Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Welcome to Skype in the classroom | Skype Education

Welcome to Skype in the classroom

Meet new people, discover new cultures and connect with classes from around the world, all without leaving the classroom

Introducing Skype in the classroom

Skype in the classroom is a free community to help teachers everywhere use Skype to help their students learn. It’s a place for teachers to connect with each other, find partner classes and share inspiration. This is a global initiative that was created in response to the growing number of teachers using Skype in their classrooms. Read more

Skype in the classroom’s 100 newest teachers by location

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Academic Achievement Award Winners - Year 2011 (CA Dept of Education)

State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Announces
2011 Title I Academic Achievement Award Schools

SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today announced that 209 California public schools have been selected for the 2010-11 Title I Academic Achievement Award. For the list of winners, please visit 2010-11 Academic Achievement Award Recipients - Academic Achievement Awards.

"These schools have demonstrated exceptional commitment to the education of their students and have achieved impressive results," said Torlakson. "I congratulate all those who put forth the extra effort that resulted in this prestigious award—school administrators and staffs, teachers, parents, and, of course, the students themselves."

The Title I Academic Achievement Award is given only to schools receiving federal Title I funds as authorized by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Title I is the single largest federal educational program for K-12 public education. Title I funds assist schools in meeting the educational needs of students living near or at the poverty level. Of the more than 9,000 schools in California, more than 6,000 of them participate in the Title I program.

The criteria to qualify for the Title I Academic Achievement Award have become more rigorous in recent years. To meet the criteria for this distinction, the school must demonstrate that all students are making significant progress toward proficiency on California's academic content standards. Additionally, the school's socioeconomically disadvantaged students must have doubled the achievement targets set for them for two consecutive years.

The 2010-11 awardees will be honored at a reception and banquet at the Disneyland Hotel on May 20, 2011. For more information about the California Title I Academic Achievement Award reception and banquet, please visit the California Department of Education Web site at: Academic Achievement Awards - School/Teacher Recognition.

The case for an elected school board | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

The case for an elected school board

by Ron Whitehorne on Mar 30 2011 Posted in Blogger commentary

Sign at TAG protest at School District headquarters.

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This is the second in a three-part series about governance of the Philadelphia schools.

Today, Philadelphia's schools are governed by a state commission with a majority selected by the governor in Harrisburg. Ten years ago we had a school board appointed by the mayor and nominated by a panel of civic notables, who were selected by the mayor based on criteria enumerated in the city’s charter. In both cases, Philadelphia's citizens did not select the people responsible for the city's public school system.

While the school board had broad oversight for District policy and administration, it lacked the power to appropriate funds. Then, as now, Philadelphia City Council controls the purse strings, deciding on both property tax rates and the share of

Subpoena everyone in D.C. cheating scandal -- including Rhee - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Subpoena everyone in D.C. cheating scandal -- including Rhee

By Valerie Strauss

One surefire way to learn whether a D.C. public school that made big gains when Michelle Rhee was chancellor actually cheated — a possibility raised by a newspaper investigation -- is to subpoena everybody in D.C. with potential involvement or knowledge and have them testify under oath. That includes Rhee.

An investigation published this week by USA Today brought new focus to previous concerns about erasures on standardized tests at D.C. schools. USA Today mentioned there were erasures that were flagged as outside the norm at 103 schools at least once since 2008 but it focused on one, Crosby S. Noyes Education Campus, where big gains on tests were reported during the Rhee era.

The newspaper obtained documents and data through the Freedom of Information Act and discovered an unusually high number of erasures at Noyes, with a “consistent pattern” of wrong answers being erased and

Ed Reform “Miracles” – or Mirages? 10 Years of “No Child Left Behind” has led to cheating & lies | Seattle Education 2010

Ed Reform “Miracles” – or Mirages? 10 Years of “No Child Left Behind” has led to cheating & lies

Posted on March 30, 2011 by seattleducation2010| Leave a comment

The Great Ed Reform Swindle

From the (since de-beatified) “Texas Miracle” of 2000 that inspired the creation of George W. Bush’s “No Child Left Behind,” to the latest revelations about Washington D.C.’s falsified student test scores under ed reform’s broom-wielding ‘superwoman’ Michelle Rhee, 10 years of the punitive ed reform agenda and its so-called “successes” have turned out to be a bust.

D.C. mirage under Michelle Rhee:

Resigned D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee. Alleged academic successes attributed to her ed reform policies are now being revealed as fraudulent.

When standardized test scores soared in D.C., were the gains real?

