Educators Criticize LA Times Teacher Performance Database.
The Los Angeles Times (8/30, Song) reports, “National and local teachers unions sharply criticized [The Los Angeles Times] on Sunday when the newspaper published a database of about 6,000 third- through fifth-grade city school teachers ranked by their effectiveness in raising student test scores.” The rankings are based “a ‘value-added’ analysis” that “looks at previous student test performance and estimates how much a teacher added to or subtracted from a student’s progress.” United Teachers Los Angeles officials say that making teacher rankings public could “create mistrust among schools and parents.” On Sept. 14, UTLA plans to “protest in front of the Times building.” UTLA President AJ Duffy said of the plans, “We want to make a public statement about our concern for our members who are being singled out.”
ABC News (8/29, Bruce) reported on its website that Education Secretary Arne Duncan supports using value-added data “to evaluate teachers.” In an interview on Sunday, Duncan told ABC, “Teachers want to get better. It shouldn’t take a newspaper to give them that data. The district, the union, the education stakeholders have to work together to empower teachers. This should be a piece of how teachers are evaluated.”
Study Criticizes “Value-Added” Teacher Evaluation Method. Valerie Strauss wrote in a blog for the Washington Post (8/29), “Student standardized test scores are not reliable indicators of how effective any teacher is in the classroom, not even with the addition of new ‘value-added’ methods, according to a study released today” by the Economic Policy Institute. According to Strauss, “‘Value-added modeling’ is indeed all the rage in teacher evaluation: The Obama administration supports it, and the Los Angeles Times used it to grade more than 6,000 California teachers in a controversial project.” However, the rush to implement this evaluation system “is being done without evidence that it works well.”
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In the Classroom
Online Course Offerings Expanding In Chicago Public Schools.
The Chicago Tribune (8/30, Ahmed) reports on the online learning programs offered in Chicago Public Schools (CPS). The district “now offers a battery of online programs, ranging from math and reading enrichment” for elementary students “to a virtual charter school with students learning almost entirely from home.” The prevalence of online course offerings in CPS has increased from “two years ago,” when “online courses were offered in just a handful of high schools. This year, they’re slated to be in all of them.” And last week, CPS “officials announced a pilot program to add 90 minutes to the day at 15 elementary schools using online courses in place of certified teachers.” Still, the Tribune points out that even as these programs expand supporters and critics of online education both acknowledge that “research hasn’t kept up with the rapid expansion, making it tough to know whether the programs really work.”
Themed Curriculums Are Top Choices For Baltimore’s Middle School Students.
The Baltimore Sun (8/29, Green) reports, “Baltimore City schools that offer themed curriculums were the top choices of middle school students and their parents this year, the first time they were allowed to select alternatives to their neighborhood schools.” The new “middle school choice” program “allows some sixth-graders to choose their school – similar to what is offered to rising ninth-graders in the city.” Baltimore schools CEO Andrés Alonso “made the proposal in January to expand the options of middle-schoolers, citing the need to create competition among schools and because ‘poor, urban parents should not be imprisoned by their geography.’” Several of the district’s STEM schools have proven particularly popular, representing three of the district’s most-popular schools. “The Stadium School, which has a project-driven curriculum,” as well as a fine arts school were also in the top five. The district’s STEM- and CTE-focused high schools are also popular.
Summer Program Offers Full Algebra I Credit In Six Weeks.
The Sacramento Bee (8/30, B1, Gutierrez) reports on a partnership between the University of California-Davis and Grant High School in Del Paso Heights, California, to offer “a six-week summer program where students can earn full credit for Algebra I by taking” a class “five hours a day, four days a week.” Called Pacers Achieving College, “the program has helped bring 59 of 60 students up to grade level” in the past two years. In addition to taking summer classes, “students in PAC were mentored during the summer by UC Davis graduates and also took field trips to local colleges to integrate a college-going culture into the program.”
Law & Policy
New STEM School Part Of Tennessee’s Race To The Top Efforts.
The Knoxville (TN) News Sentinel (8/28, Alapo) reported, “Knox County will be the pilot site for a state-of-the-art high school that focuses on science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” according to an announcement by state Sen. Jamie Woodson, who called STEM “critically important for preparing [students] for this global economy.” The new STEM school, which will focus on technology and is expected to open next year or in 2012, is one of several “initiatives being implemented as part of the $500 million in education innovation funds Tennessee received through the federal Race to the Top competition.” Knox County Schools Superintendent Jim McIntyre said that “in the short term,” the school “could be a professional development center, (offer) Saturday schools to have educational opportunities.”
NYTimes Urges Congress To Fund Race To The Top. The New York Times (8/29) editorialized, “The Obama administration’s Race to the Top initiative has shown that competitive grant programs can be a powerful spur to innovation in education. Most of the 12 states that were awarded grants this year — and the more than 30 states that changed education policies in hopes of winning grants — would never have attempted reform on this scale without the promise of federal help.” According to the Times, “The administration secured $4.35 billion for the program in the stimulus package and has requested $1.35 billion for next year” and “Congress should find the money.”
Former Education Secretary Urges Congress Not To Eliminate NCLB Free Tutoring.
Former Education Secretary Rod Paige writes in an opinion piece for the Houston Chronicle (8/29), “While we often hear criticism of NCLB, what has often been lost is the fact that amid a very troubled public education system, the law is providing sorely needed opportunities to so many at-risk students.” Because of NCLB, nearly 50,000 “Texas schoolchildren were able to receive free tutoring.” He points out that the Obama administration has recently proposed eliminating the tutoring program. In conclusion, he writes that Congress must “continue to support those few opportunities in the law that provide resources directly to children and families to ensure that students in need continue to receive the specialized attention that is taken for granted in so many other communities.”
Middle School In Mississippi Revokes Race Restrictions On Student Offices.
