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Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Smarter Data Systems: The Data-Assessment Partnership � The Quick and the Ed

Smarter Data Systems: The Data-Assessment Partnership � The Quick and the Ed

Smarter Data Systems: The Data-Assessment Partnership

from The Quick and the Ed by Bill Tucker
Part V of this week’s Five Principles for Smarter Data Systems series–a guest post from Ben Boer, Senior Policy Associate at Advance Illinois:
Education Sector’s five principles for use of data re-imagine the relationship between data and education. Today, too much good data lives in silos — in state agencies, in districts, in schools, even at vendors. The data in a particular silo serves only the silo’s owner. Obviously, this prevents data from working together to create opportunities for analysis and synthesis. Critically, it prevents much good data from reaching the classroom to help students learn and teachers teach.
Data should be linked to students, enabling innovative new curriculum and allowing for the development of systems that can truly support teachers and administrators, along with parents, students, and community members. That data has to be more user-friendly than a spreadsheet – a truly Learner-Centered, Cross-Institutional system which provides secure but Open access to the Right data to drive instruction. But how do we move from the current closed system, with too little data living in inaccessible silos, to a robust hub of data that be accessed not only by teachers, students and parents, but also those outside the system who are interested in developing applications that can leverage this data? Can we take advantage of the moment when many states are re-thinking their assessment strategy? Can the current collection of technology systems truly handle the multifold increase in data that our systems could soon be producing?
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The Educated Guess � Stimulus money on hold

The Educated Guess � Stimulus money on hold

Stimulus money on hold

Posted in State Budget
The Obama administration has put a hold on approving a second round of  education stimulus money for California until Gov. Schwarzenegger responds to questions raised by school districts and parent advocates.
The groups — the Education Coalition and Parents and Students for Great Schools, led by Public Advocates – have challenged Schwarzenegger’s claim that the state will spend enough on K-12 schools to qualify for additional federal money. As a condition for receiving the money, California has agreed either to spend proportionally as much on education as on other programs, or to keep spending on education at a pre-recession level.

The groups charge that Schwarzenegger is weasling out of that responsibility by playing with the books. The administration has done so, the groups charge, by deferring payments to future years while counting them in current years. His proposed gas-tax swap, replacing the sales tax on gas with an excise tax, would have the effect of lowering the state’s obligation under Proposition 98 by $900 million in 2011-12.
About $200 million in additional stimulus money is at stake; additionally, the state 
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Local News | Gov. Gregoire says legislators must stay after if schools bills stall | Seattle Times Newspaper

Local News | Gov. Gregoire says legislators must stay after if schools bills stall | Seattle Times Newspaper

Gov. Gregoire says legislators must stay after if schools bills stall

Gov. Chris Gregoire said Tuesday that she'll keep lawmakers in Olympia until they resolve their debate over education, so that the state can apply for federal Race to the Top funds by June.
By DONNA GORDON BLANKINSHIP
The Associated Press
Gov. Chris Gregoire said Tuesday that she'll keep lawmakers in Olympia until they resolve their debate over education.
"The one thing I do know we need to do before anyone goes home is reforms in the K-12 system," Gregoire said. "We're going to have to make that happen, not only for Race to the Top, but even more importantly to me, for the success of the children."
As the end of the legislative session nears, the Senate and the House had yet to reach a compromise on this session's two big education measures.
The first issue is how the state should prepare to apply for a piece of the $4.35 billion the federal government's Race to the Top program wants to split among states involved in education reform. The second is what should be the next step toward revising the way in which Washington state pays for basic education.
Lawmakers in the House say the two issues should not be separated. They have passed a bill that combines elements of both ideas.
The Senate has approved the legislation associated with the federal Race to the Top competition but wants to hold off on tackling education financing.
Lawmakers in both houses said negotiations continue.
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Wherever you go, there you are. � Chalkdust101

Wherever you go, there you are. � Chalkdust101

Wherever you go, there you are.

In reflection on March 10, 2010 at 12:20 am
I may have missed the boat with a TEDxNYED reflection being that it is going on Wednesday and several others have already gushed about the day.  If you had paid attention to the stream of one-liners that was flying from stage to twitter during the day, you would have heard some gems like these:
Now we could donate more than just money, we could donate our skills.  Location did not matter anymore.  It is  “The Death of Distance” (Andy Carvin)
Volunteerism has been redefined and we are the ones redefining it. (Andy Carvin)
Media are not just tools, they mediate relationships.  When media changes, relationships change, and thus we change as a society. (Michael Wesch)
Teachers who are most successfully are the ones who share most successfully with the most people. (David Wiley)
A parade of rainbow sparkle ponies. (David Wiley)
The role of new media should be to increase our capacity to be generous and open.  Let’s get away from static artifacts of learning, and more towards openness and discourse and discussion. (David Wiley)
And that was before lunch had been served.  It was a day where it was easy to get caught up in the gravity of what was being spoken about, or to take what you heard and scream 
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EducationNews.org - A Global Leading News Source

EducationNews.org - A Global Leading News Source

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Children Count Too

Children Count Too is a new campaign about the importance of counting infants and young children in the 2010 Census.
Full story
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California's College Dreamers

