Archive for March 30, 2008 - April 05, 2008

What makes a good teacher? Experience helps. But a new study of Teach for America (TFA)—education’s version of the Peace Corps—shows that their novice high school teachers bring something to the classroom that trumps traditional training and experience. The advantage of having a TFA teacher is particularly strong in math and science, the study finds.

The results are eye-opening at a time when teacher quality is a front-and-center issue. Good teachers are a key to closing achievement gaps for low-income and minority students, researchers say, but there’s still much to be learned about how to get people into the classrooms where they’re needed—and how to ensure their effectiveness once they get there. Read more about the study in The Christian Science Monitor online.

 The Arizona state Senate panel failed to pass a bill Wednesday, April 2, 2008, that would have the state opt out of the federal No Child Left Behind program, but the measure will likely be revived on a vote next week. On a tie vote, the Senate’s Education Committee rejected the opt-out bill. If a bill does not get a majority of votes, it fails.

But the committee chair, Senator Karen Johnson, R-Mesa, said she will have the panel reconsider House Bill 2392 next Wednesday. Three of the panel’s nine members were absent today and backers are confident they have enough votes to pass the measure. However, the state’s withdrawal would be contingent on the Arizona Legislature backfilling whatever money the state would lose from not participating in the federal program.

Arizona receives about $600 million a year from the program. Senator Linda Gray, R-Glendale, said she doubted the Legislature would ever replace that amount of money, making the bill meaningless. Read more in The Arizona Republic online.

The second Electronic Author Visit, a program sponsored by Simon & Schuster and Ball State University, is scheduled for April 29, 2008, and will feature D.J. MacHale, author of the Pendragon series. Teachers can sign up via the program’s website.

Nearly 80,000 children at 743 schools tuned in for the first broadcast featuring author Andrew Clements (No Talking). During the broadcast, Clements discussed his books and answered children’s questions (a classroom of children was present at the recording, and students at participating schools could submit questions). Ball State records and broadcasts the sessions, which are available as streaming video online, on certain PBS stations and via satellite.

 "As educators, we need to devote time and resources to writing instruction if we want to see continued improved scores and a narrowing of the achievement gap," said Cathy Roller, Director of Research and Policy for the International Reading Association, responding to today's release of The Nation's Report Card: Writing 2007. "Teachers also need access to high-quality materials and ongoing professional development. This is especially important in urban schools, which often face challenges created by high levels of poverty and student bodies with large numbers of Black and Hispanic students, who continue to score at lower levels than Whites and Asians."

We need to place emphasis on both reading and writing in order to raise overall writing scores and to narrow racial/ethnic achievement gaps and gaps between students in urban schools and students in other settings, said Roller. Results of the nationwide assessment showed gains among both 8th- and 12th-graders, as well as gains among most racial/ethnic groups and in several large school districts that participated in the Trial Urban District Assessments. However, significant gaps remain between girls and boys, White students and Black and Hispanic students, and large urban districts and the nation as a whole.

The 2007 NAEP writing assessment was administered between January and March 2007 to approximately 140,000 students at grade 8 and 28,000 students at grade 12. The assessment provided an overview of student achievement in narrative writing, informative writing, and persuasive writing. Results were presented nationally for both 8th- and 12th-grade students, and in 10 participating urban districts for 8th-graders only.

The International Reading Association is a community of reading professionals with more than 80,000 members in nearly 100 countries, dedicated to promoting higher achievement levels in literacy, reading, and communication worldwide. A network of 1,250 councils and more than 40 national affiliates forms the working foundation for the Association. The Association has spotlighted urban education issues in a number of ways. For further information, visit the IRA website and click on the Quick Links box. Once inside that page, click on Urban Education for recommended readings and other resources.

 A bill approved by the state House on April 1, 2008, would have Arizona opt out of the federal No Child Left Behind program, but only if the state itself makes up federal school funding that could be lost. Sent to the Senate on a 46-11 House vote, the bill (HB2392) would require the state to opt out of the school accountability law by mid-2010 if the Legislature increases state education funding to offset the potential loss of federal money. State officials estimate that amount at $600 million.

Rep. Bob Robson, R-Chandler, said during Tuesday’s vote that he agreed with concerns about NCLB but couldn't vote for the bill because it could cause big “financial rigors” for future legislators. The opt-out would begin by July 1, 2010, the start of the state’s 2010-2011 fiscal year. Read more in this Associated Press article online.

