Researchers to investigate effect of incentive programs on student achievement.
The New York Times (9/25, B6, Hernandez) reports that Roland G. Fryer Jr., a Harvard economist, “has quit his part-time post as chief equality officer of the New York City public schools to lead a $44 million effort, called the Educational Innovation Laboratory, to bring the rigor of research and development to education.” The purpose of the research is “to infuse education with the data-driven approach that is common in science and business, Dr. Fryer said.” During the first year, the research team, made up of economists, marketers, and educators will “focus on incentive programs, including controversial ideas like giving students cash for good test scores. … Each of the three school districts working with the institute will use a different plan to encourage high achievement, with researchers tracking the effect of each on student performance.” Based on those studies, Fryer said, researchers “would be able to identify what works so that educators across the country could prioritize their spending.”
In the Classroom
Maine community college to offer wind power technology program.
Maine’s Bangor Daily News (9/25, Lynds) reports that “Northern Maine Community College (NMCC) is poised to launch a first-of-its-kind program in New England geared toward training wind power technicians.” On Wednesday, the Maine Community College System (MCCS) “board of trustees formally approved a proposal brought forward by NMCC to introduce a wind power technology program on campus” that “will train wind power technicians to operate, maintain, and repair wind turbine generators.” NMCC officials explained that they decided to “to create the program in light of the growing interest in wind power and NMCC’s proximity to the state’s first commercial wind farm, located…just 14 miles from the campus.” Tim Crowley, president of NMCC, “noted that the college is ideally suited to provide wind power technology instruction” because “NMCC has existing programs in electrical construction and maintenance and computer electronics, two fields that serve as foundations for the multidisciplinary wind power industry.”
Missouri school district to return to traditional approach for teaching math.
The Missourian (9/25, Call) reports that after the Columbia schools district’s six-year review of it’s math curriculum, “the ‘investigations’ program won’t be considered the district’s everyday math program anymore.” Instead, elementary school students “will learn math with a traditional approach.” The decision was made by Interim Superintendent Jim Ritter, who “said he was concerned that the district’s math issues had divided the community.” The Missourian points out that “discussion about the district’s math programs has been ongoing for months, if not years,” as some parents raised concerns “that the…nontraditional approach leaves students unprepared for standardized tests or college.”
MCAS results released.
The Boston Globe (9/25) reports on the release of “the school and district results on the” Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS), which indicated that “math scores hit a historic high for all grade levels.” However, the “scores were largely disappointing in English.” Further, “the percentage of sophomores who passed the MCAS on the first try this year declined for the first time because thousands of students failed the science section, a new graduation requirement.”
The Boston Herald (9/25, Szaniszlo) notes that “Boston public school students improved in English and Math, but continued to lag behind the state, particularly in science.” The city’s “students scored the worst on the eighth-grade MCAS science test, with 0 percent scoring in the ‘advanced’ category and 52 percent earning a ‘warning/failing’ grade.” In comparison, “statewide, three percent of eighth graders scored ‘advanced’ in science and 22 percent scored ‘warning/failing.’” Massachusetts’s Daily News Tribune (9/25, Gilbride) also reports aspects of the story.
On the Job
Teacher describes experiences in high-needs, urban classroom.
In an article for Teacher Magazine (9/24), Ariel Sacks wrote about her experiences as a new teacher in an “‘under-resourced,’ ‘high needs,’ ‘inner-city’ and ‘high poverty’” school. Sacks noted “a constant sense of instability” from consistently unmet needs, felt by students, parents, and educators, all of whom “have reason to be angry over what often feels like an unworkable situation.” To thrive in this environment there were two important characteristics for her to exhibit, Sacks wrote. “Don’t give up, no matter what — I must demonstrate persistence, especially if I hope to see it in my students. Don’t take it personally when students exhibit what I interpret as negative behaviors — most of the time, it’s not about me, so my job is to understand the reasons for my students’ behaviors and find ways to help.” Sacks also acknowledged the value of “advice and support from experienced educators,” and the importance of “getting to know [her] students” in order to develop the most effective curriculum.
Some L.A. Unified clerks struggle with new technology requirement.
