Comic Books Gaining Popularity Among Teachers As Learning Tool.
Education Week (2/10, Viadero) reports, “Once fuel for mass book burnings, comic books are gaining a foothold in the nation’s schools, with teachers seeing them as a learning tool and scholars viewing them as a promising subject for educational research.” According to James “Bucky” Carter, an assistant professor of English education at the University of Texas at El Paso, several studies “suggest that students who read comics go on to read more, and to read more varied literature.” The studies also suggest “that educators are using the medium for a variety of purposes, including as a bridge to full literacy for English-language learners and struggling readers; a tool for discussing sensitive social issues; a subject for lessons on visual literacy,” among other things. Nevertheless, some educators still “see the books as ‘subliterature.’”
In the Classroom
Metro Denver School District Eliminates Grade Levels In Bid To Boost Student Performance.
The Christian Science Monitor (2/10, Paulson) reports, “School districts across the US are trying to improve student performance and low test scores. But few have taken as radical an approach as Adams 50,” in Colorado. According to the Monitor, when Adams 50 “elementary and middle-school students come back next fall, there won’t be any grade levels — or traditional grades, for that matter.” Students “younger than eighth grade” will not be placed in a traditional grade-level. The “district plans to phase in the reform through high school a year at a time. Ultimately, there will be 10 multiage levels, rather than 12 grades, and students might be in different levels depending on the subject. They’ll move up only as they demonstrate mastery of the material.”
Meditation, Breathing Techniques Taught In Some Sacramento Elementary Schools.
The Sacramento Bee (2/10, Bembosky) reports, “Before graduating another generation of workaholic, road-raged adults, a number of California schools are intervening as early as kindergarten, reworking adult relaxation techniques for little ones.” The meditation is “based on an adult stress-reduction program.” The exercises, however, “are adapted for elementary- school students’ vocabulary and attention spans.” The Sacramento Bee points out that “last fall, Clayton B. Wire Elementary School was the first Sacramento school to implement” the meditation program, developed by the Community Partnership for Mindfulness in Education “to teach students skills to calm down and pay attention.”
Workshop Educates Teachers About Underground Railroad.
The Huntsville (AL) Times (2/9, Newcomb) reported that after attending a workshop on the Underground Railroad at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, second-grade teacher Linda Hardee “wanted her students to learn more about it.” At the workshop, Hardee “met authors of books on historical topics and visited sites of slave uprisings in the little-known Christiana, Pa., to Harper’s Ferry, Va.” In addition, she “learned of William Still, a free black who kept records of newspaper advertisements for runaway slaves and of those who made it to freedom.” Afterward, Hardee “planned a three-month unit starting with the laws regarding slavery. … She is also planning lessons on mapping and astronomy to show how slaves used the night sky to navigate their escape. Her students will also make a quilt.” The Huntsville Times added that the workshop was sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Washington District Brings Violin Classes To Elementary Schools.
The Tacoma (WA) News Tribune (2/9, Schilling) reported that “a few months ago, most of the students in the” students in Edwin Markham Elementary School’s violin “class had never even touched a violin. Now they’re on their way to becoming aficionados through the district’s recently revived strings program.” The classes began “in the fall with about 120 fifth-graders.” District administrators are planning “to add a grade each year until there’s a full orchestra in high school.” And even though there are only violins this year, “officials plan to add more instruments next year.” Violin students learn “to hold the violins, carry them and clean them.” They also learn to read music. The Tacoma News Tribune points out that “most of the students got their violins through the districts Instruments-for-Loan program, which was created several years ago so money wouldn’t be a barrier to participating in music.”
WAY Trains Teachers In Alabama To Inject Health Lessons Into Daily Activities.
The Birmingham (AL) News (2/9, Ray) reported that Bryan Elementary School teacher Charity Carroll “is part of a growing cadre of teachers around the state who have received training from Wellness, Academics, and You (WAY), a state-funded program intended to fight childhood obesity by helping teachers inject lessons about nutrition and good health into their daily classroom activities.” WAY “provided training and materials to teachers and other personnel in more than 130 schools and 19 school systems.” Participating teachers “receive two half-days of training along with exercise DVDs and other materials to use in the classroom.” The program aims to ease the burden on teachers “by providing lesson plans that insert health-related information into math, social studies and other subjects. For example, if a class is learning percentages, teachers might use nutritional information on food labels as part of the exercise.” The Birmingham News noted that WAY “is funded by the Alabama Department of Education and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama.”
On the Job
Texas Faces Major Shortage Of Math, Science Teachers.
The Dallas Morning News (2/10, Stutz) reports that “just as Texas is phasing in new high school graduation requirements that call for more math and science, a new study released Monday indicates that a longtime shortage of teachers in those subjects has grown dramatically worse and will continue to do so.” According to a report “from researchers at the University of Texas at Austin,” the teacher shortage has resulted in schools hiring “less-qualified teachers.” Another key finding of the study is that “Projections of future supply and demand suggest that the shortage will continue to increase over the next five years. That shortage comes as Texas high schools implement the 4-by-4 graduation requirements for core courses, including an extra year of math and science,” the Dallas Morning News adds.
Teacher Certification Methods Have Little Effect On Student Achievement.
Education Week (2/9, Zehr) reported, “Students who have teachers certified through alternative-training programs do no worse in mathematics or reading achievement than students whose teachers have been certified by traditional teacher education programs, according to a study released today by Mathematica Policy Research Inc.” For the study, Mathematica “compared students from the same schools who were randomly assigned to teachers from alternative-certification programs or regular teacher education programs.” Researchers also “involved 87 alternatively certified teachers and 87 traditionally certified teachers” in the study. “They came from 28 alternative-certification programs or 52 traditional programs.” According to the study, “the amount of coursework required by training programs varies greatly within alternative-certification programs and also within traditional programs.” And, “the number of course hours taken by teachers didn’t affect student achievement.”
