OPENING BELL FROM NEA
Panel calls for overhaul of college financial-aid system.
In The Homeroom blog of the Los Angeles Times (9/18) Gale Holland wrote that the Rethinking Student Aid study group has called for the demise of the “horribly complicated” Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form. Holland noted that the FAFSA form is “submitted by almost every student applying to college, regardless of income.” The form, however, “is so dauntingly detailed that some families are discouraged from applying before they even start,” the panel noted.
USA Today (9/19, Marklein) noted that “the group also recommends expanding and strengthening a federal student loan repayment plan that is based on the student’s income after graduation, and rewarding colleges and states that help students succeed once they enroll.” The group’s recommendations also include basing “eligibility for federal Pell Grants only on family size and adjusted gross income;” combining “all education tax credits and deductions into a single tax credit;” and replacing “the 10-year-mortgage-style loan repayment plan with a graduated plan, so that payments would rise over time along with the incomes of most borrowers.” Education Week (9/18, Cech) also reported the story.
Pell Grants face $6 billion shortfall. The New York Times (9/18, A21, Dillon, Lewin) reported that “college students are seeking federal financial aid in record numbers this year” in response to the worsening economy, “leading Bush administration officials to warn Congress that the most important federal aid program, Pell Grants, may need up to $6 billion in additional taxpayer funds next year.” According to the Department of Education, “Congress appropriated $14 billion for the grants for the current fiscal year, but because of the increase and because of accumulated shortfalls from previous years, lawmakers will need to add $6 billion in new funds next year or cut the size of the grants.” Officials say that part of the reason for the increase in federal aid applications is that nontraditional students are “returning to school to improve their job skills during the economic downturn.” Texas’s Star-Telegram (9/18) also reported aspects of the story.
NEA poll indicates college affordability a major concern. The Chronicle of Higher Education (9/18, Basken) reported, “The National Education Association is trying hard to promote the notion that college affordability will be a major factor in this year’s elections.” The association yesterday “issued poll results…that show that college affordability will be ‘an important issue’ in the November elections for 65 percent of students and 34 percent of all surveyed.” According to the Chronicle, however, “the poll didn’t make clear…how college affordability ranks as an issue among all voters, or whether the high rate of concern about college costs among college students is distinguishable from the nation’s overall economic concerns.”
In the Classroom
Educators increasingly using video games as curriculum supplements.
The Christian Science Monitor (9/19, Yusuf) reports, “In classrooms across the country, electronic games have increasingly become tools for teaching problem solving and critical thinking.” At the Seward Montessori School in Minneapolis, for example, eighth-graders in Brock Dubbels’s English class read “Homer while playing Sega’s ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ to better understand Odysseus’s quest.” Dubbels told the Monitor, “The big idea is to identify what students are already invested in, and that’s video games.” Proponents liken video game “play to the scientific method: Players enter a phenomenon that doesn’t make sense, observe problems, form hypotheses, and test them while being mindful of cause and effect.” Scot Osterweil, creative director of the Education Arcade, “a games and learning research group,” said the successful incorporation of game play into the learning process depends on “good game design and a realistic understanding of how much game play teachers can allow in their classes, given limited time and resources.”
Illinois after-school program builds math, science skills.
Illinois’s Beacon News (9/18) reported on an “after-school…enrichment program” that “was created by the Illinois Math and Science Academy (IMSA)…to encourage minority students and students from rural areas to excel in math and science.” The IMSA Excellence 2000+ “program emphasizes problem-solving and hands-on experience through lessons like exploring prairie and forest habitats and observing patterns in the moon’s appearance.” The Beacon News noted that “more than 50 schools in 23 counties throughout Illinois are participating in Excellence 2000+ this school year.”
Classroom order attributed to strong routines.
The Las Vegas Sun (9/18, Vanderploeg) reported that the secret to fostering order in the classroom, particularly for new teachers, “is establishing a routine early and sticking to it.” Jeff Horn, principal of Green Valley High School, said that “these routines are crucial.” Horn explained that, “by providing regular systems to follow, teachers are better able to teach their students and less likely to deal with chaos.” Jim LaBuda of Nevada State College’s school of education added that teachers should have a routine “figured out before they get into class, not as an after-thought, and even then, they will find the plan is constantly changing.” The article also details the routine developed by Josh Adams, a first-year teacher at Green Valley High School, and his classroom experiences.
Pilot software allows high school students to conduct online experiments.
