TIME Ideas: Why Third Grade Is So Important: The ‘Matthew Effect’

By Annie Murphy Paul

Take a guess: What is the single most important year of an individual’s academic career? The answer isn’t junior year of high school, or senior year of college. It’s third grade.

What makes success in third grade so significant? It’s the year that students move from learning to read — decoding words using their knowledge of the alphabet — to reading to learn. The books children are expected to master are no longer simple primers but fact-filled texts on the solar system, Native Americans, the Civil War. Children who haven’t made the leap to fast, fluent reading begin at this moment to fall behind, and for most of them the gap will continue to grow. So third grade constitutes a critical transition — a “pivot point,” in the words of Donald J. Hernandez, a professor of sociology at CUNY–Hunter College. A study Hernandez conducted, released last year by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, found that third-graders who lack proficiency in reading are four times more likely to become high school dropouts.

via Why Third Grade Is So Important: The ‘Matthew Effect’.

KCBS Radio Cover Story: Vallejo School Promotes Family Literacy Program

Dave Padilla

VALLEJO (KCBS) – The new school year has begun in Vallejo and officials are hoping a new program will help build the bond between parents and their children.

Dan Mini Elementary School is launching a Latino Family Literacy Program this year, to help parents bond with their children through books.

“A child’s first teacher is the parent. And a child’s first language is the language in which they feel the most confident,” said Dan Mini Principal Mary Dybdahl.

via KCBS Cover Story: Vallejo School Promotes Family Literacy Program.

KQED MindShift: Survey: Parents Prefer Reading Print Books to Young Kids

By

Don’t count print books obsolete just yet — especially when it comes to younger kids. A study released today by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center shows that even among parents who like reading e-books with their kids, the majority still prefer to read print books over e-books with their children.

The survey, which included 1,200 parents of children age 2 to 6, showed that, of those who owned iPads (462 in total), an overwhelming majority — 89.9 percent — said they read mostly print books and some e-books, compared to 7.5 percent who say they read print books and e-books equally with their children, and only 2.7 percent who read mostly or exclusively e-books.

via Survey: Parents Prefer Reading Print Books to Young Kids.

Vallejo Times-Herald: Vallejo’s Latino parents learn the benefits of reading to their children

By Irma Widjojo

About a dozen mothers, and a father, sat side by side at school tables Tuesday night, taking turns reading lines from a Spanish-English children’s book.

The parents were attending a Latino Family Literacy Project class. It’s a part of the Parent University offered by the Vallejo City Unified School District and Fighting Back Partnership.

In this program, parents are taught to use the book as a literacy tool for their children, Elsa Widenmann Elementary School Principal Pamela Hatter said.

via Vallejo’s Latino parents learn the benefits of reading to their ….

SCOE’s Facebook Wall: VUSD, SCOE, and McGraw-Hill invite you to a FREE professional development and networking literacy event!

Solano County Office of Education’s Facebook Wall

Vacaville Unified, SCOE, and McGraw-Hill invite you to a FREE professional development and networking literacy event! The Northern CA Literacy Consortium Meeting on Tuesday, September 25, at the VUSD Educational Services Center. Guest Speaker John Slagle is an expert in building academic vocabulary and student engagement. His recent work has centered around unpacking and operationalizing the Common Core State Standards. For more information: http://www.solanocoe.net/apps/events/2012/8/25/1223276/?id=0&REC_ID=1223276

via Vacaville Unified, SCOE, and McGraw-Hill invite you to a FREE professional devel….

SCOE’s Facebook Wall: Workshop on Tuesday, October 2, with Kathy Glass on Mapping ELA Instructional Units with the Common Core.

Solano County Office of Education’s Facebook Wall

SCOE and the CA Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development present a workshop on Tuesday, October 2, with Kathy Glass on Mapping English Language Arts (ELA) Instructional Units with the Common Core. Glass will highlight some major aspects of the ELA Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and will feature a comprehensive curriculum map template for a targeted unit using the ELA CCSS and the tenets of backward design.

For more information, go to: http://www.solanocoe.net/apps/events/2012/9/2/1223192/?id=0&REC_ID=1223192

via SCOE and the CA Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development present a….

SCOE’s Facebook Wall: Solano County students improve in 2012 STAR Test

Solano County Office of Education’s Facebook Wall
FAIRFIELD – Solano County students continue to demonstrate strong gains in English-language arts and mathematics, according to the results of California’s 2012 Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) test results. Approximately 48,400 Solano County students participated in the 2012 STAR program. The results were released to the public by the California Department of Education on August 31.

