02/10/2010

Central Falls superintendent acts to fire city’s high school teachers
CENTRAL FALLS — School Supt. Frances Gallo plans to fire all the teachers in the city’s only high school as part of a major overhaul ordered by the state education commissioner.

Career academy bolsters budget from reserve fund
CRANSTON –– The New England Laborers’/Cranston Public Schools Construction Career Academy is dipping into its reserves to balance the school’s $3-million budget for the fiscal year that ends June 30.

02/09/2010

East Providence to send layoff notices to 105 teachers
Superintendent blames Governor Carcieri’s planned cuts in aid to local districts

02/08/2010

Interest in Brown hits record high
University has received 30,000 applications for just 935 open slots in freshman class

R.I. students recite Shakespeare in drama competition
19 students from around the state compete in a sort of Shakespearean Super Bowl for chance to study drama in London

02/07/2010

Can an interview determine if a teacher will be good?
Since 1994, trainers at the Haberman Educational Foundation in Houston have been teaching the fine art of interviewing prospective teachers to more than 300 schools and districts. Martin Haberman’s half-century of research in the field of teacher training has concluded that beyond content background, two things stand out as key characteristics of good teachers: certain core beliefs, and the ability to persist in the face of student resistance.

02/05/2010

Smithfield School Department proposes $33.8-million budget
However, that proposed spending plan still has to be reduced by $408,000

Demand it, they will perform: North Smithfield school raises the bar and the students respond
More rigorous curriculum in North Smithfield’s middle school leads to big increase in results on state tests

Cranston schools brace for possible cut in state aid
District could lose roughly $500,000 more than originally anticipated

02/04/2010

11th graders’ math scores troublesome
Latest test results show 45 percent of the state’s juniors scored below future graduation requirements

In Providence, elementary pupils posting great gains
At Carnevale Elementary, youngsters have made double-digit gains in latest round of tests

Brown University eyes staff reductions, sports cuts
PROVIDENCE —With its endowment down by about $740 million, Brown University President Ruth Simmons is warning that $30 million in budget cuts are being considered for the next fiscal year and that staff reductions — through layoffs, attrition or early retirement — will be necessary.

02/03/2010

Budget plan would deeply cut aid to schools
Providence Schools Supt. Tom Brady describes the potential reductions as a “grave” threat to his school district

Chef Walter’s new venture
Add culinary arts teacher to the Federal Hill restaurant owner, TV personality and cooking school founder’s resumé

02/02/2010

R.I. getting teachers from national program
30 first-year instructors are on their way from the nonprofit Teach for America organization

02/01/2010

Providence native eager to start new education program
Heather Tow-Yick will lead the state chapter of Teach for America, which aids low-income and minority students

01/31/2010

Facebook comes of age with the disaster in Haiti
There is a dark side, however, as scam artists are using social networks, too

‘Human factor is missing’ regarding Providence school closings
Teachers air their concerns about the proposed closing of seven schools in Providence

When talking about the problem raises a problem
Over an early-morning hot tea, Deborah Gist, Rhode Island’s new (as of July) commissioner of education, chatted with me about how she felt things were going. With her extreme-energy style, she’s working for reform on myriad fronts, demanding that everyone from Department of Education officials to parents and teachers step up and work harder.

01/30/2010

2 school districts say state didn’t reimburse $11 million
Cranston, Chariho say they’re owed money related to career and technical centers

01/31/2010

At the Colleges
Johnson & Wales University will offer a course on food writing this spring for those interested in careers as food writers, cookbook authors and restaurant reviewers.

01/29/2010

Get help with financial aid form at R.I. College Goal Sunday
Assistance filling out the application will be available Sunday at six locations

Parents oppose proposed closure of 7 Providence schools
Declining enrollment, bleak financial outlook, poor condition of buildings drive proposal

Cranston schools will try to save sports
Education officials and coaches plan to discuss ways to spare some teams in the face of a serious budget deficit

Barrington water authority sued
BARRINGTON — A Barrington couple has filed a complaint with the state attorney general’s office accusing the Bristol County Water Authority of refusing to provide records under the public records act.

