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Friday, April 30, 2021

2021 CA Exemplary Arts Education Awards + Accessing Educational Data - Year 2021 (CA Dept of Education)

2021 CA Exemplary Arts Education Awards - Year 2021 (CA Dept of Education)
State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Announces 2021 California Exemplary Arts Education Awards



SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond today announced that 33 California schools were selected for the California Exemplary Arts Education Award.

These schools engage students in quality arts education that meet California Arts Standards for Public Schools (Arts Standards) and demonstrate progress on indicators on the California School Dashboard. The awards are designed to celebrate successful efforts to engage students in arts through exposure to a variety of disciplines.

“This year has been especially challenging for our students and schools, but I commend these schools for recognizing that this is a time when the arts are more critical than ever,” State Superintendent Thurmond said. “These schools excelled in providing quality arts education, despite all the obstacles presented by distance learning. It is with great pleasure we honor these schools for their steadfast dedication to arts education that plays a powerful role in supporting wellness, bridging social divides, and expanding creativity and critical thinking in our students.”

Schools recognized as Exemplary Arts Education Awardees represent a broad cross-section of educational delivery models, including traditional comprehensive elementary schools, magnet schools, and district and independent charters. These schools serve diverse demographic populations of varying sizes, from a 2,700-student urban school to a 250-student rural school. Some schools serve primarily Title I students from lower socio-economic circumstances, and others serve suburban populations with strong district and community financial support.

In addition to meeting the Arts Standards and Dashboard eligibility criteria, to apply to be recognized as an Exemplary Arts Awardee, schools must offer sequenced instruction to all students in a minimum of three of the five arts disciplines identified in the Arts Standards: Dance, Media Arts, Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts. They must also show one level of improvement for at least one student subgroup in one of the following three areas based on the Dashboard: School Climate, in the area of Suspension Rate; Student Engagement, in the area of Chronic Absenteeism or Graduation Rate; Academic Achievement, in the area of English Language Arts, Mathematics, or College and Career Readiness.

These California Exemplary Arts Education Schools, along with California Distinguished Schools, National Blue Ribbon Schools, and recipients of California Department of Education (CDE) recognition programs, will be honored virtually later this year. For more information, please visit the CDE California School Recognition Program web page.

2021 California Exemplary Arts Education Awards
  • Arcata High School, Northern Humboldt Union School District
  • ArTES Magnet-Arts Theatre and Entertainment School, Los Angeles Unified School District
  • Balboa High School, San Francisco Unified School District
  • Burbank High School, Burbank Unified School District
  • California School of the Arts San Gabriel Valley, Duarte Unified School District
  • Cesar Chavez High School, Stockton Unified School District
  • Claremont High School, Claremont Unified School District
  • Champs Charter High School of the Arts, Los Angeles Unified School District
  • Contra Costa School of Performing Arts, Contra Costa County Office of Education
  • Culver City High School, Culver City Unified School District
  • David Starr Jordan Middle School (Delores Huerta Middle School), Burbank Unified School District
  • Fullerton Union High School, Fullerton Joint Union High School District
  • Granite Hills High School, Apple Valley Unified School District
  • ICEF View Park Preparatory Charter High School, Los Angeles Unified School District
  • John Burroughs High School, Burbank Unified School District
  • Katherine L Albiani Middle School, Elk Grove Unified School District
  • LAUSD 32nd Street School/USC MediaArts&Engineering Magnet School, Los Angeles Unified School District
  • Lincoln High School, Western Placer Unified School District
  • Luther Burbank Middle School, Burbank Unified School District
  • Marysville Charter Academy for the Arts, Marysville Joint Unified School District
  • Marshall Fundamental Secondary School, Pasadena Unified School District
  • Oakland School for the Arts, Oakland Unified School District
  • Orange County School of the Arts, Orange County Department of Education
  • Ramón C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts, Los Angeles Unified School District
  • Reginald M. Benton Middle School, Norwalk-la Mirada Unified School District
  • Renaissance Arts Academy, Los Angeles Unified School District
  • San Diego County Office of Education, Juvenile Court and Community Schools
  • San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts, San Diego Unified School District
  • Santa Susana High School, Simi Valley Unified School District
  • Sierra Preparatory Academy, Santa Ana Unified School District
  • The School of Arts and Enterprise, SBE-The School of Arts and Enterprise
  • Valley View High School, Moreno Valley Unified School District
  • Windsor High School, Windsor Unified School District

