tenth graders at each high school and compare it to their average SAT scores when they are in 12th grade. Subtract the 10th grade average from the 12th grade average and you see how much value that school has added.

Continue reading this post »

Report: Twelve teachers fired for abuse

Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee has fired ten DCPS teachers for administering corporal punishment and two for sexual misconduct since July 2007, according to a report she has submitted to D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray.

Another 28 served suspensions ranging from two to ten days for some form of corporal punishment, defined by District law as the use or attempted use of physical force against a student, "either intentionally or with reckless disregard for the student's safety, as a punishment or discipline."

(Click here for the accompanying letter from Rhee to Gray.)

The report, which comes in the form of a spreadsheet, does not supply names or other identifying details and offers only cursory descriptions of the offenses. It was requested by Gray after the uproar Rhee triggered by telling "Fast Company" magazine that an unspecified number of the 266 D.C. public school teachers who were laid off in October had physically or sexually abused students. She later revealed that five had been suspended for corporal punishment and one was under investigation for sexual misconduct. That teacher allegedly had sex with an 18-year old special needs student, resulting in her pregnancy. That case is not included in the report, Rhee said, because the investigation was still pending -- an assertion disputed by the Washington Teachers' Union, which says the charges were found to be unsubstantiated.

Continue reading this post »

Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Notes from the news, Feb. 23

Submitted by Erika Owens on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 09:27 Posted in Notes from the news | Permalink

Report on S. Phila. High violence expected [today]Philly.com
A retired federal judge who was hired to investigate the situation at South Philly will issue his report today.

West Philly community responds to 'Renaissance' label The Notebook blog
About 50 people attended West's community meeting last week. They expressed support of Principal Cruz and her current turnaround efforts.

See also: Questions About Renaissance Schools Philly Weekly

Schools must teach what not to say, too The Inquirer (opinion)
In order to teach kids about free speech the lesson must include "some basic principles of civility."

Letters: Teachers need tools to do their jobs properly The Inquirer
Response from Len Rieser and Kelly Darr to last week's op-ed about students with disabilities and English language learners.

Local Elementary Kids Take Part in Annual Science Fair KYW

Having Your Cake and Eating It Too Philly School Search blog

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.

Click here to get Notes from the news in your inbox every day.

Notes from the news

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voiceofsandiego.org | News. Investigation. Analysis. Conversation. Intelligence.

voiceofsandiego.org | News. Investigation. Analysis. Conversation. Intelligence.

Bright and Early: The Education Newsblitz

The San Diego Unified board is slated to make some budget decisions tonight -- follow the action with me on Twitter! Now for your morning newsblitz:

Poway teachers are protesting a proposed second, deeper pay cut that would slash salaries by another 4.8 percent, the Union-Tribune reports. The North County Times writes about the protest, too.

Our guest blogger Bey-Ling Sha explains why she's so mad at the legislators in Sacramento.

We blog that yes, teacher furloughs would mean a shorter school year in San Diego Unified.

San Diego News Network continues its series on Advanced Placement exams. This section takes on whether school districts change grades later for good scores on the AP tests.

Also in the UT: A South Bay teacher who was acquitted of sexual misconduct with a student got her teaching credential back, but it isn't clear if her school district will reinstate her.

A University of San Diego student asks where the turnover in superintendents leaves school reform in San Diego Unified.

EducationNews.org - A Global Leading News Source

EducationNews.org - A Global Leading News Source

Rare ban in laptop lawsuit

The next time Lower Merion school administrators want to talk to students and parents about their laptop-camera controversy, they will have to get a lawyer's blessing.

U.S. students need to play catch-up, Obama says

He tells the National Governors Assn. that states will be required to help students be 'college- and career-ready.' Decrying shortcomings of the No Child Left Behind Act, President Obama on Monday pledged to make American students more competitive in the global economy by encouraging highe

Publisher Releases Updated and Re-written “From Slavery to Freedom”

Black history scholar-activist Dr. John Hope Franklin’s influential work comes alive in its ninth rendition under the direction of his mentee Dr. Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, bringing the narrative into the 21st century

Social conservative faces tough battle for state ed board seat

Critical board decisions loom, including how new science textbooks cover evolution and which political figures are included in new history books. The two GOP candidates are slugging it out in a primary contest that will signal what those decisions might be. No Democrat filed, so the GOP winner is expected to cruise to election in November

Schools ax teachers, blame state

Chicago-area school districts are blaming massive layoffs and program cuts on the recession and the state's chronic financial woes.

