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Friday, July 23, 2010

Education Week: Study: Effective Principals Embrace Collective Leadership #education

Education Week: Study: Effective Principals Embrace Collective Leadership

The wide-ranging study linked high student achievement to those principals who involved teachers, parents, and others in school decisions. (July 23, 2010)
The regulations being proposed today would cut off federal aid to for-profit colleges if too many students default on loans or don't earn enough after graduation. (July 23, 2010)
(July 22, 2010)
(July 22, 2010)
(July 23, 2010)

FROM THE WIRES

MORE WIRE STORIES

Mary Schulken reported and commented on the challenges of rural schools in North Carolina for two daily newspapers. She grew up on a tobacco farm in one of the state's most rural counties, where the school district consistently ranks among the most challenged by poverty, low funding, and geographic isolation. 
(Active June 2010-present)
Mary-Ellen Phelps Deily is a veteran editor and reporter who has worked for Education Week in a variety of roles over the past decade-plus. In this blog, she looks at the world of learning outside the traditional school day. 
(Active April 2010-present)
Caralee Johnson Adams explores the issues affecting access to higher education. Ms. Adams has worked as a journalist for nearly 25 years, covering education, health, parenting, and other issues. 
(Active April 2010-present)
A wide-ranging forum for discussing school curriculum across the subject areas with Education Week reporters Catherine Gewertz and Erik Robelen.(Active June 2008-present)
Education Week Digital Directions writers Katie Ash and Ian Quillen and Education Week Digital Directions senior writer Michelle Davis cover tech topics and trends in K-12 education. (Active September 2008-present)
Education Week reporter Dakarai Aarons reports on news and trends in the nation's school districts. (Active August 2009-present)
Lisa Fine, a former reporter for Education Week, has covered education and other public-interest topics at the local, state, and national level for various newspapers. Now, she tackles the issues, news, and trends of early-childhood education. 
(Active June 2010-present)
Veteran reporter Debra Viadero dissects findings affecting schools and shares news about education research for audiences extending far beyond the Ivory Tower. (Active March 2009-present)
The first group blog by school leaders for school leaders, LeaderTalk expresses the voice of the administrator in this era of school reform. (Active December 2008-present)
Mary Ann Zehr is an assistant editor at Education Week. She tackles difficult policy questions, explores learning innovations, and shares stories about different cultural groups on her beat. (Active February 2007-present)
Education Week reporter Christina A. Samuels tracks news and trends of interest to the special education community, including administrators, teachers, and parents. (Active January 2008-present)
Michele McNeil and Alyson Klein provide regular coverage of political developments that affect education at the federal and state levels. (Active September 2007-present)
News and analysis on legal developments affecting schools, educators, and parents, written by Mark Walsh, contributing writer to Education Week, who has been covering legal issues in education for more than 17 years. (Active January 2008-present)
Lesli A. Maxwell, who reports on state policy for Education Week, tracks education policy and politics across the 50 states.
(Active January 2010-present)
Stephen Sawchuk comes to the teacher beat at Education Week after covering federal education policy. (Active August 2008-present)

Once a Leader, U.S. Lags in College Degrees - NYTimes.com

Once a Leader, U.S. Lags in College Degrees - NYTimes.com

Once a Leader, U.S. Lags in Attaining College Degrees

The College Board warned a growing gap between the United States and other countries is threatening to undermine American economic competitiveness.

U.S. Releases Rules on For-Profit Colleges

The Obama administration released its controversial proposed regulations to end federal student aid to for-profit colleges whose graduates do not earn enough to repay their loans.
The State Department of Education in Albany. The Constitution guarantees a public education even to children here illegally.

No Visa, No School, Many New York Districts Say

Civil liberties advocates have unsuccessfully asked the Education Department to stop localities from imposing enrollment barriers on immigrant children, intentionally or not.

Settlement in Case of Dismissed Biology Adjunct Quick Takes: July 23, 2010 - Inside Higher Ed

Quick Takes: July 23, 2010 - Inside Higher Ed

Settlement in Case of Dismissed Biology Adjunct

The San Jose/Evergreen Community College District has agreed to pay $100,000 to June Sheldon, who lost her job as an adjunct biology instructor after students complained about her answer to a question about homosexuality and genetics. Some students accused her of making anti-gay statements, while she said she had provided factual answers that were not accurately described. Under the settlement, the district maintains it did nothing wrong, but it also will remove references to Sheldon having been dismissed from her file.

One Rangel Ethics Case Involves Gift to College

One of the incidents that will lead to a trial by a U.S. House of Representatives panel of Rep. Charles B. Rangel involves a gift to a college, The New York Times reported. Specifically, Rangel is accused of maintaining a lucrative tax break that helped an oil executive in return for a pledge of $1 million to a center named for Rangel at City College of the City University of New York. Rangel has denied wrondoing.

New York Settles With Sodexo Over Overcharging

Sodexo has agreed to pay $20 million to settle issues raised by an investigation by Andrew M. Cuomo, New York State's attorney general, into allegations that the company overcharged the State University of New York System and 21 school districts in the state. The dispute involves a pledge by the company to provide goods at cost -- a pledge that the state says the company violated by failing to acknowledge significant rebates from suppliers.

