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May 8, 2009 |
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| 'Nearly impossible' to rid LAUSD of bad teachers |
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A Los Angeles Times investigation has found it's a "laborious and labyrinthine" task to fire tenured teachers in California. It involves "years of investigation, union grievances, administrative appeals, court challenges and re-hearings," The Times says, with some districts spectacularly bad at the process. A majority of appealed dismissals in the Los Angeles Unified School District are overturned, The Times found, and L.A. administrators are far less likely to fire tenured teachers than in other districts. The Times examined every case in the last 15 years in which a tenured employee was fired by a California school district and then formally contested the decision before a review commission, 159 cases in all. The newspaper found that building a case for dismissal is so time-consuming that many administrators don't try, except in the most egregious cases (such as sexual abuse). Although districts pursue the strongest cases, these get thrown out a third of the time by review panels, which have discretion to restore jobs even when grounds for dismissal are proved. Jettisoning a teacher solely because he or she can't teach is rare. In 80 percent of the dismissals that were upheld, classroom performance was not even a factor .If teaching competence is at issue, years of effort -- and thousands of dollars -- often go into rehabilitating the teacher as students suffer.
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| Against all odds, Afghani girls learn |
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Afghani parents who in the past forbade their daughters to attend school due to societal taboos are once again keeping them at home because of attacks by militants wielding acid or worse, National Public Radio reports. Nearly half the country's children do not attend classes, most of them in the Taliban-rife south, says Afghanistan's education minister, Farouq Wardak. Hundreds of schools have closed in Kandahar and neighboring provinces because of militant attacks and threats. Yet many girls are refusing to give up their schooling, no matter the cost. The Afghan government, aid groups, and defiant teachers are operating public schools and secret, in-home classes in a risky effort to ensure that Afghan girls get an education. Today, the number of classes exceeds 400, each with about 30 students. To help coax families into sending their girls, students are given wheat, cooking oil, and salt. "I want to serve my nation and my country," says 17-year-old teacher Marzia Sadat. "If the militants kill me, so be it. I pray to God as do my mother and father and that gives me the strength not to be afraid," she says.
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| Inherit the Wind? |
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A new study from the University of Minnesota finds that high school biology teachers greatly impact how college biology majors view evolution. The report, published in the May issue of BioScience, surveyed 1,000 students taking introductory biology classes at the University of Minnesota to gauge how biology majors view evolution compared to non-majors. Researchers found student views were quite close, and that high school biology teachers highly influence whether students question evolution based on creationism. The article incorporates prior studies that found more than 25 percent of U.S. high school biology teachers do not know it's unconstitutional to teach creationism. One third didn't major in biology in college and never studied evolution. One fourth believe creationism can be proven scientifically. There are few consequences for teachers who do not cover evolution or who teach creationism. "I was shocked that there weren't bigger differences between majors and non-majors," said Sehoya Cotner, associate professor of biology and co-author of the study. "Evolution is the foundation of the entire discipline. It leads me to believe that these students are probably interested in biology for reasons besides gaining a full understanding and appreciation of the science."
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| Do schools cross the line in physically restraining students? |
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Whether and how to physically restrain difficult students is a growing controversy in Massachusetts, and will be the subject of a hearing before the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor and a report from the Government Accountability Office, according to The Boston Globe. All are part of a national debate over whether school personnel are too quick to restrain students they deem unruly, resulting in physical or psychological injury, and whether certain devices, such as a Rifton chair that is designed to help students sit still, are ever appropriate. Critics say schools have failed to properly train teachers, leaving them ill-equipped to handle the growing number of children who physically act out or are in emotional distress. Staffing shortages from budget cuts are compounding the problem. Advocates also worry that special education students will be especially susceptible to discipline, and question the integrity of a system, such as that in Massachusetts, that relies on self-reporting as a form of monitoring. "This has become an increasing problem in schools, particularly as schools cut back on teachers," said Richard Robison, executive director of the Federation for Children with Special Needs. "Teachers get frustrated and can't deal with everything. What happens is teachers revert to using restraints illegally or inappropriately."
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| A fine-grained look at charter support in one state |
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Are charter schools a partisan issue? A new paper from the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education looks at precinct-level returns from three ballot referenda in Washington State. The authors matched local returns to student achievement, community demographics, political partisanship, and school resources to identify factors strongly linked to electoral support for charters. Low student achievement is a consistent predictor of support, as are teacher qualifications and school financing. When district teachers had higher levels of experience or education, voters were less likely to support charters, and in districts with greater local levies -- where taxpayers had more to lose to charter schools -- voters were less supportive. Although high-property-wealth districts tended to be supportive, where property wealth per student was rising, support was weaker. Political partisanship was the strongest support indicator at all levels of analysis, with Republican voting affecting charter support two to three times that of other explanatory factors. The authors also found that vocal opposition from the state teacher union to a charter proposal in one instance may have reduced voter support through its local representation: Where union membership was high as a proportion of all teachers, turnout was high, and voter support for charter schools consistently lower.
