Duncan Urged To Make Stimulus Dispersal Transparent.
An editorial in the Christian Science Monitor (2/23) admonishes Education Secretary Arne Duncan to ensure that the $115 billion allocated to education programs in the economic stimulus bill is transparent, “clear, and precise.” Mr. Duncan has little say over” roughly $61 billion for “specific programs such as Pell Grants for college students, schools serving disadvantaged kids, Head Start, and technology in the classroom.” The $54, million “discretionary ‘stabilization fund,” however, “holds the greatest potential for misdirection,” according to the Monitor. The stabilization fund is “meant to protect against layoffs and budget cuts at a time when states face disappearing revenues,” and Duncan has great latitude regarding how this portion of the funding is dispersed. His “challenge will be in the choosing and the tracking of the recipients” of those funds, the Monitor concludes.
In the Classroom
Class-Size Reduction Benefits May Be Overstated, Some Researchers Say.
The New York Times (2/23, A29, Medina) reports that “alarms went off in New York and California last week, as officials on both coasts warned that yawning budget gaps could soon mean more children in each classroom.” And even though “class size is considered as fundamental to education as the three R’s” to many, some education experts and researchers “say that small reductions in the number of students in a room often have little effect on their performance.” University of Washington Education Professor Dan Goldhaber, for instance, said that “the obsession with class size stemmed from a desire for ‘something that people can grasp easily,’” but added that teachers are the most important factor in predicting student achievement. According to the Times, “the debate has continued for decades, with some consensus forming that class size matters most in the youngest grades, and that the effects are most profound when there are fewer than 20 students in a class.”
Dream Team Provides Community Assistance To Help Close Achievement Gap In Florida District.
The St. Petersburg Times (2/23, Bogues) reports that the goal of the Pinellas County School District’s Dream Team “is to help schools with high minority enrollments close the achievement gap by providing community assistance.” The Dream Team was “organized by the PACT, a Pinellas-based group that focuses on closing the achievement gap,” in response to statistics that show that the graduation rate among black students in Pinellas County is 42 percent. That is lower than the graduation rates among Latino, Asian, and white students. For the program, some volunteers will serve as “tutors and mentors while others will give families one-on-one support to identify specific needs and provide encouragement.”
Some Minnesota Districts Expanding Gifted Programs To Retain Students.
Minnesota’s Star Tribune (2/23) reports that some cash-strapped school districts in Minnesota “are adding or expanding programs for gifted and talented students, who have begun deserting traditional public schools and taking their state funding with them.” The Stillwater School District, for instance, will further expand its gifted program next year to include fourth- through sixth-grades. The district “will add tougher math and English classes for seventh-graders as well.” Some educators say that “at least part of the problem in serving higher learners stems from the intense focus on meeting the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requirements.” According to Beth Carpenter, gifted programs coordinator for the Osseo School District, NCLB “has raised the floor, but it has not raised the ceiling.”
Ohio District Replaces “Homegrown” Elementary Reading Program With Textbook Series.
The Columbus (OH) Dispatch (2/23, Richards) reports, “Although it still exists in name and concept, much of the Columbus school district’s homegrown reading program has been killed after five years in the classroom and at least $3 million.” According to one representative of the Columbus Education Association, “many teachers had feelings that the” district’s Literacy Across Columbus Elementary Schools (LACES) reading “program wasn’t offering all that their students needed.” Last year, the district replaced “scripted lessons and reading materials that were a key part of LACES…[with] a textbook series called StoryTown, which is published by Harcourt School Publishers.” The new curriculum has been placed in every elementary school. Still, “a couple of key components of” LACES “remain, including a pacing guide that keeps all teachers on the same topic and an emphasis on requiring individual, large-group, and small-group reading.”
Some Teachers In California Use Recession To Help Students Understand Finances.
McClatchy (2/22, Hatfield) reported that “the U.S. recession is providing a surplus of current events that help teachers relate economic, math, or government lessons to students” McClatchy details several activities that teachers throughout California are using to help students better understand financial matters. In Ceres, CA, teacher Steve Pierce “uses the news to get through to students.” His goal is “to teach students how people’s habits are affected during a recession” and to help students “understand the underlying causes of recessions.” Every “week, his high school economics seniors read articles about the economy, then write a synopsis and opinion on the issue.” Kari Elizondo, an Advanced Placement economics teacher at “Beyer High School in Modesto has students research and invest imaginary money in the stock market.”
Students Present Projects For Engineering Fair In Great Falls, Michigan.
The Great Falls (MT) Tribune (2/22, Coleman) reported on the 25th annual Great Falls Invitational Science and Engineering Fair, which took place on Saturday. “Projects ranged from a practical study on what boot is the best for cold weather to an examination of water on Mars.” Most of the projects were submitted by “middle-school students who were competing to qualify for the statewide competition. … The elementary school students who showed off their work Saturday were not competing to move on to further competitions, but to build a foundation of knowledge on science subjects.”
On the Job
Middle, High School English Teachers In California District Observe Each Others’ Classrooms.
The Whittier (CA) Daily News (2/22, Garcia) reported that each fall, when “hundreds of freshmen from at least five different elementary school districts” enter the Whittier Union High School District (WUHSD), “teachers have to quickly figure out what these students know, how they learned it and whether they need extra help to be successful.” Last week, however, “middle- and high-school English teachers got an inside look at how each other’s classrooms work during Articulation Day, part of an ongoing effort by WUHSD to ease the transition between eighth and ninth grades.” High school teachers and principals “visited their counterparts at eight middle schools” on Wednesday morning. “In the afternoon, middle-school teachers and principals visited the high-school campuses to observe classrooms and discuss ways their curriculums could be more consistent.” The “school teams” also looked at “the kind of interventions in place at both schools that help struggling students improve and stay on track for graduation.”
National Board Certified Teachers Seen As Particularly Effective With Minority Students.
The Chicago Daily Herald (2/23, Lester) reports that “last year, the National Research Council found that students taught by national board-certified teachers make higher gains on achievement tests than students taught by those who have not applied for and those who did not achieve certification.” And, according to the council, “certification was particularly effective with minority students.” In Illinois, “703 Illinois teachers earned certification status during the fall, a 37 percent increase of newly certified teachers from 2007.” The state now ranks fifth in the US for the number of board certified teachers. “The certification process…involves one to three years of work on a teaching portfolio and a passing score on an exit exam.” And teachers must “demonstrate how their activities, both inside and outside the classroom, improve student achievement.”
Four Ohio Districts Selected For Value-Added Education Project.
Ohio’s Beacon Journal (2/23, Davis) reports that that the Green school district “has been tapped as just one of four in Ohio selected as models for the Battelle for Kids Value-Added Education Project,” which measures “academic achievement and teacher effectiveness. By using previous standardized testing scores along with the scores being achieved now, the program measures academic growth of each student and the skills of their teachers.” As a project participant, Green will receive “$250,000 worth of professional development for teachers and staff.”
Law & Policy
Seven-Year-Old Petitions To Change Florida’s Online Education Program Rules.
