On behalf of the Asbury Park Education Association, we want to wish you and your families a most blessed and happy holiday season. We will be on vacation until January 5, 2009, and will not be making any updates until that time. Please be safe and enjoy a much needed rest and relaxation period.
December 2008
December Web Giveaway
Register to win:
Winner #1
1) Bag of gifts from Woodbury Common Premium Outlets*
>>Use your NJEA card to get a free VIP coupon book at Woodbury Common Premium Outlets*
2) Four tubing tickets to Camelback Mountain Resort*
>>Use promotion code “NJEA” when you purchase online tickets at www.skicamelback.com.
3) Three months free membership to Contours Express*
New memberships enjoy 50% discount on enrollment fee and free first month at Contours Express* by calling 877-227-2282.
Winner #2
1) Lancome Designer Fragrance and Cosmetic from Liberty Village Premium Outlets*
>> Use your NJEA card to get a free VIP coupon book at Liberty Village Premium Outlets*
2) Two ski lift tickets to Camelback Mountain Resort*
>> Use promotion code “NJEA” when you purchase online tickets at www.skicamelback.com.
For major purchases, shop around, get your best price, and then use The Buyer’s Edge for guaranteed lowest prices.
——————————————————————————–
Got a question about Member Benefits? Call Lorraine Jones at
609-599-4561
ext. 2222.
Holiday $avings
Be sure to include the following NJEA Member Benefits offers in your holiday shopping:
Chelsea Premium Outlets*
Show your membership card to receive a free VIP coupon book at Liberty Village Premium Outlets*, Jackson Premium Outlets*, Peddlers Village*, The Crossings Premium Outlets*, Woodbury Common Premium Outlets*, and Jersey Shore Premium Outlets*
Shopping with The Buyer’s Edge**
NJEA members can get guaranteed lowest prices on most major purchases by calling the numbers below Be sure to mention group #3386.
School Administrators In Two Maryland Districts Allow At-Risk Seniors To Take Graduation Exams Early. The Washington Post (12/18, B1, Hernandez, De Vise) reports that the state of Maryland requires high school students “to complete four courses before taking the corresponding graduation exams. But new pressure to get seniors to graduate on time has driven administrators in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties to” allow schools to give “state tests to some at-risk seniors several months before they finish the classes and again, if necessary, to give them a better shot at getting a diploma.” According to the Post, “one of every six seniors statewide [are] in jeopardy of not graduating because they’ve failed or missed one or more of the tests.” On Wednesday, “Superintendent of Schools Nancy S. Grasmick made public a plan to allow some students to apply for a waiver to the testing requirement if they were not given enough chances for extra instructional help or if they face certain other hardships. The state Board of Education is expected to vote on the plan today.”
According to the Baltimore Sun (12/18, Bowie), At a meeting on Wednesday, state board members “requested some small changes” to Grasmick’s proposal. “Their intent is to give parents and guardians the greatest chance to state their cases in an appeal process that begins with the student’s principal.” They “agreed that the local superintendent and the state superintendent would be given a list of all students who met a set of criteria for the waiver.” If approved, “The process would begin in February when parents would be notified that their children have not met the graduation requirements.
Click to continue reading “Updates and Information Provided by NEA”
The New York Times (12/10, Dillon) reports, “American fourth and eighth grade students made solid achievement gains in math in recent years and in two states showed spectacular progress,” but “science performance was flat,” according to a survey released Tuesday by the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, or TIMSS. “Fourth grade students in Hong Kong and eighth grade students in Taiwan” earned the top scores in math, “while Singapore dominated in science at both grade levels.” According to the Times, “the latest TIMSS study, the world’s largest review of math and science achievement, involved testing a representative sample of students in each country in 2007, the first time the tests had been administered since 2003. … The results included fourth grade scores from 36 countries, and eighth grade scores from 48 countries.”
Similarly, the Washington Post (12/10, Glod) reports, “Results of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), released today, show how fourth- and eighth-graders in the United States measure up to peers in dozens of countries. U.S. students showed gains in math at both grades.” Specifically, “the average score among fourth-graders has jumped 11 points since 1995, to 529.” Still, “students in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Russia, and England were among those posting a higher average.
Click to continue reading “UPDATES AND INFORMATION PROVIDED BY NEA”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (12/14, Vogell, Perry) reported that half of the fifth-graders at Atherton Elementary School in Decatur, GA “failed a yearly state test in the spring. When the 32 students took retests, not only did every one of them pass – 26 scored at the highest level.” According to the Journal-Constitution, “No other Georgia fifth grade pulled off such a feat in the past three years. It was, as one researcher put it, as extraordinary as a snowstorm in July.” However, “State education officials said last week they will investigate steep gains at Atherton and four other schools as a result of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution‘s inquiries. ‘It’s a big red flag,’ said Kathleen Mothers, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement. She said officials don’t know what caused the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test scores to soar, only that they require explanation.”
 |
The Washington Post (12/15, B2, Glod) reports that the No Child Left Behind law, “one of President Bush’s major domestic achievements, was enacted with broad bipartisan support.
