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EDITORIAL DERIDES LACK OF FOCUS ON
EDUCATION ACROSS THE COUNTRY
In a recent USA Today opinion piece, Wendy Puriefoy, president of
Public Education Network, focused on the almost complete absence of
public education discussion and substance in the 2008 presidential
campaign. In fact, in the GOP debate on Jan. 30 in Simi Valley,
Calif., the word "education" was heard twice and the phrase No Child
Left Behind was mentioned only once. In the Democratic debate
between Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in Austin, Texas,
"education" was uttered just five times. In the piece, Puriefoy asks
the candidates, and indeed, all elected officials, five key
questions regarding the need for education reform so that every
child may benefit from a quality public education. Apparently
Puriefoy is not alone in her sentiments, as many Ohio educators
would assign the presidential hopefuls an incomplete when it comes
to education, reports Scott Stephens in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
According to substitute teacher Julie Crudele, "I don't hear
anything about education, and that really scares me." This also
scares the powerful National Education Association (NEA), which has
pointedly withheld an endorsement of any candidate. While the
remaining Democratic candidates have quietly vied for the union’s
support, neither has received the blessing from the NEA and its 3.2
million members that potentially account for six million votes. Reg
Weaver, NEA president, says that before the NEA endorses any
candidate they "want to know how America’s public schools fit into
this culture of change that [the candidates] talk about so much."
Another mounting concern is that, at the National Governors’
Association winter meeting, little time was spent on education,
reports Michelle McNeil for Education Week (second link below).
After all, if the governors aren't talking about schools, while
about half of their state budget is earmarked for K-12 and higher
education, then who will? Regardless, education must be a top
priority if America is to have any hope of solving the critical
problems facing the country. To help make education the issue it
needs to be, contact the candidates and the television network
debate sponsors (third and fourth links below).
Also:
http://www.cleveland.com/education/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/isedu/1204113342284890.xml...
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/
http://www.givekidsgoodschools.org/main/act.cfm?Category=Become_a&Section=Send_Letter_...
http://www.givekidsgoodschools.org/main/act.cfm?Category=Become_a&Section=Send_Letter_...
MAN STIFF-ARMS THE NFL, BECOMES GREAT
AFRICAN AMERICAN BIBLIOPHILE
As an African American child growing up in the 1940s, Charles
Blockson was told by a white teacher that black people had made no
contributions to history, reports the Associated Press. Even as a
fourth grader, Blockson knew better. So -- as any intrepid youngster
would do -- he proved her wrong by accumulating pieces of African
American history (like "Up from Slavery" by Booker T. Washington and
a biography of George Washington Carver). As Blockson grew older,
his searches led to more rarefied shops. He recalls bookstores where
he hid volumes he couldn't afford in hopes they would be there when
he saved up the money. Today, the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American
Collection at Temple University contains more than 30,000 historical
items, some dating all the way back to the 16th century. Scholars
are quick to note how lucky they are that Blockson began collecting
when he did, as many items he accumulated might not be available
now, or, if so, would be prohibitively expensive. It sure turned out
to be a great decision turning down the New York football Giants.
MAKING SURE CHILDREN KNOW THEIR
HISTORY
Those who have no knowledge of history miss out on the inspiration
that comes from the past, writes Marian Wright Edelman for the
Children’s Defense Fund. These sentiments echo that of Dr. Carter
Woodson, who founded Negro History Week in 1926 to give inspiration
to other African Americans. Dr. Woodson saw the week as vital to
ensuring everyone knew the great African American achievements
because many people, including some African American history
professors, couldn't name the myriad of contributions that community
had made to history. Wright Edelman writes the list of great African
Americans is numerous and children should learn their stories and be
given the tools and motivation to emulate their actions. In
addition, children should be taught as much as possible about the
heroes in their own families. This is so important because family
stories often provide the most memorable inspiration of all, as they
bring history alive and reinforce the idea that anyone can make a
difference. When looking back at historical accomplishments, people
must be reminded of how much unfinished business there is and thus
be motivated to write the next chapter.
iTEACHERS? VIRTUAL/DIGITAL TEACHERS
CAN OUTPERFORM FLESH AND BLOOD
Never let schooling get in the way of your education, Mark Twain
supposedly said. The latest advances in psychology and behavior
science take this quote to a new dimension with the advent of
virtual reality. Virtual characters and digital tutors are helping
children and adults develop social and language skills that can be
tough to learn using traditional methods, reports Robin Lloyd for
LiveScience. Justine Cassell of Northwestern University has found
that children with autism can develop advanced social skills by
interacting with a "virtual child" that they might not have been
able to develop through "normal" human contact. In fact, in some
aspects, digital teachers work better than humans. Virtual reality
allows participants to send only small amounts of non-verbal or
facial expressions to the other person, which benefits autistics who
often cannot deal with the intensity of face-to-face conversations.
This makes virtual learning quite beneficial as it allows speakers
to create renderings of themselves that are toned down or abstract.
Still, despite the efficacy of digital approaches to education,
there is reluctance in society for such tools to become widespread,
owing to a general discomfort with the idea that human teachers
might be replaced.
FAULTY READING COMPREHENSION METHODS
BLAMED FOR STAGNANT SCORES
In a recent WestEd Policy Perspectives paper, E.D. Hirsch argues
that United States students fail at math, science and reading partly
because reading experts have overlooked the most important aspect of
literacy. It is Hirsch’s contention that reading comprehension
depends on learning factual background knowledge in a broad array of
subjects, yet educators often mistakenly believe reading
comprehension is a transferable skill, like typing. That approach,
which assumes students can apply all-purpose cognitive skills and
critical thinking strategies to unfamiliar texts on any subject,
deprives students of the substance and intellectual structure they
need to read successfully. It also can negatively affect student
achievement in each subject area (not just reading). The resulting
comprehension deficit has become apparent in fourth grade
achievement scores nationwide and grows more acute as students
advance through school. When student achievement remains low
(despite every teacher’s good-faith effort), experts too often blame
other factors rather than the true culprit: faulty reading
comprehension methods.
TEACHER-PAY MODEL NOT SEEN AS
PROMISING AT SECONDARY LEVEL
A leading model for professionalizing teaching and changing the way
teachers are paid shows mixed capacity for raising student test
scores, reports Bess Keller for Education Week. The findings, part
of the first independent examination of the Teacher Advancement
Program (TAP), note that TAP middle and high schools lag behind
their non-TAP counterparts in test score gains. The research looked
at annual gains in mathematics test scores during the course of four
years for about 1,200 schools in two states. While TAP elementary
schools raised test scores in grades 2-5 more than the comparison
schools did, the same effect does not hold in grades 6-10, where
non-TAP schools did better, sometimes markedly so, according to the
research. Proponents of the program say they suspect divergence from
the model cut into gains that might have been made in middle and
high schools, especially as it is tougher to implement TAP at the
secondary level.
RELATIVE PARITY NOT A PHRASE VOUCHER
PROPONENTS WANT TO HEAR
The first report on Milwaukee’s groundbreaking school voucher
program has found that students attending private schools through
the program aren't doing much better or worse than students in
Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS), reports Alan Borsuk in the Milwaukee
(Wis.) Journal Sentinel. The authors of the report caution that
stronger conclusions will come only when trends over several years
can be examined and suggest that not much should be read into this
year’s results. But, let’s push that aside for the moment. The study
found the performance of both MPS and voucher students to be fairly
typical for low-income students nationally. This points to the
broader dilemma of how to achieve widespread educational success
among poor and minority students. At the nuts and bolts level,
fourth grade voucher students scored "somewhat lower" than MPS
students, while eighth grade voucher students scored "somewhat
higher." In addition, at all grades, both MPS and voucher students
had overall test scores well below the 50th percentile nationally,
generally settling around the 33rd percentile. Researchers also
found a wider variation in scores on tests among private schools
than among MPS schools. This potentially means that the range of
quality between voucher schools is much wider, while the range of
MPS schools tends to stick closer to the mean.
GLOBETROTTING TEDDY BEAR INSPIRES
TEACHING, LEARNING AND LITERATURE
As a teacher, Sloan Heermance used a globetrotting teddy bear to
drive home geography, history and writing lessons, reports Karen
McCowan for the Eugene Register-Guard (Ore.). Heermance outfitted a
12-inch stuffed bear with a backpack containing a journal and
disposable camera. Over the next decade, she sent him packing with a
series of volunteers who carried him to destinations as far as
Holland and the Kremlin. After documenting his adventures in words
and pictures, the participating world travelers helped him find his
way home. Upon Heermance’s retirement, one would think the bear’s
jet setting days were over. Not so. Heermance is planning to
incorporate the teaching tool into a series of books on United
States National Parks.
NEW RESOURCE HIGHLIGHTS COMMUNITY’S
ROLE IN EDUCATING ALL CHILDREN
Across America, front-line educators are working with their
communities to shape a fresh vision for the future of public
schools. Publicschoolinsights.org, launched this week, shows how
teachers, administrators, parents and others are finding common
ground and crafting innovative, 21st-century solutions to help all
students succeed. The site has a wealth of real stories that reveal
an emerging vision for public schools in the 21st century.
Additional features include a wide variety of success stories about
U.S. schools and districts that have adopted successful strategies
for addressing key challenges in education. The site’s ultimate
goal: to build a sense of community among those who are working at
the local level to strengthen their public schools, while showcasing
proven strategies. The initial launch included a story (link below)
about the Mobile County (Ala.) School District’s reform efforts,
which centered on intensive public engagement conducted by the
district and Public Education Network member, the Mobile Area
Education Foundation. These efforts resulted in the school district
making adequate yearly progress (AYP) in 2007 with 85 of 100 schools
meeting AYP targets, amounting to a 215 percent jump.
Also:
http://www.publicschoolinsights.org/stories/?storyId=10656
TAKING TANGIBLE STEPS TOWARD
TOMORROW: GET COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) has released a new report focused
on the school readiness challenge. The report, Tangible Steps Toward
Tomorrow, offers new solutions centered on the three major
influences on a child's education: parents, teachers and schools. To
develop these solutions, researches conducted observations in both
classrooms and homes. The report notes that researchers repeatedly
heard that an engaged parent is a major determinant of a child’s
success. However, becoming involved in a child’s education is not a
one-step process. To make this happen, parents need to be aware of
their child’s learning needs and be prepared to participate in and
feel in control during interactions with the school system. In
writing the report, researchers also found that many teachers feel
their creative freedom has been reduced in favor of structured
learning tasks. This makes empowering teachers critically important
to education. To do so, teachers require: a clear understanding of
the tasks they are allowed to perform; support, inspiration and
understanding from their peers; a collaborative environment; and,
regular feedback and reinforcement. In turning to schools, the
report explains that most often, by accident, schools are sending
isolating signals. For example, the need for security has resulted
in grim, jail-like buildings that actively exclude the community.
While these protective measures serve a real purpose, they should
also provide a launching point for better design solutions that
build connections between the community and the school. It has
become critical that parents, teachers and schools become a
collective organism to ensure children receive a quality education.
WITHOUT PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, YOUR
CAKE WON'T TASTE SO GOOD
Parental involvement is to education what eggs are to a cake. You
can make a cake without eggs, but it’s usually not nearly as good.
Similarly, parental involvement is a key ingredient to not only the
success of children, but the school and community as a whole. When
parents are welcome in schools and consulted about decisions
affecting their children, an atmosphere of trust and collaboration
develops. The Down East Partnership for Children (DEPC), a
non-profit organization serving children and families in Edgecombe
and Nash counties in Rocky Mount, N.C., believes that the quality of
education shapes not only a child’s future, but a community’s as
well. To ensure that children receive the assistance required to
forge better futures, the DEPC has advocated and supported both high
quality early care and a coordinated system of community resources
focused on empowering parents to be active participants in decision
making. Through their work, the DEPC has discovered that parents
benefit from being engaged and connected to other parents and
community resources well before their children enter school. In a
survey of all parents of kindergartens in both counties, DEPC found
that parents who are part of the DEPC Supporting Partnerships to
Assure Ready Kids (SPARK) program rated their child’s transition to
kindergarten and readiness significantly higher than those not
involved. In addition, parents who completed the survey spent an
average of 11 hours per week participating in educational activities
with their children. It’s clear that parents remain the key to
making delicious cakes as well as promising futures for children.
IT’S NOT QUITE THE BATMOBILE, BUT IT
DOES THE TRICK
From a distance, the large red aluminum contraption parked on the
frozen shore of Lake Superior looks like a small houseboat, yet,
instead of rudders, it’s perched on skis. Up close, as
schoolchildren pile in, it becomes clear that the mystery vehicle,
with two large fans on the back, is something else entirely. For
residents of a remote village on an ice-locked island off the tip of
mainland Wisconsin, the boatmobile, known as a windsled, operates as
a school bus, reports Susan Saulny for the New York Times. In
perhaps the most unorthodox mode of student travel, the children of
La Pointe (full-time population of 250) actually windsled to class
several weeks out of the year. Quite simply, it is the required
transportation for students separated from class by more than two
miles of jigsaw ice blocks coming together to form a shallow
floating road across a bay.
INCREASE ELL PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT,
CLOSE ACHIEVEMENT GAPS
A new policy brief from the Great Lakes Center has analyzed the
factors involved with generating effective parental involvement of
English Language Learners (ELLs). Parents of ELLs face daunting
barriers when they attempt to become informed and involved in their
child’s school. This, in turn, limits communication and
participation. Given the achievement gap between ELLs and English
proficient students, it is critical to identify practices that
improve ELL parental involvement and, in turn, student achievement.
While diversity speaks to the need for both traditional and
non-traditional models, with a dual-model approach variation in
language proficiency is acknowledged, communication is facilitated
and communities are recognized and integrated within the school
culture. The center recommends that policymakers fund the
implementation of non-traditional parental involvement programs that
reflect a reciprocal involvement in the school/parent community.
LET CHILDREN KNOW RACISM ISN'T
ACCEPTABLE
When a relative recently made a disparaging remark about African
Americans in front of Arica Prejean’s children, she immediately
repudiated it. Prejean considers speaking out against racism part of
her job as a parent, reports Melissa Dutton for the Association
Press. Still, many parents struggle with what to do when presented
with a similar scenario. Lawrence Cohen, a psychologist, believes it
is important to address the slur in a way that doesn't upset the
child. If the parent is able to calmly ask the person to refrain
from speaking in such a manner, then they should do so. One of the
most important factors to creating open minded children is to expose
them to people of all backgrounds. This means parents should start
talking about race early on, as parents underestimate the likelihood
of kids hearing racial slurs. For parents to adequately handle
racist comments, they should forget trying to be colorblind and
instead make conversations about race relaxed and frequent.
MOMMY CAN YOU HEAR ME? CAN YOU HELP
ME LEARN?
The goal of a new study from Vanderbilt University was to examine
whether explaining to another person improves learning and transfer.
In the study, four- and five-year olds solved multiple
classification problems, received accuracy feedback and were
prompted to explain the correct solutions to their moms, to
themselves or to repeat the solutions. The study found that
generating explanations improved problem-solving accuracy following
the test, while explaining things to the mother led to the greatest
problem-solving transfer. This indicates that explanation prompts
can facilitate transfers in children as young as five years and
reveals that it matters if the mother is listening. Even though it
is possible that prompting children could be a substitute for the
positive influences of a listener, there is reason to suspect that
explaining to another person improves learning. People often produce
more detailed and explicit explanations and justify their ideas more
when they are doing so for other people rather than just for
themselves. And young people adjust their speech based on the age of
the listener. It follows that explaining to others may increase
motivation and also support more complete and explicit knowledge.
This improved knowledge could be more easily transferred to new
situations and problems. The Vanderbilt study’s sentiments seem to
be echoed in a new piece in Teacher Magazine written by Kathie
Marshall (link below). Marshall begins by noting that a great deal
of research has been conducted on the importance of student
discussion and its prevalence in class. However, research from
Martin Nystrand finds that eighth graders spend an average of 50
seconds per class in sustained conversation, with ninth graders
spending only 30 seconds. So Marshall set out to see if discussion
could help improve struggling students. After four weeks, Marshall
was amazed at the results of this strategy. Many ‘C’ and ‘D’
students were suddenly performing at the top of the class and were
highly engaged in their work. One student wrote in her notebooks
that "I like this class because in our other classes, we get in
trouble if we want to talk about what we are learning."
Also:
http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2008/02/19/22tln_marshall_web.h19.html?qs=marshall
AUSTRALIA PLEDGES TO SUPPORT PARENTAL
INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLS
The Australian government has pledged to provide $800,000 over four
years to national parents' organizations to conduct on-the-ground
research, encourage parents and schools to work together and spread
best practices in family-school partnerships. The Australian Council
of State School Organizations, which represents parents in public
schools, sees this as a momentous occasion in the history of
Australian public education. The decision could open the doors for
improvements in the lives of young people, teachers and families and
will promote the inherent value of parental involvement in the
education of their children. |
