Education News Roundup: July 23, 2012

By Mark Peterson, on July 23rd, 2012

: “50th Woking Drama Festival 2008″ by PT Moore/CC/flickr

Today’s Top Picks:

Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance opens a campaign against Utah’s move to take federal land.
http://goo.gl/6On2J (DN)

Trib previews the new Pioneer High School.
http://goo.gl/OQuHO (SLT)

When ENR reads about people like Skyline High’s Anisa Mughal, he is reminded of a quote (slightly altered to fit ENR’s circumstances) from Tom Lehrer: “It is a sobering thought to consider that by the time Mozart got to be my age, he had been dead for 16 years.”
http://goo.gl/FvhC0 (DN)
and http://goo.gl/4nQHS (KSL)

Are district central office duties now be handled by principals?
http://goo.gl/o4znV (Ed Week)

ENR will be off doing something pioneerish tomorrow and the roundup will return on Wednesday.

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TODAY’S HEADLINES
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UTAH

Public lands war heats up between SUWA, Gov. Gary Herbert

New Utah arts charter school will offer mix of class time, online study Most charters strive to offer an experience that differs from traditional schools.

Teenager’s key to success: Prepare and work hard

ACLU of Utah Sounds Alarm Over Student Privacy

Utah County School Teaching Life Skills

Santaquin’s book club strengthens reading skills in children

Wasatch school district should cut $5 Million, taxpayer association says

Logan High names new vice principal

Children evacuated to fire station after chemicals were detected in school

Public invited to forum on gay teens

United Way of Salt Lake to launch annual back-to-school campaign

Youth scholarship golf tourney in August

She helps kids learn skills, feel special

Middle School Survival Guide Challenge No. 2: Acquiring new academic tools

Middle School Survival Guide, Challenge No. 3: Addressing Social Concerns

Study says kids today play less but imagine more than their counterparts from 1980s

OPINION & COMMENTARY

My sister finally told me her secret

Church, schools thankfully leaving seminary issue be

Diff’rent strokes for diff’rent folks . . . even Tiger Moms and Koala Dads

Weakening education

It’s not kindergarten

Feelings on Common Core

Coercive Common Core

School buses don’t meet seat belt standard

91% of Teachers Have Computer Access

Parsing Performance Among Asian-Heritage Students

The Tennessee Story

10 Things in School That Should Be Obsolete

Cleveland’s Education-Reform Plan
A bipartisan law may save the city’s failing school district.

Private Equity, Professional Training Dominate 2012 Education Deals

Can Technology Fix Education?

English teacher: I was wrong about “Hunger Games”
I urge my students to read smart new books. But it turns out that acclaimed literary fiction isn’t better than YA

NATION

Job Roles Shifting for Districts’ Central Offices

Judge: SoCal district improperly rejected petition

To boost test scores, schools clamor for a horseman’s advice Dennis Parker, who is also a former teacher and state education administrator, says he’s helped improve student test scores in about 90% of the schools that have consulted with him.

Senate candidate Clark Durant paid more than $500,000 for Cornerstone Schools work

Florida college must identify complaining student

News Corp brands education business Amplify

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UTAH NEWS
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Public lands war heats up between SUWA, Gov. Gary Herbert

SALT LAKE CITY — The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance is on the attack, launching a high-profile campaign against Gov. Gary Herbert over his so-called public lands “grab.”
The environmental group took out full-page advertisements in both of Salt Lake City’s daily newspapers last week and plans to air radio spots and go door-to-door to spread its anti-Herbert message.
Referencing HB148 sponsored by Rep. Ken Ivory, R-West Jordan, the ad says Herbert signed legislation requiring the federal government to hand over more than 30 million acres it manages in Utah.
“But how could Utah afford to manage those lands?” the ad asks. “Right now, the state government can barely afford to keep our state parks open.”
Instead of focusing on messages such as preservation or conservation of the land, SUWA asserts such an action would be a financial catastrophe that residents can ill afford.
http://goo.gl/6On2J (DN)

New Utah arts charter school will offer mix of class time, online study Most charters strive to offer an experience that differs from traditional schools.

