Updates and Information Provided by NEA
Classroom Technology Allows For “Real-World” Interaction Between Students.
The Washington Post (6/24, Glod) reports, “Even as globalization has fed worries about whether U.S. students can keep up with the rest of the world, it also has spawned classroom connections across oceans.” Some teachers are using “real-world interactions” to teach “lessons once pulled mainly from textbooks.” They “see such exchanges not only as an exciting way to teach geography, history, language and science but also as a vehicle to forge connections that push children beyond cultural stereotypes.” According to the Post, “There is no way to count exactly how many U.S. schools have connected with schools outside the country.” But it is known that “teachers are signing on in record numbers to online forums designed to link students across the world through secure digital spaces.” One such forum, ePals, has “more than 600,000 educators in 200 countries” participating. ePals “matches teachers with similar interests and provides translations.”
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In the Classroom
Sacramento Public Schools See Sharp Increase In Students Getting Free, Reduced Lunch.
The Sacramento Bee (6/24, Preese) reports, “The number of Sacramento County students taking free or reduced lunch increased sharply this year, faster than any other year this decade, according to new state figures.” A little more than half of all students in the school system “now take free or reduced lunch, up from exactly 50 percent the previous year — a key indicator of increasing child poverty.”
Middle School Book Club Recognized For Getting Parents Involved.
The Tampa Tribune (6/24, Pastor) reports on Extreme Read Warrior Style, a book club at Adams Middle School that “brings students, parents, and teachers together once a year to talk about books they agreed to read together.” The club was implemented “four years ago and” recently “was singled out as one of the best ways to involve parents in the Hillsborough County school district.” This year, Extreme Read had about 150 participants. “Each group read one of five books that” media specialist Abbey Dyer “and teaching teams chose, partially based on what would be available at the school’s February Scholastic book fair.” The teams “had a month to complete the book before assembling in the Adams cafeteria” for “roundtable discussions, where they came up with four points they learned from their reading.” The club “was named as one of two outstanding parent involvement program winners” last month at the district’s All Stars of Education awards ceremony.
On the Job
New York City Principals’ Union Denounces Staff Development Cut.
The New York Times (6/24, A26, Hernandez) reports, “The New York City principals’ union on Tuesday denounced a proposal to eliminate two days of staff development before the first day of school in September.” The principals contend that “teachers and principals needed the time to plan and set up classrooms before children arrive” in the fall. “The proposal was part of a tentative agreement reached between the city and the teachers’ union on Monday night” which would “save the city $2 billion over 20 years by rolling back pension benefits for new teachers.” The teachers’ union leader defended the agreement, saying that “many teachers had complained about having to return to school before Labor Day, a provision that was added to the 2005 labor agreement.”
Law & Policy
North Carolina House Approves School Violence Prevention Act.
WRAL-TV Raleigh (6/24, Owens) reports that the North Carolina “House approved Monday evening the School Violence Prevention Act that requires school districts to approve anti-bullying rules by the end of the year.” Guidelines “would have to list characteristics, such as race, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity, of a student who could be predisposed to bullying behavior.” The bill defines “a bully as a person who makes written, electronic, or verbal threats on school property and school buses.” The bill has been passed by the Senate. If it receives “one more pro House vote” the bill will be forwarded to Gov. Bev Perdue (D) for her to sign into law. The Fayetteville (NC) Observer (6/24) notes that “the controversy in the bill was language naming some typical victims of bullies.” Some lawmakers argued “that the law should blanket all children, and not highlight minority groups,” according to TWEAN-TV Raleigh (6/24, Chappell).
Pennsylvania Governor Seeks Fast Track To Teacher Certification For Mid-Career Professionals.
Pennsylvania’s Morning Call (6/24, Callahan) reports, “Skilled science and math professionals seeking a career in teaching could bypass the traditional two- to four -year teacher certification program and take a four-month route to the classroom under a new state plan.” Gov. Ed Rendell’s (D) plan, aimed at bringing “mid-career professionals to the teaching ranks,” comes in “response to President Barack Obama’s call for states to do ‘innovative work” to promote math and science education.” Under the plan, “professionals opting to make the switch can qualify for the new ‘residency’ teaching certificates after completing a four-month training program that focuses on teaching strategies, child development, emotional support, testing, and a course on state standards.” The accelerated program would be available only to those seeking fill positions in subject areas “where there are teacher shortages.”
