Thursday, June 3, 2010

National Academic Standards Are Released - NYTimes.com

States Receive a Reading List: New Standards for Education

By SAM DILLON

The nation’s governors and state school chiefs released final recommendations for what students should master in English and math.

Denise Wadler, center, at Brooklyn Brownstone School, sent out nearly 50 résumés last week.

New N.Y. Schools Face Extra Pain From Layoffs

By JENNIFER MEDINA

Union contracts require layoffs to be by seniority, especially burdening the city’s new, small schools and their typically young, recently hired staffs.

At New York City schools for the gifted, like the Brooklyn School of Inquiry, 56 percent of kindergartners are girls.

Gender Gap for the Gifted in City Schools

By SHARON OTTERMAN

Though the school system over all is 51 percent male, its gifted classrooms generally have more girls.

Slide Show | Post a Comment

States Create Flood of Education Bills

By SAM DILLON

Colorado’s law on tenure and evaluations was the most comprehensive of a spate of similar laws in other states.

A Private School’s Ads Imply Public School Slippage

By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA

At a time when New Jersey public schools are cutting back, Saddle River Day School is scrambling for students.

YOUR MONEY

Placing the Blame as Students Are Buried in Debt

By RON LIEBER

Is it really worth $100,000 in debt to graduate from a top school? And is it responsible?

Who's responsible for assigning high student loan debt?

Nitya Rajendran at the survivors breakfast at Trinity School in Manhattan. The event is a tradition for seniors who started at Trinity as kindergartners.

On Graduation Day, Seniors Take Time to Feel Like Kindergartners Again

By JENNY ANDERSON

At an annual breakfast for graduating seniors, students at Manhattan’s Trinity School gathered to reminisce with their first teachers.

Christie snubs union deal in Race to the Top bid | Philadelphia Inquirer | 06/02/2010

Christie snubs union deal in Race to the Top bid

By Rita Giordano and Maya Rao

Inquirer Staff Writers

The Christie administration submitted its application for federal Race to the Top aid Tuesday but - on the governor's orders - removed key compromises reached with the New Jersey Education Association, the state's largest teachers union.
Last week, state Education Commission Bret Schundler and NJEA officials announced that an agreement had been reached and that the union would support the state's bid for up to $400 million in education stimulus funds. The compromises involved merit pay - the union is against it, Gov. Christie is for it - and other issues.
Some of the issues on which compromises were reached last week had led the union to withhold support from the state's first Race to the Top application, which failed to secure federal funds.
The Christie administration was critical of the union's failure to support the state's first application, saying the lack of union buy-in hurt the state's prospects. Federal application evaluators noted the application's lack of labor support.
On Tuesday, however, the deadline for submitting the second-round application, Christie announced that he had instructed Schundler on Friday to restore the former provisions after learning about the deal his education chief had helped broker with the NJEA.

Read more: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/education/20100602_Christie_snubs_union_deal_in_Race_to_the_Top_bid.html#ixzz0pn72jkEG
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A school where everyone performs

Give a 6-year-old a violin. Or ballet shoes. Or a chance to act on stage. And what happens? At Philadelphia's Performing Arts Charter School, all the kindergartners get to perform. In fact, they have to - with weekly violin, ballet, and singing lessons.

Phila. educator Ramirez takes top post in Milwaukee

Heidi Ramirez, an urban educator and outspoken former Philadelphia School Reform Commission member, has been named the chief academic officer of Milwaukee Public Schools.

Kindergarten age may be raised to 5 in California | News10.net | Sacramento, California | Education

Kindergarten age may be raised to 5 in California

Jason Kobely

Last updated 10 hrs ago

MORE EDUCATION NEWS:

PHOTOS & INTERVIEWS:

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- California may soon close its kindergartens to 4-year-olds.

The state Senate on Wednesday approved a bill requiring children to have turned 5 by Sept. 1 to begin kindergarten during that school year. The current cut-off date is Dec. 2, one of the latest in the country.

