Study indicates dropouts face barriers to re-entering high school.
Education Week (8/21, Viadero) reported on a recent study that “examines what happens to high school dropouts when they return to their studies, whether they graduate on the second, third, or fourth try, and the systemic disincentives that conspire to keep them out of the classroom.” The study, which focused on San Bernardino, California, found that “more than a third” of students “dropped out of school at least once over the five years of the study period.” And although “thirty-one percent of the dropouts, or 419 students, re-enrolled” in school, “only 77 of the repeat students went on to graduate within five years.” Additionally, the study “found that 15.5 percent of the returning students came back more than once.” However, “at the time of the study, none of the…schools had programs in place to help students recover credit for missed or failed courses, which was found to be a major reason that students drop out a second and third time.” The study also found that students who dropped out were often too young to be “eligible for some of the accelerated credit-recovery programs at the continuation school, or for adult education programs.”
In the Classroom
Illinois district’s program allows students to learn in their native languages.
Illinois’s Niles Herald-Spectator (8/21, Bertuca) reported, “This year will be the first time East Maine Elementary School District 63, one of the most ethnically diverse in the state, will teach some children how to read and write in their native language, other than English.” School officials say that “with 85 percent of the student population speaking a language other than English at home…educating children in their mother tongues will lay the groundwork for their ability to learn English in the future.” For the optional program, schools throughout the district will teach kindergarten through second-grade students in Spanish and Gujarati. In third grade, students in the program will transition to English instruction. The district’s bilingual coordinator said, “By fourth grade, we hope the students (in the program) will be able to be in all-English classes.”
Federal program seeks to help students learn foreign languages.
eSchool News (8/21) reported on the National Security Language Initiative, “introduced by President Bush in 2006 to teach students Chinese and other foreign languages considered critical to the nation’s future security.” The initiative “is based on the premise that you can engage foreign governments and their citizens more effectively when you speak their language,” and emphasizes “‘critical need’ languages” such as “Chinese, Arabic, Russian, Hindi, and Farsi.” To facilitate the program, the Department of Education, “one of four federal agencies involved in the program, has awarded 88 grants totaling about $26 million to communities around the country to expand instruction in these languages beginning in kindergarten.” eSchool News noted, “Studies have shown that young children are much quicker than adults to pick up foreign languages.” Further, “research suggests that elementary school students perform better in other subjects…if they also take a foreign language.”
D.C. schools to offer money as incentive to boost student achievement.
In a front-page story, the Washington Post (8/22, A1, Haynes, Birnbaum) reports, “D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee announced plans yesterday to boost dismal achievement at half the city’s middle schools by offering students an unusual incentive: cash.” Students participating in the pilot program “will be eligible to earn up to 50 points per month and be paid $2 per point for attending class regularly and on time, turning in homework, displaying manners and earning high marks.” In the past, D.C. schools “have used detention, remedial classes, summer school and suspensions to turn around poorly behaved, underachieving middle school students, with little results.” The Post notes, “A study of the program released yesterday by a Cornell University economist said the incentive resulted in higher scores and an increase in the number of students attending college.” D.C. officials will also track the performance of similar programs elsewhere in Virginia, and in several other states.
In the Washington Post’s (8/21) D.C. Wire blog, David Nakamura noted that “students will get debit cards…and the money will be deposited in a bank that will be selected shortly.” Nakamura described the program in New York City that provides financial incentives for high AP test scores, and added, “As in New York, the D.C. program is being run in conjunction with Harvard University, which has also partnered with Chicago’s public schools.” In an interview, Rhee defended the program by saying that “it prepares students for getting a job, where showing up, being professional and doing good work is rewarded with a pay check.”
Texas educators trained in new hands-on science, math curriculum.
The Dallas Morning News (8/21, Wisk) reported that Southern Methodist University’s (SMU) Infinity Project “has drawn acclaim for its high school curriculum, which places emphasis on the real world and innovative applications of math and science in engineering.” So SMU “staff decided to expand” the program to include middle-school teachers, “piloting the program in 2005. A weeklong training program last week prepared teachers to implement the 2008-09 program.” At a Dallas-area park, the teachers fired “off Estes Alpha II rockets — a high-flying entry point into the practical application of what is taught to the students.” According to Rosemary Aguilar, director of professional development and curriculum for the Infinity Project, “Translating the technical to a student’s life can prevent disenfranchisement with science and math in school.”
