NEA Updates and Information
More foreign teachers being hired to ease shortages.
The AP (9/14) reported that “school administrators throughout the U.S. are plucking from an abundance of skilled international teachers, a burgeoning import that critics call shortsighted but educators here and abroad say meets the needs of students and qualified candidates.” Although the U.S. Department of Education “doesn’t monitor how many foreigners are working in American classrooms,” an official noted that “a federal survey released in May confirmed the dearth of math and science teachers.” And according to an estimate from the National Education Association, five years ago “up to 10,000 foreigners already were teaching U.S. students in primary and secondary schools, mainly to fill vacancies in math, science, foreign languages and special education.” The AP noted, “Critics view the international teacher market as a quick fix that can frustrate students and foreign hires alike,” in part because both sides suffer from a “communication gap.” Proponents of the practice, in turn, point out “that international teachers typically have a higher level of subject expertise in the classroom and can expose young students to a new culture.”
In the Classroom
Schools giving increased attention to freshmen classes.
The Los Angeles Times (9/15, Mehta) reports that “secondary schools across the nation…are increasingly sheltering their freshmen in small learning communities or sometimes on separate campuses.” Educators say that “ninth grade is crucial to a student’s eventual academic success,” noting that if students “don’t connect well in ninth grade, they tend to disappear in 10th.” As a result, schools have implemented “various strategies for first-year students, including assigning them mentors, creating summer programs to ease their transitions and giving them extra time to acclimate to life on campus.” And “now, educators are…giving the newcomers their own learning environments.” Proponents of the strategy say that “isolating…freshmen helps them avoid pressure from older students,” and also permits educators “to focus on a single age group.” The Times notes that, since “most districts do not have the luxury of building new schools…they are creating small learning communities, in which groups of freshmen share a set of teachers and are often housed in a separate part of the campus.”
Schools strive to integrate required Constitutional studies.
The Washington Post (9/15, B2, Strauss) reports, “Schools across the country are mobilizing Wednesday to mark the 1787 signing of” the U.S. Constitution. Past research has indicated “that most Americans know very little about the document.” Because of this, “in 2004, Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), a constitutional expert, decided to beef up education about the Constitution” through legislation “that required all schools that receive federal funds…to provide a program on the Constitution each year on or about Sept. 17.” As a result, “across the country, state education agencies are distributing lesson plans and materials to schools.” Some critics, however, say the program “will do little or nothing to renew the civic mission of public schools” because of its brief impact on students’ studies. They argue that “the real way to teach constitutional principles…is to weave them into daily life.”
Utah school institutes dance participation regulations.
The AP (9/13) reported that school officials at Bountiful High School in Utah “are instituting dance participation regulations that ban dance moves considered vulgar or inappropriate,” and “also set standards for dress, including banning anything too tight, short or low-cut.” The school has asked “students and parents…to sign an agreement to follow the rules,” and “students who don’t sign won’t be allowed at school dance events.” The AP noted, “If a student signs and then breaks the rules, they can be sent home.”
The Salt Lake Tribune (9/12, Fulton) noted, “Dress codes set forth by Utah school districts are not new. High schools typically meet with community councils and local PTA boards to discuss ways to regulate and enforce student attire and behavior.” KSL-TV Salt Lake City (9/12, Callan, Jeppesen) also reported the story.
Interactive whiteboards thought to have positive impact on academics.
Newsweek (9/13, Philips) reported, “At schools fortunate enough to have them, interactive whiteboards are a blessing for educators struggling to engage a generation of students weaned on the Web.” Research considering “the efficacy of touch-screens in U.S. classrooms is inconclusive, but promising. Multiple recent studies suggest that the devices boost attendance rates and classroom participation.” For instance, “ever since Dorchester School District 2 in Summerville, S.C., installed 1,200 interactive boards in its classrooms, disciplinary incidents” have gone down, according to Superintendent Joe Pye. Also, according to Newsweek, students in classrooms with interactive whiteboards “made the equivalent of five months’ additional progress in math.” But, only 16 percent of “all primary and secondary classrooms” in the U.S. “have interactive whiteboards,” compared to 70 percent of classrooms in the U.K.
