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Thursday, April 1, 2010

Education Research Report: Disadvantaged students reap most financial return from college education

Education Research Report: Disadvantaged students reap most financial return from college education

Disadvantaged students reap most financial return from college education

by Jonathan Kantrowitz
With the college admission season upon us, teens across the country are glued to college websites in hopes of learning whether they have been admitted to their school of choice.

But high school seniors who did not apply to college may be missing out on more than this popular rite of passage, a new UCLA-led study suggests. They could be forgoing some of the greatest financial returns a college education can offer, according to the findings, which appear in the April issue of the American Sociological Review.

"We found that the highest economic return to a college education is among the students who were least likely to go to college," said Jennie E. Brand, the study's lead author and a UCLA assistant professor of sociology. The study's co-author is Yu Xie, the Otis Dudley Duncan Distinguished University Professor of Sociology at the University of Michigan.

The economic value of a college diploma is nearly twice as high for women from disadvantaged backgrounds as for women from privileged backgrounds, the findings show. For disadvantaged men, the lift is even greater: A college education is worth three times more for them than for privileged college-goers.



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The NEA’s Convoluted Stance on Tests, Growth Models, and Accountability � The Quick and the Ed

The NEA’s Convoluted Stance on Tests, Growth Models, and Accountability � The Quick and the Ed

The NEA’s Convoluted Stance on Tests, Growth Models, and Accountability

April 1st, 2010 | Category: Accountability

The National Education Association (NEA), the nation’s largest teachers union, has said they “welcome public accountability” but prefer it to be based on growth models that “acknowledge the progress that students make over time and recognize significant academic gains.” Nothing to quibble with there, except that the NEA has recently released its proposal for reauthorizing the federal accountability law (h/t Sawchuk), and it would literally make measuring student growth impossible. According to their proposal, states would be required to test students only twice, once in grades 4-6 and once in 7-9. They could, at their discretion, choose to test students once more in grades 10-12. States would no longer be required to measure Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), and that’s fair, because the NEA’s rule would make this calculation impossible.
“Growth,” by definition, means you have to measure a starting and an ending place. Our current value-added models are still weaker than we’d like because they don’t have enough information about where a student starts and how they progress over time. Growth doesn’t mean much if it’s over a very long period of time, and, in the case of educational growth, it would be very hard to pin down the causes of growth between a student’s fourth and ninth grade years. Maybe that’s the NEA’s real
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voiceofsandiego.org | News. Investigation. Analysis. Conversation. Intelligence.

voiceofsandiego.org | News. Investigation. Analysis. Conversation. Intelligence.

Bright and Early: The Education Newsblitz
Nothing much to say about schools today. April Fool's! Read on for the newsblitz:
  • We give you the rundown on the report card for the interim superintendent in San Diego Unified.
  • The complex case over a payout for the former president of MiraCosta College is back in court, the Union-Tribune reports.
  • We also fact check whether San Diego Unified really upped its test scores as much as the school board president said in his annual speech. Our verdict? Mostly true.
  • Schools around Sacramento are aggravated with a new set of not-so-accurate math books that teach useful equations like five times three equals five, the Bee reports.
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Is Prop 17 an April Fool's Joke? | California Progress Report

Is Prop 17 an April Fool's Joke? | California Progress Report

Is Prop 17 an April Fool's Joke?

by christine
By Ed Begley
Did you hear the one about the insurance company that is spending millions of dollars to save you some dough? Some April Fools Day Joke!
Director Robert Greenwald has got people laughing with his new video about Prop 17, which is, unfortunately, a real ballot measure Californians will vote on June 8 backed by $3.5 million from Mercury Insurance.
It's no joke. Insurers want to bring back surcharges, which landmark insurance reform Prop 103 made illegal, under the pretense that the companies are trying to save you money. It would be funny, if it weren't true.
Robert's new video outs Mercury Insurance and makes the issue simple for Californians at risk of being fooled by Prop 17's backers.
Click here to view Brave New Film's Take on Mercury's Prop 17.
read more
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Personalized Learning Plans – The next big thing | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Personalized Learning Plans – The next big thing | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Personalized Learning Plans – The next big thing