Law & Policy
US Senate To Decide On Stimulus Bill.
The New York Times (2/10, A14, Dillon) reports, “The economic stimulus bill that is expected to win passage in the Senate on Tuesday would provide about $83 billion for child care, public schools and universities.” But even “If the bill passes the Senate,” lawmakers must negotiate “the Senate’s decision to eliminate all of $20 billion in direct financing of school renovation, and over its trim of $40 billion from the House’s proposed $79 billion stabilization fund for states, much of which would be spent on schools and state universities.” The Times notes that “the stabilization fund is intended to help states and school districts meet payrolls as tax revenue plummets in the recession.” Meanwhile, “both the House and the Senate would hugely increase spending on Title I,” and both “bills would also increase federal spending on special education by $13 billion over two years.”
Education Week (2/9, Klein) adds that “On Friday, the prospect of a scaled-back education aid package drew very different reactions within the education community.” Randall Moody, the chief lobbyist for the National Education Association, said, “We’re obviously very upset about the proposed cut. … We think the education part of the package is the crucial part because it will save jobs and put people back to work.” On the other side, Frederick M. Hess, the director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, said “that the likely remaining increases would leave school districts little room to complain.”
Safety & Security
California District Distributes Disaster Preparedness Kits To All Schools.
The Ledger Dispatch (2/9) reported that “Amador County schools are one step closer to being prepared for an emergency or disaster should one occur on school grounds.” Over the past year, “the sheriff’s office has been working with the school district…on disaster preparedness plans.” Each school in the district received a command kit. “The kits consist of 13 position vests with job assignments identified on the vests, checklists to assist with assignments, and five location flags to identify areas such as the command post, medical help, or student release operations.” The kits are intended to “allow school officials to integrate seamlessly into the overall emergency response of fire, emergence medical or law enforcement personnel as they arrive on scene.”
Facilities
Elementary School In Arizona Receives “Green” Makeover.
The Arizona Republic (2/10, Falkenhagen) reports, “On Friday, the non-profit environmental-awareness group Earth Day Network, supported by volunteers from the University of Phoenix, put the finishing touches on a green makeover at” William R. Sullivan Elementary School in southwest Phoenix. Now the roof is covered in solar panels, “intended to save the school thousands of dollars and reduce carbon emissions.” In addition, the school’s computer lab has a “‘smart’ power strip that will shut off electricity when the desktops aren’t in use.” And “new landscaping at the school’s entrance features desert plants and gravel instead of grass.” The Arizona Republic notes that “the University of Phoenix Foundation made the makeover possible through a $50,000 grant to Earth Day Network, which put out word that it was looking to green a school in the Valley.”
School Finance
DC Schools Chancellor To Cut Teacher Wage Proposal In Light Of Soft Economy.
On the front of its Metro section, the Washington Post (2/10, B1, Turque) reports, “D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee said yesterday that the deteriorating economy will force the District to cut the wage proposal in its contract offer to the Washington Teachers’ Union. At the same time, Rhee spoke in upbeat and conciliatory terms about negotiations with the union, now in their 15th month.” According to the Post, the “financial package Rhee offered in July called for a minimum increase of 28 percent over five years, depending on which salary ‘tier’ teachers selected.” However, “with the District expected to collect at least $456 million less in tax revenue during the 2010 fiscal year, she said the situation has changed.”
Also in the News
Scholastic Inc. Accused Of Using Classrooms To Sell Novelty Items.
On the front of its Arts section, the New York Times (2/10, C1, Rich) reports, “Scholastic Inc., the children’s publisher of favorites like the Harry Potter, Goosebumps and Clifford series, may be best known for its books, but a consumer watchdog group accuses the company of using its classroom book clubs to push video games, jewelry kits, and toy cars.” After reviewing the “monthly fliers distributed by Scholastic last year,” the advocacy group, Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, “found that one-third of the items sold in these brochures were either not books or books packaged with other items.” For instance, items for sale included “the M&M’s Kart Racing Wii video game, the ‘American Idol’ event planner and a Puppy Pals Origami Kit.”
According to the AP (2/10, Crary), “The campaign is the latest fight over exposing children to advertising and commercial products at school.” Judy Newman, “a Scholastic executive vice president who oversees the book clubs,” responded to the criticism by saying that “Scholastic respects the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, but is more attentive to concerns from classroom teachers — and depicted them as generally enthusiastic about the book clubs.”
NEA in the News
Kansas Lawmakers To Introduce Bill That Would Mandate Financial Literacy For K-12.
The Wichita (KS) Eagle (2/10, Koranda) reports, “Some of the country’s economic woes might have been prevented if students were taught financial literacy, supporters of a bill that would do just that told a Senate committee on Monday.” Rep. Melody McCray-Miller (D-Park City) and Sen. Jean Schodorf (R-Wichita) “have been advocating for all schools to teach financial literacy in kindergarten through 12th grade.” A proposal, “sponsored by Schodorf, outlines what topics should be included” in a financial literacy class, “and would require questions on personal financial literacy be included in the statewide assessment tests for mathematics and social studies.” The Wichita Eagle points out that “While the Kansas National Education Association supported teaching financial literacy, the list” of topics required by the proposal border “on micro-managing the state board of education, said Mark Desetti, who lobbies for the association.”
California District Officials Suggest Lower Graduation Requirements To Reduce Dropouts.
