[ECP] Educational CyberPlayGround K12 Newsletters Headlines and Resources
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[ECP] Educational CyberPlayGround K-12 Newsletter
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Happy Reading for Today,
<Karen>
Timothy Wu wrote a provocative op-ed arguing that computer algorithms
are not “speech”, on the ground that if they are, regulators would not
be able to rein in antitrust or other abuses. He argues that treating
search engine results as protected speech would, therefore, be harmful
to comsumers.
As I explain in this response, it would be a disaster for consumers if
search engine results were NOT treated as speech, and indeed that, in
other contexts, courts routinely protect ranking systems calculated by
crunching large volumes of data using computers. And antitrust
regulators regularly address speech. “Let’s fix prices” is speech, for
example. It is a factual matter that needs to be determined – is Google
abusing its dominant market position to favor its own products, contrary
to its broadly advertised public claim that its organic results (as
opposed to its sponsored links) are unbiased by lucre. The charge has
been made, and various agencies are investigating. Let’s wait to see
what they find. ~Paul Alan Levy
It's Not Computers Whose Speech is Protected -- It's Their Owners by
Paul Alan Levy
Suppose a company were to design a formula to rank other companies with
respect to their overall desirability to potential customers. After
creating a complicated formula, the company would accumulate a database
of factual information, relying largely on information gathered from the
other companies, but also relying on inputs from other sources; each of
these inputs would be quantified using a proprietary method; finally,
the company would plug all of this quantitative data into a computer
that would crunch the numbers and publish a ranking.
http://pubcit.typepad.com/clpblog/2012/06/its-not-computers-whose-speech-is-protected-its-their-owners.html
Anatomy of a disparity
To identify the nation's wealthiest school districts, MSNBC's 24/7 Wall
St. analyzed census data for each of the more than 10,000 school
districts across the United States. In the 10 richest districts, median
incomes ranged from $176,000 to $238,000. By comparison, the national
median household income was $52,000. Annual median incomes in the
poorest districts ranged from $16,607 to $18,980, well below the
national poverty line ($22,314) for a household of four. In San Perlita
Independent School District in Texas, 30 percent of residents earned
less than $10,000 each year. According to the National Center of
Education Statistics, the wealthiest districts spend far more per pupil
than the national average. The Edgemont, New York district spends more
than $25,000 per student annually. In contrast, Barbourville, Kentucky
spends less than one-third that amount. All of the richest districts
made the 2012 U.S News & World Report Best High Schools list, except for
Bronxville, which ranked fourth in Newsweek's Top 20 High Schools in the
Northeast. In the richest districts, up to 90 percent of the district
budget is from residents' taxes. Homeowners pay an average of $18,000 in
Weston, Connecticut and $43,000 in Bronxville, New York. By comparison,
as little as 6 percent of school revenue is generated by local taxes in
the poorest districts, with state and federal funding making up the
difference.
http://lifeinc.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/08/12089180-the-richest-school-districts-in-america
CFO for company that applied for the most gTLDs from ICANN, used to be
CFO of ICANN
This is so outrageous you can't make its up.
http://ow.ly/bLec1
204. Incentives and Responses under No Child Left Behind: Credible
threats and the Role of Competition. 2012.
A new paper from the National Center for the Study of Privatization in
Education looks at the responses of schools that did not make Adequate
Yearly Progress (AYP) under NCLB. Did these schools then focus on
high-stakes subjects (English and math, part of AYP computations) and
shift away from low-stakes subjects? To make AYP, certain percentages of
students had to score above pre-designated cutoffs. Did this induce
schools to focus on students scoring around the cutoffs at the expense
of other students? And since only certain grades were included in AYP
computations, did this shift focus from low-stakes grades to high-stakes
grades? Were there differences in how different subgroups (say,
advantaged versus disadvantaged) were affected? Using data from
Wisconsin and regression discontinuity designs, the author found
improvements in these schools in high-stakes reading, and spillover
effects to low-stakes language arts, patterns consistent with a focus on
marginal students around cutoff points. This did not appear to come at
the expense of other students. Performance in low-stakes grades
suffered, as did performance in weaker subgroups, in spite of inclusion
in AYP computations. While there was no robust evidence of effects for
test participation and graduation, attendance did improve in threatened
schools where it mattered for AYP. Schools that failed AYP only in
reading and/or math did substantially better in these subjects the next
time round.
http://www.ncspe.org/list-papers.php
College: Grieving Father Struggles to Repay Dead Son's Massive Student
Loans. On the hook for Student Loans even when dead.
Despite the help of a lawyer, he has not been able to determine exactly
how much he owes, or even what company holds his loans.
Reynoso and his lawyer don’t even know exactly how much he now owes, but
it appears to be well into the six figures. The loan that Bank of
America originated is clear. A few months after he buried his son,
Francisco Reynoso began getting notices in the mail. Then the debt
collectors came calling.
http://ow.ly/bLbYM
The Corporatization of U.Va.
http://prospect.org/article/corporatization-uva
The purpose of a university is to create "a habit of mind," that lasts
through life.