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Nebraska writing assessment scores improve.
The AP (8/22) reports that “91 percent of [Nebraska's] fourth-, eighth- and 11th-graders tested proficient or better on the statewide writing assessment,” a two percent increase over “the 2006-2007 school year and the best proficiency rate since the state began the tests in 2001.” Additionally, “proficiency of minority students increased more than that of white students, as blacks, Asians and Hispanics increased by an average of more than 5 percentage points.” Pat Roschewski, the director of statewide assessment, “said the 7-year-old writing assessments have helped not only students, but teachers, who have seen their professional development bolstered, thereby improving classroom performance across all subjects.” Roschewski added, “There is a focus on writing that did not exist in every classroom in the state prior to the 2001 launch of this statewide assessment.”
Kansas, DOE partner for aviation technology design competition for students.
Kansas CBS affiliate WIBW-TV (8/22) reports that Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) “has announced a partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for Kansas students to enter the ‘Real World Design Challenge’ — a nationwide contest that puts high school students along side industry experts to solve real engineering problems.” The challenge will “give Kansas high school students the opportunity to use computer-aided design (CAD) software while looking for ways to increase aircraft performance and reduce operating costs.” Student participants “will also be able to collaborate online with mentors from the aviation/aerospace industry; Department of Energy laboratories across the country; and scientists from the Oakridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.”
On the Job
Online professional-development networks being developed for educators.
Education Week (8/21, Sawchuk) reported, “As support and professional-development opportunities for teachers begin to move from conference rooms to chat rooms, a burgeoning number of states and districts are drawing on features from course-management software and popular social-networking sites to establish online networks connecting teachers to peers who may live dozens or even hundreds of miles away.” These networks are designed to allow “teachers at a school site” to “seek feedback, glean new ideas, and reflect on instructional practices through discussions with their colleagues.” The article features descriptions of programs being instituted in several states. An official with a pilot program for online teacher networking in South Carolina explained, “The idea is that teachers would leave their college [online social] network and enter a professional network.” While agreeing that “online networking can afford teachers opportunities to deepen their content-area knowledge,” some experts “underscored the importance of supplementing online interactions with face-to-face meetings.”
Connecticut Board of Education to propose overhaul of secondary schools.
The AP (8/21) reported that Mark McQuillan, “Connecticut’s education commissioner, says the state Board of Education is compiling a comprehensive proposal to overhaul the state’s secondary schools.” According to McQuillan, “the plan is still in the works, but will emphasize ways to improve student engagement and their performance in math and science.” McQuillan added that “education leaders also want to continue investing in preschool, reverse the causes of early reading failure, and develop better strategies to hire teachers for students who learn English as their second language.”
Number of male teachers declining, research suggests.
The Missourian (8/22, Rogers) reports that, “according to the National Education Association, the number of men teaching in elementary schools nationwide has declined steadily since 1981, when male teachers made up 18 percent of the staff. As of 2002, that number had halved to nine percent.” Two common factors that deter some males “from entering the education field” are “relatively low teacher salaries” and “the dated idea that teaching is ‘women’s work.’” Still, University of Missouri Fellows Mentor Sally Widbin “finds the trend troubling in light of her perception of male teachers as popular figures in elementary school.” Widbin “said she believes” that the men who do enter the education field “are more likely to gravitate toward secondary school teaching” because, as research suggests, “men prefer to ‘teach the subject’ while women prefer to nurture children.”
School Finance
State-funded grants allow Washington districts to provide fresh local produce.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (8/22, Langston) reports, “Twenty-five schools statewide will be able to buy Washington-grown fruits and vegetables as snacks this year, thanks to new legislation. The Local Farms-Healthy Kids bill passed nearly unanimously in Olympia earlier this year aims to get nutritious food to schoolchildren and provide economic opportunities to state farmers.” The legislation provides “state-funded grants” of “$57 per student…to allow” districts “to buy local food if it can find suppliers.” Schools then can “offer extra fruits or vegetables…every day, along with nutrition information and a story about where the produce is grown.” In some cases, officials are able to negotiate deals that are “no more expensive than…with large-scale distributors. But” providing fresh local produce “does require extra district staff time to wash [it] and make deliveries that small farmers can’t afford to individual cafeterias.”
