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THE STATE OF AMERICAN SCHOOL
SUPERINTENDENCY
More women are becoming superintendents, as women currently make up
more than 20 percent of superintendents, up from 16 percent in 2000
and 6.6 percent in 1992, according to a new report released by the
American Association of School Administrators (AASA). Despite the
increase, 29 percent of female superintendents say a glass ceiling
exists that hurts their chances of being selected for the job. The
report includes information on the ever-changing roles
superintendents play, especially in light of No Child Left Behind (NCLB).
In fact, a majority of superintendents say NCLB has had a negative
impact on the nation’s schools. Not surprising, given the recent
education climate, superintendents experience high levels of stress.
Some 60 percent of superintendents find their position very
stressful and 15 percent say they experience very great stress.
Still, superintendents are drawn to the vocation by a desire to help
students achieve. The AASA report includes valuable information on
what makes superintendents tick -- besides federal legislation.
2007 NATION’S REPORT CARD FINDS
FOURTH & EIGHTH GRADE STUDENTS PROGRESSING IN MATH AND READING
The latest data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress
-- the richest source of American education information -- shows
that student achievement in mathematics and reading is on the rise.
Thankfully, math scores for 4th - and 8th-graders have continued to
rise since 1990. Unfortunately, the average 4th- and 8th-grade
scores were two percentage points higher in math in 2007 than in
2005. While the math achievement gaps are smaller in 2007 than they
were in 1990, there was no significant difference at the 4th-grade
level between 2007 and 2005. Meanwhile, the average reading scores
for 4th-graders was the highest in 15 years, even though the overall
gains since 1992 have been more modest than those seen for math. As
is the case with math, the average 4th-grade reading score was two
points higher than in 2005, and four points higher than in 1992.
Similarly, the average 8th-grade score was one point higher than in
2005, and three points higher than 1992. The release panel,
consisting of members of the National Assessment Governing Board and
the National Center for Education Statistics, was quick to praise
the assessments for the accurate snapshots they provided, but were
unable to explain the why of the outcomes. It seems to follow that
it wouldn’t make sense to "use" the results to praise or criticize
any form of education policy.
COURT ALLOWS BOYS’ PROTEST VIA
"HITLER YOUTH" BUTTONS
A federal judge recently ruled that two grade-school students in
Bayonne, N.J. can wear buttons depicting Hitler Youth, reports
Jonathan Miller of the New York Times. The dispute began last fall,
when Michael DePinto, 11, and his mother made a protest button that
included a photograph of Hitler Youth with the words "No School
Uniforms" imposed over the photo. Michael wore the button to school
for several weeks before the district sent a letter to his home
demanding that he stop or face suspension. In an action typical of
the current American climate, the boys’ parents sued, claiming
violation of First Amendment rights. The judge, Joseph Greenaway,
wrote in a 28-page decision that the button did not "materially and
substantially disrupt the work and discipline of the school." He
based his decision in part on a 1969 ruling by the U.S. Supreme
Court that allowed students in Des Moines, Iowa to wear black
armbands to protest Vietnam. Apparently, depicting the Hitler Youth
is different from swastikas, a Confederate flag, or a burning cross,
as had the buttons shown any of those symbols, Greenaway would have
ruled differently. The district is disappointed in the ruling and
concerned for what precedent it might set for public school students
across New Jersey. To his credit, Michael said he didn’t mean to
offend anyone, but merely wanted to make a point about conformity:
forcing uniforms on students is "what Hitler did to his youth, the
student said. Instead of arguing in court, perhaps Michael, his
history teacher and his parents should have sat down and read about
Hitler. The importance of the First Amendment is undeniable, free
speech must remain an unalienable right -- the problem here arises
in not knowing or learning that a picture of Hitler Youth could
possibly offend someone.
TEACH YOUR ‘CHILDRENS’ WELL
As Graham Nash’s song notes "Teach your children well/Their father's
well/Will slowly go dry/
And feed them on your dreams/The one they pick/The one you'll go
by." President Bush has long touted the importance of education, and
teaching children, especially the disadvantaged, well.
Unfortunately, it can be embarrassing when speaking about education,
with an audience that includes school kids, to make grammatical
errors, reports Mark Knoller of CBS News. President Bush, during an
event trumpeting the recent NAEP findings, said "as yesterday’s
positive report card shows, childrens do learn when standards are
high and results are measured." The president’s hope was to use the
results to affirm his call to Congress to avoid "going backwards
when it comes to educational excellence," noting that "we’ve come
too far to turn back." At least President Bush provided a little
(unintentional) hilarity in the midst of the reauthorization
"process."
