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Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Upcoming Events - Berkeley Review of Education

PictureUpcoming Events - Berkeley Review of Education

Berkeley Review of Education

THE STATE OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 
IN CALIFORNIA
FRIDAY, MARCH 12th


The Berkeley Review of Education (BRE) invites you to participate in a one-day symposium that brings together leading scholars and policy-makers in education from across California to discuss crucial issues of the economic, political, and social dimensions of public education during the current fiscal crisis and beyond.
8:15 – 8:45       Coffee Reception & Registration
8:45-9:00          UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau, Opening Remarks
9:00-9:50          Jack O’Connell, California Superintendent of Public Instruction
9:55-10:45        Judith Warren Little, Professor, UC Berkeley
10:45-11:00      Break
11:00-11:50      Cristina Gonzalez, Professor, UC Davis
11:50-12:30      Lunch
12:30-1:20:      Bruce Fuller, Professor, UC Berkeley
                          From Reagan to Obama--Institutions, Relationships, and the Shrinking State
1:25-2:15         Norton Grubb, Professor, UC Berkeley 
                         Lynda Tredway, PLI Coordinator, UC Berkeley 
 California's Race to the Bottom: History, Consequences, and Democracy in Danger
 This presentation will trace the steady decline of California K-12 education since the 1950s  highlighting dramatic events like Prop 13, and then analyzing the consequences, partly through  the experiences of Principal Leadership Institute graduates and students. The session will conclude with a general discussion of the requirements of citizens in a functional democracy.
  
2:15-2:30          Break2:30-3:20          P. David Pearson, Dean, School of Education, UC Berkeley 
                          Cynthia Coburn, Associate Professor, UC Berkeley
The Impact of State and Federal Policy of Literacy Pedagogy in California: A Tale of                Simultaneous Success and Failure Coburn and Pearson draw from their recent review of literacy policy in the Unites States (co-authored with GSE graduate student Sarah Woulfin) to carve out a California slice-- tracing the impact of a range of policy levers on reading curriculum, teaching, and learning.3:30-4:15           Anthony Smith, Superintendent of Oakland Unified School District 

4:15-4:30           Shlomy Kattan, BRE Editor, Closing Remarks
4:30-5:30           Reception  
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Daily 49er - Our View- Calif. calls out 187 low-performing schools

Daily 49er - Our View- Calif. calls out 187 low-performing schools

Our View- Calif. calls out 187 low-performing schools

By Staff
|
Published: Tuesday, March 9, 2010
List
Maximillian Piras
As we all progress to new levels of education, problems undoubtedly occur and often our typical response is to blame these problems on the actions of previous educational institutions.
In middle school, the phrase, “Don’t play games, this isn’t recess anymore,” is echoed. In high school, “Stop being so immature, we are not in middle school anymore,” was the phrase of choice. In college, blame is placed on high schools with the statement, “Get over it; we are not in high school anymore.” The blame-game continues well into life, but really the question is: “Is it appropriate?”

Part of President Obama’s agenda of “change” is to brings schools, falling short of standards, up to par.
In order to get the ball rolling, California released a list of 187 low-performing schools on Monday.
The criteria used to develop the list are narrowed down to the school’s academic performance and graduation rate. The process started off, though, by sorting schools into groups based on whether a school was identified as being in Program Improvement (PI) for the 2009-10 school year. This section of schools was labeled Tier I and included three groups — elementary schools, middle schools and high schools.
Schools were also divided into groups based on school eligibility for funds. Schools that did not receive these funds were the focus. Tier II include these schools. This list included high schools and middle schools.
The bottom five percent of each group determined the list of 187 schools. The state’s Department of Education 
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CF High School students rally

Central Falls High School students plan to hold a rally to discuss how the recent teacher controversy has affected them.

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Cutting California from 'Race to the Top' is bad for the country - Los Angeles Times

Cutting California from 'Race to the Top' is bad for the country - Los Angeles Times

Cutting California from 'Race to the Top' is bad for the country

One in eight American children lives in California, where the budget crisis has already hit public schools hard and resulted in teacher layoffs.

