The Nashua (NH) Telegraph (11/18, Brindley) reported that in Nashua, NH, “supporters of keeping leveling in the city’s middle schools spoke out Monday night, arguing that mixing students of all abilities together would dilute education and overburden teachers.” According to the Telegraph, the “school district’s policy on middle school education is to level students for instructional purposes, a process referred to as homogeneous grouping. Mixing students of all abilities is referred to as heterogeneous grouping.” The Nashua Telegraph pointed out that the “vast majority” of those who spoke “were in favor of leveling. … If there’s one thing that was clear Monday night, it was that, just as there is nationally, there is divide of opinions among staff members on the issue of leveling.”

Colorado’s Reporter Herald (11/18, Widalm) reported that Loveland [CO] high school students “might be required to take more classes their junior and senior years to satisfy graduate requirements proposed by school officials. Student Achievement Services will present the recommended changes, which are expected to increase the time seniors attend school, as a discussion item at the Thompson School District Board of Education meeting Nov. 19.” According to the Herald, the “proposed changes would require students to take four additional credits,” in line “with the Colorado Department of Higher Education’s entrance requirements for freshmen.”

The Minneapolis Star Tribune (11/19, Patterson) reports that students in Melisa Tennant’s seventh-grade language arts class at Sunrise Park Middle School [MN] sit at their desks “atop balance balls” and use their feet “to rock up and down. All that background noise and movement may be disorienting to a casual observer, but for Tennant it’s a perfect storm for learning and teaching.” According to the Star Tribune, research “shows that students have better memory and retention when they have movement, Tennant said. … Elementary schools had positive results when using balance balls for children who have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Tennant said. Mayo Clinic researchers found balance balls enhanced attention spans of younger students.”

Indiana’s Journal & Courier (11/19, Flores) reports, “Jennifer Brodar works with elementary students, so she knows that many of the kids struggle with knowing when to tattle or when to refrain. So Brodar used a book to teach the students about the difference between tattling and reporting.” According to the Journal & Courier, “using books to teach kids life lessons or help them deal with difficult subjects is an example of bibliotherapy. … Author Amy Recob,” a “middle school English teacher who lives in Wisconsin, wrote ‘Bibliotherapy: When Kids Need Books: A Guide for Those in Need of Reassurance and Their Teachers, Parents, and Friends.’” Recob “said she discovered bibliotherapy about 10 years ago in college as an education student.”

The Corpus Christi (TX) Caller-Times (11/18, Aguilar) reported, “Since August, English-as-a-Second-Language program students at the five Corpus Christi Independent School District high schools have used iPods to learn English. The devices are used for viewing, listening to, and creating digital stories, as well as downloading educational materials.” According to the Caller-Times, the iPods “are part of a $25,000 grant AT&T awarded to CCISD in the spring.”

The Boston Globe (11/18, Vaznis) reported that at Ferryway School in Malden, MA, where boys “slightly outnumber girls; male teachers are a rare species, presiding over only four of the 35 classrooms.” According to the Globe, principal Thomas DeVito says the “problem is especially acute,” when “it comes to hiring elementary teachers at his school, which spans kindergarten through eighth grade. For those jobs, he said, ‘I don’t think I’ve interviewed any males in the last five or six years.’” Meanwhile, the “same scenario is playing out across the state and the nation, where the number of male teachers is dwindling despite a recent focus on drawing more men into classrooms.”

The Boston Globe (11/19, Vaznis) reports that the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education “is considering a major revamp of its standardized testing system that could eventually require students to complete science lab experiments and teamwork projects and deliver oral presentations. State officials said the changes, if approved by the board, will ensure that students will graduate from high school with the skills necessary to succeed in college or the workplace.” However, state Education Secretary Paul Reville “emphasized the changes would not replace the statewide [Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System] exams, but complement them.”

The New York Times (11/19, A30, Medina) reports that “the Bloomberg administration and New York City’s teachers’ union reached a deal on Tuesday intended to help teachers who remain on the payroll without assignments to find permanent placements in schools.” The plan involves Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein urging “principals to hire teachers who have been out of work for at least several months. The city’s Department of Education will also give schools financial incentives to hire teachers from the so-called absent teacher reserve pool; those teachers typically have more experience and higher salaries than rookie teachers, who are often favored by principals.” According to the Education Department, “there are 829 teachers in the reserve pool and 529 teaching vacancies in the city.”

