Record numbers of students participating in sports, survey indicates.
The AP (9/5) reports, “Participation in high school sports in the United States rose to a record 7.4 million last year,” with 54.8 percent of students engaged in some sport, according to a survey by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).” This is “the 19th straight year” the NFHS survey “has shown an increase.” Officials noted, however, that “the actual numbers of boys and girls were less than the participation totals…because some played multiple sports and were counted more than once.” The AP noted that, among boys, football was the most popular sport, followed by basketball and outdoor track and field. Among girls, basketball was the most popular, “followed by outdoor track and field” and volleyball. “The biggest [participation] increase for boys was in lacrosse,” while “competitive spirit squads gained the most participants among girls.”
In the Classroom
Few eligible students applying for Washington state scholarships.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (9/4, Blanchard) reported, “More than 56,000 Washington middle-schoolers qualify for a new scholarship that would give them a free ride at a state college,” according to the state’s Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB). “College Bound Scholarships are open to any middle-school student in a low-income home or foster care.” Under the scholarships, if students “maintain at least a 2.0 grade point average through high school and stay out of trouble with the law,” then “the state will pay for up to four years of tuition and books at any accredited public or private college, community college or vocational/technical program in Washington.” But, the HECB noted, “only about 16,500 of 56,000 eligible students statewide have applied” to participate in the scholarship program. “State and local officials are hoping to boost those figures over the next year by encouraging students to apply and touting the program’s benefits, such as help with choosing coursework in middle and high school to prepare for college.”
Virginia test results show students’ math skills trail reading.
In a front-page story in its Virginia section, the Washington Post (9/4, VA1, Chandler) reported that “Virginia test results released last week showed rising scores in reading and math in Fairfax County and a skewed trajectory, as students’ literacy skills outpaced their computational abilities.” The Post described the difference as “not dramatic. In spring, 92 percent of students passed the state’s Standards of Learning reading exams, compared with 87 percent in math. But in middle school, the gap was wider.” The Post explained that “in grades six and seven, more than 90 percent of students passed reading tests. Meanwhile, 75 percent of sixth-graders and 72 percent of seventh-graders passed the math tests.” Fairfax School Superintendent Jack D. Dale said, “Math pass rates are not up to where they should be.” Dale acknowledged that “the school system’s goal of getting students to take Algebra I by eighth grade should help math departments ‘plan backward’ and strengthen instruction and curriculum leading to middle school.”
North Dakota school employs dropout prevention program.
North Dakota’s Williston Herald (9/4, Kliner) reported that Williston Public Schools “are the first in the state to use the Jobs for America’s Graduates program to help reduce the district’s dropout rate.” The school-to-career program aims to provide students with work-based learning experiences while helping them graduate. Williston High School teacher Luanna Fisketjon said, “When I was hired last year, we were concerned about the dropout rate, and we started looking at some different solutions to help us.” The school “explored the options of the JAG program, which is specifically tailored to students who ‘slip through the cracks.’” Fisketjon said that she thinks “a lot of kids that slip through the cracks are not in extracurricular organizations” or in “sports because of home lives, or whatever their situation.” She acknowledged that JAG is “not really for kids at high risk.” According to the Herald, “Students must have a certain number of barriers, or risk factors, to qualify for the program.”
Pennsylvania district expands methods for teaching environmentalism.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (9/4, Sostek) reported, “Where environmental correctness used to involve a basic recycling program or an outdoor education class, districts now are coming up with programs, practices,” and “curriculums…that emphasize environmental awareness.” For instance, Pennsylvania’s Mt. Lebanon School District last year “expanded its recycling program…as part of a student-led initiative.” Third-grade teacher Adam Humes said that students got so involved in the recycling program that they “sometimes booed classmates who threw away paper in the trash can rather than the recycling bin.” Also, this summer, a “group of elementary school teachers” in Mt. Lebanon brainstormed “ways to infuse environmentalism into the existing science curriculum.” One idea was to “include a lesson on recycling, which could carry over into other subject areas,” in the “standard second-grade unit on ‘changes.’”
Indiana students to take standardized test twice this year.
Kentucky’s Courier-Journal (9/4, Kaukas) reported that because of “Indiana’s transition from a decade of fall testing to a new system of administering” the Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress (ISTEP) “only in the spring,” Indiana students will take the ISTEP twice this year. “The change, adopted in the hope that spring tests will be a better indicator of student achievement, reflects how important such yardsticks have become in evaluating U.S. schools,” the Courier-Journal noted. “The fall ISTEP…takes between 4.5 and 6.5 hours to complete,” and “tests students on what they learned the previous year.” On the other hand, the “spring ISTEP, which will be about as long…will gauge students on what they’ve learned during the current school year leading to exam time.” Although some educators are concerned “that giving ISTEP twice” takes away from instructional time, others “see advantages to spring over fall for testing,” and consider the one-time “doubling up on the exams” to be “an unavoidable necessity.”
