Thanks to the emailer who sent in this reminder...
The Morrisville Community Pool & Morrisville Borough Arts & Events Committee will be hosting a Free Family Movie - "Hair Spray" this Saturday July 26 8-11pm at the Morrisville Community Pool Parking Lot. The movie will be shown "Drive-In" style. Stay in your car or relax outside.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Schools News Around the Blogosphere
Summer School for Parents: Rights & Responsibilities; Academic Standards; Tactics & Strategy
Don't Rely on the School to Explain Your IDEA Rights & Responsibilities
Learn how to use IDEA 2004 and the No Child Left Behind Act.
Sizing Up State Academic Standards
Advanced Tactics and Strategies
How NOT to be a Yappy Parent
Submit Written Requests and Reports
Students pass state test, but at what cost to their education?
Cleveland Plain Dealer
For all of those accomplishments, Principal David Root has only one thing to say to the students, staff and citizens of Rocky River: He's sorry. "We don't teach kids anymore," he said. "We teach test-taking skills. We all teach to the test. I long for the days when we used to teach kids."
Strip Search of Middle School Student Violated Fourth Amendment, 9th Circuit Rules
A strip search of an 8th grader by school authorities looking for Ibuprofen pills violated the student's rights under the Fourth Amendment, a federal appeals court has ruled. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled 8-3 on July 11 that officials at an Arizona middle school "acted contrary to all reason and common sense as they trampled over" the privacy interests of the student.
Seven Things All Adults Should Know About MySpace
What's a teacher to do? Stay informed about student uses of technology. Build student trust by maintaining an open mind about new social phenomena. Teach students about potential hazards of all online environments.
A School Where One Size Doesn't Fit All
Washington Post
Teacher is recruiting students for a new private school like none the Washington area has ever seen. "The model is inspired by the success of home-schoolers," he said. Students will set their class schedules, enabling them to learn at their pace and in their styles. Teachers will act as advisers, not taskmasters.
The genius of American education
by Michael J. Petrilli
Even if education isn't at the top of the list for Senators Obama or McCain during this election season, it remains a major concern for governors and CEOs. That's because they see a direct link between educational achievement and economic growth. And this spring, Education Next published research by Hoover Institution scholar Eric Hanushek and colleagues that illustrated this link. The analysts found that, in general, the higher a country scored on international tests of math and science, the faster its economy grew from 1960 to 2000.
Summer schools run low on funds
Washington Times
Budget woes hit enrichment
From coast to coast, tough financial conditions are forcing school districts and nonprofit groups to cut back on summer programs that are widely viewed as invaluable to both struggling and superior students.
Don't Rely on the School to Explain Your IDEA Rights & Responsibilities
Learn how to use IDEA 2004 and the No Child Left Behind Act.
Sizing Up State Academic Standards
Advanced Tactics and Strategies
How NOT to be a Yappy Parent
Submit Written Requests and Reports
Students pass state test, but at what cost to their education?
Cleveland Plain Dealer
For all of those accomplishments, Principal David Root has only one thing to say to the students, staff and citizens of Rocky River: He's sorry. "We don't teach kids anymore," he said. "We teach test-taking skills. We all teach to the test. I long for the days when we used to teach kids."
Strip Search of Middle School Student Violated Fourth Amendment, 9th Circuit Rules
A strip search of an 8th grader by school authorities looking for Ibuprofen pills violated the student's rights under the Fourth Amendment, a federal appeals court has ruled. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled 8-3 on July 11 that officials at an Arizona middle school "acted contrary to all reason and common sense as they trampled over" the privacy interests of the student.
Seven Things All Adults Should Know About MySpace
What's a teacher to do? Stay informed about student uses of technology. Build student trust by maintaining an open mind about new social phenomena. Teach students about potential hazards of all online environments.
A School Where One Size Doesn't Fit All
Washington Post
Teacher is recruiting students for a new private school like none the Washington area has ever seen. "The model is inspired by the success of home-schoolers," he said. Students will set their class schedules, enabling them to learn at their pace and in their styles. Teachers will act as advisers, not taskmasters.
The genius of American education
by Michael J. Petrilli
Even if education isn't at the top of the list for Senators Obama or McCain during this election season, it remains a major concern for governors and CEOs. That's because they see a direct link between educational achievement and economic growth. And this spring, Education Next published research by Hoover Institution scholar Eric Hanushek and colleagues that illustrated this link. The analysts found that, in general, the higher a country scored on international tests of math and science, the faster its economy grew from 1960 to 2000.
Summer schools run low on funds
Washington Times
Budget woes hit enrichment
From coast to coast, tough financial conditions are forcing school districts and nonprofit groups to cut back on summer programs that are widely viewed as invaluable to both struggling and superior students.
PSBoE President Resigns
From the Inquirer.
Chairman of Pa. education board resigns
MARTHA RAFFAELE The Associated Press Posted on Wed, Jul. 23, 2008
HARRISBURG, Pa. - The chairman of the State Board of Education said Wednesday he is leaving the board after being asked by Gov. Ed Rendell to give up his leadership post.
