Thursday, February 18, 2010

Lawmakers Announce Plan for a Bipartisan Overhaul of Education Law | Press Releases | Committee on Education and Labor

Lawmakers Announce Plan for a Bipartisan Overhaul of Education Law

February 18, 2010 9:12 AM

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Democratic and Republican leaders of the House Education and Labor Committee today made an announcement about their plans for a bipartisan reform of the nation’s primary federal education law, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) – currently known as No Child Left Behind. U.S. Reps. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the committee, John Kline (R-MN), the senior Republican of the committee, Dale E. Kildee (D-MI), the chairman of the subcommittee on elementary and secondary education, and Michael N. Castle (R-DE), the senior Republican of that subcommittee, issued the following joint statement:

“

Today, we’re announcing a bipartisan, open and transparent effort to rewrite No Child Left Behind – a law that we all agree is in need of major reform. It will start with a series of hearings in the coming weeks to explore the challenges and opportunities ahead as we work to ensure an excellent education is available to every student in America. With a real commitment to innovation, we invite all stakeholders who share our serious interest in building a world-class education system to email us their suggestions.”

The committee’s first hearing will focus on charter schools and will be held on February 24, 2010.

Beginning today, groups and stakeholders can send the committee their input and suggestions at eseacomments@mail.house.gov. The deadline for comments is March 26, 2010.

SCUSD Board of Education Board of Education Meeting February 18, 2010

SCUSD Board of Education Board of Education Meeting F ebruary 18, 2010

February 18, 2010

Regular Meeting
Date:	Time:	Location:
February 18, 2010	5:30 p.m. Closed Session 6:30 p.m. Open Session	Serna Center 5735 47th Avenue Sacramento, Ca 95824 Community Room
Meeting Documents:		Online meeting Video/Archive
Agenda	Minutes
Agenda Items:
Item 8.1 - Public Hearing for New Charter School Petition Capitol Collegiate Academy Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 YavPemSuabAcademy– Preparing for the Future Item 9.1 - 2010-11 Budget Recommendations Item 11.1a - Approve Grants, Entitlements and Other Income Agreements, Ratification of Other Agreements, Approval of Bid Awards, Approval of Declared Surplus Materials and Equipment, Change Notices and Notices of Completion (Patricia A. Hagemeyer) Item 11.1b - Approve Business and Financial Report: Warrants and Checks Issued for the Period of January 2010 Item 11.1c - Approve West Campus High School Field Trip to Ashland, Oregon, March 16-18, 2010to Attend the Shakespeare Festival Item 11.1d - Approve Sutter Middle School Field Trip to Ashland, Oregon, March 10-12, 2010to Attend the Shakespeare Festival Item 11.1e - Approve Sutter Middle School Field Trip to Ashland, Oregon, March 15-17, 2010to Attend the Shakespeare Festival Item 11.1f - Approve Personnel Transaction Descriptions Item 11.1g - Approve Revised/Updated/New Position Descriptions for Chief Human Resources Officer Item 11.1h - Approve the Board of Education Meeting Minutes for November 5, and November 18, 2009 Item 12.1 - Business and Financial Report: Report on Contracts Within the Expenditure Limitations Specified in PCC20111, for the Period of October 31, 2009 through December 31, 2009

Digital Storytelling Teacher Guide

Digital Storytelling Teacher Guide
Educators > Guides

Download the Digital Storytelling e-book

The ancient tradition of storytelling meets the digital age.

When students create a movie or interactive slideshow to tell their story, learning becomes personal.

With digital storytelling, students can:

Improve their writing.
Show creativity.
Have a voice.

Digital storytelling projects lend themselves well to portfolio assessment.

Digital Storytelling overview

Create a movie to tell your story

Using Photo Story in class


Create movies and slide shows from photos and videos—right in your classroom. You can use either Windows Live Movie Maker or Photo Story. Windows Live Movie Maker (for Windows Vista and Windows 7): Create movies that use photos and videos. Learn how to use Windows Live Movie Maker in class. Photo Story 3 (for Windows XP): Combine photos into digital stories. Download Photo Story 3.