THAT is indeed what it is all about, creating a habit of mind.
http://ow.ly/bLj3Z
A chilling effect
Approved nearly a year ago by state lawmakers and Gov. Robert Bentley,
Alabama's immigration law is considered the toughest in the nation, and
the state's public schools are contending with the human fallout,
reports Education Week as part of its 2012 edition of Diplomas Count.
The law makes it criminal for undocumented immigrants to register a
vehicle or rent an apartment, and penalizes anyone who employs or houses
undocumented immigrants. It also requires districts to ask new students
for proof of citizenship or lawful immigration status; districts then
report that information to the state education department. Educators see
impacts of the law play out every day in troubling trends. For example,
in Foley, Alabama, educators expect the rate at which Hispanic students
are held back a grade to be as much as four times what it was last year.
Though scores on state achievement tests for the current year aren't
available, Foley's staff are bracing for a drop in academic growth for
Hispanic and English-learner students, who have been outperforming
non-Hispanic white and African-American peers for the past three years.
"A child who is in fear cannot learn, and that is what we are dealing
with," says William Lawrence, longtime principal of Foley Elementary.
Twenty percent of Foley's 1,200 students are Latino, most of them
American-born.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/06/07/34immigration.h31.html
Children are Scared
President Obama has ordered his administration to stop deporting young
immigrants who came to the U.S. as young children and who do not pose a
security threat.
http://tinyurl.com/7yg7q9c
Vouchers safe
Congressional backers of D.C.'s private-school vouchers have struck a
deal with the Obama administration to keep money and students flowing
into the controversial program.
http://tinyurl.com/86kaooz
Really Fat Kids
In recent years, an uneven yet growing body of research has suggested
that obesity is associated with poorer academic performance beginning as
early as kindergarten.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/14/health/obesity-affect-school-performance/index.html
Accountability systems that are outcome-focused
A new report from the Center on Reinventing Public Education looks at
the Portfolio School District strategy employed by the Baltimore Public
Schools. Under portfolio management, districts manage a portfolio of
diverse schools -- through traditional district operation, charter
operators, and nonprofit organizations -- and hold all schools
accountable for performance. The report finds that under CEO Dr. Andrés
Alonso, Baltimore City Public Schools have come a long way over the last
five years in improving student achievement, granting schools more
autonomy, and creating an environment friendly to innovators and new
school providers. The introduction of a higher level of accountability
to schools via student-based budgeting and other policy levers has
helped fuel a dramatic shift in district and school culture. The
district has also aggressively closed failing schools, engaged parents
and community organizations, spread principal autonomy to all schools,
introduced pupil-based funding, and expanded citywide choice to middle
school students. However, the report has several recommendations for the
district. It must develop a clear set of accountability metrics that
drive school closure and charter revocation or non-renewal decisions;
consistently and regularly communicate to schools and the community how
it makes closure decisions; improve timing of closure announcements so
that children in schools slated for closure can participate in the
choice process; ensure enough high-quality seats to satisfy student
need; keep consistent messaging from all district offices regarding
school-level autonomy; better define and communicate expectations for
schools; and consider accountability systems that are outcome-focused
and open to any instructional methods provided they produce student
achievement growth.
http://www.crpe.org/cs/crpe/view/csr_pubs/502
Texas Can't Get It Right
Because of low scores on the state's new end-of-course exams, or EOCs,
many incoming Texas 10th-graders will have to retake them in July,
landing them in summer classes to prepare - and leaving school districts
with a hefty bill.
http://www.texastribune.org/texas-education/public-education/texas-schools-foot-big-bill-staar-retakes/
Retention - Who Will benefit?
Retention And Social Promotion. Criteria for who benefits from retention
http://ow.ly/bLgin
Not good
About two-thirds of Los Angeles Unified's elementary and middle schools
and three-quarters of its high schools rank among the state's lowest
performing on benchmark tests.
http://ow.ly/bLktP
3rd Graders in OH
A sweeping education bill proposed by Ohio Gov. John Kasich that imposes
a new reading requirement for the state's third-graders and a stricter
evaluation of teachers has passed the Ohio General Assembly, largely
along party lines.
http://ow.ly/bLkro
Uncertified Teachers Teach in Charter Schools
A new Louisiana law that allows uncertified teachers to teach in charter
schools, a change in line with the goal of allowing charter schools to
try new approaches to improving student performance, is drawing controversy.
http://ow.ly/bLkkj
"Parent Trigger" laws
The U.S. Conference of Mayors unanimously endorsed "parent trigger" laws
aimed at bypassing elected school boards and giving parents at the worst
public schools the opportunity to band together and force immediate change.
http://ow.ly/bLkfe
No Business Tax Credit to Private Schools
New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch has vetoed a business tax credit passed by
the Legislature that would provide students with scholarships to attend
private schools, receive home-schooling or switch to a public school
outside their district.
http://ow.ly/bLkaL
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