Thursday, September 10, 2015
Belhaven University
Belhaven maintains satellite campuses for graduate and undergraduate studies in Atlanta, Georgia, Houston, Texas, Memphis, Tennessee and Orlando, Florida, and also conducts online programs.
Belhaven teaches from a "Christian Worldview Curriculum" and defines its mission as preparing "students academically and spiritually to serve Jesus Christ in their careers, in human relationships, and in the world of ideas.
Vermont College of Fine Arts
Carrington College (US)
Carrington College offers career training in medical, dental, veterinary, and criminal justice fields. The company is a division of DeVry Education Group.[2]
The school's colors are blue and gold and the Carrington College mascots are two animated birds named Blue and Goldie
The institution was originally founded in 1967 in Sacramento, California, as the Northwest College of Medical Assistants and Dental Assistants. The college was established to meet the education needs of the local healthcare community.
In 1969, the College was purchased and underwent its first name change, to "Western College of Allied Health Careers – A Bryman School." The Education Corporation of America ("EdCOA, Inc.") purchased the college in 1983 and changed its name to Western Career College (WCC). In 1986, WCC opened a second campus in the Bayfair Center in San Leandro, California. The third campus opened in 1997 in Pleasant Hill, California.[5]
WCC earned regional accreditation by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges in June 2001.
In December 2003, U.S. Education Corporation, a California-based company, acquired Western Career College. The U.S. Education Corporation also acquired Apollo College, which was founded by Margaret M Carlson in 1975 in Phoenix, Arizona to prepare graduates for careers in skilled professions. The U.S. Education Corporation was led by president and chief executive officer George Montgomery from 2002 to 2011. The college expanded in August 2005 by incorporating the operations and programs of Silicon Valley College (SVC).
In September 2008, U.S. Education Corporation became a division of DeVry Inc. In 2010, Western Career College changed its name to Carrington College California and Apollo College changed its name to Carrington College.
President Montgomery retired at the end of 2011 and was succeeded as president of the group by Robert Paul, DeVry University's vice president for metro operations. In 2012, under Paul's leadership, the institution's mascots, Blue and Goldie, were developed. In 2014, Paul succeeded David Pauldine as president of DeVry University and was succeeded as president of Carrington College Group by Jeff Akens. Previously, Akens had served as president of Carrington College California from 2007 to 2014 and had been with the institution since 1993.
In 2014, Carrington College California received approval under the ACCJC/WASC accreditation to add the Carrington College campuses to its existing network, resulting in one consolidated institution called Carrington College.
Western Governors University (WGU)
History
Western Governors University Administration Building in Salt Lake City, Utah
WGU was officially founded in 1997 in the United States by the governors of 19 U.S. states. It was first proposed by then-governor of Utah Mike Leavitt at the annual meeting of the Western Governors Association in June 1995. It was formally proposed the following November and officially founded in June 1996, with each signing state governor committing $100,000 toward the launch of the new competency-based university. While the seed money was provided from government sources, the school was to be established as a self-supporting private, nonprofit institution. In January 1997, 13 governors were on hand to sign the articles of incorporation formally beginning the new university.
In 2001, the United States Department of Education awarded $10 million to found the Teachers College, and the first programs were offered in Information Technology. In 2003, the university became the first school to be accredited in four different regions by the Interregional Accrediting Committee. In 2006, the fourth college, the College of Health Professions, was founded, and the school's Teachers College became the first online teacher-preparation program to receive NCATE accreditation. In 2010, the first state-established offshoot WGU Indiana, was founded by Mitch Daniels, governor of Indiana, and the school reached 20,000 students for the first time. In 2011, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation provided $4.5 million for WGU Indiana and the creation of WGU Texas and WGU Washington.
