Wednesday, August 25, 2010

N.J. Assembly speaker orders hearing on 'Race to the Top' application error | NJ.com

N.J. Assembly speaker orders hearing on 'Race to the Top' application error

Published: Wednesday, August 25, 2010, 1:44 PM Updated: Wednesday, August 25, 2010, 1:45 PM

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Gov. Christie addresses the Assembly and Senate

Amanda Brown/The Star-LedgerAssembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, pictured in a file photo, today called for a hearing on the "clerical error" that cost the state federal funding.

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TRENTON — Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex) has ordered a hearing on the Christie administration's error that helped sink the state's chances for up to $400 million in a competitive federal education grant called Race to the Top.

“With nearly half of a billion dollars lost because of human error, this hearing is an absolute must,” Oliver said in a statement. “The state, our taxpayers, and most of all our children deserve answers from the administration as to how such an egregious blunder could have been overlooked with so much as stake.”

Oliver did not give a time or date for the meeting of the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

The statement from the Assembly Democrats said "top to bottom" officials will be called, including Education Commissioner Bret Schundler.

In a press conference this morning, Gov. Chris Christie said he would "take the responsibility we need to take for putting one wrong piece of paper in a thousand-page application," but said the Obama administration should have allowed the state a chance to fix the mistake. The state

Does the Fordham Reform-Friendliness Index Matter? � The Quick and the Ed

Does the Fordham Reform-Friendliness Index Matter?

Yesterday, Fordham released a measure of which cities were reform friendly and which ones weren’t. Their study identified New Orleans, Washington D.C, New York City, and Denver as the most reform minded cities. At the bottom of their index were Albany, Philadelphia, Gary, and Detroit. Their index measured the district’s reform environment based on six domains – human capital, financial capital, charter environment, quality control, district environment, and municipal environment. This study was an interesting idea. I generally think that these reform areas are important policy areas, and should in theory have an impact of the quality of education that students in these districts receive.

But, after taking a look at their study, the question that came to mind for me is

CSU official says public, private funds were mixed - San Jose Mercury News

CSU official says public, private funds were mixed

SACRAMENTO -- A top official at California State University says the system has improperly mixed public funding with money from private foundations and the problem is so bad he can't tell how much money is involved.

California loses bid for 'Race To The Top' education funds

High-school exit exam pass rates rising, especially among minorities

Document: Santa Clara County analysis of exit exam results

Eduwonk � Blog Archive � Good Reading

Interesting paper from Bridgespan on next generation learning initiatives. Tom Friedman hearts Waiting for Superman. And an op-ed from the President of Strayer lays out the contours of the debate over for-profit higher education and accountability. If nothing else that debate is going to finance the college tuition of a lot of

Everything is for sale! | Dailycensored.com

Everything is for sale!

by Danny Weil

From the Chronicle of Higher Education:

August 22, 2010

Donor Pledges Dollars if Stephens College Workers Lose Pounds

By Ilana Kowarski

A Stephens College alumna has promised to give her alma mater $1-million, with one weighty condition: Employees of the women’s college in Columbia, Mo., must lose a total of 250 pounds by the stroke of midnight on January 1.

And if the college’s president, Dianne M. Lynch, sheds at least 25 pounds, the donor will add $100,000 to her gift.

“This donation is unusual because it’s not about a program or a scholarship or any other kind of naming

Groundwork for next round of Race to the Top

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

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California's effort to win the second phase of the federal Race to the Top competition was impressive and passionate. We didn't win, however.

We didn't take the competition or the $700 million in federal educational reform funds that a victory could have brought us. That's no small amount of money for a state that ranks 44th in the nation in per-pupil spending. But that doesn't mean we've lost everything.

California's legislators and superintendents did important groundwork that our students will still benefit from in the years to come. If our educational leaders follow through on

ASCD Inservice: Hiring and Keeping the Best Teachers

Hiring and Keeping the Best Teachers

What are the best strategies for recruiting and hiring teachers? Once a school opens its doors to the best educators, how should it keep them happy and productive?

