Can a school dramatically affect a child's academic career and their future employment opportunitites by expecting to little from them?  This week NPR New's radio program All Things Considered hosted by Madeleine Brand and Robert Siegel tackled this heated topic as they discuss the learning experiences of Asian and Dominican students.Can such stereotypes become part of our cultural scripts that reinforce certain myths of racial differences?  Can these stereotypes harm students by placing pressure on students to perform or met unrealistic goals?  Can these stereotypes limit a student's learning capacity by limiting their ability to grow by tracking them into remedial classes? 

In New York City a recent college graduate has filed a $70,000 lawsuit because she has been unable to get a job with her bachelors degree in information technology since April.  Trina Thompson is seeking a settlement against Monroe College in the Bronx because she feels that the school has failed to assist her find a job that uses her bachelors degree.  Monroe College says that the lawsuit is without merit. Wow.  At first I was surprised by this article from the Associated Press but after a simple google search... I found that many related articles say that there is a growing trend of students not just sueing colleges and especially trade schools for failing to assist the students get jobs but also their professors. What do you think?  Are professors and schools responsible if you fail to get a job after earning a degree?  What new degrees and colleges such as those in sustainable energeries?    

Twelve Essentials for Technology Integration by Richard Byrne.  HIs information is posted below:

• Location Naples, United States
• Work Educator at Home
• About Free Technology For Teachers is growing rapidly. The purpose of the blog is to help teachers find and utilize free web resources.
• Web freetech4teachers.blogspot.com
• Tags Educator, Teacher, Writer, Blogger, Adventurer,
• Joined April 08
• Presentations 7, Documents 0
• Following 1, Followers 5

California State University has just released it's latest newletter at the Bulldog Byte.

Art professor's book focuses on NE India - Joan Krejcar Sharma, an associate professor in the Department of Art and Design at California State University, Fresno, has published a collection of photographs and text illuminating Mithila artists in northeastern India. [read more]

New dispensers for courtesy parking permits - California State University, Fresno has installed a new visitor parking program that requires campus guests to display a permit obtained from one of 16 newly installed automated permit dispensers around the campus. [read more]

State clarifies Cal Grant benefits - The California Student Aid Commission is informing CSU campuses, including Fresno State, that Cal Grant fee awards will be adjusted to cover the CSU’s recent student fee increase of $672 per year. [read more]

Fresno State Culinology® professor goes to sea in Navy’s Adopt-A-Ship program - Klaus Tenbergen, director of the Culinology® Program at California State University, Fresno, served aboard the guided missile destroyer USS Halsey for a week helping improve culinary practices for Navy chefs though the Naval Supply Systems Command's Adopt-A-Ship program. [read more]

Robots help teachers in math, science instruction - School children are not the only ones enjoying various camps at California State University, Fresno this summer. Teachers are learning at the two-week Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Leadership Institute. [read more]

Sen. Cogdill leads tribute on Senate floor to Jordan family - The California State Senate today (July 13, 2009) honored the Jordan family for their generous donation of $29.4 million to the California State University, Fresno College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, now known as the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology. The donation, from the late Hanabul “Bud” Jordan, and his brother, the late Lowell Jordan, is the largest single cash gift ever given to any California State University. Bud ran a general contracting business in Hayward and Lowell ranched cattle in Dublin. [read more]

Dr. John Suen selected as Geological Society fellow - Dr. John Suen, a professor of earth and environmental sciences at California State University, Fresno, will become a fellow of the Geological Society of America.  Suen will be honored Oct. 17-19 at the society’s annual meeting in Portland, OR. [read more]

Fresno Area Libraries RSS highlight the new teen book section at Border Bookstores in Riverpark Shopping Center.  The teen section will stock graphic novels, fantasy and young-adult titles together in 80% to 90% of the 513 superstores Borders operates nationwide by the end of August.Happy Reading.

English-Only Tests

Last week the courts ruled that the law does not allow for the courts to act as "the official second-guesser" as to the reliability of a state's testing methods concerning No Child Left Behind (NCLB).  The courts ruled essentially that a state should not be burdened with creating native language tests for all its students which could total over 40 different languages.  The court also pointed to a 1998 voter ballot measure that prohibited bilingual instruction except under certain limited conditions. 