The Baltimore Sun (11/19, Arin Gencer) reports, “Overall enrollment in Baltimore County public schools has continued to decline slightly, but areas of growth — with some schools far exceeding their capacity — remain, according to a new report.” According to the Baltimore Sun, “this year marks the sixth consecutive time that the school system has fewer students than the previous year, with 103,643 pupils — down 1,071 from 2007.” However, “the southeastern and southwestern portions of the county are fairly stable” and the “central and northeastern sections have the most growth.” And, “some of those geographic regions contain schools far exceeding capacity while others are under capacity.” The district “has already sought ways to relieve some of its overcrowded facilities. In the central area, plans are under way to build a new elementary school” and “in the southeast area…a boundary change committee was started this school year to balance enrollment between two” elementary schools.

The Montgomery County (TX) Observer (11/18, Huisman) reported that the Community Chamber of Commerce of East Montgomery County (TX) Education Committee “passed two resolutions urging Texas lawmakers to review the current public school funding laws. The resolutions, which passed unanimously at the committee hearing Nov. 10, called on the Texas Legislature to establish a statewide task force including elected officials and school districts.” According to the Observer, “One of the resolutions is solely from the chamber, while the other is inclusive of the six school districts and the six community chambers of Montgomery County.”

The Washington Post (11/19, B1, Turque) reports, “Revamped security and discipline policies, more specialized schools, a ‘Parent Academy’ to help District parents take charge of their children’s education, and the possibility of more school closures are part of the long-term vision proposed by Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee in a new document.” Rhee’s security “proposal calls for electronic monitoring centers in secondary schools. A handful of central office staff is responsible for monitoring the 3,500 surveillance cameras in the school system. Experienced law enforcement personnel would be hired to augment security.” In addition, “Rhee will consider ending out-of-school suspensions, in which students are sent home,” and may expand “in-school suspension programs and possibly” open ‘”suspension classrooms’ in each school.”

The AP (11/19) reports that Chicago’s proposed Pride Campus High School has been touted “as a haven for gay youth seeking refuge from sometimes hostile traditional classrooms. But under mounting pressure from ministers and gay activists alike, the name has changed and the focus broadened to create a school that would be one of the nation’s largest to serve any students victimized by bullying and harassment.” The Social Justice Solidarity High School would “open in 2010 and eventually serve 600 students, about half of whom were expected to identify as gay.” But, while the “Pride Campus mission statement [was] to serve ‘the underserved population of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning youth and their allies,’” the “Solidarity school aims to address ‘citywide concerns over violence, bullying, and harassment.’” If Chicago school officials approve the school plan on Wednesday, Solidarity will “join several smaller U.S. campuses aimed at serving students who have been” bullied or harassed.

The Fort Myers News-Press (11/19) reports that the Lee County (FL) school board “adopted a bullying and harassment policy, which includes cyber bullying. It will bring the district in compliance with the Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for All Students Act.” According to the News-Press, the stand up for all students law “was spearheaded by Cape Coral resident and teacher Debbie Johnston, whose son Jeffrey committed suicide after being bullied.”

North Carolina’s News & Record (11/19, Ewing) reports that the financial crisis that has gripped the nation “may put the brakes on school construction” in Guildford County, NC, as county commissioners “met with the school board” on Tuesday “to discuss dwindling coffers and the outside possibility the bonds approved last spring may not sell in January” Guildford County Finance Director Brenda Fox said, “I’ve never seen a situation like this. Typically we don’t even give it a thought that our bonds wouldn’t sell.”

WXXA-TV Albany, NY (11/18, Saperstone) reported that with New York Gov. David Paterson (D) “effectively shutting down Tuesday’s special session before it even began: school districts who were being told $800 million would be cut from education funding could breathe a sigh of relief, for now.” According to WXXA, Schenectady School District “was anticipating the worst. But without an agreement on emergency mid-year state cuts, all eyes are now on the Governor’s 2009-2010 budget, which comes out next month, earlier than normal. Billions more are expected to be slashed.”

