8-8-13 Wait, What? - Working to educate, persuade and mobilize through "perceptive and acerbic" observations about Connecticut Government and Politics

Wait, What? - Working to educate, persuade and mobilize through "perceptive and acerbic" observations about Connecticut Government and Politics:

Hello? It’s the 2nd week of August…where is the State’s Alliance District Funding?

Categories: Alliance Districts Malloy Mass Insight company State Budget Stefan PryorTags: Alliance DistrictsECS FormulaMalloyState BudgetStefan PryorAlthough the amount of money was relatively small, Governor Malloy and the Connecticut General Assembly made a big deal this year trying to persuade towns, schools, teachers, parents and the general public that they were increasing funding for Connec

13 by jonpelto / 3min 

8-6-13 Wait, What? - Working to educate, persuade and mobilize through "perceptive and acerbic" observations about Connecticut Government and Politics

Wait, What? - Working to educate, persuade and mobilize through "perceptive and acerbic" observations about Connecticut Government and Politics: Commissioner Stefan Pryor’s incredible “no specific academic expertise” policies continue…Categories: Malloy Paul Vallas Standardized Testing Stefan PryorTags: MalloyPaul VallasStandardized TestingStefan PryorAka… Since Paul Vallas got into trouble for tr

by mike simpson / 5h 

Collaboration emphasized in CORE waiver application SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources

SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources:

Collaboration emphasized in CORE waiver application 
By Tom Chorneau
Thursday, August 08, 2013

A key element of the trailblazing district-level waiver approved this week by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan can be traced to a five-year-old partnership between two of California’s largest and most innovative school districts.

It was in January, 2008 that Long Beach Unified entered into an academic marriage of sorts with Fresno Unified – the California State Board of Education serving as the facilitator through its authority to grant education code flexibility to districts.

The SBE waiver process initially gave Long Beach and Fresno new ability to use otherwise restricted categorical money in creative ways. Soon teachers in both districts were sharing classroom strategies as administrators jointly collected data points that helped inform instruction and before long, the state’s third and fourth largest districts were in lock step.

Duncan recognized the commitment to teamwork in approving the No Child Left Behind waiver for the eight school districts organized under the California Office to Reform Education or CORE. And in looking closer at the application documents, participating superintendents will be asked to take on a lot of new interaction and peer review as part of the new pogram.

As organized, schools within the consortium would be separated into three groups based on student achievement. The highest performing Title I schools would be called ‘Reward Schools,’ which would be obligated to partner with the lowest-achieving Title I schools, called ‘Priority Schools,’ and with Title I schools with the largest achievement gap.

By partnering, teachers and administrators at the higher-performing schools would serve as coaches and facilitators of 

FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Thursday, August 8, 2013

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

Probe urged of donations solicited by Mayor Kevin Johnson - Sacramento City News - The Sacramento Bee

Education Headlines

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Two Lodi Unified School District trustees ask for student input on networking policy

Two Lodi Unified School District trustees acknowledged that the district’s social networking policy needs to be revisited, and they asked students to help them change or clarify the policy.

Schools crack down on truancy

Of special concern to teachers and principals is chronic absenteeism, which the law defines as missing more than 10 percent of the days in a given school year, and truancy — skipping school with no valid excuse.

4 Simi Valley trustees vote to file complaint against fifth

Four Simi Valley Unified School District board trustees voted Tuesday to file a complaint with the Ventura County grand jury against Trustee Dan White, alleging violations of the state’s public-meeting law.

Teachers get sad lesson in quest for pencils

The idea was not just to stock up on supplies for the school year, but to raise awareness of how much of their own money teachers have to spend to make up for classroom shortages.

Oakland school video with NFL star Marshawn Lynch tackles chronic absenteeism

The video, shot in June and launched on YouTube Wednesday, includes about 30 OUSD students and Oakland Tech High School alum Marshawn Lynch, the Seattle Seahawks running back and former Cal Bears star.

