This, together with the previously posted Lyons piece provides convincing arguments that Horne was indeed a victory.
Great job, David and others at MALDEF!

-Angela

Contact: David Hinojosa
Staff Attorney- MALDEF Southwest Regional Office
dhinojosa@maldef.org/ 210-224-5476

FACT SHEET ON SUPREME COURT’S DECISION IN
HORNE V. FLORES

On June 25, 2009, the Supreme Court decided Horne v. Flores, a case involving education of English
Language Learner (ELL) students in Arizona public schools. The Supreme Court reversed and
remanded the case back to the district court to determine a number of factual and legal issues in light of
its opinion.

Positive Points of the Decision

1. The significance of providing equal educational opportunities to ELL children cannot be
understated. The Court said: “There is no question that the goal of the EEOA [Equal
Educational Opportunities Act]- overcoming language barriers- is a vitally important one, and
our decision will not in any way undermine efforts to achieve that goal.”

2. States have continuing obligations under the EEOA to develop effective programs that will
allow ELL children to become proficient in English.

3. The Court rejected Arizona school officials’ claim that the State’s mere compliance with the
No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) constitutes compliance with the EEOA. Courts may now
consider whether substantial state educational changes made pursuant to NCLB—including
funding increases as well as programmatic and monitoring improvements to language
programs for ELL students—amount to “appropriate action” under the EEOA and help ELL
students become proficient in English.

4. Focusing solely on funding of ELL programs is insufficient to prove a violation of the EEOA,
but funding remains relevant because courts must still determine whether available funding for
general education and from local revenues supports “EEOA-compliant ELL programming.”

5. Returning control to the State by possibly dissolving the lower court injunction is important
but can only occur if the public’s interest is served and the State can prove that it has satisfied
its obligation of providing “appropriate action” under the EEOA.

6. No ultimate determination has been made on any of the claims by the plaintiffs in the case.
The lower court must still determine whether the following changes were significant enough to
satisfy the State’s obligation under the EEOA and, therefore, dissolve the injunction: a change
from Bilingual Education programs to Structured English Immersion programs; a change in
ELL programs and funding resulting from NCLB; and a change in Nogales’s local structural
and management reforms.





Negative Points of the Decision

1. The Court further relaxed the standard to dissolve injunctions under Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(5),
thus providing an avenue for defendants to circumvent compliance with an existing injunction
and to argue other changed circumstances.

2. The Court held that although the district court must resolve whether the State has provided
sufficient funding for ELL programs, the court must take into account funding for general
programs and other local sources rather than looking at targeted ELL funding alone. Thus
districts may be forced to “rob Peter to pay Paul.”

3. The Court stated that compliance with NCLB is not per se compliance under the EEOA, but the
Court also discussed in detail how the language program changes made by the State pursuant to
NCLB may, along with other changes, provide the basis for significant changes and
“appropriate action.”

4. The Court ignored, in essence, some of the data reflecting the overall lack of success of ELL
students, especially at the secondary level. The Court held, however, that the record at this time
is insufficient to make a final determination.

5. The Court’s majority opinion seemingly endorsed Structured English Immersion programs over
Bilingual Education programs and indicated that putting more money into education does not
matter, but those rhetorical comments carry no legal weight. As the dissenting opinion notes,
there is substantial research proving that bilingual education is far more successful than
Structured Immersion programs in helping students learn English and that providing sufficient
funding for quality educational programs will make a difference. Clearly, the debate is not over.

Background

The original action was filed in 1992 by a class of ELL students in Nogales, Arizona, claiming that the
State had failed to assist ELL students in overcoming their language barriers under the EEOA by
under-funding language programs. Plaintiffs prevailed at the trial level in 2000, proving that the State
had violated the rights of ELL students under the EEOA by failing to take “appropriate action.” The
district court ordered the State to provide adequate funding of programs for ELL students, an order
with which the State never complied. Following a series of court orders attempting to enforce the 2000
funding order, the State filed a motion seeking dismissal of the case arguing that a series of significant
programmatic improvements and funding for ELL programs made state compliance with the funding
order insignificant. The motion was denied by the lower courts. Arizona then sought review with the
Supreme Court.

In support of the plaintiffs in this case, MALDEF and other national civil rights groups submitted an
amicus brief arguing that Congress never intended for a State to be absolved of its responsibilities
under the EEOA by meeting its duties under the EEOA.

Founded in 1968, MALDEF, the nation’s leading Latino legal civil rights organization, promotes and
protects the rights of Latinos through litigation, advocacy, community education and outreach,
leadership development, and higher education scholarships. For more information on MALDEF,
please visit: www.maldef.org.

posted by Dr. Angela Valenzuela at 9:28 AM 1 comments Links to this post

Thoughtful commentary on common standards from blog.eduflack.com/2009/06/25/bolder-broader-accountability.aspx.

-Angela

The announcement last month about common standards and the work undertaken by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers seems to have captured the attention of most in the education community.  For those entering their first rodeo, they are worried about how these new standards will be applied and are worried about how they will be applied next year, even before the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

Those who have done this dance enough times know that the work is only just beginning.  The current common standard focus on high school exit expectations will have be walked back to first grade or kindergarten, providing common standards for the full K-12 effort.  With those standards, we'll also have to build the assessments that go with it, how we measure both what is being taught and what is being learned in the classroom.

One of the top concerns about common standards is that the current framework seems focused exclusively on reading and math skills, much as NCLB's AYP provisions were.  We assume that science will be added.  We hope to fold in social studies and other academic subjects.  And the recent release of the arts NAEP last week gives us hope that there is a chance that we will truly gage student proficiency on all of the issues and topics addressed during the school year.

Adding to this discussion is a new report out today from A Broader, Bolder Approach to Education.  BBA's approach is a simple one.  School improvement cannot be measured by test scores alone.  There are additional quantitative measures, as well as a number of qualitative pieces, that should be factored into current efforts to improve the schools and support our students.  (Full disclosure, my company has been providing counsel to BBA and its leadership on these issues.)

The full BBA Accountability Report can be found here.  But I'll recap the highlights:

When it comes to accountability, BBA calls on the federal government to:

* Collect state-level data -- from an expanded NAEP or from other national surveys -- on a broad range of academic subjects, as well as on the arts, student work habits, physical health and fitness, mental health, citizenship habits, and other appropriate behaviors that will enable students to achieve success in a pluralistic society and complex global economy.

* Improve the disaggregation of NAEP and other survey data, where appropriate, to include immigrant generation, parent education, and national origin.

* Maintain NAEP's low-stakes character to preserve its validity as an indicator of relative state performance, barring its use as an individual-level test for accountability purposes

* Require states to develop accountability systems that rely upon scores on states' own academic tests and other key educational, health, and behavioral indicators, along with approved inspection
systems to evaluate school quality.

And for BBA, it falls to the states to:

* Improve the quality of state assessment, particularly in reading and math, so that assessment results can plan an appropriate role in school evaluation.

* provide for the inspection of districts and schools to ensure that contributions to satisfactory student performance in academic subject areas, as well as in the arts, citizenship, physical fitness and mental and physical health, work, and other behavioral skills that will enable them to achieve success in a pluralistic society and complex global economy.Provide for the inspection of districts and schools to ensure that appropriate resources and practices, likely to produce satisfactory student achievement, are being followed and promoted.

* Intervene for the purpose of improving schools and district performance where it is unsatisfactory.

There are few that are going to feel lukewarm or ambivalent about BBA and its recommendations.  EIther you've drunk the Kool-aid or you are a true nay-sayer/doomsdayer.

True believers are going to embrace this as the fix to what is perceived as a severely flawed accountability system in NCLB, a model that only looks at reading and math, a model that only looks at grades 3-8, a model that fails to account for other academic subjects, other social developments, and other factors that impact the potential and success of the student and the school.  The broader, more comprehensive approach to assessment gets us closer to the multiple measures many states were pursuing before AYP became a primary word in their vocabulary.

Others will absolutely hate the approach.  They will fear that BBA is looking to weaken current accountability models, and are claiming that adequate assessment of math and reading proficiency should no longer be a priority.  It "softens" our current measurement efforts.  It places the qualitative over the quantitative.  And it turns back the accountability clock to when it was every state for itself, with each jurisdiction offering up some version of the good, the bad, and the ugly.  it seeks to deal a setback to one of the real successes of the NCLB era.

Will these recommendations become the centerpiece of ESEA reauthorization, either this year or sometime in the next decade?  Probably not.  But by throwing a spotlight on accountability at this stage of the game, BBA begins a very important debate when it comes to reauthorization.  

How do we effectively measure school improvement?  

What are the inputs and the outcomes we should be focused on?  

How do we define success?  

How do we measure success?  

How do we capture the full picture, knowing that curricular changes alone cannot get us to the intended destination?  

How do we take issues like 21st century skills and STEM and figure out how to effectively layer them into the common standards and the assessments that will come along with those standards?  

How do we ensure that all parties, from the classroom up and the feds down, are actually being held accountable for student learning and student achievement?  

All are important debates we must have now, if a reauthorized ESEA is indeed an improvement over the current.

Debate is a good thing.  Discussion is a good thing.  Even disagreement is a good thing when it comes to school improvement.  We need choices and different ideas.  We need devil's advocates and loyal soldiers.  We need to seriously consider our choices (as well as weigh what has worked and what has not in the past) if we are to put real, lasting, meaningful improvement in place.  So if BBA is lighting the match to start some of these debates, we are better for it.

And for those who think that these accountability recommendations won't hold any water with the Obama Administration and EdSec Arne Duncan, take a look at the following video clips.  Both candidate Obama's and President Obama's rhetoric seem far more like that of a true believer than a nay sayer.  This may have more legs to it than it originally appears.  

posted by Dr. Angela Valenzuela at 11:37 PM 0 comments Links to this post

This sounds like Texas' House Bill 3 which offered the very same justification for creating a vocational and technical training track for students by presumably making school "more relevant" and "more flexible." Never mind that of any sub-program in the state of Texas, the Voc-tech. track registers the highest dropout rate together with the related fact that by current law, teachers do not have to be certified to teach the voc.-tech. courses that they teach. -Angela

Diploma bill aimed at reducing high school dropout rates now headed to governor
by Jan Moller, The Times-Picayune
Tuesday June 23, 2009, 9:10 PM

BATON ROUGE -- A bill that aims to reduce Louisiana's chronically high dropout rates by creating a new "career track" high school diploma and relaxing the standards for promotion to ninth grade is on its way to Gov. Bobby Jindal's desk after the Legislature gave its final approval Tuesday.

The Senate voted 38-0 to adopt minor changes made by the House to Senate Bill 259 by Sen. Robert Kostelka, R-Monroe, ending an unexpectedly smooth journey for a bill that has divided educators.

Supporters said the new diploma, which would require increased vocational and technical training for students who don't plan to attend college, is needed to keep students in school who might otherwise join the 35 percent of Louisiana students who fail to earn a high school degree.

posted by Dr. Angela Valenzuela at 11:27 PM 0 comments Links to this post

This is a follow-up to my earlier post on the Flores ruling in Arizona with information from Jim Lyons himself. He did recommend that I disseminate this information widely. -Angelaa

June 26, 2009

Dear Colleagues,

I have good news to report regarding a major civil rights policy priority for the Alliance and the children we serve, ensuring the continuing vitality of the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 (EEOA).

Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a 5-4 decision in the case of Horne v. Flores, a 17-year old Arizona civil rights case brought under the EEOA.

The Court’s decision consists of the majority opinion, authored by Justice Alito, and a longer dissenting opinion authored (and delivered orally from the bench) by Justice Breyer representing the Court’s “liberal” Justices. The Court’s decision sends the case back through the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to the District Court for new hearings on whether Arizona, and the school district of Nogales are taking appropriate action to overcome language barriers which impede the equal educational participation and progress of language-minority students.

The highly technical Horne decision was overshadowed by another Arizona school decision handed down by the Court yesterday, Safford Unified School District v. Redding, holding unconstitutional the strip search of a 13 year-old student suspected of having given ibuprophen to a fellow student. The Redding decision was 8-1, with only Justice Thomas finding the school’s actions constitutional.

WHY THE HORNE DECISION IS GOOD NEWS

The Court’s decision in Horne upholds the EEOA and its mandate that schools must take “appropriate action to overcome language barriers that impede equal participation by its students in its instructional programs.” The Court rejected the state’s argument that the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act supersedes the EEOA in setting standards for what constitutes equal educational opportunity.

The Supreme Court’s decision in Horne effectively expands the focus of the case from the relatively narrow issue of school finance to educational program outcomes and effectiveness, which, of course, is all that matters in the life of a child, any child, every child.

When the case is retried by the Federal district court, the effectiveness of Arizona’s “unique” one-year program of 4 - hours per school day of “Structured English Immersion” (SEI) will be on trial. It is a trial that we can look forward to and must prepare for.

Much about the Arizona SEI approach is already known. It has not closed the daunting achievement gap that divides Arizona students by race and language. Look, example, at last year’s 4th grade science test scores.

Science, of course, is just one program, and the scores presented below are derived from a single test. Nevertheless, six times as many white students passed the AZ test of science achievement as did limited-English-proficient students. Even more stunning is the fact that while 31 percent of White students exceeded state standards, only 1 percent of LEP students did so.





In addition to English language and content area student test scores, the trial court will examine data on broader measures of school success and failure including data on attendance, graduation, postsecondary enrollment and college completion and other outcome measures rehears the case. The trial court will also examine both the quantity and quality of resources provided by the State and the Nogales school district in terms of teachers, texts, parental involvement, and other instructional features and components.

Later this year or in 2010, the federal district court will rehear Miriam Flores’ complaint. Not since the Supreme Court’s landmark 1974 decision in Lau v. Nichols have the legal questions been as direct and blunt: does Arizona’s SEI program enable limited-English-proficient national origin minority students to meet state performance standards, and does Nogales’ SEI program ensure LEP students equal educational participation and achievement.

Going forward, AMME will work with the Flores parties in the pursuit of justice. We also look forward to working with President Obama and the United States Congress on the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act -- to reform, strengthen, and improve the education of language-minority students, and in the process, the standards and quality of language education for all students.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

James J. (Jim) Lyons, Esq.
Legislative and Policy Counsel AMME
jamesjohnlyons@comcast.net
302 381-0755
2600 Crystal Drive
Suite 1319
Arlington, VA 22202

posted by Dr. Angela Valenzuela at 11:18 PM 0 comments Links to this post

On June 21st, I posted some unfortunately damaging comments about Professor Michael Hart that i drew from an article titled, "One of Their Own; Alternative Racist Conference Welcomes Jews," written by Janet Smith in a publication by the Southern Poverty Law Center and that I have since taken down. I sincerely apologize for any harm that this may have caused.

-Angela

posted by Dr. Angela Valenzuela at 11:07 PM 0 comments Links to this post

HIGH-QUALITY CHARTER SCHOOL REPORT CONFIRMS PAST RESEARCH
============================================================

June 24, 2009

Review raises some technical concerns but praises report's contribution to the
established research base showing minimal, and perhaps negative, average
performance results

Contact: Gary Miron, (269) 599-7965; gary.miron@wmich.edu [3]
Brooks Applegate, (269) 387-3886; brooks.applegate@wmich.edu [4]
Kevin Welner, (303) 492-8370; kevin.welner@gmail.com [5]

BOULDER, Colo. and TEMPE, Ariz. (June 24, 2009) -- A new report on the impact
of charter schools on student performance finds that, on average, such schools
perform no better than conventional public schools. The report, released last
week, claimed to break new ground in its national coverage and in the detail of
its analyses, and it received a great deal of attention from media and policy
makers. A review [6] of the report confirms its claims of a superior and
extensive data base and finds that its analyses are largely sound, with some
limitations that should have been shared in the report.

The report is Multiple Choice: Charter School Performance in 16 States, by the
Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) at Stanford University. It was
reviewed for the Think Tank Review Project by Gary Miron and Brooks Applegate,
professors at Western Michigan University with extensive experience studying and
evaluating charter school performance.

Multiple Choice draws its conclusions from the researchers' examination of
longitudinal, student-level data compiled from 15 or 16 states (the reviewers
note some lack of clarity on this point), covering 65-70% of the nation's
charter schools. The report analyzes the achievement of students in these
charter schools compared to that of matched students in traditional public
schools.

The primary findings of the CREDO report show that charter school students'
test performance is basically the same as the performance of students enrolled
in traditional public schools. Because of their very large data base, the
authors were able to tease out statistically significant differences in 54% of
the charter schools studied, with the following results: "17 percent [of
charters] provide superior education opportunities for their students. ... 37
percent, deliver learning results that are significantly worse than their
student [sic] would have realized had they remained in traditional public
schools."

In their review, Miron and Applegate summarize past research examining charter
school performance and conclude that the CREDO findings are consistent with that
earlier work. Charter schools, on average, appear to have achievement outcomes
that are similar to, and perhaps worse, than traditional public schools. "The
scope and relative rigor of the CREDO study reinforces the larger body of
evidence which shows no overall impact of charter schools on performance," Miron
and Applegate report.

The CREDO report also attempts to draw some state-level conclusions from their
results, looking that three policies associated with more or less
restrictiveness in the state charter laws: caps on the number of allowed
charters in the state, restrictions on who can authorize the creation of a
charter, and the allowance of appeals by charter applicants from a denial of
authorization. The results were mixed, and the reviewers conclude that the
analytic approach was undermined by the divergent manner in which these policies
are implemented. The reviewers do, however, present their own secondary look at
the state-level data (presented in their review) and uncover a pattern showing
states doing better when they have fewer charters and when fewer of those
charters are run by for-profit corporations.

Although too complex to be easily summarized, the review from Miron and
Applegate also raises a series of technical questions regarding the report's
analyses. Because of the potential value of the CREDO work, the reviewers urge
the authors to answer those questions in technical follow-up papers to the
report and in later work with their data base.

Find Gary Miron's and Brooks Applegate's review on the web at:
http://epicpolicy.org/thinktank/review-multiple-choice [7]

CONTACT:
Gary Miron, Professor
Dept. of Educational Leadership, Research & Technology
College of Education, Western Michigan University
269-387-3883
gary.miron@wmich.edu [8]

Kevin Welner, Professor and Director
Education and the Public Interest Center
University of Colorado at Boulder
(303) 492-8370
kevin.welner@gmail.com [9]

About the Think Tank Review Project

The Think Tank Review Project (http://thinktankreview.org [10]), a
collaborative project of the ASU Education Policy Research Unit (EPRU) and
CU-Boulder's Education and the Public Interest Center (EPIC), provides the
public, policy makers, and the press with timely, academically sound reviews of
selected think tank publications. The project is made possible by funding from
the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and
Practice.

Kevin Welner, the project co-director, explains that the project is needed
because, "despite their garnering of media attention and their influence with
many policy makers, reports released by private think tanks vary tremendously in
their quality. Many think tank reports are little more than ideological
argumentation dressed up as research. Many others include flaws that would
likely have been identified and addressed through the peer review process. We
believe that the media, policy makers, and the public will greatly benefit from
having qualified social scientists provide reviews of these documents in a
timely fashion." He adds, "we don't consider our reviews to be the final word,
nor is our goal to stop think tanks' contributions to a public dialogue. That
dialogue is, in fact, what we value the most. The best ideas come about through
rigorous critique and debate."

**********
###

The Education and the Public Interest Center (EPIC) at the University of
Colorado at Boulder and the Education Policy Research Unit (EPRU) at Arizona
State University collaborate to produce policy briefs and think tank reviews.
Our goal is to promote well-informed democratic deliberation about education
policy by providing academic as well as non-academic audiences with useful
information and high quality analyses.

Visit EPIC and EPRU at http://www.educationanalysis.org/ [11]

EPIC and EPRU are members of the Education Policy Alliance
(http://educationpolicyalliance.org [12]).

###
**********



(c)2009 EPIC. Education and the Public Interest Center, School of Education
249 UCB, University of Colorado at Boulder, CO 80309-0249.
Phone: 303-447-EPIC(3742) | www.epicpolicy.org [13]
To unsubscribe from future mailings, click here [14].



[1]
http://epicpolicy.org/newsletter/2009/06/high-quality-charter-school-report-confirms-past-research
[2] http://www.epicpolicy.org/
[3] gary.miron@wmich.edu
[4] brooks.applegate@wmich.edu
[5] kevin.welner@gmail.com
[6] http://epicpolicy.org/thinktank/review-multiple-choice
[7] http://epicpolicy.org/thinktank/review-multiple-choice
[8] gary.miron@wmich.edu
[9] kevin.welner@gmail.com
[10] http://thinktankreview.org
[11] http://www.educationanalysis.org/
[12] http://educationpolicyalliance.org/
[13] http://epicpolicy.org/
[14] http://epicpolicy.org/newsletter/confirm/remove/418bc9be955378t1

posted by Dr. Angela Valenzuela at 2:46 PM 0 comments Links to this post

From Mike's Desk.

"Mike asks and answers the following: But will we shut down 37 percent of all of the charter schools in the country because they perform worse than their traditional counterparts on math state tests? Or 83 percent of all charters because they perform worse or no better than their district peers? Let's assume that the CREDO study was overly pessimistic. Will we kill twenty-five percent of charters? Fifty percent?

No. It's more likely that the charter movement will go in another direction, already foreshadowed by the reaction to the CREDO study."

Interesting coverage of this debate. Read on.

Angela

Revolutionaries tempered by reality

There's some consternation within the education establishment right now with what it sees as Arne Duncan's obsession with charter schools. There he is, warning states that they will lose out on "race to the top" funds if they don't eliminate their charter school caps. There he is, arm-twisting legislators in Tennessee to pass a stronger charter law. There he is, speaking at the National Charter Schools Conference about the key role that charters are expected to play in the stimulus-driven transformation of our system, including the reconstitution of failed district schools.

But to the perturbed establishment I say: Take the long view. The fact that the school reform world is so invested in the charter movement will help you over time, if only because said reformers are learning how hard it is to boost student achievement and how unjust first-generation accountability systems are for gauging school performance.

This isn't an entirely new development. Five years ago, when the New York Times published a front-page, AFT-seeded story about NAEP results that showed charters to be trailing their district-operated peers, charter advocates suddenly discovered "value-added assessment." It wasn't fair, they argued, to base judgments of school performance on such one-time "snapshots." Schools needed to be judged on the progress of their students over time. To which the establishment replied, "Hey, we've been saying that for years about No Child Left Behind. Welcome to the party."

And so it came as no big surprise when then Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings allowed a few, and eventually all, states to move to a value-added system of accountability under NCLB. With both establishment and insurgents agreeing on the inadequacy of one-point-in-time measures, moving beyond them became politically inevitable.

Fast forward five years, and consider how things have changed and how they have stayed the same. The insurgents have become the new establishment. Arne Duncan and most of his team are charter school enthusiasts, many of them having toiled in the fruitful vineyards of reform-minded outfits like the Gates Foundation and the NewSchools Venture Fund. They run the show now, at least in Washington. They have big bucks to throw around. And they are doing all they can to help their colleagues in the charter movement, particularly the corner of that movement that's about replicating schools with high test-scores and "bringing them to scale."

This week brought another critical charter study, one that's harder to debunk than the earlier Times NAEP analysis. (See more below.) In part, that's because it was done by CREDO, Macke Raymond's outfit at Stanford, and she's a known charter supporter. In part, it's because the study looks at progress over time, with a sophisticated (though by no means perfect) methodology. And its results are sobering: 37 percent of the charter schools in her sample trailed similar district schools in math gains over time. Only 17 percent of charters bested their district-run counterparts. (Yes, the news looks much better for charters if you ignore brand-new schools, or students who just switched schools. And yes, charters seemed to do especially well with poor kids.)

Still, many charter supporters will agree with Secretary Duncan that the CREDO study is a "wake-up call" and that "the charter movement is putting itself at risk by allowing too many second-rate and third-rate schools to exist." We will close down the bad schools and multiply the good schools, they shout. And we could. And should. And in some places, already do.

But will we shut down 37 percent of all of the charter schools in the country because they perform worse than their traditional counterparts on math state tests? Or 83 percent of all charters because they perform worse or no better than their district peers? Let's assume that the CREDO study was overly pessimistic. Will we kill twenty-five percent of charters? Fifty percent?

No. It's more likely that the charter movement will go in another direction, already foreshadowed by the reaction to the CREDO study. Advocates will argue, first, that charter schools are getting decent results with a lot less money than traditional public schools. Show us more money and we'll show you better results! Second, charters will point to broader measures of success than test scores alone. Look how engaged students are in these smaller settings, they will say. Consider the award-winning character-education program. See how effective we are in preparing students for college. Notice the family atmosphere. Consider our arts program, our focus on the "whole child," and on and on.

Such arguments aren't crazy. The "intangibles" of schools certainly matter as much to affluent families as test scores--maybe more. Why shouldn't they matter to poor families, and policymakers who share their concerns?

Which brings us to the paper on school accountability released today by the "Broader, Bolder Approach to Education" crowd. Are you ready for some unexpected news? It is eminently sensible.

That's a big surprise, for in the past this coalition has appeared eager to refight old battles about whether schools can be expected to help poor kids reach high standards. Now, however, it's arguing for a broader look at school success--what might be termed "test scores-plus." They would keep test-based accountability, tweaked in various ways (with progress-over-time measures, better assessments, a more robust NAEP, etc.) and supplement it with school inspectors. These inspectors would guard against lousy practices, such as "an undue emphasis on test preparation," and catch schools engaged in good ones, like "a collegial professional culture in which teachers and administrators use all available data in a collaborative fashion to continuously improve the work of the school."

It's not hard to image charter advocates supporting such a system and believing that it will show their schools to have more supportive learning environments than what is found in a typical public school. Studies like the one from CREDO might show lackluster test results, but look at the whole picture and the story is much brighter, they will say.

So public education groups: If you seek a kinder, gentler approach to school accountability, keep rooting for Arne and company to continue their magnificent obsession with charters. Because the more real-life, in-the-schools experience the reform crowd gains, the more appealing these second-generation accountability systems are likely to be to them. And with the "new establishment" already calling for "more money"--well, their agenda is your agenda, too.

Labels: charter schools

posted by Dr. Angela Valenzuela at 12:44 PM 0 comments Links to this post

from the http://www.edexcellence.net/gadfly/index.cfm?issue=501&edition=N

The CREDO conundrum
A perennial question: How does the performance of students in charter schools and students in traditional schools compare? CREDO set out to answer this question in a longitudinal analysis of roughly 2,400 charter schools, operating in 16 states and comprising roughly 70 percent of the US charter school population. Let's break it down. Fundamental study design: Sound. Findings: Mixed. Explanation of analysis: Sloppy. Let's hit them in turn.

The methodology is based on a "virtual twin" approach. Specifically, each charter school student was matched by demographics and test scores with a student from the traditional public school (TPS) he or she had attended before switching schools (i.e., the "feeder school"). Then, gains in math and reading for the two groups of students were evaluated and the student-level results extrapolated to determine whether a charter school was serving its students better, the same, or worse than its matched TPS. Absent a randomized study, this is a reasonable approach to this kind of comparative analysis, and one that helps ameliorate, though not eliminate, selection bias (i.e., inherent differences between charter and traditional public school students).

Next, the findings. On average, 46 percent of charter schools have math gains that mirror the gains of the matched TPS; 17 percent of charter schools made more progress in math; and 37 percent post math gains lower than their TPS counterpart. In reading, charter schools students do a bit worse than their TPS peers but the difference is so small (less than 1 percent of a standard deviation) that it's not meaningful. Notably, low-income students and English Language Learners fare better in charter schools than in TPSs, though black and Hispanic students do not.

It's surely troubling that over a third of charters do worse than traditional schools in boosting math skills, but we should keep a few things in mind. Most importantly, the negative findings can largely be explained by the fact that over 50 percent of charter school students in the study were brand-new to their schools. Past research (see here for instance) and common sense tell us that kids in their first year at a new school don't initially perform well, and often maintain achievement gaps left over from previous instructional deficiencies. These same students will start to show gains in their second, third, and fourth years, and beyond. CREDO's results confirm this: When student performance is disaggregated by length of enrollment, first year charter students experience negative impacts on learning; second year students show no difference in learning gains; and third year charter pupils experience small but significant gains in reading and math. CREDO should have made this more explicit.