# # # #

Tony Thurmond — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100


Accessing Educational Data
Obtain data collected by the California Department of Education (CDE), including enrollment data, demographic and student group data, staff data, school and district accountability, statewide assessment results, and directory information.

Overview

About CDE's Educational Data
Information about accessing data collected by the California Department of Education (CDE), including publicly available data, data-related communications, submitting research data requests, and data retention.

Data Reports and Files

DataQuest
DataQuest is the CDE's web-based data reporting system for publicly reporting information about California’s students, teachers, and schools. DataQuest provides meaningful data and statistics about California's K-12 public educational system that supports a wide variety of informational, research, and policy needs. Summary and detailed data reports are available for multiple subject areas at the school, district, county, and state levels.

Data Reports By Topic
Data reports about California's students, teachers, and schools by topic area, including enrollment, assessment and accountability, English learners, foster youth, free or reduced-price meal, graduates and dropouts, and staff and course data.

Downloadable Data Files
Downloadable files about California's students, teachers, and schools by topic area, including enrollment, assessment and accountability, English learners, foster youth, free or reduced-price meal, graduates and dropouts, and staff and course data.

Additional Resources

California School Directory
Information about California public schools, private schools, non public nonsectarian schools, school districts, and county offices of education.

CDE Educational Statistics - CalEdFacts
CalEdFacts is a compilation of educational statistics and information on a variety of issues concerning education in California. This includes the Fingertip Facts on Education in California web page, which provides various statistics about California's public schools and districts.

Data Requests
Information about how to request data that are not publicly available on the CDE website (e.g. DataQuest, the California School Dashboard, the CAASPP Test Results web page, or through the information provided on the Data Reports and Downloadable Files web page).

Geographic Information System (GIS)
Information about the use of Geographic Information System (GIS) in the visualization and analysis of educational data.

Ed-DataExternal link opens in new window or tab.
Ed-Data is a partnership of the CDE, EdSource, and the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team/California School Information Services (FCMAT/CSIS) designed to offer educators, policy makers, the legislature, parents, and the public quick access to timely and comprehensive data about K-12 education in California.

Federal Data Resources
Information about data collected and publicly reported by the United States Department of Education, including information provided by the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) and the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC).

Questions: Data Reporting Office | dro@cde.ca.gov | 916-327-0219 

NYC Public School Parents: "Talk out of School" podcast with Council Member Danny Dromm, chair of the Finance Committee

NYC Public School Parents: "Talk out of School" podcast with Council Member Danny Dromm, chair of the Finance Committee
"Talk out of School" podcast with Council Member Danny Dromm, chair of the Finance Committee


Former teacher and NYC Council Finance chair Danny Dromm has been a champion for student rights and quality public schools. 

He spoke to Leonie about his experiences with large class sizes in Queens, why he risked his job by coming out as gay at his school, why he decided to run for the Council and challenge an incumbent, and why he and the City Council have made reducing class size a priority for next year’s budget. 

Dromm also discussed his views on restorative justice in schools, testing, charter schools, and the rights of ultra-Orthodox children to receive a sound basic education.

 Episode Notes

Resources:



A year ago – a mathematical giant fell to COVID-19 | JD2718

A year ago – a mathematical giant fell to COVID-19 | JD2718
A year ago – a mathematical giant fell to COVID-19



John Horton Conway died of COVID-19 on April 11, 2020.