Santa Clara County's schools chief's former district cited in report on possible test-rigging

A 55-page audit, commissioned by the Socorro Independent School District in El Paso, Texas, did not place blame on any school employees, including De La Torre. However, four top administrators were immediately placed on leave.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Columbia Elementary School board answers grand jury

Columbia Union School District trustees and Superintendent John Pendley approved a response to the 2013 Tuolumne County Grand Jury report Tuesday that indicated they agree with most of the report's findings.

Lucia Mar's end to some adult courses shocks some

Lucia Mar officials have eliminated all of the fee-based courses offered through its adult education program - forcing South County residents who had taken classes such as yoga and cooking to search for them elsewhere.

Arcadia district reaches settlement in transgender rights case

The Arcadia Unified School District unanimously approved a settlement agreement with the U.S. government after the Department of Justice launched an investigation into allegations the district discriminated against a transgender student.

Missouri school transfer ruling opens old wounds - NorthJersey.com

Missouri school transfer ruling opens old wounds - NorthJersey.com:

Missouri school transfer ruling opens old wounds

THURSDAY AUGUST 8, 2013, 11:51 AM

ALAN SCHER ZAGIER AND HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH

ASSOCIATED PRESS

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AP

Christina Holmes, left, 29, of the Normandy Schood District in St. Louis County holds her infant Kerian, one month old, as she discusses the school transfer program in Normandy, Mo. standing next to three of her children, left to right, Daevion 12,, Amelian, 10, and Andrew, 8, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013.

ST. CHARLES, Mo. (AP) — Beth Gratta has heard the whispers, read the venomous online comments and watched with dismay as some of her friends and neighbors publicly condemned a plan to bus 475 students from a distressed urban school district nearly 30 miles away to her children's better-performing suburban schools.
Yet Gratta, who teaches in another area district, said she is hopeful that her daughters, ages 7 and 13, and other students will be more accommodating than the parents, politicians and community leaders who worry the newcomers will bring increased delinquency, larger class sizes and lower test scores.
She'll find out soon: Classes began Thursday in the Francis Howell district. Nearly 2,600 students from the unaccredited Normandy and Riverview Gardens districts in St. Louis County are leaving for better-performing schools elsewhere after a recent Missouri Supreme Court ruling upheld such moves.
"The apprehension is still there," Gratta said. "A lot of the parents feel their children's

- See more at: http://www.northjersey.com/news/education/Missouri_school_transfer_ruling_opens_old_wounds.html#sthash.v5yKrZeZ.dpuf

8-8-13 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum:

Common Core Test Results From New York

Remember how I said the scores would low for Common Core assessments?  That we were warned they would be low?  This from Politico.New York released nearly 2,000 pages of data parsing the poor performance of students in third through eighth grade. In Rochester, for instance, just 5 percent of students scored proficient in math. Fewer than 9 percent of students in Syracuse passed the reading test. S

by Melissa Westbrook / 31min 

SPS School-Family Partnerships Advisory Commitee

From SPS Communications:Seattle Public Schools is seeking nominations for its School-Family Partnerships Advisory Committee to the Superintendent. The committee will be composed of parents/families/guardians who reflect the diversity of Seattle Public Schools families. The committee advises the Superintendent on the implementation of School-Family Partnerships Policy and Superintendent Procedure (

by Melissa Westbrook / 1min 

8-7-13 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum:  SPS May Lose Federal Special Ed FundingOh for Pete's sake.  No good news here. From the Seattle Times:The school district submitted a proposal to state officials by the June 30 deadline, but they have rejected it, saying it falls far short of what is required.The school district submitted a proposal to state officials by the June 30 deadline, but they have rejecte

by mike simpson / 2h 

Flipping Connectedness to Circumvent Resistance | My Island View

Flipping Connectedness to Circumvent Resistance | My Island View:

Flipping Connectedness to Circumvent Resistance

August 8, 2013 by tomwhitby

 I have spent a great deal of time communicating the need for educators to connect, communicate and collaborate in order to improve our education system and learning in our computer-driven culture. Many educators have boarded that train, but many, many more are still waiting at the station for a train that is easier to board and more comfortable to ride.

