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Volume IX, No.7
Residency Programs for Teachers: Trailblazers in the Trenches
- Key Resources
- Special Report: "Courage in the Classroom" Tour Honors America's Teachers
- From the U.S. Department of Education
- From the Office of Innovation and Improvement
- From the Institute of Education Sciences
- Arts Education
- Charter Schools
- College Readiness and Completion
- Financial Literacy
- School Improvement
- Teacher Quality and Development
- Standards and Assessments
- Teachers and Leaders
- Education Data Systems
- Interventions in Low-Performing Schools
Residency Programs for Teachers: Trailblazers in the Trenches
Ms. Silva is a highly effective and experienced middle-grades teacher whose students this year include one who is working towards a master's degree. That older student is Ms. Harris, who plans to be a teacher herself in the near future. The students in Ms. Silva's classroom treat Ms. Harris with respect as she practices differentiated instruction under the watchful eye of Ms. Silva. While Ms. Harris has studied math for years, she's now putting her knowledge to work in a high-need school alongside Ms. Silva, learning best practices in the process. Behind Ms. Silva, supporting her role as mentor to Ms. Silva, is a network that includes a university working in partnership with the local school district and school leaders. Ms. Harris is one of a growing number of teacher residents.
While this account is fictional, it represents a real-life innovation in teacher preparation that is gaining momentum in urban and other school districts. The concept is borrowed from another professional field – medicine. If classroom learning combined with real-life experience is effective for the development of a new physician, why shouldn't the concept of graduate-level education and extended classroom practice make for better-prepared teachers? It's an important question that teacher residency programs are addressing.
Early Trailblazers Cultivated Teacher Resident Core Components
Many critics of traditional teacher preparation programs argue that coursework alone is not enough for an aspiring teacher to fully understand and have the required skill sets needed to teach effectively, especially when most traditional preparation programs do not introduce the aspiring teacher into the classroom until the end of the coursework and then only for a short time. With increased accountability for all students to achieve at high levels and to ensure that all students are learning, schools cannot afford to play catch-up by supplementing the preparation of new teachers once they become the instructional leaders responsible for the academic achievement of a class. This is particularly true of urban school districts, some of which began searching for a different path to deliver new teachers to their classrooms more confident and prepared for their professional responsibilities at the outset of their careers.
The Boston Teacher Residency, the Boettcher Teacher Program in Denver, and the Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL) in Chicago are trailblazers for teacher residency programs. Initially serving these and other urban districts, teacher residency programs PDF (486KB) provide teacher candidates – residents – with effective learning theory and yearlong apprenticeships under the tutelage of highly effective teachers who serve as role models and mentors. Prior to entering a classroom, residents have intensive summer preparation for classroom experience and are matched with their effective PDF(1.24MB) teacher mentors.
Just as is the case in the medical field, teaching residents engage in authentic practice with the support of master/mentor teachers, gaining the requisite skills needed to be effective teachers of record. While participating in in-school training over the course of one academic year, the resident gradually takes responsibility for fully engaging students in learning. From day one, however, the resident is an integral partner of her mentor, participating in curriculum planning and instructional delivery.
Teaching residents are professionals who are earning a living wage while taking additional master's level coursework in education. Residencies are built around the concept of authentic practice that strives to seamlessly combine theory and pedagogy and that delivers a quid-pro-quo for the resident and mentor: They launch the careers of the new teachers of record while providing veteran teachers the opportunity to remain in the classroom to teach but take on the added professional dimension of mentoring and developing leadership skills.
The Residency model places student learning and professional learning at the core of the preparation model. The supply and retention of well-prepared, effective teachers in high-need schools has been a concern for school districts and higher education for several years. According to the Alliance for Excellent Education, teachers are leaving the profession at an alarming rate: "14 percent of new teachers leave by the end of their first year; 33 percent leave within three years; and almost 50 percent leave in five years. Estimated conservatively, American schools spend more than $2.6 billion annually replacing teachers who have dropped out of the profession."
High attrition rates are not reflective of the level of commitment or the willingness to teach on the part of new teachers, but are indicative of the adequacy PDF (486KB) of preparation a new teacher has received, according to Urban Teacher Residency United. Institutions of higher education have remodeled their teacher preparation curricula over the years to include additional coursework, alternative routes to certification, and some have implemented professional development school models in partnerships with K-12 schools in efforts to address the needs of new teachers. Yet a learning gap has persisted, particularly in high-need schools.
For urban districts that trail blazed the teacher residency approach, the effort appears to be paying off in terms of their retention rates. For example, three-year retention rates for the combined 629 teachers who were prepared as residents in Denver, Boston, and Chicago are 98 percent, 86 percent, and 85 percent, respectively.
Institutionalization and Increased Support through Reauthorization
The early adopters of the urban residency programs in Chicago and Boston were supported in their efforts principally by two key members of the private sector – Martin J. Koldyke, a venture capitalist and founder of The Golden Apple Foundation in Chicago and the Boston Plan for Excellence in Boston. In Denver, the Boettcher Foundation invested in the concept as of 2003, creating the Boettcher Teachers Program. The National Science Foundation and the Public Education Foundation also contributed to the emerging innovation and some success was fostered in Tennessee's Hamilton County. Known as the Benwood Initiative, new teacher residents were placed in cohorts in some of the hardest-to-staff schools and paired with effective teachers; the results have been impressive in terms of students' achievement gains.
In 2008, the reauthorized Higher Education Opportunity Act (Public Law 110-315) specifically defined residency programs, and the
"These [Teacher Quality Partnership Program] grants will strengthen teacher preparation and residency programs to ensure that new teachers … have the skills to boost student learning and be highly effective in today's diverse and challenging classrooms."
— Secretary of Education Arne Duncan
The Office of Innovation and Improvement in the U.S. Department of Education arranged two competitions and awarded funding to create or enhance Teacher Residency projects. Since 2009, the TQP program has invested $186 million to reform teacher preparation, $100 million of which came from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The newly funded program places a heavier emphasis on "authentic student-teaching and requires colleges of education to work with local districts to address their specific teaching needs." Of the 40 funded grants thus far, 28 include Residency components.
Boston and Chicago's Residency programs were awarded new funding under the TQP competition and both are scaling up in response to their districts' needs. In these grants, districts identify specific schools that would benefit from the model. The TQP grants allow projects to authorize a living wage to the residents while requiring the districts to provide two years of induction following the residency year. The partnerships use their federal funds to leverage matching funds from local, state, and foundation funding sources.
Highly Relevant Teacher Preparation
A key to residency programs is the ability of nascent teachers to internalize how to the apply curriculum theory and practice and to reflect on their classroom experience in a learning community that extends from the university campus for coursework to the inner-city classroom with its real-world challenges. To accomplish this, partnering school districts and institutions of higher education employ a reformed curriculum PDF (215KB) that better prepares new teachers to work with diverse, high-need student populations and also allows them to incorporate research-based practice in the context of the high-need schools. In New York, for example Teachers College Columbia University TR@TC Residents participate in educational rounds to "engage principals and teachers in learning communities" and incorporate instructional digital tools. Residents take graduate coursework one day a week while apprenticing with highly effective teachers in a classroom for four days each week. Common planning time and two years of induction are supported in numerous studies on teacher effectiveness.
Recent support from the Department's Teacher Quality Partnership program is helping existing Teacher Residency programs to grow their ranks of successful Residents. In Chicago, AUSL placed 84 residents in selected high-need schools this fall, compared with 55 residents in prior years and a total of 368 since 2001. The nonprofit and its partnering institution, National Louis University, plan to recruit and support an additional 360 residents over five years and are exploring ways to sustain the model in the Chicago Public Schools. The grant also allows AUSL to develop school leadership pathways and career ladders for teachers. The training design permits residents to develop teaching fundamentals as well as the "strength, resiliency, and flexibility necessary to be successful urban school teachers." AUSL uses a turnaround school model and incorporates seven components from their turnaround framework to improve student achievement in some of Chicago's highest-need schools.
Districts in the Driver's Seat of Reform
The Residency programs supported by the TQP grant program have a common objective of striving to meet the needs of the districts they serve for the highest quality teachers in the most challenging classrooms. AUSL and the Boston Teacher Residency, in partnership with the University of Massachusetts – Boston and Wheelock College, expect to increase the number of residents to meet the needs of the districts they serve. In Boston, the residency program plans to prepare one third of the teachers needed for Boston Public Schools' annual hiring, and in Chicago, AUSL has a goal of preparing up to 90 residents each year to meet the needs of the district.
