Effective Practices

New Edendale Middle School College Bulletin Boards

California GEAR UP Schools, Effective Practices / October 29, 2014

College Bulletin Boards –Edendale Middle School The creation of our feeder collegiate bulletin board is a direct outgrowth of my attendance at the BARLI conference at Mills College, Oakland, CA. There was a board featuring a program at Mills College and I said why not have our own board featuring our feeder colleges and universities here in the Bay Area monthly? The names and cities where they are located are close and familiar to our students and their families already. Places they can actually visit and attend events to get familiar with the campuses and their staff. It also a …

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Partner Spotlight: Coalition for Educational Partnerships

Effective Practices / October 15, 2014

About CEP: Mission and Belief Founded in 2003, the Coalition for Educational Partnerships (CEP) is a non-profit organization driven by a belief in educational access and equity for all students. CEP’s mission is to promote educational equity by assisting schools, educators, families and community-based organizations to engage in practices that enable all children to reach their highest potential and increase their readiness for post-secondary higher education. Our experience suggests that deep and lasting organizational change requires collective effort, time and commitment towards embracing different ways of seeing, being and doing. CEP assists our partner clients with creating a culture of …

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Bay Area Regional Leadership Institute Oct 7-8, 2014

CA GEAR UP Events and Institutes, California GEAR UP Schools, Effective Practices / October 14, 2014

The intention of this event is to bring Bay Area GEARUP schools together for two days of professional development, learning and exchange of ideas to build greater communication, collaboration and success towards building a College Going Culture at each of your schools this year. Date: Tuesday and Wednesday, October 7th & 8th 7:30am – 4:00pm Location: Mills College – Carnegie Hall, Oakland  Theme: “Achieving Social Justice and Equity through Common Core strategies to Ignite Student Success” Outcomes: Deepening our understanding and facilitation of Common Core Strategies Enhancing communications between Gear Up Schools, Partners and Community Based Organizations Best practices and learning …

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New $75 Million GEAR UP Competition Announced

Effective Practices / June 4, 2014

U.S. Department of Education Office of Communications & Outreach, Press Office   400 Maryland Ave., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20202      FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 3, 2014 CONTACT:  Press Office, (202) 401-1576 or press@ed.gov U.S. Department of Education Announces $75 Million GEAR UP Competition To focus on building successful practices aimed at improving college fit and college readiness for underrepresented, underprepared and low-income students across the country, the U.S. Department of Education announced today the availability of $75 million for two new Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) competitions. At the Obama Administration’s College Opportunity Summit earlier this year, the Department made …

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Interview: California Teacher of the Year Ang Bracco

Effective Practices / May 24, 2014

Angelo Bracco was recently selected as one of five California Teachers of the Year and is a special education teacher at Solano Middle School in Vallejo, CA, a California GEAR UP School. We are proud Ang is on the GEAR UP leadership team at Solano and was gracious enough to take the time to participate in an interview. Please tell us about your award and what it means to you I was recently selected as one of five teacher of the year for the State of California. This was quite an honor since California has over 400,000 teachers. The award …

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New Ed-Trust Study on Promising Teacher Evaluation

California GEAR UP Schools, Effective Practices / May 22, 2014

  OAKLAND, CA (May 22, 2014) – The Education Trust—West releases initial findings from a two-year study examining innovative teacher evaluation systems in a new report titled, Beyond Satisfactory: Redefining Teacher Support and Evaluation to Improve Teaching and Learning. The report reveals that teachers and administrators generally experience the evaluation process as an objective and constructive opportunity to reflect on and improve their instruction in order to best serve all students. These systems offer teachers support in ways that are connected with teachers’ deep desires to ensure their students will achieve at high levels. The report also highlights promising practices, and it …

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Secrets to Creating a Positive School Culture

Effective Practices / May 13, 2014

As part of our guest blogger series, our very own Whole School Services Coach Michele Molitor provided her recent experience interviewing Karen Webber-Ndour, Executive Director of the Office for Student Support and Safety for the Baltimore City Schools. #### What do you get when you combine passion, listening and fierce compassion for others? You get a woman who’s soul purpose is to help students get the education they need to thrive in the challenging community of Baltimore City, MD. I’m speaking about Karen Webber-Ndour, Executive Director of the Office for Student Support and Safety for the Baltimore City Schools. I recently …

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Work in Focus: High School Graduation Rate Tops 80 Percent

Effective Practices / April 28, 2014

LOS ANGELES—For the fourth year in a row, California’s graduation rate climbed as the dropout rate fell, particularly for students of color, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced today. More than eight out of 10 students statewide, or 80.2 percent, who started high school in 2009-10 graduated with their class in 2013. That is up 1.3 percentage points from the year before (Table 1). Graduation rates among African-American and Hispanic students climbed faster than the statewide average, although the rates remained lower overall. Among African-American students, 67.9 percent graduated with their class in 2013, up 1.9 percentage points …

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An Interview With GEAR UP Principal Esperanza Arce

California GEAR UP Schools, Effective Practices / April 11, 2014

Esperanza Arce is the Principal of the Vista Verde Middle School Cougars in Moreno Valley, CA. Vista Verde has been a California GEAR UP school for 3 years. #### Please tell us about how Vista Verde became STW-TCS redesigned model middle school and as an AVID demonstration school and what it means to you. Vista Verde became STW-TCS  (California Schools to Watch™-Taking Center Stage) redesigned model middle school and an AVID demonstration school because of all the hard work and countless hours our teachers, staff, students, and community have dedicated.  Our teachers have common prep periods daily, so they have many …

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Targeting Improvement: Instructional Rounds

CA GEAR UP Events and Institutes, Effective Practices / January 9, 2014

    Superintendent/Principal of Pleasant View Elementary School Dist Presents Instructional Rounds at California GEAR UP Leadership Institute (Repost from AASA School Administrator Journal.) Similar to physician training, this new model emphasizes collegial classroom observations, diagnosis and a plan of action BY COLLEEN GILLARD When Mark Odsather moved into the superintendency of the Pleasant View Elementary School District in California’s San Joaquin Valley four years ago with a mission to turn around one of the state’s most impoverished and low-achieving districts, his first visit was to the lower school’s kindergarten. Watching the young pupils answer yes/no questions to the story the …

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