Also in the News
Scotland charity launches teacher support hotline.
Scotland’s Herald (8/21) reported, “A 24-hour support service for teachers was launched” this week “by the charity Teacher Support Scotland. The free telephone service aims to improve the wellbeing of teachers by providing them with practical and emotional support.” In addition to the telephone service, “teachers will also be able to access self-help information online, ask questions of qualified coaches, and sign up for email coaching.” During a trial period of the service, “the top reason given by teachers for” calling the hotline was “working conditions (32 percent). This included workload and legal issues. Personal issues were rated second (24 percent), followed by health and wellbeing (18 percent). Careers and people skills were placed fourth and fifth (16 percent and 8 percent).” Dr. Ivor Sutherland of Teacher Support Scotland said that he is sure the “new services will make an invaluable contribution to the wellbeing of Scottish teachers — and thereby the education of Scottish children.”
Olympic medalist’s mother, a school principal, gives advice on helping students with AD/HD.
The AP (8/21) reported on Debbie Phelps, “principal of Windsor Mill Middle School in Baltimore” and mother of Olympic gold-medalist swimmer Michael Phelps. Ms. Phelps plans to return to Baltimore from Beijing, China, this week in order “to run two staff meetings and a leadership meeting” at her school before the classes begin on Monday. According to the AP, Phelps “has used her visibility to promote awareness for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), with which Michael was diagnosed as a child. She believes that more than medication is needed to help kids with AD/HD.” Phelps said, “Kids need structure. Kids need consistency. … I don’t care if they have AD/HD or not, they have to have those parameters in order to be successful.”
NEA in the News
NEA, education advocates propose NCLB changes.
The Christian Science Monitor (8/21, Khadaroo) reported, “Many groups have called for the” federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) “law’s accountability system to be refined or overhauled.” In fact, “dozens of proposals for changes…have already surfaced on Capitol Hill.” One proposal that is “gaining popularity is the use of ‘growth models.’ These [models] offer a way to track the progress of individual students over the course of a school year, which advocates say is fairer to schools and more useful for teachers and students.” The NEA “has called for states to be allowed to use such growth models for federal accountability. It also wants multiple measures of student achievement, not just standardized tests.” Meanwhile, the Alliance for Excellent Education in Washington wants the federal government to “give incentives for states to work together to develop common standards,” and to “place more weight on boosting graduation rates.”
Study indicates gains, remaining issues for girls in mathematics.
Education Week (8/22, Cavanagh) reported, “Educators and advocates have been pointing to the data and trying to get the word out for years: Girls perform as well as boys in mathematics.” A recent study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of California, Berkeley, supports this conclusion. The study’s findings are “generally consistent with research dating to the 1990s showing both genders performing at roughly the same level in math.” Additionally, the new study “shows males [as] having no advantage over females in high school in that subject,” indicating that “young women have made strides in taking an increasing number of advanced math and science courses in high school.” Even so, “there is ample evidence that educators and policymakers should still be concerned about the waning of girls’ interest in certain math-related subjects as they move through the pipeline,” and the impact of negative stereotypes. The study concluded that, “overall, differences in math performance are ‘insufficient to explain lopsided gender patterns in participation in some STEM fields.’”
In the Classroom
Some Utah districts to receive arts specialists.
The Salt Lake Tribune (8/22, Dicou) reported that, “starting this year, 50 schools” in Utah “will have arts specialists on staff thanks to a four-year grant.” These specialists are “highly trained and experienced educators with college degrees in teaching and their art specialty,” and “will integrate arts into subjects such as history, science, and even math.” One of the specialists involved explained that “educational studies have shown that students learn in a variety of ways, and one effective way to teach is through art.” Douglas Allen, a fine arts consultant for one of Utah’s districts, added that “using art to reinforce ideas taught in other subjects transfers the concept from a student’s short-term memory to the long-term.” The Tribune noted, “Specialists will work side by side with teachers and will collaborate behind the scenes so teachers can continue to use art principles in their own lesson plans.”