WNCT-TV Greenville, NC (11/18, Joshi) reported that the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction “says the agency has to give back $117,000,000.00 because state revenues aren’t coming in as projected. … The DPI says the agency will take care of nearly half that figure by coming up with $59,000,000.00 on their own. The DPI says that will come from various cuts like lapsed salaries and ending unnecessary travel.” However, the “rest of the money the state needs back, a whopping $58,000,000.00, falls on public schools across North Carolina including charter schools.”

KBLG-AM Billings, MT (11/18) reported that Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s (D) “proposed budget for the next two years is not getting good reviews from the state’s education community, including Billings School District II Superintendent Jack Copps, who calls the spending plan irresponsible. According to KBLG, the Montana School Boards Association “says the governor’s proposed budget will force school districts to cut programs or seek increases in local property taxes through levies.”

The AP (11/18) reported that South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds (R) “says next year will bring the ‘worst budget scenario that we have seen,’ and he doubts there will be much of an increase in state funding of schools. The governor will present his new budget proposal to the Legislature in a speech on Dec. 2.” According to the AP, Rounds said “the current economic downturn means the state budget will be especially tight next year. He also said half of the state budget goes to education each year, and spending on schools will have to be flexible, along with everything else.”

Washington’s Peninsula Gateway (11/20) reports, “Students in two Purdy Elementary School fifth-grade classes participated in a scientific activity last Friday about the brain and how it works.” The students “began the assignment several weeks ago by doing research on how they learn. After creating a ‘brain manual,’ classes had the option of working together in the science lab to dissect sheep brains.” Also, Jamie Vandette, an anatomy and physiology professor at Green River Community College, “gave a lecture on parts of the brain and the dissection procedures scientists use. She projected her real-time dissection of a sheep brain overhead.” Art teacher Hannah Jay said of the activity, “I saw children genuinely involved in hands-on joy of learning what you just can’t get out of a textbook. … There was a lot of sensory perception going on: smelling the brain, feeling the brain, seeing something that had been two-dimensional now being fully three-dimensional.”

Independent Reading Inside the Box shows how K-6 students can use a single piece of paper–the “Reading 8-Box”–to strengthen and monitor their comprehension, language, and thinking skills. Filled with student samples, reproducibles, and rubrics. Click here to preview the entire book online!

One Of Nation’s Wealthiest Districts May Cut Some High School Sports Due To Budget Woes.

The Washington Post (11/20, E6, Koubaroulis) reports, “Fairfax County high school gymnastics and indoor track could be eliminated when the 2010 budget is adopted in May as the school district copes with a $170 million shortfall.” About “125 female athletes” participate in the gymnastics program, and “about 2,500 students participate in indoor track, which has long served as a catch-all sport for athletes looking for a way to train during the off season.” According to some school officials, “the measure would affect about 2,600 athletes [overall] and save the county an estimated $471,000.” The Post notes that Fairfax County “has been ranked among the nation’s wealthiest…with 24 of its 25 schools appearing on Newsweek‘s 2008 list of America’s top public high schools.” Fairfax County Director of Student Activities Bill Curran said, “It simply isn’t realistic to think we can operate with vast budget cuts and not talk about the athletics. It’s all got to go together.”

Florida’s Graduation Rate Increases.

The AP (11/20) reports, “Florida’s high school graduation rate climbed again last year, boosted by continuing strides from minority students and a decline in the percentage of students dropping out, according to new state Department of Education statistics.” On Wednesday, “state education officials and Gov. Charlie Crist (R) announced…that the four-year graduation rate had jumped three percentage points over the previous school year to 75.4 percent. Meanwhile, the dropout rate dipped from 3.3 percent to 2.6 percent.” The figures reflect “gains across most counties in the state, including in the metropolitan regions encompassing Jacksonville, Miami and Tampa.”

        According to the Miami Herald (11/20, Sampson, Shah), “Efforts to reform high school education have been under way for the last few years.” But, while education officials “believe the efforts are paying off, they are also hoping that recent budget woes don’t put a stop to the advances.”

Montgomery County, Maryland School Board To Consider Declaring Jan 20. A School Holiday.