Special Needs
Advocates Say Technology Is Hampering Braille Education.
The Lansing (MI) State Journal (6/24, Smith) reports that “as technology has improved over time, people who are blind or visually impaired have computers and other devices that can read to them and help with their navigation.” But some “Braille literacy advocates” say “this same technology also is hurting the blind community.” They also “argue that Braille education is the key to success for those in the blind community.” Geri Taeckens, “a commissioner for the Michigan Commission for the Blind,” notes that “only 10 percent of blind children are learning Braille. Only 30 percent of adults who are blind are employed and out of that number, 90 percent are competitive Braille readers, which is considered the highest level of Braille reading.”
Safety & Security
Duncan Picks Gay Activist To Head School Safety Division.
Education Week (6/24, McNeil) reports, “To lead the federal effort to keep schools safe, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has tapped a Southern Baptist preacher’s gay son who turned a childhood of prejudice, taunts, and harassment into an activist career that’s sought to expand tolerance, safety, and opportunities for gay and lesbian students.” As head of the Department of Education’s office of safe and drug-free schools, Kevin Jennings, founder of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, will oversee “the federal role in school safety — which, most recently, included a role in dealing with outbreaks of swine flu in school — and managing nearly $700 million in federal funding for grant programs that involve mental health, drug and violence prevention, and charter education.” Education Week points out that “by picking one of the nation’s leading advocates for gay and lesbian students for this post, Mr. Duncan and the Obama administration appear to be signaling the importance of improving school climate for such students.”
School Finance
Use of Federal Stimulus Restricted To Short-Term Expenses.
The Las Vegas Sun (6/24, Richmond) reports, “One of the tricky parts about managing schools is taking into account that what the feds give, the feds can take away.” For instance, “federal law requires that once a school is no longer designated as Title I, anything purchased with those extra dollars must be removed and reallocated.” Under federal stimulus guidelines, school districts that receive the federal funding will not be able use the money “for such items as computers or instructional supplies” because it “is a short-term allocation.” The money can, however, “be used to reduce class sizes.”
Also in the News
Texas To “Steer Clear” Of National Education Standards.
The Dallas Morning News (6/24, Stutz) reports that “Texas has decided to steer clear of a national effort — involving 46 states — to develop uniform standards for English and math instruction in public schools.” State officials say they “are wary of getting involved, largely because of the cost to the state of implementing new standards.” Don McLeroy, the former chairman of the State Board of Education, “noted that the education board now has responsibility to approve curriculum standards and there is no reason to surrender that authority to a national panel.” The Dallas Morning News adds that “Texas could be forgoing federal aid by not taking part in the effort.” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has “suggested that some federal money might be attached to” the standards.
Shared Special Education Management Problematic For High School In Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Times (6/24, Blume) reports that “a remnant of the old Locke High persists in the special-education department, which provides services for students with disabilities.” Public school operator Green Dot “contracted with the Los Angeles Unified School District to provide and evaluate teachers, while Green Dot managed the” special education “program day-to-day.” According to Ronnie Coleman, “the principal who oversees the two academies set up to serve 10th, 11th and 12th graders,” the shared responsibility was not an overwhelming success. She said that some “Filipino immigrants had acute difficulties speaking English as well as trouble controlling students, Coleman said,” citing several specific incidents. District officials said that “Part of the problem was the structure of the arrangement between Green Dot and L.A. Unified.” The Times adds that “next year, Green Dot plans to manage special education services on its own.”
NEA in the News
Missouri National Education Association To Meet With Charter School Leaders.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (6/24, Hunn) reports, “One of [Missouri's] largest teachers unions will sit down today with” state “charter school leaders for the first time.” According to MNEA president Chris Guinther, the teachers union “has decided to update its position on charters, the once-experimental independent public schools.” Guinther said, “We really felt it was important for us to hear what their beliefs are, and what exactly they’re advocating.” MNEA officials will meet with both “the state department’s director of charter schools, Jocelyn Strand, and with the director of the Missouri Charter Public School Association, Aaron North.”
NEA-New Mexico Sues Firm For Putting State Funds Into Madoff-Invested Hedge Fund.
