last week–power outages and closures, test scores are in and flat, a national parent conference, the 2nd annual Celebration of Black Educators is announced, a new statewide bond on the horizon, the push for more teachers of color, trauma screening for youth, all that and much more with links, please read, share and get involved
Oakland:
- District 7 Report: October 2019
- Possible Power Outages Could Affect Schools (English & Spanish) Dear OUSD Community
- Parents at the Table and Parents Leading the Fight; Two Themes from REACH’s National Parent Summit
- Celebration of Black Educators with the State of Black Education in Oakland
- Tontra Love, Oakland USD 2019-20 Teacher of the Year
- Oakland reopens all schools, but U.C. Berkeley remains closed
- Achievement Gap Results: Racial/Demographic Breakdown
- State Releases Test Results, Alameda County Students Continue to Show Progress
- Smarter Balanced Test Results: OUSD
- Teaching and Learning Continues Across OUSD, Including at a Celebration of Latinx Heritage This Afternoon at Urban Promise Academy
- Lecture: Reimagining the Demonized
- The Latest Test Results for OUSD; Huge Gaps, Little Progress
- Castlemont takes actions to improve attendance rates
California:
- Income inequality is on the rise in California. In some Bay Area counties, the disparities are extreme.
- Teachers and students push for climate change education in California
- $15 Billion School Bond Measure Headed to California Voters
- Black Educators to Unveil “Blueprint” for Improving California Black Student Test Scores, Learning
- Slow growth, big disparities after 5 years of Smarter Balanced tests
- Holding schools accountable
- California kids’ test scores again rise by inches as achievement gap yawns
- Push to increase the number of teachers of color in California classrooms gains momentum
- California’s First Surgeon General: Screen Every Student for Childhood Trauma
Other Stories:
- New Georgetown U. Program Offers Certificate – in Education Finance
- To boost literacy, this Queens school is training support staff to teach reading
- Poll: Democratic Primary Voters Support Charter Schools
- Top 150 Recommended African-American Children’s Books
- Death by Police is Now the 6th Leading Cause of Death Among Young Men
- Fort Worth Woman Was Playing Video Game With Her Nephew When Shot by Police
Resources:
How You Can Help:
Oakland:
- District 7 Report: October 2019
- This report contains an update on the Blueprint for Quality Schools, the budget, Assembly Bill 1505, the fight for Full and Fair Funding from the state, as well as some highlights from around the district.
- Possible Power Outages Could Affect Schools (English & Spanish) Dear OUSD Community
- Over the past several years, fire season has become more troublesome. This week, we are facing a challenging set of circumstances. Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) says due to gusty winds and dry conditions in the forecast, they will be taking proactive measures by shutting down power at some of our schools. On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this week, PG&E is planning to turn off power for public safety in some parts of the Bay Area because of fire danger. The utility says it could happen in Oakland, which could affect some schools located on specific power lines.
- Parents at the Table and Parents Leading the Fight; Two Themes from REACH’s National Parent Summit
- The room was electric, full of the type of troublemakers that you want to associate with. Parents from across the country who were intent on disrupting the system and fighting for the change our communities need. Grandmothers who get the cops called on them, moms who call the news out to failing schools, families who will fight back to back and toe to toe, while others have the privilege of picking and choosing battles.
- Celebration of Black Educators with the State of Black Education in Oakland
- Please join the State of Black Education in Oakland (SoBEO) to break bread, share a drinks and celebrate some of Oakland’s Black heroes and sheroes. Doors open at Kingston 11 at 430, we have a quick program with our honorees starting at 5 and will be celebrating with community until 7. There will be light snacks, drink tickets for folks who arrive earlier, and a great opportunity to hear from and connect with community. Spaces are limited so please register now.
- Tontra Love, Oakland USD 2019-20 Teacher of the Year
- “I’m a big believer in teaching the whole child, that the academic part is really important and we can get there through the socioemotional lens.”
- Oakland reopens all schools, but U.C. Berkeley remains closed
- Dozens of schools across the Bay Area reopened Friday, including all nine Oakland schools that were shuttered due to the regional power outage. Classes were canceled for the third day at U.C. Berkeley, which asked all students and staff to stay away from the main campus, where buildings will stay locked
- Achievement Gap Results: Racial/Demographic Breakdown
- The latest test scores from Oakland are in, 12% of Black kids on grade level in math, not much better for Latinx kids, if you are satisfied with the status quo please look at these
- State Releases Test Results, Alameda County Students Continue to Show Progress
- Today the California Department of Education released the results of the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) tests administered during the 2018-19 school year.
- Smarter Balanced Test Results: OUSD
- See below for the California Smarter Balanced results for tests which were taken by students in the spring of 2019. The tests form part of the state’s California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, or CAASPP. Hover over colors in the charts to see percentages for each achievement level.
- Teaching and Learning Continues Across OUSD, Including at a Celebration of Latinx Heritage This Afternoon at Urban Promise Academy
- One school that expects to have power is Urban Promise Academy (UPA), which is where this afternoon, the District is honoring Latinx heritage with a major celebration. Students, staff and families from UPA and Edna Brewer Middle School will come together to celebrate Latinx culture, history and contributions. Latinx Heritage Month, which the OUSD Board of Education voted to enact last year, continues through October 15.
- Lecture: Reimagining the Demonized
- “Reimagining the Demonized” seeks to disrupt the research tradition of ascribing certain marginalized groups of people as singularly damaged, lacking, and/or evil.
