Florida Education Commissioner, Teachers Agree: Over-Enrollment Is A Problem For AP Classes
Florida Education Commissioner, Teachers Agree: Over-Enrollment Is A Problem For AP Classes.
The St. Petersburg Times (1/8, Matus) reports that echoing the “growing chorus of teachers” in Florida that have for years “complained that they’re being swamped by kids unprepared for the rigors of Advanced Placement classes,” Florida Education Commissioner Eric J. Smith told the St. Petersburg Times on Wednesday that “there is a problem in overenrollment in AP.” He added, “There needs to be some selectivity in how kids are guided into AP, and which AP work they’re guided into.” The Times notes that in the past ten years, “Florida has quadrupled the number of students taking AP classes.” But many “teachers and others…fear” that “pushing more ‘average’ students into AP” is “compromising quality to reach lower-performing students and potentially shortchanging those at the top.” Similar sentiments have been expressed throughout the country, as shown in “a survey of 1,000 AP teachers” by the Fordham Institute “that drew national attention last year.” Results showed that “more than half said too many AP students are ‘in over their heads.’”
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In the Classroom
Bismarck Public School District Switching to Project Based High School Business Curriculum.
The Bismarck (ND) Tribune (1/7, Kincaid) reports, “Students in Jennifer Anderson’s Web design class” at Bismarck High School are creating WebPages for “local businesses that needed help with their Web presence.” Next year, the entire Bismarck Public Schools district will have a project-based curriculum with similar assignments, as it has joined “the High School of Business program offered by the MBA Research and Curriculum Center.” The center curriculum is made up of “business courses that build on one another with the goal of preparing students to enter business administration programs in college.” The Bismarck Tribune adds, “One way business classes will become more meaningful is through class projects like the Web design classes. Potentially, the students would try to come up with solutions for the community or local business.”
NASA Loans Moon Rocks To Elementary School In New York.
The Elmira (NY) Star-Gazette (1/8, Neumann) reports that Beecher Elementary School this week received a shipment of “moon rocks” loaned to the school by “the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD.” In addition to the rocks, the shipment also included “three soil samples” and “six small pieces of meteorites,” all of which were taken “from the surface of the moon” during “the Apollo 15, 16 and 17 missions.” The samples “will be studied by fifth-graders at the school under the direction of teachers who were trained for the purpose by a NASA instructor.”
New York District’s Student Body Honors Fallen Soldier, Former Student.
New York’s Journal-Register (1/8) reports that on Tuesday, when Army Spc. Jason Johnston “was laid to rest,” thousands of Albion community members “lined the street to watch the funeral procession pass.” Amid the crowd, “the entire Albion Central School District student body (2,300 students) stood shoulder to shoulder, showing support for the former” student. Superintendent Ada Grabowski wanted students to be a part of the processional because, she said, “I think it is just important for our kids to understand that Jason certainly was one of us, one of them. … For us to be able to enjoy the freedoms that we enjoy, our children need to understand that sacrifices are being made and this brings it really home to them.” That day, “teachers were asked to give lessons before they went outside.” Afterward, a “fifth-grade teacher…asked her students to reflect on the event they had just participated in. … Each student reflected on their experience in letter form.” The Journal Register story includes the students’ letters.
Law & Policy
Indiana Board Approves New Teacher Licensing Rules.
The AP (1/7, Martin) reported that the Indiana panel “overseeing teacher licensing has approved new rules Indiana’s state superintendent says will allow future educators to spend less time learning how to teach and more time focused on subject matter. The Division of Professional Standards Advisory Board on Thursday approved the proposal, which had drawn sharp opposition from universities and others who said Superintendent Tony Bennett shouldn’t dictate college curriculums.” The “rule approved Thursday allows students who want to be high school teachers to major in secondary education, but only if a college’s secondary education program meets or exceeds the content requirements of a specific subject major, such as math or physics.”
Rhode Island Education Commissioner Discusses Reform With State’s Distinguished Teachers.