On January 8, 2013, Bill Haslam, governor of Tennessee, announced the creation of the state-affiliated WGU Tennessee. On January 28, 2013, Governor Jay Nixon of Missouri, in his annual State of the State address, announced the founding of WGU Missouri, creating the fifth state-affiliated campus. And on June 16, 2015, Governor Brian Sandoval of Nevada launched WGU Nevada, the sixth state-based WGU. The state-affiliated offshoots of WGU share the same academic model, faculty, services, accreditation, tuition, and curricula as WGU and were established to give official state endorsement and increased name recognition to WGU in those states; however, WGU has students and graduates in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, parts of Canada, and on U.S. military bases worldwide.
As of July 2015, the university had grown to nearly 60,000 currently enrolled students and more than 50,000 graduates.
University of Texas at Arlington
The university operates the Fort Worth Education Center in downtown Fort Worth and the UTA Research Institute in River Bend Par in eastern Fort Worth.
Contents
1 History
1.1 Establishment (1895–1916)
1.2 Texas A&M University System (1917–1965)
1.3 University of Texas System (1965–present)
2 Campus
2.1 Surroundings
2.2 Architecture
3 Academic profile
3.1 Colleges and schools
3.2 The Library
3.3 Research and facility
4 Student life
4.1 Student profile
4.2 Residential life
4.3 Traditions
4.4 Greek life
4.5 UTA Cheer
5 Athletics
5.1 Varsity sports
5.2 Sports rivalries
6 Notable people
6.1 University leaders
6.2 Students
7 See also
8 Notes
9 References
10 External links
Concordia University
Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the two universities in Montreal where English is the primary language of instruction. As of the 2011-2012 academic year, there were 45,954 students enrolled at Concordia, making the university among the largest in Canada by enrollment. The university has two campuses, set approximately seven km apart: Sir George Williams Campus in the downtown core of Montreal, in an area known as Quartier Concordia and Loyola Campus in the residential district of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce. With four faculties, a school of graduate studies and numerous colleges, centres and institutes, Concordia offers over 300 undergraduate and 100 graduate programs and courses.
The university was ranked 11th among Canada's comprehensive universities in the Maclean's 24th annual rankings.[9] Internationally, Concordia was ranked 461-470th overall in the 2014 QS World University Rankings and is also included in Times Higher Education's list of the top 100 universities worldwide under 50 years old.[10] Nationally, the 2012 Higher Education Strategy Associates' University Rankings placed Concordia 9th in the field of social science and 20th in science and engineering. The university's John Molson School of Business is consistently ranked within the top ten Canadian business schools, and within the top 100 worldwide. Furthermore, Concordia was ranked 7th among Canadian and 229th among world universities in the International Professional Classification of Higher Education Institutions, a worldwide ranking compiled by the École des Mines de Paris that uses as its sole criterion the number of graduates occupying the rank of Chief Executive Officer at Fortune 500 companies.
Concordia is a non-sectarian and coeducational institution, with over 175,000 living alumni worldwide. The University is a member of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, the International Association of Universities, the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the Canadian Association of Research Libraries, the Canadian University Society for Intercollegiate Debate as well as the Canadian Bureau for International Education and the Canadian University Press. The university's varsity teams, known as the Stingers, compete in the Quebec Student Sport Federation of Canadian Interuniversity Sport.
Saturday, September 5, 2015
Lawsuit Challenges California Schools on Phys Ed Commitment
In a lawsuit filed last October and advancing now, 37 California school districts are being challenged to prove that their students are getting adequate amounts of physical fitness during the school day.
The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco County Superior Court on behalf of Cal200, an organization for elementary school physical fitness headed by parent Marc Babin, claimed that the districts were “routinely ignoring the law,” specifically pointing out Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).
“School districts have been routinely ignoring the law,” Driscoll said. And the Los Angeles Unified School District, the state’s largest, “has been a particular offender. They give lip service to the idea that P.E. is important. That just plain doesn’t work. What that produces is kids who don’t get enough exercise.”
Physical education teachers in the districts under fire are being asked to show lesson plans that prove they are meeting state guidelines. The lesson plans will offer schedules pertaining to instruction, activities and classes. The records will then be compared to information submitted by education officials stating the number of hours in which students have completed physical education classes.
