-
LA Times Gets iPad Story Wrong, the Rest of Us Follow
A story published in the Los Angeles Times yesterday reported that LA Unified’s plan to purchase district-wide iPads would cost significantly more than originally estimated. But according to district officials there’s been no change at all to the cost of the iPads since the district signed the contract with Apple in July. “This is not...
By Chase Niesner | October 23, 2013
-
Career-Based HS Program Getting $7.8 million to Expand
Nearly $8 million in new public and private revenue is enabling The California Center for College and Career to expand a program that links career and technical education with college preparedness. The Linked Learning District Initiative is currently providing technical assistance and coaching to high schools in LA Unified and eight other districts offering career-based learning and workplace...
By Chase Niesner | October 22, 2013
-
LA Unified Has Slight Rise in SAT Takers, Average Scores
The number of LA Unified 12th-graders taking the SAT test rose last year, along with the District’s average test scores on critical reading, mathematics, and writing portions of the exam, according to new data from the College Board, which develops the test. Nearly half of the most recent graduating class took the SAT, 22,106 seniors for...
By Chase Niesner | October 21, 2013
-
Crenshaw Digital Team Brings its ‘Game’ to the White House
While the higher-ups in LA Unified debate budgets and iPads, students from the Crenshaw Digital Media and Gaming Team visited the White House last month to brief President Obama’s top technology officials on their work designing socially- conscious computer games. The team, which is sponsored by the grassroots education nonprofit Mother of Many, raised nearly...
By Chase Niesner | October 21, 2013
-
10 Reasons the Largest Teachers Union Likes Common Core
The National Education Association, the nation’s largest labor union, representing more than three million teachers nationwide, came out this week embracing the Common Core, highlighting how the new standards can be the “game-changer students need.” Through its news branch, NEA Today, the organization published “10 Things You Should Know About the Common Core.” Number One...
By Chase Niesner | October 17, 2013
-
LAUSD Participates In ‘The Great California ShakeOut’
At 10:17 tomorrow morning, LA Unified students will join millions of people worldwide in the Great ShakeOut earthquake drill. Both LAUSD classrooms and offices will all participate in what the District describes as the largest earthquake drill in the nation, featuring a “drop, cover, and hold on!” procedure. Find more information on the district emergency protocol, here.
By Chase Niesner | October 16, 2013
-
From Hechinger, a Wide-Ranging View of Common Core
The Hechinger Report today released a comprehensive report on the Common Core State Standards, with stories from eight states where implementation is underway. Included is a clear breakdown of how the standards will change mathematics and English language arts instruction. An example lesson shows how Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” and Martin Luther King’s “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” can teach English. The...
By Chase Niesner | October 16, 2013
-
Career Advice for LA Unified Students, Hollywood-style
LA Unified students are teaming up with a non-profit group to profile career choices, learning video production while they do it. Gigniks is helping students highlight professionals in a variety of fields through entertainment industry professionals who visit classrooms to teach the basics of documentary production and interview techniques. The students participating are from the L.A....
By Chase Niesner | October 16, 2013
-
BREAKING NEWS: Brown Vetoes Weak Teacher Dismissal Bill
Under mounting pressure, Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a controversial bill originally meant to make it easier to dismiss teachers for abusive or inappropriate behavior. In a veto memo, Brown said he “share[s] the authors’ desire to streamline the teacher discipline process, but this bill is an imperfect solution.”
By Chase Niesner | October 10, 2013
-
California Releases Updated School Quality Snapshot Tool
The California Department of Education’s School Quality Snapshot tool, a searchable database providing essential information on the performance of individual school sties across the state, has been updated with the latest possible information. Since the program was unveiled last October, more than 115,000 “snapshots” of local schools have been downloaded by Californians interested in learning...
By Chase Niesner | October 7, 2013