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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. Innovative
Ideas
What
works in Harlem?
Geoffrey Canada, an education reform advocate
based in New York City, has been reforming schools
for almost ten years. Recently, Paul Tough, a New
York Times columnist, wrote a book about
Canada's successes and talked about the reality of
teaching urban students differently than their peers
in the suburbs, focusing a lot of attention on
pre-school and parenting classes. Edutopia
interviewed Tough recently and asked some excellent
questions, but the question most CUBE districts will
be interested in reading is, "how do you see
this playing out in other cities?"
Link to Edutopia interview 11/19/08
Omaha focuses on health
Some schools in Omaha's system will become the
the first point of contact for health matters as
community leaders work together to improve
attendance and graduation rates in Omaha. A
public-private initiative called "Building
Bright Futures" will pave the way for what they
hope to be a city-wide program that will help
low-income students get immunized, or just receive
basic health care in school nurses' offices.
Since the general health of students is so closely
connected to academic achievement, the leaders in
Omaha hope that they see gains in the upcoming five
years.
Link to Omaha World Herald 11/24/08
Recent
Research
Teacher
certification alternatives
A new study has examined the ways in which
alternative ways of acquiring teaching credentials
impact student achievement and result in a higher
representation of minority teachers. A long
standing debate over alternative licensure methods
often impacts the way school systems fill teaching
vacancies, especially in high turnover areas like
special education.
Link
to Education Next Study 11/17/08
Link
to full report Board
Policies on Facebook?
Charlotte-Mecklenburg
teacher suspended
Many of today's teachers are young, excited,
and socially networked to their friends via sites
like Facebook. Recently, a teacher in North
Carolina was suspended for posting "about
me" and "activities" information that
reflected poor judgment because it spoke negatively
about the children and schools in
Charlotte-Mecklenburg. With thousands of young
teachers entering the workforce, is it appropriate
for the school board to intervene and create a
policy about on-line activities? According to
NSBA's Senior Staff Attorney Tom Hutton, "this
is a new frontier in education, where technological
and social norms are outpacing law and
policy."
Link
to Charlotte Observer 11/14/08
(free registration)
Demographic
Duty
Web
site holds valuable information
Statehealthfacts.org is a useful site when looking
at demographic information about your state and how
it compares to others around the nation. The
site, put together by the Henry J. Kaiser
Foundation, hold data on topics such as foreclosure
rates, unemployment, health costs, women's health,
and children's health, to name a few. It may
prove to be an excellent resource for your district.
Link
to statehealthfacts.org
State Economic Distress Chart
NSBA
News
New
Administration Update: Below are hyperlinks to materials that
NSBA handed to President-elect Obama’s transition team.
They consist of NSBA’s paper on the federal role—which includes the input received from the regional meetings. It also contains issue briefs on legislation requiring immediate attention and/or carried over items. There are also two other papers. The first paper provides proposals to support school bonds for inclusion in an economic stimulus package, and the second involves recommendations for the new administration to repeal certain regulations/orders/policies relating to NCLB, E-Rate, and Medicaid reimbursements.
There will be more to come as the process moves forward.
Press
statement on federal role paper
A
New Era In Education: Redefining the Federal
Role for the 21st Century
Recommendations
for Immediate Fiscal Assistance to School Districts
Federal
Regulations Adversely Impacting Academic Achievement
in Public Schools
LAST
CHANCE! NSBA is hosting the Walk
of Excellence during this year’s Annual Conference
at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego,
California. This showcase session uses
tabletop displays as a tool for school districts to
highlight effective local programs to conference
attendees. The session attracts hundreds of
conference goers and takes place Sunday, April 5,
2009 from 12:30 PM – 3:30 PM.
CUBE
districts attending the
Annual Conference who want to showcase their
programs are strongly encouraged to apply.
NSBA is accepting online proposals for the Walk of
Excellence
here.
The proposal deadline is 5:00 PM Eastern on Monday,
December 8, 2008.
If you have any questions
regarding the Walk of Excellence or would like a
list of school districts attending from your state,
please e-mail
Bethany Kashawlic
or
Valerie Carty.
Meetings
Minute
Federal
Relations Network (FRN) Coming Soon!
Mark your calendars--this year's FRN will occur
January 31-February 2, 2009 in Washington, DC.
CUBE districts are invited to attend, and are
encouraged to talk with their respective state
association to ensure a unified NSBA voice to bring
to Capitol Hill. More details have been mailed
out, so keep your eyes open for more
information on how to participate in the mail.
Did you miss CUBE's webinar on board diversity in
the 21st century? If so, a recording of the
webinar can be found on CUBE's web site under
conferences and meetings held in 2008 or click here
to go directly to it.
NSBA
Annual is coming to San Diego--housing opened October
16th!
Click here
to make housing reservations in the CUBE block at
the Manchester Grand Hyatt online. This link will
only allow you to make reservations in the CUBE
block at the Manchester Grand Hyatt AFTER
you register for the conference and receive your
housing ID number. If you wish to stay at a
different hotel for the conference, you must go
through the regular housing link found on the NSBA
Annual Conference website located at www.nsba.org./conference.
For a glimpse at what CUBE will be programming at
NSBA Annual, 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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