Major court ruling striking down teacher tenure to protests over salaries and even battles over ineffective teachers. Some say teaching has seen better days. Or has it . Teach. Org wants to recruit a new generation of jarreeducators fre best and brightest all over the country. Despite all the doubters, it is working. Its a little crazy because you come out of college and the big question is, what are you going to do . This new berkeley grad knows exactly what shes going to do. Erica wants to be a teacher. Its a career choice shes 100 confident in. People say, what do you do now . And i say, i just graduated from cal and i want to become a teacher. And theyre like, you went to uc berkeley and you want to become a teacher . I said, yeah. Erica is so taken by teaching, she joined the campaign for teach. Org, the Recruitment Program nationwide. Were looking for highachieving students that are already successful academically that may be looking to go into other careers and havent thought about teaching as a career. Teach. Org is targeting uc berkeley, stanford, San Francisco state and san jose state. Theyve also peppered the bay area with nearly lly 500,000 donated media. I think its a great idea. We need teachers. Jesse is a teacher and a former Economist Says the status of teaching is changing. We know how important good teachers are. We have to stop the slide in the ability to recruit good teachers. As for erica, shes focused on getting her teaching credentials and spreading the word about her profession. We need to get people excited about teaching. I think she will do it. Teach. Org is a joint project of the department of education. Microsoft and state farm with all the donated media secured by the ad council. And very significant is that teach. Org has the backing of the two big National Teachers unions. Those unions suffered a major blow in the court this summer. In a closely watched trial, a superior court judge handed down a ruling that could radically change how teachers are hired and fired in california. The judge ruled the job protections for teachers are unconstitutional because they d disproportionately hurt poor and minority children who get stuck with the worst teachers. You first met this girl right here on class action and eight others and financially backed by david welch. Hes the founder of students matter. The judge sided with them, striking down statutes the teachers unions say are needed to protect teachers from administrators who make unfair decisions, those include tenure, Permanent Employment status the teachers get in less than two years, dismissal protections that the judges say make firing back teachers too difficult and the lastin, firstout policy. The teachers unions says its flawed. The two big unions here in california confirm with us this week they plan to appeal that decision. The judges ruling is not yet final. But if it stands, education experts say it will have a major impact. If this decision is upheld, if the appeals are upheld, the laws will be rewritten with regard to tenure and dismissal and layoffs. That will affect all teachers and all students in california. So it has a potentially tremendous effect. In the wake of the ruling, two similar lawsuits were filed in new york and more lawsuits are expected in other states as well. So this big story in california is now spreading across the country, too. So stay tuned for more. Now to reading, riding and scoring home runs in the classroom. It turns out that athletics and abcs can go hand in hand and is being played out through a unique program in San Francisco that uses baseball to help kids read at grade level. And theyre doing it up by mixing up the lineup, moving the classroom outside and batting up to a book. The action on the playground at William Cobb Elementary School in San Francisco is not your typical schoolyard scene. In one corner, kids are skipping through word hopscotch. And in the other, theyre fielding ground balls from a college athlete. Theyre fun to be around. Volunteers stepping up to the plate to help a nonprofit called San Francisco rbi. I just want to show these kids that basically anything is possible. Knowing what i do know about some of them, they all have such different backgrounds. The Program Promotes literacy in underserved schools through a partnership with major league baseball. Along with the books come the bats, the mitts and the field of dreams, all centered on reading and achieving. We believe that you can teach children with a Library Without walls. The founder of San Francisco rbi says hes focused on boosting reading levels in the critical early years of Elementary School. Plus hes a big fan of taking kids out to the ballpark and letting them rub elbow with their hard ball heroes. In some way, were like makeawish. Youre in the outfield and catching a fly ball from big papi or one of the giant players as theyre looking to try to win the home run derby. Those things arent just the norm. Also not the norm, Small Group Reading sessions. San francisco rbi has really taken the time to understand what is good reading instruction look like. Very good. Volunteers go into the classroom to give kids specialized literacy coaching. When they work with our students in the classroom, theyre supporting teachers and the very strategies that teachers are trying to really enforce with students. Teamwork that is sure to score a home run in school and in life. You cant really achieve anything without education because teamwork and hard work and determination, you learn that through school. Mark one in the win column for the kids at cobb. San francisco rbi scored big this year. Recently reported reading rates in kindergarten jumped from 29 at the beginning of the year to 86 at the end. This fall, the program will expand to third grade at Cobb Elementary School and in january theyre adding two new schools in San Francisco to that program. We are just Getting Started