The Washington Post (11/20, B4, de Vise) reports, “A Montgomery County (MD) school board member is offering a resolution to declare Inauguration Day a holiday in Maryland’s largest school system, against the recommendation of Superintendent Jerry D. Weast.” The Post notes that “Montgomery is one of a few large school systems in the Washington area that plan to hold classes when Barack Obama is sworn in as president Jan. 20.” School board member Christopher S. Barclay “introduced [the] resolution” on Tuesday “noting that the inauguration of the first African American president will be ‘unlike any event that we are likely to witness again in our lifetimes.’” Meanwhile, “Weast recommended…that schools remain open on Inauguration Day, citing the limited number of ‘contingency’ days — four — built into the calendar for snow or other reasons. He also said that closing schools would create child-care problems for working parents.”

 

The Minneapolis Star Tribune (11/24, Ode) reports on the Laura Jeffrey Academy, Minneapolis’s “first public ‘girl-focused’ charter school…geared toward creating confidence and competency among girls in science, technology, engineering and math.” According to founder Cindy Reuther, that goal is “best accomplished without boys in the classroom, although the school is open to male enrollment.” While the school does administer “all of the standardized tests under No Child Left Behind,” it’s “motto, ‘Asking questions, making choices,’ is about becoming critical thinkers and confident participants, traits whose mastery isn’t necessarily reflected on report cards.” The Star Tribune points out that the academy “is sponsored by the Audubon Center of the North Woods, which sponsors more than a dozen charter schools throughout Minnesota that emphasize project-based education, a curriculum in which students work on complex questions in groups over time. The schools also focus on environmental education.”

Students In Virginia School Studying Etymology.

The Washington Post (11/24, B2) reports in the first in a series of articles chronicling “unusual courses in local schools” that in “Phil Rosenthal’s etymology class at Park View High School in Sterling (VA),” Etymology, “the study of the origin and evolution of words,” might “be considered the domain of tweedy types who reek of pipe smoke. But Rosenthal tries to give his 20-some students a sense of the stories and shades behind the words they use every day.” The Post adds, “An understanding of the complexity of language might give a leg up to students entering college.”

Children’s Nature Institute Teaches Students In Underperforming Schools About Environment.

The Los Angeles Times (11/23, Gold) reported on the Children’s Nature Institute, which “enhances the education of students from poor, underperforming schools by introducing them to nature and environmental studies. … The institute’s organizers have armed themselves with studies linking nature-based education with children’s improved academic performance, reduced disciplinary problems, improved mental and physical health, and greater dedication to environmental stewardship.” According to the Times, “Most children served by the organization go through a three-part education effort. First, the institute visits a school in one of its two ‘Wonder Mobiles’ — a lab on wheels that uses teaching tools…to help educate students about camouflage.” Then, “the students are…taken on a field trip to a natural place.” Afterward, “the organization takes the children on an ‘urban nature walk’ in their neighborhood — ‘teaching them that they don’t need to live in a rich or an elite area to appreciate nature,’ said Christina Bianchi, program director.”

Kentucky District Working To Implement Work Ethic Certificate In High Schools.

Kentucky’s News-Enterprise (11/22, Richardson) reported, “Hardin County Schools is working to implement a work ethic certificate in five of its schools, and administrators hope to spread the idea to more schools in the future.” The certificate “measures a student’s performance in areas such as attendance, punctuality and organization skills, among other criteria. The goal of the certificate is to prove a student is responsible enough to hold and succeed at a job, Superintendent Nannette Johnston said.”

Teachers At California High School Use Technology To Connect With Students.

California’s Contra Costa Times (11/23) reported that at Antioch’s Dozier-Libbey Medical High School, “teachers are embracing some of the latest technology to get their points across.” For instance, “the campus’s 215 students each have been using the so-called ‘clickers’ since the magnet school opened in August — $50 wireless devices that tally their answers within seconds and display them as a bar graph. The results are almost instantaneous and show teachers whether students are grasping a concept, replacing the need to go by the number of students raising a hand.” Furthermore, the school’s “14 teachers each received a $500 electronic ‘whiteboard,’” which “enable them to create as well as manipulate text and images that are stored on their desk computers, which in turn project the data on a screen.” The Contra Costa Times points out that “Dozier-Libbey isn’t the only school taking advantage of high-tech innovations. Six elementary schools…also began using a different version of the clickers this fall.”

