Wednesday, March 24, 2010

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NAEP Reading Results Deemed Disappointing

In the latest administration of the test, 8th graders gained 1 point, while 4th graders’ scores were unchanged from 2007.(March 24, 2010) | Comments (2)

UPDATED

Chiefs Press Education Secretary on ESEA Issues

State superintendents pose tough questions about flexibility and rural education, but generally support the ESEA-renewal blueprint. (March 23, 2010)

Chicago Mayor Denies Role in Lobbying Schools

Former Chicago schools chief Arne Duncan tracked admissions requests over several years, creating a detailed compilation of politicians and influential business people who intervened on behalf of children.

• How Chicago VIPs Lobbied Schools Under Duncan

(March 24, 2010, MCT)

Editorial: 'Teach for America' gets chilly reception - Sacramento Opinion - Sacramento Editorial | Sacramento Bee

Editorial: 'Teach for America' gets chilly reception

Published: Wednesday, Mar. 24, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 16A

Recruiting and retaining motivated college graduates to teach math, science and special education has long been a struggle for schools in troubled, low-income areas.

To recruit such teachers, California depends on the traditional education major at an education school and alternative teacher certification programs for non-education majors. As fewer candidates enter the traditional programs, alternative programs have become all the more important.

One of those is Teach for America, a nonprofit that recruits top college graduates who commit to teach for at least two years at low-income schools. It has a tremendous record in California's largest urban areas – Los Angeles, Oakland, San Jose and San Francisco.

Sacramento is the lone holdout. That needs to change.

Even as it faces a tough budget year, the Sacramento City Unified school board should jump on the opportunity to hire 30 Teach for America

March Madness Academic Accountability � The Quick and the Ed

March Madness Academic Accountability

by Ben Miller

After an opening round weekend of thrilling upsets and buzzer beaters, the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament continues tomorrow evening with the 16 remaining teams battling for a spot in the Final Four. But while all of these squads have shown the ability to succeed in the postseason, many of them have failed to match this success in the classroom.
Last week, Education Secretary Arne Duncan proposed that teams with graduation rates below 40 percent be banned from postseason play. Duncan justified his idea, saying, “if you can’t manage to graduate two out of five players, how serious are the institution and the coach about their players’ academic success? How are you preparing student athletes for life?”
Curious to see how this proposal would affect the teams in this year’s Sweet Sixteen, Abdul Kargbo and Forrest Hinton have put together the video below, in which I talk through what would happen if the games were decided by graduation rates, not points scored.
The results show that clearly some teams are capable of properly balancing academics and athletics. Butler, Duke, Northern Iowa, and Xavier all have graduation rates above 75 percent. Other teams, however, clearly need to spend more time hitting the books. Washington (29 percent), Tennessee (30 percent), Kentucky (31 percent)

Media: NPR Story Misses Charter Dropouts This Week In Education

This Week In Education

Media: NPR Story Misses Charter Dropouts

Yet another example of just how powerful is our need for uplifting news (and how superficial our journalism has become) NPR picked up the story about the 100 percent college acceptance rate at Urban Prep Charter Academy for Young Men, the country's first all-male public charter high school (First All-Male Charter Sends Entire Class To College). As much as a third of the school's students dropped out or transferred before senior year, according to readers on my Chicago site who looked at the school's numbers. School head Tim King declined to respond to this issue when I emailed him about it.

Education Research Report: The 2009 Nation's Report Card in Reading

The 2009 Nation's Report Card in Reading

*
The 2009 Nation's Report Card in Reading has been released.

The Nation's Report Card presents results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) for 4th and 8th graders in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, Department of Defense Schools, and the nation as a whole. Significant results for reading in 2009 include:

* The average score for students at grade 4 showed no overall increase at the national level, although scores were significantly higher in 2009 than when the assessment began in 1992.

* Overall in 2009, 67 percent of students at grade 4 performed at or above Basic and 33 percent performed at or above Proficient; these percentages were unchanged from 2007, but were higher than previous assessment years.

* The average score for grade 8 in 2009 was higher when compared to both 2007 and 1992. The percentages of students at grade 8 performing at or above Basic and at or above Proficient (75 and 32, respectively) were also higher in 2009 than in both 2007 and 1992.