with class action. Up next, instructional coaches, the experts who teach the teachers. I come into the classroom. I actually model role model how to do it. Its really an apprenticeship kind of model for training. See an instructional coach in action and talk to the district superintendent to find out why teachers and students benefits, next. yawn ding toaster strudel more fruit in the filling, ya . Mmm ya warm, flaky, gooey, toaster strudel now, with more fruit dont wait for awesome. Totinos pizza rolls. Gets you there in just 60 seconds. Professional development, its a phrase you hear a lot in the business world, whether its a ceo or a doctor or a lawyer. Its not uncommon for professionals to have a coach. Someone who brings new ideas and a fresh perspective. Now, that idea is taking off in the classroom, too. And taking seasoned educators to a whole new level. Whats the first thing i need to draw . Its math time in felicias class in pleasonton. What is the smallest number this thirdgrade spanish teacher is working on the new common core math standard. I see a 3 and i marked a 3. I like the idea that math is just more than the rote following and doing the lines and subtracting and adding and moving on. First we need to determine the scale. But shes trading places with her kids and turning her whiteboard over to the coach. Im a teacher and my students are other teachers. Say, hello student. Dwayne is one of eight instructional coaches in the pleasonton unified School District. Experts in literacy, technology or in his case, math, that go into the classroom to teach veteran teachers. Todays subject, a numbers talk. How did you get 45 at your final answer . I come into the classroom. I actually model role model how to do it. Its really an apprenticeship kind of model. We tell them they shouldnt subtract right. Continuous learning. I think you want to continue to improve. When youre in a classroom, youre pretty isolated. The district superintendent says coaching for new teachers is standard. Coaching for educators with decades of experience is novel in that it elevates not just one teacher but an entire staff. Our goal is really to have these coaches impact other teachers who are Great Teachers who want to do things differently and to continue to improve their practice so that we have a lot of coaches. He comes to me, im going to share with them what he shared with me. It makes sharing and collaborating so much more useful. While the numbers talk is meant to support her, he says it is the kids who get the biggest takeaway. We really need to be lifelong learners. One of the things i want the kids to see is she is a lifelong learner just like they are. Give your teacher or round of applause. [ applause ]. Thank you for teaching us something today. For teaching me something. Im joined now by the superintendent of schools at the pleasonton unified School District. This is my district. I have seen these instructional coaches firsthand. Youre taking this to another level by adding more coaches. You had math coaches, a Technology Coach and a literacy. But youre expanding the program . Thats right. We are going to have three more coaches. We have one more Technology Coach which is actually funded by our foundation through our parent donations. And we are adding two more instructional coaches for English Learners and intervention programs and those two are paid through our new funding formula, the local funding formula and our supplemental fund. I want to get more on that in a second. But i want to talk about the concept of instructional coaches. Its not new. But this is done in a different way. But i guess a lot of parents are always wondering, why does a teacher need to be coached . When you talk about staff development, a lot of times people think, oh, the teacher is just getting off for a day. But this is really meant to be for the kids. Exactly. Its development thats ongoing. We used to go to workshops and i used to call them make it and take it workshops. Onetime deal where you would just learn about something new and go back and try to implement it without really having someone to model, to watch you, to coach and mentor as you really perfect your craft. Thats really what instructional coaching allows you to do. The other thing that i always think about is we all need to get better at what we do and if we really want to prepare students for the 21st century, for the kind of work theyre going to do and to be able to think critically and problemsolve and really be flexible, we need to change our practice. I look at it as a secondorder change. And thats where your values and your norms and expertise are changing. And it takes a little bit more time. Something thats also changed dramatically for pleasonton and the rest of the state is the way it receives money from the state and what you can do. Its called local control funding. You get a certain amount from the state. Its allowed you to use the money the way you see fit. But a lot of that money is set aside for minority kids, English Learners. Tell me how youre using that money and how does that change the dynamics of being a superintendent . I think it gives us an opportunity to really look at needs and then talk about how to use the funds to meet the needs of whoever the students happen to be. What are some of the things youre doing . Some of the things were doing, im really pleased with how we came up with the plan to spend the money because we actually had a lot of feedback from our community through a group we put together called local control accountability committee, which included many parents or several parents and some staff members. You had to come up with a plan . Exactly. We came up with the plan. Some of the programs that weve put in place are additional parent liaison, so Parent Community members who have actually worked with us in that capacity before but weve increased their time and their influence. Weve