The St. Petersburg Times (2/23, Solochek) reports that the family of seven-year-old Jessica Howard, a homeschool student, is pushing to change the Florida law that restricts public online education to students who have spent at least “one full year attending a public school.” Jessica’s “mom, Wendy, found the homeschool curriculum she chose overly prescriptive and wanted a new, more flexible set of lessons. … She thought she had discovered a solution in Florida’s fledgling online K-8 program.” But then, Wendy learned of the restriction. Now, Jessica is circulating a petition to have the rule changed. Her goal is to collect 300 signatures. Meanwhile, Sate Rep. John Legg (R) “is conferring with lawyers, staff analysts and virtual education experts to determine whether the state has the right to tell one set of children they have the right to a public school program while others are kept out.”
Blog Readers Suggest New Name For NCLB.
The New York Times (2/23, A12, Dillon) reports that “a blog contest to rename the No Child Left Behind law has received entries like the Rearranging the Deck Chairs Act and the Teach to the Test Act.” According to the Times, “a lot of wise guys have gotten in on the act” of suggesting a new name for the law, with “alternatives…popping up every day on the Eduwonk.com blog, where Andrew Rotherham, a former Clinton administration official, is sponsoring a rename-the-law contest.” So far, suggested names include the Could We Start Again Please Act, the Double Back Around to Pick Up the Children We Left Behind Act, and the Act to Help Children Read Gooder. The Times explains that “Part of the problem is that the law, which” began in 1965 as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act “became closely associated with President George W. Bush, and as his popularity slid, the law, and its name, came under attack and ridicule.”
Special Needs
Parents Rally Against Proposed Closing Of Special Education School In Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Daily News (2/22, Llanos) reported that “parents of special-needs children are rallying against the proposed closure of West Valley Special Education School, where hundreds of disabled and emotionally challenged youngsters have been taught for nearly four decades.” They were notified by Superintendent Ramon Cortines “that the school may be shuttered because of budget cuts and falling enrollment.” Cortines assured the parents “that West Valley students would be transferred to other special education schools.” But Many parents of the “parents describe West Valley as a ‘safe haven’ and a ‘lifesaver’ for their kids, who they say were denied entry into other public and private schools because of their severe physical, social, and emotional challenges.”
School Finance
Stimulus Funds To Reduce Planned Layoffs In Maryland District.
The Washington Post (2/22, C6, Hernandez) reported, “Prince George’s County [MD] schools officials dropped plans yesterday to furlough employees and increase the student-teacher ratio, changing course a day after Gov. Martin O’Malley announced that he would use federal stimulus money to fund education. The $41.4 million increase in state aid for Prince George’s schools took some of the sharper edges off a budget proposal that had called for the elimination of 1,000 jobs, furloughs for the school system’s 19,000 employees and an increase in the student-teacher ratio in first through third grades.” According to the Post, under the new budget proposal, the “number of jobs cut would drop to about 800, and the school system would abandon a plan to pull $2.5 million out of its savings.”
Also in the News
Some Students Think They Must Break Rules To Succeed In School, Survey Shows.
The Denver Post (2/21, Pankratz) reported that, according to a survey “conducted on behalf of Junior Achievement by the Opinion Research Corp.,” many “American teenagers believe they need to break the rules to succeed in school yet claim they’ll make ethical business decisions when they join the workforce.” Survey respondents included “179 youths from the western region of the United States.” Of those students, “16 percent said they sometimes cheat on a test.” And 76 percent of those students “said they cheat to succeed, 59 percent said they do it because of pressure from parents to succeed and 21 percent because ‘everyone does it.’” Furthermore, 38 percent of students “think that [they] have to break the rules at school to succeed.”
NEA in the News
Read Across America Day Focuses On Importance Of Motivating Children To Read.
Ohio’s Eagle-Gazette (2/22, George) reports, “Read Across America is a nationwide event that takes place annually on or near March 2 in honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday.” Sponsored by the National Education Association, Read Across America Day “focuses on the importance of motivating children to read and develop basic reading skills.” The Eagle-Gazette offers advice from Sylvan Learning Center Executive Director Nisey Sebak for helping “children develop an interest in books.”
Stimulus Aid Expected To Produce Funding Disparities Among States.
Education Week (2/23, McNeil) reported that the “new federal education spending in the economic-stimulus bill signed into law last week” might “leave some states without enough money to restore all K-12 funding cuts, while others see a cash windfall.” According to Education Week, the expected disparities in funding will come as a result of Congress using “existing federal formulas that tend to reward large districts and states with high per-pupil spending.” The school systems that will benefit the most are in “states such as Alaska, Texas, and Wyoming that haven’t been forced to cut K-12 funding but will still get their share of $39.5 billion set aside for education. … Also benefiting will be districts in high-education-spending states with large pockets of poverty, such as New York state.” Meanwhile, in “economically troubled states, such as California and Florida, the money from the stimulus package may not even come close to filling gaps created by state budget cuts.”
Education Stabilization Fund Targets Teacher Layoffs, Program Cuts. Education Week (2/23) reported that “the $787 billion economic-stimulus package signed into law Feb. 17 by President Barack Obama makes some $115 billion in aid available for pre-collegiate and higher education.” Of those funds, “the largest single element is a $53.6 billion state fiscal-stabilization fund, much of which is intended to help avoid or reverse layoffs and make up for budget cuts in education and other programs.” To receive the funds, “states will have to follow strict ‘maintenance of effort’ rules and keep up their own education funding commitments. After backfilling for layoffs or budget cuts to K-12 and higher education, states will distribute any remaining money to school districts, using the Title I formula.”
Stimulus Bill Does Not Link Salary To Student Performance, Blogger Writes. In Education Week’s (2/23) Politics K-12 blog, Michele McNeil provides answers to readers’ questions regarding the federal economic stimulus funds, and how they will affect teachers. In response to the questions, “How will teacher salary be linked to student academic performance under this package,” McNeil responds, “There’s no explicit language in the stimulus package linking salary to student performance.” She does note, however, that “the stimulus does provide an additional $200 million for the Teacher Incentive Fund under the U.S. Department of Education.” Another reader asks, “How much will go to keeping jobs…and how much will go toward No Child Left Behind?” According to McNeil, “districts will ultimately have a lot of discretion in determining how they spend their money. A lot of districts facing tough budget cuts will probably decide to re-hire teachers.” Other districts may “decide to use [their funds] on a one-time expense” such as buying computers.
In the Classroom
Students Display Knowledge Of History Lessons Through Skit Performances.
The Glendale (CA) News Press (2/24, Shauk) reports that students in April Faieta’s fifth-grade class at Keppel Elementary School created “skits that would help re-explain portions of their” previous weeks’ social studies lessons to “the rest of class.” Students were also “challenged…to find additional information from what was in the class textbook.” Several “students made rough video skits using a pocket-sized digital camera,” and some “used props, like signs and costumes made out of butcher paper, or a drawing displayed using an overhead projector.” Faieta said that “the final presentations were impressive and surprisingly thorough, especially since they came from a group that had previously shown little interest in history lessons.”
Martial Arts Lessons Offered To Kindergartners At Two California Schools.
California’s North County Times (2/24, Brandt) reports that at Poinsettia and Aviara Oaks elementary schools, kindergartners participate in 20-minute martial arts lessons “twice a week.” The lessons help students “learn what educators say are important character traits” such as self discipline and respect. Teachers at the schools say that “since starting the classes a few months ago…the students have a better concept of personal space and have been bumping into each other less,” and they “tend to come back to class more relaxed after 20 minutes of kicking, punching, and stretching.” Aviara Oaks Principal Kimberly Huesing added that “parents have been incredibly supportive of the lessons, even agreeing to pay for them through the schools’ parent-teacher associations.”
