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Thursday, July 15, 2010

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Featured Resources

THE ANIMAL KINGDOM

Animal Map Interactive

Before or after a trip to the zoo this summer, use Xpeditions’ Endangered Animals interactive map to find out more about animals’ habits, diet, and threats.

Grades K-12
Science | Social Studies
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NY BOTANICAL GARDENS
””

Plant Hunters Interactive

The New York Botanical Gardens’Plant Hunter interactive engages kids with seven Plant Challenges. How do you envision using the site to enhance student learning?

Grades K-12
Science | Botany
Ecology | Technology
Join the Discussion
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Eduwonk � Blog Archive � Top Shelf Edujobs In DC

Eduwonk � Blog Archive � Top Shelf Edujobs In DC

Top Shelf Edujobs In DC

by arotherham
At DCPS Susan Cheng is off to Harvard to be part of the inaugural class of the new joint Graduate School of Education, B-School, and Kennedy School leadership program. She’s a standout and it’s an impressive class all around. But that means DCPS needs to replace the irreplaceable and find a new central office coordinator. If you think you’ve got the goods here’s a job description. Send your resume and info directly to Susan if you want to be considered.
Over at Civic Enterprises John Bridgeland needs an education specialist and chief of staff. When he’s not helping address malaria in Africa, national service here in the states, and other worthy issues, John focuses on
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Tribune Watchdog: Suburbs' $100,000 teachers

Tribune Watchdog: Suburbs' $100,000 teachers

Tribune Watchdog: Suburbs' $100,000 teachers

CHICAGO TRIBUNE | DIANE RADO | Thu, Jul 15, 10:08 AM
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July 15--An extraordinary number of public school teachers in the Chicago region earned $100,000 or more in 2009, straining school budgets and taxpayer wallets and fueling the debate over what teachers are worth and how they get raises.
In the affluent enclaves of Highland Park and Deerfield, almost half the teachers in Township High School District 113 took home six-figure salaries -- the highest percentage in the state.
In Park Ridge and Hinsdale, about 43 percent of high school district teachers earned $100,000 or more, according to a Chicago Tribune salary analysis.
Six-figure teacher salaries of that magnitude are rare elsewhere in Illinois and in most parts of the country.
The highest-paying districts note that they are top performers that get accolades and national rankings, and they need to be competitive to attract top teachers as parents expect.
But the six-figure salaries highlight disparities that have persisted between rich and less wealthy communities in Illinois.
What's more, it's clear that some districts have over-extended themselves, and are asking teachers unions to come back to the table to help contain spending in a bad economy, with mixed success.
In the Chicago region, $100,000 salaries are most common in fields ranging from algebra, biology and U.S. history to art, instrumental music and physical education.
The Tribune examined salary information for nearly 132,000 full-time Illinois teachers who worked a traditional nine- or 10-month school year in 2008-09. Salaries provided by the Illinois State Board of Education encompass all earnings, including extra stipends for coaching and sponsoring school clubs as well as retirement perks.
Among the findings:
--About 4 percent of teachers statewide earned $100,000 or more -- 5,457 teachers -- but the vast majority worked in the Chicago suburbs, with heavy concentrations in north Cook, DuPage and Lake counties. In all, 32 Chicago-area districts paid at least 20 percent of their teachers six figures -- five times the state average.
--Districts used taxpayer dollars to pay $100,000 salaries even as they struggled with red ink. A third of districts with unusually high concentrations of teachers making six figures -- at least 10 percent of teachers -- posted operating deficits in 2008-09, according to state financial data.
--Six-figure teachers were unevenly distributed, with high school teachers making up 60 percent of the group -- more than double their representation in the teaching force. Affluent suburban districts had the largest concentrations of six-figure teachers. Less than 1
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Corbett calls for taxpayer-funded vouchers | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Corbett calls for taxpayer-funded vouchers | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Corbett calls for taxpayer-funded vouchers

by Rajiv Venkataramanan on Jul 15 2010
In an interview Tuesday with the Associated Press, Republican gubernatorial nominee Tom Corbett declared that one of his priorities as governor would be to make public money available for private and parochial school vouchers.
Corbett called the public school system a "monopoly," and stated that public schools would have to dramatically improve or risk losing taxpayer dollars to educational alternatives like charter and parochial schools. Corbett's statements make him bedfellows with Democratic State Senator Anthony Williams, who also gave a full-throated endorsement to taxpayer-funded vouchers during his failed gubernatorial bid.
Corbett's position, however, puts him directly at odds with his competitor, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Dan Onorato. While Onorato supports tax credits for businesses contributing to private school scholarships, which already are provided by Pennsylvania, he says he is firmly opposed to taxpayer-funded vouchers. Onorato's spokesman asserted that "...vouchers direct funds away from public education, undermining the state's ability to ensure all public schools are
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School Tech Connect: Show Off Your Letter For Real Ed Reform!

School Tech Connect: Show Off Your Letter For Real Ed Reform!

Show Off Your Letter For Real Ed Reform!

by effacethefacade@yahoo.com (Tim)
The time to post your ed reform bona fides is upon us. No matter where you are on the spectrum of people talking about better models of teaching and learning, there are two things that we all agree on:

The singular focus on high-stakes, basic skill test scores as a measure of "adequate yearly progress" has warped the entire educational system and must be changed.
The practice of closing and "transforming" schools has been disruptive and destructive for already struggling communities.

We need an education policy that has a more intelligent view of progress and that doesn't constantly seek to identify the "lowest 5%" or "lowest 10%" of the schools to shut them down.

Policies are pieces of paper; the aren't tweets captured by our already-in-agreement followers. There is a piece of
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