According to state law,students from kindergarten through sixth grade are required 200 minutes of physical education for every 10 days of class time, less than half an hour a day. This time is in addition to lunch and recess times.
Court documents suggest that for at least LAUSD, the “allegations have already been rectified,” writes Sara Hayden for The Los Angeles Times.
Chad Fenwick, district advisor for elementary physical education for LA Unified, said the program has seen improvement since he came on board in 2004.
“We’re an extremely large district, the second largest in the nation. To have everything perfect all at once, it takes time. We did have problems, but we’ve made huge gains,” Fenwick said. “It’s not an easy task. We’ve been taking a systematic approach and it’s working.”
When Fenwick started, aides, offering “glorified recess”, which did not train students about proper fitness at all, were teaching some of the PE classes. Today, the district puts aside $1.7 million of its funding to send instructors to train teachers. Schools also post their PE activities online in order to ensure they are held more accountable.
“Schools just have many competing priorities,” Mariah Lafleur, one of the authors of the study, said. “But we think allotting the time for P.E. will, as a side benefit, improve students’ attention spans and behavior so they’re able to be well-balanced kids.”
Lafleur also mentioned that due to safety concerns, many children in the area do not get the opportunity to play outside at home.
“It might be the only chance they have to be active in their day,” Lafleur said.
LAUSD is making an effort to bring down childhood obesity rates in its district. In 2005, 42.6% of students were obese. That number dropped to 41.6% by 2010, due to an increase in healthy lunch choices and elimination of sodas and flavored milk.
Meanwhile in other states, such as South Dakota, the standards for PE classes are on the rise. The state is in the process of revising the physical education standards, asking that students in each grade level master specific tasks, such as dribbling a basketball.
What do Michael Gove's new rules on 'British values' mean for schools?
The Department for Education has introduced new rules that give Michael Gove the power to close free schools and academies with governors who do not demonstrate "fundamental British values".
The Muslim Council of Britain said that the new clauses inserted into the model funding agreement with free schools would make it very difficult for conservative Muslims to become governors. It warned that the change would hand the education secretary the power to interpret "British values" as he sees fit.
The document sets out a written definition for the first time of the "British values" Gove is saying must be promoted by schools, in response to the "Trojan horse" allegations that academies in Birmingham were under the influence of Muslim extremists.
It stipulates that the education secretary can close a school or dismiss a governor if he or she is "unsuitable" due to conduct "aimed at undermining the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs".
New York State Sets Focus on English-Learners
Called the Blueprint for English-Language Learners Success, the document was approved by the state board of regents this spring. It outlines priorities and expectations for how districts across New York are to provide instruction and support for English-learners in public schools. Among them: that all teachers, regardless of grade level or content expertise, should consider themselves teachers of English-learners; and that school leaders at all levels—including principals and superintendents—are responsible for the academic, linguistic, social, and emotional needs of ELLs.
"I think this document positions our state education department to break new ground by saying that English-learners are no longer a minority in our districts for the [English-as-a-second-language] and bilingual education teachers to focus on," said Catalina R. Fortino, a vice president of New York State United Teachers.
The blueprint—a sweeping, perhaps first-of-its-kind statement from state policymakers on the needs of English-learners—also directs districts and schools to provide opportunities for students whose first language is not English to participate in language-learning programs that not only lead to fluency in English, but also to full literacy in their home languages.
"We feel very strong about this direction for our English-learners," said Angelica Infante, the associate commissioner for the office of bilingual education and foreign-language services in the New York state education department. "We want this blueprint to guide the field and be blunt about what our expectations are for English-learners."
New York's K-12 public schools enroll nearly 215,000 English-learners of a total of 2.6 million students, a population that grows larger and more diverse each year, said Ms. Infante. Though the largest share of ELLs is spread among the state's five largest districts—Buffalo, New York City, Rochester, Syracuse, and Yonkers—suburban and rural districts are seeing increasing numbers of immigrant families and their children.
