Here is a wonderful story about coming changes to many of the the AP tests, along with curriculum changes. Notice how the goal is to move away from having students just memorize a bunch of facts to spit out for the test, but to actually learn and understand concepts and emphasize critical thinking.

Here is a portion of the article, with the complete text at the New York Times: www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/education/edlife/09ap-t.html?_r=1

"Rethinking Advanced Placement" by Christopher Drew for the New York Times,
January 7th, 2010

WHEN Joan Carlson started teaching high school biology more than 30 years ago, the Advanced Placement textbook was daunting enough, at 36 chapters and 870 pages. But as an explosion of research into cells and genes reshapes our sense of how life evolves, the flood of new material has been staggering. Mrs. Carlson’s A.P. class in Worcester, Mass., now confronts a book with 56 chapters and 1,400 pages, along with a profusion of animated videos and Web-based aids that supplement the text.

And what fuels the panic is that nearly every tongue-twisting term and microscopic fact is fair game for the year-end test that decides who will receive college credit for the course.

“Some of the students look at the book and say, ‘My gosh, it’s just like an encyclopedia,’ ” Mrs. Carlson says. And when new A.P. teachers encounter it, “they almost want to start sobbing.”

As A.P. has proliferated, spreading to more than 30 subjects with 1.8 million students taking 3.2 million tests, the program has won praise for giving students an early chance at more challenging work. But many of the courses, particularly in the sciences and history, have also been criticized for overwhelming students with facts to memorize and then rushing through important topics. Students and educators alike say that biology, with 172,000 test-takers this year, is one of the worst offenders.

A.P. teachers have long complained that lingering for an extra 10 or 15 minutes on a topic can be a zero-sum game, squeezing out something else that needs to be covered for the exam. PowerPoint lectures are the rule. The homework wears down many students. And studies show that most schools do the same canned laboratory exercises, providing little sense of the thrill of scientific discovery.

All that, says the College Board, is about to change.

Next month, the board, the nonprofit organization that owns the A.P. exams as well as the SAT, will release a wholesale revamping of A.P. biology as well as United States history — with 387,000 test-takers the most popular A.P. subject. A preview of the changes shows that the board will slash the amount of material students need to know for the tests and provide, for the first time, a curriculum framework for what courses should look like. The goal is to clear students’ minds to focus on bigger concepts and stimulate more analytic thinking. In biology, a host of more creative, hands-on experiments are intended to help students think more like scientists.
Read the rest of the article at: www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/education/edlife/09ap-t.html?_r=1

This is a new blog called “School Matters” hosted by the Fillmore Gazette. The Gazette responded to my request for a way to inform the public on various school related issues and to respond to questions from the community. I am honored to be able to moderate, facilitate and write for this blog because School Matters. It is my hope that this blog will be a resource for the community and create another avenue for residents to get engaged with our local schools. The state of our schools affects the entire community, not just families. Property values, new business, quality jobs, crime rates, all are affected by how our schools are doing. Everyone needs to care about our local schools.

I want to hear from everyone. Students. Parents. Alumni. Family Members. District Staff. Residents. Business Owners.

What do you want to know about our schools? What do you think the community should know about our schools?

****Did you know that FUSD has an annual budget (2010-11) of $35 Million? That is your tax dollars (state and federal) at work. Is that money being spent wisely? What do you think?

**** What is great about FUSD? What do you love about your schools? What do you wish was different? What do you want to see happen at your local school?

****Is FUSD evolving to meet the needs of our changing economy? If you are worried about the state of our economy, and want to see it “fixed”, education must be at the foundation of any “fix”. More students must graduate. More students must be minimally proficient, and more must excel. This is needed to create the business leaders and owners of the future. What can local Districts and School Boards do to better prepare current students to succeed?

****Currently all of our seven schools are in “Program Improvement”. This is a label assigned by the state for schools that are failing to meet certain benchmarks for the number of students testing at a “minimally proficient” level. Do you know what FUSD is doing to improve the schools? What do you think FUSD should do?

