Yorkshire RAMS

Over 25 years as an elementary school principal my relationships with parents were good.  I was available, I listened, and when complaints or suggestions were reasonable, I acted.  But there was one area where I stubbornly held the line against the wishes of parents and that was the placement of students.  I made clear early on that I would not honor requests for children to be placed with a particular teacher, nor would I would I form ability-based classrooms.  My position was not a matter of showing who was “boss,” but of my unshakable conviction that mixed ability classrooms are the best places for children to learn and live.

Read the rest...

Race to the Top is the multi-billion-dollar program in which federal dollars were awarded to states and school districts that promised to make the reforms that Obama’s Education Department wanted. In a desperate attempt to win dollars during a time of shrinking resources, states changed their laws to try to get the money, not necessarily because they thought what they were doing was the right thing. Some won the cash and some didn’t.

Full article

A group of parents have been campaigning to set up a free school for two years after discovering a lack of mixed, non-selective, non-denominational secondary schools in Finchley and Golders Green.

Full article

Since 2009, when the state allowed school districts to use money dedicated to the career tech programs for any educational purpose, two regional centers have closed. Most others have had to cut back their programs, some substantially. Metro Ed had to severely cut back courses it offered to adult students, closing two campuses and 43 sites at high schools and community centers.

Read more...

Through observations at various schools and conversations with educators and community organizations, we have seen that alternate discipline strategies focus on teaching appropriate behavior and accountability, thereby allowing classrooms and schools to run much more smoothly. A San Francisco elementary school teacher who experienced this kind of improvement firsthand said, “I have been teaching for 10 years, the last five of which have been here at Rosa Parks. This is our second year with Restorative Practices and the climate here is much better. There is a lot less screaming and fighting from the kids. I also see a lot fewer ‘frequent fliers,’ who usually are repeatedly referred to the office. Now we go through a restorative conference and that’s it. I think that the students feel like their voices are being heard so they are less angry and less likely to act out.”

Full article