Education Research Report: Teacher-School Matches Matter

Education Research Report: Teacher-School Matches Matter

Teacher-School Matches Matter

by Jonathan Kantrowitz

Kirabo Jackson finds that teachers who change schools have a greater positive effect on their students' test scores at their new school than at their old school. Analyzing data from North Carolina, Jackson also observes that teacher "match quality" -- that is, how good a fit the teacher is for a particular school -- and teacher quality are positively correlated. He concludes that ”part of what we typically interpret as a teacher quality effect [on student performance] is in fact a match quality effect that may not be portable across schooling environments."

Full paper

Weingarten: Free money today, reform tomorrow. I promise. � The Quick and the Ed

Weingarten: Free money today, reform tomorrow. I promise. � The Quick and the Ed

Weingarten: Free money today, reform tomorrow. I promise.

by Forrest Hinton

This past weekend I was making a few personal-life stops in the state with the lowest union representation in the nation. Using the long stretches of travel through misty forests and freshly planted fields to catch up on reading, I came across AFT President Randi Weingarten’s teacher bailout pitch in Thursday’s opinion section of the WSJ.
Allowing myself to lose complete touch with reality for just a moment, I started to consider whether it is possible that R.W. is genuinely concerned with outstanding young teachers losing their jobs. After all, she wrote:

There is much good going on in our public schools. I have seen countless teachers putting their hearts and souls into their jobs, working long hours well beyond the school day, ready to do what it takes to provide their students with an excellent education. They belong in their classrooms, not

High Court to Weigh Arizona Tuition Tax Credits Education Week American Education News Site of Record

Education Week American Education News Site of Record

THE SCHOOL LAW BLOG

High Court to Weigh Arizona Tuition Tax Credits

The U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether a state program offering tax credits for donations to groups that provide private-school scholarships unconstitutionally advances religion. (May 24, 2010)

FINANCIAL CRISIS

Cash-Strapped Districts Cutting Summer School

The cuts started when the recession began and have worsened, affecting more children and more essential programs that help struggling students. (May 24, 2010) | Comments (1)

Texas Board Adopts New Social Studies Curriculum

(May 24, 2010) | Comments (2)

Gov. Crist Wins Teachers' Union Approval Along With Meek

(May 24, 2010)

Anti-Bullying Plan Delayed by Competing Interests

(May 24, 2010)

FROM THE WIRES

• • Ga. school boards can decide on class sizes
• • Conn. graduation case goes before federal judge
• • Nome election could oust school board

MORE WIRE STORIES >

Patrick Kennedy, Sacramento City Council 2010

Vote for Community, Vote for Sacramento!

Patrick Kennedy, Sacramento City Council 2010

15 Days to the Election
You Can Make The Difference!

In these final weeks leading up to the election, it is imperative that we reach as many people as possible. If you can volunteer for an hour or a week, we need your energy and effort to help spread the word about Patrick in the 5th District. There are only 15 days until the election and you can make the difference in the campaign!

Can you walk this weekend?
Can you make calls to voters this week?

Volunteer Opportunities:
Phone Bank
When: Monday
Time: 5:30 PM
Location: 2200 L Street

When: Tuesday
Time: 5:30 PM
Location: SEIU 1021, 1006 4th Street

When: Wednesday
Time: 5:30 PM
Location: 2200 L Street

When: Thursday
Time: 5:30 PM
Location: 2200 L Street

Walk a Precinct
When: Saturday
Time: 11 AM
Location: 4640 23rd Street (in Hollywood Park)

When: Sunday
Time: 2 PM
Location: 4640 23rd Street (in Hollywood Park)

We have volunteer opportunities everyday of the week. Anything you can do helps! 

Please call me at (916) 601-8558 or e-mail me at Rachel@Patrick-Kennedy.com to join our team.

Sincerely,

Rachel Miller
Campaign Manager

(916) 601-8558
Rachel@Patrick-Kennedy.com

I have said it many times. District 5 is an amazing tapestry of neighborhoods with great diversity, culture, and history. I am proud to have served here as a neighborhood leader and school board member. I look forward to taking that experience and working for our neighborhoods at City Hall.

If you have any questions about my candidacy or want to talk about issues facing our city, I welcome you to call me at 446-4434, or visit my website at www.Patrick-Kennedy.com, where I hope you will sign up as a supporter. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Patrick Kennedy

Please join me and many leaders from the LGBT community for a fundraiser in support of my campaign for City Council (click here for more details).

