So Cal education, LAUSD, the Cal States and the UCs
New study weighs risks, opportunities of using test scores to evaluate Pre-K teachers
Maya Sugarman/KPCC
Teacher Susan Lopez reads a story along with her transitional kindergarten students.
Evaluating teachers based on student performance is one of the most controversial issues in education today. Pre-K to 3rd grade teachers have been exempt from this scrutiny, since their students don't take standardized test.
A new report by the New American Foundation looks at whether these teachers should also be evaluated based on student achievement.
“Research has confirmed, time and time again, that the quality of instruction and the quality of learning opportunities in children’s formative years sets the foundation for their success as students, and, later, their success as adults,” said Laura Bornfreud, the report's author.
The report, “An Ocean of Unknowns. Risks and Opportunities in Using Student Achievement Data to Evaluate PreK-3rd Grade Teachers,” stopped short of giving a recipe for how evaluations should take place.
High school musical theater students take over Pantages, winners to compete in NYC
Top musical theater students from around Southern California filled the audience of Hollywood's Pantages Theatre Sunday. They weren't there to see Wicked -- these students were invited to their very own awards ceremony, one that offered more than just a trophy.
The Jerry Herman high school musical theater awards selected winners in everything from best costume design to best musical for school productions held around Southern California this school year.
Six finalists for the best male and female lead roles performed on stage for a chance to win the top prize: an all-expenses-paid trip to New York for the national competition. Most students spent months practicing their parts.
"Throwing up is a definite possibility," finalist and high school junior Gabriella Certo said backstage as she waited to hear who had won. "Broadway's been my dream since I was a little kid."
CSU trustees hope online classes will ease bottleneck on required courses
Cal State LA
Officials said more online courses will help students at California State University, Los Angeles and other campuses complete graduation requirements.
California State University officials today laid out to its trustees how the university plans to ease students' access to required courses in the fall -- a huge problem that affects tens of thousands fo students at all 23 campuses.
During a trustee meeting in Long Beach, Cal State officials said budget cuts have led to bottlenecks in lower level classes such as college algebra, general education biology, and micro economics.
“We have 22 courses across the CSU where we have high enrollment and also low success in those students completing those with good academic grades,” said Gerry Handley, head of CSU’s Academic Technology Services.
The university is counting on a $10 million allocation proposed by Governor Jerry Brown to tackle the problem.
Handley said the money will be spent on a three-pronged plan:
UC schools draw record application numbers; UCLA as exclusive as Tufts — for state students
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
Lucky UCLA students sit around the Bruin Bear statue during lunchtime. The school has become as competitive as Tufts and Cornell, according to a recent article.
The University of California system remains a popular destination for incoming freshmen – and getting into UCLA is now as hard as getting into Tufts and Cornell, at least for California students.
The 10-campus U.C. system drew nearly 140,000 applications for the undergraduate class, according to Ralph Becker, a columnist for College Counseling. He said UCLA led all UC campuses with 99,000 applications, which include community college transfers. Berkeley came in second place, with a record 67,600 applications, and UCSD followed with 67,400.
UCLA reported an in-state admission rate of 17.4 percent, Becker said, a level comparable to Cornell and Tufts, two of the nation’s most selective universities. Overall, the 10 campuses accepted 82,850 freshman, for an average acceptance rate of 59 percent. Berkeley and San Diego campuses were more exclusive than the average.
LA Unified candidates Monica Ratliff, Antonio Sanchez square off
Rebecca Hill/KPCC
(L) District 6 School Board Candidate, Monica Ratliff, in her classroom at San Pedro Street Elementary. (R) District 6 School Board Candidate Antonio Sanchez.
With less than a day before elections the candidates for the pivotal L.A. Unified school board district 6 race squared off on key classroom policies on KPCC’s Airtalk. The candidates tried to highlight policy differences -- but they didn't appear as wide as each candidate contends.
Former lawyer and current elementary school teacher Monica Ratliff is a union representative with United Teachers Los Angeles. But she said that doesn’t mean she would be in lock step if elected to the seven-member board of education.
“I don’t think that’s actually been indicated by my record so far,” she said.
Ratliff said seniority-based layoffs have hurt schools in poor areas that have high proportions of junior teachers -- so she thinks seniority should be less of a factor when the school district carries out layoffs.
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