4-15-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District):

Just in: LA Board Office of Ed OKs Aspire renewals

Aspire Antonio Maria Lugo Academy The LA County Board of Education today reversed a decision by the LA Unified school board by voting to approve the renewal of two Aspire charter schools. “We are delighted in the vote of confidence by the LA County Office of Education,” said Aspire Public Schools CEO James Willcox. By renewing our charters for Aspire Ollin University Preparatory Academy and Aspire

by Yana Gracile / 0min 

Too late to apply to LAUSD magnet schools? Try this instead

Think your child may be gifted but missed the magnet application window last fall? Now’s a chance for LAUSD parents to act: the SAS program, which stands for “Schools for Advanced Studies,” is accepting applications until April 30. SAS programs are, in essence, gifted programs that reside within a traditional school. Offered at dozens of schools district-wide (see list here), they are considered a

4min hide  //  save

LA County Board of Education deciding fate of 2 Aspire charters

Aspire Antonio Maria Lugo Academy The LA County Board of Education is set to vote later today on whether to allow two top-performing charter schools to remain open. The appeal was filed in February after two Aspire public charter schools in southeast Los Angeles — Aspire Antonio Maria Lugo Academy and Aspire Ollin University Preparatory Academy — were denied renewals by the LAUSD Board. The denial

by Yana Gracile / 19min 

LAUSD gets a new ‘index’ to help schools where needs are highest

A coalition of education advocates and community groups has developed a new tool, a “student needs index,” and offering it to LA Unified to help identify high-need schools as the district refines its next annual budget. Created by the Community Coalition, Advancement Project and InnerCity Struggle, the index uses environmental, social and academic factors that affect student learning to provide th

by Yana Gracile / 1min 

Morning Read: Settlements to help LAUSD homeless, pending

Settlements pending for Los Angeles schools, homeless Pro bono organization Public Counsel has inked two class action settlements that would reinstitute funds to struggling schools and homeless residents in the Los Angeles area affected by California’s budget crisis. Under one tentative settlement, reached April 3, Los Angeles Unified School District would allocate $60 million in funding over thre

24min  

4-14-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District): L.A. teachers union president ready to step aside for challengerVia the Los Angeles Times |  By Howard Blume Los Angeles teachers’ union president Warren Fletcher said he will no longer actively campaign for reelection, clearing the path for challenger Alex Caputo-Pearl to become the next leader of United

by mike simpson / 18min

SIG rewrite to come in 2015, guidance pending :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet

SIG rewrite to come in 2015, guidance pending :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet:



APRIL 15, 2014

SIG rewrite to come in 2015, guidance pending

by Tom Chorneau

(District of Columbia) Although big changes are coming to the nation’s largest school turnaround program, existing regulations still govern the use of some $500 million in School Improvement Grants awarded this year – including the $64 million given to California and Alabama on Monday.

As part of the budget agreement reached in December between President Barack Obama and Congressional leaders, the administration agreed to expand the list of improvement models to include one that states could design and implement.

While U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan would still have to approve the state-sponsored improvement plan, expectations are that most will prove to be less rigorous than the existing intervention programs that have been criticized as being too aggressive and rigid.

For now, however, the old system remains in place.

The December budget accord covers the federal 2014 fiscal year, which begins in October. Thus, the new SIG rules won’t be in play until early 2015, when the new money is also expected to be distributed.

Since the announcement of the budget agreement and the changes to the SIG program, states and local educational agencies have anticipated new guidance from the U.S. Department of Education explaining how things will work.

Among other issues, there is much uncertainty over how schools already engaged in one of the existing turnaround strategies might be integrated into a new state-developed option.

Federal officials said earlier this month that they are working on the new guidance but have SIG rewrite to come in 2015, guidance pending :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet:

 

Calculating comparable, compliant allocations for private schools

Private schools that educate students from within your district boundaries are entitled to services provided under Title II and III in addition to Title I, Part A. Today’s guidance is aimed at helping you make sure you are providing compliant equitable services.

by Rick Carder / 9min 

Say What? Fordham Professor Co-Founds Teachers' Activist Group

Say What? Fordham Professor Co-Founds Teachers' Activist Group:

Fordham Professor Co-Founds Teachers’ Activist Group

BAT’s Mark Naison. Photo by Janet Sassi   An education activist group co-founded by Fordham professor Mark Naison, Ph.D., is growing by leaps and bounds, in no small measure because of its brassy title. Since the Badass Teachers Association was founded last June, the group has attracted more than 40,000 members on Facebook and has created chapters in all 50 states, Naison said. Its mission is to reduce or eliminate the high-stakes testing and teacher evaluation policies that, organizers say, are draining creativity, fun, and authentic teaching and learning out of classrooms. As for the group’s name? “Let’s just say it reflects teachers’ pent-up anger over being blamed for educational problems that are rooted in poverty and inequality,” Naison said. (In a politic bit of shorthand, members call themselves BATs.) “Teachers felt like they were being made the scapegoats,” said Naison, a professor of African-American studies and history. “When people are beaten down on, stigmatized, and blamed for everything—which is what is happening to public school teachers nowadays—fighting back with both a message and with humor really energizes people.” In the words of Naison’s co-founder, Priscilla Sanstead, a parent activist in Tulsa, Okla.: “If there were a Facebook group called ‘Vexed Teachers Raising Their Hands Quietly,’ how would that group go anywhere?” Humor aside, the group has a serious purpose, Naison said: fighting policies that impose “a tremendous amount of testing.” The resulting pressures are counterproductive, he said. “What makes the United States a successful society is our creativity, our innovative thinking, our entrepreneurship, our openness to new ideas, and a lot of that is being lost by this very rigid, test-driven curriculum. “If you put that much emphasis on testing, you crowd out the things that make people enjoy school,” he said. “There are a lot of art, music, and computer teachers in our group, because those are the kind of things that are pushed aside.” State chapters range from 50 to 1,700 people, and the total number of members fluctuates, Naison said. He estimated that up to 100,000 people have been involved in the organization at one time or another since its inception. Members speak at public forums, testify before legislatures and city councils, and support Say What? Fordham Professor Co-Founds Teachers' Activist Group:

FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Tuesday, April 15, 2014

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

Fensterwald: At an East San Jose high school, students react to new Common Core test

Education Headlines

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

FCMAT provides links to California K-12 news stories as a service to the industry. However, some stories may not be accessible because of newspapers' subscription policies.

Centinela Valley school board to vote on interim superintendent to fill in for Jose Fernandez

The Centinela Valley school board on Tuesday evening is scheduled to begin the process of hiring an investigative agency to review the controversial contract of Superintendent Jose Fernandez, who was placed on paid leave last week amid a firestorm of criticism for his hefty compensation last year.

Albany names new school chief

The Albany school board named a new superintendent Friday to replace Marla Stephenson who is retiring June 30. Valerie Williams, who currently works as assistant superintendent of human resources at Dublin Unified School District, will take over the top job in Albany July 1. Albany has 3,800 students.

Dublin High reopens gymnasium after mold scare

The old gymnasium at Dublin High School has reopened after environmental consultants declared the building safe for occupancy after tests for mold were performed.

L.A. teachers union chief ends reelection campaign

Los Angeles teachers union President Warren Fletcher said he would no longer actively campaign for reelection, clearing the path for challenger Alex Caputo-Pearl to become the next leader of United Teachers Los Angeles.

Fensterwald: At an East San Jose high school, students react to new Common Core test

The students in John Daniels’ U.S. history class at in East San Jose are a smidgen of the tens of thousands of juniors who are taking the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium field test this spring. And their views of the new test on the Common Core State Standards are but a snapshot of many that the creators of the test and the state Department of Education will receive over the next two months.

Monday, April 14, 2014

Stockton USD teachers join forces with online Gooru community

Stockton Unified leaders have announced the district's participation in a fledgling website that could help teachers find and share lesson plans, instructional videos and other information, changing the way educators find their classroom materials and ultimately the way they teach.

Solar panels to save Long Beach Unified $2 million over next 25 years

Thanks to the newly installed solar panels at Cabrillo High, Long Beach Unified School District expects to slash its utility bills by $2 million over the next 25 years.

Fresno Unified, teachers take contract dispute into fact-finding phase

 Contract talks between the Fresno Teachers Association and the Fresno Unified School District stalled Friday as state-appointed mediators determined that no settlement in the months-long deadlock was possible.

Santa Ana school police seek witnesses in use-of-force investigation involving teen

Santa Ana Unified School District Police Chief Hector Rodriguez asked for witnesses to come forward as the department investigates video footage apparently showing a school police officer restraining a sobbing 14-year-old boy with a headlock.

Sweetwater's next challenge

The Sweetwater Union High School District may have cleared a hurdle by reaching a three-year tentative contact agreement Thursday with the teachers union, but it’s not out of the woods yet.

SD school workers want raises, no healthcare increases

Cafeteria workers, landscapers, clerks and other nonteaching employees of the San Diego Unified School District are asking for higher wages and fighting to prevent changes to health benefits during labor negotiations. The roughly 6,000 employees have made their case public, distributing fliers and holding rallies to promote their cause.

