Updates and Information Provided by NEA
US Preschool Education Threatened By Economic Downturn, Researchers Say.
The AP (4/8) reports that “preschool enrollment is up and spending on state pre-K programs is up, too — but the economic downturn could spell trouble for the nation’s youngest schoolchildren,” according to “a report being released Wednesday” by the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University. The report shows that “currently, more than 80 percent of all four-year-olds attend some kind of preschool program,” and “about half of those go to a public program.” But “at least nine states…are likely to make cuts to pre-kindergarten programs,” researchers say. As such, “the institute is urging the federal government to match state spending with up to $2,500 for every additional child enrolled in state pre-K programs, as a way to grow preschool so that all of the nation’s four-year-olds can have access by 2020.”
In the Classroom
Elementary School’s Building Understanding Zone Teaches Scientific Method Of Inquiry.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune (4/8, Lavrusik) reports on the BUZ (Building Understanding Zone) at Cedar Park Elementary School in Apple Valley, MN, which is “aimed at bringing the scientific method of inquiry to the forefront of the” school. The BUZ contains “live tarantulas, cockroaches, tadpoles and other animals,” and is meant to “be an extension of classroom teaching,” according to cedar Park Principal John Garcia. Teachers “will decide how to incorporate the room into the curriculum for” their own classes. “And the room, which includes not only the animals but tools for handling them, is set up with ways for each age group to use it for learning scientific methods.”
Digital Games, Simulations Should Be Used To Improve Learning, Experts Say.
Education Week (4/7, Ash) reported that in K-12 education, “attitudes toward using” digital simulations and games “as teaching tools are changing.” Still, “experts caution against using such media for learning simply because those new tools seem like an exciting way to teach or learn.” Instead, “digital games and simulations…should be used to improve the learning of academic concepts.” Education Week points to the Situated Multimedia Arts Learning Lab (SMALLab) at Coronado High School in Scottsdale, AZ, as an example of technology use that enhances learning. “To build on classroom experiments and lectures…students act out scientific concepts on a 15-by-15-foot mat on the floor of the room.” As they do this, “object-tracking cameras…collect data based on the students’ movements while” providing “visual and audio feedback in real time.” Education Week adds, “Tests before and after using SMALLab have found that students who use it have shown statistically significant gains in their overall comprehension of subject matter.”
Architect Argues 21st Century Education Should Be Student-Centered.
In an opinion piece for Education Week (4/8) Prakash Nair, an “architect with Fielding Nair International, an architectural firm specializing in school design,” writes that “the deep decay of our school systems is best represented not by falling plaster and leaking roofs, but by something much more fundamental — the philosophy behind the design of more than 99 percent of our school buildings.” Repairing “broken structures,” he adds, will not improve the “model of teaching and learning that has been obsolete since the end of the industrial era.” Nair argues that in the 21st century “educational paradigm” needs to shift “from the largely teacher-centered model now practiced everywhere to a…student-centered approach.” He suggests that school improvement plans include “personalized learning communities” and that they “make technology ubiquitous.” Schools should also “focus on student comfort” and “celebrate art, music, and performance,” Nair says. In addition, teachers should be treated like professionals and parent and community involvement should be stressed.
Elementary Students Explore Florida Sea Creatures During Visit By Aquarium Staff.
The St. Petersburg Times (4/8, Miller) reports that this week, first-graders from Deer Park Elementary School in Pasco County, FL, received a visit from representatives of the Florida Aquarium, who brought with them various saltwater creatures that can be found throughout the state. Students had the opportunity to see up close and touch a hermit crab, a horseshoe crab, a tulip snail, among other creatures. The St. Petersburg Times notes that “the visit from the Florida Aquarium, funded by a longtime anonymous donor, was just one of the many activities held during a weeklong celebration, ‘Fabulous Florida: Past and Present.’” Also during the celebration, “students put on skits and slideshows” that feature “pioneers and Seminole Indians, pirates and theme parks, alligators and manatees and sports teams and the Flagler railroad.”
Officials In Wake County, NC, To Decide On Graduation Project Requirement.
In the WakeEd blog in North Carolina’s News & Observer (4/7) education editor T. Keung Hui wrote that the North Carolina Board of Education voted last week “to delay making the Graduation Project a statewide requirement until the Class of 2011.” However, “the board left it up to individual school districts to decide whether to leave it in place as a requirement for the Class of 2010, who are now juniors.” Wake school officials are now trying to decide “whether to go along with the state board action or keep [the requirement] in place for the students graduating next year.” They may decide on the matter this week, Hui speculates.
