EdSource Today » Archive
Fuentes agrees to compromises on AB 5: Are they enough?
At the 11th hour, the author of the bill to rewrite the teacher evaluation law has offered compromises intended to placate opponents and to qualify the state for a waiver from the No Child Left Behind law. The latter may work, but probably not the former. Key amendments to AB 5 that Assembymember Felipe Fuentes released Thursday (see link below in “Going Deeper” for the amendments) don’t appear to have softened the opposition of organizations representing … Read entire article »
Filed under: Evaluations, Featured, No Child Left Behind, Reporting & Analysis, Standardized tests, Teacher Unions, Tests & Assessments
State creating “time bomb” with cuts to higher ed
Give a dollar to California’s public colleges and universities and receive $4.50 back. Those are pretty good odds, and they’re not from one of those overseas scam emails humbly requesting your help in transferring funds. This more-than-400-percent yield is the net return on the state’s investment in higher education, according to California’s Economic Payoff, one of two reports released yesterday that make the case for a stronger state investment in higher education. Multiply that by the hundreds … Read entire article »
Filed under: California Colleges, CALPADS, College and Career Preparation, College Completion, College Enrollment, Community Colleges, Data, Equity issues, Featured, Reporting & Analysis, Research, Science, Math (STEM), UC and CSU, Workforce preparation
KQED’s Rachael Myrow interviews John Fensterwald about Common Core standards
Rachael Myrow of KQED’s The California Report interviewed EdSource’s John Fensterwald about his reporting on Common Core standards for his article, State to adopt Common Core view of Algebra I in 8th grade. Listen to the interview using the audio player below or read the interview transcript on the KQED website. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Common Core standards, Presentations/Interviews, Quick Hits
Brown struggling to sell Prop 30 to wary voters
Rework your talking points, Governor. You risk losing the message war over Proposition 30. That’s one implication of the latest poll on Jerry Brown’s tax initiative for the November ballot. Most Californians continue to back it, but not by a comfortable majority. Pollsters are predicting a tight race to the finish. According to the online poll by Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) and the USC Rossier School of Education of 1,041 likely voters, 54.5 percent say … Read entire article »
Filed under: Blended Learning, Career Technical Education, Funding and Taxation, Jerry Brown, Online Learning, Reporting & Analysis, Revenue and taxes, Taxes, Weighted Student Funding (Local Control Funding Formula), Workforce preparation
Exit exam results show gains in closing achievement gap
African American and Latino students showed the biggest gains on California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) results for the Class of 2012, narrowing the achievement gap between them and their Asian and white counterparts, according to preliminary results reported by the California Department of Education. African Americans in the Class of 2012 gained 2.3 percentage points over the Class of 2011, with 91.9 percent passing the exam by the end of their senior year. Latino students saw a 1.4 percentage point increase over 2011, with 93.1 percent passing. Altogether, 95 percent of students in the Class of 2012 passed the CAHSEE, an increase of 0.8 of a percentage point over the previous year. White students, at 98.6 percent, had the highest passing rate, followed by Asian students at 97.8 percent – both … Read entire article »
Filed under: High School Completion, Quick Hits, Tests, Tests & Assessments
Another study questions state’s push for 8th grade Algebra
At the state’s prodding, the proportion of students taking Algebra in eighth grade increased 60 percent over the past decade – a significant achievement. But there has not been a parallel success in encouraging students to continue on to become proficient in more advanced math courses. The pipeline to higher math has grown, but so has the leakage: the percentage of students who fall by the wayside. And, for students pushed into Algebra I unprepared in … Read entire article »
Filed under: A to G Curriculum, Common Core standards, Reporting & Analysis, Standardized tests, STEM, Tests & Assessments
Clovis Unified sued for giving inadequate sexual education
Two parents, a physician’s organization, and a “gay-straight” activist group are suing Clovis Unified, charging that the district is not providing high school students with adequate sex education because it relies primarily on a textbook that offers abstinence as the only way to avoid sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies. The lawsuit charges that the Fresno County district is violating California law, which requires schools to teach about abstinence and “medically accurate information on other methods … Read entire article »
Filed under: Health, Nutrition, Fitness, Reporting & Analysis, Values and Habits
AB 5 falls short of meeting NCLB waiver requirements
Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes said that the passage of AB 5, the teacher evaluation bill that he authored, could “potentially serve as a key piece” of the state’s application for a waiver from the No Child Left Behind law – and free up hundreds of millions of federal dollars to fund districts’ evaluations and other education needs. Erin Gabel, director of legislative affairs of state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, said that AB 5 would make … Read entire article »
Filed under: Evaluations, No Child Left Behind, Reporting & Analysis, State Board of Education, Teachers, Title I
District settles with ACLU over program for English learners
While insisting that it did nothing wrong, a Central Valley school district has quickly settled a lawsuit filed by several chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of a half-dozen parents and teachers who charged that the district had adopted a destructive program for English learners, which the state, in turn, failed to monitor. Mark Rosenbaum, chief counsel of the ACLU of Southern California, vowed Friday that it would be filing similar suits in … Read entire article »
Filed under: English learners, Featured, Reporting & Analysis, UC and CSU
Video Highlights from
2013 EdSource Symposium
Transforming Public Education: What's Next For
Students, Teachers and Schools
- In Partnership with the California State PTA -
May 4th symposium in San Jose featured a number of prominent speakers on key challenges in education today, including Linda Darling-Hammond, Martha Kanter, and Pedro Noguera.
You can find video of those speakers and more at our new YouTube channel by clicking below.
Finding the Yellow Brick Road to the Common Core
August 22nd, 2012 | Add a Comment
By Merrill Vargo / commentary ~ EdSource Extra
The new vision represented by the Common Core State Standards is becoming clearer, and it is exciting and rich. But as school district leaders get clearer on the destination, the path can still be uncertain. Like Dorothy, who knew she was headed toward Oz, local education leaders are beginning to ask, “Which way do we go?” It’s a good question, and state leaders need to remind themselves of some hard facts before they reel off … Read entire article »
Filed under: Commentary, Common Core standards