Projects link K-12, postsecondary schools to improve STEM education.
Education Week (9/12, Cavanagh) reported on a program at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany, which is designed to improve students’ performance on introductory STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) courses, “the foundations” of STEM degrees. “University officials are now moving to help those college newcomers with increased tutoring and mentoring.” Further, they plan to begin “counseling high school students and families about the potential benefits of a math or science major — and what the expectations are for studying those subjects at the college level.” SUNY “is just one of many postsecondary institutions that have sought to forge stronger bonds with K-12 schools in their communities as a strategy for increasing the flow of students majoring in math and science and completing degrees.” Such programs “include not only outreach to students and parents, but also preparing students academically for college math and science, recruitment programs, and the immersion of high schoolers in independent, postsecondary-style research projects.”
Texas considers more academic credits for athletic participation.
Texas’s Star-Telegram (9/15, Jinkins) reports on “a potentially controversial proposal” that “would allow student athletes in Texas public high schools to earn a maximum four academic credits for athletic participation rather than the two they may now earn.” The two additional credits would count as electives. Advocates of the proposal argue that it “would put athletes on par with students who participate in other credit-earning activities, such as band and choir.” Critics, on the other hand, “say that rule would give athletes an unfair advantage in grade-point average rankings, since those students might earn a higher average in their team sports courses than, for example, an honors student might earn for tackling an advanced science course.” Texas’s State Board of Education “is scheduled to discuss the proposal during their meeting” later this week.
New York public school takes private school approach to education.
On the front page of its Westchester section, the New York Times (9/14, WE1, Charkes) reported on the Palisade Preparatory School in Yonkers, “a school district with a history of financial woes and uneven academic achievement, but one whose standing administrators are hoping to boost by providing a private school approach in a public school setting.” The school “is one of 17 schools in the state” that have partnered with the College Board and several foundations and are seeking to send every attending student to college. The partnership “comes with specific requirements for class size, curriculum, teacher training and monitoring.” Additionally, Palisade will use “designated counselors” to “provide mentoring in areas outside the academic realm.” The Times noted, “There are no academic requirements for entry at Palisade.” Instead, “enrollment is based on a system in which students put in for their top three high school choices, which administrators say provides a level playing field and buttresses their core philosophy” that “all children can achieve.”
On the Job
California project allows education students to observe live classrooms.
California’s Press-Enterprise (9/15, Regus) reports on the Innovative Learning Center at Phil Stokoe Elementary School in Riverside, which was “developed by Riverside Community College District in conjunction with Alvord Unified School District,” and “is a living laboratory where aspiring teachers can observe young students and their instructors through one-way viewing windows.” Further, the center features “cameras and ceiling microphones” that “will make it possible for the adult students to zero in on small group discussions without disrupting the class.” According to school officials, the center “not only prepares students to transfer to four-year universities to earn their teaching credentials,” but also prepares “students for careers in early-childhood education and child development.” Education students “will be able to provide video clips of their teaching along with their business cards,” and “also will learn to prepare electronic portfolios for each student including videos and digital photographs of the child’s work.”
Texas considers higher standards for alternative teacher-preparation programs.
Education Week (9/12, Honawar) reported that, in response to “a boom in providers that offer alternative routes to teacher credentials,” Texas’s board for educator certification “is calling for all candidates entering alternative teacher-preparation programs to have a minimum grade point average of 2.5, and 300 hours of training, including 30 hours of clinical experience.” Further, the “programs will also be expected to provide mentoring support to candidates.” While the proposed “standards will cover traditional teacher-preparation programs as well,” they “are not expected to affect them because most colleges and universities already have equal or stricter requirements.” Education Week noted that the “standards have yet to be approved by members of the certification board.” If passed, they would then require “approval by the state board of education.”
Law & Policy
School soft drink ban may not greatly impact children’s overall consumption, data indicate.
HealthDay (9/12, Dotinga) reported that a study conducted by the RAND Corporation suggested that “banning soft drinks in elementary schools may not make a huge difference in kids’ overall consumption of the beverages.” In recent years, the “availability of soft drinks on grade-school campuses has been a hot topic,” and a number of experts associated them with obesity. In 2003, California became “the first state to ban their sale at elementary schools.” But researcher Meenakshi M. Fernandes discovered “that fifth-graders whose elementary schools didn’t allow the sale of soft drinks consumed just four percent less overall than those children in other schools.” After analyzing “a survey of 10,215 fifth-grade students in 2,303 schools across 40 states,” Fernandes also found that “one-quarter of students who attended schools that sold soft drinks reported buying at least one a week.” Fernandes concluded that the “four-percent difference was ‘statistically significant, but’” added that she “would have expected the magnitude to be greater.’”
Special Needs
Texas district offers after-school care by trained staff for children with disabilities.
The Dallas Morning News (9/15, Anderson) reports that “a new partnership between the Arc of Dallas and McKinney” Independent School District “is bringing after-school care that is tailored to…children with disabilities.” The Adventure Club is staffed with “trained specialists.” It “is open to children with intellectual disabilities and maintains a maximum ratio of four children for each staff member.” Parents “pay about $20 a day” for the care, but “McKinney schools pick up the tab for busing participants to the appropriate school.”
Safety & Security
North Carolina schools working to help students meet vaccine requirement.
The AP (9/13) reported, “School and health officials across North Carolina are working to get” sixth grade students vaccinated with booster doses of tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis “before a [Sept. 23] deadline suspends unvaccinated students from school.” According to officials, the mandate stems from a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “after North Carolina saw an increase in pertussis, or whooping cough. The requirement took effective for the 2008-2009 school year.”
North Carolina’s Journal (9/13) noted, “Around the state, counties are offering free clinics for getting the shots.” Additionally, schools are sending letters and leaving “phone messages that warn parents” of the requirement, and have “discussed sending notices along with the weekly packets that are sent home with students.”
Facilities
Some districts regulate teacher appliances to cut utility costs.
Arizona’s East Valley Tribune (9/14, Ringle) reported, “In a continuing effort to cut energy costs, many school districts are not allowing teachers to have personal appliances in their classrooms, such as refrigerators, microwaves and coffee makers.” Other districts have “started charging teachers at the beginning of the school year for using the appliances in their classrooms.” According to an official, “state school funding increases for the last year was two percent. However, utility costs are going up five percent to 10 percent.” Because “the power that teachers’ refrigerators use is coming out of the same account as heating and lighting…districts are looking at everything and anything to keep their utility costs down.”
Also in the News
Medical community voices concern over lack of physical activity among school-aged youth.
The New York Times (9/15, H6, Parker-Pope) reports that “the health community is increasingly worried about…teenagers who quit sports as they enter high school.” This is a period when “students get busier with friends and academic pursuits.” In fact, several studies have shown that “children’s activity levels plummet between middle school and high school.” For example, one recent study found that “by the time a child is 15, daily activity falls to less than one-third of the level it was at age nine.”
The AP (9/12, Taylor) added that, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “17 percent of U.S. youngsters are obese and millions more are overweight.” But “outdoor play allows for…more vigorous movement,” child development specialist Jane Kostelc said. In addition to potentially curbing obesity rates, outdoor play “sparks creativity and observation skills.” Another New York Times (9/15, H6, Kolata) article also reports the story.
Many Texas districts remain closed in wake of hurricane.
The AP (9/17) reports, “School districts throughout Southeast Texas forced to suspend classes due to Hurricane Ike have options as recovery efforts continue. The Texas Education Agency (TEA), on its website, provided guidance Tuesday on what parents should do if their child’s school district is closed because of Ike.”
