The high test scores of the Oakland Charter Academy and American Indian Public Charter schools have surfaced again, this time in a brief released today by the California Charter Schools Association.

The charter schools advocacy group performed a simple analysis that compared the composite test scores – the API — of high-poverty public schools in California (those in which 70 percent or more of the students qualify for a free or reduced-price lunch). Guess what it found?

Twelve of the 15 schools on that list are publicly funded (tuition-free), privately run charters. Six of the top 15 are located in Oakland, and Read the rest of this entry »

photo of Oakland Charter Academy student by D. Ross Cameron/Oakland Tribune

The racial and economic achievement gap comes up, in some form or another, at almost every Oakland school board meeting. Yet there are a handful of schools here in this city that have made that gap invisible, at least on their campuses, and I sometimes wonder who is paying attention.

Take the Oakland Charter Academy, a charter middle school in Fruitvale with a Latino population of about 93 percent. Last year those students — the vast majority of whom qualify for free or reduced-price lunches — scored a 902 this year on the state’s Academic Performance Index out of a possible 1,000 points.

The average Latino middle schooler in California scores in the 600s.

I wrote a story in today’s Trib about the loads of work that these kids (and those at the American Indian charter schools, which use a similar model) are putting in every day — and about the general skepticism surrounding their success. You can read it here.

Read the rest of this entry »

Many consider California to be a cutting-edge state, brimming with innovation. So why do its schools rank among the last in the nation on standardized science tests?

KQED explored these questions in a 25-minute documentary, “Under the Microscope: Science Struggles in Schools.” I meant to post this on Tuesday, the night it aired, but you can watch the 25-minute show here:

The five local schools that use the American Indian Public Charter model might be among the highest-scoring public middle and high schools in Oakland (not to mention the state), but tonight, the state administrator stopped a new one from opening.

David Montes de Oca, Oakland’s charter schools director, was careful to say that his recommendation to deny the charter petition “is not a condemnation of the American Indian Public Charter School model or its schools — far from it.”

The problem, Montes de Oca said, was Read the rest of this entry »

California’s bold new algebra plan has a new variable.

Today, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Shelleyanne Chang ruled that the state board of education would have to temporarily delay the eighth-grade Algebra I testing requirement that it approved in July. (You know, the one that Schwarzenegger pushed for in the 11th hour, over State Superintendent Jack O’Connell’s strong objections?)

The ruling was made in response to a lawsuit to stop the new requirement. It was filed in September by the California School Boards Association and the Association of California School Administrators.

Chang has ordered the state board to hold off any any decisions on the algebra test until a court hearing on Dec. 19. Read the rest of this entry »

The Oakland school board put a halt to talk about large-scale closures this month, but they never said school closures were out of the question. Some of these tough decisions will surface in less than two months, while others are slated to determined a year from now.

In December, the Oakland school board will decide whether to continue to phase out BEST High School at McClymonds (which is now grades 10-12) and Peralta Creek Middle School at Calvin Simmons (now just eighth grade).

They’ll also discuss the possible relocation of Life Academy and Tilden Elementary School.

In the fall of 2009, the board is slated to decide what to do with the following list of “focus schools” — those with academic and/or enrollment concerns: Read the rest of this entry »

Obama advisor Linda Darling-Hammond, left, and McCain advisor Lisa Graham Keegan, right

From 4 to 6 p.m. PT tonight, the education policy advisors for Barack Obama and John McCain — Linda Darling-Hammond (who just conducted Oakland’s small schools study) and Lisa Graham Keegan, respectively — will debate the future of public schools.

Tonight’s “Education and the Next President” debate at Columbia University’s Teachers College might not be quite as sexy to the average American as the Biden-Palin showdown. But for those steeped in the challenges of public schooling everyday, as many of you are, the event could illuminate how each of the candidates would tackle education policy, and how they differ.

Education Week is hosting a free, live Web cast. You can register for it here.

Update: If you can’t catch the debate live, considering the hour it’s airing in California, I’m told that it will be posted on Ed Week’s Web site by Wednesday afternoon.

The other week, we discussed the pros and cons of performance pay for teachers. But what about paying students for being good?

Thousands of Washington, D.C. middle-schoolers had their first payday last week. In exchange for good behavior, attendance and grades, they received checks for $20-$50 as part of a yearlong, $2.7 million pilot program called “Capital Gains.”

The kids’ reactions were mixed, according to a Washington Post story. One boy told a reporter that he felt insulted by the idea that he’d need to be paid to do the work. Others said the prospect of a paycheck made them work harder. Read the rest of this entry »

Tenth-graders at Berkeley High School will take the Preliminary SAT — the practice test for the real thing — for free tomorrow morning. Word has it that an anonymous donor picked up the tab to encourage more kids to take it.

The test normally costs about $15, so if all 875 sophomores showed up, that could amount to a $13,000 donation. I’d say that’s a pretty nice gesture.

Kids are encouraged to take the PSAT in the fall of their 10th-grade and 11th-grade years, and not just for the practice. Those who fill in enough of the right bubbles might qualify for college funding, including the National Merit Scholarship.

Read the rest of this entry »

Steven Thomasberger (pictured below), the principal of Allendale Elementary School in East Oakland, says schools like his often “become accustomed to feelings of mediocrity and worse.” So after his students made huge gains on state tests, he decided they should celebrate. He wrote this piece about the evening. - Katy

On Thursday night, Allendale celebrated. I had the profound pleasure of hosting a party for third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade students and their families. This was an unheard of celebration of academic success for students in this flatlands neighborhood tucked just below the I-580, between High Street and 35th Avenue.

We told the kids, “Dress up as if it was a graduation, come with your parents and be honored, and be proud of your achievement.” Their accomplishment was to score at or above grade level on the California Standards Test. Their test scores made Allendale one of the most improved schools in Oakland, which is the most improved large, urban school district in California. My bit of hyperbole in my address to the parents was, “I guess that makes us one of the most improved schools in California.” Read the rest of this entry »