ABC News (8/27, Spellman) reported on its website that the Nettleton school district in Mississippi is revoking a policy at Nettleton Middle School that barred “black students from running for class president.” The old policy, in place since 1969, specified that “in all three grades, only white students could run for president.” The policy also specified which offices black students could hold, but it had “no assigned positions for students of other races and no mention of students who are mixed race.” A statement from Nettleton superintendent Russell Taylor last week said, “It is the belief of the current administration that these procedures were implemented to help ensure minority representation and involvement in the student body.” But an unnamed source from within the district “said the policy was a reflection of the district’s deep-seated ‘racism’ and not simply a misguided attempt to ensure black students were included in student government.”
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Safety & Security
Investigators Find Merit In Harassment Claims Against Philadelphia School.
The Philadelphia Inquirer (8/28, Gammage, Graham) reports that US Department of Justice “investigators have informed the Philadelphia School District that they found merit in the claims of Asian students who said they were abused at South Philadelphia High School. The school exploded in racial violence on Dec. 3, when 30 Asians were attacked during a daylong series of assaults carried out by groups of mostly African American classmates.” According to the Inquirer, “It was not immediately clear what form a settlement might take, though it would require the district to improve the treatment of Asian students, who say they have been mocked, harassed, and beaten at the school.”
More Kansas Schools Conducting Concussion Testing.
The AP (8/27) reported, “More than a dozen high schools in northeastern Kansas are testing how the brains of their student-athletes work normally in case any of them suffer concussions. De Soto High School athletic trainer Steve Hawkins says the high schools are relying on something called ImPACT, which stands for Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing.” According to the AP, “The test can be taken at the beginning at the season and measures such things as the athletes’ memories.”
School Finance
New Jersey Education Commissioner Fired Following Race To The Top Application Error.
The AP (8/27) reported that New Jersey Education Commissioner Bret Schundler was fired last week “in the wake of a mistake that may have cost the state $400 million in federal Race to the Top money.” New Jersey was a runner up for the US Department of Education’s Race to the Top competition, but was a few points shy of winning. The state mistakenly gave “budget figures for the 2010 and 2011 fiscal years where the application called for data from 2008 and 2009.”
The AP (8/27) reported in a separate story that after the Race to the Top winners were announced last week, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Schundler “tried to correct the error in an Aug. 11 presentation to a federal panel that was judging the application,” and “blasted the Obama administration for docking the state precious points in its evaluation for what he called a ‘clerical error’ on an otherwise strong application.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer (8/28, Katz) reported Christie (R) “fired Education Commissioner Bret Schundler on Friday after the US Department of Education released a video that showed Schundler had two opportunities to address the blunder in a meeting with federal officials but failed to do so.” Christie said in a statement released Friday, “I never promised the people of New Jersey that this would be a mistake-free administration. … I did promise that the people serving in my administration would be held accountable for their actions.” Meanwhile, Schundler told the AP “late Friday that he had not misinformed Christie. ‘In fact, I was very direct with him that we didn’t get the panel the numbers,’ he said.”
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NEA in the News
Van Roekel Says Research Does Not Support Charter School Expansion.
The Dallas Morning News (8/28, Stutz) reported that NEA President Dennis Van Roekel said last week that “efforts to expand the charter school program in Texas and other states ignore the track record of those schools and their lack of success with many students.” He noted that “student achievement results in those schools” are mixed. While acknowledging “successes in some charter schools,” Van Roekel “pointed to a ‘very sizable group at the bottom’ that are not effective and should be closed.” Said van Roekel, “If you look at the research for charters, the results are not there. You cannot make a case that we ought to invest more money in charter schools based on the research.” The Morning News notes that his comments came “in response to question about a recent decision by the State Board of Education to set aside money from the state’s education trust fund for charter schools.”
Duncan Starts Second Leg Of “Courage In The Classroom” Tour In New York.
CNN (8/30) reported on its Website that US Education Secretary Arne Duncan “opened the second leg of his ‘Courage in the Classroom’ bus tour Monday with a stop at the state Capitol in Albany, New York. Introduced by Gov. David Paterson, Duncan congratulated New York on its success in the competitive ‘Race to the Top’ program, which awards grant money to states that demonstrate plans for reform in areas of the educational system.” Also on Monday, Duncan traveled “to Springfield, Massachusetts, to praise that state’s victory in the Race to the Top program,” and he visited to Keene State College in Keene, New Hampshire to “participate in a classroom observation session, followed by an open forum.”
The Times Union (NY) (8/31, Karlin) reports, “The nearly $700 million that New York state will receive as part of the federal Race to the Top innovation program will help revamp the way teachers are trained and evaluated in future years. One effect of that change: The lowest-performing teachers will likely be let go or denied tenure in light of more expansive future evaluations that will include a look at their students’ test scores.”
Duncan Praises New York Education Officials’ Teacher Evaluation Reform Efforts. New York’s Post-Standard (8/31, Nolan) reports that Duncan on Monday met with a group of New York education officials “who are developing a new teacher evaluation model.” North Syracuse Education Association President John Kuryla was one of several education officials to “meet with Duncan for about an hour at the offices of New York State United Teachers in Latham.” Duncan told members of the “coalition of labor and management” representing six school systems that “education faces two challenges”: a “lack of funding” and a “lack of courage to make change.” He added that the group’s efforts to reform teacher evaluation showed “amazing courage.”
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In the Classroom
Despite Improvements, Diversity Eludes New Orleans Public Schools.
NPR (8/30, Abramson) reports on its website that while public schools in New Orleans have seen many changes since Hurricane Katrina hit five years ago, “the population of the city’s public schools” has remained much the same. About 95 percent of students in most schools are African-American, according to Jay Altman, “head of FirstLine Network, which runs” four charter schools in New Orleans. Caroline Roemer Shirley, head of the Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools, said that “for decades, white and black families ran away from the city’s schools, because they were terrible.” Now that test scores are improving, white parents are hesitant to send their children to schools that “are completely focused on educating low-achieving, inner city kids” or that do not have many white students, Altman said.
Miami-Dade High School International Studies Program Sees Increasing Enrollment.
