UPDATE: 2012-13 Academic Achievement Award Recipients - Academic Achievement Awards (CA Dept of Education)

2012-13 Academic Achievement Award Recipients - Academic Achievement Awards (CA Dept of Education):

State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Announces 2012-13
Title I Academic Achievement Award Schools

SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today announced that 56 California public schools with sustained progress in academic improvement among low-income students have been chosen for the 2012-13 Title I Academic Achievement Award.

"These schools serve students facing real challenges, and they've risen to meet them through hard work and dedication," Torlakson said. "It is inspiring to see their students achieve more in the classroom today so they can enjoy more opportunity in the years to come."

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, the single largest federal educational program for K-12 public education, assists schools in meeting the educational needs of students living at or below the poverty line. Of the more than 9,900 schools in California, more than 6,000 of them participate in the Title I program.

The criteria to qualify for the Title I award have become more rigorous in recent years. To receive 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 National Title I Association also presents each year two National Title I Distinguished School Awards per state. The awards are given to one Academic Achievement Award winning school that has demonstrated exceptional student performance for two or more consecutive years and to one Academic Achievement Award winning school that made the most progress in closing the achievement gap between student groups.

To learn more about Title I awards, please visit the California Department of Education (CDE) Web page at: Academic Achievement Awards.

The CDE acknowledges the financial contributions of Comcast, Wells Fargo, the California State Lottery, the Northern California Carpenters Regional Council, the California Building Industry Association, the California School Boards Association, and Lozano Smith, which will make possible the regional 2013 California school awards ceremonies recognizing theCalifornia Distinguished Schools, the Title I Academic Achievement Award Schools, and California's nominees for the National Blue Ribbon Schools.

2012-13 Academic Achievement Award Recipients

Schools honored with the Title I Academic Achievement Award for 2012-13.

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County	District	School
Alameda	Fremont Unified	J. Haley Durham Elementary
El Dorado	SBC - Aspire Public Schools	Aspire Titan Academy
Fresno	Clovis Unified	Lincoln Elementary
Fresno	Fowler Unified	Marshall Elementary
Fresno	Sanger Unified	Fairmont Elementary
Fresno	Selma Unified	Andrew Jackson Elementary
Fresno	Selma Unified	James Garfield Elementary
Fresno	Central Unified	James K. Polk Elementary
Fresno	Riverdale Joint Unified	Fipps Primary
Humboldt	Arcata Elementary	Sunny Brae Middle
Kern	Greenfield Union	W. A. Kendrick Elementary
Los Angeles	Azusa Unified	Victor F. Hodge Elementary
Los Angeles	Covina-Valley Unified	Barranca Elementary
Los Angeles	Culver City Unified	Linwood E. Howe Elementary
Los Angeles	Garvey Elementary	Dewey Avenue Elementary
Los Angeles	Glendale Unified	Anderson W. Clark Magnet High
Los Angeles	Glendale Unified	Balboa Elementary
Los Angeles	Hawthorne	Hawthorne Math and Science Academy
Los Angeles	Lawndale Elementary	Environmental Charter High
Los Angeles	Los Angeles Unified	N.E.W. Academy of Science and Arts
Los Angeles	Los Angeles Unified	Charles White Elementary
Los Angeles	Los Angeles Unified	Orthopedic Hospital
Los Angeles	Los Angeles Unified	Daniel Pearl Journalism & Communications
Los Angeles	Los Angeles Unified	Broadway Elementary
Los Angeles	Los Angeles Unified	Chapman Elementary
Los Angeles	Los Angeles Unified	One Hundred Fifty-Sixth Street Elementary
Los Angeles	Los Angeles Unified	Vintage Math/Science/Technology Magnet
Los Angeles	Newhall	Dr. J. Michael McGrath Elementary
Los Angeles	Norwalk-La Mirada Unified	Julia B. Morrison Elementary
Los Angeles	Paramount Unified	Alondra Middle
Los Angeles	Saugus Union	Rio Vista Elementary
Los Angeles	West Covina Unified	Merced Elementary
Los Angeles	West Covina Unified	San Jose Charter Academy
Los Angeles	Hacienda la Puente Unified	Los Altos Elementary
Los Angeles	Alhambra Unified	Park Elementary
Merced	Atwater Elementary	Mitchell Elementary
Orange	Centralia Elementary	Centralia Elementary
Orange	Garden Grove Unified	A. J. Cook Elementary
Orange	Garden Grove Unified	Linton T. Simmons Elementary
Orange	Santa Ana Unified	Middle College High
Orange	Santa Ana Unified	John Muir Fundamental Elementary
Riverside	Hemet Unified	Idyllwild
Riverside	Jurupa Unified	Stone Avenue Elementary
Sacramento	River Delta Joint Unified	Isleton Elementary
Sacramento	Sacramento City Unified	Aspire Capitol Heights Academy
San Bernardino	Fontana Unified	Dorothy Grant Elementary
San Bernardino	Redlands Unified	Mentone Elementary
San Bernardino	Victor Valley Union High	University Preparatory
San Diego	Chula Vista Elementary	Lauderbach (J. Calvin) Elementary
San Diego	San Diego Unified	Kearny International Business
San Diego	San Diego Unified	King-Chavez Primary Academy
San Francisco	San Francisco Unified	Chin (John Yehall) Elementary
San Mateo	Jefferson Elementary	Susan B. Anthony Elementary
Santa Clara	Milpitas Unified	William Burnett Elementary
Siskiyou	Butteville Union Elementary	Butteville Elementary
Siskiyou	Scott Valley Unified	Etna Elementary