Males Increasingly Participating In High School Home Economics Courses.
The Denver Post (2/24, Auge) reports that in US schools, more males are “beginning to infiltrate” the “once-matriarchal domain” of home economics. “In 1966, home ec consisted mostly of girls learning to measure ingredients, plan menus and make dresses.” Now, however, “cooking classes are supplemented by those on nutrition, personal finance and preparation for careers in food service and interior design.” According to the Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences, during “the 2003-04 school year,” about 252 of Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) “teachers nationally were men. That doesn’t sound like much, until you compare it with the 1987 number: 31.” In that year, 49 percent, or 5.5 million of the “students taking FACS classes…were boys.”
Several Low-Income, Minority-Rich Schools In Texas Score High.
The Louisiana Weekly (2/24) reports that “according to statewide 2008 standardized test results, minority students in Texas rank dead last in vital education subjects like math, science, reading, and writing. Add to that the devastating effects of poverty, and the statistics paint a not-so-pretty picture of the state of many inner-city youth.” But at Frazier Elementary School in South Dallas, which is “adjacent to the city’s worst housing projects” and has a student body that “is 98 percent poor and 100 percent minority,” students’ test scores “are in the highest percentile in the entire state of Texas.” Several other low-income schools have been ranked among the best in Texas, as well. Ron Price, School Board Trustee for District 9, which is comprised of highly rated schools serving low-income students, maintains, “Poor kids can achieve.” He “and his colleagues assert that” education “reform begins in two areas: first behavior modification and then academic accountability.”
US Schools Increasingly Sponsoring Family-Oriented Math Forums.
Education Week (2/23, Cavanagh) reported that forums, such as the “school-sponsored math workshop for parents” in Virginia’s Prince William County school district, have “become a fixture in districts across the country. Schools and districts arrange the events to encourage parents to take an active role in their children’s math learning, as well as to answer questions and concerns about what students are being taught.” The forums sometimes take the form of “family math nights, which” aim to make math “less intimidating and more fun” for students. Still, “other events, like the one in Prince William County…focus more specifically on math content.” Observers say that one reason math forums are becoming more common is because lawmakers are increasingly focusing on “improving early-grades math curriculum and instruction.” Another factor “is mounting research showing that boosting students’ confidence and effort in math can increase achievement.”
On the Job
ODU Expands Transition-To-Teaching Program To Include All Career-Switchers.
Virginia’s Daily Press (2/24, Salasky) reports on Old Dominion University’s (ODU) career-switcher program, which helps college graduates “make the transition from any profession to a career in the classroom.” The Daily Press explains that “the program started as a way to speed the switch to civilian life for former military personnel.” And while it “still attracts ex-military in large numbers,” the program is now open to all college graduates with at least “five years full-time work experience” who can pass subject knowledge tests. Participants “start with a one-year provisional license and must work toward the standard five-year license by attending workshops and being recommended after their first year of teaching.”
Law & Policy
Supreme Court Will Not Review Parents Of Autistic Child’s Case Against Colorado District.
The Denver Post (2/24, Whaley) reports that “The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected a request to review the case involving” an autistic child whose parents accused Colorado’s Thompson Valley School District of “not doing enough to help [him] after he enrolled” at Berthoud Elementary School in 2002. The parents “sued to have the district pay for his tuition” at a private school in Boston, MA. The Supreme Court’s decision means that “a 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that said the Thompson district was doing enough to meet Luke’s needs will stand.”
Special Needs
Illinois District To Reduce Number Of Aids, Increase Class Sizes For Special Education.
Illinois’ Courier News (2/24, Calandriello) reports, “Starting next school year, Elgin School District U46 is ‘right-sizing’ special education classrooms… to meet state guidelines and as of March 15, laying off 41 special education staff and 339 teaching assistants.” The result is that special education teachers will have more students and less help. But “several teachers throughout the district have confirmed that the majority of teachers have anywhere from no special education students to three special education students in their classrooms.” And in previous years, “the district has ‘overstaffed in special education and has had more teaching assistants than needed,’” according to district spokesman Tony Sanders.
Safety & Security
Many Schools Can Enhance Security At Little, No Cost, Report Shows.
T.H.E. Journal (2/24, Schaffhauser) reports that “many schools could enhance their security at little to no cost,” according to the 2008 National School Safety Study by “security vendor Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies,” the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), and “school security consulting firm RETA Security.” The organizations conducted an online survey of “445 AASA members between June and August 2008″ in order “to identify potential threats and determine action items to ensure the security of school systems.” They found that “while two-thirds of all districts lock public entrances to buildings, a third reports that exterior doors are occasionally or often propped open.” Furthermore, “almost 60 percent of school buildings have no “panic” exit devices installed in strategic locations.” And “no respondents” reported “the ability to quickly lock down classroom, office, and gathering-room doors electronically in the event of an emergency.”
Cell Towers Said To Be Unlikely To Cause Health Problems.
The St. Petersburg Times (2/24, Thrash) reports that “cell phone towers are stoking controversies in school districts across the country.” Although “most public health agencies agree that radiofrequency levels produced by towers are significantly lower than those produced by cell phones, long-term exposure to towers has produced greater concern.” Still, “the agencies that determine if something causes cancer — the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the National Toxicology Program and the Environmental Protection Agency — have not issued findings on cellular phone towers.” Meanwhile, the American Cancer Society and “at least seven other public health agencies” maintain “that towers are unlikely to cause cancer or any other health problems.” Even the “Food and Drug Administration took measurements near cellular towers and found that ground-level exposures are typically thousands of times less than FCC limits.”
Facilities
Parents Raising Funds To Upgrade Weight Equipment At High School In Tennessee.
The Tennessean (2/23, Deville) reported that “as budget woes delay repairs and renovations at Metro Schools, some are taking matters into their own hands.” For instance, “parents at Hume-Fogg Magnet are rallying to raise funds to upgrade the school’s weight room.” They “are in the process of applying for grants and are also trying to recruit new or gently used athletic equipment.” The school’s weight equipment dates “back to the 1970s,” and Hume-Fogg “doesn’t have a football field or track, which restricts students to the building for physical education.” The Tennessean adds that “the lack of user-friendly equipment such as treadmills and properly working stationary bicycles prevent some from attempting to exercise.”
School Finance
Florida District Seeks To Avoid Pay Cuts For Educators.
The St. Petersburg Times (2/24, Marshall) reports, “Teacher pay cuts and reductions in principal hours are to be avoided in this budget-slashing year, the Hernando County School Board decided Monday.” The board met to discuss the “$30 million in cuts proposed by Superintendent Wayne Alexander. … By the end of the meeting, board members had agreed in principle on about $16 million of things they’d cut first, depending on the size of state funding cuts.” Some of the cuts would include “a reduction of 129 teachers that officials hope to realize through retirements and other forms of attrition.” In addition the school system would “move to renegotiate its contracts with vendors, reduce substitute teacher budgets and extra pay for coaching and other duties, and stop offering health insurance for newly hired half-time workers.”