On the Job
Experts Suggest That Employees Pay For Their Own Professional Development.
The AP (4/8, Dutton) reports, “Amid major corporate budget cuts, employees are looking for ways to attend seminars and professional meetings without busting their bosses’ budget. Some are using their own money, vehicles and time to” attend “conferences that will make a difference in their jobs and advance their careers.” Ed Rigsbee, “an expert in trade association conferences,” said that “an employee who is willing to cover part of the expense is going to get the attention of management.” He suggests “offering to pay for some of the expenses and seeing what the company can provide.” Peter Meyers, owner of “User Effect, a consulting company in Chicago,” also “suggests providing your manager with information about the seminars you plan to attend and how they will make you a greater asset to the company.” The AP adds that the costs associated with professional development activities “are generally tax-deductible.”
Teachers, School Security Officers In Iowa Attend Safety Conference.
KCCI-TV Des Moines (4/7) reported, “Iowa teachers and school security officers packed a conference Tuesday to learn how to improve school safety.” Seminar topics included “the impact of social networking Web sites” and “how to spot potential school shooters and the impact of gangs on Iowa schools.” Some of the speakers stressed that “social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook can be used by bullies to pick on other kids.” And several “Iowa security experts attending the conference said parents need to get involved with their children’s online activity and realize being online is part of their lives.”
Law & Policy
Scientific Organizations Show Mixed Reaction To Texas’ New Science Standards.
Education Week (4/8, Cavanagh) reports, “Some scientific organizations remain uneasy about Texas’ new science standards, given their potential influence, even though long-standing language that says students should learn about the ’strengths and weaknesses’ of evolution has been stripped from the document.” The new language “says students should…analyze, evaluate, and critique scientific explanations by using empirical evidence, logical reasoning, and experimental and observational testing, including examining all sides of the scientific evidence of those scientific explanations so as to encourage critical thinking by the student.” According to Steven Newton of the National Center for Science Education, “the document’s call for students to examine ‘all sides of scientific evidence’ is problematic,” because “supporters of ‘intelligent design’…have claimed that scientific evidence supports their view.” He added that a board-approved amendment for students to “analyze and evaluate scientific explanations concerning the complexity of the cell’” may also lead to classroom discussions about intelligent design.
Parents, Teachers In Plano, Texas, Say Proposed Grading Policy Discourages Accountability.
The Dallas Morning News (4/8, Haag) reports that “a growing philosophical shift is putting more emphasis on what students are learning overall, rather than mostly focusing on a grade that can be pulled down by smaller assignments, quizzes, bad behavior or poor study skills.” In the Plano school district, “officials are exploring a policy for middle schoolers that would not dock grades for cheating or late assignments. And teachers wouldn’t grade some homework at all.” Although district “officials had hoped to roll out the new policy next school year, the plan has “been delayed because several teachers raised concerns they wouldn’t be able to hold students accountable.” And “some Plano parents say the proposed changes would legitimize cheating and would encourage students to blow off homework.” Consequently, they added, “the district’s academic rigor would diminish and tarnish Plano ISD’s high-standards reputation.”
Maine Bill Would Prevent Teachers From Being Paid Based On Performance.
Maine’s Sun Journal (4/7, Metzler) reported that at a public hearing on Monday, Maine Rep. Brian Bolduc (D) presented a proposal to lawmakers “that would prevent educators from getting paid based on performance.” According to the Sun Journal, “Bolduc’s one-line bill reads: ‘A salary of a teacher may not be based upon the measurable performance or productivity of the teacher or a student of the teacher.’” Defending the bill, Bolduc told lawmakers, “I agree merit pay has some merit, but unlike business performance, teaching performance is much more subjective. … Judging good teaching is like judging good art or good music.” He added that “it would be impossible to” label some teacher as “good” and others as “bad” because “all criteria would be opinion based.” The Sun Journal pointed out that Bolduc is currently “looking for work as a teacher.”
Georgia General Assembly Approves School Transfer Bill.
The Marietta (GA) Daily Journal (4/8, Gillooly) reports that Georgia’s General Assembly has “approved a bill by” Rep. Alisha Morgan (D) “that would allow students to transfer from one school to another within a school district, provided there is room to transfer.” Under the legislation, the state would have to “create rules to be followed by the local school boards that ensures a streamlined and universal process of transferring from school to school for all students, provided there is room and the student has transportation.” The bill is currently under review by Gov. Sonny Perdue (R).
Safety & Security
Audit Uncovers “Flawed” And “Ineffective” System For Vetting School Workers.