The Los Angeles Times (2/8, Barboza) reports that in the Santa Ana Unified School District, “the current requirement of 240 credits, one of the toughest in the state, leaves [high school] students little room to retake failed courses. Officials hope lowering it to 220 will decrease the dropout rate.” The proposal “would cut out health, college and career planning, world geography and earth science as required courses.” While other California districts impose “stiffer requirements meant to challenge more students and propel them toward college and successful careers,” Santa Ana school officials say that “students’ schedules are so packed with required courses that if they fail a class or two, they can lose hope of graduating.” And, cutting the number of credits students need to graduate “will not diminish academic standards,” they insist. According to the Times, “School counselors support the plan,” arguing that it will “give more latitude to students taking remedial and technical classes, English language learners who require specialized courses, and honors students taking advanced classes.”
In the Classroom
Virginia Museum Course Helps Teachers Prepare Lessons On Holocaust.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch (2/9, Lizama) reports on a course offered by the Virginia Holocaust Museum that helps teachers prepare Holocaust-centered lessons, as required by the Virginia Standards of Learning. Manchester Middle School band director Peggy R. Moncure, who attended the course, “found the music connection, and it profoundly changed her teaching focus. … She embarked on a cross-curricular project involving her students and chorus, drama, art, technical education, English and JROTC.” Moncure’s “students study about musicians banned by the Nazi regime, such as Felix Mendelssohn and Richard Strauss.” Meanwhile art teacher Brent Tharp “got his class involved in the project by making paper dolls representing people of the Holocaust.” Other teachers implemented Holocaust-themed class projects, as well. Their combined efforts will culminate in “a two-night ‘Holocaust Night of Remembrance’ event filled with music, drama, literary works, art and a memorial to the 1.5 million children who lost their lives.”
Animation Club Teaches Middle School Students College-Level Skills.
The St. Petersburg Times (2/9, Solochek) reports on the animation club at Crews Lake Elementary School in Florida. The club, sponsored by “Kevin Naples, an artist trained at Ringling College of Art and Design, and Joe Groppe, an animator who runs a private graphic arts company,” is currently in the process of “making a movie using some of the most advanced animation software around.” Last week, some students created figures using “modeling clay — a project designed to have [them] understand the dimensions and perspective of a character before creating a three-dimensional computer version.” The Times points out that instruction in animation is “practically college-level material, something rarely offered in high schools, much less middle schools.” Crews Lake “Principal Chris Christoff sees possibilities in eventually turning the club into a class, while [Pasco County Schools] superintendent Heather Fiorentino suggested that it could evolve into a career academy linked to a nearby high school.”
Learning Labs Seen As Key In Florida District’s Dropout Prevention Effort.
The St. Petersburg Times (2/9, Solochek) reports, “Learning labs are almost deceptively simple: Certified teachers spend time in a large room filled with tables, comfortable chairs, computers, and books, waiting for students who need help to come and ask for it.” Students in need of assistance can seek help at any time throughout the school day — including during class. “During the 2007-08 academic year, 8,578 of the 14,224 student visits to Wesley Chapel High’s lab came with classroom teacher passes.” The labs, which have been used in the Pasco school system for two years, have proven to be “a top tool in the district’s dropout prevention effort.” According to Ramon Suarez, “who oversees graduation enhancement programs,” learning labs have been “key to getting Pasco off the state’s watch list for too many dropouts among special needs students,” and have contributes to a “40 percent decrease in the overall dropout rate.” Suarez said that “one of the primary reasons for [the labs'] success” is that “students get assistance when they need it, rather than having to wait hours, days or perhaps weeks for a remedial lesson.”
Some Parents Object To Wisconsin District’s Bilingual Social Studies Program.
The Wisconsin State Journal (2/9, Kittner) reports that “being taught about famous people and events in Wisconsin history in Spanish is not how some Waunakee parents want their fourth-graders learning social studies at school.” Students in the Waunakee School District’s “elementary language program…learn Spanish by having the language integrated into social studies lessons for 30 minutes three days a week in first through fourth grades.” The program has been in the district for three years, and “has added one grade a year since 2006 and is designed to continue until fifth grade.” According to Superintendent Randy Guttenberg, “research shows teaching a language within the context of a subject students are studying is an effective way for children to learn.” But some parents say the program forces students to learn in Spanish, and many are particularly concerned that the topics taught in fourth grade are so complex that students may not be able to understand them in Spanish.
Targeted Math Lessons Help Improve Test Scores In New Jersey District.
The Press of Atlantic City (2/9) reports that Ray Allen, “the math supervisor for Atlantic City schools, used…three-dimensional boxes for a live spatial geometry demonstration, tossing boxes around to show students that a square that may seem to have only one or two sides in a drawing actually has six sides in all.” The fourth-graders each had before them “a two-dimensional drawing of the same figure, and had to decide how many boxes there were in all: 9, 14, 18 or 21.” According to the Press of Atlantic City, “the problem, taken from a past state test, is one of the most commonly missed by students, who tended to count the number of squares they can see on the two-dimensional paper (21) rather than calculating how many cubes there are in the drawing.” Allen uses past data to identify “district-wide weaknesses and develops targeted lessons to reach every student.” Test scores throughout the district are increasing “as the process spreads through the schools.”
New Jersey District Seeks To Implement Tools For Teaching.
New Jersey’s Today’s Sunbeam (2/9, Dunn) reports that “educators at Valley Park Elementary School are looking to implement a new teaching technique to aid in classroom management.” Tools for Teaching is “a method of positive teaching in which discipline problems decline and responsibility is taught.” One aspect of the technique called Preferred Activity Time (PAT) “gives children incentives to learn by reward systems. In this program, PAT can be anything from parties to educational games.” According to Bobbie-Ann Jordan, principal of Valley Park Elementary, Tools for Teaching “is very researched based and can get parents involved with training sessions.” Today’s Sunbeam notes that “a workshop for the program was held this past summer, led by Jordan. Teachers who volunteered to attend were able to bring that knowledge into their classrooms.”