This Blog is for you, the community. Send in your questions.
1. Post your question as a comment on this blog.
2. Send in questions by email: schoolmatters@fillmoregazette.com
3. Write your questions and mail to: Fillmore Gazette, attn: School Matters, 408 Orchard Street, Fillmore, CA 93015

Some guidelines for submitted questions and comments:
1. Please include your name. While I prefer that I have permission to list your name with your question, I am willing to respond to questions submitted anonymously. But in the event that I need to clarify the question or don’t understand what you are asking, having a way to contact you can be helpful.
2. For all online comments: Feel free to challenge, question and provide alternative views. That is what good dialogue is all about. BUT I will be very quick to delete and remove any comments that are derogatory, libelous, or disrespectful. Keep in mind it is perfectly OK to criticize when our intention is to help improve it. Just always err on the side of being respectful and forthright. That is why I prefer all comments include your full name, we tend to behave a bit better when our name is attached to our words. Any comments that detract from a respectful dialogue will be deleted.
3. Please state your question clearly. And provide any “context” for your question.
4. Let us know “who” you are: student, parent, guardian, family member, teacher, staff, resident, or business owner.

Once I have your question and I think others will be interested in it, I will do my best to find the best answer. I will research, interview, read and examine various sources to come up with a response. It is my intention to always provide “sound” information from “good” sources. If I am stating my opinion, I will let you know it.

From time to time I would love to have “guest writers” submit an essay (any students interested? District staff, what’s on your mind?) on a topic, or an editorial on an issue they feel passionate about that has to do with education, schools, FUSD etc. Just submit it. For these submissions I MUST have your name and contact information. If you are interested, send me your “topic” idea for approval and word limit.

**Note: I do not speak Spanish, but if I receive a question in Spanish I am able to get it translated. I am looking for folks interested in helping me translate (Any bi-lingual students want to volunteer with the local paper?) the entire blog. Contact me if you’re interested.

So here we go… a new year, a new blog, because SCHOOL MATTERS!

Welcome to the Blog and I look forward to reading and responding to your questions.
Best, Kimberly Rivers

Cathy Brudnicki, executive director of the Ventura County Homeless and Housing Coalition (VCHHC).

THOUSAND OAKS, CA. - A public panel discussion and a Sleepout and shelter overnight for students are planned as part of California Lutheran University’s Homelessness Awareness Week.

Experts and activists will discuss “Housing and Homelessness in Ventura County” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 26, in the Roth Nelson Room. The panel will feature Cathy Brudnicki, executive director of the Ventura County Homeless and Housing Coalition (VCHHC), Leonard Schneiderman, professor emeritus of social welfare at the UCLA School of Public Affairs, and Darlene Mees, Southern California area director for Lutheran Social Services (LSS). In addition to local issues, they will also discuss homelessness at the regional, state and national levels.

Other activities coordinated by CLU’s Community Service Center will provide students with experiences where they can learn more about homelessness. On the evening of Jan. 27, a Sleepout will be held on campus. Students will build housing from cardboard and participate in activities that look at the demographics, stereotypes and causes of homelessness.

On Jan. 28, students will help run the overnight shelter that LSS coordinates with seven Conejo Valley churches. The students will eat dinner with the guests, set up sleeping areas, watch a movie, spend the night, set up breakfast and clean up the sleeping areas.

There are 1,815 people, including 200 children, who are homeless on a given day in Ventura County, according to the VCHHC. There are 117 families who are homeless and nearly three-fourths of them are single-parent families. The number of families affected by homelessness and those at risk of having inadequate or unstable housing is growing with the increase in foreclosures and other economic challenges.

CLU’s Center for Equality and Justice is sponsoring the free panel discussion. The Roth Nelson Room is located on Mountclef Boulevard between Olsen Road and Memorial Parkway on the Thousand Oaks campus. For more information, contact Sam Thomas at sthomas@callutheran.edu or (805) 493-3693.

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The Fillmore High School "S" Club brought Christmas cheer to over sixteen local senior citizens. With the help of Fillmore Auto Electric, Michelle Patterson, Dr. Johnston, Soroptimist of Fillmore, Joe & Terri Aguirre, George Golden, Mail Stop-Kathy Vargas, Cookie Lee Jewelry-Ari Larson, State Farm-Bill Herrera, Edward Jones-Kyle Wilson, Central Station Bar & Grill, Treasure Station, and The Scented Path.

The "S" Club was able to present each senior citizen with a Christmas care package. The "S" Club wrapped and delivered all the gifts. They sang We Wish You A Merry Christmas as they rang the door bell. Although the rain caught up with them that didn’t' stop them from bringing smiles and some tears to our local senior citizens. Special thanks to Sarah Hansen for providing the list of senior citizens!

The "S" Club enjoyed this project immensely and touching our senior citizens in such a warm positive manner brought them a good feeling. They plan on making this a yearly project. For more information on the "S" Club visit their website at www.sclubfillmore.web.com or call Mrs. Herrera at (805) 794-1900. New members are welcome.