The Providence Journal (1/8, Jordan) reports that Rhode Island Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist has invited about three dozen “award-winning educators” from throughout the state “to meet with her every few months, giving her feedback and advice.” The group includes “distinguished educators” who “have received either the Teacher of the Year award or the Milken Award, which recognizes educator excellence.” According to the Providence Journal, Gist has “made improving teacher quality the cornerstone of her seven-month tenure.” She has backed “profound changes” in the state’s education system, including “making it harder to become and continue to work as a teacher” and “tying student test scores to new yearly educator evaluations.” At this month’s meeting, “Gist shared details about the state’s” federal Race To The Top application. She “said that test scores would only be one factor in examining a teacher’s effectiveness” and that samples of student work, and long-term improvement would also be a factor.
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New York Governor Proposes Education Law Changes.
The New York Times (1/8, A21, Medina) reports that New York Gov. David A. Paterson (D) “on Thursday proposed a host of changes in state education law, including eliminating the cap on the number of charter schools, which he said would make the state more likely to receive $700 million” in Race to the Top funds. Paterson’s “bill would also repeal a 2008 law that banned the use of standardized test scores in tenure decisions, as well as give the state the ability to pay for charter school construction and allow the state to take over low-performing schools. … Aides to the governor said that he had spoken with Education Secretary Arne Duncan in recent weeks and was convinced that the changes he proposed on Thursday were necessary to qualify for” Race to the Top funds.
California Governor Signs Education Reform Bills.
The Los Angeles Times (1/8, Blume) reports that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) visited Bethune Middle School in Los Angeles Thursday for a signing ceremony “to celebrate legislation that sets the course for future school reforms and improves the state’s chances at qualifying for federal money to carry them out.” The “bills are intended to increase California’s eligibility for as much as $700 million in federal Race to the Top grants, which the Obama administration is using to advance favored reforms. The measures call for districts to take aggressive steps to turn failing schools around, including firing staff, closing schools and converting campuses to independently operated charter schools.”
California BOE To Oversee Low-Performing Schools. The AP (1/7) reported that California’s Board of Education “has decided to oversee four of the state’s poorest-performing school districts. Officials say the Alisal and Greenfield districts in Monterey County and McFarland and Arvin districts in Kern County-failed to meet federal standards set” by NCLB. The board “opted for the oversight rather than harsher sanctions, such as recommending a district takeover by the state.”
School Finance
Washington, DC-Area’s Largest School System Facing Drastic Cuts.
The Washington Post (1/8, Chandler, Kravitz) reports that this week, “the Fairfax County school system, the Washington area’s largest…became the latest to propose dramatic spending reductions.” Superintendent Jack D. Dale’s $2.3 billion budget proposal would increase class sizes, scale back the full-day kindergarten program, force teachers to forgo “raises for the second year in a row,” and eliminate “elementary band and strings music programs and foreign language-immersion programs.” The Post notes that “the potential cuts in Fairfax are unprecedented for the” 173,500-student “school system, which prides itself on offering exceptional programs and cutting-edge practices.” Said Dale, “What this comes down to, quite frankly, is the quality of life in Fairfax County. … Quality of life should determine the tax rate, not the other way around.” His “2011 spending plan” also seeks “a $58 million increase in funding” that “is tied to enrollment growth and rising costs for retirement benefits, utilities and health insurance.”
School Leaders In Oshkosh, Wisconsin Say Budget Cuts May Help Improve Special Education.
Opportunity To WBAY -TV Green Bay, WI (1/8, Arnold) reports, “Next week the Oshkosh School Board will start to consider making some very drastic cuts to its budget to make up a potential $5 million gap,” including “school closures and teacher layoffs.” Some “parents of special needs students” think “this crisis might actually help their children.” Parent Shannon Walter explained, “Kids in general have trouble with transition” between schools and districts when they are forced to move due to school closures or “lack of classroom space.” Special needs students, she said, struggle even more socially. Interim Superintendent Bette Lang points out that expected cuts will allow the district “to put more services in a building. Fewer buildings allow you to expand your services,” she said. And “fewer schools,” administrators say, “would also mean fewer chances special needs kids would have to bounce around the district.”