The New Mexico Independent (6/24, Jennings) reports that the National Education Association of New Mexico (NEA-NM) has filed a lawsuit against “Austin Capital Management in an effort to recover three times the amount of money the state lost” to Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. The lawsuit alleges that Austin “is guilty of professional negligence because it missed several ‘red flags’ when it invested money from the state’s Educational Retirement Board and State Investment Council into a hedge fund that itself was heavily invested in Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, LLC.” State agencies posted a total of $25 million in losses from the investments. The New Mexico Independent notes, “The NEA-NM complaint is the latest lawsuit filed under a 2007 state law that allows a private party — a citizen, association or organization — to sue in court to recover money if it believes taxpayer money was lost because of fraud.”
Teachers In Wisconsin District Learn How GPS Devices Can Be Used In Classroom.
WKBT-TV La Crosse, WI (6/25, Reed) reports that GPS devices “can actually be used to help teach about climate control, global warming, and air temperature.” The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse “and the La Crosse School District have teamed up as part of a grant from the National Science Foundation to bring GPS and GIS technology into the classroom.” The grant program provides training for the teachers to learn “how to use a GPS to collect data, then import that data into a mapping program, and from there draw conclusions as to what the data indicates.” The teachers will then be able to take what they have learned and use it “in a variety of science applications.” Partnership “organizers say the goal is to have each of the 10 teachers in the workshop show 10 other teachers how to use the GPS and mapping system so that close to 100 teachers in the area can bring this technology into the classroom.”
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In the Classroom
High School Allows Students To Earn Free Associate Degree.
The South Bend (IN) Tribune (6/24, Dits) reported on “a new high school that the South Bend Community School Corp. is opening this fall” called Early College, through which “students would earn up to an associate degree – for free – by the time they receive their high school diplomas, thanks to a partnership with local colleges.” The new school “aims to place a heavier challenge on students’ shoulders than they’ve known, partnered with a mentor for every student and help in becoming a successful college student.” It is also designed “for students who wouldn’t normally go to college, including minorities, first-generation English speakers and kids who don’t have access to college prep classes or who can’t afford college.” One student who attended a recent weeklong workshop for interested parties is interested in becoming an auto mechanic/technician, and “sees Early College as a way for her family to afford college.”
4-H Project Involves Students In Hands-On Gardening, Nutrition Lessons.
The Grand Traverse (MI) Herald (6/25, Swaney) reports that the Michigan State University Extension/4-H “recently started a program at Traverse City West Middle School called ‘Grow and Learn.’” The “4-H funded project” aims “to involve middle school students in hands-on learning about gardening and the benefits of proper nutrition to a healthy life.” It involves dividing students into two groups and assigning an advisor to each group. One of the groups “has been growing and using fresh produce at the school.” The other group of students was responsible for preserving “plants and bushes that would have been lost during this summer’s redesign of the schools entrances and exits.”
High School Students Star In Informative Swine Flu Video.
New York’s Post-Standard (6/25, Kollali) reports that “about two dozen students in Oliver Johnson’s health classes” at Henninger High School star “in a 15-minute educational video about swine flu. Since its completion this semester, every Henninger student taking a health class has watched” the video, which “answers a number of basic questions about H1N1 influenza, better known as swine flu, based on information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It also includes demonstrations of proper ways to wash hands and cover coughs and sneezes.”
“Independent Study” High Schools In California See 44 Percent Enrollment Boost Over 8 Years.
Dan Walters writes In the Sacramento Bee’s (6/24) Capitol Alert blog, “Enrollment in California’s ‘independent study’ high schools has surged by 44 percent in the last eight years, a new study by EdWest, a San Francisco-based educational research organization, has found.” Independent study schools are “those in which 75 percent or more of students pursue educations more or less on their own,” Walters explained. Such schools “now handle about four percent of California’s nearly two million high school students, the EdWest researchers found.” Furthermore, the study said, “About half of the independent study high schools targeted a specific student population, mainly students at risk of school failure and home study students.”
Budget Woes Imperil Maryland Gifted And Talented Summer Program.
The Washington Post (6/25, George) reports that Maryland’s Summer Centers Program, a “signature summer program for gifted and talented students,” has “been cut from next year’s budget, signaling what could be the end of a 42-year tradition that proponents say has changed the lives of many children.” Under the program, “students in grades 4 through 12″ have the opportunity to “spend one to two weeks learning intensively about specialty areas, such as physics, jazz, robotic design, languages, musical theater, aerospace and paleontology.” The “cut comes as the program makes what officials said are important gains. They noted that its racial and ethnic diversity has improved.” The Maryland Coalition for Gifted and Talented Education last week “wrote a letter to Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) emphasizing the importance of the program and asking him to reinstate it.”