Fillmore Unified School District

FILLMORE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
TUESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2011
5:30 P.M. – CLOSED SESSION, 6:30 P.M. - REGULAR MEETING, 627 SESPE AVENUE, FILLMORE, CALIFORNIA

AGENDA
5:30 p.m.
A. CALL TO ORDER AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG
B. ROLL CALL
C. PUBLIC COMMENT ON CLOSED SESSION AND NONAGENDA ITEMS, PETITIONS
This is the time and place to address the Board. State law prohibits the Board from acting on issues not included on the agenda; however, requests may be made for discussion of specific topics at subsequent meetings.
D. CLOSED SESSION
The Board of Education will meet from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. to consider matters appropriate for Closed Session in accordance with Government Code Sections 3549.1, 54956.7 through 54957.7 and Education Code Section 35146. If the Board does not complete Closed Session discussions at this time, the Board may adjourn to Closed Session at the end of the regular meeting. DISCLOSURE OF ITEM(S) TO BE DISCUSSED IN CLOSED SESSION School District Pupils (Education Code 35146)
o Expulsion Case Number 10-11-04
o Consideration of Recommendation for Readmission of Students Who Have Completed Term of Expulsion Labor/Negotiations (Government Code 54957.6)
o Update; Direction to District Negotiators (Jeff Sweeney, Mike Bush, Todd Schieferle, Margaret Chidester) for negotiations with the Fillmore Unified Teachers Association (FUTA), the California School Employees Association (CSEA), Confidential Employees, and District Administration. Personnel Matters (Government Code 54957)
o Hiring, Evaluating, Discipline, Dismissal Conference with Legal Counsel - Anticipated Litigation Significant exposure to litigation pursuant to subdivision (b)(3)(A) of Government Code Section 54956.9 (one potential case)
In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you need special assistance to participate in this meeting, please contact the Superintendent's Office at (805) 524-6038. Notification 48 hours prior to the meeting will enable the district to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to this meeting. [In accordance with Government Code 54961 and Board Bylaw 9320(a).]

6:30p.m.
E. RECONVENE TO OPEN SESSION Any Action From Closed Session School District Pupils (Education Code 35146)
o Expulsion Case Number 10-11-04
o Consideration of Recommendation for Readmission of Students Who Have
Completed Term of Expulsion
F. CALL TO ORDER AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG CONTINUED »

On Monday, December 6, 2010, San Cayetano School recognized good citizenship and character at their Peacebuilder Assembly for the month of December. Cory Cole and Chris De La Paz, senior football players from Fillmore High School, spoke to the students about the importance of positive character traits. Each teacher chose a student from his or her class whom showed excellent character and peace-building skills. ASB President, Cali Wyand,and Vice President, Lizzie Castaneda assisted Cory and Chris in handing out the Peacebuilder Awards. The Peacebuilders for December are: Briant Chancon, Pryscilla Priebe, Mariah Johnson, Chris Mendez, Kayleen Jacinto, Xitlali RoblesJazmin Patino, Tatiana Esquival, David Anchondo, Joseph Flores, Anateresa Jimenez, Jason Martinez, Hannah Ransom-Fairall, Victor Jimenez, Ariana Martinez, Cesar Lopez, Shania Leon, Jared Dewey, Evelyn Cabrera, and Marlen Garcia-Cano. Cali and Lizzie then announced to the students that John Paul Pet is sponsoring the San Cayetano Character Counts Award of a $100.00 savings bond. Cory and Chris presented the Character Counts Award to a deserving fifth-grade student. Alina Cardenas, from Mr. Maus’s class, was chosen by the fifth grade teachers as a model of outstanding behavior and responsibility to the other students. To conclude the assembly, students were reminded to turn in their Perfect Attendance tickets. Each month all students who come to school, each day, on time, are given an orange raffle ticket. The students place their tickets in a box and one ticket is drawn. The student whose ticket is drawn is given a NASA backpack with Max Goes to the Moon in it. Each month, the tickets will be put into a larger box that will be kept until the end of the year. In June, Mrs. Marholin, the principal, will draw from the tickets to give away two new bicycles. Alyssa Andrade, a first grader from Mrs. Swensen’s class, won the Perfect Attendance Award for December.

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The third grade classes of Mrs. Bergamo and Mr. Barrera planted a Phenology garden this fall. The new garden is an addition to the existing ornamental butterfly garden installed, 2007-08, by Mr. Schaper’s and Mr. Barrera’s second grade classes. A Phenology garden is used to study the relationship of weather to plant blooms and insect activity. In Piru’s case, the plants installed are a combination of native and ornamental plants which will focus on attracting native wildlife such as hummingbirds, butterflies, and native bees (which are not as aggressive as honey-bees).