01/28/2010

URI junior murdered in Conn.
Amanda Dobrzanski’s father has been charged in her death

01/27/2010

East Providence considers selling school building
Vacant Union Primary School could be sold to help plug budget deficit

Cranston trying to settle dispute with schools over budget
Officials trying to draft plan that would address school district’s deficit, avoid additional legal bills

School plan draws opposition
Study recommends adding grades 7 and 8 to Vartan Gregorian Elementary School

NLRB ruling goes against R.I. Head Start workers
Head Start employees claim new program manager engaged in anti-union campaign

Player’s concussion prompts effort to ban arm casts
Heightened scrutiny by coaches and officials after Portsmouth youth is sidelined by head injuries

01/26/2010

Feinstein High getting $1,000,000 from anonymous donor
School is facing closure by the state because of its performance and physical condition

01/25/2010

Central Falls: The city of chess champions
One of the best is eighth-grader Cristian Estrada, whose intensity is his trademark

R.I. working on new school-financing formula
Rhode Island threw out its aid formula for cities and towns years ago, and is the only state without one

01/24/2010

Bringing middle-class values to poorer schools
In 1976 the commissioners in Wake County and the City of Raleigh, N.C., worked together to merge what had been separate school systems. Busing controversies had intensified white flight from Raleigh, and the commissioners felt that increased segregation would make success nearly impossible for schools with concentrations of kids in poverty.

Lawyers for East Providence teachers, city cite Cranston ruling in final arguments on budget dispute
PROVIDENCE — Lawyers have made their final arguments in the high-stakes East Providence teacher dispute, and both sides found support in a recent state Supreme Court decision involving Cranston’s school budget problems.

01/20/2010

In Foster, a vote for education speaks louder than a punch line
The tiny district’s union is the only NEA local in the state to support the school-reform package

Union chief wants a say in school reforms
Steve Smith, president of Providence Teachers Union, makes a political gamble by backing reform effort

01/19/2010

Volunteers help honor King’s memory at school
PROVIDENCE — Never mind that Monday was a federal holiday.

Providence union signs on to ‘Race to the Top’ school reform
The Providence local is only affiliate of the R.I. Federation of Teachers to back the plan

01/18/2010

Roundtable looks at racial, ethnic disparities in education
Rhode Island Civil Rights Roundtable discusses racial, ethnic disparities in state education

Students learn King’s legacy of nonviolence
SOUTH KINGSTOWN — “Why do people think war can solve problems?” Robin Wildman asks her fifth-grade class at the Wakefield Elementary School.

01/17/2010

Rhode Island officials trying to get a handle on ‘sexting’
Should it be made a crime with its own penalties, or listed as a lesser offense under the current child pornography statute?

Julia Steiny: R.I. accountability system can bury excellent work in schools
Paul Silvia, executive director (principal) of the New England Laborers Construction Career Academy in Cranston, is actually a psychologist. Yes, the school is for kids interested in working in construction and other occupations the International Laborers Union represents, like nursing assistants and building inspectors. But many students come to this high school because they’ve been unsuccessful or miserable in traditional schools. So Silvia’s first huge hurdle with each kid is helping him or her get with the basics of success — showing up and on time, behaving civilly, managing impulses.

01/16/2010

30 Teach for America graduates to get R.I. jobs
Restrictions on the alternative-education program were lifted in Rhode Island in 2008

01/17/2010

At the colleges
www.neit.edu or call (800) 736-7744 or (401) 739-5000.

01/15/2010

Union balks at using test scores as primary teacher evaluator
Union chief admits tremendous pressure as deadline nears for federal grant application

01/14/2010

Teachers, R.I. education chief still at loggerheads over reform
Unions, Education Department debate application as deadline nears to compete for federal funds

East Providence teacher assistants reach contract
Three-year contract calls for salary increases, but also higher health insurance costs, other concessions

01/13/2010

Rhode Island looks to expand charter schools
Expansion plans outlined in application for federal Race to the Top grants

Intervention welcomed by parents, administrators
One principal of a failing school says, “You can’t deny the data.”

01/12/2010

R.I. education chief targets 6 schools for overhaul
PROVIDENCE — Six of Rhode Island’s persistently lowest-achieving schools have been singled out by state officials with unprecedented orders to get better fast.

01/11/2010

School offers first occupational therapy master’s degree in R.I.
“We are trying to fill a need for more registered occupational therapists,” says the program’s director

Cranston charter unit gives School Dept. cash toward deficit
The school district is getting a transfer of $187,218 to help close a projected budget gap

School budget season gets under way
School Department schedules its third session as it continues to pare down the bottom line