Notes from the news, Aug. 10 | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Notes from the news, Aug. 10 | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Notes from the news, Aug. 10

by Erika Owens

School District cancels contract with company that ran alternative programs The Inquirer
Community Education Partners, a private firm that ran disciplinary and alternative programs at four schools, had its contract terminated June 30 and is leaving Philly.
See also: CEP tells state it is leaving Philadelphia The Notebook blog
SLA magnet high school praised as one of top 10 The Inquirer
That's top 10 in the nation as picked by a panel of education experts for Ladies' Home Journal.
The Big Lie (Thoughts on Why School Is Not Only About Workforce Development) Practical Theory blog
SLA's principal says the emphasis should be on preparing students to be citizens, not workers because "aiming for creating workers won't get our society the citizens it needs."
See also: Schools Are Given a Grade on How Graduates Do New York Times
Money aplenty, but where are the real turnaround experts? The Notebook blog
The New York Times found that many people are trying to get some of the billions going to school turnaround, even if they don't have experience in the area.
Sen. Anthony Williams: School Choice Fox 29
Phila., Camden among districts getting history aid The Inquirer
First Book donates 170,000 books to increase youth literacy in Philadelphia Philadelphia Charity Examiner
Help kids make the transition back to school 6ABC
Tony Danza reality show gets air date UPI
Please email us if we missed anything today or if you have any suggestions of publications, email lists, or other places for us to check for news.
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Summary Box: Ultrinsic lets students bet on grades - Boston.com

Summary Box: Ultrinsic lets students bet on grades - Boston.com

Summary Box: Ultrinsic lets students bet on grades

By Oskar Garcia

Associated Press Writer / August 10, 2010

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GAMBLING ON GRADES: Students at 36 U.S. universities can bet on grades through Ultrinsic.com, which says it's an incentive to study harder -- and skill makes it legal. Others say many factors, including chance, play a role.

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HOW: Register, give Ultrinsic access to your records and -- after it calculates odds based on your transcript, topics and other factors -- choose a wager.

WHERE: Four Ivy League schools, Stanford and two University of California campuses are among schools added to the

LATEST EDUCATION NEWS WIRE UPDATES

• Indiana University sees big private funding jump (AP, 8:19 a.m.)
• Report: RI government spending on the rise (AP, 7:08 a.m.)
• Lincoln schools get grant to boost history (AP, 6:48 a.m.)
• Summary Box: Ultrinsic lets students bet on grades (AP, 6:31 a.m.)
• Glance: Schools where students can make grade bets(AP, 6:31 a.m.)

LATEST K-12 EDUCATION NEWS

• Suit seeks testing of kids at West Virginia school (AP, 8/9/10)
• House members scurry back to pass jobs bill (AP, 8/9/10)
• Forced to retire, some take Social Security early (AP, 8/8/10)
• Nun's death rallies anti-immigration forces (AP, 8/8/10)
• MALDEN School not forthright with payroll (Boston Globe, 8/7/10)

LATEST HIGHER EDUCATION NEWS

• In campaign mode, Obama makes Texas dash for cash(AP, 8/9/10)
• Obama playing host to Super Bowl champs (AP, 8/9/10)
• Berklee introduces music program for blind students(Boston Globe, 8/9/10)
• More choices alter college textbook landscape (AP, 8/8/10)
• More choices alter college textbook landscape (AP, 8/7/10)

AM News: Shaky Start To School Year - District 299: Chicago Public Schools Blog

AM News: Shaky Start To School Year - District 299: Chicago Public Schools Blog

AM News: Shaky Start To School Year

by Alexander Russo

Chicago Teachers Union Steps Up Efforts on TIFs WBEZ: The Chicago Teachers Union is determined to retrieve schools money that's currently siphoned away through special taxing districts... CPS wants all schools year-round Defender: On Monday 100,000 students started school as Chicago Public Schools moves toward a year-round schedule for all its schools... CPS student hot line must now report potential violence Tribune: Students at Chicago Public Schools will be getting a telephone hot line to report information about the possible outbreak of violence, and officials hope it will help prevent shootings and beatings that can erupt when the dismissal bell rings...Pulling the plug on cyberbullies Tribune: A new Illinois law prohibits cyberbullying via text messages, e-mail and Web sites like Facebook and MySpace, leaving educators grappling with how to intervene when incidents happen online or off- campus... Quinn visits the WGN Morning Show WGN: Quinn said he intends to "make sure we invest in the most important thing." Gov. Quinn also clarified recent pay increases

Education Week: Arizona, Tucson At Odds Over Ethnic Studies

Education Week: Arizona, Tucson At Odds Over Ethnic Studies

Arizona, Tucson At Odds Over Ethnic Studies

By Mary Ann Zehr

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Arizona education department officials and administrators for the Tucson Unified School District are set to do battle over whether the school district should continue to offer its ethnic studies, particularly Mexican-American studies, in light of a new state law tightly restricting such classes.

