Teacher-Led School In California Sees Boost In Student Achievement, Enrollment. The AP (11/14, Hoag) reported that Francis Parkman Middle School in California “was spiraling downward with plummeting enrollment, abysmal test scores and notoriety for unruliness” four years ago. But after teachers took over leadership of the school, renamed the Woodland Hills Academy, “test scores [went] up 18 percent and enrollment has spiked more than 30 percent.” The Woodland Hills Academy is one of a growing number of teacher-controlled schools throughout the US. “Proponents say teachers can turn floundering schools into flourishing ones if allowed the freedom to innovate to meet the needs of their students.” But according to Claremont Graduate University education professor Charles Kerchner, student achievement at teacher run schools “has been mixed.” And some skeptics question “how smoothly teachers can run a school,” as “leadership by consensus often leads to slower decision-making, especially with people inexperienced in the substantial administrative work operating a school entails.”

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In the Classroom
Oklahoma Early Childhood Program Targets At Risk Students. The Oklahoman (11/14, Painter) reported, “The Educare programs in Oklahoma City and Tulsa are examples of those receiving some funding through the Oklahoma Pilot Early Childhood Program. …

Ohio Voters Rejected Roughly Half Of School Levies Tuesday. The AP (11/4) reports that “Ohio voters defeated about half the 214 school levies on ballots” Tuesday, “leaving some districts to contemplate closing schools and slashing bus routes.” According to the AP, “the failed levies…potentially put anything not mandated by the state as a core educational requirement – including sports – on the chopping block.”

The Cincinnati Enquirer (11/3, Clark, Smith) reported that 11 out of 15 school districts in Greater Cincinnati “asking voters to pay for local schools…were defeated” on Tuesday. Meanwhile, just “one new tax hike – Sycamore Schools’ $17 million bond issue for school construction – won at the ballot.” The consensus between school officials and opponents of new school taxes is that “the economy played a major role in the losses.”

WXIX-TV Cincinnati (11/4, Teasley) reports on some of the changes planned in the Lakota school district after Tuesday’s levy defeat. “The first thing to go is high school busing beginning this January — K-8 busing outside of a two mile radius will also be cut.” Next year, “130 staff members could be laid off and activities like junior high sports will also be eliminated.” Lakota Superintendent Mike Taylor said the district will likely “come back for another levy,” though he is not sure when.

On behalf of the Asbury Park Education Association, we would like to thank all our men and women who have served or are presently serving in the military. We especially want to extend our condolences to anyone who has had a family member or close friend who gave the supreme sacrifice of their lives during active duty. We have several members of our very own Association who have served in the military and we especially thank them and appreicate their service to our great country. And finally, let’s not forget the very students that we have educated in the Asbury Park School System who have enlisted in various branches of the military and are presently serving our country.

Please take the time out to reflect and thank these dedicated and selfless individuals for their service to our great country, the United States of America. God Bless.

Report Shows Drop In Violent Incidents At New Jersey Schools. New Jersey’s Star-Ledger (10/28, Calefati, Rundquist) reports that an annual report released this week by the New Jersey Department of Education shows that “New Jersey’s schools are getting safer, but prescription drug abuse is a rising problem.” The report credited “education efforts” for the five percent drop in violent incidents, three percent drop in vandalism, 15 percent drop in weapons incidents, and four percent drop in bullying. Meanwhile, “incidents of substance abuse possession rose — up 6 overall percent in the one-year period, including a 22 percent increase in prescription drugs and a 14 percent increase in incidents involving alcohol.” The findings were from “17,048 incidents reported by school districts in 2008-09.”

New Jersey’s Press of Atlantic City (10/28, D’Amico) notes that according to critics, “the reporting process for violence and bullying remains seriously flawed and represents just a small percentage of actual problems in the schools.” Stuart Green, director of the New Jersey Coalition for Bullying Awareness and Prevention, “said he believes the number” of incidents reported are up to “100 times lower than the actual number[s].” According to Green, “schools have been chronically under-reporting incidents for fear of landing on the dreaded ‘persistently dangerous schools’ list as required by the federal No Child Left Behind law.” Currently, no schools in New Jersey are on that list.

Good Morning,

Election Day is upon us. Please make every effort to get out and vote for the NJEA endorsed candidates. Polls are open from 6:00am to 8:00pm. If you are not sure where to go, contact your local municipality and they will be able to give you instructions. Endorsed candidates in Monmouth County are:

Legislative District 6 – Frank Pallone

Legislative District 12 – Rush Holt

Legislative District 4 – No Endorsement

In Monmouth County, just stay on the Democratic side for the candidates: Brophy, D’Amico, Venables.
Your vote does count so make sure you get to the polls right after school. This is an extremely important election.

