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STRONG, EFFECTIVE PRINCIPALS MAKE SCHOOLS
GREAT
So much goes into making a high school great: excellent teaching,
vibrant student populations, creative classes and strong
extracurriculars. But just as important is the person who leads the
school, reports Barbara Kantrowitz and Jay Mathews in NEWSWEEK. Good
principals may seem unlikely superheroes -- unless you're a student,
teacher or parent. They set the tone for what happens from the
moment the opening bell rings and can turn a troubled school around
with a combination of vision, drive and very hard work. It's a 24/7
job. "Schools aren't just about just reading, writing and arithmetic
anymore," says veteran principal Al Penna. "School faculties now
have the additional roles of mentor, adviser and quasi parent."
Principals also have to be politicians, crisis managers,
cheerleaders, legal experts, disciplinarians, entertainers, coaches
and persuasive evangelists for their school's educational mission.
Add to that already daunting list the task of statistician, thanks
to reams of data required by the federal No Child Left Behind law
and local testing. Who can fill that intimidating job description?
Endless energy does seem to be a requirement, as does a talent for
getting the best out of a large team. Above all, you have to be
someone who is caring and understands teenagers' needs. Finding
those leaders is harder than ever. To find out more about the
special pressures of running a successful high school today,
NEWSWEEK talked to Penna and four other school leaders around the
country. Click the link above to read their very different stories.
EVERYONE GET A FRONT ROW SEAT AT COMMENCEMENT
WITH ONLINE "GRADCASTS"
A growing number of school districts are allowing friends and family
to watch graduation ceremonies from the comfort of their own homes.
"Gradcasts," as some techies call them, allow viewers to watch live
streaming video of the ceremonies without the nightmares of parking,
uncomfortable stadium seats and long restroom lines. The web-based
technology is catching on among some school districts who say it
costs next to nothing to offer the extra service to students'
families, reports Jennifer Radcliffe in the Houston Chronicle. Some
districts have even started webcasting sporting events and
pre-kindergarten graduations. School plays and open houses aren't
far behind. "We haven't even tapped into the possibilities of the
Internet yet," said Mimi Morrison, director of technology for the
Huffman, Tex., school district, which will stream its graduation
ceremonies online for the first time this weekend. Rice University
and the University of Houston have offered live video streaming of
commencements for years. The gradcasts are especially popular among
family members who are elderly, living out of town or are in the
military, officials said. More school events should be broadcast on
the Internet, said parent Jose Marquez. "Nowadays, parents, we work
outside the home. We have to travel. If kids know we're watching
them somehow, it's awesome for them."
DO SOLDIERS HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BE CLASSROOM
TEACHERS?
Sergeant James Reynolds, at age 40, doesn’t look like your typical
soldier. His red hair is thinning. He’s potbellied. He wears
wire-rimmed glasses. And with his next training session three weeks
away, he can hang onto his beard for a while. But spend some time
with Reynolds at Hybla Valley Elementary -- a mostly minority,
high-immigrant K-6 school in Alexandria, Va. -- and you can see many
of the lessons he’s learned in the National Guard coming through.
Hybla Valley’s not the sort of school most teachers pine for, writes
Rich Shea in Teacher Magazine. More than 80 percent of the kids
receive free or reduced-priced lunches and roughly half are students
with limited English proficiency. But it’s exactly the kind of place
that Troops to Teachers focuses on. A 2005 study found that 54
percent of the 2,100 Troops teachers it surveyed were employed at
schools in which more than half the students were low income. Many
soldiers teach high-demand subjects such as math, science, and
special education. However, not everyone, thinks soldiers make good
role models. Arlene Inouye, of the Coalition Against Militarism in
Our Schools, worries that Troops educators could serve as military
recruiters, if only inadvertently. Whatever benefits it brings to
the classroom, Troops to Teachers has a checkered financial past and
an uncertain future. Funding has fluctuated in recent years and
participation has recently decreased. There’s also the question of
how much of a dent the program is making in teacher-shortage
numbers, given the millions of dollars being spent.
SCHOOLS BEGIN ABANDONING ELECTIVE COURSES
Under federal pressure to increase scores on English and math tests,
many low-achieving schools in the California Bay Area and across the
country are loading up students with two or even three periods of
math and English and abandoning electives such as art, music and
shop. Some schools believe that spending more time on the basics,
particularly English, represents a pathway to higher achievement
overall. The theory holds that to excel in all subjects, students
must know how to read and write, reports Shirley Dang in the Contra
Costa Times. Researchers and school districts are beginning to
question whether a double dose really helps students improve
overall. "There's some point to that. You can't understand social
science when you can't read," said Jack Jennings, of the Center on
Education Policy based in Washington. "But sometimes schools are
doing it in a way that's drill and kill," he said. "And that turns
kids off from education entirely." The center studies the effects of
No Child Left Behind across the country. In a 2006 survey, 71
percent of schools reported spending more time on English and math
at the expense of other subjects. "It certainly makes sense in the
abstract that students who don't do well in math and English need
more time in those subjects to learn the right skills," Jennings
said. "But it depends on how they're taught these skills."
