Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Teacher bonuses not linked to better student performance, study finds

Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 21, 2010; 2:07 PM

A study released Tuesday found that offering teachers annual bonuses of up to $15,000 had no effect on student test scores - a result likely to inflame debate about performance pay programs sprouting in D.C. schools and many others nationwide.

The study suggests that teachers already were working so hard that the lure of extra money failed to induce them to intensify their effort or change methods of instruction. The experiment, in Nashville public schools, calls into question a key aspect of market-driven initiatives to improve schools that have become the vogue in some education circles.

"Pay reform is often thought to be a magic bullet," said Matthew Springer, a Vanderbilt University education professor who led the study. "That doesn't appear to be the case here. We need to develop more thoughtful and comprehensive ways of thinking about compensation. But at the same time, we're not even sure whether incentive pay is an effective strategy for improving the system itself."

With backing from federal and state governments and private foundations, a growing

Hechinger Report | Paying teachers for student performance doesn’t raise test scores in Tennessee study

Paying teachers for student performance doesn’t raise test scores in Tennessee study

by Christopher Connell

Click to enlarge

NASHVILLE – Offering middle-school math teachers bonuses up to $15,000 did not produce gains in student

Students rally for DREAM Act | EdNewsColorado

Students rally for DREAM Act

by Todd Engdahl

Students rallied in support of the DREAM Act in Denver on Sept. 20, 2010.

Students, public officials and other supporters rallied in Denver Monday to urge congressional passage of the DREAM Act, which would allow many undocumented youth to obtain residency to attend college or serve in the military.

The proposal, which has been debated for a decade, is back on the front burner wit

No "Promise Neighborhood" Funding For Chicago - District 299: Chicago Public Schools Blog

No "Promise Neighborhood" Funding For Chicago

by Alexander Russo

The list of 21 Promise Neighborhood grantees is out from the USDE, and none of the Chicago grantees seem to have gotten any federal love:

Abyssinian Development Corporation ( New York)
Amherst H. Wilder Foundation (St. Paul, Minn.)
Athens Clarke County Family Connection, Inc. (Athens, Ga.)
Berea College (Clay, Jackson, and Owsley Counties, Ky.)
Boys & Girls Club of the Northern Cheyenne Nation (Cheyenne Reservation, Mont.)

The Fall of Fenty & Rhee (and more troubling thoughts about ed reform) | Seattle Education 2010

The Fall of Fenty & Rhee (and more troubling thoughts about ed reform)

by seattleducation2010

Here’s an insightful new post by Diane Ravitch on the lessons to be learned from the fall of Mayor Fenty and School Chancellor Michelle Rhee in D.C. “Why Michelle Rhee and Adrian Fenty Lost.”

A striking element of the statistical fallout of the ousting of Mayor Fenty is the wide gap in support between African-American and white D.C. residents for Michelle ‘Machete’ Rhee’s brand of ed reform.

The vast majority of D.C.’s black voters gave Rhee and Fenty (who hired her) the boot. The majority of white voters supported them.

According to Ravitch, only about 5 percent of kids in D.C.’s public schools are white. (This article claims the

Democurmudgeon: Texas State Board of Education Warns Book Publishers! Shouldn't it be the other way around?

Texas State Board of Education Warns Book Publishers! Shouldn't it be the other way around?

by Democurmudgeon

Keep in mind that none of what you are about to read is true from the Texas State Board of Education. It’s more insane ranting from a group of religious zealots. The facts follow.
The Agenda for this week's meeting of the Texas State Board of Education includes a resolution on "Balanced Treatment of Religious Groups in Textbooks." According to the Dallas Morning News last week, the resolution warns textbook publishers not to include "pro-Islamic, anti-Christian distortions, in social study texts." The resolution cites world history texts no longer used in Texas schools, that devoted far more space to Muslim beliefs and practices than Christian ones, and other books that focused on Christian Crusaders' killing of Muslims in 1099, but not Muslim killings of Christians in the 13th century.

The Answer Sheet - RIF study: Access to print materials helps student achievement

RIF study: Access to print materials helps student achievement

This post was written by Carol H. Rasco, president and chief executive of Reading Is Fundamental, Inc., the oldest and largest children’s and family nonprofit literacy organization in the United States. It provided 4.4 million children with 15 million new, free books and literacy resources last year.