Unfortunately, we're never told exactly how many students fall into each of these three buckets--just that "more than half of the records" are in bucket one. For a well-regarded research shop, that's a critical number to gloss over. And it isn't the only startling omission: Sample sizes for schools and for students in both the overall analysis and the state-level analyses are also missing. It's not even clear how many and which years of data were collected. Then there's the mystery of Massachusetts. The study is supposedly a "16 state" analysis--but results for only 15 are presented (see page 9). It's possible that the Bay State was used as a base comparison for other states--in other words, as a "reference category" when creating the dummy variables for the analysis--but that doesn't explain why it was left out in the state-by-state findings (see pages 35-37). Did CREDO forget about it?

Frankly, the entire report needs some analytic housekeeping, including an upfront admission that the charter sample is mostly composed of recent transfer pupils. But it's still an important contribution to the field, and one that has gotten ample media attention. Its final recommendation is particularly on target: The charter movement must remove barriers to entry and exit, for high-performing schools in the first case and low-performing ones in the latter. You can read the report, including state-level findings, here.

posted by Dr. Angela Valenzuela at 12:36 PM 0 comments Links to this post

Hmm. Is this a real victory or a contingent one? The role of the students' native language is not integral to this court decision and this has everything to do with how successfully these youth will progress through our system.

Angela

110 Broadway, Suite 300, San Antonio, TX 78025 Office: 210-224-5476


PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION

June 25, 2009



CONTACT:

Laura Rodriguez: 310-956-2425

David Hinojosa: 210-224-5476


SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS STUDENTS’ RIGHTS TO LEARN ENGLISH

Ruling comports with MALDEF’s argument in Amicus Brief by denying

Arizona’s request that compliance under the NCLB met a state’s obligation under the EEOA



WASHINGTON, D.C. – In the first decision by the Supreme Court interpreting the rights of English Language Learner (ELL) students under the Equal Educational Opportunities Act (EEOA), the Court today rejected a challenge by Arizona’s Superintendent and others seeking to diminish the State’s role in affording ELL students the opportunity to learn English. The defendants had argued that the State’s compliance under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) amounted to compliance under the EEOA, but the Court instead held that compliance under NCLB is not determinative and remanded the issue that states be conscious and meet their important obligations under EEOA.





In support of the plaintiffs in this case, MALDEF and other national civil rights groups submitted an Amicus Brief [1] and argued that Congress never intended to absolve a State of its responsibilities under the EEOA. The Court agreed.

“Today, the Supreme Court recognized the utmost importance of State action to ensure students’ rights to become proficient in English,” stated Henry Solano, MALDEF Interim President and General Counsel. “The Court emphatically stated that the EEOA ‘forbids’ states to do otherwise.”

Plaintiffs, a class of ELL students in Nogales, Arizona, brought this action in 1992 arguing that the State had failed to assist ELL students in overcoming their language barriers under the EEOA. Plaintiffs prevailed and subsequently, the State failed to fund programs adequately for ELL students. Although the Supreme Court held that a claim of inadequate funding standing alone is insufficient under the EEOA, the Court remanded the question of funding to the district court for further findings, as well as a number of other evidentiary questions that will have to be answered in light of the opinion.

“The Court held that States must provide effective programs for ELL children and that funding must support EEOA-compliant programs,” added David Hinojosa, MALDEF Staff Attorney. “If states are not appropriately helping ELL students English, they can and will be held accountable under the EEOA.”

Founded in 1968, MALDEF, the nation’s leading Latino legal civil rights organization, promotes and protects the rights of Latinos through litigation, advocacy, community education and outreach, leadership development, and higher education scholarships. For more information on MALDEF, please visit: www.maldef.org

posted by Dr. Angela Valenzuela at 12:04 PM 0 comments Links to this post

By Jennifer L. Jennings | Ed Week Commentary
June 17, 2009

Michelle Rhee, the chancellor of public schools in Washington, has turned education reform heads across the country by arguing, often loudly, that our current education system puts the interests of adults above the interests of children. In December, she appeared on the cover of Time magazine in front of a blackboard, straight-faced, clutching a broom. The New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof labeled Washington as school reform’s “ground zero.” Yet in her own backyard, Rhee is making policy decisions that are explicitly designed to make adults look good, even as many children are left behind.

Read on...

Labels: NCLB

posted by Patricia Lopez at 11:47 PM 0 comments Links to this post

U.S. Department of Education
Office of Communications & Outreach
Press Office 400 Maryland Ave., S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20202

For Release: June 24, 2009

Contact: Justin Hamilton, justin.hamilton@ed.gov
Stephanie Babyak 202-401-1576

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES STREAMLINED COLLEGE AID APPLICATION
Improvements aimed at increasing college access for low- and middle-income students


The Obama Administration today announced a shorter, simpler, and more user friendly Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) that will make it easier to apply for college financial aid. The changes--some of which are already in place while
others will be phased in over the next few months--are designed to increase postsecondary enrollment, particularly among low- and middle-income students.

“President Obama has challenged the nation to once again have the highest percentage of college graduates in the world,” said Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education. “To do that, we need to make the college-going process easier and more convenient,
and to send a clear message to young people as well as adults that college is within their reach. Simplifying the financial aid process is an important step toward reaching that goal.”

At his first White House press corps briefing, Secretary Duncan outlined the Administration’s plan for streamlining the FAFSA.

• Since May 2009, the Education Department has provided instant estimates of Pell Grant and student loan eligibility, rather than forcing applicants to wait weeks. Links to graduation rates and other college information are also provided;

• Available summer 2009, enhanced skip-logic used in the new web-based FAFSA will reduce user navigation for many applicants by more than half;

• Starting in January 2010, students applying for financial aid for the spring semester will be able to seamlessly retrieve their relevant tax information from the IRS for easy completion of the online FAFSA. The Department of Education and the IRS will
be working together to examine the possibility of expanding this option to all students in the future;

• The Administration will also introduce legislation seeking statutory authority from Congress to eliminate financial information from the aid calculation formula that is not available from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This will remove 26 financial
questions from the FAFSA form that have little impact on aid awards and can be difficult to complete. Only questions that rely upon information that applicants must already provide to the IRS would remain.

The simplified FAFSA is one of several recent steps taken by the Obama Administration to improve access to higher education and make it more affordable. Highlights of the Obama Administration’s Agenda for College Affordability include:

• Expanding Pell Grants and College Tax Credits: The Recovery Act increased Pell Grants by $500 to $5,350 for 2009-2010 and created the American Opportunity Tax Credit, a new $2,500 tax credit for four years of college tuition. The President’s 2010 Budget
proposal would make these policies permanent and ensure the Pell Grant continues to grow steadily by making it an entitlement. Together, they provide approximately $200 billion in college scholarships and tax credits over the next decade.

• Modernizing and Expanding the Perkins Loan Program: The President’s 2010 Budget proposes to make this vital program available to over 2,600 additional schools and an estimated 2.7 million additional students each year. By providing an additional $5
billion in Perkins Loans and continuing the low five percent interest rate, President Obama hopes that the neediest of students will have access to federal financial resources they did not have before.

• Creating a New College Access and Completion Fund: In his 2010 budget proposal, President Obama proposes a five-year, $2.5 billion fund to build federal-state-local partnerships aimed at improving college access and completion, particularly for students
from disadvantaged backgrounds. These funds would be used to evaluate programs aimed at increasing college enrollment and graduation, and to grow and bring to scale programs that are proven to be successful.

• To help families in special circumstances during these challenging economic times, the Department sent a letter in early April to financial aid administrators reminding them of their authority to make adjustments, on a case-by-case basis, to address
circumstances, such as unemployment, not reflected on the original application.

“Simplifying the FAFSA is another significant action in our quest to keep a college degree within the reach of every person who aspires to higher education,” Duncan said.

More information on federal financial aid for college is available at http://studentaid.ed.gov.

# # #

MAKING COLLEGE MORE AFFORDABLE BY SIMPLIFYING THE STUDENT FINANCIAL AID APPLICATION
FACT SHEET

“I'll simplify the financial aid application process so that we don't have a million students who aren't applying for aid because it's too difficult.” – President Barack Obama

America’s future economic strength depends on the quality of our education. Countries that out-teach us today will out-compete us tomorrow. President Barack Obama is calling for America to once again lead the world in college graduates. He has proposed
nearly $200 billion in new scholarships and tax credits for college tuition, and Vice President Joe Biden is examining new ideas for college affordability through his Middle Class Task Force.

Today, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan outlined another key component of the Administration’s higher education agenda: its plan to simplify the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The form imposes a needlessly difficult obstacle in
the path of 16 million college students and their families each year. Each student is asked as many as 153 questions, most of which have little or no effect on actual financial aid packages. Experts believe that the difficulty of the application and unpredictability
of the aid awards undermine student aid’s ability to reach students who are unsure whether they can afford college. And there are 1.5 million enrolled students who are probably eligible for Pell grants but failed to apply.

In the coming months, the Departments of Education and Treasury will work together to simplify the financial aid process by modernizing the online application, seeking legislation that will eliminate unnecessary questions, and creating an easy process
for students to apply by using tax data already available. The end result will be an application that requests only easily obtainable personal information. Students will be able to complete an application with only basic, personal information and a few clicks
of their mouse.

THREE STEPS TO A SIMPLER APPLICATION

Today, Secretary Duncan is announcing (1) a shorter and simpler online application that skips unnecessary questions, (2) legislation to remove more than half of the financial questions, and (3) a web application that will let some families easily answer
the remaining financial questions with data from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

FIRST: Overhaul the Online Application. The Department of Education is making a series of improvements to the online application. Although 98 percent of students apply online, much of the online form simply reproduces the paper version rather than taking
advantage of the interactive potential. Improvements to the form–which will eliminate 250 million questions a year--include:

• More Information: Since May, the Education Department has provided students instant estimates of Pell grant and student loan eligibility, rather than forcing them to wait weeks, and a link to more college information such as graduation rates.

• Skip Irrelevant Questions: Starting this summer, the Education Department will allow students who are at least 24 or married–who are automatically exempted from providing their parents’ financial information--to skip the remaining 11 questions
intended only to determine whether parental information is necessary. Other improvements will allow men older than 26 to skip the question about Selective Service registration and consolidate the three questions on homelessness.

• More Improvements in January: A series of additional improvements will be implemented in January. Students with low incomes will no longer be asked for asset information, which is not used to determine their aid eligibility. Only returning students
will be asked about prior drug convictions because the question does not affect first-year students. And the Education Department will work with state agencies to make it easier to answer questions that the states need but the federal government does not.

SECOND: Eliminate Questions through Legislation. Applying for financial aid is far more complicated than filing a tax return; students and their parents must answer dozens of questions about their income and assets that are not on the federal tax form.
These questions are often difficult to verify, and they add very little to the rest of the aid formulas. The six questions related to assets, for example, only affect the awards of 3 percent of Pell grant recipients, while penalizing those families for saving
for college and opening up loopholes for sophisticated applicants to game the formula.

Today, Secretary Duncan called on Congress to let students and families apply for financial aid with the information on their tax returns, without needing to gather bank statements, investment information, and documentation of any untaxed income. These
changes would make the student aid application simpler and fairer, and they would open the door to using IRS data for the remaining financial questions, reducing the FAFSA to easy personal questions.

THIRD: Answer the Remaining Financial Questions with Tax Data. When applying for student aid, more than 90 percent of students and families are giving the federal government information it already has–information they provided when they filed their taxes.
The answer to up to 20 financial questions–all questions that will remain if the proposed legislation is enacted–could be provided by the IRS. Students applying online will only need to provide easily available personal information.

Beginning in January, students applying for financial aid for the spring semester will be able to seamlessly retrieve their relevant tax information from the IRS for easy completion of the online FAFSA. The Departments of Education and Treasury will be
working together to examine the possibility of expanding this option to all students in the future.

THE OBAMA-BIDEN AGENDA FOR COLLEGE AFFORDABILITY

The simplification initiatives announced today build on President Obama’s accomplishments and commitments to higher educational opportunities, including:

• Setting Ambitious Goals for America: President Obama has asked every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training to help meet a new national goal: by 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion
of college graduates in the world.

• Expanding Pell Grants and College Tax Credits: The Recovery Act increased Pell Grants by $500 to $5,350 and created the American Opportunity Tax Credit, a new $2,500 tax credit for four years of college tuition. The President’s 2010 Budget proposal
would make these policies permanent and ensure the Pell Grant continues to grow steadily by making it an entitlement. Together, they provide approximately $200 billion in college scholarships and tax credits over the next decade.

• Modernizing and Expanding the Perkins Loan Program: The President’s 2010 Budget proposes to make this vital program available to over 2,600 additional schools and an estimated 2.7 million additional students each year. By providing an additional
$5 billion in additional Perkins Loans and continuing their low five percent interest rate, President Obama hopes that the neediest of students will have access to additional federal financial resources they did not have before.

• Creating a New College Access and Completion Fund: In this 2010 Budget proposal, President Obama proposes a five-year, $2.5 billion fund to build federal-state-local partnerships aimed at improving college access and completion, particularly from
disadvantaged backgrounds. These funds would be used to evaluate programs aimed at increasing college enrollment and graduation and to grow and bring to scale programs that are proven to be successful.

• Helping Families Save for College: The President’s Middle Class Task Force has directed the Treasury Department to investigate ways for 529 savings plans to more effectively and efficiently help families save for college.

Labels: financial aid, higher education

posted by Patricia Lopez at 11:33 PM 0 comments Links to this post

This is a great discussion on charter schools. Also, check out the recently-released report [pdf] by CREDO out of Stanford on Charter Schools.

Also check out the video footage of this discussion.

-Patricia

Democracy NOW!
June 23, 2009

The Obama administration has made opening more charter schools one of its top priorities in its plans to improve the nation’s education system. On Monday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan spoke at the annual gathering of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools in Washington, DC. His address came on the heels of a new Stanford University report that found that, on average, students in charter schools were not faring as well as students in traditional public schools. [includes rush transcript]

Guests:

Kenneth Surratt, assistant director of the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University and one of the lead authors of their report, “Multiple Choice: Charter School Performance in 16 States.”

Bob Peterson, founding editor of Rethinking Schools. He teaches fifth grade at a public school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He co-edited the book Keeping the Promise?: The Debate over Charter Schools.

JUAN GONZALEZ: The Obama administration has made opening more charter schools one of its top priorities in its plans to improve the nation’s education system. On Monday, Education Secretary Arne Duncan spoke at the annual gathering of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools in Washington, DC.

ARNE DUNCAN: So I’m a big, big supporter of these successful charter schools, and so is the President. And that’s why one of our top priorities is a $52 million increase in charter school funding for our FY 2010 budget.


JUAN GONZALEZ: Duncan is pushing aggressively to expand the number of charter schools around the country, and the Obama administration has been working to persuade state legislators to lift caps on the number of charter schools. According to Education Department figures, there are currently some 4,600 charter schools operating around the country. They now educate some 1.4 million of the nation’s 50 million public school students. The schools are financed with taxpayer money but operate free of many curricular requirements and other regulations that apply to traditional public schools.

In his remarks on Monday, Education Secretary Duncan also addressed some criticisms of charter schools as anti-union and pro-privatization.

ARNE DUNCAN: We also need to work together to help people better understand charters. Many people equate charters with privatization, and part of the problem is that some charters overtly separate themselves from the surrounding district. This is why opponents often say that charters take money away from public schools. And we all know that’s absolutely misleading. Charter schools are public schools serving our children with our money. Instead of standing apart—instead of standing apart, charters should be partnering with districts, sharing lessons and sharing credit. Charters are supposed to be laboratories of innovation that we can all learn from.

And charters are not inherently anti-union. Albert Shanker, the legendary former head of the AFT, was an early advocate. Many quality charters today actually are unionized. What distinguishes great charters is not the absence of a labor agreement, but the presence of an educational strategy built around commonsense ideas, more time on task, aligned curricula, high parent involvement, great teacher support and strong leadership.


JUAN GONZALEZ: The gathering of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools came on the heels of a new report by Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes, or CREDO. The report found that, on average, students in charter schools were not faring as well as students in traditional public schools. In his address, Education Secretary Duncan addressed the findings of the report and said that only high-quality charters should be allowed to operate.

ARNE DUNCAN: The CREDO report last week was absolutely a wake-up call, even if you dispute some of its conclusions or its language. The charter movement is putting itself at risk by allowing too many second-rate and even third-rate schools to continue to exist. Your goal should always be quality, not quantity.

Charter authorizers need to do a better job of holding schools accountable, and the charter schools need to support them loudly and sincerely. I absolutely applaud the work that the Alliance is doing with the National Association of Charter Schools Authorizers to strengthen academic and operational quality. We need that. We also need to be willing to hold low-performing charters accountable.


AMY GOODMAN: Education Secretary Arne Duncan speaking in Washington, DC.

Well, among those who also addressed the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools yesterday was the lead author of that Stanford University report, Kenneth Surratt. He is assistant director of the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford. He joins us also from Washington, DC.

And we’re joined by Bob Peterson, the founding editor of Rethinking Schools. He teaches fifth grade at a public school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, co-editor of the book Keeping the Promise?: The Debate over Charter Schools, joining us from Milwaukee.

We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Kenneth Surratt, let’s begin with you. Your major findings in this report?

KENNETH SURRATT: The major finding is that, on average, charter school students in the sixteen states that we looked at are performing a little bit below their traditional public school peers.

JUAN GONZALEZ: And, Bob Peterson, could you expand on that? Because that is definitely going against the grain of what most charter school—the charter school movement is telling the public.

BOB PETERSON: Yeah. I think it’s really important to see that, on page thirty-two of their report, they reported that black and Hispanic students scored significantly lower in charter schools, significantly lower than their counterparts in public schools. That’s just in math and reading.

I mean, there’s good charter schools, and there’s bad charter schools, just like there’s good public schools and bad public schools. The question is whether or not charter schools can be an engine for reform of public education. Obama and Duncan seem to think so. I’d completely disagree.

AMY GOODMAN: Kenneth Surratt, this report that you came out with, it was more being framed by Arne Duncan that there are some problem schools. But the fact that your report found that, on average, kids in these schools across the country are doing worse, isn’t this a major blow to the charter school movement?

KENNETH SURRATT: I don’t think so. One of the findings—we looked at over 2,400 schools within our study, and on average—and we did what we call a quality curve, and 46 percent of the charter schools are doing statistically insignificant differently than their traditional public school peers. Seventeen percent are outperforming. But the sobering part is that 37 percent are underperforming compared to their peers.

But, you know, what we feel is that charters, once they get back to this focus of the trade-off that they had for flexibility, for accountability, you know, and closing those underperforming schools and finding ways to replicate the higher-performing ones, that the movement could continue to grow.

JUAN GONZALEZ: Kenneth Surratt, I’d like to ask you about the mix of schools that you analyzed. I know you had numerous states. But it’s been my experience, at least with the charter school movement here in New York City, that most charter schools start out at the lowest grades. There are some high school, but most start out at kindergarten, first and second, and then build up. And those are generally the easiest grades to deal with. Not as many start at the intermediate or high school level, where you could really gauge whether a genuine substantive progress is being made. What is your—in your study, what was the mix between primary, intermediate and high schools that you looked at across the country?

KENNETH SURRATT: You know, I don’t have an exact breakdown of the number of schools in each one of those. But what made our analysis—we did look at performance at elementary, middle, high school and multi-level schools and found that actually elementary and middle schools were actually outperforming their traditional public school peers.

The way—the measure that we used is growth on their—each state’s test. And because testing is generally from third to eighth grade, so we can’t even really look at the schools who just have kindergarten through third grade, because we haven’t gotten a growth score on those yet.

AMY GOODMAN: Bob Peterson, talk overall about the growth of the public charter school movement, where it’s come from, who is behind it, and then how you’re organizing with public school teachers around the country.

BOB PETERSON: Yeah, the charter school movement started, I think, with very well-intended individuals who wanted to be free from what they considered bureaucracy and some rigid union contracts and that their core beliefs or their assumptions were that once they had that freedom, they would increase academic achievement and that they would be innovative and that, furthermore, that those lessons would be shared with the public schools. That just hasn’t been the case. There’s no state or district where charter school policies have really been transformative in that way. And that, in fact, is why we need a public education. In a democracy, we have to service all kids. And oftentimes we find in charter schools there is some picking and selecting of children through rigorous or complicated application forms, and so on and so forth.

The other thing that’s really important to keep in mind is that while the charter school movement includes some very well-intended individuals and some quality schools, it’s also become a favorite of conservative forces and conservative foundations that have really championed charterizing and the marketizing, as I say, the whole public sphere of public education. And so, they would like to see more private control of schools, less union, quote, “interference.” And it’s a very disconcerting problem, because those of us who have the interests of all kids at heart know that there’s inherent problems in a market solution.

And so, what we really need to do is to challenge this notion that the charters are the engine of reform. There are a lot of different ways that schools can be reformed. There’s no silver bullet. But it’s not—unfortunately, it’s not the charter movement, which apparently Obama and Duncan have seen fit to say is the silver bullet.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about Arne Duncan, his background in Chicago?

BOB PETERSON: Yeah, Arne Duncan, we did a cover story in our Rethinking Schools magazine, “The Duncan Myth,” just in our spring issue. And Duncan was basically the CEO, as they’re called, of the Chicago school system. He championed—he worked with the mayor, of course, and in fact he says that he’s for mayoral control of many school districts—in my mind, an anti-democratic tendency, if we’ve ever seen one.

He did a number of things. His claim to fame was really closing down schools that didn’t work, although, in the process, he alienated huge swaths of the community in Chicago. There were supposed to be public hearings, which he never attended. I mean, there were hearings, but he didn’t go, his people didn’t go. And these number—over twenty schools were closed down and then reopened up under a plan of Renaissance 2010. The problem is, a lot of the neighborhood kids who were served by these schools, whose parents wanted them to stay open, were excluded through a variety of means in the new schools that opened up, the more boutique charter schools that sometimes occur throughout this country.

The question—and the other thing that he did that’s of interest to many of your viewers, I’m sure, is that he opened up five military academies, schools, and expanded the ROTC program in middle school or junior high school, something which some of us have some serious concerns about, whether or not that should be how we channel students through the public schools.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re going to break, then come back to this discussion. We’re talking to Bob Peterson, founding editor of Rethinking Schools, fifth grade teacher at a public school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. And we’re joined by one of the lead authors of the Stanford University report “Multiple Choice: Charter School Performance in 16 States,” that Education Secretary Arne Duncan cited yesterday in his meeting with schools around the country, Kenneth Surratt, assistant director of the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford. Stay with us.

[break]

AMY GOODMAN: In a few minutes, we’re going to be talking about the censorship of the internet in Iran and the European companies that are providing the technology for that, well, there in Iran and here at home in the United States. Then we’re going to look at the Guantanamo prisoners, the Uyghurs, and a video that just has come out showing one of those prisoners, who has been held for years at Guantanamo, was tortured by al-Qaeda and held by the Taliban for a year and a half, before being held at Guantanamo.

But we’re continuing now on charter schools. Kenneth Surratt with us, assistant director of the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University, just came out with a big report, “Multiple Choice: Charter School Performance in 16 States.” And Bob Peterson, a fifth grade teacher in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, founding editor of Rethinking Schools. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan Gonzalez. Juan?

JUAN GONZALEZ: Well, Kenneth Surratt, I’d like to ask you again about your study. Again, my experience in reporting on the charter school movement here in New York City is that the charters tend to have far fewer percentages, compared to the public schools, of special education children or children—immigrant children, perhaps—who are limited English proficient. I’m wondering if, in your study of other states around the country, you found a similar situation that may, to some degree, skew the actual performance, the achievement levels, of the students in those charter schools?

KENNETH SURRATT: Actually, our study found that students with special needs in the charter schools are outperforming their peers in math and on par with their traditional public school peers in reading. English language learners, we actually found, are doing better than their traditional public school peers in both reading and math at significant levels.

JUAN GONZALEZ: But are the percentages in the charters comparable to those in the public school systems from which they come?

KENNETH SURRATT: You know, I think it varies state by state. In each location that we looked at, I believe there were some that were higher. Most were about on par. But I didn’t see a significant difference in any of the states that we looked at.

JUAN GONZALEZ: And, Bob Peterson, I’d like ask you, in terms of the fact that most charter schools are also nonprofit—run by nonprofit organizations and can bring in foundation and other funding, I found increasing problems in disparities in the pay scales of the directors of these nonprofits, much higher salaries than your normal public school principals would have. I’m wondering, your concern about the accountability factor of these charters, since they are not directly controlled by the local public school system?

BOB PETERSON: I agree. There’s real accountability factors.

And I just want to go back to the special needs issue. I mean, if you look at the Stanford report on Illinois, for example, 15 percent is the average number of special needs students in public schools, and only ten percent in the charter schools. Now, that actually is significant. And it’s not just a matter of how well those students are doing; it’s the impact on the classroom teacher. I’ve taught for nearly thirty years. I know the difference between having just a few special needs children in a classroom and having a lot more. And we find this in Milwaukee, too, where not only the charter schools, but we have a publicly funded private voucher program, which have very few special needs kids. And the concern I have is that we’re setting up a two-tier system, where there is the most difficult-to-educate kids, a higher percentage of special needs, English language learners, kids who are counseled out of charter schools and voucher schools because of discipline problems—they end up in the public schools, where there’s a self-selected group in the charter schools. That’s not right.

We should really hold public charter schools—coming back to your question about accountable—to serving the children of all families in our district and having transparency, so we know when kids are being counseled out, when kids are basically being kicked out of schools. Just, we should not have charter schools emulate some of the worst aspects of public schools, because in some public schools there are admissions standards, there’s basically discrimination, not full access towards the kids who need it most. We should be trying to reverse that trend, not accentuate it by promoting these kind of charter school solutions.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re going to have to leave it there, but we’ll continue, certainly, to follow this issue. Bob Peterson, founding editor of Rethinking Schools, teacher of fifth graders at a public school in Milwaukee, co-edited the book Keeping the Promise?: The Debate over Charter Schools. And in Washington, DC, where the big public school—public charter school conference took place yesterday with the Education Secretary Duncan, is Kenneth Surratt, assistant director of the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University, co-author of “Multiple Choice: Charter School Performance in 16 States.”

Labels: charter schools

posted by Patricia Lopez at 11:16 PM 0 comments Links to this post

By SAM DILLON | NY Times
June 22, 2009

The Obama administration has made opening more charter schools a big part of its plans for improving the nation’s education system, but Education Secretary Arne Duncan will warn advocates of the schools on Monday that low-quality institutions are giving their movement a black eye.

“The charter movement is putting itself at risk by allowing too many second-rate and third-rate schools to exist,” Mr. Duncan says in prepared remarks that he is scheduled to deliver in Washington at the annual gathering of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

In an interview, Mr. Duncan said he would use the address to praise innovations made by high-quality charter schools, urge charter leaders to become more active in weeding out bad apples in their movement and invite the leaders to help out in the administration’s broad effort to remake several thousand of the nation’s worst public schools.

Since 1991, when educators founded the first charter school in Minnesota, 4,600 have opened; they now educate some 1.4 million of the nation’s 50 million public school students, according to Education Department figures. The schools are financed with taxpayer money but operate free of many curricular requirements and other regulations that apply to traditional public schools.

Mr. Duncan’s speech will come at a pivotal moment for the charter school movement. The Obama administration has been working to persuade state legislatures to lift caps on the number of charter schools.

At the same time, the movement is smarting from the release last week of a report by Stanford University researchers that found that although some charter schools were doing an excellent job, many students in charter schools were not faring as well as students in traditional public schools.

“The charter movement is one of the most profound changes in American education, bringing tremendous new options to underserved communities,” Mr. Duncan is to say in the speech, the text of which was provided to The New York Times by his advisers.

But, the speech says, states should scrutinize plans for new charter schools to allow only high-quality ones to open. In exchange for the autonomy that states extend to charter schools, states should demand “absolute, unequivocal accountability,” the speech says, and close charter schools that fail to lift student achievement.

Mr. Duncan’s speech calls the Stanford report — which singles out Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio and Texas as states that have done little to hold poorly run charter schools accountable — “a wake-up call.”

“Charter authorizers need to do a better job of holding schools accountable,” the speech says. (Mr. Duncan is to note exceptions like the California Charter Schools Association, which last week announced a plan to establish and enforce academic performance standards for charter schools.)