The Phenology garden will part of larger area to be completed later this school year. Piru students will record the first flower blooms and measure the plant growth from year to year. The goal of the garden is to have students record weather trends and predict insect activity. We are excited to have our students interact with their natural environment and use the scientific process to make predictions.

The garden was a part of a grant issued by the U.S. Fish and Game Wildlife Services. Kristin Lairson, Special Projects Coordinator, and Michael Glenn, a biologist with the F.W.S, worked together to bring this exciting garden and concept to not only Piru but also other schools in Fillmore. The Piru Farm Committee, parents volunteers (Beatriz Ruiz, Josefina Velgara and Vikki Galen provided healthy snacks), and the third graders worked together to help complete the first phase of the garden. It was fun to see our students excited to plant and work with nature to understand they can influence their natural environment in a positive way.

THOUSAND OAKS, CA. - The first California Lutheran University Peace Prize will be presented in January to the executive director of a faith-based movement for social justice.

The Rev. Alexia G. Salvatierra of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice of California (CLUE-CA) will speak during the Martin Luther King Jr. service at 10:10 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 19, in Samuelson Chapel. The service will celebrate the life and legacy of the late civil rights leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Following the service, Salvatierra will accept her award at a ceremony at the CLU Peace Pole, which was dedicated last year in the rose garden outside the chapel. The Peace Prize recognizes the contributions of an individual or organization in the region whose service to humanity builds the foundation for peace and justice in the world.

Salvatierra’s organization, CLUE-CA, is a statewide alliance of interfaith groups and religious leaders helping low-wage workers in their struggle for a living wage, health insurance, fair working conditions and a voice in the decisions that affect them. It is one of the coordinating agencies of the national New Sanctuary Movement, in which congregations support immigrant workers and their families facing deportation.

Salvatierra is a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America with more than 30 years experience in ministry, community organizing and legislative advocacy. The Los Angeles resident has focused on helping the homeless, migrant farm workers and inner-city youth. Before coming to CLUE, she started a gang-prevention program for at-risk immigrant youth as a pastor in Fresno. In Oakland, she integrated her congregation with block parties, a community computer center and a garden where the elderly taught at-risk youth to grow produce. In 1998, she became the founding director of the Berkeley Ecumenical Chaplaincy to the Homeless, a program that was replicated in six other cities. She has also worked on projects in the Philippines, Central and South America, and Northeast Africa.

She has received the Changemaker Award from the Liberty Hill Foundation, the Stanton Fellowship from the Durfee Foundation, and the Prime Mover Award from the Hunt Alternatives Fund.

The chapel is located south of Olsen Road near Campus Drive in Thousand Oaks. Additional parking is at the corner of Olsen and Mountclef Boulevard.

CLU’s Office of Campus Ministry, Black Student Union and Multicultural Programs are sponsoring the free event. For more information, contact Ashley Patterson at (805) 493-3489 or aapatter@callutheran.edu.

New memorial scholarship funds at the Ventura County Community Foundation will help aspiring language teachers and volleyball players achieve their goal of receiving a college diploma.

One honors the late Stephen Devron Resnik, owner of the iconic Somis Nut House; the second was established in the memory of Ronald Mack Adams, an esteemed teacher at Fremont Intermediate School in Oxnard.

Rebecca Pecsok and her mother, Joyce Resnik, established the Stephen Devron Resnik Memorial Scholarship to honor Stephen Resnik, the Somis businessman who died in December 2009.

"My dad was a really good mentor. He was kind and gentle and willing to teach someone to learn," Pecsok said.

She believes her father would be pleased the scholarship that bears his name aids volleyball players since he was an avid beach volleyball player well into his 60s. Although others can apply for the Resnik scholarship, volleyball players are given a preference.

"We wanted to establish something for local kids, and volleyball is an under-represented sport for scholarships," Pecsok said.

"Many local people, children and adults, first learned volleyball on Carpinteria Beach because my husband cared enough to introduce them to the game," said Joyce Resnik. "He had infinite patience and enjoyed watching the players mature."

Resnik helped found the Somis Nut House with his parents in 1959. When not on the sand in Carpinteria playing volleyball, Resnik frequented the fairways of the Las Posas Country Club.

The Ronald Mack Adams CONTINUED »

CSU Channel Islands alum Antonia DiLiello (second from left) presents a check to (l to r) Frank Barajas, Associate Professor of History; Jose Alamillo, Associate Professor of Chicana/o Studies; Marie Francois, Chair of History and Chicana/o Studies, Associate Professor of History.
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Camarillo, CA. – In 2006, Antonia DiLiello graduated from CSU Channel Islands (CI) with a bachelor’s degree in History. This would not have been so extraordinary if she had not been 80 years old, the oldest graduating student in the University’s brief history.

