Study links early-grade attendance to student performance.
Education Week (9/30, Jacobson) reported that “improving early-grades attendance can help schools meet their achievement goals under the federal No Child Left Behind Act,” according to a report from the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP). The report “found that more than 11 percent of kindergartners and close to 9 percent of 1st graders are chronically absent,” with even higher rates “in schools serving poor children.” The study also found, among other things, that “children who are chronically absent in kindergarten have the lowest performance in reading, mathematics, and general knowledge in 1st grade.” Education Week noted that although the study “does not focus on students beyond elementary school, evidence gleaned from other research suggests that high school dropouts are more likely than graduates to be chronically absent as early as 1st grade.” The NCCP report recommends “expanding high-quality preschool programs, saying they ‘play an invaluable role in reducing chronic absence by orienting families to school norms and helping families make regular school attendance part of their daily routine.’”
In the Classroom
Science program focuses on outdoor learning.
Massachusetts’s Gloucester Daily Times (10/1, L’Ecuyer) reports on the Science Day program at Rockport Elementary School, which was “designed to infuse more science into the building by getting students and teachers outside.” With help from Boston University’s Sargent Center for Outdoor Education, and funding from the Rockport Education Foundation, the school designed “areas where students could learn to use a compass, make observations in both New England forest and aquatic environments, collect data on air temperature and rainfall amounts, and input that data into a computer.” Principal Shawn Maguire, “who added science centers at various locations inside the school almost immediately upon arriving in the district last year, said Science Day was the first event of a pilot ‘scientist-in-residence’ program.” Maguire noted that most of the activities involved were designed to utilize “math, writing and reading skills.”
In a commentary for Education Week (9/30), Karen S. Harris, the Baltimore County public schools’ director of language arts, wrote that during her time as principal of Pot Spring Elementary, educators “were able to unify the school and improve its academic achievement and discipline” through a curriculum that used “the environment as a context for learning all subjects.” The curriculum “led to more engaging, rigorous, and authentic lessons for students,” particularly “reluctant learners,” and also had a positive impact on classroom discipline issues. Harris discussed how the curriculum produced results in each of a variety of academic disciplines, and added that “integrating the use of environmental science into all subjects has helped students and teachers make meaningful connections to their learning.” Harris also voiced support for the No Child Left Inside Act, legislation that “would provide new funding for states to train teachers in environmental education,” among other things.
Florida school’s academy trains students to be future educators.
Florida’s News-Press (10/1, Guerra) reports on “three comprehensive high schools in Lee County that have five main academies” that prepare “students from sophomore year to enter one of…many specialties.” One school, East Lee County High School, recently introduced an education pathway but struggled with the classroom observation aspect of the program because no appropriate schools were located nearby. The academy addressed this problem by starting an in-house preschool. Despite funding issues and other difficulties, program director Mary Hacker “said programs like this serve their purpose, sometimes showing students whether they are truly interested in pursuing the profession.” Hacker added that, “by the time the students graduate, they will be on their way to receiving a child development associate degree.” The News-Press notes that students in the program “discuss lesson plan worksheets and decide what they want to teach,” and also learn practical skills such as maintaining a classroom’s attention.
Virginia program targets at-risk pre-kindergartners.
Virginian’s Daily Press (10/1, Williams) reports, “The York County School Division started a Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI) program this fall, allowing a group of four-year-olds to get a jump on kindergarten.” The program, “designed for at-risk students,” will include “instruction in introductory literacy, mathematics, science, history and social science, physical and motor development, and personal and social development that aligns with Virginia’s Foundation Blocks for Early Learning.” Students will attend “four half-day sessions each week” aimed at helping them “focus on academic and social skills that will prepare them to enter kindergarten.” The Daily Press noted that “last year, York qualified for the” VPI “program for just one student, which it couldn’t build a program around.” This year, however, the district “qualified to provide the preschool initiative for several students. That, coupled with expanded government funding for preschool education, made York eligible to create a class.”
Arizona school’s culinary arts program introduces students to career opportunities.
Arizona’s Yuma Sun (10/1, Roller) reports on Kofa High School’s (KHS) culinary arts program and its accompanying club, King Chefs, advised by KHS culinary arts teacher Sheranne Dampier. “The club focuses on cooking trends,” and “informs students about culinary education opportunities.” In addition, King Chefs guides students “to financial aid and applications, and is organizing tours next month to visit the Art Institute of Phoenix and the Scottsdale Culinary Institute.” The Yuma Sun notes that “King Chefs also offers students a chance to compete with other high schools through SkillsUSA, a nationwide career and technical student organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to ensure a skilled workforce.” King Chefs “is largely funded by selling prepared teacher and staff lunches.” Dampier said her program “dispels the myth that cooking is a ‘girl thing,’ noting that nearly half of the 150 students in her six classes are young men.”