Many of the issues around teacher retention revolve, surprisingly, not so much around money as around administrative support for staff, opportunities for professional development, and a positive school culture. We're looking for articles about successful strategies for hiring and retaining teachers—including merit pay, a

Race to Top: The Follow-Up Edition - Politics K-12 - Education Week

Race to Top: The Follow-Up Edition

by Alyson Klein

Posted by guest blogger Sean Cavanagh

Reaction rolls in from across the country on yesterday's announcement that nine states, plus the District of Columbia, won Race to the Top Fund awards. Much of the discussion focuses on why some states that weren't on many prognosticators' radar—such as Hawaii—made the final cut, while other states thought to be favorites, like Colorado and Louisiana, were left out.

Over at the Fordham Institute, Mike Petrilli is particularly tough on the administration's choices, calling it a "disastrous outcome." He rips the choices of Hawaii and Maryland and the denial of grants to Colorado and Louisiana. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan could have waded in and selected those two losing states,

John Rogers: Value Added is No Magic: Assessing Teacher Effectiveness

Value Added is No Magic: Assessing Teacher Effectiveness

That old sorcerer has vanished
And for once has gone away!
Spirits called by him, now banished,
My commands shall soon obey.

In Goethe's classic, the apprentice uses a sorcerer's spell to ease his daily chores. Chanting the master's words, he brings a broomstick to life and tells it to fetch water to clean the workshop. The broomstick obeys, only too well. It races between the well and back until the workshop begins to flood. Although the apprentice had enough knowledge to set magic in motion, he could not think ahead to what he did not know.

I worry about a similar flood of unintended consequences if the Los Angeles Times moves forward with its plans to publish a database that places 6,000 Los Angeles third- to fifth-grade teachers on a spectrum from "least effective" to "most effective." The Times believes that the data will be a powerful tool to force better teaching, but it cannot anticipate all of the consequences. For example, consider that capable prospective teachers might avoid a profession in which they risk public embarrassment based on an undeveloped science. Consider the well-documented estimates

Pa. and N.J. fall short in bids for Race to the Top education funds , Aug. 25 | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Notes from the news, Aug. 25 | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Notes from the news, Aug. 25

by Erika Owens

notes from the news image Pa. and N.J. fall short in bids for Race to the Top education funds The Inquirer
Ten states got funds this time, but PA again lost out in round two of the competition for federal stimulus funds, which could have brought $400 million into the state.

See also: PA not among Race to the Top winners The Notebook blog
Pa. loses out on school funds AP via Centre Daily Times

Philadelphia schools all staffed up WHYY
The Renaissance Schools' vacancies are down to three and districtwide there are about 100 open teaching positions.

Unity is the theme for Childs-Barratt pupils Daily News
Parents, teachers, students, and Superintendent Ackerman toured the spruced up Barratt Middle School, which will hold students from both schools next year.

COULD SCHOOL CHOICE PREVENT COP KILLINGS? The Philly Post blog

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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Notes from the news

A Promise Broken...What Anti-Tax Rhetoric Has Wrought | California Progress Report

A Promise Broken...What Anti-Tax Rhetoric Has Wrought

by christine

By Brian Leubitz

A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to graduate from Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy. While there, I had the opportunity to meet Michael O'Hare, a professor there. To put it simply, he was a fantastic teacher, somebody who could break down complicated ideas into digestible nuggets.

Ugly Politics Ahead: Result of RTT's Focus on Words, Not Deeds :: Frederick M. Hess

Ugly Politics Ahead: Result of RTT's Focus on Words, Not Deeds

by Frederick M. Hess • Aug 25, 2010 at 9:40 am
Cross-posted from Education Week

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While I've my doubts about urging states to launch new initiatives when job one ought to be financial retrenching, I'm happy to see heavy lifts and real accomplishments recognized in places like Rhode Island, D.C., Massachusetts, and Florida.