How to Raise Racist Kids | GeekDad | Wired.com

Step One: Don’t talk about race. Don’t point out skin color. Be “color blind.”

Step Two: Actually, that’s it. There is no Step Two.

Congratulations! Your children are well on their way to believing that is better than everybody else.

Surprised? So were authors Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman when they started researching the issue of kids and race for their book NurtureShock. It turns out that a lot of our assumptions about raising our kids to appreciate diversity are entirely wrong:

It is tempting to believe that because their generation is so diverse, today’s children grow up knowing how to get along with people of every race. But numerous studies suggest that this is more of a fantasy than a fact.

Since it’s Black History Month, I thought it would be a good time to talk about race, particularly some of the startling things I found in this particular chapter of NurtureShock. What Bronson and Merryman discovered, through various studies, was that most white parents don’t ever talk to their kids about race. The attitude (at least of those who think racism is wrong) is generally that because we want our kids to be color-blind, we don’t point out skin color. We’ll say things like “everybody’s equal”

Karen Cullen: HISD breakfast program aids student achievement | Viewpoints, Outlook | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

It's hard to pay attention, read textbooks or work math problems when your stomach is growling, your head hurts and you are impatiently waiting for lunchtime because you did not eat breakfast. Breakfast is considered the most important meal of the day. Why? After we sleep all night, breakfast supplies the energy and nutrients needed to fuel the activities of our body and brain.

Studies have shown that hungry children may not be able to concentrate on their schoolwork, leading to poor grades and even behavioral problems. A good breakfast gets students off to a good start in the morning, is part of a healthy diet and helps maintain a healthy body weight. Unfortunately, between 4 percent and 35 percent of children of all ages skip breakfast, for a variety of reasons. A major reason is economic.

The national School Breakfast Program was established to feed hungry schoolchildren and help them be prepared to learn. During the 2008-09 school year, 8.8 million low-income children participated. However, this is only about 47 percent of eligible children, which means that about 53 percent of eligible children missed the opportunity to eat breakfast. In Texas, all public and open-enrollment charter schools offer the SBP, and about 55 percent of eligible students ate a school breakfast in 2009. Texas ranks 10th among the 50 states in SBP participation.

Because HISD is committed to student wellness and achievement, the “First Class Breakfast” program was

School's money spent on Coach bags, diet pills :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Chicago Crime

School's money spent on Coach bags, diet pills :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Chicago Crime:

"The onetime head of a Chicago charter school is now facing prison time after she dipped into school funds to buy Louis Vuitton and Coach bags, $2,000 in hair care products and hundreds of dollars in diet pills.

Helen Hawkins, who formerly headed Triumphant Charter school on the city's South Side, was found guilty of embezzlement Friday after a brief trial in federal court.

Hawkins was accused of using the school's American Express credit card for personal use in 2004, but prosecutors introduced evidence of similar conduct in 2003, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel Hammerman said.

The case started with an investigation by the Chicago Public Schools' Inspector General's office, which questioned more than $250,000 in credit card charges, including almost $30,000 in charges at major department stores like Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue, designer leather shops including Louis Vuitton and Coach, as well as Elan Furs, Tommy Hilfiger and Skymall Airline catalog."

Broward Teachers Union ads blast Superintendent Jim Notter - 5-Minute Herald - MiamiHerald.com

Broward Teachers Union ads blast Superintendent Jim Notter - 5-Minute Herald - MiamiHerald.com:

"In the midst of contract negotiations, the Broward Teachers Union took out ads attacking Superintendent Jim Notter, who fired back Wednesday."

Long-simmering tensions between the Broward Teachers Union and the school district's superintendent escalated publicly Wednesday in morning newspaper ads and an afternoon news conference.

The union bought half-page ads in local newspapers accusing Superintendent Jim Notter of misusing school district money -- claims they have made before.

The allegations touch on use of stimulus money intended for kids with disabilities; job perks for Notter; rehiring of retired administrators and unnecessary travel on the taxpayer's dime.