Click to continue reading “UPDATES AND INFORMATION COURTESY OF NEA”
The Washington Post (12/3, B5, Hernandez) reports, “One of the largest hurdles in the struggle to get more than 2,700 Prince George’s County high school seniors to pass graduation exit exams is that many of them aren’t even showing up to take the tests required to earn a diploma.” According to school officials, about 1,165 “of [the] 2,754 students at risk of not graduating in June — have not taken one or more of the four required High School Assessments in algebra, English, government, and biology.” The Post points out that “Prince George’s schools…have serious problems with truancy, particularly at the high school level.” For instance, “in the 2006-07 school year, the most recent year for which data are available, most high schools had truancy rates above 10 percent, according to state data.”
 |
The Cresco (IA) Times-Plain Dealer (12/2, Daehn) reported, “Fourteen Crestwood Elementary third graders have spent the past couple months utilizing [iPods] in the classroom to help polish up on their reading skills” for a project “called ‘Digital Dialogues: Assessing Readers Using Podcasting Technology.’” Digital Dialogues “aims to improve students’ reading fluency and comprehension by reading out loud into an iPod, recording their readings and receiving feedback on the recordings.” It “began in early October [as] a collaboration between Crestwood Elementary School and Luther College.” For the project, “Luther students…are each grouped up with one third grader.” The college students “listen to the third grade students’ cold read and provide feedback on elements such as fluency, expression and self-corrections.” Then, in December, the third-graders are “reassessed to measure any growth in their reading skills, compared to a third grade class that did not participate in a similar project.” This will allow their teacher “to assess whether the project has helped build her students’ natural reading strategies and skills.”
The Florence (SC) Morning News (12/2, Bell ) reported, “Third- and fourth-grade students at Carver Elementary School learned plastic is more than just the bottle that holds their favorite drink through hands-on experiments created by the National Plastic Center’s PlastiVan program.” On Tuesday, students learned “about the chemistry, processing, and history of plastic products,” and “about possible careers in the plastic industry, science and engineering, and how plastic is a part of their everyday lives.” During the program, “students from 15 different classes attempted to put a skewer through an inflated balloon without popping it.
Friday, December 12, 2008
On the Boardwalk in Asbury Park
(Owned and operated by Marilyn Schlossbach, former owner of Market in the Middle)
Price: $20.00* (non-members $30.00) includes:
2 hour open bar (from 4-6) and buffet dinner
*APEA members will receive $10.00 back at place of purchase the day of the party. You will need to get your ticket at that time. The restaurant is open to ticket holders only! NO EXCEPTIONS
Please see the following people to buy a ticket:
APMS: Lynn Librizzi Bradley: Maureen Casey
APHS: Mia Jones-Cazeau TMS: Brenda Freeman
AMS: Casey Miles Board: Gena Proctor
Bangs: Jo Ann Dunst Maint: John Kostecki
ITC: Mike Amadruto Annex: Melanie Pelosi
Last day to purchase tickets is this Friday, December 5. There will be no tickets sold at the door!
The Minneapolis Star Tribune (11/26, Johns) reports that the St. Paul School District has “set out to find high-quality people working in other professions to improve the quality of the district’s teaching ranks and fill teaching positions where they’ve often had to rely on teachers without full licenses.” This fall, “more than 630 people applied for the St. Paul Teaching Fellows Program,” which is funded by “a grant from the U.S. Department of Education.” Forty-one applicants were selected to fill positions in “hard-to-fill subject areas such as special education and science.” According to the Star Tribune, “Of the 41 teachers in the Teaching Fellows program, 26 percent hold advanced degrees and 20 percent are people of color.” Over the summer, “The district gave them a five-week crash course…on teaching in urban settings.” In addition, “the teachers are also taking graduate education courses at Hamline University, so they’ll have a full license after two years.”
The St. Louis (MO) Post-Dispatch (11/26, Craig) reports that “Study X, a software program that allows students to play games as they learn, was recently installed on all student laptops at John F.
On behalf of the Asbury Park Education Association, I want to wish everyone a happy and blessed Thanksgiving. Enjoy the time with your families.
Our quarterly newsletter will be distributed next week so please be sure that you get your copy and read through it thoroughly. There is a lot of valuable information contained within it. Our yearly financial report will also be enclosed as well as a final reminder for the annual APEA Winter Celebration. Make sure that you purchase tickets by Friday, December 5.
The Nashua (NH) Telegraph (11/18, Brindley) reported that in Nashua, NH, “supporters of keeping leveling in the city’s middle schools spoke out Monday night, arguing that mixing students of all abilities together would dilute education and overburden teachers.” According to the Telegraph, the “school district’s policy on middle school education is to level students for instructional purposes, a process referred to as homogeneous grouping. Mixing students of all abilities is referred to as heterogeneous grouping.” The Nashua Telegraph pointed out that the “vast majority” of those who spoke “were in favor of leveling. … If there’s one thing that was clear Monday night, it was that, just as there is nationally, there is divide of opinions among staff members on the issue of leveling.”
Colorado’s Reporter Herald (11/18, Widalm) reported that Loveland [CO] high school students “might be required to take more classes their junior and senior years to satisfy graduate requirements proposed by school officials. Student Achievement Services will present the recommended changes, which are expected to increase the time seniors attend school, as a discussion item at the Thompson School District Board of Education meeting Nov.
APBOE Calendar