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<div>December 2, 2014 - In This Issue:</div>
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<tbody><tr><td style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;font-size:10pt;border-bottom:2px dotted #8c8d8d;border-color:#8c8d8d;padding:7px 0px 7px 0px;" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="left" valign="top">
<div><a style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;font-size:10pt;" shape="rect" href="https://mail.aol.com/38848-117/cs_com-6/en-us/Lite/MsgRead.aspx?folder=NewMail&uid=27719232&seq=1&searchIn=none&searchQuery=&start=0&sort=received&sortDir=descending#aolmail_LETTER.BLOCK17">A two-generation approach to lift kids out of poverty</a></div>
</td></tr><tr><td style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;font-size:10pt;border-bottom:2px dotted #8c8d8d;border-color:#8c8d8d;padding:7px 0px 7px 0px;" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="left" valign="top">
<div><a style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;font-size:10pt;" shape="rect" href="https://mail.aol.com/38848-117/cs_com-6/en-us/Lite/MsgRead.aspx?folder=NewMail&uid=27719232&seq=1&searchIn=none&searchQuery=&start=0&sort=received&sortDir=descending#aolmail_LETTER.BLOCK45">Early childhood teachers: critical and underpaid</a></div>
</td></tr><tr><td style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;font-size:10pt;border-bottom:2px dotted #8c8d8d;border-color:#8c8d8d;padding:7px 0px 7px 0px;" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="left" valign="top">
<div><a style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;font-size:10pt;" shape="rect" href="https://mail.aol.com/38848-117/cs_com-6/en-us/Lite/MsgRead.aspx?folder=NewMail&uid=27719232&seq=1&searchIn=none&searchQuery=&start=0&sort=received&sortDir=descending#aolmail_LETTER.BLOCK44">Further analysis of the teaching profession</a></div>
</td></tr><tr><td style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;font-size:10pt;border-bottom:2px dotted #8c8d8d;border-color:#8c8d8d;padding:7px 0px 7px 0px;" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="left" valign="top">
<div><a style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;font-size:10pt;" shape="rect" href="https://mail.aol.com/38848-117/cs_com-6/en-us/Lite/MsgRead.aspx?folder=NewMail&uid=27719232&seq=1&searchIn=none&searchQuery=&start=0&sort=received&sortDir=descending#aolmail_LETTER.BLOCK43">Student reading is too little and too easy</a></div>
</td></tr><tr><td style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;font-size:10pt;border-bottom:2px dotted #8c8d8d;border-color:#8c8d8d;padding:7px 0px 7px 0px;" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="left" valign="top">
<div><a style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;font-size:10pt;" shape="rect" href="https://mail.aol.com/38848-117/cs_com-6/en-us/Lite/MsgRead.aspx?folder=NewMail&uid=27719232&seq=1&searchIn=none&searchQuery=&start=0&sort=received&sortDir=descending#aolmail_LETTER.BLOCK42">As 'no-excuses' ages, a reassessment</a></div>
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<div><a style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;font-size:10pt;" shape="rect" href="https://mail.aol.com/38848-117/cs_com-6/en-us/Lite/MsgRead.aspx?folder=NewMail&uid=27719232&seq=1&searchIn=none&searchQuery=&start=0&sort=received&sortDir=descending#aolmail_LETTER.BLOCK53">Educating recent arrivals</a></div>
</td></tr><tr><td style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;font-size:10pt;border-bottom:2px dotted #8c8d8d;border-color:#8c8d8d;padding:7px 0px 7px 0px;" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="left" valign="top">
<div><a style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;font-size:10pt;" shape="rect" href="https://mail.aol.com/38848-117/cs_com-6/en-us/Lite/MsgRead.aspx?folder=NewMail&uid=27719232&seq=1&searchIn=none&searchQuery=&start=0&sort=received&sortDir=descending#aolmail_LETTER.BLOCK55">When tests actually aid learning</a></div>
</td></tr><tr><td style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;font-size:10pt;border-bottom:2px dotted #8c8d8d;border-color:#8c8d8d;padding:7px 0px 7px 0px;" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="left" valign="top">
<div><a style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;font-size:10pt;" shape="rect" href="https://mail.aol.com/38848-117/cs_com-6/en-us/Lite/MsgRead.aspx?folder=NewMail&uid=27719232&seq=1&searchIn=none&searchQuery=&start=0&sort=received&sortDir=descending#aolmail_LETTER.BLOCK54">Two cheers for technology</a></div>
</td></tr><tr><td style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;font-size:10pt;border-bottom:2px dotted #8c8d8d;border-color:#8c8d8d;padding:7px 0px 7px 0px;" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="left" valign="top">
<div><a style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;font-size:10pt;" shape="rect" href="https://mail.aol.com/38848-117/cs_com-6/en-us/Lite/MsgRead.aspx?folder=NewMail&uid=27719232&seq=1&searchIn=none&searchQuery=&start=0&sort=received&sortDir=descending#aolmail_LETTER.BLOCK46">BRIEFLY NOTED CALIFORNIA</a></div>
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<div><a style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;font-size:10pt;" shape="rect" href="https://mail.aol.com/38848-117/cs_com-6/en-us/Lite/MsgRead.aspx?folder=NewMail&uid=27719232&seq=1&searchIn=none&searchQuery=&start=0&sort=received&sortDir=descending#aolmail_LETTER.BLOCK56">BRIEFLY NOTED</a></div>
</td></tr><tr><td style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;font-size:10pt;border-bottom:2px dotted #8c8d8d;border-color:#8c8d8d;padding:7px 0px 7px 0px;" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="left" valign="top">
<div><a style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;font-size:10pt;" shape="rect" href="https://mail.aol.com/38848-117/cs_com-6/en-us/Lite/MsgRead.aspx?folder=NewMail&uid=27719232&seq=1&searchIn=none&searchQuery=&start=0&sort=received&sortDir=descending#aolmail_LETTER.BLOCK19">GRANTS AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES</a></div>
