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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
ESEA
re-authorization will emphasize incentives
According to Education Week, the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) will likely
include federal incentives for high performing
schools, districts, and states. In an
interview held yesterday, Secretary Duncan said the
incentives could be a variety of things,
“whether
it’s additional resources, whether it’s greater
flexibility on additional resources, whether it’s
shining a spotlight on them, … there’s a whole
package of things” he said. When asked
whether he saw a second round of funding coming down
to districts and states, Mr. Duncan couldn't commit,
but said, "can I sit here today and say we’re
going to have a second round of this? No, I can’t.
I can’t begin to say that. … [There’s] no
guarantee whatsoever.” ESEA re-authorization
was set for 2007, but has been pushed back to some
time in 2010.
Link
to Education Week
11/30/09
Parental
engagement program in Milwaukee gets stimulus funds
In a series of four articles that started
Sunday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is taking a
detailed look at parental involvement and the impact
it has on student achievement. Milwaukee
public schools received $4 million in federal
stimulus money to start and focus on programs in 35
schools that will monitor data collection,
connections between schools and outside groups,
training for parents, and technology to reach
parents. Like many CUBE districts,
disengagement among parents and caregivers is a
concern that takes tremendous efforts to
solve. Milwaukee's results could benefit all
CUBE districts in the future.
Link
to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (part I)
11/29/09
Link
to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (part II)
11/30/09
Link
to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (part III)
12/1/09
Donuts with dad
Los Angeles recently followed the model of many
other CUBE districts when it hosted a district wide
"donuts for dad" program, emphasizing the
role of fathers in their children's education.
As CUBE's school
climate studies acknowledged, the role of
fathers play a critical piece in educating urban
students. A Los Angeles elementary principal
found that about half of the students in the
district did not have a father living in the same
household. She did some research and decided
to create the program which brought 250 men
(including the mayor) to read to students last
month.
Link
to Los Angeles Times 11/18/09
Gates Foundation taps CUBE districts for teacher
quality grants
Several CUBE districts got welcome news last
week when they were collectively given hundreds of
millions of dollars to determine what an effective
teacher is, and then share that information with
other districts nationwide. Hillsborough
(Tampa), Florida, Memphis, Pittsburgh, and Los
Angeles were selected for their regional, size, and
ethnic diversity. The hope is that smaller
cities will reap the benefits of these efforts, and
smaller grants will be announced at a later date.
Link to Google/AP story 11/19/09
"I am what I learn" videos
finalists
Some viral videos capture funny moments that
break up our day (the dancing wedding party comes to
mind), while others give us news, bloopers, or a
group of school children singing. The
Department of Education is holding a video contest
of its own and recently announced the top 10 videos
that the public can vote on via their web
site. Each video is two minutes long and the
winners receive scholarship money. Take a few
minutes and see what these students value about
their education. But hurry, voting ends
this Friday.
Link
to YouTube (Dept. of Ed.) 11/30/09
CUBE
News
CUBE
Webinar – Wednesday, December 16, 2009 at 2pm 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
NSBA's
Hispanic Caucus is offering ten separate $1,000
scholarships to Hispanic students in each region of
the U.S. (two per region). Applications are
available and are due January 29, 2010. For
more information, check the National Hispanic Caucus
web
site.
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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