Sunday, June 20, 2010

The agony of a girl who just wanted to fit in - The Boston Globe

The agony of a girl who just wanted to fit in

Lexi was new to school and intent on being accepted. Then the pictures surfaced and the torment began. It wasn’t a bullying case where the fault was always obvious, or the school failed to react. It was one that shows the grave complexity of this threat to teen life and how hard it can be to combat. (By Jenna Russell, Globe Staff)

Urban schools are focus of BC gift

Boston College will launch an innovative training program for school principals in January to improve urban education and prepare more low-income students for college, with a $20 million donation from Fidelity vice chairman Peter Lynch and his wife, Carolyn. (By Tracy Jan, Globe Staff)

Case deepens immigration debate

CAMBRIDGE — The memory is a blurry snapshot in his mind. Eric Balderas was 4 years old, curled up under covers on a raft. He could see the sun poking through the sky, hear whispers above him, and feel the swell of the Rio Grande below. (By Maria Sacchetti, Globe Staff)

Harvard student won’t face deportation

Eric Balderas, a 19-year-old Harvard biology student who became an international celebrity last week after being arrested for being in the United States unlawfully, is no longer facing deportation to Mexico, officials said last night. (By Maria Sacchetti, Globe Staff)

Young Framingham actor aims toward Hollywood — after college

With one film appearance already under her belt, it’s safe to say that Framingham teen Emily Grove has been bitten by the acting bug — badly. In last year’s “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past,’’ Grove rubbed elbows with stars Matthew McConaughey and Emma Stone as an extra in a scene filmed at Brophy Elementary School in her hometown. The scene is ... (Boston Globe)

NorthJersey.com: Bullying: Girls learn strategies to cope

Bullying: Girls learn strategies to cope

Sunday, June 20, 2010
LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY JUNE 20, 2010, 6:06 AM

BY KAREN ROUSE

THE RECORD

STAFF WRITER

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TEANECK – Taylor Worrell-Stith, a high-achieving 13-year-old at Benjamin Franklin Middle School, readily acknowledges the catty, hurtful and sometimes threatening behavior girls unleash on each other in school.
“A lot of bullying happens at school. I’ve done it,” said Taylor, recalling an incident last year in which she used text messages to get several friends to stop talking to another friend. “I believe it was over a boy,” she said, adding that she later reconciled with the friend.
On television and in movies, they are known as bullies or “mean girls,” females whose arsenal includes the silent treatment, hostility, manipulation, stinging insults and fear to hurt other girls, often damaging relationships.
But at Teaneck High School on Saturday, Rachel Simmons, author of “Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls,” gave Taylor and about three dozen other girls a new term for such behaviors – female aggression.
“A lot of what happens in girl relationships gets swept under the rug,” said Simmons, who spoke as part of the 3rd Annual Female Empowerment Conference for members of HEAL mentoring group at the high school and STEPS and DREAMS mentoring groups in the two middle schools.

“The Price Of Freedom: Americans At War” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

“The Price Of Freedom: Americans At War” “The Price Of Freedom: Americans At War” is a Smithsonian multimedia interactive on each war in United States’ history. Videos (with transcript), images and text are included. I’m adding the link to several “The Best..” lists, including: The Best ...

More Father’s Day Links Here are the newest additions to The Best Father’s Day Sites: Happy 100th Father’s Day is a video from ABC News. 100 years later, it’s a new day for dads is an article from MSNBC. Meet The Mother Of Father’s Day is an interactive timeline from MSNBC.

The Best Online Resources For Teaching & Learning About World War II (Part Two) This is a “sister” list to The Best Online Resources For Teaching & Learning About World War II (Part One). That list is a compilation of six other various World War II-related “The Best…” lists I’ve previously posted, along with links to special ...

Schools Struggle to Educate the Severely Disabled Education News - The New York Times

Education News - The New York Times

Schools Struggle to Educate the Severely Disabled

By SHARON OTTERMAN

James Estrin/The New York Times

Donovan Forde, left, is visited by his mother, Michelle Forde, and half-brother, Zion, at a nursing facility in New York.

School districts across the country have struggled to find a balance between instruction in functional skills and academics while providing custodial care.

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City Opens East Side’s First New Public School Building in 50 Years

By STEPHEN CEASAR

East Side Middle School, which shares a plot with a new high-rise apartment building, will help relieve overcrowding.

Students Gain After Strike in Puerto Rico

By DAMIEN CAVE

Thousands of students who went on strike two months ago to oppose severe budget cuts declared victory after reaching an agreement with administrators.

Deal to Save Student Transit Discounts Is Near

By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM

Under the plan, the state would provide $25 million to keep the free or cheaper fares.

PLAYGROUP Margaret Guest, center, in striped shirt, often has groups of friends at her home in Dunwoody, Ga.

A Best Friend? You Must Be Kidding

By HILARY STOUT

School officials intent on discouraging anything that hints of exclusivity seek to sever traditional best-friend bonds.

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Abner Alcontin, Keith Mailahn and Robert Pennington were honored at graduation for enlisting. Mr. Mailahn said, “When we’re signing those papers, we’re putting our lives on the line.”