On the Job
NASA-Led Workshop Teaches Educators How To Make Math, Science More Interesting.
The Dothan (AL) Eagle (6/24, Cook) reported, “Local teachers learned the art of making science more interesting Wednesday at Troy University’s Dothan campus” as part of “a two-day workshop aimed at helping teachers get students excited about math and science.” The workshop is being led by Wil Robertson, “an aerospace education specialist from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center,” who said that “getting more students interested in math and science is a national priority,” as the US “is turning out too few scientists and engineers, threatening the country’s ability to be competitive.” Officials noted that “teachers at the workshop are learning how to incorporate hands-on activities, such as building rockets or parachutes in math and science classes. Armstrong says these activities can turn indifferent students into enthusiastic scholars.”
Los Angeles High School Run By Private Company Shows Improvements In Academics, Safety.
The Los Angeles Times (6/24, Blume) reported, “Green Dot faced much skepticism when it took over” Locke High School in Watts “last year. There’s still a long way to go, but most students say they’re safer and are learning more.” The school has, for years, “had among the state’s lowest test scores and highest dropout rates. In 2004,” for instance, “1,451 students enrolled as freshmen;” but only 261 “graduated four years later. Of them, only 85 had completed the courses required to apply to a University of California or California State University school.” In 2008, “Green Dot Public Schools, which runs 12 charters serving the city’s urban poor, took over the school.” While the school is still seen as “troubled” today, “a qualified turnaround appears to be emerging,” according to the Times. “Students say the campus is safer and calmer.” And this year, 307 students have “completed their course work for graduation.”
Hillsborough County, Florida School Officials Hold Off On Furloughs.
The St. Petersburg Times (6/25, Marshall) reports, “Teacher furloughs are off the table in Hillsborough County, at least for now, union officials said Wednesday.” Still, deputy superintendent Dan Valdez said that “if the district gets firm confirmation of state budget numbers in the next few weeks, it was…possible the district might seek teacher furloughs for the fall.” Although “the two sides have agreed to postpone further discussion on furloughs,” they still “remain far apart on the question of money,” according to the teachers’ union executive director, Yvonne Lyons. “The union has asked for a two percent raise, and the district has proposed two unpaid furlough days in the coming year to stem a projected budget shortfall.”
Summer Break Begins For Eleven-Month Schools In Grand Rapids.
The Grand Rapids Press (6/25, Reinstadler) reports, “Summer break finally came Tuesday to Dickinson Elementary and three other Grand Rapids schools using an extended-year calendar.” Four years ago, “Dickinson and Grand Rapids Montessori became the first [schools] in the district to shift to the 11-month plan.” Under the plan, students “attend class 174 days — the same as traditional schools — but get more breaks in exchange for a shorter summer vacation.” The shorter summer break, “is designed to curtail what educators call ‘the summer slide,’” according to the Grand Rapids Press. “The idea is that teachers won’t have to spend so much time reviewing and students ultimately will learn and retain more.” While student achievement “among Grand Rapids’ extended-year schools” varies, “the trend shows improvement greater than average district gains at all grades and in all subjects” on standardized tests.
Law & Policy
ACLU Michigan Report Says Schools Lack Discretion In Carrying Out Student Discipline.
The AP (6/25, Eggert) reports that according to a study released today by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan, “schools are not using enough discretion under Michigan’s zero-tolerance expulsion law and are disproportionately kicking out black students who ultimately end up behind bars.” The law “requires an expulsion for possessing any ‘dangerous weapon,’ and the ACLU says it is broader than required by federal law.” In addition to the law, the ACLU report asserts that “suspension policies, cultural stereotypes, referrals to law enforcement for school fights, and factors such as not requiring expelled students to get an alternative education” have created a “school-to-prison pipeline.” The organization recommends that “school officials…’avoid blind, mechanical application of rules designed to purge students from the school roster’ and instead ‘give careful individualized consideration to the circumstances of each child.’” The Detroit Free Press (6/25, Higgins) also covers the story.
Arizona Senate Committee Approves Student Citizenship Verification.