Massachusetts schools work to boost math education.
Massachusetts’s Standard Times (8/24, Evans) reported, “With MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System) test results showing slumping middle school math performance across the state and South Coast, local school districts are finding creative ways to increase math instruction and channel adolescent energy.” For example, one district “has addressed its elementary school math gap by instituting math liaisons,” who “act as coaches and help other elementary school teachers perfect their math teaching techniques.” The district is also “introducing changes in the daily schedule to allow for additional math and English language arts classes at the expense of music and arts.” In another district, “educators are placing their focus on raising students’ motivation by offering after-school programming that will get kids off the couch and working on their math and language skills instead.”
Vermont schools increase use of technology in classroom.
Vermont’s Rutland Herald (8/24, Peters) reported, “Vermont schools are trying to embrace a wider variety of technology” by “bulking up on interactive white boards and smaller laptops, and…taking advantage of free software programs whenever possible.” Many would also “like to be able to incorporate technology like Skype that, outside of the classroom, are already popular with kids.” When deciding which technological devices to incorporate in the classroom, however, “schools must consider socioeconomic and geographic problems, professional development, and educational value,” the Herald noted. For instance, “content-driven technology can be easily controlled and monitored by teachers — unlike a personal laptop or PDA — while still providing a fun, hands-on experience, according to” an official with Vermont’s Department of Education.
Florida educators cope with new state regulations on evolution.
In a front-page story, the New York Times (8/24, A1, Harmon) reported on David Campbell, a biology teacher at Ridgeview High School in Orange Park, Fla., who is teaching to new state regulations that “explicitly require…public schools to teach evolution.” The article chronicles the first classes of the semester for Campbell, who “helped to devise the state’s new evolution standards.” The article also details the history of evolution being taught in the classroom, both in Florida and across the U.S. The decision by the Florida Department of Education, along with “legal rulings against school districts seeking to favor religious versions of natural history,” have contributed to more states giving “more emphasis in recent years to” the concept of evolution. The Times continued, “With a mandate to teach evolution but little guidance as to how, science teachers” in Florida “are contriving their own ways to turn a culture war into a lesson plan.” And the results of their instruction “may bear on whether a new generation of Americans embraces scientific evidence alongside religious belief.”
Some districts experimenting with ninth-grade-only schools.
The AP (8/24, White) reported, “Some educators are turning to ninth-grade-only schools to separate 14- and 15-year-olds from older kids and make the transition easier.” A school superintendent in New York, explained, “People just really value having our ninth-graders have a chance to develop intellectually, emotionally and socially outside of the context of a large comprehensive high school setting.” Experts say that “the ninth-grade year is crucial to success in high school,” and also a time “when most problems start to appear.” The AP added, “There are more ninth-graders in U.S. high schools than any other class,” as “many students either aren’t promoted to 10th grade or drop out before they get there.” Critics of the ninth-grade-only schools say the idea makes “some sense,” but add that “simply moving students to another campus, building or wing isn’t enough.” One educator added, “The key…is making sure that you’re facilitating the communication between teachers and administrators in ninth grade who are preparing students for eventual promotion.”
On the Job
Some Illinois districts trying to recruit more minority teachers.
The AP (8/25) reports, “School districts in downstate Illinois are trying to recruit more minority teachers.” In some districts, “more than half of the students are minorities but more than 80 percent of teachers are white.” To help recruit more minority teachers, districts are taking steps such as “offering tuition assistance, providing mentors to potential teachers and expanding recruiting to places as far away as Louisiana.” According to an area school board president, “among the challenges they face in a competitive recruiting environment is finding minority teachers who want to come there.”
Arizona educators adjust to online instruction.
The Arizona Republic (8/25, Parker) reports, “A growing number of educators have moved into online teaching to fit into their day jobs or as a part-time position to fit into their home schedule,” and are “finding [that] it takes awhile to go from traditional classrooms to computer courses, especially when dealing with the hurdles of electronic communication.” The article focuses on Arizona’s Mesa Distance Learning, which “has such high standards that a 2007 Arizona Auditor General’s report recommended other state distance-learning programs follow its example, such as requiring proctored final exams and that students pass the final exam to receive class credit.” The program’s director noted that, in the past ten years, online education programs in the U.S. have grown from 50 to 5.5 million. The Republic chronicles how different teachers have adjusted to online instruction, and how they build relationships with their students.
