Latest News and Comment from Education

Thursday, July 3, 2014

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 7-3-14

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








From the tempestuous teapot: GALATZAN RAISES NEW CONCERNS ABOUT LAUSD UNIFIED BOND COMMITTEE + smf’s 0¢
by Vanessa Romo, LA School Report | http://bit.ly/1lXDyDT Posted on July 3, 2014 10:55 am  ::   For the second time in recent weeks, Tamar Galatzan has turned a critical eye toward LA Unified’s Bond Oversight Committee and the role it plays in monitoring district spending on bond-funded projects. At the board meeting on Tuesday, she objected to the BOC’s wholesale approval of a library



CLASS SIZE: Myth vs. Fact
from the Class Size Counts/Yes on Initiative i-1351 Campaign (WA) | http://classsizecountswa.com/   Myth: Class-size reduction is an unproven reform FACT: Studies from Tennessee, Wisconsin and other states demonstrate that students assigned to smaller classes in K-3 do better in every measurable way. The Institute of Education Sciences, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Education,
Putting Class Size On The Ballot In Washington State
from the Politico Morning Education Read for 3July2104  | http://politi.co/1xm12WO PUTTING CLASS SIZE ON THE BALLOT: Educators in Washington state plan to submit more than 340,000 signatures today to qualify a class-size reduction initiative for the fall ballot. The measure would cut class sizes across all grades over the next several years. By 2019, early elementary classes would have no
Finns Beat U.S. With Low Tech Take On School
By: Caitlin Emma – Politico | http://politi.co/1gz6zFe May 27, 2014 11:39 PM EDT  | HELSINKI  ::   At the start of morning assembly in the state-of-the-art Viikki School here, students’ smartphones disappear. In math class, the teacher shuts off the Smartboard and begins drafting perfect circles on a chalkboard. The students — some of the highest-achieving in the world — cut up graphing


Common Core Test Anxiety
By: Stephanie Simon and Caitlin Emma | http://politi.co/VGtkxS July 2, 2014 08:59 PM EDT  :: A new front has opened in the Common Core wars — over testing contracts. The high-stakes battle is undermining one of the Obama administration’s most prized initiatives: its vision, backed by more than $370 million in federal funds, of testing students across the country on a common set of exams in



4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 6-30-14
4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: A LETTER FROM A LOS ANGELES ENGLISH TEACHER TO HIS STUDENTS: “You have been failed.”from Dr. Mark Naison’s blog “With a Brooklyn Accent" | http://bit.ly/1nZhNS3 March 11, 2014 A letter to my students of Los Angeles Unified: You have been failed. You have been failed not by the school or your teachers (or their boogeyman union), but by people far re