That said, in assessing a process that inexplicably left Louisiana and Colorado out of the winners circle, we need to recognize that Congress and the Department of Education conspired to create a competition that primarily rewarded states for embracing ED-endorsed best practices rather than the more mundane efforts to clear away anachronistic policies and reset the policy environment. As I wrote in March:

"RTT embodies two visions of reform. The first cracks open systems hampered by anachronistic bureaucracies and policies; thus the enthusiasm for encouraging states to knock down data firewalls or to lift charter-school caps...
The second vision is a reiteration of the familiar progressive predilection for prescriptive reform. For

Weblogg-ed � 10 Questions for Arne Duncan

10 Questions for Arne Duncan

by Will Richardson

1 person liked this

1. Can you describe how you personally use technology to access, create and share information?

2. In terms of technology use, what were the most innovative ideas for education that you saw in the Race To The Top applications that you reviewed?

3. The National Education Technology Plan calls for the end of “one size fits all learning.” Do you agree and, if so, what does that mean for students and teachers?

4. The plan also calls for teachers to take part in “online learning communities” and “personal learning networks.” What types of professional development should schools be engaging in to achieve those goals?

The Daily Churn: Wednesday | EdNewsColorado

The Daily Churn: Wednesday

by EdNews staff

What’s churning:

Colorado’s beat-down at the hands of federal Race to the Top evaluators not only cost the state $175 million in education reform funds, it set off a round of finger-pointing and recrimination that looks likely to continue for a while. The Denver Post’s lead editorial this morning leveled a blast at the Colorado Education Association for opposing the state’s second-round R2T application. Term-limited State Rep. Michael Merrifield, a Manitou Springs Democrat and teachers’ union stalwart, told the Post that supporters of last spring’s teacher evaluation

Texas Digest: iTunes education channel launched

Texas Digest: Traffic fatalities down 11 percent; iTunes education channel launched

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Updated: 12:09 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010

Published: 8:53 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2010

EDUCATION

iTunes school channel launched

Texas students can now download podcasts, videos and other multimedia lessons directly from iTunes through a new online program aimed at providing free, supplementary coursework that can be accessed anywhere, state officials said Tuesday.

The Texas Education iTunes U channel allows teachers to upload material from their classes to help students understand new concepts or do more research in a specific subject area.

Students and parents can access the material through home or school computers, and those with iPods can download the

Sacramento schools rank high and low in exit exam - Sacramento City News - sacbee.com

Sacramento schools rank high and low in exit exam

By Melody Gutierrez and Phillip Reese
mgutierrez@sacbee.com

Published: Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 1B

West Campus High School proved again why it's one of the most sought-after schools in the Sacramento area after posting top scores on the California High School Exit Exam.

Just over a mile away, Hiram Johnson High School proved why it remains a top priority for Sacramento City Unified School District officials after posting among the worst results in the state.

Same district.

Similar neighborhood.

Different admissions policy.

West Campus is an open enrollment campus, where students must meet grade-point average requirements in order to apply. Among schools with more than 200 10th-graders taking the 2009-2010 exit exam, West Campus had the lowest percentage in California of sophomores

As Diane Ravitch demonstrates in her book DEATH/LIFE OF GREAT AMERICAN SCHOOL SYSTEM, it is POVERTY that is the most significant factor weight on student performance -- NOT the teachers. Hiram Johnson serves the single most impoverished area in the SCUSD system, with a confluence of ESL learners and other challenges manifested in the culture of poverty that surrounds the school and plagues its student body. If these issues are not addressed, Hiram Johnson, and other similarly situated schools stand to perpetuate poverty, enabled by a school board that diverts resources, for example, to under the table loans and other maintenance for charters that, were it not for student cherry picking and other window dressing fakery, would result in similar underperformance, or allows a Superintendent to hire PR firms to PR things for him, instead of focusing on cultivating a partnership with district teachers. We should stop the chicanery of certain charters, especially that one founded by our now mayor, and place these resourcers back where they belong -- with PUBLIC SCHOOLS and the front line teachers who mightily attempt to overcome the astonishing challenges they confront every day in the classroom.

-- shlomovonglickstein

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Wednesday, August 25, 2010