The Salt Lake Tribune (4/8, Stewart) reports, “Public school employees with convictions for felony sex assault, indecent exposure, drug possession and aggravated assault turned up in a legislative probe that labels Utah’s system for vetting such workers ‘flawed and ineffective.’” Of the 1,209 school employees randomly chosen for auditing from 32 schools in the “Jordan, Granite, Davis and Salt Lake school district[s],” 49 had criminal convictions and 17 had “so-called ‘concerning’ criminal convictions either before or after they were hired, and sometimes both.” Among those convictions were felonies “involving drugs, alcohol, violence, sex-related crimes, and multiple arrests suggesting a pattern of criminal behavior.” And while “most were classified workers,” the audit also pegged employees “who have unsupervised contact with students.” Brian Dean, an audit supervisor in the Office of the Legislative Auditor General, blamed “gaps in Utah law, education policy, and lack of follow-through by state and local authorities” for the problem.
Also in the News
Judge Punishes Truants With Jigsaw Puzzles.
The Dallas Morning News (4/8, Yan) reports, “Punishments in truancy court vary wildly.” Some students are billed “up to $500 for every day missed in violation of state law” and “parents can be fined for contributing to their child’s truancy.” Or, “the judge can order community service, tutoring, anger management programs or one-year driver’s license suspensions.” Judge John Sholden of Dallas County’s East Truancy Court in Garland “assigns puzzles in about 10 percent of the cases he hears. Typically, they involve younger students unsuitable for other punishments or those who are dealing with problems at home as well as at school.” Sholden said many of the children he sees in court “don’t think they can accomplish anything, so they don’t go to school. … When you open [a puzzle] up, it’s a mess,” he said, adding, “But you get it in your head that you can solve the problem. Once [students] have a sense of accomplishment, that transfers to accomplishment at school also.”
Education Secretary Pushes Longer School Days, Weeks, Years During Denver Visit.
The Denver Post (4/8, Post) reports on US Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s visit to Bruce Randolph School in northeast Denver on Tuesday. “Bruce Randolph was chosen for the tour because it has deployed some of the reforms Duncan says are critical to improving the quality of American education, including a longer school day for some students.” According to Duncan, education reform proposals from the Obama administration “will include longer school years” and Saturday school. He added that “some of the time could be optional.”
NEA in the News
Union Leaders Announce Formation Of National Labor Coordinating Committee.
The Washington Post (4/8, Meyerson) reports that “four years ago the American labor movement split asunder.” But now, “the American labor movement proclaimed its intention to come back together.” This week, “the presidents of the two federations and of the nation’s 12 largest unions — including the National Education Association, which heretofore has not belonged to any labor federation…announced the formation of the National Labor Coordinating Committee, an interim body that could pave the way for labor’s reunification by forming a new federation with roughly 16 million members.” David Bonior, a former congressman from Michigan and president of American Rights at Work, will head the committee.”
Senior Projects Becoming More Common Graduation Requirement.
New York’s Democrat & Chronicle (4/7, Veale) reports that “while senior projects are not a state-imposed graduation requirement in New York, increasing numbers of states and districts are moving toward such project mandates, according to the national Senior Project Center.” In Rochester, NY, the School Without Walls on Broadway “has favored innovative assessment over traditional testing since its founding in September 1971.” School Without Walls seniors “choose two experts in their field of study to be their mentors. They also select two teachers and two students to round out a six-member committee that ultimately determines whether the student passes or fails the project.” Those who support the idea of senior projects “say the exercise teaches students such real-world skills as time management, meeting periodic deadlines and using community resources to accomplish a goal.” Projects may not, however, “give students a specific leg up in the college admissions process.”
In the Classroom
Growth Measurement Expected To Help Pennsylvania Schools Meet Standards.
The Philadelphia Inquirer (4/7, Hardy) reports the forthcoming results on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) are expected to “show a dramatic increase in the number of schools meeting state-mandated No Child Left Behind proficiency standards.” That change is credited to “a new statistical method of calculating test results that” helps “educators analyze student and school performance in more in-depth ways.” Under that method, “schools will get credit for meeting state standards if statistical projections of students’ test results show enough improvement in coming years, even if the children are not performing at grade level now.” Each student in the state has been assigned an “identification number, allowing the system to track PSSA results from year to year.”
Teachers At Virginia Middle School Incorporate Students’ Cell Phones Into Lessons.
Virginia’s Daily Press (4/6) reported that at Passage Middle School in Newport News, VA, “at least eight teachers are using [cell phones] for a range of lessons, from reports to quizzes in English, social studies, science, and math classes.” School faculty also “developed an acceptable use policy” for the phones under which students “are not to send text messages to anyone outside the building during class hours. They are not to take photos. They are not allowed to upload anything to…Internet sites not approved by the school.” In class, “one of the most common uses” of cell phones is “a response tool similar to clickers. … Instead of punching a button to answer a question, students text the answer and send it to a central polling Web site the teacher projects onto a screen.”