The Stanford study, by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes, used student achievement data from 15 states and the District of Columbia to gauge whether students who attended charter schools had fared better than they would if they had attended a traditional public school.

“The study reveals that a decent fraction of charter schools, 17 percent, provide superior education opportunities for their students,” the report says. “Nearly half of the charter schools nationwide have results that are no different from the local public school options, and over a third, 37 percent, deliver learning results that are significantly worse than their students would have realized had they remained in traditional public schools.”

Reports on charter schools often arouse impassioned debates, because charter schools in some cities have drawn millions of dollars in taxpayer money away from traditional public schools, and because many operate with nonunion teachers. The Stanford study was no exception; some charter school advocates asserted that it was slanted to favor traditional public schools.

Nelson Smith, president of the charter school alliance, said that the authors of the Stanford study could have phrased their findings more positively, with no loss of accuracy, but that he considered the center a “very credible outfit” and its director, Margaret Raymond, “an esteemed researcher.”

Mr. Smith praised the administration’s efforts to increase financing for charter school startups.

“To a remarkable extent, they are walking the walk,” he said. “They’ve been very clear on the need to stimulate the growth of quality charters.”

Mr. Duncan has been working to build a national effort to restructure 5,000 chronically failing public schools, which turn out middle school students who cannot read and most of the nation’s high school dropouts. In his speech, he will urge states, school districts, nonprofit groups, teachers’ unions and charter organizations “to get in the business of turning around our lowest-performing schools.”

“Over the coming years,” the speech says, “America needs to find 5,000 high-energy, hero principals to take over these struggling schools, and a quarter of a million great teachers who are willing to do the toughest work in public education.”

Mr. Smith said he believed that some charter school operators would react favorably to Mr. Duncan’s call, but only if they were given flexibility over hiring and firing teachers, structuring student learning time and other issues.

“They have to be able to maintain the integrity of the charter model,” Mr. Smith said.

Labels: charter schools

posted by Patricia Lopez at 10:46 PM 0 comments Links to this post

Wow, pretty big move!

-Patricia

Education Dept. Takes Symbolic Step To Reconstitute No Child Left Behind

By Maria Glod
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Seven years ago, a rally at the Department of Education promoted one of then-President George W. Bush's most significant domestic achievements -- the No Child Left Behind law. The backdrop: a red schoolhouse.

"We serve the ideal of the little red schoolhouse," then-Education Secretary Rod Paige said of the structure attached to the agency's main entrance on Maryland Avenue SW. "It is one of the greatest symbols of America -- a symbol that every child must be taught and every child must learn."

But now that symbol has been ripped down.

The Obama administration has made clear that it is putting its own stamp on education reform. That will mean a new name and image for a law that has grown unpopular with many teachers and suburban parents, even though it was enacted with bipartisan support in Congress.

"It's like the new Coke. This is a rebranding effort," said Joe Williams, executive director of Democrats for Education Reform. "The feng shui people believe you need to take the roof off buildings to allow bad chi to escape. Let's hope this helps."

The 2002 law dramatically expanded the federal role in public schools. It mandates math and reading testing for millions of students and penalizes schools with too many youngsters who fail those exams.

During his run for office, President Obama said he wanted to change the law to do more to help schools, "rather than punishing them." Education Secretary Arne Duncan has called the law's name "toxic."

Toxic or not, is No Child Left Behind headed for extinction?

Lawmakers have yet to tackle an overhaul, and Duncan has not offered specifics on how he would like to see the law revamped. But the administration has said it will not back down from testing students or holding schools accountable.

Duncan has said he wants even higher standards that measure U.S. students against peers worldwide. But he said states and schools should have more flexibility in achieving goals.

Frederick M. Hess, director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, said Duncan sometimes sounds a lot like former Bush education secretary Margaret Spellings. Like Spellings, Duncan has been promoting charter schools and merit pay for teachers.

"Other than kind of the aesthetics of it, it's not clear the schoolhouse represents anything more substantial," Hess said.

No Child logos on the Education Department elevators are being stripped. Official correspondence to states now refers to the law's original name, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

On Saturday in a steady rain, construction workers pulled down the schoolhouse and its No Child Left Behind sign. Instead, photos of students, from preschool to college age, are going up on 44 ground-floor windows, forming an exhibit that can be seen from outside. There are images of young people reading, attending science class and playing basketball.

In a note to his staff yesterday, Duncan said the photos should "serve as a daily reminder that our mission is about helping kids."

Matthew Yale, deputy chief of staff for Duncan, said the department is considering a contest to rename the law.

"We want to think about something that's forward-looking instead of something that seems to have a negative connotation," Yale said. "We want to think of something that talks about future and potential."

Education blogger Andrew Rotherham, a former member of the Virginia Board of Education, posed the same question a few months ago. He got a slew of answers.

Some were sincere: "Successful Schools for a Strong America Act."

Some less so: "Don't task, don't fail act"; "No nutty education reform idea left behind"; and "Caitlin. Everybody seems to be naming things Caitlin these days."

Labels: NCLB, NCLB reauthorization

posted by Patricia Lopez at 11:40 PM 0 comments Links to this post

Cohen is right, this IS a step backwards. This is similar to the concerns about This session's House Bill and Senate Bill 3 in Texas. Using tracking as a solution to curb dropout without addressing other school factors that contribute to student push-out (e.g., teacher and counselor shortage, teacher quality, test-driven curriclum, etc.) is poor policy.

-Patricia

The AP
June 19, 2009

BATON ROUGE - High school students could skip college prep courses and instead take classes designed to get them into two-year schools under a plan that Louisiana lawmakers are expected to approve despite criticism that it would produce graduates who can't find jobs.

awmakers are expected to send the bill to Gov. Bobby Jindal in the next few days, over the objections of some national education groups who say the changes would dilute the state's recent work to improve public schools.

They say the legislation lowers standards beginning in eighth grade and would produce graduates who struggle to find work because they never mastered basic reading, writing and mathematics.

"One way to raise achievement is to raise expectations, with a more rigorous curriculum, and Louisiana has done a good job of that recently," said Michael Cohen, president of Achieve, a nonprofit organization that works to raise states' academic standards. "But we're concerned that this legislation would be a step backward."

The governor's aides have said Jindal supports the bill.

Under the legislation, parents could allow their children 15 and older to leave pre-college curriculum and instead take the "career option program."

Graduates who took the new curriculum would get a career-option diploma that would not qualify them for a four-year college or university. Instead, they could attend two-year technical schools or community colleges.

Few legislators oppose the bill. They say the new curriculum would reduce the number who drop out and often turn to drugs and crime when they can't find jobs.

"As we push out and drop out these students, many of them end up on the streets, and many of them end up incarcerated," said state Rep. Jim Fannin, D-Jonesboro, one of two sponsors of the plan.

The other sponsor, state Sen. Robert Kostelka, R-Monroe, has said he supports it because in his former position as a state district judge he was often forced to send teenagers - high school dropouts - to prison.

Kostelka said the career program will keep those children in school, learning skills that will win them jobs after graduation.

Critics, including Superintendent of Schools Paul Pastorek, insist the curriculum change would have the opposite effect that Fannin and Kostelka envision.

Cohen and the presidents of two other national education groups last week sent a letter to the chairmen of the House and Senate education committees, urging them to oppose or rewrite the legislation.

Labels: tracking

posted by Patricia Lopez at 11:13 PM 0 comments Links to this post

Inside Higher Ed
June 23, 2009

Teacher education programs are now required to meet higher standards or increase their emphasis on classroom training in order to achieve accreditation, according to new guidelines being announced today by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education.

One of the organization's new requirements asks teacher education programs to "demonstrate continuous improvement toward excellence." This means they must meet NCATE's highest -- not just "acceptable" -- levels of achievement in six areas, ranging from candidate knowledge and diversity to faculty qualifications. For instance, whereas the acceptable level requires professional education faculty to have "earned doctorates or exceptional expertise that qualifies them for their assignments," the superior level additionally requires that they "have earned doctorates or exceptional expertise, have contemporary professional experiences in school settings at the levels that they supervise, and are meaningfully engaged in related scholarship."

With regard to the program's finances, NCATE's "acceptable" level calls for a budget that "adequately supports on-campus and clinical work,"
whereas the target level requires that "budgetary allocations permit faculty teaching, scholarship, and service that extend beyond the unit
to P-12 education and other programs in the institution."

Alternatively, institutions can establish programs that foster real-world classroom training or research about teacher education.

NCATE President James Cibulka said the revisions mark the "biggest change in NCATE's accreditation process in the last 10 years."

"We need to recruit a diverse and talented teaching force," he said. "We need to induct novice teachers to their profession and to retain them once they are highly functional teachers, we need to raise achievements, we need to prepare teachers who can work with a more diverse student population. There are a whole host of challenges there and we believe the institutions that prepare teachers should be addressing those needs."

The majority of NCATE's 632 accredited colleges of education do not currently meet the "target" level of achievement,according to Cibulka. They have until 2012 to either raise their curriculum to that level or develop a new training or research program.

Larry Johnson, dean of the University of Cincinnati College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services, said that meeting the NCATE requirements is "critical" for American education, but may be difficult to measure in concrete terms. "It's really hard, any time, to hold people accountable to the impact of something they're doing," he said, adding, "You can't have 'highly trained' teachers unless you can demonstrate they impact the students they can teach."

In the past, supporters of a traditional curriculum have criticized NCATE for being too ideological. In 2005, the National Association of Scholars filed a complaint with the U.S. Education Department regarding the organization's "dispositions" requirement, which NCATE expects education programs to use to measure students' teaching capability. At the time, "social justice" was listed as a quality that students should have; the phase was removed soon after.

Glenn Ricketts, a spokesman for the National Association of Scholars, said the new NCATE requirements sounded "encouraging," based on a description provided before the document's release.

"We'd like to see far more content-based education for teachers of history or English than simply pedagogy (and) things like service learning or community activism," he said. "We're hoping that this is an improvement."

The new requirements ultimately aim to dispel the notion that "what happens in a university is kind of an ivory tower perspective," said David Burgin, an economics teacher at Science Hill High School in Tennessee. He advised NCATE on forming its new standards after helping develop a local teacher-training program.

"In the past it's sort of been, 'What can we do to get approval? Check check check, OK, we're done,' " he said. "Whereas I feel like what we're asking NCATE to do ... is to develop relationships and see a product, not a finished work."

Frank B. Murray, president of the Teacher Education Accreditation Council -- a group formed as a rival to NCATE, but which has, more recently, been working with it -- praised the changes being announced today. "The changes NCATE is proposing are very much in line with TEAC's principles," he said.

"We are eager to see how the field responds to NCATE's ambitious plans because they fit so well with TEAC's approach. We have nothing but applause for this effort."

Labels: teacher quality

posted by Patricia Lopez at 11:12 PM 0 comments Links to this post

Press Release
Jun 23, 2009

CHICAGO, June 23, 2009 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The ASPIRA Association announced a $1.65 million grant from the Wal-Mart Foundation to significantly expand its ASPIRA Clubs, a Latino youth leadership dropout prevention model to stem the exceedingly high dropout rate among our nation's youth.

The dropout rate among Latino youth, at over 40 percent, is the highest of any group in the country; triple the rate of white students. In many U.S. inner-city schools, the dropout rate is over 80%. Almost half of Latinos over the age of 25 have not graduated from high school. Since the Hispanic population is the fastest growing -- and youngest -- ethnic group in the country, the long-term implications of their high dropout rate on the nation's future economic competitiveness and social well-being cannot be overstated.

"This very generous grant from the Wal-Mart Foundation will allow ASPIRA to expand its signature program, the ASPIRA Clubs, to thousands of Latino youth -- not only in the seven states and Puerto Rico in which ASPIRA currently operates, but across the nation to ensure thousands of students complete high school and pursue higher levels of education," said Ronald Blackburn-Moreno, president and CEO of ASPIRA. "We are very proud of our partnership with the Wal-Mart Foundation and grateful for their support. It demonstrates Wal-Mart's strong commitment to the Latino community and to the education of our nation's youth. We will now be able to work with organizations across the country to bring this model to schools and communities that are struggling to increase the graduation rates of Latino students."

According to Blackburn-Moreno, today over 33 percent of U.S. Latinos are under 18 years of age, represent over 20 percent of all students enrolled in U.S. schools, and by 2050, they will constitute 25 percent of our country's workforce. "Unless we address and correct this situation the U.S. will not be able to sustain its competitive edge in a 21st century economy with almost 20% of its population undereducated," he explained.

"For almost 50 years, the ASPIRA Leadership Clubs in schools have been an effective model to ensure Latino students graduate from school and go on to college," said Margaret McKenna, president of the Wal-Mart Foundation. "We're proud to provide funding from the Wal-Mart Foundation to assure the continued success of ASPIRA Clubs and -- more importantly -- the continued success of Latino youth."

"The challenge facing ASPIRA over the years is the capacity to truly expand the program nationally, to bring it to schools and communities with high concentrations of low-income Latino students so we can have a meaningful impact on this national problem," said Blackburn-Moreno.

About the ASPIRA Association

The ASPIRA Association is the largest national Latino organization in the country and the only one dedicated exclusively to the education of Latin youth. Founded in 1961, ASPIRA's core program has been the ASPIRA Leadership Clubs in schools. In addition, ASPIRA provides a host of after-school programs including tutoring, mentoring, math and science enrichment programs, financial literacy, parental engagement and access and training in technology, in addition to operating nine charter schools.

About Philanthropy at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and the Wal-Mart Foundation are proud to support the charitable causes that are important to customers and associates in their own neighborhoods. Through its philanthropic programs and partnerships, the Wal-Mart Foundation funds initiatives focused on creating opportunities in education, workforce development, economic opportunity, environmental sustainability, and health and wellness. From February 1, 2008 through January 31, 2009, Wal-Mart - and its domestic and international Foundations - gave more than $423 million in cash and in-kind gifts globally. To learn more, visit www.walmartfoundation.org.

SOURCE ASPIRA Association, Inc.

http://www.aspira.org

Labels: ASPIRA, Dropouts

posted by Patricia Lopez at 10:40 PM 0 comments Links to this post

By TERRENCE STUTZ / The Dallas Morning News
Tuesday, June 23, 2009

AUSTIN – Texas has decided to steer clear of a national effort – involving 46 states – to develop uniform standards for English and math instruction in public schools.

State Education Commissioner Robert Scott, with the backing of Gov. Rick Perry, has turned down an invitation to work with the other states in drafting "common core" standards for English and math classes, spelling out what students at all grade levels should be taught in those subjects.

Although the standards will be voluntary, the U.S. education secretary has suggested that some federal money might be attached to the them.

But Texas officials are wary of getting involved, largely because of the cost to the state of implementing new standards. Three other states – Alaska, Missouri and South Carolina – also have declined to participate in the nationwide push, being coordinated by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers.

"Texas historically has never been supportive of the idea of national standards for our schools," said Debbie Ratcliffe, a spokeswoman for the commissioner and the Texas Education Agency. "We believe most Texans want to see our standards developed in Texas."

State Board of Education member Don McLeroy, the former chairman of the panel, noted that the education board now has responsibility to approve curriculum standards and there is no reason to surrender that authority to a national panel.

"It's a very bad idea," said McLeroy, R-College Station. "It's not up to the federal government or national groups to set standards for our schools. In Texas, we have elected officials to determine those standards, and if people disagree with their decisions, they can vote against them."

Texas could be forgoing federal aid by not taking part in the effort.

Achievement tests

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan recently announced that his agency will offer as much as $350 million in federal assistance to help develop achievement tests that measure the proficiency of students in math and reading under the new requirements.

He said the new standards would replace the current hodgepodge of benchmarks in states, which makes it difficult to compare student performance from state to state. For example, some students passing in one state probably would get failing marks in another state because of different passing standards in each.

Duncan also indicated that tests used in some states are inadequate and should be replaced by more rigorous exams. He didn't identify any specific states.

Backers of the national standards initiative contend that it would hold all states and schools equally accountable and build on current efforts to improve the college and career readiness of students.

They also say the standards would be drafted with an eye toward making U.S. students more competitive with their counterparts in other countries.

"To maintain America's competitive edge, we need all of our students to be prepared and ready to compete with students from around the world," said Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas, vice chairman of the National Governors Association.

A memorandum of agreement being signed by the governors and education chiefs in the 46 states says that the goal is to have the national standards finished as early as December.

McLeroy said that over the last two years, the state board adopted curriculum standards for both math and English, and those requirements are gradually being incorporated into state achievement tests and textbooks that will be purchased by school districts.

"I don't want to see all that work in Texas negated," he said. "Besides that, we don't know what the national standards will be. Why would you sign on to something you have so little knowledge of?"

Texas' standards

Allison Castle, a spokeswoman for Perry, said Texas' participation in the national effort was unnecessary because the state has solid curriculum requirements in place.

"We already have excellent career and college-ready standards incorporated into all foundation areas," Castle said. "We are advanced [in adopting standards] compared to many other states."

Ratcliffe said agency officials have estimated that replacing the state's English and math curriculum standards could cost as much as $3 billion, including up to $2 billion to purchase new textbooks that reflect the new requirements.

Math textbooks in Texas were recently replaced, and the State Board of Education is scheduled to adopt new English textbooks this fall.

"It's a huge financial concern for us," she said. "If we suddenly switch gears and take on new standards, we could have to adopt new textbooks and revise the TAKS test to make sure it tests what we're teaching."

Ratcliffe said the state could make adjustments if it turns out that the national standards are more rigorous than what is now in place in Texas.

The new benchmarks are supposed to be research-based, be aligned with college and work expectations, and promote the teaching of rigorous skills and content in both subjects.

BACKGROUND: NATIONAL EDUCATION STANDARDS

Forty-six states – all but Texas, Alaska, Missouri and South Carolina – have agreed to create common academic standards in math and English language arts for grades K-12. A look at the agreement and the drive toward what are being called "common core standards."

GOAL: The states have committed to coming up with standards that will be "aligned with college and work expectations, include rigorous content and skills, and be internationally benchmarked."

WHAT THEN? The second phase calls for common achievement tests that are in line with the core standards. The standards could be finished this year and implemented in participating states within three years.

WHY DO IT? Advocates cite several benefits of national standards. Among them: commonly understood expectations for students; easier comparison between students across America and around the world; and more confidence that graduating seniors are ready for college work.

WHY NOT? Texas officials, in declining involvement, cite the cost of implementing new standards and a distaste for ceding control of state standards.

A FEDERAL ROLE? Participation is voluntary for states, and the effort is being pitched as state-led. However, the agreement signed by the states notes that the federal government can provide financial incentives. The government also may, at a later time, adjust federal education laws with lessons learned through the process, according to the document.

SOURCE: Dallas Morning News research

Labels: academic standards, college readiness

posted by Patricia Lopez at 10:23 PM 0 comments Links to this post

Congratulations to the amazing people dedicated to the students at El Puente. They're doing wonderful job in educating future leaders!

-Patricia

BY Elizabeth Lazarowitz | DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Wednesday, June 24th 2009

A TINY Williamsburg school focused on social justice has made a huge leap when it comes to getting its kids to graduate.

At El Puente Academy for Peace and Justice on Hooper St., which has less than 200 students, the graduation rate jumped to 83.3% in 2008 from just 57.5% in 2007.

Linking what kids learn in the classroom to projects and activities in the community helps keep students engaged, said Principal Hector Calderon.

Students working on math, he said, have analyzed lending patterns at neighborhood commercial banks, and those studying science head down to the Williamsburg waterfront to check on particulates emitted by local power plants.

"They're applying what they learn in class to real issues that speak to their issues, their communities, their world," he said. "It's a great motivator."

Having classes that tie into the neighborhood hits home for the valedictorian of the school's 2009 graduating class, Karina Lopez, 17, who lives in Canarsie and will attend City College in the fall.

"As minorities, we go through struggles every day, and everything we learn here - whether it's science or math or history - comes back to the community," Lopez said.

The social justice idea even extends to art class, where students have made posters expressing their views on gentrification, said Alex Moronta, 18, a graduating senior.

Addressing current events in the curriculum "changed my high school experience," said Moronta, who lives in Bushwick and plans to go on to Lincoln Technical Institute.

"It gave me knowledge and enabled me to be more aware of what was going on in my surroundings."

Keeping students focused as the school moved through four different locations in nearly three years hasn't been easy, but frequent feedback from teachers helped keep them on track, Calderon said.

"That clarity allows students to know exactly what the expectations are."

Students at the school are exempt from state-mandated Regents exams, and instead have to present portfolios of their work to a panel, Calderon said.

"It's very reflective," he added.

posted by Patricia Lopez at 10:19 PM 0 comments Links to this post

Philadelphia Examiner
June 17, 2009

There is much criticism of the No Child Left Behind Act. Some authors and experts are now calling the act No Child but Boys Left Behind Act. As a male teacher in the education system, I feel it is decidedly not male friendly. We can debate whether the gender bias is intentional later.

Richard Whitmore believes that as society and schools become more verbally oriented boys get left behind. This gap is often unaddressed and in the long run will lead to significant social problems.

Will women want to marry someone who is less well educated than they are?

What are the competitive consequences of fewer and fewer men earrning secondary degrees?

Peter West believes schools fail boys for many of the same reasons I see boys fail Boys are in perpetual motion. They are aggressive, even when young. Classrooms are not places of toleration for kinesthetic behavior. We expect even normal boys to sit still for long periods. Aggressive play is involved in young males sense of mastery, a critical part of their development. This is normal male behavior yet in classrooms there is little toleration for it.

When boys are boys we often tend to bring on the medication, not to address bahavioral deficits, but to handle our desire for sedate managed classrooms.

Judith Kleinfield of The Boys Project states that boys and girls suffer from problems characteristic of their gender. Boys are behind in reading and writing. Girls are behind in science and math.. The difference is that girls are slightly behind in science and math while boys are way behind in reading and writing.

In most education programs we learn about Gardiner's Multiple Intelligences. In short we humans learn in a number of different ways. After learning about multiple learning styles our teaching and testing utilizes only two at best. We teach about differentiated instruction which should enable us to accomodate boys learning styles better. But then we only use lessons that accomodate a couple of styles.

The problem is that most teachers when in a pinch teach just the way they were taught.. Most of those teaching are women who don't understand how boys learn anymore than I as a male teacher, could understand how girls learn except in an intellectual sort of way.

Many experts believe that we could begin to successfully close the writing and reading gap just by giving boys books to read that they find interesting. I might add in the classroom, my experience is that if you make written assignments for boys interesting for them they can be good writers.

In the classroom I have used film to teach literacy. I have used books that boys find interesting. I have seen this raise reading levels as measured by the Woodcock-McGrew-Werder mini-battery of achievement test as much as a couple grade levels in a years time. Writing is a little harder because of boys tendency to go fast leaving out words and parts of sentences because their brains race way ahead of their fingers when writing.

Unfortunately, The American Association of University Women has taken it upon themselves to say it all isn't so even our anecdotal classroom observations. The statistics I have seen coupled with the problems of the students I have seen in special education seem to make claims of schools failing boys irrefutable. When you get to colllege addmissions, some schools even have to use what would amount to affirmative action to get boys into college and make the addmission level seem roughly equal. That roughly equal number is something on the order of 60-40% girls.

We see gender gaps begin to emerge in elementary school. Even more unfortunate are classroom management techniques that seem to function as if boys main problems are that they need to be rescued from being male.

Because of single parent families, and the necessities for increased work hours to make ends meet many boys suffer from a lack of fathering, as in giving them positive role models of appropriate male behavior. To that end maybe one of the simplest ways we could begin to make significant changes in the quality of education boys recieve is that we need to recruit more male teachers. That would be a good place to start. Then we could expend the same amount of energy learning how boys learn as we have how girls learn and altering our curriculum accordingly.

Labels: gender, NCLB

posted by Patricia Lopez at 9:50 PM 0 comments Links to this post

Compiled by Dan Smith, Bee Capitol Bureau Chief
June 23, 2009

Two plans have emerged to close the budget deficit, one proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and another passed by the Democratic-controlled conference committee. Here's how some provisions in the two plans compare and contrast.

EDUCATION

GOVERNOR'S PLAN

• Cuts $4.5 billion from K-12 schools from the budget approved in February, and about $700 million from community colleges.

• Allows districts to shorten the school year by up to seven days.

• Includes a $315 million diversion from school bus programs to the state's general fund.

DEMOCRATS' PLAN

• Cuts $3.8 billion from K-12 schools, and $700 million from community colleges.

• Allows districts to shorten the school year by up to five days and suspend the high school exit examination.

• Guarantees schools will be repaid at least $9.3 billion in past budget cuts beginning in 2011 – a move that was rejected by voters in Proposition 1B in May.

• Increases fees for community college by $6 per unit, to $26 per unit.

HIGHER EDUCATION

GOVERNOR'S PLAN

• Reduces state aid to UC and CSU by about $2 billion. (Approximately $1.7 billion is offset by federal stimulus money.)

• Phases out CalGrants, the state's college fee assistance program, for a savings of $87.5 million.

DEMOCRATS' PLAN

• Accepts the governor's cuts, but divides them equally between UC and CSU.

• Rejects governor's plan to phase out CalGrants.

STATE WORKERS

GOVERNOR'S PLAN

• Lays off at least 5,000 state workers, most of whom will likely land jobs in other state programs not funded by the general fund.

• Cuts pay by 5 percent for about 235,000 state workers, saving $470 million.

• Furloughs state workers two days a month without pay, saving $900 million. Combined with the pay cut, state workers would face a 14.2 percent drop in salaries.

• Consolidates or reorganizes a variety of departments for $50 million in savings.

DEMOCRATS' PLAN

• Rejects the governor's pay cut, which could lead to a third furlough day or more layoffs.

• Assumes two monthly furlough days for state workers because pending labor agreements to reduce furlough days from two to one will not be approved in the Legislature.

• Accepts governor's department reorganization savings, but includes different proposals, including elimination of state umbrella agencies.

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

GOVERNOR'S PLAN

• Eliminates the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids Program – CalWORKS. Cutting off the welfare-to-work program, which provides aid to about 1 million children and 300,000 adults, would save the state $1.3 billion (and mean the loss of about $4.5 billion in federal matching funds).

• Saves $1 billion by securing a waiver from the federal government so California can reduce rates and tighten eligibility requirements for Medi-Cal recipients.

• Eliminates Healthy Families, a health insurance program for 930,000 low-income children. It would save $375 million (and cost $500 million in federal matching funds).

• Eliminates the Adult Day Health Care program, for a savings of $170 million.

• Restricts In-Home Supportive Services to only the most severely ill and disabled, and lowers the state's share of IHSS worker pay to $8 an hour, for a savings of about $730 million.

• Reduces maximum SSI–SSP grants for low-income elderly, blind or disabled to $830 a month for individuals and $1,407 a month for couples. Saves $248 million.

DEMOCRATS' PLAN

• Retains CalWORKS, but cuts $270 million by reducing payments to counties, exempting families with very young children from work requirements and reducing caseload estimates.

• Agrees with the governor's plan for a federal waiver and $1 billion in savings in Medi-Cal, but rejects the governor's plans to eliminate some programs for legal immigrants.

• Retains Healthy Families program, but cuts $70 million by freezing enrollment unless private donations become available.

Labels: budget cuts, California

posted by Patricia Lopez at 8:49 AM 0 comments Links to this post

By Mitchell Landsberg | LA Times
June 22, 2009

Henry Ramirez, meet Kyle Gosselin.

We thought you should be introduced, at least virtually, because you have some things in common. You're a couple of low-key, low-drama, low-maintenance 17-year-olds who have just navigated 11th grade at large public high schools. Both of you are planning to go to college. Both thinking about careers in medicine. Both willing to work hard (but not insanely hard). Both smart (but not gunning to be No. 1).

Yet how different two young lives can be.

In the 20 or so miles that separate Jefferson High School from La Cañada High, in the miles between inner city and suburb, there exists a social chasm so deep as to seem unbridgeable. It is possible that, growing up in the same metropolitan area, you have never been in the same place at the same time.

Twenty miles, as we'll see, can be farther than 1,500.

La Cañada High is about as good as public education gets in California. It is the reason why many people live in La Cañada Flintridge, where tasteful, multimillion-dollar homes sprawl at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains. College is a given for almost everyone. The dropout rate is close to zero. Students don't qualify for free lunches, but they can buy sushi. Built in the 1960s and oddly evocative of the television show “The Jetsons,” the campus recalls a time when California schools didn't so much anticipate the future as embody it.