Also in the News
Researchers Link Recess To Improved Behavior, Concentration.
The New York Times (2/24, D5, Parker-Pope) reports that new research “published this month in the journal Pediatrics” indicates “that play and down time may be as important to a child’s academic experience as reading, science, and math, and that regular recess, fitness, or nature time can influence behavior, concentration, and even grades.” Lead researcher, Dr. Romina M. Barros, a pediatrician and an assistant clinical professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and colleagues, “studied the links between recess and classroom behavior among about 11,000 children age 8 and 9.” They found that “those who had more than 15 minutes of recess a day showed better behavior in class than those who had little or none.” But 30 percent of those students “were found to have little or no daily recess,” and “teachers often punish children by taking away recess privileges.” But according to Barros, “Recess should be part of the curriculum.”
NEA in the News
Measure Would Cut Utah Districts’ Pay To Union Leaders.
The Salt Lake Tribune (2/24) reports, “In this time of budget cuts, Utah school districts should not spend money on local teacher union leaders, says one lawmaker.” Currently, school districts “pay their local Utah Education Association (UEA) presidents between $24,000 to $28,000 a year even though they are no longer teaching, and the union pays the rest of their salaries according to contract agreements.” But HB381, sponsored by Rep. Christopher Herrod (R) “would prohibit school districts from paying local union association presidents’ salaries.” The measure is seen by some union members as an “attempt to take revenge on those who opposed school vouchers, such as the UEA.”
Maryland Governor Outlines Education Agenda.
The AP (2/24, Nuckols) reported that Maryland “Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) “announced an ambitious agenda Tuesday for improving Maryland education, saying the state’s public schools were recently ranked best in the country, but their students still lag far behind those in Europe and Asia.”
The Baltimore Sun (2/25, Bowie) also calls O’Malley’s plan “ambitious,” adding that the governor said “he wants to take Maryland’s schools from being ranked No. 1 in the nation to being regarded as ‘the best public school system in the world.’” During his address to the State Board Of Education, O’Malley “laid out seven key goals that he wants the state board to meet.” They include “improving science, technology, engineering and math” education by creating “career and technology…courses that will train students for jobs,” and implementing “a tracking system that would chart the progress of individual students from elementary school through college.”
According to the Washington Post (2/25, Hernandez), “O’Malley’s plans would be largely funded by the state and federal government, notwithstanding a severe national recession.” Maryland has increased its funding of local school districts “by nearly $2 billion annually — 76 percent — since the passage of the Bridge to Excellence Act in 2002.”
In the Classroom
Stand-Up Desks Said To Help Improve Students’ Ability To Stay Focused.
The New York Times (2/25, A1, Saulny) reports on “an idea that experts say continues to gain momentum in education: that furniture should be considered as seriously as instruction, particularly given the rise in childhood obesity and the decline in physical education and recess.” One component of “activity-permissive” classrooms is stand-up desks, which allow students “to switch between sitting and standing as their moods dictate.” Some teachers in Minnesota and Wisconsin who have the desks in their classrooms say “the desks help give children the flexibility they need to expend energy and, at the same time, focus better on their work rather than focusing on how to keep still.” Currently, researchers at the University of Minnesota are studying possible “differences in physical activity and academic achievement” when students use stand-up desks versus when they use traditional desks.
Abstinence-Only Education In Many Texas Districts Described As “Shockingly Poor.”
The Dallas Morning News (2/25, Stutz) reports, “An overwhelming majority of Texas school districts don’t give students any sex education beyond abstinence — and even the quality of abstinence-only programs in many districts is ‘shockingly poor,’ according to a new study by researchers at Texas State University.” Researchers analyzed “documents provided by 990 of the state’s 1,031 school districts.” They “found that more than 94 percent of school districts teach only abstinence when it comes to sex education, and two percent ignore the topic altogether.” Four percent of the school districts, meanwhile, “teach students about how to respond to pregnancy and prevent sexually transmitted diseases.” The Dallas Morning News adds that according to public opinion polls, the majority of parents “want their children to get information on abstinence and effective methods to prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.”
The Texas Freedom Network, an Austin-based advocacy group, “contracted with two Texas State University-San Marcos professors” to conduct the study, the San Antonio (TX) Express-News (2/25) adds. The report shows that some of “the misinformation taught [in] schools are downplaying the effectiveness of condoms” and “not providing enough information about screening for and treating sexually transmitted diseases.” Also according to the Express News, “a couple of school districts responded by saying that farm animals provide reliable sexuality education.”
Federal Study Identifies Effective Programs For Teaching Math.
Education Week (2/24, Viadero) reported that “two programs for teaching mathematics in the early grades — Math Expressions and Saxon Math — emerge as clear winners in a large-scale federal study that pits four popular math curricula against one another.” The study by the Institute of Education Sciences and Mathematica Policy Research Inc. of Princeton, NJ, involved “1,309 1st graders in 39 elementary schools,” and focused on four “K-2 programs that represent a range of teaching methods, from scripted programs…to approaches that encourage students to reason and explore mathematics on their own.” Researchers found that “at the end of first grade…children in the classrooms using the Saxon [Math] and the Math Expressions curricula scored nine to 12 percentile points higher on” a nationally-normed math exam “than their counterparts in the other classrooms.”
Ohio District Assembling Task Force To Explore Student Gender Gap.
The Cincinnati Inquirer (2/25, Kranz) reports that the “Milford School District is assembling a task force to explore the gender gap between students.” According to a study completed by the district, “more high school girls were in the upper 20 percent of their class ranking last school year and more males were in the lower 20 percent.” And, nearly twice as many males as females “were designated with a learning disability.” Still, “results by gender on the Ohio Achievement Test, district-wide, appear to be comparable for male and female students.” The task force, which will consist of “board members, administrators, community members, and teachers,” will “review the data and make recommendations if needed.”
Expo Teaches Students In Oklahoma The Value Of Insects.
The Stillwater (OK) News Press (2/25) reports that on Monday, “about 500 students in third through fifth grades attended the 2009 Insect Expo at the Wes Watkins Center at Oklahoma State University.” At the event, they “had the opportunity to eat fried meal worms, sift through cereal for beetles, hold a tarantula and much more during a series of interactive games and informative activities designed to dispel stereotypes and educate children in an engaging way.” Ian Moncrief, “a master’s student in plant pathology who taught students to build models of a virus using blocks,” said, “Bugs are the cornerstone of all the planet cycles — water, nitrogen, food, decomposition — you name it.”
Kid Fitness Program Serves As Classroom Alternative to Outdoor Recreation.
The Southampton (NY) Press (2/25, O’Reilly) reports, “Southampton Elementary School will soon introduce ‘Kid Fitness’ kits to its classrooms to supplement physical education classes and encourage healthy habits among students.” The kits will include “posters, DVDs, and plans for fitness activities and education.” They will be used in each classroom “on the days when students don’t have a physical education period.” Kid Fitness founder and chief executive Paul Neville said that in each session, “students will perform eight fitness activities in just seven minutes. ‘It’s the equivalent of walking a brisk half mile,’” he added.
Students Share Parents’, Grandparents’ Stories To Commemorate Black History Month.