April 2013 Information Memoranda

Background information and updates on issues of interest to the State Board Members.

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Periodically, the State Board Members may receive information memoranda from State Board staff and the California Department of Education. The information memoranda may include background information, updates on issues of interest to the State Board Members, and reports on a variety of educational topics.

• California High School Exit Examination: Results from the 2011–12 Waiver Data Collection for Students with Disabilities (DOC; Posted 16-Apr-2013)
• California English Language Development Test: Transitioning to the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (DOC; Posted 16-Apr-2013)
• Program Improvement Year 3 Corrective Action: Analysis of 2011–12 End-of-Year Evidence of Progress of Local Educational Agency Plan Implementation (DOC; Posted 16-Apr-2013)
• State Legislative and Budget Update, Including, but not Limited to, Information on the 2013–14 Legislative Session(DOC; Posted 16-Apr-2013)
  • Review of Governor’s Budget Proposal for 2013–14 (DOC; Posted 16-Apr-2013)
• Migrant Education Program State Parent Advisory Council Report for 2011–12 (PDF; 6MB; Posted 16-Apr-2013)
• Assembly Bill 790 Linked Learning Pilot Program (DOC; Posted 16-Apr-2013)
• Summer Meal Waivers (DOC; Posted 16-Apr-2013)

Diane in the Evening 4-16-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:

Poor ALEC! Someone Disagrees with Their Radical Agenda

by dianerav

ALEC has operated in the background since 1973, funded by major corporations who want to advance a corporate-friendly agenda into state legislatures. Some 2,000 state legislators belong to ALEC and attend its posh conferences, where they hobnob with corporate lobbyists.
ALEC suffered a PR setback when Trayvon Martin was killed last year in Florida by a man who invoked ALEC’s “stand your ground” law. The bad publicity caused some 40 corporations to abandon ALEC.
It has written draft legislation for vouchers, charters, cyber charters, ending teacher tenure, ending collective

LA Times Defends Wall Street Hedge Fund Reformers

by dianerav

Last weekend the California Democratic Party passed a resolution that forthrightly criticized corporate education reform, including high-stakes testing and privatization. The resolution specifically singled out Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst and the Wall Street hedge fund managers’ Democrats for Education Reform as organizations that are fronts for corporate interests and Republicans.
But this upset the Los Angeles Times editorial board, which is known for its contempt for teachers’ unions. The 