Engineering program designed to increase student interest in science, technology.
Utah’s Transcript Bulletin (10/1, Gillie) reports on Utah State University’s (USU) Junior Engineering program, which was designed “to interest kids in science and technology at an early age.” The program “provides a day-long experience in science for elementary students. Students rotate in grade-level groups about every 25 minutes, and by the end of the day they have participated in seven different science modules.” Each participating school selects 30 modules from a pool of “about 50 different modules.” They include “‘Robots’ — where students learn about pneumatics and hydraulics before working in teams to make a robotics arm work — and ‘Red Rover,’ which is a simulation of NASA’s Pathfinder mission to Mars.” Some of the “modules utilize oscilloscopes, a van de Graff static electricity generator, plasma balls, liquefaction machines, black lights, strobe lights, and gyroscopes.” According to Ray Zelenski, a USU junior engineering coordinator, “the program allows schools to have access to equipment that would ordinarily be beyond their budgets.”
On the Job
D.C. union president faces “three-front war” in proposed teacher pay plan.
On the front page of its Metro section, the Washington Post (10/1, B1, Turque) reports that George Parker, the president of the Washington Teachers’ Union, “must decide…whether to bring” a proposed change to teachers’ compensation by D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee “to his members for a vote.” Rhee has proposed “a pay scale that would garner many instructors more than $100,000 a year in salary and bonuses linked to student achievement.” Some see the plan as “an assault on tenure.” The “older members” of the D.C. teaching corps, “many of them black women who have long been the backbone of the city’s teacher corps,” believe that Rhee “wants to strip their tenure and purge them from the system.” However, many “younger teachers, who have less use for unions and are more willing to take risks, are” supportive of the performance pay plan. This places Parker “in a three-front war,” with Rhee threatening a “Plan B” that would “allow her to impose the changes without awarding huge pay increases.”
Law & Policy
Texas scientists form coalition to support biology curriculum.
The AP (10/1, Shannon) reports, “Scientists from Texas universities on Tuesday denounced what they called supernatural and religious teaching in public school science classrooms and voiced opposition to attempts to water down evolution instruction.” The statement comes as “the State Board of Education is considering new science curriculum standards,” which in their current form would “eliminate the long-held language of teaching students the ‘strengths and weaknesses’ of theories.” The scientists have formed the 21st Century Science Coalition, which “supports that language change because it says talking of ‘weaknesses’ of evolution allows for religion-based concepts like creationism and intelligent design to enter the instruction.” The group also voiced concern that “State Board of Education members…will switch the language back before the final vote,” a move that board chairman Don McLeroy has advocated. The AP notes that, “because Texas is such a large purchaser of textbooks, its ongoing science debate affects textbooks nationwide.”
KVUE-TV Austin (10/1, Hu) adds that the State Board of Education “has set a tentative deadline of March 2009 for adoption” of the new curriculum standards. The Chronicle of Higher Education’s (9/30) News Blog reported that coalition members “signed a statement endorsing evolution as ‘an easily observable phenomenon that has been documented beyond any reasonable doubt.”
California legislation limits students’ exposure to teachers with criminal convictions.
The AP (9/30, Williams) reported, “Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) has signed two bills making it tougher for teachers who commit sex crimes to remain in California’s public schools.” They also “close loopholes in California’s teacher licensing system that had allowed some teachers accused or even convicted of serious crimes to remain in the classroom.” The first bill, by state Sen. Bob Margett (R), “allows the state to revoke licenses from teachers who plead no contest to certain sex crimes or drug offenses without waiting for a discretionary review that can sometimes take two or three years.” Additionally, it “makes the results of investigations into teacher misconduct available for five years instead of being sealed after one year.” The second bill, by state Sen. Jack Scott (D), allows the credentialing commission to “revoke teachers’ licenses automatically if a previous criminal conviction has limited their contact with children” and to “suspend [teachers] automatically if they have had their license revoked in another state for misconduct.”
School Finance
Troubled economy forces D.C.-area districts to cut nonessential costs.