Education Week (9/16, Robelen) added, “At least 20 school districts along or near the Texas Gulf Coast — including the 200,000-student Houston school district — were closed this week…as efforts were under way to assess damage and begin the recovery process.” Schools in “some of the hardest-hit districts, such as the 8,000-student Galveston school district…faced extensive damage and were expected to be shut down for at least a month, if not longer.” The TEA “has advised families that if they’ve been temporarily displaced and are from a school district expected to reopen by next week, they should not seek to enroll in another system,” but “emphasized that the final decision was up to individual families.” A TEA spokeswoman added, “If they’re going to be somewhere for an indefinite period of time, it’s best to get the child enrolled.”
According to the Dallas Morning News (9/16, Yan), TEA officials “are still working to see what Gulf Coast school districts are dealing with.” They “sent emergency notices via email and fax to 206 school districts and charter schools asking about the status and conditions of the schools” on Sunday. But, “by midday Monday, only about 30 had responded,” in part because “power outages have been hampering communication.” Meanwhile, TEA spokeswoman DeEtta Culbertson said that the agency is relying on “parents to be the ones to make the decision [about] what to do” regarding their children’s schooling, “based on their own personal situations.”
In the Classroom
D.C. elementary school outsources recess.
On the front of its Metro section, the Washington Post (9/17, B1, Turque) reports on Clark Elementary School Principal Brearn Wright Jr.’s decision to “outsource recess. He hired Sports4Kids, an Oakland, Calif.-based nonprofit organization that introduces students to a regimen of traditional playground games, along with a more closely supervised version of such team sports as basketball.” In addition, “the program also stresses conflict resolution, with disagreements mediated by…rock-paper-scissors.” The program costs schools “about $25,000 a year,” while program creator Jill Vialet “raises the rest, about $45,000 per school, from private donors.” The money covers the cost of a site manager, “who walks students through” each activity, and training for teachers, “so they can assist the site managers.” The Post notes that “in the past two years, principals at 14 elementary and middle schools in” D.C. “have signed up with” Sports4Kids, “joining more than 160 schools in cities that include Baltimore, Boston and St. Louis.”
Number of failing New York City schools declines.
On the front of its Metro section, the New York Times (9/17, B1, Medina) reports, “The number of schools receiving A’s under New York’s much-contested grading system increased significantly this year from last in what Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said was a clear sign of success and evidence that his signature accountability program was spurring improvement at schools across the city.” However, the Times notes that “there was a discrepancy between federal and city assessments — 30 percent of the schools deemed failures under the No Child Left Behind act earned A’s from the city…while 16 of the city’s 18 failures are in good standing under the federal guidelines.”
In a series of articles about New York City’s school grades, the New York Times (9/17, B4, Kelley) reports on Public School 92, which “was the only [school] in the city to fall from an A to an F.” The New York Times (9/17, B4, Hernandez) also reports on Middle School 267, which “received an F in 2007, but won the top grade this year.”
Arizona school creates successful robotics program.
The AP (9/17) reports on the Nifty Engineering Robotics Design Squad, also known as NERDS, the robotics team at Buena High School in Sierra Vista, Arizona. The program was created by a school chemistry teacher, along with a group of mentors and students. In addition to generating “some impressive successes” in robotics competitions, including a victory in the annual FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) competition, “the club puts on demonstrations and camps for local middle school students, an effort to generate more interest in robotics, along with the science and technology that go hand-in-hand with building the projects.” The article notes that the students involved “put in long hours after school and on weekends to get” their robots completed, and also face funding issues. “The team members hold fundraisers, apply for tax credits through the school district and turn to civic organizations for the financial support they need to pay for different projects.”
Interactive desk developed.
The U.K.’s Press Association (9/17) reports on desks that “look and act like large versions of an Apple iPhone.” The desks were “created by IT experts at Durham University to improve student participation in classrooms.” According to its developers, “the interactive desk can be both a screen and a keyboard, operating as an individual work space or as a large screen allowing students to co-operate on a task.” The developers also created a “teachers’ console” that “will allow the class teacher to set work and monitor what each student is doing.” Project leader Dr. Liz Burd described the technology as a “whole classroom system” that allows teachers to “send out to the desks whatever activity they want pupils to work on. A panel on the teacher’s console will show what each of the pupils are doing, so they can offer extra instruction or support where necessary.” Burd added that “the new technology would allow teachers to send books to desks for pupils to read, or to complete exercises from.”