The Los Angeles Times (9/25, Song) reports on the “L.A. Unified School District employees, mainly women nearing retirement age, whose jobs were eliminated in budget cuts in June” and must now “pass a test proving that they can manage a spreadsheet and type a letter” in order to qualify for new positions. The need for computer skills was expected, a labor relations representative said, noting that “the district implemented an expensive computer program last year to manage its complex payroll system.” Yet “virtually all of the test-takers worked for the transportation department, one of the least technology-reliant departments in the district,” and as a result the average level of computer literacy is low. The Times points out that “employees can take the test once every four months, but they run the danger of their jobs being eliminated if they fail the first time.”
Massachusetts program aims to quickly produce new math, science teachers.
The Boston Globe (9/25, Vaznis) reports on “a new program at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth” that “is sending a small army of math and science teachers to Fall River and New Bedford. After a crash course in taking the qualification test, they obtain their teacher licenses and begin immediately running their own classrooms, earning full pay while still working toward their postgraduate degrees.” Also known as “TEACH! SouthCoast,” the program offers “candidates free college classes, a two-year guarantee of mentoring from a veteran teacher and a university professor, and a full-time paid teaching job.” In return, candidates must stay where they are assigned for three years.
Diversity key in New York City’s teacher recruiting efforts.
The New York Sun (9/25, Green) reports, “The percentage of new teachers in New York City public schools who are black has fallen substantially since 2002, dropping to 13 percent in the last school year from 27 percent in 2001-02, city figures show.” The school system “is increasingly made up of non-white students,” while a 2006-07 state report showed that “black people made up just four percent of new certified teachers who identified their race.” Bernstein “she said she has made recruiting black and Latino teachers a priority for her staff.” Her recruiting efforts have included “visiting historically black colleges to recruit possible teachers; publishing advertisements that focus groups show appeal to black and Latino applicants, and making a concerted effort to follow through with those candidates as they make their way through the application process.”
Law & Policy
Group pushes for community schools, NCLB revisions.
Education Week (9/24, Maxwell) reported on the Community Agenda for America’s Public Schools, a group composed of “more than 100 leaders from education, youth-development, community, health and social-services, and university organizations,” that is calling “for more partnerships between public schools and local community groups, healthcare providers, and other resources that aim to improve the lives of poor families, especially in the nation’s urban core and rural pockets.” The “community schools” the group seeks to develop would “work with local organizations and social-service providers to offer such services as school-based healthcare, counseling, and academic tutoring.” To achieve these goals, “the group…will push for changes in federal policies, including the No Child Left Behind law, that encourage the types of partnerships between schools and neighborhood organizations that have been successful.”
Proposed Texas standards would limit teaching of intelligent design.
The AP (9/25) reports, “A proposal for science courses in Texas would drop language requiring students be taught the ‘strengths and weaknesses’ of all scientific theories,” language that “some say has been used to undermine the theory of evolution.” The proposal “would also put up roadblocks for teachers who want to discuss creationism or ‘intelligent design’ in biology classes when covering the subject of evolution.” The AP notes, “The standards are subject to approval by the State Board of Education early next year,” where “a majority of members have said they favor keeping the current mandate to cover both strengths and weaknesses of major scientific theories, notably evolution.”
School Finance
Dallas district’s plan to shift teachers’ salaries to federal grant program may be prohibited.
The Dallas Morning News (9/25, Fischer) reports, “State officials have raised doubts about the Dallas school district’s plan to erase a substantial chunk of its $84 million budget deficit by shifting the salaries of 300 teachers to” the federal Title I grant program. The “estimated $18 million” payroll shift “is a key part of the district’s plan to cut into its growing deficit.” Dallas schools’ chief financial officer “told board members that” after the district enforced “its staffing policies…by firing about 650 teachers,” it “would reclassify…300 teachers and instructional coaches as supplemental to district programs.” But, Texas Education Agency Spokeswoman Debbie Graves Ratcliffe said that “federal grant rules prohibit districts from using grant money to make up for local spending cuts, which is essentially what the district is proposing.” The only way the plan would work, she added, is if the teachers whose salaries are shifted to the grant program “are given new jobs with different duties.”
Also in the News
CDC recommends 86 percent of U.S. receive flu shot.
The Washington Post (9/25, A2, Brown) reports, “A record-setting amount of influenza vaccine is available this fall for a record-setting number of people being advised to get it. … The number of people targeted for flu vaccination has grown steadily in recent years and now constitutes 86 percent of the population,” or about 261 million Americans. “For the first time,” health officials are “recommending…that children five to 18 years old get vaccinated, along with the previously targeted group of six months to five years. That will add about 30 million children to the number advised to get the shots.” In addition, targeted groups will “include pregnant women, people 50 and older; younger adults with chronic illnesses, such as diabetes and asthma; healthcare workers; people in contact with children younger than six months; and people in contact with those who are at high risk of flu’s complications.”
