January 19, 2011

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New Issue of Rossier Reach Covers K-12
reach 2 cover

The newest issue of Rossier Reach has been published and is now available. The publication focuses on our research in K-12 policy and governance.

The issue gives special attention to the work of our Center for Educational Governance research faculty in the areas of charter school research, the Public School Choice Initiative in LAUSD, and Supplemental Educational Services. Our initiative to launch USC Hybrid High is also covered. 

For a hard copy, contact Thomas Jenkins at [email protected]
Or click here to view Rossier Reach online.

Lucido Authors Piece in Chronicle of Higher Ed
jerry lucido

Dr. Jerry Lucido
had an op-ed published in The Chronicle for Higher Education about the push for even greater selectivity in admissions.

"For students, the cruel cycle means making choices in high school on the basis of what they believe college-admissions officers will want to see rather than on the basis of a personal quest for knowledge, self-understanding, and self-reliance," Lucido wrote. "The needs of the nation and the realities of the marketplace require us to approach college admissions with metrics that encourage competition in areas that really matter and in ways that send strong educational messages to students, families, governments - and ourselves."

Read it here.

 

The USC Center for Enrollment Research, Policy, and Practice, which is directed by Lucido, is hosting a national forum on this issue, entitled "The Case for Change in College Admissions."

 

More about the conference. 

MAT@USC Mentioned in Inside Higher Ed
mat logo

Inside Higher Ed mentioned the online education programs of the USC Rossier School and USC School of Social Work, which are done in collaboration with the company 2tor.

Read it here.
Faculty Forefront
Tierney Speaks in Utah and Hong Kong
wgtierney

Dr. William G. Tierney offered the opening address to the Utah Higher Education 2020 Conference on Postsecondary Readiness, Access and Success last Monday, January 10, in Salt Lake City.

His topic pertained to Utah's goal of increasing participation rates in college to 66% over the next decade.

Tierney also gave a plenary talk on "The Paradox of Privatization in a Globalized World" at the World Universities Forum in Hong Kong.

The speech dealt with the transformation of higher education in Asia, Latin America and the United States and the implications for equity and access.
Brewer in D.C. for Education Innovation Forum & Expo
Dominic Brewer

Dr. Dominic Brewer is attending the Aspen Institute's Education Innovation Forum and Expo in Washington, D.C. this week.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will participate in a panel entitled "Seizing the Moment for Education Innovation" at the forum.

John Katzman, Rossier Board of Councilor member and CEO of 2tor, Inc., will be participating in a panel entitled " Unleashing Innovation in Systems, Schools and Classrooms."

See agenda. Or Visit website.
Bensimon on Success in Community Colleges Panel
Estela Mara Bensimon

On January 24th, Dr. Estela Mara Bensimon will take part in a panel focused on the critical issue of student success in the state's community colleges.

Sponsored by the Community College League of California, the symposium will discuss A 2020 Vision for Student Success report, which was released last November by its Commission on the Future.  The report recommended that community colleges increase their certificate and associate degree completions by one million by 2020 and close the achievement gap among demographic and socioeconomic groups.

The moderated panel, composed of CEOs, faculty, researchers, and business representatives, will address how these goals can be achieved in light of the Governor's recently proposed budget cuts.  Approximately 200 community college leaders, including locally elected trustees representing communities statewide, student leaders, college chancellors, presidents, and legislative staff will attend the conference in Sacramento.

For more information about the event, click here.
Immordino-Yang Elected to IMBES Board
Mary Helen Immordino-Yang

Dr. Mary Helen Immordino-Yang was elected in January to the Board of Directors for the International Mind, Brain and Education Society (IMBES). The society is the first to bring together cognitive neuroscience and other biological research with educational research, and its journal, "Mind, Brain and Education," was awarded the "Best new journal in the humanities and social sciences" in 2008 by the Association of American Publishers Academic Division.

The society will be holding its biannual conference in San Diego on June 2-4, and registration/poster and presentation submission are now open: www.imbes.org
Seli Quoted About Zero-Tolerance Expulsion Policies
Helena Seli
Bakersfield Californian quoted Dr. Helena Seli about zero-tolerance expulsion policies. The article noted that Kern County has the state's highest expulsion rate.

The effectiveness of zero tolerance expulsion policies at best are mixed and at worst do nothing for students, Seli said. Expulsions, she said, lead to dropouts, are racially disproportionate and create a pipeline to the prison system.

"Expulsion is extreme punishment, and it doesn't work," Seli said. "It extinguishes the undesirable behavior for only a short period of time."

Expelled students exhibit positive behavior briefly to avoid more punishment. What students need is counseling and other interventions, she said. And the ultimate goal of expulsions -- to make the campus safe -- does not hold water, she said.

"The rest of the school becomes an authoritative climate," Seli said. "It's not the caring environment that we seek for our children. It breeds a very unsafe setting."

Read the article.
Rossier Research
Stillman Publishes Article in Teachers College Record
jstillman

Dr. Jamy Stillman
has an article coming out in the

next edition of Teachers College Record
 

The paper is called "Teacher learning in an era of high-stakes accountability: Productive Tension and Critical Professional Practice."
 