Building on the trailblazing urban efforts of Boston, Denver, and Chicago, there are now rural residency programs in California and Louisiana, thanks to funding from the TQP program. A common standard for all Residencies, urban and rural, is allowing individuals who are starting their careers or transitioning from other fields with content knowledge to become certified while benefitting from authentic pedagogical practice. The Boston Teacher Residency embraces the multiple routes to its program with the phrase, "From Willing to Able."
Bard College received federal funding in 2009 to develop a residency for rural Central Valley California and has aspirations of placing 130 residents. Twenty-one residents and highly effective mentor teachers have been recruited to the project in the past year. In the first year, Bard College built capacity to prepare and place residents in high-need schools while providing professional development to potential mentor teachers working in rural schools. Paramount Bard Academy serves as an initial placement for Bard College Residents. The charter school "prepares all students for the challenges of college and for success in their chosen careers. At the same time, the Academy provides a model for educating future teachers and providing professional development for local educators in a model school environment." In both the rural and urban programs, residents commit to teach in high-need schools for a minimum of three years as required by the 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act. Chicago's Academy of Urban School Leadership requires a four-year teaching commitment.
Meeting Challenges and Validating Effectiveness
Teacher Residencies are not without their challenges. Some districts consider the cost of paying a living-wage to new residents and the supportive services they receive an impediment to implementing residency programs. Additionally, given the current economic climate, Residents cannot always be guaranteed employment upon completion of their Residencies in the districts for which they prepared.
Selection of highly effective mentor teachers is also a challenge for districts. Many of the existing Residencies provide specialized professional development for the mentor teachers as well as additional funding to support the extra time required to mentor Residents. Such professional development efforts are needed in order to help mentors with aspects of the Residency model such as the mentors' gradual release of responsibility for classroom curriculum and management.
Like other nascent innovations, Residency programs lack sufficient long-term data to provide strong evidence of their impact on student achievement and teacher retention. However, the 695 residents from Boston, Chicago, and Denver who are now teachers signal the beginning of larger cohorts of teachers prepared through Residencies for which data can be gathered and analyzed. In addition, the U. S. Department of Education has commissioned an implementation study of the Residency model. This critical evaluation will study the impact of Residency-prepared teachers on student achievement. Reports are expected to be available in 2013 and 2014. The 2013 report will include descriptive information regarding the programs and one year of student achievement and teacher retention results. The 2014 report will update the student achievement and retention findings with a second year of data.
The challenges associated with ensuring that new teachers are fully prepared for success in the classroom has taken on an increased urgency in recent years, particularly for high-need schools and districts. The residency concept borrowed from the medical profession, one for which there is public confidence for producing well-prepared doctors, appears to be a promising prescription to reach the national goal of having an excellent teacher in every classroom.
Key Resources:
"Creating and Sustaining Urban Teacher Residencies: A New Way to Recruit, Prepare, and Retain Effective Teachers in High-Need Districts," available from the Aspen Institute and the Center for Teaching Quality PDF
"Boston Reinvents Teacher Training," from Administrator Magazine, March/April 2009
Mathematica study on the Teacher Residency Program
The Willie Nelson classic "On the Road Again" may have been on the mind of Secretary of Education Arne Duncan as his "Courage in the Classroom: Honoring America's Teachers" bus tour spanned eights states, 14 cities, and more than 800 miles last month. Along the way, he heard from teachers and other educators about the vital work they are doing to educate America's young people and talked with students, parents, and community leaders about their goals for the new school year and beyond. The Secretary recounts many of the tour stops in a travelogue, but here are a few tour highlights, some in his own words and thoughts:
- Before departing on the tour, the Secretary joined more than 100 students and their parents, grandparents, and younger siblings for a stroll—a walking school bus—from a park to an elementary school in a neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
- Then, on the eve of his tour, the Secretary delivered remarks at the Little Rock Convention Center in Arkansas. "As I said in a speech a few weeks ago, no one thinks [student] test scores should be the only factor in teacher evaluations, and no one wants to evaluate teachers based on a single test on a single day," he stated. "But looking at student progress over time, in combination with other factors like peer review and principal observation, can lead to a culture shift in our schools where we finally take good teaching as seriously as the profession deserves." He was responding to a recent report by the Los Angeles Times that used students' performance on standardized tests to determine which teachers get the greatest gains out of their students.
- In Jackson, Miss., he visited the Kids Kollege Children's Defense Fund Freedom School at Jackson State University where a conversation with teacher interns focused on ways to recruit a new generation of effective teachers.
- Two days in the South were followed by a Northeast tour that took the Secretary to Albany, New York, followed by stops in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, including one in Portsmouth where the Secretary talked with "families at the Naval Shipyard about the difficulties they face in providing their children with a consistently top-notch education as they move around the country and the world in our nation's service."
- In a final stop in Maine, three rising 8th graders shared their thoughts with the Secretary about the impact of the civil rights movement in their lives.
What's New
From the U.S. Department of Education
On September 14, President Obama delivered his second annual Back to School speech at Julia R. Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School – a 2010 National Blue Ribbon School – in Philadelphia. Like last year, this was an opportunity for the President to speak directly to students. The speech was broadcast live (on CNN and online) and shown in schools across the country. "Nobody gets to write your destiny but you. Your future is in your hands," the President told the students. "Your life is what you make of it. And nothing – absolutely nothing – is beyond your reach, so long as you're willing to dream big, so long as you're willing to work hard. So long as you're willing to stay focused on your education, there is not a single thing that any of you cannot accomplish." (September 2010)
Secretary Duncan named 304 schools as "2010 National Blue Ribbon Schools," which are both high-performing schools in which the students, regardless of background, perform in the top 10 percent on their state assessments (public schools) or nationally n ormed assessments (private schools) and schools in which students, at least 40 percent of whom are from disadvantaged backgrounds, dramatically improved on tests to score in at least the top 40 percent statewide. Chief State School Officers nominate the public schools. The Council for American Private Education nominates the private schools. All schools will be honored at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., November 15-16. (September 2010)
Secretary Duncan addressed an international education symposium entitled "Building Blocks for Education: Whole School Reform," sponsored by the Ontario Ministry of Education, which convened education policymakers and experts from six nations to share ideas and look at new ways to solve issues. "Systemic change … takes time," he said. "Yet, I am convinced that the U.S. education system now has an unprecedented opportunity to get dramatically better and that nothing is more important in the long-run to American prosperity than boosting the skills and attainment of the nation's students." (September 2010)
The Department awarded two groups of states substantial grants to develop a new generation of tests that will be aligned to the higher standards that were devised by the nation's governors and chief state school officers. "As I travel around the country, the number one complaint I hear from teachers is that bubble tests pressure teachers to teach to a test that doesn't measure what really matters," Secretary Duncan stated. The grantees are the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), a coalition of 26 states, and the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC), a coalition of 31 states. PARCC will test students' ability to read complex text, complete research projects, excel at classroom speaking and listening assignments, and work with digital media. SBAC will test students using computer adaptive technology that will ask students tailored questions based on previous answers. The grant requests, totaling approximately $330 million, are part of the Race to the Top competition. (September 2010)
From the Office of Innovation and Improvement
All 49 highest-rated Investing in Innovation (i3) applicants secured their required private-sector matches, clearing the way for these applicants to receive grants in the three categories of the i3 Fund: Development (up to $5 million); Validation (up to $30 million); and Scale-up (up to $50 million). The Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII), which conducted the i3 application review process, has released the list of peer reviewers PDF (77KB). (September 2010)
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced that 21 nonprofit organizations and institutions of higher education will receive Promise Neighborhoods planning grants. With the one-year grants, the recipients will create plans to provide cradle-to-career services that improve the educational achievement and healthy development of children. "Communities across the country recognize that education is the one true path out of poverty," Secretary Duncan said. "These Promise Neighborhoods applicants are committed to putting schools at the center of their work to provide comprehensive services for young children and students." The planning grants MS Excel (96KB) of up to $500,000 will support the work in a diverse set of communities in major metropolitan areas, small and medium-size cities, rural areas, and one Indian reservation. (September 2010)