Date: June 1, 2010
Time: 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Location: Headhunter's Video Lounge & Grill (1930 K Street)

I hope to see you there!

Sheriff Leroy Baca to Deliver Keynote Address at Magnolia Science Academy -- LOS ANGELES, May 24 /PRNewswire/ --

Sheriff Leroy Baca to Deliver Keynote Address at Magnolia Science Academy -- LOS ANGELES, May 24 /PRNewswire/ --

See more news releases in: Education, Not For Profit

Sheriff Leroy Baca to Deliver Keynote Address at Magnolia Science Academy

LOS ANGELES, May 24 /PRNewswire/ -- As the school year 2009-2010 draws to a close, the Magnolia Science Academy -Reseda (MSA-1) will host a luncheon with Los Angeles County Sheriff Leroy Baca as the keynote speaker. The event, which will be held on Tuesday, May 25, will be attended by parents, students, teachers and administrators.

"Looking back on the academic year, we have much to celebrate," said Suleyman Bahceci, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of the Magnolia. "We are meeting the needs of families who often don't have access to a good education and we are proud of our successes and look forward to more."

The year was marked by a number of achievements for Magnolia. Among them, a recent State Department of Education report ranked the MSA-1 in the top ten percent in its category. Last month, the Los Angeles Unified School District Board approved the Magnolia's application for a new middle school in the city of Bell in its Public School Choice Resolution. Magnolia Science Academy - Bell (MSA-8) will open its doors to 465 students in 2010-2011. MSA-1 was also named in the US News Best of America's High Schools annual report and received silver medal ranking. (www.usnews.com/listings/high-schools/california/magnolia_science_academy).

The Magnolia Educational and Research Foundation is a non-profit educational organization, which has been running charter schools throughout California since 2002. The schools have a curriculum focusing on math, science and technology and they are committed to providing a high-level of education to low-income students from ethnically diverse backgrounds. The Magnolia has established nine charter schools in California. In 2009 it was approved by the California State Board of Education to start ten state-wide benefit charter school sites in the state over the next six years. The approval was a testament to the success of the

High court to hear Arizona school case - Boston.com

High court to hear Arizona school case - Boston.com

High court to hear Arizona school case

May 24, 2010

• E-mail|
• Print|
• Yahoo! Buzz|
• ShareThis

Text size – +

WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court says it will consider ending a lawsuit that challenges Arizona's tax breaks for donations for private school scholarships.

	Discuss
	COMMENTS (0)

The court on Monday said it will hear an appeal filed by the state and supporters of the 13-year-old program that provides dollar-for-dollar income tax breaks for donations to school tuition organizations.

Some Arizona taxpayers challenged the program as unconstitutional because religious organizations award most of the scholarships and require children to enroll in religious schools. The suit says the program amounts to an unconstitutional state endorsement of religion.

The federal appeals court in San Francisco last year ruled that the lawsuit could

Harvard’s paper cuts

by Tracy Jan, Globe Staff

CAMBRIDGE — The thin, tattered book, an 1899 dissertation on Homer, written in French, is tucked into one of the more than 40 shelves devoted to the epic poet in the stacks of Widener Library. Collecting obscure works like this one has helped Harvard amass the world’s largest university library.

Mass. leaders: No "Plan B" if sales tax cut passes

by Steve LeBlanc, Associated Press Writer

It's the fiscal elephant in the room, a ballot question that would cut the Massachusetts sales tax rate by more than half, and none of the state's top political leaders has come up with a plan to deal with it if it passes.

Fla.'s Crist Endorsed by Union - Teacher Beat - Education Week

Fla.'s Crist Endorsed by Union - Teacher Beat - Education Week

Fla.'s Crist Endorsed by Union

by Stephen Sawchuk

Earlier this year, when Florida Gov. Bill Crist supported SB 6—which would have put all teachers on annual contracts and tied half of their pay and evaluations to student test scores—he was Public Enemy No. 1 for the Florida Education Association.
But, at the last moment, the then-Republican governor changed his mind and vetoed the bill. Public adulation by the FEA followed. And now Crist is reaping the FEA's support in the political arena: FEA took the unusual step of endorsing both Crist, now an independent, and a Democrat for a Senate race this fall at an AFL-CIO event.
It's hard to know exactly how this is going to affect the outcome of that race and whether appreciative teachers