NEA in the News
Vermont NEA Will Fight Governor’s Proposal To Cut 1,200 Teaching Jobs.
Vermont Public Radio (1/8) reports that Vermont Governor Jim Douglas “wants to reduce the amount the state spends on schools.” But his proposals have been met with “a cool reception from Democrats and from interest groups.” Among other solutions, Douglas has proposed cutting 1,200 teaching jobs “over the next four years as older teachers retire.” The Vermont chapter of the National Education Association plans to “fight the cuts” Vermont NEA Executive Director Joel Cook said of the governor’s plan, “There’s nothing new about his desire to shrink the number of teachers that take care of our kids in all of our communities around the state.” Also, he pointed out that the number of teachers in the state “has increased, despite a drop in the student population, because of the demands of special education and other classroom services.”
Kansans for Quality Communities To Discuss Balancing State Budget With Moderate Cuts.
David Klepper wrote in the Kansas City Star (1/7) Prime Buzz blog that the Kansans for Quality Communities, an alliance of organizations that advocate “passage of reasonable and responsible tax policy” for Kansas, will discuss at a press conference today “its ideas for how to balance the budget this year without crippling more state programs and agencies.” The Kansas chapter of the National Education Association is part of the alliance, which also includes “advocates for the disabled, mentally ill and the elderly, and state employee unions.”
Kansas District Leaders Spar With Teacher’s Union Over Race To The Top. The Bonner Springs (KS) Chieftain (1/7, Treolo) reported, “Whether or not to apply for Race to the Top grant funds and how receiving those funds might affect teachers in the district is a bone of much contention between members” of Bonner Springs–Edwardsville (KS) Unified School District 204 “and the Bonner Springs Kansas National Education Association.” According to the Chieftain school districts have been asked “to submit a memorandum of understanding signed by that district’s superintendent, school board president and the teacher’s union president, signifying their collective support of the program.” But Deb Loker, president of the Bonner Springs KNEA refused sign the memo, saying “that the guidelines of the Race to the Top program don’t protect the rights of the teachers.”
Pennsylvania NEA Endorses Community Learning Center Concept.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (1/8, Chute) reports that the Pennsylvania State Education Association “issued its vision of the best ways to enhance education in a 169-page report called ‘The Power of a Great Education: PSEA’s 20/20 Vision for the Future — Strong Schools, Successful Children, Vibrant Communities.’” The report highlights strategies the PSEA says have been “proven to work, including smaller classes, supports tailored for students at risk of academic failure and encouragement of parental involvement.” Also in the report, the PSEA suggests that Pennsylvania “create a demonstration project by designating a small number of schools as community learning centers.”
Obama Announces “Educate to Innovate” STEM Training Initiative.
The AP (1/7) reports that on Wednesday, President Obama his $250 million “Educate to Innovate” campaign “to train math and science teachers and help meet his goal of pushing America’s students…to the top of the pack in those subjects in the next decade.” According to the President, “teacher quality is the most important single factor” influencing students’ success or failure in STEM subjects. Educate to Innovate, he added, “will help train more than 100,000 teachers and prepare more than 10,000 new educators in the next five years.” The AP listed “Intel Corp., the National Math and Science Initiative, PBS and the National Science Teachers Association” as investors in the initiative. Moreover, Obama “called on the 200,000″ scientists employed by “the federal government to help by speaking at schools and participating in hands-on projects to help stoke a youngster’s curiosity in science.”
The Washington Post (1/7, Anderson) reports that President Obama “announced the initiative in an afternoon ceremony at the White House as he honored…about 100 outstanding math and science educators from around the country.” It also points out that the campaign “effectively doubles, to more than $500 million” the “philanthropic” STEM education campaign that the President “launched in November.” Specifically, Educate to Innovate includes “a $13.5 million expansion of a university-based program called UTeach that aims to deliver 7,000 expert teachers by 2018; a commitment from public universities to prepare 10,000 math and science teachers a year…and efforts by NASA and PBS to promote effective math and science teaching.” Said Education Secretary Arne Duncan, “If we’re going to be economically competitive and continue to innovate and create jobs, we have to get much, much better in STEM education. … There’s a huge sense of urgency.”