OII and the National Education Association (NEA) Foundation launched a new challenge for teachers to identify and solve education's most pressing classroom problems. "Challenge to Innovate" (C2i) enlists teachers to think creatively and implement innovative classroom ideas. C2i also recognizes the urgency for improvement and is providing a new model that moves rapidly from idea conception to implementation and evaluation, while simultaneously supplying critical support to educators. Under the partnership, the Department's Open Innovation Portal will host the three-phase C2i. In Phase 1, through October 19, teachers are asked to share their most pressing classroom challenges that can be solved with $500 or less. The five ideas receiving the most votes – as judged by the Open Innovation Portal community – will each receive $1,000 from the NEA Foundation. In Phase 2, from November 16 through January 14, teachers will post the best solutions to the winning challenges. Up to 10 solutions will receive a $2,500 implementation grant from the NEA Foundation. In Phase 3, from January 17 through February 4, the NEA Foundation will select up to three solutions to receive a $5,000 planning grant and technical support. These solutions will be posted on the Donors Choose website, where teachers will be invited to submit requests to receive up to $500 in implementation costs. The NEA Foundation, partnering with citizen philanthropists, will provide funding for teachers to implement and test these innovation solutions. (September 2010)
From the Institute of Education Sciences
A First Look report from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), within the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), presents findings from three different postsecondary education data collections: institutional characteristics for the 2009-10 academic year; student completions from July 1, 2008, through June 30, 2009; and student enrollment for the 2008-09 academic year. (August 2010)
According to NCES' new "Back to School Statistics for 2010," America's schools and colleges will welcome back large numbers of students this fall, as population increases and high enrollment rates continue to be reflected in more students in America's schools than ever. (August 2010)
Arts Education
On October 2, ARTSEDGE, the Kennedy Center's online teacher and student website, is being re-launched. The new and improved site features easier site navigation and display, as well as brand-new sections geared toward students and families. Developed with initial support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the United States Department of Education, and the Kennedy Center, ARTSEDGE provides lesson plans, multi-media enhanced instruction, and performance footage. The revamped site boasts color-coded sections for educators, parents, and students. Educators using the site can display high-definition clips from the site directly on whiteboards in their classrooms. Teachers may also embed resources from the site directly on their own classroom blogs or websites and can log in and personalize their settings, saving articles for later. (September 2010)
As one of a dozen Districts of Creativity, Creative Oklahoma will host a global event to explore how creativity drives commerce, culture, and education. The 2010 Creativity World Forum will be held in Oklahoma City on November 15-17, and will feature more than 65 speakers and presenters including some of the world's most respected thinkers on creativity. The State of Oklahoma and the Chickasaw Nation are presenting sponsors of the two-day 2010 Creativity World Forum, the first ever hosted in North America. (September 2010)
Massachusetts enacted the Creative Challenge Index legislation, which will evaluate schools on the opportunities they give students for developing creativity and innovation through the arts or any appropriate subject in addition to using standardized tests in ELA, math, and science. In the coming year, a commission of legislators, educators, business leaders, and community leaders will establish an index to measure the extent to which schools provide opportunities for students to engage in creative work. The index will examine and rate every public school in the Commonwealth on the teaching, encouraging, and fostering of creativity in students through arts education, debate clubs, science fairs, theater performances, concerts, film-making, and independent research. (September 2010)
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced the recipients of its national awards program honoring outstanding school arts programs. Five schools were chosen as John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts National Schools of Distinction in Arts Education for their work during the 2009-2010 school year. The award recognizes schools that have made the arts an essential part of their students' education. Each school will receive a $2,000 award to support their arts education program. (August 2010)
Charter Schools
The National Charter School Resource Center, funded by the Office of Innovation and Improvement and administered by Learning Point Associates, offers news, insights, and resources to support the development of high-quality charter schools. Priority areas are support for state agencies, facilities, authorization, leadership, and school turnaround. The Center's e-newsletter is provided without charge. (September 2010)
Teacher turnover in charter schools is more likely driven by the same factors that lead teachers to leave traditional public schools than a so-called "charter effect," according to a report from the Center on Reinventing Public Education. "Parallel Patterns: Teacher Attrition in Charter vs. District Schools" tracked the careers of nearly 1,000 newly hired charter school teachers and 20,000 traditional public school teachers in Wisconsin between 1998 and 2006. The report's authors found that high teacher turnover rates were primarily a function of young and inexperienced teachers and poor and urban school settings, not the nature of charter schools. Teachers in both charter and traditional public schools cited a lack of administrative support, poor working conditions, and low salaries as reasons for leaving. (September 2010)
The National Association of Charter School Authorizers has released a first issue brief in a series that is intended to help authorizers understand key elements involved in successful charter school replication. "Charter School Replication Guide: The Spectrum of Replication Options" defines the scope of replication, which the report calls "a package deal that includes all of the elements necessary to allow a freestanding charter school to reproduce its core features in a distinctly separate context." The brief also defines different strategies for replication, including multiple schools and campuses, franchises, conversions and turnarounds, and cyber schools, and provides links to other resources. (August 2010)
College Readiness and Completion
More college-bound students in the class of 2010 took the SAT® than in any other high school graduating class in history, according to a new report from the College Board. Nearly 1.6 million students from this year's graduating class participated in the college-going process by taking the SAT, and their overall performance underscored the critical role that course-taking patterns and academic rigor play in college readiness. "Engaging students with more rigorous course work and demanding higher standards are critical in providing America's students with an education that will prepare them to compete in the 21st-century economy," said College Board President Gaston Caperton. "This report confirms that there are no tricks and there are no shortcuts to college readiness. Students who take more rigorous courses in high school are more prepared to succeed in college and beyond." (September 2010)
Dr. Jill Biden will convene the first-ever White House Summit on Community Colleges on October 5. Community colleges are the largest and fastest growing segment of America's higher education system, enrolling more than eight million students annually. The Administration has made historic investments in new innovations and reforms to expand and strengthen opportunities at community colleges. The White House is offering a range of ways for the public to submit their thoughts, questions, and challenges for discussion as part of the summit dialogue. (September 2010)
Financial Literacy
According to a survey released by the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE), while 89 percent of teachers agree that their students should take a financial literacy course or pass a test for graduation, less than a third were actually teaching it, and less than 20 percent of teachers said they feel competent to teach financial literacy. In response, the Departments of Education and the Treasury have teamed up to continue administering the National Financial Capability Challenge. Teachers who sign up for the challenge receive a teachers' toolkit and other free materials to prepare their students for a voluntary, online exam students can take between March 7 and April 8, 2011. (September 2010)
School Improvement
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) "Education at a Glance 2010" compares education in OECD's 33 member countries using a range of indicators. The primary topics covered are participation and achievement, public and private spending, conditions for students and teachers, and the state of lifelong learning. The OECD report affirms that the United States is "headed in the right direction to meet President Obama's goal of regaining the lead in college completion by the end of the decade," according to a statement from Education Secretary Arne Duncan. "The United States moved from 12th in the world in 2007 in the percentage of young adults with a college degree to tie for ninth in the world in 2008. But we have a lot more work to do to get there." (September 2010)
Teacher Quality and Development
According to a study released by e-Learning for Educators, teachers who took professional development courses online improved their teaching practices and subject knowledge, and produced learning gains for their students. The 10-state consortium that comprises e-Learning for Educators is funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Ready to Teach program and led by Alabama Public Television. The study, which included 330 teachers and 7,000 students, is the largest set of independent randomized trials conducted on an online professional development program to date. (September 2010)
A new brochure written by teachers and for teachers, "Built for Teachers: How the Blueprint for Reform Empowers Teachers," spotlights issues in the Obama Administration's plans to revise and reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), focusing on those of particular concern for educators. (September 2010)
Innovations in the News
Standards and Assessments
In Rhode Island schools, the class of 2012 will have new graduation requirements, and districts are implementing changes to meet the tougher standards. Seniors will have end-of-course exams to pass, but also a senior project to complete that includes a research paper. Efforts in Providence are underway to start as early as middle school to provide students with what they'll need to be prepared for college. Student advisories will be offered four times a week and each middle school student will have an individual learning plan. Local administrators in Providence are scheduling a series of town meetings to explain the new requirements to parents. [More—The Providence Journal (R.I.)] (Sept.13)
Academically motivated eighth-graders in Colorado who find themselves on the waiting lists of high-performing high schools now have an alternative, thanks to Tony Caine, a high-tech businessman who created Summit 54. "There are too many bright urban students left to languish" among the more than 400,000 students nationally on wait lists to get into charter schools, according to Caine. His new foundation will use data to select the most academically motivated eighth-graders. He intends to offer about 100 of them from Denver, the Western Slope in Colorado, and Chicago a contract: They will be provided with a high-level education that augments the offerings in their traditional public schools by way of "tutoring, … lessons in public speaking and interpersonal skills, trips to cultural sites, tours of university campuses and help applying to college." [More—The Denver Post] (Sept. 9)