Lagging Behind
Some of the state's biggest achievement gaps are between students who are not yet proficient in English and other student groups. For example, 34.3 percent of English-learners who entered the 9th grade in 2008 graduated from high school four years later, the lowest rate of any other major student subgroup.
To address that weak performance, John B. King Jr., the state's education commissioner, last year created the post of associate commissioner and tapped Ms. Infante to fill it. Unlike the more contentious education policies Mr. King has championed—such as common-core-aligned assessments and teacher evaluations tied in part to student performance—his push for improved instruction and supports for ELLs has so far brought consensus among advocates, professional educator groups, and the statewide teachers' union, most of whom helped craft the blueprint, said Susanne Marcus, the president of New York State Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, or NYS TESOL.
"Since the common-core learning standards came out, a lot of ESL and bilingual teachers were very concerned that our students would be an afterthought," Ms. Marcus said. "But the work we've done on the blueprint has ensured that those of us who know these students best get to help guide districts and schools around the state about how they can move English-learners to a place where they not only become fully proficient in English and in the content standards, but also have their social and emotional needs met."
Plans to Add 'Teeth'
The blueprint is a guiding document that has little enforcement behind it now, but Ms. Infante said the education agency is pushing to "put some teeth behind this" and is pursuing more resources to support districts putting the principles into practice.
It calls for teachers, principals, superintendents, and school board members to set high expectations for the academic performance of ELLs and also for their socioemotional development and to back those up with action plans. To do that, the blueprint includes finer points for districts to follow, including tapping ESL and bilingual education teachers to provide professional development to their peers and supervisors about ELLs' needs.
It also outlines steps for districts and schools to follow to make family members—including those who are not proficient in English themselves—involved in their children's education. That includes providing resources in languages they understand.
Nancy Villarreal de Adler, the executive director of the New York State Association for Bilingual Education, said that particular piece signals a major shift in recognition of students' home languages.One of the blueprint's most significant directives is its call for local educators to "recognize that bilingualism and biliteracy are assets."
"This is a recognition of the linguistic and cultural wealth that these children have," she said. "And the vision for them is not only to become fluent and literate in English, but to complete rigorous language programs that make them fully biliterate in English and their home language.
Oregon State University Offers First Free MOOC
The eight-week course, titled Supporting English Language Learners under New Standards, will help teachers in the efforts to help English language learners be successful in the midst of new standards.
K-12 teachers taking the free course will work together, gathering and analyzing real-world language samples from their own classrooms. These samples will allow educators to write new curriculum, helping these students to better learn and meet the standards.
While offered at Oregon State University, the course is open to K-12 teachers in all states, and may be especially relevant to those teachers in the ELPA21 consortium (11 states which are creating an assessment system for English Language Learners based on the new standards). The ELPA21 consortium consists of Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Washington, and West Virginia.
“This will help us learn first-hand about this type of teaching platform, and identify how and where MOOCs fit in our learning ecosystem,” said Provost and Executive Vice President Sabah Randhawa. “It’s important to be open to new possibilities, and flexible and adaptable to new learning paradigms, including the MOOC learning format.”
MOOC courses have been the topic of debate in terms of their usefulness in the learning process. While some believe they will never be as successful as face-to-face learning, others praise their ability to bring technology and learning together.
The Campaign for the Future of Higher Education is concerned that these courses do not offer as much support to its students as the traditional in-person courses do.
Anant Agarwal, chief executive officer for edX answered critics with this statement:
“We are literally giving away our platform for free. At edX, we are focused on people not profit, and we welcome all points of view and dialogue about promoting the advancement of education both online and on campus,”
EdX was founded in 2012 through a partnership of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. According to the company’s About page, there are currently 53 schools, nonprofits, corporations, and international organizations that offer or plan to offer courses on the edX website.
Oregon State is partnering with Stanford University, the Oregon Department of Education, and Ecampus in the MOOC, the latter of which is offering multimedia and support for the online course. US News and World Report has called Ecampus one of the best online programs in the nation.