The Legislative Analyst's Office estimates SB1381 could save the state $700 million per year by reducing enrollment. About 100,000 children start kindergarten before their 5th

The Education Report

Weinberg: Myths about standardized testing

By Katy Murphy
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 at 10:27 am in Steven Weinberg, test scores
9 Comments »

Steven Weinberg, a retired Oakland teacher and regular Education Report blogger, tells us what standardized tests can’t measure, in his view, and why. -Katy

In my last 10 years working for Oakland Unified School District, I spent considerable time investigating the California Standards Tests and their results to help my school make sense of the data the tests generated. During that time I became aware of a number of myths have been built up about these tests, many propagated by the state or the test makers themselves.

Knowing the facts about these tests is important for drawing reasonable conclusions from their results and for making sound educational decisions for the future.

I know that most readers of this blog are already fairly sophisticated about the nature of standardized testing, but the results of these tests are so often misused, it is worth taking some time to review these misconceptions.

Myth 1: The California Standards Tests (CSTs) measure what teachers are supposed to teach.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Educated Guess Let the common-core debate begin

The Educated Guess

Let the common-core debate begin

Posted in Common Core standards

The drafters of the common-core state standards released their final versionWednesday with fanfare and the endorsement of a slew of educators and political leaders in Atlanta. The debate now shifts to state capitals, including Sacramento, where the question that must be answered in two months can be reframed: Is what’s good for the nation – K-12 academic standards in math and English language arts that are more demanding than most states now have – also good for California?
Preceding that question is another: Can Californians who care about these matters engage in a dispassionate analysis of common core standards and associated issues of cost and testing without becoming defensive and retreating to the positions they had in the ‘90s, when they fought over the current state math standards?
The answers are critical, because the standards will determine what students are taught, which textbooks are used, what tests are written and how teachers are trained. Until now, it’s been each state for itself, making comparisons among states and nations difficult and often inaccurate.
In California, the sides, while not yet hardened, are forming.
(Read more and comment on this post)

By John Fensterwald on June 3rd, 2010

Still missing: common-core nominees

Posted in Common Core standards

The final national common-core standards are due out today, but Gov. Schwarzenegger has still yet to announce his nominations for half of the members of the committee that is supposed to recommend by mid-July whether the state should adopt, reject or modify them.
The continued delay has led to speculation on which way Schwarzenegger is leaning – or whether he’s still making up his mind.
(Read more and comment on this post)

By John Fensterwald on June 2nd, 2010

Schwarzenegger: We’re too big to ignore

Posted in Race to the Top

In their Race to the Top applications, some states have downplayed the lack of union support for their reforms. You have read deep into the applications to get the real numbers.
Not California. In his May 28 cover letter to U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncanaccompanying the state’s second-round application (download pdf), Gov. Schwarzenegger wears union opposition as a badge of honor.
He wrote that the California Teachers Association “actively worked to prevent union support” for the state’s effort. Then he added, “I urge you not to penalize states like California that have submitted a detailed plan meeting all the goals of Race to the Top but have not gotten unanimous support of teachers unions. To do this would not only put at grave risk the ultimate goals embodied in Race to the Top, but it would send a message to some unions that their obstructionist tactics can work.”
(Read more and comment on this post)

By John Fensterwald on June 2nd, 2010

Grand Jury: San Diego schools improperly siphoning student funds | California Watch

Grand Jury: San Diego schools improperly siphoning student funds

June 3, 2010 | Corey G. Johnson

Student money earmarked for band, cheerleading and other extracurricular activities are being improperly raided by San Diego Unified school administrators to pay for faculty supplies, equipment and events, according to a grand jury investigative report released Wednesday.

Photo by Karl-Erik Bennion

From March 2008 to October 2009, at least $107,882 in student extra-curricular funds were used by various schools to benefit the faculty.

