10-2-13 — Whole Child Education

Home Page — Whole Child Education:

Afterschool and Summer: Ideal Times for STEM Learning

Post written by Jodi Grant, executive director of the Afterschool Alliance; Sarah Pitcock, interim CEO of the National Summer Learning Association; and Gina Warner, executive director of the National AfterSchool Association There's no getting around it—to stack the odds in favor of career success and a competitive nation, kids today must embrace and develop proficiency in science, technology, en

by ASCD Whole Child ... / 46min 

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

ED Pulse Poll Results: Does More Recess Increase Academic Learning?

October 1, 2013 by Kit Harris, ASCD Research

ASCD continually seeks to provide solutions to the challenges that face educators of all levels. Recently the ASCD SmartBrief ED Pulse poll addressed the debate about recess in elementary schools.

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Answers to Your Top Six Shutdown Questions

October 1, 2013 by Melissa Mellor

What the U.S. government shutdown means for educators.

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Improving Schools: The Integration of Health and Education

September 30, 2013 by Sean Slade

Health and education systems have been structured to keep the sectors separate. We are calling for policies that require integration. Not for education's sake and not for health's sake, but for each child's sake.

READ MORE »

10-2-13 Wait What?

Wait What?:

Damn process gets in the way of the Bridgewater Associates corporate welfare give-a-way

Bridgewater Associates is the gigantic hedge fund company that Governor Malloy is giving over $115 million dollars in public funds, as part of an effort to assist them in their move from Westport, Connecticut to Stamford, Connecticut. For some, Bridgewater is better known as the company that paid its CEO a compensation package of $2.3 […]The post Damn process gets in the way of the Bridgewater Ass

5 by jonpelto / 43min 

 s Achievement First angling for a co-location site in Hartford?

Achievement First, Inc. is the charter school management company co-founded by Governor Malloy’s Commissioner of Education, Stefan Pryor. Achievement First, Inc. won’t take its fair share of bilingual students or students who aren’t proficient in English. Achievement First, Inc. won’t take its fair share of students who need special education services. Achievement First Inc. is […]The post Is Achi

1 by jonpelto / 3min 

10-1-13 Wait What?

Wait What?: Senator Williams/Representative Johnson: Windham’s children, parents, teachers and taxpayers deserve better[A long but important post] Tomorrow, (Oct 2nd)  State Senator Don Williams and State Representative Susan Johnson are scheduled to meet with their constituents about the damage “Special Master”, “Special Deal” Steven Adamowski is doing to their community. The children, parents, t

by mike simpson / 6min 

FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Wednesday, October 2, 2013

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

New LGBT-specific history lessons planned for L.A. County schools

Education Headlines

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Frey: Los Angeles Unified discussing 200-day school year

Los Angeles Unified, the state’s largest school district, is discussing extending its academic year by 20 days, a $300 million proposal that would give Los Angeles the longest school year, at 200 days, of any large urban district in the nation.

Impact on local school districts minimal

One Salinas school district will have to buy produce locally and pay out of pocket. Others will have to live with the “check’s in the mail” excuse for meal reimbursements. Other than that, the jolt of the government shutdown will not be felt in the classroom, officials said Tuesday.

Capo to vote on agreement with classified workers union

The 1,298 non-teaching staffers at Capistrano Unified School District have agreed to furloughs and step freezes in a labor agreement up for a vote by district trustees on Wednesday evening.

Student athlete concussion protocol expanded to California charter and private schools

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed legislation that will require private and charter schools in California to keep student athletes off the field if there is a concern that they received a concussion.

California schools serving poor kids improve facilities, textbooks and teacher qualifications

California public schools serving poor children have better facilities, more textbooks and more appropriately qualified teachers than they did seven years ago, according to a study released this week by the American Civil Liberties Union.

New LGBT-specific history lessons planned for L.A. County schools

The ONE Archives, one of the world's largest research libraries on LGBT history, will provide historical artifacts and resources for the curriculum, which its creators hope to debut in L.A. County high schools by early next year, Scot said.

