November 20, 2015
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November 20, 2015
Teaching, Leading, and Social Justice
Poll: California voters say state must take action to address teacher shortage
Louis Freedberg, EdSource
California registered voters regard the emerging shortage of K-12 teachers as a very serious problem and think that the state should be taking decisive action to rectify the situation, according to a poll commissioned by EdSource and the Learning Policy Institute.
How L.A.'s teachers are talking about Paris
Sonali Kohli, Los Angeles Times
By the time teachers understood the magnitude of Friday’s terror attacks on Paris, school was over, or close to it. So students throughout Southern California came to school Monday morning with a few questions.
http://www.latimes.com/local/education/community/la-me-edu-teachers-paris-20151116-story.html
Brown urged to ‘reaffirm the vision’ of funding law
John Fensterwald, EdSource
A team of researchers found that, two years into the state’s new school financing law, “nagging concerns” are tempering the enthusiasm that school districts and county offices of education have for the Local Control Funding Formula.
http://edsource.org/2015/brown-urged-to-reaffirm-the-vision-of-funding-law-lcap/90624
Language, Culture, and Power
“¿Qué es deportar?”: Teaching from students’ lives
Sandra L. Osorio, Rethinking Schools
I was sitting around a kidney-shaped table with Alejandra, Juliana, and Lucia, 2nd graders who had chosen to read Del Norte al Sur (From North to South) by René Colato Laínez. I read the book’s introduction out loud, which included the word deportado (deported). I asked my students: “¿Qué es deportar? ¿Ustedes saben qué significa?” (What is deported? Do you know what it means?) Lucia looked straight at me and said, “Como a mi tío lo deportaron”. (Like my uncle, they deported him.)
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/30_01/30-1_osorio.shtml
Teaching Spanish to the kids isn’t easy for second-generation parents
Leslie Berestein Rojas, KPCC
Like many of her clients, Palazzolo would like to enter her son in dual-immersion classes, in which native-speaker kids learn along with non-native speakers. But these can be hard to get into, Palazzolo said. Some school districts don't have them. In the end, much is up to the parents.
http://www.scpr.org/news/2015/11/17/55696/teaching-spanish-to-the-kids-isn-t-easy-for-second/
What’s the recipe for an effective anti-bullying policy?
Virginia Pelley, The Atlantic
A study published this month in JAMA Pediatrics suggests that anti-bullying efforts, including laws many states have passed in the past five years, appear to be helping the 20 percent of kids in the U.S. who say they’ve been bullied in the past 12 months.
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/11/anti-bullying-movement-schools/415398/
Access, Assessment, and Advancement
Elimination of high school exit exams leads to rise in LAUSD graduation rate
Adolfo Guzman-Lopez, KPCC
Driven by the end of the high school exit exam, the overall graduation rate for the Los Angeles Unified School District hit 74 percent, a new high, according to school district officials on Monday.
http://www.scpr.org/news/2015/11/17/55689/elimination-of-high-school-exit-exams-leads-to-ris/
Laurene Powell Jobs launches college-support program in Watts
Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times
Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple founder Steve Jobs and an important player in the funding of hotly debated education reforms in the U.S., is expanding her involvement in Los Angeles schools. Her organization, College Track, announced last week it will support dozens of students attending Jordan High School in Watts through a program designed to help them prepare for college and then earn a degree.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-laurene-powell-jobs-program-in-watts-20151115-story.html
What are teachers’ and school leaders’ major concerns about new k-12 state test?
RAND
This report focuses on educator perspectives about state testing programs; upcoming reports will also address teacher capacity and the supports provided to teachers to implement standards and assessments.
http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR1294.html
Inequality, Poverty, Segregation
Dedicated teachers can’t provide the whole answer, says Newark’s mayor
Ras Baraka, The Hechinger Report
In the 21st century, meeting every child where they are requires a comprehensive strategy that addresses their social and health needs, embraces the cultural diversity they bring to school, ensures they have the opportunities they deserve, and supports school leaders and staff, all while engaging our children in critical thinking and learning.
http://hechingerreport.org/dedicated-teachers-cant-provide-the-whole-answer-says-newarks-mayor/
Your school shapes how you think about inequality
Meg Anderson, NPR
Ask yourself this question: Were you aware of inequality growing up? Your answer may depend in part on where you went to high school. Students at racially diverse schools, particularly black and Hispanic students, are more tuned in to injustice than students going to school mostly with kids that look like them.
Segregation in city schools could get worse with new strategy
Mario Koran, Voice of San Diego
In 1977, a Superior Court judge found 23 San Diego Unified schools to be so racially isolated they deprived black and Latino students’ equal rights to a quality education. He ordered the district to desegregate its schools. Nearly 40 years later, with one possible exception, Latino and black students are isolated at every school left on the original list.
Public Schools and Private $
LA charter debate offers opportunity to devise ways to ensure all schools succeed
Pedro Noguera, EdSource
The proposal by the Broad Foundation to significantly increase the number of charter schools in Los Angeles over the next 10 years is being discussed and scrutinized by policymakers and the general public. It should be. If approved by the school board, the proposal could radically alter the face of public education in Los Angeles.
Nonprofit is formed to advance charter-school plan in Los Angeles area
Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times
Backers of a plan to greatly expand successful charters and other high-quality public schools in the Los Angeles area have formed a nonprofit organization to move the effort forward, The Times has learned.
http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-charter-nonprofit-20151118-story.html
L.A. Unified explores possibility of becoming an all-charter district
Zahira Torres, Los Angeles Times
Converting the nation’s second-largest school system into an all-charter district is a long-shot—one that requires state approval and support from a majority of teachers. But members of the Los Angeles Unified Board of Education said they were exploring all options -- even those that are unlikely -- as the district contends with a charter school expansion plan spearheaded by the Broad Foundation.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-la-unified-all-charter-district-20151116-story.html
Other News of Note
New era near for No Child Left Behind
Lauren Camera, US News & World Report
The House and Senate are poised to consider an overhaul of No Child Left Behind in the coming weeks, setting up the possibility of delivering a new law to the president's desk before the New Year.
Just News from Center X will be taking off the Thanksgiving
holiday.
Look for our next roundup on December 4th.
Just News from Center X is a free weekly education news blast edited by Jenn Ayscue.