The Christian Science Monitor (1/7, Paulson) notes that “the push for more attention on STEM subjects has been building for some time, with educators, business leaders, scientists, and policymakers calling attention to American students’ lackluster math and science performance relative to other countries and sounding the alarm for what it means for the country’s future.”
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In the Classroom
South Is First Region In US Where Majority Of Students Are Minority, Low Income.
The New York Times (1/7, A20, Dewan) reports that a report by the nonprofit Southern Education Foundation shows that “the South has become the first region in the country where more than half of public school students are poor and more than half are members of minorities.” The report said that “an influx of Latinos and other ethnic groups, the return of blacks to the South and higher birth rates among black and Latino families have contributed to the change.” According to the Times, “the numbers also herald the future of the country as a whole, as minority students are expected to exceed 50 percent of public school enrollment by 2020 and the” number of students who qualify for “free or reduced-price lunches is on the rise in every state.”
Sacramento-Area Nonprofits Rely Heavily On Student Volunteers.
The Sacramento (CA) Bee (1/6, Rosenhall) reported that when Sacramento-area “school leaders began requiring students to perform community service about 10 years ago, they were largely motivated by what the experience could give to teenagers: character, civic engagement, a sense of purpose.” Now, “most charitable organizations in the Sacramento area…rely heavily on student volunteers.” Christine Wallace of the Volunteer Center of Sacramento said that student volunteers are such “a huge trend” that her organization “created an entire directory specifically for junior high and high school students” on its website. While California’s Department of Education does not count “how many…schools require community service,” the Corporation for National and Community Service reports that “service learning takes place at 32 percent of elementary and high schools” nationwide.
Wisconsin District Adding Engineering, Global Leadership Academy.
WAOW-TV Wausau, WI (1/6, Bonacorsi) reported that the Wausau School District “is opening a specialized charter school” next fall. The Wausau Engineering and Global Leadership Academy “will operate independently within Wausau East High School,” and “will also focus on teaching from a global perspective.” Robert Marlowe, Wausau School District’s Career and Technical Education Coordinator explained, “It will really draw a population of students who have a very strong interest and aptitude in the areas engineering, technology, science and math.” The school “has several area businesses ready and willing to partner” with it, something that Marlowe said was important. “The component of having experts in the field as engineers and so forth into the class room and take students out on the work sites is invaluable,” he said.
On the Job
“Model” STEM Teacher Training Initiative Launched In Michigan.
Michigan’s Business Review (1/7, Beeke) reports, “The W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek joined President Obama [Wednesday] in announcing the $16.7 million Woodrow Wilson Michigan Teaching Fellowship, which will pay to educate science, technology, engineering and math teachers at six Michigan universities and place them in select public schools, primarily in West Michigan beginning in 2011.” The Kalamazoo (MI) News (1/7, Mack) reports that five school districts have also been chosen for the program. The universities will each receive $500,000 “to redesign their teacher education programs in math and science.” The fellows will then launch their teaching careers at one of the five participating school districts. “Each fellow will receive a $30,000 stipend while they complete the program, which includes training in math or science as well as adolescent development, classroom management and working with parents and teachers.” The Kalamazoo News adds that Michigan’s “program was mentioned [Wednesday] by President Barack Obama, who described it as a model effort to inspire students to excel in math and science.”
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NASA Program Will Target Minority Students.
The Daily Tell (1/6, Curnow) reported, “A new partnership led by NASA will pilot a series of multi-week math and science education programs this summer, the space agency announced on Wednesday.” NASA’s “Summer of Innovation” program will “come under the umbrella” of the Educate to Innovate program. According to the article, NASA will “encourage low-income, minority students to pursue careers in engineering, math or science.” NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said, “This is an incredible opportunity for our administration to come together to address our nation’s critical science, technology, engineering and math education needs.”
Law & Policy
Schwarzenegger Promises Not To Cut California Education Spending In 2011 Budget Proposal.
The AP (1/7) reports, “Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) on Wednesday acknowledged that more pain lies ahead for California as it confronts yet another massive” $20 billion “budget deficit, but pledged deep reforms he said are vital to the state’s economic future.”
