Study Shows New And Veteran Teachers Use Technology Equally. eSchool News (6/30) reports that a study conducted by Walden University’s Richard W. Riley College of Education and Leadership found “newer teachers aren’t any more likely to use technology in their lessons than veteran teachers, and a lack of access to technology does not appear to be the main reason why teachers do not use it.”

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In the Classroom
Federal Grant Provides Chicago Teaches With Cultural Awareness Training. The Chicago Tribune (6/30, Pevtzow) reports that a cultural awareness program funded by a federal grant allowed 24 Chicago Public Schools teacher to “take a whirlwind tour of multicultural Chicago, listening intently as members of different ethnic groups talked of their history, language and culture through the lens of their own experience.”

On the Job
Virginia Making Strides In Reducing Racial Achievement Gap. The Fredericksburg (VA) Free Lance-Star (6/30, Sampson) reports the Southern Regional Education Board released a study showing “Virginia’s public school students are making some progress in closing wide racial gaps in academic performance, and the state compares well to southern states on other measures, including high school and college graduation rates.” However, the same study found “the achievement gap for students with disabilities has increased in recent years and the state’s academic standards for eighth-graders appear low and potentially could leave students unprepared for the next grade level.” Also, the report found “Virginia’s public four-year colleges and universities reported that two-thirds of students who entered as first-time, full-time freshmen in 2002 graduated within six years from the institution they first attended” compared to 53% regionally.

NEA Turns To Congress To Address Concerns About NCLB Unfunded Mandates. Education Week (6/10) reports, “Fresh from a snub by the US Supreme Court, the National Education Association is turning to Congress to address its concerns that the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) — in the form of the 8-year-old No Child Left Behind Act — is an unfunded mandate.” Congress may consider the issue with “other questions in considering the renewal of the ESEA,” according to “Martha Derthink…who has written about court challenges to NCLB.” When considering ESEA reauthorization, said NEA’s general counsel, Alice O’Brien, “lawmakers ‘need to think through that issue very clearly, and NEA will encourage them to do so.” Meanwhile, the Obama “Administration, which earlier this year unveiled a blueprint for renewing the ESEA, has indicated it doesn’t agree with the [NEA's] arguments.”

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In the Classroom
Distance Learning Network Brings Lessons From NASA To Fifth-Graders. The St. Petersburg Times (6/10, Ritchie) reports that recently, students in Juretta Carr’s science classes at Moton Elementary School in Brooksville, Florida, “took advantage of special equipment and a distance learning network…to bring Damon Talley, the Digital Learning Network coordinator at NASA, to the classroom.” The fifth-graders “talked and interacted with Talley just as if he were right in the room with them.” He demonstrated several science experiments for them “for about 45 minutes…asking students what they thought would happen.” Talley’s “lesson reinforced what the students had learned in class and was so new and interesting that everyone was engaged,” the St.

Common Core State Standards Released For Math, English. The New York Times (6/3, Dillon) reports, “The nation’s governors and state school chiefs released on Wednesday a new set of academic standards, their final recommendations for what students should master in English and math as they move from the primary grades through high school graduation.” According to the Times, “The new standards were written by English and math experts convened last year by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers” and “are laid out in two documents: Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, and Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects.”

The AP (6/3, Turner) reports that under the new standards, “third-graders should understand subject-verb agreement, fifth-graders need to know about metaphors and similes and seventh-graders must understand how to calculate surface area.” States that opt-in “are supposed to use the standards as a base on which to build their curricula and testing, but they can make their benchmarks tougher than Common Core.” The AP (6/3) adds in a separate story that Wisconsin state superintendent Tony Evers “immediately adopted” the standards.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (6/3, Torres) reports, “Georgia is poised to become one of the first states to heed a call Wednesday by states’ governors and school leaders to voluntarily adopt common national standards in English, language arts and mathematics.” The standards “have the support from a who’s who of education experts and organizations, including the College Board, the National School Boards Association, the National Education Association, the National Parent-Teacher Association and the State Higher Education Executive Officers.”

The Washington Post (6/3, Anderson), Wall Street Journal (6/3, Banchero) and Christian Science Monitor (6/3, Paulson) also cover this story.