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D.C. students return to school under changes implemented by new chancellor.
The Washington Post (8/25, A1, Haynes) reports on its front page, “After a tumultuous year of unprecedented change, the fingerprints of Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee will be found all over” Washington D.C.’s “120 public schools as students return today.” This past year, Rhee closed “23 under-enrolled schools;” finalized “overhauls at 26 academically ailing schools; and” fired “150 people she considered poor performers.” The Post notes that Rhee’s success “will depend on what happens in the classroom.” Currently, Rhee “is widely expanding intervention programs for students who need help…and offerings in science, technology, art, music, gifted education, and Advanced Placement.” In addition, Rhee “is seeking a contract with the Washington Teachers’ Union that would give its members the option of making higher salaries in exchange for relinquishing tenure and seniority protections.”
According to the AP (8/25, Westley), “Rhee is convinced a motivated teacher can help even the most disadvantaged student achieve.” That belief, she said, is “shaped by three years of teaching in Baltimore.” Rhee explained, “We drove the kids relentlessly and they achieved.” The AP notes that “recent test scores show the number of [D.C.] schools making adequate progress in math and reading under the federal No Child Left Behind law increased from 31 to 47.” While “some say the credit lies with reforms by Rhee’s predecessor, Clifford Janey, who now leads the schools in Newark, N.J., Rhee attributes the change to a culture of accountability.”
Law & Policy
Truant Texas students to be tracked with GPS anklets.
The AP (8/23, White) reported that court authorities in San Antonio, Texas, “will be able to track students with a history of” truancy “under a new program requiring them to wear ankle bracelets with Global Positioning System (GPS) monitoring.” Linda Penn, a Bexar County justice of the peace, said that she expects approximately 50 students “from four San Antonio-area school districts” to “wear the anklets during the six-month pilot program” announced last week. “Penn said students in the program will wear the ankle bracelets full-time and will not be able to remove them.” According to the AP, “Penn will target truant students with gang affiliations, those with a history of running away and skipping school, and those who have been through her court multiple times.” Penn said, “Students and parents must understand that attending school is not optional. … When they fail to attend school, they are breaking the law.” The AP noted that the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas said that the program “raises privacy concerns.”
Safety & Security
Violence in Pennsylvania schools increases.
The Philadelphia Inquirer (8/23, Hardy, Graham) reported, “Violence and other serious incidents in Pennsylvania schools jumped statewide by 13.1 percent in 2006-07, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s annual school safety report, released yesterday.” The report also revealed that Philadelphia had 20 persistently dangerous schools in 2007-2008, up from 12 such schools in 2006-2007. In addition, “Philadelphia…also had a six percent jump in serious incidents for the latest school year.” The Inquirer noted that of the 82,267 “incidents of misconduct and 12,918 arrests reported to the state in 2006-07, about two-thirds were serious offenses.” And although “the number of assaults on students…fell,” over a one-year period, “the number of aggravated assaults on staff increased. Pennsylvania DOE spokeswoman Shiela Ballen attributed the increased rates to “a push by the department for more accurate figures from school districts.”
Facilities
Massachusetts district to remove lead paint from school exterior.
The Boston Globe (8/24, Travaglini) reported that Winchester schools board of selectmen voted “to accept a $298,000 bid from Environmental Restorations Inc. to remove lead paint from the exterior of the Muraco Elementary School before the Sept. 3 start of the school year.” Parents have expressed concern “over work left undone posing health risks to staff and students,” as the school “was in poor condition, with peeling paint hanging from the entryway and around its windows.” Town Manager Melvin Klecker has “said [that] the town would pay the contractor out of the existing operating and capital projects accounts and consider replenishing a portion of those funds from the reserve fund.”
Also in the News
Experts say parents accompanying children to school should balance “support and suffocation.”