FISCAL CHILL PUTS SQUEEZE ON SEVERAL STATES
While most states are enjoying full -- or even overflowing -- tax
coffers, a handful are confronting budget deficits that could
threaten public school spending, the result of sluggish local
economies and big-ticket programs. The financial squeeze is tightest
in Michigan, reports Michele McNeil in Education Week, where public
schools face significant cuts unless the legislature and the
governor can find a compromise on how to close a $700 million
deficit this fiscal year. In all, 11 states were taking in fewer
dollars than they had expected as of February of this year,
according to the latest report published last month by the
Denver-based National Conference of State Legislatures. And eight of
those states were reporting budget overruns, or spending more than
their current spending plans allowed, as of this February. "We have
been fortunate to get the kind of funding we have. But we’re in a
more difficult climate now," said Daniel Kaufman, a spokesman for
the Maryland State Teachers Association. "There needs to be a
stable, long-term funding source for education." Any new long-term
revenue source would be politically controversial, whether a tax
increase or, as is being considered as part of the long-running
funding debate in Maryland, adding slot machines to horse tracks.
But in order for the state policymakers to approve any new revenue
measures, politicians need to start building support among the
public, said professor Alvin L. Thornton.
ALCOHOL TESTS: THE NEW TICKET TO PROM
In a modern twist on an age-old ritual, school officials and
chaperones increasingly are using alcohol meters to crack down on
drinking at proms, graduations and dances. The equipment is on hand
during the rites of passage at some Michigan high schools, reports
Karen Bouffard in the Detroit News. Many parents welcome the tests
as a way to ensure safety on nights such as prom that are wracked
with potential for drunken-driving crashes. But critics argue the
tests could be used to unfairly target some kids, and not others --
and the consequences are too harsh. Most districts use the tests
only if they suspect drinking. But some schools administer them
randomly at every dance. They're not always welcome. Still, many
parents and administrators think the Breathalyzers are called for,
especially when weighed against the risk of a drunken-driving
accident. The tests are the latest weapon in the traditional arsenal
schools use to discourage kids from drinking. The Wayne County
chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has had a busy prom
season, putting on anti-alcohol assemblies for students. In Macomb
County, a coalition of parents and school officials is hosting a
countywide campaign this year to warn parents that they could be
fined, or face jail time, if they give their kids alcohol.
DO SCHOOLS KILL CREATIVITY?
Why don't we get the best out of people? Creativity expert Sir Ken
Robinson argues that it's because we've been educated to become good
workers, rather than creative thinkers. Students with restless minds
and bodies -- far from being cultivated for their energy and
curiosity -- are ignored or even stigmatized, with terrible
consequences. Robinson makes an entertaining (and profoundly moving)
case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity,
rather than undermining it. With ample anecdotes and witty asides,
Robinson points out the many ways our schools fail to recognize --
much less cultivate -- the talents of many brilliant people. "We are
educating people out of their creativity," Robinson says. "All kids
have tremendous talents and we squander them." He goes on to say
that he believes that creativity is as important in education as
literacy, and we should give it the same status.
CHRISTIAN RIGHT "STRIKINGLY UNSUCCESSFUL" IN
SCHOOL BOARD EFFORTS
During a period in which the Christian Right wielded a great deal of
influence in the federal and state political spheres, it appears to
have been strikingly unsuccessful in its long-term efforts to push
state and local school boards to adopt science curricula that
include questioning the theory of evolution and teaching intelligent
design as a legitimate alternative theory of creation, according to
a Connecticut College researcher. Kimberly Trebbi Richards found
that the Christian Right's initial short-term successes occurred
through exceptionally effective development of interest group
organization and lobbying techniques focused on electing or
re-electing supportive officials. However, the more permanent
reversals of those short-term successes came through growing
counter-organization by opposing groups and through court decisions.
Richards examined case studies from three major state or local areas
where the Christian Right was initially successful in influencing
science education at the elementary or high school levels: Kansas,
Georgia and Pennsylvania.
ENRICHING CHILDREN, ENRICHING THE NATION:
PUBLIC INVESTMENT IN HIGH-QUALITY PREKINDERGARTEN
Research is increasingly demonstrating that the policy of investing
in early childhood development, particularly high-quality
pre-kindergarten, provides a wide array of significant benefits to
children, families, and society as a whole. Empirical research shows
that all children, regardless of whether they are from poor,
middle-, or upper-income families, benefit from pre-kindergarten
programs. In addition, higher quality pre-kindergarten programs
provide greater benefits than lower quality pre-kindergarten
programs. Children who participate in high-quality pre-kindergarten
programs require less special education and are less likely to
repeat a grade or need child welfare services. Once these children
enter the labor force, their incomes are higher, along with the
taxes they will pay back to society. Both as juveniles and as
adults, these children are less likely to engage in criminal
activity thereby reducing criminality overall in society.