This is two and a half weeks late. I have been looking for something profound to say. I will not find it.

I met Conway in the fall of 2013. I was on sabbatical, trying to take interesting math classes at Queens College. I was happy I found a class in Combinatorics. Logic made sense for me (it turned out to be both challenging and rewarding.) And I needed one more. Someone, probably Kirsten, let me know: “There’s still seats in Number Theory – you have to take Conway” – and I did.

Conway had retired, but I think Kent Boklan brought him out of retirement to teach at Queens College. They were part of the same mathematical genealogy, going back to Davenport and Littlewood. That was good fortune for me, for all of us. Conway’s stroke interfered with his mobility, not his mind, and he clearly enjoyed engaging with students.

Conway was the most famous living mathematician. Maybe. Probably. The Number Theory was fun. But the stories were wonderful. He knew. personally, the guys (almost all men) that we read about. He told CONTINUE READING: A year ago – a mathematical giant fell to COVID-19 | JD2718

CURMUDGUCATION: Falling Behind In An Actual Classroom

CURMUDGUCATION: Falling Behind In An Actual Classroom
Falling Behind In An Actual Classroom



The chicken littling about Learning Loss is just never going to stop. Today I came across yet another article (that I won't link to) warning that the Learning Losses from the pandemic pause will haunt students for the rest of their lives.

The worst of the Learning Loss panickers are revealing too much about what they don't understand, but what they especially don't understand is what goes on in an actual classroom, because the whole concept of "falling behind" is a layperson's oversimplification of what actual education looks like.

I think I was a pretty run-of-the-mill example of the teaching profession in my thirty-nine years, so let me explain what my year generally looked like. 

At the beginning of the year, I'd launch the dual processes of Trying To Teach Stuff and Figuring Out What This Batch of Students Knows and Can Do. At no point in my career were the Big Standardized Test results a useful part of this process because A) the results were nothing but a score and we weren't even allowed to see the questions, so had no way of knowing what exactly students got right or got wrong and B) the results don't come until the school year was already well under way. 

In my career, I mostly taught grades 9 through 12, all tracks, so September always brought students with a very wide range of tools. One of things you get better at with experience is assessing what the students bring to the table, both academically and otherwise. And then you go from there.

This initial assessment does not tell you anything CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Falling Behind In An Actual Classroom


Florina Rodov: I believed the charter school myth — until I learned about the reality and who was behind it - Alternet org

I believed the charter school myth — until I learned about the reality and who was behind it - Alternet.org
I believed the charter school myth — until I learned about the reality and who was behind it


I fell for the charter school hype. I agreed with former President Obama's education secretary Arne Duncan who advocated for "school choice." I trusted the research that said charters "close [the] achievement gap" for Black and Latino students. When I saw "Waiting for 'Superman,'" I rooted for the kids in the documentary to escape their failing public schools by snagging spots at charter schools. And though I encountered very few bad teachers in my four years teaching and 12 years learning at public schools, I never questioned why Time published stories about "Rotten Apple" teachers being swept out of classrooms by wealthy education "reformers."

I believed the hype so much that in 2012, knowing almost nothing about charter schools and having no administrative experience, I joined a friend in submitting a half-baked petition to the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) with the intention of starting our own charter school. When LAUSD denied it, we presented it to the Culver City Unified School District, which also, rightfully, rejected it.

Still intrigued by charters, in 2016 I interviewed for an English teacher position with a woman I'll call Ellen Peters, the principal and co-founder of Savior Academy, a charter school serving grades six through 12. (The names of the school, administrators and students have been changed for this story.) Her assertion that the close bond between students and staff made it feel "like a family" inspired me to sign a non-union contract on the spot, though the school had recently lost its co-founder Cathy Reynolds (name changed), who CONTINUE READING: I believed the charter school myth — until I learned about the reality and who was behind it - Alternet.org

The American Families Plan: Potentially the Most Important Proposal for Children Ever | by Bruce Lesley | Voices4Kids | Apr, 2021 | Medium

The American Families Plan: Potentially the Most Important Proposal for Children Ever | by Bruce Lesley | Voices4Kids | Apr, 2021 | Medium
The American Families Plan: Potentially the Most Important Proposal for Children Ever


There are moments in time when historic or transformational changes are made by our nation’s leaders to really make a difference for children and families in this country. If President Biden’s just released American Families Plan becomes law, today would be one of those moments.