added the coaches that ive talked about. We have actually provided technology and devices to students who do not have access to them. We want to make sure they have internet access. We are planning some intervention classes when its really the best time for students because oftentimes we have intervention classes, lets say, right after school. That might not be the best thing for students. So this allows you to tailor the needs of the children and the community in a way that you werent able to do before because you dont have to stick things in a specific category to be able to put that out. You said something a buzzword were hearing a lot. 21st century learning. What is that and how do you adapt to 21st century learning . I think its nothing new. I think its just were looking at it in a different way. I think weve always known that we need to get our kids to be critical thinkers. We need them to, quote, collaborate and Work Together to solve problems. We know thats the best way for kids to learn. We know thats what excites them. We have known that for a long, long time. And i think weve tried Different Things to address that. But i think we are really focusing on it because of the common core state standards, because theyre deeper. They get kids to think that way. And i think thats really what 21st century learning is tailoring your teaching to the needs of the students in todays society. Common core has had some resistance in other states. How do you feel its rolled out here in california and whats been the response youve seen so far, not only from the teachers but from students . I think sometimes people have a negative image of common core because they think we are going to teach children what to think. And thats really not true. Common core state standards and what were doing with that is to teach kids how to think and what is the best way to address a problem. It is not we are not going to be telling students what to think and what to believe. But we want them to be equipped with the kinds of skills and tools that will really help them as they grow up. They get into the workforce, they go to college, in order to be able to do that. As you begin the journey of a new school year, what are you most excited about . Im excited about our students coming back. And im excited about our teachers and administrators who have gone through a lot of training the last two years, this is our third year of implementation of common core. Im excited about the fact that now we will have additional instructional coaches. Theyve done this for a year. They will be available for teachers. Im excited about a lot of new things that weve put in place to support all students and engage them. I look forward to the first day of school all the time. But this is a special year. Good. Thank you so much for being here and sharing your ideas with us. Thank you. Well be right back. Welcome back to class action. As you know, 3d is all the rage in theaters. And now the Virtual RealityTechnology May be coming to a classroom near you as well. One School District is running a Pilot Program to find out if studying 3d images can actually help kids learn. The lab at this Elementary School is the site of an unusual class project. Im just holding the body parts of a dolphin. Its awesome. These kids are among the first in the country to use a new 3d educational display. This School District is doing a Pilot Program to test the learning tool that uses glasses to create an immersive educational experience. Its actually like i havent imagined it before. I never knew technology was this advanced. I tell him, turn your hand and see the inside of it. Some of them jump back in excitement of what they can explore. These sixthgraders are using d space to make presentations about marine life to their First Grade Class buddies. They couldnt believe that there was an actual lobster in front of them. Mydies actually tried to touch it. The system tracks the users glasses and generates a 2d display of the students 3d experience. When computers came along, we stopped interacting spatially and started looking at things stuck to a screen or behind a screen. It looks so real, like you can hold it. It feels like youre kind of picking up the actual fish and taking it apart. It feels like youre right there with the animal or whatever youre taking apart. The district doesnt know if it improves learning but early signs point to success. A lot of them come in at lunch and use it on their own time. They find tons of things to explore that they never even knew they were interested in. One thing is certain, the kids are excited to learn. That lobster looked so real. It is just really neat stuff. As for the cost, the lab setup can cost anywhere from 25,000 to 50,000. So it may be a Little Pricey for some districts. However, two other bay area districts are trying it out. He should mention, too, that its not just for k through 12 schools. Its also being used at ucsf and at stanford for medical education research. Medical students can literally pull out a 3d heart and then they peel it apart for an upclose look inside the heart without ever touching a human body. Back in a moment. Thanks for being with us. If youd like to see more class action stories, visit our website at nbcbayarea. Com. Thats going to do it for tonight. Im jessica aguirre. Thanks for watching. Well see you next time. Lights, camera, action con sthsciously uncoupled. Brads red carpet attack. Kim and kanyes multimillion wedding. All this in the first half of 2014. Im shawne robinson. Welcome to access hollywood. The midyear roundup. The biggest scandals of the year so far. For that we go to bill. Thank you. The year is halfway through. Already, fair share of scandals. Joining me now nimy guests. Whats up, girl . First of all, a new celebrity apology every week. We begin with the slurs. Whether racial, homophobic, i think it is bieber off the bat. The guy usi