The practice is so widespread, the Grand Jury reports, that 75 percent of district schools routinely take from the student funds.

This occurs while students at nearly all district schools are required to pay fees to participate in extracurricular activities, in apparent violation of district policy and a 1984 state Supreme Court ruling banning the practice.

In one instance during the 2006-2007 school year, San Diego's School of Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA) snatched its students' entire extracurricular savings – $65,568 – and deposited it into the schools' main account.

A 2009 School District audit of SCPA discovered additional withdrawals from the students' account were used to pay for the staff's Christmas party, drinking mugs, polo shirts and other unauthorized expenditures. School officials denied that the money was ever student funds, but repaid $19,000 at the urging of district auditors. The rest remains unpaid.

At the same time, music students at the school were required to pay for their own instruments and performance clothing, the probe found. According to the report:

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Ownership Society school reform

Ownership Society school reform

by Mike Klonsky

Debunking the "Portfolio District"

Latest from EPIC/EPRU comes from DePaul prof, Ken Saltman who exposes the latest business-model reform model whereby school district leaders compile and run a "portfolio" of independently operated schools. It is currently being used in New York, Chicago, New Orleans, and Washington D.C., and it is being considered by other districts. Yet little or no evidence supports the expansion of such radical experimentation, a new Policy Brief reports.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

The Washington Teacher Reactions Vary On Ratification of DC Teachers Union Contract: What's Your Reaction ?

The Washington Teacher

Reactions Vary On Ratification of DC Teachers Union Contract: What's Your Reaction ?

by The Wash. Teacher

DC teachers and school personnel ratified a five year WTU contract (2007-2012) of which three years have already passed. The WTU contract has been three years in the making by chief negotiator teachers union president George Parker.

For those active union members who were working in 2007 - they will receive retro active pay raises dating back to 2007. For those who began working after 2007, they will receive retro pay dating back to their start date with DCPS. According to the WTU Tentative Agreement : "The 2007-2008, 2008-2009 and the appropriate portion of the 2009-2010 raises shall be paid retroactively to all DCPS employees who are members of the WTU bargaining unit as of the date of WTU ratification of this agreement and all WTU bargaining unit members who were separated or retired as a result of the November 2009 Reduction-in-Force. Retroactive payment of raises shall be made following ratification of this agreement by the WTU membership and approval by the DC Council."
Teachers who retired prior to the 2009 reduction in force, although union members during the contract period have been excluded from receiving retroactive pay raises and will have to file unfair labor practices if they want to see any of their money.
While the contract is more than just pay raises and gives Chancellor Rhee greater reign to fire teachers and school personnel, reactions varied from highs to lows on news of the contract ratification today.
I am curious what was your reaction to the ratification of the Washington Teachers Union contract ? I am particularly interested in hearing from those DC teachers and school personnel who will remain in school year 2010-2011. Please feel free to weigh in with your comments.
Posted by The Washington Teacher, Featuring Candi Peterson, Blogger in residence

Schools of thought on looming teacher layoffs

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Schools across the country are facing the worst layoffs in half a century. As many as 300,000 school employees are in danger of losing their jobs. If that happens, class sizes will explode and educational opportunities will decline drastically for millions of children. Education will become a "risky" career choice for a generation of potential teachers.

Communities are facing this emergency through no fault of their own. The collapse of the financial system devastated all economic sectors, leaving state and local governments in a huge budget crisis that's just reaching its peak despite the improving economy.
We have two choices: We can sit, frozen in the ice of our own indifference, as Franklin Roosevelt once said, or we can take action to save these jobs.
By arguing that we should "Fail this jobs bill," as the headline on a May 28 editorial put it, The Post has