Maryland’s Gazette (2/25, McEwan) reports that in celebration of Black History Month, fifth-graders at William Tyler Page Elementary School in Silver Spring begin each “school day with announcements highlighting a member of the African-American school community. They share stories of parents, grandparents and neighbors who remember the struggles of the civil rights movement.” Other commemorative activities include creating “art with words and drawings about famous and not-so-famous African Americans for hallway displays and…working on a program for an African American History Night scheduled for Thursday.” Principal Debra Berner noted, “Believe, achieve, succeed that is our motto for Black History Month.”
Students Explore Scientific Themes Through Jason Program.
Wisconsin’s Journal Times (2/25, Sloth) reports on the Jason Program at Union Grove Elementary School, “an after-school science enrichment program for students in sixth through eighth grade.” To participate in the program, “students must apply and be accepted.” The Jason Project focuses on a different scientific theme each year, and it gives students opportunities to explore science that “they wouldn’t get in the classroom.” For instance, last month, participants “spent a week studying oceanography in Monterey Bay in California. They studied coastal animals and fish, watched elephant seals and birds in the wild, and they will observe changes in the environment at areas where fresh waters meet the ocean.” More recently, students “turned the floor of a classroom at the school into a makeshift coral reef.”
High School In Illinois Offers Teen Police Academy Course.
Illinois’ Northern Star (2/24, Edrinn) reported that “For the second year, a group of high school juniors and seniors will be able to learn about police work as part of the Teen Police Academy held at DeKalb High School.” The class covers “general law enforcement procedures, such as evidence handling and accident investigations, and topics more prominent to teens including dating violence and cyber bullying.” It “runs for eight weeks and is held” at the school “every Monday for two hours.”
On the Job
Teachers Most Likely To Be Absent On Fridays, Analysis Shows.
The Newark (OH) Advocate (2/24, Roy) reported that “according to an Advocate analysis of absence reports from the seven” Licking County school districts “able to provide them, there were between 100 and 600 additional teacher absences on Fridays than any other day of the week during the past three school years.” The analysis also showed that “some districts are on track to spend less on substitutes this year, while others will spend about the same.” For instance, “in Northridge, substitute spending dropped from $117,000 in fiscal year 2007 to $77,000 last year and an estimated $51,000 this year in general fund money.” The drop, said Treasurer Felicia Drummey, can be attributed to “the district…using federal funds differently than before. Last year, Northridge started using federal money for professional development to pay for a teacher’s substitute during that development.”
Law & Policy
Maryland May Join Interstate Compact Aimed At Easing School Transfers For Children In Military Families.
The AP (2/24, Witte) reported, “Maryland is among 22 states where lawmakers are considering joining an interstate compact to help children in military families transfer between school districts more easily. Eleven states already got started last year.” They are “Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, and Oklahoma.” The purpose of the contract is “to address different graduation requirements among states.” Those “that join…agree to work together to develop uniform standards to address several issues” relating to children in military families.
Truant Driver’s License Suspension Bill Heads To Virginia Governor.
Education Week /AP (2/24) reported that on Tuesday, the Virginia Senate voted “in favor of a bill to allow a judge to suspend a minor’s driver’s license for any period of time if the student misses 10 straight days of school.” Earlier this month, the House approved the bill. “It now heads to Gov. Timothy Kaine (D), who has 30 days to veto it, amend it or sign it into law.”
Massachusetts Delays History, Social Science Graduation Exams.
The AP (2/25, Lindsay) reports, that “the Massachusetts Board of Education voted Tuesday to delay a plan to add history and social science to the slate of state exams students must pass to graduate, citing state budget cuts and the grim economic outlook.” Instead, the exam will be put off “until at least the Class of 2014.” Commissioner Mitchell Chester “said the state was committed to the test and would regularly evaluate whether it had the money to reinstate the history and social science exam as a graduation requirement. But he acknowledged huge uncertainties about how fast the economy would recover.”
Bill To Fund Schools To Teach Math Using Singapore Method Passes Initial Utah Senate Vote.
The Salt Lake Tribune (2/25) reports, “A bill that would give schools money to teach math using the Singapore method” passed its initial vote in the Senate on Tuesday. The measure “would offer competitive grants to districts that come up with plans for teaching Singapore math in kindergarten through eighth grades. Singapore is one of the highest scoring countries on international math tests.” The country’s method of teaching math encourages students “to think visually and develop mental strategies to solve problems.”
Special Needs
New York City Rolls Out First Diagnostic Test For ELLs With Interrupted Formal Education.
Education Week (2/24, Zehr) reported, “The New York City school district has rolled out what is believed to be the first academic diagnostic test in the country designed solely for English-language learners (ELL) who have missed years of schooling.” The test is described as “a tool for identifying” students with interrupted formal education (SAIFE) “when such children enter the school system.” According to Maria Santos, director of ELL programs in New York City, “the test ‘will provide teachers with more information about each student and shape the instructional services these students receive.’” Named The Academic Language and Literacy Diagnostic for SIFE, the test has two components — math and reading. Currently, “the test is available only in English and Spanish, but the researchers hope to develop versions in other languages as well, such as Chinese and Haitian Creole.”
NEA in the News
School Administrators Said To Be Unhampered By Union Contracts In Firing Ineffective Teachers.
In an opinion piece for the Wilmington (DE) News Journal (2/24), Kalman R. Hettleman, a former commissioner on the Baltimore City school board, wrote, “Even with the billions of dollars in economic stimulus aid, public schools stand no chance of getting better until we dispel some empty theories about how to help them.” Hettleman answered five “myths” about improving education, including the idea that “teacher unions are the enemy.” He wrote, “Many politicians and educators would have you believe that unions are politically powerful institutions that protect incompetent teachers,” and pointed out that “former U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige went so far as to call the National Education Association…a ‘terrorist organization.’” But, Hettleman points out, “evidence doesn’t support the…allegation that union contracts make it nearly impossible to fire unsatisfactory teachers,” and added that “school administrators have plenty of disciplinary authority, but surveys of principals show that they often don’t exercise it.”
Schools In Large US Cities Improving Faster Than Suburban, Rural Counterparts, Study Shows.
The AP (2/26) reports, “Achievement test scores at big-city school districts in Texas still lag far behind their suburban and rural counterparts but they’re making great strides and narrowing the gap, according to a report by an education think tank released Wednesday.” Researchers at The Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., studied “37 of the nation’s largest urban school systems,” and “found that city schools are improving more than other school districts in their respective states.” The Dallas Independent School District showed the biggest improvement among the large Texas cities, and was 2nd overall nationally. DISD “was outscored by 100 percent of the state’s school districts” in 2000. New Orleans public schools showed the largest improvements nationwide.”
According to the Dallas Morning News (2/26, Hobbs), “DISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa said he’s pleased with the district’s progress. He believes low staff turnover in the district in recent years has helped, among other efforts.” Austin and San Antonio were also among “the top 10…academic gainers” in the state.
In the Classroom
Students Learn Cross-Curricular Lessons By Portraying Historic Figures.
The St. Petersburg Times (2/26) reports that “Pine Grove Elementary School second-grade teacher Josephine Maher and her students took lessons in math, reading, writing, social studies, science and art, and turned them into a living ‘wax museum’ on Feb. 19.” For the exhibit, “children transformed into [historic] figures that spoke only when their buttons were pushed.” Then, they “responded to visitors with memorized mini lessons about the characters they portrayed.” The St. Petersburg Times notes that before the exhibit, students “researched their chosen persons. In math they studied timelines, examining who was born earliest, last and who appeared on money.” And “less tangible lessons were [also] included in the project. … As the children repeated their characters’ short biographies, they practiced public speaking. A life lesson was working together as a team.”
