UPDATE: list of people indicted today + Former Atlanta school chief Beverly Hall and 34 others indicted in APS cheating case | Get Schooled

Former Atlanta school chief Beverly Hall and 34 others indicted in APS cheating case | Get Schooled:

Former Atlanta school chief Beverly Hall indicted in APS cheating case

by Maureen Downey

Former Atlanta Superintendent Beverly Hall was among 35 people indicted today in APS cheating scandal. (AJC photo)

Among those named in the indictment just handed down by a Fulton County grand jury looking into the APS cheating case is former school chief Beverly Hall.
According to the AJC:

Superintendent Beverly Hall and top lieutenants are among those named in an indictment alledging crimes connected to the cheating scandal, according to images taken of the indictment as it was being delivered to a judge.
According to a photograph taken of the indictment as the deputy walked by reporters, about 35 people are listed and Hall’s name is at the top. A Fulton County grand jury has voted and a deputy has left the grand jury room with a thick indictment that possibly names dozens of school officials.

Here is the list of people indicted today in APS cheating scandal

by Maureen Downey

The indictments handed down in the last hour by a Fulton County Grand Jury cite RICO conspiracy and individual acts including false swearings, theft by taking and influencing witnesses. Here is the list of indicted parties:
BEVERLY HALL, former APS school superintendent
MILLICENT FEW, human resources
SHARON DAVIS WILLIAMS
TAMARA COTMAN (JOHNSON), area superintendent
MICHAEL PITTS, area superintendent
CHRISTOPHER WALLER, former principal at Parks Middle School
GREGORY REID
SANDRA WARD, Success For All coordinator at Parks Middle School
STARLETTE MITCHELL
KIMBERLY ODEN
ARMSTEAD SALTERS, former principal at Gideons Elementary
SHERIDAN ROGERS
DANA EVANS
ANGELA WILLIAMSON
DERRICK BROADWATER
SHAYLA SMITH
DESSA CURB
LERA MIDDLEBROOK
SHANI ROBINSON
PAMELA CLEVELAND
DIANE BUCKNER-WEBB
GLORIA IVEY
LISA TERRY
INGRID ABELLA-SLY
WENDY AHMED
LUCIOUS BROWN, former principal at Kennedy Middle School
CAROL DENNIS
TAMEKA GOODSON
TABEEKA JORDAN
CLARIETTA DAVIS
DONALD BULLOCK
THERESIA …

California Public School News Updates | K-12 News Network

California Public School News Updates | K-12 News Network:

California Public School News Updates

by admin

School Wellness Recognition Program deadline extended to April 5. Click here to learn more. (pdf)

Thu, Mar 28, 2013 6:14:00 PM, Continue reading at the source

Fabian Nunez To Work With Michelle Rhee's StudentsFirst

Former Assembly Speaker hopes to mediate with California Teachers by Brian Leubitz If you are planning to come to the CDP convention in Sacramento in a couple of weeks, it will be no secret that the teachers are an important constituency within the party. And they are critical for elected officials due [...]

Thu, Mar 28, 2013 5:48:00 PM, Continue reading at the source

U.S. Ed Department agrees to review 9 districts’ plan for NCLB waiver - by John Fensterwald
from John Fensterwald

The nine California districts seeking a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind Act have gotten their foot in the door. On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Education announced that it has accepted their waiver application and will treat it as they would an application from other states, with [...]

Wed, Mar 27, 2013 8:19:00 AM, Continue reading at the source

Hold districts accountable for restoring funding for the arts - by Mark Slavkin / commentary
from Mark Slavkin / commentary

A well-rounded education that includes the arts is essential to prepare California students for college and careers. A year of fine arts is required for admission to the CSU or UC campuses. Further, the skills students 

Youth Science Camp Delegates Selected - Year 2013 (CA Dept of Education)

Youth Science Camp Delegates Selected - Year 2013 (CA Dept of Education):

State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Announces
California's National Youth Science Camp Delegates

SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today announced that Arashpreet Kaur Gill, a senior at Tracy High School in Tracy (San Joaquin County), and Veronica Alissa Rivera, a senior at Claremont High School in Claremont (Los Angeles County) have been selected as California's 2013 National Youth Science Camp delegates.