The writing skills of 8th- and 12th-grade students in the United States improved in 2007 compared to earlier assessment years, with gains across many student groups, according to data released today by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

According to The Nation's Report Card: Writing 2007, the average writing score for 8th graders in 2007 was 3 points higher than in 2002 and 6 points higher than in 1998, and the percentage of students performing at or above the Basic level increased from 85% in 2002 to 88% in 2007. At the 12th-grade level, the average writing score was 5 points higher than in 2002 and 3 points higher than in 1998, and the percentage of students performing at or above the Basic level increased from 74% in 2002 to 82% in 2007. Gains carried across gender and were evident among most racial/ethnic groups.

In addition to the states that participated in the NAEP writing assessment, 10 urban school districts took part in the 2007 NAEP writing Trial Urban District Assessments (TUDA). Of the four districts that participated in both 2002 and 2007, three showed gains and one remained about even.

For details from The Nation's Report Card: Writing 2007, visit the NAEP website.

Wesley Steele loves working with flowers and plants. That is all he ever wanted to do once he graduated from Newark High School and received vocational training. Today, he is living his dream, working in the garden center at Lowe’s near Newark, Delaware, in a position he has held since last April—before he finished school.

Finding a good job after high school used to be much more difficult for special-needs students such as Steele, because they would do a lot of preparation and then have to wait around for a job. But a statewide program called Early Start to Supported Employment helps smooth the move from school to the workplace.

The idea behind Early Start, which started as a pilot project three years ago and became standard procedure this school year, has been to get employable special-needs students involved in finding suitable jobs a year and a half before they turn 21 and leave their formal schooling behind. Read more in The News Journal online.

OMGYG2BK. As any teen parent knows, kids today don’t use cell phones to actually talk to each other: They text. Now it turns out teens aren’t the only ones texting their way into history. New survey results released by the Pew Internet & America Life Project show that 58% of adult Americans are using cell phones and other mobile devices for non-voice activities. And, for the first time, more Americans say cell phones—rather than landline phones—are the one technology device they couldn’t live without.

Did anyone else feel the earth shift? Americans now value cell phones or personal digital assistants (PDAs) over the internet and television—RLY. This quest for faster, mobile access is transforming communication. And young adults, particularly Hispanics and African-Americans, are leading the way. The trend is particularly strong among Hispanics, 73% of whom say they send or receive text messages. This compares with 68% of African-Americans and 53% of white adults. Read more in eSchool News online.

Kids—and their parents—who feel bogged down by school homework may have lighter loads in sight. Ontario’s education minister said yesterday (Wednesday, April 2, 2008) school boards should review their homework policy to ensure kids aren’t overloaded. Kathleen Wynne, Ontario’s education minister, also said reducing the load for kindergarten kids, not assigning holiday homework and killing penalties for late assignments seem like “reasonable” ideas.

Her comments came as Toronto’s public school board looks at setting stricter rules to reduce homework in the wake of a study suggesting Ontario kids spend more time than others in Canada on homework, leaving them stressed out and even sparking spats between their parents. Read more about homework heartache in The London Free Press, The Globe and Mail, and The Hamilton Spectator.

At 2:00 p.m. on April 3, educators can join National Center for Education Statistics Associate Commissioner Peggy G. Carr for an online StatChat about the 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) writing assessment results, which will be available at 10:00 a.m. that day. To view the results and watch a webcast of the release event online, visit the NAEP website at 10:00 a.m. To join the StatChat, visit the StatChat page at 2:00 p.m.

For further information on the writing assessment, visit the section on writing.

NAEP is administered by the National Center for Education Statistics within the Institute of Education Sciences.

 Identifying what needs to be fixed in the field of education is easy: the No Child Left Behind Act, currently up for reauthorization but stalled in Congress pending the next election. The elaborate law requires schools to test the bejeezus out of elementary- and middle-school students in reading and math, to test them again in high school, and to sprinkle in a few science tests along the way. Schools posting consistently poor test scores are supposed to be punished so that they’ll clean up their acts and allow NCLB’s ultimate goal to be achieved in 2014. The act imagines that essentially all students across the country will be “proficient” in that year, meaning that they’ll all pass the battery of standardized tests required by the NCLB. Hence the act’s catchy title.