A new report from the National Council of La Raza and the Center for American Progress calls on charter schools to do a better job serving English-language learners (ELLs) and offers several examples of charters that are succeeding with ELLs. "Next Generation Charter Schools" also calls on states to revisit existing charter laws to ensure that charters have access to federal and state categorical funds for English-language-acquisition programs. The report was received favorably by such charter-sector organizations as the National Association of Charter School Authorizers. [More—Education Week] (Sept. 1) (premium article access compliments of EdWeek.org)
Education Data Systems
The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is using its sophisticated data system to inform and help implement its strategies to improve graduation rates. With data in hand identifying the district's high school students who did not attend classes the first week of the new school year, hundreds of volunteers, including Houston Superintendent Terry Grier, knocked on their doors on Saturday morning. Now in its seventh year, Grads Within Reach, arms the volunteers with information on which credits a student needs to graduate as well as the options for gaining the credits. Following last year's reach-out effort, 400 students graduated in May who otherwise would not have. [More—The Christian Science Monitor] (Sept. 11)
Teachers and Leaders
The California State Board of Education approved the creation of an online database to share information from the local, state, and national levels on measures of teachers' effectiveness. The board also requested that three local districts – Los Angeles Unified (LAUSD), Long Beach, and Fresno – propose ways for the state level to support improved teacher evaluation tools, including value-added methods. In his testimony to the board concerning how the Los Angeles district will evaluate teachers, LAUSD Assistant Superintendent John Deasy said multiple measures are planned, including classroom observations by trained evaluators as well as value-added analysis and input from parents and students. [More—The Los Angeles Times] (Sept. 16)
A majority of Americans support merit pay for teachers, according to a recent survey by Phi Delta Kappa and Gallup. The poll, conducted of more than 1,000 Americans, most of whom were over the age of 40, also evidenced strong interest in improving teacher quality – nearly half of the respondents ranked "improving the quality of our teachers" ahead of other options such as "developing demanding education standards," "creating better tests," and "improving the nation's lowest-performing schools." Concerning merit pay, there was no majority opinion as to how teacher performance should be evaluated and measured. Sixty percent, however, indicated that helping teachers improve their craft should be the primary reason for the evaluations. [More—Teacher Magazine] (Sept. 14) (premium article access compliments of EdWeek.org)
The Hawaii Department of Education, as part of its Race to the Top grant award, has launched a multipronged strategy to recruit and retain teachers in order to tackle its more than 50 percent attrition rate for teachers who leave within five years of being hired. The plan components include bonuses of $3,000 or more for teachers who stay in assignments in hard-to-staff schools and areas, increases in mentoring and professional development programs, and "steering young, inexperienced teachers to less challenging school environments." The key to the plan overall, according to Robert Campbell, the department's executive assistant for strategic reform, is making schools more supportive environments that offer opportunities for growth as well as to vent and get help from mentors. [More—Honolulu Star-Advertiser] (Sept. 7)
Schools without principals? That's the concept behind teacher-led public schools, an innovation that is increasingly evident in locations such as Boston, Denver, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis. The implementation is different from one to the next, but all have shared decisionmaking as the common defining characteristic. The experimentation with teacher-led schools signals "a period where people are trying to introduce variation into the system," according to Charles Kercher, an education professor at Claremont Graduate University in California. In most cases, data on student achievement is at too early a stage to judge effectiveness. In Milwaukee, however, a dozen schools run by teacher cooperatives are reporting higher standardized test scores than the district's average. [More—The Christian Science Monitor] (Sept.1)
In Louisiana, the Jefferson Parish Schools are stepping out front to take on efforts to adopt a protocol for evaluating teachers based on how their students perform over time. The state is funding the effort as a model for other Louisiana districts and chose Jefferson Parish because of both its size and diversity of schools. The plan is to use a combination of teacher reviews and tracking of students' performance on standardized tests over time; results will impact promotions of teachers and principals as well as inform decisions to confer tenure and dismiss teachers. The new evaluation system is expected to be implemented statewide in 2013-14. [More—The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)] (Sept. 1)
Interventions in Low-Performing Schools
Johns Hopkins University's Talent Development, Communities in Schools, and City Year are partnering with the Detroit Public Schools to bring Diplomas Now, a national dropout prevention program, to two Motor City K-8 schools. Only 58 percent of Detroit's students are graduating from high school, a figure the city wants to change to 98 percent by 2015. Researchers at John Hopkins know that children at risk for dropping out can be identified as early as sixth grade, and that fact drives the Diplomas Now initiative. Other cities implementing it, with the help of a $30 million federal education grant, are New Orleans, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Antonio, and Los Angeles. [More—The Detroit News] (Sept. 16)
Suspensions in middle school – and the disparities in the rates of them among racial and ethnic groups – are the subject of a new study and report from the Southern Poverty Law Center. According to the report, "Suspended Education: Urban Middle Schools in Crisis," black boys were nearly three times as likely to be suspended as white boys. Using 40 years of federal education data on suspensions, researchers looked most closely at the period from 2002 to 2006. Among the long-term findings: "Throughout America's public schools, in kindergarten through high school, the percent of students suspended each year nearly doubled from the early 1970s through 2006." [More—The New York Times] (Sept. 13) (free registration)
The Charles Drew Charter School in Atlanta may have some advice for its K-8 counterparts in Detroit. When students graduate from Drew, they don't become strangers, but rather alumni who are welcomed back to use the computer lab, get help with homework, or even participate in college tours and receive advice about financial aid and college scholarships. It's all part of the charter school's "cradle to college pipeline," which is fueled by a basic belief that, in the words of Drew Charter School's principal Don Doran, "poverty is not an excuse here." The Drew concept is being used in at least seven other cities in the Southeast. [More—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution] (Sept. 11) (free registration)
Summer-bridge programs, which are designed to bolster the skills and confidence of rising ninth-graders who may be at risk of dropping out, are gaining in popularity nationally. In Seattle, a five and one-half week program sponsored by the city and run by the YMCA takes an especially intensive approach. Students are admitted by invitation following recommendations from middle-school teachers and principals based on grades and school attendance, among other criteria. The nearly 100 bridge students take math and language-arts classes four mornings a week, followed by afternoon enrichment classes that range from music to martial arts to robotics. [More—The Seattle Times/The Hechinger Report] (Sept. 8)
Make every minute count! That's the philosophy and practice at Propel McKeesport, one of a small group of charter schools in Western Pennsylvania. There are no intercom announcements during class time. If a student feels sick, the school nurse does the initial assessment in the class, and changes from class to class are practiced to meet the standard of two minutes or less. Use of time is also one of the six habits that the Propel schools emphasize for students – "get here, work hard and manage your time." At McIntyre Elementary School in another Western Pennsylvania community, students begin work as soon as they enter the classroom. For those who arrive as early as 8:40 a.m. for the 9:00 a.m. start time, it means an extra 60 hours a year of learning. [More—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette] (Sept. 5)
Remedial help is the top concern for school administrators in New Jersey who recently uncovered evidence of seniors who failed their exit exams because they were incapable of mastering Algebra I and English I, but who were passed along without needed tutoring and other interventions. The state education agency is putting new steps in place, including immediate remedial help for students who fail eighth-grade state tests. In addition, "districts will be required to keep a complete record of progress for each of these at-risk students," according to the state's Assistant Education Commissioner Willa Spicer. [More—The Record (Hackensack, N.J.)] (Sept. 2)
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Last Modified: 09/30/2010


text:
With top Norwich Public Utilities officials looking on, a blue heron cut across the horizon of a hazy summer sky on Thursday, casting a silhouette on one of the most pristine watersheds in the region.
With top Norwich Public Utilities officials looking on, a blue heron cut across the horizon of a hazy summer sky on Thursday, casting a silhouette on one of the most pristine watersheds in the region.
But this virtually untouched 5,000-acre swath off a quiet section of Reservoir Road in Lebanon, about 10 miles outside of the city limits, is no nature preserve. It's the nucleus of Norwich's water supply with a reservoir whose surface area is 242 acres, providing 80 percent of the daily intake for customers on the system, or about 4 million gallons.
At 48 feet deep in some places, the Deep River Reservoir itself resembles a natural lake. And like any ecosystem, it can sometimes smell funny.
Such was the case last week, when NPU issued a statement informing customers of a "slight, unpleasant odor and change in taste" in the city's water. Officials said the volatile mix of scorching temperatures and heavy rains were to blame.
"Since this is a living, breathing organism, obviously the environment changes it," Steve Sinko, NPU's chief financial officer, said while standing on the banks of the reservoir. "It's not an exact science, so you take preventative measures wherever you can, but the heavy rains will wash biological matter into the reservoir, and then you have the heat, which can cause things to grow that weren't there before."