Trial Begins in Atlanta Public Schools Cheating Scandal
Missing in court is the lead defendant, Superintendent Beverly Hall, who is either the alleged primary instigator of the cheating, or, as she claims, is the victim of prosecutorial harassment. Hall is hospitalized for Stage IV breast cancer and unable to stand trial.
The crowd in the larger ceremonial courtroom has been packed, even with no reporters or observers. A separate courtroom has been equipped with a closed-circuit video feed for the overflow crowd.
Many are wondering how the case will be tried with so many defense attorneys, opening statements, cross examinations, the possibility of one defendant “flipping’ on another, prosecutors having the responsibility of making each of the 12 have unique and memorable cases, and a confused jury. The question also arises as to how 12 impartial jurors, who can also put their lives on hold for three months or more, will be found.
It was The Atlanta Journal-Constitution which, nine months ago, noticed that gains in scores on standardized tests, at some schools, were all but statistically impossible. Because of that reporting, Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue ordered an investigation of 185 teachers and administrators and teachers at 44 Atlanta Public Schools. Since that time, 35 APS employees have been indicted on charges including conspiring to cheat on federally mandated curriculum tests, influencing witnesses, making false statements under oath, and theft.
One defendant has died and 21 have entered a guilty plea,then turned state’s witness, and received sentences on probation. At the plea hearings, many distraught educators said they were told to make changes to the test so that test-score targets would be reached and there would be no excuses accepted if they did not do what they were told to do.
Another factor that may make the case last longer and make it become more complex, according to a report by CBS News, is the use of a law designed to to combat racketeering. The Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute can be used when prosecutors want to establish a pattern of activity within an organization.
In this case, the pattern would be that there was pressure from the top being imposed on the school district. Specifically, that Hall and her top-ranked staff “created a culture of fear, intimidation, and retaliation”.
A professor of law at the University of Georgia, Ron Carlson, is hopeful that some explanations and more clarity will result from the trial. He believes, however, that there will be defendants who will put all the blame on Superintendent Hall.
Can Kindergarteners Be Taught to Code? ScratchJr Says Yes
The app, ScratchJr, was created by researchers at the MIT Media Lab, Tufts University, and Playful Invention Company, so that children who cannot even read yet can learn coding skills through interactive games and stories.
“When many people think of computer programming, they think of something very sophisticated,” says co-developer Michel Resnick of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “But we don’t think it has to be that way.”
ScratchJr allows users to connect programming blocks that will make different characters move, jump, talk and even change size. Users can use the paint editor to create unique characters within the game, adding their own voices or other sounds, and even their own photos. They then use the programming blocks to bring their characters to life.
According to co-developer Marina Umaschi Bers, research has shown that by the fourth grade, children already have developed internal ideas concerning how skilled they are at math, science and technology.
“So most programs that introduce coding in fourth grade and up, it’s great, but they are coming kind of late to the party,” she says.
The National Science Foundation funded the project through a $1.3 million grant in an effort to help children learn to think creatively and reason systematically.
The app was inspired by MIT Media Lab’s Scratch programming language in use across the world by children 8 and over. The interface was redesigned to coordinate with younger children’s cognitive, personal, social and emotional development.
“We don’t want necessarily every young child to become a computer scientist or to work as an engineer, but we want every young child to be exposed to these new ways of thinking that coding makes possible,” Bers said.
One parent, happy with the results offered from the app, tweeted:
“Amelia just spent 2 hours programming on #ScratchJr Now she’s late with her homework (when programming is more fun than maths…)”
Launched in July for iPads, the app, which is offered free of charge, is already in use in Kindergarten classrooms at the Eliot-Pearson Children’s School in Medford, MA. Teachers across the nation are encouraged to sign up for a ScratchJr Pilot Research Program.
Developers are currently working on creating a mobile version for smartphones as well as a web version. Curriculum and support materials for parents and teachers are in the works.