Report: State agency ill-equipped to spot school district food service fraud

Recent mismanagement issues with the nutrition services departments of two San Bernardino County school districts, Colton Joint Unified and Rialto Unified, are among a series of similar problems in California made worse by “overmatched” state investigators facing what could be a flood of such cases, according to a report prepared last year for the state Senate.

McKinleyville district, teachers each turn in 'final offers'

With offers to end a nearly year-long labor dispute now under review by a mediator, officials from the McKinleyville Union School District and the McKinleyville Teachers Association both sounded notes of optimism Friday over the chance of striking a deal soon.

Schools aim to get truants back into class

Inland educators are working to reverse what a top state official has called a school “crisis” – one of every five elementary students in California were truant.

How Common Core education standards are changing the way LAUSD schools test children

This spring, in California and states across the nation, the usual barrage of standardized tests have been put on hold. California districts are getting used to track the quality of schools and districts over time. Instead, educators are preparing for the next big thing: The new Smarter Balanced English-language arts and mathematics tests that school districts have already begun using in classrooms.

Swett board exploring bond to replace Carquinez Middle School in Crockett

 The John Swett School District took the first step in replacing its aging middle school April 9, when the board commissioned a poll that will test the community's receptiveness to placing a $50 million bond measure on the November ballot.

Teen substance abuse is the new 'normal,' school counselor says

Gone are the days when "stoners" could be picked out of a crowd on high school campuses, a counselor at College Park High warned parents this week. These days, Jason Lechner told the parents and students Thursday night, even star athletes and top-achieving students drink, smoke marijuana, abuse prescription painkillers or have tried heroin.

L.A. teachers union president ready to step aside for challenger

Los Angeles teachers' union president Warren Fletcher said he will no longer actively campaign for reelection, clearing the path for challenger Alex Caputo-Pearl to become the next leader of United Teachers Los Angeles.

'Premium' on school bond issues violates law

Despite warnings that the practice is illegal, schools across California continue to squeeze extra cash out of bond deals to pay banks and lawyers – leaving taxpayers with an unexpected bill.<

4-15-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter:

Labeling, Sorting, Segregating: The History of Standardizing Tests in U. S. Schools

Much of the first sections of TMoE is dedicated to tracing out how tests came to be used as social sorting tools during our first Gilded Age when grand canyons of inequality between rich and poor had turned American cities into dangerous and unhealthy place. Below is a piece posted last week at Alternet, but I want to preface that first with two quotes from an important book published 98 years ago

2 by Jim Horn / 1h 

4-14-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter: Why the Growing Opt Out Movement Puts Fear into the Antiquated Losers of Corporate Education Reform: Why the Growing Opt Out Movement Puts Fear into the Antiquated Losers of Corporate Education ReformI was chatting today with someone I had not seen in a while, and told them about my work in support of United Opt Out and how it could 6 percent of parents keeping their children home

by mike simpson / 12h 

4-15-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL:

Three Useful Posts On Student Engagement

Here are three new additions to The Best Posts & Articles On Student Engagement: How Engaged Are Students and Teachers in American Schools? is from MindShift. More Than Half of Students ‘Engaged’ in School, Says Poll is from Education Week. Updated Personalization vs. Differentiation vs. Individualization Chart Version 3 is from Personalize Learning.

by Larry Ferlazzo / 18min hide  //  save

The Best Research On Listening To Music When Studying

I’ve published a few posts about the question of playing background music in the classroom, along with info on the practice of listening to music when studying. I thought I’d bring them together in one post, and invite readers to contribute their own ideas and experiences, too. I’ll be adding this “Best” list to The Best Resources On The Dangers Of Multitasking. Here goes: This is a reprint of my

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1h 

Research Studies Of The Week

I often write about research studies from various fields and how they can be applied to the classroom. I write individual posts about ones that I think are especially significant, and will continue to do so. However, so many studies are published that it’s hard to keep up. So I’ve started writing a “round-up” of some of them each week or every other week as a regular feature. By the way, you mi

by Larry Ferlazzo / 8min 

“Spacehopper” Is One Of The Best Geography Games I’ve Seen

There are quite a few online geography games out there, and you can see them at The Best Online Geography Games. Many of them are pretty hard, and can be frustrating to students. Spacehopper is a new online game that isn’t easy but, after showing you a Google Street View image of a location, provides clues that make it less difficult. You’re shown a map with various dots on it, as well as the map

by Larry Ferlazzo / 16min 

ELL Teachers & Students Will Love MusiXmatch – It Provides Karaoke-Style Lyrics To Most YouTube Music Videos

MusiXmatch is a free Chrome extension that will provide karaoke-style lyrics to most YouTube music videos. It can be used very easily on desktop and mobile devices. Using songs, and using lyrics karaoke-style, is a longstanding and effective language-learning strategy, and you can read about many of them at The Best Music Websites For Learning English. You can read more about it at TechCrunch. I

by Larry Ferlazzo / 1min 

National Teacher Day Is Coming-Up & Here Are Two Great Ways To Celebrate It On Social Media!