DC Chancellor’s Reforms Tested In Troubled School.
The Washington Post (2/9, B2, Mathews) profiles Brian Betts, new principal of Shaw Middle School at Garnet-Patterson, located in one of D.C.’s “most troubled neighborhoods.” According to the Post, Betts “excitedly displayed his school’s latest reading test results” recently, which showed “that in some classes a majority of students were proficient” as opposed a long history at the school where “failure had been the norm. … He had not felt so giddy the week before, when his unit tests — written by his teachers — showed that students were still struggling in the mid-to-low-C range.” According to Mathews, “Most of Shaw’s faculty members are new to the school, and many are new to teaching. That makes the school a crucial experiment for D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee.”
On the Job
Maryland’s Howard County Education Association Postpones Salary Negotiations For Stimulus.
The Baltimore Sun (2/9) reports, “The Howard County Education Association, which represents teachers and support workers, says it has postponed further salary negotiations with the school system until it gets a sense of President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package.” So far, the school system’s proposed $658.9 million for fiscal 2010 “does not include money for increasing salaries.” According to Superintendent Sydney L. Cousin, the salary negotiations are expected to “resume by the end of the month.”
Some Education Reformers In Texas Look To Finland For Ideas.
The Dallas Morning News (2/9, Landers) reports that “Even though Dallas reformers played key roles in the federal legislation named for the goal of bringing everyone a quality education, there are still great disparities in academic achievement between city and suburbs, and in DISD itself between quality schools and poor ones.” Now, those reformers are looking at Finland’s education system to gather ideas for improving school-quality. They are “especially intrigued with how Finland gets positive results from all of its schools and nearly all of its students — an equality that has been a chronic problem in Texas since the days of racial segregation. Finland also intrigues with its success in math and science.” Even though “Finland has a much smaller and much more homogenous school population” than Texas does, the country’s “battles to improve education offer ideas for success in Texas.” They include “establishing a single, straightforward curriculum for all schools” and “giving well-trained teachers respect and freedom to teach.”
DC Schools Chancellor Outlines Provisions Of Proposed Teacher Contract.
D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee writes in an op-ed in the Washington Post (2/9), “I often speak of our district’s performance data with sadness and outrage. The situation for our city’s children is dire.” However, “I do not blame teachers for the low achievement levels. … Rather, teachers are the solution to the vexing problems facing urban education.” Rhee goes on to outline key elements in her proposed teacher contract, including individual choice, measuring excellence, protection from arbitrary firings and professional development and support. According to Rhee, “All teachers — especially those in one of this country’s most challenging districts — deserve the best professional development available. My hope is that a new agreement will support teachers to continue to love this hard work, to keep doing it and to become even better.”
Virginia District Holds Summit To Engage Parents In Education.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch (2/9, Slayton) reports that in order “to engage parents in the education of their children,” the Petersburg, VA, “school system is hosting a Parent-Community Summit” this month “to inform parents about services offered by the school system and community organizations.” School officials aim to “improve the children’s achievement in the classroom and build contributing members of society.” The first such summit “held in September and drew about 300 people. This time, the goal is 400 people.” The Richmond Times-Dispatch notes that “the keynote speaker will be April Tucker, a graduate of Petersburg schools and mother of award-winning R&B singer Trey Songz.”
Law & Policy
Hawaii Schools Superintendent Wants Authority To Replace Staff At Failing Schools.
The Honolulu Advertiser (2/8, Moreno) reported that Hawaii state schools “Superintendent Patricia Hamamoto wants the authority to replace the principals, most teachers, and other staffers at public schools that have consistently failed to meet federal No Child Left Behind requirements.” She “is currently prevented from reassigning a school’s entire staff because no state law grants her the authority to do so and the process has not been negotiated with unions.” The labor unions that represent teachers and principals, meanwhile, “argue that giving the DOE the authority to overhaul a school would circumvent the collective bargaining process.”
Federal Court Upholds Florida District’s Decision To Remove Book From Library.
The Miami Herald (2/9, McGrory, Weaver) reports that a federal court has ruled that “the Miami-Dade School Board did nothing unconstitutional when it removed Vamos a Cuba from library shelves.” According to “the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta…the board did not breach the First Amendment.” Appeals court Judge Ed Carnes wrote in the majority opinion that “the bilingual book, part of a library series on 24 nations, presented an ‘inaccurate’ view of life in Cuba under its former leader, Fidel Castro.” He also wrote, “The record shows that the board did not simply dislike the ideas in the Vamos a Cuba book. … Instead, everyone, including both sides’ experts, agreed that the book contained factual inaccuracies.” As such, the court “ordered a Miami federal judge to lift a preliminary injunction that had allowed Vamos a Cuba to be checked out from school libraries.”
NEA in the News
New Mexico NEA Executive Proposes Income Tax Increase For Additional School Funding.
The AP (2/9) reports that New Mexico “lawmakers are trying to spare public schools from deep cuts in the coming year but a leader of an educational group says the Legislature should select another option: finding new revenues to fund schools.” On Friday, the House Education Committee “recommended spending almost $2.6 billion on public schools, the Public Education Department and related educational programs in the next budget year.” But “the committee’s proposal provides no money to pay for the expected higher costs of health insurance next year or for salary increases for teachers and other educational workers.” Charles Bowyer, executive director of the National Education Association-New Mexico, “said lawmakers should stop focusing on budget cuts and consider a proposal to raise sales and income taxes to provide additional money for public school improvements.” Furthermore, “a coalition of educational groups has endorsed the tax proposal to provide almost $400 million a year for schools.”