Jefferson, in hard-core South L.A. gang territory, is an improving school that nevertheless exemplifies all the challenges of urban education. It has an inspiring history, but its recent past has been troubled. Today it is a landing pad for the children of immigrants. Nearly half the students learn English as a second language. Free lunch is available to anyone willing to stand in line. About 800 freshmen arrive each year, most ill-prepared for high school. Four years later, about 200 pick up diplomas.

***

You began your junior years in September: Kyle at La Cañada, Henry at Jefferson.

Conventional wisdom says 11th grade is the toughest, most stressful year of high school for college-bound students: the hump, the back stretch, when students load up on Advanced Placement classes and take a slew of tests -- including the SAT -- while juggling a full-tilt social schedule. If the pressure got to either of you, you hid it well.

***

Kyle is 6 feet 4 and possibly still growing. Lean, fit, a little bit shaggy, he looks primed for either of his extracurricular passions, baseball and rock 'n' roll. Exceedingly polite to adults, he comes across as a consummate nice guy.

He has attended La Cañada schools since kindergarten. His family's home is modern and spacious, complete with pool and spa.

Kyle's parents, Janna and Craig, are lawyers who place paramount priority on the education of Kyle and his younger brother. Janna is a past president of the La Cañada Education Foundation, which has raised as much as $1.3 million a year for local schools. Craig worked as in-house counsel for Vans Shoes but refused an offer to move to Northern California, in large measure because of La Cañada's schools.

Henry might not stand out in a crowd. He's soft-spoken, average height, dresses modestly, doesn't cause trouble. But he has a killer smile and a quiet determination, and he can be a class leader. Girls seem drawn to him.

Born in L.A., Henry has spent his life on the move. Little hops, one neighborhood to the next. He attended four elementary schools, stayed in one middle school, then began Jefferson High -- only to be whisked off to Idaho and then a suburb of Houston for the first semester of 10th grade.

Upon returning to L.A., Henry, his parents, two younger brothers and a younger sister rented a single room in an apartment in Watts. As 11th grade began, Henry's mother, Irma, and stepfather, Raul Ramirez, worked at a convalescent hospital in La Habra. In Henry, they see hope for a success they were never able to achieve.

Irma, a high school graduate who had two years of college in El Salvador, never reached her goal of a nursing license. Raul, a native Californian, dropped out of Roosevelt High. Of Henry, he said: "He could be whatever he wants to be . . . We're pretty sure he's not interested in gangs or anything like that."
Superficially, your schools are more alike than different. Between classes, the hallways can seem crowded and chaotic, although you both navigate the maelstrom with calm assurance. Like most students, you eat lunch outdoors in the same spot every day, with the same friends. Your teachers are mostly seasoned and dedicated. By 11th grade, most students -- even at a school like Jefferson, which has been called a "dropout factory" -- are there to learn. Or at least to graduate.

Still, if you could trade places for a day, you'd also see vast differences.

***

On a warm October morning, Henry begins school with Life Skills, a required class. When it ends, he waits by the door for his friend Jessica Martinez, who greets him with a hug and then lays her head on his shoulder. Two other girls come to join her, and Henry leaves to go to French 3.

Class is conducted in a mix of English and elementary French, with almost all of the French coming from the teacher, Richard Jessel. The students go over an assignment in which they wrote two- and three-word sentences, such as "She walks" and "You are working." Henry -- known here as Henri -- seems among the more advanced, whispering prompts to a girl next to him when she is called on to speak. Jessel, a veteran teacher who grew up partly in France, is patient, never condescending, but clearly frustrated. "They're not really ready for French 3, but they're here," he said.

Where would they be in a standard French curriculum? "I'd place them in the middle of my second semester of French 1," he said. "There's not a lot of willingness to study at home, not a lot of motivation." The students are also shy, he said, fearful of sounding stupid. And there is almost no chance that any have traveled to French-speaking countries.

Henry spends lunch working with another student on a project for their English class.Afterward, he has Introduction to Sociology, a project-based class that seems impressively stimulating, and Geometry, which he is repeating. Since Jefferson is on a block schedule, his other classes are on alternate days: Honors U.S. History, Honors American Literature, Chemistry and Algebra 2. Henry takes no Advanced Placement classes, a disadvantage when he applies to college. But it's hardly a slacker's schedule.

***

Let's confront a hard truth. Any visitor to your two schools can't help but notice that the La Cañada students, while hardly perfect, seem more focused, more driven to succeed than the average student at Jefferson. It's something that deeply frustrates Juan Flecha, the Jefferson principal. "They're such nice kids," he said of his pupils, adding: "They're so unmotivated." Flecha understands where they're coming from. He grew up poor, 10 blocks from Jefferson.

Flecha makes no excuses. Although he has presided over a sharp increase in test scores, he volunteered that only 27% of his students graduate in four years and only 16% take a college prep curriculum. "That's terrible," he said. But he speaks compassionately about the challenges they face: failing elementary and middle schools. Collapsing families. Entrenched poverty. Epidemic violence. On the first day of class this year, at 10:30 a.m., a man with an AK-47 was spotted firing shots a half-block from campus.

At La Cañada, violence is scarcely a concern. Elementary schools and the one middle school are excellent. Students are highly motivated, highly competitive. "I don't have dress code violators. I don't have fights," said Principal Damon Dragos. "The kids all come very well prepared. The question is not whether they're going to college; it's whether it's the college of their choice."

***

Another October morning. Kyle starts his day in Advanced Placement English, where the topic is the Chaucer poem "Troilus and Criseyde." Then, it's SSR -- basically, homeroom, where students are given 15 minutes for "sustained silent reading."

German 3 is next. It begins with the young teacher, Melanie Sos, saying: "So, guten morgan. Wie geht's?" ("Good morning. How's it going?") Like Henry's French class, much of this class involves the teacher speaking the foreign language and the students responding, sometimes in German, sometimes in English. But the level is markedly higher. Kyle and a classmate pore over a story, taking turns reading the German and translating. Kyle reads with some ease. The day's homework is to write 15 sentences summarizing what they've read.

By now, Sos said, maybe half the students have traveled to Germany.

The rest of Kyle's day consists of Pre-Calculus, Honors Physics, Advanced Placement U.S. History and baseball.

Like most kids his age in La Cañada, Kyle has given a lot of thought to college. Asked at the beginning of the year if he'd thought about specific schools, he gave a detailed answer: "I've been thinking, like, Claremont-McKenna, USC, UCLA," he said. "Dartmouth is a great school. Then I've been looking at liberal arts schools: Amherst, Haverford, Georgetown, maybe Johns Hopkins. . . . Maybe I'd apply to UCSD because they have a good pre-med program."

By spring, he had taken an East Coast college tour with his parents, hitting eight schools in six days, and had met for 80 minutes with La Cañada's college counselor.

In his perfect world, Kyle would be offered a baseball scholarship or at least be admitted to one of his "reach" schools on the strength of his playing. He was on La Cañada's successful varsity team this year, but didn't start much. He knows that academics are his ticket. His grades are a mix of A's and Bs, but since AP classes are given extra weight, his grade point average is over 4.0.

He took the PSAT sophomore year, and the SAT and ACT this year. He didn't have to go far for his SAT prep classes, which were held in his living room by his mom, Janna, and a friend; they started a small SAT prep business after seeing what else was available.

Henry began his junior year without a clue where he might want to go to college. After talking to the school nurse, a UC Santa Barbara graduate, he decided it sounded like a good place, because he likes the beach.

On the day that Henry was scheduled to take the PSAT, Flecha led a visitor to the classroom where students were working on the test. Flecha didn't spot Henry. The teacher looked around. No Henry. Flecha returned to his office, crestfallen.

Reached at home, Henry explained that his family had out-of-town relatives. Flecha slumped into his chair. "Isn't that something?" he asked. "All in a day's work around here."

Later in the fall, UCLA sent mentors to Jefferson to help students prepare their college application essays. Henry, whose grades have mostly been A's and Bs, with some lapses, called his "The Rollercoaster," writing about family tensions and his frequent moves. "The major problem was, I could never get used to something. I would always think it would get snatched away."

Not long after, Henry's parents told him they were returning to Texas -- in less than a week. On Jan. 27, the family piled into a car attached to a rental trailer. They made the 1,500-mile drive in two days. About half an hour outside Houston, Henry began to cry. "It really got to me," he said.

Henry now has his own room in a new five-bedroom house owned by an aunt. It's in an ethnically diverse, middle-class subdivision in Spring, a bedroom community on Houston's northern fringes. Spring is not as affluent as La Cañada, but its upwardly mobile Sun Belt vibe feels light years from South L.A. Henry's new school, Klein Oak High, seems more La Cañada than Jefferson, with an airy suburban feel, a diverse student body of 3,400 and a tradition of academic success. Most students graduate, and of them, 85% to 90% will go to college, Assistant Principal Joyce Wells said.

"I think it's a nice school," said Raul Ramirez. He thought it was a big improvement over Jefferson.

Henry didn't much care. He liked the new house but wished it were in L.A. He thought the school was fine, but his friends weren't there. He seized on something that most teenagers would see as a plus -- the laptop he was assigned -- and decided that he hated it. "Work sheets are easier," he said.

Still, there were students who remembered him from his previous sojourn in Texas. Walking out of class one day not long after arriving, he was greeted by a girl who threw her arms around him in a hug. He smiled, shyly.

***

The school year's ending. You probably won't run into each other this summer -- although Henry, who seems to be feeling OK about Texas, is hoping to come to L.A. to hang with his old friends. Kyle will be at baseball camp and community college, fulfilling a high school arts requirement. Same city, different circles. Different boys, similar dreams.

posted by Patricia Lopez at 8:29 AM 0 comments Links to this post

By Spencer S. Hsu | Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 17, 2009

U.S. civil rights leaders said yesterday that an increase in hate crimes committed in recent years against Hispanics and people perceived to be immigrants "correlates closely" to the nation's increasingly contentious debate over immigration.

Hate crimes targeting Hispanic Americans rose 40 percent from 2003 to 2007, the most recent year for which FBI statistics are available, from 426 to 595 incidents, marking the fourth consecutive year of increases.

The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund issued a report that faulted anti-immigrant rhetoric in the media and mobilization of extremist groups on the Internet. The conference said that some groups advocating for tighter immigration laws have invoked "the dehumanizing, racist stereotypes and bigotry of hate groups."

"Reasonable people will disagree . . . but the tone of discourse over comprehensive immigration reform needs to be changed, needs to be civil and sane," said Michael Lieberman, Washington counsel for the Anti-Defamation League.

The FBI reported in October that the number of hate crimes dropped in 2007 by about 1 percent, to 7,624. But violence against Latinos and gay people bucked the trend. The number of hate crimes directed at gay men and lesbians increased about 6 percent, the FBI reported.

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which was criticized in the LCCREF report, said it was "another salvo against free speech by the pro-amnesty coalition . . . to delegitimize any critic of mass immigration."

Labels: immigration

posted by Patricia Lopez at 10:01 PM 0 comments Links to this post

The district says it'll strive to hire more African-Americans.

By Claire Trageser | The Denver Post
Posted: 06/17/2009

A group of 12 educators worried about the decline in the number of African-American teachers in Denver Public Schools decided Tuesday to file an official complaint about "systemic discrimination" with the U.S. Department of Labor.

Larry Borom, chairman of the Black Education Advisory Council, said discrimination has caused the number of African-American teachers in Denver to drop to 200 in 2008 from 324 in 2000. But according to the Colorado Department of Education, the number has dropped to 265, not 200, while a count by DPS shows 256 black teachers.

Borom said that whatever numbers are cited, there is still a decline.

"Whether it's 200 or 265, it's still a downward trend, and that's not what we want to see," he said.

"This is plain old discrimination based on race. They are not hiring enough new African-American teachers, not making new positions available, not providing support to new teachers and not renewing contracts."

The council, one of five groups that advises DPS on diversity issues, plans to file its complaint Thursday. It hopes the Labor Department's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs will investigate and give DPS a set of directions, which could include hiring someone with expertise in diversity and making job announcements to minority groups.

DPS already has taken those steps, said Happy Haynes, assistant to the superintendent for community partnerships.

The decline in minority teachers "is exactly the opposite direction from where we wanted to go," she said. "If we're trying to be a more diverse workforce, we have to . . . reach out and go that extra mile. We haven't necessarily done that effectively in the past."

DPS will hire a diversity coordinator, who Haynes hopes will fix many of the concerns.

Haynes also said DPS will recruit teachers of color by working with organizations such as the Black Education Advisory Council and by using diversity hiring programs.

Over the past eight years, the number of American Indian, Asian and Latino teachers in the district has increased slightly, and a new trial program, The Denver Residency Program, recently hired 27 teachers, including five African- Americans, eight Latinos and one American Indian.

These new teachers will slightly improve a significant gap between the number of minority students and teachers.

According to the state Education Department, almost 78 percent of the 4,349 DPS teachers are white, 6.1 percent are black and 14.3 percent are Hispanic. By contrast, 17.2 percent of its students are African-American and 55.5 percent are Hispanic.

Borom said he is as worried about retaining black teachers as he is about hiring them.

"African-American teachers have had a very bad experience in Denver," he said. "There are all kinds of stories in our community about teachers not having the opportunity to have positive career experiences in DPS."

Haynes said that without specific examples of discrimination, she could not comment on that issue. She said the decline in numbers alone is not evidence of discrimination.

Borom said the trend has a negative impact on students.

"There need to be role models for the kids in our community," Borom said.

"Our kids need teachers that come from the same places as them, represent them, look like them and know something about them."

Labels: racism, zero tolerance

posted by Patricia Lopez at 9:59 PM 0 comments Links to this post

By Alyson Klein | Ed Week
June 15, 2009

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s game plan for his Race to the Top fund—the most talked-about portion of the economic-stimulus package for education—is coming into clearer focus, with his announcement that $350 million of the $4.35 billion fund will be used to help states develop common academic assessments.

Yesterday’s announcement, made a day before the U.S. Department of Education unveiled a time line for the doling out the rest of the money, will help bolster an effort led by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers to create common standards. Forty-six states have joined in the project.

Mr. Duncan told the nation’s governors at a meeting in Cary, N.C., that high-quality assessments to measure progress toward common standards will cost more than the fill-in-the-bubble variety.

Read on...

Labels: Race to the Top fund, stimulus

posted by Patricia Lopez at 9:50 PM 0 comments Links to this post

Inside Higher Ed
June 17, 2009

WASHINGTON -- Following the lead of President Obama, who stressed the importance of college graduation rates in his first address to Congress earlier this year, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Tuesday announced more than $6.4 million in grants to national policy organizations for efforts to identify why so many young Americans drop out of college.

“Today, a two-year or four-year college degree or certificate is a prerequisite for economic success,” Hilary Pennington, director of education, postsecondary success and special initiatives for the Gates Foundation, said to an audience of higher education professionals gathered at the Library of Congress here. Yet while tangible economic incentives to finish college are evident, she said, completion rates have been stagnant since the 1970s. While the United States once led the world in terms of postsecondary completion rates, it now ranks 10th.

That is why, Pennington said, the Gates Foundation is expanding its efforts in areas of high school completion and college preparation to study and improve the ways colleges and policy makers can help students -- especially low-income, African American, Hispanic and nontraditional students -- complete degrees (four-year and otherwise).

The grants announced Tuesday include $1.25 million for the American Enterprise Institute; $800,000 for the Center for American Progress; $1.5 million for the Center for Law and Social Policy; $675,000 for the College Board; $600,000 for Excelencia in Education; and $1.58 million for the Institute for Higher Education Policy. Initiatives that will be funded through the grants focus on developing policy proposals, collecting usable data, and promoting innovation on an institutional level.

“Students need to be ready for college but colleges have to be ready for students,” Kevin Carey, policy director for Education Sector and moderator of Tuesday’s panel discussion, said, asking the national policy organization officials on the panel what needs to be done to shift the responsibility a little more evenly from students to institutions.

One issue is with funding, panel members said. This country invests 50 times more money in initiatives aimed at giving students access to college than it does in efforts designed to ensure that they succeed once there, said Amy Ellen Duke-Benfield, senior policy analyst at the Center for Law and Social Policy. That is a major “stumbling block” in terms of policy, she said, mentioning later an example of one state -- Oklahoma -- that has successfully provided incentives for college completion rates by tying them to state funding. According to a February report by the Midwestern Higher Education Compact, performance funding in Oklahoma -- focused on student retention, graduation, and degree completion -- has averaged $2.2 million per year.

But a one-size-fits-all model will not address the widely varying needs of colleges, the panelists emphasized. Mark Schneider, vice president of the American Institutes for Research and visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, cited a report released by AEI last week showing that even among “competitive” colleges, graduation rates range from just over 20 percent to more than 70 percent.

Gathering more thorough information about individual colleges would help identify what’s working and what’s not, Schneider said, adding that he supports the notion of developing a federal database of student records to allow policymakers to track their progress across institutions -- a debate that has raged for years. But, he said, “surprise, surprise, there are political problems” involved in national data collection, and the current method of collection -- the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System -- leaves out information that could be useful for evaluating colleges, including figures that could encourage more nontraditional students to pursue and finish degrees (like how much and often the college discounts tuition for low-income applicants).

It’s also important, though, that policy makers avoid just “talking to each other,” Schneider said. A major factor in a successful degree completion initiative would have to be the dissemination of information to colleges and applicants.

For Sarita Brown, president of Excelencia in Education -- which aims to accelerate Latino students' success in higher education -- that means bringing to low-income and minority students the kind of “conversations that regularly go on at middle-class breakfast tables.”

Schneider agreed, suggesting college applicants who traditionally miss out on adequate college counseling should have access to information not just about which institutions they are qualified to attend, but also the relative statistics for each -- especially each college’s graduation rates for minority populations. That means getting information into “the hands of people who really matter” -- students, parents and guidance counselors.

“The question comes up, ‘If we only knew what works,’ ” said Tom Rudin, senior vice president for advocacy, government relations and development for the College Board. “Well we do know what works.”

Testing workable ideas on real campuses -- not just talking “from 30,000 feet” as Brown warned against -- and taking a more one-on-one approach with students have proven successful in the past, he said, and should be emphasized in the future. There are “programs all over the place” that serve as positive role models in that regard -- the "Call Me MISTER" initiative at Clemson University is one.

But underlying any new initiative for an increase in college graduation rates has to be a recognition that the landscape of students and the institutions they choose is changing, Duke-Benfield said. Higher education is “largely in denial” about the demographic shift in college attendees toward more nontraditional students, she said, and a major focus in the efforts funded by the Gates grants should be on ways to reach and support today’s students.

Gates officials promised that they would be responding to many of those suggestions as they announce more grants in the coming weeks and months.

Labels: community colleges

posted by Patricia Lopez at 9:46 PM 0 comments Links to this post

By WINNIE HU | NY Times
Published: June 14, 2009

STAMFORD, Conn. — Sixth graders at Cloonan Middle School here are assigned numbers based on their previous year’s standardized test scores — zeros indicate the highest performers, ones the middle, twos the lowest — that determine their academic classes for the next three years.

But this longstanding system for tracking children by academic ability for more effective teaching evolved into an uncomfortable caste system in which students were largely segregated by race and socioeconomic background, both inside and outside classrooms. Black and Hispanic students, for example, make up 46 percent of this year’s sixth grade, but are 78 percent of the twos and 7 percent of the zeros.

So in an unusual experiment, Cloonan mixed up its sixth-grade science and social studies classes last month, combining zeros and ones with twos. These mixed-ability classes have reported fewer behavior problems and better grades for struggling students, but have also drawn complaints of boredom from some high-performing students who say they are not learning as much.

The results illustrate the challenge facing this 15,000-student district just outside New York City, which is among the last bastions of rigid educational tracking more than a decade after most school districts abandoned the practice. In the 1960s and early 1970s, Stamford sorted students into as many as 15 different levels; the current system of three to five levels at each of four middle schools will be replaced this fall by a two-tiered model, in which the top quarter of sixth graders will be enrolled in honors classes, the rest in college-prep classes. (A fifth middle school is a magnet school and has no tracking.)

More than 300 Stamford parents have signed a petition opposing the shift, and some say they are now considering moving or switching their children to private schools. “I think this is a terrible system for our community,” said Nicole Zussman, a mother of two.

Ms. Zussman and others contend that Stamford’s diversity, with poor urban neighborhoods and wealthy suburban enclaves, demands multiple academic tracks, and suggest that the district could make the system fairer and more flexible by testing students more frequently for movement among the levels.

But Joshua P. Starr, the Stamford superintendent, said the tracking system has failed to prepare children in the lower levels for high school and college. “There are certainly people who want to maintain the status quo because some people have benefited from the status quo,” he said. “I know that we cannot afford that anymore. It’s not fair to too many kids.”

Educators have debated for decades how to best divide students into classes. Some school districts focus on providing extra instruction to low achievers or developing so-called gifted programs for the brightest students, but few maintain tracking like Stamford’s middle schools (tracking is less comprehensive and rigid at the town’s elementary and high schools).

Deborah Kasak, executive director of the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform, said research is showing that all students benefit from mixed-ability classes. “We see improvements in student behavior, academic performance and teaching, and all that positively affects school culture,” she said.

Daria Hall, a director with Education Trust, an advocacy group, said that tracking has worsened the situation by funneling poor and minority students into “low-level and watered-down courses.” “If all we expect of students is for them to watch movies and fill out worksheets, then that’s what they will give us,” she said.

In Stamford, black and Hispanic student performance on state tests has lagged significantly behind that of Asians and whites. In 2008, 98 percent of Asian students and 92 percent of white students in grades three to eight passed math, and 93 percent and 88 percent reading, respectively. Among black students, 63 percent passed math, and 56 percent reading; among Hispanic students, 74 percent passed math and 60 percent reading.

The district plans to keep a top honors level, but put the majority of students in mixed-ability classes, expanding the new system from sixth grade to seventh and eighth over three years. While the old system tracked students for all subjects based on math and English scores, the new one will allow students to be designated for honors in one subject but not necessarily another, making more students overall eligible for the upper track.

The staff of Cloonan Middle School decided to experiment with mixed-ability classes for the last eight weeks of this school year.

David Rudolph, Cloonan’s principal, said that parents have long complained that the tracking numbers assigned to students dictate not only their classes but also their friends and cafeteria cliques. Every summer, at least a dozen parents lobby Mr. Rudolph to move their children to the top track. “The zero group is all about status,” he said.

Jamiya Richardson, who is 11 and in the twos’ group, said that students all know their own numbers as well as those of their classmates. “I don’t like being classified because it makes you feel like you’re not smart,” she said.

The other day in Jamiya’s newly mixed social studies class, students debated who was to blame in an ancient Roman legal case in which a barber shaving a slave in a public square was hit by a ball and cut the slave’s throat. At one point, Jamiya was the only one in the class of 25 to argue that it was the slave’s fault because he sat there at his own risk — which the teacher said was the right answer.

Cloonan teachers say they had not changed the curriculum or slowed the pace for the mixed-ability classrooms, but tried to do more collaborative projects and discussions in hopes that students would learn from one another. But Joel Castle, who is 12 and a zero, said that he did not work as hard now. “My grades are going up, and that’s not really surprising because the standards have been lowered,” he said.

In a recent social studies class, the top students stood out as they presented elaborate homemade projects about Roman culture — mosaics, dresses, weaponry — while several of their classmates showed up empty-handed. One offered the excuse that his catapult had disappeared overnight from his bedside.

“A catapult thief?” questioned the teacher, Mimi Nichols, in disbelief before directing him to find his project by the next day.

Afterward, Ms. Nichols said that the less-motivated students had still learned from their classmates’ example. “That in itself is valuable,” she said. “For children to see what is possible.”

Labels: tracking

posted by Patricia Lopez at 9:44 PM 0 comments Links to this post

By Dana Hull | Mercury News
06/19/2009

Amid yet another round of budget negotiations, Democrats made a surprising and controversial proposal this week: Suspend the state's high school exit exam.

The move was largely inspired by philosophical worries: Democrats on the influential budget conference committee say they cannot in good conscience mandate the exam for students while at the same time propose to slash education funding by millions of dollars more.

"When the state is making cuts that could lead to a shorter school year, fewer teachers and larger class sizes, it doesn't seem realistic to expect the same results as before the cuts," said Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, in a statement.

Educators and business leaders blasted the proposal, saying the two-part multiple- -choice test of basic math and reading skills is a cornerstone of the state's "accountability" system. Though it's unclear whether the test will survive the budget negotiations, the fact that Democrats, traditionally strong allies of public education, put it forward has test advocates worried the exit exam is vulnerable.

Diploma requirement

Since 2006, high school students have been required to pass the test in order to get their diplomas. But an estimated 40,000 students, more than half of whom are special education students, don't pass the test annually.

Under the Democrats' proposal, students would still have to take the test once — to comply with federal "No Child Left Behind" regulations — but it would cease being a graduation requirement until at least 2012-2013.

"People in the field say the exit exam is the greatest high school reform effort we have made in a generation," said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell, who, as a legislator, wrote the bill creating the exam. "The exit exam has helped us reduce the dropout rate and close the achievement gap, because it helps us to identify those students who need more help. To lower our standards now — it's just crazy. It's ludicrous."

Camille Anderson, spokeswoman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, said the governor will veto any proposal to eliminate the exam. Also opposed are business leaders, who say the exit exam is key to ensuring that students leave high school prepared for the workforce.

"It's concerning because of the message it sends to students," said Kirk Clark, executive director of California Business for Education Excellence. "It's: 'Sorry, we've stopped caring about your success because of the budget.' "

Budget negotiators say suspending the exam will save the state about $6 million to $8 million a year; the savings would come because high schools currently administer the test several times a year, and each exam has to be scored. The state faces a staggering $24.3 billion deficit.

Students take their first crack at the exit exam in 10th grade and can take it again as juniors and seniors if they don't pass it the first time around.

In Santa Clara County, 84 percent of the Class of 2010 passed the English Language Arts portion of the exam as 10th-graders, while 85 percent passed the math portion; students must pass both parts to graduate. The passage rate gradually rises over time as students take it again in later grades. Students who don't pass by graduation day can take it again in the summer after their senior year.

Some districts issue "certificates of completion" in lieu of diplomas to students who have met all other graduation requirements.

Student 'momentum'

Vito Chiala, principal at Overfelt High School in San Jose's East Side Union High School District, says suspending the exit exam now would be a terrible idea.

"It took a long time to get this into the system, and all high school students know that the exit exam is something you have to pass," said Chiala. "It's one of the tests that students take seriously, and they are motivated to pass it. We'd lose a lot of momentum if it was suspended."

Public support for the exit exam is also high. An April survey by the Public Policy Institute of California found 69 percent of all Californians, and 80 percent of Latinos, think students should pass the exit exam to graduate.

But the exam has been controversial from the start. Youth activists with Californians for Justice have argued the exam penalizes students from poor school districts who are not prepared to pass it, and parents of special education students have also filed numerous legal challenges.

And passage rates vary widely based on race and income. For the Class of 2008, the last year for which complete results are available, 90.2 percent of all students in California had passed both portions of the exam by 12th grade. But only 80.1 percent of African-American students had passed the exam; the figure was 72.8 percent for English-language learners and just 53.8 percent for special education students.

Staffers for Bass said she is also concerned about a recent study by Stanford University professor Sean Reardon that found a disproportionate number of female and nonwhite students are failing the exit exam.

Labels: California, high-stakes testing

posted by Patricia Lopez at 9:42 PM 0 comments Links to this post

Giving students access to technology is a great thing. What needs to be avoided though is using technology as a solution to ignore capacity issues rather than it being value-added.

-Patricia

Also check out the written testimony.

Education & Labor Republican Press
Tuesday, June 16, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 16, 2009

CONTACT: Alexa Marrero
(202) 225-4527

Opening Statement
of Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE)
Full Committee
Hearing on “The Future of Learning: How Technology Is Transforming
Public Schools”

Good morning and thank you, Chairman
Miller, for holding today’s hearing. I am pleased the Committee is exploring the timely issue of how technology is transforming our nation’s public schools.

