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Thursday, December 23, 2010

Education, a new perspective | Dailycensored.com

Education, a new perspective | Dailycensored.com

Education, a new perspective

Perspective is an interesting concept. Where is the viewer relative to the vanishing point? Move one or the other and the image changes dramatically. I was moved this a.m. I was moved by a feature piece about new technology and how it is affecting the third world.

E-Readers were introduced to children in Ghana. Thanks to other technology, I was able to hear the children read. I was able to hear children, who don’t even have electricity, read well beyond whatever grade level they are in. Of course they were chosen because they could read, but the format—like children sitting in class, displayed how the children could all follow and pick up reading in mid-sentence from the previous reader when called upon. I remember this process from my own childhood.

The new perspective I got was that here there were children who wanted to read. It is doubtful that the children’s parents can read as well as their children, but we can be assured that they want their children to read. So how do these kids in Ghana do what kids here cannot? I doubt that the quality of instruction is the issue. I wish I could figure out how to put

News: Post-Union Disunion - Inside Higher Ed

News: Post-Union Disunion - Inside Higher Ed

Showdown in the Offing

Key House Republican vows legislation to stop "gainful employment" rules. Could such a measure pass?

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Post-Union Disunion

After collective bargaining vote at Bowling Green State, trustees eliminate faculty committees and limit professors' roles in other governance areas. Is it necessary or retaliatory?

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Deconstructing a Calendar Change

English and foreign language professors no longer need to rush from family gatherings to the MLA on December 27. How are they adjusting?

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Football Scholarships Sacked, For Now

Patriot League, which includes selective liberal arts colleges, decides not to decide on athletic aid for pigskin players.

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“PISA: It’s Poverty Not Stupid” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

“PISA: It’s Poverty Not Stupid” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

Private donors rescue LA charter chain | Thoughts on Public Education

Private donors rescue LA charter chain | Thoughts on Public Education

Private donors rescue LA charter chain

ICEF under Caprice Young gets through crisis
By John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

For the 4,600 students of Inner City Education Foundation Public Schools, Christmas arrived two weeks ago in the form of $10.5 million in checks from philanthropists. The chain of 15 charter schools serving primarily African American children in Los Angeles ends the year smaller and chastened – but at least very much alive, which is more than where the betting money was predicting three months ago.

ICEF nearly closed its doors because of state budget cuts compounded by financial mismanagement. Under its founder, Michael Piscal, ICEF made two cardinal mistakes. It expanded, with all its associated startup costs of adding 11 schools, at a time of declining state revenue. And it fell behind, borrowing short-term not just to cover current operating expenses – as other charters and districts have been forced to do because of deferred state

The Answer Sheet - Congress approves weird definition of 'highly qualified’ teachers

The Answer Sheet - Congress approves weird definition of 'highly qualified’ teachers

Congress approves weird definition of 'highly qualified’ teachers

So they’ve gone ahead and done it. U.S. legislators passed legislation that includes people in teacher training programs as "highly qualified” teachers. Congress approved a nearly 2,000-page “continuing resolution” that will fund the government until March. It contained a provision to cover a $5.7 billion shortfall in the Pell Grant program, which provides money for low- and moderate-income students to pay for college tuition. In a seemingly contradictory move, Congress also wrote into law a 2002 federal regulation that allows teachers still in training programs to be considered “highly qualified” under No Child Left Behind. So Congress wants students who qualify for Pell grants to go to college, but it apparently doesn’t mind calling non-certified teachers who are still being trained "highly qualified." And because of this designation, school districts aren’t required to tell parents just how little training their child’s teacher has had.

Schools Matter: UK reactions to ther low PISA scores

Schools Matter: UK reactions to ther low PISA scores

UK reactions to ther low PISA scores

Letters to the editor published in the Independent (UK), Dec 14 in reaction to Britain's low scores on the PISA.

The first blames the "truculent laziness" of underclass children. The second (mine) blames poverty. The third says the Chinese do well on tests but are not creative. The fourth says we need better teachers and smaller classes and repeats the mantra that young people these days are illiterate and can't do

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

HPCwire: COMPETES Reauthorization Bill Passes Congress

HPCwire: COMPETES Reauthorization Bill Passes Congress

COMPETES Reauthorization Bill Passes Congress


Legislation invests in science education, innovative research, and manufacturing

Dec. 21 -- Today, Research and Science Education Subcommittee Chairman Dan Lipinski (IL-3) helped lead passage of bipartisan legislation to create jobs and maintain America’s economic leadership by increasing investment in science education, advanced research, and manufacturing innovation. Congressman Lipinski is a co-author of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act, H.R. 5116, which the President is now expected to sign into law.

“I’m proud to have helped write and pass the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act, which makes essential, job-creating investments in advanced research and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education,” said Congressman Lipinski, a former professor and one of the few members of Congress trained as an engineer. “I