It's time for iPad answers says L.A. Unified Board

It’s been a rocky rollout for the iPad project at the Los Angeles Unified School District - students got around internet filters, some tablets have gone missing - and some board members complain they've been left in the dark.

L.A. Unified's iPad rollout marred by chaos

Confusion reigns as the Los Angeles Unified School District deals with glitches after the rollout of ambitious an-iPad-for-every-student project.

L.A. Unified can't afford $1-billion budget wish list, official says

L.A. Unified will need more than $1 billion to pay for additional teachers, a longer school year and other items favored by Board of Education members -- but the chance of acquiring such funds is zero, the district’s financial chief said Tuesday.

Payday from state lottery sales top $1.28 billion for education

California schools and colleges received $1.28 billion in lottery funds last year, the state controller’s office said Tuesday.

Torlakson wants to tie student attendance, school funding

To address truancy crisis, California's superintendent of public instruction also wants school performance ratings tied to attendance.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Absenteeism crimps Kern schools' funding

Kern County is among the most severely affected counties in the state for public funding lost by students missing school, according to a report released Monday.

Early truancy problems spiral statewide

Calaveras County has the highest truancy rate for elementary school students in California, contributing to a crisis that harms K-6 education statewide, according to a report issued Monday by the state Attorney General's office.

Report: Truancy costs Monterey County schools $19.5 million

Last year alone, habitual truancy and chronic absenteeism cost public schools across the state $1.4 billion.In Monterey County, schools lost $19.5 million or $283 per pupil, according to “In School and On Track,” a report released Monday by state Attorney General Kamala Harris.

New law helps with the schooling of foster kids

A state bill designed to help foster kids stay on track toward high school graduation is now law. AB 216, by Assemblyman Mark Stone, D-Monterey Bay, was signed last week by Gov. Jerry Brown.

October 2, 1968: 45 Years Ago – the Mexico City Massacre During Olympic Games:

October 2, 1968: 45 Years Ago – the Mexico City Massacre During Olympic Games

by SOURCE on OCTOBER 2, 2013 · 0 COMMENTS

in CIVIL RIGHTS, HISTORY, POLITICS, WORLD NEWS

by Daniel Hernandez / Intersections

Editor: The following was originally written in 2008.

[Forty-five] years ago today the Mexican governmentopened fire indiscriminately on a crowd of peaceful protesters at the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in Tlatelolco, Mexico City, killing still-unknown numbers of students, bystanders, and demonstrators. The operation was abrutal smashing of the grassroots movement for social reform that had swept across Mexico and the world in that turbulent year, 1968.

October 2 is a date that forever remains a dark mark on the Mexican calendar and the Mexican psyche. Its significance in the country’s history has been finally recognized with a permanent exhibit and UNAM cultural center at the former foreign relations ministry complex near the plaza. Today there are marches planned by the Comite 68, survivors who are still seeking justice, and by various student and youth groups from the Tlatelolco plaza, to the Zocalo.

GO HERE FOR EYE-WITNESS ACCOUNTS.

 

Duncan: Common Core Criticism is “Political Silliness” | Truth in American Education

Duncan: Common Core Criticism is “Political Silliness” | Truth in American Education:

Duncan: Common Core Criticism is “Political Silliness”

Filed in Common Core State Standards by Shane Vander Hart on October 2, 2013 • 0 Comments

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Alyson Klein reported on U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s recent remarks at the National Press Club.

First thing to note, apparently tea party activists are dumb and evil-hearted:

Duncan also challenged moderate Republicans to stand up to tea party conservatives on the budget and other issues. "There are plenty of smart, good-hearted Republicans," he said.

So if you’re not a moderate Republican you’re not smart and good hearted.  Yeah, Duncan isn’t being political at all (eye roll)  That comment wasn’t directed toward Common Core opposition (which by the way includes Democrats and progressives).  That came later when asked about why the Common Core State Standards have become so toxic.

