Archive for March, 2011
Japan relief drive continues today–Yoga Charity added
March 26th, 2011
Bad weather did not stop the Fresno State Japanese Student Association’s effort to raise funds last week for victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan. The initial effort raised $2,820.45 over five rain-soaked days on campus.
Now with sunshine, and yoga, the student club will add four more days to its Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief campaign – beginning today and tomorrow with a collection table from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. on the Maple Mall, south of the Satellite Student Union.
Charity Yoga, a new event, will be April 1 and 3 in the Grosse Industrial Technology Building, Room 290. There will be a $5 entry fee.
On Friday Charity Yoga will be 5 6:30 p.m. and on Sunday 1- 2:30 p.m. Participants are asked to bring a yoga mat or beach towel, a bottle of water and a towel.
On April 6, the students will be joined by community organizations for a major push for donations at the Phillip Lorenz Memorial Keyboard Concert at 8 p.m. in the Concert Hall of the Music Building.
To raise even more funds, commemorative relief t-shirts will be available for purchase.
One hundred percent of the fund raising proceeds will be donated to the relief effort.
Donations may be sent to the Japanese Student Association, California State University, Fresno, 5280 N. Jackson Ave., Fresno CA. 93740-8023 using the campaign’s IRS Charitable ID # 94-2371885.
Original release: Fresno State launches relief aid for Japan quake, tsunami victims
Tags: Japan, Japan Relief
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Fresno State Centennial wine bottling under way
March 22nd, 2011
To commemorate California State University, Fresno’s Centennial observance, the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology viticulture and enology program is releasing a commemorative, limited release Fresno State Centennial wine in mid-April.
Centennial Cuvee is a Bordeaux-style red that blends Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec from the 2009 vintage.
“Each grape varietal was fermented and aged separately for 14 months,” explained John Gianni, the Fresno State winemaker.
Enology students tasted the aged wines last month and then developed the blend for this special bottling of 300 cases (a dozen 750 ml bottles per case). The Centennial Cuvee began running through the Fresno State Winery bottling line on Tuesday, March 22.
Gianni said the wine will retail for $19.95 per bottle with case discounts available.
The wine’s release will come before the Centennial Gala in the Save Mart Center, scheduled the evening of May 14, and the 100th Commencement at Fresno State on May 21. Those events are the final ones on the university’s Centennial Celebration calendar.
Also ahead is publication of the “California State University: A Century of Excellence,” scheduled during summer. Prepublication orders are being taken by the Kennel Bookstore.
Tags: Centennial, Centennial Wine
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More Coaching Onion
March 21st, 2011
Yesterday I blogged about 4 paths to teacher coaching that doesn’t accomplish much.
I focused on “Failure 3″ which I think is common in “No Excuses” type charter schools, including ours.
Do traditional schools face more of
Failure 1 (Lack of Trust/Lack of Openness to feedback)
and
Failure 2 (Questionable Technical Fixes)?
I don’t know. My guess is yes.
The Washington Post recently ran an excellent article* written by Stephanie McCrummen. The headline was “D.C. teacher evaluation becomes a delicate conversation.”
(Quick semantic point. What the article describes is evaluation mixed with coaching. At the bottom of my blog today, I offer a thought about that).
A cautionary note before I dive in. The article includes excerpts. Who the heck knows what the full transcript looks like.
1. The Feedback
Bethel dissected Harris’s teaching as a doctor might be scrutinized for technical skill. Bethel’s most serious concern involved how Harris had taught his lesson on the commutative property, the math law that says 3 + 5 is the same as 5 + 3.
Bethel described what he had observed: Harris had written on the whiteboard: 855 + 319 = 1,174. Underneath, he had written four problems, such as 855+300+19+1 and 800+50+5+150+150+19.
Students were supposed to work the four problems and discover the underlying math law. But had the students done that, Bethel said, they would have discovered a different concept.
“So basically you showed them decomposition,” Bethel said. “That was the discovery, not so much that order doesn’t matter,” which was the objective.
For the sake of argument, let’s guess that Bethel was correct. The lesson was problematic in this regard.