The watershed's footprint is equivalent to about 7.5 square miles, which NPU manages and develops. There is commercial activity in some places, and several streams feed into the reservoir, bringing foreign substances that sometimes alter the water's chemistry before it's treated.
Yet by all industry standards, it's safe and clean. According to NPU's 2012 water quality report, there were no violations in tap water samples of raised copper or lead. Nor was there any contamination at distribution systems or in the reservoirs themselves.
Deep River Reservoir's storage volume of 1.4 billion gallons is contained by a 900-foot-by-54-foot earthen dam.
A smaller reservoir, known as Stony Brook in Montville, produces about 1 million gallons of water per day for NPU users.
"All through the year, raw water is going to smell like dirt or have a fish odor," said Tom Williams, one of NPU's four water treatment plant operators. "But it's checked every day."
In fact, samples are taken routinely at 15 locations throughout the network, from reservoir to tap.
And Williams' workspace is set up like a laboratory, with samples of water in different stages of treatment set up on a bench.
The entire plant is monitored by a state-of-the art computer that is connected to NPU's South Golden Street headquarters, alerting engineers to even the smallest deviations.
There are also weekly algae analyses at both reservoirs to determine if any harmful species have taken root.
"We strive to maintain as a consistent a quality of water that we can.
Obviously, we have mandates to do that, but we also have our customers we care about," Sinko said.
Mark Decker, NPU's water and wastewater integrity manager, said the exacting science that goes into producing a quality product happens mostly behind the scenes.
"This is an industry that goes unnoticed in this area. It is taken for granted," he said.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
GWU sorry for misrepresenting admission policy | Education
Title (Max 100 Characters)
WASHINGTON (AP) - George Washington University is apologizing for misrepresenting how it considers financial need in admissions decisions.
The school said until a few days ago that requests for financial aid don't affect admissions decisions. It now says that it considers some applicants' financial need in the final stages of choosing its incoming class. The university issued a statement Tuesday apologizing for not clearly communicating how it factors need into its decisions.
The school's associate provost for enrollment management, Laurie Koehler, says the school first reviews applications without considering financial need. The office does consider need in some cases in a final review, she said. Koehler said the "need-aware" policy affects roughly 10 percent of the 22,000 prospective students who apply each year.
The story was first reported by the school's student newspaper.


text:
|XP is just a number
Re: Re: Perl Idioms Explained - && and || "Short Circuit" operatorsby davido (Cardinal)
|on Oct 24, 2003 at 18:15 UTC ( #301915=note: print w/replies, xml )
|Need Help??
I never intended to say there's something stylistically or idiomatically wrong with using parens with the open (or any other) function. perlstyle states that it is stylistically good to "Omit redundant punctuation as long as clarity doesn't suffer." But a few paragraphs later says, "...just because you CAN omit parenthesis in many places doesn't mean you should." But the example given is a situation with many levels of nested functions.
perlop has this to say by way of introduction to "or":
As more readable alternatives to && and || when used for control flow, Perl provides and and or operators (see below). The short-circuit behavior is identical. The precedence of "and" and "or" is much lower, however, so that you can safely use them after a list operator without the need for parentheses...
Here is a key section of perlop:
Binary "or" returns the logical disjunction of the two surrounding expressions. It's equivalent to || except for the very low precedence. This makes it useful for control flow:
perlopentut says:
If you prefer the low-punctuation version, you could write that this way:
perlfunc open recommends 'or' but then shows examples with both 'or' and '||'.
My own reason for asserting it is amost always considered better is for several reasons: First, I can see the logic of it; it allows you to not worry about whether you have parenthesis in place. Second, it reads better; 'do this or that' makes for clearer reading than 'do this || that'. Third, after posting the original node, I received comments by several people reminding me that I should increase my emphasis on using 'or' in favor of '||' with open and in other flow-control places because it reduces the ambiguity of precedence. There is no question that "or" is going to be near the bottom of the precedence ladder, whereas "||" is quite a bit higher, and thus, one has to remember when constructing complex logical short-circuit operations which operators are going to bind more closely and which are going to bind less tightly.
Perhaps "almost always" is too generous. But I do believe it is clearer, cleaner, less ambiguous, and less prone to context problems. 'or' probably shouldn't be used for "assignment" purposes (the examples above show this). But it seems to be a good choice for many logical flow needs.
"If I had my life to do over again, I'd be a plumber." -- Albert Einstein
In Section Meditations


text:
this takes every jpg in the current directory and changes the exif data for manufactur and model. in my case i change it to LOMO LC-A because my scanner puts his data in there :]
Usage: upto directory Show Sample Output
Checks if a web page has changed. Put it into cron to check periodically. Change http://www.page.de/test.html and [email protected] for your needs.
The 00:11:22:33:44:55 is whatever you want your new MAC address to be. Sometimes sudo should be used in front if you need to.
Usage: jd dir
Requires globstar. To set globstar use:
shopt -s globstar
change user password one liner
commandlinefu.com is the place to record those command-line gems that you return to again and again. That way others can gain from your CLI wisdom and you from theirs too. All commands can be commented on, discussed and voted up or down.
Every new command is wrapped in a tweet and posted to Twitter. Following the stream is a great way of staying abreast of the latest commands. For the more discerning, there are Twitter accounts for commands that get a minimum of 3 and 10 votes - that way only the great commands get tweeted.
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text:
Jamaica Bay Park
Mayor Bloomberg And Secretary Salazar Join Forces To Cooperatively Manage 10,000 Acres Of City, Federal Parks In And Around Jamaica Bay
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
No. 264
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today signed an unprecedented agreement between the National Park Service and the City of New York Department of Parks of Recreation – spelling out ways the two agencies will cooperatively manage 10,000 acres of federal and city-owned parks in and around Jamaica Bay to promote visitation, education programs, scientific research and recreational opportunities. By allowing the National Park Service and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation to work on each other's property, comingle resources and undertake joint planning, this innovative new partnership will serve to better connect urban communities to the natural beauty and history of Gateway National Recreation Area and adjacent city park lands. The Mayor made the announcement at City Hall and was also joined by National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis and New York City Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe and Director of the Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability David Bragdon.
"This historic partnership will improve our city's great natural treasure – Jamaica Bay – by creating restored, resilient natural landscapes, more outdoor recreation, new and cutting-edge research collaborations, and an improved, sustainable transportation framework," said Mayor Bloomberg. "This is an important example of the great things that can happen when different levels of government work together and are supported by philanthropic organizations. This agreement fulfills important goals included our plans to make our city more sustainable and to enhance our waterfront."
"There is no better place than New York City to fulfill the vision of President Obama's America's Great Outdoors initiative to establish a network of world-class urban parks across the country in partnership with state and local governments, local communities and city residents themselves," Salazar said. "The United States and New York City have joined forces to establish a single seamless park that not only is readily accessible to New Yorkers, but also invites them as a place to bring their families, enjoy nature, get some exercise or learn about history."
"We are thrilled to partner with the U.S. Department of the Interior and the National Park Service in formalizing this historic cooperative management agreement for Jamaica Bay," said New York City Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe. "Forty years after the Gateway National Recreation Area was created by creating separate city and federal parklands, a new conservancy is being created to realize the full potential of these 10,000 combined acres of publicly owned land. We look forward to entering the next phase of planning for the site – one of our city's most ecologically rich open spaces – as we work together to find new ways to improve both the environment and the visitor experience."
"The Rockefeller Foundation commends Mayor Bloomberg and Secretary Salazar for their foresight and leadership on the revitalization of Jamaica Bay, said Peter Madonia, Chief Operating Officer, The Rockefeller Foundation. The Rockefeller Foundation is proud to support the planning of a science and resilience center in Jamaica Bay, a parkland and a community that will truly benefit from urban resilience planning, as a model that is replicable around the world."
The Cooperative Management Agreement, which builds on a commitment made between the Mayor and the Secretary in October 2011 to work together to establish the Jamaica Bay area as a great urban park, outlines immediate actions as well as proposals for longer-term actions to support a new vision of shared stewardship that will revitalize these park lands and waters.
The goals of the agreement include:
- Creating a seamless and interconnected network of improved recreation spaces, including more camping and boating opportunities, integrated land and water trail systems, and community activity areas;
- Coordinating habitat restoration, research and resource management in the Bay;
- Ensuring public transportation and access to and within Jamaica Bay strongly supports existing and new experiential activities, including public transit, pedestrian, bicycle, and ferry access;
- Providing unified signage, maps and marketing wherever possible;
- Integrating business practices for maintenance and management;
- Developing new revenue generation sources and philanthropic support to enable the redevelopment and support the ongoing operations of the parks without regard to underlying ownership; and
- Jointly developing a series of programs in which urban youth can learn the values of stewardship through service activities.