Karl Girton's resignation, effective Aug. 1, follows months of criticism of a board proposal that Pennsylvania students pass a series of tests before they can graduate high school. The 22-member board sets state education policy and regulations for K-12 public schools and higher education.
But Girton and a Rendell spokesman said the resignation was unrelated to controversy over the testing proposal, an initiative championed by Girton and the administration.
Girton, who has served on the board since 1992, said he spoke Friday by telephone with Rendell, who asked him to step down as chairman but stay on the board until the governor leaves office in 2011. After taking the weekend to think it over, Girton decided to leave the board altogether.
"There are no hard feelings," Girton said. "I just think it's in the best interest of the board that I decline his invitation to remain on the board. ... I don't think I would have been effective."
The governor felt the time was right to appoint a new chairman, given the recent turnover on the board, Rendell's spokesman Chuck Ardo said Wednesday.
"I don't think anybody is disappointed with his performance," Ardo said.
Seventeen of the board's members are nominated by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate. Eight new board members were confirmed to fill vacancies in April , the largest number of new members since Rendell took office, Ardo said.
Rendell waited to raise the issue of new board leadership with Girton because the administration was focused on completing the 2008-09 state budget and didn't have time to consider other issues, Ardo said.
Girton, a partner with a management services company in Millville, said in a letter he sent Tuesday to Rendell that his resignation "will clear the board for another nominee and the opportunity for the entire board to more effectively coalesce around the new chair."
The board's plan to adopt new graduation requirements stalled this year amid opposition from many lawmakers, school board members and educators who said the proposed rules would undermine the policymaking authority of local school boards.
The board envisioned creating 10 subject-specific final high school exams, and students would have to pass six in order to graduate, starting with the class of 2014. Failing students could be retested.
Among the most vocal opponents of the plan was the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the state's largest teachers' union. Association spokesman Wythe Keever said the union did not put any pressure on Rendell to remove Girton from his leadership post.
In an effort to win broader support for the idea, the state Education Department is planning to develop tests that school districts can administer voluntarily, starting in the 2009-10 school year.
Girton served as chairman of the board's council of basic education, which oversees K-12 regulations and policy, from 1999 until he was appointed chairman of the full board by then-Gov. Mark S. Schweiker in 2002.
During his tenure, Girton presided over updates of the state's academic standards and the adoption of new early-childhood education standards, among other policy changes.
Girton is a former Millville Area School Board member and former director of the Susquehanna Intermediate Unit, a regional education agency, in Snyder County.
Chairman of Pa. education board resigns
MARTHA RAFFAELE The Associated Press Posted on Wed, Jul. 23, 2008
HARRISBURG, Pa. - The chairman of the State Board of Education said Wednesday he is leaving the board after being asked by Gov. Ed Rendell to give up his leadership post.
Karl Girton's resignation, effective Aug. 1, follows months of criticism of a board proposal that Pennsylvania students pass a series of tests before they can graduate high school. The 22-member board sets state education policy and regulations for K-12 public schools and higher education.
But Girton and a Rendell spokesman said the resignation was unrelated to controversy over the testing proposal, an initiative championed by Girton and the administration.
Girton, who has served on the board since 1992, said he spoke Friday by telephone with Rendell, who asked him to step down as chairman but stay on the board until the governor leaves office in 2011. After taking the weekend to think it over, Girton decided to leave the board altogether.
"There are no hard feelings," Girton said. "I just think it's in the best interest of the board that I decline his invitation to remain on the board. ... I don't think I would have been effective."
The governor felt the time was right to appoint a new chairman, given the recent turnover on the board, Rendell's spokesman Chuck Ardo said Wednesday.
"I don't think anybody is disappointed with his performance," Ardo said.
Seventeen of the board's members are nominated by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate. Eight new board members were confirmed to fill vacancies in April , the largest number of new members since Rendell took office, Ardo said.
Rendell waited to raise the issue of new board leadership with Girton because the administration was focused on completing the 2008-09 state budget and didn't have time to consider other issues, Ardo said.
Girton, a partner with a management services company in Millville, said in a letter he sent Tuesday to Rendell that his resignation "will clear the board for another nominee and the opportunity for the entire board to more effectively coalesce around the new chair."
The board's plan to adopt new graduation requirements stalled this year amid opposition from many lawmakers, school board members and educators who said the proposed rules would undermine the policymaking authority of local school boards.
The board envisioned creating 10 subject-specific final high school exams, and students would have to pass six in order to graduate, starting with the class of 2014. Failing students could be retested.
Among the most vocal opponents of the plan was the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the state's largest teachers' union. Association spokesman Wythe Keever said the union did not put any pressure on Rendell to remove Girton from his leadership post.
In an effort to win broader support for the idea, the state Education Department is planning to develop tests that school districts can administer voluntarily, starting in the 2009-10 school year.
Girton served as chairman of the board's council of basic education, which oversees K-12 regulations and policy, from 1999 until he was appointed chairman of the full board by then-Gov. Mark S. Schweiker in 2002.
During his tenure, Girton presided over updates of the state's academic standards and the adoption of new early-childhood education standards, among other policy changes.
Girton is a former Millville Area School Board member and former director of the Susquehanna Intermediate Unit, a regional education agency, in Snyder County.
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