From the L.A. Daily Breeze:

“New Millennium Secondary School, an LAUSD charter that is entering its third year of operation out of a Carson mall, saw its first CAHSEE results. They were decent: 81 percent passing English and 80 percent in math, about on par with the statewide average and greater than the six public schools that New Millennium students would otherwise attend.

“We’re really proud of our results and becoming one of the leading schools in the area despite only being around for two years,” said school Executive Director Tony Kline.

Kline attributed the school’s results to block scheduling that allows students to spend 90 minutes on math and on English every day. He was especially pleased by results showing that African-American students – who account for about three-quarters of the school’s enrollment of about 425 – performed nearly on par with the statewide average for math and above average for English.

“We essentially eliminated the achievement gap,” Kline said.”

As a psychologist and a tenured professor who specialized in researching and devising strategies for teaching troubled children, Stewart Pisecco was doing the work he loved. But then he had an idea for something he thought could reach more children: software that lets teachers and school administrators easily track and manage the implementation of behavioral improvement strategies. And he had to decide: Is it worth risking one dream to pursue another?

I knew I wanted to be a psychologist from the time I took a psychology class as a junior in high school. And I knew as a sophomore or junior in college that I had a real interest in academia. I loved research and statistics and combining the ideas of research and social sciences.

I had been at the University of Houston for five years when I got tenure. I had my doctorate by 28 and was tenured by the time I was 34. At the time, I could never have imagined doing anything different. It was what I loved to do, and I had worked my entire professional career to get to that point.

I thought I’d be crazy to leave. I had pretty much a good job for life, was doing what I wanted to do, and had lots of security. At the same time, I was relatively young and thought I could take some risks.

The idea for our company came from one of those chance experiences. I was doing my taxes with TurboTax and just reading research literature on the typical reasons teachers struggle with behavioral intervention. And I thought, Why can’t we come up with a software system like TurboTax that would guide teachers through the process of designing good behavioral strategies for their kids and then allow the administrators to monitor how the kids are responding to intervention approaches?

Most faculty members have a part-time private practice that they work on one day a week, but in 2000, I began committing that time to working on the business. I spent a couple of years researching the effectiveness of the software and then a couple of years working with teachers to refine the implementation process. But most of that work was getting crunched into the one day a week.

[Click here to read the entire article at inc.com]

[Click here to visit Psychological Solutions Inc]

“The only site that we block is Facebook,” says Luvelle Brown, CIO at Albermarle Cty Schools in Charlottesville, VA.

This video shares an interview with TechLEARNING’s Christine Weiser and Albermarle County Public Schools CIO, Luvelle Brown.

Professional Learning Communities, SIS, data integration, funding challenges and social networking are among the topics that pop up in this 11 minute interview.

[Click here to watch the video at www.techlearning.com]

Reviewer:

Rob Lee, director of district technology, New Brighton Area School District, New Brighton, Pennsylvania

Number of students: 1,695

The products we use: PolyVision eno whiteboard, smart Tables (K-1), 3M short throw projectors, Qwizdom Student Response Systems, document cameras, iPod Touch classroom lab, MyVRSpot educational social networking solution, iPad labs, ILS (integrated learning systems), smartphones, netbooks

Goal: “We wanted to create a classroom where students could show their teachers and peers the information that they understand, beyond what’s needed to pass a test.”

Response: “Tremendously positive. Students, staff, and administrators have really bought into this initiative. They know that this is the direction, and it’s vital to provide students with the tools to be successful.”

Learning curve: “We know that meaningful professional development is the key and that it’s an ongoing process. We have full-time, district-wide technology integration support people.”

How we use it: “In the primary grades and with special needs students we use smart Tables in the learning centers. The rest of the elementary classrooms are equipped with PolyVision eno boards and mini slates, 3M short-throw projectors, elmo document cameras, and ‘mini labs’ teachers use for a variety of purposes.”

Full story: http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3754647

Based in Central London (East-Central), this social media / communications support role is critical to the success of a charity operation, which involves the active engagement of a truly global community (eg – time zones matter). Your objective will be to engage in a process which actively solicits feedback from a global community of sustainability-minded designers, engineers, community leaders, architects and other professionals.

Your internship in London will cultivate social media skills and provide the experience of a lifetime (whether your career path is in design, sustainability, communications, or otherwise) unique opportunity to contribute to good work in the world while gaining rare experience!