On the Job

Hillsborough County, Florida, Schools Should Be Open On Good Friday, Columnist Writes.

In an opinion piece for the St. Petersburg (FL) Times (11/24), Sue Carlton writes, “Just in time for the holidays, a gift for the Hillsborough County School Board: the chance not to be a national embarrassment over religion and school holidays all over again.” While “other counties like Pinellas manage to hold classes on Good Friday without the earth opening up to swallow the masses,” Carlton points out that in Hillsborough County “folks don’t take to change so easily.” She notes that “when the School Board moved to…make days off ‘academic’ and not religious,” some county commissioners resisted. And, after the School Board “made Good Friday a school day last school year, 60 percent of students, 40 percent of bus drivers, and one in four teachers took the day off.” The board is now considering putting Good Friday “on the chopping block again.” But, Carlton urges the School Board to “send an unambiguous message to teachers, parents, students, and personnel: [Good Friday] is a school day.”

        Ineffective Teachers Difficult To Fire, Columnist Writes. In an opinion piece for the St. Petersburg (FL) Times (11/23), Ron Matus wrote, “There is no single way to define teacher quality. … And there are plenty of questions about who should do it.” But, “even if we answer those questions, tougher ones await: What do we do with the results? Pay more to those who measure up? Fire those who don’t? Keep the best teachers in the best schools?” According to the St. Petersburg Times, “reputable research has found” that “students who have the best teachers three years in a row make twice the progress of students who have the worst teachers,” and “high-poverty students who begin elementary school behind their more affluent peers catch up by middle school if they get top teachers throughout.” Meanwhile “Education experts say poor schools are more likely to have incompetent teachers…who filter down through transfers from wealthier schools.” However, “principals can’t just fire ineffective teachers” due to “district rules…that require painstaking documentation for ineptitude.”

Virginia Education Board Considering Math Standards Overhaul.

The Washington Post (11/24, B2, Birnbaum) reports, “Kindergartners would be expected to be able to count to 100, not just to 30. Perimeter and area would be introduced and explored in third grade, instead of in second grade. Those are among many proposed revisions to Virginia’s math standards that are part of a national movement to strengthen and streamline math education to prepare all students to learn algebra and higher concepts.” According to the Post, “Some teachers have criticized current standards for repeating concepts over multiple grades and have said that a more focused approach could reduce the need for review as years go by. The state Board of Education is trying to respond to those criticisms with the proposed revisions.”

Law & Policy

Reauthorizing NCLB Seen As “Tough” Task For Obama Administration.

The Washington Post (11/24, A2, Glod) reports that as President-elect Obama’s administration “prepares to take over the Education Department, school experts say one of Obama’s first — and toughest — jobs must be restoring the broad bipartisan support it took to pass” No child Left Behind (NCLB). The Post adds that “Obama’s vision of refining the federal role in America’s classrooms…may be the biggest political and policy challenge. He inherits an agency — and a law — that is seen by some local schools and union leaders as focusing more on sanctions and policing than on helping build better schools.”

New Hampshire Education Officials Consider Allowing High School Students To Skip Junior, Senior Years.

The Nashua (NH) Telegraph (11/23, Brindley) reported that New Hampshire “education officials are looking to implement a board of exams that students would take after their sophomore year. Those who pass would be able to essentially opt out of their junior and senior years, graduate early and start taking community college courses, either at their school, off site or online.” According to State Commissioner of Education Lyonel Tracy, “the purpose of the program is to give students who are ready a chance to go beyond the high school curriculum and get a jump-start to their college education.” In addition, it could “free up state resources that could be directed toward students who need more assistance, he said.” The Nashua Telegraph points out that “the proposal was borne out of a report called ‘Tough Choices or Tough Times,’ which” recommended that students “who are ready…be able to graduate early and go to college.”

Special Needs

New York Officials To Consider Proposal For School For Students With Mental Illnesses.

The Staten Island (NY) Advance (11/23, Padani) reported on “the proposed John W. Lavelle Preparatory Charter School, a school for grades six through 12″ for children with mental illnesses “that will open in September pending approval from the state Board of Regents. Backed by the Verrazzano Foundation, the school would be the first of its type in the city and the first charter school on Staten Island.” The board is “scheduled to vote on the application [for the school] on Dec. 16.”