Nation & World | Reading scores hold steady on nationwide test | Seattle Times Newspaper

Nation & World | Reading scores hold steady on nationwide test| Seattle Times Newspaper

Reading scores hold steady on nationwide test

Reading scores for fourth and eighth grade students held mostly steady last year, with improvements seen in a handful of states and among low-income students.

By CHRISTINE ARMARIO

Associated Press Writer

Reading scores for fourth and eighth grade students held mostly steady last year, with improvements seen in a handful of states and among low-income students.

Scores on the National Assessment of Education Progress, a series of federally funded achievement tests, rose in two states in grade four and in nine states for grade eight in 2009. Overall, the fourth-grade average remained unchanged while eighth graders rose one point.

"I think it's not surprising given the financial stresses that are being felt across the country," David Gordon, a member of the board that oversees the tests, said of the relatively stagnant results.

While not showing any significant increases or declines, the report does offer a snapshot of the nation's changing demographics and how well students are doing across racial, ethnic, income and geographic lines.

White students made up 56 percent of fourth-grade test takers in 2009, compared with 73 percent in 1992, reflecting the growing diversity of schools in America. In the same time period, Hispanic students have risen from 7 to 20 percent.

And, in another sign of the nation's recession, the number of students eligible for free lunch rose as well - from 32 percent of fourth graders in 2003 to 38 percent in 2009.

Meanwhile, a significant achievement gap remains among several groups. Affluent, white and Asian/Pacific Islander students are scoring higher than low-income, black and Hispanic students.

Each group has made gains, but at about the same rate, resulting in a continuing, sizable gap - 26 points

Why are professors at Harvard, Duke, and Middlebury teaching courses on David Simon's The Wire? - By Drake Bennett - Slate Magazine

This Will Be on the Midterm. You Feel Me?Why so many colleges are teaching The Wire.

By Drake BennettPosted Wednesday, March 24, 2010, at 7:08 AM ET

The Wire. The WireAmong the police officers and drug dealers and stickup men and politicians and dockworkers and human smugglers and teachers and students and junkies and lawyers and journalists who populate the late, great HBO series The Wire, there is one academic. His name is David Parenti and he teaches social work at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. He is not a major character, but he appears throughout the show's fourth season—an earnest, well-meaning man defined in part by his naïveté about the inner-city kids whose lives he wants to improve. As for Johns Hopkins, Baltimore's best-known university, it only comes up as a place where the show's police officers can get cushy campus security jobs after they retire. Academia, in other words, is not a culture that the show's creators, David Simon and Ed Burns, betray much interest in exploring.

Schools Matter: Can Anita Dunn Put a Human Face to Michelle Rhee?

Can Anita Dunn Put a Human Face to Michelle Rhee?

by Jim Horn

More toxic than a drinking fountain in a DC school is the earned reputation of DC's school chancellor, Michelle Rhee. Chancellor Rhee's demeanor of fuming petulance and her public displays of boundless arrogance have become the poisonous trademarks of the new corporate school reform model based on public lies, insider deals, and media manipulation. And with the looming announcement coming a few weeks hence on the crushing of the teachers' union in DC, the Oligarchs have bought Rhee a most well-connected Madison Avenue mouthpiece, now charged with somehow putting lipstick on this angry, dragon. From Bill Turque:

A D.C. schools spokeswoman confirmed Friday that the agency is negotiating a contract with Dunn's firm, Squier Knapp Dunn. The objective is to more effectively handle the heavy load of local and national news media attention that Rhee attracts and to help roll out major stories to greater strategic advantage. The spokeswoman said Dunn has devoted time to District school issues but would not elaborate.
Dunn is expected, however, to assist with an announcement of

So Many "Are Prevented From Finding Their True Talents" Because Of Education Process - THE DAILY RIFF - Be Smarter. About Education.

Sir Ken Robinson:
Improving Schools Is Not Enough - We Must "Radically Transform Them"

See CNN 3 minute Video Below

With the endless talk of improving test scores and raising standards, we can always count on Sir Ken Robinson Ph.D., international leader of innovation and former professor in England, to bring us back to another dimension: what is education FOR anyway? Why are we all being educated the same way?