John White’s Budget Tricks in Louisiana

by dianerav

John White is pulling some fast tricks with public school funding in Louisiana. Fortunately the state has smart bloggers who protect the public interest and blow the whistle.
There is no end to White and Jindal’s efforts to transfer public dollars into private hands. He wants to eliminate arequirement that high schools have one guidance counselor for every 450 students. He says they can hire private 

Who Is Paying to Privatize Public Schools in Los Angeles?

by dianerav

Howard Blume has an excellent article in the Los Angeles Times describing the corporate money that poured into the recent Los Angeles school board race.
He never quite pins down why all these moguls and titans want to control the LA school board, but he provides a useful dance card of the corporate reform movement.
Among their causes: privately managed charter schools; evaluating teachers by test scores; fighting the union; 

Will Public Education Survive in Wisconsin?

by dianerav

Public education is at risk in several states, where extremists want to tear it up and replace it with privatization.
One of the states where the privatizers are in charge is Wiscondin, where Governor Scott Walker hopes to demolish public education.
To get a sense of what is happening in Wisconsin, read this article. Written by a teacher, it challenges syndicated columnist George Will for joining the wrecking crew and spreading false tales about the public schools, spread by unreliable sources.
This tide of hostility directed at a democratic institution is bizarre. It is not conservative to destroy one of the pillars of our free society.

Roundup: Indiana Legislation to Smash Public Schools, Lower Standards

by dianerav

Indiana legislators have passed so much anti-public school legislation this year that they are feeling “reform fatigue.”
Of course, they expanded the state voucher program. That way, as many children as possible can escape going to a community school, even if they are in kindergarten. The good news is that 10 Republican senators voted 

CTU: District Leadership Abandoned Struggling Schools in Chicago

by dianerav

The Chicago Teachers Union reports that the system leadership starved the schools it wanted to close, depriving them of the resources and personnel they needed to succeed. Those at the top should be held accountable when schools fail. It doesn’t happen accidentally. They are responsible.
New Report Cites Past Disinvestment By CPS in
Schools Targeted for Closure
A history of trauma and neglect exposed in “A Tale of Two Schools: The Human Story Behind Destructive School Actions in Chicago”
CHICAGO—The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) issued report examining the upheaval at two elementary schools 

LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 4-16-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 3 hours ago

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Problems with Common Core Tests by dianerav Technical issues plague the tests. Not ready for prime time. An 8th Grader Writes a Test Question: Hilarious! by dianerav An 8th grade student in New York State wrote a brilliant parody of the state ELA exam. Please read it. It is very funny. It does leave you wondering why students are so much wiser than state education officials. How to Prepare Children for Common Core Failure by dianerav This is a parody but it is... more »

Principals: Reach Beyond the Walls of Your School — Whole Child Education

Principals: Reach Beyond the Walls of Your School — Whole Child Education:

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

Principals: Reach Beyond the Walls of Your School

April 16, 2013 by Ken Endris

For the past five years, Fouke (Ark.) Elementary School has witnessed academic improvement in all six grade levels, K–5. Attendance has also improved over the same time period. These accomplishments have not happened by accident, instead they are the results of the hard work by staff, students, and families. Not I as principal, not one teacher, or not one program alone is responsible for these successes. Instead it is creating a collaborative and positive learning environment for all our stakeholders.

To achieve our essential goals, our school has adopted from the Arkansas Leadership Academy and developed the following five areas where there is spread, depth, ownership, and sustainability.

Creating and Living the Mission, Vision, and Core Beliefs

At Fouke Elementary, our vision, mission, and core beliefs were developed, revised and, modeled everyday by having all stakeholders involved in their adoption. Our core beliefs have become the foundation of the cultural change that moved our school from good to great. The five core beliefs are:

1. Everyone and everything matters.
2. Learn, lead, and achieve.
3. Own it.
4. Whatever it takes.
5. Zero negativity.

When our parents were interviewed by a site visit team on March 11, 2013, the parents were unanimous in 

PCAPS plans its next steps | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

PCAPS plans its next steps | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:

PCAPS plans its next steps

by Ron Whitehorne

The Philadelphia Coalition Advocating for Public Schools will hold a general assembly on Wednesday, April 17 to launch new campaigns around school funding, charter school accountability, and community schools.
The coalition, formed a year ago, has grown to include 15 labor and community-based organizations, embracing school staff, parents, students, and neighborhood activists.
Over the last year, PCAPS developed an alternative to the School Reform Commission's blueprint inspired by the Boston Consulting Group. Called “Excellent Schools for All Children,” the 40-page document drew on surveys of community stakeholders as well as research-based best practices. The plan rejected the SRC’s austerity-focused argument and called for a fight to base funding on a reordering of priorities, closing tax loopholes for corporations, and an equitable formula for allocating state revenue.

read more

Rather than fess up to a budget shortfall (and make Jindal sad), White chooses to steal money from schools | Crazy Crawfish's Blog

Rather than fess up to a budget shortfall (and make Jindal sad), White chooses to steal money from schools | Crazy Crawfish's Blog:

Rather than fess up to a budget shortfall (and make Jindal sad), White chooses to steal money from schools

by crazycrawfish

I just read an article on The Lens that tripped my BS meter. (Pretty much anytime John White opens his mouth it goes off these days.) It’s about school counts and funding, which I was in charge of for almost 9 years before John White arrived on this scene with his band of bandits.

Only a few months before their fiscal year ends, some of the city’s schools – whether they’ve budgeted for it or not – will be getting $181 less per student in local revenue, a cut of 4 percent.

Most people probably won’t catch what happened, and they are bewildered, as well they should be. White just played a little sleight of hand trick on everyone, making schools that have more students at the February count, inexplicably owe money to the State (instead of vice versa) as has been the case ever since we switched over to two collections starting in 2006-2007 after Katrina. The February count is the Official MFP count, and impacts payments made in March until the October 1^st count of the following school year – which is an update from the previous year’s MFP (Minimum Foundation Program) funding formula. What has happened in the 9 years I was over this area (and having the provide justifications twice a year for the increase and decrease to our office of Management and Finance) is that school districts that lost 50 or more students in October over the previous school year’s February count, had their funding stream reduced until the next official MFP count, and school 

Consumed by Manufactured Demons: The “-ism’s” that Blind | the becoming radical

Consumed by Manufactured Demons: The “-ism’s” that Blind | the becoming radical:

Consumed by Manufactured Demons: The “-ism’s” that Blind

Posted on April 16, 2013 by plthomasedd

Science fiction and horror are two genres that often find themselves intersecting where some form of power reduces humans to mere cogs in the machine. Technology, the future, aliens, and the like, it seems, can be terribly frightening.

George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four stands as one of the most comprehensive and enduring examinations of when that power abuse is in the hands of atotalitarian government. Dystopian SF that explores the dangers of “big government” resonates with the Libertarian thread running through the American public, but SF also aims its detailed satire and allegory at the nuances of just how governments become totalitarian.

Ridley Scotts’ Alien and more recent Prometheus share more than a director and some sort of lineage in their narratives: Both SF films are horrifying tales of oppressive corporations. [Scott's Blade Runner can be included here are these films also include the dangers of megalomaniacs, especially corporatists and industrialists who use their ill-got billions for something other than the common 

UPDATE: Duncan = Failed Testing and Accountability Policies Schools Matter: Michelle Rhee's Situational Ethics

Schools Matter: Michelle Rhee's Situational Ethics:

Duncan Celebrates Three Decades of Failed Testing and Accountability Policies

by Jim Horn

On April 16, it will have been 30 years since the publication of A Nation at Risk (ANAR), the discredited scare document produced by the Reaganites in 1983 to introduce the beginning of the end of public education in America.

Now here is your quiz to test your capacity to predict outcomes based on past history.

To acknowledge the beginning of fourth decade of failed education policies inspired by ANAR, Duncan will meet with

a) public school parents

b) public school teachers and students

c) public policymakers from local to federal levels

d) CEOs from the Business Roundtable at the U. S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington.

If you answered a, b, or c, you need your head examined.  If you answered d, then you have 

Michelle Rhee's Situational Ethics

by John Thompson

The immediate takeaway of "Michelle Rhee's Reign of Error" is that PBS's John Merrow found “the smoking gun,” or the confidential memo warning Michelle Rhee of the extent of cheating that may have occurred in Washington D.C. schools in response to her draconian “reforms.” He concludes with the question that merits a real federal investigation, “What did Michelle know, and when did she know it?” In the long run, that is Merrow's third most important revelation.

Merrow has been reporting on D.C. schools since 2007 and, even now, his prime expose is the ongoing story about the nonstop test prep that was made inevitable by Rhee. In his latest, Merrow reports what an associate superintendent knew about principals who, as a result of Rhee's obsession with accountability,  had “no focus” on instruction, and when he knew that the total focus was on test scores.

The second most important story in Merrow’s ongoing reports is Rhee's situational ethics. He recalls her outrageous statement, “If there are rules standing in the way of that, I will question those rules. I will bend those rules.”

I don't want to sound like an old stick-in-the-mud, but Rhee reminds me of a lot of college buddies.  It used to be 

UPDATE: PSAT for 4-16-13: Get out your smocks and get ready to play! Parents United for Responsible Education

Parents United for Responsible Education » Blog Archive » PSAT for 4-16-13: Get out your smocks and get ready to play!:

This week’s leg fax: corporate reform not working in Chicago

by admin

In 2007, FairTest’s Monty Neill and I wrote a report called “Chicago School Reform: Lessons for the Nation,” which strongly cautioned against using Chicago and its mayoral controlled school district as a model for school improvement.
Six years later, our concerns have been confirmed by researchers Elaine Weiss and Don Long for the Broader, Bolder Approach to Education group.
I just shared their findings with the Illinois House and Senate Education committee members in this week’s PURE leg fax:
NEW REPORT: Market-driven school reforms, mayoral control causing more harm than good
A new study, “Market-oriented education reforms’ rhetoric trumps reality,” on the effects of market-driven reform in Washington, D.C., New York City and Chicago concludes that little has been accomplished and some harm has been done to students, especially the underprivileged.
Market-oriented education reform refers to a series of initiatives that include educator evaluations based in large part on 

PSAT for 4-16-13: Get out your smocks and get ready to play!

by admin

For Public Schools Action Tuesday today, you’ll need to get ready for the More Than a Score Play-In tomorrow. Bring your kids and prepare to learn through play.
Tomorrow’s elementary school report card pick up for Chicago Public Schools so there are no classes, and we will be done in time to get back to the school for report cards.
Here’s the press alert:

WHO: Dozens of parents, children and educators working with More Than a Score, who are concerned that testing has taken over the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) classrooms of our youngest children, pushing play-based learning out.

WHAT: We will set up play areas at CPS headquarters to demonstrate the power of play. We’ll be telling the CPS Board of Education that we want play back in our schools for all children. We’ll be playing with blocks, bubbles, fingerpaints, musical instruments, trucks, dolls, Play-doh, crayons and paper, puzzles, etc!

More Than a Score members will also pass petitions against the misuse and overuse of testing in CPS at the event and later in the day at local schools.

WHEN: Wednesday, April 17, 9:30-11am (Brief press event at 10 am).

This is CPS elementary school report card pick up day (pick-up begins at noon).

WHERE: CPS headquarters, 125 S Clark Street, Chicago.

WHY: The youngest learners in Chicago Public Schools are facing multiple standardized tests—as many as 14 in some kindergarten classrooms – inappropriate amounts of seatwork and homework, and a lack of opportunities for play, exploration, and creativity. The combination of the longer school day, an overly academic curriculum for the youngest learners, and high-stakes testing is turning our children’s first learning experiences into an ordeal. Opportunities for true free play are becoming more and more rare in Chicago Public Schools.