The AP (9/25, Neergaard) reports that the “CDC released disappointing counts Wednesday of how many people at highest risk from influenza get vaccinated.” According to its figures, “roughly one in five children under two got vaccinated during the 2006-07 season, the latest data available. And, just 35 percent of young adults at high risk because of chronic illnesses, such as asthma or heart conditions, comply.”
CNN (9/25), Bloomberg News (9/24, Lauerman), ABC News (9/24, Brownstein), the San Francisco Chronicle (9/24, Fernandez), the San Jose Mercury News (9/24, Gomez), the San Antonio Express (9/25, Finley), HealthDay (9/24, Reinberg), and WebMD (9/24, Zwillich) also cover the story.
Prisons across U.S. increasingly using education for rehabilitation purposes.
USA Today (9/25, Barnett) reports on “students in the Palmetto Unified School District in South Carolina” who are part of the prison education program there. The students “have performed well enough behind bars to earn their school district an ‘Excellent’ rating on the South Carolina Annual School Report Card each of the past five years.” According to USA Today, “the Palmetto program is one of many across the USA increasingly turning to education to reduce the rate of recidivism and to give inmates hope for their future.” The article details the educational and support programs of several states, and notes that, according to an official from the American Correctional Association, “the educational emphasis represents a shift away from warehousing prisoners and toward preparing them for life after prison.” Critics of such programs, however, “argue that spending money to educate prisoners is neither effective nor appropriate.”
Web platform designed to organize student information, communication.
The Boston Globe (9/25, West) reports on “a Web 2.0 platform called SchoolPulse.com — an online community for families, organized not around towns or special interest groups but around schools.” The platform was created to be “a place for school-centered communities to discuss matters of importance to them,” but evolved into “a way to better manage their families’ schedules and the communications around the activities.” SchoolPulse attempts “to consolidate all the information and communication that surrounds the lives of students” and “generate a singular family calendar that has all…kid-related events and information on it.”
Studies find schools likely to miss NCLB targets, face restructuring.
Education Week (9/25, Cavanagh, Hoff) reported, “A pair of new studies cast doubt on U.S. schools’ ability to make the academic improvements required under the No Child Left Behind Act.” The first study examined “a central tenet of” NCLB, the requirement “that all students will reach academic proficiency by the 2013-14 school year.” Focusing on California, the researchers found “that nearly all the state’s elementary schools will fail to meet that target, in large part because of the difficulty of bringing English-language learners and economically disadvantaged students up to speed academically.” Despite the likelihood of failure, “states are required to hold schools accountable for meeting achievement targets based on that goal.” The second study “estimates that during the 2007-08 school year, 3,599 schools nationwide were forced to choose one of several restructuring options to change their management or instructional strategies with the goal of improving student performance.” This marks “a 56 percent increase” over the 2006-07 school year.
In the Classroom
Website fosters charitable giving for classroom needs.
In continuing coverage from a previous edition of The Opening Bell, the Washington Post (9/26, King) reports on DonorsChoose.org, which “has facilitated $23.9 million in donations to students nationwide, mainly in low-income communities, according to its website.” The organization “requires teachers to submit proposals for items they need. Once proposals are verified, they are posted for donations.” Although “there is no limit on how much funding a teacher can request…the site advises that requests under $400 are more likely to be fulfilled.” The Post continues, “Once enough money is donated, DonorsChoose.org purchases the materials and ships them to the school.” Then, “teachers are required to photograph students using the items, and the photos are sent to donors, along with thank-you letters.” The article relates the stories of a number of teachers in Prince George’s County, Maryland, who have successfully used the site to improve their classrooms.
California school participates in fitness campaign.
The Los Angeles Times (9/26, Pool) reports on “a nationwide fitness campaign” being staged by the YMCA that seeks to get students to take “10 billion steps this week.” To that end, the roughly 500 students at Knollwood Elementary School in California are “trying to walk at least 10,000 steps a day.” Their steps are measured by “$2 pedometers donated by State Farm Insurance and distributed by the North Valley Family YMCA.” According to organizers, “it appeared that most youngsters average about 4,000 steps a day, far short of this week’s daily goal.” The Times notes, “A person taking fewer than 5,000 steps a day is considered by some experts to have an inactive lifestyle,” which can, in turn, “lead to lifelong health problems.”
