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June 26, 2009 An unbridgeable chasm, mere miles apart "In the 20 or so miles that separate Jefferson High School from La Cañada High," writes The Los Angeles Times, "in the miles between inner city and suburb, there exists a social chasm so deep as to seem unbridgeable." In a profile of two students, personally similar but demographically opposite, The Times distinguishes between the two poles of public education in the sprawling confines of Los Angeles. La Cañada High, where Kyle Gosselin goes, "is about as good as public education gets in California," according to The Times. Jefferson, where Henry Ramirez attends, is "in hard-core South L.A. gang territory" -- improving, but still an urban public high school. "Let's confront a hard truth," proposes The Times. "Any visitor to your two schools can't help but notice that the La Cañada students, while hardly perfect, seem more focused, more driven to succeed than the average student at Jefferson." Kyle is groomed for college, and Henry juggles family obligations with academics. Both want to be doctors, but everything in Kyle's environment pushes him toward college, while much in Henry's pulls him away. "Same city, different circles. Different boys, similar dreams." Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-11thgrade22-2009jun22,0,2883533.story 250 D.C. teachers get the axe In what The Washington Post is calling "a landmark, of sorts" for D.C's public schools, Chancellor Michelle Rhee has fired about 250 instructors for poor performance or failure to obtain a license. The move is a radical change for a system that has historically dismissed only a handful of teachers per year. After Rhee failed to get concessions over teacher reassignment and firing from the Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) in contract talks, she promised to trigger a seldom-used 90-day mechanism on the books for years. Under it, instructors can be placed on a 90-day warning plan if a classroom observation finds them lacking in at least six of 17 categories, which include content knowledge and classroom management. Teachers are then assigned a "helping teacher" for a program of improvement, and subject to a series of conferences and scheduled and unscheduled classroom visits by administrators. Rhee's action is notable, since 80 of the 250 teachers fired have tenure. WTU president George Parker said the union would appeal decisions where teachers got inadequate support. In the past, the union has won reversals on a third of dismissals, though these have been far fewer at a time. Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/18/AR2009061803844.html?hpid=moreheadlines Teachers in the rubber room Over 700 NYC school teachers have been "rubber-roomed" at full salary, waiting for disciplinary hearings on charges that run from insubordination to sexual misconduct, according to The Associated Press. Because union contracts make it extremely difficult to fire them, teachers are banished to an off-campus space where they wait months, even years, for hearings and decisions. "You basically sit there for eight hours," said Orlando Ramos, a former assistant principal who spent seven months in what is officially known as a temporary reassignment center. "I saw several near-fights. `This is my seat.' `I've been sitting here for six months.' That sort of thing." Education officials blame union rules that require teachers to continue their jobs in some fashion while cases are heard, and does not permit them to be given other work. Ron Davis, spokesman for the United Federation of Teachers, said the union and the city agreed last year to reduce time instructors spend in reassignment centers, but progress is slow. "No one wants teachers who don't belong in the classroom. However, we cannot neglect the teachers' rights to due process," Davis said. New York's Department of Education estimates the practice costs taxpayers $65 million a year. Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5heYRW9pbqE-Ezt-lidTx-rGzP7IAD98VVBDG0 Ruling affirms provision in the IDEA In a 6-3 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court has found that an Oregon high school student can receive a private education at taxpayer expense without first having received public special education. His local school system, Forest Grove, fought the ruling in court, positing that a provision in the Individual with Disabilities Education Act of 1975 dictates that students first receive services in public school before private placement. Writing for the majority, Justice John Paul Stevens said Forest Grove's argument amounts to "immunizing" a district from liability for payment in the "egregious situation" in which officials unreasonably deny services and parents turn to private schools. In a dissenting opinion, Justice David Souter, joined by Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, noted the high cost of private school placements and said it "makes good sense" for parents to work with administrators to come up with an alternative within the public system. School systems nationwide warn that the decision could drain millions of dollars from tight education budgets. Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124569250832237881.html Related: http://www.eduwonk.com/2009/04/spec-ed-the-p-word.html A new analysis on Reading First In 2008, when the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) at the U.S. Department of Education published research on Reading First, the findings were widely interpreted to mean the program did not work. A new policy brief from MDRC feels the research was more nuanced. In MDRC's analysis, Reading First did increase professional development for teachers, and provide reading coaches for struggling readers. It also influenced teaching practice, aligning it with scientifically based research. The program's lack of impact on overall reading comprehension scores can be traced to two connected issues, according to the MDRC. In the first place, the type of instruction promoted by Reading First was already in wide use when the program came on line in 2002. The IES found that many teachers not funded by Reading First also spent class time focusing on similar, scientifically based reading instruction. Second, the additional 7-10 minutes a day instructional time with Reading First were too small on average to induce improvements in student reading comprehension. What the MDRC's new evaluation did yield, however, was that Reading First produced improvement in schools where it generated larger increases in instructional practice, schools that tended to be higher-poverty, as well. Read more: http://www.mdrc.org/publications/518/overview.html High-risk indicators in middle school for dropping out In a new study from Johns Hopkins University, researchers pinpoint the time in middle school when students can be seen to have "fallen off the path to high school graduation." The study sought high-yield indicators that identified students who, absent intervention, would have low odds of graduating and identified at least 25 percent of future non-graduates or dropouts. The report found that sixth graders who failed math or English/reading, or attended school less than 80 percent of the time, or received an unsatisfactory behavior grade in a core course, had a 10- to 20-percent chance of graduating on time. The brief looked at 23 middle schools in Philadelphia with students at least 80 percent minority and at least 80 percent qualifying for free and reduced-price lunch. The study found middle-grade experiences "have tremendous impact on the extent to which [students] will close achievement gaps, graduate from high school, and be prepared for college," the authors write. The fifth through eighth grades must therefore be reconceptualized, considered "the launching pad for a secondary and post-secondary education system that enables all students to obtain the schooling and/or career training they will need to fully experience the opportunities of 21st century America." Read more: http://www.nmsa.org/portals/0/pdf/research/Research_from_the_Field/Policy_Brief_Balfanz.pdf QUOTE OF THE WEEK "Already, it's possible that somewhere in our country the first Latino -- or Latina -- President of the United States -- sits in a classroom. This child's potential will be fully realized when education affords him or her the best chance of achieving all that he or she dreams." -Sarita Brown, president of Excelencia in Education http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2009/06/22/brown The PEN Weekly NewsBlast, published by Public Education Network, is a free electronic newsletter featuring resources and information about public school reform, school finance, and related issues. The NewsBlast is the property of Public Education Network, a national association of 79 local education funds working to improve public school quality in low-income communities throughout the nation. Please forward this e-mail to anyone who enjoys free updates on education news and grant alerts. Some links in the PEN Weekly NewsBlast may change or expire after their initial publication here, and some links may require local website registration. People wishing to add a NewsBlast subscription can go to PEN's website (http://www.publiceducation.org) and follow the instructions in the lower left-hand section of the homepage. Current subscribers can unsubscribe by clicking the appropriate link near the bottom of the NewsBlast mailing. If you use spam filters to protect your inbox, you may wish to take a moment right now to add PEN@publiceducation.org to your e-mail address book, spam-software whitelist, or mail-system whitelist. Adding the address will help ensure that you receive the NewsBlast and that your e-mail software displays HTML and images properly. |
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