The Catonsville (MD) Times (2/25, Rector) reported that last week, “students from all grade levels” at Hillcrest Elementary School in Catonsville “dressed up as figures from African American history to highlight Black History Month and teach their fellow students about the accomplishments of the characters they portrayed.” Each student “was responsible for a section of a two-page script they had researched that described the life of America’s first black president.” They represented historical figures that included George Crum, who has been “credited with inventing the [potato chip] in 1853 at a New York state resort;” Mary McLeod Bethune; Gen. Colin Powell; and President Obama. “According to Emerald Jones, the school’s assistant principal for the past two years and the event’s organizer, having students assume the roles of historic figures they are learning about gives them an extra connection to their classroom material.”
Connecticut District’s School-Building Efforts Said To Have Mixed Effect On Student Achievement.
The New Haven (CT) Advocate (2/26) reports that “New Haven is hundreds of millions of dollars into a $1.5 billion campaign” that began in 1995 “to rebuild or renovate every one of its 47 public schools.” When the program began, “national researchers [were focusing] on the impacts school buildings had on children’s learning abilities.” Since then, the “school rebuild scheme has been a hot topic.” In order to analyze whether the program is working or not, “the Advocate examined a decade’s worth of Connecticut Master Test data from new and rebuilt schools and from the district as a whole. Strictly by the numbers, the results are a mixed bag.” For instance, fourth-grade reading and math test scores “have inched up seven” and nine “percentage points between 1996 and 2007,” respectively. But “eighth-grade reading scores only went up by three percentage points.” Math scores, however, increased by 16 points. Despite such gaps, test results are said to prove that “New Haven is moving in the right direction.”
Early Intervention Seen As Key To Erasing Achievement Gap Between Black, White Students In Portland, Oregon.
The Oregonian (2/25, Melton) reported, “By the time African American students reach third grade, most are behind in their studies compared with white kids in Portland. … A new local study” by economics and policy firm ECONorthwest “suggests the best way to narrow the gap is to nip it in the bud before it begins.” After studying Multnomah County school data, researchers “found that African American students [there] remain about eight points behind white students on achievement tests no matter what the grade. The gap remains largely constant, suggesting that African American and white students learn and improve at the same rate.” They concluded that if area educators “get to African American children early…those gains will likely hold steady throughout their school career.” Multnomah County Commissioner Jeff Cogen said that “the report clearly elevates the potential impact of early childhood education.”
Opinion: Educators Should Assure Students That Initial Difficulty With Math Is Not Sign Of Low Intelligence.
In an opinion piece for the Las Vegas Sun (2/26) Cathy Estes, a fourth and fifth grade teacher at Vanderburg Elementary School, writes, “I recently read an alarming statistic that suggested that as many as 75 percent of students suffer from some degree of math anxiety,” which “can range from simple avoidance of math homework to nervous reactions that manifest themselves in stomach aches and blanking minds.” Estes suggests that “to battle math anxiety,” parents and teachers “need to do more than infuse…students with a ‘math is fun’ attitude.” For instance, when a student gives an incorrect answer to a math problem, “having the student explain the strategy they used to solve a problem often results in them discovering their own mistake and allows them the opportunity to self-correct, which can build their confidence in their math aptitude.” She concludes that “parents and teachers need to help…students understand that initial difficulty with math is not a sign of low intelligence.”
Astronaut Shares Video Of Space Mission With Students At School In Florida.
The St. Petersburg Times (2/26) reports that “Lt. Col. Shane Kimbrough, who this past November walked in space during the space shuttle Endeavour mission, visited Challenger K8 School of Science and Mathematics Friday to return” an “orange and blue school flag that he took into space with him during his recent trip.” The flag “was designed by” a student at the school. Kimbrough “shared a video” of the mission, which showed “him floating in the international space station and outside of it in a space suit that weighed 300 pounds.” It also showed “Kimbrough holding the Challenger flag in outer space.”
NFL Aims To Bring “Financial Football” To All US High Schools.
South Dakota’s Argus Leader (2/25, Verges) reported that Taylor Mehlhaff, a player on the Minnesota Vikings football team, spoke to “Washington High School students Tuesday” about finances. He told the students, “Financial responsibility should really be taken seriously, whether you have a lot of money or a little money. … I think I was the only guy drafted at New Orleans who didn’t go out and buy something.” The Argus Leader notes that “Mehlhaff was in Sioux Falls on behalf of the NFL and Visa, which are bringing their ‘Financial Football’ game to every high school in the country.”
On the Job
More Professionals Crossing Into Education From Other Fields.
The Washington Post (2/26, VA1, Chandler) reports, “Most teachers enter the classroom with an undergraduate degree in education. But an increasing number of teachers come to the profession after testing the waters or investing their talents in other fields first.” According to the Post, in Virginia, since “2001, more than 2,000 people have enrolled in one of nine state-approved programs that offer accelerated training and development to help working professionals make the transition into the classroom. Each program is structured differently, but at minimum, applicants need a bachelor’s degree, five years of work experience, coursework in their subject area and passing scores on two standardized exams.”
Arkansas Department Of Education Seeks Career-Switchers To Fill Teaching Vacancies. KARK-TV Little Rock (2/26) reports that “as more and more Arkansans find themselves facing an uncertain financial future, the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) encourages individuals to consider teaching as a career.” Teachers are needed most in the areas of “mathematics, life science, physical science and foreign language. In certain areas of the state there is also a high demand for English, social studies, art, drama/speech, music and physical education, wellness and leisure teachers.” And while a bachelor’s degree from an accredited university is required to teach most subjects, “those who have” worked “in such areas as the automotive industry, nursing, engineering or computer technology and who do not have a bachelor’s degree…may be able to teach after taking a skills assessment and following the steps to earn a Vocational Teaching Permit.”
Law & Policy
Lawmaker Reintroduces Bill Limiting Recruiters’ Ability To Contact High School Students.
The Hill (2/26, Tiron) reports that US Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) is reintroducing “legislation that seeks to undo a…provision in” the No Child Left Behind law that requires “high schools receiving federal money…to make student information available to military recruiters, unless parents specifically inform the school that they do not want their child contacted.” Honda’s bill would allow schools to “give out the information [only] if parents tell them it is OK.” Meanwhile, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) is sponsoring “competing legislation that would more or less keep the policy intact.” The Hill notes that “Honda’s bill is backed by the National Parent Teacher Association and the National Education Association.”
Bill Would Require Some Schools In Rio Grande Valley To Provide Free Breakfast To All Students.
The Brownsville (TX) Herald (2/26, Long) reports, “Legislation filed by state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. (D) would require school districts in the Rio Grande Valley and many across Texas to provide free breakfast to all students after the school day starts.” The measure “would provide universal breakfasts to students in school districts in which 60 percent or more of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals.” It “stipulates that to receive state funding, breakfast must be served during the school day.” Lucio pointed out “that 81 percent of Texas school children qualified for free or reduced-price breakfast during the 2005-06 school year but just 28 percent participated in the National School Breakfast Program.”