American Fork » Derryl Yeager hears a chronic complaint from parents whose kids take dance classes: After a full day at school, tired students devote several more hours in the evening to developing their talent.
His conversations with parents led the artistic director and founder of Utah’s Odyssey Dance Theatre to team up with several other artists to launch one of Utah’s eight new charter schools — Pioneer High School for the Performing Arts.
“I’ve seen so many kids get burned out along the way,” Yeager said. “I had wanted to start a performing arts high school for many years, but I didn’t want to deal with the academic stuff. I knew what to do with the kids performing arts-wise, but it seemed too overwhelming to me [to start a school].”
He changed his mind after learning about Lincoln Interactive, an accredited online curriculum for kindergarten through 12th grade. By offering core classes such as math, science, language arts and social studies online, Yeager realized he’d be free to develop a curriculum of electives for dance, drama and music.
Pioneer High School will contract with Pennsylvania-based Lincoln Interactive to handle core classes. The company’s teacher facilitators will evaluate student assignments and answer questions through email and discussion boards. Facilitators teach courses via video and webcasts.
http://goo.gl/OQuHO (SLT)

Teenager’s key to success: Prepare and work hard

SALT LAKE CITY — You won’t catch this teenage girl wasting time.
A 4.00 GPA, a perfect score in the math portion of her SAT, near perfect on the ACT and a No. 1 ranking in her class of 465 is just the beginning.
Her skill as a middle blocker for Skyline High School’s volleyball team in East Millcreek brought interest from MIT’s volleyball coach. But her qualifications in academia could have landed her there without the volleyball, if she wasn’t aiming higher.
Anisa Mughal, 18, already has enough experience on her resume to make most adults scratch their heads and ask, “What am I doing with my life?”
Mughal was recently named national Youth of the Year by the National Exchange Club, the century-old organization dedicated to community service.
She was named the 2012 General Sterling Scholar for the Wasatch Front Region back in March, and found out a month later that she was one of 10 students accepted to the Univeristy of Pittsburgh’s School of Medicine, a prestigious program that begins her march to a career in medicine when she enters the program as a freshman.
http://goo.gl/FvhC0 (DN)

http://goo.gl/4nQHS (KSL)

ACLU of Utah Sounds Alarm Over Student Privacy

The American Civil Liberties Union of Utah says Utah schools aren’t doing enough to protect students’ privacy. Legal Director John Mejia says students who take the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery or ASVAB exam are having their information released to the military without their parents’ knowledge.
“Currently the system is that the schools are the ones that elect how the information is given to the military, and we’re concerned that the parents don’t have the final say in that,” he says.
The organization is urging the State Board of Education to adopt a policy that would require schools to select the option that only releases test results to students and their guidance counselors, not military recruiters.
http://goo.gl/XsQm1 (KCPW)

Utah County School Teaching Life Skills

It’s an intensive summer school for kids in Utah County, but it’s not about making up credits or getting a jump on the fall semester.
Instead, this school offers practical, beautiful instruction, for some remarkable students.
The school and it’s teachers intent is to teach life skills. Focusing on sensory techniques that many of us take for granted–listening to a sizzle, or knowing what a dash of pepper feels like, are things that will help the blind or visually impaired students of this school become independent.
They are students in the Alpine School District and they are visually impaired. They range from ages 5 to 17.
http://goo.gl/PSlDz (KUTV)

Santaquin’s book club strengthens reading skills in children

SANTAQUIN — Every month, children gather at the Santaquin Library for fun activities and to discuss their latest book club selection.
The library started the book club in May for children in grades two through six and has had several successful meetings. Last month, the Magic Tree House Book Club read “Ghost Town at Sun Down” and learned about life in the Old West. Sherri Schmidt, the Magic Treehouse Book Club leader, helped the children make key chains with beads and leather strapping. They sang songs about the Old West and made ghosts out of suckers.
http://goo.gl/UeX0S (PDH)