- The Latest Test Results for OUSD; Huge Gaps, Little Progress
- While protesters try to shut down the school board, and some school board members micromanage around pet issues and pet peeves, Black and Brown kids are failing and being failed. In OUSD, 11.7% of Black children are on grade level in math, 18.6% can read. For Latinx children, the numbers are 16.5% in math and 23.8% in reading. For White students 72.5% are on grade level in reading and 65.3% in math. White students actually showed higher growth over the last 5 years than Black or Latinx students.
- Carlmont takes actions to improve attendance rates
- New California education laws have altered Carlmont’s attendance policies, making it harder for students to get excused absences. In addition to these new policies, Carlmont installed a new scanning system to better track attendance.
California:
- Income inequality is on the rise in California. In some Bay Area counties, the disparities are extreme.
- A recent analysis of Census Bureau data reveals growing inequality in California, with most of the gains going to the top 5%.
- Teachers and students push for climate change education in California
- As students around the globe demand action by their government leaders to protect the environment, school boards across California have taken steps to recognize the impact of climate change on the environment and their students.
- $15 Billion School Bond Measure Headed to California Voters
- California voters will soon decide whether to provide outdated schools and universities with a $15 billion facelift under legislation signed Monday by Governor Gavin Newsom.
- Black Educators to Unveil “Blueprint” for Improving California Black Student Test Scores, Learning
- A group of Black educators are heading to San Diego this week from around the state, and across the country, to meet with each other. Their goal is to leave their conference with strategies that school districts and policymakers can adapt to close the achievement gap for Black students in public schools.
- Slow growth, big disparities after 5 years of Smarter Balanced tests
- California’s students’ Smarter Balanced test scores rose marginally in 2018-19, the fifth year of the tests, while showing little to no progress in closing wide disparities among ethnic, racial and other student groups, the California Department of Education reported on Wednesday.
- Holding schools accountable
- Educational accountability is attracting a lot of political attention — or perhaps lip service — these days in California. Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed two bills touted as bringing more accountability to education.
- California kids’ test scores again rise by inches as achievement gap yawns
- In a steady-but-painstakingly-slow pattern that has come to define California’s push for equity in education, statewide test scores inched up incrementally this year, though about half of the state’s students are behind in reading and only 4 in 10 students are proficient in math.
- Push to increase the number of teachers of color in California classrooms gains momentum
- Increasing the number of teachers of color in California classrooms has been a top priority for State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond since he started the job in January. Now, he’s planning a statewide task force focused on improving teacher diversity in California schools.
- California’s First Surgeon General: Screen Every Student for Childhood Trauma
- “A school nurse would also get a note from a physician that says: ‘Here is the care plan for this child’s toxic stress. And this is how it shows up,'” said Burke Harris, who was appointed California’s first surgeon general in January.
Other Stories:
- New Georgetown U. Program Offers Certificate – in Education Finance
- A new college program with an unorthodox curriculum and mission encourages K-12 administrators and others to re-examine common assumptions about school spending and how to improve student outcomes.
- To boost literacy, this Queens school is training support staff to teach reading
- When Eileen Bramer began as a school aide at Long Island City’s P.S. 111 in 1986, the job mostly involved doing whatever the teachers asked of her and remaining “more in the background.” Three decades later, Bramer is still technically an assistant, but her role has changed dramatically: She and her fellow assistant teachers — also known as paraprofessionals — are now on the front lines of her school’s efforts to improve reading instruction.
- Poll: Democratic Primary Voters Support Charter Schools
- A NEW POLL SHOWS THAT upwards of 80% of likely Democratic primary voters, including nearly 90% of black Democratic primary voters, support expanding access to more choices within the public school system, including to charter schools.
- Top 150 Recommended African-American Children’s Books
- Children book authors, industry professionals, and avid readers contributed their favorite children’s books to this list. We know children and young readers will enjoy most, if not all, of these books, as they have already brought joy to countless children. We recommend printed books for young readers, or when reading to a child. Some of these books are decades old, but are still in print due to their significance. Others are brand new, reflecting contemporary voices and themes.
- Death by Police is Now the 6th Leading Cause of Death Among Young Men
- It was once believed that police killings were the 14th leading cause of death among young people. However, a new Rutgers University study by Frank Edwards, which used federal statistics and journalistic investigation found that the death rate is far higher now. We discuss the research with Frank Edwards
- Fort Worth Woman Was Playing Video Game With Her Nephew When Shot by Police
- A police officer fired the shot that killed Atatiana Jefferson from outside her bedroom window. A neighbor had reported two doors ajar.
Resources:
- The 2 Real Rules of Expulsion Hearings
- Four hours in an expulsion hearing gives you time to think. And afterwards, you are wrapped tight so it takes a little time to unwrap and you need to think more. I do these things too often as part of my work. Well I don’t get paid for it, so “work” may not be the right word… as part of my duty. Experience has taught me that two rules govern the vast majority of these proceedings, proceedings that can forever change a child’s life.
- PG&E power-outage related school closures list
- Oakland Unified School District announced that nine schools will be closed Thursday during the power shutoffs.
How You Can Help:
- Ending Threat of Deportation: Urge Governor Newsom to Pardon Saman Pho!
- Tell Governor Newsom to pardon Cambodian genocide survivor, Saman Pho, so that Saman can remain with his wife and four young children in Oakland, California. The Governor’s pardon could prevent Saman’s order of deportation.
What do you think?