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	<title>ChalkBloggers</title>
	<link>http://blog.chalkboardproject.org</link>
	<description>A Chalkboard Project Blog</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Wed, 22 Feb 2012 23:52:22 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>Learn about value-added measures</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This afternoon we held the second webinar in our virtual brown bag series on value-added measures. The recorded presentation (audio + powerpoint) can be viewed or downloaded here. The presentation and discussion include an explanation of what VAM is, how it is different than other measures of school performance, and a bit of national and local <a href="http://blog.chalkboardproject.org/chalkboard-project/learn-about-value-added-measures/">Read more...</a>]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.chalkboardproject.org/chalkboard-project/learn-about-value-added-measures/</link>
        <authorThumb><![CDATA[<img src="http://chalkboardproject.org/wp-content/uploads/userphoto/39.thumbnail.jpg" alt="Michelle Morico" width="49" height="49" class="photo" />]]></authorThumb>
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		<title>Wednesday Webinar on Value-Added Measures</title>
		<description><![CDATA[WHAT IS A &#8216;VALUE-ADDED MODEL&#8217; AND HOW IS &#8216;VAM&#8217; BEING USED IN OREGON? We are continuing our webinar series with a conversation about value-added models&#8211;a complex statistical tool for measuring student growth. The discussion will include an explanation of what VAM is, how it is different than other measures of school performance, and a bit of <a href="http://blog.chalkboardproject.org/education-reform/wednesday-webinar-on-value-added-measures/">Read more...</a>]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.chalkboardproject.org/education-reform/wednesday-webinar-on-value-added-measures/</link>
        <authorThumb><![CDATA[<img src="http://chalkboardproject.org/wp-content/uploads/userphoto/39.thumbnail.jpg" alt="Michelle Morico" width="49" height="49" class="photo" />]]></authorThumb>
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		<title>Small Steps Towards Big Change</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Jen Barth, preschool parent, co-founder of &#8220;Books Make it Better,&#8221; and blogger, shares what she is doing to make education better in Oregon. I’m writing this post on the final stretch of a plane ride back to Portland from Washington, DC, returning from a UN Foundation conference, where I was invited to speak on a <a href="http://blog.chalkboardproject.org/early-learning/small-steps-towards-big-change/">Read more...</a>]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.chalkboardproject.org/early-learning/small-steps-towards-big-change/</link>
        <authorThumb><![CDATA[<img src="http://chalkboardproject.org/wp-content/uploads/userphoto/guest-blogger.thumbnail.jpg" alt="guest blogger" width="49" height="49" class="photo" />]]></authorThumb>
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		<title>A Clear Focus on School Improvement</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Dr. Mike Schmoker’s most recent book, Focus: Elevating the Essentials to Radically Improve Student Learning has some key messages worth serious consideration. He argues persuasively for attending first and foremost to the improvement of curriculum and instruction – at the exclusion of everything else. And, he asserts, if we focus on what matters most, we <a href="http://blog.chalkboardproject.org/student-achievement/a-clear-focus-on-school-improvement/">Read more...</a>]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.chalkboardproject.org/student-achievement/a-clear-focus-on-school-improvement/</link>
        <authorThumb><![CDATA[<img src="http://chalkboardproject.org/wp-content/uploads/userphoto/ron-smith.thumbnail.jpg" alt="Ron Smith" width="49" height="49" class="photo" />]]></authorThumb>
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		<title>The importance of relationships</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I recently toured a nonprofit in Medford called Kids Unlimited. KU identifies traditionally disadvantaged students at an early age and provides them with extra-curricular activities, academic support and mentorship in hope that they will stay in school and earn diplomas. Of the first 18 students who entered the KU program ten years ago, 12 of <a href="http://blog.chalkboardproject.org/professional-development-for-educators/the-importance-of-relationships/">Read more...</a>]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.chalkboardproject.org/professional-development-for-educators/the-importance-of-relationships/</link>
        <authorThumb><![CDATA[<img src="http://chalkboardproject.org/wp-content/uploads/userphoto/19.thumbnail.jpg" alt="Todd Jones" width="80" height="80" class="photo" />]]></authorThumb>
