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Monday, July 26, 2010

Study: Effective Principals Embrace Collective Leadership #Education Week American Education News Site of Record #edu

Education Week American Education News Site of Record

The wide-ranging study linked high student achievement to those principals who involved teachers, parents, and others in school decisions. (July 23, 2010) | Comments (8)
The regulations would cut off federal aid to for-profit colleges if too many of their students default on loans or don't earn enough after graduation to repay them.(July 23, 2010) | Comments (2)
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District of Columbia schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, shown in a 2009 photo, announced plans on July 23 to dismiss 302 employees, mostly for poor performance. According to Rhee, 241 of the dismissals were of teachers who failed to meet various standards.
Bill O'Leary/Washington Post via Getty Images
Most of the teachers are being dismissed for poor performance under the District of Columbia's rigorous new evaluation system, schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee tells Education Week. (July 23, 2010)
(July 23, 2010) | Comments (1)

'Green cards' bring suspensions - Omaha.com

'Green cards' bring suspensions - Omaha.com

'Green cards' bring suspensions

Several Lincoln East students were suspended Wednesday in connection with a postgame incident that sullied the high school's Tuesday night boys state soccer championship match against Omaha South.

The students admitted making and distributing “green cards,” a reference to immigration status aimed at South's largely Latino soccer team.

Also Wednesday, dozens of East students began forming a group to “plan action steps to mend bridges with the South High community,” said Dennis Mann, East's associate principal.

“Their foremost concern is not how to protect our reputation, but how to heal hurt relationships with South,” he said.

East won the game 4-2 in overtime. But what happened afterwards marred the victory.

Dozens of green paper rectangles were tossed into the air as fans and players celebrated on the field at Creighton

The Educated Guess � CSBA Scott Plotkin’s troubling resignation

The Educated Guess � CSBA Scott Plotkin’s troubling resignation

CSBA Scott Plotkin’s troubling resignation

Tags: ,
Posted in Adequacy suit, Advocacy organizations
Caught in lies he told the news media last week about questionable credit card expenses and about salary cuts over the past year that he claimed he took – but didn’t, Scott Plotkin resigned Friday as executive director of the California School Boards Association. In a brief statement on CSBA’s web site, Plotkin wrote, “I am sorry if my actions have damaged the reputation of CSBA and the vital work being conducted by the Association. It was certainly not my intent.”
There is no “if” about it. Plotkin, who effectively led the organization for nine years, has scorched it on his way out. And the CSBA officers and board members must go beyond their tight-lipped responses to questions about pay and expenses if it’s to rebuild its credibility with the public and the nearly 1,000 school districts whose CSBA dues are funded through tax dollars.
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Parents form Educacy, set goal for 2012

Posted in Advocacy organizations, Revenue and taxes
Setting their sights on as-yet undefined statewide initiative in 2012, a parent group in Silicon Valley is organizing to increase education funding. As Educacy, the name of their non-profit group indicates, the focus will be advocacy on behalf of parents.
“Parents have been the missing link” in school reform and in discussions about the need for more money for schools, said Kay Louie of Redwood City, one of three lead figures behind the organization.
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Ramon Cortines retiring next spring

Posted in Uncategorized
Eighteen months into his three-year contract, Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines disclosed Thursday that he will retire sometime next spring, ending a tumultuous tenure in which he led district reforms and dealt with massive budget cuts.
Cortines, who turned 78 yesterday, had already been planning a transition. On Aug.2, his possible successor, John Deasy, deputy director of education for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, starts as deputy superintendent.
In his long career, Cortines headed New York City’s Department of Education and served as superintendent of schools in Pasadena, San Francisco and San Jose and advised several U.S. presidents on education. Last year, he opened up low-performing and new schools in Los Angeles Unified to charter school operators and outside groups; a second phase is in the works.