$275,000 PAYMENT TO FORMER D.C.
SUPERINTENDENT JANEY DISCLOSED
The school district that spends the most money per pupil with little
to show for it spends even more money per replaced school
superintendent, also with little to show for it. Former Washington
D.C. school superintendent, Dr. Clifford Janey, who was removed from
his position when Mayor Adrian Fenty took control of the D.C. public
school system, will receive a $275,000 payment as part of a
settlement with the district, reports Theola Labbe of the Washington
Post. The city initially refused to release the terms of the
settlement, and only did so after the Washington Post filed a
Freedom of Information Act request. According to the settlement,
both sides entered into the agreement "for the purpose of fully
recognizing Dr. Janey’s services to the district." In addition, the
agreement places restrictions on what Janey and city officials can
say about his tenure as superintendent -- district officials are not
to "disparage" Dr. Janey and Dr. Janey will not "disparage" the
district or its officials. Maybe they will let the test scores do
the talking.
SCHOOL DISCIPLINE TOUGHER ON AFRICAN
AMERICANS
America’s schools remain as unequal as they have ever been when it
comes to disciplinary sanctions (think suspensions and expulsions),
according to recent data collected by the U.S. Department of
Education for the 2004-05 school year, reports Howard Witt in the
Chicago Tribune. On average, African American New Jersey public
school students are almost 60 times as likely as white students to
be expelled, Minnesota black public school students are suspended
six times as often as whites, and in Iowa, black students, who
constitute only five percent of public school enrollment, account
for 22 percent of suspended students. In every state except Idaho,
black students are suspended in numbers greater than would be
expected given their proportion of the student body. In 21 states
alone, the percentage of black suspensions is more than double their
percentage of the student body. Unfortunately, this is not purely a
socioeconomic issue, as middle- and upper-class black students are
being disciplined more often that their white peers as well. Russell
Skiba, widely regarded as the foremost authority on school
discipline and race, says "we can call it structural inequity or we
can call it institutional racism." The problem goes way beyond being
unfair to black youths, as research shows that a history of school
suspensions is a strong predictor of future trouble, or the first
step on the "school-to-prison pipeline" for black youths.
Additionally, few districts across the country have recognized the
stark inequity in school discipline. One district that has done
something is the Austin (Texas) Independent School District. When
school administrators realized blacks accounted for 37 percent of
students sent to punitive alternative schools, yet only 14 percent
of the district’s population, they introduced a program aimed at
encouraging positive student behaviors rather then punishing
negative ones. At one school, disciplinary referrals dropped from
520 in 2001-02 to just 20 last year. Skiba cautions that "there is
no silver bullet for this problem," and it is possible that schools
implementing positive behavioral programs are simply reducing white
suspensions, while increasing black suspensions.
DISABLED GIRLS BASK IN THEIR NEW
DESTINY: CHEERLEADERS
It is of little importance that Clare Kearney is unable to perform
sophisticated dance moves, or that she has Down syndrome and autism,
or that, in the beginning she barely looked at her teammates. Now
she stands beside them during practice in her "place," a competitive
cheerleader practice facility where girls perform intricate moves
flawlessly, reports Donna St. George of the Washington Post. Clare’s
11 teammates have similar disabilities and together they comprise
Destiny, a cheerleading team that has filled what was missing in
many of their lives: a sense of belonging, acceptance and
friendship. The team is one part of a grassroots movement to create
more activities for children with disabilities. While each success
has come one at a time, each achievement has had an immeasurable
impact on a child’s life. In the past year, special-needs cheer
squads have more than doubled to nearly 160. The need for these
types of programs is great as 5.5 million school children have
disabilities, but there are scarce few options for before- or
after-school activities. As a result of their participation, the
parents of the Destiny girls say they have become more talkative,
more comfortable socially, and more engaged. In addition, belonging
to this troupe has given the girls confidence, as they have
performed their routine under bright lights before thousands with
few problems. Ayaan Ayorinde, a 13-year-old with Down syndrome,
finished a performance at the Washington Convention Center with a
wave and kisses for the crowd. Allen Crocker, a Harvard University
professor, believes there is a social significance that goes beyond
the Destiny girls, seeing this as a "breakthrough." Cheerleading, so
often associated with snobbery and the social elite, has been "the
antithesis of isolation."
