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February 5, 2010 |
Click here to read printable version |
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| Far removed from opportunity, and despairing |
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A new report from the College Board cites "overwhelming barriers" for U.S. minority males in becoming educated and productive citizens, proposes national strategies to erase "disparities in educational attainment" and find "new ways of reaching the increasingly diverse U.S. student population," according to Diverse Issues in Education. The 42-page report gives a detailed portrait of lagging educational attainment by African-American, Hispanic, Asian-American, Pacific Islander, and Native American males in comparison with other groups and minority women. (Among Asian-Americans, the data trends were disaggregated to show the most vulnerable population are males of Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander descent, in comparison with those of Northeast Asian descent.) At the study's unveiling, Gaston Caperton, president of the College Board, said it describes "young men who are so far removed from our opportunity culture that they almost have no hope of contributing to our social and our economic growth. As a result, they live in despair, hopelessness, and too often violence and incarceration." We continue to ignore their plight at our own peril, he said. Among the report's many recommendations are that the federal government, foundations, and concerned organizations convene a national policy discussion and fund research to clarify issues that could impact minority male achievement.
Read more | See the report | Back to top
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| NCLB overhaul in 2010 a stretch |
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According to The New York Times, it will be a "heavy lift" for the Obama administration to overhaul the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) this year. In 2001, it took Congress over a year to reauthorize the bill, which dates back to the Johnson administration and in its present incarnation as NCLB has produced widespread dissension. During the 2008 presidential campaign and his first year in office, President Obama's stance on the law was widely popular, with the president maintaining that it embodies worthwhile goals like narrowing the achievement gap between minority and white students but includes flawed provisions that need fixing. Now that revisions are to begin in earnest, however, Mr. Obama will have to advocate specific changes that will be unpopular with at least some groups. "It's hard to see how they can get" a rewrite done, said Joel Packer, executive director of the Committee for Education funding, which includes about 80 groups representing teachers, superintendents, principals, school boards, and others. "If there's some bipartisan agreement about what the administration proposes, and the Republicans say, 'We want to work together,' then maybe. But I think it's going to be tough."
Read more | Related | Back to top
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| State Policy Teacher Yearbook finds most states lacking |
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A new study from the National Council on Teacher Quality finds most states retain policies that protect incompetent teachers and have poor training programs, shortchanging educators and their students, according to the Associated Press. All but four states allow fired teachers multiple appeals of their dismissal, a process that can last years. Only five states have adequate preparation for elementary educators on reading instruction, and only one trains educators for effectiveness in math. More than half of states don't require special education teachers to take subject-matter courses while in school, and don't test them on content. Nearly every state awards tenure "virtually automatically," protecting inadequate teachers and making it difficult for schools to fire them. The report comes on the heels of the deadline for states' applications for the Race to the Top (RttT) federal grants, which required states to prove strength in areas ranging from performance pay to fostering charter schools. Sandi Jacobs, vice president of the council, said that while some have found the report overly negative, its timing is excellent given potential rewards from RttT. "We think it's really a blueprint for reform," she said. "Each goal is something we think states could and should be doing to reform teacher quality."
Read more | See the report | Back to top
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| Complexity needed |
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Claus von Zastrow at the Public School Insights blog has several recommendations for what he deems the "shrinking rolodex" of public education journalism. His suggestions are in response to a CBS News segment on school reform that relied on commentary from only two people, Andy Rotherham and Michelle Rhee, both of whom have "had a real impact on the school reform debate," but who stand on the same side of many issues. Von Zastrow would have those who cover education take several steps to break this tendency. Foremost, "don't just go where you smell blood." Chancellor Rhee is often tapped because she is likely to display her "fighting spirit" and foreground her take-no-prisoners policies, which make for good theater and appeal to a general frustration with reform inertia. But what about a deeper story, once heads have rolled and reorganization is in place? The aftermath generally demands a collaborative culture if change is to "take," and these are the efforts von Zastrow would have the media showcase. He also pleads against pushing reductive solutions as an end-of-segment wrap-up. If reform were a question of a few simple steps, surely these would have been taken already. "Is it impossible -- or maybe even foolish -- to acquaint the general public with complexity?" von Zastrow muses. Stay tuned.