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<a name="aolmail_LETTER.BLOCK17"></a><table style="display: table;" id="aolmail_content_LETTER.BLOCK17" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td style="color:#454545;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;padding:8px 25px 9px 25px;" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="left" valign="top">
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; text-align: left; font-size: 14pt; color: #ff6600;" align="left"><strong>A two-generation approach to lift kids out of poverty</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">The latest Kids Count
report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation makes the case for creating
opportunity for families by addressing needs of parents and children
simultaneously, and connecting low-income families with early childhood
education, job training, and other tools to achieve financial stability
and break the cycle of poverty. Low-income families today face a number
of challenges: parents have inflexible, low-paying, unpredictable jobs;
lack access to high-quality, flexible, reliable early child care and
education; and grapple with stress at home. Nearly half -- 45 percent --
of American families with children age 8 and under are low-income, and
many lack essential tools to achieve financial stability. Agencies that
help families often work in isolation. The report recommends three
components to the two-generational approach. First, provide parents with
multiple pathways to get family-supporting jobs and achieve financial
stability -- an extra $3,000 annually for families during a child's
earliest years could translate into an increase of more than 15 percent
in what that same child earns as an adult. Second, ensure access to
high-quality early childhood education and enriching elementary school
experiences. Third, equip parents to better support their children
socially and emotionally and to advocate for their kids' education. The
report also offers a range of data related to families with young
children, broken down by state. <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_bElGcJ-Ga8WQaQpuKgYmPNGkQ79S4Gv2q7zilaFoZRrWfD4JzpIO1zof5dFUNX4V00i6xt7SirElENCAvhEoTozeD4-41GMdntGR2n2c2NUKJxChEBESESRea8ypLD4zEEhJhDM9OHOGcn9-syGeqSiYSdfXf3dWn5K-BZWatCU=&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==">More</a></div>
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<a name="aolmail_LETTER.BLOCK45"></a><table id="aolmail_content_LETTER.BLOCK45" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td style="color:#454545;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;padding:8px 25px 9px 25px;" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="left" valign="top">
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; font-size: 14pt; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Early childhood teachers: critical and underpaid</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">A new report from the
Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, a follow-up of a report
25 years earlier, finds that despite a two-fold increase in costs to
parents for early childhood services since 1997, childcare workers have
had no increase in real earnings. As was true in 1989, childcare workers
earn less than adults who take care of animals, and barely more than
fast-food cooks. Many early childhood teachers who earn degrees, often
while working full time, seldom find their earnings aligned with their
qualifications. It also finds that over the last 17 years, the share of
Head Start teachers with an associate or bachelor's degree has increased
by 61 percent, and the share of assistant teachers with a degree has
increased by 24 percent. In addition to examining trends in center-based
teachers' education, wages, and turnover, the report includes new
evidence examining economic insecurity and use of public benefits among
this predominantly female, ethnically diverse workforce. The report also
appraises state and national efforts to improve early childhood
teaching jobs, and offers recommendations aimed at reinvigorating a
national conversation about the status and working conditions of the
more than two million teaching staff who work in our nation's early-care
and -education settings. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #ff6600;"><strong><a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_O1I2ra1odl8LX_yZgU17ZUmLMQ_5-xyaaoT3VsUoYv4Ml41ZLgpa8cLXVMremhvqG3IoDwrcM-yAbQ6JLC_GjG-uuiT1TBWiLGFbKz9wweyk4OjyaWX1toBNKzt49ADQEAdVzMDRfb1QW4lvlva1ZaTFoQ0mNpEEHnrDHbUOGG9CX51Xri93g9zeFhKH90h8&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==">More</a></strong></span></div>
</td></tr></tbody></table><a name="aolmail_LETTER.BLOCK44"></a><table id="aolmail_content_LETTER.BLOCK44" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td style="color:#454545;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;padding:8px 25px 9px 25px;" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="left" valign="top">
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; font-size: 14pt; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Further analysis of the teaching profession</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">In a review of books by
Dana Goldstein, Elizabeth Green, and Garret Keizer, Jonathan Zimmerman
in The New York Review of Books writes that the recent shift to
"accountability" for teachers has done nothing to alter the tedious,
anti-intellectual practices of American teaching. If anything,
commitment to "academic" goals has made teaching less academic and more
routinized. When teachers were hired for an inborn ability to "nurture,"
many derided or disregarded teachers' intellectual capacities. Now our
system is so firmly tied to scholastic achievement -- as defined by
standardized tests -- that no serious scholar would want to teach in it.
As for Teach for America, Zimmerman asks us to imagine if an Ivy League
student started Nurses for America, giving highly qualified recruits a
quick five-to-seven-week training and sending them into hospitals to
draw blood, administer vaccinations, and monitor life-support machines.