"As a science teacher, it's a thrill to be able to send these two young scientists to this outstanding program," Torlakson said. "I'm sure these students will represent California well, and sooner than we think—make important contributions to the future of our state."

Arashpreet Kaur Gill, who would like to pursue a career in medicine, has been active in scientific and mathematical research for years. In 2011, she attended the Research Mentorship Program at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), where she studied the reproduction of specific cells in the heart of an embryonic zebrafish. After she presented her findings, UCSB faculty selected her to be the university's representative to the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine's symposium.

Gill carries a 4.43 grade point average and has been a top student in International Baccalaureate biology, chemistry, mathematics, and physics courses. She has participated in Scientifically Speaking, the Academic Decathlon and the Science Olympiad programs, among many other activities, societies, and organizations, garnering numerous awards and honors.

Rivera has earned a 4.23 grade point average and is interested in pursuing a career in mathematics and science. She has excelled at Claremont High School, where she expanded beyond its math courses and enrolled in and completed Calculus II and Calculus III‒Multivariable Equations at Pomona College before her junior year in high school. At Claremont High, she was co-founder of the Robotics Club, founder of the Physics/Engineering Society, among many other clubs and organizations, and has earned many awards and honors.

Last August, Rivera co-authored the paper, "Quantum Enhancements of Involuntary Birack Counting Invariants" after completing research at Claremont McKenna College.

In the event that one or both delegates are unable to attend the camp, which will be held June 26 to July 20, 2013 in the eastern mountains of West Virginia's Potomac Highlands, two alternates have been selected: Eleanor Ruth Mudica, a senior at John Marshall Fundamental High School in Pasadena (Los Angeles County), and Grace Annette Pan, a senior at Dougherty Valley High School in San Ramon, (Contra Costa County).

The National Youth Science Camp is a residential science education program for young scientists the summer after they graduate from high school. Students from around the country are challenged academically in lectures and hands-on studies, and have opportunities to participate in an outdoor adventure program.

The National Youth Science Camp  is made possible through the planning and fund-raising of the National Youth Science Foundation  , a nonprofit organization with a mission to honor, sustain, and encourage youth interest and excellence in science by conducting comprehensive informal science education programs that provide opportunity for constructive interaction with others and emphasize the social value of thoughtful scientific careers.

# # # #

Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

Want to teach better? New study says use your hands | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC

Want to teach better? New study says use your hands | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC:

Want to teach better? New study says use your hands

by Mary Plummer

Sixth grade dual language teacher Luz Valasquez leads a math class on polyhedrons. A new study out this week finds that students who receive instruction with hand gestures perform better on tests. Credit: Maya Sugarman/KPCC
One key to more effective teaching could be as simple as talking with your hands, according to a new study from the University of Iowa and Michigan State University.
The study released yesterday in the educational psychology journal "Child Development" tested third and fourth grade math students in Michigan. It found that students taught with hand gestures performed better on tests of the material both immediately after the lesson and 24 hours later.
For the study, the students were split into two groups. Half were shown a video of an instructor's lecture where he did not use his hands.  The other half of the students received the same information, but the instructor also used hand gestures.
Exactly why gestures help students learn better is still a mystery. The study authors said one possibility could 

Mike Klonsky...: From pineapples to small schools, alum Mike Klonsky's work is no small talk

Mike Klonsky...: From pineapples to small schools, alum Mike Klonsky's work is no small talk:

From pineapples to small schools, alum Mike Klonsky's work is no small talk

by Mike Klonsky

From UIC Alumni Magazine, UIC College of Education

April 30, 2012

Professor Michael Klonsky teaches in the College of Education at DePaul University in Chicago. He also serves as the national director of the Small Schools Workshop, and on the national steering committee of Save Our Schools, a national movement dedicated to supporting public schools. Klonsky has blogged, spoken and written extensively on school reform issues with a focus on urban school restructuring. Klonsky received his MA in Education Studies in 1992 and his PhD in Curriculum & Instruction from UIC in 1996. He talks with Communications Director Eva Moon.

 Can you talk about how your UIC education laid the groundwork for your future work?

The college, under both of our deans, Larry Braskamp and then Vicki Chou, was a wonderful place to learn and develop 

Jersey Jazzman: Perth Amboy Follies Update

Jersey Jazzman: Perth Amboy Follies Update:

Perth Amboy Follies Update

by Duke

Let's check back in on the Reformiest District In New Jersey™:

City schools Superintendent Janine Walker Caffrey insists her district is out of ideas.Time and again, she said, administrators have tried — and failed — to attract bilingual math and science teachers to Perth Amboy’s public schools.
“We’ve posted positions a total of 26 times,” Caffrey said. “We’ve had face-to-face meetings with students at five universities over the last few months. We’ve posted jobs on 13 national websites, had numerous ads in newspapers.
“We’re taking the next step.”
That step is sending four administrators to Puerto Rico next month in an attempt to recruit bilingual teachers to Perth Amboy schools. The district will spend $5,808 to finance the four-day drip, which was approved Tuesday by the district's Board of Education. [emphasis mine]

Has anyone tried... you know... picking up the phone? Skypeing? And do you really need four administrators for this trip?

Of course, the Queen of Tenure is in high dudgeon that anyone would have a problem with this:

In an interview with NJ.com, Caffrey vehemently defended the district’s plan, saying she was “surprised at how controversial” the recruiting trip had become. 

Paying attention to 9th graders | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Paying attention to 9th graders | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:

Paying attention to 9th graders

by thenotebook

Sub Title: 

Graduation rates keep climbing, but many students still founder in the first year of high school.

Author: 

by Dale Mezzacappa

Philadelphia’s graduation rate continues to improve, yet only about two-thirds of students who start 9th grade in public schools get a diploma four years later.
As the Notebook does its eighth annual edition focusing on the city’s dropout crisis, this is both encouraging and sobering news.
Encouraging because the gains are slow and steady, which makes it more likely that they are real, said Ruth Curran Neild, lead author of Unfulfilled Promise, the 2006 report that first offered hard data and highlighted the depth of the problem in Philadelphia.
But sobering because there are entrenched issues that the city’s educational leaders have yet to conquer. One of those is 9th grade, still where most dropouts run aground.

Image: 

Image Caption: 

Freshmen (from left) Jimik Ligon, Nychelle Hamiel, and Tyreek Bookard confer between classes at Mastery-Gratz High School. The students said that they appreciate the personal attention they get in the school’s self-contained 9th-grade academy. “They give us a lot of opportunities,” said Hamiel, who is in the honors program.

Photo Credits: 

Harvey Finkle

read more

Occupy DOE 2.0: The Battle for Public Schools – last minute details | United Opt Out National

Occupy DOE 2.0: The Battle for Public Schools – last minute details | United Opt Out National:

Occupy DOE 2.0: The Battle for Public Schools – last minute details

by admin

Please read here for all details regarding the occupation.

The event will take place at the Dept. of Education, 400 Maryland Ave, SW , Washington, DC 20202. We will be outside, in the plaza on the north side of the building. If possible, bring your own camping chair and be prepared for any kind of weather.

Official schedule for our second occupation of the Dept. of Ed. in D.C. from April 4-7, 2013, is available HERE.

Official press release is HERE.

Donations are accepted HERE.

Official poster HERE.

Livestream is HERE.

RSVP HERE.

Rules and parameters for the march on Saturday HERE.

Need free sleeping? Email Peg at writepeg@juno.com and please read HERE.

Any other questions? Leave a comment and we will be in touch!