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| Not your mother's abstinence-only sex ed |
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A new study on sex education in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine relates the success of an abstinence-only sex education program, reports National Public Radio, but it's different from the abstinence-until-marriage programs at the center of the sex-ed debate. Study author John Jemmott of the University of Pennsylvania designed an abstinence-only program that used teaching methods successful in other sex education programs. In addition to advising against sex, specially trained teachers engaged teens in discussions about what it would mean if they did. "They begin by considering, what are their goals and dreams for the future?" explained Dr. Jemmot. "What would they like to do five years from now? What would they like to do ten years from now? And then they have to consider how sexual involvement might make it difficult or impossible to achieve some of those goals." For up to two years, 67 percent of teens in the program did not have sex, compared to 48 percent in the control group without sex education. The study followed more than 600 African-American students in four middle schools in one city in the Northeast. However, it's critical to note, says Lauren Scher of Concentric Research & Evaluation, that these results do not apply to all abstinence programs, the majority of which advocate abstinence until marriage and don't discuss contraception.
Read more | Related | See the report | Back to top
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| National Standards, take two |
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Writing groups convened by the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association (NGA) are at work on a better-organized and easier-to-understand draft of grade-by-grade common standards, Education Week reports. The revision is in response to feedback that the earlier 200-plus-page version was confusing and insufficiently user-friendly. "Teachers, experts, and states have all said to us, 'Please pay attention to design so that it's clear to the end-user what the standards are.' So we're trying to both get the standards right and prepare a document that teachers around the country are going to find useful," said Dane Linn, director of the education division of the NGA's Center for Best Practices. Those who participated in the feedback process said the bulk of the current revamping involves making English standards easier to understand. Many reviewers faulted the draft for not making it clear which elements were the standards themselves and which were other ideas or principles. Forty-eight states have signed on to support the standards effort. The first public draft had been slated for a December release, but has now been pushed to mid-February.
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| What's so free-market about school reform? |
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In the February 1 issue of The New Yorker, Carlos Rotella profiles Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and in doing so divides education reformers into two camps: free-marketeers and liberal traditionalists. Not so fast, writes Kevin Carey at Education Sector's The Quick and The Ed blog: "The 'reformist' camp, such as it is, really consists of three only partially overlapping ideas that are collectively pretty far from a true free-market orientation." Roughly speaking, these can be characterized as the standards, testing, and accountability movement, which brought us NCLB; the strong mayor/chancellor mode of urban school reform, which actually seeks greater power vested in central government (think Michelle Rhee); and finally, charter schools, which Carey concedes have significant market elements, but are a far cry from classic free market organisms, which was how they had initially been sold. Sure, they create market competition for students, which can promote efficiency and customer service. But this "free market" emphasis misstates the biggest benefits of the charter movement, in Carey's opinion, which is that they're given an environment that shields them from the bureaucratic and political problems that can plague traditional school systems. "If that creates virtuous competition, bonus," Carey writes, "but if not, it doesn't undermine the case for charters."
Read more | Related | See an abstract of the article | Back to top
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| Push is on to diversify charter populations |
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More than 150 teachers, parents, and advocates have launched an aggressive drive in Boston to recruit immigrant families to city charter schools, an attempt to reverse "woefully low enrollment of students who are not fluent in English," The Boston Globe reports. The campaign entails canvassing neighborhoods with large immigrant populations, handing out fliers printed in Spanish, Chinese, Haitian Creole, and Portuguese; distributing applications; and advertising on radio and television in a variety of languages, as well as in ethnic newspapers. "We take the hit too often that we don't serve these children," said Kevin Andrews, headmaster of Neighborhood House Charter Public School in the ethnically diverse Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, and president of the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association. "We are going to make sure these kids get a great education. Charter schools will step up to the plate and show we can do it." The recruitment drive represents the first coordinated effort among the city's 14 charter schools to attract more English language learners, a group that has among the lowest achievement rates across the state. The move is also in response to a new state law that requires charters to have recruitment and enrollment retention strategies so their students reflect the demographics of their communities.
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| Are charters a segregating factor? |
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A new study of enrollment trends from the Civil Rights Project at UCLA shows that charter schools are less racially diverse than their traditional counterparts, The Washington Post reports. According to the study, seven out of 10 black charter school students are on campuses with extremely few white students, a reflection of high numbers of charters in major cities with struggling school systems and high minority populations. Professor Gary Orfield, who oversaw the study, said that racially segregated schools tend to face more problems than integrated schools in teacher retention, graduation rates, and other areas; moreover, charters have not been proven to be better academically than regular public schools -- though this is a matter of open debate. "We actually are very proud of the fact that charter schools enroll more low-income kids and more kids of color than do other public schools," said Nelson Smith, president and chief executive of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. "We're happy to talk about those demographic issues. We're also happy to talk about how to increase diversity overall in all facets of public education. The real civil rights issue for many of these kids is being trapped in dysfunctional schools."
