Technology helps teachers gauge classroom comprehension.
The AP (5/8) reported that Providence Junior/Senior High School in Clarksville, Indiana “has installed a computerized system called SMART — or self-monitoring, analysis and reporting technology — in four classrooms.” The technology allows teachers to “ask questions of students, who then enter their answer into a handheld device similar to a small remote control. The teacher can see how many students got the right answer and determine whether more review on a subject is needed.” Further, “[t]he system gives immediate information about how each student is performing and can print out personalized study questions for each student.” Educators involved with the Clarksville school called SMART “an effective way to engage students,” as well as “a very quick way to gauge the understanding of everybody across the board without that fear of being made fun of.”
In the Classroom
Asian-Americans not adequately tracked under NCLB, study finds.
Education Week (5/9, Hoff) reports that, according to a study from the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), the No Child Left Behind Act “fails to adequately track the academic achievement of all Asian ethnic groups.” As a result, “schools don’t need to publish test-score data that would highlight…the struggles of some groups of Asian-American students, particularly those who are English-language learners.” Further, NCLB “doesn’t include enough support to help schools to provide instruction and assessment in students’ native language.” To address these issues, the report recommends updating NCLB to “require districts and schools to break down test scores by the ethnicity of Asian students and to expand the native-language testing of such students in districts with significant populations of certain ethnicities.” Khin Mai Aung of the AALDEF said, “We need to battle this ‘model minority’ myth that all Asian-Americans are high-achieving students.”
Ohio students getting little physical education, study finds.
The AP (5/9) reports, “While studies show that physically active students tend to perform better in the classroom, Ohio students in grades kindergarten through eight are getting fewer than two 30-minute physical-education classes a week,” according to a state-mandated study. “That’s well below the 30 minutes a day for elementary students and 45 minutes a day for middle and high-school students recommended by the National Association for Sport & Physical Education.” And as several studies have found “that physical activity can positively influence learning,” Ohio legislators and educators say they’re “worried” about the trend in schools. To address the situation, “the General Assembly approved a measure last year requiring the state Department of Education to hire a physical-education coordinator, adopt physical-education curriculum guidelines for schools and conduct the state survey.” However, the physical education requirements are vague, and “budget constraints and pressure to improve test scores have led many school districts to put less emphasis on physical education.”
Some Boston schools experiment with single-sex classes.
The Boston Globe (5/9, A1, Jan) reports in a front-page story that Mario Umana Middle School Academy in East Boston is “one of the few public schools in the state experimenting with single-sex classes as a way to tame raging hormones, refocus students on their studies, and begin addressing a worsening achievement gap between boys and girls.” According to findings from a recent Boston School Committee study, “which mirror a national trend, female students in the city consistently outpace their male classmates on test scores, graduation rates, and attendance,” while “[b]oys…are more likely to get suspended, be held back a grade, and drop out.” Some educators involved “have mixed opinions about the experiment,” and the American Civil Liberties Union has voiced concern that single-sex classes “reinforc[e] gender stereotypes.” Superintendent Carol Johnson noted, however, that “gender-specific programs, including single-sex classes,” are only “one strategy” being tested “to address the achievement gap.”
Florida standardized writing test scores “virtually unchanged from last year.”
The AP (5/8) reported, “This year’s results” for Florida’s state “standardized writing test are virtually unchanged from last year,” with “[m]ore than three-fourths of public school students…at or above the minimum standard.” The AP noted, “Scores on the reading, math and science portions of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test will be released within the next month.”
Ohio high school to become science, math oriented.
Ohio’s Enquirer (5/9, Fischer) reports that the Hughes Center High School in Cincinnati’s University Heights area “will be transformed into a specialized science and math high school by 2013, jointly operated by Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS), the University of Cincinnati (UC) and three other organizations.” The Enquirer notes that the “Strive coalition organized the partnerships and helped develop the plan.” Jeff Edmondson, executive director of Strive, said, “We know that in the 21st century, kids want to learn by doing what they call project-based learning.” Freshmen and sophomores at the new school “will take core academic classes, augmented by field trips to science- and hi-tech-based businesses, trips to university science labs and other activities.” As upperclassmen, the students will choose “one of five specialized fields of study, including a pre-engineering program, a physical sciences program, a medicine and healthcare institute, a technology institute, and a program for students who want to become teachers in” STEM fields.
Middle school students compete in fuel-cell model car contest.
The Detroit News (5/8, Lewis) reported on “an environmentally friendly car, run on hydrogen fuel cells and created from scratch by a team of seventh-graders at Derby Middle School” in Birmingham, Mich. Twenty-four “students in the class are participating in a four-week Fuel Cell Challenge,” that is “a pilot curriculum developed as part of the SAE’s (Scientific Audio Electronics) ‘A World in Motion’ program.” The school “is one of nine schools selected from across the country to take part in the challenge,” in which “[t]eams of students create their own model cars. Their task is to create a toy company, develop a ‘green car,’ test and market it, and present their results of their field tests to engineers in mid-May.”
On the Job
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Many teachers “unequivocally ambivalent” about reforms.
Education Week (5/9, Cech) reports, “Most public school teachers are unequivocally ambivalent about unions and education reform, and have become more so over the past five years, according to a nationwide survey” from Education Sector. Regarding unions, “the number of teachers calling unions ‘absolutely essential’ has risen 8 percentage points since 2003.” However, “the proportion of teachers who agreed that the working conditions and salaries of teachers would be much worse without collective bargaining fell 7 percentage points.” And while “[a]bout half the teachers surveyed said their unions had protected teachers who shouldn’t be in the classroom,” a roughly equal amount said they wanted union-supported protections continued. “That variety of opinion also ran through teachers’ attitudes…of education reform initiatives.” Regarding other issues, such as “financial incentives for teachers working in tough neighborhoods,” educators responded “with greater uniformity.” Interviewed regarding the study, NEA President Reg Weaver cautioned against “paint[ing] unions with a broad brush.”
Maryland district teachers choose lower pay raise over higher raise, extended hours.
Maryland’s Capital (5/8, Hulette, Cox) reported that Annapolis teachers this week voted “for a lower pay increase instead of a higher one tied to a longer work year.” The teachers had the option of choosing a union contract that would entitle them “to a 6 percent raise next year, but to get it, they’d have to agree to adding three and a half days of work time to their year. Instead, they took their other option