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Virginia community college to offer nanotechnology technician training program.
Virginia’s Star-Tribune (9/5) reports that Danville Community College (DCC) and Luna Innovations Inc. of Roanoke, “have entered into a partnership to provide nanotechnology technician training to Southside Virginia residents.” According to the Star-Tribune, the “partnership is being funded through a three-year, $638,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).” This new “nanotechnology track will be part of DCC’s Advanced Manufacturing Technology program, which currently offers Associate of Applied Science degrees in manufacturing engineering technology and polymer manufacturing technology.” The Star-Tribune points out that “both degree tracks were developed under prior funding from the” NSF, and now, DCC students will be able to “earn AAS degrees in the Nanotechnology Technician track.”
Achievement gap between lowest, highest performing students in California narrows, report indicates.
California’s Sacramento Bee (9/4) reported, “The achievement gap between the state’s lowest performing students and their typically high-performing peers has narrowed, according [to] school accountability measures released today.” California’s 2007-08 Accountability Progress Report “includes results from the state accountability system — the Academic Performance Index (API) — and the federal accountability system — Adequate Yearly Progress and Program Improvement (PI).” The API results “show some narrowing of the achievement gap between students who are white or Asian and their peers who are African American, Hispanic, or learning the English language.” Specifically, “the 2008 API report shows that African American students statewide increased their API this year by 14 points. Hispanic students increased by 17 points, while white students increased by 10 points and English-learner students increased by 14 points.”
On the Job
Missouri teachers groups express concern over bonus proposal.
The AP (9/5, Lieb) reports, “Missouri teachers groups are expressing some concern about a proposal to entice more teachers into the math and science fields with annual bonuses.” Kenny Hulshof, the Republican gubernatorial candidate, “has proposed bonuses of $15,000 over five years, with the goal of getting 1,500 new math and science teachers into the classroom.” In response to the proposal, lobbyists for both “the Missouri National Education Association (MNEA) and Missouri State Teachers Association (MSTA)…said that there could be dissension within schools if teachers of certain subjects get more money than others.” But even so, the organizations “are split on whether” the idea is “worth pursuing.” The MSTA has said that it “could support Hulshof’s plan as a step toward a general improvement in teacher recruitment and retention,” while the MNEA said it “still would have concerns about a statewide bonus plan for math and science teachers.”
Arkansas educators learn about new ethics code.
Arkansas’s Morning News (9/5, Flowers) reports, “Standards in a state teachers’ code of ethics are vague and won’t be clarified until a licensing board holds hearings or lawsuits are filed in court,” according to Bob Gettino, “Zone 1 director for the Arkansas Education Association.” The new code of ethics “requires teachers to maintain standards of professional conduct, to not use or possess drugs or tobacco on school property and to keep test scores and student performance confidential.” During a presentation to educators, “Gettino advised teachers to…read the district’s personnel policies and the student policies, to know what is allowed and what is not.” He also pointed out that “teachers following discipline and personnel policies cannot lose their licenses or be fined by the Professional Licensure Standards Board (PLSB).” However, Gettino noted that “any complaint filed with [the PLSB] is open under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act…so teachers may get bad publicity whether the complaint is found true or not.”
Law & Policy
Indiana to cover student PSAT costs.
The AP (9/5, Martin) reports, “The Indiana Department of Education said Thursday it would pay the fee for students to take the Preliminary SAT, or PSAT.” According to the Education Department, “the state’s newly negotiated contract with the College Board, which owns the test, gives Indiana a discounted rate of $10.40 per test, as well as professional development opportunities for educators.” The reduced cost “allows the department to offer free tests to all sophomores and juniors without spending more than $1.8 million.” The testing is “paid for with savings from Indiana’s revamped statewide testing system.”
Indiana’s Journal Gazette (9/5) notes, “Fewer than half of Indiana sophomores and juniors took the PSAT last year,” Education Department figures show. Indiana’s Star Press (9/4) and Journal & Courier (9/4) also reported the story.
Facilities
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California district partners with city to increase recycling.