Blacks also appeal action by judge in TUSD deseg

Black plaintiffs are appealing a federal judge's decision to end court oversight of the Tucson Unified School District's effort to bring its schools into racial balance.

Where the Bar Ought to Be

Deborah Kenny talks a lot about passion — the passion for teaching, for reading and for learning. She has it. She wants all of her teachers to have it. Above all, she wants her students to have it.

Houston teachers cram for revamped science curriculum

Kindergarten science instruction will evolve beyond dinosaurs next August when Texas tots are introduced to chemistry and other tough topics under the state's new curriculum.

This Week In Education

This Week In Education

Turnarounds: New Providers Organizations Appear

by Alexander Russo

I'm told that a handful of new turnaround provider organizations are coming online, including ones in Massachusetts, New York City, and New Orleans.
In Massachusetts, the former principal of Excel, the top performing middle school in the state, is forming a new turnaround organization. In New York City, a charter school provider called Explore is planning to expand its work to include turnarounds.  In New Orleans, an organization called Renew Schools set to go for this fall.  (No confirmation yet.)
Lack of turnaround providers has been a big problem for turnaround advocates. The obvious choices -- charter networks -- turn out not to be so obvious.  Districts and state agencies don't want or can't do the job.  But all the public attention and new dollars out there seem to be attracting some attention.  Crossed fingers this turns out OK.

Thompson: The CEP's Wisdom

by john thompson

The Center for Education Policy's series of outstanding reports confirm that "we still know painfully little about some key questions in education reform" such as "what makes an effective teacher," and it concludes "the current drive to improve elementary and secondary education cannot be fulfilled solely within the present structure of public schools."  "With greater consequences attached to test results, the testing aspect of standards-based reform has become the main driver of accountability, overshadowing the standards themselves." ... "It would be foolish to abandon it (standards) now.  Research has not revealed any better framework ..."  So, the CEP recommends that we eliminate federal sanctions for not meeting NCLB targets.  (emphasis mine)

The CEP, which has been scrupulous in documenting the weaknessness of the Obama administration's four preferred plans for school turnarounds, politely notes that they "are not supported by research," and "it is unwise to prescribe them."  The CEP recommends that the federal government safeguards against states being too lenient in identifying and intervening in failing schools by requiring the Education Department to approve state plans, documenting whether they are ambitious but achievable, whether they are based on student performance growth and disagregation of data for subgroups, and transparent.
The CEP recommends the extension of Stimulus funding beyond 2011 for states that adopt stronger requirements for funding adequacy and equity.  It appears more critical of the logic of the Race to the Top, however, noting the inconclusive evidence of a correlation between test score growth and teacher effectiveness. This leads to the recommendation for "complementary learning," or "a coherent partnership among k-12 education, early childhood education, and out-of-school learning." 

Rise & Shine: Construction industry creating new school for Smith | GothamSchools

Rise & Shine: Construction industry creating new school for Smith | GothamSchools

Rise & Shine: Construction industry creating new school for Smith

by Philissa Cramer

• The UFT says using test scores in tenure decisions reflects an illicit rule change. (GothamSchools,Post)
• The DOE will work with the construction industry to develop a non-charter school for Smith HS. (Times)
• Bob Herbert praises Harlem Village Academy and its founder for “raising the bar” in Harlem. (Times)
• President Obama urged governors yesterday to improve education. (Times, Wall Street Journal)
• A mom says her child is being bullied at Brooklyn’s PS 161, but the school isn’t so sure. (Daily News)
• More than 900 San Francisco teachers and school staff are set to be laid off this year. (S.F. Chronicle)
• Chicago’s schools chief says he will improve the school closure process there. (Chicago Sun-Times)

Filed under: Newsroom

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Schools Matter: Young Conservative Loves Obama Education Agenda, RttT, Merit Pay

Schools Matter: Young Conservative Loves Obama Education Agenda, RttT, Merit Pay

Jonathan Krohn, the 14 year old wunderkid of the conservative/Tea Party movement, spoke to progressive radio host, Thom Hartmann, after absorbing the scene at the recent CPAC gathering. You can skip to the 3:25 mark of the video to hear Jonathan "give credit where credit is due" - in this case, Krohn thinks our "socialist" President deserves support for his pro-competition, pro-charter, pay for test score, pro-merit-pay agenda. "Public education is already there and we're not going to be able to abolish it," chimes in the kid - but you sure get the impression that he'd like to.