Rasco writes about a study commissioned by RIF, so perhaps it is not surprising that its work would be validated by the results. Still, I am publishing this because I believe that these programs are important and that they do, indeed, help improve student achievement. In fact, earlier studies have shown the same thing, but this is a message that never

Race to the Top: Smaller is Better? - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Race to the Top: Smaller is Better?

by Alyson Klein

President Barack Obama proposed extending Race to the Top to school districts in his budget request this year. We still don't know whether Congress is going to take him up on that suggestion, but we don't have to wait until they do to see how the program operates when it's basically just at a district level. Two of the winners, the District of Columbia and Hawaii, include just one school district (not including charters, which sometimes count as their own district.)

And, if you think about it, small may have been an (inadvertent) advantage in the application process. Two of the other winners, Delaware and Rhode Island, are tiny states. A smaller size might make it easier to get buy-in and

Democurmudgeon: Chipping away at History: Texas conservatives Given Pass, Changes no Big Deal.

Chipping away at History: Texas conservatives Given Pass, Changes no Big Deal.

by Democurmudgeon

Professional industry magazine, Education Week, reports a recent study determined the Texas Board of Education conservative activists changes were minor, and overblown in the press.

So…leave the changes in this time? Leave the changes in next time too? They were bad ideological changes, but not that bad, "for the most part." Actual history has a liberal, fact based slant, that needs to be balanced. What a report:
Criticism of Texas Social Studies Standards Overblown, Analyst Says By Erik Robelen: You may recall all the controversy earlier this year over the work by the Texas state school board, led by a bloc of social conservatives, to revamp the state's social studies standards. But if you look at the

Klein talks overcrowding, turnaround strategies in Queens | GothamSchools

Klein talks overcrowding, turnaround strategies in Queens

by Anna Phillips

Chancellor Joel Klein addressed concerns about school overcrowding in Queens yesterday. (Photo via Queens borough president)

Even with new school buildings and thousands of new seats, overcrowding has not abated in Queens schools, city council members complained last night.

At a cabinet meeting of the Queen borough president, where Chancellor Klein dropped by to give a back-to-school update, council members said that the city is only using a tiny fraction of the roughly 4,000 new seats. Meanwhile, some nearby schools are bursting at the seams, they said.

Klein’s questioners included Council members Karen Koslowitz, Danny Dromm, Mark Weprin, and Jimmy Van Bramer, some of whom ran for office as skeptics of the chancellor’s policies.

Dallas ISD blog: Trustee Carla Ranger calls for superintendent succession plan 10:35 AM CT | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Latest News

Dallas ISD blog: Trustee Carla Ranger calls for superintendent succession plan 10:35 AM CT

11:18 AM CDT on Tuesday, September 21, 2010

By TAWNELL D. HOBBS / The Dallas Morning News
thobbs@dallasnews.com

Editor's note: This item originally appeared on dallasnews.com'sDallas ISD blog.

DISD trustee Carla Ranger writes on her blog that it's clear DISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa wants to leave Dallas for Las Vegas .

Hinojosa is one of two finalists for the superintendent job in the Clark County School District. Today, he travels to Las Vegas to begin a series of meetings and interviews on Wednesday and Thursday.

Ranger notes in her blog post a statement included in Hinojosa's letter to the search firm: "I am ready, willing and able to lead Clark County,

Grants Pass police claim mom's to-do list including bank robbery and picking up kids from school | OregonLive.com

Grants Pass police claim mom's to-do list including bank robbery and picking up kids from school

Published: Tuesday, September 21, 2010, 9:38 AM Updated: Tuesday, September 21, 2010, 9:50 AM

Kimberly A.C. Wilson, The Oregonian
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A 37-year-old mother reportedly robbed a Grants Pass bank branch on Monday before picking up her two daughters from grade school on the way home.

Erica Fay Anderson is being held on $50,000 bail at Josephine County Jail. Along with her alleged accomplice and getaway driver, 19-year-old Joshua Kemp Deeter Tseu of Grants Pass, Anderson faces second-degree robbery

Parents: A Rough Transition From Parochial To Public - District 299: Chicago Public Schools Blog

Parents: A Rough Transition From Parochial To Public

by Alexander Russo

A note sent in from a Beverly/Morgan Park parent: "I recently moved my child from the catholic school to the public school. I'm shocked that there are classes with 40-42 students! We have so many children that are coming into the area attending our schools and are not local residents. From what I'm told our hands are tied so I'm told. We work hard to make sure our children are in a safe and positive environment and have the tax bills to prove it. Now we have people who have only a portion of what we pay in taxes bringing in their children in to fill seats and over crowding at our schools. It is WRONG! Especially when I hear that the schools in their area have empty class rooms... I pay too much for this and to have someone come in on a free ride and not support

Rutgers University's 'Project Civility' encourages people to be kinder, less hostile | NJ.com

Rutgers University's 'Project Civility' encourages people to be kinder, less hostile

by The Star-Ledger Continuous News Desk

Star-Ledger file photoRutgers is launching a two-year initiative to make the university a friendlier place. NEW BRUNSWICK — Rutgers University is launching a two-year initiative later this month in an attempt to revive ethics and a sense of social responsibility...