The Miami Herald (8/31, Valdemoro) reports on the International Studies Preparatory Academy @ Gables (ISPA) in the Miami-Dade public school system. ISPA, “a venture between Miami-Dade Schools and the consulates of Spain, France and Italy,” is the school system’s “first magnet school…to offer only International Studies in a high school setting.” Students at the school “will be able to go from first to 12th grade and take courses in history, foreign languages and some math and science classes — in Spanish, French, Italian or German.” The Miami Herald points out that Miami-Dade’s International Studies program started in 1986 and has since grown to include “more than 2,900″ students in grades 1-12. “Students take…grammar, literature, history, humanities and civics — in one of the languages they’re mastering. They learn math, science and English — in English, except for the students being taught in French, who are required to take” those classes in French.
High School Debuts Sustainable Design Program.
The Tacoma News Tribune (8/31, Schilling) reports on the G2 Design course, “a new class at Southridge High School in Kennewick [that] aims to give students a window into the growing field of green design” by teaching “everything from alternative fuels to using design techniques to create greater energy efficiency.” The sustainable design class, “part of the district’s Career and Technical Education program,” will include both classroom learning and hands-on activities. “Debbie McClary, director of Career and Technical Education for Kennewick schools, said the Tri-Cities is an ideal place for a green design class because of the construction and technology companies here. There’s potential for community partnerships, she said.” The article notes that the curriculum was developed by area educators “and representatives from the construction industry and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.”
Middle School STEM Program Hopes To Cut Down On Outsourcing.
WTSP-TV Tampa Bay, FL (8/30, Porter) reported, “The S.T.E.M. program, offered at some Hillsborough County middle schools, hopes to cut down on the number of American jobs being outsourced overseas.” Specifically, the program seeks “to help American kids standout in the international market, where so-called “back-office jobs” like payroll processing and accounting are being lost by the millions to other countries.” The county’s schools have differing focuses. “Biotechnology is taught at Buchanan Middle School, pre-engineering at Greco Middle School, aeronautics at Madison Middle School, robotics at McLane Middle School and engineering and robotics at Young Middle School.”
On the Job
State Group Piloting Teacher Prelicensing Exam.
Education Week (8/30, Sawchuk) reported, “Education programs across 19 states are piloting a performance-based assessment for teacher-candidates that potentially could serve as a common prelicensing measure for new teachers. Based on a test in use in about 30 education schools in California, the Teacher Performance Assessment includes a ‘teaching event’ requiring teachers to extensively document and submit for review artifacts of their planning, instruction, and ability to assess and respond to student needs.” According to Education Week, “Supporters of the initiative see in the work an opportunity to focus on classroom-based effectiveness at the precertification benchmark-an area that has not received much attention as policymakers tackle the tenure-granting and annual evaluation processes.”
Law & Policy
Cincinnati Parents Raise Concern Over Rushed Lunch Period.
The Cincinnati Enquirer (8/30, Brown) reported, “The Enquirer talked to parents in districts across Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky who claim that by the time their children get into the cafeteria and get their food, they have as little as 14 minutes to eat, leading many to throw food away, bring it home mostly untouched or rely on vending machine fare. With the help of Parents for Public Schools, more than a dozen Cincinnati Public School parents have been bringing their concerns with increasing regularity to school board meetings.” According to the Inquirer, the parents “researched health studies and even drafted sample resolutions in their push for a districtwide policy requiring at a 30-minute lunch period.”
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Special Needs
Special Education Students In Texas Expelled Disproportionately, Report Says.
Texas’ Reporter-News (8/31, Peters) reports that according to a recent report from the Texas Education Agency, “special education students make up just 10 percent of the enrollment in Texas public schools, but they account for 21 percent of expulsions.” But, “the gap in disciplinary treatment between special- and non-special-ed students has been narrowing in recent years.” Abilene school system official Larry Davis said that his district “is seeing a similar trend,” which he attributes to school “programs reinforcing good behavior and intervention teams.”
School Finance
School Districts’ Creative Budgeting Approaches Noted.
Investopedia (8/30, Folger) reported that all US school systems “struggle with budgeting and finding the money that is necessary to providing high-quality education and a positive work environment for the dedicated teachers and staff.” Some districts “are taking a creative approach to budgeting” in an effort to achieve those goals. This year, for instance, some schools are asking parents to purchase janitorial supplies, “copy paper, construction paper…and other arts and crafts items typically provided by the school.” In California, meanwhile, one school has started requesting “donations from parents when children miss school for absences such as family vacations. During the 2008-2009 school year, this district received $20,217 in donations.”
Also in the News
Nonprofit Will Pay Students Who Choose To Attend Public School In St Louis.
The AP (8/31, Cochran) reports that the nonprofit group Urban Strategies is offering students in St. Louis, Missouri, $300 if they choose to attend Jefferson Elementary School “over competitors such as charter schools and magnets.” The stipend will only be given “to students who didn’t attend the school last year…have near-perfect attendance, and avoid out-of-school suspensions. Parents must also attend three PTO meetings.”
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (8/30) noted that several other schools throughout the US are debating “paying families for their children’s behavior and attendance.” Those who support such incentives “say the cash rewards are no different from offering college scholarships to top achievers at a high school, and that low-income families need the extra help.” But critics argue “that the cash prizes fail to address problems that lead to truancy and poor test scores, such as bad teaching or a dull curriculum.”
School Officials In Central Falls, Rhode Island, Expect “Significant Change” This Year.
WJAR-TV Providence (8/30, Washington) reported that school officials in Central Falls, Rhode Island “said Monday they are looking forward to a fresh start.” Last school year, the district considered “firing the entire staff” at Central Falls High School, but new goals this year are aimed at avoiding a similar outcome. “Those goals include: improving math scores, increasing graduation rates, tackling the drop out rate and building an academics-first climate.” Rhode Island Education Commissioner Deborah Gist said district officials will “be implementing additional evaluation for educators, which is going to give them feedback to help them grow and develop. So we expect this is going to be a year of significant change for the school,” she added.
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NEA in the News
Seattle Public School Officials, Teachers Union Near Agreement On Tentative Contract.