The STAR tests were administered in the spring of 2012 to all California public school students in grades 2 through 11. The tests were developed specifically to assess students’ knowledge of the California content standards. The State Board of Education adopted these standards, which specify what all children in California are expected to know and be able to do in each grade or course. Scores are used for calculating each school’s Academic Performance Index (API) and Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).

via Solano County students improve in 2012 STAR Test results

Achievement gap cont….

The Reporter: STAR results mixed in Solano County

By Richard Bammer/ RBammer@TheReporter.com

The 2012 Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) test results indicate a decidedly mixed report card for Vacaville-area schools on annual statewide exams in English, math, science and history, with Solano County results generally lower than statewide outcomes, according to data released by the state Department of Education.

Still, the results, made public Friday, mark the ninth straight year California students improved their overall performance on the tests, said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, noting the progress despite several successive pared-down education budgets.

Some 4.7 million students statewide participated in the testing program, with 57 percent scoring proficient or above in English-language arts and 51 percent scoring at proficient or above in mathematics, the highest percentage since the tests were fully aligned in 2003 to California’s content standards, which describe what students should know for each grade and the subject tested.

via STAR results mixed in Solano County.

Suisun City Patch: Solano County Students Improve on 2012 STAR Results

Solano County students continue to demonstrate strong gains in English-language arts and mathematics, according to the results of California’s 2012 Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) test results.

Approximately 48,400 Solano County students participated in the 2012 STAR program. The results were released to the public by the California Department of Education on August 31.

via Solano County Students Improve on 2012 STAR Results.

EdSource Today: Test scores rise, but achievement gaps persist

By Susan Frey]

Student performance on California’s achievement tests in almost every subject at almost every grade level by every ethnicity — despite recent cutbacks to education funding, according to 2012 STAR (Standardized Testings and Reporting)  results released by the California Department of Education today.

But a substantial achievement gap persists between low-income and higher-income students, and between African American and Latino students and their white and Asian peers.

Overall, 57 percent of the 4.7 million students tested proficient or advanced in English and 51 percent scored at least proficient in math — a substantial improvement since 2003, when the tests were first based on state standards and included in a school’s Academic Performance Index (API). In 2003, 35 percent tested proficient or better in both English and math.

via Test scores rise, but achievement gaps persist – by Susan Frey.

KQED MindShift: Can Texting Develop Other Writing Skills?

By

As more schools begin allowing students to bring their own devices and actually use them in class, the debate around the value of “digital writing” — texting, taking notes on mobile devices, tweeting, etc. — is heating up.

Some educators (and even a linguistic expert) believe kids who text are exercising a different, additional muscle when texting, writing, and note-taking — and that skill is actually adding to a student’s growing and changing repertoire.

“Children know that when you’re in school, you do not use texting language,” said linguistics expert Susana Sotillo, an associate professor at Montclair State University in an article in the North Jersey Record. “…No one is destroying the English language; the English language just keeps changing. It’s not a good idea to present change as a negative aspect.”

via Can Texting Develop Other Writing Skills?.

SCOE’s Facebook Wall: Teachers and administrators in charge of curriculum for grades K-9: Register today for Mapping English Language Arts Instructional Units with the Common Core.

Teachers and administrators in charge of curriculum for grades K-9: Register today for Mapping English Language Arts Instructional Units with the Common Core. For details, see the link below.

http://www.solanocoe.net/apps/events/2012/9/2/1223192/?id=0&REC_ID=1223192

via Teachers and administrators in charge of curriculum for grades K-9: Register tod….

Vallejo Times-Herald: Vallejo school board adopts new English development curriculum

The Vallejo school board adopted a new English language development curriculum Wednesday.

“It gives our students, in a nutshell, access to the core (curriculum),” said Porfirio Loeza, an English learner teacher leader for the Vallejo City Unified School District.

The new program, California Treasures English Language Development, comes after two years of piloting English language development curricula.

via Vallejo school board adopts new English development curriculum.

NPR News: Small Change In Reading To Preschoolers Can Help Disadvantaged Kids Catch Up

On a recent Monday morning in Washington, D.C., a group of 3-year-old preschoolers bumbled their way into a circle, more or less, on the rug of their classroom. It was time to read.

The children sat cross-legged as their teacher, Mary-Lynn Goldstein, held high a book, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. There was a short conversation about pigeons, then, for reasons that weren’t entirely clear, cows; and then Goldstein began to read. She read as most teachers read, occasionally stopping to ask a question, point out a picture or make a comment about the story.

In other words, it was a familiar scene — a scene that, on that very day, likely took place in every preschool classroom in the country. Preschool teachers do this, and have been doing it for decades.

