From The San Diego Union-Tribune: Research from the National University System Institute for Policy Research says that school construction in California costs 13 percent to 15 percent more when project labor agreements are used. Unions argue that the industry-backed research offers phony results that are intent on discrediting labor agreements. An analysis of the study by the San Diego County Building & Construction Trades Council and others claims that researchers downplayed data that shows no significant difference in the price of school construction when union hiring mandates are in place. The study examined 551 construction projects in 180 California districts between 1996 and 2008. Researchers found that projects operating under labor agreements cost $28.90 to $32.49 more per square foot.
I just updated Sakais trunk to a new Basic LTI Administration tool. This tool is intended to be added to the !admin site and installs itself as an extention to Site Info.
It allows administrators and instructors to make Basic LTI Tools and Content Items. Each tool can hae menay content items. Content Items have Launch URLs that can be used anywhere within Sakai like Resources, the iFrame Tool, Melete, literally anywhere.
Here is the JIRA describing the changes:
In particular, this lays a tool and service foundation for Lesson Builder to easily add an Add External Tool feature both for its authoring and when it is importing IMS Common Cartridges (version 1.1).
This also lays a foundation / starting point to add support for auto-provisioning capabilities for Full LTI.
This design is informed by the great work Basic LTI work in Moodle, ATutor, Blackboard, Desire2Learn, and Instructures Canvas. As more experience is gained in the use of BLTI in LMS systems, the UIs are starting to converge.
Does the heat wave currently blanketing the country have you stuck inside, unable to go out and enjoy the summer? Then make good use of it! Read through the articles below and get up-to-date on all the latest college news!
Links for incoming college freshmen
So youre headed off to college soon. Do you know what to bring? Find out what your future peers say youll need at More Than A Test Score.
Once you arrive on campus, networking opportunities will be everywhere you look. Find out how not to network like a freshman at Hack College.
Get a job writing about campus life
As the new college year looms, lots of blogs and news outlets are looking for student talent. Check out Student on Campus for one of the many opportunities out there.
If a careeer in journalism is in your future, you wont want to miss your chance to write for USA Today!
Links to help you choose your college degree
Tired of getting flack about the major you chose? W
I have a personal blog that I write about my teenagers and I haven’t updated it lately. It’s not because I’m tired of writing- I’m not. And it certainly isn’t because of a lack of material. I have more material than ever lately with one kid on his way to college and the other on his way to a special arts program for his junior year.
It’s because writing is hard.
Some of you brilliant prospective MIT students know exactly what I mean. Writing well often means “being in the flow” and if you are not there, it’s kind of like plodding uphill knee-deep in mud on a hot humid day. Who wants to do that?
When I do an info session for prospective students, I like to mention that there is a writing requirement here at MIT. To some of you, I know, that is not good news. But hopefully most of you already know how valuable it can be to learn to write and express yourself this way. My son has a pile
Wake schools superintendent Tony Tata said today that the system should make better use of about $33.5 million it receives from the federal government to boost achievement among low-income students and those for whom English is a second language.
Tata was addressing yesterday’s release of No Child Left Behind testing, which showed that only 13.5 percent of Wake’s 163 schools were making “adequate yearly progress,” or AYP, a measure of student achievement which periodically gets tougher.
Under the federal No Child Left Behind law, students are divided into subgroups. Some schools receive Title I funding based on its number of low-income students and ESL funding based on the number of students for whom English is a second language. Every subgroup must meet the standards or the entire school fails.
The summer music conventions will soon be under way, and several El Paso-area music educators will be clinicians or presenters at them. The conventions are a good chance for directors in all disciplines to get re-energized for the coming school year, to pick up tips on new products and teaching methods, and to meet with other educators in their instrumental fields. The three conventions, one each for Texas band, orchestra and choir directors, will take place next week in San Antonio, with the orchestra and choral meetings happening simultaneously.
All three conventions will feature clinics, concerts, workshops and an exhibition hall with music, instruments and loads of ways for groups to travel and raise money. First up is the Texas 
MUSICAL NOTES
Following El Paso area marching bands.
Bandmasters Association convention July 24-27.
BENNINGTON — Vermont is preparing to apply for up to $50 million in federal funds to improve the quality of early childhood learning programs in the state.
The money, through the Department of Education’s Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge, would be a “game changer” in early education, said Dave Yacovone, commissioner of the state Department of Children and Families, which will lead the grant application process.
The federal government expects to release the criteria it will use to determine the awards in August, after which states will have two months to submit applications. Grants are expected to be awarded in December.
Thirty-seven governors, including Gov. P