The Educated Guess
The Educated Guess
On Special Education
UPDATED
What concerns the National Center for Learning Disabilities and other groups about the applications 11 states filed with the Education Department seeking waivers from the No Child Left Behind law?
What they don’t say.
In a letter to federal Education Secretary Arne Duncan this week, NCLD Executive Director James Wendorf writes that the department’s flexibility amounts to a trade off, with students with disabilities on the losing end of the swap.
via No Child Left Behind Waivers Leave Behind Students With Disabilities.
CA Dept of Education – What’s New
Information to assist schools in applying to the California Department of Education for recognition as a Green Ribbon School at the federal level. The U.S. Department of Education’s Green Ribbon Schools (ED-GRS) award is intended to recognize those schools taking a comprehensive approach to greening their school. A comprehensive approach incorporates and integrates environmental learning with maximizing positive environmental and health impacts. The award criteria are intended to focus on measurable outcomes wherever possible.
Benicia Herald
By Donna Beth Weilenman
Staff Reporter
An 18-year-old Benicia High School senior has been arrested and charged with possessing ecstasy pills, Benicia police Lt. Mike Greene said Thursday.
Greene said Benicia School Resource Officer Will Patterson and officials at the high school learned Tuesday that a student on campus was in possession of the drug, which also goes by the acronym MDMA.
California Watch: K–12
kali9/istockphoto.com
Fewer than 1 out of 4 schools in California is staffed with a credentialed librarian, according to the state Department of Education.
Recent figures compiled by the department show there are about 900 school librarians in the state – that’s down from more than 1,100 two years ago.
Vacaville Unified School District
Callison and Cooper Elementary schools received new assistant principals in December following the promotion of Derek Wickliff to Alamo Principal. Callison teacher Cathy Dacanay is now half-time teacher and half-time A.P. for the school. VUSD Literacy Coach Nancy Miller made a similar change, splitting her time between her literacy duties for the Ed. Services department at the district and A.P. at Cooper Elementary.
The Educated Guess
The Jackson Triangle in the Bay Area city of Hayward is one of five recipients of a federal Promise Neighborhood grant to give students in the low-income area academic, lifestyle, and community support to succeed in school. California State University, East Bay is lead agency on the project, which will receive $25 million over the […]
via California community wins Promise grant – by Kathryn Baron.
Google Alerts – “Fairview Elementary School”
By Melissa Murphy / The Reporter
Stockings are filled, reindeer are ready and Santa’s elves are plenty busy delivering presents to students and teachers at Padan Elementary School.
Christmas came a few days early with the help of NorthBay Healthcare and its more than 1,800 employees who adopted all the classrooms at Vacaville’s Padan Elementary School and Fairfield’s Fairview Elementary School.
educateourstate’s posterous
At Educate Our State we’re taking stock of this year’s accomplishments as we work to continue to bring attention to the issues facing California’s schools. Thank you for being a supporter and lending your voice to the parent movement demanding meaningful change! This past year was busy:
via Looking Into 2012.
CA Dept of Education – What’s New
A Look at Kindergarten Through Grade Six in California Public Schools: Transitioning to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts and Mathematics is a publication that contains grade-level chapters with short descriptive narratives and the content standards for the CCSS in English language arts and mathematics. The publication is excerpted from A Look at Kindergarten Through Grade Six in California Public Schools, an online resource that provides information regarding all curricular content areas.
via Transitioning to the CCSS in English Language Arts and Mathematics.
CA Dept of Education – What’s New
SACRAMENTO—Karen Cadiero-Kaplan, a leading scholar, published author and longtime advocate for students, will lead the California Department of Education’s (CDE) efforts to help school districts across the state teach English learners effectively, California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced today.
The Educated Guess
Politics K-12
On the heels of last week’s announcement of the winners of the Race to the Top Early Learning challenge, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has said he isn’t sure yet whether there would be a second round of funding for early-childhood programs.
via Will Early Education Get a Piece of New Race to Top Funding?.
EdSource Extra!
In a bold move that is generating controversy within its own ranks, the California Charter School Association is urging that 10 of the 145 charter schools up for renewal this year be denied their charters because they failed to meet academic performance benchmarks set by the association.
via Charter association’s call for closure of charter schools stirs controversy.
Daily Republic Our View
Edwin Sanderson, Travis USD Governing Board President
I write today with a heart full of gratitude.
For the past 27 years, I have been blessed to be a part of the Travis School District community as a parent, a school site council representative, a curriculum council representative, a school board member and officer. I have been blessed to be part of a culture of excellence and opportunity cultivated by parents, teachers, classified employees and administrators during a time when many other districts in our nation have slid into mediocrity and failed to pay the price necessary for success. This has been a team process, and I have been blessed by countless people.
Daily Republic Our View
FAIRFIELD — While it’s still in its conceptual infancy, local school officials are excited about a potential new program designed to help more high school students succeed in college.
The four-year program, dubbed “Middle College,” will allow students to earn a community college degree, or at least collect numerous college credits, while earning a high school diploma.
“We’re very excited about the concept,” said Jacki Cottingim-Dias, the superintendent of the Fairfield-Suisun School District. “We’re very interested in exploring it because we’ve been diligently working on creating alternatives so we can meet the needs of all our students, and this is one more alternative.”
The Educated Guess
via A first for linking foster youth and academics – by Kathryn Baron.
On Special Education
A U.S. Senate bill filed late last week would limit physical restraint and locked seclusion of students—measures often used with students with disabilities who are considered out of control, harmful to themselves or others, or in need of being calmed.
Iowa Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin’s “Keeping All Students Safe Act,” matches a bill filed by Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., in April. The U.S. House has previously passed the bill, but it wasn’t taken up by the Senate.
EdSource Extra!
An emerging strategy to promote community college success is to have students enroll in “student success courses” that focus on study and career skills and help guide them through their community college experience. Encouraging more students to take these courses, as part of a range of “student support services,” is a principal recommendation of the California Community College’s Student Success Task Force.
via “Success courses” could help community college students reach academic goals.
Google Alerts – “Travis Unified School District”
In the Travis Unified School District, which operates several schools in Vacaville and has nearly 5400 students, Superintendent Kate Wren Gavlak likewise …
via California budget cuts won’t heavily affect Vacaville-area schools.