The California Private School Advisory Committee is pleased to present a new, three-day workshop for nonprofit, private elementary and middle school teachers of mathematics and algebra, as well as administrators.  The workshop, which is subvented in part by ESEA, Title II, Part A funding, will be offered in two locations - one in the San Francisco Bay area, and the other in the Sacramento area.

Download a Registration Form

Per-Person Registration:  $75.00  (Prior to 2/24/2012)

Registration fee includes workshop materials, continental breakfast, and lunch, each day of the program.

Program Hours:  8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., each of the three days.

Space is limited.  Registration will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis! 

About the Program

This three-day workshop provides classroom math teachers with a proven 5-step model they can follow to bring "balance" to their mathematics instruction and assessment program. Today's math teachers face an added challenge in teaching math: They must ensure that students have both computational skills and the ability to write extended response answers to multiple step problems.

The workshop is based on the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics recommendations for ways to "build" mathematically powerful students.  The five steps address computation, mental math, conceptual understanding, problem solving, mastery of math facts, and math performance assessments evaluated with a rubric or scoring guide.  The model is applicable to grades K-8, is practical and easy to implement immediately, and works well with any district-adopted math program, supplemental materials, and assessment measures currently in use.  Participants will see the model illustrated with student work from upper elementary and middle school grades and be given time to collaborate in grade levels to plan for the implementation of this model in their own instructional program.

Participants will learn the elements of the following 5-step model:

Step One: Math Review emphasizes computational skills and mental math and helps students maintain previously learned skills. 

Step Two: Conceptual Understanding considers state math standards and district objectives, and aligns both instruction and assessment by means of an end-of-unit performance task scored with a student-generated rubric.

Step Three: Problem Solving provides both a structure for problem-solving activities related to the current conceptual unit focus and a generalized math rubric to assess work produced.

Step Four: Mastery of Math Facts establishes a program of accountability for mastering grade-level facts by the end of elementary school.

Step Five: "Big Idea" Performance Task identifies a grade-level focus that can be taught for depth of understanding and assessed across the school and/or administrative unit with a grade-level perormance task and accompanying scoring guide.

About the Presenter

Jan Christinson is a Professional Development Associate with The Leadership and Learning Center in Denver, Colorado.  He conducts seminars based on two publications he co-authored: Five Easy Steps to a Balanced Math Program, and Student Generated Rubrics: An Assessment Model to Help All Students Succeed.  Jan's primary goal is to improve classroom instruction and thereby improve student learning.  With 25 years of experience as an elementary and middle school classroom teacher, Jan brings a wide and varied range of educational experiences to his presentations.  He has assumed numerous leadership roles within school districts, serving as a mentor teacher and a beginning teacher support provider, acting as a K-12 math committee co-chair, and directing the implementation of a K-8 grade level "big idea" math instruction and assessment program.

Jan has presented workshops and led breakout sessions at regional conferences, most notably for the California Math Council and the National Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.  He has conducted training sessions for over 15 years to help prospective teachers prepare to successfully complete accountability measures to obtain their California Teaching Credential. 

Oral Hearing Set for Quarry v. Doe 1

Two Online Seminars from Facing History and Ourselves

From Facing History and Ourselves

Holocaust and Human Behavior Online Seminar

(Feb. 2-March 29): The twentieth century - one of the most murderous centuries in history - will forever be marked by the Nazis' attempt to murder the Jews of Europe. In no other history are the steps that resulted in genocide so carefully documented, not only by the victims, but also by perpetrators and bystanders. The events that led to the Holocaust raise profound moral questions about the consequences of our actions and our beliefs, and how we make distinctions between right and wrong, good and evil. While the Holocaust was unique, the questions remain universal. This online seminar includes a conference call with a Holocaust survivor. More information can be found, here.

Choices in Little Rock Online Seminar
 

(Feb. 9-March 29): Facing History and Ourselves' newest online course, Choices in Little Rock, is a rich and engaging exploration of the 1957 desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. The course traces the legal and personal struggles of African Americans from Jim Crow America through the landmark Supreme Court decision on Brown v. Board of Education, and ultimately, to the courageous actions of nine young men and women determined to make desegregation a reality. Their efforts would lead to a crisis that historian Taylor Branch once described as "the most severe test of the Constitution since the civil war."  More information can be found, here.

Budget Cuts Set to Take Effect in California

Governor Jerry Brown has announced that nearly $1 billion will be trimmed from the Golden State's current budget because revenues failed to meet an interim target figure established when the current budget was adopted.  Actual state revenue has fallen some $4 billion short of projections. "The good news is the economy of California is recovering ... but (it's) still not enough to close the deficit built up for years," remarked the Governor. "These cuts to universities, In-Home Supportive Services, schools, prosecutions - are not good, they are not the way we would like to run California, but we have to live within our means."  Among the reductions affecting public education are:

• $327 million to K-12 schools;
• $100 million each to the University of California and the California State University system;
• $102 million to community colleges

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Last March, while offering testimony before Congress, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan warned lawmakers that if they failed to rewrite the No Child Left Behind Act, 82 percent of the nation's public schools would be labeled "failing" during the then-current school year.  The Secretary's dire forecast was regarded by some as a prod intended to quicken the long-overdue reauthorization of the law, while others saw it as an outright scare tactic. 

Now, with the law yet to be rewritten, actual figures show that Mr. Duncan's prediction was far off the mark.  According to figures provided by the Center for Education Policy, the estimated number of schools that failed to achieve "adequate yearly progress" during the preceding school year was 48 percent. In response, Mr. Duncan said, "Whether it's 50 percent, 80 percent, or 100 percent of schools being incorrectly labeled as failing, one thing is clear: No Child Left Behind is broken."  Cynical readers may find themselves wondering whether the disparity will serve to deflect attention from the fact that nearly half the nation's public schools are currently "failing" to make the grade.