Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, May 11, 2013

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 5-11-13




4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit:

4LAKIDS - SOME OF THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT


Breakfast in the Classroom: HUNGER IS NOT AN OPTION

by UCLA IDEA | http://bit.ly/14crq6G 5-03-2013   ::  The United States has a staggeringly high rate of child poverty. It should come as no surprise, then, that many thousands of children are hungry as they try to focus on lessons. School-based breakfast programs meet some of that food need, but it’s not easy. Consider what’s taking place in Los Angeles Unified School District. Until recently,

U P D A T E D: MATH BY WAY OF ART + PASADENA CENTER AT FOREFRONT OF EARLY MATH PROGRAMS FOR YOUNG CHILDREN

MATH BY WAY OF ART: For Pasadena school, arts plus math is really adding up S.T.E.A.M. – Integrating Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics by Mary Plummer | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC http://bit.ly/11qXPcT Slideshow/1 of 5 Mary Plummer/KPCC - Third grade student Eder counts the amount he'll need to purchase art supplies to create a sculpture. The project is

Parent trigger: WHO’S FOR IT AND WHO’S AGAINST IT TELLS THE STORY

By Valerie Strauss, Washington Post Answer Sheet |  http://wapo.st/13nHpQh April 23, 2013 at 5:00 am  ::  You can learn pretty much everything you need to know about the controversial  “parent trigger” legislation now before the Florida Legislature by looking at who is for it and who is against it. Parent trigger legislation is intended to give parents with children at low-performing

HOUSE GOP LAWMAKERS WANT MORE INFORMATION ON NCLB WAIVERS

By Alyson Klein, Politics K-12 - Education Week |  http://bit.ly/10hoENn  April 22, 2013 2:04 PM  ::  So far, 34 states and the District of Columbia have been approved for flexibility from provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act, with only a smattering of formal oversight from Congress (mostly in the form of this bipartisan hearing in the Senate education committee and this letter from House

MATH BY WAY OF ART: For Pasadena school, arts plus math is really adding up

S.T.E.A.M. – Integrating Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics by Mary Plummer | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC http://bit.ly/11qXPcT Slideshow/1 of 5 Mary Plummer/KPCC - Third grade student Eder counts the amount he'll need to purchase art supplies to create a sculpture. The project is part of a grant funded endeavor that places teaching artists from the Pasadena

What do Enron, Dot-Com and The Housing Bust have in common with Online Learning, Charter+Choice Schools and The Common Core Standards?: SPECULATIVE BUBBLES IN EDUCATION

by Julian Vasquez Heilig |  Cloaking Inequity Blog - Endeavoring to reform Reformers' reforms since 2012 | http://bit.ly/10gGj7V May 9, 2013  ::  At the recent AERA [American Educational Research Association] conference in San Francisco, I was having a conversation with a local San Franciscan. He we mentioning that he was disappointed that he had not been able to take financial advantage of

RONALD REAGAN AND THE DECLINE+FALL OF UC: How one Golden State icon helped tarnish another

Op-Ed By Seth Rosenfeld in the LA Times | http://lat.ms/17ReEwB Ronald Reagan, left, is seen in 1968, when he was governor of California. Walking with him is his communications director Lyn Nofziger. (Associated Press ) May 10, 2013  ::  Once upon a time, the University of California was a sacred trust, the top tier of a model educational system that helped lift the state to unprecedented

LAUSD, ATTORNEY DISPUTE REPORTING OF 2009 SEX-ABUSE COMPLAINTS + CONFIDENTIAL REPORT + smf’s 2¢

By Barbara Jones and Christina Villacorte, Staff Writers, LA Daily News |http://bit.ly/12gSTE8 Attorney Luis Carrillo held a lawsuit Tuesday, May 7, 2013 at which he alleged that LAUSD officials had failed to report suspected sex-abuse by former teacher Robert Pimentel. District officials refute his claim. (Christina Villacorte/Staff Photographer) ONLINE To view the 2009 Island Elementary

WITH FRANKLIN WIN, LAUSD SWEEPS 2013 ACADEMIC DECATHLON SEASON

By Rick Rojas, LA Times | http://lat.ms/15HdMgp Franklin students Elijah Trinidad, left, Sabrina Velasco, Sandra Ruiz and Grace Punzalan cheer on their Academic Decathlon team during the Super Quiz at the regional decathlon competition in Los Angeles in February. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)   May 7, 2013, 6:30 p.m.  ::  Academic Decathlon teams from Los Angeles have won the state

L.A. UNIFIED KNEW OF ALLEGED TEACHER ABUSE 3 YEARS BEFORE ARREST

Some of the charges against Robert Pimentel, arrested in January, involve alleged sexual misconduct that occurred after officials learned of concerns in 2009. By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/17LRW93 Former De La Torre Elementary teacher Robert Pimentel, left, with attorney Richard Knickerbocker, center, is arraigned in Long Beach in January. (Jeff Gritchen / Associated

Letters: LACK OF SCHOOL LIBRAIRES+LIBRARIANS IMPERILS BILINGUAL EDUCATION

ALL READERS AT RISK: California near bottom of U.S. in school library quality and dead last in the school librarians per student Letters to the LA Times | http://lat.ms/ZEosob Re "Lawsuit: State fails some English learners," April 25 / 4LAKids -  CALIFORNIA SUED ON BEHALF OF FAILING ENGLISH LEARNERS April 30, 2013  ::  The article does not mention two approaches to help those acquiring