“(…) Michelle Rhee, then chancellor of D.C. schools, took a special interest in Noyes. She touted the school, which now serves preschoolers through

Rhee, DC defends test investigation - Ben Smith - POLITICO.com

Rhee, DC defends test investigation

In a statement to POLITICO, ex-DC school chancellor Michelle Rhee, the DC public school system and an independent educational consulting firm are pushing back against charges of possible cheating at one DC school during Rhee's tenure after a USA Today article raised the issue on Monday, and then questioned the District's internal audit of the suspicious results.

"This story is an insult to the dedicated teachers and schoolchildren who worked hard to improve their academic achievement levels," said Rhee. "There are many reasons for erasures and the presence of erasures does not mean someone cheated. In fact, it can mean that our students are being more diligent about doing well, yet to suggest that there is no way test scores could have improved for DCPS students unless someone cheated is absurd. At StudentsFirst we know dedicated teachers make a difference, a strong inspirational principal can turn a school around, and that children can perform at high levels when given the tools to do so."

The District was aware of a high erasure rate at some schools and hired the outside firm Caveon to investigate in 2009, interviewing administrators and teachers in schools with anomalous results. Critics have complained about the

D.C. Schools Head Asks Inspector General to Review Test Results - High School Notes (usnews.com)

D.C. Schools Head Asks Inspector General to Review Test Results

By JASON KOEBLER

Posted: March 30, 2011

We've got an update to today's earlier post. Washington D.C.'s Acting Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson has asked the D.C. inspector general to investigate erasures which occured on standardized tests at many D.C. schools between 2008 and 2010.

The erasures came to light in 2009, but a third-party investigation by Caveon Test Security found no tampering. But following an article in Monday's USA Today, Henderson has decided a second investigation is necessary. "These poor teachers are now tainted," Henderson toldThe Washington Post. "They were cleared by an investigation. I feel like I owe it to them to remove the taint." You can read more at The Washington Post.

See how your school stacks up in our rankings of Best High Schools. Have

Koch Blows in the afternoon News | www.kochwatch.org

News | www.kochwatch.org

Truthout: The New American Dream *March 29, 2011-* If you are wealthy, you are living in the Golden Age of your American Dream, and it's a damned fine time to be alive. The two major political parties are working hammer and tong to bless you and keep you. The laws are being ...

The Nation: Wisconsin Judge Checks and Balances a Lawless King, er, Governor *March 29, 2011-* A week after Dane County Circuit Court Judge Maryann Sumi issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) that was meant to delay the publication and implementation of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s anti-union, pro-corporate power ...

RAW Story: Wisconsin GOP senator boasts: We have broken the power of unions *March 29, 2011-* Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald bragged that Republicans had busted government employee unions "once and for all" in a fundraising letter sent to his supporters. In contrast to his earlier rhetoric, which focused ...

The young Turks: Gov. Walker Wants Government Money - Hypocrisy Alert WATCH ON YOUTUBE:

The Progressive: Wisconsin Leads the War on Public Schools *March 29, 2011-* Wisconsin has long been on the cutting edge of the conservative education "reform" movement. The Bradley Foundation in Milwaukee helped launch the nation's first private-school voucher program, and turned school choice into a major ...

Scott Walker Defies Law: Why Doesn't He Just Tax Corporations and Millionaires? *-Blogged by mark Karlin on Buzzflash* *March 29. 2011-* You would think obeying the law would be a high priority for the flag-waving right-wingers, but obviously not for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. As Talking Points Memo reported, Walker and the ...

Rosanne Barr Interviews Michael Moore PART 1 WATCH ON YOUTUBE: read more

NYC Public School Parents: Rally at City Hall and close encounters of the heated kind with Mayor Mike

Rally at City Hall and close encounters of the heated kind with Mayor Mike

by Leonie Haimson

We had a great rally this morning at City Hall to protest the budget cuts to schools. About fifty parents turned up, some with their children, with signs pasted to their jackets saying, “Do not balance the budget on our backs.”

Joining us were Council Members Robert Jackson and Margaret Chin of Manhattan, Mark Weprin of Queens, Jumaane Williams and Matthieu Eugene of Brooklyn, and Diana Reyna of Brooklyn and Queens, as well as Leroy Barr, staff director of the UFT and Donovan Richards, CM Sanders chief of staff.

At the end of the rally we had an unexpected encounter with Bloomberg himself. Pictures from the rally and our encounter with Mayor Mike are now up on the CSM Facebook page .

At the press conference, I showed charts revealing the sharp increases in class size that have already occurred,

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Wednesday, March 30, 2011