2. Teacher Response
Harris sat up. He raised his eyebrows, and in slightly exasperated tones, began offering his critique of the critique.
The problems on the board, Harris said, were just a warm-up to review the concept of place value. But it soon became clear that the students were struggling simply to add. And in that moment, Harris said, he decided to scrap the objective and rehash place value.
“It seems like I’m getting penalized possibly because I didn’t do that exact lesson I set out to do,” Harris said, explaining that many of his students were three grade levels behind. “I’m trying to get the kids up to a speed where they could learn that lesson. A lot of our kids, they fundamentally don’t know.”
He apologized for being politically incorrect. Then he continued. He said that all children do not learn equally and that “our children, especially, don’t learn equally.”
Yesterday I described this as Failure 1.
Classic low trust. Doesn’t trust the evaluator. Doesn’t trust the system which hired the evaluator.
3. The Parry
Bethel nodded. “I hear what you’re saying,” he said.
But the truth was he did not agree. From what Bethel had observed, the kids were simply confused, not unable to add. Though it was not easy, Bethel said, it was possible to teach the objective while working on students’ weaknesses.
Again, I wasn’t there. But from the example, Bethel is right. At least short-term, is possible to teach a mathematical idea — like commutative property — without fixing kids basic skills deficits.
However, if Bethel doesn’t have a plausible yearlong strategy for Harris to tackle these basic skill issues, I’d fault him, as the district’s representative, as well.
4. Bethel Gives A Suggestion
Delicately, smiling, he offered a suggestion. Harris might have divided the students into three groups, giving each one the same simple addition problem, but with the order of the numbers rearranged. Each group would solve their problem. Then they would share their answers.
“Then you give the students a chance to say, ‘Hey, we all have same answer!’” Bethel said, lighting up. “Then you let them discover that the numbers were arranged in different ways. Then you’re getting at the key concept—that order doesn’t matter.”
It was an elegant solution, Harris acknowledged.
Is this Failure 2? I’m not sure I agree this is sound technical advice. Smaller groups can work. Skilled teachers use this technique well.
But if Harris doesn’t usually divide kids into groups, Bethel just handed him a ton of new challenges to solve. It’s quite possible that a different observer would visit Harris, see kids divided in small groups who are mostly screwing around, and say “STOP breaking your kids into groups, they’re mostly talking about the prom, not about math.”
Furthermore, Bethel has strayed from his critique. The initial problem was Harris had an aim, then didn’t have kids work on problems that would allow them to learn that aim. Seems like a straightforward fix could have worked. Use problems that advance the aim.
Failure 1 (Trust) possibly creeps in, too. Harris doesn’t want to be seen as a pain in the ass. He doesn’t trust the evaluator. But he can’t just say “you’re wrong” to everything. He’ll end up without a job. Who knows, maybe Harris thinks the group work is a terrible idea. Maybe he tried it last year and it failed. So an honest exchange is difficult.
5. Dopamine Flood
They moved on to the last of the nine standards, engaging students in rigorous work. Harris read his score. “It says ineffective,” he said, incredulous.
Bethel explained that the warm-up problems, while rigorous, were aimed at the wrong objective. They went over it again. Harris sighed.
“I’m sorry,” Bethel said. “I hate that this is discouraging. I really do. You’ve had good ideas, really.”
Harris interrupted. “What I’m trying to convey to you, Mr. — ” he paused — “Eric — is that most lesson plans, the best ones, no matter how pinpoint precise I plan it, the lesson will deviate. It will deviate because there is always some other rock I have to overturn to look at.”
6. The Finale
Bethel gave him the final score, which was low. If the trend continued, Harris realized, he could lose his job.
“It’s just — I don’t feel that I’m putting in ‘minimally effective’ effort at all,” he said.
For Bethel, this was most excruciating part of the job. He began shutting off his computer. “This does not measure your effort,” he said, packing his bag. “But I do see your effort, Mr. Harris.”
“So — what is this measuring?” Harris asked.
“It’s measuring the effectiveness of that effort,” Bethel said. “This is not a reflection of your passion for education, your love for students. Not at all.”
