Inside School Research: IES Plans Major Study of Stimulus Spending

Inside School Research: IES Plans Major Study of Stimulus Spending:

"A big criticism so far of the U.S. Department of Education's proposals for spending economic-stimulus dollars has been that they don't include a strong evaluation component. How can we learn from all those government-subsidized efforts to turn around failing schools, open up charter schools, build longitudinal data systems, and institute merit-pay programs for teachers and principals if we don't study them? The fear is that the nation will never again have an opportunity like this to study so much experimentation going on in so many places.

Well, it turns out the department is planning to seriously study those efforts after all. In an interview yesterday, the department's research czar, John Q. Easton, told me his agency is developing a multilayered, crosscutting, multimethod study of states' stimulus-powered reform efforts."

Education Week: IG Questions Use of Stimulus Aid for Education

Education Week: IG Questions Use of Stimulus Aid for Education:

"President Barack Obama did not intend for state lawmakers to simply cut state education spending and replace it with stimulus dollars.

But Congress made that tough to enforce, and the Education Department's inspector general said in a memo Thursday that some states are doing it.

That means instead of getting extra help to weather tough times, school districts and colleges could wind up with the same level of state aid or with cuts, even as local tax revenues plummet.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan said some states are flouting the president's wishes."

Education Week: The Vanishing Innovation

Education Week: The Vanishing Innovation:

"Unfortunately for education, the interest in getting improvements to spread has been accompanied by a failure to give warranted attention to a second question: How do we get improvements to last? The phrase “scale up and sustain” is also part of our vernacular, but the “sustain” part often gets short shrift. While it is important to understand spread, it is endurance that separates the tipping of fads from meaningful change. Unless the investments we make in innovations have lasting impact, in the end, we have wasted our time and resources and, most importantly, squandered students’ opportunities to learn."

The CEO educator - Oct. 1, 2009

The CEO educator - Oct. 1, 2009:

"You mention differentiating pay -- rewarding teachers who achieve better results. In the business world that's obvious, but it's not the way things have traditionally been done in public education. How hard was it to make that happen?

Public education is an entirely different culture. Fundamentally, the only differentiator is seniority. The power in the system is fundamentally the power of the bureaucracy, of the political forces, of the union.

When I was at Bertelsmann, we were constantly focused on how to incentivize the workforce, inject increasing accountability, deciding where to substitute technology for human capital."

In a public school system it's an entirely different set of questions. And until you get used to the questions, you can't think too well about how you want to answer them.
But one could argue that public school teachers, especially the best ones, aren't in it for the money in the first place. Does paying them for performance really work?

I think it does. We haven't seen enough of it in America to know. But think about it this way: Every university I know pays differently for science teachers than it does for English teachers. But I pay the exact same for a science teacher and a physical education teacher. And then I pay the same whether you work in my highest-need school or in my most successful school.

Look, money isn't the only thing that drives teachers -- indeed, it isn't the only thing that drives school chancellors -- but money is an ingredient in the mix of things that matter to people. Fairly compensating them if they take on the tougher assignments, if they're doing the work where it's harder to attract people, like science and math -- that seems to me a critical component.

California Parent Center

California Parent Center:


"A Technical Assistance Center for School, Family and Community Partnerships

Training Preschool and K-12 Educators and Parent Leaders in California, Arizona, Nevada and
Serving Program Improvement Schools and Districts Across the Nation"

Public Schools Incorporate Art as a Teaching Tool - NYTimes.com

Public Schools Incorporate Art as a Teaching Tool - NYTimes.com:

"The Columbus school incorporates sculpture and other art into nearly every corner of its year-old building with the hope that it will inspire students in this working-class Hispanic neighborhood to learn. It is one of a growing number of newly built or renovated public schools across the country that look more like cultural centers than the austere, utilitarian houses of learning of the past, displaying museum-worthy pieces commissioned from artists alongside more traditional finger paintings and statues of school mascots."

NEA moves to help poor schools with best teachers - USATODAY.com

NEA moves to help poor schools with best teachers - USATODAY.com:

"Testifying Tuesday before the House education committee, National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel said the union, which represents about 3.2 million teachers and other workers, will ask local affiliates to draw up memoranda of understanding with local school districts that would 'waive any contract language that prohibits staffing high-needs schools with great teachers.'