Every teaching discipline -- history, math, English composition, etc. --
has its own "episteme" or system of knowledge: a distinct way of asking
questions, gathering evidence, and generating answers. Unless you
understand how a discipline works, you can't help anyone else understand
it, either. Most of our teachers don't possess a deep working knowledge
of any discipline. <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_lmEFNZh6k0k-6OjDsTzIXsAlaKwAnd6GgmY9fhrB0d0YLSRc2t6SpzQfPxofvkEqWLiBq5TKBAhoj5U0TVSlEgcS3WYz9BTYQG2bck4CvUgXU-WkdpuVif_EdChiDKhn33hj0FzdvEtDRysz2QhszHJoSyrdlp2fZ7XnNlcAQIdlFKDHzhWVqKGLuNOs5VlIIKjcV0BdpEEbfapDDty9fV_gaTvh2jQZ&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==">More</a></div>
</td></tr></tbody></table><a name="aolmail_LETTER.BLOCK43"></a><table id="aolmail_content_LETTER.BLOCK43" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td style="color:#454545;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;padding:8px 25px 9px 25px;" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="left" valign="top">
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; font-size: 14pt; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Student reading is too little and too easy</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">A new report from
Renaissance Learning finds that American students are reading more
nonfiction, but not as much as the Common Core recommends, and read
texts far less challenging than needed to prepare for college or
careers, reports Amanda Paulson for The Christian Science Monitor.
Renaissance Learning tracks reading habits of 10 million students at all
grade levels through its Accelerated Reader program. For the past five
years, its report has listed the top fiction and nonfiction books by
grade. The latest report also analyzes complexity of reading material
and how much is read. Students who spend at least 30 minutes per day
reading independently at a level where they can understand at least 85
percent of what they read experience the most growth in reading. Only a
quarter of students in Renaissance's study read that often, and nearly
half read for less than 15 minutes per day. Students' reading amount
peaks in sixth grade, when they read about 436,000 words per year, then
falls to the low 300,000s by the end of high school. At the end of high
school, the average complexity of books is 5.2 on the ATOS scale -- far
from the Common Core recommendation of between 9.7 and 14.1 -- and lower
than the complexity of the average New York Times article (10.6) or
college textbook (13.8). <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_RS0UrTFj7y2eZtIynRJkk-l9IZ4JHauUByUvY5RjRrBcaKs8CTh8pRNcCxUJRJTn-Fr9pCIeJDxsaVD1KzvQZ9OjOwsi8v-m1pucUER_lVmXWodftRIRPnoF1auFtV-nYnp1D3gIukofusNidUK3mKfoMc31v8unv7Ke5BVn22DsvO43GvmmZ2alaeu68OuKx7iAEgXyEsbwUKHXEWuAd-pu_v4Z8vNw0dPQvPC842QQJRFN4tPpuL44uujlTKr8&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<span><a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_nDqvua_MLocecIOH9De3YVx2O6LHFWCeevpalbyJqTdEOr_zheHJc9wpWJTwZvoXEOfncIjNv6-8cupgYC1jHOGcZxZeD5IsiB6CFnkMLxcqxaMLkixY0gZf6msJcpES&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==">Report:</a></span><br>
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<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; font-size: 14pt; color: #ff6600;"><strong>As 'no-excuses' ages, a reassessment</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Concern is growing that
the stern, regimented, no-excuses approach of some urban charters is
leading to a flagrant form of two-tiered education and a rise in
racially skewed suspension and expulsion rates for low-level
misbehaviors, writes Sarah Carr in The Atlantic Magazine. Examining
policies at work in New Orleans, Carr says many students and families
come to appreciate the intense no-excuses structure, but only if they
also come to trust the mostly young educators who enforce it. And as
school leaders in New Orleans have discovered, forging trust is far
harder than teaching someone to say thank you and follow a taped line in
the hallway. As a decade of reform post-Katrina has ushered students
into the secondary grades, New Orleans schools have been at the
forefront of extending regimented discipline to the high-school level,
with mixed results. If mutely regimented middle-school students turn
into rowdy bus riders a few years later, what does this say about
no-excuses in practice? Older students will test boundaries, to be sure,
yet the no-excuses culture is meant to be cumulative, its overarching
goal not exacting obedience for obedience's sake, or mere short-term
gains in test scores. Its point is to develop self-control in students
en route to graduation, since in college, the ability to think
critically and navigate coursework independently counts for much more
than reflexive compliance. <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_BnGE4zjSWCDAGmkD-0B2GlYcB542iUBdUvXBhe6TuMn2S0MfRE5NbM06ol-okEsv_tskK9aorE7Ymm9_y7GacgUwvNYo1KTonHDMYl9StOoAHbEie0csmMVT72cZmIPtXFeEEdYHsIyOorsxXEAuu-YSalf0U0sv3exF-_1wgCyxgQ3O5Lh91JsM5JDqT60eRXuQ3u2tSEuDyVdc6TvwXcMOuy8kIVmacx1LNUIZFkY=&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==" shape="rect">More</a></div>
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<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; font-size: 14pt; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Educating recent arrivals</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Schools across the
country are enrolling large numbers of newly arrived Central American
students (largely from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador), and
grappling with how best to serve them, reports Lillian Mongeau for
Univision.com. Many arrivals have had little formal schooling, and
stopped attending school after sixth grade, according to the Office of
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which is
screening for whether arrivals have left war-like conditions that could
qualify them for international protection as refugees (58 percent have).