by Ron Whitehorne on Apr 01 2010 Posted in Class notes

Personalized Learning Plan form

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Teachers in the Alternative School Region (what we used to call disciplinary schools) are struggling with a new District initiative, Personalized Learning Plans.
The idea is that some goals are identified for each student along with an action plan, an indication of the resources required, and a way of measuring progress. The student, parent, and teacher all sign off on the plan. The goals are expected to reference assessment data like benchmarks and PSSA results. The Personalized Learning Plan would be reviewed every 30 days. This initiative is a pilot project for now with the expectation that it will be used with all 9th graders next year.
As is so often the case, the problem here is not with the concept. Differentiating or individualizing instruction is clearly important, and good teachers do this routinely. But they do it within the constraints imposed by the number of courses and students that they teach. The realities of large classes of diverse learners make it tough.
Smaller classes and more preparatory time are needed to move forward on this front. Instead this project calls for more paper work…lots more. Instead of allowing the teachers the autonomy of figuring out how they can better individualize instruction, we have the requirement that they fill out upwards of a hundred forms a month.
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Presidential Proclamation--Census Day | The White House

Presidential Proclamation--Census Day | The White House

Presidential Proclamation--Census Day

by The White House
A PROCLAMATION
Since our Nation's earliest days, the census has played an important role in identifying where resources are most needed. This procedure, enshrined in our Constitution, informs our Government's responses to the evolving needs of American communities. By completing this year's survey, we can ensure they receive adequate funding for schools, hospitals, senior centers, and other public works projects. The 2010 Census will also aid employers in selecting locations for new factories and businesses as our economy recovers. On Census Day, I urge all Americans to fulfill their civic duty by participating in the 2010 Census.
While the first United States census surveyed a young country with fewer than 4 million people, this year's census will assess a Nation of over 300 million. America's diversity defines our national character, yet, in the past, the census has too often undercounted minorities, young people, and low-income residents. As our Nation grows, getting the count right will help ensure that our families and neighbors receive the services they need, and accurate and proportional representation in the United States House of Representatives.
The 2010 Census is safe and easy to complete, and the Census Bureau aggressively protects all census participants' private information, which is never used against them or shared with other government or private entities. By mailing the Census form back, we help save taxpayer dollars and ensure that all Americans get the support they deserve and a voice in our democracy.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 1, 2010, as Census Day. I call upon all Americans to observe this day by completing their census form and mailing it back.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand ten, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fourth.
BARACK OBAMA
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This Week In Education Thompson: NAEP Scores Indict NCLB from This Week In Education by john thompson The dropoff in NAEP Reading scores of 8th grad

This Week In Education

Thompson: NAEP Scores Indict NCLB

from This Week In Education by john thompson
The dropoff in ReadNAEP Reading scores of 8th graders as opposed to 4th graders provides the best single indictment of No Child Left Behind. Sheila Valencia, an education professor, "said 'the Bush administration’s $1-billion-a-year reading initiative, Reading First, ... helped young students increase their ability to read words, but not their capacity for comprehension.'" Tom Loveless of the Brookings Institution is half right when looking at fourth grade scores and concluding "our worst readers are getting better, but our best readers are staying about the same." The scores of 8th graders in the bottom 10th percentile have dropped by one point since 2002.
From 2002 to 2009, on the other hand, Catholic schools' 8th graders maintained their scores at 281. During the
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Remarks by the First Lady at Foundation Chair Announcement Conference Call | The White House

Remarks by the First Lady at Foundation Chair Announcement Conference Call | The White House