Van Roekel said the move is part of the union's 'Priority Schools' campaign that will also encourage 'the most accomplished teachers-members' to start their teaching careers in high-needs schools, remain there or transfer there."

Education Week: House Panel Targets Teacher Distribution, Pay

Education Week: House Panel Targets Teacher Distribution, Pay:

"Lawmakers and teacher spokesmen had a spirited exchange here this week on the equitable distribution of effective teachers, illuminating the contours of a debate that will likely continue as Congress revisits the issue.

Differing opinions about incentive-pay programs, the role of test scores in pay and evaluation, and how prescriptive the federal government should be in seeking to boost teacher effectiveness were aired at a House hearing. It came as the upcoming renewal of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and implementation of the economic-stimulus law are helping to spur such debate."

Teachers Who Made a Difference - NAM

Teachers Who Made a Difference - NAM:

"Editor’s note: In early September, on schoolyards and in hallways across the country, the same excited, anxious question rings out: “Who'd you get?” Students know that the heart of education beats inside the individual teacher. When NAM asked young people in our youth communications programs to write about the one teacher who’d really made a difference, they barely had to think before the keys were flying. This feature supported by funding from the California Teachers Association."

Coach K Demanded GreatnessBy Roland BallardThe teacher who made the biggest difference in my life would be my high school freshmen P.E. teacher, Keith Norman, better known as Coach K. He was my coach on the basketball team and also the first person to sit and talk to me about college. And he never let up on me. Outside of all the basketball knowledge he passed on to me, he also showed me the ways of a man. He taught me that a man makes sacrifices to be successful.

Ms. G: A Push in the Right DirectionBy Anastasia Freeman Throughout the years I have had a lot of teachers who have greatly affected me. The one who has affected me the most has to be Ms. Grinberg, my English and History teacher. She is the reason I am alive today. When I first came into her class it was because I had gotten kicked out of my old high school. I walked in with my mind made up that I wasn’t doing anything at all. I had just given birth to my daughter, who was a preemie and was still in the hospital. I was only going to school because I was on probation and I didn’t want to go back to jail. So, for two whole marking periods I just sat there and failed.

Mr. Jackson Told Me I Would Go PlacesBy Janet Lagto Michael Jackson. For many people, that name sparks memories of the dancing, performing maestro of pop. For me, however, it strikes up memories of attending high school, and sitting in Mr. Jackson’s stifling classroom that smelled heavily of mildew and glue. This tall, blonde man touched a very special place in my heart. Although I was rarely in school during most of my high school years, when I was there, my favorite place to be was in Mr. Jackson's classroom, listening to him rant and rave in an intellectual and witty way. He knew I had no interest in school. He knew I was picky about what work I would actually do. Yet he placed hope in me and told me things my other teachers never did. He told me that someone as bright as me (imagine, me, bright!) would eventually go places.

Special-ed ruling may mean teacher cutbacks - Cleveland.com

Special-ed ruling may mean teacher cutbacks - Cleveland.com:

"If the Cleveland schools are forced to hire large numbers of special-education teachers, mainstream teachers will be axed to make room on the payroll, Chief Executive Officer Eugene Sanders says.

An arbitrator has ruled that, under union contract, the district must assign both a general-education teacher and special-education teacher to every class that mixes students with disabilities and other children. That could require hiring up to six teachers per building, the union estimates.

At a school board meeting Tuesday, Sanders said the hires would come at the expense of general-education teachers."

Richard Whitmire and Andrew Rotherham explain how teachers unions have been taken to task by the New York Times, the Washington Post and even The New Yorker. - WSJ.com

Richard Whitmire and Andrew Rotherham explain how teachers unions have been taken to task by the New York Times, the Washington Post and even The New Yorker. - WSJ.com:

"Editorial pages of major papers nationwide have begun to demand accountability for schools, despite objections from vested interests. Since the Obama administration took an unexpectedly tough line on school reform, the elite media response has been overwhelmingly positive.

'All the reforms unions oppose—charter schools, testing, accountability, No Child Left Behind, performance pay—have been around for a while now and the disasters the unions predicted have not come to pass,' said Richard Colvin, who runs the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media in New York. 'The unions are out of touch and are courting irrelevance.'"

Political odd couple fights for school reform

Political odd couple fights for school reform:

"Sharpton says, 'I was raised by a single mother from when I was 10. My father wasn't there--on welfare, the whole 9 yards. But she went to every PTA meeting. She went to every open school week. She had the teachers home numbers.'