Maybe my efforts and the efforts of many other educators and bloggers have targeted the wrong group to affect a change in our education system. Maybe instead of pushing educators into the fray, we should be supporting other groups that will eventually pull educators into a systematic change. Connectedness is not a condition that is only available for educators to benefit. If educators fail to see the benefit of connectedness in our education system, maybe another group could be targeted for modeling the positive effects of connected learning. Maybe the model of the educators being the leaders for the learners needs to be flipped. What would happen if the learners connected to model the benefits for the educators?

Many educators might say that is impossible, and even laughable to think that is even a possibility in our system. Educators decide the “What and How” o

Achieve Says Mission-Based Common Core Tests Deliver the Goods | DailyCensored.com - Breaking Censored News, World, Independent, Liberal News

Achieve Says Mission-Based Common Core Tests Deliver the Goods | DailyCensored.com - Breaking Censored News, World, Independent, Liberal News:

Achieve Says Mission-Based Common Core Tests Deliver the Goods

By Susan Ohanian on August 8, 2013 3:20 pm / no comments

 by Susan Ohanian

The press release emanating from the office of Achieve Inc CEO Michael Cohen raises certain questions. First, note that Cohen’s previous jobs include: Director of Education Policy at the National Governors Association (1985-90) and Director of Planning and Policy Development at the National Association of State Boards of Education (1983-1985). During the Clinton Administration he served as Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education, Special Assistant to President Clinton for Education Policy, and Senior Advisor to U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley.

Reading the press release, I wonder:

*HOW to get people to raise up against the oppressive phraseknowledge-based economy, a term rolling off the tongues of the “haves” as an excuse for their refusal to acknowledge the vital skills possessed by people making things work every day, a term employed to keep people in their place, a term that won’t provide a living wage;

*WHEN the media will recognize that the Standardisto “knowledge-based economy” is a smokescreen for the Corporate “greed-based 

The White Coat Ceremony and Elevating Teaching: A Noble Profession of a Higher Calling | Teachers' Letters to Bill Gates

The White Coat Ceremony and Elevating Teaching: A Noble Profession of a Higher Calling | Teachers' Letters to Bill Gates:

The White Coat Ceremony and Elevating Teaching: A Noble Profession of a Higher Calling

Posted on August 7, 2013by Teachers'LettersToBillGates

Dear William and Melinda,

Sunday I attended my son’s “White Coat Ceremony” at Tulane University Medical School. For those of you who were as ignorant as I, it is the ceremony first year med-school students go through when they receive their first white coat, signifying their entrance into the practice and profession of medicine.

The following quote taken from the ceremony program with a few subtle changes can refer to the teaching profession as well. We all must remember these words as we fight the survival of the body called education.

“One of the privileges of becoming a member of a profession such as [teaching] is that the body of the profession does not have to rely on outside sources for its regulation.

Just as the human body monitors each of its members, the organ systems, to ensure that they are not sick or injured and are functioning at highest capacity for the good of the body as a whole, so does the body of the [teaching] profession have the honor and responsibility of monitoring each of its members, each student, and each [teacher] to make sure that they are 

Punishing kids for adult failures - NY Daily News

Punishing kids for adult failures  - NY Daily News:

Punishing kids for adult failures 

The massive score drop on tough new New York tests gives us an opportunity -- and obligation -- to change course

Comments (5)

BY DIANE RAVITCH / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013, 4:30 AM

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ANTHONY DELMUNDO/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

State Education Commissioner John King, City Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott and state Board of Regents Chair Merryl Tisch visited a Queens school last year.

Test scores across New York State have collapsed, new results released Wednesday showed. Last year, 55% of students in the state passed the reading test; 65% passed the math test. This year, only 31% passed both subjects. In New York City, the proportion passing the state tests fell from 47% in reading and 60% in math to only 26% in reading and 30% in math.

Did the students suddenly get stupid? Did their teachers become incompetent overnight? Did schools fail en masse?

None of the above. The state Board of Regents, having decided that the old tests were too easy, changed the tests and raised the passing mark. Three years ago, in 2010, they did something similar — raising the passing mark on the grounds that the tests were too easy, the bar too low.

This time, the regents have implicitly aligned the tests with a set of ostensibly national standards known as Common Core, which have been heavily promoted by the Obama administration as a

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/punishing-kids-adult-failures-article-1.1420622#ixzz2bOFGktZ0