Friday, May 18, 2012
A fourth-grade teacher at Ocean Charter School in Mar Vista is removed from the classroom after a "testing irregularity" during standardized testing occurred.
A fourth-grade teacher at Ocean Charter School in Mar Vista was removed from the classroom last week after the California Department of Education notified the school of a potential "testing irregularity" during standardized testing that was quickly verified, school administrators said. In an email sent Thursday to parents, executive director Stephanie Edwards and north campus director Kristy Mack-Fett said they were notified by the state's education department of a potential testing irregularity in the fourth-grade classroom "proctored by Ms. Ashley on the first day of STAR testing." STAR is the state's Standardized Testing and Reporting program used to measure student achievement for state and federal accountability reports. The school's …
Friday, May 11, 2012
The nonprofit investigative news organization ProPublica in September 2011 published an overview of some of the most outrageous instances of teacher cheating.
By Lois Beckett ProPublica, Sept. 19, 2011, 1:40 p.m. Update: This story has been updated to reflect the role of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution in uncovering systemic cheating in Atlanta's schools. As we reported, many states have failed to implement simple and effective checks for teacher cheating. Scandals involving cheating by teachers and schools to pump up ever-more-important student test scores swept the country this summer. But they've also been happening for years, and oversight is only now beginning to catch up. Here's an overview of some of the most shocking instances of teacher cheating, plus a few episodes that may have been overblown. The 'Lake Wobegon' Effect (1987-89) One of the earliest investigations of teacher cheating …
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
The publication used test scores, student-to-teacher ratios and college readiness to measure Venice high schools against others in California and the U.S.
Animo Venice Charter High School is one of the top 100 high schools in California, according to U.S. News & World Report. The online news publication released its annual list Tuesday of the "Best High Schools" in the country. According to the report, the rankings are developed in conjunction with the Washington-based American Institutes for Research and are determined by measuring math and English proficiency, college readiness and the ratio of students to teachers. Nearly 22,000 schools were analyzed and 2009-2010 data was used to determine the rankings. The report ranks Venice high schools against schools throughout California as well as across the country. National ranking: No. 458 California Ranking: No. 86 College Readiness Index: 47.…
Friday, May 4, 2012
Broadway Elementary School in Venice is one of 117 schools statewide honored with the Title I Academic Achievement Award for schools receiving federal funding.
Broadway Elementary School in Venice was one of 117 schools statewide recently awarded with a Title I Academic Achievement Award. The award is given only to schools receiving Title I funds, a federal program to help students living at or below the poverty line with their educational needs. “What an honor this is for Broadway. The improvement in student achievement is a result of everyone's teamwork. Students, teachers, parents, and administrators worked as a team to provide students the academic support that they needed,” said Broadway Elementary principal Susan Wang in a statement released this week. “We are a schoolwide Title I school with a large number of English Learners, and the students deserve to be recognized.” The school's …
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
A parent of two middle school students at Palms Middle School sends an open letter to Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent John Deasy.
Dear Dr Deasy: She told us she'd go down with the ship, ... but you've forced her to walk the gang plank. WHAT IS GOING ON HERE??!! You have on Los Angeles' very own Westside, snuggled smack dab within the boundaries of LAUSD District 3, a "Model School Of Excellence" by your very own designation. Palms Middle School is a learning community of identified gifted-learners (GATES) and local neighborhood learners all rolled into three fabulous, seamless, Schools That Work. Children at Palms Middle School are learning by any measure you take, and measure them you have. They spend an inordinate percentage of their school lives being sized up and scrutinized and measured out for the tailored suit of standardized rote learning that cloaks them. …
Sunday, April 22, 2012
To celebrate Earth Day, students at Broadway Elementary School answer the question "What Does 'Going Green" at Broadway Mean to Me?"
In celebration of Earth Day, students at Broadway Elementary School were invited to submit a drawing addressing the theme: "What Does 'Going Green' at Broadway Mean to Me?" Broadway Elementary School is currently soliciting community sponsors to showcase the student art on large outdoor banners where some 15,000 cars pass daily. The school is also hoping to start a small student-led recycling program. Learn more about the history of Earth Day right here.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger spends more than an hour touring the new $3 million state of the art printing facility at Venice High School
Arnold Schwarzenegger, the muscleman turned actor turned politican who served as California's governor from 2003 to 2011, toured Venice High's School's Super Shop 9 during an open house to celebrate its new $3 million state of the art printing facility. Schwarzenegger toured the facility for more than an hour Saturday and was assisted by students as he printed a Venice High School t-shirt and helped operate the facility's new four-color printing press. Super Shop 9 has been home to the school's graphic communications program since 1956. Longtime Super Shop 9 instructor Art Lindauer applied for and won a $1.5 million Proposition 1D grant from the state in 2006 and then lobbied for five years to receive a $1.5 million matching grant from the…
Thursday, April 5, 2012
The Republican presidential candidate held a town hall on campus Wednesday.
This article was written by Steven Herbert of City News Service. Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul used an appearance Wednesday before an overflow crowd at Straus Stadium at the Los Angeles Tennis Center at UCLA to reiterate his calls for a smaller federal government and to change the nation's foreign policy. "The problem... boils down to one thing -- government is way too big," Paul said, drawing cheers from the crowd estimated at between 6,000-7,000, filling the 5,800-seat stadium, with others climbing nearby trees to see the speech. The 12-term Texas congressman repeated his call for repealing the 16th Amendment that permitted the federal income tax. Paul has said that restraining federal spending by enforcing the Constitution'…
34.072058
-118.449556
Southern California Tennis Association (SCTA)
420 Charles E Young Dr W, Los Angeles, CA
/articles/ron-paul-speaks-to-enthusiastic-ucla-crowd
1454489
/locations/6744908
Shannon & Wilson calls for more studies of the potential faults along the proposed routes of the Westside Subway Extension. It also says tunneling under Beverly Hills High School could probably be done safely.
Engineering consultants told the Beverly Hills City Council Tuesday that a study of earthquake faults commissioned recently by Metro was incomplete and therefore inadequate to enable an informed decision on the Beverly Hills portion of the Westside Subway Extension. Geotechnical firm Shannon & Wilson, Inc. was hired by the city at a cost of $100,000 to conduct a peer review of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s fault and tunnel reports. Metro staff recommended March 19 that the subway extension be routed under Beverly Hills High School to Constellation Boulevard in Century City. Shannon & Wilson suggested that the MTA order more thorough testing to determine the presence of active earthquake faults along the two proposed routes …
34.073033
-118.399886
City Council
455 N Rexford Dr, Beverly Hills, CA
/articles/shannon-wilson-says-metro-fault-studies-incomplete
231696
/locations/6808602
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
College officials are investigating campus police's reaction to students who disrupted a Board of Trustees meeting upset over a highly controversial plan to offer pricier classes.
Campus police pepper-sprayed as many as 30 Santa Monica College students Tuesday night as they disrupted a meeting of the Board of Trustees, which is moving forward with a controversial plan to offer a second tier of classes not subsidized by the state. Santa Monica College officials said they are investigating the incident. MEETING DISRUPTION REGRETTABLE, SUPERINTENDENT SAYS More than 100 outraged students interrupted the meeting with shouts of "shame on you!" directed at the trustees. Campus police tried to limit the number of students inside the board meeting room to about a dozen while many more watched live video from an adjacent overflow room. Loud chants and yells from a group that tried to storm the board meeting room—and the …
34.01893
-118.470499
Santa Monica College
1900 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica, CA
/articles/police-pepper-spray-smc-students
1338875
/locations/6754095
Paul Chavez
3:55 pm on Sunday, May 20, 2012
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