THE DAY LOUIS ARMSTRONG MADE NOISE
ABOUT SCHOOL SEGREGATION
Fifty years ago, and two weeks after the Little Rock Nine were first
barred from Central High School, Louis Armstrong was on tour in
Grand Forks, N.D., writes David Margolick in the New York Times.
Larry Lubenow, then a 21-year-old journalism student at the
University of North Dakota, was sent to Armstrong’s hotel to
interview him, with his editor’s caveat of "no politics." This would
have aligned with Armstrong’s wishes, as up to that point he had
been quoted as saying "I don’t get involved in politics...I just
blow my horn." With the help of a bell captain and a room service
lobster dinner, Lubenow snuck into Armstrong’s suite, and Armstrong
agreed to speak with Lubenow. Lubenow initially stuck to his
editor’s script, but soon brought up the happenings of Little Rock.
The response was shocking -- Armstrong said President Eisenhower was
"two-faced," and had "no guts." He called then Arkansas Governor
Orville Faubus "an uneducated plow boy," and sang the opening bar of
"The Star-Spangled Banner" with obscenities substituted for the
lyrics. Lubenow knew he had a story, but couldn’t get anyone to run
it, as the Associated Press editor in Minneapolis wouldn’t believe
Armstrong had said those things. So the next morning, Lubenow went
to Armstrong’s suite with a photographer and showed him the story.
After reading it, Armstrong, who was once called "Uncle Tom" by Jet
Magazine, said "don’t take nothing out of that story," wrote "solid"
below the last line and signed it. There was typical backlash, but
Jackie Robinson, Sugar Ray Robinson, Lena Horne and others quickly
backed Armstrong. One week later, President Eisenhower sent 1,200
paratroopers into Little Rock, and the next day those soldiers
escorted nine students into Central High School.
LEARNING FROM LONG BEACH SCHOOLS
What has the Long Beach (Calif.) Unified School District done since
winning the Broad Prize for Urban Education in 2003- Oh, they simply
were a finalist this year, being one of five school districts in the
country signaled out for demonstrating progress in closing the
achievement gap. According to the Los Angeles Times, the district
has followed a specific model, a model that has educators as far
away as Japan and Romania interested. In Long Beach, community
matters and education trumps politics -- the mayor, school board and
superintendent encourage extensive parent, teacher and community
involvement, and they remain focused on instruction. Instead of
hiding and ignoring the achievement gap, the school system makes it
an important aspect of ongoing instructional conversations. To help
close the gaps, newly hired teachers receive two years of training
on how to educate all students, including English learners. In
addition, the district holds back about 1,000 students a year,
effectively ending social promotion. Through the school district’s
tough stance and focus on education, they have also opened rigorous
courses to all students, resulting in a 105 percent increase in
African American enrollment in Advanced Placement classes. While
educators from across the world study Long Beach’s model, maybe it
is time for American urban districts to do the same.
FAILING EDUCATION IN CENTRAL AMERICA
No matter what you put before ‘America,’ poor and rural children in
Central America are being left behind. In a recent report released
by the Partnership for Educational Revitalization in the Americas (PREAL),
Central America and the Dominican Republic received poor marks in
the majority of areas the report evaluated. While more Central
American children go to school than ever before, the quality of
their education is dismal, with poor and rural children receiving
the worst of it, the report notes. The major causes of educational
inequities and failures are poor teaching and a low investment in
education -- as low as $200 per student per year. On average, the
U.S. spends $7,000 per pupil. To address these problems, the report
urges the region to strengthen the teaching profession by enabling
them to receive high quality training, test students and use the
data to improve instruction, and invest at least five percent of the
GDP in primary and secondary education, with specific attention paid
to poor and rural students. The report also advocates increased
community involvement, and believes the region should consider
turning schools over to parents, teachers and principals. Leonel
Fernandez, president of the Dominican Republic, said it best: "we
need to get education right or everything else will go wrong."
SCHOOL UNIFORMS: ARE THEY A GOOD FIT
In an era where some parents seem unwilling or unable to draw the
"clothes" line with their children, where pop culture influences
kids’ clothing choices as never before and school safety --
including keeping children out of the crosshairs of gang violence --
is at the top of everyone’s minds, school uniforms and dress codes
(looser but still explicit standards for dress) can play a
significant role. But what that role should be is open to
interpretation and can be a source of frustration -- and some
skirmishes, reports Marsha Boutelle in California Schools Magazine.
