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OH BOY, THE TEACHER IS OUT AGAIN
TODAY
From kindergarten through high school, students can expect to spend
a total of one year’s time with substitute teachers, time that is
all but lost for learning, reports Nancy Zuckerbrod for the
Associated Press. Despite the tremendous pressures on schools to
increase instructional time and student achievement, the vacuum
created by teacher absenteeism has been all but ignored. In fact,
the number of schools nationwide reporting that they used
substitutes to fill teaching vacancies (not simply teachers taking a
sick day) doubled between 1994 and 2004. The latest data show that
more than one-fifth of schools use subs in this way, which research
suggests leads to lower tests scores. Reagen Miller, a postdoctoral
fellow at the University of Washington, examined the impact of
teacher absences on fourth grade tests scores in an unidentified
large, urban district, finding that 10 absences within a year can
cause a significant loss in math achievement. Further, a regular
teacher missing two weeks can set students back at least that amount
of time. The situation is worse for low-income and minority
students, as principals in schools serving those populations are
more likely to say teacher absenteeism is a problem. Subs: good for
the prevalence of spit balls, bad for educational achievement.
QUALITY TEACHING: NEITHER ART NOR
ACCIDENT
It is no secret that quality teaching is one of the most significant
contributors to student achievement. This makes it absolutely vital
to define quality teaching in such a way that it can be both
quantified and taught. In a recent Harvard Education Letter
interview, Robert Pianta, dean of the Curry School of Education at
the University of Virginia, discussed the Classroom Assessing
Scoring System (CLASS), which measures the quality of instruction in
pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. CLASS is able to provide a
familiar framework for recording classroom events and focuses on
three broad domains of supportive teacher-pupil interactions:
emotional, organizational and instructional. CLASS further enables
researchers to look into 1,000 different classrooms across the
county that use the system with the same lens. Those researchers
have found that students in classrooms rated highly by CLASS are
achieving more. This is incredibly important as it goes beyond the
idea that good teaching is an unquantifiable art to something
focused on replicable skills. In addition, CLASS provides educators
with a tool for describing and discussing what good teachers do.
This in turn can be applied year to year, allowing for a consistent
experience for students. A consistent approach is invariably
valuable because research has shown that for struggling students,
having an effective teacher several years in a row plays a key role
in stabilizing achievement gains.
NO NAME CALLING WEEK MAKES OLDER
BROTHERS SHUDDER
Thousands of schools next week will take part in the fifth annual No
Name-Calling Week, a project sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian and
Straight Education Network and Simon and Schuster Children’s
Publishing. The week focuses on students in grades five through
eight, with the ultimate goal of ending name-calling of all kinds
and providing schools with the necessary resources to launch ongoing
initiatives designed to eliminate bullying. The week also highlights
the problems students face everyday at school, as 47 percent of
junior/middle high school students identified bullying, name-calling
or harassment as a somewhat serious or very serious problem.
Additionally, 69 percent of junior/middle high school students
reported being assaulted or harassed, and only 41 percent said they
felt very safe at school. Unfortunately, those sentiments are echoed
by school employees in West Virginia. According to the Associated
Press (second link), more than half of school employees felt
intimidated by a classroom bully last year. In addition, more than a
third of teachers say they lose about one day per week of
instructional time to disruptive behavior.
Also:
http://www.herald-dispatch.com/homepage/x808408616
HIP HOP CAFÉ SERVES CREAMY CHEESECAKE
AND VALUABLE LIFE SKILLS
Hip Hop Café, a new restaurant in Iowa, had a very successful
opening, reports Nicholas Bergin for the Burlington (Iowa) Hawk Eye.
What makes it all the more impressive is that the entire wait staff
(every bus boy, waiter and even the maitre d’) are eighth graders at
Oak Street Middle School in Burlington, Iowa. Despite their ages,
the lasagna was hot, the lettuce crisp and the cheesecake
deliciously creamy. The restaurant will be open twice a quarter and
is intended to provide students with valuable life skills. Students
(who apply and then need to be accepted) learn teamwork, leadership
strategies and the importance of responsibility. In addition, they
gain valuable experience filling out job applications, understanding
how to dress properly for work and how to treat customers. At the
very least, the food was much better than the sandwiches
administrators and teachers typically eat.
MASSIVE FEDERAL CUTS TO READING FIRST
WORRIES STRUGGLING SCHOOLS
Reading First, which has been credited with improving instruction in
struggling schools, may be severely hampered by a deep cut in the
2008 federal budget, reports Kathleen Kennedy Manzo in Education
Week. The reduction of more than 60 percent will probably inhibit
further improvements to the program and significantly test the
sustainability of any positive outcomes. At the same time, the cuts
do not release Reading First grantees from any of the program’s
strict regulatory guidelines. According to Amanda Farris, a deputy
assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education for the
U.S. Department of Education, it is up to states to implement the
cuts, "but it will probably mean 60 percent fewer schools and 60
percent fewer children," who take part in the program. The
controversies surrounding Reading First’s implementation may have
played a major hand, along with federal budget politics, in dooming
the program. According to Jack Jennings, the president and CEO of
the Center on Education Policy, "when the president vetoed the
appropriations bill that would have increased funding for
education,...Congress put the money where they wanted, rather than
in Bush’s priorities." Reading First isn't the only program missing
out due to budget cuts, as the president’s proposal for a similar
program to promote scientifically based math instruction did not
receive any of the $250 million the administration had asked for.
The initiative, Math Now, was approved with bipartisan support in
Congress in August, 2007. As Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon (R-Calif.)
put it, "ultimately, the result of these cuts will be fewer
resources to help children."
MIDDLE SCHOOL MATH TEACHERS ARE
ILL-PREPARED
A National Science Foundation (NSF) study has found that middle
school math teachers in the United States are not as well prepared
as their peers in five other countries (South Korea, Taiwan,
Germany, Bulgaria and Mexico). In comparison to the other countries,
future U.S. teachers ranked from the middle to the bottom on
measures of mathematics knowledge. One potential reason is that
during training in Taiwan and South Korea, future teachers typically
cover at least 80 percent of advanced math topics, while those in
the U.S. cover less than 50 percent. The best subject area for
future U.S. teachers was statistics knowledge, in which they
performed near the international average. Unfortunately, future U.S.
teachers struggled the most with algebra, which is at the heart of
middle school math. According to William Schmidt, who directed the
study, "the real issue is the courses [teachers] take...it’s not
just the amount of formal mathematics training they get. It also
involves training in the practical aspects of teaching middle school
math and of teaching in general."
IF YOU STUDY MORE MATH, YOU'LL
PROBABLY DO BETTER AT IT TOO
Recent research has shown American students lagging behind their
international peers in problem solving and mathematics literacy,
which makes improving the quantitative and analytical skills of
American youth a key concern for policymakers. Using data from the
Education Longitudinal Study of 2002, the National Center for
Education Statistics has released a new report examining the
relationship between the number and types of math courses taken in
the 11th and 12th grade as well as growth in math proficiency during
the same time period. The study found that by the end of their
senior year, students gave an average of 51.2 correct answers out of
81, compared to an average of 46.7 correct answers during their
sophomore year. In addition, the percentage of students with an
understanding of simple problem solving skills grew from 53 to 65
percentage points. The largest gains in intermediate-level skills
(simple operations and problem solving) within specific content
areas were made by those who followed the geometry-algebra II
sequence, while the largest gains in advanced skills (derivations
and making inferences from algebraic expressions) were made by
students who took precalculus paired with another course. Not
surprisingly, the smallest gains were made by students who took one
or no mathematics courses during their last two years. The findings
seem to echo the premise of a nine-state coalition that came
together in May, 2007 to launch a common student assessment in
Algebra II (second link).
Also:
http://www.achieve.org/node/836
U.S DOMINANCE IN SCIENCE AT RISK
The United States remains the world leader in scientific and
technological innovation, but its dominance is threatened by
economic development elsewhere, reports Cornelia Dean in the New
York Times. This revelation is included in the National Science
Board’s biennial report on science and engineering, which also
suggests that the country’s position is especially delicate given
its reliance on foreign-born workers. To remedy these issues, the
board recommends increased financing for basic research and greater
"intellectual interchange" between researchers in academia and
industry. On the knowledge front, the report notes that American
students have shown both promise and disappointment when it comes to
math and science achievement and that many Americans remain ignorant
about much of science, but in general, are not noticeably more
ignorant than people in other developed countries. These findings
should come as no surprise to the Hispanic community, as according
to a recent poll (second link), 96 percent of Hispanics think that
it is "very or somewhat important" that the U.S. should be a global
leader in medical, health and scientific research. In addition, the
poll, conducted by the National Alliance for Hispanic Health and
Research!America, indicates that 93 percent of Hispanics identified
education as a "very important" U.S. priority.
A MOTHER’S WORDS PROVIDE EUREKA
MOMENT FOR SUPERINTENDENT
In talking with a group of parents, William Mathis, Rutland (Vt.)
Northeast Supervisory Union superintendent of schools, fell into the
stock phrase that high test scores are necessary to be economically
competitive in the 21st century. As Mathis writes in the Rutland
Herald, a mother answered that she didn't want her son to be
globally competitive, but rather a good man, one who holds a job,
puts more into the community than he takes out, gets along with
others and is, quite simply, happy. This produced a moment akin to
Newton’s apple for Mathis, as he realized the mother’s words formed
a brilliant definition of the true purposes of education. As the
number of people voting dwindles every year, all levels of
government continue to build walls against civic participation in
the forms of incomprehensible funding formulas and pages of costly
mandates (the No Child Left Behind Act is over 1,000 pages). At the
same time parents raise the importance of well-being and happiness
for their children, bureaucrats talk of global competitiveness.
Parents and communities have grown distressed over an educational
system that is squeezing out the arts, social studies and recess in
favor of test preparation. Instead of measuring success by test
scores, it might be advantageous to think of success in terms of
what our children do to improve a world threatened by warming,
diminishing resources and factional wars, concludes Mathis.
LEAVE IT TO BEAVER TO STRENGTHEN
FAMILIES
What do the fictitious Huxtables, Cleavers and Cunninghams all have
in common? Their creators instilled characteristics in the families
that researchers have found to be fundamental for successful
children and youth. These include: loving nurturing relationships;
financial stability; and positive connections to people,
organizations and opportunities. In the United States, too few
policies and practices reflect the value of a family. A research
brief from the Family Strengthening Policy Center identifies
strategies to effect change in the hopes of producing long-lasting
gains in child and youth wellbeing. To truly shape society as a
whole, the shift in dynamics must invariably include all sectors of
a community. By working individually and collectively and in
partnership with low-income families, communities can help make
these important family fundamentals a reality. After all, not every
parent can be a doctor, lawyer or business owner.
AUSTRALIA EXPERIENCES
PAY-FOR-PERFORMANCE STRUGGLES
Overwhelming support has emerged among Australia’s teachers for
merit-based pay, with a majority believing wages should be pegged to
competence and qualifications, reports Justine Ferrari in the
Australian. A national survey of 13,000 teachers found that two in
three believe schools have difficulty retaining staff, and of that
group, 70 percent believe paying more to the most competent would
help stem the exodus. As in the United States, Australian teachers’
unions have argued strenuously against pay-for-performance. However,
the survey reveals that one in four teachers support higher pay for
those whose students achieve specific goals. The biggest shortage
for Australian high schools (as is also true in much of the U.S.) is
among math and science teachers, while six percent of schools
couldn't find an English teacher. The survey indicates that the lack
of a competitive pay structure has become a major problem, as
three-quarters of principals reported that teachers are paid
according to an incremental scale, with progression largely based on
years of service, not skill. According to a different survey
conducted by the Australian Education Union, more than four in five
Australians believe an education revolution can only happen if the
federal government invests substantially more in public education,
in particular for recruiting and retaining the best teachers,
lowering class sizes and giving more attention to individual
students. Sound familiar?
STARS SUPPORT TURNS LAGGING STUDENTS
INTO "STARS"
The Montclair (N.J.) School District’s special enrichment program
for underperforming students in danger of falling behind has made
school officials proud, reports George Wirt in the Montclair (N.J.)
Times. The program provides teaching support to students during the
regular school day, after-school tutoring and help with homework
assignments and, during the summer, a half-day program. School
officials are happy to report that STARS students are responding so
well that a significant number have been able to move up and out of
the program. In fact, more than half of the students in the program
exit after one year, and nearly 80 percent exit within two years.
Additionally, recent test results show that students receiving STARS
support achieved higher scores in state proficiency tests throughout
tested grade levels. The program received funding support from the
Montclair Fund for Educational Excellence, along with several other
partners. These combined efforts resulted in dramatic turnarounds in
the performance of many students who were once lagging behind.
PARENTS ARE FROM MARS, TEACHERS ARE
FROM VENUS
All teachers, at least once a year, are mystified by the actions of
parents, and the same holds true for the other side, writes Bill
Ferriter in Teacher Magazine. According to Ferriter, parents rarely
intend to be the red-eyed flame-breathing characters they
occasionally play during parent-teacher meetings and teachers are
rarely the incompetent, bumbling scatterbrains parents see in their
nightmares. So, to build a positive relationship with parents and
avoid the fire-breathing, teachers must recognize that parents are
powerful resources for information on how best to reach their kids,
making them invaluable partners. In addition, it is important for
teachers to communicate early and often, as parents want to know
their children’s strengths and weaknesses, and how they can solidify
learning at home. On the flip side, parents need to acknowledge that
teachers are professionals, who are generally highly trained with a
deep understanding of the content they teach. It also would help
communication if parents give teachers the benefit of the doubt, as
sometimes a child’s version of events is not the objective view
parents take it to be. Through open dialogue and communication, the
relationship between parents and teachers should strengthen, which
in turn should bolster achievement.
URBAN SCHOOL DISTRICT EMPLOYS "NO
TRESPASS" SIGNS TO CURB VIOLENCE
In Joliet and other urban schools outside Chicago, school officials
have reported increases in the number of students carrying toy guns,
knives and even electric Taser-like devices on school grounds. For
help with their mounting problem, educators have engaged the
authorities, reports Joel Hood in the Chicago Tribune. To curb these
dangerous acts, Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow
instructed three districts to post "no trespassing" signs in their
buildings that specifically outlaw air rifles, BB or pellet guns,
paintball guns and any "look alike" weapons that could be mistaken
for the real thing. In so doing, schools ratchet up possible
punishment because the signs allow violators to be charged with
misdemeanor trespassing. If convicted, students 16 and younger face
up to a year in juvenile detention, while those 17 and older could
land in jail. However, students often receive only probation and
community service. The "plan" is only five months old, yet it has
already sparked interest among educators in other counties.
CHILDREN ARE NOT REALLY FANS OF CLOWNS
Children, no matter what past tastes may dictate, are impossible to
peg. A new poll conducted by the University of Sheffield in England
finds that children don't like clowns, and some older kids are even
scared of them, reports Reuters. The study, which was released in
the Nursing Standard magazine, was designed to elicit suggestions on
how to improve the aesthetics of children’s hospital wings. All 250
children surveyed, aged 4 to 16, said they disliked the use of
clowns. Penny Curtis, a senior lecturer on research at Sheffield,
said, "as adults we make assumptions about what works for children,"
and everyone knows what happens when you make assumptions. |
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"Community-Campus
Partnerships for Health Award"
The Community-Campus Partnerships for Health Award recognizes
exemplary partnerships between communities and higher educational
institutions that build on each other's strengths to improve higher
education, civic engagement and the overall health of communities.
Maximum Award: public recognition. Eligibility: "community partner"
-- individual, organization or agency; "higher education partner" --
community college, college, university or residency program,
including affiliated administrators, faculty, staff and students.
Deadline: February 12, 2008.
"Arts
Education Award"
The Americans for the Arts Education Award is presented to a local
arts agency that can demonstrate systemic and sustainable results in
support of learning in the arts, or through the arts, for public
school students for a minimum of five years. Other important
criteria include the integration of work into school or district
infrastructure, involvement of public school and discipline-based
arts educators, effective partnerships, industry-recognized work,
success in building capacity for the organization itself and for the
community, and conscientious efforts to build the scale of the work.
Maximum Award: recognition. Eligibility: professionals,
administrators, educators, and community arts leaders who plan,
implement, and fund arts education. Deadline: February 15, 2008.
"Fiskars
Project Orange Thumb"
Fiskars Project Orange ThumbSM grants give Fiskars Garden Tools and
materials such as plants, seeds, mulch, etc. to eligible gardening
groups. Maximum Award: $1,500 in implements and materials.
Eligibility: gardens and/or gardening projects geared toward
community involvement, neighborhood beautification, horticultural
education and/or sustainable agriculture. Deadline: February 15,
2008.
"YSA
American Young Ambassadors Program"
The American Young Ambassadors Program, Ltd. global leadership
program recognizes the significant accomplishments academically,
athletically or through public service efforts of U.S. high school
students. The youth selected for this program will represent the
United States as Young Ambassadors-at-large at the 2008 Summer
Olympics in Beijing, China. Maximum Award: Four days in Beijing
during the 2008 Summer Olympics. While at the Olympics, the Young
Ambassadors will be volunteering at various venues; hosting a youth
summit; and hosting several leadership receptions including an
International Sports Leadership Reception with world-accomplished
athletes and a World Leaders Reception with heads of state and
leaders of corporations. Eligibility: youth ages 15-18. Deadline:
March 3, 2008.
"NCSS
Outstanding Social Studies Teacher of the Year Award"
Outstanding Social Studies Teacher of the Year Awards recognize
exceptional classroom social studies teachers for grades K-6, 5-8,
and 7-12 who teach social studies regularly and systematically in
elementary, and at least half time in middle or junior high, and
high school settings. Maximum Award: $2,500. Eligibility: Anyone may
nominate. Self-nominations will be accepted. NCSS Membership is
required. Social studies teachers for grades K-6, 5-8, and 7-12 who
teach social studies regularly and systematically in elementary
school settings, and at least half time in middle/junior high and
high school settings. Deadline: April 1, 2008. |