On Monday, Dec. 13, DiLiello returned to CI to present a check to Dr. Jose Alamillo, Associate Professor of Chicano/o Studies, in the amount of $1,100 to benefit the Chicana/o Studies program. DiLiello had asked her friends, on the occasion of her 85th birthday, to donate to this program instead of buying her gifts.

DiLiello mentioned that her father had come to El Paso, Texas in 1918 with his brother and brothers-in-law. They worked for the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe Railroad. He moved his family to Oxnard in 1932, when DiLiello was four.

When DiLiello married she moved to Los Angeles but six months later her husband was killed in a car accident, so she returned to Oxnard where her first baby was born. DiLiello remarried and the family moved to Camarillo where they lived for 20 years and her second husband worked at Camarillo State Hospital, now CSU Channel Islands.

In 1991, DiLiello went to Arizona for a year to teach bilingual orphans in a residential facility. “I really loved working with the kids and I think they loved me,” she said. “I would have stayed but I got homesick and, at the end of a year I moved back to Oxnard. I always move back to Oxnard.”

DiLiello was motivated by a love of learning and began taking classes at CI not because she wanted a degree but simply because learning gave her great pleasure, particularly history classes. She recounted that in one class someone asked the professor a history question to which the professor responded, “Ask Antonia. She is history.” To this day she can’t understand how she did it. “I worked eight hours a day, ran a house and cared for a family, and went to school.”

When asked why she chose to give her gift to the Chicana/o Studies program DiLiello said, “I’ve seen so many kids who wanted to go to school and couldn’t afford it. My brother wanted so badly to stay in school but he was ashamed that he didn’t have the right clothes to fit in. Isn’t it a shame not to go to school because of clothes? I hope my gift will help others in some way.”

CSU Channel Islands is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

CI Mission Statement
Placing students at the center of the educational experience, California State University Channel Islands provides undergraduate and graduate education that facilitates learning within and across disciplines through integrative approaches, emphasizes experiential and service learning, and graduates students with multicultural and international perspectives.

SACRAMENTO – State Assemblyman Jeff Gorell (R-Camarillo) announced that, as a temporary appointed member of the State Allocation Board, he participated yesterday in a vote to fund $1.4 billion in approved public school construction projects throughout California. Moreover, Assemblyman Gorell joined in voting to make $96 million available immediately specifically for charter school construction projects, and a timeline will be made available shortly for schools to apply and compete for these project funds.

Assemblyman Gorell strongly encourages local charter schools to apply and compete for these vital capital improvement and construction funds. To find out more about this special allocation, including criteria, timeline and guidelines is State Allocation Board c/o Department of General Services, Office of Public School Construction at (916) 375-4751.

The school construction funds are made available from bonds approved by voters over the past six years, including Proposition 1A and Proposition 55. The funds became available to the Allocation Board after the California Treasurer recently completed a successful bold sale.

Summarizing his votes on the allocation, Assemblyman Gorell offered “This is a great opportunity for local charter schools to fund new construction at a time when California benefits from the type of innovation that these schools offer. Both of these allocations – the $1.4 billion for approved public school projects and the $96 million for future charter schools projects – will help create thousands of jobs immediately and over the next three years.”

Additional information about Jeff Gorell, his legislative priorities, and the 37th Assembly District can be found on Gorell’s Assembly web page: http://arc.asm.ca.gov/member/37/

Mariah Perez

This week was our last week of the semester, 2011 is just around the corner. When we come back January 4th, 2011 many events will be accruing.

January 22, 2011 we have our campus beautification day, which will be at Fillmore High School. We will need help assembling and painting tables, scraping gum, picking up trash, and just a general clean up of the school. This event will also count as community service. Please mark your calendars, we need all the help we can get.

Another event we have coming up is Pennies For Patients. Each class will be trying to raise as much money as possible. ASB has also made this fundraiser into a contest. The 3rd period class that raises the most money for our Pennies For Patients fundraiser wins a BBQ for there class. Last year we raised about $350 and we hope to double or even triple that this year. So Students and Parents start saving your change now. When we get back from break the dates we

Last but not least we have our Winter Formal January 15, 2011. This years theme is "DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC?", which will be held at the Fillmore Memorial building. Prices on Tickets will be announced the week we get back from break.

May you all have a wonderful holiday and a Happy New Year!