Illinois’s Evanston Review (9/18, Berkowitz) reported that Evanston Township High School (ETHS) physics teacher Dr. Mark Vondracek, has introduced to ETHS “an iLabs pilot that will allow high school students to run research experiments remotely from their own computers, using equipment at major universities.” Vondracek, “a particle physicist who did graduate studies at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory” in Batavia, Ill., “teaches an online physics course” for Northwestern University’s Center for Talent Development, “which serves students in smaller locales who have surpassed what their own schools have to offer.” He explained that “remote research capabilities were first developed…as a way to let college students conduct experiments from their dormitory rooms rather than consuming class time.” But now, “the capabilities allow the student to go beyond a computer simulation involving theoretical data.”
On the Job
Impact of recent Wall Street events on teacher retirement funds discussed.
Education Week (9/18, Jacobsen) reported, “School business officials kept a close watch on the financial markets this week — and on district investment portfolios and teacher-retirement funds — as stock prices tumbled and once-sound institutions got government bailouts or crumbled into bankruptcy.” According to some observers, it is “too soon to predict how the upheaval on Wall Street might affect school districts.” Yet others “said that state-backed employee-pension funds…should be secure.” Robert Snell of the National Conference of State Legislatures “said that, while such funds might lose some money, school retirees would not be directly affected because” those accounts “guarantee a certain defined payout for retirees.” Meanwhile, “a greater source of anxiety for many teachers may be the fate of AIG, a…major provider of 403(b) retirement accounts.” Education Week noted that AIG released a memo this week which “indicated that the company’s financial troubles won’t affect district employees who have annuity products from AIG because those policies are underwritten by the Variable Annuity Life Insurance Co., which was described as a ‘strong insurance company.’”
Many New York City educators will receive bonuses based on school progress.
The New York Times (9/19, B4, Medina) reports, “Teachers at 89 elementary and middle schools will receive bonuses of several thousand dollars each, based on the progress their schools made on report cards released this week, Chancellor Joel I. Klein announced on Thursday.” In all, $14.2 million in bonuses will be distributed to teachers and administrators in “more than half [of] the 160 high-poverty schools the city.” As per an agreement “with the city’s teachers’ union…each school that earned the bonus got a pot of money to distribute as it chose.” The majority of schools spread bonuses “evenly for classroom teachers, with several giving less to special-education aides and other staff members. A few schools constructed more elaborate systems, like basing bonuses on extracurricular activities.”
Law & Policy
North Carolina district considers new grading policy.
North Carolina’s News-Argus (9/19, Moore) reports that school officials in Wayne County “are re-examining a proposed grading policy that encourages teachers not to give a ‘zero’ to students.” Under the policy, a draft of which was approved by the Board of Education earlier this year, “students’ performance will be evaluated on a nine-week basis. The recommendation is that a ‘minimum grade of 60′ will be issued at the end of the first, second and third grading periods for year-long courses for students who did not achieve a passing grade, ‘but who made a reasonable effort.’” Officials say they are still reviewing the policy, in part because it conflicts with the schools’ use of “NC Wise, the state’s [online] student management system,” which tracks “enrollment and attendance, as well as grades.” Under the system, grades recorded as incomplete are automatically recorded “as a zero.”
Maryland group meets to discuss model anti-bullying policy for schools.
Maryland’s View from Ellicott City (9/18, Hursky) reported, “In May 2008, Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) signed Maryland House Bill 199, a law that requires” the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE), “as well as local school systems within Maryland to develop a model policy to prohibit bullying, harassment, and intimidation in schools.” This month, the Anti-Bullying Workgroup, which will recommend a MSDE model bullying policy, met for the first time in Columbia, Md. The model policy is expected to include “statements prohibiting bullying, harassment, and intimidation, as well as statements prohibiting reprisals against individuals who report such acts.” According to the View, “The MSDE model bullying policy is due to be presented at Annapolis by March 31, 2009.” Meanwhile, “County school systems throughout Maryland have until July 1, 2009, to submit their bullying policies to State Superintendent Nancy Grasmick.”
Safety & Security
Students at California school train as peer mediators.
California’s Enterprise Record (9/18, Gullick) reports on the Peer Mediation Club, which “formed a couple of years ago” at Chico High School in California. Students involved in the club meet during lunch “to polish their skills at conflict resolution — skills that get called into play when other students agree they need help settling differences.” Exercises include role-playing arguments and interventions. According to Mike Carroll, “the school psychologist who advises the group,” the mediation process “is strictly scripted and outlined in a training booklet each student was given.” The students are expected to “act like boxing referees, not counselors.” Carroll explained, “Mediators are not allowed to give advice. The disputants have to come up with the solutions.” The Enterprise Record noted that student “mediators and disputants” use Carroll’s office while Carroll waits “outside the closed door. That way, the session would be confidential, but he would be available if a problem arose.”