The Washington Times (10/1, Emerling) reports, “School districts across the region are preparing to cut most nonessential classrooms needs…as a result of budget deficits created by the troubled national economy.” The Fairfax County, Va., school system is “expected to be among the hardest-hit in the region, along with Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.” Fairfax County officials “passed the school system’s $2.2 billion fiscal 2009 budget only after the school board made additional reductions of roughly $40 million.” The school system “increased class sizes, reduced central-office support to schools, and were forced to set aside an additional $5.3 million because of rising fuel costs.” Meanwhile, the Prince George’s County, Md., “school system faced more than $100 million in budget cuts during fiscal 2008.” As a result, the system “instituted a temporary hiring freeze this year and eliminated all staff vacancies.”
Also in the News
Scholars debate intellectual abilities of “millennial generation.”
Education Week (9/30, Trotter) reported on a debate between “two experts who have studied what is often called the ‘millennial generation’ — people born from the mid-1980′s to around 2000″ — as to the relative intelligence of “millennials.” Mark Bauerlein, an Emory University professor, said “that students’ obsession with social networking and video games” makes them apt to miss their “chance to acquire the conceptual tools and background knowledge that will become the foundation for their intellectual lives, careers, and citizenship.” Neil Howe, “a historian, economist, and demographer,” countered “that young people’s leisure pursuits today are ‘more sophisticated’ than those of” previous generations, and “reeled off statistics to show positive trends, such as the generation’s ‘reversal of self-destructive behaviors’…and a sustained trend of rising scores on IQ tests.” Education Week noted that “both scholars agreed that the millennials show positive trends,” and benefit from a “greater access to cultural resources and information.”
South Los Angeles charter group outlines expansion plans.
The Los Angeles Times (10/1, Landsberg) reports on the Inner City Education Foundation (ICEF), a charter group that is seeking to expand “from 13 to 35 schools in eight years until it becomes, in effect, the second-largest district in South Los Angeles.” The expansion schools “will include some of the poorest and most crime-ridden neighborhoods in the nation.” According to Mike Piscal, the founder of the charter group, the expansion will foster “nothing less than the transformation of South L.A. ‘into a stable, economically vibrant community.’” Piscal also criticized L.A. Unified schools for their low graduation and college attendance rates. The Times points out, however, that Piscal’s estimation of graduation rates was low. Additionally, he did not account for some schools in the area that perform well, one of which “is now a model of reform as a member of L.A. Unified’s Innovation Division, which gives schools greater autonomy from district rules.”
Achievement gap between economic groups narrowing, analysis shows.
On its front page, the Washington Post (10/2, A1, Glod, deVise) reports, “Since enactment of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, students from poor families in the Washington area have made major gains on reading and math tests and are starting to catch up with those from middle-class and affluent backgrounds, a Washington Post analysis shows.” Students in poverty in Montgomery County, Md., for instance, “earned better scores on Maryland’s reading test in each of the past five years, slicing in half the 28 percentage-point gulf that separated their pass rate from the county average. They also have made a major dent in the math gap.” In Virginia’s Fairfax County, students have “slashed the achievement gaps on [state] tests.” But “some experts caution that state tests are an unreliable gauge because standards vary from place to place. They point to national test scores that show progress at a much slower pace than in the Washington area, with some achievement gaps holding steady.”
In the Classroom
North Carolina district uses motorsports to develop math, science interest.
North Carolina’s Charlotte Observer (10/1, Helms) reported that 100 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) “eighth-graders will go to Lowe’s Motor Speedway next week for an event designed to get them excited about math and science.” There, students “chosen from career-prep programs at Albemarle Road, Cochrane, Eastway, Northridge, and J.T. Williams middle schools will ride in pace cars, race remote-control cars and watch pit-stop demonstrations.” The goal of the event will be to highlight the message that “racing is as much about physics and engineering as engines and tires.” According to the Observer, “CMS and Bank of America brought driver Kasey Kahne to J.T. Williams to announce the program” Wednesday.
North Carolina ABC affiliate WSOC-TV (10/2) quotes Superintendent Peter Gorman, who said that “the school system is trying to reach children at an early age” in order “to build a climate and culture of excitement around science and technology.” Gorman said, “When you’ve got a niche, like we do here where you can fit motorsports right into schools, there’s excitement, and also, we have access.”
Maryland school holds English classes for students’ parents.