NCLB was enacted in 2001 with huge bipartisan support, though many Democrats in Congress have since disclaimed if not denounced it, presumably having had some time to read it. The act is at once the Bush administration’s signature piece of education legislation, its most significant domestic policy initiative, and the most intrusive federal education law in our nation’s history. The federal government provides less than 10% of all education funding, yet NCLB drives education policy in every school district in the country. In short, it’s a big deal. It’s also in need of repair. No one—conservative or liberal, Democrat or Republican—doubts that. Read more at Slate.com.

Fixing It is a 10-part series on Slate.com offering detailed policy prescriptions for the next president. This article is by Jim Ryan, the academic associate dean and William L. Matheson and Robert M. Morgenthau distinguished professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, where he teaches law and education.

The advice is simple: Talk to your children as much as possible. It's a recommendation many parents might take for granted, but one that Boston educators are trying to spread to low-income families to give their youngsters a better shot at school.

Literacy coaches have begun fanning out among housing developments in the city, urging parents of infants and toddlers to embrace the unnatural role of a sportscaster. They should narrate a play-by-play of their actions, the coaches say, while bathing and dressing their little ones, riding the bus with them, preparing meals, and running errands—even if the babies respond with nothing more than a blink, smile, or coo.

The goal is to close the gap in achievement between low-income students and their middle-class peers, who generally are exposed to a much greater number of words at an early age. The more words young children hear, research has shown, the easier it will be for them to read and write as they grow. All that talk in the early years will bolster reading comprehension by the time the children reach the third grade, according to academic research. Read more in The Boston Globe online.

The Library of Congress—the largest library in the world and the oldest U.S. federal cultural institution—on Saturday, April 12, 2008, will debut an immersive, new “Library of Congress Experience,” offering visitors unique historical and cultural treasures brought to life through cutting-edge interactive technology and a companion website.

There will be new ongoing exhibitions, dozens of interactive kiosks, an inspiring multimedia “overture” on the collections and programs of the Library, and a continuing online educational experience at the upcoming website. Detailed information on the Experience can be found online.

It’s tough to trace the history of April Fools’ Day, or All Fools’ Day, as it was once known, but for some theories about how the holiday came to be, some funny adult pranks that have been played, and some harmless suggestions for kids to torment their families, read this article in The Christian Science Monitor online.

Next time you see kids wearing ear buds and a smile, don’t assume they’re rocking out to Hannah Montana. They may be listening to the classic novel The Secret Garden.

Portable listening devices—now a decade old and ubiquitous among American children—are being used to listen to audio books, in part shifting comprehension from the written to the spoken word. Newark-based Audible.com, the largest provider of downloadable audio books, yesterday launched its AudibleKids.com division at the North Star Academy in Newark, New Jersey. Dozens of middle-school students got a free Zen Stone Plus MP3 player to download some of the 4,000-plus titles on the new website. Audible has been very successful: Amazon just bought the company for $300 million.

Parents may be the initial core audience for the service, but it’s drawing interest from schools, teachers and children’s librarians as a way to encourage kids to read. Listening to literature is one way to reinforce comprehension, experts say. Nonetheless, some worry the service may threaten traditions such as parents reading bedtime stories. Read more in The Star-Ledger online.

Graduating from high school is typically a moment of great joy for young people and their parents, but for students with disabilities it is sometimes described in dark terms. “It can feel like sinking into an abyss,” said Cathy Healy, the mother of an adult son with Down Syndrome, who recently completed his studies at an Alexandria, Virginia, high school.

During their public school years, children with disabilities are entitled to a menu of special services, such as music or occupational therapy, extra reading help and door-to-door transportation. Educators are legally required to prepare special-Ed kids for life after school under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. The law says that by the time students with disabilities are 16, schools are supposed to provide planning that may include more school, getting a job or trying to live independently.

The Education Department recently examined how well states have been implementing the special-Ed law and issued report cards to the states. Most received poor grades for their efforts to assist students with the transition out of high school. Read more in this article by The Associated Press.

The little black devices, the shape and size of small cellphones, have begun to appear in hundreds of Washington, DC, area classrooms. Hanging from the necks of elementary school teachers in Alexandria and kindergarten and first-grade teachers in Prince George’s County, they might herald the most significant change in classroom technology since the computer, some predict.

