School Notebook

The education page over at MSNBC.com has this very interesting feature about a fascinating new way that some colleges are trying to attract students: By designing ads aimed specifically at sought-after pupils.

And by "specifically," I mean, like, to the name. Literally.

Among the kids included in the story are 18-year-old Nicole Pollock, of Pennsylvania, whose name, in an ad campaign by Wilkes University, was "plastered ... on billboards, pizza boxes and gas pumps -- and even aired a commercial on MTV -- in hopes of getting her to enroll. As one message put it: "We just hope you're on your way to Wilkes University next year."

Wow! Imagine driving down the highway and seeing your name on a billboard, begging you to attend some fancy school.

So far it sounds like this new technique is more or less unique to Wilkes University, but it can't be long before other schools follow suit to some degree, right? Let me know if you hear of such a thing happening anywhere around here.

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 5:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This story is from Monday's Washington Post, but I just now came across it and, as per my headline, all I can say is OMG.

It's about young teachers with provocative Facebook pages and the related implications. As reporter Ian Shapira writes, "In states including Florida, Colorado, Tennessee and Massachusetts, teachers have been removed or suspended for MySpace postings, and some teachers unions have begun warning members about racy personal Web sites. But as Facebook, with 70 million members, and other social networking sites continue to grow, scrutiny will no doubt spread locally."

It's intriguing and not a little cringe-inducing. Enjoy.

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 5:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Rock Around the Block, an annual fundraiser of the Wiseburn Education Foundation, the body that itself raises funds to help support programs of the Wiseburn School District, is ready to roll for tomorrow.

Being held this year at the brand-new Dana Middle School campus, at 5330 W. 135th St., in Hawthorne, the events offers a smorgasbord of family fun, from train rides and face painting and a live Nintendo Wii competition to live music, bingo and food.

The festivities start at 9 a.m. and run until 2 p.m. Enjoy!

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 3:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Memories, of the way we were...

Ahhh, memories, sights and sounds and images tucked away in the far reaches of our brains, now and then emerging out of nowhere to remind us of what once was, whether that once was was good, bad or ugly.

Starting today, I'll finish every Friday with a memory of my own, dredged from that part of my own mind-bank where I've stored all my past experiences school-related, however remotely, so as to stay on topic, this being a school blog and all.

Since this is my first stab (and also since I'm eager to start my weekend -- TGIF!), I'll make my inaugural rehashing on the short side, employing as much brevity as possible (my intro is long enough, I know) in regaling you with my recollection of the first time I was forced to endure a school picture session.

It was in preschool, I was wearing a forest-green turtleneck and my hair was cut into something of bowl, though my bangs were somewhat squared off. And then there was that unfortunate cowlick that remains to this day.

A shy girl with a distaste for speaking to, much less interacting with, anyone other than my parents, my sister and select friends, I was, to put it mildly, extremely displeased when a strange man came at me with a comb -- pulled, by the way, from a large jar stuffed with the plastic contraptions, which at the time didn't occur to me but now that I think about it was very hygienically suspect -- then proceeded to instruct me to "smile pretty for the camera."

I did not comply. In fact, I went the opposite direction and, as I was often wont to do in my childhood (as I'm so frequently reminded, still, by my sister), I swallowed any semblance of a smile and instead shoved my bottom lip out as far as I could get it and settled into the poutiest pout you ever did see.

And I wouldn't budge, despite the photographer's pleas -- not to mention those of my teacher, who was there with the rest of my class, all lined up and awaiting their own closeups -- to please smile. Just once, please.

It was not to be. And so he took the picture of pouty preschooler Shellly, a picture that to this day hangs on the wall at my parents' house, forever reminding me -- with not a little pleasure, I must admit -- of the fiery toddler that was and how, as just wee 5-year-old (wait, are you 4 in preschool, or 5? I forget), I managed to so fluster a grown man.

Happy weekend, y'all. Send your own school memories to me anytime: shelly.leachman@dailybreeze.com.

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 5:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Oy.

