Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Rise & Shine: State, unions agree to tie teacher grades to scores | GothamSchools
Rise & Shine: State, unions agree to tie teacher grades to scores
- A new state teacher evaluation system will tie grades to test scores. (Times, Wall Street Journal, Post)
- A new charter school, Explore Excel, says it will take in three grades of any school closed nearby. (Post)
- Supreme Court nominee Elana Kagan is one of many illustrious alumnae of Hunter College HS. (Times)
- Brooklyn high school students aired their movie about Dominican life at the Tribeca Film Festival. (NY1)
- Real estate brokers are wary about advertising apartments’ proximity to individual schools. (Times)
- Pro-charter school state senators say pressure by teachers unions won’t change their positions. (Post)
- High school pitchers will soon have limits on how many pitches they can throw in a game. (Daily News)
- Los Angeles will test all students in order to identify more gifted ones from minority groups. (L.A. Times)
- The Obama administration wants $375 million over five years for non-abstinence only sex ed. (Times)
- D.C.’s teachers contract will be approved, with some reforms for now going unfunded. (Washington Post)
- With money tight, D.C.’s Michelle Rhee is hiring new top-level administrators. (Washington Post)
- The proportion of students requiring remedial classes in college is at an all-time high. (AP)
- A professor argues that ed schools should give students a full year of classroom training. (L.A. Times)
This Week In Education AM News: Court Nominee Kagan's High School Years
AM News: Court Nominee Kagan's High School Years
Smart girls were the rule at Kagan's high school AP: There were a lot of smart girls at Hunter College High School, but only one of them posed for the yearbook in a judge's robes, quoted a Supreme Court justice and is remembered for playing a tough attorney in an eighth-grade trial... U.S. adviser gets an earful on test scores Daily Herald: Educators expressed resounding frustration with an increased focus on test scores as one of the only sure ways to net additional funding... State drops out of school grant race Argus Leader: The state finished last among the 41 applicants in the first round of Race to the Top... L.A. schools on sharper lookout for gifted students — and they find them LA Times: After some schools begin focusing on the issue, the number of blacks deemed gifted rises 9%...Goodbye -- and good riddance -- WASL; hello MSP Seattle PI: State Superintendent Randy Dorn's campaign promise of scrapping the 12-year-old WASL is nearing fruition as students across the state in grades three through eight gear up for the Measurements of Student Progress assessment later this month... Community Colleges An American Export NPR: Students come from all over the world to take advantage of the United States' higher education system. One aspect of that system is catching on overseas: the community college... Calif. woman pleads guilty in Sandra Cantu murder AP: A local Sunday school teacher's guilty plea in the killing of an 8-year-old girl has brought relief to residents of this small California city, even as disturbing questions remained -- including how, where and why the girl was murdered.Quotes: Duncan's "Zero" Opposition View Of Reform
"There’s just an outpouring of support for the common-sense changes and the unprecedented investments we’re making.” - Arne Duncan comment highlighted in Valerie Strauss blog entry "Say what, Secretary Duncan?" Media: Hechinger Report Launches (Sans Kantrowitz)
Last week I wondered aloud whether The Hechinger Report had launched and if it was shaping up to be all that it was touted to be (Has The Hechinger Report Launched?). Today, the folks at Hechinger sent out an email to education journalists (but not me) confirming that the report (THR, they like to call it) was indeed officially launched. Still no news on the whereabouts of former Newsweek writer Barbara Kantrowitz, who was touted as a big hire for Hechinger but hasn't been seen since. So it's not exactly clear who's going to be doing all the great journalism that foundations are paying Hechinger to do. Hechinger's Richard Colvin has so far refused to answer questions about her role or share the organization's annual report or 990. No response
Local News | Average students shine with help from AVID program | Seattle Times Newspaper
Average students shine with help from AVID program
AVID — Advancement Via Individual Determination — is part supercharged study hall, part motivational seminar and part time-management training. It motivates kids in the academic middle to aim for college.
It's hard to imagine that Bruna Afonso was once apathetic about her studies, unsure if she'd finish high school, much less go on to college.
She now earns good grades, takes tough courses and almost always speaks up in class, as she did recently during a spirited debate over the United States' role in Bosnia.
A few years ago, she disliked school and didn't try to do well.
Now? "I'm busting my butt," she said.