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		<title>Poll Results: Within Oregon’s limited resources, where might you focus the state’s investment in public education, to improve better outcomes for students?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[For the past few months, in the right hand sidebar we have asked our readers to answer a very important, but challenging, question: If you had to focus Oregon’s investment in public education on one effort, what would it be? 33 readers gave us their answers: Closing the achievement gap (30%, 10 Votes) Broader school <a href="http://blog.chalkboardproject.org/education-achievement-gap/poll-results-within-oregon%e2%80%99s-limited-resources-where-might-you-focus-the-state%e2%80%99s-investment-in-public-education-to-improve-better-outcomes-for-students/">Read more...</a>]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.chalkboardproject.org/education-achievement-gap/poll-results-within-oregon%e2%80%99s-limited-resources-where-might-you-focus-the-state%e2%80%99s-investment-in-public-education-to-improve-better-outcomes-for-students/</link>
        <authorThumb><![CDATA[<img src="http://chalkboardproject.org/wp-content/uploads/userphoto/39.thumbnail.jpg" alt="Michelle Morico" width="49" height="49" class="photo" />]]></authorThumb>
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		<title>Oregon wants to improve its grad rates</title>
		<description><![CDATA[With the recent release of the data surrounding Oregon high school graduation rates, it is clear there is work to do. Although this year’s graduation rate did increase by one percent, this means that two in three students are graduating in four years, and one in three are failing to. According to an article on The <a href="http://blog.chalkboardproject.org/education-reform/oregon-wants-to-improve-its-grad-rates/">Read more...</a>]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.chalkboardproject.org/education-reform/oregon-wants-to-improve-its-grad-rates/</link>
        <authorThumb><![CDATA[<img src="http://chalkboardproject.org/wp-content/uploads/userphoto/39.thumbnail.jpg" alt="Michelle Morico" width="49" height="49" class="photo" />]]></authorThumb>
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		<title>Burnout</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I found the characterization of teaching shared by Charlotte Danielson during Chalkboard’s recent webinar on evaluating educator effectiveness enlightening&#8211;and timely.  Borrowing from educational psychologist Lee Shulman, she pointed out that teaching as an occupation is on par in complexity and stress levels with an ER doctor following a major disaster: “He noted that teachers have <a href="http://blog.chalkboardproject.org/teacher-advocacy/burnout/">Read more...</a>]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.chalkboardproject.org/teacher-advocacy/burnout/</link>
        <authorThumb><![CDATA[<img src="http://chalkboardproject.org/wp-content/uploads/userphoto/merry-ann-moore.thumbnail.jpg" alt="Merry Ann Moore" width="49" height="49" class="photo" />]]></authorThumb>
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		<title>Leadership and Hope</title>
		<description><![CDATA[It’s kind of a gloomy time in Oregon right now. The weather is cold, rainy, and windy. Families are facing economic hardships while social services continue to be reduced. The racial achievement gap is a daunting and complicated problem. Schools are asked to achieve more with fewer resources. Hiring freezes are happening in state and <a href="http://blog.chalkboardproject.org/education-achievement-gap/leadership-and-hope/">Read more...</a>]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.chalkboardproject.org/education-achievement-gap/leadership-and-hope/</link>
        <authorThumb><![CDATA[<img src="http://chalkboardproject.org/wp-content/uploads/userphoto/41.thumbnail.jpg" alt="Eliz Roser" width="49" height="49" class="photo" />]]></authorThumb>
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		<title>Teacher Evaluations: What We’ve Learned from NCLB</title>
		<description><![CDATA[T.J. Chandler is the founder of EdZapp, Oregon’s statewide online employment application, and is  now the Regional Director of Operations for Netchemia, LLC working with K-12 teacher and  administrator evaluations.  T.J. was formerly the Director of Business Applications for the New  York City Board of Education, and has worked with over one hundred school districts <a href="http://blog.chalkboardproject.org/early-learning/teacher-evaluations-what-weve-learned-from-nclb/">Read more...</a>]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.chalkboardproject.org/early-learning/teacher-evaluations-what-weve-learned-from-nclb/</link>
        <authorThumb><![CDATA[<img src="http://chalkboardproject.org/wp-content/uploads/userphoto/guest-blogger.thumbnail.jpg" alt="guest blogger" width="49" height="49" class="photo" />]]></authorThumb>
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