L.A. Unified and Charter Groups Win Teacher Evaluation Grants L.A. Unified, California’s largest school system, will receive $16 million, one of the largest grants. But the top prize in dollars, more than $23 million, went to the District of Columbia Public Schools, a system less than one-eighth the size of L.A. Unified. LA Times What...

Yesterday, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a measure (SB 1458) which curtails the role of test scores in calculating a school’s Academic Performance Index (or API). Right now, API scores are based solely on student test scores, and can have enormous consequences for a school. A low API score can eventually lead to its...

California Limits Role of Student Tests in API Scores California’s key measure of public school quality will be redefined to lessen the impact of standardized test scores under a bill signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Jerry Brown. The law will broaden how the Academic Performance Index is calculated by limiting test scores to 60% for high...

Time to Get Schooled: My Conversation With LAUSD’S John Deasy LA Magazine editor Mary Melton sat down with Superintendent Deasy. LA Mag  Triumph Charter High Must Recruit Students to Sun Valley Campus, or Close Triumph Charter High may be forced to close because of low enrollment after relocating this year from Sylmar to Sun Valley, campus...

Leg Analyst: Prop. 38 Won’t Stop $6 Billion in Trigger Cuts to Schools CTA Blog: During a September 24 hearing, a member of the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst Office’s team told members of the Assembly Budget Committee that Proposition 38 would not prevent $6 billion in automatic or trigger cuts to public education in 2011-2012. TV ads for...

Rejecting test scores as a core value  Los Angeles Times (Sandy Banks): The Chicago teachers strike reflected the nationwide divide over ‘market reforms,’ shorthand for the accountability metrics that tie teachers’ salaries and jobs to how well their students perform. Brown signs bill spelling out evaluations (for principals) Ed Source: Without the acrimony and fanfare that doomed a teacher...

Prop. 30 Maintains Voter Support CTA Blog: The PPIC survey determined that Prop. 30 is supported by 73% of likely Democratic voters and 53% of independents.  More Republicans than Democrats oppose the measure. Ex-LAUSD teacher gets 25 years for molesting 13 Pacoima students Daily News: Chapel, of Chatsworth, pleaded no contest last month to committing lewd acts against seven...

LAUSD’s Plan to Fund New Technology LAUSD:  Noting that within three years the State is scheduled to administer its tests electronically – no more paper and pencil – Deasy said the time is now for the District to greatly expand its digital access and capabilities. Calif. Poised to Spotlight ELLs Stalled in Schools EdWeek: California is poised to...

Enrollment in new teacher programs down 33 percent since recession hit SI&A Cabinet Report:  Of the teachers that are being trained, half come out of the California State University system with 43 percent graduating from a private or independent university and the remaining 7 percent from the University of California, according to the CTC report. LAUSD officials...

Uncertainty surrounds many district applications for Race to the Top SI&A Cabinet Report: With just over a month remaining to the deadline, about 80 local educational agencies in California are trying to decide whether to seek a federal Race to the Top grant given the long odds and resources required to even compete for a share of...