Which for Harris was precisely the problem and for Bethel was part of a difficult, painful solution.
As he left, Bethel offered to help Harris with lesson planning, a gesture that would not count on Bethel’s own evaluation. Harris leaned back in the little chair. He pursed his lips.
“I don’t think you’re being personally unfair, it’s just — ” he paused. “I’m going to look over it again. I know where I could improve. So. Yeah. It was nice talking to you.”
Here’s what I’m thinking:
a. What if DC Public Schools separated the evaluators and the coaches?
I.e., an evaluator explains the feedback, but doesn’t try to fix it. The coach would be a different person altogether. Even though Harris disputes the evaluation, he wouldn’t be trying to debate the coach, because he knows the coach didn’t give the evaluation. Their goal simplifies to: actually improve (at least in the eyes of the evaluator).
b. In addition to separating the function, I’d introduce teacher choice.
If your job is on the line, wouldn’t you want to pick your own coach? Allow teachers to meet and talk to several coaches. It could almost work like speed-dating.
c. How might it work?
Here’s a format I’d imagine.
Harris gets an afternoon and 4 hours to meet with 4 coaches. Speed dating, but without the speed.
Each prospective coach sits down with Harris:
I don’t think this would be an unreasonable ask by teachers, to at least give them the option of shopping for the coach. My example would take 4 “coach-hours” per teacher. If evaluators earn $60/hour, that’s $240 per teacher. Seems affordable.
d. Could value-added assessment help Harris here?
I.e., if his kids learn a lot relative to other DC kids, can’t he just wave a copy of their academic gains at Bethel and essentially have a strong evaluation “locked in?”
e. My compliments both to Bethel and Harris for agreeing to allow the reporter in.
The idea, aggressively embraced by the Obama administration, is as straightforward as it is controversial: that teachers are the main factor in student growth — more than poverty, parents, curriculum, principals or other circumstance.
I don’t know that this precisely describes the Obama admin theory. It’s that teachers are the main “within school” factor in student growth — more than curriculum or principals. Specifically, the view is that teachers get very different results with the same kids. I.e., Teacher A with poor kids may do much better or much worse than Teacher B with the exact same kids.
Tags: Coaching, Coaching Onion
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Gov. Rick Snyder says public school cuts will be ‘difficult,’ but denies he’s trying to break unions
March 21st, 2011
KALAMAZOO Gov. Rick Snyder acknowledged Monday that his proposed cut in K-12 funding is “difficult” for local school districts, but denied it is an attempt to break the unions.
“People are coming up with all sorts of motivations that don’t exist,” he said. “I believe in collective bargaining.”
He also said that he is not advocating rollbacks in salaries, saying he sees the bigger changes occurring in benefits. “We would want to hurt people’s pay as little as possible,” he said.
The governor maintains that there’s “lots of room for reforms” that will allow districts to absorb the cuts, and he will be presenting his vision of how the K-12 system might restructure next month.
Snyder spoke to the Kalamazoo Gazette in a telephone interview immediately after his address Monday at the Pure Michigan Governor’s Conference on Tourism, which was held at the Radisson Plaza Hotel & Suites in downtown Kalamazoo.
Snyder is proposing to cut almost $960 million from the states K-12 budget, about 5.3 percent of the $18 billion spent to operate Michigans K-12 schools. Schools also would see a hefty increase in their contribution to the school employees retirement system. In total, the impact on schools would be about $715 per student.
For the nine school districts based in Kalamazoo County, those changes would force cuts of $26 million, 8.2 percent of their collective operating budgets. Kalamazoo Public Schools, which has a budget of $130 million, would see an impact of $11.3 million.
Local superintendents have called the proposed cuts unfair and unacceptable. They say Snyder is pushing an agenda that will lead to union-busting and privatization of public education. “This is to further the agenda of privatization,” Ron Fuller, superintendent of the Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency, said last week.
They also said it would leave many districts in deficit spending and vulnerable to takeover under the state’s new emergency financial manager law.