CALIFORNIA’S EDUCATION BECOMING THE TITANIC

by Patrice Apodaca, Newport Beach Daily Pilot  | http://bit.ly/YnAi8N May 3, 2013  ::  Underlying all the many issues in education is one big, persistent problem: income inequality. From preschool to college, from test scores to technology access, socioeconomic status is the single most important determinant of student opportunity and achievement. This has long been, and probably will always be

The Madness, unending: FIVE-YEAR-OLD KILLS TWO YEAR-OLD-SISTER WITH RIFLE MARKETED FOR KIDs

Kentucky boy, 5, accidentally shoots to death 2-year-old sister By Michael Muskal, LA Times | http://lat.ms/157LCuu May 1, 2013, 9:25 a.m.  ::  A 2-year-old Kentucky girl was accidentally killed by her 5-year-old brother who fired a rifle he had been given as a gift, officials said Wednesday. Cumberland County Coroner Gary L. White said an autopsy of Caroline Starks showed the toddler had died

‘NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND’ GETS LEFT BEHIND: “Unlike the state-designed NCLB standards, the Common Core State Standards are a thinly veiled, unconstitutional effort to implement a national curriculum.”

WSJ: Washington grants waivers to dozens of states, despite the law's clear benefits. smf: I hate it when I agree with the WSJ, especially when I disagree about the premise of their argument (ie: NCLB was good!) But this editorial– and the letters to the editor that follow - are basically-and-factually (if not philosophically) correct.   Op-ED By ERIC SMITH in The Wall

LAUSD SUPT. JOHN DEASY FACES ‘PERFORMANCE EVALUATION’ BY TEACHER’S UNION

By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer, LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/1038JyY John Deasy marked his second anniversary as LAUSD superintendent on Monday, April 15, 2013. (Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer) Updated:   04/30/2013 09:27:44 PM PDT  ::  Barely two weeks after delivering a stinging no-confidence vote on the leadership of Superintendent John Deasy, the teachers union announced it will do a

Open Meetings Laws, The Brown Act, etc.: SCHOOL BOARD TRANSPARENCY A CHALLENGE IN DIGITAL AGE

By Nora Fleming, Education Week   http://bit.ly/ZUCHtF Santa Fe school board members turned over nearly 40 pounds of business correspondence from their personal email accounts.—Luis Sánchez Saturno/The New Mexican Published in Print: April 17, 2013, :: School board members are struggling to interpret laws that govern where and how they do business now that as many conversations take place

CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS OPPOSE NCLB WAIVER FOR LAUSD …or are they and do they?

By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer, LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/10rfLwi 4/30/2013 08:23:00 PM PDT  ::  A coalition of civil rights groups is opposing efforts by Los Angeles Unified and eight other school districts to get a waiver from a federal law requiring that all students be proficient in English and math by 2014.In a letter sent Monday to U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, the groups say

Daily News’ Endorsement: VOTERS CAN’T LET LAUSD SEAT BE BOUGHT – ELECT MONICA RATLIFF

LA Daily News/Los Angeles News Group Editorial | http://bit.ly/13KFFiF 4/30/2013 05:35:08 PM PDT  ::  For a glimpse of what's wrong with politics in Los Angeles, look no further than the campaign to fill an open seat in the LAUSD's northeast San Fernando Valley district. On one side is Antonio Sanchez, a politically connected young man who despite having no particular knowledge of district

Parent Trigger + the Smoking Gun in Florida: PARENT TRIGGER BILL SPAWNS MYSTERY VIDEO FROM SUPPOSED SUPPORTERS

Ben Austin’s Parent Revolution+Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst implicated – plus (see following) Jeb Bush! BY KATHLEEN McGRORY, Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau | http://hrld.us/15Yu0RA A video that features South Florida moms praising the parent-trigger bill was attributed to a mysterious group known as the Sunshine Parents. But it was actually produced by a California-based advocacy group.

Analysis: EXPERIENCE IN FLORIDA SUGGESTS CAUTION WITH TEACHER EVALUATIONS NOT A BAD IDEA

By Tom Chorneau  |  SI&A Cabinet Report | http://bit.ly/17wosvI [SEE PUBLIC COMMENT BELOW] Monday, April 29, 2013  ::  Last week California lawmakers failed for a second consecutive year to find agreement on a new system for evaluating classroom educators – shooting down in the state Senate what the author called a modest proposal requiring districts to use multiple measurements in

WASHINGTON & SACRAMENTO’S COLD WAR OVER EDUCATION

Washington and Sacramento must end Cold War on education By Louis Freedberg  | EdSource Today http://bit.ly/15Y7dpg Advocacy groups urge rejection of NCLB waiver for California districts By John Fensterwald | EdSource Today http://bit.ly/14R682n April 29th, 2013  ::  Some high level diplomacy

The State of Preschool 2012: CALIFORNIA GETS A MEDIOCRE GRADE FOR PRESCHOOL ACCESS AND QUALITY

Deepa Fernandes | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC http://bit.ly/101BdsM Mae Ryan/KPCC | Elisabeth Romero watches over children at Jardín de Niños in Lincoln Heights. April 29th, 2013, 8:00am  ::   California got a mediocre grade in both access to preschool and the quality of the programs in a new study released today by the National Institute for Early Education Research. The state meets only four of