More often, people are using different technologies to gather and disseminate information. I believe that in today’s technologically-driven world, states and school districts throughout the country have the opportunity to use these new technologies to improve academic achievement and help America’s children compete in a world where new technology is the norm, not a novelty.

In many instances, this is already happening in schools today. The International Society for Technology in Education and the Consortium for School Networking have studied the impact of technology in schools.

They have found that technology can help students improve in reading, writing, and math.

Technology also can improve a student’s critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills.

Technology can help children with disabilities interact with their peers and better understand the subject matter. Adaptive technology can also provide accommodations for the assessment process, giving these children the opportunity to learn and achieve – and demonstrate their success – just like anyone else in the class.

Children in remote and rural areas benefit from technology, too. They are no longer limited to the few books available down the road at the county library. Through technology, they now have access to all the libraries in the world, right from their homes.


And for children in rural communities whose schools are not making adequate yearly progress, technology opens up a new world of tutoring options that were not available before the era of the Internet and interactive online learning.

Technology makes more parental options available through Supplemental Educational Services under NCLB to students who might not otherwise have access to them simply because of geography.

But technology helps more than the students.

Studies have shown that administrators can use technology to improve efficiency, productivity, and decision making at their schools.

Technology also helps teachers meet professional requirements so they are qualified in their subjects. They also can use networks to learn and share the latest teaching techniques.

Even parents can benefit. Through Internet-based programs, they can monitor their children’s attendance, homework, and performance.

Technology is a wonderful and necessary addition to schools – but it hasn’t come for free.

Over the years, Congress has provided hundreds of millions of dollars to schools to acquire and use technology. And that’s before the additional funding provided in the recent American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In fact, in Fiscal Year 2009, the Education Technology State Grant Program received approximately $270 million.

Technology can be a transformative force in our classrooms, and I am a strong supporter of innovation and creativity.

However, as we examine new technologies and hear from this distinguished panel of witnesses on how new technologies may be incorporated into the classroom to improve student achievement, we must remain mindful of these trying economic times and ensure all federal funds for education technology serve a purpose, and improve opportunities for students.

I look forward to learning about what’s happening in classrooms at the cutting edge and hopefully exposing other educators to the types of tools and resources that are
available.

With that, I welcome our witnesses today.
I look forward to hearing your testimony.

Thank you, Chairman Miller. I yield back.

Labels: technology

posted by Patricia Lopez at 9:22 PM 0 comments Links to this post

By Lesli A. Maxwell | Ed Week
June 17, 2009

President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan have been championing charter schools for months, creating what some advocates believe is the most forceful national momentum to expand the largely independent public schools since the first charter opened nearly 20 years ago.

That high-profile advocacy is being matched, moreover, by significant financial leverage, thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Mr. Duncan has pledged that states with laws he deems unfriendly to charters will be last in line for the grant money he will have broad authority to award from the $4.35 billion Race to the Top fund established under the economic-stimulus law.

Repeatedly, Mr. Duncan has warned the 26 states that currently impose caps on the numbers of charter schools, and the 10 states that do not permit charters at all, that they risk being at a “competitive disadvantage” for the discretionary grants for programs to help states boost student achievement.

Read on...

Labels: charter schools

posted by Patricia Lopez at 9:17 PM 0 comments Links to this post

Some good points made in this Ed-Op. -Patricia

Boston Globe Editorial
June 16, 2009

TOO MANY students continue to be failed by the Boston Public Schools. We do need more innovation and flexibility in educating these students. But the debate over removing the cap on charter schools in Boston often ignores the most serious challenges in dealing with all of our students, especially students with disabilities and English language learners. The June 10 editorial "Take caps off charter schools" continues to neglect these critical issues.

Special education and English language-learning students have been identified as among those most at risk of dropping out. Data on charter schools show that they are not enrolling a proportionate share of students with disabilities, particularly those with severe disabilities, and are woefully inadequate in educating English language learners. Last year, 400 students dropped out of charter schools, and returned to Boston Public Schools. Shouldn't the charter school system be challenged to educate these higher-risk students? What are the implications if they don't? Do we want a tracking system where charter schools skim the cream with stronger students, and public schools are left with those most at risk?

It is irresponsible for the debate over removing the cap on charter schools to ignore these critical questions.

John Mudd, Senior project director
Massachusetts Advocates for Children, Boston

Labels: charter schools, editorial

posted by Patricia Lopez at 9:09 PM 0 comments Links to this post

Also check out another article on this same issue "Small Schools in N.Y.C. Pressed on Spec. Ed."

-Patricia

Advocates for Children of New York and the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund released a report today contending that English-language learners were not well served by the break up of two Brooklyn high schools into smaller schools. As the New York City Department of Education continues to close large schools and replace them with smaller ones, "ELL students—who experience some of the lowest graduation rates in the city—are left with fewer and fewer options or are simply left behind," the report argues.

At the same time, let me note that someone has filed a complaint with the office for civil rights of the U.S. Department of Education saying the Big Apple's small schools discriminated against ELLs and students with disabilities by excluding them. But in January, OCR determined that the schools hadn't excluded the students, and thus had not discriminated against them. (Learning the Language post here.)

The report provides case studies—based on on-site visits, interviews, and enrollment data—of how the closing of Tilden and Lafayette high schools in Brooklyn affected ELLs. It argues that as these schools were phased out, ELLs received less language support and services in their home schools and in some cases were pushed into General Educational Development programs, when they had a right to get a regular high school diploma. It says that many of the small schools, unless they have a particular goal of serving ELLs, have enrolled very few such students and are not providing extra language help to the ones they have (they're required by federal law to do so).

Many ELLs, the report says, ended up attending other large high schools in the city. The closing of Tilden and Lafayette also resulted in the loss of two large bilingual education programs, as the small schools didn't create such programs.

Initially, when the New York City Department of Education started breaking up large high schools into smaller ones, it permitted the small schools to exclude ELLs for the first two years of operation. Several New York City-based organizations, including Advocates for Children, fought to have that policy revoked. They succeeded, and in 2007, the department said that small schools could not exclude ELLs.

The report released today, "Empty Promises," bases its findings on an examination of ELL access to services in the new small schools that replaced Tilden and Lafayette in the 2007-08 school year. The report makes the case that many small schools are still not enrolling many ELLs. It provides several recommendations for how the city education department should take ELLs into consideration when closing high schools. Among them are to ensure that ELLs in the schools that are being phased out get a chance to continue to work for a regular high school diploma and that new small schools have plans to recruit and properly assess ELLs and have programs to serve them.

Labels: English language learners

posted by Patricia Lopez at 9:06 PM 0 comments Links to this post

Check out this heavily supported proposal for the re-authorization of the federal NCLB act. It lays out some pretty good policy considerations.

One concern from my first read of this is that while the goal is to improve student learning it doesn't place enough attention on the role of teachers. Redefining teacher quality, addressing teacher shortage and turnover, and the disproportionate degree that minority students attending poor schools are in classrooms taught by teachers teaching out-of-field don't come up.

-Patricia


All children deserve the opportunity to succeed in high quality public schools. High quality public schools are schools where students and adults form active communities of learners, evidenced by a culture that is both supportive and challenging. They attend to the whole child and meet the individual needs and support the strengths of each child, including English language learners, students with disabilities, and students of diverse racial, cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. They are well-resourced and well-staffed by qualified professionals, provide classes of a size that ensures individualized instruction and attention to each child's learning needs, and are safe, healthy and modern. Students attending these schools demonstrate ongoing progress toward important learning outcomes as indicated by a variety of sources and kinds of evidence, including classroom work, different types of assessments of progress and mastery, and grade promotion and graduation rates.

Important learning outcomes must include basic and higher order content knowledge and thinking skills in and across subject areas. Schools must have programs to provide all students with a coherent and intellectually challenging curriculum that includes 21st century critical thinking, problem solving, and high-level communication skills, and that ensures deep understanding of content. To achieve these outcomes, schools must be culturally sensitive and address different learning styles and interests through curriculum and instruction that fosters student engagement, promotes creativity, and addresses diverse experiences and needs. Schools also will collaborate with families and communities to meet the needs of the whole child -- cognitive/intellectual, social, civic, emotional, psychological, ethical, and physical -- while preparing them for successful citizenship in a multi-cultural world.

The federal government has a limited but important role to play in realizing this vision of high quality schooling for all. It should help provide the tools and resources to empower schools where students are underserved by partnering with schools, districts, states, communities, and organizations to ensure all schools are of higher quality. To ensure successful learning outcomes, the federal government also must take a strong role in addressing issues complementary to education, including health care, housing, employment, income, and community fragmentation.

Read on...

Labels: NCLB reauthorization

posted by Patricia Lopez at 8:57 PM 0 comments Links to this post

These are important findings given the state and federal support of charters as a reform solution.

-Patricia

By SHIRLEY JINKINS | Star Telegram
Sunday, Jun 21, 2009

A national study released by Stanford University on Monday said minority students in Texas public charter schools do worse in reading and math than those in traditional public schools.

And overall, a typical student in a Texas charter school learns significantly less than his or her traditional school counterpart, the study says.

But English-language learners, students from low-income families and students enrolled for several years benefit from attending charter schools, the study says.

The Stanford report covers 16 states and analyzes five years of data, concluding with the 2006-07 school year.

It focused on students in third through 11th grade because they take state assessment tests, which were the mark to measure achievement. To compare academic growth, the study tried to find for each charter school student a "virtual" twin in the traditional public school that the charter student transferred from or would have attended.

The study found that almost half the charter schools performed about the same as traditional public schools in math, said Dr. Margaret Raymond, lead author of the study and head of the research team.

"Then, 17 percent had statistically superior figures, and 37 percent of charter schools were significantly worse than public school," she said.

Tremendous variation in academic quality among charters is the norm, not the exception, the study says.

"You do see a lot of variation within communities, variation within states and variations within the national picture," Raymond said. "Does it mean charter schools should be fixed, or are public schools really strong?"

The report draws some of the same conclusions as other recent studies of charter school effectiveness, including a Rand Corp. study this year. That study attributed low minority achievement levels to "the success of the provision in the state’s original charter law encouraging the establishment of charter schools for disadvantaged students."

Improving minority achievement was one of the major goals cited during establishment of the first public charter schools in Texas in 1996.

Not everyone is alarmed at the low minority achievement levels in Texas.

"It’s not terribly surprising that during that first year, you see performance drop off," said David Dunn of the Texas Charter Schools Association. "But by the third and fourth year, charter students exceed in both reading and math."

Another positive, Dunn said, is Texas charter school performance for English-language learners.

Joe Bean, public information specialist with the Texas State Teachers Association, said high expectations may be part of the problem facing charter schools.

"We hear the same kinds of things not only with charters, but also with the voucher program," he said. "But once data starts coming in down the road, typically there may be some gains or there may not, but it usually doesn’t meet the high expectations anticipated at the start."

The Stanford study group said the problem for low-performing states is one of charter school policy as much as educational issues.

"What’s going on with that 37 percent?" Raymond said. "We feel it’s a call for stronger school accountability and stronger provider accountability, states taking a stronger look at consistently underperforming schools."

The report says there is "a disturbing subset" of poorly performing charter schools, which education officials are reluctant to close.

Charter caps, which limit the number of charters granted, were also cited as a particularly harmful policy.

"It is dissuading successful schools from replicating their practices," Raymond said. "It is decreasing entry opportunities for charter management organizations to come into a state."

Texas has about 460 open-enrollment charters serving more than 90,000 students. There is a waiting list of 17,000 students for charter openings.

Recent failed legislation sponsored by state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, would have loosened the cap and strengthened the state’s ability to shut down struggling charters, said Dunn, of the Texas charter school group.

The lack of higher achievement levels in Texas charters is one reason why the teachers association did not support legislation to lift the cap, Bean said.

"The standards appear to be fairly low for accountability" of charter providers, Bean said. "Also, the Texas Education Agency doesn’t have the resources to adequately monitor the charters that are now open."

Online: credo.stanford.edu

Stanford report’s key findings: In general, students in charter schools nationwide are not faring as well as students in traditional public schools.

Texas was among the states whose charter schools’ academic gains lagged behind those of their traditional public school counterparts. Students from 371 charter schools were followed; 17 percent of charters showed academic gains better than traditional public schools; 46 percent showed no significant differences.

Charter schools overall had a positive effect on low-income students and English-language learners.

Elementary and middle school charter students tended to do better than their peers, but that wasn’t true for upper- or multilevel charter students.

First-year charter school students experienced a decline in test scores and progress, while those in their second and third years usually saw positive gains.

Charter schools in five states outperformed their traditional peers; charters in six states, including Texas, underperformed their traditional peers.

Source: "Multiple Choice: Charter School Performance in 16 States," Stanford University

Labels: charter schools

posted by Patricia Lopez at 8:53 PM 0 comments Links to this post

May 2009

May 2009 | Volume 66 | Number 8
Teaching Social Responsibility Pages 5-5
Taking Higher Ground
Marge Scherer

The lead story in my newspaper this morning features the upcoming G20 summit in London at which international leaders will discuss whether regulations, bailouts, and stimulus plans will do anything to stem the financial crisis. Another story is about North Dakota, where residents are wearily watching whether the sandbag barriers they've built will hold back the Red River. The stories have their similarities—looming disasters, overwhelming forces, demands for people to come together to solve the problem before it is too late. The flood story seems a simpler one. But perhaps it only seems easier to battle a raging river than to battle raging greed.

This issue of Educational Leadership is about the schools' mission to teach the practice of putting individual interests aside to work together for the common good. Social responsibility is difficult to teach because we cannot always give students clear-cut answers about how to solve social and environmental problems. In fact, because we don't know which problems our students will be called on to address in the future, the challenge of teaching what Charles Haynes calls "the moral habits of the heart" is even greater. In these confusing times, it is much easier to believe that teaching social responsibility is not the schools' job at all.

Our authors, though, make a compelling case for schools to reclaim the traditional role they have been entrusted with—guiding students to become responsible citizens. As Charles Haynes (p. 6) writes,

World hunger and the other human tragedies—poverty, disease, tyranny, and war itself—offend a conscience shaped by concern for others. Meeting these challenges today requires more than politics and money; it requires people of conscience who are compelled to act.... Yes, reading and math are important. But what matters most is what kinds of human beings are reading the books and doing the math.

The authors in this issue believe it is necessary for all of us to learn about difficult 21st-century social issues—from genocide to global warming—but in developmentally appropriate ways. For example, the Facing History and Ourselves program (p. 59) engages students in thinking through connections between historical instances of mass violence and violent events today, but it starts with what students themselves know about conflict and prejudice. Environmental education programs like No Child Left Inside tackle such issues as global warming, species loss, and water scarcity from a scientific perspective. As Mike Weilbacher notes (p. 38), environmental education is a topic about which students have far more interest than real knowledge. It is time to correct that.

Author Laurel Schmidt (p. 32) warns that choosing to accept the challenge to teach social justice issues won't be easy. "Social justice," she writes, "is an unscripted mixture of politics, economics, laws, values, humanitarian crises, and issues that pit common sense against the common good. For every earnest cause, dozens of countervailing voices explain why the situation can't or shouldn't change."

Yet, as Schmidt says, our students are clamoring to debate these issues. From their earliest years in school, they look to their teachers to help them discover ways to respond to social problems.

This generation of students is also more cognizant of world affairs than previous generations have been. As author Rahima Wade (p. 50) reminds us, "Technology has brought the injustices of the world to our students' doorsteps." It's only after being told consistently that these issues are offlimits at school that they begin to believe that certain problems are not their concern or just too hard to solve.

Idealistic and interested in action, students greet inauthentic learning with skepticism but are most willing to rise to a meaningful cause. We know that many causes await them. Our job is to make sure they have the knowledge, the courage, and the habits of heart to take them on.



Copyright © 2009 by ASCD

posted by Dr. Angela Valenzuela at 6:09 PM 0 comments Links to this post

EPI Events [events@epi.org]
Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 2:13 PM
To:
valenz@mail.utexas.edu

Broader, Bolder Accountability: Meaningful School Improvement in the Post-NCLB Era

Thursday, June 25, 2009
10-11:30 AM
[RSVP below]

With widespread recognition that No Child Left Behind is fatally flawed, what will replace it? How can schools be held accountable for raising overall achievement and narrowing the achievement gap, without relying excessively on standardized tests which distort curricula and undermine schools' efforts to develop students' breadth and depth of knowledge?

President Obama has called for a new accountability system that does not rely solely on standardized testing, yet his administration has not explained how it hopes to design such a system. A committee of the Broader, Bolder Approach to Education campaign has been working on developing new accountability design elements and will release its report, School Accountability, A Broader, Bolder Approach: Report of the Accountability Committee of the Broader, Bolder Approach to Education Campaign at this event.

Featuring:

Tom Payzant, a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the former superintendent of schools in Boston and San Diego, and an assistant secretary of education in the Clinton administration.

Christopher Cross, the former president of the Council for Better Education, and an assistant secretary of education in the George H.W. Bush administration.

DATE: Thursday, June 25, 2009, from 10 - 11:30 AM

PLACE: Economic Policy Institute, 1333 H Street, NW, East Tower, Suite 300, Washington, DC (near McPherson Square Metro and Metro Center)

RSVP: Click here to reserve your seat today

For event registration support, contact events@epi.org.

For further information about A Broader, Bolder Approach to Education,
contact boldapproach@epi.org or visit www.boldapproach.org.

If you wish to unsubscribe yourself from EPI emails, click here.

A Broader, Bolder Approach to Education
c/o Economic Policy Institute
1333 H Street, NW
Suite 300, East Tower
Washington, DC 20005

Copyright © 2009 Economic Policy Institute. All rights reserved.

posted by Dr. Angela Valenzuela at 6:03 PM 0 comments Links to this post

Take a look at this satire. Far too little exists in our world despite how much it can reveal! -Angela

May 25, 2009 | The Onion Issue 45•22

WASHINGTON—A shocking report released by the U.S. Department of Education this week revealed that a growing number of the nation's educators struggle on a daily basis with some form of teaching disability.

The study, which surveyed 2,500 elementary and high school level instructors across the country, found that nearly one out of every five exhibited behaviors typically associated with a teaching impairment. Among them: trouble paying attention in school, lack of interest or motivation during class, and severe emotional issues.

"For teaching-disabled and at-risk educators, just coming to school every day is a challenge," said Dr. Robert Hughes, a behavioral psychologist and lead author of the study. "Even simple tasks, like remaining alert and engaged during lessons, can be a struggle. Unfortunately, unless we take immediate action, these under-performers will only continue to fall further behind."

"Our teachers are in trouble," Hughes continued. "Some can't even teach at a basic sixth-grade level."

As noted in the report, hundreds of schools have already begun setting up special classrooms in which the teaching- disabled can receive the extra attention they require, teach at their own unique pace, and be paired up with patient students who can help to keep them on track.

According to school administrators, new programs like these encourage marginalized and disenfranchised teachers by rewarding them for showing up to school prepared and taking an active part in classroom discussions. Many also have counselors on hand to intervene when an instructor grows frustrated or throws a tantrum and storms out of the room.

In the new "Teachers First!" program at Wesley Academy in Chicago, educators who were once labeled "lost causes" and left to flounder in the system for years on end are now diagnosed with specific teaching disorders, given extra time to grade difficult assignments, and, in the case of particularly troubled teachers, moved back a grade.

"We're much more sensitive now to the factors that influence their behavior: abusive home lives, drug and alcohol problems, or often, the fact that they never should have been put in regular classrooms to begin with," Wesley principal Donald Zicree said. "A lot of these poor men and women have been told they can't teach for so long that many start to believe it after a while."

"Rather than punishing our teachers or kicking them out, we give them a gold star every time they do something right," Zicree continued. "If they write the correct answer to a math problem on the board, they get a gold star. If they volunteer to read aloud during English class, they get a gold star. You'd be amazed what a little positive reinforcement can do. Some of our teachers† have even stopped drinking in their cars during lunch."

According to Zicree, school officials aren't the only ones excited by the difference the new programs are making. Many educators have also responded favorably, realizing that they no longer have to act out or create disruptions in order to get the attention they so desperately crave.

For a few, like Michael Sturges, a 10th-grade history teacher at Wagar High School in Council Grove, KS, being put in a special classroom has reawakened a love for teaching he hasn't felt in years.

"Now that I know I have a teaching disability I don't beat myself up so much when I have a bad day or can't grasp the material we're working with," said Sturges, 38, who has pinned a number of perfectly graded assignments up on his wall. "I used to think teaching and stuff was pretty lame, but now—I dunno—I guess it's all right. If anything, being in school now might help me to get a decent job when I'm older."

Added Sturges, "You know, something that pays more than $24,000 a year."

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/report_increasing_number_of?utm_source=c-section

posted by Dr. Angela Valenzuela at 4:44 PM 0 comments Links to this post

This speech was speech given by Dr. Carlos Muñoz's granddaughter's government teacher, David de Hart who teaches at Albany High in California. Inspiring.

Angela

Good evening.

I had a lot of requests this week, but I decided to speak tonight anyway.

Before I get started, the counselors have asked me to take care of a serious problem that came to their attention just hours ago. Evidently, some serious errors were made in calculating some units and grades. Will the following students please remove their gowns and mortarboards and see your counselors in the lobby immediately: Travis Kirby, Fernando Todd-Vilela, Roy Johnson, Luc Newell, Hannah Krammer, Clifton Brown, Peter Hruska, Anish Pal, Tim Jowono, Parker Š the list goes on and on. Oh no, it looks like my 5th Period Economics class. It must be some kind of conspiracy. Schoolloop? Who would have thought? I believe they call this payback.

Stop crying Kirby and Roy, I was just kidding.

Seriously, I cannot think of a greater honor than to be chosen by the Senior Class of 2009 to speak at your graduation. What makes this event even more special for me tonight is that my twin-step daughters are among you. Thank you 09!

Honestly, I wish I could stand before you and say the Class of 2009 is the best group of students to have attended Albany High, or the best that I have taught. But I cannot. You see, at my age, after having taught roughly 3,000 students over 26 plus years, it is all a blur. I have trouble remembering the daily bell schedule. I can say your class has some of the kindest, smartest, industrious, talented, funny and interesting individuals one could ever hope to teach.

So, it is only fitting to take a moment to recognize some of the people instrumental in your development. Parents and guardians, you have made our difficult and challenging jobs as teachers fun and rewarding by raising wonderful and respectful kids, and by getting them to school every day on time, well most days on time. Your blood, sweat and tears along with your financial contributions to our schools have made this all possible. You are deeply appreciated, so let's give a round of applause to the supporters.

Parents, how little you knew at the time, but I would be remiss, if I did not congratulate you on the impeccable timing you had in the conception of your child who sits here tonight. With this deep and serious economic recession, there could be no better time to enter college, if one can still afford it. In four years the economy should be ripe for the hiring of young college graduates eager to fill the multitude of new job openings.

Graduation time often reminds me of that famous scene in the classic 1967 movie, The Graduate, where Benjamin Braddock, played by Dustin Hoffman, is given advice by a family friend about future jobs.

Mr. McGuire says to Benjamin: I want to say one word to you. Just one word.
Are you listening Benjamin? Plastics.

Are you listening, Seniors? I want to say six words to you: Public service, education, health care, energy.


Although going to college next year may very well be timely, you might regret leaving Albany High this year. Because of our dysfunctional state government and the deep spending cuts in education next year, if you have not yet heard, classes will begin at 10:00 am and school will end at 2:00 pm while students will still earn all their units to graduate on time. Sadly, Principal Barone will be laid off along with Vice-principals Charlip and Benau. Superintendent Stephenson continues to insist that the incoming student body president will be in charge. I am sorry, Jessica, you just missed out on exercising real power.

Seniors, you are sitting here tonight, poised for graduation because of your hard work and commitment. In addition you had the support of a dedicated, competent, professional and hard-working faculty, which I am so proud to teach with. Teachers please stand, along with our counselors, administrators and staff, so we can show our gratitude and appreciation to those who help make Albany one of the top schools in the country.

The day you entered Albany High in the fall of 2005, your concerns focused on finding your next classroom among the throng of students in the hallways while avoiding any senior who might haze you on that first Friday. For many of us, our concerns centered on the recent victims of Hurricane Katrina, an unprecedented natural disaster which reconfirmed our concerns about the political disaster in the White House.

During your fours years at Albany High, we learned just how fragile our democracy is.
If we educators have done our job, then you know better than the previous Congress and Administration the necessity of protecting our fundamental rights and liberties at all times. Embodied in our revolutionary founding documents are: our inalienable right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness;" the right to abolish or alter our existing government; the privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus; the power that only Congress has to declare war on other nations; the due process clauses, the equal protection clause, and those essential rights included in the First Amendment.

Ben Franklin had it right when he said: "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

We as educators have done our job if you have learned to think critically about the choices that are yours to make. Do you want:

a government that tortures, or a government that protects the rights of all human beings;

a government that wages wars of choice, or a government that wages peace around the world;


a government that locks up its citizens and foreigners for years at time without being charged with a crime, or a government that respects the writ of habeas corpus and due process;

a government that interferes in the private decisions of its citizens, or a government that recognizes that women have the fundamental right to choose as do spouses with partners on life support?

We have done our job if you have learned to think critically about wanting:

a Congress that gives up its responsibility to declare war to the President, or a Congress that soberly and thoughtfully debates such a deep and consequential action;

a Congress that allows the access to resources to be determined by the color of one's skin, gender and economic class, or a Congress that truly promotes the equality of opportunity.

We have done our job if you have learned to think critically about wanting:

a society where health care and education are privileges, or a society that ensures education and health care as inalienable rights for all its citizens;

a society that favors the rich over the poor, or a society that lends a helping hand to those on the bottom rung of the economic ladder;

a society that denies to too many the right to marry, or a society that recognizes that all citizens have equal protection under our Constitution.

These are not decisions for anyone to make lightly. My challenge to you tonight is to not avoid these issues, but to confront them head on.

Hope alone will not bring change, nor necessarily will our new president or Congress. We must all take up the President's insistence to serve our country in any way we can.

Whether you are going off to college, to a job, or perhaps to the armed forces, you can most certainly make a difference if you arm yourself with knowledge and get involved. I can think of no better endeavor than working for social justice and getting involved in public service. The viability of a true democracy is only as strong as the participation and inclusion of all its citizens.

It is only appropriate that we celebrate your graduation with a hopefulness and mindfulness for the future. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi: We must become the change we want to see in the world.

I wish each of you in the Class of 2009 an honest, healthy, happy and productive life. Good luck and thank you for making this one of my best teaching years at Albany High.

posted by Dr. Angela Valenzuela at 4:01 PM 0 comments Links to this post

STATEMENT BY CO-DIRECTORS OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS PROJECT ON THE
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE'S PROPOSAL TO END THE STATE EXIT EXAMINATION

We congratulate the Joint Budget Committee on its proposal to end the
state high school exit examination rather than to take further cuts to
California’s schools.20The code of ethics of the testing industry has
long condemned the use of single examinations to make vital decisions
about a student’s life. The American Psychological Association, the
American Educational Research Association, and the National Academy of
Sciences all concur. The basic reason is that there is no single test
that is an adequate measure of a student’s achievements and all tests
are prone to substantial error. Moreover, summary written performance
tests such as the CAHSEE correlate better with students’ socio-
economic status than with their potential to contribute to society or
further their own educations. These tests tend to be easy on students
from privileged backgrounds and excellent schools, but pose very
serious obstacles for students who are poor, not native English
speakers, and attend inferior segregated schools with less qualified
teachers and more limited resources and levels of competition.

In the schools that serve low income and ethnic minority students, too
often the fear of the test and endless drill for the test drive out
richer and more engaging forms of teaching and learning. Claude
Steele, longtime Stanford researcher and the new provost at Columbia
University, has clearly demonstrated that the stress caused by these
kinds of tests often results in lowered performance because of
students’ fear of confirming ugly stereotypes about their ability. For
students who are still learning English, these tests represent a
patently unfair challenge. Given the critical importance of a high
school diploma in today’s harsh economy and the hard decisions
California has to make now about: firing excellent young teachers;
disrupting needed reforms; overcrowding our classrooms; eliminating
essential counseling services, and other critical issues, we think
that the Committee’s decision is a wise one. Spending millions of
dollars for a high stakes test that has shown little value, and
denied high school diplomas and a decent chance for a future to far
too many minority, English language learners and low income students
in California, is not only wasteful; it’s also unethical.

