In an opinion piece for Education Week (10/20), Julie Sweetland, a senior research associate at the Center for Inspired Teaching, in Washington wrote, “Education policymakers are starting to act on what teachers have long known: No matter what policies, curricula, or governance structures are in place, they are only as effective as the teacher who translates them into the daily life of the classroom.” Instead of “equating good teaching with high student test scores,” Sweetland suggests that “a better alternative may be to…invest in a dramatically improved approach to teacher evaluation.” According to Sweetland, “districts placing a high priority on direct observations of classroom practice appear to be on the right track,” because “the observations used in these systems are” usually “carefully conducted qualitative assessments that meet research standards for clarity and transparency.” Furthermore, Sweetland wrote, evaluators should “look for specific indicators of excellent instruction such as questioning that promotes critical thinking, “the ability to foster a positive…classroom environment,” and “the use of engaging lessons.”

California’s Riverside Press Enterprise (10/20, Perrrault) reported that in Yucaipa, Canyon Middle School teacher Zach More “pushes himself to find new ways to make sure his students are grasping often-abstract [math] concepts such as polynomials, factorization, and formulas.” The core of his “philosophy is challenging students to understand the ‘why’ and logic of how they arrived at an answer. It’s a passion for More, and one he hopes will help teenagers become critical thinkers and lifelong learners.” More explained, “Math isn’t a bunch of steps, it’s a thinking process. … I really want to push the creative thinking.” More sometimes incorporates technology into his lessons. “Recently, More’s classes have come alive with discussion and laughter as nervous students recite questions into a video camera. They’re making a movie to capture fundamentals of algebra.” After each lesson, More looks to his students for feedback, “‘If it’s the same old same old, if it’s boring, I want them to call me on it,’ More said.”

The Detroit Free Press (10/20, Walsh-Sarnecki) reported, “Every third- and fifth-grade class in Plymouth-Canton Community Schools is partnering with Johnson Controls to give kids practice at working out real engineering problems similar to those pondered by the automotive engineers in the company’s Plymouth office.” The curriculum, “which is used in 500 to 1,000 schools nationwide each year,” was developed by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). Matt Miller, SAE director of education programs, said that “the goal is to get kids interested in science, technology, engineering, and math as early as possible.” He added, “The future is going to call for a greater understanding of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in careers in general.” Students at Plymouth-Canton work on “real problems in force and motion the same way an engineer would, but at a smaller size than an automobile.” For instance, while fifth-graders build “paper cars powered by balloons,” third-graders engineer “sails on paper boats powered by portable fans.”

Education Week (10/20, Trotter) reported that researchers at the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky “are learning important lessons about whether students with disabilities are benefiting from a digital math textbook that speaks words and equations aloud while highlighting those elements on a computer screen.” A group of students “from two middle schools in Clark County, Ky., participated in the research, which “is one of several federally funded projects to identify ways to deliver curriculum content that are more effective than printed books or the common forms of digital textbooks.” Debra K. Bauder, the lead analyst for the study and an assistant professor at the University of Louisville, said, “From the pilot, we can say that all the students did improve in their algebra and pre-algebra skills.” However, Education Week pointed out that “it is worth noting that the study was very small. Only 14 students were involved last school year, but the number will rise to 26 students this school year.”

Education Week (10/20, Sawchuck) reported, “As states’ information-collection systems grow more sophisticated, officials are grappling with where to draw the line on how ‘value added’ data on teachers can be used.” Education Week points out that “since the adoption of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, the task of establishing data systems for tracking students’ year-to-year achievement gains has fallen largely to the states.” Several states, including “Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Ohio, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming,” match “teachers to specific students’ course assignments and assessment data” using “a unique identification number.” Tennessee “permits the use of [value-added] data for teacher evaluation as long as the data meet certain technical requirements.” But “California serves as a counterpoint: A 2006 state law establishing a new teacher-identification database prevents such data from being used for teacher pay, evaluation, or personnel decisions.”

The AP (10/20) reported, “North Carolina’s public school accountability program is showing signs of wear after a decade, as teacher bonuses were smaller this year and some want extra pay linked more closely to classroom performance.” Each of the “three candidates for North Carolina governor…have education backgrounds,” and all say that, “if elected, they would seek to change how student performance is evaluated or expand incentives to attract more teachers to the profession, according to surveys and interviews with The Associated Press.” The AP lists the major education issues that each candidate would take on, if elected. Their ideas include “giving higher pay to teachers in high-demand subjects such as math and science,” which “runs counter to the state’s teacher salary system which rewards seniority and doesn’t differentiate between subject areas.” Other ideas are to “do away with the bonus system…and replace it with a merit-based system,” and increase starting pay for teachers.