High-quality pre-kindergarten benefits government budgets by saving
government spending on K-12 education, child welfare, and the
criminal justice system, and by increasing tax revenues. A new EPI
book, by Robert G. Lynch, investigates how investments in
high-quality pre-kindergarten have significant implications for
future government budgets, both at the national and the state and
local levels, for the economy, and for crime. Lynch concludes that
high-quality pre-kindergarten pays for itself. Most government
expenditures do not create offsetting receipts to the extent that
early childhood education does and, indeed, it may be rare to find
public programs that pay for themselves at the budgetary level.
MORE WORK, LESS PLAY IN KINDERGARTEN
By pushing for all children to read before the start of first grade,
school leaders have embraced an emerging goal in public education.
In essence, kindergarten has become the new first grade, writes
Daniel de Vise in the Washington Post. Kindergarten used to be
mostly about play: singing songs, "housekeeping" in a Little Tikes
kitchen and being read stories. That is changing largely because of
full-day kindergarten, which has swept the nation's public schools
in the past 20 years, stretching the instructional day from 2 1/2
hours to six. The new kindergarten is partly a societal concession
to busy two-income families and partly a response to the growing
sense that five-year-olds are ready for formal study. No recent
statistics indicate how many of the nation's students are reading
when they exit kindergarten, and many school systems do not track
the reading skills of kindergartners. But literacy experts say
progress is clear. Historical data suggest about 15 percent of
kindergartners were reading a decade ago and fewer than 5 percent a
generation earlier. "Traditionally, first grade has been seen as the
grade where you teach kids to read," said Jennifer Turner, an
assistant professor of elementary reading at the University of
Maryland. "That curriculum was basically a first-grade curriculum.
And now it's a kindergarten curriculum."
SCHOOLS CANNOT AGREE WHAT TO DO WITH TWINS
Many school districts deliberately separate twins and multiples as
early as first grade under the belief that separation benefits the
individual development of the children. But the question of whether
they should be educated together in the same classroom has for years
been a source of conflict between parents and school officials,
reports Tim Grant in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. In recent years,
it has prompted lawmakers in several states, including Pennsylvania,
to take a closer look at the uncommon bond that exists between
twins, and school policies concerning their classroom placement. A
total of 21 states have either passed legislation or are considering
laws concerning twins or other multiples in schools. Multiple births
have increased dramatically in the past two decades, largely due to
delayed childbearing and the introduction of in vitro fertilization
in the 1980s. A report from the National Center for Health
Statistics in 2004 showed that the number of live multiple births
that year reached 139,494. That number included 132,219 twin births,
6,750 triplet births, 439 quadruplet births and 86 quintuplet and
higher births. As the number of multiple births has increased, so
has the pressure on state legislators to help parents struggling to
keep the children in the same classrooms.
GUIDANCE ON DROPOUT PREVENTION FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
The National High School Center has released an issue brief,
"Dropout Prevention for Students with Disabilities: A Critical Issue
for State Education Agencies," providing guidance to states as they
respond to requirements presented in the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004) in the
area of dropout prevention for students with disabilities. According
to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education
Programs, only 51 percent of students with disabilities exited
school with a standard diploma in the 2001-2002 academic school
year. The brief urges that to effectively assess outcomes for all
students with disabilities and to ensure that every student is being
given the opportunity to succeed, each state’s districts will need
to adopt uniform data collection procedures and calculation
methodology around dropout and graduation rates for students with
disabilities. The use of quality data is critical for states in
looking to decrease the dropout rate and to increase their capacity
for effective dropout prevention programs. The brief outlines the
requirements of IDEA and highlights the role of State Performance
Plans as starting points for states to develop data collection and
monitoring procedures. Considerations and recommendations for states
in providing a consistent method for tracking dropout data for all
students are also included.
A NEW
TAKE ON PARENT INVOLVEMENT?
In honor of International Day of Families on May 15, PARENTS FORUM
has published online their program handbook "Where the Heart
Listens." It is available for free download with a Creative Commons
license. The book explains the eight key questions that make up the
PARENTS FORUM curriculum, a light-hearted yet powerful approach to
dealing with the everyday stresses and frustrations of raising
children, useful to parents of kids of all ages, toddlers through
teens and young adults, and of interest to PTA/PTOs and parent
liaison staff eager for a new way to engage and serve parents. The
Cambridge, Mass.-based program, now 15 years old, offers peer
support workshops in English and Spanish suitable for a variety of
settings and populations.
STUDENTS LEARN
MEANING OF MEMORIAL DAY
For many Americans, Memorial Day is a three-day beach weekend.
However, students across America are finding out the true meaning of
Memorial Day through National History Day (NHD). NHD is a year-long
history education program culminating in an annual contest where
over half a million students annually present projects in the form
of documentaries, exhibits, performances and papers. More than a
student competition, the program is an exciting academic experience
that helps students learn about historical issues, ideas, people,
and events. By participating in NHD, students become experts in
their field of research and many interviewed veterans who shared
personal stories and fascinating insights on the men and women that
died in service to our country. The focus for the 2007 national
contest is "Triumph and Tragedy in History." NHD reaches over half a
million students, their families and some 40,000 teachers annually.
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