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JUST IN: Cortines requests delay in counting computer test results
In a sudden reversal for LA Unified, Superintendent Ramon Cortines is asking the state to ignore the district’s Smarter Balanced testing results as a measure of academic growth or improvement next year. In a letter to the State Schools Chief, Tom Torlakson on Friday, Cortines wrote, “I have determined that it would be untimely to have...
By Vanessa Romo | December 15, 2014
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Viramontes criticized, Common Core confusion, 5K Challenge
Earlier this month, Arnold Viramontes, an outside expert hired by former superintendent John Deasy, issued a report to LA Unified that was a scathing indictment of the new MiSiS system, finding that “red conditions” arose early and should have signified “No Go.” This week, in it’s weekly newsletter, the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA) expressed disappointment with...
By LA School Report | November 20, 2014
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JUST IN: LAUSD board members favor a delay in CA testing
Members of the LA Unified school board as well as several administrators suggested today that the district should delay using the results of the 2014-15 Smarter Balanced computerized test as means of measuring academic growth next year. Their views came a day after officials from statewide educational organizations told the California Board of Education that...
By Vanessa Romo | November 14, 2014
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NEA’s president says common core testing could “harm kids”
Via EdSource | by John Fensterwald In the midst of her first swing through California, the incoming president of the National Education Association praised the Common Core State Standards and California’s measured approach in implementing them while warning that the nation’s largest teachers union would fight efforts to use the new tests for the standards...
By LA School Report | August 21, 2014
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Deasy on UTLA’s talk of a strike: ‘breathtakingly irresponsible’
As LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy prepared to deliver his “State of the District” speech to school leaders and educators at Garfield High School today, he sat for a wide-ranging interview with LA School Report yesterday, addressing the possibility of a teachers strike, implementation of Common Core, his relationship with the board and the importance...
By Vanessa Romo | August 5, 2014
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Common Core may be set to survive even in opponent states
Via Edweek | by Andrew Ujifusa Opponents of the Common Core State Standards got a boost in recent weeks, as Missouri and North Carolina moved to reassess their involvement, while the governors of Utah and Wisconsin distanced themselves from the standards. Less clear is what exactly those opponents have won. The early pattern suggests that...
By LA School Report | July 31, 2014
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Common Core math stumps parents and students alike
Via New York Times | By Motoko Rich Rebekah and Kevin Nelams moved to their modest brick home in this suburb of Baton Rouge seven years ago because it has one of the top-performing public school districts in the state. But starting this fall, Ms. Nelams plans to home-school the couple’s four elementary-age children. The...
By LA School Report | June 30, 2014
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Poll: CA voters oppose teacher tenure and layoff laws
A new poll shows that two-thirds of California voters agree that the state should get rid of “Last in, First Out,” a teacher tenure policy that requires the newest K-12 teachers be laid off first, regardless of merit. Just 17 percent said layoffs by reverse seniority should continue. The poll was conducted by the USC Rossier School...
By Vanessa Romo | June 26, 2014
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CA budget deal has some major changes for public education
Gov. Jerry Brown and the the California legislature reached a deal on a $108 billion budget for the 2014-2015 fiscal year. Here, as examined by John Fensterwald of EdSource, are some of the major education components: Proposition 98: $60.8 billion for K-12 schools and community colleges in 2014-15 through Proposition 98, the voter-approved school funding...
By LA School Report | June 17, 2014
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New report examines ‘far right’ efforts to destroy ‘Obamacore’
You think you have problems with the implementation of Common Core? Have a look at a new report from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a human rights organization that tracks groups engaging in hate and bigotry to further their causes. The report, “Public Schools in the Crosshairs,” examines the far right’s efforts to eliminate...
By LA School Report | May 8, 2014