A full introduction to all requirements of attending school, along with
continued support and understanding, will help with this massive
influx, says Mary Beth Klotz of the National Association of School
Psychologists. So will trauma-informed instruction taking new students'
background into account. And teachers should keep in mind that even
students who have been here some time still may not be fully settled. In
addition to offering services for learning English, Klotz said there
are three key goals schools can adopt: providing teachers with training
to teach traumatized children, providing mental health care services,
and working closely with trusted interpreters during conversations with
families. Putting all those services in place will take time, and the
sheer number of new students can overwhelm any school's resources. <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_wNYCD3iws1wPAfXE_s5IwfZug8rrowkmQ_jiyYiMmWxek0tpd4XDCJpLQ8tfr4W-IVZlE5346xmhhRF6bS-1fFFiLrfzMtID0Uq4SvVwUE0rFG3HJVJ_cJ7QCa8URPlc-SQ3N78aNPsvIpTvG82IuTF9POdX8kRE3WY2-3C_TFYr1abAkb7miZXywtOGTSH78yrQBNpX5QjCnR0cNaPie1-A2BaFJMI0&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==">More</a></div>
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<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; font-size: 14pt; color: #ff6600;"><strong>When tests actually aid learning</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Tests should work for
the student, not the other way around, writes Benedict Carey in The New
York Times. In an experiment, University of Texas psychologists replaced
the final exam for 900 students in their psych course with short
quizzes that students took at the beginning of each class. These student
did significantly better than a comparison class, both in grades and on
a larger test that included 17 questions appearing in both the quizzes
and the comparison class's midterm. Quizzes especially benefitted those
from low-performing high schools who didn't realize how far behind they
were. In another study, cognitive scientist Doug Rohrer changed the math
homework of middle school students, giving two types of assignments:
concentrated drills on a single thing, or mixed practice, blending
certain skills with other types of problems. At the end of the term on a
surprise test, students solved 72 percent of problems they'd studied in
mixed sets, compared with 38 percent of those from homework-as-usual
sets. This strategy of mixed problem-sets is distinct from end-of-unit
reviews because it's self-guided and continual. It mimics a test in a
crucial way, by forcing students to distinguish between problem types
and decide which strategy is appropriate. Testing in all its
permutations convinces the brain that particular knowledge important,
and varying testing strategies can improve retention. <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_hsmCh8kfdBuu9_wFbxCdyLvJ1FtoV0nxuePeIA8FewfgFBYcGQmqn4YlsXSXI1L3czXRXH274qc98svLE51lXISnCHNptcYrEQi-Lnyr6rn6NkAaxcRU4KDPUt_fCis5ms-mxQmEwFnE2bn8pT3QXfFzvnY_o6lcsDggv_X8gNT7hGE37drACP1bF9ra4AGBDHtJYmCS1qt3BWtM91fy-g==&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==">More</a></div>
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<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ff6600; font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Two cheers for technology</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">A new policy brief from
the National Education Policy Center finds little evidence that marrying
digital technology to education has changed schooling for the better.
One problem is the absence of a clear model for what actually
constitutes computer-based "personalized instruction"; proponents apply
the term to a range of approaches to teaching that rely heavily on
online or other digital resources. The highest potential for
computer-aided benefits resides principally with so-called blended
instruction, which employs traditional classroom teaching in close
alignment with elements that can be delivered via computer. Yet blended
learning done well is more expensive than traditional education --
undermining the frequent claim that computerized instruction can help
achieve significant fiscal savings. The brief recommends that
policymakers invest in technology incrementally, and view skeptically
claims for computerized learning that overstep what can be concluded
from available research. They should also clearly distinguish among the
key features of technologies so that research and discussions can
revolve around shared ideas and concretely defined practices. Much more
research is needed in the K-12 context, and developers of educational
technologies should work with researchers and teachers in testing and
validating software and hardware tools. Crucially, school administrators
must ensure that substantial professional development for teachers
accompanies any technology introduced. <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_hnxSR5oVDKbb5Fp69jxfuuLJVxQT54Z0cEndHz_e3D1HOrLH0VPZfx-mVY9xZXsI4A-vulqBhxvf47BQnmalB1_3SstnLYVYQn-YxEz8naBPRkLE-ruHwPNmsRCVLtjFNU4zPP0kxhGzXkek90cuFjNT011-0cVa&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==">More</a></div>
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<div><b>BRIEFLY NOTED CALIFORNIA</b></div>
</td></tr><tr><td style="color:#000000;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;padding:8px 25px 18px 25px;" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="left" valign="top">
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ee5624;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ee4a06;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Moving ahead</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">The California Board of
Education, as expected, has voted to move ahead in the spring with the
new Smarter Balanced tests on the Common Core State Standards while
leaving open, for now, the decision on what to do with the test results.
