Let’s Make a Deal: How to Help Fading (and Failing) Students at the End of the Year EducationNews.org

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EducationNewsToday | Texas ed board to vote on social studies standards

EducationNewsToday | Field narrowed to 5 finalists for San Diego superintendent

Global | Who chooses the set-texts our children study?

EducationNewsToday | 16 Philadelphia principals lack state credentials

Global | Focus on league tables harms poorer pupils' university chances

Global | Art teacher accused of Pritt Stick attack 'was assaulted regularly by pupils'

EducationNewsToday | Phila. Archdiocese to close special-ed school

Higher Education | UC Berkeley Asking Incoming Students For DNA...

EducationNewsToday | CalPERS plans to seek $700 million more from state, school districts

EducationNewsToday | Few Hispanic High School Dropouts Earn GED

Let’s Make a Deal: How to Help Fading (and Failing) Students at the End of the Year

5.19.10 - Matt Amaral - The reason I like the end of the year so much is because it is such a clean break. At no

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Bethesda play space in religious controversy

5.19.10 - In the days before three Montgomery County kindergarten classes were slated to go on a field trip to the Be With Me Playseum, an indoor play space in Bethesda, the...

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Education Secretary Steps Into a Minefield in Brooklyn

5.19.10 - Among other changes, states can score points by raising the number of charter schools. The New York Senate has passed a bill to do just that, but the teachers’ unions are fighting...

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Some Head Start workers commit fraud so kids qualify, investigators say

5.19.10 - Undercover investigators trying to enroll a handful of fictitious children in federally funded Head Start child care centers found that in about half of the cases, workers fraudulent

Correction: Bryce Harper Is Actually In College, So He Can Skip College Sooner � The Quick and the Ed

Correction: Bryce Harper Is Actually In College, So He Can Skip College Sooner � The Quick and the Ed

Correction: Bryce Harper Is Actually In College, So He Can Skip College Sooner

by Kevin Carey

Yesterday, in arguing that college isn’t for everyone, I wrote:

Of course college isn’t for everyone. Just last week, the Post profiled 17-year old high school senior Bryce Harper, who definitely shouldn’t go to college. Instead, he should (and will) become a professional baseball player and earn millions of dollars.

I had assumed that because Harper is 17 years old and about to enter the baseball draft, he mush be a high school senior. Wrong! Last night an editor of Baseball America emailed the following:

You mention Bryce Harper and call him a high school senior. This is false. Harper was a sophomore last year at Las Vegas High, but got his GED over the summer and enrolled at the College of Southern Nevada this year, where he’s been taking classes and playing baseball. This

Virginia apologizes

by Kris Amundson

We’re sorry.
In November, in a fit of buyer’s remorse and the change fever that we saw in last night’s elections, Virginians elected Ken Cuccinelli as our Attorney General. Cooch, as he is not-always-affectionately known, has since taking office decided that what he really wanted to be was Chancellor of the Commonwealth’s higher education system.
That’s the only explanation for his announcement that he is investigating a University of Virginia professor for fraud. Professor Michael Mann is a leading researcher in climate change.
And Cooch doesn’t believe in climate change.
The purpose of science is to tell us about the natural world, whether we like the answer or not,” said Alan 

Specter -- Key Research Backer -- Defeated Quick Takes: May 19, 2010 - Inside Higher Ed

Quick Takes: May 19, 2010 - Inside Higher Ed

Specter -- Key Research Backer -- Defeated

Sen. Arlen Specter's defeat in Tuesday's Democratic primary in Pennsylvania will end a political career in which the senator was frequently a key ally of advocates for biomedical research and education. Specter, a Republican until last year, was for many years the ranking Republican on the Senate appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over spending on education programs and the National Institutes of Health -- and he backed spending increases in both areas, in particular for the NIH. Joe Sestak, who defeated Specter, doesn't differ from him significantly in views on those issues.

Is Admissions Process Too Trusting?

The Boston Globe explores the case of Adam Wheeler, the former Harvard University senior who used fraudulent materials to gain admission, to ask the question of whether admissions systems are too trusting. The article notes that many leading universities engage in relatively limited verifications of materials.

Historians Want Texas Standards Reconsidered

The officers and board of the American Historical Association on Tuesday issued a statement calling on the Texas State Board of Education to reconsider history standards that have been widely criticized for attempting to put a conservative spin on history by adding and subtracting certain people and ideas. The AHA statement said that the state's standards are inconsistent with national standards and with what Texas school children learn in the early grades. As but one example, the historians said that the Texas standards are "almost entirely discounting the importance of human activity in North America before the British colonization of the Atlantic Coast." Offering a comparison to science, the AHA statement said that "no curriculum in chemistry would be of much value to students if it made arbitrary selections and deletions among the elements to be studied; if the focus were to be on oxygen with hydrogen omitted, then students would be at a considerable disadvantage when it came to understanding water."