She credits her transformation to a program with a mouthful of a name: Advancement Via Individual Determination, or AVID.
Part supercharged study hall, part motivational seminar and part time-management training, AVID plucks students such as Afonso — with C or low-B averages — and turns them into college material.
Outside of AVID, average students often aren't encouraged to take challenging classes, especially if they're students not putting out a lot of effort.
Seniority cuts state's newer teachers first
It's just after 2:05 p.m., and the halls at Tacoma's Mount Tahoma High School are emptying fast as students rush for freedom.
Empowerment schools to switch literacy texts | Philadelphia Public School Notebook
Empowerment schools to switch literacy texts
by Paul Socolar on May 10 2010 Posted in Latest news
Six years after standardizing the textbooks and instructional programs for all of its schools, the District is now planning a switch in its literacy texts for grades K-8, but only in its Empowerment Schools - the schools that have repeatedly failed to meet performance targets.
The District's 2010-11 budget, presented to City Council on Monday, includes a $10 million budget line for new textbooks, and the District plans to purchase theImagine It! series by SRA for grades K-6 and literacy materials by Glencoefor grades 7-8, according to a District spokesperson
SRA is also the publisher of the Corrective Reading and Corrective Math remedial programs now used in Empowerment Schools. Both Glencoe and SRA are now subsidiaries of textbook giant McGraw-Hill.
Superintendent Arlene Ackerman said that the Empowerment Schools need to make a change and focus more on skill development. "The young people in our Empowerment Schools at every grade level lack strong basic skills. We've found that to go to a curriculum that's much more structured - much more teacher-directed - has been successful."
In speaking to City Council, Ackerman referred to the proposed new curriculum materials by the name "Open Court," which is actually another literacy series produced by SRA. Some describe Imagine It!, released in 2008, as a successor to
“A Moment In Time” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...
“A Moment In Time”
“A Moment In Time” is the compilation of photos that the New York Times organized. Thousands of people from all over the world took a picture at the same moment on May 2nd.
It’s an amazing collection. The photos can certainly be used in class to have English Language Learners describe and discuss them. Also, teachers can have their students use the same idea on a smaller scale and develop their own “moments in time.”
It’s an amazing collection. The photos can certainly be used in class to have English Language Learners describe and discuss them. Also, teachers can have their students use the same idea on a smaller scale and develop their own “moments in time.”
“War Games: Seeing Iraq Through The Eyes Of Its Children”
Colorado House ready to vote on controversial teacher reform bill - The Denver Post
Colorado House ready to vote on controversial teacher reform bill
POSTED: 05/11/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT
UPDATED: 05/11/2010 05:56:18 AM MDT
RELATED
- 2010 Colorado Education Bill
- May 10:
- Colorado education bill narrowly clears committee
- May 8:
- Tenure bill hits next hurdle Monday
- May 6:
- Smaller teachers union backs Colo. reform bill
A controversial teacher bill took another step forward in its legislative journey Monday as it narrowly passed the House appropriations committee to set up a vote today on the House floor.
But Monday's 7-6 approval in committee of Senate Bill 191 was fraught with emotion, a recurring theme as the bitterly fought legislation linking teacher evaluations to student academic growth and changing the way teachers get and keep nonprobationary status makes its way through the legislature.
"This is the most difficult bill that I've dealt with since I've been down here," said Rep. Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver, whose parents are teachers.
"There is a lot of emotion on this bill from both sides," said Ferrandino, who broke down in tears before voting for the bill.
Ferrandino, who credited special-education teachers for getting him through school, said he understands "how hard teachers work."
"To go against them and hear their reactions and come down on a different side was very hard," he said.
Ferrandino and Rep. Jim Riesberg, D-Greeley, were the only Democrats in committee to vote for the bill.
All Republican committee members supported it, repeating the party-line theme of the bill's progress.
Colorado education bill narrowly clears committee 19 05/10/2010 - The House today delayed a vote on Senate Bill 191, scheduling consideration of the controversial teacher reform bill for Tuesday. Earlier today, the House Appropriations Committee passed the bill on a 7-6 vote. 
CU confers 5,825 degrees in Boulder05/08/2010 - Adelita Mendoza returned to college because she wants to find the cure for cancer.
Panel OKs teacher reform bill05/07/2010 - The House education committee heard more than eight hours of testimony before approving a controversial teacher reform bill today in an emotional meeting that stretched into the morning.