New Jersey Governor’s Inflammatory Rhetoric Viewed As Impediment To Education Reform. Brent Staples writes in a column for the New York Times (10/25) that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) “has been bludgeoning the state’s teachers and their unions since he took office earlier this year” which “has raised his profile nationally” yet “has also made rational conversation on school reform nearly impossible.” Staples recounts former New Jersey Education Commissioner Bret Schundler’s view that Christie “sabotaged” New Jersey’s Race to the Top grant application, adding that when it comes to education reform, Christie “raises the right subjects – merit pay, tenure, evaluation – but nearly always in an inflammatory fashion.” Staples adds that even “if the school reform effort succeeds” in Newark, NJ, “the Christie style will have made it that much harder to pull off.”

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In the Classroom
Virginia District Removes Textbooks Over Claim About Black Confederate Soldiers. The Washington Post (10/24, Sieff) reports that Loudoun County, VA “school officials have decided to pull ‘Our Virginia’ from its fourth-grade classrooms because of its dubious claim about thousands of black soldiers fighting for the South during the Civil War.” According to the Post, “The publisher has said it will provide a sticker to cover the disputed sentence in ‘Our Virginia.’ The state Board of Education, which approved the book, said this week that the claim about African Americans fighting for the Confederacy falls outside ‘mainstream Civil War scholarship.’”

On the Job
Teacher Accountability Issue Analyzed.

APEA Happy Hour at Langosta Lounge

On the Boardwalk, Asbury Park

Friday, Oct. 22, 2010
Happy Hour Gathering
3:00

Visit with old friends and make new ones!

Utah District Launches “Drink Pink” Campaign To Boost Students’ Calcium Consumption. The Salt Lake Tribune (10/14, Winters) reports that Utah’s Jordan school district has launched a “Drink Pink” campaign encouraging middle and high school girls “to ditch the soda and pick up something pink — strawberry milk.” The effort is aimed at boosting “girls’ consumption of calcium,” so “every girl in seventh through 12th grades will receive a free bottle of strawberry milk during lunch one day this week.” The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey shows that “on average, girls age 12 to 19 consume only 60 percent of their daily calcium needs,” while “boys consume 83 percent.” Patrice Isabella, the nutrition coordinator for the Utah Department of Health’s physical activity, nutrition and obesity program, said that she would rather “see kids drinking milk without the sugary strawberry or chocolate flavors,” but she added, “If strawberry milk is replacing soda, then I’m all for it.” Isabella also praised Jordan’s “Drink Prink” campaign, calling it “clever” and “catchy.”

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In the Classroom
Nature Publishing Group Launches Social Networking Website For Science Education.

Kansas Students’ Reading, Math Scores Improved “Drastically” Over Decade. The Kansas City Star (10/12, Bormann, Sullinger) reported that state test results released Tuesday by the Kansas Board of Education show that “reading and math scores have improved drastically in the last decade.” Moreover, the test results “showed scores continued to improve even as proficiency standards increased.” However, the scores also showed that “many students need more help. Of the 1,380 public schools that took the state assessment test in the spring, 81 percent of the schools made adequate yearly progress, compared with about 87 percent last year.” State officials attribute the drop to an increase in performance targets from five to eight percent.

Free Online Financial Literacy Module Targets High School Students. The San Francisco Chronicle (10/12) on “a new interactive online module” aimed at teaching high school students financial literacy skills. “Burning Money” the free module “created by the financial literacy group FoolProof” is made up of “45- to 60-minute lessons…designed for high school teachers to use in computer labs.” Already more than “1,000 high schools across the country are using FoolProof.”

New York State Poised To Ease Schools’ Extra Help Requirements. The New York Times (10/13, Otterman) reports, “The New York State Board of Regents is set to excuse school districts from a requirement to provide extra help to all students who fail the state’s standardized exams, a number that grew by hundreds of thousands after the state made the exams tougher to pass this year.

Course Enrollment Among Illinois High School Students At Record High. The Chicago Tribune (10/4, Malone) reports that the number of Illinois high school students enrolling in college courses is at an all-time high this year. High schools throughout the state “are ramping up the number of dual-credit classes as a way to challenge teens and give them a taste of college.” These classes are offered “at a discount, or even for free, and potentially shave a semester’s worth of tuition.” Between 2004 and 2008, “the number of dual-credit classes offered by community colleges grew 71 percent” in Illinois, the Tribune adds. Data from the state’s Community College Board show that “English 101 was by far the most popular community college dual-credit course, with more than 9,000 students enrolled.”

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In the Classroom
Utah Schools Could Implement International Model Math By 2014. The Salt Lake Tribune (10/3, Schencker) reported that on Friday, Utah’s Board of Education voted to merge some math classes, so that “instead of taking a full year of algebra, algebra II and geometry, students would take classes that progressively integrate all those concepts.” Switching to the new method, called the international model of math instruction, “is part of the state’s adoption of the Common Core, new academic standards being embraced by a number of states.” The international model is currently being “used in most other countries, including those that perform well in math,” according to Brenda Hales, state associate superintendent.