EdSource Today » Archive
Los Angeles Unified, union cut deal on test scores and evaluations
Facing a court-ordered deadline, Los Angeles Unified and its teachers union have agreed on a framework for evaluating teachers that will include using student scores on local and state standardized tests – but only to a limited, as yet undetermined extent. The tentative agreement announced Friday, responds to a Superior Court ruling in June that found the district had failed to comply with a state law requiring that measures of student academic progress be factored into a … Read entire article »
Filed under: Evaluations, Featured, Reporting & Analysis, Teacher Unions
Abuse records don’t follow some school workers
California teachers who lose their jobs for misconduct against students lose their licenses to teach, but the state has no similar process for any of the other 289,000 school employees who may be fired or forced to resign due to child abuse. There’s no mechanism for sharing the information on “classified” employees; as a result, other districts and childcare centers may hire a new bus driver, classroom or special education aide or cafeteria worker without … Read entire article »
Filed under: Legislature, Bills, Reporting & Analysis
Renewed push for a 55 percent threshold to pass parcel tax
It didn’t take long for a Democratic senator among the newly empowered supermajority in the Legislature to go after a low-hanging fruit: lowering the threshold for passage of a local parcel tax for education. On Thursday, Sen. Mark Leno of San Francisco announced he would introduce a constitutional amendment that would allow voters to pass parcel taxes for school districts and community colleges by 55 percent instead of the current two-thirds majority. “This change in law would give voters the power to make decisions about public education at the local level, allowing schools much-needed flexibility to improve instruction, fund libraries, music, the arts or other programs, or hire more teachers to reduce student-to-teacher ratios,” Leno said in a statement. Requiring a two-thirds majority to raise taxes was part of Proposition 13, passed in 1978. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Parcel Tax, Quick Hits, Taxes
Freedberg interviewed about current state of public K-14 education in California
EdSource Executive Director Louis Freedberg participated in an online Q&A session with Patch.com’s Alex Gronke. Questions focused on what the state’s economic outlook may mean for K-14 education in California, including a discussion on the impact of Prop. 30. Listen to the entire session below or visit Patch.com. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Presentations/Interviews, Quick Hits
Rural district serves as model for offering healthy meals
By emphasizing partnerships with community nonprofits and businesses, taking advantage of statewide grants and making good nutrition a financial priority, rural Fort Bragg Unified has continued to provide healthy food and nutrition education to its primarily low-income students, despite budget cuts. The state Department of Education has recognized Fort Bragg as a model for Northern California under its Stepping Up to the Challenge, Creating A Healthy School Environment program. Pilar Gray, the district’s nutritional services director, does trainings … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, Health, Nutrition, Fitness, Poverty, Reporting & Analysis, Students, Values and Habits
Incomparably comparable graduation rates
For the first time ever, the U.S. Department of Education has released high school graduation rates based on a common, rigorous measure that makes it possible to compare states, and California falls into the bottom half. Nearly a quarter of California high school students don’t graduate after four years, according to figures released yesterday for nearly every state, the District of Columbia and the Bureau of Indian Education. [Note: Data for Idaho, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Puerto Rico has not been reported.] Each state submits its own statistics to the federal government, so California’s 76 percent graduation rate for the class of 2010-11 isn’t a surprise. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson released the numbers last June. What is new, however, is how California stacks up, and, in that regard, it’s ahead of Alaska, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Data, Quick Hits
Four CA districts make Race to the Top finals
The U.S. Department of Education passed over California’s largest school districts in selecting finalists for the Race to the Top district competition. Out of 17 districts that applied for a share of the nearly $400 million in federal grant money, only four made the cut to the finals: Galt Joint Union Elementary, Lindsay Unified and New Haven Unified school districts, along with Ánimo Charter Schools, a division of Green Dot Public Schools. Districts that didn’t … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, Race to the Top, Reporting & Analysis, Twenty-first Century Learning, U.S. Education Policy
Great uncertainty over direction of state standardized tests
With the statute authorizing state standardized tests due to expire in June 2014, the incoming Legislature is facing some hard decisions on the future of the state testing system: What subjects should be tested, for whom, how often (not every year in every subject, perhaps), at what cost, and, perhaps the biggest question, for what purpose? The state will likely end up with a hybrid system, a combination of state-created tests and tests designed in partnerships … Read entire article »
Filed under: Common Core standards, English learners, No Child Left Behind, Reporting & Analysis, Special Needs, Standardized tests, State Board of Education, STEM, Tests & Assessments
Winning paths to success in Pasadena, Santa Barbara
Pasadena and Santa Barbara City Colleges are recipients of the 2012 Chancellor’s Student Success Award for their programs to support first-year and underserved students in community college. “These are the types of initiatives our Student Success Task Force determined were extremely important in achieving equity and helping a greater number of students reach their educational goals,” said Community College Chancellor Brice Harris in a written statement. More than 800 new students are enrolled in the First Year … Read entire article »
Filed under: College Completion, College Remediation, Community Colleges, Featured, Reporting & Analysis
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.
How a small bet on technology could have a big payoff in learning
November 28th, 2012 | 4 Comments
By Charles Taylor Kerchner / commentary ~ EdSource Extra
Let me start by saying that I am not a technologist. I don’t lust after the new; I bought my first smartphone just last week. And I don’t for a moment think that tablets are going to replace teachers or that there is a software-driven fix for all the problems ailing California’s public schools. And, yes, teachers need a raise. Why, then, advocate an investment in education technology? I believe that if properly put together an … Read entire article »
Filed under: Commentary, Technology