Capitol Media Services (6/25, Fischer) reports that on Wednesday, Arizona’s Senate Committee on Education Accountability and Reform “voted…to require public schools to ask parents to provide documents showing their children are in this country legally.” The bill was written by Sen. Russell Pearce (R-Mesa). Pearce “acknowledged a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision forbids schools from refusing to enroll students who cannot prove they are legal U.S. residents. But he said nothing in that ruling prohibits schools from asking as long as no student is turned away for failing to provide the documentation sought.” But Mike Smith, an administrators’ union lobbyist, pointed to “some holes in the bill.” For instance, while the legislation “mandates that the state Department of Education put together a statistical report each year of the number of students who cannot demonstrate proof of legal U.S. residence,” it does not explain “exactly what schools have to do.”
School Finance
Pittsburgh Public Schools Receives Grant To Boost Female Achievement In Math, Science.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (6/25, Chute) reports that “the U.S. Department of Education has announced $2.4 million in grants to 13 groups to help high school girls in math and science, including $163,559 for Pittsburgh Public Schools.” With its grant, “Pittsburgh schools will track 348 female students from grades 9 through 12 as they complete math-rich career and technical education programs. The district is joined in the effort with Smart Futures and the Carnegie Science Center’s Girls, Math & Science Partnership.”
Also in the News
Students Rally Near US Capitol In Support Of DREAM Act.
The Education Week (6/24, Zehr) reported that “several hundred high school and college students, along with young immigrant workers, donned graduation gowns and walked in a procession to ‘Pomp and Circumstance’ today in sight of the U.S. Capitol.” Participants included people who “traveled…from 16 states” and had various “kinds of immigration status.” The demonstration was coordinated by the National Council of La Raza in support of the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act before Congress that “would provide a path to legalization for undocumented youths who graduated from U.S. high schools and attend college or serve in the military for two years.” The measure “was introduced in the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 26, but lawmakers haven’t moved it along.” According to Education Week, critics view the proposal “as a form of amnesty for people who have broken the nation’s laws.”
Elementary School To Participate In Chicago Gay Pride Rally.
The Chicago Tribune (6/25, Huppke) reports that this year, Nettelhorst Elementary School in Chicago will become “the first Chicago public school to march in the city’s gay pride parade,” as a sign near the school reads. According to the Tribune, more than 50 families from the school will participate in “the latest expansion of a parade that began in the 1970s with drag queens and gay activists and has grown to reveal the full spectrum of the city’s diverse gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.” A spokesperson for Chicago Public Schools “stressed that Nettelhorst was not ‘officially involved’ with the decision to enter the parade. Parents, both gay and straight, organized the school’s entry.”
Supreme Court Limits School Strip Searches To Instances In Which Safety Is At Risk.
The AP (6/26) reports, “The Supreme Court ruled” in an 8-1 decision “Thursday that school officials violated an Arizona teenager’s rights by strip-searching her for prescription-strength ibuprofen, declaring that U.S. educators cannot force children to remove their clothing unless student safety is at risk.” While “the justices said that Safford Middle School officials violated the Fourth Amendment ban on unreasonable searches with their treatment of Savana Redding,” they “ruled that the officials could not be held financially liable.” However, they “left it to lower courts to decide if the school district could.” The AP points out that judges throughout “the nation have come to different conclusions about immunity for school officials in strip searches.” Justice David Souter said, “We think these differences of opinion from our own are substantial enough to require immunity for the school officials in this case.” The AP notes that “school lawyers praised the decision not to hold the school officials financially liable.”
USA Today (6/26, Biskupic) points out that the decision, “which differs from signals the justices sent during oral arguments in April, also departs from a recent trend giving administrators wide latitude to search for drugs in schools.” According to USA Today, “many justices voiced more sympathy for school administrators than for” the defendant “during oral arguments April 21.” Some even “appeared open to arguments that administrators need considerable leeway to look for drug abuse.”
The court’s “intense oral argument…seemed to exasperate the court’s only female member, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg,” the Washington Post (6/26, A1, Barnes) reports on its front page. Ginsberg “later said her male colleagues seemed not to appreciate the trauma such a search would have on a developing adolescent.” Meanwhile, the Post notes that lawyer Francisco M. Negrón Jr. said the court’s decision on Thursday “did not provide clear guidelines about how specific the accusation must be, or how dangerous the alleged drugs, before school officials employ such an intrusive search.” Negrón speculated that there would “be more litigation.”