Las Vegas Sun praises schools’ anti-bullying programs. The Las Vegas Sun (9/19) editorialized that bullying is prevalent in schools “and, thanks to the Internet and cell phones, [it] has taken on a whole new dimension. … That’s why we were happy to see several schools in Southern Nevada start off the new school year by hosting…programs aimed at reducing bullying.” For instance, John C. Bass Elementary School recently “held an assembly featuring students performing in skits that demonstrated how to properly handle situations involving harassment and bullying. … Even more encouraging,” the Sun notes, is that “the Bass faculty is committed throughout the school year to guiding students away from destructive behaviors like bullying.” According to school counselor Lori Stout, “school progressive discipline programs should become stricter, with more parent conferences taking place right off the bat as opposed to just warnings for first-time bullies.” The Sun agrees, adding that, “in the end, anything students learn about bullying must be reinforced by a strong anti-bullying message at home.”
School Finance
Arizona district reduces number of school resource officers due to budget constraints.
The Arizona Republic (9/18, Ferraresi) reported, “Phoenix school districts will have fewer school resource offices on campus this fall than last year in the wake of statewide budget cuts.” This year, the number of resource officers dropped to 70, “from 95…last year, after the Arizona Department of Education said it would approve less grant money for school districts’ campus police officers.” The Arizona Republic explained that resource officers are needed in Phoenix schools to help “students better understand how law enforcement works. … Law-related education is a primary component of the city’s campus officer program. Officers assigned to schools are there not only to police the campus, but to serve as a community liaison for students.” Their duties as community liaisons are to “investigate truancy [and] reports of child abuse, and guide students or parents about social service agencies.”
Also in the News
NASA develops free educational videos.
UPI (9/18) reported that NASA “says it has developed a free Web-based educational product consisting of more than 55 short minute video segments.” The eClips, which are available on the Internet for the current school year, “feature many of the agency’s missions and engages students in the excitement of science and engineering, the space agency said.” Officials stated that the “program is separated into grade-appropriate topics and designed as a resource for classroom teachers.”
Many low-performing students take advanced math before mastering basic skills, study finds.
USA Today (9/22, Toppo) reports that “a new study out [Monday] finds that many of the nation’s lowest-performing middle-schoolers…take algebra and other advanced math courses before they’ve mastered basic skills such as multiplication, division and problem-solving with fractions.” Based on “data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress,” researchers found that, “between 2000 and 2005, the percentage of very low-performing students in advanced math classes more than tripled.” More specifically, “among the lowest-scoring 10 percent of kids, nearly 29 percent were taking advanced math, despite having very low skills.” That translates to “about 120,000 kids” that were “inappropriately enrolled in classes that are supposed to level the playing field,” according to Brookings Institution researcher Tom Loveless.
The AP (9/22, Quaid) adds that “the study is alarming to some advocates who worry its focus will add to an argument that minority and low-income kids should not take the class,” when in fact such students need better preparation. Loveless concluded that, “in the end…it does more harm than good to put unprepared students in what he called ‘fake’ algebra classes taught by under-prepared teachers.”
Schools place increased focus on algebra. On the front page of its Metro section, the Washington Post (9/21, C1, Chandler) reported on the push, both in D.C.-area schools and nationwide, to increase students’ aptitude for mathematics. “Research shows that those who complete Algebra II are more than twice as likely to graduate from college as those who do not,” and “are also better positioned for admission to competitive colleges.” Further, some data indicate “that jobs in science, technology and engineering are growing at three times the rate of jobs overall.” However, “strengthening the math abilities of all students is a steep challenge” that requires schools to “reinforce basic concepts early on, attract teachers talented enough to go beyond dictating formulas, and…overcome an anti-math bias many students harbor.” The Post article is the first in a series that “will examine how ready students and teachers are for the change, and what it takes to convince a roomful of teenagers” that “they might actually use algebra later in life.”
In the Classroom
Baltimore schools ordered to address dropout issues.