Baltimore Gives Parents, Teachers Role In Evaluating Principals.
The Baltimore Sun (2/11, Neufeld) reports, “Baltimore parents will gain formal input in school governance under a revised policy approved [Tuesday] night by the city school board.” The new policy “spells out details of” parental involvement in schools’ budget processes.” It also “requires that each school have an organized parent group, such as a PTA, that meets at least four times a year with at least 10 active members.” Furthermore, “beginning this year, parent, teacher, and student responses to school climate surveys will be used in principals’ evaluations.” The policies, according to the Baltimore Sun, are “the latest in a series of steps by the Alonso administration to get parents more engaged in their children’s education.”
In the Classroom
Some Music Teachers Test Wii In Class.
MSNBC.com (2/11, Kalning) reports that music teacher Eileen Jahn is “one of 60 music educators around the country that have begun to integrate ‘Wii Music’ into their regular curriculum.” Jahn uses the “music game to introduce and reinforce material, such as matching and differentiating different pitches.” The program began after Nintendo “approached the National Music Education Association (or MENC) in late October — around about the same time that “Wii Music” hit store shelves — to see how the software might work in a classroom setting.” Some teachers say that the students respond well to the game, and some are showing improvement as a result. MSNBC.com explains that one of the games, “Wii Music,” allows players to “experiment with more than 60 different virtual instruments ranging from bagpipes to ukulele. They can play mini-games” or “improvise as part of an ensemble.”
Florida Elementary Teacher Uses Pet Care To Teach Responsibility.
Florida’s Northeast News & Tribune (2/11, Knight ) reports, “A visit to Sharon Cutler’s science class is like a trip to a petting zoo. The walls of her classroom at Chiles Elementary School are lined with cages and aquariums filled with rodents, reptiles, and…creatures.” Also inside Cutler’s class is “a menagerie of more than 100 domestic and exotic animals” including “birds, rabbits, turtles, and tortoises,” as well as “tarantulas, bearded dragons, plated lizards, tree frogs, geckos, tiger salamanders, scorpions, and snakes.” Each day, Cutler “allows her students 15 minutes of…class time to do ‘pet jobs,’” which “are tasks designed to give students hands-on experience tending to the needs of the classroom critters.” Each month, she assigns teams, made up of “up to four classmates,” to tend “to the needs of the classroom critters.” But “students who don’t want to work with the animals are not required to. They are allowed to participate in the school recycling program.”
Minnesota District Brings Foreign Languages Back To Elementary, Middle Schools.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune (2/11, Draper) reports that after being “discontinued at the middle school level seven years ago, and offered on only a spotty basis in the elementary schools, Spanish will be offered starting next year in fourth and fifth grades in the elementary schools, and sixth-through-eighth grades in the middle schools” in the Mounds View School District. The instruction will be mandatory for all students. At the high school level, “the district will also offer Mandarin Chinese…provided there is enough student interest.” Superintendent Dan Hoverman said that Mounds View brought language instruction back at the middle and elementary levels in response to “concerns and questions from numerous parents.” In March, “a task force was created to study the issue.” And, “a survey of districts that lead the metro in a number of academic achievement measures, found Mounds View suffering by comparison.”
In Georgia, Most Students Who Fail End-Of-Course Exams Still Pass Course.
The AP (2/11) reports that “a state study in Georgia shows that teachers in some high schools there are awarding passing grades to students who can’t pass an end-of-course exam.” The report, which was “released last week by the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement,” reveals that in 2007, “almost 36 percent of students” in an economics class failed “the test, while just six percent failed the class.” And “in U.S. history, about 29 percent didn’t pass the test, but only nine percent failed the class.” The AP notes that currently, “End-of-course tests only account for 15 percent of students’ grades in classes, but the tests will soon replace the Georgia High School Graduation Test, which students must pass to get a diploma.”
Experts Call For Fusion Of Academics, Job Training.
Education Week (2/11, Cech) reports, “In education and workforce-training circles, there’s a sentiment one hears so often that it’s become something of a mantra: Students must graduate from high school prepared for both college and work.” However, “the ‘work’ part of that imperative tends to get drowned out, business and industry groups say, to the point that high-wage jobs not requiring a bachelor’s degree often go unfilled.” Many experts have called for a “melding academics and training” to address this situation, and “experts point to examples showing that high-caliber academics and highly relevant job-skills training can strengthen each other, not only coexist.” Janet B. Bray, executive director of the Association for Career and Technical Education, said, “It’s not an either-or; it’s not ‘academics for some people and CTE for others.’” However, the question of whether it is “feasible to simultaneously prepare students for university-level academics and for jobs,” particularly “on a mass scale, remains an open question.”
Study Links Increased Access To Healthcare For Children To Reading Test Scores.
Education Week (2/10, Samuels) reported that “as millions more children were covered under an expansion of” Massachusetts’s “Children’s Health Insurance Program last week, a new study indicated the change may have educational benefits.” According to “Phillip B. Levine, a professor at Wellesley College in Wellesley, MA, and Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach for the National Bureau of Economic Research, a private, nonprofit research organization in Cambridge, MA,” increased access to healthcare among children corresponded with “improved reading scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress among fourth- and eighth-graders.” The researchers concluded that the link may exist “because healthier children perform better in school.” Still, Levine acknowledged that “the results are modest: about one-tenth of a standard deviation, or three points on a test in which the average score is 239.” Furthermore, results showed that “math scores…were unaffected by health-care access.”
Ball State University Offers Free, Low-Cost Virtual Field Trips.