The Seattle Times (8/31, Shaw) reports, “Seattle Public Schools and the” Seattle Education Association “said Monday evening they believe they have reached a tentative agreement on a new teacher contract.” Today, the two sides will meet “to make sure they are on the same page.” If so, teachers will “vote on the contract Thursday.” The district and the teachers union came to a stalemate earlier this month “over the district’s proposal to use student academic growth, measured by test scores, as one factor in judging how well teachers do their jobs.” Both sides agree, however, “that the current teacher-evaluation system needs to go.” And “they endorse the recommendations of a union-district committee, which call for replacing the existing system, in which teachers are judged as simply satisfactory or unsatisfactory.”
Teachers Still Without Contracts In Five Rhode Island Districts.
The Providence (RI) Journal (8/31, Jordan) reports that when “most public schools in Rhode Island open their doors this week,” teachers at five schools will begin the “year without new contracts in place. As of Monday afternoon, school committees and teachers’ unions in” those districts “had failed to reach agreement, despite weeks or even months of negotiations.” Robert A. Walsh Jr., executive director of the National Education Association of Rhode Island, “which represents four of the five districts with unresolved contracts,” said, “We expect that in districts that don’t have settled teacher contracts, the language in the previous contract will stay in effect.”
“Superman” Documentary Draws Praise, Controversy.
Education Week (8/30, Aarons) reported, “Well in advance of its official release, the education film ‘Waiting For ‘Superman’ has attracted a level of attention that could make it one of the year’s most-watched documentaries-and one of the most controversial among educators, some of whom question its depictions of the American school system and how to improve it.” According to Education Week, some educators “see the film as cheerleading for charter schools and putting teachers’ unions in an unfairly negative light. Its descriptions of teacher tenure have been criticized by teacher bloggers and others, as has the fact the students featured are looking toward nontraditional public schools as the cure for their education ills.” NEA Executive Director John I. Wilson said that the movie was inspiring, but added that “when you give the impression that charter schools are the panacea for allowing kids to escape from public schools, I think that’s unfair.”
More Districts Using Value-Added Modeling In Teacher Evaluations.
The New York Times (9/1, Dillon) reports, “A growing number of school districts have adopted a system called value-added modeling” which has provoked “battles from Washington to Los Angeles – with some saying it is an effective method for increasing teacher accountability, and others arguing that it can give an inaccurate picture of teachers’ work. The system calculates the value teachers add to their students’ achievement, based on changes in test scores from year to year and how the students perform compared with others in their grade.” According to the Times, “People who analyze the data, making a few statistical assumptions, can produce a list ranking teachers from best to worst.”
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In the Classroom
Washington State Test Results Show Mixed Progress.
The AP (9/1, Blankinship) reports, “Fewer Washington schools are failing to help students make [AYP], but statewide test results show many students continue to struggle to meet state learning goals in reading, writing, math and science. Results released Tuesday showed fewer fifth graders passed the tests last year, and 10th graders showed a drop in passage rates in every subject except science.” According to the AP, “Both seventh and eighth graders, however, posted improved pass rates in all subjects.”
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (9/1, Raftery) adds, “This was the first year that Washington students took new tests — the High School Proficiency Exam and the Measurements of Student Progress — that replaced the controversial Washington Assessment of Student Learning, or WASL. Randy Dorn, the state schools’ chief, worried that a favorable bump in scores would make the test look too easy; a fall would make it look overly rigorous.” According to the Post-Intelligencer, “Statewide, 41 percent of 10th grade students passed the math exam” and around “44 percent passed the science exam, an improvement over last year’s class, of which 38 percent passed.”
Two Schools In California Launch 9-Hour Days For Sixth-Graders.
The AP (8/31) reports that sixth-graders at two schools in the Oakland, California, school district this year “will be in school from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. this year, three hours longer than their peers at other schools in the Oakland district.” The move targets the two of the state’s lowest-performing schools. “District officials are hopeful that the additional time will help boost students’ test scores.”
The San Francisco Chronicle (8/31, Tucker) reported that “the additional three hours of academics and activities” at United for Success Academy and Elmhurst Community Preparatory School will be run by the nonprofit CitizenSchools.” Oakland schools will pay “up to $2,400 more per school year for each of the 270 or so sixth-graders attending the schools.”
Some Schools Banning, Restricting Wear Of Controversial Breast Cancer Bracelets.
USA Today (9/1) reports that Schools throughout the US are either banning or restricting the wear of breast-cancer awareness bracelets with “a message some say is in poor taste: ‘I love boobies.’” In Fresno, California, for instance, “students in the Clovis Unified School District were told not to wear the bracelets in class – or to turn them inside out so the message is not visible.” USA Today adds that the bracelets, created by the breast cancer awareness group Keep A Breast Foundation, “have caused controversy in schools in states including California, Colorado, Idaho, Florida and Wisconsin.”
On the Job
New York DOE Suggests Districts Not Seek Information Revealing Students’ Immigration Status.
The New York Times (9/1, A21, Semple) reports that the New York Department of Education is “strongly recommending” that school districts “not ask for information that might reveal the immigration status of enrolling students,” such as “asking for a Social Security number.” On Monday, the DOE sent a memo to districts “after a civil liberties group complained that” many “were requesting such information in possible violation of federal law.” According to the New York Civil Liberties Union, about 20 percent of school systems in the state “were requiring children’s immigration papers as a prerequisite to enrollment, or asking parents for information that only lawful immigrants could provide.”
School Centers Help Parents Help Kids.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (9/1, Staples) reports that “the parenting center at Summerour Middle School” in Norcross, GA “is part of a quiet effort at schools across metro Atlanta to help boost student achievement and encourage parental involvement in education, a benefit for both families and teachers.” According to the Journal-Constitution, “Once relegated to a corner office or cubbyhole in the hallways of Title I schools, new parenting centers are more akin to lounges decorated with tables and chairs, wide screen televisions and banks of computers where parents can check on grades, write resumes, search for employment or even volunteer their time.” The Journal-Constitution adds that according to Michelle Tarbutton, parent engagement program manager at the Georgia DOE, “Creating a welcoming environment in the school…is the first step to getting parents in the door and ensuring continuous parental involvement.”
First Virtual School In MA Opens Thursday.