Patricia Gándara and Gary Orfield

Co Directors, Civil rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles

Gandara and Orfield are professors at UCLA and both have been expert
witnesses on the civil rights issues involved in testing. Gandara
teaches a graduate seminar on testing. Orfield is co-editor (with
Professor Mindy Kornhaber of Pennsylvania State University) of the
Project's book on the issue, "Raising Standards or Raising Barriers?:
Inequality and High Stakes Testing in Public Education."

posted by Dr. Angela Valenzuela at 3:56 PM 0 comments Links to this post

Test Score Trends Through 2007-08 (Report - Full)
Author(s): Naomi Chudowsky, Victor Chudowsky, and Nancy Kober

Part I, Is the Emphasis on "Proficiency" Shortchanging Higher- and Lower-Achieving Students?

This report is the first in a series of reports describing results from CEP's third annual analysis of state testing data. The report provides an update on student performance at the proficient level of achievement, and for the first time, includes data about student performance at the advanced and basic levels. Also included are profiles for each state, which show trends in reading and math for basic, proficient, and advanced levels in elementary, middle, and high school. The study provides an in-depth look at the full range of student performance in order to better understand whether the No Child Left Behind Act's focus on proficiency has caused teachers to shortchange students at either end of the academic spectrum.

Published: June 17, 2009 View: Part 1: Is the Emphasis on "Proficiency" Shortchanging Higher- and Lower-Achieving Students? | Press Release | View State Profiles and Worksheets | Supplemental Tables

posted by Dr. Angela Valenzuela at 11:31 PM 0 comments Links to this post

I thought that there might be repercussions with Tx holding on to its rainy day fund while using the $12 billion in federal stimulus money to fill out the 2010-11 budget.... This is not good news.

Angela

LEGISLATURE

Did lawmakers hurt state's shot at federal money for education?

Texas followed guidelines and is in the clear, legislator says.

By Kate Alexander
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, June 19, 2009

A $5 billion pot of federal grant money to reward states for education innovation might be out of reach for Texas because of how the state has used its share of the federal stimulus money so far.

During the recently completed legislative session, state lawmakers plugged a hole in the 2010-11 budget by using $12 billion in federal stimulus money. That allowed lawmakers to leave untouched the state's estimated $9.1 billion rainy day fund — saving the money has been a source of pride for state leaders.

But federal officials appear to see it differently.

In a Thursday letter to Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell that could have ramifications for Texas, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan criticized that state's lawmakers for using federal stimulus dollars to plug budget holes.

"If a state has done nothing more than backfill budget holes with these dollars when the state had other resources available to it, such as a rainy-day fund, the state's competitive position to receive (the new education grant money) may be negatively affected," Duncan wrote to Rendell.

Duncan said it was a "disservice to our children" for Pennsylvania to leave its rainy day fund intact while reducing education spending.

And there are similar concerns about Texas because the state did not touch its sizable reserve fund, which could have been used to create jobs and invest in education, said Sandra Abrevaya, deputy press secretary for the U.S. Department of Education.

Unlike Pennsylvania, Texas has not reduced education spending. In fact, the Legislature has approved a $1.9 billion increase in school financing for the 2010-11 budget — paid for by the stimulus money, said state Rep. Scott Hochberg, D-Houston.

Jerel Booker, associate commissioner of the Texas Education Agency, said he thought that Duncan's letter did not apply to Texas because the state increased its education financing. And Texas should be a leading contender to share in the $5 billion grant program for education innovation, called Race to the Top, because the state already has in place programs that dovetail with President Barack Obama's initiatives, Booker said. The program will reward states and school districts that adopt innovations that Obama supports.

State legislators said they repeatedly sought guidance from the federal government on how to use the stimulus money appropriately.

"Every effort was made to stay in compliance with the terms of the stimulus bill," said Hochberg, who led the House Appropriations subcommittee on education.

But some Democrats in the Legislature and the U.S. Congress have fumed, saying the $3.2 billion in education money from the federal stimulus should have gone directly to the school districts, instead of to bailing the state out of its budget jam. At the beginning of the session, officials estimated that the state was facing a shortfall of nearly $4 billion.

U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, said the state created an "artificial shortfall" to justify using the money to cover the school financing and textbooks that it would have paid for anyway.

Doggett and other congressional Democrats have been pushing a budget amendment that would direct how Texas could spend its education stimulus money. Earlier this week, they failed to get the amendment on a war spending bill that cleared the U.S. House, but they say they will persist.

"Texas schoolchildren were shortchanged by getting only the same amount of monies for education that they would have received had no federal Education Stabilization funds ever been enacted by Congress," Doggett said.

kalexander@statesman.com; 445-3618

Additional material from the Associated Press.

posted by Dr. Angela Valenzuela at 11:23 PM 0 comments Links to this post

Tom Horne to Ethnic Studies: Drop Dead!

Arizona Watch
New America Media, Commentary
Roberto Dr. Cintli Rodriguez
Posted: Jun 19, 2009

TUCSON -- Arizona is the New South and the new South Africa. It is the
home of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, where racial profiling is official policy.
Now, in another form of profiling, State Superintendent of Schools Tom
Horne wants to eliminate ethnic studies.

At his behest and by a 4-3 Senate panel vote, an amendment to
education bill S.B. 1069 was passed that emphasizes the teaching of
individualism at the expense of ethnic studies. The bill would permit
the department of education to withhold 10 percent of state monies if
ethnic studies continue to exist. The full legislature is expected to
pass it within several weeks, and Republican Gov. Jan Brewer is
expected to sign it into law.

Horne has spent two-and-a-half years pushing this bill, and it will
effectively send Arizona school children into the dark ages.
Overriding the concept of local control, Horne wants Arizona teachers
to impose one view of America upon the state’s children.

His objective, according a press release from his office, is “to
prohibit ethnic studies in Arizona public schools.” But his real
objective appears to be ensuring that only the nation’s sacrosanct
national narrative is taught in schools.

This narrative is presumably the nation’s greatest asset. It is a
compilation of foundational myths and legends that defines the United
States as the New Promised Land -– a nation chosen by God to
essentially create heaven on earth. Its secular version is to
militarily spread freedom, democracy and capitalism to the rest of the
world.

Horne joins the likes of Newt Gingrich, Tom Tancredo, Rush Limbaugh,
Lou Dobbs and all their talk-show brethren, in both promoting
scapegoat politics and in corrupting the English language.

In Horne’s America, genocide, slavery, land theft, segregation,
discrimination, extralegal brutality and racial supremacy are taught
as footnotes at best, or disappeared altogether. In his America,
exclusion is inclusion and ignorance is bliss. In attempting to impose
his philosophy, he fancies himself as carrying on the work of Martin
Luther King, Jr. He oxymoronically accuses ethnic studies educators of
promoting racism and separatism.

The legislation targets ethnic studies, but exempts “classes or
courses for Native American pupils that are required to comply with
federal law.” Also exempted are classes for English learners. Horne’s
actual target is Raza Studies at Tucson Unified School district. In
his crusade, he accuses Raza Studies of promoting “ethnic chauvinism”
and of being a “dysfunctional program.”

Nicollete Gomez, who was in both Native American and Raza Studies at
Tucson High School, says, “The outsiders who say that we are
'unAmerican' and 'dysfunctional' obviously do not sit in these classes
to experience intellectual students ready for college material.”

Horne is seemingly unaware that students from Raza Studies, who are
taught about their indigenous cultures, consistently outperform
students from all backgrounds at TUSD. They also have a very high
college-going rate. Research by Dr. Augustine Romero, former director
of Raza Studies, confirms this phenomenal success.

Facts are of no concern to Horne. Only the nation’s foundational
myths/legends are important. This includes, as he told the
ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation in 2007, the Greco-Roman roots
of western civilization.

Lecia J. Brooks, director of the Civil Rights Memorial Center and
Teaching Tolerance at the Southern Poverty Law Center, the nation’s
premier center for tracking hate crime, says, “The teaching of
so-called 'individualism' is but another example of Western European
cultural dominance. This is madness. Educators everywhere should
declare in one voice: 'Culturally relevant pedagogy actually improves
instruction for all students—that is, if they’re allowed access to
it.'”

Horne isn’t promoting sound educational policy which encourages
critical thinking; he's selling hyper-U.S. nationalism or nationalized
mind control.

As University of Arizona first-year student Pricila Rodriguez, a Raza
Studies alum from Tucson High, also reminds us, “People that insist
that taxpayer money should not be used for ethnic studies forget that
we are taxpayers, too.”

In protest, supporters in Tucson of ethnic studies will stage a
two-day march to Phoenix on June 28 and 29. It’s about 90 miles
through desert heat. But it’s one way to put the heat on Tom Horne.

Roberto Dr. Cintli Rodriguez, assistant professor at the University of
Arizona, can be reached at: XColumn@gmail.com. It can be read at New
America's website: http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/

ARCHIVED COLUMN OF THE AMERICAS
http://web.mac.com/columnoftheamericas/iWeb/
Site/Welcome.html

posted by Dr. Angela Valenzuela at 11:03 PM 0 comments Links to this post

By KAREL HOLLOWAY / The Dallas Morning News
Monday, June 15, 2009

Amy Simpson is preparing to teach her first college class, but she'll be teaching it at North Garland High School.

Simpson will spend the summer wading through the requirements for a college composition course, matching them to the state curriculum for high school English. She'll pick materials and write lesson plans.

And when students complete the class, they'll have the chance to earn both high school and college credit for it.

The dual credit program is not new. But the classes are becoming more popular due to a change in state law requiring districts to offer students an opportunity to earn up to 12 hours of college credit in high school.

For decades, students have earned college credit by taking Advanced Placement classes, college level courses taught by specially trained district teachers. Students can take a test at the end of the course, and with a good grade, can earn college credit.

The new state requirement, along with the number of traditional AP courses, has left school districts such as Garland scrambling to meet the demand. They also must find enough money to pay for both programs.

In Garland, board members are planning a workshop this summer to discuss academic and financial considerations of both programs.

"I don't think they are competing programs," said Garland school board member Larry Glick. "They form part of the total college readiness program we are working on."

The district has spent years building its AP program. The end-of-course tests are administered nationally by the College Board, a nonprofit organization that oversees the program.

The number of Garland students taking AP tests increased 13 percent this year. But compared with last year, a smaller percentage of students earned a grade high enough to get college credit.

Meanwhile, the number of students taking dual credit classes is growing fast. About 770 students took the classes this school year, the second year for the fledgling program. Next year, 1,700 are signed up, said Linda Phemister, who oversees the Garland program.

But the biggest obstacle to expanding the dual credit program, officials say, is finding teachers with college-level teaching credentials. In general, teachers must have a master's degree in the subject they teach or have graduate hours in that field. Many have a master's degree, but not in their field.

Simpson has a master's in Christian education and is working on a doctorate in literary studies from the University of Texas at Dallas. In addition to dual credit, she also will be teaching the same AP classes in literature that she has taught for three years.

"I think that by offering both you hit a lot of different kinds of students," Simpson said.

Financially, dual credit is more expensive for districts. Richland and Eastfield community colleges, the two who partner with Garland, waive student tuition. But the district must pay for college textbooks.

With AP classes, students shoulder more of the financial burden. They must pay to take the tests – usually $54 with state and federal subsidies. But the total can pile up when students take multiple AP classes.

Academically speaking, research shows AP students do better in college than students who don't take advanced classes, but there is little recent research comparing AP courses with dual credit programs.

The most recent survey available, in 2001, examined college grade point averages of almost 25,000 Texas students. It found that AP students had slightly higher grade averages at the end of the first and fourth years of college.

For students, which program is best depends on their goals, said Cindy Castañeda, Garland school board member and executive dean of ethnic studies, social science and physical education at Richland College.

"I think parents need to have a good discussion with their student," she said.

James Goeman, a senior education specialist with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, works with the dual enrollment program. He said both programs can be a good fit.

"I don't think you can say that either one is clearly superior," he said. "Both are good for students; both of them are good for the state."
Comparing college credit programs

For years, high schools have offered Advanced Placement classes as a way for students to earn college credit. Districts are expanding their dual credit program in partnership with community colleges. Here are key points of each program:

Advanced Placement

•College-level classes offered in high schools, mostly to juniors and seniors.

•Often part of the honors program, students usually take pre-AP classes in earlier grades.

•AP is standardized nationally by the nonprofit College Board, which administers the end-of-course tests.

•Students scoring 3 or higher (on scale of 1 to 5) can typically receive college credit.

•May be best for students considering competitive out-of-state universities because they are based on a national standard.

Dual credit

•College-level classes offered by schools in partnership with local community colleges.

•Students must qualify for college admission and take a college placement test.

•Students who get a C or better automatically receive college and high school credit.

•Credits are accepted by all Texas public universities and may be accepted by other colleges.

•May be better for students planning to attend a Texas public university because of the guaranteed credit, and many Texas private colleges accept them as well.

Labels: college readiness, dual enrollment

posted by Patricia Lopez at 7:13 AM 0 comments Links to this post

What a huge victory if this bill gets through the governor. The concern that this would lower standards has no basis since testing would still be used for NCLB and school performance ratings. What this bill does is remove the reliance on a single indicator to measure students' performance, which in CA would allow an average of 22,500 students to receive a diploma.

-Patricia


Jill Tucker, SF Chronicle
Thursday, June 18, 2009

A day after legislators shocked state education officials by voting to eliminate the high school exit exam graduation requirement, the governor has promised to kill any proposal that would do away with the high-stakes test.

A key budget committee included the bombshell in a package aimed at trimming the K-12 budget by $10 million this year and next. Six Democrats on the budget conference committee voted to do away with the exit exam requirement Tuesday while four Republicans opposed it.

The committee's recommendations typically hold great sway in subsequent budget negotiations.

No one in the education community saw the critical exit exam requirement vote coming, including state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell.

"No heads-up, no hearing. No public notice on it," he said angrily Wednesday.

High school students have been required to pass the controversial math and English exam to get a diploma since 2006. The budget committee's proposal was to eliminate the graduation requirement but not the test itself.

Those who voted to eliminate the graduation requirement said they could not in good conscience continue to require the exam while slashing school budgets.

"When the state is making cuts that could lead to a shorter school year, fewer teachers and larger class sizes, it doesn't seem realistic to expect the same results as before the cuts," said Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Baldwin Vista (Los Angeles County), in a statement.
Unacceptable thinking

Educators criticized that reasoning, saying lower academic expectations were unacceptable.

"We owe it to our children to not lower our standards or expectations no matter how dismal the economy," San Francisco schools Superintendent Carlos Garcia said in an e-mail. "The question this raises is, 'Are we giving up on a generation? Are we dooming our children for our own comfort today?' To that I fear the answer is yes."

The proposal to cut the program comes as legislators and the governor are under pressure to solve the state's $24.3 billion deficit by the end of July. Eliminating the exit exam requirement would save the state about $8 million a year.

Exam supporters said they didn't know whether the effort to kill the graduation requirement really has legs or if it's become a pawn in what promises to be a protracted legislative budget battle over a wide range of issues, including higher taxes and massive cuts to services.

The governor's stand put the exit exam on a long list of his nonnegotiable issues.

"The governor has been a long-standing and strong supporter of the California High School Exit Exam and will veto any proposal to eliminate it," said Camille Anderson, his spokeswoman.
Not a top priority

Yet members of the Assembly Republican Caucus conceded that saving the exit exam requirement will not be at the top of their priority list.

"There are so many bigger challenges we need to get through first before we deal with some of those other details," said caucus spokeswoman Jennifer Gibbons.

A vote on the committee's plan could take place as early as Monday. Even if the graduation requirement is eliminated, students would still be required to take the exam once to fulfill federal "No Child Left Behind" testing requirements.

State Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, was among the six Democrats on the committee who voted to eliminate the exit exam requirement.

"I'm surprised that anyone was surprised," Leno said of the vote. "The (exit) exam has been controversial for many years."

Bass and Leno both cited recent research showing problems with the test.

A Stanford University study released in April found that girls and students of color - who perform just as well as boys and whites, respectively, on other statewide tests - disproportionately fail the exam.

In addition, the research found no evidence that students are doing better in school because of the test.

Nonetheless, nearly 3 of 4 public school parents support the requirement, according to a 2009 Public Policy Institute of California survey.
8 chances to pass

The exit exam includes math up to Algebra I and English/language arts at about a 10th-grade level. Students, who first take the exam as sophomores, have eight chances to pass before graduation day and unlimited chances after 12th grade if necessary.

About 20,000 students have not graduated each year solely because of the requirement.

Test supporters say it motivates schools and students to improve and has given greater validity to a high school diploma.

San Francisco high school Principal Patricia Gray said suspending the exit exam graduation requirement would be "a tragic mistake," adding that it has pushed students to take learning seriously.

She said despite budget cuts, teachers, administrators and students will simply have to work harder.

"If you're going to say, 'We're just not going to teach as well and the kids are going to come out less proficient,' that's not an option for me," said Gray, of Balboa High School. "It's not an option."

Chronicle staff writer Wyatt Buchanan contributed to this report. E-mail Jill Tucker at jtucker@sfchronicle.com.

Labels: California, high-stakes testing

posted by Patricia Lopez at 5:47 AM 0 comments Links to this post

This sentence from the article brings up the main concern in having multiple diploma tracks:

"Many civil rights advocates are concerned when states have a range of academic expectations for high school graduates because more minority and poor students tend to be concentrated in the less rigorous categories."

This article also doesn't address teacher quality and shortage problems that disproportionately plague low-income, minority-serving schools. If VA is like Texas there's a chance the state might be trying to create a loophole that would allow schools to avoid teacher shortage issues by giving students the flexibility to take applied courses that do not require certified teachers.

It's great to provide students like Fasihi with opportunities to excel in their areas of interest but it's equally important to explain to her the difference between being an employee of a salon and a potential owner, the latter likely requiring a college degree in today's economy.

Patricia

Virginia Offers Various Degree Programs Tailored to Students' Ambitions

By Michael Alison Chandler | Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 18, 2009To prepare for the future, Lhuillier is signing up for honors physics and Advanced Placement English classes at Fairfax High School next year and stockpiling credits for an advanced diploma. Fasihi will take anatomy and English 12 at Fairfax High and continue refining her haircutting and skin care skills in a career academy at Chantilly High. When she graduates next spring from Fairfax High, she will earn a standard diploma and a state license in cosmetology.

The District and many states, including Maryland, offer one main high school diploma. Additional diplomas are often available for special education students.

Virginia offers a growing menu. The advanced diploma requires more math, science, social studies and foreign language credits. Beginning in 2010, students who prefer to learn by doing will be able to earn one of two technical education diplomas.

As Virginia's degrees become more nuanced, traditional distinctions between students learning trades and those bound for four-year colleges are breaking down. Educators and lawmakers increasingly agree that all students should graduate with higher math and literacy skills so everyone has a shot at a higher education and a good job. So, many states are increasing minimum graduation requirements.

A generation ago, Lhuillier and Fasihi would have been unlikely to cross paths in an academic classroom. Yet the teenagers took the same advanced algebra class this year and have struggled through similar chemistry labs.

Virginia officials are trying to increase the number of rigorous academic courses that all students take. Its proliferation of degrees seeks to address a riddle of public schooling: How do you engage large numbers of students with wildly different aspirations and abilities? How do you help the math whizzes, the late bloomers and the too-cool-for-school teenagers so everyone gets the most from school and has a chance at success?

Fifteen-year-old Simon Lhuillier wants to become a pediatrician when he grows up and buy a big house near a lake. Nila Fasihi, 17, thinks she might one day open a hair salon in Afghanistan when the war is over.

"To treat all students the same makes no sense," Virginia Education Secretary Thomas R. Morris said. "Students learn at different rates and at different levels of achievement."

The advanced diploma is the state's most rigorous and defines the route to a four-year college. About half the Virginia students who completed high school last spring earned one.

Lhuillier is pursuing an ambitious course load and degree because he hopes to get into Virginia Tech or one of the state's competitive universities. Football and physical education are his first loves, but he is also a curious student who tries hard. Some classes, such as math, come easily; others don't. Honors chemistry was his toughest class this year.

Lhuillier was born in Singapore, and his family moved around when he was younger, including stops in Canada, the Bahamas and Florida. His early ambitions were to follow in the footsteps of his father, a famous pastry chef. But he was dismayed to learn that only the top chefs make more than $12 an hour. After some research on Careerbuilder.com, he set his sights on becoming a pediatrician. He likes children, he said, and "the income interested me."

So he is taking a sports medicine class next year, pre-calculus and a third year of Spanish, and hoping to get his grades up for college applications. "I'm going to give it my all," Lhuillier said.

Fasihi got a late start in school. Her family fled Afghanistan in the late 1990s and moved from Pakistan to Iran and back, before going to Northern Virginia in 2001. She arrived in the middle of third grade, without speaking English and with little formal education.

She caught up over time but never developed a strong interest in academics. "Why do you want to learn about the past?" she wondered about her history class. And math? "Too many formulas."

Cosmetology is different. She loves doing hair, and she loves her class. One morning last month, Beyoncé played on the radio as Fasihi worked rows of curlers into the hair of a mannequin named Whitney that was mounted on the back of a salon chair. Two dozen girls around her practiced updos and fantasy makeup and gossiped about prom and graduation.

Fasihi works on her trimming and tinting skills at school and at home, practicing on her friends, cousins, sisters and mother.

She plans to work as a stylist after graduation and to enroll at Northern Virginia Community College, like her older brother, who is pursuing a degree in business and accounting.

Her flexible plans are typical, cosmetology teacher Wayne White said. "This is not your mother's vocational school. I have kids taking Advanced Placement tests. . . . We don't teach them that this is the only thing you are going to do," White said.

White estimated that more than 60 percent of his students go on to college. His class emphasizes versatile professional skills, such as résumé writing, as well as business skills.

Thirty years ago, a much more rigid educational tracking system decided students' fate in blue- or white-collar professions. Now things are more gray.

Educators are trying to increase the academic content and prestige of career and technical programs overall. Many fields, such as automotive technology, are highly computer-driven, and all workers benefit from the good communication and reasoning skills that strong academic courses provide, they say.

Career programs can also help students who are bored gain new interest in school by applying what they know.

"A lot of kids who think they are not college material go into career and technical education . . . and transition into college and are very successful in the workplace," said Kimberly Green, executive director of the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium.

Virginia is creating a series of career academies in science- and technology-related fields and recognizing academy students everywhere who go beyond minimum academic requirements.

Right now, the minimum graduation requirements in Virginia are not enough to prepare students for college-level work in math. Students don't need advanced algebra to earn a standard diploma. They also don't need physics or a foreign language.

Many civil rights advocates are concerned when states have a range of academic expectations for high school graduates because more minority and poor students tend to be concentrated in the less rigorous categories.

In 2010, the baseline will increase. The state Board of Education voted last month to increase the rigor of math and science classes needed for a standard diploma. The career and technical education diplomas will also have tougher math and science requirements.

Fasihi chose to pursue a standard diploma mostly because she struggled through Spanish I and was not sure she could handle the required three credits of foreign language for an advanced diploma. By spring, she will have fulfilled most of the coursework for the tougher degree, including in math.

In her advanced algebra class this year, she brought her grade up to a B-plus from an F by staying after class and working hard. She still isn't so interested in math. But if she opens her salon in Afghanistan, she said, "I might need it."

Labels: tracking

posted by Patricia Lopez at 8:15 AM 0 comments Links to this post

Check out the full report"Multiple Choice: Charter School Performance in 16 States"mentioned in this article.

-Patricia

By Lesli A. Maxwell | Ed Week
June 15, 2009

A national study released today casts doubt on whether the academic performance of students in charter schools is any better than that of their peers in regular public schools.

Looking at 2,403 charter schools in 15 states and the District of Columbia, researchers at Stanford University found that students in more than 80 percent of charter schools either performed the same as—or worse than—students in traditional public schools on mathematics tests.

Specifically, researchers at the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford found that:

• Thirty-seven percent of the taxpayer-funded but largely independent schools posted gains that were “significantly below” what their students would have realized if they had enrolled in their local traditional public schools instead.

• Forty-six percent of charters produced learning gains that were indistinguishable from their local public schools’.

• Seventeen percent of charters posted growth that exceeded that of their regular public school equivalents by a “significant amount.”

“If this study shows anything, it shows that we’ve got a two-to-one margin of bad charters to good charters,” said Margaret E. Raymond, the director of the center and the study’s lead author. “That’s a red flag.”

Read on...

Labels: charter schools

posted by Patricia Lopez at 11:06 PM 0 comments Links to this post

Published on Edutopia (http://www.edutopia.org)

A Fit Body Means a Fit Mind


By Shari Wargo
Created 2009-05-28 00:03

Credit: Hugh D'Andrage

Forget the term "dumb jocks." According to the latest research, that's an oxymoron. New findings from biology and education research show that regular exercise benefits the brain in numerous ways. Not only can regular workouts in the gym or on the playground improve attention span, memory, and learning, they can also reduce stress and the effects of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and even delay cognitive decline in old age. In short, staying in shape can make you smarter.

"Memory retention and learning functions are all about brain cells actually changing, growing, and working better together," says John J. Ratey [1], clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the author of Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain. "Exercise creates the best environment for that process to occur."

Although researchers aren't exactly certain how exercise leads to better cognitive function, they are learning how it physically benefits the brain. For starters, aerobic exercise pumps more blood throughout the body, including to the brain. More blood means more oxygen and, therefore, better-nourished brain tissue. Exercise also spurs the brain to produce more of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF, which Ratey calls "Miracle-Gro for the brain." This powerful protein encourages brain cells to grow, interconnect, and communicate in new ways. Studies also suggest exercise plays a big part in the production of new brain cells, particularly in the dentate gyrus, a part of the brain heavily involved in learning and memory skills.

It wasn't until recently that researchers turned their interest to children -- in whom exercise may have more impact. The brain's frontal lobe, thought to play a role in cognitive control, keeps growing throughout the school years, says Charles Hillman, associate professor of kinesiology and neuroscience [2] at the University of Illinois. "Therefore, exercise could help ramp up the development of a child's brain," he says.

In a 2007 study published in the Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, Hillman put 259 Illinois third and fifth graders through standard physical education routines such as push- ups and a timed run, and he measured their body mass. Then he checked their physical results against their math and reading scores on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test. "There was a relationship to academic performance," says Hillman. "The more physical tests they passed, th e better they scored on the achievement test." The ef fects appeared regard less of gender and socioeconomic differences, so it seems that no matter his or her race or family income, the fitness of a child's body and mind are tightly linked.

The bigger the dose of exercise, the more it can pay off in academic achievement. In a study published the same year in the Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, researchers found that children ages 7–11 who exercised for 40 minutes daily after school had greater academic improvement than same-aged kids who worked out for just 20 minutes.

Phillip Tomporowski, professor of exercise science at the University of Georgia, and one of the team members who conducted the study, says much of the research today seems to negate the old notion that recess sends kids back to class more hyper and rowdy. "It appears to be the other way around," he says. "They go back to class less boisterous, more attentive, and better behaved compared with kids who have been sitting in chairs for hours on end."

Hillman also tested that notion in a study published this year in Neuroscience and found that kids had more accurate responses on standardized tests when they were tested after moderate exercise, as opposed to being tested after 20 minutes of sitting still. His results lend support to the idea that just a single aerobic workout before class helps boost kids' learning skills and attention spans.

Exercise in School

Naperville Central High School [3], in Naperville, Illinois, has put that idea into practice for nearly four years. It started when officials created learning-readiness PE in 2005, an early-morning class for 12 students who needed extra help with literacy skills. For 30 minutes, they rotated through different aerobic activities, wearing heart monitors to ensure that their heart rate was in the target zone of 160–190 beats per minute. Then they joined other students, who had not exercised, in a special literacy class. According to Paul Zientarski, the school's instructional coordinator for physical education and health, students who took PE prior to class showed one and a quarter year's growth on the standardized reading test after just one semester, while the exercise-free students gained just nine-tenths of a year.

He then used the same approach for math-troubled students, scheduling some in PE before an introductory algebra class. The results were even more dramatic; exercising students increased their math test scores by 20.4 percent, while the rest gained 3.9 percent. "It doesn't matter if they work out in the morning or afternoon, just that they're in the class right after PE," says Zientarski. "It calms them down, it makes them more willing to learn, and they feel good about themselves."