The AP (9/19) reported that Baltimore schools chief Andres Alonso had ordered “the city’s high school principals…to track down more than 900 students who have dropped out since January — and try to get them back in class.” Beginning this week, “staff at city high schools will…make at least one phone call to each of their 2008 dropouts.” And, “by the end of the month, they must have personally visited the students at home.” Roughly one third of the city’s “925 dropouts are ages 19 to 21,” and an official said that the school “system will work with the older students to find the best place for them, whether it’s a GED program, a regular school or an alternative school.” The AP notes, “Dropouts who return to a city school will get an individual re-entry plan outlining the support they have available.”
The Baltimore Sun (9/19, Neufeld) pointed out that “students are legally permitted to drop out of school once they turn 16.” However, Alonso said it was “unacceptable that they’re allowed to go without a fight.” While “graduation and dropout rates are difficult to calculate,” by Alonso’s estimate “nearly half of city students don’t finish high school.” In response to Alonso’s plan, State Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick said “she applauds the initiative, but the system needs to be sensitive to the demands it places on its staff.”
Maryland delays release of testing results. The Baltimore Sun (9/21, Bowie) reported, “Maryland education officials said they will wait until late October to release detailed data on how many seniors in each county and school risk not graduating in June because they have not passed the High School Assessments.” School officials said that the data are “not ready,” in part “because local school districts have not given the state complete files on each student in the class and where he or she stands academically.” The Sun noted that “data showing a large percentage of students in a given school or district falling behind on the tests could add fuel to arguments that implementing the graduation requirement should be pushed back.” Maryland “is being cautious about releasing the data to make sure it doesn’t include students who weren’t on track to graduate anyway, because those cases might make the impact of the tests seem greater than it is.”
Enrollment in D.C. public schools declines.
On the front page of its Metro section, the Washington Post (9/20, B1, Turque) reported, “Despite an intensive registration effort over the summer, D.C. public school enrollment has dropped more than 8 percent since last year.” This marks “the steepest annual decline since the District first hired an outside auditor to verify the student population in 1999.” The enrollment decline comes after Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee “fired more than 50 principals and assistant principals, closed 23 under-enrolled schools and mandated academic reforms at 26 others.” Additionally, charter schools have become increasingly popular in the city, which has “the nation’s largest system of charter schools outside New Orleans.” Enrollment in charter schools is projected to rise by 20 percent. The Post attributes “a significant portion of that increase…to the conversion of seven financially struggling Catholic schools that reopened this month as secular charters.”
Colorado classes prepare CTE students for careers in clean energy.
The Coloradoan (9/21, Woods) reported that “two new Poudre School District (PSD) classes will help graduating high school students break into the booming clean energy industry.” According to the Coloradoan, “the idea for the classes began when local businesses Woodward Governor Co. and TechniGraphics approached the district searching for ideas to get students into the industry.” One of the classes “will focus on clean energy…while the other” will focus “on Geographic Information Systems technology.” The Coloradoan pointed out that Kathy Hanson, PSD’s career and technical education (CTE) coordinator, applied for a “$115,000 Metro Denver Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development, or WIRED, grant to fund the programs.” The two classes “will be offered to 50 high school seniors across the district and aim to ensure that skilled employees are available to fill entry level positions.” Rob Ufer, a CTE teacher and the grant project manager, noted that “both classes will offer instruction in soft skills such as interviewing, punctuality, teamwork and organization,” as well.
Florida school’s program seeks to fulfill physical education mandate.
Florida’s St. Petersburg Times (9/22, Solocheck) reports on how one school in the Pasco school district is complying with Florida’s “latest mandate on physical education,” which requires that “elementary students get 150 minutes of weekly PE,” with “each block of exercise” lasting “no less than 30 minutes.” Moon Lake Elementary School has implemented a program called PE by the Teacher (PET), “a simple, single lesson plan that everyone follows,” and that has gone over well with both teachers and students. For the program, “everyone walks around the quarter-mile bus loop for 30 minutes twice a week” during the first quarter of school. “They get a regular PE class the other three days. For the next quarter, they’re looking at a fitness trail. After that, team competitions.” The Times notes that “teachers came up with the idea” for PET, “and physical education department chairman Doug Anderson helped implement it.”
D.C.-area teachers discouraged from using sweets as rewards.
The Washington Post (9/21, C4, de Vise) reported, “In the District and many suburbs, school systems have imposed rules during the past two years that discourage teachers from using candy or other junk food as an incentive.” The new policies are “part of a broader ‘wellness’ movement that has swept public schools this decade,” regulating and in some cases removing products such as “sodas [from] vending machines.” According to the Post, “a consensus is emerging that food as a classroom incentive sends bad messages,” as “it encourages children to eat when they are not hungry, and eat poorly,” among other things. In place of candy, “teachers are increasingly embracing rewards that are inedible, even intangible.” For example, one Silver Spring, Maryland teacher “uses a series of color-coded ‘karate belts’ to reward students who learn musical compositions of increasing difficulty,” while another teacher awards “privileges such as being first in line to go to recess.”