Mississippi Senate Committee To Consider Developing Sex-Education Program.
The AP (2/26, Byrd) reports that “A bill filed by” Mississippi State Rep. Alyce Clarke (D)’ that would “develop a sex education program for Mississippi’s public schools” is ready for “consideration [by] the Senate Appropriations Committee, where it faces a Tuesday deadline.” Under the proposed legislation, the state Board of Education and the state Board of Health would be allowed to “create a sex education pilot program aimed at reducing Mississippi’s teen pregnancy rate.” In addition, “the bill specifies that boys and girls would have to be taken into separate rooms during the discussions about pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and other issues.”
Safety & Security
Administrators At Middle School In California Reassigned After Asking Student To Buy Illegal Drugs.
The Los Angeles Times (2/26, Song) reports, “Three Porter Middle School administrators were removed from the Granada Hills campus after L.A. Unified learned they had asked a student to buy pot from another student.” It is alleged that Porter Middle School administrators “sent a student to buy” drugs from another student that they believed “was dealing pot on campus. … The student successfully bought drugs and the administrators at the Granada Hills campus reported the incident to authorities.” The Times notes that “it is a felony to ask a minor to buy drugs.” The Los Angeles Unified School District has reassigned the administrators “to positions away from the Granada Hills campus…while the investigation is ongoing.”
Also in the News
Elementary School Hopes To Purchase Playground Equipment Through Box Tops For Education.
The Reno Gazette-Journal (2/25, O’Neill) reported that Anderson Elementary School is participating in General Mills’ Box Tops for Education program to pay for new playground equipment. “The square-shaped Box Tops for Education logos are on General Mills products and can be collected by personnel at schools and redeemed for materials such as playground equipment. Each box top is worth 10 cents.” So far, the school has collected 60,000 since September 2006, which is worth about $6,000. “About 400,000 box tops, or $40,000 worth, are needed for new playground equipment.” According to the Reno Gazette-Journal, Anderson “has tried various methods” for raising money for the playground equipment, but according to Principal Tom Wortman, “Box Tops is the thing that stuck.”
Students With Trouble Focusing Said To Benefit Most From Action-Based Learning.
NPR (2/26) reported on “the burgeoning movement to promote more action-based learning. Some studies suggest that incorporating physical movement into the classroom improves student focus and attention.” Although the use of “physical activity in the classroom is new in” some cities, such as Charleston, SC, “in other cities — Naperville, IL; Kansas City, MO; and Titusville, PA — schools have documented academic improvements linked to these new movement and fitness initiatives.” Furthermore, “researchers at East Carolina University evaluated the effectiveness of short, 10-minute exercise breaks at one North Carolina school. They found that the kids who’d had the most trouble staying focused before the exercise program started were the ones who seemed to benefit the most.”
In the Classroom
Teachers At Elementary In Pennsylvania Integrate School Construction Into Lessons.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (2/27, Ganster) reports, “When the Hampton Township School District began a nearly $8 million overhaul of Poff Elementary School early last year,” two first-grade teachers, Joanne Friday and Courtenay Garrett made students “part of the construction effort” and took “advantage of each stage of the project to teach a lesson. As part of the learning unit, the two teachers bought small, yellow, plastic construction hats for the children.” The teachers got the “Foreman Group, the architects and construction group on the Poff renovation,” in on the plan, and “began with classroom projects to help the students understand what was happening.” And “As the project progressed, the lessons changed to match the stage of the renovation.” When the “first-grade classrooms were completed,” students presented the Foreman Group “with models of the two classrooms” they had prepared with art teacher Elizabeth Farrell.
Sixth-Grade Teacher Conducts Class Outside To Encourage “Inspired Composition.”
The Yuma (AZ) Sun (2/27, Roller) reports that Maurice Carlson, a sixth-grade Language Arts teacher at Gila Vista Junior High School “shocked his students when he relocated [his] classroom” into “the unseasonably warm winter weather” outside. Carlson said that “the improvised open-air classroom prompted students to get in touch with feelings and rise to the challenge of inspired composition rather than just completing a written assignment. ‘It let the students know that education can take place anywhere,’” Carlson added. His classes studied the “three-week unit on poetry” outside. “Carlson noted when he assigns poetry there is initial resistance from students because the verse form has negative connotations.” But he said, “Once they realize poetry is just a way of expressing feelings and that rap and rock songs are basically poems, students warm up to the subject and embrace poetry.”
Minnesota District’s “I Love To Read Month” Aimed At Improving Literacy Skills.
Minnesota’s Free Press (2/27, Kent) reports that reading lays the foundation for all the teaching methods employed by educators in Mankato, MN, elementary schools. “Hence the need for February I Love to Read Month,” which is a “coordinated effort to improve the literacy skills of elementary-age students. The month focuses on getting kids to read outside of the classroom as well as making reading a fun, and consistent, part of a student’s day.” The Free Press outlines several of the reading programs implemented at elementary schools in Mankato. For example, “several schools have ‘Get Caught Reading’ programs and many participate in the ’400 Club’ in which students are charged with reading 400 minutes outside of school.”
Students Construct Own Understanding Of Material In Everyday Mathematics Program.
Massachusetts’ Standard Times (2/27, Sheridan) reports that “Middleboro elementary students, along with over two million American children, are learning their math using the University of Chicago’s (USC) ‘Everyday Mathematics’ program, leaving some parents frustrated by its non-traditional methods.” That approach to teaching math “is characteristic of ‘constructivist’ theory in education, which has students make relevant connections to the lesson and their world and ‘construct’ their own understanding of material.” It is based on studies which “showed that students were capable of inventing their own way of solving math problems beyond grade level expectations in ways meaningful and effective to them.” The Standard Times notes that in “a survey on Everyday Math…given to Middleboro teachers, parents, and students last spring,” respondents “in younger grades reported they were excited about learning math and that they enjoyed the group discussions and games. This was less so in older elementary grades.”
Florida County Is Host To Second Largest Chapter Of “Little Kids Rock” Music Program.
The Tampa Tribune (2/27, Allman) reports on “Little Kids Rock, a national music curriculum that teaches children and young adults to play music by using contemporary hard rock, pop, punk, and other genres.” Currently, “more than 4,000 students in Hillsborough County, FL, participate, “making [it] the second-largest Little Kids Rock chapter nationally. Little Kids Rock has donated about 800 new instruments, plus free training, to the 34 music teachers in Hillsborough who are working with the program.” Musical icons are regularly sought after “to visit classrooms across the country to speak to students and jam with them” as part of Little Kids Rock.
On the Job
Elementary School Asks Parents To Affirm Residency Status Under Threat Of Perjury.
The Denver Post (2/26, Meyer) reported that Bromwell Elementary School, located “in one of Denver’s ritziest neighborhoods, is asking parents to swear under the threat of perjury that they live within the school’s attendance boundaries in an effort to find people who sneak their kids into the school.” Bromwell “is one of the highest-performing campuses in Denver Public Schools,” and is “consistently earning high marks on the state’s School Accountability Report.” Consequently, the school’s reputation has led to an overflow of parents wanting to enroll their children. “Jammed classrooms prompted parents to find out who really belongs — who has lawfully entered through the school-choice process, who lives in the neighborhood, and who is in school against the rules.” So far, “thirty families have” been “identified as having outdated residency information or property records inconsistent with school records.” The Post notes, “Districts that investigate residency problems have found parents using addresses of grandparents’ homes, rental properties, businesses, or friends’ homes.”