Charter revocation rules not yet final

Posted in Charters
The State Board of Education moved closer to adoption but has not yet passed new rules for revoking poorly performing charter schools.
At their meeting last week, members appeared to agree with using API scores to determine which charters should be annually reviewed for possible revocation. However, they also want alternatives to the proposal to consider revoking charters of schools in the lowest 10 percent of API scores and whose scores ranked in the lowest 20 percent of schools with similar student populations.
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News: Student Aid Remains a State Priority - Inside Higher Ed

News: Student Aid Remains a State Priority - Inside Higher Ed

Student Aid Remains a State Priority

July 26, 2010
Even as the economy began to collapse in 2008, most states found a way to protect from cuts the grant aid they give state residents to attend college, a new study finds.
The annual survey, by the National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs (or NASSGAP), reveals that in the 2008-9 fiscal year, state spending on need-based and non-need-based grant aid for undergraduates rose by 5.6 percent over 2007-8. (Over all, state spending on financial aid rose by 2.7 percent over 2007-8.) That's less than in the several preceding years, and the smallest increase since 2002-3. But it both exceeded the expectations of, and pleasantly surprised, officials at the state aid association, who had feared that the recent upturn in state spending on financial aid would reverse itself given the general economic woes.

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“States know that even with the economic difficulties they face, they need to continue to invest in the education of the work force,” said Lois Hollis, special assistant to the deputy commissioner of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and president of the association of state aid programs.
Hollis attached one significant caveat to her assessment, noting that 2008-9 represented the first time in at least a decade that there was essentially increase in state-based financial aid from in current (inflation-adjusted) dollars. With the inflation rate running at 5.6 percent during much of the July 2008 to June 2009 period covered by the NASSGAP survey, the aid that states meted out just kept pace with students’ rising costs.

How California state law helps whooping cough spread | California Watch

How California state law helps whooping cough spread | California Watch

How California state law helps whooping cough spread

Two quirks in California law run counter to the efforts of public health officials who are hoping to put a lid on the rapidly spreading whooping cough epidemic in the state.
California is one of 11 states that do not require children to get a booster when they enter middle school, which is when the shots usually given during childhood tend to wear off.
In an abundance of caution, officials are asking everyone age 7 and above to get a booster, with particular

$71 million stimulus delay stuns education advocates

Education advocates of all stripes shook their heads in disbelief Friday at the revelation that $71 million in education stimulus dollars sat unused for nearly a year while the state's budget crisis devoured teachers' jobs, eliminated classes, kicked kids off school buses and closed down school libraries.
"We are at a loss as to why this is happening. Why would the Legislature move so slowly or not move at all?" asked Sandra Jackson, spokeswoman for the California Teachers Association. "On the one hand, they want to Race to the Top for some funding. But when they get other funding for our children, they want to drag their feet across the finish line."
"Wow. That's pretty bad. That's awful," said Liz Guillen, legislative director for Public Advocates, one of several

Online K-12 education surging, but official says 'it's buyer, beware' - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Online K-12 education surging, but official says 'it's buyer, beware' - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Online K-12 education surging, but official says 'it's buyer, beware'

Published: Monday, Jul. 26, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 1B
Interest in online schools for kindergarten through 12th grade is surging as new virtual offerings flood the market, leading education experts to warn parents that not all programs are equal.
The biggest influx is in credit recovery programs to help students meet graduation requirements. But high-achieving students also are turning to online programs that offer more flexibility, personalized instruction and accelerated courses.
John Fleischman of the Sacramento County Office of Education cautions parents to thoroughly vet online programs, because they don't go through the same rigorous adoption process as curricula at traditional public schools.
"It's buyer, beware," said Fleischman, assistant superintendent of technology services for the county office.
Typically, the state adopts new textbooks and instructional materials in core subjects for kindergarten through eighth grade. At the high school level, individual school districts and charters

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/07/26/2914196/online-k-12-education-surging.html#mi_rss=Education#ixzz0umx33q9M


Rolled-up sleeves, dirtied work gloves and laborious sweat overtook the recent preoccupations of school closures, teacher layoffs and budget struggles at the Twin Rivers Unified School District on Saturday.
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It was a fall from grace for a man who has championed public schools across the state.
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Juan Talamantes arrived on the doorstep of a school for high-risk kids at age 17 with a .05 grade-point average and a string of expulsions from area high schools.


Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/education/#ixzz0umxClmDO