Gingrich says, 'They are fully capable of going to the local school board and raising cain. They're 4th, capable of going to their state legislature and asking why they're betraying their children.'"

Rise & Shine: Charter school backers say growth will be costly | GothamSchools

Rise & Shine: Charter school backers say growth will be costly GothamSchools:

"Some schools with interesting art and architecture use them as teaching tools. (Times)
Charter school backers say Mayor Bloomberg will have to put money where his plans are. (Daily News)
In an interview, Joel Klein proposes a song to describe his relationship with the teachers union. (Fortune)
Middle schools help students handle the high school application process. (NY1)
The Post says Bloomberg’s charter school expansion plan is “not only wise policy but wise politics.”"

Charter advocates to Bloomberg: More schools fine, but more money needed

Charter advocates to Bloomberg: More schools fine, but more money needed:

"City Controller William Thompson, Bloomberg's rival in the upcoming election, questioned whether he could add more charters if there isn't space or money available for them.
'I think we are seeing how political Mike really is,' said Thompson mayoral campaign spokesman Mike Murphy."

John de Beck: Just what is a free public education?

John de Beck: Just what is a free public education?:

"Recent complaints by parents about costs they have to pay for student materials, uniforms, and supplies and equipment is creating a review of the school district practice of charging parents for things that schools require for participation in classes, extra curricular activities and competitions by bands, drill squads, and cheerleading teams.

While I am not a lawyer, I have strong concerns about school districts (and mine in particular) requiring any purchases for participation that is not specifically ruled legal by court precidents, or by the constitution itself"

When sick, stay home, cover your cough, wash your hands and don't touch your face. Did we say stay home? - San Jose Mercury News

When sick, stay home, cover your cough, wash your hands and don't touch your face. Did we say stay home? - San Jose Mercury News:

"When the H1N1 virus invaded last spring, health officials sent home students in afflicted schools and improvised policies to combat the newcomer flu strain.

Now, in tandem with drug researchers who are rushing a swine flu vaccine to market, California education officials have scrambled to devise policies to guide schools through an anticipated outbreak.

In announcing the 43-page draft manual Thursday, officials seized on the chance to remind the public that individuals' health habits are the first line of defense."

Karen Symms Gallagher: Seniority? Test Scores? Student Outcomes? The Argument for Rethinking Teacher Compensation

Karen Symms Gallagher: Seniority? Test Scores? Student Outcomes? The Argument for Rethinking Teacher Compensation:

"The federal government often uses carrots and sticks to incentivize reluctant state and local agencies to change their policies and practices. The most current example of this is the Race to the Top legislation. To be eligible for the $4.35 billion in federal 'Race to the Top' funds, states must allow student test scores to be used in decisions about teacher effectiveness. States with laws restricting a link between student data and teacher pay, such as California and New York, are scrambling to change them in order to get a shot at these funds."

Textbooks already outdated in Lodi-area school districts

Textbooks already outdated in Lodi-area school districts:

"Students in California won't read in their U.S. history textbooks about our first black president for another seven years — or more. Science books won't mention the value of stem cell research, and global terrorism might not appear in world history texts used in the classroom.

That was part of the provision struck by the governor and the Legislature in adopting the state's budget earlier this year."

Glendale News Press > Archives > Education > Education bill up to gov.

Glendale News Press > Archives > Education > Education bill up to gov.:

"The legislation “removes any doubt that California is committed to using data to improve instruction and teacher effectiveness,” O’Connell said in a statement.

Using data to improve student achievement is one requirement for states to qualify for the Race to the Top funds, the largest sum of discretionary spending in the history of the federal Department of Education.

But using student performance to judge teacher effectiveness is deeply controversial among teachers and their unions. The state legislation would delete language from the California education code, which union officials said served as a firewall between student performance and teacher efficiency."

Sac City Schools Ramp Up H1N1 Flu Prevention | News10.net | Sacramento, California | News

Sac City Schools Ramp Up H1N1 Flu Prevention News10.net Sacramento, California News:

"SACRAMENTO, CA - Sacramento students began the school year with new classes. They're also getting lessons on H1N1 (swine) flu prevention.

A microbiologist recently visited students at Leonardo da Vinci School. She talked to them about the H1N1 virus. Fifth-grader Destiny Mathis said, 'We learned if you don't take care of it soon, you can get really sick from it and possibly die.'"