We know that children learn through play and that play is crucial to children’s mental and physical health. We want opportunities for free play, the arts, and active exploration returned to classrooms and schoolyards across this city:

Bring Play Back to Our Schools!

D.C. custodial staff were evaluated by student test scores. Really.:

D.C. custodial staff were evaluated by student test scores. Really.

Posted by Valerie Strauss on April 16, 2013 at 12:56 pm

Retired D.C. schools custodian Ron Hillyer had a hallway named after him at Janney Elementary School.

How obsessive have school reformers been with linking student standardized test scores to the evaluations of adults in school buildings?

Well, a lawsuit filed in Florida today by seven teachers and their unions is asking for an end to the state’s evaluation system that insists that most teachers be evaluated in part by the test scores of students they didn’t teach — in subjects they don’t teach.

It may sound crazy, but it’s true. Read about it here.

And then there’s this: Until this year, Washington D.C.’s IMPACT evaluation system, begun under former chancellor Michelle Rhee in 2009, linked student standardized test scores to the evaluations of D.C. school custodians. Really.

The 2011-12 IMPACT guidebook for Custodian Staff (Group 19) included this:

School Value-Added Student Achievement Data (SVA) —  This is a measure of the impact your school has on student learning over the course of the school year, as 

Withering "Rhee-form" | CTQ

Withering "Rhee-form" | CTQ:

Withering "Rhee-form"

 Posted by Barnett Berry on Monday, 04/15/2013

Over the last week or so, there has been an unusual spate of news reports, research studies, and op-eds published suggesting that the current teaching quality reform—or perhaps better titled “Rhee-form”—agenda may be beginning to wither.

The narrow focus on judging teachers by student test-score gains is losing ground. No longer can we use value-added measures (VAM) on once-a-year, bubble-in, multiple-choice assessments, and then pay teachers with higher VAM ratings more and fire those with lower ratings. Perhaps the withering reform agenda, owned by both Republican and Democratic presidents, has something to do with the indictment of Beverly Hall, former superintendent in the Atlanta Public Schools, and the claims of the enormous pressure she put on principals and teachers to immediately raise test scores.

Or it could be the news broken by John Merrow about Michelle Rhee, the “poster child”for promoting high stakes accountability and blaming teachers for poor student test scores. A memo John uncovered reveals that Michelle is likely culpable for rampant 

Missouri Education Watchdog: Bill Gates and the 2009 Common Core Speech to State Legislators

Missouri Education Watchdog: Bill Gates and the 2009 Common Core Speech to State Legislators:

Bill Gates and the 2009 Common Core Speech to State Legislators

by stlgretchen

Here is a rough transcription of Bill Gates' comments at the National Conference of State Legislators in 2009.  My comments are in parentheses.  It is ironic that the legislators said they never knew about it.  At least a few did in 2009.  And didn't it occur to them that these educational changes circumvented the legislative process?  No red flags?




Access all the clips from youtube here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyiwai1sAgE

Clip 1:
CRISIS! Recession.  Forced to balance the budget.  Constituents are losing their jobs and everyone is asking  you to make it better.  We've been in an education crisis for a decade.  Performance on all levels are all dropping against the rest of the world.  "It's a reflection of weak systems run by bad beliefs and bad habits" (Kind of like NCLB so we replace it with a worse program)?    In these circumstances a crisis can work like a pivot.  We can start something new and better..."if you're willing to do it".....(which btw, we were never asked if we wanted to do it).

Clip 2:
OUR FOUNDATION has put a program into place to ensure kids get degrees...we hope you'll (now remember this is the legislature that was bypassed with these decision) set similar goals in your state.  Colleges with innovations (Gates approved?  Who approves?) should be expanded, those that aren't should be changed or ended (based on Gates determination)?  We need to measure what students know and what jobs they get.  We don't the answers because we aren't asking the right questions and making