Free Technology for Teachers: Mathematics Blog Carnival - Call for Submissions

Mathematics Blog Carnival - Call for Submissions

In late March I discovered theMathematics and Multimediablog and shared it here on April 1. Mathematics and Multimediaimpressed me with its depth of tutorials for teaching mathematics with Google Sketchup and GeoGebra. Now the author of Mathematics and Multimedia, Guillermo Bautista, is organizing a mathematics blog carnival. Topics to addressed in blog carnival submissions include integration of technology in teaching mathematics, connections among different topics and mathematics as well as connections of mathematics to other fields, and pedagogy and teaching mathematics. Click here to read more about the

NorthJersey.com: Students protest Christie education cuts outside Bergen courthouse

Students protest Christie education cuts outside Bergen courthouse

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

BY MICHAEL GARTLAND

THE RECORD

STAFF WRITER

About 25 student demonstrators gathered in front of the Bergen County courthouse Wednesday to protest Governor Christie’s cuts to education funding – just hours before the Board of Freeholders voted on the next county budget.

LESLIE BARBARO/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Students students march down Hackensack Avenue to protest the proposed budget cuts.

Members of the Democratic Youth National Organization demanded that the Republican governor consider alternative ways to save the state money, such as cutting administrative costs and regionalizing school districts.
“We want to start a dialogue on real education reform,” said Simon Li, the protest organizer. “We’d like Governor Christie to have a dialogue with the students.”
Li, a finance and policy major at New York University who graduated in 2008 from the Bergen Academies, said administrative positions in many school districts are not needed. Eliminating those jobs and regionalizing districts could help address the financial problems that Christie and the state are now facing, he said.
Li was also critical of Christie’s description of students who have protested on behalf of teachers as “drug mules.”
“I don’t think that’s the way to go,” Li said. “Students don’t have a union to

Free Technology for Teachers: More than 100 Webcam Resources from Simple K12

More than 100 Webcam Resources from Simple K12

by noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Byrne)

Back in April I announced on this blog a partnership with Simple K12. This is not a financial relationship, we simply swapped advertising space on each other's blogs. For the last two months Simple K12 offered a virtual field trip kit through Free Technology for Teachers. This month, Simple K12 is offering their free Web Cam Toolkit. Simple K12's Web Cam Toolkit has two parts; a guide for

Reading Rewards - Track Time Spent Reading

by noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Byrne)

Reading Rewards is a free service that allows parents and teachers to track the amount of time their students spend reading. Students create goals in Reading Rewards then parents and teachers can reward them for reaching their goals. Every minute students read equals one Reading Reward (RR) mile. Parents and teachers can determine what the rewards will be and how many RR miles students need to earn to receive a reward.

Willie Nelson and What the Web Can Answer Today

by noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Byrne)

It seems that whenever I go somewhere to give a presentation about teaching with technology, there is someone in the audience who will say something to the effect of "this is great, but all of those sites are blocked in my school." This then leads to conversation about strategies for convincing administrators to relax strict filtering policies. One of the places I usually direct people to in those conversations is Unmasking the Digital Truth created byWes Fryer. Yesterday, I had an experience that led me to drafting an activity that could possibly help critics of open access to the web to understand how valuable the web can be in education.

Yesterday, as I was listening to Willie Nelson I got the urge to look up some information on the web about the hole that appears in his guitar. This led me to thinking about the number of questions that pop into my head every day and how many of those questions would have either gone unanswered or taken a long time to research before the advent of easy Internet access.

Here's my activity idea:
1. Have a person opposed to open Internet access in schools record the number and type of questions they encounter in a given school day or week.
2. Have that person then record the number of those questions that can be answered by resources located in five

Latest News and Comment from Education

Thursday, June 3, 2010

By SAM DILLON

By JENNIFER MEDINA

By SHARON OTTERMAN

By SAM DILLON

By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA

YOUR MONEY

By RON LIEBER

By JENNY ANDERSON

Christie snubs union deal in Race to the Top bid

Kindergarten age may be raised to 5 in California

Grand Jury: San Diego schools improperly siphoning student funds

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Schools of thought on looming teacher layoffs