During a question-and-answer period, reporters pressed Duncan on why the Common Core standards have become so toxic, particularly with GOP activists. He gave his standard (no pun intended) answer: Common ore has become a lightening rod because of "political silliness", nothing more. (No mention however, of the way the Obama administration has 

Feds extend rural school funding program for at least one more year - SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources

SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources:

Feds extend rural school funding program for at least one more year
By Kimberly Beltran
Wednesday, October 02, 2013

Hundreds of rural school districts across the U.S. – including many in northern California – are breathing a sigh of relief this week following Congress’s long-awaited extension of a program that provides $328 million to support schools, road services and other government programs in these isolated communities.

In approving H.R. 527 late last week, Congress extended the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act for one additional year. The program allows forested counties and public schools within those counties to receive payments based on pre-2000 levels of timber harvesting activity on federal lands.

“Congress’ approval of H.R. 527 is much-appreciated,” Sierra County Supervisor Lee Adams, who also serves as second vice chair of the Rural County Representatives of California, said in a statement. “This federal funding program reflects a near one-hundred year commitment that Congress made to the nation’s forested counties.  With one more year of secured funding, we can now begin to look at a long-term solution to fix our national forests.”

The funding is crucial to rural counties, according to RCRC, as it supports vital classroom instruction and county road programs. Had Congress not re-authorized the rural school money for 2013, California’s already struggling rural counties and schools would have lost nearly $33 million.

The passage of H.R. 527 coincides with the U.S. House of Representatives’ earlier approval of H.R. 1526, the Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act.

The bill still needs passage by the U.S. Senate.

H.R. 1526 attempts to create a mechanism to manage federal forests in order to minimize wildfires, increase timber 

Education Research Report: Common Core Math Fails to Prepare Students for College

Education Research Report: Common Core Math Fails to Prepare Students for College:

Common Core Math Fails to Prepare Students for College

National mathematics standards adopted by 45 states and the District of Columbia that supporters say are designed to make high school graduates “college- and career-ready” and improve the critical science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) pipeline do not prepare students to study STEM or even be admitted to a selective four-year college, according to a new study, Lowering the Bar: How Common Core Math Fails to Prepare High School Students for STEM, published by Pioneer Institute.

“With the exception of a few standards in trigonometry, the math standards end after Algebra II,” said James Milgram, professor of mathematics emeritus at Stanford University. “They include no precalculus or calculus.” Professor Milgram co-authored “Lowering the Bar: How Common Core Math Fails to Prepare High School Students for STEM” with Sandra Stotsky, professor of education emerita at the University of Arkansas.

At a 2010 meeting of Massachusetts’ Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, Professor Jason Zimba, a lead writer of the math standards, said the standards, known as Common Core, prepare students “for the colleges most kids go to, but not for the college most parents aspire to,” and added that the standards are “not for selective colleges.”

U.S. government data show that only one out of every 50 prospective STEM majors who begin their undergraduate math coursework at the precalculus level or lower will earn a bachelor’s degree in a STEM area. Moreover, students whose last high school math course was Algebra II or 

Education Research Report – Latest Summaries of Current Research

My blog: Education Research Report Making High-Poverty Schools Hunger Free With nearly 16 million children in households that have trouble affording enough nutritious food at some point during the year, several states are taking advantage of a new federal option to reduce hunger and streamline their school meal programs, as a major new report from  Read More

by Jonathan Kantrowi... / 5min

Moderate reformers need to jump into polarized education... | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com

Moderate reformers need to jump into polarized education... | Get Schooled | www.ajc.com:

Moderate reformers need to jump into polarized education debate where truth gets trampled 

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Marching in lockstep. Education needs the moderate middle to tell the more nuanced and real story of education reform.

Previous Posts

• A matter of time: Should school start later for sleep-starved teens? 
  October 1, 2013
• U.S. Ed Secretary Arne Duncan: Petty politics in Washington hurting our children
  September 30, 2013
• A banned book is back on the shelves in North Carolina after national outcry
  September 30, 2013

By Maureen Downey

The best thing you will read about the education debate this week.  This essay from Education Week is by David Rutkowski, an assistant professor of educational leadership and policy studies at Indiana University Bloomington, and Leslie Rutkowski, an assistant professor of inquiry methodology at the university.