Law & Policy
Texas Lawmakers Plan To Overhaul Standardized Tests, School Ranking System.
The San Antonio Express-News (2/27, Kastner) reports that “Texas students could face new state tests and new graduation requirements under a plan to overhaul the state accountability system in the next two years.” According to Sen. Florence Shapiro (R), Senate Education Committee chairperson, the purpose of the plan “is to create a system that prepares students for either the work force or college, without the need for remediation.” Specifically, it “would do away with the state’s current ranking system for schools and districts, which hinges on test scores. Instead, two new tiers would give schools and districts credit for improvement over time and for achievement in areas such as work force readiness, fine arts and physical fitness.” In addition, “districts would also be evaluated on their financial integrity.” The Express-News also adds that “the state is [also] moving toward end-of-course exams for high school students, which will replace the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, or TAKS, beginning for freshmen in 2011.”
Oregon House Approves Of Exempting Teachers From Law Limiting Junk Food In Schools.
The AP (2/27, Cain) reports that on Thursday, “the Oregon House gave its approval” on a “Senate a bill to exempt teachers from a state law limiting the sale of junk food in public schools.” The purpose of the law is to combat “childhood obesity by restricting the sale of soda, fruit juices and high-calorie or high-fat snack foods in schools. But it pulled the plug on junk food vending machines in teacher lounges, too.” Many Oregon teachers, however, say that “as adults…they should have the right to decide whether they want to gulp sugary sodas and munch snack foods.” But “opponents of the legislation” argue that “teachers should set an example for students by avoiding unhealthy snacks — even in the sanctity of the teachers lounge.”
School Councils Would Set Non-Instructional Work Hours For Teachers Under Kentucky Bill.
The AP (2/27) reports, “Local site-based school councils would set non-instructional work hours for Kentucky teachers under a bill that has won approval from” Kentucky’s House Labor and Industry Committee on Thursday. According to Kentucky Education Association President Sharron Oxendine, the solution to teachers working too many overtime hours “is to assign a ‘reasonable amount of time’ for teachers to prepare lesson plans, attend meetings and do other duties.” That decision, says Daviess County schools Superintendent Tom Shelton, should be left up to school boards.
Utah Senate Approves Funding For Singapore-Method Math Instruction.
The Salt Lake Tribune (2/27, Gehrke) reports that Utah “Senators approved legislation that would provide grants to school districts and charter schools that want to adopt Singapore math, an instruction model that teaches students to attack math problems by developing images in their minds.” The bill “would move $500,000 of school math funding to the grant program.”
Special Needs
Nashville Public School Officials Aim To Decentralize Students With Special Needs.
The Nashville City Paper (2/27, Graydon) reports that “in reforming special education at Metro Nashville Public Schools, district leaders say a crucial first step is getting more students with disabilities back to their neighborhood schools.” Currently, “steps are being taken to make this happen — at least in part — for some kids due to transition to middle schools in the next school year.” Special education officials are expected to know in another month “exactly what special education services can be offered at which middle schools.” School officials, meanwhile, are focused determining how the district will meet the needs of special education students “at their regular zoned schools.” The process, known as decentralization, “is part of a district-wide move toward more inclusive practices.” This entails “including students with disabilities in regular or general education classes as much as possible, and helping special educators and general educators work together in classrooms to serve children with different abilities and needs.”
North Carolina School For Students With Special Needs Faces Testing Challenges.
North Carolina’s The Star (2/27, Clark) reports that “like other schools across the nation, the teachers at North Shelby School are preparing their students for required standardized testing. Unlike most schools, they face special challenges.” That is because North Shelby is “a school for students with varying levels of disabilities,” but it still “has to meet the same testing requirements as every other public school” under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. According to school officials, “North Shelby students who take the Extend 1 portion of the” End of Grade test — “a modified version of the test for students with the most severe disabilities — usually score in the range of 50 to 53 percent proficiency.” Many educators think that “the concept behind No Child Left Behind is good,” but that “The one-size-fits-all approach is one thing that makes” achieving adequate yearly progress difficult, The Star notes.
Safety & Security
Student Safety Patrollers At Oklahoma School Trained In Peer Counseling.
KSWO-TV Lawton, OK (2/27) reports that at Geronimo Road Children’s School in Lawton, “student safety patrollers help other students before and after school. They are trained in peer counseling and they can even write a referral to the principal.” The idea for the safety patrollers came from eleven-year-old Caleb Lemke, a student who “saw a safety patrol program at his old school in Tulsa. His family moved to Lawton before he was old enough to join the patrol.” Lemke presented Geronimo Road principal Harold McCann with “the requirements” for the program. McCann, who is described as “a big supporter” of the program, said that the safety patrollers help the school by ensuring that students line up orderly in the mornings before they enter the school. He added that “since the program started in January, he’s already seen a significant drop in behavioral problems before and after school.”
School Finance
New York Auditing Finances Of Public School Districts.
The New York Times (2/27, A23, Hu) reports that “under a mandate to audit all 840 of New York’s school districts, charter schools and regional education agencies by March 2010, Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli has dispatched hundreds of number-crunchers who have churned out” over 550 reports. Each report provides “a revealing look at the day-to-day operations and finances of the state’s public education system.” The Niagara Falls school district, for instance, was found to have “overpaid 272 employees by more than $500,000 in 2006, apparently incorrectly sending out an extra paycheck to each of them.” And several districts “could have saved a total of $212,000 on electricity if they had shut off computers at night and used power-save settings.” The Times points out that the audits “were prompted by a scandal in which half a dozen people, including the former superintendent, were convicted of stealing as much as $11.2 million from the Roslyn district on Long Island.”
Also in the News
Group Of Philadelphia Students Protest Superintendent’s Strategic Plan.
The Philadelphia Inquirer (2/27, Graham) reports that “more than 50 high school students gathered outside Philadelphia School District headquarters [Wednesday] to air their concerns” about Superintendent Arlene Ackerman’s “newly introduced strategic plan” that “calls for the district to shutter up to 35 failing schools and reopen them as charters or under outside management.” Eighteen-year-old Mason Tyer, a “member of the Philadelphia Student Union, which organized the demonstration,” said that “he doesn’t believe his school is hopeless, and he doesn’t want the district to give up on it.” According to school officials, “a group from the Philadelphia Student Union” met with Ackerman on Thursday “to discuss the strategic plan.”
Education Secretary Wants Detroit Public Schools To “Challenge The Status Quo.”
The AP (2/27) reports, “U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan says Detroit’s next mayor must be ‘willing to step up and be held accountable and responsible’ for the city’s schools.” He also said that “he wants to push Detroit to challenge the status quo.” The AP notes that Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) “recently appointed an emergency financial manager for the Detroit district.”
Duncan also suggested that “the city schools should apply for so-called ‘Race to the Top Fund’ dollars in President Barack Obama’s budget,” the Detroit News (2/27, Hornbeck) adds. “That $5 billion pot of cash will go to districts willing to make dramatic changes, he said.”