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| 'Stand and deliver time' for public education |
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Districts across the country will soon receive federal stimulus funds, which temporarily and substantially increase federal funding to public schools over the next two years. Some question whether the boost is an entirely good thing, writes USA TODAY. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan wants the money not only to save teaching jobs but spur student gains, leaving observers skeptical. "If you were trying to set the system up to look bad, one good way to do it is to throw an awful lot of money at it -- money it can't possibly absorb in two years -- and then expect that you're going to see changes in student achievement," says David Shreve of the National Conference of State Legislatures. But Amy Wilkins of the Education Trust says that even if schools can't produce better academic results in two years, they can show "that we've broken the habit of 'business as usual' " by killing ineffective programs. "This is 'stand and deliver' time for education," she adds. "If the education community doesn't deliver change with this money, this becomes 'TARP for Public Schools'... The next time we go hat in hand, it's going to be awfully hard to justify another investment."
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| Five suggestions for those federal stimulus funds |
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The Coalition for Student Achievement, convened in response to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, is comprised of 50 national organizations. In early May it issued five recommendations for governors, state school officers, superintendents, and other education leaders on how to invest federal stimulus dollars to leverage significant increases in student performance. The group recommends: developing national standards for testing; producing data that educators, policymakers, and parents can use; evaluating teachers in a meaningful way; turning around low-performing schools; and helping struggling students. If these recommendations are undertaken, the group says, by 2012 Americans will see at least 40 states adopting evidence-based, college- and career-ready testing standards; students, parents, teachers, principals, district, and state leaders will have comprehensive data that show what's working for students; clear, differentiated teacher evaluation systems will be in every state and school district; neighborhoods served by the lowest-performing five percent of schools will have new, quality education options; and students at least two years behind in reading, writing, and mathematics will get targeted interventions. "Transformation will happen only if state and district leaders are willing to take advantage of this investment opportunity," the recommendations say. "The forces of inertia are powerful... The time for bold action is now."
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| House committee seeks to encourage national standards |
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Seeking to remedy the variability in state standards that one witness testified is "off the charts," the House Education and Labor Committee convened a panel about helping states to develop common academic standards, reports the Alliance for Excellent Education. The witness, former governor of North Carolina James B. Hunt, Jr., called for common standards that are "fewer, clearer, and higher," internationally benchmarked, and "based on evidence about the essential knowledge and skills that students need to be prepared for college and work." Ken James, president of the Council of Chief State School Officers, described state-led efforts to establish common standards, and Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, detailed problems with the current system. She noted that textbooks try to "cover" the standards by having a "little bit of everything and a lot of nothing," and stressed that simply "getting standards right" was inadequate. Congress must also fix the "fundamentally flawed accountability system" in the No Child Left Behind Act. Rep. Howard McKeon, the committee's highest-ranking Republican, expressed support for the state-led movement, but said that the best thing Congress can do is "stay out of [states'] way."
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| Striving to face districts' issues head-on |
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A new assessment by the Strive Network, which is affiliated with the KnowledgeWorks Foundation, a local education fund, finds schools in the three urban districts of Cincinnati, Covington, and Newport, Ohio, to be "grim," according to The Cincinnati Enquirer. The "report card" rated most high school graduates from these districts unprepared for college-level classes, and in the view of The Enquirer's editors, the stark look is refreshing: "a glaring status report of a kind that too often has been downplayed by districts spinning out their successes and glossing over a comprehensive picture of the state of local education." The editorial points out that these underprepared students are the future workforce of the area, a compelling reason for action. The Strive Network, which includes the three districts, the region's universities, and civic leaders, focuses on programs in schools that have proven successful, exporting that success to the rest of the network. Not all news in the annual report was grim, however. Forty-eight percent of Cincinnati Public Schools' kindergarten students last year were judged "ready" for school, which means that most beginning students still start out behind, but this is a 10 percent improvement over three years ago.
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| Shop classes return with at 21st century twist |
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Students in auto-body shop in the Tucson (Ariz.) Unified School District don't just learn how to change oil or hammer out a dent. They use computer diagnostic equipment to fix cars, and learn the green technologies of hybrid vehicles and hydrogen fuel cells. And in construction classes, students still build -- in between lessons on resume creation and proper work-site communication. Welcome to the 21st-century shop class. In pockets around the country, a retooling of classes in career and technical education aims to give students job training, exposure to new technologies, and windows into different careers. The resurgence of shop has been slowly taking place nationwide over the last several years, partly in a response to industry demand. When shop classes began a decline in the 1970s, coinciding with a push toward college-bound classes, so did the number of young people entering skilled trades. Now, industries facing a worker shortage are pushing for the classes' return. The new incarnations of shop are a far cry from the old, in large part because technology has evolved so much. Today's classes incorporate a range of those abilities widely promoted as 21st-century skills, involving technology, communication, and collaboration.