EdWeek has a doozy today about the vexing problem now facing the Texas school system: What to do with all those many children, some 400-plus of them, recently removed from the polygamists' compound, the Yearning For Zion ranch, in Eldorado.

For now anyway, the state is sending school supplies and materials, and not a few teachers, to school the kids at the shelters housing them until all the legal wrangling is worked out.

Interesting.

You can access a chunk of the story here. You can read the whole thing by registering with the site, I do believe.

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 5:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

PBS recently featured San Diego-based High Tech High, an admission-by-lottery charter founded and run by business leaders and built on competition. The school is big on cross-curricular teaching, hands-on activities and entrepreneurship -- especially in the realms of science and technology.

Anyway, it's an interest report, and easy enough to read, being a transcript of the broadcast now posted online.

Enjoy.

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 3:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I received this press release today from Torrance's Riviera Elementary School, which has a number of activities ongoing related to Earth Day, upcoming on Tuesday, the 22nd. Such things include the decoration and distribution of paper grocery bags bearing eco-friendly messages.

Here you have it, from campus Earth Day coordinator and PTA member Karen Wheeler:

"This is to announce Riviera Elementary School’s participation in the fifteenth annual Earth Day Grocery Bag Project! The students have decorated paper grocery bags with environmental messages. On Earth Day, April 22, 2008, and continuing through the week, shoppers at Sprouts Farmers Market in Torrance can receive their groceries in the decorated bags.The people in our community will get a very clear and positive message that the students at our school care about their environment.

Other Earth Week activities at Riviera will include: a used book drive to support the struggling libraries of two public schools in Compton, plastic waste-free lunch days, and a walk-with-your-kid-to-school day. We invite you to contact us to find out more about the specific activities at our school and the commitment of our students to the issue of environmental education.

The Earth Day Grocery Bag Project is a grassroots, nonprofit, international educational effort coordinated on the Internet at www.earthdaybags.org. A report from our school will be added to the website, so others will know about our efforts. The project started in 1994, with 43 schools reporting the decoration and distribution of 13,000 Earth Day Grocery Bags. By 1999, the number of schools reporting in reached nearly 1,200, with students decorating almost 400,000 Earth Day Grocery Bags! Every report from all the previous years is on the website. There are also thousands of pictures of schools from around the world involved in this project."

Thanks for sharing, Karen!

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 6:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The New York Times has a cool feature today about this great nonprofit program that, as J. Courtney Sullivan puts, it "pairs high school girls from disadvantaged backgrounds who want to be writers with women who are authors, journalists, playwrights, poets and editors. The group produces an anthology of student writing each spring, and puts on several public readings."

Called Girls Write Now, it's about a decade old, but it's the first I've heard of it. Probably because it's a New York thing, oui? If you've heard of anything at all similar here -- outside of 826LA, with which I'm extremely familiar, having been a founding volunteer at 826Valencia in San Franciso -- let me know!

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 3:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ever on top of things, I just came across the following, fascinating story today, although it was actually published about two months ago. (Props and thanks to Alexander Russo's This Week In Education blog for alerting me.)

Appearing in New York Magazine and penned by San Francisco-based writer Po Bronson, the intriguing piece titled "Learning to Lie" examines a load of recent research into lying by kids -- when they start doing it, why they do it, what they do it for, etc. -- that suggests they're simply following in their parents' footsteps.

Here's a short sample:
"The most disturbing reason children lie is that parents teach them to. According to Talwar, they learn it from us. “We don’t explicitly tell them to lie, but they see us do it. They see us tell the telemarketer, ‘I’m just a guest here.’ They see us boast and lie to smooth social relationships.”

Disclaimer: It's a long, beefy read. Also it's pretty interesting stuff. You make the call, people.

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 1:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Leave it to MTV, great exploiter of adolescent angst and drama, erego disguised under a veil of "reality," vis a vis shows such as "Laguna Beach" and "Newport Harbor" and "My Super Sweet Sixteen," which all combined would have you think that today's teens are all about partying, hooking up, complaining to their parents and going to Cabo. They certainly, apparently, wouldn't be caught dead actually studying on camera.

