California Education News Roundup

Study finds NCLB law lifted math scores

11-23-2009

By Mary Ann Zehr/Education Week

The No Child Left Behind Act has significantly boosted mathematics achievement, but no evidence exists that it has done the same for reading, concludes a study released yesterday. Brian A. Jacob, a professor of economics and education policy at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, and Thomas Dee, a professor of economics at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pa., examined the effects of the federal education legislation on scores for 4th and 8th graders on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. They found large increases in the math scores for 4th graders and moderate ones in that subject for 8th graders. The gains in math were concentrated among white and Hispanic students, students eligible for free- or reduced-price lunches, and students at all levels of performance. But the researchers did not find evidence of a similar impact on reading scores. (more...)

White House pushes science and math education

11-23-2009

By Kenneth Chang/New York Times

To improve science and mathematics education for American children, the White House is recruiting Elmo and Big Bird, video game programmers and thousands of scientists. President Obama will announce a campaign Monday to enlist companies and nonprofit groups to spend money, time and volunteer effort to encourage students, especially in middle and high school, to pursue science, technology, engineering and math, officials say. The campaign, called Educate to Innovate, will focus mainly on activities outside the classroom. For example, Discovery Communications has promised to use two hours of the afternoon schedule on its Science Channel cable network for commercial-free programming geared toward middle school students. Science and engineering societies are promising to provide volunteers to work with students in the classroom, culminating in a National Lab Day in May. (more...)

Despite state subsidies, class sizes begin to rise again in California schools

11-23-2009

By Louis Freedberg and Hugo Cabrera/Oakland Tribune

Most of California's largest school districts are increasing class sizes in kindergarten through third grade, eroding the most expensive education reform in the state's history. California Watch surveyed the 30 largest K-12 school districts in the state and found that many schools are pushing class sizes to 24 in some or all of the early grades. Other districts have raised class sizes to 30 students — reverting to levels not seen in more than a decade. The changes at more than two-thirds of the districts surveyed have parents and teachers concerned that the academic performance of millions of children will suffer. California already ranks 48th in the nation in terms of student to teacher ratios. And new measures are in place that will allow districts statewide to raise class sizes even higher and still receive more than $1 billion in state aid — money that was originally intended to reward schools that kept class sizes low. (more...)

Rowland Unified teachers enhance teaching strategies at no cost at mentoring program

11-23-2009

By Maritza Velazquez/Whittier Daily News

Nearly two dozen teachers in the Rowland Unified School District are improving their instruction methods and strategies without costing the district a penny. After a rigorous application process, 21 instructors from five of Rowland Unified's elementary schools have been accepted as fellows for the Art of Teaching program offered by the Cotsen Family Foundation. Rowland is one of just nine districts in the state selected to participate in the two-year teacher mentorship program. The instructors are now in their second year. In addition to the fellows, five more instructors - one from each school - have also been chosen to mentor the fellows at their campuses. "We're looking for good instructional leadership and the commitment to the idea that you can improve student learning by improving the quality of teaching," said Judy Johnson, executive director of the Cotsen Family Foundation. (more...)

Teacher tenure a thorny issue, but some say it improves teaching

11-23-2009

By Mediha Fejzagic DiMartino/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

A recent report card on California's ability to fire poorly performing teachers won't end up on anyone's refrigerator. A report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Center for American Progress, "Leaders and Laggards," examined the 50 states in eight categories, including school management, finance, technology and staffing. California acquired a passing mark in many categories, but was given a F when it comes to firing poorly performing teachers. According to the report, more than 85 percent of principals polled said that tenures are a barrier to removal of ineffective teachers. "It's not a good thing for the students," said James Kidwell, deputy superintendent of human resources for the Ontario/Montclair School District. "It impacts the quality of their education. Students deserve high-quality teachers." (more...)

How LA charters will spend Gates’ $60 million

11-23-2009

Blog by John Fensterwald/Educated Guess

They are also precisely the sorts of things that the state should be considering in its application for the Race to the Top competition. Improving teacher performance, including using data as a factor to set teachers’ pay, is a primary focus of the $4.35 billion federal program. The grant to the consortium is part of a $290 million initiative dealing with teacher performance and evaluations that the Gates Foundation announced last week. Three school districts – Hillsborough County Public Schools in Florida, Memphis City Schools in Tennessee and the Pittsburgh Public Schools in Pennsylvania – also received money. The initiative marks a new direction for Gates, which had focused on breaking up big high schools into smaller schools. (more...)

States said to be progressing on data systems

11-23-2009

By Dakarai I. Aarons/Education Week

The states are all on course to have data systems that track student performance from year to year in place by 2011, and many are collecting a wealth of information that could lead to better policy and classroom practice, according to a report released today. The Data Quality Campaign, an organization based in Austin, Texas, that works to improve state data systems, reported that 44 states, for example, now collect data that can identify the schools producing the strongest academic growth for students, up from 21 states in 2005. In addition, 47 states now have the components needed to calculate a longitudinal graduation rate using the method agreed upon in 2005 via a National Governors Association compact. The campaign has identified a set of 10 elements it believes are crucial for any longitudinal-data system. They include a “unique student identifier” that connects student data in more than one database, and information on students who weren’t tested and why. (more...)

The playtime's the thing

11-23-2009

By Emma Brown/Washington Post

On a recent Thursday, 5-year-old Estefani Lovo Rivera took charge of a make-believe hair salon in her preschool classroom at Oakridge Elementary in Arlington County. Wielding a plastic fork as a hairbrush, dispatching customer after customer with a certain cool efficiency, she looked around the room for more classmates to entice. "You have to come today," the budding stylist said. "Tomorrow we're closed!" To the untrained eye, such play appears to be nothing more than a distraction from the real letters-and-numbers work of school. But research shows that it might be an essential part in determining these children's social and emotional makeup as adults. As Estefani and the children buzzing around her -- one taking hair appointments over a telephone, another pretending to curl a client's hair with an eggbeater -- spun their scenario, they were developing the roots of empathy and the capacity to take turns, negotiate with peers and understand how their behavior affects people. (more...)

Catholic teachers find themselves intensely immersed in Jewish history

11-23-2009

By Corina Knoll/Los Angeles Times

The challah was blessed, the Manischewitz wine was poured, the candles were lighted. It could have been any Shabbat dinner in Los Angeles, were it not for the fact that it took place midweek and the room was full of Catholic schoolteachers. The 34 teachers were participants in Bearing Witness, a seminar designed for educators in Catholic schools learning to teach about anti-Semitism and the history of the relationship between Jews and Catholics. Created in 1996 by the Anti-Defamation League, the seminars are now conducted across the United States. The ADL's Los Angeles office is in its seventh year of running an annual Bearing Witness program. The itinerary of the three-day course can include a discussion about the Holocaust, a synagogue tour or a lecture about Judaism in the period between the Old and New testaments. (more...)

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