Blowback

March 09, 2010|By Stacy Brown
As I started reading The Times' March 4 article, "California disqualified from receiving federal school funds," I hoped the story would examine the devastating impact the Obama administration's decision to disqualify our state from a round of "Race to the Top" grants would have on our schools and children. Instead, The Times devoted much of its story to finding explanations for why California was cut off from the first round of grants; the idea that reform-wary teachers unions deserve blame underlies many of the comments in the article. Those of us involved in education (I conduct research in mathematics education) are all too familiar with this type of finger-pointing, which does little to create public discourse about critical issues.
Everyone in the U.S. should care about the state of public education in California, and here's why: Roughly 1 out of every 8 children in the United States lives in California. The 6.9 million school-age children here outnumber the total populations of all but 12 states. This fact should have given U.S. Secretary of Education Arnie Duncan some pause before making his decision.
It is hard to pinpoint the true costs of cutting off our schools from this money, but I do believe they are great. One major setback we can identify easily is the loss of our newest and often most energetic and passionate teachers, who work at the schools that need them most yet are the first victims of funding cuts.
Teachers are our front line. We ask them not only to teach our children core subjects (and hopefully some art and music as well), but they are also responsible for identifying children in need and students with learning disabilities, physical disabilities and less understood needs such as autism. Parents call on teachers to challenge and inspire their children. But how can they have the time, energy and resources to do so in the current environment?
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Obama administration: more civil rights enforcement in schools - WTOL.com - Toledo's News Leader |

Obama administration: more civil rights enforcement in schools - WTOL.com - Toledo's News Leader |

Obama administration: more civil rights enforcement in schools

Just 12 percent of high schools produce half the dropouts in America. Three-fourths of African-American and Latino come from those schools. © iStockphoto.comJust 12 percent of high schools produce half the dropouts in America. Three-fourths of African-American and Latino come from those schools. © iStockphoto.com
By Amanda Paulson
Education Secretary Arne Duncan signaled Monday the Obama administration's intention to step up enforcement of civil rights laws that apply to schools and colleges, many of which are often ignored.
In remarks delivered in Selma, Ala, timed to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the marches in which civil rights protesters were brutally attacked by police, Secretary Duncan said, "The truth is that, in the last decade, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has not been as vigilant as it should have been in combating gender and racial discrimination and protecting the rights of individuals with disabilities. But that is about to change.... We are going to reinvigorate civil rights enforcement."
In particular, Duncan discussed the Education Department's plan to issue guidance letters to schools across the United States, as well as its intention to conduct numerous compliance reviews around issues like discipline and equal access to educational opportunities.
He highlighted certain indicators that point to inequities existing today:
  • Upon finishing high school, white students are about six times more likely to be college-ready in biology than African-American students. In algebra, they're four-plus times more likely.
  • Just 12 percent of high schools produce half the dropouts in America. Three-fourths of African-American and Latino come from those schools.
  • African-American students without disabilities are more than three times as likely to be expelled as their white peers.
Duncan also pointed to a Denver Post investigation that showed that three-quarters of teachers who had been let go and had trouble finding another teaching job over the past four years were placed in high-poverty schools.
That last issue – access to good teachers – is one that Amy Wilkins would like to see the 
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What Professor Pay Cuts Mean for College Students at SmartMoney.com

What Professor Pay Cuts Mean for College Students at SmartMoney.com

What Professor Pay Cuts Mean for College Students

As tuition at many colleges and universities continued to balloon for the 2009-10 academic year, a new survey suggests faculty salaries remained largely unchanged.
Of course, adjusted for negative inflation, no change in a salary is equivalent to a modest raise. But many professors weren’t that lucky. Nearly a third of faculty members surveyed said their salaries had been reduced, with a median decrease of 3%, according to a survey of more than 215,000 professors released Monday by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR), an industry group. Roughly 21% of faculty incumbents reported their salaries were unchanged from the previous year.
For the average student, the upshot is that less of each dollar they spend to attend classes goes toward the salaries of their professors. It’s a trend that some higher-education workers say could have a negative impact on the quality of students’ education.
“To see the magnitude of how far-reaching the cuts have been for faculty salaries was a surprise to us,” says Andy Brantley, president of CUPA-HR. “There are tremendous budget challenges, but there’s a point where the academic mission is potentially compromised.”


Read more: What Professor Pay Cuts Mean for College Students at SmartMoney.com http://www.smartmoney.com/Personal-Finance/College-Planning/What-Professor-Pay-Cuts-Mean-for-College-Students/#ixzz0hm5NGOfA
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2nd BANANA Tuesday 3-9-10

2nd BANANA Tuesday 3-9-10



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