So, which types of exercise are best for brainpower? Hillman and other researchers tout aerobic and cardiovascular activities, such as running, swimming, and playground games. "In my studies, only cardiovascular exercise was related to higher academic performance," he says.

Naperville also focuses on cardiovascular exercise. However, in addition to running sprints and jumping rope, students do juggling, gymnastics, and tumbling, which require concentration and provide positive stress to the brain, which helps learning.

PE on the Chopping Block

Zientarski's program is an admired model for gym classes nationwide, and it's all the more notable at a time when schools are cutting back on PE and reducing recess hours. In fact, Illinois is the only state that requires daily PE for all grades. "Others are working toward it, but it's a huge challenge with budget restraints and No Child Left Behind," says Shanna Goodman, communications manager for PE4life [4], a nonprofit organization in Kansas City, Missouri. Her organization has trained some 250 schools nationwide to create productive PE classes and recess activities.

One inner-city school in Kansas City, after implementing PE4life, boosted PE from one day to five days a week. In a year, cardio fitness scores shot up 200 percent, and the school saw a 59 percent decrease in disciplinary incidents. In rural areas, PE4life has helped schools such as Titusville Middle School [5], in Pennsylvania, incorporate activities including snow­shoeing, cross-country skiing, and skateboarding into PE.

Of course, teachers can reap rewards from exercise just as their students do. To manage body weight and prevent unhealthy weight gain, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise most days. Researchers believe that the more regular your exercise routine, the more long-term benefits your brain will get. So it's important to keep working out regularly. Try your own 20-minute romp around the playground or gymnasium. A regular workout will make both you and your students feel like "smart jocks" for the rest of the school day.

Vanessa Richardson is a freelance writer in San Francisco.

Edutopia: What Works in Public Education © 2009 The George Lucas Educational Foundation - All Rights Reserved
Source URL: http://www.edutopia.org/exercise-fitness-brain-benefits-learning
Links:
[1] http://www.johnratey.com
[2] http://www.nutrsci.illinois.edu/Faculty/profile.cfm?ID=105
[3] http://www.ncusd203.org
[4] http://www.pe4life.org
[5] http://gorockets.org/tms

posted by Dr. Angela Valenzuela at 9:19 AM 0 comments Links to this post

It's also important to know the number of teachers who teach out-of-field, and how they are disproportionately distributed across poor, minority-serving schools.

In addition to providing short-term stimulus money there needs to be a discussion on equitable funding that will ensure that all schools have the capacity to help all children and youth meet their goals relative to their needs.

Also check out the previous post to this blog "46 States Agree to Common Academic Standards Effort"

-Patricia

The state-by-state system leaves many students 'inadequately prepared,' Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Wednesday at a Monitor breakfast.

By Dave Cook|Staff writer
June 10, 2009

Washington

Education Secretary Arne Duncan threw his weight Wednesday behind a “common” education standard for all of America’s schoolchildren, saying the current state-by-state system has produced uneven results in which some students “are totally, inadequately prepared to go into a competitive university, let alone graduate.”

Mr. Duncan, who has been on a cross-country “listening tour” in preparation for submitting revisions for the No Child Left Behind Act, says he’s encountered support for the idea of a national standard. “Teachers have been really positive on this idea of common standards,” he said at a Monitor-sponsored breakfast for reporters. “That has played much better with teachers than I thought it would.”

The secretary acknowledged, though, that what he calls “common higher standards, internationally benchmarked” would face hurdles and involve political pain. States and local governments are protective of their prerogative to set educational standards, and what Duncan is suggesting would be a huge break with tradition.

“Politicians don’t like to go out and say, ‘We are really struggling,’ or ‘Our kids are behind,’ or ‘Our kids are at a competitive disadvantage,’ ” Duncan said.

A better alternative to the state-by-state approach, he says, is to “get away from each state doing its own thing. Let’s do one thing, and let’s hold ourselves accountable.” But raising the bar, he acknowledged, means “test scores are going to drop in some places precipitously. And what we have to do is we have to give those politicians cover for doing the right thing. So there is a real tricky balance that we have to work on here.”

Mum on No Child Left Behind

The tall, fast-talking Duncan, who ran the Chicago public school system before being named to the Cabinet, was not ready to spell out the changes the Obama administration will propose in No Child Left Behind, a law spearheaded by the Bush administration that is currently up for reauthorization.

But he signaled his druthers on Wednesday. “I want to be much tighter on the goal … college-ready, career-ready, international benchmark standards, very high bar” compared with the Bush administration’s approach to No Child Left Behind. “But then let folks be more creative, more innovative in hitting that high bar – holding them accountable for results,” Duncan said.

As a result of No Child Left Behind, “children have been lied to, parents have been lied to,” he said.

In many states, he charged, standards have been “dumbed down so much” that those who pass the test “are barely able to graduate from high school and you are totally inadequately prepared to go into a competitive university, let alone graduate from there.”

An extra $100 billion may add leverage

Duncan, whose long friendship with Barack Obama is based in part on their shared love of basketball, has been given some financial weapons to help sell his views. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act gives the Education Department almost $100 billion in stimulus money to distribute around the nation.

While on his listening tour, Duncan said, he also found “a lot of interest in financial literacy from parents, from teachers … given how tough the economy is.”

In the current economic climate, the soaring price of college is also much on voters’ minds. Duncan said the Obama administration is “putting some incentives in place” on the issue. But the secretary argued, too, that market forces could help corral run-away tuition costs.

“Parents and students are really smart consumers,” he said. “They have more options than ever before. And where college costs at a particular school are skyrocketing, I think those places are going to put themselves out of business. I think the marketplace is going to correct this.”

Praise for his predecessor

While Duncan’s criticized some Bush administration educational policies, he praised his predecessor, Margaret Spellings.

“What I will always give Secretary Spellings and the previous administration credit for is for shining the spotlight on the horrendous differences in outcomes between white children and African-American and Latino children.”

Tracking outcomes is a key theme for the secretary, who argues for “comprehensive data systems” that let states track both teacher and student performance – and relationships between the two.

“I want to be able to track every child throughout their educational trajectory, so we know what they are doing. Secondly, I want to track children back to teachers, so we know the impact the teachers are having on those children. And third, I want to be able to track those students back to teacher, and teachers back to the schools of education, so we can understand which schools of education and which feeder programs are producing the teachers that are producing the students that had the most gain.”

California, he noted, has “this phenomenal student data system. They have a great teacher data system. And there is a firewall between them … this thing is a huge, huge barrier that is hurting kids. We so have got to literally tear down this firewall.”

On a trip to California, Duncan said, he raised the issue with teachers whose political clout was behind the firewall.

“I spoke there and said, your top 10 percent, your top 30,000 teachers, would be among he best in the world. The best any place in the world. Your bottom 10 percent, your bottom 30,000, should find another profession. And no one in this room can tell me who is in what category. That is a real problem.”

Labels: accountability, college readiness, Duncan

posted by Patricia Lopez at 8:37 AM 0 comments Links to this post

Looks like this ugly battle of values is continuing. I hope someone's testimony on this bill acknowledges that these are the kinds of courses and supports that have been proven to contribute to overall positive identify formation and a major factor associated with educational success (i.e., enrolling and completing college and even graduate degrees).

Being bicultural isn't an either/or and stripping youth's culture and language is itself a form of "non-ethnic" cultural chauvinism - Valenzuela (1999) breaks this down well, btw.

-Patricia

by Pat Kossan - Jun. 12, 2009 11:38 AM
The Arizona Republic

Arizona's schools superintendent Tom Horne is pushing legislation to ban ethnic-studies courses from high schools, specifically the 22 courses offered at four Tucson high schools in history, government, and literature.

If Senate Bill 1069 becomes law, a district or charter school that allows such courses would lose 10 percent of its state funds each month. The money would be returned when the district shut down the program.

"The job of the public schools is to develop the student's identity as Americans and as strong individuals," Horne said. "It's not the job of the public schools to promote ethnic chauvinism."

At the last minute, Horne added two exceptions to his bill. Native American studies would be exempt because these courses are protected by federal law. Also exempt is any grouping of students based on academic performance, even if most of the students are predominantly from one ethnic background. This would prevent the new mandatory four-hours-a-day language classes for English learners from running afoul of the law. Sen. Jonathan Paton, a Tucson Republican, is sponsoring the legislation.

Horne called ethnic studies "harmful and dysfunctional" and has tried for nearly two years to persudade Tucson voters to bounce the local school board members who supported ethnic studies. The strategy failed, and Horne reported that some board members want to expand the program to middle school. Students are on waiting lists to get into the courses at Tucson and Cholla High Magnet Schools, said Augustine Romero, who heads the district program.

Romero also teaches one of the courses, U.S. Government and Social Justice. This course teaches the historic functions of government by tracking the changes in court decisions and legislation that reflect America's changing attitudes toward minorities.

Romero said the district supports the courses for good reasons: They connect students to their cultural past and their roles in American history, including students with Native American, Mexican, Asian and African American heritages. They heighten student interest and make the courses relevant to their everyday experience. Data collected since 2002 by the Tucson school district show students who attend the courses perform better on AIMS, the state's standardized test, than students who do not attend the courses. That fulfills the goal of No Child Left Behind, which is to raise student achievement among minority students.

"This legislation is very mean spirited," Romero said. These courses "should be recognized and applauded and people should be finding ways to implement this methodology, rather than attacking it because it doesn't fit into their narrow box of how things should be done."

Labels: ethnic studies

posted by Patricia Lopez at 8:05 AM 1 comments Links to this post

I found this quote interesting: " In state after state around the U.S., the move has been toward eliminating elected school boards at the state and local level in favor of appointed boards—a move welcomed by the education bureaucracy and politicians, and the result of a recommendation by the National Governors Association."

Conservatives typically want local control at the same time that many appear in favor of appointed boards. Sounds contradictory.

Personally, I think that while curriculum is core. So is governance. I wish there were a larger public discussion on this in Texas beyond caricaturistic portrayals of what conservatives versus liberals want. Especially when so much is indeed at stake.

Angela


June 7, 2009
The concept of national education standards is, at first glance, a great idea.
And that’s what the politicians, education bureaucrats and education marketers are counting on.

by Dave Mundy

At second glance, however, the adoption of national education standards completes the change of the paradigm of American public education and assures that U.S. students will never again lead the world. It will doom most school children to learning at the lowest common denominator and eventually assure the transition of the U.S. from the leader of the free world to just another Third World country.

Texas remains one of the four holdout states on the issue of adopting national standards, and it appears likely that because of Gov. Rick Perry’s reluctance to accept the strings attached to federal funding used as the lure to entice adoption, the state may continue to be the primary battleground between education traditionalists and New Age supporters of the concept.

The battle is political, and the ultimate question is: who controls public education?

Texas finds itself in a unique position. As the nation’s second-largest public school system, it is a leader on a lot of education issues, from textbook selection to school standards. Other states without Texas’ vast resources often simply pick up whatever Texas is doing and go with it.

Texas is also the home of a loose coalition of allied political causes who have made the battle for control of public education a high priority: Christian conservatives, libertarians, educators who have grown to reject John Dewey’s “progressive education” theories which dominate modern education theology, even Texas’ growing nationalist movement. That coalition has been noisily challenging the education bureaucracy, neo-conservative Republicans and mainstream Democrats for nearly two decades, fighting tooth and claw every inch of the way, and making the battle for control of public education a political football.

And football happens to be the national sport in Texas.

The conservative coalition is, admittedly, badly out-numbered—even in conservative Texas. The arguments the coalition has to make in support of its positions are often so complex that most people simply can’t grasp them. Modern public education issues can be incredibly complicated, and few folks are willing to do the research needed to make informed decisions on the issues.

Therein lies the reason 46 of 50 states have adopted the idea of national education standards: the issues are complicated, so they leave it to the “experts”—the public education bureaucracy. As a result, education performance in the United States has been falling for more than 40 years, and today’s high-school honor graduates often can’t solve problems which were once considered to be elementary for eighth-graders.

Why shouldn’t our professional educators be in charge of determining the direction of public education? After all, they’re supposed to be the experts: they have the degrees, they have the learning, they’ve studied all the methodology and research. It makes sense to put them in charge of public schools and to kick politics out of the mix.

Were the professional education industry truly learned in that regard and truly dedicated in advancing and improving American learning, the question might be more easily answerable. The problem is that today’s professional education bureaucracy doesn’t consist of our most learned minds, it is swayed easily by marketers of new products, and it is primarily concerned—as almost any government bureaucracy is—with perpetuating its own survival.

The “education degrees” awarded by our colleges are not given for subject-matter expertise, but instead for expertise in methodology. Moreover, an education degree is considered “easy” for most college students; more than 70 percent of those entering colleges of education do so with grade-point averages of 2.8 or below, averages which rapidly improve.

The real cost of public education in the U.S. has increased more than 200 percent since 1960, yet real learning has decreased. Admissions tests like the SAT had to “re-center” their scores several years back in order to create the illusion that scores were rising when in fact they are falling; when a student who gets a “perfect score” on the SAT, it no longer means he or she actually answered all the questions right.

The main reason for that cost increase isn’t laptop computers, $40 million high schools or even $20 million high school football stadiums. It’s administration.

Virtually every new program adopted by your local school board will include funding for a new administrator to be in charge of it. Once you could run a school where the administration consisted of a principal, an assistant principal or two and maybe a couple of guidance counselors; now, you now have a whole slew of sub-principals, counselors, curriculum specialists, government red-tape-compliance specialists, medical specialists, security personnel, ethnicity advocates, special-education specialists, etc.

At the heart of the debate, however, remains what is taught or not taught to students, and that is where the conservative coalition in Texas has been most vocal and most successful--and at the same time has suffered its greatest failures.

Those who write curriculum these days do so with a decided political slant, and they’re often not subject matter experts. One history electronic textbook recently examined in Texas, for example, contained nearly 700 factual errors. One book actually adopted in Texas over the objections of conservatives—State Board of Education member David Bradley actually tore it in half in an attempt to show it was improperly bound, because he couldn’t object to its content—attempts to teach math with ethnic recipes and passages about the Brazilian rain forest.

Yet another history text maintained the United States ended World War II by dropping atomic bombs on Korea. Some science tests teach that man-made global warming is a given fact, despite the fact that more than 30,000 qualified scientists worldwide have signed their names to a petition which says otherwise.

The term “educations standards” is also a misnomer, because it implies that students should know this fact or that fact. The more appropriate term should be “education outcomes,” because today’s education standards are all about what the desired outcomes of public education should be—outcomes which are defined by the multi-national corporations who often fund education research, whose agenda is to create a compliant workforce with basic, entry-level skills.

What the Texas conservatives are most adamant about is maintaining some sort of public oversight over public education. In state after state around the U.S., the move has been toward eliminating elected school boards at the state and local level in favor of appointed boards—a move welcomed by the education bureaucracy and politicians, and the result of a recommendation by the National Governors Association.

The conservative coalition maintains that appointed school boards are less likely to question the bureaucracy and less likely to hold it accountable, that taxpayers should have a say in how their tax dollars are spent, and that state legislators are unqualified or unwilling to challenge the bureaucracy—after all, when was the last time a politician ran on a platform of “cutting education funding?”

Which puts Perry back into the picture. The governor, admittedly a neo-conservative, finds himself facing a tough re-election campaign against fellow Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison. It’s been demonstrated in the past several election cycles, with both Perry and George W. Bush before him, that to win the Republican primary, one has to have solid support from the state’s conservatives.

Perry is currently being urged to veto a bill (HB 4294) passed in the recently-concluded session of the Legislature which would take authority over the selection of electronic textbooks out of the hands of the elected State Board of Education and leave it in the hands of the appointed Education Commissioner.

Combined with a ruling nearly a decade ago by state Attorney General Roy Morales the state board had no authority to reject textbooks based on content—remember those history texts—it would complete, effectively, the relegation of an elected State Board of Education to a meaningless role and make it far easier for the next Legislature to eliminate it entirely, to no doubt be followed shortly thereafter by the elimination of elected local school boards.

Perry has courted his party’s conservative wing—and the libertarians and nationalists—with rejection of recently-approved federal funding because of the strings Congress attached to the measure. Texas can do things on its own, Perry has maintained, delighting the conservative coalition.

How he decides on the issue of national standards—mandated if Texas accepts the federal funding—and on HB 4294 will play a large role in whether or not he wins re-nomination in the gubernatorial race. The conservative coalition in Texas is hoping they still have enough political clout to influence that decision.

posted by Dr. Angela Valenzuela at 8:13 PM 0 comments Links to this post

This is worth considering here in Texas as well. -Angela

Wed, Jun. 10, 2009
Area schools selected for learning-plan study

By Rita Giordano

Inquirer Staff Writer

Three area schools have been chosen to take part in a state Department of Education pilot program on personalized student learning plans.

North Burlington County Regional High School, Camden County Technical Schools, and Delsea Regional High School are among 16 New Jersey schools selected to participate, state Education Commissioner Lucille E. Davy announced yesterday.

The six middle schools and 10 high schools were among 90 schools in 66 districts that applied.

"The interest we received from schools wanting to take part in this pilot shows that this initiative has the potential to have a tremendous effect on the quality of each and every child's education and future," Davy said.

Starting in the 2009-10 school year, learning plans will be developed for all sixth and ninth graders in the chosen schools. The individualized plans will address personal, academic, and career development, and will be used for those students the following year as well.

Findings from the study will help education officials decide whether personal plans should be put in place for all students beginning in the sixth grade as part of the state's high school curriculum redesign.

Earlier in the secondary school redesign process, individualized learning plans were proposed for all students in sixth grade through high school beginning in the new academic year. That was scaled back to give the state the opportunity for the study.

Participating districts will be eligible for up to $7,500 in each year of the pilot to help cover costs. Twenty states and the District of Columbia require individual learning plans for all students, according to the state Education Department.

Contact staff writer Rita Giordano at 856-779-3841 or rgiordano@phillynews.com.

© Copyright | Philly Online, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

posted by Dr. Angela Valenzuela at 7:37 PM 0 comments Links to this post

Effective teachers are the key to student success. Yet our school systems treat all teachers as interchangeable parts, not professionals. Excellence goes unrecognized and poor performance goes unaddressed. This indifference to performance disrespects teachers and gambles with students’ lives.

The Widget Effect is a wide-ranging report that studies teacher evaluation and dismissal in four states and 12 diverse districts, ranging from 4,000 to 400,000 students in enrollment. From the beginning, over 50 district and state officials and 25 teachers’ union representatives actively informed the study through advisory panels in each state.

Panel members provided ongoing feedback and perspective and were invited to submit unedited written responses to the study’s findings and recommendations. Their insights [keep reading here]...

posted by Dr. Angela Valenzuela at 7:31 PM 1 comments Links to this post

This section of NCLB is problematic to begin with. NCLB should be creating a database that encourages colleges to recruit youth.

It's good to see communities contesting these practices.

-Patricia

By JULIANA BARBASSA – 2 days ago

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Two towns nestled in the rugged coastline and the liberal politics of Northern California have fought the federal government by banning the U.S. military from recruiting minors within their city limits. Now the federal government is fighting back.

Arcata — a town known for taking a stand against the USA Patriot Act and repeatedly passing symbolic measures to impeach President George W. Bush — approved in November an ordinance that would limit Armed Forces recruiters' ability to contact people under 18. And so did nearby Eureka, the Humboldt County seat.

The Department of Justice took the towns to court in December over their Youth Protection Acts, alleging they were attempting to interfere with the government's ability to raise an army and protect the country. The department has said the ordinances are believed to be the only ones in the country with such blanket restrictions.

A federal judge is expected to rule on the case in coming days.

"We fully expected a challenge, and we got it," said David Meserve, 60, a builder of environmentally friendly homes and former Arcata City Council member who spearheaded the measure. "But more importantly, people are becoming aware there is a problem — and the problem is the recruiting of minors."

Although people must be 18 to enlist — or 17 with parental permission — recruiting manuals cited in the cities' court filings show that contact with much younger children is encouraged.

"You will find that establishing trust and credibility with students, even seventh- and eighth-graders, can positively impact your high school and post-secondary school recruiting effort," reads The Recruiter Handbook, published in 2008 by the United States Army Recruiting Command.

The push to reach the young makes sense. A 2007 Department of Defense study found that at 16 years old, more than 25 percent of students considered joining the Armed Forces. By the time they were 21, only 15 percent considered joining.

Towns and high school campuses around the country have tried to thwart the military's access to their underage students. Berkeley declared that recruiters positioned within view of its high school were "unwelcome intruders." San Francisco school board members moved to rid public schools of Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps but this week restored the program.

Counter-recruiters across the country have sought to inform students of their perspective on military service in times of war. They also tell parents how to opt out of having their child's contact information released to recruiters — a requirement for schools receiving federal funds under the No Child Left Behind Act.

Allen Weiner, a senior lecturer in law at Stanford Law School, said he knows of no other cities besides Arcata and Eureka that have passed ordinances banning military officials within their boundaries from initiating contact with minors with the intent of attracting them to any branch of the military.

The law is clear, Weiner said, that recruitment is under the purview of the federal government.

"As a legal fight, it's pretty clear to me who wins," he said.

Department of Justice officials did not respond to calls for comment. But in written arguments, government attorneys said the local measures violate the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution, which establishes the Constitution, federal statutes and treaties as the supreme law of the land.

"State and local governments lack the power to regulate the activities of the federal government," said their motion to block the ordinances. "Even apart from this obvious constitutional flaw, the ordinances purport to legislate in a field that is committed to the sole discretion of the United States, namely, the Congressional power to raise armies."

Local advocates such as Meserve remain undaunted.

Meserve said he took up the fight one morning while sitting in a coffee shop and overhearing a National Guard recruiter giving three high school girls a hard sell. The sharply dressed young man bought them fancy coffee drinks and pitched the career opportunities, the scholarships, the camaraderie, while assuring them there was virtually no chance they would end up in a war zone, Meserve said.

This was in 2005, when members of the National Guard were regularly being sent to Iraq, he said.

He found a supporter in Brad Yamauchi, an attorney working pro bono on the case.

The lawyer argues the ordinances prevent abuses without interfering with the federal government's ability to fill the ranks of the military. Anyone, independent of age, can still reach out to the military, he said, and recruiters are free to contact adults.

"If they don't contact minors, they can still meet their goals," Yamauchi said. "We believe there are limits to the federal power to recruit children."

Labels: military recruitment, NCLB

posted by Patricia Lopez at 2:24 PM 0 comments Links to this post

LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines celebrates with 400 supporters to honor the Project GRAD LA college scholarship recipients.

June 10, 2009

In a time of shrinking budgets and graduation rates, 180 Project GRAD Los Angeles Scholars from the San Fernando High School (SFHS) graduating class of 2009 are not only graduating from high school, but they are also earning a scholarship and enrolling in college. Supporters of the successful program were proud to announce that one third of this year's San Fernando High School's graduating class were Project Grad receipients.

"I am thrilled that so many students will graduate from San Fernando High School with our college scholarship," commented Ford Roosevelt, Project GRAD Los Angeles President and CEO.

"The impact of these students returning from college to their communities and families will be nothing short of profound."

These students were recognized at a banquet at the Odyssey Restaurant Sunday. LAUSD Superintendent, Ramon Cortines congratulated them and praised the program. The luncheon celebrated the Scholars who completed the requirements for Project GRAD Los Angeles college scholarships of up to $6,000 each, totaling nearly $1 million.

The 2009 Project Grad receipients marks the seventh class to graduate from San Fernando High School. Currently, there are over 500 Project GRAD Scholars enrolled in college and nearly 200 who have graduated from college.
Image

Nearly all of the scholars are Latino and many of them have overcome incredible challenges to graduate from high school and earn the scholarship. With the aid of Project GRAD, approximately 90 percent of these students will be the first in their families to go to college. This compares to data reported by the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University. In the LAUSD, where 71 percent of students are Latino, only 39 percent of Latino high school students graduate and only 20 percent of Latino students complete California's A-G college prep requirements.

The Project GRAD scholarship program requires that scholars graduate from San Fernando High School within four years with a grade point average of 2.5 or higher, complete college prep courses (A-G requirements), complete two College Institutes, graduate with a "C" or better in Algebra II, and enroll in an accredited college within one year of graduation from high school. In the 9th grade, the scholars and their parents signed a "Scholarship Agreement" with Project GRAD Los Angeles that outlined what they needed to do to earn a college scholarship of up to $6,000.

When students enter San Fernando High School in the 9th grade, every student is eligible to become a Project GRAD Scholar. Over 1,000 volunteers walked to 9th grade homes during the annual "Walk for Success" in October to sign up students for the Project GRAD Los Angeles scholarship program.

Project GRAD Los Angeles is an innovative early college outreach program that works with Kcollege teachers, administrators, parents, community leaders, and businesses to increase the number of students entering and succeeding in college. The mission is to ensure a quality public school education for all at-risk children in economically disadvantaged communities so that high school graduation rates increase and graduates are prepared to enter and be successful in college. The goal of Project GRAD is to create a "college-bound culture" where at least 80 percent of students graduate from high school and 50 percent of graduates enter college.

Project GRAD works with 13 LAUSD schools and has a total student population of nearly 18,000.Approximately 97 percent of students are Latino and 50 percent of these students are Limited English Proficient.

Labels: college readiness, English language learners

posted by Patricia Lopez at 2:21 PM 0 comments Links to this post

By Jay Mathews | Washington Post
Monday, June 8, 2009

I spend much time with aggressive Advanced Placement teachers. They tell me, quite often, that students must be stretched beyond their assumed capabilities. Whenever I try to pass on this advice, however, I become a target for ridicule and disbelief from readers.

Here comes more of that stuff. Newsweek unveils this week my annual rankings of America's Top High Schools, with a new twist that skeptics will find even less congenial.

The latest list, to appear on newsweek.com, will include about 1,500 schools that have reached a high standard of participation on college-level AP, International Baccalaureate or Cambridge tests. The bad news is they represent less than 6 percent of U.S. public high schools. The good news is that 73 percent of Washington area schools are on the list. The interesting news is that some of those schools have begun to require AP courses and tests for all students, even those who struggle in class.

Newsweek and The Washington Post use the Challenge Index, which I conceived in 1998 and have been fiddling with since. This time I am adding a separate Catching Up list for high schools that use AP as shock treatment for impoverished students who have been in the academic doldrums. On this new list are 29 schools with AP test participation rates high enough to qualify for the Newsweek list but with test passing rates under 10 percent. Seven are in this area: Coolidge, Bell Multicultural, Friendship Collegiate, SEED, Thurgood Marshall and McKinley Tech in the District, and Crossland in Prince George's County.

Some people might call this the straggler list. I don't. I have spoken to the administrators of many of those schools. What they say makes sense. They have tried raising achievement slowly with remedial education. It didn't work, in part because the teachers and students had no worthy goal to shoot for. So they have made the AP test their benchmark, and in preparing for it hope to give low- performing students the strenuous academic exercise they need for college. Few pass the three-hour AP exams, so few get college credit. So what? They aren't in college yet. This way they have a chance to accustom themselves to the foot-high reading assignments and torturous exams they will encounter in college.

Each year, more data suggest that this is the right approach. A new study of 302,969 students who graduated from Texas high schools shows that even low-performing students -- those who got a failing grade of 2 on the 5-point AP test -- did significantly better in college than did similarly low- performing, low-income students who did not take AP. Nationally, most high schools are so lax in their duties that half their students heading for college never take an AP, IB or Cambridge course and test and thus have little clue what awaits them.

Many AP teachers I know spend much of their time coaxing such under-served students into their classes. That is true at Bell Multicultural High School, the first public school in this area to require all students to take AP. And not just any AP. They must study AP English Literature and AP English Language, especially difficult for the many children of immigrants at Bell.

Daniel Gordon, a Harvard University Law School graduate I watched teach at Bell last year, said the prospect of a college-level exam is a big motivator for students. One of them, Esmeralda Posadas, said, "It forced students who don't speak English at home to focus all their attention on it. It is not run- of-the-mill." Only three students got a passing score of 3 or higher on the exam in 2007, but Posadas was one of 31 who got a score of 2.