<a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_7SSWOEzmXH5Shl0oKJ0aKsTcTha9Ug0Gkql3rdNjsykvJ8_2RGDa7bqrY2IlLpLlQAlj7sRbtey0jzkaMOBWp4BRONv0k_He2hndX3yMkp3Jis2PNaiFivy4oLJcdBcshFFIcssZ22jhEsirsZXNeOCwAq6WGBT3hZXVrLkmr88HgzzyPpplY5ilvwNmf7zB7FzExRMSR8U_J1kRF6hBNw==&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Rosy outlook</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">California's minimum
funding guarantee to schools would grow from $63.2 billion in 2014-15 to
$74.5 billion by 2019-20 under a new revenue forecast released by the
non-partisan Legislative Analyst's Office. <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_ecwR4m6DQ1dPKmCXDjRo5ssUJ8DkazajIoYfAU-VClDcouDjdWmWtbdrYApBaTVS1Y1iBHDYoqJDpf-yht60gL7nCgV8fJN8W6r9AKXwRuEY7MWHvoSL7avp9tsWaQu0zVEc5blDdvyz8h7NjBB_dSycaqz9Cd4WvAtzv_5q0savPLWwrntEsR_r-Bo0-FWeZ5lcT0tCU0jLFpZw101jBQ==&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Troubling expansion</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">The number of homeless
children in California rose last year, according to a new report,
especially in hard-hit Southern California. <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_zDFPqgUFKevHDUVs8EWxeBRN5Bu3j98ZKlSSPyg86Zm9E7RRfkD-6_2LLupO3474i4TQsPpwlvyiaiF8NqS-FItDKBBWR376ncXffPXS1e5kdh-AP7kdi6px9xuqy-00sK8SIBsj5pgrdJ3qyOqfUn2tVjzgN1zBZtaUvPSibwg20Mm1Agvao21JfG9D48ixMy-QzMv23_CBepT8qSZm2Q==&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Hamstrung</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">A two-year pay hike
totaling 6.64 percent and a controversial teacher evaluation system are
major points of contention that continue to prevent the Los Angeles
Unified School District and representatives of its 35,000-member
teachers union from reaching a new contract. <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_CTReuRwMHweX0OdZJp-HuWar61Fdnld5zdpVPiamurv60V-dJzypCX-oeXlzs_6MtU31UtJHsMwnsLF2iB07AGSX-ZC0wxJrIDcJhEX2b31hkEB-sf1GW9BF0STfxR2w2sIW5vbzxfJvhKrgbNLzT_p4nMZYORXy8hvVy9qed6CdVDGWV0RNvEhZUpW8F-QRHapF-nbAscO96bf2lMnc6oA1tfl1BXWAt-g4jIYs2LM4NkO6AZJGEQ==&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Travelin' man</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Former Los Angeles
Unified School District Superintendent John Deasy traveled more than
100,000 miles last school year, equivalent to circling the globe four
times, according to a KPCC analysis of credit card records. <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_k-wZyCEMkFdAV7cTqRhfUXPoyHAxIc52X4ISvpYP9nvYqLBvo7hZVSaJVJ044JFhHkA0NpWoefk8h0eYKOIzy_qm_NX-SEcuNA2uu8cKTlSpIeq9bKHyFBhpvMgVZVF9CHX0W-h1jPkQklI5EoyH2uKtgRl6-bBn4CUZMCqTV1rnJ0W7nowadJWTyEMXZTQbVto8GTZ-TPEdUMw9KyL80a95ygtZDj7L5Hxwp9xQJRc=&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ff6600;"><strong>And... they're back</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Three months after the
former superintendent axed a controversial contract with Apple and
Pearson, interim Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent
Ramon Cortines is planning to spend $22 million in bond money under that
same contract to buy more than 20,000 iPads for standardized tests in
the spring. <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_blPwoPpj1QHr4uOO11TA6WZsx0utifQSN7Fhv-AYmShzUJYwuHNN-BtFinltUZTi-7mlSMWSx8taoSPQIw-2fbhdsIyMnwBrnnAimFgggegbaR26djHttTEenKadVp2fb-Z7wPhhVcBCp6fFGv9EjVJmWP-4I0yr7glr__ewUXySfY8jx_311zVuxpPHEmfezc2185k_hMgWoBD4upVmzqnyyQnSsIhxk_RDg9V1rp4=&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ff6600;"><strong>The biggest losers</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">California high schools
with high-poverty students lose nearly two weeks of learning time
annually because of teacher absences, testing, emergency lockdowns, and
other disruptions compared with their more affluent peers in other
schools, according to a new UCLA study. <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_wdqJldKW5pL8Z6PgTrB6y31XD-F-zjo_6MEk3r71HUGXkEO7yKtMpsjJnyBOs4z0E32BK7xsjlfen-i8CGPjxUgmRtSJNMBUZYhkOkHlliSHLws_fJQ4jjJS6NnZxsc_wazmUEngqn9YJNEJzkYdC-8ScFDHICbHl179FP0MW_jzuhCzlx5QkQ==&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Promising move</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">A coalition led by Los
Angeles Trade-Technical College has finalized an application seeking to
make South Los Angeles a "Promise Zone," a designation that would give
the area an edge when applying for up to $500 million in federal funding
for anti-poverty programs. <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_JRoxwjF-XqQiOnx_pI2GWhJ8P1-I40WZx8Z5FK1j_vnFfRotvjSLj-iIvLtKiNSOljR5jWez9rOZTTbBXkjOhHCmSGUDdag6EN5Aqo7MPN-e9dvTKJ-nS8UvVxO4fg-boAHOotcBrozov5sf4y7wrfVIGOarXyKTpOM9FirysN4qu_cF_OVPZioasDjws11kbox5K8covHgSAbTIch2N5L87izjFch_xczmrHagZK5Y=&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==">More</a></div>
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</tbody></table><a name="aolmail_LETTER.BLOCK56"></a><table style="background-color:#ebf5f6;display: table;" id="aolmail_content_LETTER.BLOCK56" bgcolor="#ebf5f6" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td style="padding:25px 25px 0px 25px;font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="left" valign="top">
<div><b>BRIEFLY NOTED </b></div>
</td></tr><tr><td style="color:#000000;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;padding:8px 25px 18px 25px;" rowspan="1" colspan="1" align="left" valign="top">
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ee5624;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ee4a06;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Tightening ship</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">The Department of
