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Bonds would fund business investment in schools under Steinberg proposal
The leader of the California State Senate says the way to encourage more and stronger bonds between industry and education is through, well, bonds. With California facing a shortage of qualified workers for 21st century jobs, Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg wants to entice businesses to become more involved in job training by asking them to invest in a new type of school bond that would fund programs that infuse career education into traditional academic courses. Businesses … Read entire article »
Filed under: Career Technical Education, College and Career Preparation, Community Colleges, Featured, Internships, Service Learning, Legislature, Bills, Multiple pathways, Multiple Pathways, Partnership Academies, Reporting & Analysis, Twenty-first Century Learning, Workforce preparation
New scorecards show challenges for state’s community colleges
Students who start community college prepared to take college-level courses have a better than 70 percent chance of earning a degree or certificate or transferring to a four-year college within six years. The outcome is significantly worse for students placed in remedial math or science, with barely 41 percent achieving those goals, according to the first-ever student success scorecards released Tuesday by the systemwide chancellor’s office. The scorecards provide in-depth information for each of the state’s … Read entire article »
Filed under: California Colleges, College and Career Preparation, College Completion, College Remediation, Community Colleges, Featured, Reporting & Analysis, Workforce preparation
U.S. middle-class students beaten on international test
Middle-class students are lagging far behind their peers in other countries, adding a new perspective to beliefs that low-income students are most in need of better educational opportunities, according to a new study. America Achieves, a nonprofit aimed at improving education and career opportunities for students, reviewed the 2009 science and math results on the Program for International Student Assessment, known as the PISA exam. Analysts divided students into four socio-economic levels and found that U.S. students in the second highest quarter were outperformed by students in similar income levels in 15 other countries in science and 24 countries in math. “Many assume that poverty in America is pulling down the overall U.S. scores, but when you divide each nation into socio-economic quarters, you can see that even America’s middle class students are … Read entire article »
Filed under: Common Core standards, International Comparisons, Poverty, Quick Hits, Standardized tests, Tests, Tests & Assessments, Twenty-first Century Learning, Workforce preparation
Sweetwater gives pink slips to all its career-tech teachers
Despite a plea from one trustee that the move was premature, the Sweetwater Union High School District has issued pink slips to all teachers in the district’s Regional Occupational Program, which offers career-tech training, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. Trustees voted 2-2, with one trustee abstaining, to give pink slips to 36.8 full-time equivalent positions. The newspaper did not say how many employees received the notices. According to board rules, an abstention counts as a positive vote. “The district said it needed to eliminate the positions because funding from the state is so uncertain,” the newspaper reported. “No longer offering the program would save the district $3 million.” Gov. Jerry Brown’s Local Control Funding Formula would eliminate dedicated funding for career-technical programs. It would be up to school districts whether to continue funding them or use … Read entire article »
Filed under: Career Technical Education, College and Career Preparation, Funding and Taxation, Jerry Brown, Multiple pathways, Quick Hits, Weighted Student Funding (Local Control Funding Formula), Workforce preparation
State’s first career-tech center faces potential demise
The superintendent of the state’s oldest regional occupational program is warning that an unintended consequence of the governor’s Local Control Funding Formula could lead to its demise. An official from the Department of Finance says his department will look into the problem. Christine Hoffman, superintendent of the Southern California Regional Occupational Center (SoCal ROC) in Torrance, is sending preliminary layoff notices to all 125 of her employees by the March 15 deadline for notifying those who … Read entire article »
Filed under: Career Technical Education, Featured, Internships, Service Learning, Partnership Academies, Reporting & Analysis, Weighted Student Funding (Local Control Funding Formula), Workforce preparation
Report questions impact of Brown’s finance formula on career tech
In proposing to give school districts money with fewer strings attached, Gov. Jerry Brown is confident that local school boards and superintendents are best able to make the right decisions so that all students can graduate ready for college and work. A report released today by Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) questions that assumption. PACE is a joint research group based at UC Berkeley, Stanford and the University of Southern California. “School Finance Reform: Can It … Read entire article »
Filed under: Career Technical Education, College and Career Preparation, Dropout prevention, Featured, Finance, High School Completion, Internships, Service Learning, Jerry Brown, K-12 Challenges, Interventions, Multiple pathways, Multiple Pathways, Partnership Academies, Reporting & Analysis, Systemic Change, Twenty-first Century Learning, Weighted Student Funding (Local Control Funding Formula), Workforce preparation
Linked learning comes of age in California with new pilot programs
The California Department of Education has selected 63 districts and county offices of education – many of them working together in consortia – to pilot “linked learning” programs in their high schools beginning next fall. These programs integrate academics with real-world work experiences in an effort to engage students. High schools with linked learning programs typically offer several courses in one or more career paths, such as healthcare, business or the arts. The career theme permeates … Read entire article »
Filed under: Career Technical Education, College and Career Preparation, Dropout prevention, Featured, High School Completion, Internships, Service Learning, Legislature, Bills, Multiple pathways, Multiple Pathways, Partnership Academies, Program innovation, Reporting & Analysis, Twenty-first Century Learning, Workforce preparation
Study tracks Sacramento City’s ‘linked learning’ experience
Sacramento City Unified has reorganized its district office, developed a strong departmental team, and encouraged the broader community to become involved in its efforts to introduce “linked learning” into its high schools, according to a case study of the district released this week. Linked learning is an ambitious reform that blends academic courses and career opportunities through field-based learning, such as internships, and student support services. The long-term goal is to integrate it into a district curriculum so that all students can participate. Students choose “pathways” in areas that interest them such as health care. The case study, “Linked Learning in Sacramento: Organizing the District and Community for Sustainable Reform,” was authored by Sara Rutherford-Quach and Erik Rice of the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (SCOPE). This is the third case study on … Read entire article »
Filed under: Internships, Service Learning, Multiple pathways, Quick Hits
Debunking mediocre performance of U.S. students
The conventional wisdom that American students lag far behind top performers like Finland and South Korea in academic achievement is oversimplified. A new study out today by researchers at Stanford University and the Economic Policy Institute finds that comparisons of scores on international tests fail to adequately consider social and economic differences. “If the social class distribution of the United States were similar to that of top-scoring countries, the average test score gap between the United … Read entire article »
Filed under: College and Career Preparation, Featured, Poverty, Reporting & Analysis, Standardized tests, Twenty-first Century Learning, Workforce preparation
Texas, California do compete – in funding race to the bottom
October 30th, 2012 | 3 Comments | By Peter Schrag / commentary
Steve Murdock isn’t a household name in Sacramento – but maybe he should be. Murdock is the former state demographer in Texas. This month, he testified in a trial in which hundreds of Texas school districts are suing the state for failing in its constitutional obligation to adequately fund its schools. The suit was prompted by the $5.4 billion the Legislature cut from public school funding and education grant programs last year. If that level of funding … Read entire article »
Filed under: Commentary, Featured, Funding and Taxation, Revenue and taxes, Student spending, Workforce preparation