MCAS exams show mixed results.
The AP (9/17) reports, “Massachusetts students had their best results ever in the MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System) math exams, but that good news was tempered by falling or flat scores in English in nearly all grades.” There was also a decline “in the percentage of 10th graders who met the MCAS graduation requirement, from 87 percent who passed on the first try to 80 percent.” The article attributes “the decline…largely to a mandate, beginning with the Class of 2010, that students pass the MCAS science exam, besides both math and English.” State education officials were “positive, overall, about the scores,” but expressed concern “about the English scores, as well as an enduring achievement gap among racial groups.” The AP notes, “Eighty-seven percent of whites in the Class of 2010 and 85 percent of Asians have met MCAS requirements to earn a diploma, compared with 58 percent of blacks and 54 percent of Hispanics.”
The Boston Globe (9/16, Vaznis, Ryan) noted that the MCAS results prompted “education officials to call for a renewed focus on early literacy programs.” The Globe also pointed out that “education officials” recently “made it easier for students to earn a diploma without passing the new science MCAS test than” it is for “those who fail the math and English sections.” A set of “emergency rules” from the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education “allow students who take the science exam just once and fail to file an appeal based largely on their grades in a comparable science course. By contrast, students have to take the English and math exams three times before filing an appeal of a failing score.”
Massachusetts’s Telegram & Gazette (9/16) quoted Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester, who said that he remains “concerned about the performance of students in our lower grades.” In particular, Chester said he was “concerned about the limited English proficient students, who, at 37 percent, had the lowest passing rate on a science and technology/engineering exam.”
Increasing number of schools in New York district require students to wear uniforms.
New York’s Buffalo News (9/16, Simon) reported that “three years ago, only” one school in the Buffalo public school district “required students to wear uniforms or matching outfits. Now, 31 of 66 schools — or 47 percent of Buffalo’s classroom buildings — have those requirements.” According to the Buffalo News, that growth is fueled “by a widespread [belief] that uniforms eliminate peer pressure to wear the most trendy clothes and that students are better able to concentrate on their work when style and fashion are removed from the equation.” Still, “advocates of uniforms are careful not to oversell their impact.” Buffalo Public Schools Superintendent James A. Williams “said that uniforms foster a sense of order and cohesion but that an increase last year in student achievement resulted from strong classroom instruction and a focused curriculum, not what students were wearing.”
On the Job
Testing industry, educators wrestle with definition of formative assessment.
Education Week (9/16, Cech) reported, “There’s a war of sorts going on within the normally staid assessment industry…over the definition of a type of assessment that many educators understand in only the sketchiest fashion:” formative, or classroom, assessments. “Experts inside and outside the testing industry” say that formative assessments should “blend seamlessly into classroom instruction itself,” and argue that many “off-the-shelf commercial products labeled ‘formative assessment’” that are marketed to schools are misnomers. “It’s not just semantic consistency that’s at stake: Formative assessments are a more than half-billion-dollar business in the United States.” Some companies, however, do not offer formative assessment products, a decision based on “a 1998 research-literature review” which “concluded that the research to date showed achievement gains using formative-assessment strategies that were ‘among the largest ever reported for educational interventions.” The review stated that an “assessment becomes formative assessment when the evidence is actually used to adapt the teaching to meet student needs.”
Safety & Security
Bullying methods are no different among boys, girls, study shows.
Canada’s Toronto Star (9/16, Rushowy) reported, “Gossip, rumors, and social exclusion aren’t just used by girl bullies, says a study released today.” According to the study, led by Noel Card of the University of Arizona, “published in the latest issue of the journal Child Development,” boys also “engage in this type of bullying” — often referred to as indirect aggression