UC plans to cut $500 million in admin costs Education — San Francisco Bay Area Schools, Performance, Profiles, News — SFGate

Education — San Francisco Bay Area Schools, Performance, Profiles, News — SFGate

UC plans to cut $500 million in admin costs

It's what University of California students have been yelling about in campus protests since last fall...

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Judge backs CSU summer school fees

California State University can shift the cost of summer school to its students this year and preserve...

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Tensions grow as Boston prepares for teacher contract talks Education news - Boston Globe - MCAS results - latest education news - Boston.com

Education news - Boston Globe - MCAS results - latest education news - Boston.com

GLOBE EDUCATION NEWS

Princeton Review ends free tutoring program

FRAMINGHAM — Test prep and online learning company Princeton Review Inc. said yesterday it will no longer offer its free after-school tutoring program once the current school year ends. (Associated Press)

Wheeler case shows flaws in college application process

The former Harvard College senior accused of duping one of the world’s most selective universities seems to have exploited an application system at elite colleges that is largely based on trust and where admissions officers verify credentials only when they suspect that something is awry. (By Tracy Jan and Milton J. Valencia, Globe Staff)

Again, Hull High teams face school year running on empty

HULL — For the second year in a row, Hull High School will start the school year in September with no money in the budget for sports or other extracurricular activities.(By Johanna Seltz, Globe Correspondent)

Tensions grow as Boston prepares for teacher contract talks

Boston parents, students, community activists, and civic groups have launched lobbying campaigns to press for changes to the teachers union contract, in what observers say could be the most acrimonious bargaining climate in a decade. (By James Vaznis, Globe Staff)

Teachers in R.I. subdued but still employed after bargaining

CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. — The president of the teachers union said collective bargaining had worked. The school superintendent lauded a new era of collaboration for a failing high school singled out by President Obama. But the bottom line of a labor agreement approved yesterday showed another, hard-edged result. (By Brian MacQuarrie, Globe Staff)

LATEST EDUCATION NEWS WIRE UPDATES

• Voters turn away from high-profile party switcher (AP, 3:20 a.m.)
• Voters turn away from high-profile party switcher (AP, 5/18/10)
• District tells varsity team it can't play in Ariz. (AP, 5/18/10)
• Reception mixed for W.Va. gov's education agenda (AP, 5/18/10)
• Students push Sen. Brown on citizenship idea (AP, 5/18/10)

LATEST K-12 EDUCATION NEWS

• SAT prep company stops claiming 255-point boost (AP, 5/17/10)
• Fired RI teachers approve deal to get jobs back (AP, 5/17/10)
• Fired RI teachers approve deal to get jobs back (AP, 5/17/10)
• Fired RI teachers approve deal to get jobs back (AP, 5/17/10)
• Analysis: Gov. key figure in Kan. tax increase (AP, 5/17/10)

Mt. Diablo teachers' union president steps down Education - ContraCostaTimes.com

Education - ContraCostaTimes.com

Education

Mt. Diablo teachers' union president steps down Union has elected vice president to succeed outgoing leader Concord students protest word of vice principal's ouster Livermore community college president leaving Oakland judge denies attempt to lower CSU summer, winter fees Healthy living to be focus of West County schools festival Judge rules against El Cerrito residents

Schools Matter: A warning about "Early Warning!"

Schools Matter: A warning about "Early Warning!"

A warning about "Early Warning!"

by skrashen

Posted on Ed Week website, May 19
Comment on: Analysis Ties 4th Grade Reading Failure to Poverty
S Krashen



The Annie Casey Foundation report, Early Warning!, contains no new information, and recommends that we continue even more aggressively along the same path outlined by the Obama-Duncan administration, ignoring the most obvious solution to low reading achievement for children of poverty: Actual access to books and other reading material.

Standards and tests as a cure for poverty?