Educator turns free writing into group competition.
In a blog for Education Week (9/19), writing teacher Emmet Rosenfeld wrote about the “free write wars” he holds in his classroom, which use groups of 4-5 students to write as much as they can about a topic in a few minutes, with each student writing for 45 seconds per turn. This concept turns free writing “into a game, something 8th graders love,” Rosenfeld noted. Following the first free writing competition, Rosenfeld sought “a new topic and a confident focused approach by each writer.” He “extended the time to 1 minute per kid,” and found that, not only did the time extension “not slow the game,” but students’ “fluency increased in the second round, for the most part.” Going forward, Rosenfeld asked his students to do a similar assignment “three times this weekend, not all in a row,” and will “start to mine the journal entries for topics for the first paper, a personal narrative.”
Law & Policy
Commission recommends colleges reduce reliance on SAT, ACT scores.
The New York Times (9/22, A14, Rimer) reports, “A commission convened by some of the country’s most influential college admissions officials is recommending that colleges and universities move away from their reliance on SAT and ACT scores and shift toward admissions exams more closely tied to the high school curriculum and achievement.” The commission further “encourages institutions to consider dropping admission test requirements unless they can prove that the benefits of such tests outweigh the negatives,” and “also calls for an end to the practice of using minimum-admissions-test scores to determine students’ eligibility for merit aid,” among other things. The recommendations come “amid growing concerns that the frenzy over standardized college admissions tests is misshaping secondary education and feeding a billion-dollar test-prep industry that encourages students to try to game the tests.”
Safety & Security
Several New Jersey middle schools surpass high schools in number of reported violent incidents.
New Jersey’s Courier-Post (9/21, Gidjunis) reported, “At least a half-dozen tri-county middle schools reported more violent incidents than their high schools, even though high schools are typically at the center of such incidents, a state education report shows.” A “2006-07 violence, vandalism, and substance abuse report” indicated that “the most common offenses include fights, simple assaults, and bullying or harassments.” In response to the report, “local educators are advocating for additional resources for intermediate school-age students who may be overlooked.” The Courier-Post noted that “at Bunker Hill Middle School in Washington Township, Gloucester County,” a guidance counselor is assigned to each grade. Eighth grade counselor Madeline Morros gives her students “tips on how to succeed by managing time, relationships, and responsibilities. … Throughout the year, she will also hold small counseling groups and classroom discussions on topics such as peer pressure, gossip and how to not be a victim.”
Also in the News
Dallas schools increasingly making accommodations for students’ religious observances.
The Dallas Morning News (9/20, Unmuth) reported, “For an increasing number of Muslim public school students in the Dallas area, fasting” during the “holy month of Ramadan…can prove to be an extra challenge.” Although “children are not required to fast until they reach puberty…many start trying out half days at first.” At the request of parents, “public schools are gradually making accommodations” for fasting students. For instance, “some schools allow students to spend their lunch hour in the library or in an office to avoid the temptation of food or the stress of feeling different from other kids.” Still, “other schools excuse students from recess or other physical activity if they appear to be drained.” Regarding such accommodations, Charles Haynes of the Freedom Forum advises school leaders to “take into account” students’ religious observances, but to “shy away from endorsing religion” and to be careful not to “disrupt the education system for [any] one group.”
Researchers study effects of exposure to reasoning strategies on children’s brains.
Minnesota’s Star Tribune (9/21, Johns) reported that “two researchers at the University of Minnesota are doing research on children’s brains that could have broad-ranging implications on how we understand how children reason and learn.” Researchers Phil Zelazo and Stephanie Carlson at the Institute for Child Development are focusing on “the development of ‘executive function’ in the brain,” or “the way humans regulate their thoughts and actions, such as delaying gratification and controlling their attention span.” Zelazo and Carlson say that “teaching children different kinds of reasoning strategies…could make children better at regulating their own behavior,” which could also make them “less likely to get into fights at school.” Michael Feuer, executive director of the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education at the National Academies of Science, said that Zelazo and Carlson’s research “is starting to show…that exposure to certain kinds of education and certain kinds of nurturing environments actually produce physically measurable changes in the brain.”