ABC News (8/22, Childs, Chitale) reported that “many parents remain unsure as to whether they’re doing more good than harm when tagging along with their kid for the first day of class.” According to child-development experts, “while parental accompaniment can be important in making a child feel secure at school, parents must be very careful to strike a balance between support and suffocation.” One expert said, “Going to school by yourself is an important developmental step for children.” He cautioned parents that “hanging on too tightly can send a message that you don’t think the child can do it on his or her own.” Jan Harp Domene, the national president of the Parent Teacher Association, urged parents of young children “to institute a five-minute limit on the first day, staying only long enough to ensure that their child is settled in.”
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School phobia experienced by about five percent of students.
The Houston Chronicle (8/25, Radcliffe) reports that “roughly five percent of youngsters experience” school phobia “at some point in their academic careers, struggling for at least two weeks to attend or remain at school.” According to experts, “pre-teens starting at new campuses are especially susceptible” to the condition, also known as “school refusal” or “school avoidance.” Experts describe school phobia as an anxiety-based condition, “where a child gets anxious at the idea of going to school. It may manifest itself in a physical way, stomach pains, leg pains.” And, “in some cases…the condition becomes so severe that” a child may “refuse to do homework, dawdle getting ready in the morning, or throw tantrums.” Sargent suggests that “children with chronic complaints…be taken to a pediatrician to rule out any physical problems. If the doctor suspects school phobia,” solutions such as “therapy, medication, and behavior modification” could be considered.
Students struggle with new Algebra 2 exam.
Education Week (8/25, Cavanagh) reported, “Students across the country struggled with advanced algebra on a first-of-its-kind test in that subject, according to a report to be released this week by Achieve.” The nonprofit organization is “part of the American Diploma Project Network, an effort among two-thirds of the nation’s states to align standards, tests, and graduation requirements.” The Algebra 2 exam was developed by the organization in cooperation with a number of states, and “is designed to be a demanding exam,” its authors say. As a result, “scores from the 12 participating states were low. North Carolina’s students earned the highest average of percentage points correct, 35 percent.” Organization officials “cautioned against reading too much into individual states’ results, which they said could be affected by several factors.” But “even so,” they said, “it’s a big reminder of how much further we have to go.”
California mathematicians dispute traditional role of teaching algebra. The San Francisco Chronicle (8/25, Tucker) reported that in July, the California “Board of Education decided every eighth-grader must have a healthy dose of algebra.” While critics attacked the decision “as failing to recognize the lack of qualified math teachers and the high failure rate for the middle school students already taking it,” supporters pointed out that “algebra improves critical thinking, is the gateway to college and puts all kids, regardless of income or ethnicity, on the path to a good career.” Keith Devlin, Stanford University researcher and mathematics professor, explained that algebra has many uses, but state “schools don’t always do a very good job teaching it.” He argued that “instead of showing students the possibilities and beauty algebra offers,” schools “ultimately steer frustrated and bored students away from math and the 21st century careers that use it.” Former University of California-Santa Cruz mathematician Paul Lockhart “believes today’s schools have killed the fun part.” He “favors self-discovery in math, letting students” solve “problems like a fun puzzle rather than learning and solving equations for no apparent reason.”
In the Classroom
Ten NYC schools pilot new early literacy program.
The New York Times (8/26, B3, Gootman) reports that New York City Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein has launched a “pilot program that would overhaul the way children in 10 city schools are taught to read. … Called the New York City Core Knowledge Early Literacy Project, it will run for three years, following kindergartners at the 10 schools through the first and second grades.” According to the Times, the pilot program will involve approximately 1,000 children and “represents a shift from the Bloomberg administration’s longstanding approach to teaching children to read, known as ‘balanced literacy.’ Under that approach, children are encouraged to select books that interest them, at their own reading levels, from classroom libraries.” However, the Core Knowledge curriculum “is heavily focused on content, vocabulary skills and nonfiction books, based on the belief that when students struggle in middle school and beyond, it is largely because they lack basic knowledge in subjects like history, science and literature.”
Some D.C.-area schools face issues at start of school year.
