Associated Colleges of Illinois: Mentor Online

Check out this artice about our neighbors! Amazing that one of the world’s richest countries can’t manage to fund the education of its greatest resources or create an educational system that is relevent and worthwile.

INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana’s largest school district is poised to close six more schools and lay off as many as 400 teachers in a shake-up that would send thousands of students to different schools.

Indianapolis Public Schools Superintendent Eugene White said he also expects deep cuts in the district’s central office.

“It’s never easy to close schools, but our financial situation demands we make tough decisions,” he said Friday. “We are determined to be good stewards of the public tax dollars.”

White said the school closures would change school boundaries and affect about three-quarters of the district’s elementary schools.

He said current estimates are that all elementary school teachers with fewer than three years of experience would be laid off but that the district would offer a retirement incentive that might reduce the number of layoffs. The district has about 3,000 teachers.

The announcement, which neighborhood leaders said could devastate their communities, came four days before district residents vote on a property tax increase to pay for $278 million in renovations at 32 schools — including the six White wants to now close.

If the School Board approves those closings, the district plans to reduce the $278 million project accordingly.

The 1,700 students attending those six schools will be shifted to other schools. The district closed eight schools last summer and will close six others before fall 2009.

IPS’ enrollment has dropped by about 1,000 students a year for the past five years, as families have moved from the district or sent their children to free public charter schools.

September’s enrollment was 34,086, down 1,200 students from last year. The district has been losing students for decades since its peak enrollment of 108,703 students in 1967.

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Information from: The Indianapolis Star, http://www.indystar.com

Christy

Arizona State University has posted a compilation of free on-line STEM interest-persistence programs:  http://vcc.asu.edu/stem.shtml   Links to additional resource repositories are provided at the end of the web page.  Please feel free to use this compilation with students or professional audiences.

This STEM resource is but one offering in our Virtual Counseling Center (VCC) http://vcc.asu.edu at Arizona State University.  It is absolutely free to everyone and provides:

• Career exploration tests scored on line
• Test results linked to massive occupation and education databases
• Programs for stimulating interest and persistence in STEM studies and careers
• Academic and life skill programs
• Resources for counseling research and practice

 The VCC has been under development for the past couple years.  The career assessment and planning section is nearing completion as a state-of-the-art set of programs, but the academic and life skill areas are only a few percent built out. 

Eligibility Requirements: Applicants should have at least a bachelor’s degree in science, engineering or mathematics, have received their most recent content degree within the past five years and be committed to teaching science or mathematics in U.S. high schools. Individuals who are currently enrolled in a secondary math or science teaching credential program are eligible if they are within five years of their most recent content degree and have not completed their credential before December, 2008. KSTF Teaching Fellowships are intended to support individuals early in their careers who have the potential to devote a lifetime to improving math and science education.

Award information: Fellowships will be awarded to up to 15 individuals in each of three disciplinary strands: biology, physical science, and mathematics. Benefits of the fellowship include:

 Financial and professional support for up to five years, including a maximum of $10,000 tuition assistance per year for up to two years and a monthly stipend while fellows are enrolled in a recognized teacher credential program.  Room, board, travel expenses and fees for summer professional development activities as well as a monthly stipend during the summer.  Yearly opportunities to apply for instructional materials, academic year professional development, school-site mentor support, support for National Board Certification and financial support for leadership activities. Membership in a professional organization, Room, board and travel expenses for three meetings per year with other KSTF Fellows.

Beth DiGesare, Teaching Fellowship Program Coordinator, (856) 608-0001,

mailto:teachers@kstf.org>teachers@kstf.org

Did I ever mention to you the I LOVE the Internet and have yet to be bored in life because the Internet is so full of cool and new information. My latest find is a site call First Monday which is one of the first free, openly accessible, peer–reviewed journals on the Internet, solely devoted to the Internet. http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/

And one of my favorite articles on First Monday is a paper by David Huffaker called The educated blogger: Using weblogs to promote literacy in the classroom