The Washington Post (10/21, B5, Turque) reports that Washington, D.C.’s “top special education official testified in federal court yesterday that some school personnel ignore scheduled meetings with parents, contributing to the city’s failure to meet the needs of students with learning disabilities or behavioral challenges.” According to Richard Nyankori, acting deputy chancellor for special education, the absence of teachers at such meetings leaves “cases unresolved and parents in the lurch.” At a hearing called by U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman, “Nyankori said that many special education coordinators, teachers, and other service providers take their duties seriously and that sometimes ‘workload or not understanding what the procedures are’ can lead to meetings not occurring.” The Post notes that “Friedman called the hearing to quiz officials about the District’s lack of progress in complying with a 2006 consent decree that settled a class action brought by parents of children with learning problems.”

The U.K.’s Cornishman (10/21) reports, “Cornwall’s teachers are falling victim to the menace of ‘cyber-bullying’ as well as a growing number of physical attacks by pupils.” The classroom bullies “send abusive text messages or emails and post offensive clips on the Internet.” For instance, one “teacher’s family ‘was almost destroyed’ when a website was set up to repeat scurrilous and false allegations against him, even though he had been cleared of any wrongdoing.” In addition, some teachers fear that “derogatory remarks and images posted on sites such as RateMyTeachers, YouTube, and Bebo can damage their career.” Teachers’ union secretary Kathy Wallis “said ‘cyber-bullying’ was driving some teachers to the brink of despair.” But, while Wallis stresses that “the issue of assaults must be debated and addressed,” she also acknowledges that “only a minority of pupils assault teachers. … Schools remain relatively safe havens of peace and security,” she said.

The New York Times (10/21, A21, Medina) reports, “More than 90,000 of New York City’s elementary school students — roughly 20 percent — missed at least a month of classes during the last school year, with attendance problems most acute in central Brooklyn, Harlem, and the South Bronx, according to a report scheduled for release on Tuesday.” In high school and middle school, 40 percent and 24 percent of “students were absent for at least a month,” respectively. Researchers examined “detailed attendance reports for the city’s nearly 1,500 public schools,” and also “found that in 124 elementary schools, 98 middle schools and 41 schools serving kindergarten through eighth grade, at least 30 percent of the students were chronically absent, defined as missing 20 days of the 185-day school year. … The report is a one-year snapshot and does not include comparable historical data.” The Times notes that “the city…employs attendance monitors, but the report said they were stretched thin — 392 people tracking nearly 200,000 students with serious attendance problems.”

The Detroit Free Press (10/20, Higgins) reported that at an education summit “organized by a cadre of organizations to tackle the state’s dropout crisis,” Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) urged participants to become ‘educational revolutionaries” by being “willing to ‘rewrite the rules, for those kids’ the current system is not working for.” Nevertheless, Granholm said that “she doesn’t want to see the state’s tough new graduation requirements, which some say could lead to more dropouts, softened in response” to Michigan’s high drop-out rate. According to the Free Press, “more than 20,000 high school students” in Michigan “abandon their education each year.” Summit attendees also “today heard from a panel of students, most of whom had dropped out of school at one point,” and economist Andrew Sum, who “pointed out the wide gap between lifetime earnings for high school dropouts and those who’ve received a diploma or college degree.”

ABC News (10/20, Pleshette-Murphy) reported on its website, “The number of male teachers in the United States is at a 40-year low. Out of the three million teachers in the United States, only one-quarter are men, according the National Education Association (NEA).” According to Bryan Nelson, the founder of MenTeach.org, “a nonprofit organization working to increase [the] number of” male educators, the main reason for the shrinking trend is stereotypes. “People believe men aren’t nurturing. The second reason is fear of accusations of abuse. People are afraid men are going to harm children. And the third reason is low status, low pay,” he said. But, research shows that “the presence of a male teacher in the classroom has an impact not only on boys’ self-esteem but also on their academic performance.” And, a “recent British study from the Training and Development Agency for Schools found that the presence of a male teacher in the classroom for a year closed the achievement gap significantly between boys and girls, especially in English and social studies, subjects that girls tend to do better in than boys.”

Education Week (10/20, Manzo) reported, “When schools in Bismarck, N.D., scheduled parent-teacher conferences this school year, some chose a Tuesday instead of a Wednesday to avoid competing with the customary ‘church night’ in the capital city, when local youths attend choir practice and other religious activities.” But, the “chosen Tuesday” happened to fall on Election Day. Consequently, school officials told administrators “to change the date for [the] meetings.” Bismarck Superintendent Paul Johnson said, “We think that given the predicted turnout in this election and the interest in this election, we’re much better off avoiding [any conflicts].” The North Dakota Education Association (NDEA), an affiliate of the National Education Association, agreed with the district’s decision. “‘There are a lot of obligations for school districts to follow and they are trying to juggle busy schedules, but it really should have been a day [without] anything going on after school,’ said NDEA President Dakota Draper.”