Notter called a news conference to respond publicly for the first time, he said, because he was so appalled about the use of children in a photograph that accompanies the ad.

``When, in fact, you look at a paid ad and what looks back at you are children who clearly do not know and understand the untruths that I just shared with you, I will tell you that is wrong,'' he said, calling the children ``exploited.'' The ad, which cost up to $1,000 to run in each paper, features a picture of seven angry-looking children. They are kids of union members, a BTU spokesman said.

If not for the picture of the children, Notter said he would have ``maintained what leaders

Local Teachers' Union President Calls "Bullshit" On The HISD Superintendent, The New York Times And The Washington Post - Houston News - Hair Balls

Local Teachers' Union President Calls "Bullshit" On The HISD Superintendent, The New York Times And The Washington Post - Houston News - Hair Balls

Caught on her cell phone today, Gayle Fallon, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers, said that many people are distorting what Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said in a Tuesdayeight-page speech about overhauling teacher evaluations.

The speech was reported in the New York Times and the Washington Post today and both accounts said that Weingarten, in her call for an overhaul of teacher evaluations, supports using student test scores as one way to assess teachers. Which would seem to put Fallon at odds with the president of her parent organization.

This week, Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier proposed using a teacher's continued low student test scores as another reason for dismissal. The Houston school board is slated to vote on the proposal at its Thursday meeting and it looks

Expanding Florida school voucher program is a bad idea - St. Petersburg Times

Expanding Florida school voucher program is a bad idea - St. Petersburg Times:

"With Florida facing a $3 billion deficit and striving to maintain momentum in improving public schools, this is an odd time to talk about expanding tuition vouchers for private schools. Yet voucher supporters are pushing legislation that would divert more tax money to the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship and raise the value of each voucher. Legislators should keep the focus on improving public education and reject this legally suspect bid to siphon more public money away to private schools.

The voucher program for low-income students is one of two surviving voucher programs embraced by former Gov. Jeb Bush and approved by the Legislature. Nearly 25,000 students use the vouchers at more than 1,000 private schools, and companies get dollar-for-dollar state tax credits toward both corporate income taxes and insurance premium taxes for contributing to the program. Supporters of the program are well intentioned in their efforts to assist often struggling students from low-income families. But there are fundamental questions that should be answered before the program is expanded:

Is this voucher program constitutional?"

Students and parents make snowy trek back to school | Philadelphia Inquirer | 02/17/2010

Students and parents make snowy trek back to school | Philadelphia Inquirer | 02/17/2010:

"Over the snowbanks and through the slippery patches, Orlando Santiago shepherded his three sons to Abigail Vare School on East Moyamensing Avenue in South Philadelphia yesterday morning.

It was the first day back to school in a week for many students across the region, and though a snowstorm Monday night into yesterday morning left little accumulation, the leftovers from last week's storms still made for tough going in some neighborhoods.

For most of the short walk through their Pennsport neighborhood, Santiago carried 10-year-old Cameron's cello. And when he waved goodbye to Cameron and 8-year-old twins Christian and Julian at the front of Vare, Santiago advised his oldest to be careful.

'I recommended he leave his cello at school,' Santiago said. 'I don't want him falling in the snow because of it.'

Like most district students, the Santiago boys live close enough to school to walk. About 10 percent of the district's 161,000 pupils ride yellow buses and an additional 53,000 use SEPTA to get to school, though that figure includes charter- and private-school students as well."

Reauthorize ESEA Now, or Never - Politics K-12 - Education Week

That's the dramatized version of the message former longtime Democratic congressional aide Jack Jennings has for Education Secretary Arne Duncan and crew.

And Congress appears to be leaning towards now, according to a story in theWashington Post that went online late Wednesday night.

If Jennings knows anything after 20-plus years working for Congress, it's the congressional schedule, said Jennings, who is now the Center on Education Policy's president and CEO.