In a front-page story, the Washington Post (8/26, A1, Hernandez) reports on the first day of classes for many Washington-area public schools. “Like others nationwide, they are trying to meet steadily rising academic requirements under the No Child Left Behind law, close achievement gaps between students of different races and economic groups, and deal with tighter budgets caused by the economic slowdown.” The article profiles a school that “reflects the challenges and possibilities of teaching in” Maryland’s Prince George’s County. “More than 90 percent of the school’s 440 students come from families poor enough to qualify for meal subsidies.” Further, “about 85 percent of them are Hispanic,” and “about 57 percent have limited English skills.” The school also faces issues with truancy and graduation rates, as well as “the financial woes brought on by the national economic slowdown.” Despite these issues, “the school met state testing goals for the past three years,” and educators say they are confident of continued success.
Parents concerned over new Rhode Island graduation standards.
The AP (8/25) reported that Rhode Island’s Education Department is pushing new standards that “would make state tests in math and English administered to 11th-graders count for one third of a student’s graduation requirements. Currently, the test counts for 10 percent.” While education officials say the measure “will make school districts work harder to support struggling students,” some parents are concerned “that the newer standards will make it more difficult to earn a diploma and boost the dropout rate.”
Arizona district shows greater AIMS progress compared to state.
Arizona’s Yuma Sun (826, Roller) reports, “The most recent results of the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) reveals Yuma high school students have shown greater rates of progress than students across the state,” district officials say. “Between 2004 and 2008, the number of” students at Yuma schools “meeting or exceeding mathematics standards increased by 34 percent, compared to Arizona’s 28 percent,” while in terms of reading scores “the increase was 28 percent compared to Arizona’s 14 percent.” District officials noted that although “increased enrollment” had led to “decreases [in] teacher-to-student time,” the schools had made progress “over the last four years,” due “in part to the Yuma Professional Learning and Networking consortium (PLAN) to maximize teacher training.” The Sun notes that PLAN “is a staff development protocol to show teachers how to get and keep students engaged in the learning concepts they present in the classroom.”
Fewer Michigan students may be graduating on time.
The AP (8/26, Martin) reports, “Michigan’s revised, lower high school graduation rates resulted in fewer schools meeting federal No Child Left Behind goals,” according to state officials. “About 80 percent of Michigan’s public schools made adequate yearly progress under the federal law for the 2007-08 report year,” a decline “from 83 percent in the 2006-07 report.” The falling rate “in part reflects the state’s revised methodology for calculating high school graduation rates.” The AP explains that, “for the first time, the rates reflect the percentage of students getting a regular diploma within the traditional four-year high school timeframe — a change required by No Child Left Behind rules. All states either have adopted or are moving toward similar methodology.” In addition to this, Michigan has “raised its scoring requirements for standardized tests,” so although “test scores were generally better in the past year, in some cases they didn’t improve enough to meet the higher standards.” The Detroit Free Press (8/25, Higgins) also reported the story.
On the Job
Nebraska districts adopting more aggressive recruitment tactics.
The AP (8/25) reported, “It can be difficult to attract new teachers to small Nebraska school districts,” particularly “for specialized positions such as music and industrial arts.” According to the Nebraska State Education Association, “state statistics show that only about half of the people…who received teaching certificates from the state in 2005 were teaching here two years later.” As a result, “superintendents have had to get more creative and aggressive” with their recruitment drives. “Many are diligent in building relationships with education departments in the state’s colleges, then relentless in pursuing the graduating students in those departments.” Some superintendents try “to determine early in the school year which of [their] teachers aren’t planning on returning, so [they] can advertise earlier and get a better crop of candidates.” Many districts also “try to develop their own teachers” by helping with professional development and encouraging bright students “to come back and teach in their hometown.”
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Law & Policy
Ohio school reports to include value-added data.
Ohio’s Plain Dealer (8/25, Stephens) reported, “This year’s district and school report cards, which will be released [today] by the Ohio Department of Education, for the first time will include a measurement known as value-added.” The value-added measurement “tracks whether a year’s worth of learning is actually happening in the course of a school year — regardless of whether a child passes a test at the end of that year.” Ohio’s value-added data is based on the reading and math scores of public-school students in grades” four through eight. The measurement “takes into account a student’s academic background and comes up with a predicted score.” But, “the most potentially explosive thing about value-added is its ability to determine which individual teachers are effective and which are not.” The Plain Dealer noted that “Ohio and just three other states — Tennessee, Pennsylvania and North Carolina — use the value-added measurement statewide.” Ohio’s Marion Star (8/25, Moore) also covered the story.