They are infrared microphones, designed to raise the volume and clarity of teachers’ voices above the distracting buzz of competing noises—the hum of fluorescent lights, the rattle of air conditioning, the whispers of children and the reverberations of those sounds bouncing off concrete walls and uncarpeted floors.

“It makes it so much easier for the children but also for the teachers,” said Lucretia Jackson, principal of Alexandria’s Maury Elementary School, one of the first in the area to use the devices. All Alexandria elementary school teachers now have them. “They are no longer suffering from laryngitis,” Jackson said. Read more in The Washington Post online.

Pilgrim Tours, in conjunction with Shepherd University in West Virginia, is offering a tour of Costa Rica from July 26-August 9 that will include the International Reading Association's 22nd World Congress on Reading, which will be held July 28-31 just outside San Jose, Costa Rica. The tour leaders are longtime IRA member Larry Kenney and Virginia Hicks.

Up to three credit hours of undergraduate or graduate credit may be earned at a cost of $35 per credit hour. For details, visit the Shepherd University website.

For further information about the tour, visit the Pilgrim Tours website. Please note that reservations and an initial $300 per person deposit are due April 15, 2008.

 Since its inception, the federal No Child Left Behind education initiative has included the threat of consequences for schools not living up to academic standards. Now, some local districts and individual schools in Indiana are in the midst of dealing with those consequences as they fail to meet the government’s established progress goals year after year. While school officials are not ready to give details, local officials have hinted that changes at some schools are imminent.

The Indiana Department of Education made public Tuesday which districts and schools are making the necessary progress and which schools are not. Changes on the horizon include redesigning the way federal funds are handled and delivered to struggling schools in Fort Wayne Community Schools and staffing reorganization and changes in East Allen County Schools. But those alterations are nothing compared to what the state could do to the districts. After a school district fails to achieve the federal progress goals for four years, the Indiana Department of Education has the right to take over the district. That happens by reducing funding, replacing staff or abolishing the system altogether. Read more in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette online.

According to a release from the Wikimedia Foundation, the official article count for all Wikipedias combined reached 10 million on Thursday, March 27. The ten millionth article was a short biography of 16th century English goldsmith and painter Nicholas Hilliard, created in the Hungarian Wikipedia by user Pataki Marta.

Wikipedia now boasts articles in more than 250 languages. Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation, had this to say about the historic posting: "It's incredible to think that we've grown from one Wikipedia in English to over 250 language Wikipedias. Ten million articles is something we could never have imagined happening so fast when we embarked on Wikipedia in 2001."

To read any of Wikipedia's 10 million articles, visit Wikipedia.

In a bid to raise the literacy level of students across Jamaica and in turn national literacy standards, the Ministry of Education is planning to refocus its efforts on a number of initiatives geared towards a national literacy thrust. Speaking during the first in a series of round-table discussions on literacy held Friday, March 28, 2008, at the Ministry of Education in Kingston, Andrew Holness, education minister, said he was aware that the nation faced serious issues as it relates to literacy at all levels of society.

“In recent times, we have seen where even at the level of adult literacy we are having major problems with persons accessing employment,” he said. Holness said there was also a direct link between illiteracy and violence in schools as many students are often frustrated at the fact that they are unable to understand and access what is being taught. “This is by virtue of them just simply not being able to read and write,” he said. Read more in The Jamaica Gleaner online.

It doesn’t take much to bring Mary Helen Berlanga, the senior member of the Texas State Board of Education, back to her own school days. Sometimes the memories are tough, but it helps drive the daughter of immigrants to fight for what she thinks minority children need to succeed. Berlanga fears many of the state’s children are headed for failure—dropping out and disabling the state from developing a strong work force necessary to keep good-paying jobs.

Berlanga, who as a child learned English from seven older siblings, has pushed her colleagues to develop a new English language arts and reading curriculum that takes into consideration the growing ranks of minority children who struggle with the language barrier. Nearly half of the state’s 4.7 million public schoolchildren are Hispanic.

Her opponents among the board’s 15 members finally agreed last week to invite two Hispanic experts to work on a final version of a new English language arts and reading plan for Texas public schools. Read about the controversy in The Houston Chronicle online.