The AP (9/1, Moran) reports, “The Massachusetts Virtual Academy opens in Greenfield on Thursday, not only as the first in the state, but also as the first virtual school in New England to serve students from kindergarten through high school. At virtual school, the students will take all of their classes online and have a learning coach make sure they complete their assignments.” According to the AP, “Greenfield officials believe 10,000 to 20,000 students in Massachusetts could benefit from a virtual school, but the school is limited to 500″ and “officials expect enrollment this first school year to reach 250.”
Tennessee Educators Praise New Virtual High School. The Dickson (TN) Herald (8/31, Smith) reports, “High school principals had nothing but praise for the school system’s newly implemented virtual high school, an online curriculum program for students who have fallen behind, or want to get ahead. The virtual high school is a series of online curriculum operated through e4TN, a state-owned e-learning program aligned with state education standards. School officials have said it is intended for students who have fallen behind on coursework, or were on the verge of dropping out.” According to officials, the new program has been so popular that some students have been “turned them away for fear of overcrowding.” But those who did enroll have, in some cases, managed to recoup “an entire coursework of credits from last year.”
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Law & Policy
Texas Leaders Urged To Break Stalemate Over Teacher Jobs Funding.
The Austin American-Statesman (9/1) editorializes, “We urge [Texas] Gov. Rick Perry [R] and state leaders to break the political stalemate that is holding up $830 million in extra funds slated for Texas schools. … It’s disappointing that state and federal officials were unable to work out a deal to release the money when they met in Washington last week.” According to the American-Statesman, “There is greater urgency in ensuring that Texas schools get their share of federal jobs dollars given that the Legislature is looking at a budget gap in the neighborhood of $18 billion.”
Ohio Law Emphasizing School Nutrition, Physical Activity Goes Into Effect This Month.
WKBN-TV Youngstown, Ohio (9/1) reports that on Sept. 17, S.B. 210 will go into effect, placing “tough restrictions on beverages in schools and vending machines from kindergarten to 12th grade” and “banning the sale of some items.” In addition, “the law requires better teaching of nutrition and physical activity benefits and requires schools to calculate” and report students’ body mass indexes. Parents can “opt out of some parts of the law because of cost.”
Facilities
Ohio School Gets New Aeronautics-Focused Engineering Lab.
WDTN-TV Dayton, Ohio (8/31, Edwards) reported on the new Engineering Lab at Oakwood High Schools, a “21st century engineering lab that encourages students to carve out a career in engineering with a focus on aeronautics.” In addition to new computers, the lab features a 3D printer. Officials noted the importance of guiding more students into STEM studies, as countries such as China and India are producing vastly more engineers than the US. “The lab is part of Project Lead the Way, a national pre-engineering curriculum based on partnerships with business and industry while students gain college credits, giving students the ability to dream it, design it and to create all in one lab.”
School Finance
Several Alabama Districts Taking Out Private Loans To Cover Expenses This Year.
CNN Money (8/31, Olster) reported that several school systems in Alabama are taking “out private loans” for expenses this year. So far, “five school districts have…borrowed against lines of credit they have with local banks to fund basic school operations, and 25 additional districts” plan to do the same within “the next few months.” CNN notes that some states “have a state-sponsored loan program for schools that lack funds to cover operational expenses,” but in Alabama, “districts must apply for loans with private banks,” and “like any other loan applicant, they are subject to rejection.” After a bank rejected Coosa County Schools’ “request for an additional $550,000 line of credit…in June,” the state took over finances for the district.
Also in the News
Teacher Strike In South Africa Puts Spotlight On Nation’s Poor Education System.
Bloomberg News (8/31, Cohen) reported that in South Africa, teachers unions “representing about 1.3 million state workers started an open-ended strike on Aug. 18, after the government rejected their demands for an 8.6 percent wage increase.” On Tuesday, “the government offered an increase of 7.5 percent today to end the deadlock.” Union officials say they will reply to the government’s offer today. Bloomberg notes that as a result of the strike, schools throughout South Africa were shut down “just weeks before year-end exams.” The situation compounds the nation’s poorly-regarded education system. Last year, “final-year pass rates fell to 61 percent…from 67 percent in 2006.” And, the National Treasury said in a 2009 report that “teacher training programs were poorly coordinated and the quality of courses was ‘questionable.’”
NEA in the News
Rhode Island Governor Wants To Use Federal Money For Teacher Jobs To Balance State Budget.
The Providence Journal (9/1, Jordan) reports that instead of saving teaching jobs with “the $32.9 million Rhode Island is eligible to receive” under the federal teacher jobs bill, Gov. Donald Carcieri (R) wants to use the money to fill a $38 million state budget gap. State Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist does not support the plan and “has ‘strongly advocated’ that the money be used ‘for its intended purpose,’” she said. National Education Association of Rhode Island Executive Director Robert A. Walsh Jr. also opposes the plan, “particularly after [lawmakers] reduced state education aid to schools by 3.6 percent this year, a $29-million cut.” Said Walsh, “The intended purpose of this money is to bring back teachers who have been laid off or to prevent layoffs, and replace school programs. … This money would have allowed the important work of public education to go on in this state.”
Education Department Awards $330 Million To States To Develop Standardized Tests.
The New York Times (9/3, Dillon) reports, “The Department of Education on Thursday awarded $330 million to two groups of states to design new standardized tests to replace the end-of-year reading and math exams used…to measure achievement under the federal No Child Left Behind law.” The tests, which “are to be ready for the 2014-15 school year” will “be aligned with the common academic standards that nearly 40 states have adopted in recent months.” The first group of 25 states, named the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, “is led by Florida” and received $170 million. The second group of 31 states, called the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, is led by Washington and was awarded $160 million.
The Washington Post (9/3, Anderson) reports that according to the Department of Education, “the first group” will “assess how students read complex texts, complete research projects, handle classroom speaking and listening assignments, and work with digital media.” The second group, meanwhile, “would assess students through computer-adaptive technology.”
The Los Angeles Times (9/3, Blume, Song) reports that the nationwide tests would be computer-based and would “strive to evaluate critical thinking, writing, researching and even listening skills.”