Remarks by the First Lady at Foundation Chair Announcement Conference Call

Via telephone
11:02 A.M. EDT
MRS. OBAMA: Well, good morning, everyone. This is Mrs. Obama. It’s good to have you all on the line. Thank you so much for joining us as we take another very important step forward in the work to address America’s childhood obesity crisis. This is a very exciting step for us.
As all of you know, nearly two months ago we launched this magnificent campaign, “Let’s Move.” The nationwide goal of the effort, as all of you know, is to rally this country around a single and very ambitious goal, and that’s to solve the problem of childhood obesity in a generation so that children born today will grow up at a healthy weight.
And with this initiative, we’ve issued a call to action for the nation. We said let’s move in so many ways. We said let’s move to give parents the information that they need to make good decisions for their kids’ health. We said let’s move to get healthier food into our schools. Let’s move to get more supermarkets into underserved areas, so that every single American in this country has access to fresh and nutritious foods. And we’ve also said let’s move to help our kids be more physically active –- not just in school but outside of school as well.
But we were also clear from the very beginning when we launched this effort that the solution to this problem isn’t going to come from Washington. I have had the pleasure of talking to a number of experts around this issue, and not a single one of them has said that the answer to this problem is for the federal government to tell people what to do. This is going to take all of us getting involved.
It’s going to require a non-partisan effort because there’s nothing partisan about this issue. There’s nothing Democratic or Republican about wanting our kids to lead active and healthy lives. And there’s really nothing liberal or conservative about wanting to reduce the billions of health care dollars we spend each year treating obesity-related conditions.
Ultimately, this solution is going to be about families and communities making manageable, commonsense changes that fit with their budgets that fit with their needs and their individual goals.
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New York education officials are lying to the state's schoolkids

New York education officials are lying to the state's schoolkids

New York education officials are lying to the state's schoolkids

BY DIANE RAVITCH
Wednesday, March 31st 2010, 4:00 AM

RELATED NEWS

Education Secretary Arne Duncan says that when states lower their standards, "We are lying to our children." He must be talking about New York State, which has a well-established record of lying to our children about their progress in school.
Every year, state officials announce another set of dramatic gains on state tests for the children of New York.
And every year, state officials lie to our children.
According to the state, the percentage of fourth-grade students who were proficient readers soared from 48% in 1999 to 77% last year, an impressive feat. Eighth-grade students made no progress from 1999, when only 48% were proficient, until 2006. Then their achievement soared and, by last year, the state proudly announced that 69% of eighth-graders had achieved proficiency on state tests.
In math, the percentage of fourth-graders who were proficient by New York State standards shot up from 67% in 1999 to 87% in 1999. The eighth-grade math scores skyrocketed from 38% in 1999 to 80% last year.
But last week, the federal government released scores for the nation and the states, and New York did not fare well. In fact, almost all of New York's reported gains for the past seven years disappeared into thin air.
The federal test - the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP - is the gold standard of testing. Congress requires all states to take NAEP tests to audit state claims. The federal audit was an embarrassment for New York.
The reading scores released last week show that 36% of New York's fourth-graders - not 77% - are proficient. And unlike the state scores, which have gone up every year without fail, the state scores on NAEP for fourth-graders have been flat since 2002. The federal test continues to show huge achievement gaps: 45% of white students are proficient, as are 52% of Asians. This contrasts with 18% of black students and 22% of Hispanic students.
In eighth grade, the picture is no better. On the NAEP test, 33% of our students are proficient in reading, not the 69% claimed by the state. The federal test shows zero improvement at this grade since 1998. And the racial achievement gap is shocking: 44% of whites are proficient, as are 49% of Asians, but only 13% of blacks and 16% of Hispanics.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2010/03/31/2010-03-31_new_york_state_education_officials_are_lying_to_schoolkids.html#ixzz0jrnCT4K2
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Unions come out in full force to support march - Local - MercedSun-Star.com

Unions come out in full force to support march - Local - MercedSun-Star.com

Unions come out in full force to support march

By JONAH OWEN LAMB
jlamb@mercedsun-star.com

A Valley-long march against state budget cuts wound its way north on M Street in Merced on Wednesday afternoon.

It was clear the group was made up of mostly union members. United Farm Worker flags, T-shirts emblazoned with union symbols and laborers' chants were all reminders of the strong union presence.

While the March for California's Future was led and organized by teachers and focused on the cuts in funding for education, some of the marchers and their supporters are union members who work outside the education field.

    The march from Bakersfield to Sacramento follows the trail Cesar Chavez took in 1965 to support grape pickers.

    The march's main goal has been to focus attention on the cuts to education and social services, but it has also acted as a bond for union cooperation statewide. Many of the unions involved see the state budget cuts as more than cost-cutting measures. Instead, they see them as an attack on the well-being of Californians at the expense of the middle class, said union spokespeople and marchers.

    In Merced, the union support for the march came from the Merced-Mariposa Central Labor Council, which hosted the march. "Labor as a whole, which is what the Central Labor Council speaks for, is involved in this march because labor and working people are the chief casualties of the state's budget cuts," said Doug Fleming, spokesman for the council.