Maryland’s Gazette (10/2, Schuman) reports that educators at Beltsville Elementary School are “hopeful a beginner’s English class at the Beltsville Library will help non-English proficient parents become more involved in their children’s education.” The program “is held Monday and Wednesday mornings, which instructor Shawnee Holmberg said makes the class more accessible to parents who don’t work during the day.” The class is supported by the Literacy Council of Prince George’s County, which “has been running [similar] classes for five years.” Enrollment in the class is not limited to the parents of students, “but when the class at the nearby library was announced, Marie Smith, parent liaison at Beltsville Elementary, sent a flier home with every student.” Program officials said they would focus on life skills, such as “how to write a note when [a] child is absent from school,” and said they hope the training will allow parents to become “more active in the school” and their children’s education.
Alaska students petition for comprehensive sex education.
The AP (10/2) reports, “A number of college and high school students in Anchorage are petitioning for comprehensive sex education in schools.” The students formed a group, Voices for Planned Parenthood, or Vox, that “is circulating a Planned Parenthood petition that has collected 1,100 names since late August.” The group argues that schools “should provide sexual function and health information that is medically accurate and age-appropriate.” The AP notes that “Anchorage now follows an ‘abstinence-plus’ model, taught in the eighth grade, [which] parents can opt their kids out of.” Anchorage educators say they try “to find middle ground between the religious communities he serves and the needs of its teens.”
According to Alaska’s Anchorage Daily News (10/1, Holland), the group’s push for “mandatory comprehensive sex ed in high school” would constitute “a radical shift from the hands-off approach Alaska takes, which leaves sex ed to individual school districts.” Critics also say that the current program is “taught too early, when it’s not relevant,” and argue that students “learn statistics of what works and doesn’t, but don’t get practical advice.” However, some educators are concerned “that adding more state mandates would jeopardize time spent on traditional academics” when many schools are having difficulty meeting federal No Child Left Behind mandates.
Students build, market games as economics lesson.
The Indianapolis Star (10/2, Becker) reports that economics students at Danville High School are using a popular game, cornhole, to learn about “all aspects of…business.” The game involves players trying “to toss bags filled with corn, soybeans or sand into a hole cut into a sloping wooden box,” and “has become a popular pastime.” Economics teacher Mike Neilson “thought creating and selling the games would give his students hands-on economics lessons.” The “students sought donations or discounts from family and friends” in order “to help with production costs,” and “received donated soybeans and fabric for the bags.” The students assemble the pieces of the game themselves, and market their product during lunch, as well as “sporting events and pep rallies.” The students also plan to make “order forms available in the front office, and perhaps soon at local businesses.” The Star notes, “Profits will go to the senior scholarship program and help start a conservation club at the school.”
On the Job
New York City teacher reports will not be released to the public, chancellor announces.
The New York Times (10/2, B3, Medina) reports, “New York City is beginning to measure the performance of thousands of elementary and middle school teachers based on how much their students improve on annual state math and reading tests.” But, “to avoid a contentious fight with the teachers’ union, the New York City Department of Education has agreed not to make public the reports” or “let them influence formal job evaluations, pay, and promotions.” Chancellor Joel I. Klein and teachers’ union president Randi Weingarten send a memo to teachers on Wednesday, assuring them that the reports “are designed to be guides for the teachers themselves to better understand their achievements and shortcomings.” The Times notes that the teacher data report uses “a complicated statistical formula” to compute “a ‘predicted gain’ for each teacher’s class, then compares it to the students’ actual improvements on the test. The result is a snapshot analysis of how much the teacher contributed to student growth.”
Value of doctorate degrees for top school officials questioned.
The Washington Post (10/2, B3, Hernandez, Strauss) reports that “a growing number” of top school officials “across the country…hold doctorates.” But “some experts contend the advanced degrees are often too easy to obtain and of questionable value for education leadership.” Nationwide, “the percentage of superintendents who hold an education-related Ph.D. or the education doctorate known as an Ed.D. rose from 36 percent in 1992 to about 51 percent in 2006, according to” one school administrators organization. Although “many academics say the doctoral programs teach vital management and statistical skills while providing an intellectual challenge,” others argue that “the programs mostly provide financial rewards.” The Post notes that, according to experts, “efforts are underway to sharpen the distinction between” Ed.D. and Ph.D. degrees.
Dallas school officials review teacher elimination policy.
The Dallas Morning News (10/2, Hobbs) reports that in an effort to “help offset an expected $84 million budget shortfall this fiscal year for the Dallas Independent School District,” the board of trustees is currently reviewing the process for selecting “the 675 teachers to be laid off. Some trustees and employee groups point out that board policy calls for an intricate process of ranking employees and teachers with similar jobs district-wide — regardless of where they work — to determine who should be cut.” Superintendent Michael Hinojosa “expressed concern [last week] about trying to rank employees district-wide.” Instead, Hinojosa has “asked principals to identify excess employees at their campuses.” Board policy, however, “states that the superintendent must use certain criteria in determining who keeps their jobs.” As such, the board of trustees has “refused to authorize the superintendent’s cut proposals without more details.”