See you very soon,

United Opt Out National Administrators

Activists file lawsuit to stop D.C. school closures - The Washington Post

Activists file lawsuit to stop D.C. school closures - The Washington Post:

Activists file lawsuit to stop D.C. school closures

Katherine Frey/THE WASHINGTON POST - FILE: DC Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson speaks before the DC Council and the public about her reasons for proposing to closeschools at the Wilson Building Thrsday, November 15, 2012 in Washington, DC

By Emma Brown, Friday, March 29, 11:08 AM

Opponents of the District’s plan to close 15 under-enrolled public schools filed a lawsuit Friday in an effort to force Chancellor Kaya Henderson to keep them open.

The complaint alleges that the proposed closures, which are clustered in low-income neighborhoods east of Rock Creek Park and the Anacostia River, would disproportionately affect African American children, poor children and students with disabilities.

More news about education

Superintendent defends Teach For America

Jay Mathews and Ray V. Spain MAR 27

Is Teach For America finished? This veteran school administrator says he needs these young teachers.

Why my grandson, 4, won’t be tested

Jay Mathews MAR 24

Four-year-olds in New York City are preparing for gifted tests. Ben Mathews is spared such nonsense.

Why my grandson, 4, won’t be tested

Jay Mathews MAR 24

New York City four-year-olds are studying for gifted tests. Ben Mathews will skip that.

Read more

Black students account for 93 percent of students affected by the proposed closures, according to the complaint, but compose 72 percent of the school system’s population. Poor children make up 82 percent of the affected students but 70 percent of the larger population, it says.

“We have proclaimed that you can’t have one city unless you have one standard,” said Johnny Barnes, an attorney for plaintiffs organized by activist group Empower D.C. “You can’t treat students west of the park different and better than you treat students 

Letter to Civil Rights and school “choice” advocate (p.s. neoliberals skip this) | Cloaking Inequity

Letter to Civil Rights and school “choice” advocate (p.s. neoliberals skip this) | Cloaking Inequity:

Letter to Civil Rights and school “choice” advocate (p.s. neoliberals skip this)

Dear Civil Rights and choice advocate,

I have noticed that some Civil Rights advocates are supporting and leading the school “choice” movement. They are searching for alternatives as our nation has consistently and purposely underserved students of color. As one reformer from Los Angeles told me, Latina/os and African Americans have been forced to attend “f_cked up schools” for decades.

In a recent Twitter exchange with Former California State Sen. Gloria Romero she framed school “choice” as a Civil Rights issue. In another Twitter exchange, Chris Stewart, a pastor from Minn, responded to my Finland post andChicago school closing post simultaneously by stating, “Finland replaced teachers with candidates from the cognitive elite. CPS can’t.”

Meta question: Why can’t the Chicago Public School (CPS) hire high-quality teachers? Why is the term hard-to-staff schools even a part of our vernacular?

If I only offered you two choices for dinner: A Vegan burger or tofu (all things I love to eat incidentally, but may cause you to recoil). Is that really choice?

Vouchers, parent trigger, charters… why are these the prominent “choices” on the table currently? What do they have in common? What do the Koch brothers, ALEC, Walton Foundation, Broad, Heritage, DFER, Jeb’s FEE, etc. all have as a common denominator?

Is it Civil Rights?

Is it Neoliberalism?… Wikipedia:

Neoliberalism is a political philosophy whose advocates support economic liberalization, free trade and open markets, privatization, deregulation, and decreasing the size of the public sector while increasing the role of the private sector in modern society.

School choice advocates are a motley alliance between those whose primary focus is that want to see greater 

A Part of Us Is Dying in Chicago - Of, By, For: In Search of the Civic Mission of K-12 Schools - Education Week

A Part of Us Is Dying in Chicago - Of, By, For: In Search of the Civic Mission of K-12 Schools - Education Week:

A Part of Us Is Dying in Chicago

By Sam Chaltain on March 28, 2013 4:46 PM | No comments

I can't reconcile the deep sense of community that filmmakers Amy and Tom Valens have captured in their 10-part video series about a year in the life of a public school in Boston, with the painful public clashes we're witnessing in Chicago - where 54 of the city's schools will soon be shuttered.