Facilities

Providence, Rhode Island High School Will Offer Nine Career Certification Options.

The Providence (RI) Journal (11/23, Borg) reported that the “new career and technical high school” in Providence “will include a 60,000-square-foot athletic complex with a 200-meter track, three basketball courts and an indoor soccer field.” But, “beneath the athletic complex” will be “a mall-like space with a student café, culinary arts program, cosmetology salon, and school store.” The new school “is very green, with solar and thermal water heaters, LED lighting and low-flow fixtures that will save an estimated 30 percent in water usage.” Moreover, “the top floor features a wireless library with no books; instead, students can access 80 laptops and a Smart Board, an interactive, electronic whiteboard.” According to the Providence Journal, “the school will offer nine career paths: carpentry, automotive, electrical, graphic communications, culinary arts, plumbing, heating and ventilation, construction and cosmetology. Each student will graduate with a high school diploma and industry-recognized certification in his or her chosen field.”

School Finance

Math Teacher In California Sells Ads On Class Exams To Cover Printing Costs.

The San Diego (CA) Union-Tribune (11/24) reports that Rancho Bernardo High School math teacher Tom Farber “sells ads to local businesses” that he includes on the first page of students’ exams. The money from the ads helps “cover printing costs.” Farber pointed out that “the money he gets [from the school] for printing was cut this year to about $300 for two semesters. Printing the quizzes and tests costs more than $500, he said, and doesn’t include handouts that students download and print on their own.” Advertisers “pay $10 for an ad on a quiz, $20 to be on a chapter test and $30 for a spot on a semester final. Some of the quotes, either personal ones or by famous people, are paid for by parents.” Although “Farber hasn’t received sponsorships from any major retailers or store chains…he hasn’t ruled them out. He said he would prefer to get ads from local mom-and-pop stores, such as a tuxedo shop around prom time.”

Also in the News

Students Living In New York City Public Housing Perform Worse Than Peers Living Elsewhere, Study Shows.

The New York Times (11/24, A21, Fernandez) reports that according to a new study by New York University researchers, “New York City children who live in public housing perform worse in school than students who live in other types of housing. … The study…found that students living in public housing are more likely to drop out of high school and less likely to graduate in four years than those who do not live in public housing.” It also revealed that fifth graders living in public housing “did worse on standardized math and reading tests than fifth graders who lived elsewhere.” According to researchers, “the report is the first large-scale study of the academic performance of children growing up in the city’s 343 public housing complexes.”

Maryland Elementary Music Teacher Receives Milken Foundation Award.

The Baltimore Sun (11/24, Kohn) reports that music teacher Christian Slattery, “who teaches at Hall’s Cross Roads Elementary School in Aberdeen, won a major award that comes with a no-strings-attached $25,000.” The award was “given by the Milken Foundation of Los Angeles.” According to the Baltimore Sun, “the Milken award is based on a range of factors, including test results, and information from principals and administrators. It is generally given to teachers in the beginning or middle of their careers. The foundation focuses on these groups because it wants to use the award to encourage teachers to stay in the profession.”

NEA in the News

Rhode Island Judge Rules School District Has Sole Right To Set “Essential” Policies.

The Providence (RI) Journal (11/24, Vernon-Sparks) reports, “A Superior Court judge says the Exeter-West Greenwich School Committee has the sole right…to set policies essential to its educational mission.” When the School Committee failed “to seek the teachers union’s approval before creating a new department of fine arts,” the Exeter-West Greenwich Education Association, “asserting that the unilateral move violated a provision of the teachers contract, took the dispute to arbitration.” The arbiter concluded that the committee “had overstepped by creating the department.” Judge Bennett R. Gallo, however, “threw out the arbitration award, saying that no contract can give a union…veto power over actions of a school district that relate directly to the ‘essence of the educational mission.’” John Leidecker, “assistant executive director of the union’s parent organization, National Education Association (NEA) Rhode Island,” noted “that this is the first time in at least 20 years that the contract provision has been tested, but he said Gallo’s decision didn’t surprise him or the union.”

In the Classroom

Minneapolis Girls’ School Focuses On Increasing STEM Competency.

In the Classroom

Fifth-Graders In Washington Elementary School Dissect Sheep Brains.