Texas program lets students learn about being a teacher.
Texas’s Sun (9/26, Scott) reports on “an internship program called Ready, Set, Teach!” that allows students at Lake Dallas High School to “learn about being a teacher and the education industry first hand.” Through the program, “students learn about the career itself, what qualities it takes to make an effective teacher, the communication skills they need to develop and the education field in general.” One of the program leaders explained, “A good teacher can know their information but how to communicate it is a different area. … So we focus a lot on communication.” The students also “intern teach with a teacher of their choice.” According to the Sun, program participants “are so well-received in the area schools that there is a waiting list to get one of these motivated young-adults working under their wing.”
Arkansas high school to offer IT academy.
Arkansas’s Morning News (9/26, Pearce) reports on Springdale High School’s (SHS) “new Information Technology (IT) Academy, the only one of its kind in Arkansas.” According to the Morning News, the program “continues to elevate Springdale High School in the development of career academies.” The Arkansas Department of Workforce Education “recently awarded Springdale a $75,000 grant to implement the district’s newest academy, one of eight schools in the state to receive a grant for offering programs in high-demand, high-wage and high-skill careers.” The academy aims to “give the students a broad-based foundation in information technology to carry them into post-secondary education programs, and, eventually, high-paying jobs.” Students will receive “mentoring by — and personal relationships with — teachers. There are field trips, job shadowing, guest speakers, internship opportunities, and working relationships with local educational centers and industries,” as well. The Morning News points out that SHS “now has four career academies, three of which are accredited by the National Career Academy Association.”
Accreditation denied to five public schools in Virginia.
The AP (9/26, Sampson) reports, “Five public schools in Petersburg [Va.] have again been denied accreditation because of low test scores, state education officials said Thursday.” This marks the third year that four of the schools — two elementary and two middle schools — have been denied accreditation. One of the schools, Vernon Johns Middle, “was denied accreditation for a second straight year, the Department of Education (DOE) said. The results prompted the state Board of Education to direct Petersburg to provide an independently managed middle school program starting next year for all students who wish to attend.” According to the DOE, “a school is denied accreditation if its students don’t pass Standards of Learning exams in English, mathematics, science, and history/social science for more than three straight years.” Ninety-five percent of all “Virginia’s public schools are fully accredited. The department says that’s the highest percentage since statewide testing in English, math, history, and science began 10 years ago.”
Alabama revamps high school diploma options.
Alabama’s Dothan Eagle (9/25, Cook) reported that “Alabama has been tweaking its high school diploma options, recently beefing up its academic endorsement and adding a new credit-based diploma endorsement to help students who struggle with the state exit exam to graduate on time.” Among the changes are two new technical education endorsements for the state. The first one is the “Advanced Career and Technical Endorsement.” It is similar to the “Advanced Academic Endorsement,” which is described by the Eagle as “college prep,” because it “requires the same coursework.” However, “the foreign language requirement is replaced with three career and technical courses.” In addition, students must “pass all five sections of the Alabama High School Exam.” The next technical education endorsement is the “Career and Technical Endorsement.” Students are required to pass “all standard coursework,” as well as “three career and technical courses and all five sections of the Alabama High School Exam.”
On the Job
New York City Schools Chancellor proposes time limits for teacher reserve pools.
The New York Times (9/26, B3, Hernandez) reports that New York City Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein announced a proposal on Thursday to “set a limit on the time teachers can spend in a” teacher reserve pool, which keeps “teachers whose positions have been eliminated on the payroll.” Teachers “currently…can remain in the pool indefinitely.” According to “a report issued this week by a teacher recruitment organization,” funding the reserve pool of nearly 1,400 “educators who have lost their classroom assignments because of shrinking enrollment, school closings, or the elimination of programs” cost about “$74 million this year.” Still, teachers’ union president Randi Weingarten disagrees with the chancellor’s proposal, calling “instead for a freeze in the hiring of any new teachers so that vacancies could be filled from the reserves.” She also said that “principals should be given more incentives to hire more expensive, more experienced [reserve pool] teachers.”
South Dakota pays enough to attract good teachers, economist says.
The AP (9/26) reports that economist Michael Wolkoff, of the University of Rochester in New York, “says South Dakota schools are paying sufficient salaries to attract and keep qualified teachers.” Although the state “is consistently ranked as having the nation’s lowest average teachers’ salary,” Wolkoff noted that the “average teachers salary is competitive with wages paid in other occupations.” The AP notes that Wolkoff was testifying “for the state in a trial over a lawsuit” that “alleges the state is violating a constitutional provision by not providing adequate funding for schools.”