In this brief three minute video, Robinson reminds us that standardization and conformity used as a means to improve education in this country did not work, as most recently witnessed with No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

Sir Ken has made the anti-one-size-fits-all process of education his life work says "Our education systems were never designed to meet these challenges". He continues to say that instead of improving our schools, we have to radically transform them."

Some other key quotes:

"I believe a lot of people, not deliberately, but systematically, are prevented from finding their true talents by these processes of education because education is preoccupied with certain types of ability, and as a result, many people never discover what they are naturally good at."

Notes from the news, Mar. 24 | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Notes from the news, Mar. 24

by Erika Owens

Mixed local reaction to Obama education changes The Inquirer
The blueprint for reauthorizing NCLB includes major changes for the bottom 5% of schools.
Chicago's HS admissions -- model or mess? The Notebook blog
Chicago also has a HS admissions process like Philly, but in Chicago the district kept a log of people who called to appeal their child's assignment.
The school-reform merry-go-round Daily News (opinion)
Another op-ed from Chalk and Talk blogger and teacher, Christopher Paslay.
My Guest Blog Post on Edutopia Philly Teacher blog
The Bluford Elementary teacher wrote about "What teaching methods work best with at-risk students?"
First superintendent candidate meets public in Allentown The Morning Call
Philly regional superintendent Lucy Feria is a candidate to lead the Allentown schools.
On Blast: Music, News & Analysis from Philadelphia Student Union Philly Education Justice blog
This Year, Pa. Budget Process Gets an Early Start KYW
Math, Civics and Sciences founder alleges 'discrimination' by referees Daily News
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
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News: Chicago Clout Story Goes National This Week In Education

This Week In Education

News: Chicago Clout Story Goes National

Education" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); ">Chicago Schools Chief, Now an Obama Aide, Had V.I.P. List for Top Choices NYT: In July, Mr. Huberman announced an internal investigation of the city’s 52 application-based elementary and high schools. The president of the Chicago school board, Michael Scott, who had been subpoenaed in the federal investigation, committed suicide in November. Education" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); ">Raleigh Changes Busing Policy AP: The school board in Raleigh voted 5 to 4 Tuesday to roll back a policy that buses students to achieve diversity. 3 arrested as NC school board reverses busing plan AP:

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The school board in North Carolina's capital city narrowly agreed Tuesday to roll back a policy that buses students to achieve diversity, following a tense meeting at which three people were arrested, others were forcibly removed and heated arguments echoed passions from an era past. Are Teachers Unions To Blame For Failing Schools? NPR: Do unions really deserve more of the blame than shrinking budgets and other problems? A group of experts takes on that question in the latest Intelligence Squared U.S.debate. First All-Male Charter Sends Entire Class To CollegeNPR: Chicago's only all-male charter school, Urban Prep Charter Academy for Young Men - Englewood Campus, is graduating its first class this year. Every member of the class has been accepted to a four-year university. Former Bullies Share What Motivated Behavior NPR: In Georgia, a young man killed himself because he could no longer endure his bullies. And in Mass., bullies left a 13-year-old paralyzed. These cases and others like them have focused attention on bully behavior: Why do they do it, and do they change?

Thompson: Good Intentions Vs. Good Results

All historians, not just public school educators, should reflect upon The Death and Life of the Great American School System.

The past could become prologue for the Obama administration if it does not learn from Diane Ravitch’s masterpiece.

"It's as if a bunch of do-gooders sat together at the NewSchools Venture Fund summit and brainstormed a list of popular reforms ideas, and now they are going to force them upon the states," writes Ravitch, quoting Mike Petrilli's "NCLB2: The Carrot That Feels Like a Stick."