Wasatch school district should cut $5 Million, taxpayer association says

HEBER CITY — The Wasatch Taxpayers Association is calling on the Wasatch School District to cut $5 million in property tax revenue from its 2013 budget.
In a prepared statement, the association calls for increased fiscal responsibility and cites figures showing that property tax increases have outpaced student enrollment growth. The group also takes issue with increased administrative costs in the district.
“As the WTPA, we are eager to work with the Wasatch School District to remedy this oversight in being fiscally responsible to the patrons of the district they serve,” the statement reads.
http://goo.gl/U7LPF (KSL)

http://goo.gl/XjeQo (KUER)

Logan High names new vice principal

The Logan City School District announced Friday that Jill Lowe will round out the administration at Logan High School as the new assistant principal.
Lowe has served as the counselor at South Campus High School for the past three years, while also coordinating the LCSD’s Adult Education and Youth in Custody programs. She will replace Doug Snow, who is leaving the district for a mathematics teaching position at Mountain Crest High School.
http://goo.gl/6DLuB (LHJ)

http://goo.gl/d9IHq (CVD)

Children evacuated to fire station after chemicals were detected in school

SALT LAKE CITY — A group of schoolchildren was evacuated to a fire station Friday after chemicals were circulated into their school.
The Salt Lake Fire Department was called to the Intermountain Healthcare Child Development Center, 259 S. 500 East, around 1:15 p.m., on reports of a “chemical odor” in the air.
http://goo.gl/ThqGL (DN)

Public invited to forum on gay teens

OGDEN — A community open forum featuring nationally known experts on how families can work with gay teens to support them in school and prevent teen suicide will be held Thursday at the Ogden-Weber Applied Technology College business and technology building, 200 N. Washington Blvd.
The 7 p.m. forum will feature Dr. Caitlin Ryan, of the Family Acceptance Project, and Mitch Mayne, an openly gay bishop in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in San Francisco.
http://goo.gl/3cEw3 (OSE)

United Way of Salt Lake to launch annual back-to-school campaign

The United Way of Salt Lake is getting ready to launch its annual “Stuff the Bus” campaign to help provide some 5,000 children from families with low income with their back-to-school supplies.
Supplies will be collected throughout August, stuffed into backpacks and delivered to more than 20 United Way Neighborhood Centers serving children in need and their families in the Salt Lake City area.
Those who would like to donate supplies or volunteer for the campaign can sign up at uw.org.
http://goo.gl/V8YVE (SLT)

Youth scholarship golf tourney in August

OGDEN — The Ogden Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce will have its 9th Annual Golf Tournament at 9 a.m. Aug. 24.
The tournament will be at Mount Ogden Golf Course, 1787 Constitution Way, Ogden.
http://goo.gl/VESha (OSE)

She helps kids learn skills, feel special

Janice Jenkins was one of the first Foster Grandparents at the Head Start classroom at Rose Creek Elementary School, beginning in November 2011. She has a mix of children who she works with, some with physical disabilities and some just needing that extra bit of attention. Jenkins helps with the ABC’s, numbers and colors and fine motor skills.
“She is willing to give all the children extra attention and makes each one feel special,” said Vicki Jo Hansen, who oversees the program.
http://goo.gl/9stWC (SLT)

Middle School Survival Guide Challenge No. 2: Acquiring new academic tools

ST. GEORGE – While it may be summer now, school will begin soon enough. For St. George-area students who said goodbye to elementary school earlier this year, this fall represents the start of a critical transition to middle school.
Middle school means new beginnings, experiences and challenges. And while these changes —new friends, new teachers and new school environment — can be exciting, they also can be a bit unnerving for new middle-schoolers.
http://goo.gl/zlVLD (SGN)

Middle School Survival Guide, Challenge No. 3: Addressing Social Concerns

Study says kids today play less but imagine more than their counterparts from 1980s