This new ruling will impact nearly 1.6 million English Language Learners (ELL's) and ends lawsuits stemming from the NCLB Act of 2002 that states ELL students "shall be assessed in a valid and reliable manner" for federal accountability.  Now the courts say that the manner of testing will be left up to the states to determine.

I'm not sure how to react to this new ruling myself.  As a teacher I feel it is important to connect with students and ask questions in a way that they understand... in a language that they understand... but I don't speak 40 languages by any stretch of the imagination.  As a computer geek I often use shorthand and Twitter Speak so to speak- And so to to be honest... I have trouble writing in English more than I care to admit.

For me, language, reading and writing is meant to pass information and communicate.  Reading and writing is important and ought to be done correctly as much as possible but shouldn't the main goals be communication and understanding?  How can a test not written in a language that the student understands communicate the questions and tasks effectively?  How can a student perform well on a test that they can't read and understand fully?

Now are schools, school districts and the individual teacher to be tasked to fill in the gap?  Yes.  Is it fair?  Probably not.  It seems that teacher's are too often placed in a situation that they are not prepared for or care to be in.  How can teachers be expected to teach Math, learn Excel or another spreadsheet program and translate it into Spanish, Hmong, French or any other language?  Or translate a reading assignment on "The Bell Jar" or "Moby Dick" or any other piece of American Literature into 40 languages?

The in between things that drive teaching ought to be taken into account as well.  Teachers must continually learn to use the all things in between, the computer the applications, the printer, copier, emails, blah blah blah.  It is hard to do well day in and day out.

Now there's a push for pay for performance by the Education Department.  Asking teachers and schools to do more with less yet again and then trying the results to their income. 

Here's another way of thinking about it... If you were a wrestling coach or UFC fighter.. would it be fair to be forced to accept a match between a 160 pound fighter and a heavy weight fighter of nearly 300 pounds?  Or how about if you had to play in a basketball game were every team but yours had players that were over 6 feet tall yet your team only had players that were 5-10?  How could these teams, coaches and players be expected to consistantly win?

Yet teachers must attempt to do just that; the impossible.  They are expected to teach students that have come to the practice field unprepared for their lessons.  It's not the kids fault but it's not the teacher's either.  In this case there are no easy answers and no easy ways out.

Or is there?  Why can't there be one test in 40 languages?  Being a geek of sorts... I would hope there would be a technology solution to language translation that could be implemented. 

I'm not sure why kids in general would have to struggle through a test in a language they don't understand. 

“Most students graduate with a manageable debt load,”

~Sandy Baum, contributor to brief

Well this was interesting to read; did you know that a third of students who earn a bachelors degree do so with no debt at all?  I didn't know this.  I assumed that more than most students had to pay their way through college.  Not so according to the policy brief released Tuesday by the College Board.

The brief reports that 41% of students who earn a degree or certificates in the 2007-8 academic year — and 34 percent of those who received bachelor’s degrees — graduated with no debt.  No debt.  Wow.  That's impressive.

To read some more interesting discussions about student debt, ways to pay for school and the value of a college education in today's world visit the NY Times Blog page Room For Debate or you can read Charles Murray thoughts on the value of a bachelors degree in today's world and economy. It's important to note that Murray has written some highly controversial articles and books concerning today's educational systems. In this article he points out it is not where you were educated but what you learn and how you apply it on the job.

You should check out this website if you like art, language, teach, have kids... etc..! Very cool website that uses art to teach language concepts...!

http://www.myenglishimages.com/Home.html

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and civil rights leader Al Sharpton will join Education Secretary Arne Duncan on a tour of four cities to highlight the Obama administration's efforts to reform public education, spur innovation and discuss challenges facing America's school systems.

The trio's goal is to stimulate discussion and community engagement around issues of education reform starting in Philadelphia on Sept. 29 then to New Orleans on Nov. 3 and ending in Baltimore on Nov. 13. These sites were selected because of their geographic location and because they of their process on school reform.

"President Obama has shown real courage on the issue of charter schools. I strongly believe that when you can find common ground, we should be able to put other differences aside to achieve a common goal," said Gingrich.

Al Sharpton is a Baptist minister, civil rights leader and a radio talk show host who advocates for economic and educational equity through two organizations he founded, the National Action Network and the Education Equality Project. Newt Gingrich is a former speaker of the House of Representatives, author, history professor, political analyst and the founder of American Solutions, a tri-partisan grassroots action organization.