Not that I would know, because of course I only watch PBS and C-SPAN (wink, wink). But enough about my viewing habits.

The network that more or less originated reality TV with its landmark series "The Real World" is finally taking one of its teen-centered shows on campus. Premiering next week, "The Paper" puports to documents the inner workings of Florida-based Cypress Bay High School's newspaper, The Circuit, focusing especially on competition among juniors seeking to become the next editor-in-chief.

Find a show summary on MTV's website.

Cypress Bay High, FYI, is said to be the largest high school in the country, with some 5,300 students.

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As if you don't have enough to read already, I know, but Washington Post education writer Jay Mathews for the second year running has just released a list of his favorite education blogs.

His picks time around feature everyone from the cerebral (U of South Florida professor and Education Policy Analysis Archive editor Sherman Dorn, who Mathews places "among the great original thinkers of education wonkery") to the "contrarian," as he calls journalist-turned-author Joanne Jacobs.

I know what you're going to say: My school blog is the only one you need. Thanks so much, but I'm giving you permission to stray to some of these others, as long as you return here, too!

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Los Angeles Times today goes deeper into the current state of homeschooling in California, which is back in the spotlight since a recent legal ruling (since vacated, pending a re-hearing in the next few months) that only credential-bearing parents can teach their kids at home.

Seema Mehta features two South Bay families in her story -- the Torrance-based Brownings and the Curtos, whose kids who attend classes at Hermosa's Hope Chapel in addition to learn at home with mom Kym.

It's a good read, with a nice accompanying photo gallery online.

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 6:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In answer to the headline's question: Yes, they can and they do, says a Stanford professor who's been researching how human behavior is affected by their experience with avatars (you know, those virtual characters you can create online).

Jeremy Bailenson, an assistant professor of communications at the NorCal-based Ivy League school, tells the Chronicle of Higher Education this week that "Our virtual identity is not separate from our physical identity."

The magazine's feature goes on: "As the director of Stanford's Virtual Human Interaction Lab, Mr. Bailenson has explored ways that online behavior spills over to the real world. People assume that, if anything, online activities emanate from offline lives. But Mr. Bailenson and his colleagues have shown the reverse. Their experiments demonstrate, for instance, that people who watch their avatars — cartoonlike versions of themselves — gain weight from overeating are more likely to adopt a weight-loss plan in real life."

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 5:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Please, someone, tell me this is a joke. Please?

Third-grade teacher Jayne DeArmond, of Santa Ana's Diamond Elementary School, was arrested yesterday after some kids came across a gun in an unlocked supply cabinet in her classroom. The gun wasn't loaded, but guess what? There was some ammunition sitting right beside the weapon.

I don't even know what to say, which is totally uncharacteristic of me, trust.

The Los Angeles Times has a take today.

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 6:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I came across this cute story on MSNBC today, about a little kid who discovered an error on a display sign at the Smithsonian (which had apparently been there for decades, fyi), alerted the organization via a comment box and ultimately received a reply letter informing him the mistake was to be eradicated asap.

It's a fun read.

Check it out then tell me: Did you know what the Precambrian was when you were in fifth grade?

All I can remember from that time is doing a report on New Jersey that I'm sure was entirely based on information found in the "N" volume of that year's Encyclopedia Brittanica; finding it hilarious that there was a kid in class named Thor; and being elated when Joey Toler asked me to go with him.

But the Precambrian? No, I definitely do not recall learning anything about that. I'm not sure I even know what it is now!

Kids these days, I tell ya...

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 5:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Handed down from the communications office at LA Unified today, heads up of next week's scheduled earthquake drills at schools districtwide.

Is this where we get under our desks, or do the stop-drop-and roll? Oh wait, earthquakes, that's where we stand in doorways, right? As a native and lifelong Californian, who lived seven years in San Francisco in between forays to SoCal, you'd think I'd have this one down.

But enough about me. Here are the deets:

"LAUSD students will participate in the annual spring 2008 earthquake exercise drill designed to familiarize all students and staff with the safe school emergency response plan at their school. Earthquake drills will be conducted from April 7-11 and will include an inspection and testing of all district radio equipment.

