The San Jose Schools have struggled for years to find ways to address educational issues in the city. While there is a lot of room for criticism in any urban school district, you can’t say that the San Jose Unified School District hasn’t tried a lot of different angles for success. The diversity in the San Jose Schools, with a significant percentage of Spanish and Vietnamese speaking families, can be part of the problem when communicating with parents and building successful schools. That’s why the charter schools within the San Jose Schools are such a bone of contention.

Charter schools are usually public schools which are independently run by a local or independent organization. Charter schools in the San Jose Schools often are freed from some of the constrictions that the regular public schools face. Is this good or bad? Well, there are a lot of opinions. For those who think that the San Jose Schools public education system needs to be taken over privately, and run like a business, charter schools make a lot of sense. For those in the San Jose Schools we are trying to make the current system better, charter schools seem like a drain on funding that get to operate outside of the rule book. What do the results say?

Results of Charters in the San Jose Schools

A recent study of California charter schools had some interesting results that may impact the San Jose Schools. An independent educational research group found that charters are better for middle school students, worse for elementary school students, and there was no consistent pattern for high school students.

What does this mean for students, parents and teachers in the San Jose Schools? A lot more indecision and confusion. Look at the Leadership Charter Schools. There’s one in East San Jose, and a few more in outlying areas. Many parents are passionate about sending their children here, but the charter has Continue Reading

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The San Jose Schools have struggled for years to find ways to address educational issues in the city. While there is a lot of room for criticism in any urban school district, you can’t say that the San Jose Unified School District hasn’t tried a lot of different angles for success. The diversity in the San Jose Schools, with a significant percentage of Spanish and Vietnamese speaking families, can be part of the problem when communicating with parents and building successful schools. That’s why the charter schools within the San Jose Schools are such a bone of contention.

Charter schools are usually public schools which are independently run by a local or independent organization. Charter schools in the San Jose Schools often are freed from some of the constrictions that the regular public schools face. Is this good or bad? Well, there are a lot of opinions. For those who think that the San Jose Schools public education system needs to be taken over privately, and run like a business, charter schools make a lot of sense. For those in the San Jose Schools we are trying to make the current system better, charter schools seem like a drain on funding that get to operate outside of the rule book. What do the results say?

Results of Charters in the San Jose Schools

A recent study of California charter schools had some interesting results that may impact the San Jose Schools. An independent educational research group found that charters are better for middle school students, worse for elementary school students, and there was no consistent pattern for high school students.

What does this mean for students, parents and teachers in the San Jose Schools? A lot more indecision and confusion. Look at the Leadership Charter Schools. There’s one in East San Jose, and a few more in outlying areas. Many parents are passionate about sending their children here, but the charter has Continue Reading

]]> http://www.middleschoolteachingunits.com/the-san-jose-schools-struggle-with-charters/feed/ 0 http://www.middleschoolteachingunits.com/atlanta-schools-public-engagement-partnerships/ http://www.middleschoolteachingunits.com/atlanta-schools-public-engagement-partnerships/#comments Sat, 08 Nov 2008 18:33:21 +0000 admin http://www.middleschoolteachingunits.com/atlanta-schools-public-engagement-partnerships/

Atlanta Schools’ Office of Public Engagement

The Atlanta Schools’ Office of Public Engagement is responsible for creating and fostering partnerships between Atlanta Schools, community volunteers, teachers, parents, national and local corporations, non-profit groups, and civic organizations in order to advance student achievement. The Office of Public Engagement was created as part of the ongoing educational reform that is occurring throughout the Atlanta Schools. The Office’s aim is to connect the schools with any resource that could offer a positive influence on the success of the students in the Atlanta Schools. Many of these relationships are of a creative and ground-breaking nature. Several of the most successful partnership programs involve some of the largest corporations in the nation.

Hewlett Packard’s “Bringing it Home” Program

The Atlanta Schools has for many years been part of the Hewlett Packard’s “Bringing it Home” program. The Atlanta Schools partnership with Hewlett Packard is part of a larger program that has representatives from Hewlett Packard visiting over 600 schools in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. The main goal of the Hewlett Packard’s “Bringing it Home” Program is to encourage students, their parents and teachers to create and communicate with technology. The Hewlett Packard’s “Bringing it Home” Program is an interactive exploratory program that allows students to gain practical experience using digital photography and computers.