Unfortunately, the reality we face is that children are often merely an afterthought of election officials, as kids do not vote, do not make campaign contributions or operate a Political Action Committee (PAC), and do not employ a team of lobbyists to demand that lawmakers hear their concerns and address their needs.

To overcome these barriers for children, we at First Focus Campaign for Children established a Legislative Scorecard to identify Champions for Children in the U.S. House and Senate who do positive things for children and families because it is the right thing to do and not because a special interest gave them a campaign contribution. We also created a Children’s Budget to identify and analyze all investments in the federal budget and to hold the White House and Congress accountable for whether they are succeeding or failing our children. In that endeavor, we have often quoted then Sen. Joe Biden and his words:

Don’t tell me what you value, show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value.

When candidate Biden was running for president, other candidates had a CONTINUE READING: The American Families Plan: Potentially the Most Important Proposal for Children Ever | by Bruce Lesley | Voices4Kids | Apr, 2021 | Medium

NewBlackMan (in Exile) TODAY #BLM #BLACKLIVESMATTER

 NewBlackMan (in Exile)


NewBlackMan (in Exile) TODAY


Big Education Ape: THIS WEEK WITH NEWBLACKMAN (IN EXILE) -

http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/04/this-week-with-newblackman-in-exile-blm_24.html


Left of Black S11 · E25 | Claudrena Harold on the Greats of Gospel
Who were the greats of post-Civil Rights era Gospel music and have they gotten their due for the major contributions they have made to Black music? What was the impact of such names as Rev. James Cleveland , Pastor Shirley Caesar, the Mighty Clouds of Joy , and many others? In this episode of Left of Black , host and Duke University Professor Mark Anthony Neal sits down with Dr. Claudrena N. Haro
Merry Clayton's Inspiring Gift to the World
' The gospel, rock and soul singer, renowned as a backup artist for some of the world's leading musical acts, got some long-overdue public awareness from the 2013 documentary 20 Feet From Stardom . Now, years after losing both legs in a car accident, Merry Clayto n has made a triumphant return to the recording studio for her new album, Beautiful Scars . CBS Sunday Morning correspondent Lee Cowan
Boston Review Heather McGhee Talks with Archon Fung
'Harvard Kennedy School professor Archon Fung talks with Heather McGhee about her new book The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together.' Boston Review · Heather McGhee talks with Archon Fung | Boston Review
Rickie Lee Jones' Memoir
'Two-time Grammy Award-winner Rickie Lee Jones has been called “the premiere song-stylist and songwriter of her generation" by The New Yorker. She joins All Of It to discuss her new memoir, Last Chance Texaco: Chronicles of an American Troubadour. '
Terri Lyne Carrington: Trailblazer, Advocate and NEA Jazz Master
'In her more than 40 years behind the drum kit, 2021 NEA Jazz Master Terri Lyne Carrington has built a reputation as one of the most dynamic instrumentalists, bandleaders and composers in jazz. But before she became an in-demand musician, she was a kid growing up outside of Boston, swinging behind the likes of Dizzy Gillespie and Oscar Peterson . On this episode of Jazz Night in America , we'll h
Butcher Brown: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
' Butcher Brown takes to a restaurant's rooftop terrace in the band's hometown of Richmond, Va., for a home concert and sizzles from the first note. The band opens with "Sticky July," a tune every bit as catchy as its name implies; think rollerskating with a popsicle under a cloudless s

 NewBlackMan (in Exile)