Education has announced preliminary rules requiring states to develop
rating systems for teacher-preparation programs to track a range of
measures, including job placement and retention rates of graduates, as
well as academic performance of graduates' students. <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_AXKxH6bINraJwK5edNFfXLa_52tz4YLDTZ5KSLVWOhQq2rWKQwlxlihY_VX1weVDT8xXEdL9qB-O8nEflLeLk7Yt-TUCBW0_0rr6uXZddY-tNtGxLQNp_brFR8VkCJgiUKiYWquE0MbNkjXHR-xmxdLzcwb3cj8ML4EHbGPYljOmQOzoI87_gBkyb6EY4BTImaTl7PSX-67oY9vA3DPoJCr4X3NNGr1TGXX5JSI3tr97c-9o-9F2uQ==&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==" shape="rect">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Easing up</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">The Obama
administration's new immigration plan will temporarily remove the threat
of deportation for undocumented parents of U.S. citizens or legal
residents who have been in the U.S. for at least five years. <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_qA539u_5VUpUiUetvxmrLbUFlcYYT7nEVstQrYCN0eewnKapHE8P66nroywKPKbsfXM4jh8ALryucP5uK87jMan6qZsnQ4KjC7yPzE2zzkMdBL12s6qsC6mTi9I6kSZewNYZSGl7okaWhuxEJx2AohlPS68IUpzf5CrrMxEfMG6xCcAKCQ3G89xS9c7XCozk&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==" shape="rect">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Proof needed</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">The Department of
Education is letting states apply to renew their waivers from NCLB for
three and in some cases four more years, but they'll have to do more to
show they're turning around low-performing schools and closing student
achievement gaps. <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_zUPLGJD917x3GGlSFIrp_oXFOlRB3xmPnWYGgPo9nfAQ3JstQg6xXRCgYJ0cR8SjkFbvhBcJD1MonU11Vgz4bt8ugux4FOWT4BM_zO7vqKFApnmo4CqwiKpLG_xuT4SSgKsT9qhVpztgkV-nqixTi2T4CkjF8b8BsWjoTIkjQKPkhBbBhMhHCcyIl2_8EtuMVrbg1z4-Em2Re9TRKJ0UqcpkcGM_mePr9RgmGAs5NI6ezxkakxgSxA==&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==" shape="rect">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Unlikely to face resistance</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">President Barack Obama
has called on local school officials to help meet his goal of bringing
high-speed Internet to virtually every American student within a few
years to help them compete with counterparts in countries who already
use technology to help them learn. <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_yeR1NlGqYd5Jb4dl62awI9tM4E_NAw9j7vI1PoCTtovJdSFdPBUiUrpCtlPwmVFxM-LHxuhlyUm_QPDSQsVaitpCVnxQnGJZkISgje3Dz0QckzK04VIrHCF18usH2BQubyMousATeLoiXt-Poh07ZDObsSxxD44wP-w4ZOqQtbPLuu3FI4rqk6fk8QyvqrR2-c8Au8NGfiYnubLQADwwZdEh8HlnY4V8wmFxVVwNl31irmGF0vUfg2dYP-qo1uec&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==" shape="rect">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Back in the saddle (or something)</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Three months after
Oklahoma lost its waiver from key provisions of NCLB, the Obama
administration has given it back for the rest of the school year. <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_GyVZVF15PMibe5PbCDPe7EIC9OQIhZe-yp26UNxm55CZ5u_sOCSOWx_6LJ8DH5F-fLBZgvt7SuWndrMOUOHJBGdMbo73YBpAC9eek0KQYFLijFyyLtNQudRz1rR0YeF-VOSpOs-ev5rN_7yywJ_jKpBaPMNJzM7OQlOQuOlGrbRD7NRVM2TzjdRPkw4VkKjpbUEU_jApVUg=&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==" shape="rect">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Revolt</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Thousands of Denver-area
high school seniors are refusing to take Colorado state standardized
tests, saying they're a distraction as they work to get into college,
and a waste of time and money. <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_ePk1HFQr6S2MuQBwC7n0mmSNb2ZEY_5rNKdTPa6wg0i41Yp4GROMkY4QTGcdbJX2fBBamywloR9vHvwTAifvEC6CU2dY5YJ7SyXvNGwl5jsIsXotK6ClZc-ZjXBNstOZR9jdAxaFn59yEQV7fodGdFyVqUvSW9EkfBKtUlPGQE2Ul8iVrfMsWfjpQBXdzi31&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==" shape="rect">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ff6600;"><strong>We see their point</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Colorado state
government and school districts spend up to $78 million a year on
testing, and some kind of standardized testing takes place during every
week of the school year, according to a new study. <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_BThJKUfUSyL4cf_WUKNlnP4tbjQoPMquUbCx8R677uAgzJFD0ul0SGc-hwhgq2_BXr0426-iZZt03BGHCqIhmnnF0ZRlBM7lvsh9ZwDARXaWh2cSY_v9vMiU8trgAIUaosssFaM_DJxTeXPR5H9v33Q3SleS_f4t3UQH9vG1y1gm6fUPU4d7tVZXjHqA7qms-azNZs_wuXy6o9xOk3MOa77_fMYcqWHDp01H4y5NRyR0IS9ZVewMPg==&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==" shape="rect">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Making time</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Twenty-one schools
across the country are adding another 300 hours to their academic year
as part of an expanded-learning initiative to help close the opportunity
gap. <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_jzb5S0p-EIsH_WUG5W43tUzZou_YP3Kg4wti_CP2lsO62BHqePTeOZFjUtVcs9V2kkTg3WhVrdUfdhOq_VckyzitKjACCfrj053g7E5q_bAuMNuJPyo1x88CzkO4VrQSUJ4cmMFWoDWyUOja_LyXVepVVBmvBqoAdPExIotdYfr-g3nqOgY3Kyl4ei6twggMlLl5soKThr3PzQf60bX2Ak-G4Wax1YWa_XPEiXwkeiY=&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==" shape="rect">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ff6600;"><strong>On-time high</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">South Carolina's on-time
high school graduation rate is at an all-time high, with more than 80
percent of students graduating within four years, new report cards show.