Boston’s Non-English Speakers’ Dropout Rate Grew With English-Only Classes.
The Boston Globe (4/7, Vaznis) reports, “Students not fluent in English have floundered in Boston schools since voters approved a law change six years ago requiring school districts to teach them all subjects in English rather than their native tongue, according to a report being released tomorrow.” The report by the Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts at Boston and the Center for Collaborative Education found that “that the high school dropout rate nearly doubled for students still learning to speak and write in English” after the law was changed. The report avoids “the contentious issue of whether the change in law was appropriate,” but instead highlights “solutions that Boston should adopt to conform with the law.”
School Officials In Richmond Propose Adding Sixth Grade To Military Academy.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch (4/7, Reid) reports, “Richmond [VA] school officials took a step forward last night in addressing a long-running complaint about the city school system: a lack of options for middle schoolers.” The school board has proposed “adding a sixth-grade class to Franklin Military Academy. If accepted, it would be the first step in a planned three-year expansion that would open the…school to students in grades 6 to 12.” Franklin “combines a comprehensive core of academic classes with daily Junior ROTC training.” Sixth grade classes would be “on the third floor, away from the high school students.”
North Carolina District Sees High Absenteeism On Makeup Days.
North Carolina’s News & Observer (4/7, Ruffin) reports that Wake County, NC, school officials designated the first two days of this week “as makeup days for classes canceled because of snow in January and March. The change cuts into spring break, which now runs Wednesday through Friday.” Consequently, schools throughout the district “had more empty desks than usual” on Monday, “as many students skipped class.” Many of the missing students had “obtained excused absences … in some cases claiming that their vacations have an educational component.” A spokesman for the district said that Wake “had little choice but to schedule the makeup days for” Monday and Tuesday “because of the timing of the snowfall.”
On the Job
Report Finds Over One-Third Of US Teachers May Retire Over Next Four Years.
The New York Times (4/7, A16, Dillon) reports, “Over the next four years, more than a third of the nation’s 3.2 million teachers could retire, depriving classrooms of experienced instructors and straining taxpayer-financed retirement systems, according to a new report” by the nonprofit National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future. And, “with one of every three new teachers leaving the profession within five years,” school districts incur “millions in recruiting and training expenses.” The report suggests that “policy makers…restructure schools and modify state retirement policies so that thousands of the best veteran teachers can stay on in the classroom to mentor inexperienced teachers.”
“The report combines statistics from the National Center for Education Statistics with an Internet survey of 400 teachers and 95 principals in November,” according to USA Today (4/7, Der Bedrosian). Elizabeth Foster, director of strategic initiatives for the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future who co-authored the report with commission president Tom Carroll, said that “over the next year, the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future will host retreats for school administrators looking to combat the problem.”
DC Superintendent Working On Overhaul Of Teacher Evaluation System.
On the front of its Metro section, the Washington Post (4/7, B1, Turque) reports that DC schools Chief Michelle A. Rhee “and her chief ‘human capital’ assistant, Jason Kamras, have been working on an overhaul of the evaluation system that would expand the ways teachers are assessed.” The proposal “is likely to include methods to track how students’ standardized test scores grow over time.” According to Rhee, “the current system does not adequately highlight students who may fall short of proficiency levels in reading or math but who still make significant strides over the course of a school year.” She supports using “test data to render more sophisticated judgments about student growth and the effectiveness of individual teachers.” Rhee is seeking teacher “input in shaping a new evaluation process.” As such, she “has invited teachers to a series of 20 focus groups over the next several weeks.”
Veteran Teachers At Los Angeles School Offer To Take Unpaid Leave To Avoid Layoffs.
In the Los Angeles Times’ (4/6) LA Now blog, Howard Blume reported that on Monday morning, Monica Garcia, president of the Los Angeles Board of Education met “with teachers who are breaking with their union to support pay cuts as a way to avoid layoffs.” At Miguel Contreras Learning Complex in downtown Los Angeles, “more than 30 young or less experienced faculty members have received notice that they might lose their jobs at the end of the year.” In response, 32 “veteran Contreras teachers, whose jobs are safe, have signed a letter signaling their willingness to take” up to two weeks of unpaid leave “rather than lose colleagues, whom the letter characterized as ‘our future generation of teachers and school staff.’” The Times points out that “one furlough day for all district employees would save $15 million.” The Los Angeles’ teachers union has “opposed any decrease in pay, including furloughs.”