According to the abstract, the paper draws on social learning and activity theories to examine the specific factors that support equity-minded teachers to navigate accountability-driven language arts reforms, the specific barriers that might hinder teachers from serving marginalized students-particularly English Learners-in an era of accountability, and how particular contextual factors mediate teachers' responses to accountability pressures.

Polikoff Authors Paper on Instructional Sensitivity
Morgan Polikoff

Dr. Morgan Polikoff has an article published in Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice.

His article, "Instructional Sensitivity as a Psychometric Property of Assessments," reviews the literature on the psychometric property of instructional sensitivity.

Three methods of instructional sensitivity measures are discussed - those relying on item or test scores only, those relying on item or test scores and teacher reports of instruction, and strictly judgmental methods. Recommendations for practice are also made.

Read the abstract.
Carbone Presenting Paper at NAPAR
p carbone

Dr. Paula Carbone will be presenting at NAPAR (NARRATIVE, ARTS-BASED, AND POST APPROACHES TO SOCIAL RESEARCH) this weekend.

The title of her paper is "Challenges of Implementing Formative Design Research Methodology for Literacy Research."
Clark Authors Chapter on Technology in Counseling

Ginger Clark
Dr. Ginger Clark has a chapter entitled, "Traditional uses of technology in counseling trainee supervision," published in the book

The Use of Technology in Mental Health: Applications, Ethics, and Practice published by Thomas.

Brewer and Ahn Co-Author Book Chapter on Charters

dom and june book
Dr. Dominic Brewer and alumnus Dr. June Ahn (PhD '10), co-authored a chapter in the new book, Taking Measure of Charter Schools: Better Assessments, Better Policymaking, Better Schools.

Their chapter is entitled, "What Do We Know About Teachers in Charter Schools?"

More about the book here.
Rossier Family
Alumna Appointed to Hawaii Policy Team
tammi chun

 

Dr. Tammi Oyadomari-Chun (EdD '10) was recently appointed to serve on Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie's policy team to oversee policy initiatives and legislative issues.
 

The Hawaii Ed.D. alumna is Executive Director of Hawaii P-20 Partnerships for Education, a statewide partnership working to strengthen the education pipeline from early childhood through higher education.
 

She previously held positions with GEAR UP Hawaii, a federal program at UH to increase access for low-income students to attend higher education; the RAND Corporation; the Consortium for Policy Research in Education at the University of Pennsylvania; and at Los Angeles Educational Alliance for Restructuring Now (LEARN).
 

In Other NEws
Governor's Budget Released

Governor Brown released his proposed budget for the 2011-12 budget year last week. It includes $12.5 billion in cuts, $12 billion in revenues, and $1.9 billion in other solutions to close the deficit of $25 billion.

Highlights of the budget in areas of education according to agencies:

California Student Aid Commission (CSAC)
    * No reductions to the Cal Grant program, yet uses $946.8 million in Federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) funds to supplant equal amounts of general fund support for the Cal Grant program. The use of TANF funds for Cal Grants will raise concern among human services advocates and legislators.

Public Higher Education
    * Decreases the University of California by $500 million in 2011-12. "The Administration will work with the Office of the President and stakeholders to minimize fee and enrollment impacts on students by targeting actions that lower costs of instruction and administration."
    * Decreases the Breast Cancer Research program by $1.3 million to reflect a decline in tobacco tax revenue.
    * Decreases the California State University by $500 million (unallocated).
    * Decreases funding for the Community Colleges by $400 million. Proposes a fee increase of $10 from $26 per credit unit to $36 per credit unit and reduces apportionment by like amount ($110 million).

K-12 Education
    * Maintains the Proposition 98 funding level of $49.7 billion for 2010-11 but defers $2.2 billion in K-12 and Community College costs to 2012-13. The budget also stipulates that the funding level provided for 2011-12 is dependent upon approximately $2 billion in additional revenues for Proposition 98 that are subject to voter approval. Furthermore, the budget does not provide cost-of-living adjustments (projected to be $964 million).
    * Childcare (Prop 98) - decreases direct child care services, except Preschool, by $716 million in 2011-12 through 1) eliminating services for 11-and 12-year olds 2) reducing, by $34 million, CalWORKs Stage 1 (administered by DSS), 3) reduces eligibility to 60% State Median Income from 75%, and 4) reduces the level of subsidies across the board.

For more information from the USC Office of State Government Relations, visit http://www.usc.edu/ur/state_relations/. To speak with Kristen Soares or Veronica Villalobos, call (916) 442-6911.
In This Issue
Check Out the New Issue of Rossier Reach
Lucido Authors Piece in Chronicle of Higher Ed
MAT@USC Mentioned in Inside Higher Ed
Tierney Speaks in Utah and Hong Kong
Brewer in D.C. for Education Innovation Forum & Expo
Bensimon on Success in Community Colleges Panel
Immordino-Yang Elected to IMBES Board
Seli Quoted About Zero-Tolerance Expulsion Policies
Stillman Publishes Article in Teachers College Record
Polikoff Authors Paper on Instructional Sensitivity
Carbone Presenting Paper at NAPAR
Clark Authors Chapter on Technology in Counseling
Brewer and Ahn Co-Author Book Chapter on Charters
Alumna Appointed to Hawaii Policy Team
Governor's Budget Released
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