Children today have less time for free play, but their imaginations are sharper than ever, according to new research from Case Western University in Cleveland.
In an analysis published in May 2011 in the Creativity Research Journal researchers found elementary school children in 2008 were significantly more imaginative and more comfortable playing make-believe than their counterparts in 1985 despite having less time for free play.
http://goo.gl/oFqtK (DN)

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OPINION & COMMENTARY
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My sister finally told me her secret
Deseret News commentary by columnist John Florez

It was only in the last few days of my older sister’s life that I learned the secret she and my older brother had kept from me.
They made a secret pact between them, when they were young, that they would teach me how to speak English so I would not have to go through the pain they went through as kids. She told the story about when they started school; they were taunted, called names by kids and scolded by teachers for not speaking English. They were called dirty Mexicans and stupid and would come home hurt and crying to my parents. They decided they were not going to let that happen to me.
They were partly right, I did not endure the great pain she described, but did not escape the taunting and hurtful names I was called.
http://goo.gl/0XH6p

Church, schools thankfully leaving seminary issue be
(Logan) Herald Journal commentary by columnist Mike Wennergren

I’d like to say I was shocked when a counselor at Sky View High School asked me whether I wanted to enroll in classes offered at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ seminary.
I already knew the LDS Church had a seminary adjacent to the high school when my family moved to Cache Valley from California in late 1969. But I didn’t find out until later that the school was giving academic credit for some of the seminary classes.
Although I was young and just formulating my opinions on politics and religion, it didn’t seem right. And it turned out it wasn’t right.
http://goo.gl/K4YFR

Diff’rent strokes for diff’rent folks . . . even Tiger Moms and Koala Dads Deseret News commentary by columnist Mary McConnell

I’ll continue throwing out suggestions for how Utah could most effectively spend its (inevitably limited) additional educational resources. But meanwhile, a debate over charter schools has been raging among the people commenting on this blog, and I can’t resist wading in.
Much of the argument centers on whether charter schools unfairly cherry pick students. It seems to me from the discussion, and from what I know of education law, that the answers are no, and yes.
http://goo.gl/WweMF

Weakening education
Salt Lake Tribune letter from Ann Johnson

Re “Common Core battle continues in Utah with dueling documents” (Tribune, July 12):
Opposition by the Sutherland Institute and other right-wing organizations to Utah’s voluntary participation in the Common Core curriculum puzzles me.
These groups offered free lunches to get legislators to listen to their spiel. Yet none of their complaints about the program being a federal takeover of Utah’s education system is supported by evidence. Why would a group of Utahns not support the adoption by Utah of more rigorous education standards for our students?
The protest against Bingham High School’s production of the death-row play “Dead Man Walking” is also puzzling (“Controversial play at Bingham High aimed at critical thinking,” Tribune, July 16). Months after the March production, the Eagle Forum produced five anonymous letters supposedly from Bingham parents objecting to the play.
http://goo.gl/8H5Gh

It’s not kindergarten
Salt Lake Tribune letter from Rick Edwards

The Utah Eagle Forum claimed that the play “Dead Man Walking,” recently performed at Bingham High, contained “inappropriate use of biblical teachings.” What? Who are they to judge? (“Controversial play at Bingham High aimed at critical thinking,” Tribune, July 16.)
A play about Martin Luther might have inappropriate biblical interpretations for Catholics, one about Jesus might include interpretations of Isaiah Jews would find “inappropriate,” and a play about Nietzsche could offend Christians. Should no high school do a play about Galileo’s theological fight with the Catholic Church or Socrates’ justification of suicide?
A play about a nun ministering to prisoners before their execution may include a theology about God’s redemption that some may quibble with, but that doesn’t mean the play’s flawed.
http://goo.gl/JPdDs

Feelings on Common Core
Deseret News letter from Kathleen Newton

In regard to C.K. Jones on Common Core.
It’s easy to dismiss those who disagree with you as conspiracy theory nut jobs. My children are no longer in public schools, but if they were, I would have serious concerns about Common Core. I don’t believe agenda-driven, federal bureaucrats are all-wise and all-knowing. (I mean, how many of us shudder at the thought of living under Obamacare?)
If I read statistics right, American children are at the bottom of the totem pole in educational achievement. Why would we want to perpetuate a losing system with more regulations? Why can’t we decide for ourselves what works?
http://goo.gl/aluJU

Coercive Common Core
Deseret News letter from Joy Pullmann

I know it can be hard to strike a neutral tone and treat fairly people who seem a little crazy. But it’s getting really irritating to see the Deseret News and other Utah outlets insist on describing Common Core education standards as “voluntary” (“Full house hears panel’s criticism of Common Core,” July 10). There actually is a debate over how voluntary the standards were for states. The paper unfairly takes sides when it editorializes in what is supposed to be a straight-news report.
http://goo.gl/vzPB2

School buses don’t meet seat belt standard Deseret News letter from Barbara Jenkins

The law covers regulated child safety measures for children traveling in automobiles. Why is it that school buses do not have seat belts for the children they regularly transport? If it is a critical issue in one place — it seems to me it would be good for it to be a standard in both places.
http://goo.gl/jzA12

Sunday Dialogue: Improving Our Schools
New York Times commentary by Stephen Krashen, Richard Lee Colvin, Beth Skelton, Roland Legiardi-Laura, Henry Seton, Stacy Hawkins, Stephen T. Schreiber, John Ewing, Kimberly Carpender

Will a new set of standards and more tests help students?
http://goo.gl/ijaGr

91% of Teachers Have Computer Access
Mashable commentary by columnist Samantha Murphy

Remember when film projectors and PowerPoint presentations were considered cutting-edge in the classroom? As modern technology advances, so does innovation in schools across all levels.
In fact, about 91% of teachers in the U.S. have access to computers in the classrooms, according to data highlighted in a new infographic by Australian-based online course company Open Colleges. Mobile technology is also finding its place in education. About 81% of teachers believe tablets enrich classroom learning, and one in five students have used a mobile app to keep coursework organized.
Meanwhile, six in 10 students have used a digital textbook, up from just four in 10 in 2011. As these trends continue, e-textbooks are expected to make up 11% of textbook revenue by 2013. Staying connected is top of mind at many U.S. universities — about 51% said they viewed wireless upgrades as a tech priority in 2011 and 2012.
http://goo.gl/cdNrJ

Parsing Performance Among Asian-Heritage Students Education Week commentary by columnist Lesli A. Maxwell

Asian-American students, on most academic measures, come out on top—whether it’s standardized test scores, graduation rates, college-going, or college-degree completion.
But educators and advocates know that the performance of Asian-American students is a far more complex story, albeit less acknowledged, or even ignored, in education and policy discussions about closing achievement gaps. The oft-cited data for Asians, of course, lumps a large and diverse group of students into a single category that looks uniformly successful.
But officials in the U.S. Department of Education are obviously thinking about this issue. They recently issued a call to the education field soliciting information about “practices and policies regarding existing education data systems that disaggregate data on Asian-American student subgroups.”
In other words, the Ed. Dept. is looking to find out whether any schools, districts, state education agencies, and colleges or universities are taking a finer-grained look at Asian students in a way that reveals a far more diverse and nuanced achievement picture.
http://goo.gl/gkWdA

The Tennessee Story
Huffington Post commentary by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan

For the last four years, the Obama administration has provided funding and incentives for states to help build a teaching profession that is both respected and rigorous. Today, we’re starting to see that investment pay off — in expanded collaboration among teachers and improved performance among students. More teachers today are treated as true professionals, instead of as interchangeable cogs in an educational assembly line. Exhibit A: Tennessee.
Tennessee — one of the first two states to win a federal Race to the Top grant — recently released an important report on the first year of implementing its new teacher evaluation system. The report found that after one year, Tennessee’s students made their biggest single-year jump in achievement ever recorded in the state. That is a remarkable accomplishment.
http://goo.gl/e8lUK

10 Things in School That Should Be Obsolete MindShift commentary by Greg Stack, an architect for NAC Architecture

So much about how and where kids learn has changed over the years, but the physical structure of schools has not. Looking around most school facilities — even those that aren’t old and crumbling – it’s obvious that so much of it is obsolete today, and yet still in wide use.
http://goo.gl/tW3Mf

Cleveland’s Education-Reform Plan
A bipartisan law may save the city’s failing school district.
National Review commentary by Harry Graver, editorial intern

Twenty twelve has not been a banner year for teachers’ unions. From California to Illinois to New Jersey, unions across the country have been threatening strikes, combatting legislation, and kindling protests in response to attempts by governors to reform their states’ public-education systems.
With the images of teachers storming the capitol building in Madison, Wis., still fresh, you might think the chances of finding common ground between unions and reformers in other states would be slim. But legislation passed earlier this month in Ohio suggests compromise is possible. The deal — struck between Republican governor John Kasich, Democratic mayor of Cleveland Frank Jackson, and a bipartisan group of local officials, businessmen, and, yes, even the local teachers’ union — is an impressive, encouraging break from the trend of conflict and stalemate.
The Cleveland Plan for Transforming Schools puts in place a series of comprehensive reforms that drastically reshape the city’s failing school system.
http://goo.gl/Ovgwz

Private Equity, Professional Training Dominate 2012 Education Deals Education Week commentary by columnist Jason Tomassini

K-12 technology leads all sectors of education in number of mergers and acquisitions so far this year, with private equity firms continuing to figure prominently in the new education landscape, according to a new report. But the largest sums of money were reserved for professional training companies, perhaps owing to the uncertain landscape in public and higher education. Across education, there were more transactions in the first half this year than last, but the amount of money exchanged in those deals is down, from $6.23 billion to $1.65 billion.
Those numbers come courtesy of Berkey Noyes, an investment-banking firm based in New York City that releases biannual reports on mergers and acquisitions in education. Of the 126 deals so far this year, 24 were in K-12 education technology and media, while 12 came in K-20 services and five in K-12 institutions.
Most notably, Archipelago Learning, which provides Web-based assessment and learning tools, merged with education technology company PLATO Learning, in a transaction worth $291 million. One of the highest-profile and controversial acquisitions was learning management system company Blackboard Inc.’s purchase of Moodlerooms and NetSpot, two open-source platforms for education software.
http://goo.gl/IeSCo

A copy of the report
http://goo.gl/Cs7DY

Can Technology Fix Education?
PC Magazine commentary by columnist Michael J. Miller

Of all the areas of the economy that technology can shake, education seems the most ready because many students aren’t getting the attention they deserve. At a panel at Fortune Brainstorm Tech last week, there were a lot of different opinions on what’s wrong with education and what should be done.
“The need for education has never been greater,” said Tony Miller, deputy secretary and COO of the US Department of Education, opening a panel on education innovation. The unemployment rate is at 13 percent for high school dropouts and 8.5 percent for high school graduates, but only at four percent for college graduates. Wages have been directly correlated with education. Two-thirds of all new jobs will require advanced degrees, Miller said. He admitted, though, that the situation is more challenging now, when only 55 percent of the people who attend college graduate in six years or fewer and only 25 percent of community college students graduate.
Stanford professor Daphne Koller, founder of startup Coursera, argued that most of the higher education world does not use technology effectively. With Coursera, anyone can take courses from top universities because they are offered for free online. They include such things as homework assignments, feedback, peer-to-peer teaching, and grading, and the universities often offer a certificate of completion, rather than just a degree.
Koller mentioned that students can answer other students’ questions using social networks and this can lead to people forming study groups online.
A number of other entrepreneurs also discussed their ideas.
http://goo.gl/m1cZK

English teacher: I was wrong about “Hunger Games”
I urge my students to read smart new books. But it turns out that acclaimed literary fiction isn’t better than YA Salon.com commentary by Brian Platzer, a writer and teacher in New York City

As an eighth-grade English teacher, I spend a lot of time convincing my students that they’ll benefit more from studying Elie Wiesel’s “Night” than Suzanne Collins’ “Hunger Games.” While the former depicts complex psychologies with nuanced language, I explain, the latter is genre fiction that consists of nothing more than a tight plot. Collins’ pacing (What does Katniss want and how does she go about getting it? Now, what does she want and how does she go about getting it?) may be brilliant and her books entertaining, but her prose doesn’t provide us with an opportunity to exercise our critical muscles.
With so many adult readers of the Harry Potter, Twilight and Hunger Games series, journalists are more frequently asking the question, What, if anything, separates literary fiction from genre fiction in general and young adult fiction specifically? It’s a question that was academic for me until one of my students — let’s call him James — asked me what work of adult “literary” fiction — finger quotes, his — he should read this summer. I mentioned Chad Harbach’s “The Art of Fielding.” Though I hadn’t read it yet, I’d scanned a dozen reviews extolling its virtues. James is a baseball player, and the novel is about baseball. After checking with a local librarian to make sure there was nothing too inappropriate for a rising high school freshman, I borrowed it and lent it to James. What could go wrong?
As it turned out, nothing. James loved it. He emailed me last week to report that he couldn’t stop turning the pages. But he still didn’t understand. Why was “The Art of Fielding” more “literary” than “The Hunger Games”?
Planning on citing Harbach’s linguistic gifts or the complex relationship between his characters, I read the novel carefully; then I re-read it; and I still don’t know how to answer James’ question.
http://goo.gl/8M6jw

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NATIONAL NEWS
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Job Roles Shifting for Districts’ Central Offices Education Week

As “chief talent officer” for the Hartford, Conn., school district, Jennifer Allen finds herself in a different role from many central-office personnel who work in human resources.
Rather than serve as a conduit for flowing district policy to school principals, who are then expected to act on those centralized decisions, Ms. Allen and her team in the 20,000-student district help principals learn how to best exercise autonomy in their schools, from making staffing decisions to figuring out instructional priorities to determining if there’s enough money in the school’s budget to buy a van for after-school activities.
In her position, power doesn’t come from a title, Ms. Allen said. It “comes from providing a service that principals decide they need.”
Jennifer Allen: Central-office power comes from providing a service that principals need. Like Hartford, districts around the country are shifting responsibilities that once rested at the central office to principals, who may be operating magnet schools, charter schools, or neighborhood schools with varying levels of autonomy, all under one school system umbrella. These new-breed “portfolio” districts also require new thinking at the central office, where administrators once used to command, control, and compliance are now just one of many potential sources principals can tap for professional development, curriculum assistance, or help analyzing student data.
http://goo.gl/o4znV

Judge: SoCal district improperly rejected petition Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — The effort to have parents drive school reform received a substantial boost with a court ordering a San Bernardino County school district to accept a parent petition demanding changes at a failing elementary school.
The case is seen as an important test of California’s so-called “parent trigger” law, which allows parents to force reforms at low performing schools through a petition signed by 50 percent of parents. The 2010 law was the first of its kind in the country and has inspired similar versions in several other states.
It also has also sparked fierce resistance from teachers unions and school districts, which have fought the first two cases in California. In the first case, Compton Unified School District successfully defeated a parent petition on a technicality last year in court.
In the closely watched second case, involving the Adelanto Elementary School District, the issue has centered on parent signature rescissions.
Superior Court Judge Steve Malone ruled late Friday that rescissions are improper, a key victory for parent reformers who have seen their petition drives undone by opponents mounting campaigns to convince signers to rescind their signatures.
http://goo.gl/UGfF7