Teaching to the Test -- or Just Using a Different One Education voiceofsandiego.org

Education

The Education Newsblitz: Including Kids with Disabilities

The newsblitz never works for the weekend. It yearns to come back:

• San Diego Unified schools are including more children with disabilities in ordinary classes more often, but principals, teachers and parents are worried about having enough staff to help include them effectively. Parents are also concerned by inconsistencies between schools.
• Perfect attendance won cars for two South County teenagers, the Union-Tribune reports.
• School board member John de Beck writes in SDNN that extending the deadline for superintendent shows that the pool of candidates was meager.
• Also in the U-T: Oceanside teachers agreed to six furlough days to help balance their district budget.
• San Diego State students went to Tijuana to protest a CSU-wide ban on study and research there.
• The Los Angeles Times reports on how a Colorado law that ties teacher evaluation to student achievement could create momentum for more such laws across the country.

School Board Forum: Tell Us What You Thought

Our school board candidates forum last night was phenomenal, thanks to all of you! We were amazed by the turnout and the energy in what is supposedly a sleepy race. I had to tell the crowd not to applaud a few times -- which is a heck of a lot better than having to tell them not to fall asleep.

Unfortunately, I forgot last night to thank reader and former school board member Frances O'Neill Zimmerman, who convinced me that we needed to do something like this. Thanks for the great idea!

If you didn't make it, we'll have the audio available on the website soon. In the meantime, you can check out this Twitter feed for commentary from parent Paul Bowers. I'm still sorting through the audio and my notes, but here are some quick impressions and points from the forum:

Your Thoughts on the Testing Conundrum

My readers are so smart. We've already been talking to school district officials about why San Diego scores on a national exam only grew slightly while state test scores jumped. Now you've chimed in with your thoughts:

•Sue Moore, a homeschooling mom who has a doctorate in educational leadership, argues the biggest problem with making sense of test scores, especially the state tests, is "the massaging of raw scores." Let me explain: What I and other reporters usually call state scores are actually a derived score from multiple tests that students take in California schools.

Moore says it's such a nightmare to understand -- and the way that data are reported has changed so often -- that it makes it difficult to draw valid comparisons from one year to the next.

Teaching to the Test -- or Just Using a Different One?

Wondering why San Diego scores stagnated on a national test at the same time its state test scores jumped?

I sure was. Ron Rode, the research czar for San Diego Unified, gave us one theory: The national test just sets the bar higher than the state tests do. That's one explanation. Here are others from folks I chatted with:

• Nellie Meyer, the interim deputy superintendent for San Diego Unified, offered an intriguing version of Rode's theory. Not only is the national test more challenging, it measures different, deeper skills, such as interpreting and synthesizing a written text. So students could shine on a state test that measures simpler thinking at the same time they show few gains on the national exam.

Interestingly, this is exactly what the school board has been pushing for San Diego Unified to do: Focus more on creativity and critical thinking instead of the simpler skills that tests tend to measure.

"We need to stretch students' thinking," Meyer said.

SEED: Public Boarding School For Urban Poor - THE DAILY RIFF - Be Smarter. About Education.

SEED: Public Boarding School For Urban Poor - THE DAILY RIFF - Be Smarter. About Education.

SEED: Public Boarding School For Urban Poor

No One Has Pulled Themselves Up By Their Own Bootstraps . . .
Everyone Has A Story About Someone Who Has Helped Them."
-- SEED Faculty Member

Watch "60 Minutes" Videos Below

Byron Pitts gave an update on the SEED boarding schools last night on "60 Minutes" and it would be hard to find a more empathetic reporter on the subject. PItts was not only a stutterer, but also illiterate until age 12, as he revealed in his best-selling book, "Step Out On Nothing", previously covered by The Daily Riff here. He claims an English professor in college "saved his life" and goes on to describe video below how she had nothing to gain by helping him, but did it anyway. (see 2 min. below - Vid #2).

The importance of available and positive adult role models and mentoring opportunities for our youth is the remarkable parallel between the Pitts and SEED stories. One faculty member emphatically clarified that their mission was not just about raising test scores, but about "changing their (students') values".

Eric Adler and Rajiv Vinnekota created SEED a decade ago from a "brainstorming session