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Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Texas judge knocks down minimum grading on report cards | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Latest News

Texas judge knocks down minimum grading on report cards | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Latest News

Texas judge knocks down minimum grading on report cards



06:57 AM CDT on Tuesday, June 29, 2010

By TERRENCE STUTZ / The Dallas Morning News
tstutz@dallasnews.com
AUSTIN – A state judge upheld Texas' truth-in-grading law Monday, rejecting arguments by several school districts that contended that they could still require teachers to give minimum grades – such as a 50, 60 or 70 – on student report cards.
State District Judge Gisela Triana-Doyal said the law was clear that school districts cannot enforce policies that require a minimum grade for students regardless of their achievement on report cards, class assignments and homework.
Eleven school districts from the Houston area had filed suit against the state, asserting that the 2009 law applied only to class assignments and not to progress reports or semester report cards. They cited vague language in the law to support their position.
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But the judge dismissed their arguments, saying the legislation was "not ambiguous" and reflected the Legislature's intent to protect teachers from having to give grades that weren't earned.
Teacher groups had supported the measure by Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, last year, asserting that minimum grades were undermining the authority of teachers to accurately assess the performance of their students.
"This ruling is a victory for Texas teachers, students and parents because now all grades – on class assignments and on report cards – will accurately reflect how well students have mastered their coursework," Nelson said after the
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July 4th Listening Activities | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

July 4th Listening Activities | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

July 4th Listening Activities Thanks to Michelle Henry’s fabulous website, I’ve learned about three good listening exercises for July 4th: Kyle: Independence Day Frank: Independence Day Cortney: Independence Day I’m adding them to The Best Websites For Learning About The Fourth ...
You Can Find Some Good ELL Resources At The American Institutes For Research Recently, Mary Ann Zehr (the author of the must-read Learning The Language blog) wrote about The American Institutes For Research expanding their interest in English Language Learners. I had never heard of the group, but apparently it’s a pretty big ...
My Best Posts For Tech Novices (Plus One From Somebody Else) All of my posts, books, and articles are designed to be accessible to English Language Learners and tech novices. However, there are a few that might be particularly appropriate for people new to tech, and to people who are introducing newcomers to ...
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Supreme Court: University can require student groups to admit all students | California Watch

Supreme Court: University can require student groups to admit all students | California Watch

Supreme Court: University can require student groups to admit all students

June 29, 2010 | Erica Perez
Flickr photo by Clyde Robinson
It's official – to get university funding, College Democrats have to allow Tea Partiers to join and religious groups have to admit atheists.
In a narrow 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday upheld a UC Hastings College of the Law policy that denied official status to a Christian student organization that excluded gays, saying the university has a right to withhold school funds from groups that exclude some students.
The decision won praise from Hastings, whose supporters in the case included other universities, the American Civil Liberties Union and several gay-rights groups.
"Today's ruling sends a message that public universities need not lend their name and support to groups that discriminate," said Steven R. Shapiro, Legal Director for the ACLU, in a statement.
Several free-speech groups decried the ruling, however, saying it trampled First Amendment rights. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education and the Student Press Law Centersided with the Christian Legal Society, for example.


Could $416 million push school districts to reform by Friday?

by Corey G. Johnson
After months of budget cuts, layoffs and an embarrassing poor showing in the Obama administration's reform contest, California finally got a nearly $416 million break.
Last week, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell announced California was awarded $415,844,376 from the U.S. Department of Education to help fund education reform. The money, which comes through the federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) program, is set aside for 188 schools that were designated by the state as "persistently low-achieving."
'I am very grateful to President Obama and U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan for making this critical funding available for California’s persistently lowest-achieving schools,' said O’Connell in an e-mailed statement. 'This grant will help fund efforts to turn around persistently struggling schools in order to prepare their students for success in college and careers.'
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Gloucester critics of charter school sue - The Boston Globe

Gloucester critics of charter school sue - The Boston Globe

Gloucester critics of charter school sue

By David Abel
Globe Staff / June 29, 2010
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A group of parents filed a lawsuit yesterday against the top state education officials, alleging that they approved the opening of a charter school in Gloucester in “blatant violation’’ of the state Board of Education’s regulations governing the granting of school charters.
In the suit filed in Essex Superior Court, the parents argued that the approval was given after the state inspector general issued a report that found the charter for Gloucester Community Arts Charter School, slated to open in September, was “never validly awarded and should be deemed void.’’
“The law states that charter school applicants must pass a rigorous, professional evaluation before a charter is awarded, but the Gloucester school failed its evaluation,’’ said Ian D. Roffman, a Boston lawyer representing the parents. “The state should not reward that failure by taking money away from the Gloucester

GLOBE EDUCATION NEWS

Taunton man warned his son before attack, police say

TAUNTON — The father of a 17-year-old who was stabbed to death near a convenience store Friday night warned his son not to fight, because the other man, who he had been feuding with since middle school, had a knife, according to court records. (By Milton J. Valencia, Globe Staff)

Student describes knife attack as he slept in MIT dorm room

WOBURN — Wolfe Styke and Anna Tang met at a social gathering for MIT students and quickly became friends and study partners. (By Denise Lavoie, Associated Press)

City youth gain 400 jobs for summer

Boston officials, hoping to stem a wave of early-summer violence, announced more than 400 new summer jobs and new summer school programs for at-risk youth. (By Meghan E. Irons and June Q. Wu, Globe Staff | Globe Correspondent)

Gloucester critics of charter school sue

A group of parents filed a lawsuit yesterday against the top state education officials, alleging that they approved the opening of a charter school in Gloucester in “blatant violation’’ of the state Board of Education’s regulations governing the granting of school charters. (By David Abel, Globe Staff)

Burlington firm joins crowd on the cloud

Highlights from Scott Kirsner’s Innovation Economy blog. (By Scott Kirsner, Globe Correspondent)

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A University Chancellor Is Selling Altria Stock - NYTimes.com

A University Chancellor Is Selling Altria Stock - NYTimes.com

Last Day of ‘Rubber Rooms’ for Teachers

By JENNIFER MEDINA
One of the city's seven Temporary Reassignment Centers, where suspended teachers were required to spend the day, day after day.
Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times
One of the city's seven Temporary Reassignment Centers, where suspended teachers were required to spend the day, day after day.
The waiting places known as rubber rooms were a requirement for teachers accused of incompetence or wrongdoing, who would idle there on full salary.