As part of this partnership, the City and the National Park Service released a request for expressions of interest that calls for a university or other academic partner or science-focused organization to manage an intensive research program focused on the restoration of the bay, including potentially creating a new science and resilience center to coordinate and bolster research efforts. Efforts to identify such a manager, as well as implement numerous other aspects of the agreement, will begin immediately.
The agreement also calls for the establishment of a new non-profit "Friends" group that will work with the National Park Service and New York City to raise funds for the planning and development of their combined Jamaica Bay-area parklands and waters. The organization will likely be modeled on NPS' most successful "Friends" group at Golden Gate National Recreation Area and would include a board that would be recommended jointly by the Mayor and Secretary.
The Rockefeller Foundation announced that they are committing $1.5 million for the planning of Jamaica Bay parklands and a state of the art, first of its kind resilience center that that will lead future research and best-practice replication to enhance urban ecosystem and adjacent communities. The center could be replicated in other cities, as part of the work they're doing around the world to strengthen and prepare today's communities for the future. The Rockefeller Foundation is a leader in the effort to enhance the resilience of communities across the globe, committing over $100 million to the proposition that the benefits of globalization will be greatly enhanced by building capacity to prepare for, withstand and emerge stronger from acute shocks and chronic stresses. Additional support has been provided by National Grid and other donors.
In addition, the National Park Service today released for public comment a document that describes several alternatives for managing Gateway under the park's General Management Plan, which is currently being drafted in consultation with the City. The newsletter, which includes specific ideas and suggestions for Jamaica Bay that reflect the planned joint management approach outlined in the agreement announced today, is available here.
This agreement is part of PlaNYC, Mayor Bloomberg's unprecedented initiative to build a sustainable City that will meet the needs of a growing population, support a competitive economy, combat climate change and improve the quality of life for all New Yorkers. Since then, the City has reached impressive milestones, such as the planting of more than 600,000 trees, the opening of 210 schoolyards to playgrounds, and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The agreement is also part of the Waterfront Vision and Enhancement Strategy, a citywide strategy launched by Mayor Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, which lays out a sustainable blueprint for the City's more than 500 miles of shoreline. WAVES has two core components: Vision 2020: The New York City Comprehensive Waterfront Plan, released a year ago, which established long-term goals for the next decade and beyond, and the New York City Waterfront Action Agenda, which set forth priority initiatives to be implemented by the end of 2013, many of which are being realized. The agreement is also part of the Obama administration's bold vision to build and expand America's great urban parks so that they remain healthy, connected, and accessible to every American through President Obama's America's Great Outdoors initiative, launched in 2010.
Directions to Jamaica Bay Park
- NYC Parks, In Partnership With National Park Service, Launches Jamaica Bay/Rockaway Parks Restoration Corps
- NYC Parks Joins The National Park Service To Issue Requests For Proposals For Kayaking And Canoeing, Bike Rental, And Food Concessions For Jamaica Bay And The Rockaway Peninsula


text:
TOKYO/HONG KONG: Shares of Apple Inc's component suppliers came under pressure on Wednesday as investors locked in recent gains on concerns that its lower-cost iPhone was still too expensive for its target audience in China and other emerging markets.
Apple's own shares were down more than 5% a day after it unveiled its flagship iPhone 5S with a fingerprint scanner to help it stand out among the smartest of phones. It also introduced the colourful 5C plastic model for emerging markets.
The cheaper, plastic-backed iPhone 5C will sell for 4,488 yuan (RM2,391.44) in China, almost US$200 (RM651.90) more than the United States retail price of US$549 (RM1,789.47) and only 800 yuan (RM426.28) less than its top-of-the-line sibling, the 5S.
"People were all expecting the 5C would be a low-cost model, but it doesn't look like it will be too competitive now," said Jackson Wong, Tanrich Securities vice-president for equity sales in Hong Kong. "Everybody is now looking to the China Mobile announcement, which can happen anytime now."
Markets have been speculating that Apple is on the verge of signing a distribution pact with China Mobile Ltd, the country's biggest wireless carrier with more than 740 million subscribers. China Mobile shares fell just under 1% in Hong Kong and about 3% in New York.
Shares of component suppliers Broadcom Corp and Qualcomm Inc fell 2% and 3% respectively in New York while those of Cirrus Logic Inc, which gets about 82% of its revenue from Apple, fell as much as 5%.
Brokerage Susquehanna Financial Group said that since the iPhone 5S' connectivity features were not upgraded, Broadcom could experience pricing pressure. Broadcom is widely believed to be providing connectivity solutions for the new iPhone.
Among Japanese component makers, Taiyo Yuden Co Ltd, Murata Manufacturing Co Ltd and Ibiden Co Ltd dropped between 1.6% and 3.3%.
Hong Kong-listed AAC Technologies Holdings Inc sagged 4%. Goertek Inc, which supplies speakers to Apple, plunged the maximum 10% limit in Shenzhen, while Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd eased a more modest 1.3%.
Traders also said the cheaper model, which will go on sale on Friday and come in five colours — blue, green, pink, yellow and white — could crimp margins at suppliers.
"In terms of components, it's all a volume game with low margins. It's not a huge positive for component makers," a senior dealer at a foreign bank in Tokyo said.
Apple has been losing ground to Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Huawei Technologies Co Ltd in emerging markets like China and India.
Other Japanese part suppliers that were hit on Tuesday included Mitsumi Electric Co Ltd, Japan Aviation Electronics Industry Ltd, Minebea Co Ltd, Alps Electric Co Ltd and Nidec Corp, off between 1% and 4.3%.
Buying opportunity
Another Tokyo-based trader disagreed that margins were under threat, saying Apple has long been squeezing its part suppliers so if the tech giant can increase sales, it would benefit component makers as well.
"It's not negative for the component makers because it's about volume. If anything, it is positive for component makers because you are now arguably going to be selling even more iPhones," he said, adding that the selloff in the Japanese component makers offered buying opportunities.
"The potential you've got here is not that you are going to be selling fewer iPhone 5S...What you are doing here is attacking a brand new market," the trader said. "Now they have come up with a mid-range phone because there is a huge market for entry level smartphones."
According to Thomson Reuters StarMine, suppliers Taiyo Yuden, Murata and Ibiden were 14% to 37% below their intrinsic value, which evaluates a stock based on projected growth over the next decade, using a combination of analyst forecasts and industry growth expectations. — Reuters
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text:
Anastasia Benson- Mazda Protégé
At first glance, Anastasia Benson's 2001 Mazda Protégé doesn't stand out in the crowd. Not even to her.
"A lot of people have a car like mine," says Benson, a UVA fourth-year, "so I lose it in parking lots a lot, and I've been close to putting my key in the wrong car's door before.
"Once when someone was inside," she adds.
Yet Benson argues that the plethora of silver Protégés is proof of the car's superior quality.
"It's easy to maneuver, and it's a great size," she says. "It's the perfect car for me."
Maybe one day the owners of the car will come to the same realization.
"Yeah, actually, my parents own my car," she admits. "So ultimately, they can revoke it whenever they want."
Until then, Benson's keeping the driver's seat warm.
Benson by her Protégé
What drives you? Call 295-8700 ext. 239, then pull up in front of Hook headquarters at 100 Second St. NW, and tell us why you love your ride.


text:
Courts Bracing for Cut of About $300 Million From Judiciary Budget, Judge Marks Says in Memo
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some violence and a scene of sensuality
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Bella Swan has always been a little bit different, never caring about fitting in with the trendy girls at her Phoenix high school. When her mother remarries and sends Bella to live with her father in the rainy little town of Forks, Wash., she doesn't expect much of anything to change.
Then she meets the mysterious and dazzlingly beautiful Edward Cullen, a boy unlike any she's ever met. Intelligent and witty, he sees straight into her soul. Soon, Bella and Edward are swept up in a passionate and decidedly unorthodox romance. Edward can run faster than a mountain lion, he can stop a moving car with his bare hands--and he hasn't aged since 1918. Like all vampires, he's immortal. But he doesn't have fangs, and he doesn't drink human blood; Edward and his family are unique among vampires in their lifestyle choice.
To Edward, Bella is that thing he has waited 90 years for--a soul mate. But the closer they get, the more Edward must struggle to resist the primal pull of her scent, which could send him into an uncontrollable frenzy.
But what will Edward & Bella do when James, Laurent and Victoria, the Cullens' mortal vampire enemies, come to town, looking for her?
Starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser
Directed by Catherine Hardwicke
Running Time - 2:00
Genre - Action/Adventure
Opened in Theaters - Friday, November 21st, 2008 (11 years ago)
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About us
We motivate people to cycle. Since 1907.
There's hardly any other brand in the bicycle industry that has a history similar to that of ROSE Bikes: The development from a small bike shop to an international, digital omnichannel company is unique in the industry. Our road bikes, mountain bikes, electric bikes, cyclocross and hybrid bikes are all designed by our developers at the headquarters in Bocholt, built by hand in our workshops and delivered all over the world. We don't offer bikes off the peg. We have specialised in individual and customized bikes. This means that you can tailor your bike to your needs. Budget, riding position and desired components – we help you configure your custom-made bike. Moreover, direct distribution enables us to offer our bikes at more favourable conditions, as the trade margins for the services of intermediaries do not apply. Thus, you can buy your bike directly from the manufacturer at the best price. In case of any questions, you can get in contact with us directly, too. As we know your bike best, we can always be on hand with help and advice.


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For more information about any event, please stop and ask at the circulation desk, or call us at (304)473-4219, extension 14.
- This event has passed.
Story times
February 20 @ 10:30 am - 11:30 am
|Recurring Event (See all)
An event every week that begins at 10:30 am on Thursday, repeating indefinitely
Every Thursday from 10:30-11:30, for ages 3-5 year olds.


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STAVANGER, Norway – Norway is considering excluding foreign oil and coal companies from its $860 billion sovereign wealth fund, which manages profits from Norway's own fossil fuel industry.
In a shake-up of the fund that sharpens its environmental focus, Finance Minister Siv Jensen said Friday she had appointed a panel to assess the question on the grounds of possible damage to the climate. It will report back to the government in November.
The move highlights Norway's ambition to be a climate leader globally, while continuing to hunt for oil and gas in its own waters.
The government said the panel would evaluate whether excluding investments in coal and oil companies "is a more effective strategy for addressing climate issues and promoting future change than the exercise of ownership and exertion of influence."
In 2013, the fund's exposure to oil and gas shares amounted to 8.4 per cent of its total value. Almost $5 billion was invested in Royal Dutch Shell alone, according to the fund's annual report.
As part of the review, the fund is set to nearly double the value of investments in renewable and alternative energy holdings even though existing stocks are underperforming the market badly. They are currently worth 20 billion-30 billion kroner ($3.3 billion-$5 billion).
In the four years to end-2013, the fund's $5.2 billion of environmentally mandated stocks returned just 12 per cent compared with an overall stock market return of 54 per cent.
Jensen also proposed scrapping an ethics council which decides which companies should be excluded from the oil fund on ethical grounds. She suggested that Norway's central bank take over that responsibility.
Under the current mandate, fund managers are barred from investing in companies that produce tobacco and weapons or breach human rights.


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An appendectomy is surgery to remove the appendix when it is infected. This condition is called appendicitis. Appendectomy is a common emergency surgery.
The appendix is a thin pouch that is attached to the large intestine. It sits in the lower right part of your belly. If you have appendicitis, your appendix must be removed right away. If not treated, your appendix can burst. This is a medical emergency.
There are 2 types of surgery to remove the appendix. The standard method is an open appendectomy. A newer, less invasive method is a laparoscopic appendectomy.
During a laparoscopic surgery, your provider may decide that an open appendectomy is needed.
If your appendix has burst and infection has spread, you may need an open appendectomy.
A laparoscopic appendectomy may cause less pain and scarring than an open appendectomy. For either type of surgery, the scar is often hard to see once it has healed.
Both types of surgery have low risk of complications. A laparoscopic appendectomy has a shorter hospital stay, shorter recovery time, and lower infection rates.
Recently, some studies have suggested that intravenous antibiotics alone could cure appendicitis without the need for appendectomy. These results remain controversial and appendectomy remains the standard of care.
You may need an appendectomy to remove your appendix if you show symptoms of appendicitis.
Appendicitis is a medical emergency. It is when your appendix becomes sore, swollen, and infected.
If you have appendicitis, there is a serious risk your appendix may burst or rupture. This can happen as soon as 48 to 72 hours after you have symptoms. It can cause a severe, life-threatening infection called peritonitis in your belly.
If you have appendicitis symptoms, seek medical care right away.
Some possible complications of an appendectomy include:
You may have other risks that are unique to you. Be sure to discuss any concerns with your healthcare provider before surgery.
Tell your healthcare provider if you:
Your healthcare provider may have other instructions for you based on your medical condition.
In most cases an appendectomy is an emergency surgery and will require a hospital stay. You will have either an open appendectomy or a laparoscopic appendectomy. This will depend on your condition and your healthcare provider's practices.
An appendectomy is done while you are given medicines to put you into a deep sleep (under general anesthesia).
Generally, the appendectomy follows this process:
After surgery, you will be taken to the recovery room. Your healthcare team will watch your vital signs, such as your heart rate and breathing. Your recovery will depend on the type of surgery that was done and the type of anesthesia you had. Once your blood pressure, pulse, and breathing are stable and you are awake and alert, you will be taken to your hospital room.
A laparoscopic appendectomy may be done on an outpatient basis. In this case, you may be discharged and sent home from the recovery room.
You will have pain medicine as needed. This may be by prescription or from a nurse. Or you may give it to yourself through a device connected to your IV (intravenous) line.
You may have a thin plastic tube that goes through your nose into your stomach. This is used to remove stomach fluids and air that you swallow. The tube will be taken out when your bowels are working normally. You will not be able to eat or drink until the tube is removed.
You will be asked to get out of bed a few hours after a laparoscopic surgery or by the next day after an open surgery.
You may be allowed to drink liquids a few hours after surgery. You may slowly be able to add more solid foods.
You will set up a follow-up visit with your healthcare provider. This is often 2 to 3 weeks after surgery.
When you are home, you must keep the incision clean and dry. Your doctor will give you instructions on how to bathe. Any stitches or surgical staples used will be removed at a follow-up office visit. If adhesive strips were used, they should be kept dry. They will often fall off in a few days.
The incision and your abdominal muscles may ache, often after long periods of standing. Take a pain medicine as recommended by your provider. Aspirin or other pain medicines may raise your risk of bleeding. Only take medicines that your provider has approved.
If you had a laparoscopy, you may feel pain from the carbon dioxide gas that is still in your belly. This pain may last for a few days. You should feel a bit better each day.
Your provider will likely want you to walk and move around a bit. But avoid any tiring activity. Your provider will tell you when you can return to work and your normal activities.
Call your healthcare provider if you have any of the following:
Before you agree to the test or the procedure make sure you know:
Vidant Health can connect you to health care professionals to help you understand your condition and guide you through the treatment process. Let's chat.


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Hello to all.
Christ is Risen!
My real name is Jessica Fox, and I'm a student at the University of Texas at Austin at the moment. (One more year to go, thank God.) I was raised Roman Catholic, but I was just chrismated into the Church (Antiochian, to be specific) this Holy Saturday, with the name Gabriela.
After my last year of college, God willing, I plan to go to graduate school in New York City, probably one of the City Colleges unless NYU happens to give me a good deal, and get my M.A. in Spanish. I'm going to NYC, though, because my boyfriend Michael has wanted to be a priest since he was a kid, and St. Vladimir's beckons to him. We plan to marry before he's ordained a deacon his second year.
I love to edit. Commas are my specialty. Heck, I even have a job as a writing tutor at UT, I like it so much. So please let me know if you're in need of a good proofreader/English-checker. I'm not sure if this is going to happen, but I'd love most of all to edit for an Orthodox publishing company or maybe translate Orthodox materials in Spanish. My back-up plan is to be a Spanish professor at a relatively small university.
May the Lord be with all of you.


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Jason De León spoke to a Mexican man before the election who asked if he thought a mass deportation was likely. Like most pundits and political analysts, De León, assistant professor at the University of Michigan and founder of the Undocumented Migration Project, couldn't fathom a Donald Trump presidency. He told the man it was "an impossibility."
Now, he's eating his words.
Since the election results rolled in, undocumented U.S. immigrants and their sympathizers have had to accept the reality of President-elect Trump. For many of them, the election symbolized a possible revolution in policy, with their fates hanging in the balance.
U.S. & World
Building a wall along the Mexican-American border was a focal point for Trump's campaign, and the president-elect has promised to get tough on undocumented immigration to the interior when he takes the Oval Office in January.
Despite deporting 2.4 million undocumented immigrants between 2009 and 2014, President Barack Obama has been criticized by the GOP, and Trump especially, as being too easy on those who came to America "improperly," or without legal status.