This year students at three selected schools will be videotaped during the simulation drill. District administrators at the Office of Emergency Services plan to use the video to train staff and inform parents about what happens at a school during an emergency.

“We want to assure parents that schools are the safest place for their children,” said Superintendent David L. Brewer III. “Emergency drills are very important and a great way for the district to put safety plans in motion and affirm their effectiveness.”

Each district school has an emergency supply container located in a safe place on campus. These safety bins are stocked with water, first aid supplies and search and rescue equipment. Containers hold half a gallon of water a day for each person sheltered on campus for a three day period. In addition, school cafeterias store a three day supply of canned food. School site emergency supplies, fire alarms and sprinkler systems are also inspected regularly.

“Our office is dedicated to making sure that school staff, students and families are aware of the safety plans in place at their school,” said Bob Spears, Assistant Director of Emergency Services. “We cannot prevent an earthquake from happening, but we can make sure that our schools are well-equipped to serve our students and staff.”

'Nuff said.

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 4:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As I was wheeling around the South Bay this afternoon after interviewing folks at LAX (for our story about the sudden shut-down of ATA Airlines), trying to decide where I should stop for lunch, I tuned into NPR for my afternoon news fix.

Almost as soon as I turned my radio on, a correspondent named Dan Collins launched into a report from Lima, Peru, where apparently all teachers are now required to take an annual "National Teachers Exam."

Of 180,000 educators who took the most recent test, Collins said, 95 percent failed. You heard that right. 95 percent. Failed. Ouch. Now that's gotta hurt.

The results have been characterized as "appalling." No duh.

However, as with all standardized tests everywhere, this one as well is controversial, with one camp calling it an inadequate measure of teacher competency and another saying, essentially, that it's the teachers who are inadequate, not the test.

One teacher interviewed on air by Collins decried the fact that the exam is given at all -- apparently it's a new thing in the country's effort to improve education there -- saying that Peru's powers that be aren't invested enough in educating educators and that teachers get "low pay and poor training."

Sound familiar?

A similar source went on to say: "More needs to be done to give Peruvian students the education they deserve."

Now, where have you heard that before?

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 3:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hey all you stay-at-home types, this should make you happy: I heard today that the recent appellate court ruling that rankled the homeschooling community for declaring that parents who teach their kids en casa will have to have teaching credentials has been vacated.

A rehearing is reportedly pending in the next few months, possibly as soon as June, according to the Pacific Justice Institute.

Of course the state Department of Education had already told parents to remain calm, assuring them that the ruling would not be enforced until the battle is fully fought ... but still, those folks must feel pretty good today, and optimistic that the law will ultimately find in their favor.

We shall see! Knowing the legal system, we won't see for quite a while... but someday, homeschoolers, someday.

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 5:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I just found a solid tidbit out of South Bay-adjacent Long Beach in my overzealous junk mail filter. (Don't you love those things? They frequently filter out what you want yet sometimes send through offers for services that should remain unspecified on a school-centered blog. Go figure.)

Anyhoo, perennial Broad Prize for Urban Education finalist Long Beach Unified is in the mix again this year, one of just five districts nationwide - and the only in California - competing for the $1-million in awards given annually to urban districts making the greatest progress in raising student achievement. The winning school system will get $500,000 for student scholarships; the four remaining finalists will each receive $125,000.

Up against Long Beach are Aldine Independent School District, near Houston; Broward County Public Schools, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Brownsville Independent School District, on the Texas-Mexico border; and Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

The awards will be announced Oct. 14 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

A finalist every year its been eligible for consideration, Long Beach actually won the kitty in 2003. Only one other California district -- Garden Grove Unified, in 2004 -- has ever won the top prize.

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 4:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Who doesn't love a little Chaka? Am I right?

Even the California Science Center loves them some Chaka Khan, trumpeting as they did today her expected visit there tomorrow with a group of schoolkids from Watts and Compton to help celebrate the one-millionth visitor to the "Body Worlds" exhibit (you know, that fascinating show that features some 200 actual human bodies and body parts?).