Education Week (1/7, Maxwell) reports that in his last State of the State address, Gov. Schwarzenegger promised that no cuts to education would be included in his 2011 state budget proposal. “Because our future economic well-being is so dependent upon education, I will protect education funding in this budget,” said Schwarzenegger. He also “proposed a constitutional amendment to guarantee that the state will never spend more on prisons than it does on higher education.” California is currently “spending nearly 11 percent of the general-fund budget on prisons and 7.5 percent on colleges and universities,” according to the governor. “In his address, Mr. Schwarzenegger cited the passage of controversial education reform legislation on Tuesday… which aims to help make California a strong contender for” the federal Race to the Top grant competition. The California Teachers Association, an NEA affiliate “has opposed the legislation and continues to urge its defeat.”
Jason Song wrote in the Los Angeles Times (1/6, Song) LA Now blog that prior to Gov. Schwarzenegger’s announcement Wednesday, “state labor leaders held a conference call…to urge” him “not to propose education funding cuts when he releases his budget later this week.” California “has cut education funding by nearly $17.8 billion” over the past two years, according to the California Department of Education.
Ohio Law Requires School Districts To Address Abusive Student Relationships.
The AP (1/6) reports that Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland (D) has signed a bill “that requires school boards to adopt policies to prevent and address abusive student relationships, train staff members on the subject, and add lessons on the prevention of dating violence to health classes for grades 7-12.”
Maryland District’s New Grading System Placed On Hold.
The Baltimore Sun (1/6, Bowie) reported, “Baltimore County schools Superintendent Joe A. Hairston backed away Tuesday from a directive requiring teachers to start immediate use of a complex online grading system after intense criticism from teachers who say the program is cumbersome, time-consuming and redundant.” The system would have required “every teacher to judge each student’s performance in 100 different skills.” Teachers were concerned that the reporting system would result in extreme amounts of additional work, “noting that they already collected much of the same information on unit tests in key subjects and through new elementary report cards.”
Also in the News
Study Finds No Gender Gap In Math Ability.
The UK’s Telegraph (1/6) reported that a recent study from researchers at Villanova University “found that girls had equal ability to boys” in mathematics, and “that the stereotype that [math] was for boys was holding girls back because they thought they were not good enough. The lack of confidence girls had in their maths ability meant they were less likely to pursue a career in maths-based professions such as engineering, information technology and science.”
The UK’s Daily Mail (1/7) quotes Villanova professor Nicole Else-Quest, the study’s lead author, as saying, “These results show that girls will perform at the same level as the boys when they are given the right educational tools and have visible female role models excelling in mathematics.” She added, “Despite overall similarities in math skills, boys felt significantly more confident in their abilities than girls did and were more motivated to do well.”
The Scientific American (1/6, Nicholson) “60-Second Podcast” reported that “most countries showed no gender gap,” with Else-Quest noting “that there is some association between the status of women in each country and their ability to do mathematics.” This association “would seem to imply that achievement levels are not innate and fixed.” Else-Quest said, “It’s because of social forces — which suggests that they can be changed.” WHYY-FM Philadelphia (1/6, Scott) also reported the story.
Health Experts Offer Guidance On Cold-Weather Safety For Schoolchildren.
The Dallas Morning News (1/7, Weiss) reports that below-freezing temperatures pose “special challenges for chilled children waiting for the school bus — or any plans outdoors.” Throughout North Texas, “districts take a variety of positions about outdoor activities like recess.” For instance, “in Richardson, schools are supposed to keep kids inside once the thermometer drops to 36 degrees,” while “in Plano, the limit is 20 degrees or a wind chill of 10 degrees.” According to health experts, young people and those with “with existing respiratory problems” such as “asthma need to be particularly careful.” But even those “who don’t have breathing problems” may suffer adverse reactions to the cold, dry air. Moreover, “Children can get overchilled faster than adults, doctors say.” But “frostbite should not be an issue unless a child stays outside for more than a half-hour when the temperatures are at their lowest,” according to asthma educator Chris Wagner.