 Please go to Ed Week to read the full piece before commenting. This is an excerpt:

 Yet, the education discourse is particularly troubling because we have abundant high-quality data to inform the conversation and to evaluate schools. One caveat, though: We argue emphatically that the data that fuel these debates are fundamentally error-prone. And any data-driven evaluation is also subject to error. Consequently, there is no magic formula to control for all the complexities inherent in systems of schooling. It might be somewhat puzzling, then, that reformers in both camps are nearly religious in their beliefs. But we believe an explanation for this seeming zealotry falls into three broad, overlapping categories.

They’re overstating it. In part, radicals on both sides don’t really believe what they are saying. According to a close colleague, a state education commissioner recently blamed obstacles to implementing a new teacher-evaluation system on the poor quality of the state’s principals. When our colleague asked what percentage of administrators was truly unable to implement these systems, the schools chief sheepishly estimated that it 

Crisis in California's schools: 250,000 schoolchildren need glasses - latimes.com

Crisis in California's schools: 250,000 schoolchildren need glasses - latimes.com:

Crisis in California's schools: 250,000 schoolchildren need glasses

Nearly all California public school students who need glasses enter school without them. It's a problem that's simple to remedy.

Sarah Garcia of Florence Griffith Joyner Elementary School wrinkles her nose as she tries on numerous frames while optician Ramon Vega assists. Garcia and dozens of other students received free eye exams and glasses (if necessary) from the Vision to Learn program. (Los Angeles Times / October 29, 2012)

By Austin Beutner

October 2, 2013

There is a crisis in California's schools. More than a quarter of a million children, most of them from poor and minority backgrounds, lack the technology they need to succeed in school.

But what they need has nothing to do with mobile devices or educational apps. It's a technology nearly 800 years old: eyeglasses.

About 250,000 California schoolchildren don't have the glasses they need to read the board, read books, study math and fully participate in their classes. About 95% of the public school students who need glasses enter school without them. These students are likely to fall behind and to frustrate their teachers and parents.

It's often not a money issue. Eye exams and corrective lenses are covered by Medi-Cal and many insurance plans. But there is a huge gap between coverage and care. Sometimes it's that parents and teachers simply haven't noticed the problem. And then there are the logistical issues: Parents have to take time off from work, and often they must arrange and pay for transportation. And navigating the healthcare system can be daunting. These things often keep kids, especially those from low-income families, out of the doctor's office.

In 2012, we started Vision to Learn to help address this problem. The idea is simple. Instead of forcing families to go to where the glasses are — the eye clinic — we bring the glasses to where the kids are: the schools.

We assembled a team of dedicated eye doctors and turned a couple of buses into mobile eye clinics. We travel to public and parochial schools in low-income communities in Los Angeles and screen 

10-2-13 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.:

Arnie’s rant. Truth, thy name is blogger.

The other day I was trying to get some information about the Illinois Teacher Retirement System from a TRS employee who clearly didn’t want to talk to me. “I know who you are,” he said. “You’re a blogger!” Whoa. Is that my identity now? Thirty years of teaching, activism, union work, art work, ukelele playing. Most importantly ukelele playing. And it all comes down to being a blogger. If you’ve b

by Fred Klonsky / 1h 

Bruce Rahmer.

1 by Fred Klonsky / 42min 

CMS, HMS and self-audits.

I posted yesterday about the letter that was sent to Illinois retirees regarding Teachers Retirement Insurance Program (TRIP) eligibility. Central Management Services (CMS) has contracted with a national firm, HMS, that specializes in cost control through audits of members’ claims of dependents. Former TRS Executive Director Jon Bauman calls CMS, “Can’t Manage S***.” Just to be clear of the obvio

by Fred Klonsky / 2min 

10-1-13 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: Illinois is broke? Cut teacher pensions and give millions to Archer Daniels Midland.Remember the phony front group that Civic Committee president Ty Fahner set up called Illinois is Broke? He wanted you to think the state was broke because of huge pensions to teachers, firemen and cops. Y’know. That $

by mike simpson / 22h