Wednesday, December 15, 2010

At Agassiz School, progress and a sense of betrayal - The Boston Globe

At Agassiz, progress and a sense of betrayal

Parents staged a demonstration in Jamaica Plain this month to protest plans to close the Agassiz School in a budget squeeze. (Essdras M Suarez/Globe Staff)

By James Vaznis

Globe Staff / December 15, 2010

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By many accounts, the Agassiz Elementary School, one of 12 underperforming schools in Boston, appeared to be showing glimmers of a rebound.

Math scores on the MCAS exam shot up this past spring after the school offered more intensive tutoring. Student attendance rates improved as the school cracked down on tardiness and absenteeism.

And the school district spent about $900,000 last year to replace dozens of grimy, leaky windows, allowing sunlight once again to filter into this Jamaica Plain building where air quality and mold has long been a concern.

Yet instead of optimism brimming from every nook and cranny, a sense of

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Stunning video: Gunman fires at Fla. school board - NorthJersey.com

Stunning video: Gunman fires at Fla. school board

Wednesday, December 15, 2010
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PANAMA CITY, Fla. — An ex-convict calmly held a school board at gunpoint, complaining about taxes and his wife being fired before shooting at close range as the superintendent begged, "Please don't."

Minutes earlier, the room had been filled with students accepting awards, but no one was hurt except the gunman, who shot himself Tuesday after exchanging fire with a security guard, police said.

"It could have been a monumental tragedy," Bay District Schools Superintendent Bill Husfelt said. "God was standing in front of me and I will go to my grave

Students Riot in Italy as Government Teeters « Student Activism

Students Riot in Italy as Government Teeters

by Angus Johnston

Students staged mass protests in Rome and throughout Italy yesterday as the Italian parliament voted on a confidence resolution that threatened the government of media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi.

Berlusconi, who has proposed huge cuts to higher education as part of a reform package condemned by many in Italy’s universities, prevailed by a mere three votes. As news of the result spread through the crowds, anger swelled — in all, more than a hundred protesters were injured.

Though Berlusconi, who has dominated Italian politics for more than a decade, survived yesterday’s vote, his

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Thousands turn out in the cold for Chicago mayoral forum

Thousands turn out in the cold for Chicago mayoral forum

by Mike Klonsky

M. Klonsky photo

Rahm a no-show. Chico leaves early.

UIC's Forum was packed last night. Nearly 3,000 turned out, mainly from the city's community and social-service orgs, in the bitter cold, under the banner of New Chicago-201l. This poor frost-bitten soul was one of them. Big money candidate Rahm Emanuel wasn't, and his absence united the crowd with a round of boos.

The 2,800-strong crowd booed. They probably would have booed Emanuel if he had attended. The

California Teaching Workforce is Running on Empty | California Progress Report

California Teaching Workforce is Running on Empty

by christine

By Margaret Gaston
Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning

Cumulative cuts of more than $20 billion from California’s schools over the past three years have made it tougher for teachers to help students meet increasing expectations for academic achievement and have badly damaged the state’s ability to recruit and prepare new teachers needed for the future, according to the annual report on California’s teaching workforce released this week by the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning.

The report makes clear that California’s teaching workforce is running on empty. The disinvestment in building a top quality teacher workforce is at odds with rising demands for students’ academic success, and the fiscal crisis has so severely damaged the pipeline for recruiting and training new teachers that teaching quality may be put at risk for many years to come.

Is Rahm running for school librarian? « Fred Klonsky's blog

Is Rahm running for school librarian?

by Fred Klonsky

Nothing would make me happier than to have the future of our schools be the subject of high level political discourse in the upcoming Chicago mayor’s race.

That’s not going to happen.

Rahmageddon is too busy explaining where his current address is to attend any public forums on the issue,

solidaridad: Is the non-parent Parent Trigger backfiring?

Is the non-parent Parent Trigger backfiring?

by caroline

The move to hand challenged, high-need McKinley Elementary School in Compton over to a charter operator under California's “Parent Trigger” law was widely reported earlier this month as a resounding triumph for low-income parents demanding a decent school for their children.

