OCDE NEWSROOM
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Mandarin language immersion debuts at Mission Viejo middle school |
At first glance, this sixth-grade classroom at Newhart Middle School looks normal with its clustered desks, hand-drawn posters and teacher standing at the front of the classroom. A closer look and listen, however, reveals something entirely different.
Newhart has become the first middle school in the Capistrano Unified School District to offer a Mandarin immersion program, in which students take two courses — one on the Mandarin language, another on social studies — taught entirely in the foreign language.
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http://www.ocregister.com/2017/09/26/mandarin-language-immersion-debuts-at-mission-viejo-middle-school/ |
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SACRAMENTO BEE
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California schools facing $24B in retiree health costs |
California schools are on the hook for $24 billion in future health care costs for their retirees, a mountain of debt that's forcing some districts to curb benefits or spend less on teacher salaries and classroom equipment, according to a new state report.
Los Angeles Unified School District boasts a whopping 56 percent share — or $13.5 billion — of the unfunded liability, although it educates nine percent of California's public school population. It's historically provided some of the most generous retiree health benefits, including lifetime coverage for retirees and their spouses.
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http://www.sacbee.com/news/article175550826.html |
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Gay rights groups protest ‘erasure’ of LGBT history in California textbooks |
Organizations such as Our Family Coalition and Equality California will appear over the next two days at a meeting of the Instructional Quality Commission, an advisory panel that makes curriculum recommendations to the State Board of Education, urging members to reject all but two of a dozen elementary and middle school social science textbooks proposed by publishers, unless edits are made. |
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article175567276.html |
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EDSOURCE
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L.A. Unified Board elects longtime member Mónica García as president |
The Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday selected Mónica García as its new president, replacing Ref Rodriguez, who resigned the presidency last week.
Rodriguez and García are two of four board members who have been backed by charter school advocates. The charter-backed candidates obtained a 4-3 majority when Nick Melvoin and Kelly Gonez were elected to the board in May. All four voted to elect García president on Tuesday.
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https://edsource.org/2017/l-a-unified-board-elects-longtime-member-monica-garcia-as-president/587932 |
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Guide to new science standards now available in Spanish |
A parents’ guide to California’s new K-12 science standards is now available “en español.” “Preparar a los Estudiantes para que Tengan Exito,” available free online, explains what the new standards are, how they differ from the old standards, how the standards were created and how parents can support their children’s education. An English version was released in April. |
https://edsource.org/2017/guide-to-new-science-standards-now-available-in-spanish/587937 |
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SACRAMENTO BEE
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Assessment scores remain steady in Orange County, which outpaces state and regional averages |
Orange County’s public school students continued to outperform peers regionally in the latest round of standardized tests, with 57 percent reaching proficiency or higher in English language arts and 48 percent doing the same in math, according to figures released today. Overall, local scores from the 2017 Smarter Balanced Assessments were, at every grade level, within a point or two of those posted the previous year.
The standards-aligned tests, now in their third year, are the state’s primary measure for student achievement in math and English language arts.
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http://newsroom.ocde.us/assessment-scores-remain-steady-in-orange-county/ |
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NPR
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Most States Plan To Use Student Absences To Measure School Success |
How do you judge how good a school is? Test scores? Culture? Attendance?
In the new federal education law (the Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA) states are asked to use five measures of student success. The first four are related to academics — like annual tests and graduation rates. The fourth measures proficiency of English language learners. The fifth is the wild card — aimed at measuring "student success or school quality" — and the law leaves it to states to decide.
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http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/09/26/550686419/majority-of-states-plan-to-use-chronic-absence-to-measure-schools-success |
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