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Voucherized kids to stay in schools where they're 'happy and safe and satisfied and learning'
President Obama has included $12.2 million in next year's budget to ensure that the 1,700 D.C. children attending private schools with vouchers do so until they graduate.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/breaking/Obama-overrules-congressional-Dems-on-DC-vouchers-44493337.html
Carrot quesadilla, coming soon to a lunch tray near you
Rafael Ruiz and five of his friends from Chicago's Richard's Career Academy showed off their award-winning, low-salt, U.S.D.A.- guideline-meeting school lunch meal on Capitol Hill.
http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2009/05/06/carrot-quesadilla-wins-school-lunch-contest/
"Superstitious nonsense" comment about creationism is said to violate the First Amendment
A federal judge ruled against a California high school history who was said to have disparaged Christians during a classroom lecture.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/corbett-religion-court-2387684-farnan-selna
So how's this going to work, again?
Californians want public schools spared from state budget cuts, but are less willing than before to foot the bill with more taxes, according to a statewide poll from the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-schools30-2009apr30,0,1938454.story
President honors ex-detective as Teacher of the Year
"As a police officer, so many of the kids, you get involved with them when it's too late," honoree Anthony Mullen said. "With teaching, you get to spend a lot more time with these at-risk students and prevent them from either going to jail or harming other people, turning into something productive instead of destructive."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-04-30-teacher-year_N.htm
New Jersey gubernatorial candidate: forget Abbott
Republican Steve Lonegan said he would cut court-ordered funding to New Jersey's poorest school districts and equalize state subsidies to all districts.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20090430_Lonegan_backs_cutting_court-ordered_school_funding.html |
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| NEW GRANT AND FUNDING INFORMATION |
Dollar General: Back-to-School Grants
Dollar General Back-to-School Grants help schools to meet some of the financial challenges they face in implementing new programs or purchasing new equipment, materials, or software for their school library or literacy program. Maximum award: $5,000. Eligibility: public and private schools within Dollar General's 35-state market area; public school libraries recovering from major disasters. Deadline: May 22, 2009.
http://www.dollargeneral.com/servingothers/Pages/GrantPrograms.aspx
ING/ National Association for Sport and Physical Education: Run For Something Better Awards
The ING Run For Something Better School Awards Program gives grants to schools for establishing a school-based running program or expanding an existing one to help fight childhood obesity and introduce kids to the benefits of physical fitness and healthy lifestyle choices. Maximum award: $2,000. Eligibility: K-12 schools. Deadline: June 1, 2009.
http://www.orangelaces.com/site/news/ing_announces_awards_program_for_schools_nationwide
Calypso School First Foundation: The Be Heard | School Grant
The Calypso School First Foundation will provide a school-wide sound-field reinforcement system to three schools in the 2009-2010 school year. Classroom audio reinforcement is a tool that helps special needs children participate, while leading to improved performance among all students. Maximum award: $37,150 value. Eligibility: K-12 institutions, including public, non-profit, charter, and private schools. Deadline: June 5, 2009.
http://www.calypsosystems.com/be_heard/
Samsung Techwin: Focus on Learning Grant Program
Samsung is offering Samsung 850DX document cameras, based on need, to help teachers upgrade the quality of technology tools in American schools. Maximum award: document camera ($899 value). Eligibility: teachers in U.S. schools who intend to use the camera in the classroom. Deadline: June 15, 2009.
http://www.samsunggrants.com/
NAESP/MetLife Foundation: Sharing the Dream Grants
National Association of Elementary School Principals/MetLife Foundation Sharing the Dream Grants let principals test ideas about involving and engaging their communities to build greater ownership for the work of their school by sharing leadership and decision-making, by keeping all stakeholders informed about all school news -- good and bad -- and by creating a school climate that fosters open communication, safety and security, and respect for every individual. Maximum award: $3,000. Eligibility: elementary school principals from around the country. Deadline: July 8, 2009.
http://www.naesp.org/resources/1/Pdfs/09SharingtheDreamApp.pdf
For more grants, see http://www.publiceducation.org/newsblast_grants.asp
"If we are not testing the right information, or the accountability system is flawed, or the tests are inadequate, or teachers are not supported, we will not reap the rewards a standards-based reform system offers. As we look ahead to NCLB reauthorization, we need to address these issues in order to fulfill the promise of offering all students a high-quality education."
-Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, in testimony before the House Education and Labor Committee, 4/29/09
http://edlabor.house.gov/documents/111/pdf/testimony/20090429RandiWeingartenTestimony.pdf
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