Snyder said Monday that he is proposing to cut K-12 funding to bring state spending in line with revenues. “It’s being fiscally responsible,” he said.
Educators say that’s a false argument in the case of the K-12 cuts.They point out that the states School Aid Fund is relatively healthy, and the budget cuts are a result of moving higher education from the states general fund budget into the School Aid Fund.
“It is a manufactured crisis,” created by diverting K-12 dollars to higher education, Fuller said. He and others say the move breaks faith with Proposal A, the 1994 voter-approved law that created today’s system for K-12 funding.
Snyder denied that Monday, saying his proposal “does not violate the spirit of the state constitution.” The School Aid Fund was established before Proposal A, but the law established a new and increased revenue stream for the fund. Until now, however, those monies have not been used for state universities, which have gotten their $1.5 billion subsidy from the general fund.
Snyder already has proposed two specific reforms for districts: Have employees pay 20 percent of insurance costs and cut 10 percent of non-instructional spending. “We’re not just giving them a problem,” Snyder said. “We’re offering solutions.”
Michael Rice, superintendent of Kalamazoo Public Schools, has pointed out those proposed solutions still leave many districts far short: For KPS, the impact of the spending plan is $11.3 million a change to a 20 percent insurance co-pay would save less than $3 million and the district’s noninstructional expenses include utilities. “Do we cut that?” Rice said last week.
Told of Rice’s comments, Snyder acknowledged that “districts will vary” on how they handle the budget cuts.
“I’m looking forward to dialogue with school officials on how to do this,” Snyder added. He said those discussions will begin after he details his plans for education next month.
The governor maintains there are “dozens” of reforms that schools can enact to trim their budgets, and he is hoping local districts will try to be as creative as possible in adjusting to new spending limits.
“We need to have a great education system,” Snyder said. “But these are difficult economic times.”
Contact Julie Mack at (269) 388-8578 or at .
Tags: Rick Snyder, Unions
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Energy usage a bright spot in Palm Beach County school district’s budget
March 20th, 2011
With the school district’s costs for everything from health insurance to fuel rising and an expected $100 million shortfall in next year’s budget, there appears to be a glimmer of good news.
The school district has saved about $4 million since 2008 on its utility bills through a program that aims to change the energy-using behaviors of schools rather than investing money in capital improvements such as new lights and air conditioners.
“That money goes back into the general fund,” said Lee Kapp, the district’s utilities manager. “The less we spend on utilities, the more they can spend on textbooks or whatever they want.”
The savings the past three school years represent only a fraction of the district’s daunting bills for power, water, garbage and other utilities. The utility bills for the past school year were about $45 million, Kapp said.
The district does not have much money to retrofit schools with more efficient lights, so officials instead decided to focus on changing how employees use electricity, said Joe Sanches, the district’s chief of facilities management.
A big part of the plan is what Sanches calls the “20 percent rule.” When custodians cleaned a school at night, they would fan out over the entire school, Sanches said.
Under the new rules, officials use a computerized central control system that can regulate the temperature and lights of most of the classrooms in the district to turn off the lights and air to about 80 percent of the school, Sanches said.
Then the custodians focus on cleaning the remaining 20 percent at once, moving section to section through the night .
Kapp said the school district also instructed employees at schools to cut their power usage between 3 and 6 p.m. in the summer months by concentrating summer camps or other activities in one part of the building. Reducing usage during those hours allowed the district to take advantage of reduced rates through Florida Power and Light Co. that have saved it $400,000.
A big part of the savings has come from getting school principals more involved by showing them their school’s utility bills and how electricity is being used at their school, Sanches said.
“They don’t pay those bills, so they might not think about that,” Sanches said.
The district’s utility management department also has a team that goes to schools at night to analyze what lights and computers employees left on after school ended, Kapp said. Then the team meets with principals to show them how much energy use could be reduced at their school.
Sanches said he also has made it in the best interest of principals to save energy. Starting this year under a new incentive program, schools that save at least 5 percent on their power bills over the previous year will get back 15 percent of those savings to use for programs at the school, Sanches said. The most efficient schools in the district also will receive grants.
Tags: Budget
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