3.10.10 - When will students figure out the politicians have sold them out? Hundreds of University of California students rallied against a 32% tuition hike last week.... 
Full story
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Many Nations Passing U.S. in Education, Expert Says

3.10.10 - A Senate panel learned that more students in more countries graduate from high school and college and score higher on achievement tests than students in the United... 
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Pressed by Charters, Public Schools Try Marketing

3.10 - Rafaela Espinal, facing camera, the principal of Public School 125 in Harlem, takes prospective parents on a tour. One selling point is the school’s swimming pool... 
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EdReports

EDU ASSOC ARTICLES / EDUCATION ORGANIZATIONS/ THINK TANKS

The Rationale for Preparing Mature Adults as Teachers of Diverse Children in Urban Poverty

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3.5.10 - Martin Haberman - Seven thousand youth drop out of school everyday. The achievement gaps between racial groups and economic classes continues to widen. The persistentshortage of teachers who can be effective in 120 failing urban school systems guarantees that the miseducation of seven million diverse children in urban poverty will continue. 
Full story
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GothamSchools - Breaking News and Analysis of the NYC Public Schools

GothamSchools - Breaking News and Analysis of the NYC Public Schools

Rise & Shine: Hiring freeze for NYC teachers lifted — in Florida

by Philissa Cramer
  • The city’s high school graduation rate rose to 59 percent. (GothamSchools, Times, Daily News, Post,NY1)
  • District schools in Harlem are focusing more on marketing to compete with their charter neighbors. (Times)
  • One of the unions of school bus drivers has authorized a strike but has no plans to carry one out. (NY1)
  • Brooklyn Generation School, a high school, is using time in innovative ways. (Education Week)
  • The Albany Times-Union says the state should justify the cost of Regents exams before continuing them.
  • Florida’s Broward County, which recently laid off teachers, is seeking NYC teachers. (Miami Herald)
  • The Obama Administration will investigate Los Angeles’s services for immigrant students. (L.A. Times)
  • Evidence about the success of school turnarounds is largely anecdotal. (USA Today)
  • The content of proposed national standards will be revealed today. (Washington Post)
  • An expert says the United States is lagging behind more countries in educational attainment. (Times)
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Daily Orange - Tuition turmoil: Students at UC Santa Cruz shut down the campus by protesting tuition raises

Daily Orange - Tuition turmoil: Students at UC Santa Cruz shut down the campus by protesting tuition raises

Student protestors shut down the campus at the University of California, Santa Cruz on Thursday, resulting in injury to students and damage to vehicles when students rallied against UC-wide tuition raises as part of a national day of action to fight against the financial practices of universities.

During Thursday’s National Day of Action for Public Education students at universities across the nation, including Syracuse University, protested tuition hikes in solidarity with the UC students.

The UCSC campus was effectively shut down by students protesting the 32 percent tuition raise at UC schools that was announced in October. By 6 a.m., the main and west entrances were closed by protesters, according to the university’s Web site. Students demanded the UC system reverse its tuition hike and that the state of California reform some of its financial policies that affect the UC system.

Erin Ellison, a graduate psychology student at UCSC who served as the media contact for the Strike Committee of the UCSC Student Organizing Committee, said the protest was a success because it was well attended, with hundreds of students forming picket lines in the morning and thousands of people rallying at noon.

“Classes were canceled and workers were relieved of their duties. Business as usual was prevented, sending the message that we won't put up with it,” Ellison said. “There were many protesters for whom this was their first direct action or demonstration of any kind. This was a major victory.”

A vehicle windshield was reported smashed at 7 a.m. Thursday in the vicinity of the strike, according to a safety update on the UCSC Web site. The update also said a teacher felt intimidated by protesters taking pictures of his vehicle when trying to enter campus. No arrests were reported.

One female student was hit by a non-protester’s car, and another student’s foot was run over by the same car during the strike at around 7:40 a.m., according to a news release on the UCSC Student Organizing Committee 
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Financial report shows San Diego schools budget in peril

Financial report shows San Diego schools budget in peril

Financial report shows San Diego schools budget in peril

The San Diego Unified School District Board of Education voted 3-2 Tuesday night to approve a state-mandated financial report that described perilous conditions for the immediate future.
Despite reducing spending the past several years, the next two fiscal years will be “really, really tight,” said James Masias, the district’s chief financial officer.
The report, to be sent to the San Diego County Office of Education next week, is a statement on whether the district can meet its financial obligations for the current fiscal year and the two that follow.
After required reserves are figured in, the ending balance in the district’s unrestricted general fund account in the current fiscal year is projected to be $20.1 million, but only if rigid spending controls are followed, according to Masias.
The next two years, the ending balance drops to just more than $700,000 for an unrestricted general fund budget of more than $700 million, Masias said.
End-of-year surpluses are usually well into the millions of dollars, even in lean times. The San Diego district is the second-largest in California, and total spending has topped $2 billion in the recent past.
School district budgets are divided into unrestricted funds, which can be spent as the district deems fit, and restricted funds, which includes federal and state money for specific programs.
The restricted fund ending balance at the end of the 2011-12 fiscal year could drop to $81,034, according to Masias. That compares to $34 million this year.
Most of the difference comes from projections of lower revenues.
“We’re getting down to the skeleton — we’re hitting the bone marrow, so to speak,” Masias said.
Those skimpy surpluses also assume that in future years school board members will re-implement half-day kindergarten, eliminate vice principals and librarians and increase class sizes for the first through third grades to the maximum allowable.
Board member John DeBeck, who voted against approving the report, said the “assumptions