“The thought was you read to children — that will make a big difference in how well they read later on when they’re in school,” says Anita McGinty, an education researcher who works at the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education. “That’s still probably the biggest message out there: Read to young children.”

via Small Change In Reading To Preschoolers Can Help Disadvantaged Kids Catch Up.

Daily Republic: Rolling Hills students devour books, join ‘Million Word Club’

FAIRFIELD — Eleven-year-old Royce Guo devours books at a pace that would make most people’s heads spin.

The Rolling Hills fifth-grader has read 125 books this school year, or 7.6 million words. Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” has approximately 587,287 words.

On Thursday, Guo had seven books stacked on his desk and another in his hands. He is currently reading three of them. Asked if he enjoys a specific genre, Guo chose a diplomatic response.

“I think all books are equally great,” said Guo, who said the only TV he watches is news.

Guo is part of the school’s “Million Word Club,” a schoolwide competition to see how many words the student body can read in one school year. Last year, the school set a goal of 200 million words and read 219 million. This year the school set its sights on 250 million words. As of Thursday, they were at 295 million and eyeing the 300 million mark.

via Rolling Hills students devour books, join ‘Million Word Club’.

Benicia Herald: BHS student newspaper to survive, go online

By Donna Beth Weilenman
Staff Reporter

Benicia High School will have a journalism class next year, but it will be combined with a Web design class, Janice Adams, Benicia Unified School District superintendent, said Tuesday.

“I believe there will be a total of 15 students, seven who signed up for journalism and eight who signed up for Web design,” she said.

Steve Gibbs teaches the journalism class and is the faculty adviser to the school newspaper, the Paw, that the class produces. He said he’ll be the instructor of the combined class next year, and a print version of the Paw will continue to be published.

via Student newspaper to survive, go online.

Benicia Herald: A Different Drummer: BHS Journalism Class Warm bodies

By Steve Gibbs

IF YOU’VE BEEN READING THE FRONT PAGE LATELY you know that high school journalism is on the proverbial chopping block for next school year because of low enrollment. After our Annual Elective Fair a few months ago, where classes campaigned for sign-ups for next year, our applicant list totaled seven students. Boing!

What’s with that? Seven signups? We usually have a dozen or more. We redoubled our efforts and got our numbers up to 15. It was still not enough to be pulled off the chopping block.

No one wants to cancel high school journalism. Also, it’s hard — but not impossible — to justify running a class with low enrollment. Schools, like any business, prefer to bring in more revenue than they expend. It’s simple business sense. We would all like to see journalism teeming with enthusiastic students.

via A Different Drummer: Warm bodies.

Benicia Herald: Benicia High School newspaper faces ax

By Donna Beth Weilenman
Staff Reporter

Benicia High School’s newspaper, the Paw, hasn’t missed an issue in more than 60 years, said Steve Gibbs, who teaches the journalism students who serve as the publication’s staff.

That may change next year, Gibbs said after receiving what he called “a sad, sad, sad, sad bit of news.”

He said Tuesday that a department chairperson told him Benicia Unified School District will cancel the journalism class and the school’s newspaper because only 15 students have enrolled.

via High school newspaper faces ax.

Benicia Herald: Staffers past and present promote Benicia High Paw

By Donna Beth Weilenman
Staff Reporter

The Paw’s future, however, came into question this week when the school’s journalism teacher, Steve Gibbs, said he was told Monday by Lisa Honeycutt, the English department chairperson, that the first period journalism class faces cancellation.

Too few students had enrolled in journalism, Gibbs said, and without the class he has no staff to write, edit and design the paper, or to sell the advertisements that make the Paw pay its own way.

via Staffers past and present promote Paw.

Daily Republic Letters: Will FSUSD children be able to use their school libraries?

Leslyn Skog
Librarian, Fairfield-Suisun School District Adult School

Davis

To the Fairfield community, including parents of Fairfield-Suisun students, are you aware of the severe cuts in access to school libraries that will result from recent budget cuts? How will this affect our students?

Three years ago, all trained librarians were cut from the elementary schools. The saving grace was that library techs, albeit with reduced hours, were allowed to keep those libraries open and accessible to children. They have done a remarkable job, costing the district little. Now two-thirds of the funding for those library techs is being cut. Volunteers are not allowed, by law, to take on these tasks. Considering the remaining number of tech hours, and the fact that textbook processing and distribution alone require quite a few tech hours, it is my guess that elementary libraries couldn’t possibly be open more than one day per week next year.

via Will your children be able to use their school libraries?.