Atlanta Schools’ Price Middle School was one of the locations where students were exposed to the latest innovations in technology. The Price Middle School’s students were able to see how this technology could be applied to their own assignments and projects. The aim at Price Middle School was to help the students Continue Reading

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Atlanta Schools’ Office of Public Engagement

The Atlanta Schools’ Office of Public Engagement is responsible for creating and fostering partnerships between Atlanta Schools, community volunteers, teachers, parents, national and local corporations, non-profit groups, and civic organizations in order to advance student achievement. The Office of Public Engagement was created as part of the ongoing educational reform that is occurring throughout the Atlanta Schools. The Office’s aim is to connect the schools with any resource that could offer a positive influence on the success of the students in the Atlanta Schools. Many of these relationships are of a creative and ground-breaking nature. Several of the most successful partnership programs involve some of the largest corporations in the nation.

Hewlett Packard’s “Bringing it Home” Program

The Atlanta Schools has for many years been part of the Hewlett Packard’s “Bringing it Home” program. The Atlanta Schools partnership with Hewlett Packard is part of a larger program that has representatives from Hewlett Packard visiting over 600 schools in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. The main goal of the Hewlett Packard’s “Bringing it Home” Program is to encourage students, their parents and teachers to create and communicate with technology. The Hewlett Packard’s “Bringing it Home” Program is an interactive exploratory program that allows students to gain practical experience using digital photography and computers.

Atlanta Schools’ Price Middle School was one of the locations where students were exposed to the latest innovations in technology. The Price Middle School’s students were able to see how this technology could be applied to their own assignments and projects. The aim at Price Middle School was to help the students Continue Reading

]]> http://www.middleschoolteachingunits.com/atlanta-schools-public-engagement-partnerships/feed/ 0 http://www.middleschoolteachingunits.com/charlotte-mecklenburg-school-districts-cms-tv3/ http://www.middleschoolteachingunits.com/charlotte-mecklenburg-school-districts-cms-tv3/#comments Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:54:15 +0000 admin http://www.middleschoolteachingunits.com/charlotte-mecklenburg-school-districts-cms-tv3/

The Charlotte Mecklenburg School District

The Charlotte Mecklenburg School District is the main school district for the city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. The Charlotte Mecklenburg School District is composed of one hundred fifty schools: ninety one elementary schools, thirty two middle schools, seventeen high schools and ten alternative programs. There are one hundred twenty six thousand nine hundred three students enrolled in the Charlotte Mecklenburg School District. The District has the top 10% students in the state of North Carolina and in the nation. The ethnic distribution of the school district is nearly 45% African-American.

Charlotte Mecklenburg School District’s CMS-TV3

In order to better serve the students and parents of the Charlotte Schools the school district has created its own television channel. CMS-TV3 is designed to support the Charlotte Mecklenburg School District by broadcasting professional looking programming that can inform, educate, and entertain the parents, students and teachers of the Charlotte Mecklenburg School District. CMS-TV3 meets this goal by providing a variety of programming.

Current programs that address the needs of the students are the telecasts of the Board of Education meetings, Math Extra and Diversity Matters. The Board of Education Meetings are live broadcasts of the Charlotte Mecklenburg School District’s twice monthly meetings on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. This allows parents and teachers to know what is going on in the District. The meetings are rebroadcast on Wednesday nights. Math Extra is a live call in mathematics help show that allows students to get math help from math teachers throughout the school district. The show airs Monday through Thursday in the evening. The show aims to provide homework help to the middle school math students in the school district. Diversity Matters is a Continue Reading

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The Charlotte Mecklenburg School District

The Charlotte Mecklenburg School District is the main school district for the city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. The Charlotte Mecklenburg School District is composed of one hundred fifty schools: ninety one elementary schools, thirty two middle schools, seventeen high schools and ten alternative programs. There are one hundred twenty six thousand nine hundred three students enrolled in the Charlotte Mecklenburg School District. The District has the top 10% students in the state of North Carolina and in the nation. The ethnic distribution of the school district is nearly 45% African-American.

Charlotte Mecklenburg School District’s CMS-TV3

In order to better serve the students and parents of the Charlotte Schools the school district has created its own television channel. CMS-TV3 is designed to support the Charlotte Mecklenburg School District by broadcasting professional looking programming that can inform, educate, and entertain the parents, students and teachers of the Charlotte Mecklenburg School District. CMS-TV3 meets this goal by providing a variety of programming.

Current programs that address the needs of the students are the telecasts of the Board of Education meetings, Math Extra and Diversity Matters. The Board of Education Meetings are live broadcasts of the Charlotte Mecklenburg School District’s twice monthly meetings on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. This allows parents and teachers to know what is going on in the District. The meetings are rebroadcast on Wednesday nights. Math Extra is a live call in mathematics help show that allows students to get math help from math teachers throughout the school district. The show airs Monday through Thursday in the evening. The show aims to provide homework help to the middle school math students in the school district. Diversity Matters is a Continue Reading

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