National Teacher Day in the United States is always celebrated on the Tuesday in the first full week of May. World Teachers’ Dayis held annually on October 5th since 1994, celebrates teachers worldwide, and was started by UNESCO. You can find lots of related resources for both days at The Best Resources To Learn About World Teachers Day. This year, two great groups are sponsoring ways to celebrat

by Larry Ferlazzo / 59min  

4-14-14 Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL

Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… | …For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL: April’s Infographics & Interactives Galore – Part FourThere are just so many good infographics and interactives out there that I’ve begun a new semi-regular feature called “Infographics & Interactives Galore.” You can see others at A Collection Of “The Best…” Lists On Infographics and by searching “infographics” on 

by mike simpson / 18min 

4-15-14 Jersey Jazzman Jammin' All Week

Jersey Jazzman:

Education Law Center Fundraiser, This Thursday

The Education Law Center is having their annual fundraiser, award ceremony, and wine/food tasting reception this Thursday, April 17. I'd like to encourage you all to attend.ELC is the driving force behind equitable funding for schools in New Jersey and elsewhere in the nation. It's only through their tireless efforts that New Jersey has remained one of the most "fair" states in school fu

by Duke / 38min 

4-14-14 Jersey Jazzman Jammin' All Week

Jersey Jazzman: Repost For Tax Day: The Teacher Supply Tax Credit & Why We Aren't SaintsI'm reposting this from December of last year in "celebration" of Tax Day tomorrow.Via Fred Klonsky, here's yet another way to screw teachers out of money:STATELINE (WIFR) -- Local teachers may be forced to spend more of their own money on school supplies next year, now that a federal tax break is

by mike simpson / 22min 

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 4-15-14

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit:

Compare+Contrast: PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IS OVERRATED + TEACHERS OFTEN BLAME PARENTS FOR PROBLEM STUDENTS + smf’s 2¢

Parental Involvement Is Overrated By KEITH ROBINSON and ANGEL L. HARRIS, OpEd in the New York Times |  http://nyti.ms/1ilF0xt April 12, 2014, 2:32 pm ::  Most people, asked whether parental involvement benefits children academically, would say, “of course it does.” But evidence from our research suggests otherwise. In fact, most forms of parental

by smf / 11min hide  //  save

LAO Report: THE 2014-15 BUDGET - Maintaining Education Facilities in California

“ While we commend the administration for highlighting deferred maintenance as a problem, the LAO has concerns with the Governor's specific proposals and recommend the Legislature consider various alternatives. …we believe the state should have a long-term strategy for properly maintaining education facilities. ”

by smf / 14min 

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 4-13-14

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: SANTA MONICA COACH MAY BECOME A HERO FOR EXASPERATED TEACHERS: A teacher at Santa Monica High School was placed on leave Friday after what a district official called an "utterly alarming" confrontation involving the teacher and a student.By Robin Abcarian, LA Times | http://lat.ms/1nlCHeh April 5, 2014, 6:52 p.m.  ::  No doubt, the situation w

by mike simpson / 16h 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WHITENING THE CITIES

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WHITENING THE CITIES:

WHITENING THE CITIES

Eddie Farmer, 75, lives with belongings thrown on the curb after a foreclosure next door to his home  in the Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago. (Chicago Tribune)

THE WHITENING OF THE CITIES...Soaring rents are driving poor and middle-class folks, especially African-Americans out of the cities. A major factor along with loss of jobs, evictions, foreclosures,school closings in targeted black communities, gun violence, and draconian cuts in city services, ie. health clinics, markets, etc... Here in Chicago, rent as a percentage of income has risen to 31%, from a historical average of 21%. In New Orleans, it has more than doubled, to 35% from 14%. In L.A. it's 47%. -- NY Times

HOW BAD CAN THEY BE? I'm still trying to wrap my brain around this interesting data set. Chicago's privately-run charter schools expel students at a vastly higher rate than the rest of the district. But even with their push-out of so-called low-performing students (mostly poor, black & Latino), these same charters continue to score below the very traditional CPS schools they are trying to replace. I mean, what's up with that, charter hustlers?

HOW ABOUT SOME COMMON CORE STANDARDS when it come to Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WHITENING THE CITIES: