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More than 2250 PA education
policymakers have the Education Policy Roundup from the Keystone State
Pennsylvania Education Policy
Roundup for July 15, 2013:
NY Times Editorial: The
Trouble With Testing Mania
NY Times Editorial: The Trouble With
Testing Mania
By THE EDITORIAL BOARD Published:
July 13, 2013 208
Comments
Congress
made a sensible decision a decade ago when it required the states to administer
yearly tests to public school students in exchange for federal education aid.
The theory behind the No Child Left Behind Act was that holding schools
accountable for test scores would force them to improve instruction for groups
of children whom they had historically shortchanged.
Testing
did spur some progress in student performance. But it has become clear to us
over time that testing was being overemphasized — and misused — in schools that
were substituting test preparation for instruction. Even though test-driven
reforms were helpful in the beginning, it is now clear that they will never
bring this country’s schools up to par with those of the high-performing
nations that have left us far behind in math, science and even literacy
instruction.
Pennsylvania rolling out new teacher,
principal evaluation system
By Sara K. Satullo | The Express-Times
on July 14, 2013 at 7:30 AM,
School
may be out for summer, but across Pennsylvania districts are gearing up for a
new teacher evaluation system that takes student performance into account.
This
fall begins a three-year roll out of the system, which was passed into law in
2012. Principals and specialists will be subject to the evaluations in 2014-15.
National schools facing failure of
black males
By
Mary Niederberger / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette July 15, 2013 12:15 am
Alan
Johnson, acting superintendent in the Woodland Hills School District, isn't
afraid to share his district's unflattering statistics regarding the lack of
academic achievement among African-American male students. At Woodland Hills, African-American males
make up one-third of the school population but account for 50 percent of the
dropouts. Of the 417 students in Advanced Placement classes, just 7 percent are
African-American and only a handful are members of the National Honor Society. In addition, at Woodland Hills, black male
students are 20 times more likely than white male students to be expelled.
Inquirer
Editorial: A failure of vision
POSTED: Sunday, July 14, 2013, 1:09 AM
It is tempting to call the inability of city and
state officials to resolve the Philadelphia schools' funding crisis a failure
of leadership. But it goes beyond that. A number of politicians showed
leadership in suggesting various solutions. But they lacked the vision to come
up with a long-range plan that might forever lift the fiscal uncertainty still
hanging over the district.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20130714_Inquirer_Editorial__A_failure_of_vision.html#tBKF1jTHZTZFysXJ.99
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20130714_Inquirer_Editorial__A_failure_of_vision.html#tBKF1jTHZTZFysXJ.99
“Other than a one-day
House session on Monday, the Legislature won't return to the Capitol until
Sept. 23. Analysts predict a brief window, through early October, to pass
controversial bills before lawmakers and Corbett begin to concentrate on 2014
re-election campaigns.”
Analysts hold little hope for liquor, transit bills
Analysts hold little hope for liquor, transit bills
Tribune-Review By Brad Bumsted and Kari Andren July 14, 2013,
10:50 p.m.
HARRISBURG — Linking a bill to raise money for transportation to one that would privatize liquor sales was supposed to be the key to their passage in the General Assembly. Instead, the strategy doomed both proposals, analysts and lawmakers say.
HARRISBURG — Linking a bill to raise money for transportation to one that would privatize liquor sales was supposed to be the key to their passage in the General Assembly. Instead, the strategy doomed both proposals, analysts and lawmakers say.
Read
more: http://triblive.com/state/pennsylvania/4331661-74/liquor-transportation-bill#ixzz2Z6e4dkUj
Pa.panel
tackles special-education funding formula
WHYY
Newsworks By Mary Wilson, @marywilson July 15, 2013
A
commission tasked with changing Pennsylvania's special-education funding model
has had its inaugural hearing. Education
professionals are calling on state lawmakers to keep additional requirements on
schools to a minimum as they address the formula seen by many as a drain on
resources. However, the panel can't do
anything about the fact that state spending on special education has been
frozen for several years. But what education professionals hope for is some way
to tie what they get in funding to what they actually provide in services.
Pa. awaits
fate on ‘No Child’ waiver
TribLive By Megan Harris Published: Sunday, July 14, 2013,
10:50 p.m.
Parents and students could get a more realistic assessment of their schools' strengths and weaknesses if Pennsylvania succeeds in becoming one of the last states to shed what some call the impossibly high standards of the federal No Child Left Behind law. The Department of Education told state leaders last week it would approve or deny their request by summer's end.
Parents and students could get a more realistic assessment of their schools' strengths and weaknesses if Pennsylvania succeeds in becoming one of the last states to shed what some call the impossibly high standards of the federal No Child Left Behind law. The Department of Education told state leaders last week it would approve or deny their request by summer's end.
Read
more: http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/4296703-74/waiver-education-pennsylvania#ixzz2Z6h72Rs0
Is a Title
I Funding-Formula Fight on the Horizon?
Education
Week Politics K-12 Blog By Alyson Klein on July 12,
2013 10:16 AM
If
a rewrite of the No Child Left Behind Act goes to the floor of the House next
week, look for a hot policy debate over ... funding formulas. (You thought I
was gonna say common core, didn't you? Well, probably that too.)
Advocates
for rural schools, including the American Association of School Administrators
and the Rural School and Community Trust, have long bemoaned the Title I
funding formula, which they say shortchanges rural areas because it takes into
account a district's population, and not just concentrations of poverty. Great
write-up by my former colleague David Hoff here.
Those groups have
found a champion in U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., whose western Pennsylvania
district loses out under the current formula. Thompson has teamed up with Rep.
Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., to reintroduce the All Children are Equal Act, which
seeks to refocus the formula to ensure that districts with high concentrations
of poverty (and, perhaps, smaller populations) don't lose out.
Meet the Teach for America Resistance
Movement That's Growing From Within
THE
Atlantic Wire by ZACH SCHONFELD JUL 12, 2013
A
network of Teach for America alumni and corps members is organizing in Chicago
this weekend as part of the national Free
Minds, Free People conference organized by the Education for
Liberation Network, but this summit is more than a wistful reunion gathering.
The group's aim, as encapsulated in the roundtable's title, "Organizing
Resistance to Teach for America and its Role in Privatization," is
no less than overthrowing—or at least overhauling—the non-profit organization's
dominant role in educational reform. And who better to challenge TFA than its
graduates?
Yinzers - Save the
Date: Diane Ravitch will be speaking in Pittsburgh 6:00
pm . Location and details to
come.
Save the Date: Diane
Ravitch will be speaking in Philly at the Main Branch of the Philadelphia 7:30
pm . Details to come.
Know Your Child’s Rights! 2013-2014
Special Education Seminars
The
Law Center Law Center
This
year’s topics include Tips for Going Back to School; Psychological Testing,
IEEs and Evaluations; School Records; Children with Autism; Transition
Services; Children with Emotional Needs; Discipline and Bullying; Charter
Schools; Children with Dyslexia; Extended School Year; Assistive Technology;
Discrimination and Compensatory Education; and, Settlements. See below for
descriptions and schedules of each session.
PSBA
members will elect officers electronically for the first time in 2013
PSBA 7/8/2013
Beginning
in 2013, PSBA members will follow a completely new election process which will
be done electronically during the month of September. The changes will have
several benefits, including greater membership engagement and no more absentee
ballot process.
Below
is a quick Q&A related to the voting process this year, with more details
to come in future issues of School Leader News and at
www.psba.org. More information on the overall governance changes can be found
in the February 2013 issue of the PSBA Bulletin:
October 15-18, 2013 | Hershey Lodge & Convention Center
Important change this year: Delegate Assembly (replaces the
Legislative Policy Council) will be Tuesday Oct. 15 from 1 – 4:30 p.m.
The
PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference is the largest gathering of elected
officials in Pennsylvania
Registration:
https://www.psba.org/workshops/?workshop=17
The Penn Stater Conference Center
Hotel, State College , PA
The
state conference is PAESSP’s premier professional development event for
principals, assistant principals and other educational leaders. Attending will
enable you to connect with fellow educators while learning from speakers and
presenters who are respected experts in educational leadership.
Featuring
Keynote Speakers: Charlotte Danielson, Dr. Todd Whitaker, Will Richardson &
David Andrews, Esq. (Legal Update).
EPLC
Education Policy Fellowship Program – Apply Now
Applications are available now
for the 2013-2014 Education
Policy Fellowship Program (EPFP). The
Education Policy Fellowship Program is sponsored in Pennsylvania
With more than 350 graduates in
its first fourteen years, this Program is a premier professional development
opportunity for educators, state and local policymakers, advocates, and
community leaders. State Board of Accountancy (SBA) credits are available
to certified public accountants.
Past participants include state
policymakers, district superintendents and principals, school business
officers, school board members, education deans/chairs, statewide association
leaders, parent leaders, education advocates, and other education and community
leaders. Fellows are typically sponsored by their employer or another
organization.
The Fellowship Program begins
with a two-day retreat on September 12-13, 2013 and continues to
graduation in June 2014.
Building
One America 2013 National Summit July 18-19,
2013 Washington , DC
Brookings Institution to present
findings of their “Confronting Suburban Poverty” report
Building One America’s Second
National Summit for Inclusive Suburbs and Sustainable Regions will involve
local leaders and federal policy makers to seek bipartisan solutions to the
unique but common challenges around housing, schools and infrastructure facing America America
Lineup of speakers: https://buildingoneamerica.org/summit/speakers
Information and registration: https://buildingoneamerica.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=1
James
H. Shelton III is confirmed to participate in a White House panel at the Building One America
Summit, to be held July 18-19 at Georgetown
Law School
in Washington D.C.
PA
Charter Schools: $4 billion taxpayer dollars with no real oversight
Charter schools - public funding without public
scrutiny
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