The event is a good fit for the "I Feel For You" singer (she also originated "I'm Every Woman" in a version that totally predates Whitney Houston's, FYI), who has an eponymous foundation dedicated to assisting at-risk women and children with a particular focus on education and autism.

Chaka Believes, a program of the Chaka Khan foundation, works with middle school students in LAUSD's Local District 7 in the Watts and Compton area. Targeting kids in at-risk communities, Chaka Believes aims to help them raise their achievement levels in school and go on to college by providing scholarships and workshops for students and parents alike.

You go, Chaka.

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 2:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Anyone planning to attend the Milken National Education Conference being held Sunday at the Westin Bonaventure downtown?

The goal of the event is being billed as: "to increase the nation's focus on high-quality teachers for every classroom in America."

The U.S. Department of Education is promoting the appearance of so-described "Bush education official" Kerri Briggs, who will participate in a panel discussion entitled "Measuring Teacher Effectiveness: Understanding and Implementing Teacher Assessments.” The talk will focus on "successful policies and programs that measure teacher effectiveness, including skills, knowledge and responsibilities, and their impact on improving the learning environment," a department press release says.

The Milken conference is being held in conjunction with the 8th annual National Teacher Advancement Program Conference.

If anyone goes, let me know next week what you learned.

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 3:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For several months now, Redondo Beach Unified School District has been printing its own monthly paper, School News, which features short reports, updates and commentaries by Superintendent Steven Keller, every principal in the district and an assortment of others with ties to the local school scene.

The current issue includes stories about Redondo Union's success in the recent Los Angeles County Academic Decathlon and the participation of 30 high schoolers in the city's Chamber of Commerce "Leader For a Day" event, plus advice on choosing the best camp for your kids.

Kudos, Redondo. Your paper seems like a great way to keep everyone in the loop about the myriad goings-on districtwide.

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 4:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

How I'm suddenly coming across all these education stories from abroad I don't know, but please bear with me while I tip you off to another, which, coincidentally, has to do with bare-naked broads. It doesn't sound like a school story, I know, but it is, sort of.

Here's the deal: Parents and school types in Britain are up in arms about the burgeoning popularity among kids there of an online video game called "Miss Bimbo."

The upshot on this so-called game: Every player is assigned a naked virtual character to look after, cyber gals that they can enter in beauty contests and send out clubbing. They also take on "missions" for their characters that include getting breast implants, managing their weight with diet pills and finding them rich men to date.

Wow.

According to the Daily Mail, the game already has 200,000 registered players in Britain, most of whom are aged 9 to 16.

Double wow.

Needless to say, most adults are offput, to put it mildly, while the game's creators have taken a more it's-just-a-game-so-stop-freaking-out attitude.

Read all about it.

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 5:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So in my perusing the web today, seeking, as always, education-related nuggets to share with you lovelies, I come across this English-language paper out of China, the China Daily.

You know how we're always getting word of how much higher student achievement is there, how their work ethic is more intense and how they leave school far better prepared than kids here in our country?

Well guess what? They apparently don't see it that way. Not exactly anyway. China Daily has a story on its website today about a nationwide survey that revealed a "yawning gap between large investments in education and its returns."

In polling thousands of residents aged 16 to 60, of various levels of education, the study determined that only 16 percent of respondents felt they got their money's worth and that "those with higher education voiced greater disappointment at the quality of education received."

"Even with a master's degree, I failed to find a decent position in big companies," Mao Xin, a 26-year-old Beijing resident, told China Daily yesterday. "My textbook knowledge gave no advantage whatsoever in the competition."

Who woulda thunk?

You can read the whole story here.

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 5:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oh, those legislators!

Get this: There is a new bill now in the Senate Appropriations Committee that, if enacted, would "request the University of California to conduct a study to research the meaning of the term 'proficiency' in California and other states and recommend a definition of the term to the Legislature, the state Board of Education and the superintendent of public instruction ...," according to the California School Boards Association's latest newsletter.