The Christian Science Monitor (9/3, Khadaroo) quotes Education Secretary Arne Duncan saying, “These new tests will be an absolute game-changer in public education.” Duncan noted that “students currently have to take a patchwork of local, district, and state tests, and the new system should lessen that redundancy.” The Salt Lake Tribune (9/3, Schencker) and the Boston Globe (9/3, Vaznis) also cover the story.
Duncan Hopes New Tests Will Work For Students With Learning Disabilities. Christina Samuels writes in her “On Special Education” blog for Education Week (9/3) that Secretary Duncan “made several direct references to what these new tests may mean for students with learning differences.” That’s because “all English language learners and students with disabilities will take the new assessments, with the exception of the 1 percent of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities.” In his speech, Duncan indicated “he has pretty high hopes” for the tests because they incorporate “smart technology.”
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In the Classroom
Texas Instruments Pilot Tests 3-D Technology In Classrooms Nationwide.
The Dallas Morning News (9/3, Weiss) reports on a “new kind of technology just starting to filter into North Texas classrooms: a 3-D projection system, coupled with interactive, computer-driven content.” Some teachers in the Richardson Independent School District, for instance, are taking part in a pilot program by DLP, a division of Texas Instruments, “that produces hardware for…3-D projection.” The pilot is taking place in eight school systems in five states. Schools in participating districts receive “projectors and content.” The Morning News notes that according to “early studies…kids taught with the technology learn some particularly challenging lessons faster and better.” Some teachers, however, say that the new classroom technology could wear out quickly, so they warn “not to put too much emphasis on 3-D.”
Philadelphia Public Schools Seeks Solution To High Dropout Rate.
WTXF-TV Philadelphia (9/3) reports on its website that the Philadelphia public school district is facing a dropout crisis in which four out of every ten students do not graduate high school. Moreover, 43 percent of black males and 51 percent of Latino males do not graduate. A new study “conducted by a special task force for Philadelphia’s School Reform Commission” says that part of the problem is that “Philadelphia’s zero tolerance policy drives off boys who might otherwise have succeeded eventually.”
KYW-TV Philadelphia (9/2, Duncan) reported that the reform commission’s study recommends “eliminating the achievement gap, eliminating the opportunity gap and holding adults accountable.” Said Philadelphia Superintendent Dr. Arlene Ackerman, “I’m not going to rest until all recommendations are fully implemented in this school system.”
On the Job
Los Angeles Superintendent Told To Include Score Data In Teacher Evaluations.
The Los Angeles Times (9/3, Blume, Song) reports that this week, for the first time, the Los Angeles Board of Education “formally directed its superintendent…to include student test score data as part of teachers’ evaluations.” Even before the mandate was handed down, the Times points out, Supt. Ramon C. Cortines had already announced that the district would issue “confidential value-added scores to employees by October and” include “school scores on campus “report cards” posted online and sent to parents.”
LATimes Defends Use Of Testing Data In Teacher Evaluations. The Los Angeles Times (9/3) in an editorial defending its decision to publish the data criticizes the response of the teachers union and of teachers who claim they are focused on more important matters than test scores. The paper argues that California has “some of the best curriculum standards in the nation” and that it is not calling for teachers to teach to the test as its “reporters uncovered ample anecdotal evidence that teachers whose student scores improve the most are…engaging students in challenging, often lively, academic work.” While the Times says that “the Obama administration has been too hasty to push states into linking test scores to teacher evaluations,” it still calls for using test data along with other measures to “help calculate teacher compensation.”
Seattle Public School Teachers Approve New Three-Year Contract.
The Seattle Times (9/3, Shaw) reports that on Thursday, teachers in the Seattle public school district “approved a new three-year contract…ending rancorous negotiations over the use of test scores in evaluating how well teachers do their jobs.” Members of the Seattle Education Association also “voted ‘no confidence’ in Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson.” The no-confidence vote, the Seattle Times adds, is a “sign that Goodloe-Johnson hasn’t been able to gain community buy-in for her ambitious agenda” focused on increasing accountability “for everyone.”
The AP (9/3) reports that the contract “includes a new evaluation system that takes into account improvement in student learning.” In addition, it would provide for teachers a one percent raise, “more collaborative planning time,” and bonuses for those “who work in the lowest performing schools and meet performance expectations.”
Law & Policy
West Virginia To Keep Swings At Schools Due To DOE Policy.
The Huntington (WV) Herald-Dispatch (9/3, Chambers) reports that school officials in Cabell County, West Virginia, have halted plans to remove swings from elementary schools due to a West Virginia Department of Education Office of School Facilities policy that requires swings at elementary schools with kindergarten programs. “The policy states: ‘All centers housing kindergarten programs shall contain a segregated blacktopped area and a large grassy area with climbing equipment and swings.’”
West Virginia’s State-Journal (9/3, Brennan) reports that “the biggest issue ahead of Cabell County Schools now is the surface. The surface must extend at least double the amount of feet on both sides of the swing, and the mulch must be nine inches deep.” Also, Superintendent Bill Smith “will meet with State Senator Evan Jenkins next week to discuss what can be done to limit lawsuits in the future if children are injured as a result of the swing sets.”
President Urged To Stick To Education Reforms.
Columnist Ruben Navarrette Jr. writes at CNN (9/3) that both President Obama and Secretary Duncan “have shown themselves to be deeply informed about what’s wrong with our schools and how to fix it” but are “trying to make peace with a powerful Democratic ally. Unfortunately, this ally also happens to be one of the things that’s wrong with our schools: some of the teachers unions.” Navarette describes the initiatives brought in by Obama and Duncan adding, “Until recently, Obama deserved an ‘A’ for his education reform efforts, which included a willingness to take on teachers unions.” He concludes, “Don’t worry about teachers unions. They can take care of themselves. But there are a lot of kindergarteners out there whose future depends on our ability to get this right.”
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Safety & Security
Several Maine Schools Close Early Thursday Due To Heat.