California Education Code 35183 gives school districts the power to
regulate student attire, declaring that "Schools need the
authorization to implement uniform clothing requirements for our
public schoolchildren." On the other hand, the same law also states,
"The governing board shall provide a method whereby parents may
choose not to have their children comply with an adopted school
uniform policy." This legislation -- the only state guideline
educators have to go by on the matter -- can be exasperating for
those who must wrestle with it day-to-day on campus. For the most
part, districts allow schools to decide whether to impose dress
codes or require students to wear uniforms. The vigor with which
schools enforce apparel policies differs from school to school. Some
will send children home for what may seem like a minor infraction.
Others try to be accommodating, realizing that neither parents nor
their children can always adhere to policy, for whatever reason.
Some educators use a combination of logic and humor to deal with
uniform-resistant students.
LIFE SENTENCE -- SCHOLARS ARE JUST
BEGINNING TO UNDERSTAND HOW PRISON IS RESHAPING THE COUNTRY
At one time, prisons were seen as mirroring American social and
economic disparities. However, new research suggests that the penal
system is not just a reflection of society but a force that shapes
it, reports Christopher Shea in the Boston Globe. In this view, the
prison system, which costs $60 billion a year, stigmatizes men with
limited education and job skills in such a way that makes it hard
for them to find jobs and slashes their wages when they do find
employment. In fact, ex-convict whites, Hispanics and blacks can
expect to receive about one-third less pay than their peers. Prisons
and jails, currently housing 2.2 million inmates, roughly seven
times the rate in the early 1970s, affect not only the incarcerated
but create conditions for future crime. According to recent
sociological studies, prisons have become "engines of inequality,"
actively widening the gap between the poor, especially poor black
men, and everybody else. In addition, mass incarceration -- with
700,000 ex-prisoners re-entering society each year, and a 750
prisoners per 100,000 citizen rate -- masks a substantial portion of
American poverty. In the height of the tech boom in 2000, 65 percent
of black male high school dropouts did not have jobs. Still, the
unemployment level for this group was only reported at 33 percent,
because government surveys excluded prisoners. Is the intent of
American prisons to reform, or is it to punish- It would seem that
in an ideal prison system, prisoners would be able to leave
incarceration behind and be more or less restored to their previous
status, with their "debt to society" being paid. However, recent
research suggests that when using nearly identical resumes, black
applicants with nonviolent drug records were called for an interview
5 percent of the time compared to 14 percent of black applicants
without records. Meanwhile, white applicants with records were
interviewed 17 percent of the time, while those without records
received interviews 34 percent of the time. Black Americans and
scholars are interpreting these trends as evidence of stark racism,
a justice system rife with inequality -- just look at Jena, LA.
CLUB EXPANDS FORMULA FOR INTERESTING
GIRLS IN SCIENCE
The Science Club for Girls has operated as an after-school program
at five Cambridge, Mass. elementary schools since the 1990s, reports
Janice O’Leary of the Boston Globe. This fall, it will debut in
Boston and Lawrence and will educate 25 girls in grades one to three
by having them dissect cow hearts, draw life-size human anatomy
maps, and perform other activities. The program will add a new grade
each year. The reason the Science Club starts young is to "nurture
the natural curiosity children have," and build an interest in
science that can last throughout a child’s education. Last year, 600
girls participated in the club, and 100 percent of the club’s
graduates have gone on to college. The staff is encouraged to talk
about college, even with girls in elementary school, hoping to set
expectations high. While girls’ focus on science usually declines in
high school, the club has been successful in maintaining that
interest. The Science Club for Girls is trying to curtail the trend
of fewer women entering scientific occupations, as over the past six
years the number of women graduating with engineering degrees has
declined. One would think simply getting 100 percent of participants
to go to college was enough.