Further, the state board "would be required to consider adopting the definition of proficiency recommended by the University of California ... and to report the accountability data to the U.S. Department of Education by Jan. 1, 2010."

The No Child Left Behind Act already appeared to be pretty well-loathed, in its existing form anyway, but really, if our politicians are considering drafting entire laws to define what even the word 'proficiency' means in the Golden State, it must be even worse than I thought!

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 4:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I just came across a link to this Baltimore Sun story today, despite its March 4 publication date, but it's interesting and well-worth a read if you have a few spare minutes tonight.

The piece stems from a survey of educators in Maryland's Howard County that found 60 percent of responding teachers report having been subjected to "harassing behavior" by parents.

I'm guessing the issue isn't limited to Maryland, even though this particular article is. Check it out.

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 5:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Any chance any of you had been followers of Glamour magazine's "Man Needs Date" blog? It was penned by a guy named Mike Cherico, a self-described "edgy English teacher" who is allegedly an educator somewhere in Los Angeles.

Alas, the glossy has recently canned Cherico due to an ongoing onslaught of complaints about him. See short items at Glamour and Gawker.

It always seemed odd to me that a teacher would be blogging his extremely personal details for, theoretically, anyone -- students included -- to read, but maybe that's taking a prudish view. Anyway, it doesn't matter now, I guess, with Cherico being shown the proverbial door.

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 5:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The New York Times website has an interesting story today that says many states report overly optimistic graduation rates to the feds, but use the real figures at home, altogether clouding our view of how bad the dropout problem actually is.

From the Sam Dillon-penned piece:

"Like Mississippi, many states use an inflated graduation rate for federal reporting requirements under the No Child Left Behind law and a different one at home. As a result, researchers say, federal figures obscure a dropout epidemic so severe that only about 70 percent of the one million American students who start ninth grade each year graduate four years later.

California, for example, sends to Washington an official graduation rate of 83 percent but reports an estimated 67 percent on a state Web site. Delaware reported 84 percent to the federal government but publicized four lower rates at home."

It's interesting; read it all if you have time.

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 3:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This one actually is for real: Ford Motor Company and ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" have joined forces on a new campaign, Educate to Escape, that will result in one lucky school landing a $250,000 green makeover.

A just-launched nationwide contest asks entrants -- whether students, parents, school staff and teachers or community members -- to nominate their schools by answering essay questions about why their campus deserves an eco-friendly makeover.

Green improvements made to the winning school will be largely contingent upon the winning essay and specific school needs, but eco-friendly solutions may include energy-efficient appliances, athletic fields made of organic/sustainable materials, vegetation roofing, solar paneling, Energy Star lighting and insulation, programmable thermostat and triple-pane windows.

In addition to the Educate to Escape green school makeover contest, entrants will have the opportunity to win a 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid in the Educate to Escape sweepstakes.

Entries are due by May 18, with the winner set to be announced in June. The actual makeover will be completed later in the summer.

To enter and for more information on the contest and sweepstakes, including official rules, go to www.educatetoescape.com.

“We integrated eco-friendly renovations into our entire season of makeovers on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” said Paige Hemmis of ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” “In the long run, thinking green reduces the amount of energy used as well as the costs associated with running old or inefficient appliances. Schools minding their money due to budget cuts may find that integrating eco-friendly renovations will cut their costs dramatically over time.”

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 4:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

All you teachers will appreciate this, it's been circulating around the web today and thanks, actually, to my mom, a now-retired, former public-school teacher herself, it made its way to me. CBS is not really plotting such a scenario, but imagine if they did.

Behold:

Have you heard about the next planned "Survivor" show?
Three businessmen and three businesswomen will be dropped in an elementary school classroom for 1 school year. Each business person will be provided with a copy of his/her school district's curriculum and a class of 28 - 32 students.

Each class will have a minimum of five learning-disabled children, three with A.D.D., one gifted child, and two who speak limited English. Three students will be labeled with severe behavior problems.