Tom Horne, Arizona’s superintendent of public instruction, turned up the heat on the controversy by sending a letter Aug. 3 to the superintendent of Tucson Unified threatening to withhold 10 percent of basic state aid to the district when the new law goes into effect Dec. 31. That law bars public schools from providing classes that are designed for a particular ethnic group, that advocate ethnic solidarity, or that promote resentment toward a race or group of people. ("Studies Take Aim at Policies on English-Language Learners in Arizona," May 19, 2010.)

Mr. Horne contends that Tucson Unified’s ethnic studies courses match the kind barred

Arizona, Tucson At Odds Over Ethnic Studies

The state chief says ethnic studies classes violate a new law and threatens to cut aid to the district.(August 10, 2010)

Better Training on Early Years Urged for Principals

Programs that give principals expertise in pre-K-3 best practices are rare, one group says. (August 9, 2010) | Comments (3)

Website Sponsors Gambling on Grades at 36 Colleges

(August 10, 2010)

Calif. School Chases Chronic Dropouts

(August 9, 2010)

CURRICULUM MATTERS BLOG

Ed. Dept. Unveils New Round of Teaching U.S. History Grants

(August 9, 2010)

FROM THE WIRES

• • Number of homeless students in W.Va. increases
• • NJ school district to observe Muslim holidays
• • Mass. bullying defendants seek medical records

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Leadership and Management

—James Gregg/Arizona Daily Star/AP

Tucson Principal Helping to Turn School Around

The formerly failing school was labeled a "performing" school by the Arizona Department of Education in 2008, "performing plus" in 2009, and it remains "performing plus" this year. (August 10, 2010)

Texas Schools Paying for Tutors With Mixed Track Record

(August 9, 2010)

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Ed. Dept. Unveils Data-on-Demand Website

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Federal Special Education Office To Repeat Webinar

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Trend Watch: N.J. District Votes to Recognize Muslim Holidays

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This Week In Education: Congress: Late-Breaking Questions About "Edujobs"

This Week In Education: Congress: Late-Breaking Questions About "Edujobs"

Congress: Late-Breaking Questions About "Edujobs"

by Alexander Russo

What if there were no massive teacher layoffs to prevent? Pretty embarassing for journalists and infuriating for critics. Politico (here) and NPR (here) raise some questions about the politics and the necessity of edujobs. EIA's Mike Antonucci digs up some vivid charts and statistics:

Media: The Million-Dollar News Roundup

by Alexander Russo

The latest addition to the Hechinger Report seems to be a noontime education news roundup called the Recess Round-Up. Nothing wrong with

AM News: Obama Making Education Economic Issue

by Alexander Russo

Education is economic issue Politico: Several times during his 25-minute speech Obama argued that investing in education is the “single most important” move his administration can make toward building a solid economic foundation... Obama speech ties U.S. need for more college graduates to the economic recovery Washington Post: Saying that the country's long-term economic recovery depends on a wholesale improvement in education, President Obama on Monday pledged his administration's best efforts toward increasing the number of college graduates... Texas Schools Paying for Tutors With Mixed Track Record EdWeek/AP: School districts across Texas are paying tens of millions of taxpayer dollars for private tutoring that has a mixed track record of improving student test scores [and billions for an education system who's record is just as bad]... Lesson Plan in Boston Schools - Don’t Go It Alone NYT: Rather than have the principal fill the slots one by one, the Boston schools have enlisted the help of a nonprofit organization, Teach Plus, to assemble teams of experienced teachers who will make up a quarter of the staff of each turnaround school come fall.

Housekeeping. New rules. Teaching jobs. � Fred Klonsky's blog

Housekeeping. New rules. Teaching jobs. � Fred Klonsky's blog

Housekeeping. New rules. Teaching jobs.

by preaprez

First, a note about blog housekeeping. Perhaps you’ve noticed, but for the past few months I have done away with my blogroll.
Two reasons: One is that many blogs seemed to come and go and I couldn’t keep up with eliminating the moribund ones. And two, I didn’t think readers were using it. The lack of comments about its disappearance seems to support that conclusion.
If you like a link, bookmark it.
New rules: I’m not enabling jerks