The Bangor Daily News (9/3, Curts) reports that children at several schools in Maine were sent home early on Thursday after “temperatures reached more than 100 degrees inside some classrooms.” The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for the state on Thursday and the state DOE sent out a heat alert that “encouraged schools to consider closing based on the heat index inside the building.” Meanwhile, instead of closing, some schools found “innovative ways to keep students cool.” Students and staff in the Brewer school district, for instance, were given Popsicles. WABI-TV Bangor (9/2) also covered the story.
School Finance
Memphis Mayor Proposes 25 Percent Division Cuts To Pay School System $57 Million.
WHBQ-TV Memphis (9/2) reported that in order to pay Memphis Public Schools $57 million, Mayor A C Wharton this week “asked all 13 of his division directors to cut 25 percent of their budgets.” The Memphis Commercial Appeal (9/3, Maki) notes that in 2008, the Memphis City Council “slashed $57 million from its annual contribution to Memphis City Schools.” The school system sued the city and “two courts since have ordered the city to pay the school district.” And, last month “the state Supreme Court…refused to hear the city’s appeal.”
Wyoming Districts Slowly Spending Stimulus Money.
The AP (9/3) reports, “Wyoming has been slow to spend its $64 million in stimulus money for elementary and secondary education. Little more than one-fourth of the state’s stimulus funding for K-12 public education has been spent, according to reports from the state Department of Education.” The money “must be allocated before Sept. 30, 2011, and spent before Dec. 31, 2011.” So far, some districts have used the money to hire tutors, to buy technology faster than otherwise would have been the case and to pay for training.
Also in the News
New Jersey District Reinstates Recess After Four-Year Hiatus.
New Jersey’s Record (9/3, Cunningham) reports that after four years of not having recess, the Totowa school district is bringing it back this year, giving students “20 minutes of play outside after lunch each day.” Superintendent Vincent Varcadipane “recommended the no-recess school day four years ago.” But, he told the Record, “I was wrong on the assumption that they don’t need that time to run around and clear their heads. It’s important.” Now, students will have “a 45-minute lunch period with about 20 minutes for recess, the same amount of outside time students had before district officials eliminated it.”
NEA in the News
Nebraska BOE Approves Resolution Opposing Unfunded Mandates.
The AP (9/3) reports that the Nebraska BOE this week approved a resolution that “says unfunded mandates should be opposed to protect education funding.”
The Lincoln Journal Star (9/2, Reist) reported that originally, the resolution called for “repeal of the ‘unfunded mandates’ in federal health care reform,” but that plan was opposed by some BOE members who thought the language “pitted education against health care.” The Journal Star notes that last week, Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman wrote a letter to state “education leaders urging them to support repeal of health care reform or risk losing state education aid as Medicaid costs rise.” Jess Wolfe, president of the Nebraska State Education Association, said that “his board would discuss the letter” at a meeting later this month.
More US Schools Operating Without Principals.
The Christian Science Monitor (9/2, Khadaroo) reports that more schools throughout the US are operating without principals. The concept is becoming more popular as educators brainstorm ways to boost student achievement and the call for more “teacher accountability” grows. The Monitor points out that in teacher-led schools, “teachers’ participation tends to create a culture quite different from that in a traditional principal-led school: Teachers can’t hide behind the classroom door or complain about policies, because they have to come up with solutions.” While most “student achievement…results are still coming in,” the Monitor says that some teacher-run schools do have a history of success. For instance, “in Milwaukee, where teacher cooperatives contract with the district to run about a dozen schools, standardized test scores are higher than the district average at some of the schools, but lower at others.”
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In the Classroom
Utah Districts’ Plans Vary For Airing Obama Back-To-School Speech In Classrooms.
The Salt Lake Tribune (9/2, Schencker) reports that President Obama will speak to students again this year in “his second annual ‘Back to School’ speech” to Sept. 14. Last year’s speech drew concerns from parents who feared “it would amount to political indoctrination,” and “at least one Utah district initially refused to show it.” University of Utah Political Science Professor Matthew Burbank predicts that less controversy will surround this year’s speech. “My impression is this is going to be much less of an issue this time around largely because I think of what we saw last time, it really was a tempest in a teapot,” he said. The Salt Lake Tribune notes that this year, some Utah districts will leave it up to individual schools whether to show the speech live, while others plan to show the speech in all schools or encourage schools to do so.
Study Says K-8 Schools May Be More Critical Than Middle Schools In New York City.
Education Week (9/1, Sparks) reported that a new study by the journal Education Next “suggests that moving to middle school can be more detrimental to” the academic progress of New York City students “than staying in a K-8 school.” The report posted online showed that “students who move from elementary school to middle school experience a bigger dip in mathematics and language arts achievement than their K-8 counterparts,” who tended to be absent more frequently. According to Education Week, the study, conducted by researchers at Columbia University, “found students in K-5 or K-6 schools performed slightly better than their K-8 peers in math and language arts in 5th grade, but when they made the move to a middle school, the situation reversed.” NY1 News (9/1) adds that “the study was based on data for city school children who were in grades 3 through 8 between 1998 and 2008.”
On the Job
Los Angeles School Board Members Weigh In On “Value Added” Evaluations Of Teachers.
The Los Angeles Times (9/1, Song) reports, “Los Angeles school board members made their first public statements Tuesday about evaluating teachers partially by analyzing student test scores, with most saying that the current system needs to be reworked and some adding that parents deserve more information about their children’s teachers.” According to the Times, “During a presentation to the board, recently appointed Deputy Supt. John Deasy said the district would move quickly and planned by October to begin issuing confidential scores to employees that would be based on a ‘value-added’ analysis of student scores on standardized tests.” Deasy “has said in the past that he believes that it should make up at least 30% of an instructor’s review but that the majority of the evaluation should come from classroom observation.”
Los Angeles Civic Leaders Call For Overhaul Of Teacher Evaluations. The Los Angeles Times (9/2, Song) reports, “A group of business and civic leaders is urging the Los Angeles school district and teachers union to quickly develop a new evaluation system that incorporates student test score data and gives families more access to information about instructors.” A letter signed by former US Secretary of State Warren Christopher, the presidents of the L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce and the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, “and 18 other people,” also expressed support for the inclusion of value-added analysis “in teacher performance reviews and cited a Times series on the subject as one reason [the leaders] decided to weigh in.”