<a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_uVdrYtzr-3dtvtuCJh2RNtmNgdZySeT18fFnZQbKkKfxuq05db59b7JnWddUc5iCjndiTPVavanBZrmH1TfgpawFhirRCTrcl78LJI8T8Cmv47nwuKnU6or3eK8R5dWdKRNGI-wrSExnAO0h30JJQm_j0gygrfI7u7_GIhZ7kzUdKp5siUFMUQBmd03UfC2GdVLhVLBHmFP7LECCKb1X1xO67eYUrLEAKfA5Vm0J-R1boAm402k7ab3Gt6e-jndd&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==" shape="rect">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Slender returns</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Despite the lure of an
extra $20,000, Delaware's bonus program for teachers attracted only nine
highly rated educators to low-scoring schools in its third year, though
many more who already work at such schools took smaller bonuses to stay
there. <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_h6n4aX2Z3UtiV4c_gKh9i44N6akjRYG3GQBds98BRYjFksU5Dnjtpym1pB-KPtN-goWXX-NmCAgRUbksz0PU8bQ-_-7A9MTF5AexQwf-c8WAY9q3hYG6-Mu0XzT6b-y1ZN3kju3BgWH-TDsRClf9dhNkkss2cin64n-cPq4BUnDZy83_BXhTBN7SNRa0Ejct7QlUj871rfebiyI_LpSNrXjuriNo4853R5SmPvUM-BsLWgAfy1SsockpTEPcgM4BMlqNNTM8zGTnS4SlwtGRGEDTec0wz-VN-MCFDpDCRkHlhrh6x_OrKrpTCQSBo9LF8EdahJQCcNj6bJzc6YzWZ_gkZtXBPe3s&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==" shape="rect">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Higher bar</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">New York State saw a
significant drop in the number of candidates who passed teacher
certification tests last year as tougher exams were introduced. <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_I18AWi42gh788TR97gpIizLZ-Tl_sXc2a5wjgZ6ckAmTTedfC0uRd0R8dRfQzhRnAZ_QF-hRPiEC0xH5XQpfD3Xf45k9o5nlNqOmYW6ahkf965lQtdVoYJ0QPXp2J5VhmWJkb8Ra109YIJ7mjC2QRWUPKQKsAst8FwcZOPw5-6vBcboYb7UUwB1OE83fV6bvppxB5UGdDSc7HOG37EEYY6wuhVg-dhZDtR3CkPAVRtxZ-hfw4AW3ME6zPAEH_UVZ0ISxsdQnMImBRtGOIbVrtiiXnsi_5NJg&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==" shape="rect">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Spreading the news</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">The Walton Family
Foundation has awarded a $1.2 million grant to the Urban League of
Greater New Orleans to help the organization expand its efforts to help
parents evaluate their children's education options. <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_x8hu7zyTI-uZ8BJFSHSdkY_lsHEakiD9XhPuR1wWZSNln0ABTZWTECRURLJMW-7NW0dSbECDnadGzz_pw7sG4yOC5yFC56k9Wq_8gOj7SWi35d8cvYrOH8d9qlGttTpVTo-0eYgvTuc2OXtYwhFVwErmIVCNV-KDBpuA-RbDTndBBjppwGlZNaDVizmWFz3oxSgnIwBqJkv032RWJ-TN6iXWIEBWNauHxo6qbd4GScvwZ7ZTZ-Urcy2UHRO5oowfYd1fK1RVHyU=&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==" shape="rect">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ff6600;"><strong>In case we needed more proof</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">A new University of
Minnesota study has found that children who attend all-day preschool are
far more prepared for kindergarten than students who go to part-day
programs. <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_ppix2U4588btflERFWLQ95z5b5uUoqoHlwoLDwTtJ7RdS_jC0YYbZeGnCht1V9LhsvSleCWX1YCeEi3ZpR8Iy5KSXBdx_1HBv-8pZDBIsLp1uAiFYYBuFYL6n0RSVhE6uAN9YxmBLclpQRGQL9vmqYLwoNpHHmyzRBx6m6QABX0=&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==" shape="rect">More</a></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"> </div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Major bust</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">The New York City
Department of Education is ending a $95 million computer program that
tracks students and their academic performance. <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_i27njKevk1fjAeevYkj-b7latEJL6OBl3cKuh2n8yZvuZOgIVWe4uzjDmg5jgWqinumsjo-ovoBS9NbqsXrPpchYdMXpEngbMIhKTUPq-R66kGPGjYQpI1SaR3_TrpTpGwB6z_aegRrhuhaccKBgUg==&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==" shape="rect">More</a></div>
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<div style="color:#ee5624;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:14pt;"><span style="color: #ff6600;"><b>GRANTS AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES</b></span></div>
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<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ff6600;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>USDA: Excellence in Teaching about Agriculture Award</strong></span></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Each year the USDA
National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the National Agriculture
in the Classroom Consortium recognizes five exceptional teachers by
presenting them with the Excellence in Teaching about Agriculture Award.