Each business person must complete lesson plans at least 3 days in advance, with annotations for curriculum objectives and modify, organize, or create their materials accordingly. They will be required to teach students, handle misconduct, implement technology, document attendance, write referrals, correct homework, make bulletin boards, compute grades, complete report cards, document benchmarks, communicate with parents and arrange parent conferences. They must also stand in their doorway between class changes to monitor the hallways.

In addition, they will complete fire drills, tornado drills, and [Code Red] drills for shooting attacks each month.

They must attend workshops, faculty meetings,and attend curriculum development meetings. They must also tutor students who are behind and strive to get their 2 non-English speaking children proficient enough to take the Terra Nova, Diagnostics and FCAT tests. If they are sick or having a bad day they must not let it show.

Each day they must incorporate reading, writing, math, science, and social studies into the program. They must maintain discipline and provide an educationally stimulating environment to motivate students at all times. If all students do not wish to cooperate, work or learn, the teacher will be held responsible.

The business people will only have access to the public golf course on the weekends, but with their new salary, they may not be able to afford it. There will be no access to vendors who want to take them out to lunch, and lunch will be limited to thirty minutes, which is not counted as part of their work day. The business people will be permitted to use a student restroom, as long as another survival candidate can supervise their class.

If the copier is operable, they may make copies of necessary materials before, or after, school. However, they cannot surpass their monthly limit of copies. The business people must continually advance their education, at their expense, and on their own time.

The winner of this season of Survivor will be allowed to return to their old job.

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 4:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Two area schools fared very well in the 22nd Annual LA County Regional Science Olympiad held this past Saturday, March 15, at Cal State Los Angeles.

Palos Verdes' Cornerstone Elementary took gold in elementary division, ranking first place out of 48 schools after competing in 20 different categories, including "A is for Anatomy," "Deep Blue Sea" and "Weather or Not?" Park Western Place Elementary, of San Pedro, snared second place.

In addition, Palos Verdes High School was among the top-five scorers in the high school category, according to preliminary results. Competing in 23 categories, such as cell biology, herpetology and remote sensing, PV ranked fourth in a total field of 33 schools.

For the full list of results for participating schools, click here. (Note: Division A is elementary, B is middle schools, C is high schools.)

For more information on the Science Olympiad, a 20-plus-year tradition here, visit their website.

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 3:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I missed this one yesterday, but I'm blogging it today for your reading pleasure: A Los Angeles Times piece that looks at parent-teacher conferences and how both parties navigate the recurring sessions that can at times be awkward and contentious.

An intriguing chunk from writer Carla Rivera's story: "Retired teacher Kristine Valentine recounted a session at Budlong Elementary School, south of Exposition Park, at which a woman, defensive about her son's poor classwork, refused to sit, towering over Valentine in an apparent attempt to put her at a psychological disadvantage.

When Klein taught at Jefferson High School in South Los Angeles, the mother of the ninth-grader was so fed up after hearing repeatedly of the teenager's disruptive exploits that she asked Klein not to call her anymore for conferences.

The relationship between parents and teachers has often been somewhat tenuous. But many educators say that today's so-called helicopter parents are not partners as much as hovering, overly protective defenders of their children. Parents, in turn, say many schools overemphasize test scores rather than the abilities of individual students. And some worry about college admissions, which have become increasingly competitive and anxiety-inducing."

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 4:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In taking my regular Monday cruise around various websites whose education coverage I enjoy, I found several things were posted over the weekend that are likely of local interest. Without further ado, a slough of links for your review:

From the New York Times:

1. A piece about the increased promotion of gap years, i.e., taking time off between high school and college rather than diving right in to upper academia.

2. This feature on a school slated to open in 2009 in New York City focuses on the charter school's promise to offer off-the charts teacher salaries: Teachers will earn $125,000 (yes, that's $125,000). And get this, administrators are paid less than teachers, with even the principal starting at $90K.

3. A good-news, bad-news piece about an expected coming decline in high-school graduates setting up easier entry to college for the kids who do make it to commencement.

Just two more things:

From the Washington Post, a short story on a study related to class-size that found smaller classes don't benefit all students.

