Thursday, September 2, 2010

Does Class Size Matter? � The Education Supply Playground

Does Class Size Matter?

September 2, 2010 by nssea

For years, school experts have always asserted that students in smaller classes do better academically because teachers can pay more attention to each child.

Educators, who champion the concept, based their believes off of a 1985 study that compared academic achievement in small classes of 13 to 17 low-income students with that of students in classes that had 22 to 25 students. The experiment found modest but lasting gains for impoverished African-American students in the much smaller classes in kindergarten and first grade.

However, according to a USA Today article, some school districts are b

The Buck Stops With California State University Chancellor Charles B. Reed | California Progress Report

The Buck Stops With California State University Chancellor Charles B. Reed

by christine

By Lillian Taiz
California Faculty Association

Just under two weeks ago our CFA staff, while searching for financial information on the CSU Chancellor's website, stumbled across minutes of meetings involving the top financial leaders of the California State University.

We were shocked to find that these minutes record comments by top executives of the CSU saying that auditors have found inappropriate co-mingling of taxpayer dollars with private donations and other business revenues inside the university’s 90 affiliated auxiliary organizations.

These auxiliary organizations are connected to the California State University’s 23 campuses and Chancellor’s Office. They hold a great deal of money, about 20 percent of the CSU’s funds equaling about $1.6 billion.

Even though they do business and handle money that has a large impact on the life of the California State University, these so-called auxiliary organizations to the CSU are not subject to our state’s Public Records law.

Eduwonk � Blog Archive � Hess Collection

Hess Collection

by arotherham

Rick Hess responds here to this post from the other day. Worth reading because he makes many good points that I agree with relative to the competition. But he clouds a fundamental difference in our views on this. Criticizing public officials for bad decisions or bad judgment either proactively or retroactively relative to their public duties is completely fair game – and in fact a vital part of the process in our system. Accusing,

D.C. Schools Insider - Judge halts AFT takeover of WTU election

Judge halts AFT takeover of WTU election

Updated 9:17 pm

The American Federation of Teachers acted improperly by intervening in the Washington Teachers' Union's internal dispute over the timing of its officer elections, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. But U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly also left the door open for the AFT to try again.

The WTU was supposed to have its elections in the spring, but disagreements about the role and composition of an internal elections committee brought the process to a halt. WTU President George Parker and the union's executive committee want to postpone until November, when they say they'll have an accurate idea of who is a dues paying member in the 2010-11 school year.

The AFT, arguing that the delay compromised union democracy, declared an emergency "administratorship" on Aug. 4 to conduct the election in mid-September, with ballot counting to be completed by early October. After the WTU filed a motion to enjoin AFT's action, AFT responded with its own motion asserting its right to intervene.

Teachers strike remains possible; Harmony-Emge leaders, union still have no deal - From the online desk - bnd.com

Teachers strike remains possible; Harmony-Emge leaders, union still have no deal

BY MIKE FITZGERALD - News-Democrat

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BELLEVILLE -- A teachers strike looms on the horizon for the Harmony-Emge School District 175 after negotiators for the district and its teachers union met for five hours Saturday without a breakthrough.

Both sides have agreed not disclose the status of negotiations until after a meeting of the Illinois Federation of Teachers bargaining unit for District 175, said Christi Flaherty, the lawyer representing the school district.

Flaherty noted that District 175 school board is set to meet at 7 p.m. Monday "and hopefully

DPS teachers union sues over new hires | detnews.com | The Detroit News

DPS teachers union sues over new hires

Marisa Schultz / The Detroit News

Detroit -- Detroit Public Schools' teachers union said it filed a lawsuit Wednesday, claiming the district passed over qualified teachers and hired from outside the district for specially designated schools.

The allegations of contract violations could impact staffing choices of a groundbreaking "priority schools" program designed to boost student achievement at 51 schools, particularly at 40 that had significant staff shake-ups this summer.

Part of the shake-ups included removing principals and requiring hundreds of teacher

From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100902/SCHOOLS/9020407/1026/schools/DPS-teachers-union-sues-over-new-hires#ixzz0yO07ABNN

Send school aid directly to charters, panel says | Columbus Dispatch Politics

Send school aid directly to charters, panel says

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Advice intended to ease animosity among officials of public schools

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2010 02:59 AM

BY JIM SIEGEL

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Today's political news

Teachers union has its own labor trouble

hose who dream of a day when Ohio's traditional districts and charter schools will work harmoniously know it is unlikely under a funding system in which districts get monthly reminders that their state funding is being siphoned away.

A subcommittee of the School Funding Advisory Council, the group tasked with looking at ways to improve the state's system of paying for education in Ohio, recommended yesterday that funding for charter schools go directly to those schools instead of passing through the traditional public schools.