UC San Diego Will Focus on Diversity in Faculty Hires

The University of California at San Diego has announced that it has authorized 33 new faculty searches for 2010-11 -- and that 12 of the searches will be focused on hires who will "contribute to diversity, equity and climate of inclusion at UC San Diego." An additional 7 slots beyond the 33 will be available for "opportunities that emerge throughout the year," with a focus there on diversity and inclusiveness as well. The move follows a year in which the university faced several racial incidents and debates over its climate.

Boulder Suspends Programs in Mexico

University of Colorado at Boulder announced Thursday that all study abroad programs in Mexico have been suspended for summer and fall due to continuing safety concerns. Boulder sponsors programs in Mexico in Guadalajara, Guanajuato, Oaxaca and Monterrey. The university's office of international education will work with students planning to go to Mexico this fall to find alternate locations for a study abroad experience.

U.S. ranks 12th for young adults with degrees

U.S. ranks 12th for young adults with degrees

U.S. ranks 12th for young adults with degrees

The United States ranks 12th in the world in the share of adults ages 25 to 34 with postsecondary...

UC Berkeley's DNA testing a bad idea

Each year, UC Berkeley freshmen participate in a program that's meant to draw them together. This year's...

State switch to U.S. school standards debated

California typically lands at or near the bottom in virtually every measure of public school performance nationally, but the academic...
Chronicle 7.21.10 4:00 AM

Today’s Oil Spill Links | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

Today’s Oil Spill Links | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

California School Boards Association to probe executive director's finances - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

California School Boards Association to probe executive director's finances - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

California School Boards Association to probe executive director's finances

Published: Friday, Jul. 23, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 3B
The California School Boards Association will hold an emergency Board of Directors closed-session meeting today to address issues raised in a local news report.
CSBA Executive Director Scott Plotkin allegedly withdrew more than $11,000 in cash using his company credit card at area casinos, according
Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/07/23/2909712/california-school-boards-association.html#mi_rss=Education#ixzz0uVxtvtKt


4M22KIDS.JPG
Amanda Maurer has found a way to make endangered species come alive on her computer screen.
4M22NURSES.JPG
School nurses, once a comforting sight at every public school, are dwindling in number.
Slavic community leaders and students are protesting the decision to cancel American River College's only Russian language class because of budget cuts.


Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/education/#ixzz0uVy8XBn0

Education Research Report: Building Strong Families Project

Education Research Report: Building Strong Families Project

Building Strong Families Project

Ω

Strengthening and stabilizing the relationships of low-income couples has emerged as a focus of national policy development and testing. If unmarried parents can be helped to fulfill their aspirations for stable, healthy lives together, there could be important benefits for child well-being. Building Strong Families (BSF) is an initiative to develop and evaluate programs designed to help interested unwed parents achieve those goals. This website is designed to document the progress of the BSF project, the services being tested, and the results of the

The Washington Teacher: Rhee's Firing Squad Terminates Sizable Number Of DC Teachers

The Washington Teacher: Rhee's Firing Squad Terminates Sizable Number Of DC Teachers

Rhee's Firing Squad Terminates Sizable Number Of DC Teachers


During the Rhee administration, her education plan which was released 18 months into her administration promised to terminate a significant share of the DCPS teacher workforce. Well the Rhee firing squad strikes once again. On July 23,Leah Fabel of the Washington Examiner newspaper reportedthat D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee will fire a sizable number of teachers and school staff by next week. Rhee did not appear in a Thursday briefing and left the dirty work to her deputy, Kaya Henderson to announce the bad news. Fabel reported the numbers of the terminations was not revealed in the briefing. The firings are based on a new evaluation instrument (IMPACT) which was introduced in school year

Rise & Shine: Districts pushed to stop asking immigration status | GothamSchools

Rise & Shine: Districts pushed to stop asking immigration status | GothamSchools

Rise & Shine: Districts pushed to stop asking immigration status

  • Many New York State school districts illegally ask about enrollees’ immigration status. (Times)
  • A 14-year-old who allegedly killed his family had been suspended from IS 72’s summer school. (Times)
  • The DOE isn’t punishing the employee taped using racial epithets to describe parents. (Queens Tribune)
  • PS 72 in East Harlem got a new soccer field — on its roof. (NY1)
  • Psychology professors say bullying can stop only if schools understand child development. (Times)
  • A UPenn professor wants to start a business incubator for education entrepreneurs. (AP)
  • Ex-New Yorker Ramon Cortines will step down as Los Angeles’s superintendent next year. (L.A. Times)
  • There is growing concern that the United States’s college completion rate is too low. (Times)
  • Restrictive contracting rules require California schools to overpay for construction. (S.F. Chronicle)
  • Oakland, Calif., has a plan to improve scores by improving students’ social services. (Times)

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Past is prologue

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Past is prologue

Past is prologue

Vacationing here in West Virgina, it's hard not to think about the state's rich history of struggle for social-justice. Signs are everywhere, especially in these difficult times. I got a good history lesson reading this editorial in yesterday's Charleston Gazette, showing once again that past is prologue.
In 1920, a strike at Matewan turned into a shoot-out that killed seven Baldwin-Felts guards who had been hired as strikebreakers. Town Police Chief Sid Hatfield, a champion of the strikers, was charged in a different fracas. As he and a companion walked up the steps of the McDowell County Courthouse, they were gunned