The New York Times (6/26, A16, Liptak) also points out that the Supreme Court’s decision “decision did not offer particularly clear guidance to school personnel, who were told only to take account of the extent of danger of the contraband in question and whether there is good reason to think it is hidden in an intimate place.” In a statement, the district’s lawyer, Matthew W. Wright, wrote “that the decision ‘offers little clarification’ concerning when such searches are allowed and that it could have dangerous consequences.” Furthermore, he said that “the decision unduly limits ‘the ability of school officials to protect students from the harmful effects of drugs and weapons on school campuses.’” The Christian Science Monitor (6/25, Richey) and Reuters (6/26) also cover the story.
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In the Classroom
District Implements Differentiated Instruction As Part Of improvement Plan.
The Crookston (MN) Daily Times (6/26, Christopherson) reports, “The federal public education legislation may be called ‘No Child Left Behind,’ but teachers in Crookston’s [MN] public schools say that children will end up being left behind – or bored and unchallenged – if every student is treated the same in the classroom no matter their learning level.” For that reason, the Crookston School Board has designated differentiated instruction as one of the district’s four goals in its “mandated improvement plan.” Crookston “is on the No Child Left Behind non-Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) list.” Teachers have for years wanted differentiated instruction to be implemented districtwide. The Crookston Daily Times explains that the teaching method revolves around “the belief that young learners, whether they’re highly skilled or at risk of falling behind, will respond academically if they’re learning things that interest them.”
STEM Academy Focuses On Constructing Bridges From Balsawood.
In an opinion piece for the Worcester County (MD) Times (6/26) Jane Chilsom, the extended school program administrator at Pocomoke Middle School, wrote, “Thanks to a new federally-funded 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant, Worcester County students in grades 6 through 8 will be participating in a new, hands-on summer school academy based on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics).” The Academy will focus “on engineering bridges from balsawood.” For their projects, student teams “at each middle school academy…will work in forming a construction company, building a structure based on a blueprint designed by their team, keeping a budget for their construction company, and determining the amount of mass their bridge structure will hold.” In addition, “students will keep journals of Internet and field research and will complete Science Fair and Tech Fest projects based on their findings.”
On the Job
Miami-Dade Teachers’ Union Still Pressing For Pay Increases.
The Miami Herald (6/26, McGrory) reports, “The Miami-Dade teachers’ union will make another run at the pay increases they were denied last year when they begin contract negotiations on Friday.” Meanwhile, Assistant Superintendent Dan Tosado, “a member of the district’s bargaining team,” stresses “that money remains in short supply.” Still, he maintains that the district will cooperate with the teachers’ union. “‘We will listen to what the union representatives have to say and fold it into the context of our current economic realities,’ he said.” The teachers’ union is expected to “continue to face an uphill battle when it comes to winning salary increases.” The Miami Herald points out that “teachers’ unions across the state are facing similar circumstances.” As school districts reduce “their budgets this year,” the reductions leave “few dollars for teacher raises.”
Workshop Shows Teachers How To Present Evolution Without Betraying Own Beliefs.
WCTV-TV Tallahassee (6/26, Ingles) reports, “Teaching evolution is a controversial topic that’s got educators enrolling in workshops to learn techniques they can bring to the classroom.” In Georgia, evolution was not made “part of the state mandated Quality Core Curriculum” until 2004. But for some science teachers “teaching evolution is something” they must “grow into.” This week, Valdosta State University held an evolution workshop “as part of the Georgia Teacher Quality Program.” At the workshop, teachers learned “ways to present evolution that’s non-threatening to…faith,” said seventh-grade science teacher Gail Jennings. According to WCTV, “all the teachers” who attended the workshop agreed that “believing what science has to say about evolution or believing a higher power had a hand in creation, is a matter of choice.”
Educator Wants Washington District To Reconsider Eliminating School Librarians.
Michael Eisenberg, dean emeritus and a professor at the University of Washington Information School wrote in the Seattle Times (6/26) that the Bellevue School District “is eliminating 100 percent of each and every library program in its four middle schools, four high schools, and one school that spans grades six through 12.” Eisenberg calls the decision “a scorched-earth policy the schools are likely to regret.” School officials say that the “district’s mission is a ‘top-of-the-line college preparatory program’ for all students.” But, according to Eisenberg, “There is no way you will convince me or my peers that a school without a library could provide top-of-the line college preparation.” He cites “an op-ed printed April 24 in” the Seattle Times in which he and another university professor said “information literacy is necessary for success in the 21st century. …But information literacy and research skills don’t teach themselves. Librarians do it,” Eisenberg asserts.