On a ranch of willows and wild grass outside Sacramento, the cowboy cooed to his tawny mustang. Then he led Little Buck through basic commands — back up, step forward — and rewarded him with a biscuit.
Dennis Parker is a part-Cherokee trainer in rural Zamora, Calif., who sports a silver ponytail beneath his cowboy hat. But his recent demonstration was aimed at training a different breed grappling with far bigger tasks: educators under mounting pressure to raise students’ standardized test scores.
As a dozen educators watched, Parker explained that good relationships are key toward boosting achievement and that horses and humans both respond to similar strategies. Build rapport with friendly chatter. Gain respect by giving out tasks. And give treats not simply as rewards but just to be fun.
“Can you do that with your kids?” Parker asked. “It’s like training horses; you don’t break them, you teach them.”
As test results loom larger in myriad ways on campuses today, Parker, 66, is in hot demand as a school-turnaround guru. Melding years of classroom experience, academic research and motivational techniques, Parker has boosted student performance in hundreds of campuses in 14 states in which he has worked.
http://goo.gl/rd8of

Senate candidate Clark Durant paid more than $500,000 for Cornerstone Schools work Detroit Free Press

WASHINGTON — If Clark Durant is successful in his race for the U.S. Senate, he’ll have to take a huge pay cut.
That’s often the case with successful businessmen who give up lucrative careers for elected office but not necessarily for someone such as Durant, 63, who founded and runs the Cornerstone Schools, a system of independent nonprofit schools in Detroit.
Since 2004, Durant’s direct compensation has averaged nearly $450,000 a year — about 2 1/2 times the $174,000 a U.S. senator makes. His total compensation — averaging more than $500,000 a year — in some years has been more than the heads of prestigious metro Detroit schools, including Cranbrook, and charter networks elsewhere in the nation with far more students.
http://goo.gl/Qa2G9

Florida college must identify complaining student Associated Press via Orlando (FL) Sentinel

TALLAHASSEE — The identity of students who submit complaints about teachers to public schools, including colleges and universities, are public records and must be disclosed to citizens, a Florida appellate court ruled Thursday.
A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal said Gainesville-based Santa Fe College must release the name of a student who sent the school an email complaining about former math instructor Darnell Rhea’s classroom performance.
“Hot diggity dog,” said Rhea, who doesn’t have a lawyer and argued the case himself, when he learned of the decision from The Associated Press. “This is amazing.”
The appellate panel unanimously agreed with Rhea’s argument that the student’s name is not covered by state and federal laws granting confidentiality to education records because such complaints don’t directly relate to students.
Instead, they directly relate to teachers but only tangentially to complaining students, District Judge Stephanie Ray wrote for the panel.
http://goo.gl/05gEA

http://goo.gl/hYRvL (Inside Higher Ed)

A copy of the opinion
http://goo.gl/w3MeQ

News Corp brands education business Amplify Associated Press

NEW YORK — News Corp. is naming its grade school education business Amplify.
The unit, which is being spun off from News Corp. along with newspapers, brings together the student assessment software business Wireless Generation and partners it with AT&T.
Joel Klein, the former New York City schools who joined News Corp. in January 2011 to head up its education initiatives, will lead the company.
http://goo.gl/iYxdu

http://goo.gl/IRh2g (WSJ)

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CALENDAR
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USOE Calendar
http://tinyurl.com/5x9oh9

UEN News
http://www.uen.org

August 3:
Utah State Board of Education meeting
250 E. 500 South, Salt Lake City
http://www.schools.utah.gov/board/Meetings/Agenda.aspx

August 9:
Utah State Charter School Board meeting
250 E. 500 South, Salt Lake City
http://1.usa.gov/Axtt5K

August 14:
Executive Appropriations Interim Committee meeting
1 p.m., 445 State Capitol
http://goo.gl/E0hoC

August 15:
Education Interim Committee meeting
2 p.m.
http://goo.gl/8WODJ

Education News Roundup for February 17, 2012

Education News Roundup: July 11, 2012

Education News Roundup: Dec. 6. 2012

Education News Roundup: April 3, 2013