Read more | See the report | Back to top
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Oh, yes he did
Education Secretary Arne Duncan called Hurricane Katrina "the best thing that happened to the education system in New Orleans" because it forced widespread changes to the low-performing district, according to excerpts from a recent television interview.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/29/AR2010012903259.html?hpid=moreheadlines
But then he apologized:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/01/AR2010020102128.html?nav=emailpage
Potential change for WI's sex ed
All public schools teaching sex education in Wisconsin would be required to instruct students about birth control and sexually transmitted diseases under a bill that Gov. Jim Doyle has said he will sign.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/82968902.html
Awkward...
A federal audit may force the Philadelphia School District to return $138.4 million in funds to the U.S. Department of Education because the money was spent on unallowable or insufficiently documented activities across an array of programs, including Title I.
http://www.thompson.com/public/newsbrief.jsp?cat=EDUCATION&id=2602http://www.thompson.com/public/newsbrief.jsp?cat=EDUCATION&id=2602
The plot thickens in NYC school closings
In NYC, the United Federation of Teachers and the N.A.A.C.P. have filed a lawsuit to block the closing of 19 schools for poor performance, charging that the city "studiously ignored" provisions of state law as it moved forward in its process to shutter the schools.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/01/teachers-union-and-naacp-sue-to-stop-school-closings/ |
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| NEW GRANT AND FUNDING INFORMATION |
Sprint Foundation: Character Education Grant Program
Sprint Character Education Grants provide funding to districts and individual schools for the purchase of resources that facilitate and encourage character education among K-12 students. Maximum award: schools -- $5,000; districts -- $25,000. Eligibility: all U.S. public schools (K-12) and U.S. public school districts. Deadline: February 5, 2010.
http://www.sprint.com/responsibility/education/character/index.html
ACTE: Cliff Weiss Award
The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) is sponsoring an essay contest in the memory of former ACTE Senior Director of Communications, Cliff Weiss (1951-2004). This year, students will be asked to respond to the question, "How is CTE an investment in your future?" The essay should be between 400-600 words in length. Maximum award: $250 and publication in ACTE's Techniques Magazine. Eligibility: students enrolled in at least one CTE course. Deadline: February 12, 2010.
http://www.acteonline.org/essaycontest.aspx
Ellie Goldberg for Healthy Kids: Healthy Schools Hero Award
The Healthy Kids Healthy Schools Hero Award is part of the campaign to promote citizen awareness and responsible leadership for chemical security by eliminating explosives and other hazards in today's schools. Help move safety from the margins of school activity to the core of school culture and curriculum in science education, vocational education, occupational health and safety, community service, comprehensive school health and injury prevention, school security, emergency preparedness, environmental education, civic education, school maintenance, and operations. Maximum award: recognition. Deadline: February 15, 2010.
http://www.healthy-kids.info/callforheroes2010.html
Open Meadows Foundation: Grants for Projects Run by Women and Girls
The Open Meadows Foundation is a grant-making organization for projects that are led by and benefit women and girls. It funds projects that reflect the diversity of the community served by the project in both its leadership and organization; promote community power; promote racial, social, economic, and environmental justice; have limited financial access, or have encountered obstacles in their search for funding. Maximum award: $2,000. Eligibility: 501(c)3 organizations with an organizational budget no larger than $150,000. Projects must be designed and implemented by women and girls. Deadline: Feb 15, 2010.
http://www.openmeadows.org/
Humane Society of the United States: National KIND Teacher Award
National Association for Humane and Environmental Education National KIND Teacher Award recognizes an outstanding teacher who consistently incorporates humane and environmental education into his or her curriculum. Maximum award: recognition and a packet of grade-appropriate humane education materials. Eligibility: teachers K-6. Deadline: February 15, 2010.
http://www.nahee.org/awards/national_kind_teacher_award.asp
National Energy Foundation: Igniting Creative Energy Challenge
The National Igniting Creative Energy Challenge is an educational competition designed to encourage students to learn more about energy conservation and the environment. Student entries must reflect the theme "Igniting Creative Energy" and demonstrate an understanding of what an individual, family, or group can do to make a difference in their home or community. Maximum award: $1,000. Eligibility: students in grades K-12. Deadline: February 19, 2010.
http://www.ignitingcreativeenergy.org/
For more grants, see http://www.publiceducation.org/newsblast_grants.asp
"Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world."
-- Howard Zinn (1922-2010)
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