Law & Policy
Minnesota House Approves Failing School Takeover Legislation.
The AP (6/26) reports, “Chronically failing schools would be supervised by a state-appointed turnaround specialist under legislation passed Thursday by the Democrat-led House.” Failing schools would be defined as those with “less than 30 percent of all students” meeting “proficiency requirements on the state’s standardized math and English tests. Schools also would have to fail federal No Child Left Behind standards for four straight years to be on the takeover list.”
Supreme Court Calls For New Review Of Tucson, Arizona, ELL Programs.
The AP (6/26, Davenport) reports, “The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday handed a partial victory to Arizona officials, ruling that the state is entitled to a fresh legal review that could lift a court order requiring changes in how schools teach children learning English.” The court’s 5-4 decision “reversed an appeals court ruling in a 17-year-old lawsuit intended to close the gap between students in Nogales, Ariz., who are learning to speak English and native English speakers.” In the majority opinion, Justice Samuel Alito, said that “a federal District Court judge in Tucson must take another look at the program to see whether the city now is ‘providing equal opportunities’ to English language learners.” The AP explains that currently, Arizona’s “English-learning students,” which make up “13.2 percent of the state’s total enrollment, follow four-hour daily classes in English that were implemented a year ago under a 2006 law.”
Special Needs
Maryland District Expands Neighborhood School Special Education Program.
Maryland’s Business Gazette (6/26) reports, “A program to move special education students back to their neighborhood schools — in lieu of taking special education classes elsewhere in Prince George’s County — is expanding to all county middle schools for the upcoming school year.” Making Education Accessible in Neighborhood Schools (MEANS) is a program “designed to provide special education students access to general education classes in their neighborhood schools.” It began “at the elementary level” in 2007 to comply with “federal and state guidelines” calling “for further inclusion for special education students.” Next fall, MEANS will “expand to 82 elementary school classrooms and 28 middle schools.” The Business Gazette points out that even while “the system’s special education students have not made Adequate Yearly Progress…under the No Child Left Behind Act, special education students in MEANS classrooms have made improvements on the tests.”
Also in the News
DC-Area School Systems Pass Information Via Social-Networking Web Sites.
The Washington Post (6/26, Birnbaum) reports that D.C.-area school systems are using Twitter to communicate, though “so far, no local school feed has the interactivity typical to Twitter. Schools in Montgomery [MD] and Fairfax [VA] counties stick to a formula: brief teaser followed by a briefer link to a full article on their Web sites. … School officials say it’s just another way to reach out to students and parents.” Also Fairfax schools “opened a Facebook account late last month that passes along the same news as that over Twitter. As of last week, 1,155 people had signed up to receive Fairfax Facebook updates.”
Rigorous Curriculum, Curriculum Mastery Seen As Predictors Of College Readiness.
Philip Cicero asks in New Jersey’s Newsday (6/25), “Will the high school diploma issued to the 2009 graduates give them any chance for success in college and the workplace?” According to Cicero, “There is alarming evidence suggesting that the success of many of today’s graduates may have little to do with their future achievements in college or at work.” The reason for this, he wrote, is that their learning was based on “a very basic curriculum focusing on minimum competencies — one essentially being driven by the mandates of the federal No Child Left Behind law.” The predictors of college readiness, Cicero contends, are “a rigorous curriculum” and curriculum mastery. A lack of both “may help explain why many students leaving high school need remediation upon entering post-secondary institutions.” Concluding, Cicero wrote that “instead of focusing on basic competency,” policymakers should seek to “provide all students with a rigorous and meaningful curriculum that is relevant to their post-secondary choices.”
High School Secretary Accused Of Stealing Passwords, Changing Daughter’s Grades.
The AP (6/26) reports that “a high school secretary” in Pennsylvania “illegally changed grades in a school computer system to improve her daughter’s class standing, according to criminal charges filed Thursday.” Caroline Maria McNeal allegedly used “the passwords of three co-workers without their knowledge” to improve her daughter’s grades and reduce “those of two classmates to enhance Brittany’s standing in the 2008 graduating class.” However, the grades were corrected “before the students graduated, prosecutors said.” For her actions, “McNeal was charged with 29 counts of unlawful use of a computer and 29 counts of tampering with public records. Each count is a third-degree felony punishable by a maximum of seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine.”