If the gears don't start turning on reauthorization in the next two months, he predicts we'll all have to live with the rules of No Child Left Behind Act until the 2012-13 school year. That's because members of Congress soon will start running for re-election, and they'll become more "risk averse." Then, a new Congress will be seated, and it'll have to get organized. So it will be a while before they're ready to tackle any meaty issues.

By then, in some states, nearly all of the schools could be labeled failing--for not making adequate yearly progress, the signature yardstick of the current accountability law. The Obama administration has already signaled it wants big changes to AYP.

Jennings, who in a conference call Wednesday with reporters was promoting the

Education - Everything you need to know about the world of education.

Education- Everything you need to know about the world of education.

Bipartisan move to rewrite No Child Left Behind

Following Obama's lead, both parties begin tackling education law.

MORE ON EDUCATION

The trouble with algebra

My guest today is Debra Viadero, who reports on education research for Education Week and writes a daily blog,Inside School Research.

By Debra Viadero
Studies have long suggested that algebra is a “gateway” course. Students need to pass it in order to move on to more advanced mathematics--and they need to have at least a couple of higher-level math credits on their high school transcripts to make it into a competitive college.

That realization has led a growing number of school districts over the last couple of decades to try to ensure that all students, regardless of ability level, study the subject as early as possible, which in many cases means by 8th or 9th grade. Some newer research is beginning to suggest, however, that getting all students past the algebra hump has proved to be a knotty problem.

Continue reading this post »

Life habits schools can teach

[This is my column for the Local Living section of Feb. 18, 2010. It is the cover piece.]

I learned at an early age from my mother that there was more to school than reading, writing, arithmetic and lunch. She was a teacher. I was an eager student of the academic sort. That didn’t impress her. She told me later it was clear I was ready to read when I was four, but she refused to teach me because I needed more work on my social skills.

She will turn 93 at the end of this month. I am tempted to call and ask her to evaluate how I turned out, but I fear the answer. My life has been a lot of reading and writing, with some arithmetic. Even as a parent I rarely considered how well my children’s schools were teaching life skills that went beyond what is assessed under No Child Left Behind.

The habits of the heart are probably learned almost as much at school as at home. But which ones can we reasonably expect teachers to address? What should we look for to make certain these unmeasurable immeasurable but invaluable traits are being reinforced?
,

Continue reading this post »

At DCPS, it's 'purge purge, purge!'

D.C. schools will begin moving its central offices next week, decamping 825 N. Capitol St. NE for 1200 1st St. NE near the New York Ave. Metro station. To save money on rent, the new digs are smaller, and that means about 40 percent less storage space, officials said.

The space crunch has triggered a crash program of document shredding. The school system has hired two firms, Iron Mountain and Shredit, to help scan documents that need to be kept and dispose of others.

"The new location has less storage space so it is imperative to purge, purge, purge!" say the notes from chief operating officer Anthony J. Tata's Dec. 16 "sync meeting" for school business managers and other staff. The purge imperative was voiced in a briefing by James Tanious, a Tata staffer.

HISD may add weeks of classes at some problem schools | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

HISD may add weeks of classes at some problem schools | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle:

"Some students could see their summer breaks slashed and their academic year stretched as part of the Houston Independent School District's effort to overhaul poor-performing campuses.
The district is designing a pilot program to allow a handful of struggling schools to adopt an extended-year calendar starting this fall. The reform effort — estimated to cost around $500,000 per school — includes two more weeks of class for students. The schools, which have not been chosen, also could see a staff shake-up.

HISD Superintendent Terry Grier said he plans to ask teachers and principals to re-apply to work at the campuses to ensure top-notch instruction during the longer year.

“It's not just about time,” Grier said. “It's not about doing the same thing the same way and expecting different results.”

The alternative calendar, which the school board approved last week, divides the year into quarters, with two-week breaks about every two-and-a-half months. Summer vacation would span three weeks instead of the typical three months.

“As educators, we know that the summer's way too long,” said Peter Heinze, the principal of Briarmeadow, a combined elementary and middle school in HISD."

Thursday, February 18, 2010