Final exams

The Educated Guess

It’s not just any Friday; it’s the Friday before the biggest holiday week of the year. So if you’re reading this, you’re probably trying to escape from a) out-of-town guests, b) another tin of homemade cookies that reminds you about that resolution to join a gym, c) the annual office party that’s been downgraded by […]

via Final exams – by Kathryn Baron.

No Child Left Behind Waivers Leave Behind Students With Disabilities

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.

Green Ribbon Schools Program

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.

via Green Ribbon Schools Program.

BHS senior charged with possession of ecstasy

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.

via BHS senior charged with possession of ecstasy.

VUSD Adds New Elementary Assistant Principals

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.

via VUSD Adds New Elementary Assistant Principals.

California community wins Promise grant

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.

NorthBay provides gifts at local elementary schools

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.

via NorthBay provides gifts at local elementary schools.

Looking Into 2012

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.

Transitioning to the CCSS in English Language Arts and Mathematics

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.

New English-Learner Director Named

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.

via New English-Learner Director Named.

Charter association’s call for closure of charter schools stirs controversy

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.

Governing board member gratitude

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.

via Governing board member gratitude.

Joint endeavor in works to create ‘Middle College’

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.”

via Joint endeavor in works to create ‘Middle College’.

A first for linking foster youth and academics

The Educated Guess

A first-of-its-kind statewide longitudinal study comparing students in foster care with similar students who were never in the foster system is underway, using a unique linking of data systems that protects students’ privacy while identifying the barriers to academic success for foster youth. Of the more than 59,500 foster youth in California, about 37,000 are school […]

via A first for linking foster youth and academics – by Kathryn Baron.

Senate Introduces Bill Limiting Restraints, Seclusion

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.

via Senate Introduces Bill Limiting Restraints, Seclusion.

“Success courses” could help community college students reach academic goals

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.