The report repeats previous descriptions of the impact of poverty but only briefly mentions that we must provide resources, focusing far more on the need to institute standardized measures, with "consistent, aligned

Sacramento Press / Mayor backs candidates Ashby, Cohn, Schenirer and Waters

Sacramento Press / Mayor backs candidates Ashby, Cohn, Schenirer and Waters

Mayor backs candidates Ashby, Cohn, Schenirer and Waters

by Kathleen Haley

In a statement Tuesday on his blog, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson made his endorsements for candidates competing in the June 8 primary election.
A KCRA reporter asked Johnson at a Monday press conference if Johnson would endorse candidates who oppose a “strong mayor” form of government. Johnson is leading an effort to bring more authority to the mayor’s office.
In response to the reporter’s question, Johnson said: “I think that’s not really the issue before people. I don’t think that people have had to make a decision on that. So, there’s not a litmus, in general, for that right now.”
Johnson said the candidates he is supporting are not content with the status quo. He explained that he backed candidates with energy, problem-solving skills, “a sense of urgency to get things done,” and a vision for the “new Sacramento.”
However, the Sacramento Bee reported Tuesday that Councilman Ray Tretheway claimed he was pressured by

Duncan: “Emergency action” needed now to avoid teacher layoffs | GothamSchools

Rise & Shine: State union seeking opponents for charter advocate | GothamSchools

Duncan: “Emergency action” needed now to avoid teacher layoffs

by Maura Walz

A first-grader at Brooklyn's P.S. 214 told U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan about the story of Rumplestiltskin today.

City, federal and union officials clash on the best way to lift the state’s charter school cap. They dispute the fairest way to lay off teachers. And they could barely agree on what school U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan should visit today.
But brought together for that visit, Duncan, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and teachers union president Michael 

Rise & Shine: State union seeking opponents for charter advocate

by Maura Walz

• Ed Sec Arne Duncan visited three city schools. (GothamSchools, Times, Post, Wall Street Journal, NY1)
• Duncan said the state could up its Race to the Top chances by lifting the charter cap. (Albany Times Union)
• Gov. Paterson says he’s relying on “the power of persuasion” to get the charter cap lifted. (Daily News)
• The state teachers union is offering $200,000 to anyone who will run against Sen. Craig Johnson. (Post)
• Duncan’s visit shows that charter schools have won the choice wars, writes Errol Louis. (Daily News)
• The Post says Randi Weingarten’s input into Duncan’s school selection shows the union’s priorities.
• Post columnist Andrea Peyser says the union acted like children over the school visit dust-up.
• UFT President Michael Mulgrew says again that a retirement incentive would avert layoffs. (Daily News)
• The DOE mistakenly told UWS families they’d gotten into two hot schools. (Post, Wall Street Journal)
• An investigation found that many Head Start centers fraudulently enroll extra children. (Times)

Remainders: Kindergarten admissions letters sent by mistake

by Maura Walz

• The state education dept. pushed back the release date of test scores by a month, to July.
• More than 50 parents of wait-listed kindergartners were mistakenly told they were into P.S. 87.
• A group of charter and district school parents waited in vain in the rain to talk to Duncan.
• A charter school student told Duncan today he gets a lot of homework, but that’s “awesome.”
• UFT President Michael Mulgrew said it’s “no one’s fault” if the state loses Race to the Top.
• Peter Murphy argues Speaker Sheldon Silver now has political cover to support a charter cap lift.
• A new report by the Casey Foundation serves as a reminder that students’ poverty does matter.
• A high school slated to move into space at a closing school faces an uncertain future.
• The DOE posted openings for executive principals, the high-paid positions in troubled schools.
• The teachers unions are protesting five State Senators tomorrow for voting for school aid cuts.
• A group of testing companies formed a coalition to help states develop standard assessments.
• And here is a horrifying way to teach geometry.

Elk Grove teachers union agrees to concessions; members to vote Education - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Education - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Local high school seniors cast votes in mock election

By Melody Gutierrez - Published: 6:00 am

Hundreds of high school seniors in Sacramento will cast votes today in a mock election for the June 8 California primary ballot.

• Voter Guide

Elk Grove teachers union agrees to concessions; members to vote

By Diana Lambert - Updated: 12:10 am

A teachers union that has been reluctant to make concessions in the past gave big at the negotiating table this week – agreeing to pay cuts, higher medical co-pays, furlough days and the suspension of an annual bonus.

Sacramento school district to vote on Race to the Top submission

By Melody Gutierrez - Published: 9:55 am

The Sacramento City Unified School District school board will vote Thursday on whether they will participate in round two of Race to the Top funding.

Mabie family pledges $3 million to UCD equine health center

By Mark Glover - Updated: 8:12 am

The Center for Equine Health at the University of California, Davis, has received a $3 million pledge from the William and Inez Mabie Family Foundation.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/education/#ixzz0oNdzu3KD