Under the current system, Columbus, for example, gets a monthly payment from the state for all students living in the district, but it must send some of that money to charter

Queens Teacher: Before the Storm - What Happens When a School is Targeted for a Turnaround

Before the Storm - What Happens When a School is Targeted for a Turnaround

by Queens Teacher

Popout

This video clip is adapted from a PowerPoint presentation I created for a Teachers' Letters to Obama electronic

AM News: Still No Chief Academic Officer - District 299: Chicago Public Schools Blog

AM News: Still No Chief Academic Officer

by Alexander Russo

"Principals and teachers at Chicago Public Schools are gearing up for the school year that begins next week, and some say they're doing it without a needed chief education officer." (CPS Principals Feeling 'Lost at Sea'WBEZ)

Obama must stick to his guns on education - CNN.com

Obama must stick to his guns on education

By Ruben Navarrette Jr., Special to CNN

September 2, 2010 8:39 a.m. EDT

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Navarrette: Obama is engaging in election-year wooing of distraught teachers unions
He says unions who backed Obama are put off by reforms that target teacher performance
Obama pouring money into education funding, but some balky unions turn away
Navarrette: Obama must stay focused, not compromise on reform to win midterm support

RELATED TOPICS

Editor's note: Ruben Navarrette Jr. is a nationally syndicated columnist, an NPR commentator and a regular contributor to CNN.com. Watch CNN's "Fix Our Schools" coverage all this week for concrete, unique solutions to the U.S. education crisis.

San Diego (CNN) -- It's back-to-school time, which means some in the media have gone back to asking: "What's wrong with our schools? And how can we fix it?"

But it's also an election year. That has President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan -- both of whom have shown themselves to be deeply informed about what's wrong with our schools and how to fix it -- trying to make peace with a powerful Democratic ally. Unfortunately, this ally also happens to be one of the things that's wrong with our schools: some of the teachers unions.

Here's the background:

ASCD Inservice: When I Quit Giving Homework

When I Quit Giving Homework

Response to "Do All Students Need Homework?":

Over the past several years, I have dramatically reduced the amount of homework I assign. I don't even use the word homework. If I ask students to read outside of class, I simply say tonight's reading, or if I ask students to write outside of class, I call it tonight's writing.

Because I rarely ask kids to do homework, most of my outside class work involves an activity like interviewing a parent, watching a brief video on YouTube, looking up information, or performing an activity.
It's interesting to note that since I quit assigning homework, I don't cover substantially less in class. I've discovered that student attitudes about class and their readiness for class have improved. In one particular unit, I used to assign a significant amount of outside reading, writing, and research on a student-selected topic. Now, the only outside activity I ask students to do is to discuss and reflect on

Queens Teacher: Accept it: Poverty hurts learning: Schools matter, but they're not all that matters

Accept it: Poverty hurts learning: Schools matter, but they're not all that matters

by Queens Teacher

Accept it: Poverty hurts learning: Schools matter, but they're not all that matters
BY Pedro Noguera

Thursday, September 2nd 2010

There has been a fierce, ongoing debate among educational leaders about how to teach poor children: One side has argued that we must address the wide variety of social issues (like poor health and nutrition, mobility, inadequate preparation for school, etc.) that tend to be associated with poverty. The other side has argued that

San Fernando Valley Sun - Allegations of Fraud Prompt New Rules for Charter Schools Must Now Comply

Allegations of Fraud Prompt New Rules for Charter Schools Must Now Comply

Written by Andres Chavez Sun Staff Reporter

Thursday, 02 September 2010

Principal confesses fraud to board member

The Los Angeles Unified school board Tuesday unanimously approved new regulations intended to tighten the district's oversight of charter schools.

The new rules cover the approval and renewal of the independent schools and the procedures for shutting them down if they miss academic benchmarks, engage in fraud, or are fiscally irresponsible.

California law gives charter schools a great deal of autonomy.

But LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines said having clear rules would help effective charters run better and help the district identify problems with less effective schools sooner.

The Board's action was prompted by two sets of allegations of mishandling of

The test score witch-hunt in LA | SocialistWorker.org

The test score witch-hunt in LA

Jessica Kochick, a teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District, looks at the anti-union agenda behind "value-added" evaluation of teacher performance.

September 2, 2010

The value-added model that the Los Angeles Times applied to teachers in its article is very controversial among experts The value-added model that the Los Angeles Times applied to teachers in its article is very controversial among experts

THE SCHOOL year in the Los Angeles Unified School District is about to kick off--with two unpaid furlough days due to budget cuts and union concessions--and teachers and parents are grappling with a debate over a recent Los Angeles Times article "Who's Teaching L.A.'s Kids?"

The article unveils a study of individual teacher effectiveness in LAUSD, based on a "value-added measure"--meaning how much "value" an individual teacher has added to a student's expected yearly growth as measured by California standardized reading and math tests. If a student's test scores