California’s San Jose Mercury News (9/4, Doolittle) reported on the Union School District (USD), which has partnered “with the city of San Jose” to become “the first district in the San Jose area to go green.” The USD “will recycle 70 percent of its waste in recycling bins and composting containers provided by the city,” and will also “recycle all cans, bottles and cardboard and compost all food services, paper plates and food waste, lessening the amount of waste going into landfills.” The Mercury News noted, “The city is subsidizing the district program, with a goal of breaking even or saving money” by reducing garbage “hauling costs.” Under the USD’s plan, “each school will have a team made up of teachers, students and parents that will be in charge of training students to recycle at stations set up around campus.”
Technology allows greater transparency for parents.
The Los Angeles Times (9/5, Semuels) reports that “technology is helping eliminate some of the guesswork about what happens after kids climb onto the bus,” and these programs “are gaining popularity as more parents demand transparency in schools.” For example, by the 2009-10 school year, the Los Angeles Unified School District will offer “a program called MealpayPlus to let parents see what their children are eating for lunch.” The program will allow parents to “go online and add money to their child’s account,” as well as “flag foods that their child is allergic to, and elect whether their child could buy only meals or could buy items not in the meal plan.” Another program applies “a similar idea to grading and attendance,” and allows “parents to see what subjects their child needs to improve in,” among other things. Some critics argue that “some programs give parents too much control,” but advocates say that the programs foster “timely communication.”
Also in the News
Educator gives advice on suspending students.
In the Neighbors column of Canada’s Calgary Herald (9/4), Donna Gray wrote, “Unruly behavior isn’t uncommon in kids, especially growing teens, but tantrums, bad habits, and even violent acts can be scary for teachers and fellow students. To diffuse such situations, administrators may be forced to suspend a child or expel them altogether.” Anne Sherman, “vice-dean at the University of Calgary’s faculty of education,” said that, even though “every student is required to comply with a school’s particular social, academic, and behavioral expectations…sometimes, those goals need some flexibility.” Regarding what days suspensions should be scheduled for, Sherman noted that, if a “suspension comes before a long weekend, or starts on a Friday,” student may consider it “a holiday” rather than “a punishment.” Therefore, she suggested that suspensions “begin on a Monday, which forces the child to come to school.” Sherman added “that in-school suspensions offer a better opportunity for a student to reflect” than out-of-school suspensions.
Researchers testing method to counter cheating.
The Hartford Courant (9/8, Merritt) reported on Jason Stephens, “an assistant professor of educational psychology at the University of Connecticut,” who “thinks he has an answer for what he describes as a cheating epidemic.” Focusing on six schools, Stephens and a partner from The School for Ethical Education “have been meeting once every two weeks with a small group of students and teachers to craft their own academic integrity policy,” which could eventually “include a combination of an honor code, a public awareness campaign about the importance of academic honesty, and setting consequences for cheating.” As the project progresses, “Stephens plans to hold professional development workshops for teachers to show them ways they can deter cheating by creating an environment that stresses learning and mastery of the subject over test scores and high grades.” Additionally, Stephens “plans to work directly with students to teach them about the psychological mechanisms that allow them to justify cheating.”
In the Classroom
More Arizona students attending school online.
The Arizona Daily Star (9/8, Bodfield) reported, “Arizona has been operating schools without walls for a decade now, with almost 27,500 students last year attending programs approved in seven districts and seven charter schools.” In the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) alone, the online learning program “has about 600 students signed up.” Stuart Baker, “TUSD’s principal of distance learning,” noted that “students likely will experience some form of online learning in postsecondary education, so early exposure is helpful.” He added, “Virtual education is the wave of the future. It’s exploding everywhere, and it’s being looked to as a real way to deliver education quickly and efficiently to kids all over the world.”
Number of homeless Minneapolis students is growing.
Minnesota’s Star Tribune (9/8, Relerford) reported, “The number of students who are homeless or constantly on the move is growing, prompting schools to work harder to identify them and make sure they stay in school.” According to estimates, “about 5,500 of [Minneapolis'] 35,000 students — about one out of six — are homeless or lack permanent housing at some point during the school year,” an increase of “18 percent over the year before.” Further, “roughly 80 percent of Minneapolis’ homeless kids spend at least part of the year in local shelters, while others jump between motels, homes of friends or relatives and other temporary homes.” Similarly, experts noted, “the Chicago district, more than 10 times the size of Minneapolis’, experienced a 35 percent increase from 2002 to 2007.” In response, Minneapolis educators “have recently been trained to watch for students who hoard food or wear the same outfit for several days, both signs of homelessness.” Officials say that “Minneapolis is one of the best districts nationally for screening students for homelessness.”
Data indicate sex education may have little impact on teen pregnancy.
USA Today (9/9, Jayson) reports, “Sex education may not have the influence that many assume in averting teen pregnancy,” according to “new international data that find U.S. teens have babies at much higher rates than peers in many countries, regardless of the sex education received in those countries.” Sociologist Julien Teitler of Columbia University noted that “Finland and the Netherlands, for example, have a history of comprehensive sex education,” while “there’s almost no sex education in Greece, Italy and Ireland.” Even so, “teen birth rates are much lower in all those countries than the USA’s 42 births per 1,000 women ages 15-19.” USA Today notes, “Teitler’s figures, 2005-06 vital statistics and birth data from a dozen countries will update a study he conducted on 1960-95 data published in 2002 in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.”
Some California educators employing electronic “student response devices.”
California’s Riverside Press Enterprise (9/8, Klampe) reported that some educators in Inland Empire, California “are passing out electronic devices in their classrooms this year to encourage student engagement and get instant feedback on lessons.” The devices “can be used for just about any subject and at any grade level for true/false, multiple choice or even hand-keyed answers using a keypad,” and “connect to the teacher’s computer as well as to an interactive white board that can display questions for the entire class to see.” Further, the devices “allow two-way communication, so teachers can create customized test questions for individual students or send a quick message to remind a student to stay on track.” Some educators that employ such technology in their classrooms say the devices help to “ensure that all…students are engaged in a lesson and understand it.” Others, however, say that “student-response devices” promote guessing over the application of knowledge, and recommend “Web-based resources and concept-mapping tools” instead.
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Georgia initiative provides frequent assessment of kindergartners.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (9/8, Dodd) reported on the Georgia Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (GKIDS) initiative, which “replaces the traditional tri-annual pencil and paper test used in the past by Georgia kindergarten teachers to rate students. The upgrade means more frequent assessments and academic rigor for five- and six-year-olds in kindergarten.” The tests “can be performed in the areas of English/language arts, mathematics, approaches to learning, personal and social development, social studies, science and motor skills.” And, “educators say the yearlong evaluations should provide a more accurate picture of what a kindergartner knows because they are done over time.” According to Robert Schaeffer of Fair Test, the assessments have “the potential to give more immediate feedback to the teacher without having the high-stakes emotional baggage for little kids.” The Journal-Constitution added that “most times, kindergartners being assessed have no idea,” and “the evaluations can be done as they work on group tasks or go it alone.”
On the Job
New York teachers receive lessons in classroom management.
New York’s Westchester Journal News (9/8, Weiner) reported that in Thiells, New York, “only about a third of the brand new teachers standing in front of a classroom have any training in handling student behavior.” To rectify this, area middle and high school teachers attended classroom management classes with James Gilbert, a “staff developer with the Rockland Teachers’ Center Institute.” Gilbert “outlined the three characteristics of effective teachers — good classroom” management skills, “positive expectations,” and a knowledge of “how to deliver instruction.” He added that “the most important element in their classrooms, after themselves, was consistency.” Gilbert also specifically addressed “problem students: how to recognize them, the reactions they evoke and possible ways of dealing with them.” Gilbert then “outlined strategies to deal with these children, from moving a child to another desk to sending them to a time-out room.” The Journal News noted, “Much of his advice is distilled from his own experience, but much comes from authors he recommended, Harry and Rosemary Wong and Jane Nelson.”
Montana teachers move to Wyoming for better pay.
The AP (9/8) reported that “more than 400 teachers from Montana…have signed on to teach in Wyoming’s booming education industry in the past few years. The trend has school districts across the state — particularly in low-paying, rural districts — nervous about their ability to continue recruiting new teachers.” The AP noted that “the overall budget for K-12 education in Wyoming is about $1.2 billion this year, compared with approximately $704 million in Montana.” However, “Montana has approximately 140,000 students enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grades, while Wyoming has 85,000 students. That means Montana spends about $5,000 per student, while Wyoming forks out more than $14,000 per student.” Because Wyoming’s Supreme Court in 1995 “called for education to be a ‘fundamental right’…an additional $150 million to $200 million” is now “spent annually on education” in the state. According to the Professional Teaching Standards Board in Wyoming, “416 licensed educators…earned their education degree at a Montana university.”
Study indicates Alabama mentoring program increased new teacher retention.
Alabama’s Montgomery Advertiser (9/8, Klass) reported, “Alabama’s new teacher mentoring program has helped beginning teachers get their start and convinced many to remain in the classroom,” according to Gov. Bob Riley (R). “All 2,900 beginning teachers in Alabama last school year were assigned veteran teachers to serve as their mentors through the program, which was funded at almost $4 million its first year.” A survey of the results found that “84.2 percent of first-year teachers thought their mentor was ‘Important’ or ‘Extremely Important’ to their ‘successful induction into the teaching profession.” A similar percentage “indicated that their mentors provided extensive ‘insights and strategies for classroom organization and management.’” Further, the Advertiser noted, the program “helped reduce the number of first-year teachers leaving the profession.”
Law & Policy
DOE promotes use of special education funding for early intervention services.
Education Week (9/8, Samuels) reported, “Bit by bit, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) is trying to pull down the walls that have traditionally separated general and special education.” To that end, the DOE has recently focused on early-intervening services, such as “response to intervention” (RTI), “an educational technique that bolsters the skills of academically struggling students before they fall so far behind that they need special education services.” These “services are not intended for students in special education, but for those who need extra support for academic or behavioral success.” Yet, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act allows states to use “up to 15 percent of the money they receive from the federal government for special education” for “coordinated, comprehensive early-intervening services,” as long as they “make up the decrease in the special education budget through another source.” According to Education Week, the DOE “promotes this option as a win-win proposition: General education can benefit by programs aimed at reducing academic and behavioral problems.”
Safety & Security
Chicago schools, police increase security to protect students from street violence.
The Chicago Tribune (9/9, Sadovi) reports, “Faced with the first two killings of Chicago Public Schools students this academic year, officials from the district and the city’s Police Department on Monday unveiled beefed-up safety initiatives designed to help reduce the number of students injured or killed in street violence.” The measures include “increasing the number of police at schools where violence is brewing to offer ‘safe passage’ to and from schools,” increasing the number of patrols near “bus and train transfer spots,” and “introducing a new cell phone text option to give students at 10 pilot schools a way to secretly text police about concerns at their school or neighborhoods.” Students “from any school in the city may text a tip to the police.” Meanwhile, the school district has “increased the number of surveillance cameras” this year.
WBBM-TV Chicago (9/8, 4:11pm, CT), a CBS affiliate, reported that if the Txt2Tip “pilot program is successful it eventually could be implemented in all 125 Chicago public high schools. Similar text message programs have already been set up by about 50 police departments in about fifty cities around the country.”
Facilities
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North Carolina district using GPS to track buses, students.
The AP (9/8) reported that Union Elementary School in Shallotte, North Carolina, “is using a global positioning system to keep track of buses bringing students to class.” Additionally, students will be given cards to scan as they board the buses, in order “to provide an electronic head count.”
North Carolina’s Star News (9/8, Ribeiro) noted that the system “will indicate whether the buses are early, on time, late or stationary, whether they’re speeding and how many miles they’ve traveled.” And, “if there’s an accident or the bus breaks down, the driver presses a panic button that alerts the school’s transportation department, and it dispatches emergency personnel or mechanics.” While the “live tracking system” has cost the school system $300,000 so far, school officials noted that, “by seeing the routes the buses actually travel, the staff will be able to make them more efficient.” The Star News added that Union Elementary is “test-driving the live tracking system this year, and the Brunswick County school district expects to gradually expand the program to its other schools.”
Florida district tests lunch menu items suggested by parents.
Florida’s St. Petersburg Times (9/8, Solocheck) reported, “This year, the Pasco school district added several new options to the lunch menu at the request, primarily, of adults who said that’s what their children want. New items include a hummus platter, a cottage cheese platter, a Caribbean shrimp and rice bowl, and a Miami pork rice bowl.” Yet, “in the first two weeks of school, those offerings haven’t attracted many takers.” While “students purchased 13,220 individual five-inch pizzas in…two weeks,” only “316 yogurt platters” were sold. “The shrimp bowl did slightly better with 1,533 sold.” Still, “School district food and nutrition planners are counting on kids’ willingness to try new things before they completely give up on any menu option. They plan to assess sales after a couple more weeks to determine whether some items can viably remain on the menu.” In addition to “student comments and sales…nutritional values of the weekly offerings” will also help determine which items stay on the menu.
NEA in the News
NEA recognizes Arizona district for teacher mentoring program.
The Arizona Republic (9/9, Scott) reports, “The Paradise Valley Unified School District (PVUSD) was recently nationally recognized for its efforts to keep young teachers in the district. Despite being in a state with inadequate school funding, National Education Association leaders said, the district, along with the Paradise Valley Education Association, developed a mentoring program for new teachers that has made retaining teachers easier.” Under the program, PVUSD teachers “meet with their mentors several times a month for instructional coaching, collaborations, one-on-one conferences and other methods to improve student achievement.” The article also contains a short interview with Julie Salley, director of professional development for the district