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Education news nuggets
Today is the first day of summer, but for some Boston Public School students, this summer vacation will not be a vacation from learning.
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Quotable and notable
?This is a civil rights issue. If you look at the date someone signed up for a job as the only measure of effectiveness, that doesn't pass the test of providing for an equal opportunity for students to learn.? ?State Senator Gloria Romero,? D-Los Angeles
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National Conference on Student Assessment
The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) conference on student assessment is streaming live.
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Sector agnosticism in Philly
On a number of occasions, I've written about what I call ?sector agnosticism? in urban education. It's a simple concept: we shouldn't care what sector a school belongs to (traditional public, charter public, or private); instead, we should judge schools based on their quality.
Commentary
Education news nuggets
It's Friday, so why not slow down on your reading and watch some videos, one addressed to school principals and the other about
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Quotable and notable
?There needs to be integration, including of the ultra-Orthodox.? ? Arye Carmon, President of the Israel Democracy Institute
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Rhode Island's new funding formula
Deborah Gist continues to make important progress in Rhode Island. The state has a new student-driven funding formula. Projo praises it here.
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Pittsburgh, performance pay, and patience
Good Sawchuk article on Pittsburgh's new teacher contract, which includes several differentiated compensation elements. It's a pretty confusing agreement, but that's probably the result of lots of district-union negotiation.
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Denial vs paranoia with Common Core education standards
I deny that I'm in denial. But I don't deny that Neal McCluskey is paranoid, along with Jay Greene and a few other ardent blogsters and op-edsters.
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Education news nuggets
In Massachusetts, music programs are getting cut, even though studies show they will improve your algebra.
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Quotable and notable
?Our Regents diploma doesn't mean college-ready.? ?Meryl Tisch, Chancellor of the Regents Exam ?Revaluing Regents,? The Wall Street Journal
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The School Leadership Triangle: From Compliance to Innovation
Paul L. KimmelmanCorwin Publishing2010
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Match made in heaven?
If only we could attract effective teachers to high-poverty schools, we could zap the achievement gap. That’s the thinking, at least, behind a slew of reassignment programs that use everything from financial incentives to blunt force to get more top-notch teachers into lower-performing classrooms. But is the thinking itself misguided?
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Mirror, mirror on the wall
According to the New York Times, cheating in schools is on the rise. It’s not among students, though, but teachers, who feel increasingly pressured by yearly testing cycles to raise student achievement.
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The GED
James J. Heckman, John Eric Humphries, and Nicholas S. Mader, University of Chicago National Bureau of Economic Research June 2010
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Teacher union leaders can be reformers, too
It’s no secret among education reformers, and among keen-eyed observers of the reform scene (in which select population we brazenly include the Education Gadfly and his Fordham pals), that the two national teacher unions are the largest, richest, shrewdest and most dogged foes of nearly all the most urgently-needed changes in American K-12 education.
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Denver ProComp: An Outcomes Evaluation of Denver's Alternative Teacher Compensation System 2010 Report
Edward Wiley, Eleanor Spindler, and Amy SubertUniversity of Colorado at BoulderApril 2010
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Diplomas Count 2010: Graduation by the Numbers--Putting Data to Work for Student Success
Editorial Projects in EducationJune 2010
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Putting the I back in TEAM
Journalist and Atlantic blogger Ta-Nehisi Coates is troubled by a paradox: Why was he a failure as a student, but remarkably successful as a professional writer? A college dropout, Coates says that he just needed to learn differently—his own way, and at his own pace—than other students.
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Read our lips
Ever been told to “read between the lines”? Turns out you do so more than you think—in fact, every time you read anything, from a menu to a philosophical treatise. That’s the premise of this piece by curriculum gurus E.D. Hirsch and Robert Pondiscio.
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Schools get an MBA: Mutually beneficial arrangement
What do Rogers & Walker Gun Shop, First Baptist Church, McDonald’s, and The Tennessee Credit Union have in common? They’re picking up the tab for a local school facing budget problems—in return for naming rights, ad space, or a branch on school property.
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Race to the Top and Montana
Denise Juneau had an interesting op-ed in last week's Missoulian regarding the Race to the Top. The key paragraph:
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Re: What do you think ? second half of the charter school bargain?
Monday on Flypaper Terry examined charter school accountability and why the charter school bargain hasn't always worked out.
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Quotable and notable
?A wholesale ban on books with religious content conflicts with established U.S. Supreme Court precedent.? ? David Cortman, Senior Legal Counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund
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Ivory Coast Soccer Academy - playing the beautiful game and getting an education
For all you die-hard futbol fans out there, you probably saw the World Cup special last Thursday prior to this year's kickoff. And if your timing was right, you saw this inspirational clip on the Ivory Coast Soccer Academy. If you missed it, take a minute to watch it. Not a fan? No excuses ?
Commentary
Education news nuggets
Facebook may not just be a distraction instead it could be keeping kids safe, according to the PTA.
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Quotable and notable
?Indeed, given that the unemployment rate among health and education workers is only half that of the work force as a whole, you could argue that it's the teachers' turn to absorb some of the pain that they have been spared to date.? ? Charles Lane, Washington Post Editorial Writer
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Quotable and notable
?It's ridiculous in that the people that make the decision on the cut scores are not political operatives.? ? Robert Scott, Education Commissioner
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Round 2
If you're following Race to the Top developments, make sure to read Michele McNeil's latest in Ed Week. It's a very good analysis of how second round applications differ from those in round one. There were interesting developments on union and district buy-in, side deals, and more.