Two Utah Districts Send Teachers Cautionary Letters Of “Nonrenewal.”
The Salt Lake Tribune (4/7, Stewart) reports that Utah’s “Provo and Logan school districts have sent cautionary letters of ‘nonrenewal’ to probationary teachers, those who have been employed for fewer than three years, the benchmark for tenure.” Up to 45 such letters were mailed as “pro-forma warnings of a worst-case scenario.” Some of the cuts may be made because “teachers were deemed bad hires by school principals. Other personnel cuts are budget-related, but may never materialize, say district officials.”
Law & Policy
Some See Obama’s Education Approach As Similar To That Of George Bush.
Education Week (4/6, Robelen) reported that “President Barack Obama campaigned on a message of change, but when it comes to K-12 education, he appears to be walking in the policy footsteps of his recent predecessors, including George W. Bush.” For instance, Obama “is sounding themes of accountability based on standards and assessments.” He also supports performance-based pay.” Yet Obama’s “economic-stimulus package shows he is ready to pump far more money into education than Mr. Bush did. And Mr. Obama says he opposes private school vouchers, a consistent Bush agenda item.” Nevertheless, “some observers see little difference between the two so far — and aren’t happy at the similarities.” Andrew J. Rotherham, co-director of the think tank Education Sector, is cited saying that “he believes Mr. Obama’s critics are wrong to suggest there is little difference,” but that “those hoping for a ‘radical departure’ will be disappointed.”
Florida DOE Says Delayed Bonuses For Board-Certified Teachers Coming Soon.
The Orlando Sentinel (4/6, Weber) reported that “nearly 12,700 teachers” throughout Florida “who have earned prestigious certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards each are due a $5,051 bonus.” Teachers expected to receive their bonuses in January, but “because of the state’s falling revenues and resulting fiscal crisis,” the bonuses were delayed. According to the state Department of Education, “the bonus was hung up” again in February, “because Gov. Charlie Crist (R) told state agencies to hold back 15 percent of spending for the fourth quarter of the fiscal year.” DOE officials say that “they expect the bonuses to be paid soon.”
Also in the News
Study Finds Nearly 20 Percent of American Four-Year-Olds Are Obese.
The AP (4/7, Tanner) reports, “A striking new study says almost 1 in 5 American 4-year-olds is obese, and the rate is alarmingly higher among American Indian children, with nearly a third of them obese.” The report by Ohio State University public health researcher Sarah Anderson and Temple University’s Dr. Robert Whitaker also shows that “obesity is more common in Hispanic and black youngsters” than white and Asian youngsters. “The study is an analysis of nationally representative height and weight data on 8,550 preschoolers born in 2001.” Data show that “almost 13 percent of Asian children were obese, along with 16 percent of whites, almost 21 percent of blacks, 22 percent of Hispanics, and 31 percent of American Indians.”
Utah High School Students Raise $1300 For Cancer Foundation To Honor Teachers.
The Salt Lake Tribune (4/7, Schencker) reports that “after watching cancer claim three of their teachers’ lives in two years, a class of West High [School] students decided to donate all the money they raised by starting their own business to the Huntsman Cancer Foundation.” In the fall, Zions Bank President and CEO Scott Anderson gave Brenda Rhodes’ “adult roles and financial literacy class $500 to start a school business and said he would match their profits.” Rhodes’ students “decided to sell Hawaiian leis in each grade’s class color” to honor the three teachers. Students bought and wore the rainbow of leis during the school’s ’spirit bowl,’ when each class competes to show who has the most school spirit.” Rhodes’ class ended up raising $670 by selling about 120 leis. The $1,300 the students donated to the Huntsman Foundation will go toward cancer research.
NEA in the News
Utah BOE Allows Districts To Cut Up To Five Days From School Year.
The AP (4/7) reports that Utah’s State Board of Education “has given school districts permission to cancel school days to save money.” On Monday, the board approved allowing school systems “to eliminate up to five regular school days from the 2010 school year due to budget woes.” However, they will “have to cut three ‘quality teaching’ days — where teachers come to school to work on professional development but students don’t attend — before they can cut regular school days.”
“Teachers would not be paid for days that are cut,” the Salt Lake Tribune (4/7, Schencker) adds. Still, the Utah Education Association (UEA) “is pleased the state board gave districts the option of cutting instructional days in addition to teacher preparation days.” Vik Arnold, director of government relations for the UEA, said, “I think it is understood by all of us in the educational community that some number of quality teaching days were going to be sacrificed.”