‘BIOMOBILELAB’ OFFERS TOP-NOTCH
SCIENCE LESSONS, RESOURCES TO STUDENTS IN DISADVANTAGED AREAS
Across the country, affluent school districts provide students with
an opportunity to learn in well-equipped science labs. This is not
so for the estimated 77,000 students in poor San Jose (Calif.)
school districts, reports Jessie Mangaliman of the San Jose Mercury
News. Enter the Schmal Science Workshop, a local non-profit that
partnered with Agilent Technologies to launch the first school
science lab on wheels. The BioMobileLab, which runs on bio-diesel
fuel, will allow junior and senior high school students to take part
in valuable science lessons right in their neighborhoods. The
science lab on wheels provides equipment for advanced biology
experiments -- students will learn to use powerful microscopes
linked to video screens, and a DNA thermocycler, which can perform
DNA analyses with just a small sample, to name a few. In some cases,
high school students will be performing college-level scientific
investigations. The hope is that the lab reaches 10,000 students,
and will encourage more African Americans and Latinos to enter
science fairs. Current students are already making tremendous
strides -- one student is working on a way to use bacteria to
stabilize soil (something that might be useful in an area that
experiences earthquakes) and another is working on a new method
using an enzyme from horseshoe crabs to determine whether packaged
seafood is safe to eat.
LANGUAGE-LEARNING SURPRISE --
IMMERSION MAY PAY OFF FOR KIDS ACQUIRING ENGLISH
According to recent analyses conducted by the Piton Foundation and
the University of Colorado, students learning English make
dramatically greater gains in wealthier schools than in poorer ones,
reports Nancy Mitchell in the Rocky Mountain News (Denver). The
study found that low-income English learners made virtually no
progress in schools where more than 60 percent of the students come
from low-income families, while in the wealthiest schools, English
learners almost caught up with English speakers in the poorest
schools. These findings were expected, although the research showed
that the major difference between poor and wealthy schools is that
the former instructs students in their native language, generally
Spanish, while the latter requires students to be immersed in
English. This finding seems to raise questions about the use of
Spanish in classrooms. Admittedly, the study creates more questions
than it has answers for, and the study’s researchers were quick to
caution against concluding that the use of Spanish is hindering the
acquisition of English. Similar to what has been found recently in
Arizona, the research does suggest that there is "something very
wrong" with the English Language Academy programs in elementary
schools. Another possibility for the disparity, according to the
researchers, is that there are unqualified teachers in the poorer
schools’ programs. Nevertheless, the study does confirm previous
research that low-income students do better in schools with fewer
poor children. Conversely, students from wealthier families who
attend high-poverty schools appear to be "entirely unaffected.
PUBLIC SCHOOL PRACTICES FOR VIOLENCE
PREVENTION AND REDUCTION
Everyone agrees that students learn better if they feel safe at
school. The latest issue brief from the National Center for
Education Statistics examines the prevalence of formal practices
within public schools that are designed to prevent or reduce school
violence. The brief also describes the distribution of the practices
by selected school characteristics. It doesn’t appear from these
findings that there are nationwide school violence prevention and
reduction practices, as schools implemented a variety of different
practices, with some being more commonly used than others. In fact,
59 percent of schools formally obtained parental input on polices
related to school crime, and 50 percent provided parental training
to deal with students’ behavioral problems. Additionally, high
schools were more likely than primary schools to implement safety
and security procedures, while primary schools were more likely to
promote training for parents to deal with behavioral problems in
students. It might be worth noting that almost as many schools had
some type of security officer on hand on a regular basis (45
percent) as those that provided support for parents to engage their
children with behavior issues.
SURVEY: MONTANA METH USE PLUMMETS --
BIG DECLINES SEEN AMOUNG HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
Teenage meth use in Montana has dropped 45 percent since the Montana
Meth Project began two years ago, reports Jennifer McKee and Noelle
Straub of the Billings Gazette. In a survey conducted last February,
4.6 percent of high school students reported using meth at least
once, down from more than 13 percent in 1999, while in the last two
years meth use rose by 6 percent in Wyoming and 8 percent in South
Dakota. Since the Meth Project began, meth related crime in Montana
also has dropped 53 percent. Another survey recently found that
while Montana teens were as likely as their national counterparts to
say meth is somewhat or very easy to get, Montana teens were more
likely to believe the drug is more dangerous. In the all important
peer pressure category, Montana teens also were more likely to
believe that their friends would give them a hard time for using
meth. The Montana Meth Project, a campaign that uses graphic
advertisements depicting the effects of meth use, is given credit
for the spectacular turn-around. Attorney General Mick McGrath says
the advertisements, which display rotten teeth, wasted and
pock-marked bodies and losing one’s virginity in a dirty bathroom,
have been successful at reaching the at-risk kids. Soon other states
will copy the project, as Arizona, Idaho and Illinois have plans to
implement similar programs. When it comes to curbing the use of meth,
it appears all publicity is good publicity. |