Justices Rule Against Group That Excludes Gay Students

By ADAM LIPTAK
The majority said public institutions of higher learning were not required to recognize student groups that did not accept all comers.

University Chief Is Selling Tobacco Holdings

By DUFF WILSON
Dr. Susan Desmond-Hellmann of the University of California, San Francisco, is re-evaluating her portfolio after questions about her stock in Altria.
POISONED WEB
Students at Benjamin Franklin Middle School in Ridgewood, N.J., are old hands at text messaging, but not all of the words are friendly.

Online Bullies Pull Schools Into the Fray

By JAN HOFFMAN
Affronted by cyberspace’s escalation of adolescent viciousness, many parents are looking to schools for justice, protection, even revenge.

New Diploma Standard in New York Becomes a Multiple-Question Choice

By JENNIFER MEDINA
The impact of a tougher requirement for passing Regents examinations remains unclear, five years after it was adopted to take full effect in 2012.
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Study: Phila. parents want more school-choice options | Philadelphia Inquirer | 06/29/2010

Study: Phila. parents want more school-choice options | Philadelphia Inquirer | 06/29/2010

Study: Phila. parents want more school-choice options

By Martha Woodall
Inquirer Staff Writer
Despite the explosive growth of charter schools in Philadelphia in the last decade, city parents say they still do not have enough good choices when it comes to picking a school, Pew Charitable Trusts says in a study released Tuesday.
White parents whose children attend district schools give higher marks to the system and individual schools than do African American parents. Parents younger than 30 are among the district's "most dissatisfied customers." Nearly eight out of 10 district parents under 30 say they have considered transferring their children to Catholic, charter, or private schools.
Those are just some of the findings contained in an examination of kindergarten-through-12th-grade education in the city by Pew Trusts' Philadelphia Research Initiative.
The report, which features a poll of 802 city parents with school-age children, found that school safety was a major concern and accounts for the largest differences in how parents view their schools.


Read more: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/education/20100629_Study__Phila__parents_want_more_school-choice_options.html#ixzz0sF6WsK22
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N.J. third graders make dog park idea a reality



When a class of Glassboro third graders decided to pitch the idea of a dog park to their Borough Council, they weren't playing around.



Continued shake-up for Ackerman team in Philadelphia schools



A state education official will be joining the Philadelphia School District, and others there will get new jobs in a leadership shake-up announced Friday by Superintendent Arlene Ackerman.



South Philadelphia High aide who protected students from attack is laid off



When South Philadelphia High School exploded in racial violence on Dec. 3, community liaison Violet Sutton-Lawson twice risked serious injury to protect Asian students who were being beaten by mobs.



Judge rules Lower Merion redistricting broke no law



A federal court judge in Philadelphia ruled Thursday that the Lower Merion School District broke no law when it imposed a redistricting plan that deprived nine South Ardmore students of their choice of high school.
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Rise & Shine: Teachers give Joel Klein low marks on city survey | GothamSchools

Rise & Shine: Teachers give Joel Klein low marks on city survey | GothamSchools

Rise & Shine: Teachers give Joel Klein low marks on city survey

by Philissa Cramer
  • Just a third of teachers said they approve of Chancellor Klein on the city’s annual survey. (Post)
  • The city decided against delaying the first day of school. (GothamSchools, Daily News, WSJ)
  • Fighting over next year’s calendar finished the year for the city and union. (GothamSchools, NY1)
  • Yesterday was the last day of existence for the infamous teacher rubber rooms. (GothamSchools, Times)
  • The city is shrinking its programming for students incarcerated on Rikers Island. (GothamSchools)
  • The city didn’t tell an upstate district that the principal it hired was in trouble here. (Journal News)
  • The homeless student who was barred from taking a Regents exam graduated yesterday. (Daily News)
  • A student who set fires at Stuyvesant HS won’t go to jail but can’t go back to Stuy. (Daily News)
  • Many schools are starting the summer unsure about how long they’ll continue to exist. (NY1)
  • The city kicks off its annual summer meals program today. (NY1)
  • Students at the video game-themed Quest To Learn school live in imaginary Creepytown. (NPR)
  • New York State continues to have the highest per-pupil spending of all states. (Post)
  • The Post laments what it says are diminishing standards at city gifted programs.
  • Los Angeles parents are using celebrities to push back against school budget cuts. (AP)
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Schools Matter: Jay Mathews wants more summer school: I suggest libraries

Schools Matter: Jay Mathews wants more summer school: I suggest libraries

Jay Mathews wants more summer school: I suggest libraries

by skrashen
Summer school or an increased investment in public libraries?
Sent to the Washington Post, June 28, 2010.

Jay Mathews notes that that academic achievement declines for low-income students over the summer and concludes that "Summer school is a great tool, if only more students would use it" (June 28). The decline in reading achievement over the summer, however, is actually an argument for increased funding for public libraries, not summer school.

Some of the research reports on the summer slump, including Barbara Heyns' original study of summer learning
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