Indeed, although the nation's attention is fixed on the historic fight for marriage equality in the U.S. Supreme Court, a part of us is dying in the Windy City - and no one in the mainstream media seems to care.

No one disputes the fact that Chicago, like so many American cities, has real problems to solve. Population is down. Money is tight. School choice is growing. Tough decisions must be made.

By the same token, can anyone dispute that we have reason to worry about the state of our civic discourse when Chicago's mayor, Rahm Emanuel, allows the announcement of something as contentious as 54 school closings while he is on a ski trip in Utah? And can anyone blame local community leaders who wonder what to think of the Mayor's plan to hold additional hearings on the issue? "If nobody is going to be heard at the hearings, what's the use of having the hearings?" said Marshall Hatch, a local pastor. "If it's a done deal, then stop 

Michelle Rhee, 'a public school parent'? - latimes.com

Michelle Rhee, 'a public school parent'? - latimes.com:

Michelle Rhee, 'a public school parent'?

 By Michael J. Mishak

March 29, 2013, 7:05 a.m.

SACRAMENTO -- In the course of reporting a story about Michelle Rhee, the controversial former District of Columbia chancellor seeking to take her brand of education reform to statehouses across the country, the Los Angeles Times asked her spokeswoman a simple question: Do Rhee’s children attend public or private school?

The response from Erin Shaw seemed clear.

“She is a public school parent,” Shaw told the paper in an email.

So The Times reported that Rhee's two children attend public school. After the story ran in Wednesday’s newspaper, one of Rhee’s biggest critics, the American Federation of Teachers, challenged that statement, saying that one of her daughters attends a private school in Tennessee, where her ex-husband lives.

The Times asked Rhee's spokeswoman again about what type of school Rhee's children attend.

Shaw declined to answer the question directly. Instead, after multiple emails and phone calls from Times reporters, she issued a statement apologizing for “misleading” the newspaper with her initial response.

“It was not our intention to be misleading. It is our policy not to discuss where Michelle's children attend school out of respect for their privacy,” the statement says. “While it is true Michelle is a 

Quantifying Teacher Effectiveness — Whole Child Education

Quantifying Teacher Effectiveness — Whole Child Education:

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

Quantifying Teacher Effectiveness

March 29, 2013 by Melissa Mellor

Can you quantify the effectiveness of a good teacher? How much of that can be determined from student test scores? And how can teachers of untested subjects like the arts, physical education, and social studies be fairly evaluated? These are some of the questions raised in the newest edition of Policy Priorities, ASCD's quarterly policy newsletter, which examines U.S. efforts to transform its teacher evaluation systems.

The new issue describes how major initiatives like the Race to the Top competition, the No Child Left Behind state waiver requirements, and the Common Core State Standards have propelled state efforts to rapidly overhaul their evaluation systems and link teacher ratings to student outcome data. Policy Priorities looks at obstacles that states and districts have faced in implementing these new systems, including the shortcomings of value-added analysis; their efforts to incorporate multiple measures—such as classroom observations, samples of student work, teacher lesson plans, peer review, and student feedback—into evaluation systems; and examples of how some states and districts are developing ways to determine both student achievement and teacher performance in untested subjects.

You can also hear ASCD's interview with Lauren Sartain, coauthor of a report on teacher evaluations in the Chicago Public Schools system. Sartain shares her research findings on successful and unsuccessful 

Missouri Education Watchdog: Public Private Partnership in Nationalized Education. Local Control is Non-Existent.

Missouri Education Watchdog: Public Private Partnership in Nationalized Education. Local Control is Non-Existent.:

Public Private Partnership in Nationalized Education. Local Control is Non-Existent.

by stlgretchen

From ed.gov and Education Department Launches 2013 Investing in Innovation Competition:

The U.S. Department of Education announced the start of the $150 million 2013 Investing in Innovation (i3) grant competition today with the release of the program's invitation for pre-applications for the i3 "Development" grant category and the notice of final priorities for the i3 program overall. Today's announcement incorporates several improvements the Department has made to the grant competition in its efforts to support school districts and nonprofit organizations in partnership with schools to pursue innovative ideas that increase student success. 