Read more: http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2010-03-09/local-county-news/financial-report-shows-san-diego-schools-budget-in-peril#ixzz0hmNGJAZ2
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American River Current - You'll get nothing if you don't ask for it

American River Current - You'll get nothing if you don't ask for it

You'll get nothing if you don't ask for it

This week begins a series of protests all over California. While we at the Current encourage students at American River College to participate in as many of these protests at possible, the ARC Associated Student Body is focusing its efforts on the “March in March.”
 
The “March in March” takes place Monday, March 22. Dedicated students from all over the state will rally in defense of higher education on this date. ARC students concerned over cuts to higher education and wanting to express their views should assemble at the ARC campus by 8 a.m.
 
Buses will be provided to transport participants, free of charge to Raley Field where the march to the west steps of the State Capital begins at 9 a.m. The goal of the Associated Student Body, in association with the Student Senate of California Community Colleges, is to see at least 10,000 student participants.
 
This march is meant to protest skyrocketing fees, tuition costs, cuts to student services, class cuts, and other barriers to student success. We urge all students, faculty, and administrators from California’s Community Colleges, CSU, and UC campuses across the state to attend, but anyone who is concerned about the future of education is welcome to join the march. The more of us that march, the harder it will be to ignore us.
 
 For those of you who need an extra incentive, lunch will be provided. Also, if you have classes during the march, ARC’s Campus Life office can provide a letter to prove you attended the march. Hopefully, ARC professors will be lenient with their attendance policies in order for students to attend the event.
 
With a free lunch, an excuse to ditch class, and a chance to save higher education (the future), we have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Remember, cuts to higher education means cuts to a future we all share, but if we don’t speak who will? Our voices must be heard!  
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UC students, workers protest at Blum Capital meeting - San Francisco Business Times:

UC students, workers protest at Blum Capital meeting - San Francisco Business Times:

University of California students and workers protested Tuesday at Blum Capital Partners’ investors meeting in Sausalito to voice concern over what they view as conflicts of interest between Dick Blum’s role as a UC regent and his firm’s investment in for-profit education.
Students and workers pointed to Blum Capital’s ties to companies such as Career Education Corp.(NASDAQ: CECO) and ITT Tech to explain what they see as the UC leaders’ quest to privatize higher education. Shortly after the decision to raise student fees by 32 percent was made, Blum Capital Partners rushed to purchase even more ITT stock, the protesters said.
Blum Capital Partners said it would have no comment.
“Where do you think our young go when public higher education becomes inaccessible?” 
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MediaPost Publications Berkeley Protesters Fight For Right To Party 03/10/2010

MediaPost Publications Berkeley Protesters Fight For Right To Party 03/10/2010
If you squinted and sniffed, it almost seemed like 1969: smoke, fire, broken glass, yelling students, terrified bystanders, police presence; all the elements were there for a good old-fashioned University of California, Berkeley, political protest, except the politics.

Berkeley's most recent Day of Rage wasn't over troop deployments, the war in Afghanistan, sending support to Haiti or Chile or even the healthcare issue. It was over greenbacks: a tuition hike at what still is the biggest bargain in higher education. Like a 10th-generation Xerox, this protest had as much in common with the 1960s Berkeley brand of activism as a glass of water does with a pint of Guinness.
According to press reports, the 2010 Berkeley protest started at an open-air dance party and quickly escalated into violence and a "sit in" at Durant Hall. It is reported that the dancing continued through the action. I went to school at another campus known for its political activism -- the University of Wisconsin, Madison -- and we had a different name for this activity: Friday night. Besides the alcohol, which as everyone knows has a calming effect, the revolt concerned a fee increase that would push Berkeley's tuition over $10,000 a year for California residents. It was a free education until Reagan decided to end the party in the 1980s. So what do you get for $10K and change?
According to U.S. News and World Report, Berkeley ranks 21st in its annual national university ratings, keeping company with places like Harvard, Yale, Princeton and the University of Chicago. However, if you want to attend any of the other universities in the top 20, you'll spend an average of $37,851 a year (resident or non, it doesn't matter -- the rest are all private institutions). What else can you get for the price of a Berkeley education? There's always the University of Missouri (rank 102), the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (106), or Illinois State University at Normal (tier three).
These universities double tuition for non-residents, like Californians, who can get one of the best educations in the country at Wal-Mart prices because they live in the Golden State. If anything, the non-residents should have been the ones throwing food, sticks and vinegar-soaked red bandannas (meant to look like blood) during the protest; they're the ones who have been paying an additional $22,670 on top of the $10,000 resident tuition!
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