To those following the issue closely, that version has rapidly fallen apart, as critics (including this poster) have retorted that an organization founded by charter operators and funded by billionaires ran the show and exploited the parents. As I and many others have said, it's unclear on the concept to portray an action orchestrated by professionals, funded by billionaires and corporate titans, and applauded by the leader of the free world

Report: Fewer grads choosing to be Calif teachers - Boston.com

Report: Fewer grads choosing to be Calif teachers

December 15, 2010

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SANTA CRUZ, Calif.—The number of public school teachers has reached a decade-low in California, and the job is getting less attractive amid state budget cuts, a new study says.

The budget problems have boosted class sizes, interfered with teacher training and reduced support from school counselors, nurses and aides, according to the report released Monday by the not-for-profit Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning, a research and advocacy group based in Santa Cruz.

"The budget cuts have severely damaged the teacher pipeline, but all the systems that support good teaching are really compromised," center director Margaret Gaston told the Monterey County Herald. "That's really the main message."

The study showed the number of teachers in California is now at its lowest level

Brown gets few offers of help from education leaders | California Watch

Brown gets few offers of help from education leaders

by Louis Freedberg

Louis Freedberg

Jerry Brown is calling on Californians to come together to resolve the state's deepening budget crisis, but he got a heavy dose of how difficult that will be at the forum he hosted in Los Angeles yesterday focused on education financing.

Although their tone was conciliatory, school superintendents and union leaders reminded Brown, over and over again, of all the ways K-12 schools have borne the brunt of the budget cuts over the past three years, and presented ominous scenarios should they be cut any further.

Joel Shapiro, South Pasadena superintendent of schools, asked Brown to be courageous in defending what

This Week In Education: Thompson: "The War on Teachers"

Thompson: "The War on Teachers"

by john thompson

If you have any doubt that the "war on teachers" is doing serious harm to students, listen to Claudio Sanchez's " All Things Considered" report on the state of Central Falls H.S. Six teachers have been absent due to stress, 18 have resigned, and more are expected to leave. Reading about the school transformation does not convey the full poignancy of its collapse. The venom in the voices of the "reformers"conveys the real issue. State CommissionerDeborah Gist set the tone, but the sarcasm of the

Turnarounds: Half Measures Not Cutting It At Central Falls

by Alexander Russo

The way NPR's Claudio Sanchez half-whispers into the microphone it's hard not to feel like he's telling you a secret; the way he focuses on the feelings of the teachers at Central Falls high school it's hard not to feel like teachers were wronged last year when threatened with being fired and subsequently being told to raise their performance. But it doesn't seem like the no-firing plan is working out for the kids or the school or even for the teachers who clawed to keep their jobs -- what a toxic environment -- and I'm thinking that RI state superintendent Deborah Gist might be regretting the move that let

The Answer Sheet - Principal seeks to replace student body, improve scores

Principal seeks to replace student body, improve scores

Mr. Teachbad's Blog of Teacher Disgruntlement has some very funny posts, including this piece of fake education news. [Some of the language on the blog is raw; because The Post has different standards on this sort of thing, I've taken out some of the more colorful words and replaced them with synonyms in brackets.] As I’ve said before, sometimes you have to laugh through the pain. (FAKE) EDUCATION NEWS: KANSAS CITY, KS -- In a bold move sure to spark debate in political and education circles, Karen Herbst, principal of J.C. Harmon High School in Kansas City, KS, is making a most unusual request. Herbst has asked the Kansas State commissioner of education, Dr. Diane DeBacker, to replace the entire student body at J.C. Harmon High School with students from another high school where test scores are higher. In a letter to the commissioner, Herbst writes:

This Week In Education: AM News: Some Districts Using Edujobs For Bonuses

AM News: Some Districts Using Edujobs For Bonuses

by Alexander Russo

Poll: Most want easier way to fire bad teachers: An overwhelming majority of Americans are frustrated that it's too difficult to get rid of bad teachers, while most also believe that teachers ... Ohio School District Uses Unique Peer Evaluations to Grade Teachers PBS: Special correspondent for education John Merrow reports how public schools in Toledo, Ohio, are implementing a unique peer-evaluation program for educators that looks to nurture teachers, but make it easier to remove ineffective ones... Education stimulus money to fund state teacher bonuses Arkansas News: Kimbrell said most of the state’s 239 school districts have indicated they will use the funds for one-time bonuses ranging from $500 to $700... Rural New York School Recruits Overseas Students NPR: As hundreds of districts consolidate their schools, some remote communities are fighting back by seeking out international students to fill their nearly empty classrooms... Gunman Opens Fire at School Board, Kills Self WSJ: A gunman who opened fire at a school board meeting and then exchanged shots with a security guard has killed himself, police said.