Continue reading "Thompson: Good Intentions Vs. Good Results" »

Schools Matter: CMO/EMO Updates

CMO/EMO Updates

Here are some EMO/CMO updates:

Pittsburg:

Imagine would like to expand in Pittsburgh, but the piece of real estate they were eyeing may not be available. The Pittsburgh Public Schools recently decided to sell an available building** to the Oasis Ministries rather than give the building to developer Sam Glasser. The $15,000 offer from Oasis was far below the $150,000-$350,000 put up by Glasser. Officially, the school board claims Glasser didn't submit his bid properly, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Pittsburg schools are just as concerned about Imagine (c'mon - a web search of these guys brings up plenty of dirt). Additionally, many school districts are rightfully afraid of losing enrollment to charter schools. **Update: the sale is now on hold due to questions about the financial stability of the Oasis Ministries**

If he's successful, this wouldn't be the first time Glasser has teamed up with Imagine to secure real estate. In fact, the well-known law in St. Louis that prevents public schools from being converted into

The Face of Hate in Wake County Votes to Resegregate

by Jim Horn

(Photo by Travis Long for the News & Observer)
Despite spirited protests by young people who came to chant, "hey hey, ho ho, resegregation's got to go," racism prevailed this evening as the Wake County School Board voted 5-4 along party lines to end one of the most successful school integration and diversity programs in the U. S. By doing so, the Republican majority, whose campaigns were run by the big money and the old, hateful veterans from the era of Jim Crow, brought Raleigh, Cary, and the rest of the Research Triangle back to the era of separate and unequal schools.

Now the battle must begin again to upend this decision and to restore the dignity of the people of Wake, the majority of whom are not behind this return to apartheid schools. These civil rights that have been denied tonight will be restored, and this grossest of social injustices will find a remedy. This will not stand.

From the News & Observer:

RALEIGH On a 5-4 vote, the Wake County school board’s ruling majority agreed tonight to stop busing students for diversity and to move to a community-based system of student assignment.

The Educated Guess � Too many students forced to retake algebra

Too many students forced to retake algebra

Posted in A to G Curriculum, Achievement Gap, STEM

California’s pursuit of algebra for all is becoming algebra forever for too many students.
A new study sponsored by the Noyce Foundation that looked into the dark art of math placement found that unexplainably large numbers of eighth grade Algebra students are being assigned to repeat Algebra in high school, to their detriment. At least half of these students end up doing worse in the course the second time around. A high proportion of the repeaters are non-Asian minority students, the data indicate.
The Noyce Foundation is due to release its Pathways Study later this month. The lead researchers presented the findings at the second of three forums on “Closing the Achievement Gap in Silicon Valley,” co-sponsored by the Silicon Valley Education Foundation and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

The study was limited to nine school districts in the Bay Area, but there’s no reason to doubt the same pattern isn’t statewide. The implication is that

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Education Week American Education News Site of Record

Editorial: 'Teach for America' gets chilly reception - Sacramento Opinion - Sacramento Editorial | Sacramento Bee

Editorial: 'Teach for America' gets chilly reception

March Madness Academic Accountability � The Quick and the Ed

March Madness Academic Accountability

Media: NPR Story Misses Charter Dropouts This Week In Education

Media: NPR Story Misses Charter Dropouts

Education Research Report: The 2009 Nation's Report Card in Reading

The 2009 Nation's Report Card in Reading

Nation & World | Reading scores hold steady on nationwide test | Seattle Times Newspaper

Reading scores hold steady on nationwide test

Why are professors at Harvard, Duke, and Middlebury teaching courses on David Simon's The Wire? - By Drake Bennett - Slate Magazine

This Will Be on the Midterm. You Feel Me?Why so many colleges are teaching The Wire.

Schools Matter: Can Anita Dunn Put a Human Face to Michelle Rhee?

Can Anita Dunn Put a Human Face to Michelle Rhee?

So Many "Are Prevented From Finding Their True Talents" Because Of Education Process - THE DAILY RIFF - Be Smarter. About Education.

Notes from the news, Mar. 24 | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Notes from the news, Mar. 24

News: Chicago Clout Story Goes National This Week In Education

News: Chicago Clout Story Goes National

Thompson: Good Intentions Vs. Good Results

Schools Matter: CMO/EMO Updates

CMO/EMO Updates

The Face of Hate in Wake County Votes to Resegregate

The Educated Guess � Too many students forced to retake algebra

Too many students forced to retake algebra

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