Gun-rights group to drop concealed-weapons lawsuit against CSU05/07/2010 - A gun-rights group plans to drop its lawsuit challenging Colorado State University's prohibition of concealed weapons on campus.
“School to Parents: Volunteer or Else!” | Engaging Parents In School...
“School to Parents: Volunteer or Else!”
School to Parents: Volunteer or Else! is the title of a post on one of the New York Times’ blogs. It’s about a school district in San Jose that is planning to require 30 volunteer hours a year from each of their 13,000 students (88% of which are poor, according the the article).
Now, that’s going to work out well….
Why not make something mandatory — which is not going to be enforceable anyway (are they going to punish the child if a parent doesn’t participate?) — instead of putting energy into building trusting and reciprocal relationships with parents; learning their concerns, visions for themselves, and visions for their children; helping
“Get Real About Parental Accountability”
Now, that’s going to work out well….
Why not make something mandatory — which is not going to be enforceable anyway (are they going to punish the child if a parent doesn’t participate?) — instead of putting energy into building trusting and reciprocal relationships with parents; learning their concerns, visions for themselves, and visions for their children; helping
“Get Real About Parental Accountability”
Renee Moore, a talented teacher in the Mississippi Delta (who I will be interviewing in my other blog next month)
”The problem is that the teachers don’t have to listen to us”
Several colleges make below-market loans to top officials, IRS finds | California Watch
Several colleges make below-market loans to top officials, IRS finds
A new, wide-ranging report on colleges and universities by the Internal Revenue Service has found that a number of institutions make loans with below-market interest rates to their top administrators.
The May 7 report was part of an IRS review into universities' compliance with tax laws. The agency is looking for possible targets for investigation as the federal budget gets tighter, Inside Higher Ed reports.
While the report zeroes in most sharply on executive compensation and taxes on unrelated business income, it also notes that a number of colleges make loans to their six highest paid officers, directors, trustees and key employees.
Of the 344 colleges and universities that responded to the IRS survey, 28 reported making loans or offering lines of credit to these top administrators. In a large percentage of these cases, the loans were offered on terms below
Parents using lemonade, other resources to stave off school budget cuts
The May 7 report was part of an IRS review into universities' compliance with tax laws. The agency is looking for possible targets for investigation as the federal budget gets tighter, Inside Higher Ed reports.
While the report zeroes in most sharply on executive compensation and taxes on unrelated business income, it also notes that a number of colleges make loans to their six highest paid officers, directors, trustees and key employees.
Of the 344 colleges and universities that responded to the IRS survey, 28 reported making loans or offering lines of credit to these top administrators. In a large percentage of these cases, the loans were offered on terms below
Parents using lemonade, other resources to stave off school budget cuts
The lemonade stand used to be the go-to fundraiser for children wanting field trips, new sports uniforms and marching band outfits. In the Santa Cruz mountains, parents hope the tangy homemade drink can help save their schools.
Disappointed that voters in the recent election defeated a $95-a-year-tax that would have raised about $200,000 for schools, parents in the Loma Prieta Joint Union School District have turned to lemonade.
According to the San Jose Mercury News, Loma Prieta parents worry that school budget woes would lead to staff job losses, mushrooming class sizes, and the elimination of music and art classes. So this Sunday, expect to see adults manning lemonade stands. The price? $95 a-cup.
"Hopefully, we will get $100,000 if the people who said yes will still contribute," said Jennifer Straw, one of the
Former CalPERS chief received $200k for unused leave
Disappointed that voters in the recent election defeated a $95-a-year-tax that would have raised about $200,000 for schools, parents in the Loma Prieta Joint Union School District have turned to lemonade.
According to the San Jose Mercury News, Loma Prieta parents worry that school budget woes would lead to staff job losses, mushrooming class sizes, and the elimination of music and art classes. So this Sunday, expect to see adults manning lemonade stands. The price? $95 a-cup.
"Hopefully, we will get $100,000 if the people who said yes will still contribute," said Jennifer Straw, one of the
Former CalPERS chief received $200k for unused leave
Federico Buenrostro Jr., former head of the California Public Employees' Retirement System, allegedly received the keys to a Lake Tahoe condominium and a six-figure salary when he left state service in 2008 to start work for an investment consulting firm, according to a civil fraud lawsuit filed last week by Attorney General Jerry Brown.
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