California's Children

Alameda County, Target test food assistance thru public schools

May 18, 2012: Two schools in Oakland -- McClymonds High and Laurel Elementary -- are the focus of a pilot food assistance program conducted by the Alameda County Community Food Bank (ACCFB).

In a partnership with the discount retailer Target and the nonprofit, Feeding America, once a month ACCFB is distributing red cloth bags, stuffed with fresh vegetables, fruit, canned food and rice just before the end of the school day.

The program, Meals for Minds, is also known as the Mobile Pantry. Partner Target is no stranger to food assistance: two years ago, it donated $2.3 million to Feeding America and $1.2 million to local food banks nationwide to support mobile pantry school-based food programs. (The program at Laurel Elementary is Target-sponsored; the one at McClymonds High is funded through the ACCFB's general fund.) Next year, ACCFB hopes to expand to three more schools with the support of other businesses.

Kate Murphy, education writer for the Oakland Tribune reported on how the Mobile Pantry worked this past Tuesday: 160 people, all of whom were parents and caregivers of children at the school, collected nearly 1,480 pounds of food.

...The food bank reported a 29% increase in referrals to its emergency food help line from 2 years ago in the two ZIP codes nearest to Laurel Elementary; 71% percent of the children at Laurel Elementary are eligible for federally subsidized meals.

Written for California's Children by Elizabeth J Carlyle.

Photo: Ximena and Judy Hernandez pick up free food bags with other families of Laurel Elementary students from the Alameda County Food Bank in Oakland on Tuesday, May 15, 2012. (Laura A. Oda/Oakland Tribune)

Editorial: Houston juvvie justice puts LA to shame: Ridley-Thomas

April 28, 2012: From City Watch LA, written by Mark Ridley-Thomas, at left, a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. This piece first appeared in Zocalo Public Square.

VOICES FROM PUBLIC SQUARE - Several weeks ago, I was a spectator in a remarkable classroom. An instructor from India was teaching a group of African-American, Latino, and white high school students about religion in South Asia and showing them pictures of Krishna, Vishnu, and Ganesha on a multimedia “smart board” she controlled with a laptop computer. 
As a former teacher and a career civil rights advocate interested in improving education for minority youths, I found the scene heartwarming. But the visit was also heartbreaking. 

The class was taking place in a juvenile detention facility in Houston. Of course, seeing young men incarcerated is always tragic. But what hurt most was realizing that this everyday ritual in Texas—in which students gathered in an innovative, engaging class in a youth probation camp—was something I’d rarely see in Los Angeles. 

2012 Teacher of the Year: California's Rebecca Mieliwocki

April 24, 2012: At left, in a photo taken by Andy Holzman for the Los Angeles Daily News, Rebecca Mieliwocki -- whose parents were both teachers -- demonstrates muscles in her seventh-grade English classroom at Luther Burbank Middle School in Burbank.

Mieliwocki, a 13-year veteran teacher who was nominated for the honor by her principal and co-workers, was named America's Teacher of the Year 2012 by President Obama last Friday and celebrated yesterday in a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden.

State Superintendent Tom Torlakson also lauded Mieliwocki's commitment to her students and her profession.

"She brings enormous energy, enthusiasm and optimism to teaching - a career that has never been more challenging or more vital to our future," he said.

Mieliwocki is known for unconventional teaching techniques developed during her 13-year teaching career, designed to capture and keep the attention of youngsters being bombarded with information.

She might play music on her iPod while students work on a classroom assignment, for instance, or set up a boys vs. girls test of their grammar skills. Using a deck of playing cards inscribed with students' names, the luck of the draw determines who gets called on in class.

"Underneath all of the engaging strategies - being creative, being lively, being a modern teacher - is the understanding that I need to build skills in this kids," she told CBS News (below)... 

 

 

What works: Corona-Norco model for closing achievement gap

April 24, 2012: The Corona-Norco Unified School District (CNUSD), a low-income, 50% Latino school district in Riverside County has shown consistent gains in test scores, above average graduation rates and closed the academic gap between Hispanic, African-American students with their white peers.

The district, the 10th largest in the state with 53,400 students, was also recently nominated as one of four finalists for the Broad Prize for Urban Education, a $1 million award by the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation.

The Los Angeles Times featured CNUSD in a story by Stephen Ceasar who reported on the main reason behind the gains in academic performance: teachers are given freedom to experiment in the classroom and are active in developing curriculum.

By design, the district stays away from prescriptive lesson plans, allowing teachers and administrators at individual schools to develop their own strategies to reach the same goal — higher student achievement.

The idea is to increase the connection between instructors and what they teach, creating more accountability within the ranks, said Colleen Hawkins, director of curriculum and instruction.

"We don't go buy something and impose it on them," she said. "They are invested in it and created it. They own it and own the results."

...students have made dramatic gains in state test scores in recent years. The district has an above-average API rating of 815 and a 92% graduation rate. The system is narrowing the gap between white and Asian students and their African American and Latino peers. These groups, according to the Education Trust-West, have made among the greatest gains in the number of students scoring at or above grade level in English and math in the state between 2003 and 2010.

The system aims to bridge that achievement gap early. One tool is a dual-language immersion program. Beginning in kindergarten, these classes are largely split between those still learning English and native English speakers. Instruction is 90% in Spanish and 10% in English in kindergarten, a proportion that will shift to 50-50 by fourth grade. The program continues into middle school and high school, with certain classes conducted solely in Spanish.

Teachers, parents and administrators attribute the district's strength to strong relationships...which is most apparent in the lack of strife between the district and its unions. In 2010, teachers and administrators took a 5% pay cut to avoid teacher layoffs.

Written for California's Children by Elizabeth J Carlyle.

Photo credit: Senior Saraiyah Hatter, right, president of the Black Student Union, and Saraiyah Hatter, left, at CNUSD's Santiago High School. Hatter felt a divide between the Latino and black students and reached out to the Latino campus group. (Francine Orr, Los Angeles Times / April 12, 2012) 

Now we can "friend" LAUSD

March 22, 2012: LAUSD is going viral. The Los Angeles Unified School District thinks is may be the first district in the country to hire a full-time employee to develop, manage and coordinate all social media for the nation's second-largest public education system.

As reported in the Los Angeles Daily News, Stephanie Abrams, left, whose background is television news (CBS/KCAL), is being paid $93,300 ($87,000 of which is being funded by the Goldhirsh Foundation). She has thus far revived the district's moribund Facebook page, and opened Twitter and YouTube accounts. Coordinating and, where needed, initiating individual schools' websites will also be part of the program. 

"The sky's the limit," Abrams told the Daily News reporter, Barbara Jones. But not necessarily in freedom of expression -- it may be social media, but it's still school:

With Abrams working to boost LAUSD's online presence, the district quietly implemented a new social media policy governing employees' conduct on social networking sites.

Teachers and others must keep personal and school-related networks separate and student information confidential. The district also reserves the right to monitor email and other online exchanges on their district computers.

"District employees and associated persons should keep in mind that information produced, shared and retrieved by them may be subject to district policies and is a reflection of the school community," the policy said.