Salutes for Graduates Who’ll Be Saluting Soon

By WINNIE HU

At high school graduation ceremonies across the country, soon-to-be soldiers are being recognized alongside the academic stars of their classes.

NATIONAL BRIEFING | EDUCATION

Freshman Enrollment Climbed in 2008

By SAM DILLON

Freshman enrollment at the nation’s colleges and trade schools set records in 2008, the first year of the recession, according to a Pew Research Center report released Wednesday.

Area schools competing for $10,000 in Web video vote - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Area schools competing for $10,000 in Web video vote

Published: 12:00 am

Four area schools are vying for a $10,000 grand prize in an online video contest sponsored by Big Lots.

Personal Finance: Money tips for college grads

By Claudia Buck - Published: 12:00 am

Hats off to the class of 2010. As the last of this year's high school and college graduates tossed their mortarboards skyward in celebration this month, the congratulations poured in.

New principal takes tough stances at Sacramento's Hiram Johnson High

By Melody Gutierrez - Published: Saturday, June 19 2010 - 12:00 am

Can deep-cleaning a school and adding a teacher dress code help students learn better?

California State University trustees raise fees 5%

By Laurel Rosenhall - Published: Saturday, June 19 2010 - 12:00 am

California State University students will see their fees go up 5 percent this fall – and could see them jump again in the middle of the school year depending on the outcome of state budget negotiations in the Legislature.

Shake-up of Ackerman team continues | Philadelphia Inquirer | 06/19/2010

TOP STORY

Shake-up of Ackerman team continues

A shake-up of Philadelphia Schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman's central administration continued Friday with the naming of a new crop of central office staff members, and with officials signaling that more changes were on the way.

SPECIAL PROJECTS

Report Card on the Schools

The Inquirer's annual survey of education in the region, with a searchable database of school and district information, and multimedia profiles of area students and high schools.

A Doorway Back

With the dropout problem in Philadelphia at crisis proportions, a chance-of-a-lifetime program offers 40 select students a shot at breaking the cycle of failure. But can they take advantage?

Education - latimes.com 'Hip Hop High' charter school in its closing days

Education - latimes.com

'Hip Hop High' charter school in its closing days

By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times

Hawthorne's Academy for Recording Arts, known for giving troubled students access to a recording studio, shuts Thursday. Neither its online curriculum nor its teacher-led classes could save it.

Cal State OKs 5% hike in undergraduate fees

By Carla Rivera, Los Angeles Times

Trustees approve a $204 increase for full-time students, raising overall annual cost to $5,097, not including housing or books.

Hope for hungry students at UCLA

By Carla Rivera, Los Angeles Times

The student-run Food Closet and Swipes for the Homeless reach out to the campus' needy, many of whom prefer to remain hidden during hard times.

EDUCATION
Headlines from L.A. Now

Cal State raises undergraduate student fees by 5%06/18/2010, 12:57 p.m.
LAUSD layoffs expected, but thousands of jobs are being saved06/16/2010, 1:20 p.m.
Black students added to discrimination probe at L.A. Unified06/12/2010, 6:34 p.m.
Columnist urges UCLA grads to thank campus workers06/11/2010, 7:03 p.m.
Fire at Florence recycling center releases toxic fumes06/11/2010, 3:03 p.m.
Founders of high scoring San Fernando Valley charter school charged with theft of $200,00006/11/2010, 1:13 p.m.

Nation & World | School districts strive to find best tools for educating the severely disabled | Seattle Times Newspaper

School districts strive to find best tools for educating the severely disabled

School districts struggle to find a balance between instruction in functional skills and academics while providing custodial care.

By SHARON OTTERMAN

The New York Times

To get his attention, Anissia Mack shines a flashlight on Donovan Forde, who is legally blind and suffers from multiple disabilities, at the Horan School in New York. He wears cotton mitts because he sometimes hits himself in the face.

JAMES ESTRIN / NYT

To get his attention, Anissia Mack shines a flashlight on Donovan Forde, who is legally blind and suffers from multiple disabilities, at the Horan School in New York. He wears cotton mitts because he sometimes hits himself in the face.

Donovan Forde was dozing when the teacher came around to his end of the table. It fell to his teacher's aide to wake him from his midmorning nap.

She shined a small flashlight back and forth in his eyes like a dockworker signaling a ship, and called his name. Then she put her hand on his cheek, steering his head forward as he opened his eyes.

The teacher, Ricardo Torres, placed a red apple against Donovan's closed left hand and held it near his nose so he could smell it. "Donovan, the fruit holds the seeds of the plant," he said.

Then Torres held a plastic container of apple seeds to Donovan's ear, shaking it, and placed Donovan's hand inside so he could feel them. "And these are the seeds," Torres said.

He watched Donovan's eyes and face for a sign he had understood, a smile, nod, a noise. Donovan gently pulled his hand away. No one knew if he had grasped it.

At a time his peers are enrolled in college, or earning money at jobs, Donovan, 20, is in public school, being taught the most basic facts. Because of cognitive disabilities brought on by a traumatic brain injury at nearly 6 months old, it is nearly impossible to know what he comprehends and retains. After 15 years in the New

Friday, June 18

Eckstein Middle School student wins U.S. contest

Schools struggle to meet new race-labeling rules