Number Of High-Poverty Schools On The Rise, Federal Report Finds. The AP (5/28, Armario) reports that according to the 2010 Condition of Education study released by the US Department of Education, “the percentage of public schools where more than three quarters of students are eligible for free or reduced price lunch – a key indicator of poverty – has increased in the past decade.” The report rleased Thursday also said that children at high-poverty “schools are less likely to attend college or be taught by teachers with advanced degrees.”

The Christian Science Monitor (5/28, Khadaroo) notes that “economic segregation is on the rise in American schools.” According to Richard Kahlenberg of The Century Foundation, “a public policy research group in Washington,” the “separation of rich and poor is the fountainhead of inequality.” He said that high-poverty schools “get worse teachers … are more chaotic … [have] lower levels of parental involvement … and lower expectations than at middle-class schools — all of which translate into lower levels of achievement.” But, the Monitor points out, “cities aren’t the only places facing this challenge.” While 40 “percent of urban elementary schools have high poverty rates…13 percent of suburban and 10 percent of rural elementary schools do as well.”

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NEA Joins Push For $23 Billion Teacher Jobs Bill. Education Week (5/26, Klein) reported that the NEA, along with the AFT, has joined the push “to drum up support for legislation that would provide $23 billion to help school districts” avert “a looming tidal wave of layoffs.” The unions are “working on a media blitz called ‘Speak Up for Education and Kids’” that “includes an NEA commercial in which children dressed in suits and carrying briefcases ask whether Congress would be more willing to save their teachers’ jobs or keep their classes small if the children were Wall Street bankers.” In addition, the NEA has “established a hotline to help supporters of the bill reach their representatives in Congress.”

The Washington Post (5/27, Anderson) reports that the House Appropriations Committee may take up the bill “as early as Thursday.” Yesterday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan told lawmakers, “We desperately need Congress to act — to recognize the emergency for what it is. … We have to keep hundreds of thousands of teachers teaching.” Meanwhile, some lawmakers from both parties “say the government can’t afford an extension of last year’s economic stimulus that would add to the federal deficit.” According to Duncan, if the measure does not pass, “100,000 to 300,000 education jobs” would be “at risk, including support staff.” The Post also notes that the NEA’s television ads will be shown “in markets that are home to potential swing votes among House Democrats.” The Politico (5/27, Rogers) also covers the story.

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Full-Day Preschool Found To Benefit Boys, Some Minorities In Maryland District. The Washington Post (5/11, Birnbaum) reports that Montgomery County, Maryland, “boys as well as African Americans of both sexes benefit more from full-day pre-kindergarten programs, according to a study announced Monday by school officials. The findings come at a time when educators increasingly are using programs aimed at the youngest students as the surest way to close persistent gaps in performance between economic and racial groups.” According to the Post, “The study found that among African American students and boys in general, those who attended full-day pre-kindergarten classes outperformed their Head Start peers who had only half-day programs on reading benchmarks.”

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In the Classroom
The “Big Read” Aims To Revitalize Role Of Literature In Pop Culture. The Washington Post (5/11, Brown) reports, “Officials at the D.C. Humanities Council and the D.C. Public Library system are participating in the ‘Big Read,’ a program sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts to ‘revitalize the role of literary reading in American popular culture,’ are hoping that everyone in the city can learn from reading the same book.” The novel “A Lesson Before Dying,” by Ernest J. Gaines is this year’s selection.

High School In Michigan Wins Obama Commencement Competition. The New York Times (5/5, Calmes) reports that Kalamazoo Central High School in Michigan has “beaten more than 1,000 public high schools in a national contest” to have President Obama “as commencement speaker” in the first annual Race to the Top Commencement Challenge for high schools. According to the Times, “Officials at the White House and the Education Department chose the six finalists, whose videos and essays were posted on the White House Website” and “Obama made the final choice.” ABC News (5/4, Bruce, Blackburn) reported on its Website that after announcing Kalamazoo Central High School as the winner, President Obama added “a shout out to Kalamazoo Central’s mascot: ‘Go Giants!’”