• We offer hands on experience and the ability to see a project through from beginning to end.
• As an intern you will be digitally and practically paired with a team member who will serve as your mentor throughout the internship and be available beyond the term of employment.
• Our internships are based on client projects and upon positive completion will provide letters of recommendation from the CEO/President/Director of the client company as well as Sensible City’s president.

Compensation:

• This is an unpaid internship

Requirements:

We want to give you a robust and unique opportunity.  In order to make the most of this process you need to be prepared with the following:

• Ability and willingness to work 16-20 hours per week in our office on a regular schedule.
• Familiarity with  all Microsoft office programs and basic social media tools
• Proven time management skills and a positive attitude.
• Ability to conduct internet research
• Ability to use or rapidly learn wordpress, facebook, linkedin, twitter and digg

Challenges:

An independent, can-do attitude and ability to lead a project to completion is expected of all Sensible City interns. You will be expected to:

• Be accountable at all times.
• Identify all options and solutions to project obstacles.
• Communicate with all levels of society and influence.

As co-founder Laura Schewel told me at the event, it was only when Google and Apple launched their mobile operating systems that VEVCo was able to make an app that was inexpensive and could pull driver information unobtrusively. By using the GPS chip, the app can tell when the driver has started driving, when they stop, how fast or slow they drive, their daily average range, and the common length of the trips they take, among other things. While Schewel said she’s seen other companies spend millions of dollars trying to get that type of driving data, their app cost in the hundreds of thousands of dollars range to build.

That type of driving information, repackaged in various ways, could also be very valuable to a variety of industries from automakers, auto dealers and auto insurance companies to advertisers and web firms. The first market that VEVCo is targeting will be automotive marketing and VEVCo has developed the Virtual Test Drive app and website that uses driving information to educate and recommend what type of green car a consumer should (or could) buy or lease from a plug-in hybrid, to an all-electric, to a flex-fuel to a cleaner diesel car.

[Read entire feature by Katie Fehrenbacher here]

Here’s a snapshot of how EdNET attendees fare when put to the social media test:

Top 5 Cities Represented:

• Boston, MA
• New York, NY
• San Francisco, CA
• Washington, DC
• Chicago, IL

Engaging at EdNET…

• If by Linked IN, consider joining the official EdNET Community group.
• If by twitter, we’ve started a list.
• Also, be sure to use and follow the twitter hashtag for EdNET, which is “#ednet10″ and be sure to follow @EdNETBiz
• Join in the official EdNET Facebook page as well.

It also marks the eighth straight year that city scores are up.

Overall, 57 percent of students met goals in math and 51 percent met them in reading. Scores were up five points in math and three points in reading over the last year.

Superintendent Arlene Ackerman announced the preliminary results of this year’s state exams before the School Reform Commission on Wednesday.

“We certainly have a long way to go, but we’re moving in the right direction,” Ackerman said in an interview later. “It is significant that the majority of our young people are proficient.”

Students in third through eighth grade and 11th grade took the exams in reading and math this spring. Statewide results are expected late this summer…

[Click here to read entire article at philly.com]

“The idea of management science in public education is evolving,” says Jonathan Harber, CEO of Schoolnet.

At the 2010 EduStat University in Philadelphia, school districts from across America’s demographic spectrum came together to compare best practices for using data to guide decisions in K12 education. This video shares an interview with Schoolnet CEO, Jonathan Harber. It is the first of a series of interviews captured by Wayne D’Orio, Executive Editor of Scholastic Professional Media.

[Click here to watch the video at www.scholastic.com]

The visitors received a glossy magazine directed at the prospective Knights, and the cover of each featured the recipient’s own face. Photographs were taken during registration.

Lynnette Yossi, a parent from Dallas Center, thought the personalized effort was a nice touch. She visited Wartburg on Wednesday with her daughter, Ashton.

“They try, I think, to really make you fit in,” Lynnette Yossi said.

Their visit to Wartburg fell during Iowa Private College Week, which ends Friday. The 29 participating colleges and universities in the state encourage high school juniors and seniors to tour as many campuses as possible.

“It’s helpful,” Ashton Yossi said. “Kind of gives you the variety of different schools.”

As of Wednesday, she had visited three schools and planned to check out two more.

The week isn’t the only way colleges attract new students but it is an important tool for Wartburg, said Todd Coleman, assistant vice president for admissions.

Each year since 2003, at least 500 students visit Wartburg during the competitive recruiting initiative. Of those, almost 40 percent decide to enroll, Coleman said.

[Click here to read the entire article at wcfcourier.com]