Education Week (2/10, Manzo) reported that “as schools reduce the number of off-campus excursions for students to deal with budget restrictions or limited instructional time, many educators are planning virtual field trips.” For instance, Ball State University in Muncie, IN, has “created 67 free or low-cost trips for grades K-12 that correspond with lessons written by teachers. The programs, hosted by K-12 students and researchers, include commentary and film tours from historic sites, national parks, and museums.” The university receives “grant funding to pay for the productions and has partnerships with public television stations, the National Park Service, and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, which all provide expertise and access to the sites.” Jacquie Bradburn, the assistant director of electronic field trips at Ball State, said that “such offerings are most effective when they tell a compelling story and are set in a location that has educational value and a staff committed to teaching.”
On the Job
Virginia District Announces Restoration Of Teaching Positions.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch (2/10, Lizama) reported that at Tuesday night’s “public hearing on the school budget, Chesterfield County’s school superintendent” announced “the restoration of some teaching and instructional support positions and 50 percent of differentiated funding to five schools.” Previously, “Superintendent Marcus J. Newsome had proposed cutting 525 positions from the 2009-10 school budget.” But in order “to restore the cuts, school officials are planning to reallocate funds from health-insurance savings and Title II funds used for teacher training and technology-enhanced education.”
Law & Policy
Kentucky Senate Approves State Testing Program Changes.
The AP (2/10) reported that the Kentucky “Senate approved a measure Tuesday that would change the way students are tested for academic achievement.” Under the proposal, the state would adopt a test “that would allow Kentucky scores to be compared to other states.” In addition, the proposal “would remove writing portfolios from the state’s testing program, known as the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System.”
US Senate Passes Stimulus With $80 Million For Education.
Education Week (2/10, Klein) reported that “cash-strapped schools, colleges, and pre-kindergarten programs would receive more than $80 billion in federal assistance under a version of the massive economic-stimulus package passed by the U.S. Senate [Tuesday] on a partisan, 61-37 vote.” Now, the $838 million bill must “be reconciled with an $819 billion House measure that includes substantially more funding for education programs, including for school construction and direct aid to states.” Education Week points out the differences between the House and Senate bills. “The House measure…would include $79 billion in state stabilization money, the majority of which would go to education.” Meanwhile, the “Senate compromise measure would provide $1 billion for education technology.” It would also “trim to $12.4 billion the $13 billion slated for Title I programs.” Both bills, however, include “$2 billion for school improvement grants to help schools failing to meet the No Child Left Behind Act’s achievement targets.”
Safety & Security
School Bus Drivers In Clayton County, Georgia, To Wear Safety-Enhancing Uniforms.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution (2/10, Matteucci) reported that “Clayton County schools are spending $70,000 to outfit all 500 bus drivers and monitors in uniforms as part of a homeland security upgrade.” According to “District transportation director John Lyles…the uniforms are part of a safety enhancement program to prevent terrorists from hijacking buses.” He added, “Before uniforms, the kids could have a substitute bus driver and a terrorist could get on the bus and take 70 kids. Students wouldn’t know if this is the person who is supposed to drive the bus.” School officials aim “to have all bus drivers in uniforms before March, when the federal Transportation Security Administration will visit for a security assessment.” The Journal Constitution notes that “the $70,000 expenditure comes as the district is losing $23 million in state aid.”
School Finance
Virginia District Discusses Adding Personnel For 2009-2010 School Year.
The Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch (2/11, Crutchfield) reports, “While other area school systems are slashing positions, Henrico County plans to add personnel for the 2009-10 school year.” On Tuesday, the school board members discussed adding “about a half dozen more positions in addition to 31 new positions” that are already in “its proposed $518.4 million budget.” Positions include a “grant writer and clerical assistance, assistant director at the elementary school level, librarians, library assistants and an English as a second language teacher.” The Times-Dispatch points out that due to population growth, “Henrico is the only school system in the area increasing its budget this year, up 1.9 percent over this year’s $508.8 million budget.”
High School Sports Schedules Cut Back To Conserve Scarce Resources.
The AP (2/10, Hill) reported, “The group that oversees public high school athletics in New York state recently approved shaved-down schedules next school year as a cost-cutting measure, the latest to take the step nationwide. … The New York State Public High School Athletic Association says the shorter schedules allow schools to cut budgets without cutting programs.” However, “Critics — including coaches and kids — claim the new policy unfairly targets student athletes. … Some parents support the restrained, universal cuts rather than the more drastic option of wiping out whole teams.” Though critics of the cost-saving moves “concede the economy is tough,” they “focus on the policy’s cost to kids — even it’s a few basketball games.”
Also in the News
Teen Charges $37,000 Worth Of Candy To High School In Ohio.
The AP (2/11) reports, “Police say an Ohio teenager tried to pull off a sweet deal by ordering more than $37,000 of candy online and charging the bill to his former high school.” The former Middletown High School student used a school “purchasing number to place orders for thousands of lollipops and candy bars from Michigan-based The Goodies Factory.” But “the candy company became suspicious, contacted the school, and was told by detectives to send an empty box.” The teenager now “faces two counts of felony telecommunications fraud.”
NEA in the News
NEA Names Illinois High School Teacher As Top Educator In US.
The Effingham (IL) Daily News (2/11, Faller) reports that this week, the NEA named Effingham High School teacher Joe Fatheree “the top educator in the country.” As winner of the Member Benefits Award for Teaching Excellence, Fatheree received “the $25,000 prize at NEA Foundation’s annual Salute to Excellence in Education gala dinner. He and four other educators also received the Horace Mann Award for Teaching Excellence and $10,000.” The Effingham Daily news points out that Fatheree has taught for more than 20 years. At Effingham High School, he “has served as an English teacher, a history teacher and a technology instructor, which includes a film production, Web design, and multimedia class.”