ASCD Inservice: "Flexible" Teaching or Fraudulent Teaching?

"Flexible" Teaching or Fraudulent Teaching?

In "The Flexible Teacher," Leila Christenbury tells us that, having "concluded that few of [her] students would pass the course as currently constructed", she "jettisoned . . . deleted . . . truncated" some of the more challenging parts of her 300-level course on Teaching Writing Skills. Though acknowledging that "these changes may appear to have weakened the rigor of the original course," Christenbury concludes it was more important to give grades of A to 14(!) of the 18 students who otherwise "would falter . . . if not fail the course."

Christenbury calls these changes "compromise"; I call them fraud. I believe Christenbury perpetrated a fraud on at least three groups:

The college administration hired and paid her to teach an upper-level course that was cross-listed in both English and education, presumably with the understanding that an appropriate syllabus would be in place. Instead, 300-

Queens Teacher: Bloombucks: "I want to go out being the greatest mayor ever."

Bloombucks: "I want to go out being the greatest mayor ever."

by Queens Teacher

Bloomberg wants to be a contender for New York's greatest mayor ever

Mayor Bloomberg's ego got the best of him Sunday when he confessed he wants to be remembered as "the greatest mayor ever."

The confession from Hizzoner, who usually says he hopes his eventual successor will do a better job than he has done, came as he once again denied any interest in running for President.

"I've got a great job. I want to go out being, having a reputation as a very good, maybe the greatest mayor ever," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"I'm lucky I have three predecessors - Giuliani and Dinkins and Koch - all of whom have been very helpful in trying to make me a better mayor."

Bloomberg appeared on the national political talk show days after he gave a talk about the economy at the

Michelle Rhee: radically reforming public education, whether you like it or not | 89.3 KPCC

Michelle Rhee: radically reforming public education, whether you like it or not

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Brittany Knotts/KPCC

Patt and former Chancellor of D.C. Public Schools, Michelle Rhee.

Web Resources

She started as a Teach for America recruit and has since become one of the most prominent public education officials in the country. Michelle Rhee has made it her life’s mission to reform the public education system, and her resume proves it. After Teach for America, Rhee founded and ran the New Teacher Project for 10 years before finally being appointed the Chancellor of D.C. public schools where she served for close to three and a half years. Now she’s moving a little south to run Florida Governor-elect Rick Scott’s education task force (there’s speculation that she’ll become his Commissioner of education), and she’s started a new program called Students First aimed at transforming public education across the country. She’s a busy woman, but she’s here to talk to Patt about reforming

Report sees bleak future for teaching in California - Around the valley - Modbee.com

Report sees bleak future for teaching in California

The teaching profession in California is facing a gloomy future, according to a report released Tuesday by the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning.

Massive cuts to education over the past three years have made it difficult for teachers to meet rising expectations and have hurt the state's ability to recruit and prepare new teachers, the report found.

This is the 12th annual report by Gaston's group, which aims to help policymakers and others understand the need to strengthen the teaching profession.

Mayor gears up for fight over performance pay - BostonHerald.com

Mayor gears up for fight over performance pay

By Thomas Grillo
Wednesday, December 15, 2010 - Added 10 hours ago
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Mayor Thomas M. Menino is vowing to do battle with the Boston Teachers Union over his plan to link teacher pay to performance, give principals more authority, reform teacher evaluations and extend the school day.

“We have to put these issues on the table. They are very important to us if we really want ed reform,” Menino told reporters after a speech at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce yesterday. “Other cities have them, why can’t we have those in Boston?”

Menino outlined the plan before business leaders and urged them to support Boston Public Schools Superintendent Carol Johnson’s controversial proposal

Latest News and Comment from Education

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

At Agassiz, progress and a sense of betrayal

LATEST EDUCATION NEWS WIRE UPDATES

LATEST K-12 EDUCATION NEWS

Report: Fewer grads choosing to be Calif teachers

LATEST EDUCATION NEWS WIRE UPDATES

LATEST K-12 EDUCATION NEWS

LATEST HIGHER EDUCATION NEWS

"Flexible" Teaching or Fraudulent Teaching?

Michelle Rhee: radically reforming public education, whether you like it or not

Web Resources

Mayor gears up for fight over performance pay