Special Needs
Pennsylvania district begins inclusive education initiative.
Pennsylvania’s Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (8/25, Panian) reported that the Greater Latrobe School District has begun an “inclusive education initiative” for its special-needs students, which it embarked on “by learning how state laws dictate the inclusion of special-needs children at public schools.” The article chronicled the integration of the first student, noting that Pennsylvania “law gives special-needs children the right to pursue an education with non-disabled peers in regular schools and classrooms.” However, currently the state “ranks 46th in least restrictive educational settings for special-needs children.” Stephen Suroviec, “executive director of The Arc of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg,” said that the state’s low ranking was not the result of “parents of special-needs children” choosing “to segregate them to keep them safer from more stringent learning environments.” Rather, Suroviec said, it is because school districts in the state “have not embraced [the law] as much as they should.”
Safety & Security
Most Pennsylvania schools are safe, report shows.
Pennsylvania’s Times News (8/25) reported, “The vast majority of Pennsylvania’s public school students continue to attend schools that are safe places to learn, according to the Department of Education’s latest annual school safety report.” According to the report, “less than four percent of students statewide were involved in incidents of misconduct during the 2006-07 school year and 12 Pennsylvania schools — less than one percent of all public schools in the state — were considered ‘persistently dangerous’ due to safety-related incidents.” Furthermore, “the 82,267 total reported incidents in 2006-07 involved 67,088 offenders — or 3.7 percent of all Pennsylvania students.” Also, “nearly one-third of the incidents reported were classified by schools as violations of the student code of conduct, meaning they were non-violent incidents that did not rise to the level of any other reportable offense.”
Parents have mixed reactions to Texas district’s teachers carrying guns in school.
In continuing coverage from a previous edition of The Opening Bell, the AP (8/26) reports, “Along with normal first-day jitters and excitement, students in” the Harrold school “district started school Monday wondering which teachers might be toting firearms.” Some parents said that they were unaware of the school board’s decision last fall to allow school employees “to carry concealed guns on campus until recent publicity about the school board’s policy.” Feelings about the policy varied. “Some parents said they felt their children were safer,” while “others opposed the plan, which appears to be the first of its kind nationwide.” Superintendent David Thweatt said that “each employee who wants to carry a weapon first must be approved by the board based on his or her personality and reaction to a crisis. … In addition to training required for a state concealed weapons license, they also must be trained to handle crisis intervention and hostage situations.”
School Finance
Most states report educational funding gaps, report shows.
Education Week (8/25, McNeil) reported, “Just two months ago, states had already racked up $40 billion in budget shortfalls so far this fiscal year.” That number continues to rise, and “as a result, some states, “including Alabama, Kentucky, Rhode Island, and Nevada…have made targeted cuts to certain education programs, according to a June report by the Denver-based National Conference of State Legislatures.” The report also “found that 31 states reported budget gaps, ranging from $10 million in Hawaii to $2 billion in Arizona –nearly 20 percent of that state’s general-fund budget.” Education Week noted that for schools, “the problem isn’t just with revenue, but [also] with inflation…as the price of everything from fuel and clothing to food and textbooks is increasing.” Meanwhile, “officials point out that…while” some states “have been hit particularly hard by the housing market slump, energy-rich states such as Alaska and Wyoming are profiting from high fuel prices and socking away billions of dollars in reserves.”
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Fewer families offering to host foreign exchange students.
In continuing coverage from a previous edition of The Opening Bell, the AP (8/25) reported, “With many families cutting back on vacations and restaurant meals in tight times, some who might have willingly taken in a foreign exchange student are opting out until the economy improves.” As a result, some exchange programs have “found new ways to recruit hosts,” while “others have reduced the number of foreign teenagers they accepted.” For example, the Forte International Exchange Association “brought 60 high school students to American public schools in the United States last year including a few in the Portland (Ore.) area — and had planned to bring 75 this year, but with a shortage of host families, they capped applications at 40.” AYUSA International, on the other hand, “will host its usual 1,500 high school students this year.” Group director Sherry Carpenter “said the group concentrates on areas without severe economic problems,” and added that “area representatives explain costs upfront.”