The Development category, which funds grantees with promising but relatively untested ideas, has been the most popular of the three grant categories throughout the previous three i3 competitions.

In addition, this year the Department has modified the competition to assist grantees in 

Jersey Jazzman: Reformy Buyers Remorse

Jersey Jazzman: Reformy Buyers Remorse:

Reformy Buyers Remorse

by Duke

AchieveNJ: Operation Hindenburg

Ruh-roh:

As the Christie administration’s new regulations for teacher evaluation near a critical juncture, the prime author of the landmark tenure reform law behind the proposed rules said the administration may be moving too aggressively in some places. 

State Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex), the legislator most credited for the new tenure law, said yesterday in some of her first public comments on the regulations that the administration’s plans to base 35 percent of certain teachers’ evaluations on state test scores, starting next year, may be too ambitious. 

“If we are going to roll out regulations in the first year with the 35 percent component, I have severe concerns with that,” Ruiz said in an interview. 

Ruiz, usually fairly circumspect in her public comments, said she is not against the system building to 35 percent over time, but not right away. “It would be a more responsible approach if we grew to that 35 percent,” she said.

What would be "more responsible" would be to have an evaluation plan that made mathematical and practicalsense; AchieveNJ is clearly not that plan. Given the way the NJDOE apparently wants to convert test scores into 

The District’s budget: Key facts and figures | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

The District’s budget: Key facts and figures | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:

The District’s budget: Key facts and figures

by Paul Socolar

The School Reform Commission adopted a $2.66 billion “lump-sum budget” Thursday evening. The lump-sum budget provides overall projections for revenue, expenses, and any surplus or deficit, but does not include a detailed breakdown. The detailed budget typically comes in late April and must be adopted by May 31.
From the budget and Thursday's presentation by District staff, here are some key numbers on this year and how officials propose to close a huge gap for next year:

Featured Title: 

Plan to close a massive deficit involves some big assumptions

Image: 

Photo Credits: 

School District of Philadelphia

read more

UPDATE: Friday Open Thread Seattle Schools Community Forum: No Surprise-Burgess Would Consider Taking Over Seattle Schools as Mayor

Seattle Schools Community Forum: No Surprise-Burgess Would Consider Taking Over Seattle Schools as Mayor:

Friday Open Thread

by Melissa Westbrook

 Update:  Free Admission to Washington State Parks this Saturday!  Beautiful weather, beautiful parks - get out there!

West Seattle HS culinary students place 5th in state competition with two students winning scholarships.  Our own Top Chefs in SPS.  Congrats kids!

From the "what do you want him to call it" category, comes this story about an Idaho science teacher who was called out by parents for using the word "vagina" during a unit about...the human body and the reproductive system.   I'd love to know what word they think the teacher should have used for this discussion. 

“I teach straight out of the textbook, I don’t include anything that the textbook doesn’t mention,” McDaniel remarked. “But I give every student the option not attend this class when I teach on the reproductive system if they don’t feel comfortable with the material.”

No Surprise-Burgess Would Consider Taking Over Seattle Schools as Mayor

by Melissa Westbrook

From Crosscut, an interview with mayoral candidate, Tim Burgess.  Key item:

Burgess, his wife, Jolene, and their three children are products of Seattle Public Schools, so it's no surprise he considers it another of his priorities. "I graduated in 1967 and the adults then were talking about North End schools vs. South End schools," he said. "And they are talking about it today. That's a tragedy."

It's important, he argued, for the city and the school system to align their resources and efforts for education. One such example: the city's agreement to let its ethics office handle questions for the Seattle school district.  (Note: that did happen with McGinn who didn't need to take over the district to get it done.)

Would he push for a mayoral takeover of the school system? Burgess pointed to a recent Center for American Progress study that showed mixed educational results in cities that control of school systems, but said the