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Welcome!
What is
Urban Edge?
Urban Edge is a service that provides CUBE districts
with relevant information to help your awareness of education issues around the
country. We will glean news sources, blogs, research studies, and NSBA's wide range of expertise for timely information that guides CUBE districts in making sound decisions. Around
the nation
Race
to the Top Funds dominate news
On Thursday, a much-awaited announcement was
sent out by the Department of Education. The
Race to the Top Funds guidelines were announced, and
all 775 pages will be released officially in the
Federal Register on Wednesday. After reviewing
suggestions and meeting with thousands of
stakeholders, this announcement comes at a time when
many states are interested in applying for the
grants. While critics are quick to point out
the deficiencies of this opportunity, it is one that has
never been seen before. With the first
deadline of January 19, States will have to hurry to
apply for more than $4 billion in available grant
money.
Link
to Department of Education Web Site on RTTT
Link to Executive Summary (pdf)
ABC News viewpoint on education reform 11/12/09
Memphis City
Schools student gets national TV spot
A Memphis seventh grader won a national
competition on NBC's Today show to become the next
"kid reporter." Deidra Shores will
be the newest (and youngest) correspondent on the
Today Show, and begins her work assignment this week
on the show. As a student with a 3.8 grade
point average and a huge personality, she is making
many in Memphis very proud as she represents Memphis
City Schools to the nation.
Link
to Memphis Commercial Appeal
11/12/09
Link
to Today Show video
In case you missed it...
On yesterday's "Meet the Press," a unique
trio of education advocates got together to discuss
America's education system. You may have read
about the "political odd couple" in
CUBE's Urban Edge before, but Newt Gingrich and Reverend Al
Sharpton were joined by Secretary of Education Arne
Duncan to discuss the Race to the Top Funds,
education being viewed as a civil right, school
board roles, and parental involvement, among other
things. While it was not labeled as an urban
discussion, much of what was said centered around
urban districts nationwide. If you weren't
able to see it, a link to the video is below.
The panel is in the second segment and starts at
19:25 into the episode.
Link
to Meet the Press 11/15/09
Does the Harlem Children's Zone close
"the gap?"
The Harlem Children's Zone, a community based
effort that was founded by Geoffrey Canada has been
credited with closing the achievement gap in its
schools, according to a new study by the National
Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). What
remains unclear is whether the schools alone, the
community approach, or a combination of many
variables is causing the narrowing gap between white
and black achievement. The program and its
outcomes are being closely watched not only by the
educational community, but President Obama as well,
who had highlighted the Harlem Children's Zone as an
example of innovation in urban schools.
Link to Education Week story 11/12/09
Link
to NBER 11/09 (sample only, fee for entire
report)
Add Ford Foundation to the list of big donors to
urban education
The Ford Foundation committed to giving $100
million to urban schools across the country over the
next seven years. The foundation is focusing on four key areas, teaching quality, more learning
time, stronger accountability, and robust school
funding, to improve student achievement. The
hope is that "improving our schools, and giving
the most vulnerable young people real educational
opportunities, benefits all of us," said Ford
Foundation President Luis Ubiñas. "With this
initiative we want to shake up the conversations
surrounding school reform and help spur some truly
imaginative thinking and partnerships."
Link
to Los Angeles Times story 11/5/09
Link
to Ford Foundation press release 11/4/09 CUBE
News
CUBE
Webinar – Thursday, November 19, 2009 at Noon EST
Learn what is happening on Capitol Hill and
the Administration. Please join NSBA’s
Reggie Felton, director of federal relations;
Deborah Rigsby, director federal legislation and
Kathleen Branch, director of advocacy services, for
an update on the latest legislative issues
percolating in Washington, D.C. and how you can make
a difference. To register, contact Kevin Scott (kscott@nsba.org).
More details will be provided, including
specifics on how to participate.
CUBE
is on Twitter-Follow CUBE_Edge (CUBE_Edge)
for daily updates on what's happening in urban
education around the country.
NSBA
News
The
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a
Public
Notice on Broadband Needs in Education
on options for E-Rate modifications
intended to improve broadband deployment. The
questions and options in the Notice indicate that
substantive changes are under consideration that
will benefit from school board input. NSBA
has compiled talking points on four specific issues
(you may want to comment on others as well).
Keep in mind that your local examples and
experiences are powerful. The deadline for comments
is November
20, 2009. Your
resources:
Talking
points
Directions
for submitting comments
Public
Notice on Broadband Needs in Education
NSBA’s
E-Rate webpage
FINAL
NOTICE $373
million is being made available for local
communities to adopt and implement evidence based
policies and programs to improve nutrition, increase
physical activity, decrease overweight and obesity
and decrease tobacco use. The grant comes from
the Health and Human Services Department and
the Centers for Disease Control as part of
the stimulus funding passed this spring. The
grants will be awarded to communities "at
highest risk and where policies and programs will
likely have the greatest impact."
Applications are due December
1, 2009. For more details, contact
Kevin Scott (kscott@nsba.org). For
more information on grants available to CUBE and
National Affiliate districts, check out GrantsQuest.
Many opportunities exist for urban districts and
classrooms every two weeks (1st and 15th of each
month), if you have trouble logging into the site,
contact
Kevin Scott (kscott@nsba.org).
Upcoming
NSBA Webcast: Policymakers
Addressing Childhood Obesity Through Collaboration
and Policy Change
On December 1st at 2:00pm EST, join
national experts and local policymakers for an
in-depth discussion of key strategies state and
local policymakers, including school boards and
administrators, can use to address childhood
obesity. This
two-hour webcast, Leadership
in Action: Policymakers Addressing Childhood Obesity
through Collaboration and Policy Change, will
focus on two strategies that help local school
leaders collaborate with other policymakers: “Safe
Routes to School programs” and “joint-use
agreements.” Panelists
will provide an overview and examples of how to
collaborate with the key stakeholders to make these
strategies work in your district and community,
along with resources to get you started. There will
be ample opportunity for attendees to interact with
the speakers. The
webcast is free but registration is required—to
learn more about this event and to register, click
here.
If you have any questions about the
webcast, contact Emily Kujawa, Project
Coordinator at NSBA (ekujawa@nsba.org).
Meetings
Minute
By
now you should've received your special invitation
in your postal and email to NSBA's
Federal Relations Network (FRN) Conference January 31-February 2, 2010 in Washington, D.C.
For more information, check out www.nsba.org/FRN2010
to find out how you can
participate in the FRN Conference. FRN members are
appointed by their state school boards association
to attend the FRN Conference. School districts that
are part of the Council of Urban Boards of Education
(CUBE) are also eligible to attend the FRN
Conference. In order to participate as a CUBE
district, your district must be a member of its
state association. FRN and CUBE members represent
NSBA’s legislative agenda and should coordinate
with their state associations when they lobby their
members of Congress at the FRN Conference. You must be
an appointed FRN member from your state school board
association or a CUBE member to attend the
conference.
Program
Note
Did
you know that all previous editions of the Urban
Edge are available on CUBE's web site? If
you missed an issue, wanted to go back to find a
link to a research study we referenced, or need some
information about what other districts are doing,
click here.
Disclaimer
Links
on the Urban Edge are subject to change or
become inactive after a period of time. Please
be aware that CUBE has no control over links to
other organizations or entities.
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