The Summer Olympics and Celebrating 40 Years of Title IX

2012 marks the 40th anniversary of the passage of Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in public education.  Title IX provides that "no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity."  Although Title IX ensures that girls and boys receive equal access to science and math classes, it is also notable for ensuring equality in high school and collegiate athletics.

Today also marks the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Olympics held in London.  For the first time, the US will be sending more female Olympic athletes than male athletes.  Scott Blackmun of the US Olympic Committee noted that this is "a true testament to the impact of Title IX, which in its 40-year history has increased sport opportunities for millions of females across the United States."

Women were not allowed to compete in the modern Olympics until the 1900 Paris games.  With the introduction of women's boxing, this year marks the first time in history when women are able to participate in all Olympic sports.  And for the first time in history all participating countries will send female athletes to the Olympic games.

For more information, including a slide show, check out the Huffington Post article here.

Meghan Covert Russell

Nominate an Outstanding Young Educator by August 1!

The ASCD (formerly known as the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) is accepting nominations (including self-nominations) for the 2012 Outstanding Young Educator Award (OYEA) until August 1.  Winners will be presented the OYEA award at the annual ASCD conference.

For more information visit the ASCD's website here.

Meghan Covert Russell

STAR Test Results Delayed Due To Security Breach

The results of the California STAR test are expected to be delayed about two weeks after it was discovered that several school sites may have breached standardized testing protocol.  Over 400 images related to the test were found online, including images of actual test questions.

This breach may have significant impacts on the schools were the security breaches occurred, including a school not receiving Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and/or Academic Performance Index (API) results which may in turn affect funding.  It is important that all school site test administrators/proctors as well as students take the testing procedures seriously.  Failure to do so could result in serious penalties that affect the school as a whole.

For more coverage on this, see the Los Angeles Times article here.

Meghan Covert Russell

A Clarifying Change to the English Language Development Standards

AB 124, which became effective January 1, 2012, establishes a process to update, revise, and align the English Language Development Standards to the Common Core State Standards in English language arts, and requires the State Superintendent and the State Board of Education to present lawmakers with a schedule and implementation plan for integrating the revised standards.

Existing law requires each school district that has one or more pupils who are English learners to assess the English language development of each of those pupils upon initial enrollment in order to determine the level of proficiency of those pupils, and thereafter to assess each of those pupils annually until the pupil is redesignated as English proficient.  Existing law further requires the State Board of Education to approve standards for English language development for pupils whose primary language is a language other than English, and that these standards be comparable in rigor and specificity to the statewide academically rigorous content standards for English language arts.

This new measure requires the State Superintendent to convene a group of experts in English language instruction, curriculum, and assessment to assist the State Superintendent in updating, revising, and aligning the English language development standards. It also requires the State Superintendent to present the updated, revised, and aligned English language development standards to the State Board of Education on or before August 31, 2012. The measure further requires the State Board of Education to adopt, reject, or revise the standards presented by the Superintendent on or before September 30, 2012.

Additionally, the measure requires the State Superintendent and the State Board of Education to present to the Governor and the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature a schedule and implementation plan for integrating the new English language development standards into the state public education system.

The Full Text of AB 124 can be found here.

Sirenia Jimenez, summer associate

President Obama Announces Plan for STEM Master Teacher Corps

Today the White House announced the President's plan to dedicate $1 billion to create a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Master Teacher Corps.  The program will begin in 50 locations with 50 exceptional STEM teachers leading the way, but plans are to expand to 10,000 STEM teachers within the next four years. The program will reward high-performing teachers with salary stipends of $20,000 per year.

Plans were also announced to dedicate $100 million from the Teachers Incentive Fund to help schools recruit STEM teachers.  These teachers would then serve as mentors to fellow STEM teachers within the schools districts.

This proposal comes out of the recommendations of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, which included encouraging teacher cooperation in order to improve STEM education across the country and retaining talented STEM teachers.

Read more about the President's plan here.

Meghan Covert Russell

Kindergarten Readiness Act

The Kindergarten Readiness Act (SB 1381) was passed in September 2010 and is set to go into effect for the 2012-2013 school year.  It is part of State Superintendent Torlakson’s Blueprint for Great Schools Initiative, which focuses on preparing students from kindergarten and beyond. The measure changes the required birthday admission to kindergarten and first grade.

Previously, children would enter kindergarten if they were 5 years old on or before December 2 and children entering first grade had to turn 6 years old on or before December 2.  Under the new act, the dates for both grades will be moved up to November 1 for the 2012–13 school year, October 1 for the 2013–14 school year, and September 1 for the 2014–15 school year and each school year thereafter.

The California Legislative Analyst's Office notes:

• California’s kindergarten start date is one of the latest in the nation;
• Beginning school at an older age would benefit children’s academic performance and social development;
• Children who are older when they start kindergarten tend to perform better on standardized tests; and
• Research suggests changing the kindergarten start date may lead to positive student outcomes, including less chance of grade retention and higher earnings as an adult.

The Full Text of SB 1381 can be found here.

Sirenia Jimenez, summer associate

Brown Act Refresher: Make Sure to Post Agendas on the District Website!

There are so  many complex ins and outs to the law, that's why we've decided to start posting "Refreshers" on some of the most common laws that school districts encounter, including the Brown Act, the California Public Records Act, conflicts of interest, discipline/dismissals, and leave.  These posts are intended to draw your attention to provisions of the law that might be overlooked or forgotten -- sometimes we just need a little refresher!

AB 1344, which went into effect on January 1, 2012, changes some of the requirements of the Brown Act.  AB 1344 requires local educational agencies that maintain a website to post the agenda of a regularly scheduled meeting at least 72 hours in advance on their website (and 24 hours in advance for special meetings).  Although AB 1344 doesn't change the timeline for posting notice, it requires that if a district has a website, that agendas must be posted on that website.

The full text of AB 1344 can be found here.

Meghan Covert Russell

New Requirements for National School Lunch Program

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Act of 2010 provided the most comprehensive changes to the school nutrition program in over a decade.  The Act is aimed at fighting childhood obesity and childhood hunger, two problems that continue to face our school children.

As part of the Act, significant changes were made to the federal requirements for school meals.  These changes include:

• A daily serving of fruit
• A daily serving of vegetables
• An increased quantity of combined fruits and vegetables
• Distinction between fruit and vegetables, and requirements for serving both
  
• Whole-grain rich grains
• Fat-free or low-fat milk
• Calorie minimum and maximum levels
• Sodium reductions
• Trans fat limits
• Saturated fat limits
• 3-year administrative review cycle

The new lunch requirements became effective July 1, 2012, the beginning of school year 2012-2013.  Changes to the breakfast program will be phased in starting July 1, 2013.

Although these changes reflect important change to federal law, California also has strict requirements for the sale of food and beverages to school children set forth in the California Education Code.

For more information on these changes, please visit the US Department of Agriculture's website on Nutrition Standards for School Meals.

Meghan Covert Russell

It's July 1: Do Your Anti-Bullying Policies Comply With The Law?

As of July 1, 2012, AB 9 requires that all school district anti-harassment/anti-discrimination board policies must include language prohibiting the intimidation and bullying based on the actual or perceived characteristics as set forth in Education Code 220. 

AB 9 also requires districts to have a complaint procedure in place for responding to allegations of bullying.

Do your board policies comply with the requirements set forth in AB 9?  If not, now is the time to revise them!

For past coverage of AB 9 and its requirements, please click here.