An estimated 11 to 12 million undocumented immigrants now live in the United States. On CBS' "60 Minutes," Trump said he plans to deport or incarcerate two to three million undocumented immigrants who have criminal records or are gang members or drug dealers.
The claim that there are up to three million undocumented immigrants who are dangerous criminals is an exaggeration, according to FackCheck.org. A 2013 federal report said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement estimated there were "1.9 million removable criminal aliens" in the U.S. But "criminal aliens" also includes green card holders or those on temporary visas who have committed a crime. The number of undocumented immigrants who have been convicted of a felony or serious misdemeanor is closer to 690,000, according to a July 2015 report by the Migration Policy Institute.
"I don't know how possible, whether he's going to be able to do all of it. But certainly he can make an effort," said Ira Mehlman, spokesperson for the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
Improper entry into the United States is considered a misdemeanor and is punishable by up to six months imprisonment. Reentry is a felony, which means that anyone who tries to cross the border again after being deported has a criminal record. Many of those who attempt reentry want to reunite with their family despite American laws that restrict deportees from applying for visas for up to 20 years after their removal from the country.
Of the remaining undocumented immigrants without felonies, Trump said he would make a determination "after the border is secured and everything gets normalized."
He called those individuals "terrific people."
Andy J. Semotiuk, a U.S. and Canadian immigration lawyer who works out of Los Angeles and Toronto, said it may take politicians a while to get to immigration because "thankfully, we all know how slow government works."
He hypothesized that the Trump administration will have to first focus its efforts on repealing the Affordable Care Act, reforming tax policies for businesses, and resolving existing wars in the Middle East.
A mass deportation that rid the country of all undocumented immigrants would require a lot of resources. "Deporting 11 million people is a mission impossible," Semotiuk said. "It's just a fact, whether you like it or not."
Another factor that slows mass deportation: America has due process, which means anyone who's been accused of illegal activity gets a trial.
"You can't just pick someone up and send them back to Mexico," Semotiuk said. "You have to give them a chance to explain themselves, or defend themselves."
Trump would have to increase the number of judges, prosecutors, clerks, coordinators, and other officials in the court system to meet demand. That would be expensive and time-consuming. Semotiuk said that even if the accused immigrant cooperated completely with his or her trial and didn't make any arguments to remain in the U.S., a court would at the most be able to process 10 cases a day. For two million cases, that's 200,000, or about 548 years, of court days. Trying 11 million cases would require over a million court days.
"If a dictator was in charge of a country, even then it would be hard for someone to marshal all the resources," Semotiuk said.
According to The Associated Press, the U.S. judicial branch now has a "backlog of more than half-a-million cases already pending in immigration court." The holding cells where undocumented immigrants stay until their hearings are also overfilled and overflowing, and immigrants have brought a lawsuit against the Border Patrol in Arizona because of the cells' crowded, unclean, and cold conditions. Last week, the Department of Homeland Security told the AP that there were 41,000 immigrants in detention centers across the U.S.
On CNN's "State of the Union," House Speaker Paul Ryan came out against erecting a deportation task force. He said that plans in Congress were to concentrate on securing the border, a virtual continuation of Obama's policy.
Still, Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies, is "confident that there will be a reduction in the size of the illegal population," partly because "the career immigration personnel (will be) allowed to do their job," and partly because undocumented immigrants, fearing arrest, will leave on their own. "Most people don't want to be subject to enforcement," she said. Mehlman called this exodus "induced voluntary compliance."
But Vaughan emphasized that deportations won't be cartoonish, with officials knocking on doors and rounding up undocumented immigrants in box cars.
Trump has also promised to get rid of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals system, Obama's solution to protect immigrants who came over improperly as children. Mehlman called DACA an "inducement for illegal immigration" that "carves out a lone exception" to policy toward misdemeanors.
To repeal it, Trump wouldn't need congressional support, just a stroke of his pen. Obama used an executive order to put DACA into practice in 2012, and it is not law. "He can definitely rescind that," said Cesar Vargas, an undocumented immigrant in New York who fought for four years to become an attorney despite his legal status. Without DACA, undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children would not have exceptional means to petition to stay here.
Vargas tried to put a positive spin on Trump's immigration reform, noting that the president-elect has claimed that he doesn't want to deport people who have lived here for years. DACA was always meant to be temporary, Vargas said, and he's hoping that Trump's plans may actually help the immigrant community by creating a more direct path toward citizenship.
"It's unpredictable," he said. "So I think that while there is concern, there is an opportunity there."
Meanwhile, Vargas is holding free consultations to inform undocumented people of resources at their disposal. For example, he spoke with a couple whose children are in the military -- if you're a member of the service and your family is undocumented, you can request that they receive a special immigration status. He also said that for those in a healthy relationship with an American citizen, a green card marriage is a viable option.
Resource centers for undocumented immigrants are experiencing an influx of concerned people who fear deportation. The AP reports that phones are ringing off the hook at Chicago's National Immigrant Justice Center and the New York Legal Assistance Group as immigrants try to find ways to protect themselves before the President-elect takes office.
According to the AP, 740,000 young people who benefit from DACA have the "most urgent inquiries" about the effects of Trump's presidency.
"We're operating with a lot of unknowns, and a certain amount of fear comes with that," Vanessa Esparza-López, a managing attorney at the Chicago-based National Immigrant Justice Center, told the AP.
Semotiuk remembered undocumented immigrants he had met over the years through his work. At first, he "had no sympathy," but then he listened to why they were here.
"It's worthwhile to get to know some of them… and once you get to know them, how they got to the United States, it's one sad story," he said.
Between 2007 and 2014, 164,000 Mexicans have been victims of homicide, Frontline reported. Many undocumented U.S. immigrants who come from Mexico are fleeing cartel violence in search of a better, safer life.
While undocumented immigrants come from around the world, during his campaign Trump zoomed in on the 59 percent who are originally from Mexico, calling them "rapists" and "killers" and posing them as threats to national security. In fact, the overwhelming majority of migrants coming through the border with Mexico have been people from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, the Obama administration said earlier this year.
De León said that in Michigan, there seems to be "a conflation between Latinos and undocumented people."
"As a documented, overeducated male, I'm still a Latino," he said. "I have never in my life feared for my safety -- the safety of my kids and my friends -- and I have in the last couple of days. I've never in my life felt afraid to speak Spanish in public until yesterday."
Mayors of cities across the United States, from Los Angeles, to New York, to Burlington, Vermont, have declared their jurisdictions "sanctuaries" for immigrant communities. What the term "sanctuary" means varies by city. In some cases that means refusing to let ICE know when an undocumented immigrant is about to be released from custody.
Offering such shelter comes with possible retaliations, as Trump has threatened to pull federal funding from areas that don't follow his immigration policy.


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Last night I had the grand opportunity of attending a BBC World Book Club taping of an interview with Howard Jacobson. It was in the intimate Soho Theatre, downtown London. I was right in the front row, and I even got to ask him a question!
BBC World Book Club
The Finkler Question is a novel of ideas. It is the first comic novel to be chosen for the Man Booker Prize, but Jacobson himself says that it is more of a tragedy than a comedy. 'Finkler' substitutes for 'Jewish' and so 'The Jewish Question' becomes the title for a novel which plays with ideas about being Jewish. Comedy is serious business to Jacobson, a tool in pursuit of the serious. He himself calls 'Finkler Question' a "deeply serious novel that happens to make you laugh." Reviewers are quite polarized on this book. They either love it or find it boring. When Jacobson was asked about this, he said it made perfect sense. "That's how comedy is," he said, " a joke is either funny to you or it isn't."
There are three main characters in the novel. Sam Finkler is Jewish but places no value on that. He is unobservant and flippant. Julian Treslove is not Jewish but wants to be, and strives to embrace all things Jewish. The two are friends (and rivals). They often meet with an elderly former teacher called Libor who was my favourite character in the book. Warm and sympathetic, Libor grieves for the loss of his dear wife. He is the perfect antidote to the rival friends. Julian is mugged one night while walking home from dinner with Sam & Libor. It is a pivotal moment for Julian.
If I'm honest, I have to say that I didn't enjoy reading this book very much. But when I heard Howard Jacobson speak, it enriched the novel for me and made me appreciate its literary value. Jacobson said when he writes a book, he writes till page 28 and if he likes it so far, then he's got his book and keeps writing. My advice is, don't buy this book. Borrow it or pick it up at Chapters (and find a comfy chair). Read till page 28, and if you like it by then, keep going. I'm not giving you my copy because it's signed. 🙂