This competitive program recognizes a select group of teachers for
their successful efforts in teaching agricultural concepts in their
curriculum. Maximum award: $500; up to $1,500 for travel-related
expenses to the National Agriculture in the Classroom Conference.
Eligibility: pre-K-12 teachers. Deadline: January 15, 2015. <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FdvHQILgPtGiiTyUtYV3c3gscB-ttLkrxMbNfqzqCDjLzp_aEvDSgZ43nNUoWZQ6A8-tDF0eM97iAttlUrhHWHodzsFVKNdF898ngFYGf9b_CIHhtS30EEWtrgriRQT5fnsD7c3PrkCjetEENjyGDiA=&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==" shape="rect">More</a></div>
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<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Google: Code-In</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Google Code-In is a
contest to introduce pre-university students to the many kinds of
contributions that make open source software development possible. The
contest provides "bite sized" tasks for participating students to
complete during the seven-week contest, including tasks related to
writing or refactoring code; tasks related to creating/editing documents
and helping others learn more; outreach/research related to community
management, outreach/marketing or studying problems and recommending
solutions; tasks related to testing and ensuring code is of high
quality; and tasks related to user experience research or user interface
design and interaction. Maximum award: trip to Google's Mountain View,
California headquarters in June 2015. Eligibility: students aged 13-17.
Deadline: January 19, 2015. <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_jvSY8wkxjV0AUrOXAEZNd8ofKvd2Miett-ia8u2AalGpNdnru2ImxFoK5HFAPwpgMgnMxFk_lDdpTiB7JN1WnwisFqsYP2VhXPleXHOV2rncZX8GrAatjIpvGKg1GCAufI8zSxZUAFeie3zs3f_DPomDyOZmtW5FKW4GGdvKYFBMOxxJkIsrGoB85hZmBgt9qf49Uk2Nc3U=&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==" shape="rect">More</a></div>
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<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ff6600;"><strong>C-SPAN: StudentCam</strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">C-SPAN's StudentCam is
an annual national video documentary competition that encourages
students to think seriously about issues that affect our communities and
our nation. Students are asked to create a short (5-8 minute) video
documentary on a topic related to the competition theme "The Three
Branches and You." Maximum award: $5,000, plus $1,000 in digital
equipment for school. Eligibility: individuals or teams of two to three
students grades 6-8 or grades 9- 12; Deadline: January 20, 2015. <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_V0H4liTwoSjvQNUA-8odnsnCitaonkP_rWQNmgILdLNaleZsBTWhi0BAcUFBSA_n0VNqFY4W6hYx8EfsVdZEpsIGPvjOKxWMOHqpSAC6jm_trVtBIFfaCQ==&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==" shape="rect">More</a></div>
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<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ff6600;"><strong>Toyota Dream Car Art Contest </strong></div>
<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">Artwork submissions for
the 9th Toyota Dream Car Contest are now being accepted by Toyota
Financial Services (TFS) now through Saturday, December 13, 2014! From
the artwork submissions received, nine U.S. winners will be selected by
TFS during the National Contest judging during February and March 2015.
The artwork by these nine winners, along with winners from more than 80
other countries, will be forwarded to Japan in late March 2015 for
consideration in the World Contest, the winners for the latter to be
announced in August 2015. Presented annually, the global competition is
designed to inspire creativity in youth and encourage their interest in
cars. <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FUCG-qlgoVzeKwAJ-RR-6kH_XirW00AM18bdEDwNy6UhHuxv-8TPRRLl_GYbMz8ecvPj2UbPWXL2hVKjB4aCzP37F4wGZJ85nVXLJoWvRz8-6g_hgUaQJriDa06YuRCav9ldveEksVEp&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==">More</a></div>
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<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; color: #ff6600; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Quote of the Week:</strong></span></div>
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<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">"For those states
choosing a path other than Common Core, I say this: Aim even higher, be
bolder, raise standards and ask more of our students and the system,"<span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong> former Governor of Florida and potential 2016 presidential candidate Jeb Bush,</strong></span> in a speech that sought common ground with opponents to the Common Core. <a style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001aukU92-1s9gus8LMUPsT8CXf8q2wcz6MZ0oPnkkewzPpdD_Y-bf9FacUeGZU7u5_C9ImpKh5DmvjIoZFkKqDn41Qu_rEduJq5rEg3chlwFu_9X6C7_ECcQuwJQMbvMRL6kpCFYehmXxJt3qMSk_wJPwJ_-i-5LoIy_6L3-cGp5GRvli2IOKYP5Vl50Ug81_gnbkdKE6XmE6NOOAn3V0JKlHQxd08bPIOKKAYw1utNBTR5DQgyfhlgT1FZjq71NnE3ycObGIvPuqpXoRxiLAtnpB2d6gzhvXJwMc609afpjFPvF6nICJHkA==&c=enu_za3VJKjVXF4eQzsUPVe3dMa57RyLU9g5MX-JMrgw7C2alTe4rQ==&ch=o4YMaHzA0fvkUe3IyPyPBJnBeFDTzZhAyPrgXroTyq-W0kztp_6_Mw==" shape="rect">More</a></div>
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