Spelling Teachers for Murkwski! | Intercepts

Spelling Teachers for Murkwski!

by Mike Antonucci

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski lost the Republican primary in Alaska for her seat and is now mounting a write-in campaign. NEA Alaska, which endorsed her in the primary, is sticking with her in the general election. And she’ll need every teacher, because one of the pitfalls of a write-in campaign is that it requires voters to write your name.

In an ad designed to help voters with this task, the final image directed voters to

The Answer Sheet - World Bank invests more in education; big gap remains

World Bank invests more in education; big gap remains

On the heels of a new report that said nearly 70 million children around the world are not getting an education, the World Bank just announced that it will make $750 million in additional investment through 2015 to achieve universal primary education.

But the additional funding of $150 million per year over the next five years represents less than 1/100 of the total global need.

The funding, announced at a United Nations summit on Monday, will focus on countries in South Asia and Africa that are unlikely to achieve universal primary school completion and gender parity in education by

In Post-Palin Alaska, an Union Endorsement - State EdWatch - Education Week

In Post-Palin Alaska, an Union Endorsement

by Sean Cavanagh

The Alaska state affiliate of the National Education Association is backing Democrat Ethan Berkowitz in the race for governor over Republican incumbent Sean Parnell.

In picking Berkowitz, the union is making it's first official endorsement for governor since 1998, the union's president, Barb Angaiak, explained in one account. The endorsement officially comes from the union's Political Action Committee for Education. Angaiak cited Berkowitz's support for early-childhood education and a return to providing teachers with a defined-benefit pension system.

Berkowitz, a former state lawmaker, "clearly understands the obstacles public education faces in Alaska and

More than one-third of Sacramento County hold degrees - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

More than one-third of Sacramento County hold degrees

By Laurel Rosenhall
lrosenhall@sacbee.com

Published: Tuesday, Sep. 21, 2010 - 8:00 am

Sacramento County is typical of California in the portion of the population that is college-educated, according to a report being released today by a foundation advocating that more people go to college.

The report from the Lumina Foundation says that in Sacramento County and across California, 38 percent of working-age adults (age 25-64) hold at least a two-year college degree.

Other counties in the region have a more highly educated population. In El Dorado County, 43 percent of adults have at least a two-year degree; the number was 47 percent in Placer County and 49 percent in Yolo County, home to the

Elite For-Profit Schools Chase a Growing Market - NYTimes.com

Elite For-Profit Schools Chase a Growing Market

Jennifer S. Altman for The New York Times

Kristin Geiger, director of admissions, and William Phelps, headmaster, at the British International School of New York.

By JENNY ANDERSON

Published: September 21, 2010

REPRINTS

The British International School of New York offers spacious waterfront classrooms, small computers encased in rubber for small people who tend to drop them, and a pool for the once-a-week swimming classes required for all students.

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But there is nothing within its halls or on its Web site that indicates what differentiates British International from the teeming masses of expensive private schools in New York: It is run for profit.

It is one of a small number of large for-profit schools that have opened recently or plan to open in New York City next year. While they are a speck on the

Central Office: This Month's Board Meeting - District 299: Chicago Public Schools Blog

Central Office: This Month's Board Meeting

by Alexander Russo

Here's the Board agenda for tomorrow's meeting (PDF), which could be fun. It's the first meeting of the new year, and the first since Daley announced he was leaving, and the Whittier field house dispute seems to remain unresolved. On the agenda itself you'll find a $100 million increase in bond authority, a charter renewal for Noble

Latest News and Comment from Education

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Teacher bonuses not linked to better student performance, study finds

RIF study: Access to print materials helps student achievement

11:18 AM CDT on Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Grants Pass police claim mom's to-do list including bank robbery and picking up kids from school

Published: Tuesday, September 21, 2010, 9:38 AM Updated: Tuesday, September 21, 2010, 9:50 AM

World Bank invests more in education; big gap remains

More than one-third of Sacramento County hold degrees

Elite For-Profit Schools Chase a Growing Market

By JENNY ANDERSON

Published: September 21, 2010

Readers' Comments