Law & Policy
Alabama Superintendent Issues Open Letter Noting Flaws With Race To The Top Application Process.
WSFA-TV (9/1, Shryock) reported that Alabama Superintendent of Education Joe Morton on Wednesday “issued an ‘open letter’ to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan outlining his reasons for believing the” Race to the Top “application process is flawed.” It “gave states that allowed charter schools an automatic 40 points on the application.” But, Morton wrote, “The RTTT criteria do not appear to distinguish quality among charter school states — just that they allow them.” Morton also criticized the requirement that called for union support, noting that the Alabama Education Association’s “state headquarters told all 132 local affiliates not to sign any support document…and none did.”
Safety & Security
West Virginia District Removing Swings From All School Playgrounds.
The AP (9/2) reports that West Virginia’s Cabell County school district is removing swings from all schools “in part because of lawsuits over injuries.” According to Cabell County schools safety manager Tim Stewart, “the cost of maintaining a safe surface” for the swings “is too expensive.”
The Huntington (WV) Herald-Dispatch (9/2, Chambers) reports that Stewart “estimates it would cost about $8,000 to cover the ground around each of the 36 swing sets” for “a total of $288,000…at least every seven years.” The school system plans to have all swings removed by December, but West Virginia Sen. Sen. Evan Jenkins “is asking…Superintendent William Smith to suspend the removal of swing sets from all elementary school playgrounds until he can bring involved parties to the table.” Jenkins wants to meet with Smith “and the school system’s casualty insurance provider” to discuss options that would allow Cabell County to keep the swings.
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School Finance
Textbooks On Chopping Block As Texas Leaders Seek To Close Budget Gap.
The Dallas Morning News (9/2, Stutz) reports, “English textbooks and new science labs for Texas students would be on the chopping block under a proposal to trim the budget for the Texas Education Agency by 10 percent in the next biennium. The budget reduction plan, asked for by Gov. Rick Perry [R] and other state leaders in anticipation of a revenue shortfall that could reach $18 billion, also would scale back the state’s merit pay program for teachers and reduce funding for a steroid testing program for high school athletes.” According to the Morning News, “Cutbacks in the proposal total nearly $262 million over the 2012-13 biennium.”
Also in the News
Competition Seeks Ideas For Revamping Washington Monument Grounds.
The Washington Post (9/2, Trescott) reports on the National Ideas Competition for the Washington Monument Grounds (WAMO), a contest that kicked off earlier this week and is seeking methods to improve the area, which WAMO considers “too barren and devoid of information.” Submissions “for the 60-acre esplanade could encompass architecture, engineering, landscaping, history and design,” according to Ellen Goldstein, a member of the WAMO steering committee. “The competition is open to anyone 12 years and older, but she said the group’s outreach is focused on middle school, high school and college students.” The Post includes a link to the competition’s website, along with deadlines for the competition. “The jury will pick 25 semifinalists, each of whom will be awarded $100, and the final submissions will be put to a public vote.”
Thousands Of Teachers In Toronto Attend Back-To-School “Revival.”
The Toronto Star (9/1, Brown) reported that on Wednesday, about 19,000 teachers attended a back-to-school pep rally at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. The $345,000 event, described as “part rock concert, part revival meeting,” featured motivational speakers and musicians. It “was designed by new education director Chris Spence as a way to meet the vast Toronto District School Board staff face-to-face and thank them for their work.”
NEA in the News
NEA Survey Shows Teachers Want Comprehensive, Realistic Evaluation Model.
Dave Murray writes in a column for the Grand Rapids Press (9/2) that on Wednesday, the NEA asked “members how they’d like to be” evaluated. NEA employee Kevin Hart reported that based on responses, teachers “believe a well-designed process can help them improve at their jobs and will ultimately benefit students.” They want the “evaluation process [to] be fair, consistently applied, and take into account the realities of their profession,” he added. Overall, teachers want administrators to be “better trained on how to conduct evaluations,” and would like evaluations to be comprehensive, rather than mainly based on test scores, responses showed. In his assessment, Hart noted that “the tone around the national teacher evaluation debate needs to change, focusing more on supporting educators and not punishing them.”
Seattle Education Association Reaches Tentative Contract Agreement With District.
The AP (9/2) reports that on Wednesday, Seattle Public Schools and the Seattle Education Association (SEA) “reached a tentative agreement on a three-year labor contract.” The Seattle Tribune (9/2, Long) reports that the contract calls for a new teacher evaluation system, “stipends to highly-effective teachers,” and a one-percent raise for teachers “in 2011 and 2012.” However, these changes – worth $19 million – “hinge on voter passage of a $48 million school levy Nov. 2.” Still, “both the district and the union described the tentative agreement as a strong step toward better evaluations of teachers,” the Seattle Times adds. The new evaluation system rates school employees based on “a four-level scale: unsatisfactory, basic, proficient and innovative. Currently, teachers are rated on a two-level scale: satisfactory and unsatisfactory.”
KIRO-TV Seattle (9/2) reports that “teachers are scheduled to vote on the contract Thursday.” If they approve the agreement, “the school board will then vote on the final agreement.”
Superintendent Criticizes Christie’s Failure To Take Responsibility For Application Error.
New Jersey’s Record and Herald News (9/1, Ebbels) reported that in his third letter to the governor’s office this year, Glen Rock Superintendent David Verducci criticized Christie “for failing to take responsibility for the mistake” on New Jersey’s Race to the Top application. “Will the buck stop with you or will someone else become the ‘fall guy’ and receive the blame for this mind-boggling mistake,” Verducci wrote. The grant “application asked for data from 2008 and 2009, but New Jersey submitted data from the 2010 and 2011 state budgets.” The Record and Herald notes, however, that “an earlier version of the application, which had been approved by the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA), included the correct data.” But the governor “ordered a last-minute re-working of the application that included amendments to merit pay, which lost the application the support of the NJEA and many more points.”