Tennessee Officials Create National Alternative Education Standard.
The AP (2/11) reported, “Tennessee education officials have created the first national blueprint for alternative education programs to help at-risk students succeed in school. The program sets quality standards for educating students who have been suspended, expelled or dropped out.” Under the proposed “guidelines, the teacher-student ratio must never exceed 1:12 and students should participate in secondary programs — such as job shadowing and mentorships — related to their career interests.” Additionally, the blueprint recommends that “each student…have an individualized plan to address educational and behavioral needs and for the school to collaborate with law enforcement and juvenile justice systems.” The AP noted, “Last week, the National Alternative Education Association adopted Tennessee’s program as the first national framework for alternative education programs.”
In the Classroom
“Flex” Periods At Some Virginia High Schools Aim To Raise Achievement.
The Washington Post (2/12, VA3, Shapira) reports that “high schools in Fairfax, Prince William, and Loudoun counties have been inserting…chunks of time” known as “flex periods” throughout the day “for several years, often to reduce after-school tutoring costs but also to raise achievement in the era of the federal No Child Left Behind law.” Flex periods range “from 40 to 90 minutes, depending on the school,” and “offer students remediation or enrichment during the school day rather than before or after classes.” In addition to using flex time to “review material or work independently,” the time can also be spent “attending schoolwide events” or seeking extra help from teachers. The Post notes that at “Stonewall Jackson High School near Manassas,” which offers flex time, “some students interviewed said the periods help them catch up on homework or review tough lessons with teachers, but others said the time is often exploited by students prone to goofing off or leaving school property.”
ACT Scores Up, SAT Scores Down Among Students In Cobb County, Georgia.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (2/12, Stevens) reports that “despite a drop in Cobb students’ average SAT scores, marks on” the ACT “exam have risen three straight years.” In Cobb County, “more…students are now opting to take the ACT. Thirty-nine percent of students took the test in 2008, up from 27 percent in 2006.” And while “Cobb students scored an average of 1523 on the SAT” in 2008, “down from 1538 in 2006,” Cobb students’ average ACT score “in 2008 was 22, up a half-point from 2006.” Meanwhile, “the national average for the past year was 21.1, down from 21.2 in 2007.”
Former School Psychologist Uses Dog To Teach Lessons On Character.
Indiana’s Post-Tribune (2/11, Lemond) reported that former school psychologist Nancy Starewicz used her dog Lucky in “life lessons involving behavior, kindness, manners and good health habits” that she taught to students at Central Elementary School in Portage. After reading to the students from “a book she wrote, illustrated with photos of Lucky,” Starewicz “encouraged them to write stories about their own pets and illustrate them with drawings or photos.” She also incorporated “lessons that Lucky has taught her, such as being able to wait.” To demonstrate patience, “She placed a peanut on Lucky’s nose and spoke softly and calmly to the dog, who waited patiently until given the go-ahead to eat the peanut.” Starewicz also spoke about being “friendly to everyone” and “told the students that Lucky and she go to nursing homes, and that Lucky had to be tested for her friendliness and lack of aggression.”
Driving-Safety Class Seen As Inappropriate For Elementary Students.
In an opinion piece for the Lansing (MI) State Journal (2/11) John Schneider wrote, “Few would challenge the premise that teaching people how to drive through road construction zones is a fine idea. But shouldn’t the people getting the instruction be old enough to cross the street by themselves?” Last week, 17 Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) employees taught third- and fourth-graders about work-zone safety. “After a classroom presentation, the kids — all 19 classes — dressed in costumes (cars, traffic barrels, etc.) and practiced maneuvers, like merging.” According to Schneider, the lesson sounded “fun.” But, he asked, “What, exactly, was it supposed to accomplish?” He asserts that the instruction may be better suited for the children’s parents, and ponders if the class amounted to “a little orange pork barrel.” The program costs “included $174 for information packets and $73 for the costumes, which can be reused,” according to MDOT spokesman Bob Felt.
On the Job
Los Angeles Schools Will Maintain Free Lifetime Health Benefits For Some Employees.
The Los Angeles Times (2/12, Song, Blume) reports that “a new three-year agreement on healthcare announced Wednesday by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) will preserve a generous benefits package for about 250,000 employees and their families while also limiting district costs.” Specifically, the tentative “agreement maintains free lifetime benefits for district employees (there is no monthly payment to the district).” However, it also “sets benchmarks for when new workers become eligible.” The Los Angeles Times notes that “settling the healthcare issue — the teachers union’s top priority in negotiations — could diminish the immediate possibility of a strike.”
Maryland Governor Says State Should Continue To Pay Full Cost Of Teacher Pensions.
The AP (2/11) reported that Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) “said Wednesday he believes the state should continue to pay all of the costs for teacher pensions at a time when some lawmakers contend counties should help cover the expense. … Maryland is one of the few states that shoulders all the cost of teacher pensions, an expense that has gone up 22 percent, or about $135 million, in the fiscal year 2010 budget.” O’Malley “pointed out that he has worked hard to avoid shifting costs to counties since he has been governor. … ‘It is a huge cost. … The bottom line, though, is this: We have to protect our big investment in education if we’re going to come through this national downturn quicker than other states.’”
Some California Districts “Seriously” Considering Increasing Class Sizes.