Law & Policy
Virginia considers changes to gifted-education programs.
The AP (9/26, Chen) reports, “Potential changes to education regulations could give local school boards authority to approve gifted-education plans, instead of the Virginia Department of Education (DOE).” Among the proposals being considered by the state Board of Education are those “that would require local school divisions to submit annual gifted-education plans, instead of the current five-year plans,” and could also “remove a requirement that state funds that provide for gifted programs go only toward local gifted plans.” Several of the proposals are opposed by “teachers and other advocates of gifted students,” who argue that “turning over review and approval of schools’ plans to local divisions would transfer the costly process from the state and could potentially pose problems for districts that lack support for such programs.” They also argue that “requiring school divisions to come up with annual plans would just mean they would be constantly mired in paperwork revising their goals, rather than being allowed to work toward long-range goals.”
Citizen panel says Oregon voters should reject limited bilingual education measure.
The Oregonian (9/26, Hammond) reports that on Thursday, an independent citizen review panel recommended that voters “reject a measure that would keep Oregon schools from teaching nonnative English speakers in their native language because the timelines are too rigid and research says the approach won’t work.” Before reaching that conclusion, the 23-member “panel spent five days weighing input from experts on language acquisition, prolific ballot measure author” state Sen. Bill Sizemore (R), “and others who favor or oppose his ballot measure to limit teaching in languages other than English.” The nine panel members who approved of measure recommended that “voters approve it because Oregon schools’ current approach to teaching English as a second language isn’t getting all students proficient, and other states get better results while spending less money.” The Oregonian points out that the panel was “convened by the nonprofit, nonpartisan group Healthy Democracy Oregon.”
Safety & Security
Louisiana district establishes measures to improve school bus behavior.
Louisiana’s Daily Enterprise (9/26, Helbling) reports, “The Morehouse Parish School System has established measures for positive reinforcement to improve student behavior and ensure safety on school buses” that, according to transportation director Debbie Buckley “have been successful.” Bus drivers “are able to offer rewards for good behavior in the form of ‘Safety Bucks,’” which can be redeemed for rewards ranging “from concessions to trinkets, pencils, moving to the head of the cafeteria line and getting to attend ball games.” School “bus driver Judy Aswell said her students have embraced the new incentive system, particularly the younger children.” She added, “You can see their faces just smiling when they are recognized for good behavior.” Teachers also work “school bus behavior and safety into their lesson plans,” to teach students that “being on the bus is the same as being in the classroom.” Through the lessons, “students are learning to show courtesy to the driver and others, to speak quietly, to keep the bus clean and to sit and stay in their assigned seats, among other rules.”
Also in the News
World leaders pledge $4.5 billion for universal primary schooling.
The AP (9/26, Spielmann) reports, “A coalition of governments, charities, and U.N. agencies pledged $4.5 billion on Thursday in an effort to get all the world’s children in school by 2015.” Attendees of the “Class of 2015: Education For All,” pledging summit “included British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Australian Prime Minister Mark Rudd, Jordan’s Queen Rania, World Bank chief Robert Zoellick, and former child laborers.” During the meeting, “rock star humanitarians Bono and Bob Geldof…pledged to do their part by opening two new teacher training colleges in Malawi and Rwanda.” The AP noted that the purpose of the summit was “to boost the effort to eradicate illiteracy and provide universal primary schooling by 2015″ by “getting 75 million more children into school — and ending discrimination against girls, who are frequently the last to be sent to school and the first to be pulled out in much of the world.”
NEA in the News
Virginia county considering merit pay for teachers.
WVIR-TV Virginia (9/26, McDaniel) reports that Albemarle County is considering a merit pay system for teachers, as it is “anticipating a teacher shortage with fewer people going into the business and baby boomers retiring.” The county’s “merit pay system for teachers would incorporate a number of different factors” including “whether an employee was teaching at a desirable school, working with at risk kids or had additional knowledge in a subject area.” And although “pay would not be based solely on how students performed on tests,” it “could be affected by student growth.” WVIR notes that the NEA “says merit based pay can be a positive so long as performance is measured in a quantifiable way.” Regardless, according to the article, if the Albemarle County School Board decides “to make the switch” to merit pay “it will be a long and intense process.”