The Christian Science Monitor (5/5, Paulson) reports, “On June 10, seniors at Kalamazoo Central High School in Michigan will get a rare honor for a high school: a sitting president as their commencement speaker.” Kalamazoo Central was among three finalists, including “Clark Montessori Junior High and High School in Cincinnati, and the Denver School of Science and Technology.”

The Kalamazoo (MI) Gazette (5/5, Mack) reports that Kalamazoo Central’s “entry focused on The Kalamazoo Promise, the college scholarship program for Kalamazoo graduates, and the reform efforts The Promise has inspired.” The AP (5/5) also covers the story, as did David Jackson in a blog for USA Today (5/4) and Valerie Strauss in a blog for the Washington Post (5/4). WWMT-TV Kalamazoo, MI (5/4) and KUSA-TV Denver (5/4, Boniface) also covered the story.

California To Submit New Race To The Top Application. The San Francisco Chronicle (5/1, Tucker) reports California will “throw its hat into the ring for the chance to win $700 million in the second round of federal Race to the Top funds despite the state’s arguably long odds and dismal showing in the last round, state officials said Friday.” State Secretary of Education Bonnie Reiss said the state “would need to vault from 27th place – out of 40 applicants – in round one to a spot among serious contenders – something that will require a complete revamp of the application.” This time, “six district superintendents, representing more than 1 million students in California, will craft the application rather than Sacramento policy wonks,” and it will “shine a spotlight on what those districts are already doing to turn around struggling schools, evaluate and support teachers and principals and measure student performance.”

The Los Angeles Times (5/1, Blume) reports the “names of the three largest districts, including L.A. Unified, had been disclosed in an article this week in The Times,” and Long Beach Unified and Fresno Unified “also were taking part.” But officials “revealed Friday that three other districts wanted to be involved as well: San Francisco Unified and two Fresno-area districts: Clovis Unified and Sanger Unified.” The state “developed a new strategy: A few districts would pursue reforms more specific and more aggressive than in the original state submission.”

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New from Ralph Fletcher!

April 20, 2010

Dear Governor Christie,

I am a teacher. As such, I have worked with all kinds of children, those who are bright and hard working and those who struggle to find success. Those who speak English and those who families speak a language different than English. I have worked with children from traditional homes and the homeless. Those children whose families fill their lives with rich experiences and activities and those whose parents are so overwhelmed with life that they have no time for anything else beyond survival. I have worked with children who are healthy and those who have severe medical issues, those children who are socially and emotionally well-adjusted and those who can’t cope with the world around them. I have taught kindergarteners and high school students how to read and write to the best of their abilities. I have dealt with the death of one of my first graders and the illnesses of my students and colleagues from sick buildings. With all of these diverse experiences I now know why it is that you hate teachers so much.

You see, there isn’t a teacher alive who hasn’t dealt with you in their career. We all know your secret. You are the 5 year old who shoves other kids around on the playground. You are the 8 year old who steals others lunch money. You are the teenager who pushes the weak kid into the locker or who flushes their coat down the toilet or the ‘cool kid’ who insults and humiliates those around you.

New York City Schools Chief Moves To Give Principals More Power Over Curriculum.
The New York Times (4/27, Medina) reports that New York City schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein “said Monday that he was reshuffling the top jobs at city’s Education Department headquarters and eliminating the division that oversees school curriculum and teacher training programs.” His aim is “to give principals more power to determine what kind of instruction they use at individual schools, rather than using only suggestions developed in central offices.” According to the Times, “The changes underscore a substantial shift that the department has made under Mr. Klein, who early in his tenure focused on centralizing control of the system and developing a uniform citywide curriculum.”

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In the Classroom
E-Curriculums Offer Schools Customized Solutions.
Education Week (4/23, Davis) reported, “With a wealth of online courses for school districts to choose from, plus an abundance of interactive activities, videos, and digital information to sift through to design such courses,” many “school leaders are” purchasing “online classes from nonprofit and for-profit providers, making their own from scratch, accessing open-source options, or combining all three approaches.” Education Week details the trends in individualized instructional programs, project-based courses, and custom-built programs created by individual schools.

Florida Virtual School, DOE To Host Virtual STEM Career Fair For Middle, High School Students.
The St.