Florida partnership aims to recruit members of minority groups as teachers.
The Tampa Bay Business Journal (10/2) reports that “the Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce has formed a partnership with [the] American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence to recruit and certify more teachers who are members of minority groups. The initiative aims to recruit 300 new Florida teachers over the next year.” Participants will receive a “scholarship to earn teaching certification for math, science, or special education.” In return, they must commit to work three years in “a high-need school and district.”
Law & Policy
Washington senator proposes legislation to offer high school students career options.
The Seattle Medium (10/1) reported that “State School Superintendent Terry Bergeson offered her support for a bill introduced by Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) to promote new career options for students as they exit high school.” The bill, called “Promoting Innovations to 21st Century Careers,” seeks to bring together a variety of leaders from business and education to create and “implement educational options for students to have successful careers in high-demand fields.” According to the Seattle Medium, “whether those pathways include apprenticeships, industry certification, continued education, or another avenue, the bill would create a seamless transition from secondary education to the workforce.”
San Francisco considers future of JROTC program.
The AP (10/2) reports that some San Francisco students are “campaigning to keep the armed forces’ Junior ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) program in public schools.” Two years ago, the city’s school board voted to remove the program from schools, intending “to phase out JROTC and replace it with programs not linked to the military.” Now, “supporters, including many college-bound Asian-American students who make up the majority of cadets” in the area, “initiated an advisory measure on the November ballot” that “they hope…will persuade a new school board to save JROTC.” Critics of the program say “that military-backed programs are not appropriate for public schools,” but proponents argue that the program teaches “discipline, responsibility and leadership skills” not provided elsewhere, and provides opportunities for minorities and women. The AP notes, “JROTC rules prevent instructors from trying to recruit participants.”
California district reverses decision to remove novels from middle schools.
The AP (10/2) reports that California’s Capistrano Unified School District (CUSD) “has reinstated a series of fantasy vampire novels at its 12 middle schools after banning the books from campuses last week.” CUSD “banned Stephanie Meyer’s four-book ‘Twilight’ series…after a literacy program coordinator decided the subject matter was too ‘mature’ for middle school students.” But on Tuesday, the district called off a plan to redistribute the books “to area high schools.”
School book selection not censorship, media director says. North Carolina’s Gaston Gazette (10/2, Millard) reports, “Some classics readers might find at the local library may not show up on school library bookshelves.” That is because “media specialists — once called librarians — are trained on how to select books, videos, and materials that are age appropriate.” For instance, “books with a sexual bias or racial bias aren’t chosen because they could offend.” Pepie Jones, director of media services and special programs for Gaston County Schools in North Carolina, said that the process is “not so much censorship as making an appropriate selection.” Library selections vary “from school to school,” the Gazette adds. Meanwhile, Gaston County “parents that take issue with a book their child brings home can…file an official request to review the book. The book” in question is then “removed from the library of that particular school until a panel reviews the book and makes a decision” about whether or not to remove it permanently.
Special Needs
Special education consultant profiled.
Teacher Magazine (10/1) reported on special education professor, author and consultant Mindy Fattig, who as a teacher “explored the idea of the multi-level classroom” after experiencing difficulties with her school’s “classroom pullout scenario — where students leave their inclusion classroom for small-group instruction.” Fattig eventually found success with “a co-teaching approach,” and “partnered with her students’ teachers to integrate their academic needs into the classroom, thus ending the need for pullouts.” The article then provides readers the opportunity to submit questions to Fattig “on how to create a successful co-teaching model in your multi-level classroom or school.”
Montana schools struggle to adapt to growing autistic population.
Montana’s Flathead Beacon (10/1, Lynch) reported that “special education teachers throughout the Flathead Valley and Montana are developing new programs to serve the increasing number of students who…have autism.” The state’s population of autistic students has risen by 52 percent “in just seven years,” with a nine percent rise “between 2006 and 2007 alone.” Concurrent with this growing population, however, “special education programs are grappling with stagnant state funding — forcing administrators to reach deeper into local school district coffers.” Some groups are suing the state of Montana, “arguing the state has failed to come up with an adequate school funding formula.” In the meantime, “special education teachers and administrators pride themselves in finding ‘creative’ solutions to funding constraints.”