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California looks to Ontario schools’ reformer for guidance
Michael Fullan may be coming soon to a school district near you. The man credited with transforming the Canadian province of Ontario into one of the world’s most effective school systems is ready to help California do the same. Fullan, though, would lead the state in a sharply different direction from the forced march that federal officials … Read entire article »
Filed under: Achievement Gap, Featured, International Comparisons, No Child Left Behind, Program innovation, Race to the Top, Reporting & Analysis, Research, Standardized tests, Systemic Change, Teacher Collaboration, Teacher Unions, Teachers, Turning around failing schools
Bill would protect adult ed, career tech while extending local control
School districts would keep discretion to spend billions of dollars of “categorical” funding however they want for five more years under a Senate bill that passed its first hurdle in the Legislature on Wednesday. SB 223‘s provisions on local spending control are similar to Gov. Jerry Brown’s sweeping plan for school finance reform. Both approaches would require that districts show how they used the money, freed from state restrictions, to improve student achievement. But there … Read entire article »
Filed under: Achievement Gap, Categorical Funding, Equity issues, Featured, Funding and Taxation, Reporting & Analysis, Weighted Student Funding (Local Control Funding Formula)
Migrant program offers lessons for reaching Latino preschoolers
HUGHSON – Long before President Obama triggered a new national interest in universal preschool earlier this year, a Central Valley-based Head Start program for children of migrant workers has been breaking down barriers that have kept Latino families out of early learning programs. Data suggests that Latino children, who now make up more than half of children under 5 years old in California, have historically enrolled in early education programs at lower rates than their peers … Read entire article »
Filed under: Achievement Gap, Early Childhood, Featured, Head Start, Kindergarten and Preschool, Poverty, Race, Ethnicity, Reporting & Analysis
Brown’s former adviser: Aim for balance behind shift to local control
Sue Burr has seen and done a lot in 40-plus years of playing key roles in California education – advising legislators and governors, administering the finances of a large school district, running the state county superintendents’ organization and, for the past two years, serving as executive director of the State Board of Education. Burr retired at the end of last year, only to be nominated two weeks later by Gov. Jerry Brown to return to the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Achievement Gap, Categorical Funding, Charter Schools, College Remediation, Featured, Jerry Brown, Q&A, Reporting & Analysis, State Board of Education, State Budget, Student spending, Taxes, Weighted Student Funding (Local Control Funding Formula)
Many math students are flailing, repeating courses without success
A big reason California students are pushed to take higher math in high school is to see that they satisfy the admission requirements to a state four-year university. And yet 68 percent of students who haven’t passed one of the required courses, Algebra II, by the end of 11th grade don’t even enroll in math as seniors, giving up on the possibility of applying to a UC or CSU school. That puzzling statistic is among the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Achievement Gap, Common Core standards, Featured, Reporting & Analysis, Research, Science, Math (STEM), Standardized tests, Tests & Assessments
Summer programs turning struggling students into readers
When “The Hunger Games” became the hottest ticket in town, about 350 middle school students in Fresno already knew how the movie would end. They had spent the previous summer reading the post-apocalyptic book by Suzanne Collins that the movie was based on as part of Fresno County Office of Education’s efforts to keep kids reading after school is out. “We want to be the leaders and not the followers in what we’re delivering to kids,” said … Read entire article »
Filed under: Achievement Gap, After School, Extra Time, Featured, Health, Nutrition, Fitness, K-12 Challenges, Interventions, Reporting & Analysis, Students, Summer Programs
Select committee: Time running short to end racial disparities
California’s economic prosperity may lie in a dozen recommendations for helping African American, Latino, and Southeast Asian boys succeed in school. The state Assembly Select Committee on the Status of Boys and Men of Color is releasing those proposals today in Sacramento along with testimony from an all-star panel of education, health, and workforce experts. Committee members spent the last year and a half holding hearings across the state to gather personal stories, research, and examples … Read entire article »
Filed under: Achievement Gap, College and Career Preparation, Dropout prevention, Equity issues, Legislature, Bills, Partnership Academies, Poverty, Poverty, Race, Ethnicity, Reporting & Analysis, Research, Workforce preparation
Educational differences run deep by race, ethnicity, and income in new report
California’s poor showing in a national study of children’s well-being came despite increases in academic achievement. California students improved on all four indicators in education, according to the 23rd annual Kids Count report released last week by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Achievement Gap, Equity issues, Featured, Poverty, Poverty, Race, Ethnicity, Reporting & Analysis, Research
California nearly last in children’s well-being
California is doing slightly better by its kids but still has a long way to go, ranking 41st out of 50 states in the overall well-being of children. The 2012 Kids Count report, released today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, measures how well children are faring on 16 different indicators in education, economic well-being, health, and family and community. California showed improvements in 10 of the 16 categories, including education. The brightest spot is health, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Achievement Gap, Data, Equity issues, Featured, Health, Nutrition, Fitness, High School Completion, K-12 Challenges, Interventions, Poverty, Poverty, Race, Ethnicity, Reporting & Analysis
Success comes from grit – and plenty of helping hands along the way
October 21st, 2012 | 2 Comments | By Emily Hanford
“Grit” is getting a lot of attention these days, due in large part to an excellent new book by Paul Tough, How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity and the Power of Character. Psychologists define grit as “perseverance and passion for long-term goals.” Research suggests that when it comes to high achievement, grit may be as essential as intelligence. That’s an exciting finding because while the intelligence that can be measured on an IQ test is resistant … Read entire article »
Filed under: Achievement Gap, College Completion, College Loans, Grants, College Remediation, Commentary, Equity issues, Featured, Poverty