The San Jose Mercury News (2/12, Hull) reports that “For more than a decade, the rule through third grade in most California classrooms has been one teacher — and no more than 20 students.” But now that districts are struggling “with gaping budget deficits, ‘Class Size Reduction’ has become a target.” The Mercury News points out that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently proposed a plan that would “allow school districts to decide if they want to use state money on small classes or something else.” Meanwhile, “the state’s teachers union recently launched a television ad campaign to decry any increase in class size.” Still, “while most districts are loath to abandon the class-size limits, in Santa Clara County, Mount Pleasant, Cupertino Union, and Evergreen Elementary School Districts are among those talking seriously about it.”
Opinion: Increasing Class Sizes May Weaken Teacher Morale. In an opinion piece for the Las Vegas Sun (2/12), elementary school teacher Cathy Estes writes that “few people would disagree with the academic benefits our primary children gain from smaller student-to-teacher ratios in the classroom.” But, “as class sizes continue to grow in Clark County, NV, many people in all areas of education are becoming more concerned about teacher morale.” With increasing class sizes, some “well above 30″ students, “teachers are having a hard time devoting enough time to each student” and “instructional strategies are being adapted to accommodate the larger numbers.” Estes also points out that “conferencing with individual students to set academic goals can take several days” with large classes, and it is much more difficult for teachers to keep track of how each student is progressing. Such “constraints are making teachers feel like they are not as effective as we could be in helping individual students make progress,” according to Estes.
Law & Policy
Iowa Board Of Education Approves Statewide Curriculum.
The Quad City Times (2/12, Boshart) reports that “the Iowa Board of Education voted unanimously Wednesday to approve the final pieces of the statewide core curriculum for the state’s 362 public K-12 school districts and accredited nonpublic schools.” The decision “focused on expectations for K-8 students in social studies and 21st century skills,” and included “additional K-12 math skills related to problem-solving and the ability to construct and apply multiple-connected representations.” The Quad City Times adds that with their decision, “state education officials have completed a set of essential concepts and skills in literacy, math, science, social studies and 21st century learning skills that all Iowa students are expected to know by the time they graduate from high school.” The new core curriculum “must be fully implemented in high schools by the 2012-13 school year, and in kindergarten though eighth grade by the 2014-15 school year.”
Radio Iowa (2/12, Danielson) adds that, according to Department of Education Director Judy Jeffrey, “the essential concepts and skills must be in place in all districts in their written and taught curriculum, but there is still flexibility for the written curriculum.” In implementing the Iowa core Curriculum, education officials aim “to raise student achievement and improve teaching.”
Special Needs
Proposed Closing Of Chicago High School Concerns Some Parents Of Special Needs Students.
The Chicago Tribune (2/12, Sadovi) reports that the Chicago Public School District (CPS) plans to close Las Casas Occupational High School in order to save money. CPS “pays $239,400 a year to lease the school building from the” Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago. According to a district spokeswoman, “the cost to send the students to Las Casas is about three times what it would be to send them to the private schools.” District officials also say that the Las Casas school building is in disrepair. If the Chicago Board of Education approves of the closing, “the district will review the education plan required for special-needs children. [The] district spokeswoman said administrators have identified four privately run therapeutic day schools that already take district students.” The “parents of some of Las Casas’ 74 special-needs students,” however, “fear the progress their children have made could be erased if they are sent elsewhere.”
Safety & Security
Massachusetts District Implements New Bus Policy After Two Students Are Left At Wrong Stop.
The Boston Globe (2/12, Moskowitz) reports that the Marlborough School District has implemented a new bus “policy calling for late-bus students who are below the fourth grade to be dropped off only if a parent or guardian is waiting.” The policy came in response to an incident this week in which two students were mistakenly dropped off at a location “across town” from where they lived. “The confused first-graders were left to wander after dark on a busy thoroughfare, miles from home, until they were picked up by a concerned passerby.” The twin boys’ father, Louis Pimentel, said that the district’s “quick action — parents received an automated phone call and a letter about the new rule less than 24 hours after the Pimentel boys were let off at the wrong stop — eased his frayed nerves, and should help other parents as well.”
NEA in the News
Michigan Education Association Urges Lawmakers To Approve $500-A-Month Pension Boost.
Michigan’s Bay City Times (2/11) editorialized, “The state’s largest teachers union pulled a rabbit out of its hat late last month, announcing a retirement-incentive proposal that could save the state $410 million a year in education spending.” The Michigan Education Association (MEA) “is asking the state Legislature to approve” a plan that would give “teachers and other school employees who already are eligible to retire…a $500-a-month bump in their pensions if they retire under the one-time offer.” According to the MEA, the offer could benefit “the school aid fund if just 10 percent of the eligible employees take advantage of” it. The Bay City Times cautions, however, that state lawmakers “need to make sure that passing this proposal into law doesn’t paint them into any corners.” For instance, the plan “may be in the best interests of school employees and their union, but not for school boards and a state government that may have to look at deeper budget cuts…in the future.”
Also in the News
Knowledge Is Power Program Seen As Reshaping Public School Image.
USA Today (2/12, Toppo) reports on the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP), “a group of high-achieving public schools that has reshaped expectations about urban education.” KIPP has grown from “one fifth-grade class in 1994… to 66 schools in 19 states and the District of Columbia. It educates more than 16,000 children from preschool through high school, virtually all of them low-income.” The book Work Hard. Be Nice. by Washington Post education columnist Jay Mathews chronicles “KIPP’s unlikely rise.” In the book, Mathews acknowledges critics who “say KIPP’s rigid rules and extended calendar filter out all but the most dedicated families,” and “‘pushes out’ low achievers.” But, Mathews says, “the schools’ gains are ‘clearly significant,’ even if the jury is out on many questions.” According to Matthews, “the key to KIPP is simple: It has figured out how to ‘harness the power of teaching in a big way … as fuel for that flame, you give those [great] teachers more time in the day to teach.’”