And finally, and just for fun: From Slate magazine, a review of two new high-school focused reality shows. "High School Confidential" tracks students from their freshman year to graduation; "High School Reunion" brings together selected past classmates 20 years later -- and hopes for high drama, per the reality-TV way.

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 2:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A story being published tomorrow in Education Week, but online now at EdWeek.org, breaks down the differences, subtle though they may be, between the views on K-12 education held by Democratic nominee hopefuls, Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

The piece touches on vouchers and NCLB among other topics.

Check it.

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 5:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Another reminder for the education-interested in Torrance: In a public session Tuesday night, Torrance Unified district staffers will present a primer on the ever-bleaker-looking state budget and -- even more interesting -- recommend to district trustees a slew of cuts aimed at filling an estimated $9-million hole in its 2008-2009 budget.

The special session of the board is being held in the cafeteria at JH Hull @ Levy, presumably to make more room for public attendance. The school is located at 3420 229th Street in Torrance.

Torrance has the biggest money gap to fill locally (outside of LAUSD, of course), but look for nearly every district in the area, in the state actually, to soon start making such proposals of their own. Prediction: It ain't gonna be pretty.

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 4:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

PBS' "Nightly Business Report" in its Monday show this week that addressed what they called the "The New Business of Education." In a series of segments, they focused on the future of NCLB, educational technology, tutoring services, standardized testing, charter schools and educational investment opportunities.

There's some good information here, if you have some time to read. Transcripts of all the segments are available on the PBS website.

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 3:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

News from EdWeek: "Most of the nation’s elementary schools have added at least 75 minutes of instruction time in reading and mathematics each week—and often twice that amount—in the five years since the enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act, but many did so by skimming that time from the teaching of science, social studies, the arts, recess, and physical education."

That's according to an analysis released this week by nonpartisan researchers, The Center on Education Policy.

The Baltimore Sun has a good take on it.

Or see the whole study for yourself.

Interesting stuff.

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 3:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We're hearing more every day from our local districts about the big budgetary cuts for which they're bracing in the face of a massive state deficit that, via the Governator's recently introduced budget proposes to slash education funding by as much as $4 billion.

It appears several other states may soon suffer similar woes as California. An Associated Press story today says that about half of the states, in fact, are facing shortfalls come fall. The prediction comes courtesy of research group the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Get the 411 here.

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 5:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The actor Richard Dreyfuss has an essay in the current issue of Edutopia, in which he makes an impassioned plea for bolstering civic education in our schools, especially as America sits on the verge of its most hotly contested and tongue wagging-est presidential election in a long, long time. It's an interesting, things-you-know-but-may-not-have-said-so-eloquently kind-of read.

And it's available on the mag's website.

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 4:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There's a great story in the Chicago Sun-Times today about a magnet school principal who uncovered an application "rigging" ring: Several aspiring entrants to the esteemed Sabin Magnet falsely claimed to have a brother or sister already at the school, "a relationship that gave them a clear edge over other applicants," according to school officials quoted in the story.

A clerk at the school has been implicated as an accomplice in the wrongdoing.

It raises the question: Is this happening at other schools?

For the full skinny, read Rosalind Rossi's entire story.

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 5:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A just-released report gives California a bad review on the health and education status of the Golden State's children, finding there's been no real improvement on either count.

The California Report Card 2008 was published Thursday by the national advocacy nonprofit Children Now. It gives California a "C" for the number of children with health insurance, a "C-" for kindergarten through twelvth-grade education and a "D+" for childhood obesity.

Based on recent Census Bureau data as well as information from state agencies, research centers and professional journals, the report found that nearly 800,000 children in the state lack health coverage and that nearly 1 million do not have regular access to a doctor.

Among the study's other highlights:

*Only 65 percent of California's youth graduate from high school on time.
*One in three children in the state is overweight or obese.

Ouch.

Read the entire report here.

Posted by Shelly Leachman at 4:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Another intriguing read from the education staff at The New York Times, this time about MIT physics professor Walter H.G. Lewi