AP teachers with that kind of attitude are not the majority. A recent Fordham Institute survey revealed that only 38 percent of AP teachers believe "the more students taking AP courses, the better," while 52 percent said "only students who can handle the material" should take AP. One of my favorite bloggers, Fairfax County instructional technology specialist Tim Stahmer of assortedstuff.com, frequently says too many unprepared students are being channeled into AP and urged to go to college.

My response is, what harm does that do? They work harder in high school, and if they graduate still determined not to go to college, they will discover that those AP skills are just what they need to get the best available jobs or trade school slots.

If they don't take an AP class and test, they will never know whether they could have handled it. Many students from non-college families discover they can. Montgomery County Superintendent Jerry D. Weast has been beefing up instruction in lower grades and luring students into college-level courses for years, with impressive results. The portion of impoverished Montgomery AP students who passed the tests increased from 12.3 percent in 2002 to 22.4 percent in 2006.

The Catching Up schools aren't losers. They are strivers, fueled by the high spirits of teachers who keep telling me how much more their kids can do than they expected. Their schools are exciting. History students are writing an essay every day. English students are publishing books. Those who think

Labels: Advanced Placement courses

posted by Patricia Lopez at 2:09 PM 0 comments Links to this post

Jenn Strickler recalls the day when two of her children, both black and then around ages 5 and 7, had a conversation that convinced her change is needed in the Burlington public school system.

The younger child announced an ambition to be a teacher some day, which drew this response, Strickler says. “The 7-year-old said, ‘well black people can’t be teachers. You have to be white to be a teacher.”

Strickler was dismayed but not entirely surprised. In a district where 97 percent of the teachers are white and 94 percent of all employees are white, the child’s conclusion was not illogical. “That’s the message that he got by looking around and seeing the teachers in his life in Burlington,” said the University of Vermont associate professor of sociology and mother of six.

She’s among a group of parents and community members who are asking school district officials to hire more teachers and staff who are people of color. The group, which calls itself Parents for Diversity in Burlington Schools, wants 35 percent of all new hires to be non-white within two years.

This is needed to correct a racial imbalance, they say, in a district where minority student numbers are growing but faculty members are disproportionately white. Between two and three percent of the district’s 371 teachers are minorities, according to district calculations based on information reported by teachers. This includes four Asian teachers, three Hispanic teachers and two black teachers.

Among all approximately 888 district employees, the percentage of minorities increases to six percent and includes 17 blacks, eight Hispanics, 13 Asians, one American Indian and 12 people who self identified as “other” and may be mixed race individuals.

Vermont’s population is 96 percent white — but Burlington is significantly more diverse than the rest of the state and the public schools reflect that.

About 26 percent of Burlington’s approximately 3,600 students are minorities and about 12 percent receive English language learner services. Immigrant and refugee students from Somalia, Burundi, Bosnia, Russia, Nepal and Iraq are among the increasingly international student body.
(2 of 3)

Parents such as Stephanie Seguino, whose son is African-American, believe it’s past time for the school district to recruit more teachers and administrators of color. It’s “huge burden” for students who don’t see themselves represented in the faculty or administration, she said. “They face many, many challenges and a good deal of subtle discrimination that many students as well as adults are not aware that they are perpetuating.”

Jeanne Collins, superintendent of Burlington schools, said the district wants to hire more people of color. Some progress was made this year, with the hiring of a black science teacher at Burlington High School, for example.
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The district has begun to institute “cultural bias” training for all people on interview teams and has set a goal of bringing more minority parents onto hiring committees. Parents sometimes participate in hiring committees for school principals but rarely are part of teacher hiring committees.

Collins did not have demographic data on new hires for next year and said the hiring process is not complete. The district recently hired three new elementary school principals set to start this summer. All are white. Data provided by the district from SchoolSpring.com, an employment service for educators, suggest few minorities applied. The Flynn principal job drew one confirmed black applicant and one Hispanic applicant, out of a total of 40 applicants. Not all applicants chose to disclose their race, however, so those numbers might not portray the full picture on minority candidates.

Collins said the district went beyond its usual hiring practices and reached out to traditionally black colleges, for example. But very, very, few minorities applied, she said.

Dan Balon, director of diversity and equity for Burlington schools, said he understands parents’ frustration. He said he is committed to increasing diversity in the faculty and staff. The district will provide an update to a school board subcommittee on the matter June 16, he said.
(3 of 3)

“It’s very complex,” Balon said. “It’s not just our selection process, there are lots of issues related to climate for the city and the community.”

Henri Sparks, coordinator of student and family support services for the Burlington Schools, is among the district’s black employees and serves on the Parents for Diversity committee. He runs several programs, including the alternative day program at Burlington High School.

With many cultures, nations and racial and ethnic groups represented at the school, conflicts arise over political differences, dress and language — with students sometimes assuming that something being said in a language they don’t understand is derogatory. “It definitely ebbs and flows,” Sparks said.

Students who are new to the U.S. also sometimes come with more conservative customs around basics such as fashion. “A lot of things that American kids are into and doing I think become a cultural shock to some of the students from various countries,” Sparks said.

Mediating the range of conflicts that can arise is not simple. It’s critically important that students of color see themselves represented in the adults in the building, Sparks said. It’s not just a school issue, he added. “It’s an issue for all of us.”

Parents such as Stephanie Seguino, whose son is African-American, believe it’s past time for the school district to recruit more teachers and administrators of color. It’s “huge burden” for students who don’t see themselves represented in the faculty or administration, she said. “They face many, many challenges and a good deal of subtle discrimination that many students as well as adults are not aware that they are perpetuating.”

Jeanne Collins, superintendent of Burlington schools, said the district wants to hire more people of color. Some progress was made this year, with the hiring of a black science teacher at Burlington High School, for example.

The district has begun to institute “cultural bias” training for all people on interview teams and has set a goal of bringing more minority parents onto hiring committees. Parents sometimes participate in hiring committees for school principals but rarely are part of teacher hiring committees.

Collins did not have demographic data on new hires for next year and said the hiring process is not complete. The district recently hired three new elementary school principals set to start this summer. All are white. Data provided by the district from SchoolSpring.com, an employment service for educators, suggest few minorities applied. The Flynn principal job drew one confirmed black applicant and one Hispanic applicant, out of a total of 40 applicants. Not all applicants chose to disclose their race, however, so those numbers might not portray the full picture on minority candidates.

Collins said the district went beyond its usual hiring practices and reached out to traditionally black colleges, for example. But very, very, few minorities applied, she said.

Dan Balon, director of diversity and equity for Burlington schools, said he understands parents’ frustration. He said he is committed to increasing diversity in the faculty and staff. The district will provide an update to a school board subcommittee on the matter June 16, he said.
(3 of 3)

“It’s very complex,” Balon said. “It’s not just our selection process, there are lots of issues related to climate for the city and the community.”

Henri Sparks, coordinator of student and family support services for the Burlington Schools, is among the district’s black employees and serves on the Parents for Diversity committee. He runs several programs, including the alternative day program at Burlington High School.

With many cultures, nations and racial and ethnic groups represented at the school, conflicts arise over political differences, dress and language — with students sometimes assuming that something being said in a language they don’t understand is derogatory. “It definitely ebbs and flows,” Sparks said.

Students who are new to the U.S. also sometimes come with more conservative customs around basics such as fashion. “A lot of things that American kids are into and doing I think become a cultural shock to some of the students from various countries,” Sparks said.

Mediating the range of conflicts that can arise is not simple. It’s critically important that students of color see themselves represented in the adults in the building, Sparks said. It’s not just a school issue, he added. “It’s an issue for all of us.”

“It’s very complex,” Balon said. “It’s not just our selection process, there are lots of issues related to climate for the city and the community.”

Henri Sparks, coordinator of student and family support services for the Burlington Schools, is among the district’s black employees and serves on the Parents for Diversity committee. He runs several programs, including the alternative day program at Burlington High School.

With many cultures, nations and racial and ethnic groups represented at the school, conflicts arise over political differences, dress and language — with students sometimes assuming that something being said in a language they don’t understand is derogatory. “It definitely ebbs and flows,” Sparks said.

Students who are new to the U.S. also sometimes come with more conservative customs around basics such as fashion. “A lot of things that American kids are into and doing I think become a cultural shock to some of the students from various countries,” Sparks said.

Mediating the range of conflicts that can arise is not simple. It’s critically important that students of color see themselves represented in the adults in the building, Sparks said. It’s not just a school issue, he added. “It’s an issue for all of us.”

Labels: teachers

posted by Patricia Lopez at 1:59 PM 0 comments Links to this post

Va. Expands Use of 'Portfolio' to Measure Learning of Challenged Students

By Michael Alison Chandler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 8, 2009

For eight days this spring, the Dulles Expo Center was transformed into an industrial grading complex. Boxes of tests were trucked in from schools, unloaded onto pallets into a warehouse and distributed to folding tables, where more than 1,500 Fairfax County teachers and staff worked with sharpened pencils and bar code scanners. These were not multiple-choice tests that computers grade in seconds. They were thick "portfolio" tests representing a year's worth of student worksheets, quizzes and activities. The time-intensive evaluations have proliferated in recent years in response to the testing requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind law.

The District and many states, including Maryland and Virginia, use portfolios for students with serious cognitive disabilities. But Virginia has gone much further, expanding their use for students with learning disabilities or beginning English skills. Statewide, the number of math and reading portfolios submitted for such students nearly doubled in a year, from 15,400 in 2006-07 to more than 30,000 in 2007-08, and state officials predict another jump this school year.

Portfolios have long been used for in-depth evaluations because they can gauge more skills and higher-order thinking. Many educators say the year-long portfolios are a fairer way to measure what some students know than a one-day snapshot.

"We all learn differently," said Patrick K. Murphy, assistant superintendent for accountability in Fairfax schools and Arlington County's incoming superintendent. "We also have to recognize there are different ways people can show proficiency beyond a multiple-choice test."

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Pass rates for portfolio tests are relatively high, which helps educators meet academic benchmarks but raises questions about the tests' value in rating schools. Portfolios also are expensive, costing Fairfax more than $500,000 for training and scoring this year alone, not to mention thousands of teacher hours spent compiling them.

The Virginia Grade Level Alternative, one of the state's portfolio tests, is available to some special education students from third to eighth grade who are learning grade-level material but struggle with multiple-choice tests. Someone with severe test anxiety or an information processing disability might be eligible, officials said. A student who might not correctly choose "Answer B: The third U.S. president" for a question about Thomas Jefferson but who could describe Monticello and a president who promoted ideals of freedom yet owned slaves could also be eligible.

The federal government approved Virginia's reading portfolio for beginning English learners in 2007 after protests by local school boards that the regular grade-level test was unfair. The 2002 federal law requires public schools to test students in reading and math in grades three through eight and once in high school. Schools that fail to reach target pass rates for all groups of students, including those with disabilities and English learners, face possible sanctions.

In Northern Virginia, portfolio testing has expanded significantly over two years. About 8,600 math and reading portfolios were compiled in Fairfax this school year, up from 5,900 in 2007-08 and 600 in 2006-07. Similar trends are playing out in Arlington and in Prince William and Loudoun counties.

Pass rates have increased in part because school systems have grown more comfortable compiling portfolios. Last school year, 94 percent of Fairfax students evaluated through portfolios passed in reading, and 84 percent passed in math, up from 79 percent and 70 percent, respectively, in 2006-07. Statewide, 87 percent of such students passed in reading and math last school year, up from 81 percent and 84 percent the year before.

Assembling the portfolios is a feat. Throughout the year, teachers compile worksheets, quizzes, audio or video clips and other examples of what students have learned. Third-grade math teachers documented that students understood 93 concepts, including some at first- or second-grade levels. One six-inch binder was filled with activity sheets that showed how a student used Goldfish crackers to count by twos and compared piles of cubes to demonstrate the concepts "more than" and "less than."

It took a full day for two scorers at the Expo Center to evaluate two or three third-grade math binders, with both independently scoring each piece of evidence. Scores were checked by "bubblers," who transferred the results onto Scantron sheets, which were then double-checked by "double-bubblers" before the binders were loaded back into boxes and shipped out again.

Many parents and teachers say portfolios have improved instruction and ensure that special education students are exposed to an entire year's curriculum, not a shortened version.

That is reassuring to Tia Marsili of Vienna, whose eighth-grade daughter has Down syndrome. "If you cannot show me what you have been doing," she said, "I'm afraid she has not learned the content."

Leonard Bumbaca, president of the Fairfax Education Association, said portfolios are also better in evaluating a teacher's effectiveness than a standardized test. But he warned that the process is "overloading teachers." Some teachers are also feeling pressure to use portfolios more often to achieve high pass rates, Bumbaca said. "Teacher time is a scarce resource," he said. "We don't think it's the best decision . . . to apply this test broadly."

State and local officials say they are monitoring portfolio testing to ensure that it is not overused or misused.

Andrea Rosenthal of Oak Hill, the mother of a Fairfax special education student, said high pass rates on portfolio tests are often misleading because many children who score well on them are far below grade level on other measures. "It benefits the state, not the child, to say they are at grade level when they are not," Rosenthal said.

Labels: multiple criteria/measures

posted by Patricia Lopez at 1:55 PM 0 comments Links to this post

A body of research by this blog's founder has revealed that all of the harms relating to testing mentioned in this article have and continue to be imposed on students. Policies that continue to create the pressures that perpetuate these harms should no longer be called unintended consequences.

Patricia


By Kathy Bushouse | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
June 8, 2009

For about as long as Caty Jusevic has been in school, there has been a Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

The FCAT debuted roughly a decade ago to measure whether students can read, write and do math at grade level. Jusevic, 17, a graduate of Monarch High School in Coconut Creek, says she's unsure if the test was a good thing.

It prepared her for the high-stakes SAT but "I think it's actually taken away from my education," said Jusevic, who will attend Florida State University in Tallahassee. "I feel like in school, all I was being taught was how to take a test."

But does the test prepare students for life after high school? Many parents, teachers and administrators don't think so. And business owners who will one day hire the graduates say the qualities they want have little to do with test material.

Supporters wonder why it's controversial since it simply tests the subjects students are supposed to be learning. And they point to state education statistics showing more students are reading and doing math at grade level than before.

Academics have issued dueling studies over the years. Some say the state's accountability measures have helped motivate failing schools to improve. Others argue the FCAT simply encourages teachers to teach to the test.

Much rides on the test, given to students in third through 11th grades. Third-graders need to show proficiency in reading, for example, to move on to fourth grade. Sophomores need to earn passing scores to graduate. FCAT scores in all subjects determine what grade a school will receive from the state.

PARENTS

Jennifer Martin wonders whether her son, who just graduated from Dillard High School, has learned the skills needed to help him through his freshman year at the University of Florida in Gainesville. "I don't really think he knows how to study, to be honest with you, because they've done it all for him," Martin said.

Jauvona Jenkins also has no love for the test, but for different reasons -- two of her three children have come just shy of passing the math test. Her daughter had to take it three times before passing, allowing her to graduate from Coral Springs High School. Her son, a junior at Boynton Beach High School, is taking the test for a second time. Both are honor students, and both struggled with the test, said Jenkins, a Kaplan University admissions counselor who lives in Boynton Beach.

"It doesn't matter if you're an honor student," Jenkins said. "That one test is going to stop you."

ADMINISTRATORS

Palm Beach County Schools Superintendent Art Johnson wants accountability, but it has drawbacks. "We teach to the test," Johnson said, which fails to take into account that "education is a continuous process, and students learn at different rates."

Broward Schools Superintendent James Notter said the FCAT lets the district identify and fill gaps in students' learning. But he said people become fixated on the grade schools receive from the state based on those FCAT scores, rather than what students are learning.

"I don't know any college or university that has an entrance criteria of your FCAT score," Notter said.


TEACHERS

Sara Srebnik has learned to wrap FCAT preparation into her daily lessons. Science and social studies offer chances to reinforce reading skills, for example. The problem, said the fourth-grade teacher at Riverglades Elementary School in Parkland, is that FCAT preparation "doesn't teach you to be any kind of a critical thinker or problem solver."

Ellen Baker, an English and exceptional student education teacher at William T. Dwyer High School in Palm Beach Gardens, laments the lack of time to delve into books. Her classes read both To Kill A Mockingbird and The Odyssey this year, but they "zoomed through" them.

"I don't really get to do analyzing a textbook, and how important it is to read a textbook when you're in college, and how important it is to read and study and prepare for things," Baker said.

SUPPORTERS

Patricia Levesque, executive director of the Foundation for Florida's Future -- an education policy group -- said the test created a singular focus on ensuring students were learning up to state standards.

"There are so many good things that are happening because of the test, and because of the measurement and the accountability that goes along with the test," Levesque said. "More kids are reading. More kids are able to compete on grade level."

When FCAT scores were released last month, the state trumpeted students' success: 72 percent of third- through fifth-graders reading at or above grade level, up 18 percentage points since 2001; 62 percent of middle school students reading at or above grade level, up 14 points since 2001. Even high school students, whose reading scores have historically been low, showed improvement: 42 percent of ninth-and 10th-graders were reading at or above grade level, up 10 points since 2001.

BUSINESS OWNERS When it comes to getting a job, the FCAT isn't a measure of what's needed.

Those test scores don't matter to Andrew Faber, chief operating officer of Fresco Development Group, a Dunkin' Donuts franchisee with 10 stores in South Florida and Jacksonville. He's looking for someone with good people skills, who is able to deftly deal with "a customer at 6:30 in the morning, when the coffee isn't perfect."

"That's not covered under the FCAT," Faber said.

Deborah Vazquez, CEO of PROTECH, an information technology staffing firm in Fort Lauderdale, agreed. She needs people with skills in communication, diplomacy, good judgment and "that's not necessarily something that you learn in school."

Labels: accountability, testing

posted by Patricia Lopez at 1:50 PM 0 comments Links to this post

This sounds exciting for the students in the school. Wonder how this can serve as a model for comprehensive education reform that has all public school children in mind.

-Patricia

By ELISSA GOOTMAN | NY Times
June 4, 2009

So what kind of teachers could a school get if it paid them $125,000 a year?

An accomplished violist who infuses her music lessons with the neuroscience of why one needs to practice, and creatively worded instructions like, “Pass the melody gently, as if it were a bowl of Jell-O!”

A self-described “explorer” from Arizona who spent three decades honing her craft at public, private, urban and rural schools.

Two with Ivy League degrees. And Joe Carbone, a phys ed teacher, who has the most unusual résumé of the bunch, having worked as Kobe Bryant’s personal trainer.

“Developed Kobe from 185 lbs. to 225 lbs. of pure muscle over eight years,” it reads.

They are members of an eight-teacher dream team, lured to an innovative charter school that will open in Washington Heights in September with salaries that would make most teachers drop their chalk and swoon; $125,000 is nearly twice as much as the average New York City public school teacher earns, and about two and a half times as much as the national average for teacher salaries. They also will be eligible for bonuses, based on schoolwide performance, of up to $25,000 in the second year.

The school, called the Equity Project, is premised on the theory that excellent teachers — and not revolutionary technology, talented principals or small class size — are the critical ingredient for success. Experts hope it could offer a window into some of the most pressing and elusive questions in education: Is a collection of superb teachers enough to make a great school? Are six-figure salaries the way to get them? And just what makes a teacher great?

The school’s founder, Zeke M. Vanderhoek, 32, a Yale graduate who founded a test prep company, has been grappling with just these issues. Over the past 15 months he conducted a nationwide search that was almost the American Idol of education — minus the popular vote, but complete with hometown visits (Mr. Vanderhoek crisscrossed the country to observe the top 35 applicants in their natural habitats) and misty-eyed fans (like the principal who got so emotional recommending Casey Ash that, Mr. Vanderhoek recalled, she was “basically crying on the phone with me, saying what a treasure he was.”)

Mr. Ash, 33, who teaches at an elementary school on the outskirts of Raleigh, N.C., will take the social studies slot.

The Equity Project will open with 120 fifth graders chosen this spring in a lottery that gave preference to children from the neighborhood and to low academic performers; most students are from low-income Hispanic families. It will grow to 480 children in Grades 5 to 8, with 28 teachers.

The school received 600 applications. Mr. Vanderhoek interviewed 100 in person.

Along the way, Mr. Vanderhoek, who taught at a middle school in Washington Heights before founding Manhattan GMAT, learned a few lessons.

One was that a golden résumé and a well-run classroom are two different things. “There are people who it’s like, wow, they look great on paper, but the kids don’t respect them,” Mr. Vanderhoek said.

The eight winning candidates, he said, have some common traits, like a high “engagement factor,” as measured by the portion of a given time frame during which students seem so focused that they almost forget they are in class. They were expert at redirecting potential troublemakers, a crucial skill for middle school teachers. And they possessed a contagious enthusiasm — which Rhena Jasey, 30, Harvard Class of 2001, who has been teaching at a school in Maplewood, N.J., conveyed by introducing a math lesson with, “Oh, this is the fun part because I looooooove math!” Says Mr. Vanderhoek: “You couldn’t help but get excited.” Hired.

Teachers said the rigorous selection process was more gratifying than grueling.

“It’s so refreshing that somebody comes to a teacher and says, ‘Show me what you know,’ ” said Oscar Quintero, who goes by Pepe and will teach special education. “This is the first time in 30 years of teaching that anybody has been really interested in what I do.”

The school will use only public money for everything but its building. It is close to signing a lease for private space on 181st Street, to be covered by a combination of public school financing, a charter school grant and what Mr. Vanderhoek described as a “small amount” of private donations (he ultimately hopes to raise enough private money to build a permanent space).

To make ends meet, teachers will hold responsibilities usually shouldered by other staff members, like assistant principals (there will be none). There will be no deans, substitute teachers (except for extended leaves) or teacher coaches. Teachers will work longer hours and more days, and have 30 pupils, about 6 more than the typical New York City fifth-grade class.

The principal, Mr. Vanderhoek, will earn just $90,000. Teachers will not have the same retirement benefits as members of the city’s teachers’ union. And they can be fired at will.

That did not scare Mr. Quintero, who is in his 60s and is moving from Florida; Heather Wardwell, 37, who is leaving East Greenwich High School, in Rhode Island, after a decade, to teach Latin; or Judith LeFevre, 54, the Arizona teacher who earned about $40,000 as recently as two years ago.

Ms. LeFevre, who will teach science, wrote via e-mail that the school was “an experiment of sorts, in which I’m one of the subjects.” She added, “This could be unsettling were it not for the excitement of working with a team of master teachers, all of whom are motivated to help every student succeed, with no excuses and no blame.”

Her other teammates: Damion Frye, 32, who teaches English at Montclair High School in New Jersey, has a master’s degree from Brown University and is pursuing his doctorate at Columbia’s Teachers College, and Gina M. Galassi, 40, who teaches music at Kingston High School in Ulster County, N.Y.

Mr. Carbone, 44, spent four years as head strength and conditioning coach for the Los Angeles Lakers. He left for a quieter life in Spring Valley, N.Y., last year, after overhearing one of his three sons say, “I want to play basketball, but my dad hasn’t taught me yet.”

Whatever the magic formula for a great school or teacher may be, Mr. Vanderhoek has come to believe that there is an essential ingredient to the search for such teachers: Time spent in that teacher’s classroom, watching students learn. Then again, his team has yet to hit the court.

“I have tremendous confidence that the staff is going to be excellent,” he said. “But we will see.”

Labels: teachers

posted by Patricia Lopez at 12:47 PM 0 comments Links to this post

Check out the full report

-Patricia

Report identifies 'expectations gap' and the need for more support at home as major factors in the rising tide of high school dropouts

WASHINGTON, June 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- With nearly one-third of all U.S. public high school students failing to graduate each year, AT&T* today announced results from the latest study conducted by Civic Enterprises and Peter Hart Research with America's Promise Alliance entitled "On the Front Lines of Schools," where the voices of our nation's education practitioners reflect their outlook on the high school dropout crisis.

The research, which focuses on the educator perspective, follows two other seminal education studies: "The Silent Epidemic," which focused on the dropout perspective, and "One Dream, Two Realities," which focused on the parent perspective. This new study, "On the Front Lines of Schools," rounds out the reports, which together represent key voices in the drop-out debate - students, parents and teachers.

Findings

Teachers and administrators who are confronted every day with daunting challenges in the classroom, understand the reasons students drop out of school, and express strong support for reforms in our schools to address dropout rates. The research indicates that the views of many teachers are shaped by what they experience first-hand in the classroom. They believe in large part that they and their students are not receiving the necessary support and resources to achieve success, and as a result, many are skeptical that all students can be successfully educated for college.

Expectation Gap

One of the key findings from the research was the identification of an "expectations gap" between teachers and students. In "The Silent Epidemic," two-thirds of dropouts said they would have worked harder if more had been demanded of them in the classroom. However, this latest study revealed that educators did not share that view. In fact 75 percent of teachers and 66 percent of principals did not believe students at risk of dropping out would have worked harder if more were demanded of them. Moreover, less than one-third of teachers said they believed "schools should expect all students to meet high academic standards, graduate with the skills to do college level work, and provide extra support to struggling students to help them meet those standards."

"This expectations gap between students and teachers - which our research shows is very real - may be one of the most important barriers to closing the achievement gap," said John Bridgeland, President & CEO, Civic Enterprises, LLC. Research has shown the importance of high expectations in boosting student achievement.

Why Students Drop out

Teachers and principals identified many reasons why students drop out, reflecting a deep understanding of the complexity of the problem. They recognize that most students that fail to graduate were capable of doing so, but failed to complete high school for a variety of reasons - ranging from a lack of support at home and academic preparation to chronic absenteeism and the press of real life events. Most cite the need for more parental involvement and support at home as a core issue. In fact, 61 percent of teachers and 45 percent of principals felt lack of support at home was a factor in most cases of students' dropping out, with 89 percent of teachers and 88 percent of principals saying it was a factor in at least some cases.

Previous research has shown that nearly half of dropouts interviewed said they left school because they found it uninteresting and did not see the relevance of school to real life. On the Front Lines of Schools showed that 42 percent of teachers questioned this claim - however half of all teachers and nearly seven in 10 principals felt these former students were speaking to an important cause.

What Could Help Students Stay in School

In spite of some skepticism over dropout statistics and differing views about where the responsibility lies, educators universally recognize that changes are needed, and for the most part agree on ways to move forward. Practitioners express strong support for reforms such as early warning systems, parent engagement strategies, rigorous alternative learning communities, expanded college-level learning opportunities and connecting classroom learning with real world experiences - all methods that the research tells us would help reduce the dropout rate. However, the study concludes that none of these efforts are likely to yield success if not backed by the fundamental belief that all students should be expected to meet high academic standards and graduate fully prepared for college or the workforce.

The disparities in what dropouts, parents, and practitioners point to as the root cause issues makes it clear that these audiences must be brought together to sort through the differences. A number of stakeholder groups agree, including Bob Wise from Alliance for Excellent Education who said: "What is really compelling is how the report reveals the vastly different perspectives between teachers and students. On the Front Lines of Schools can surely help inform public policy surrounding this issue by highlighting these differences in attitude, and the critical need to bring these groups together."

AT&T is taking significant steps to help make this happen. The Aspire program is underwriting follow-up research including face-to-face focus groups with Civic Enterprises and Peter Hart research between teachers, parents and students, to help facilitate and address communication gaps among these critical groups, as well as online dialogues with practitioners and other education experts facilitated through Education Week.

"We applaud John Bridgeland and the Peter Hart Research team for the important work they have done going directly to the source - students, parents and now teachers and principals - to determine why students drop out and recommendations for ways forward," said Laura Sanford, president, AT&T Foundation. "We were very pleased to fund this groundbreaking research initiative as part of our AT&T Aspire high school success program and we are heartened by the response of the education community, which views the findings as critical for charting the course towards increased high school graduation rates."

About AT&T Aspire

In an effort to encourage American high school students to stay in school and increase their competitiveness with counterparts from other countries, AT&T and the AT&T Foundation launched the Aspire program in April 2008. This is a $100 million initiative that supports the tremendous work already being done by education practitioners to promote high school success and workforce readiness. In its first year, the program is supporting four primary components: grants to schools and nonprofits that help students stay in school and prepare for college or the workforce, a companywide job shadowing program in conjunction with Junior Achievement, helping to fund 100 community dropout prevention summits organized by America's Promise Alliance, and aligning with John Bridgeland of Civic Enterprises and Peter D. Hart Research Associates for this study.

Labels: Dropouts

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