    Ysmael Rocha, a member of the Merced chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said that kind of march brings unions together for a common cause. "Hopefully, this will let us see that we have commonalities," he said. State budget cuts have hurt more than teachers, said Rocha. At the Human Services Agency, where he works, there are fewer people working more caseloads because of state cuts.

    Steve Smith of the California Labor Federation said the state's draconian budget cuts have



    Read more: http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2010/04/01/1370298/unions-come-out-in-full-force.html#ixzz0jrgANqOD
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    Bruner’s Law � Chalkdust101

    Bruner’s Law � Chalkdust101

    Bruner’s Law

    by pjhiggins

    Bruner’s Law -we want kids to regard success and failure as information not as reward and punishment.

    Last week, I had the pleasure meeting and listening to Alfie Kohn talk about the topics of homework and grading. At one point he mentioned the something he called Bruner’s Law. Of the many things that struck me during the discussion (or lecture, I should say), this one was the most important.

    Kohn referenced the work of Carol Dweck and others who have worked with motivation, praise and punishment and studied the effect of all three on learning over time. What they’ve found, and I know that I am over-generalizing here, is that students who are rewarded with grades do poorly when compared with students who are not given grades on similar assignments. Interestingly too, is that the bigger the reward promised, the worse the graded group did.

    The room, at this point, was full of shaking heads and “that can’t be true’s” and “not in my experiences’s.”

    There would be no more radical shift in education as we know it to remove the concept of reward and punishment. Think deeply about the ramifications that would follow: A’s are good, A+’s are better. This college is good, that one is better. Behaving this way is good, but that way is better. Behaviorism still dominates many of our practices, both in the classroom and in our institutional structure. What worries me most is that we have begun to educate students in the practices of doing school and succeeding in this system–will they be able to

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    The Broad Foundation Announces 2010 Finalists for $2 Million Broad Prize; Five Urban School Districts... -- LOS ANGELES, April 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --

    The Broad Foundation Announces 2010 Finalists for $2 Million Broad Prize; Five Urban School Districts... -- LOS ANGELES, April 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --




    The Broad Foundation Announces 2010 Finalists for $2 Million Broad Prize; Five Urban School Districts Honored for Significant Student Gains

    LOS ANGELES, April 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation announced today the five school districts that are finalists for the 2010 Broad Prize for Urban Education, an annual $2 million award that honors urban school districts making the greatest progress in America in raising student achievement.
    Making a strong showing by southern states, this year's five finalists are:
    • Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, N.C.
    • Gwinnett County Public Schools outside Atlanta
    • Montgomery County Public Schools, Md.
    • Socorro Independent School District, El Paso, Texas
    • Ysleta Independent School District, El Paso, Texas



    The Broad (rhymes with "road") Prize for Urban Education is the largest education award in the country given to school districts that demonstrate the best overall performance and improvement in student achievement while reducing achievement gaps among poor and minority students.
    The winner of The Broad Prize, to be announced on Tuesday, Oct. 19 in New York City, will receive $1 million in college scholarships for high school seniors who will graduate in 2011. The four finalist districts will each receive $250,000 in college scholarships.
    "At a time when public schools are in crisis, these five urban school districts are an example for other struggling districts because they have demonstrated that students can achieve and improvement is possible even in challenging times," saidEli Broad, founder of The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation. "It is our hope that other districts around the country will learn from the practices these five districts are employing that are leading to sustainable academic gains."
    The finalists were selected by a review board of 18 prominent education researchers, policy leaders, practitioners and executives from leading universities, national education associations, think-tanks and foundations.
    In the 2010 Broad Prize finalist districts, a higher percentage of African-American, Hispanic and low-income students performed at the highest achievement level on state assessments in reading and math than did their statewide counterparts in 2009. The districts also made progress in closing academic achievement gaps among minority and low-income students. Additionally, all five districts made notable gains in preparing students academically for college, as shown, for example, by increased participation rates by minority students on SAT, ACT and Advanced Placement exams.
    Of the districts in the running for the 2010 Broad Prize, Gwinnett County and Socorro were finalists last year, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg was a finalist in 2004. Montgomery County and Ysleta are first-time finalists.
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