Archive for October 12, 2008 - October 18, 2008

A list of the 50 books touted as the "most worth talking about" was announced today, October 17, 2008, ahead of World Book Day 2009. The selection includes books as diverse as a novel about Welsh culture, accounts of Chinese migrant workers, a tale of a British Muslim seeking love online, and a hypochondriac who finds he is really dying.

The organization behind World Book Day published the list to launch its new Spread the Word website, www.spread-the-word.org.uk, designed to encourage reading. On the site readers are invited to vote for "the best book to talk about."

The top 10, according to votes cast, will be announced at the end of January. The winning book will be announced on World Book Day, Thursday 5 March 2009. A spokesman for World Book Day said: "The aim is to get people talking about books." Read more in The Telegraph online.

 An unacceptable number of Houston-area schools fails to meet student standards set by the national No Child Left Behind Act. And while it is true that some local schools do a wretched job leading students to academic excellence, the massive number of failures here and across the country points to serious, perhaps fatal flaws in the federal education law. Read more in this Houston Chronicle editorial online.

This spring, the Connecticut State Board of Education took a bold step that state legislators have been avoiding for years. It quietly approved a policy that will require all teachers to pass a test that assesses their ability to teach reading.

It is a stunning development that must be closely watched. After years of conclusive research and handing out tens of millions of state tax dollars to pay for better reading instruction, we will now ask whether anything has changed. For the first time, new teachers won't be able to work in a public school unless they can prove they actually know how to teach children to read. Read more in Rick Green's column in the Hartford Courant online.

Grammar will return to the classroom in Australia under the national English curriculum, along with punctuation, spelling, pronunciation and phonics, for all students from the first years of school.

The draft curriculum, to be released October 17, 2009, by the National Curriculum Board, is unequivocal in including the explicit teaching of the basic structures of the English language. But the draft retains the teaching of critical literacy, a sociological model analyzing gender, race and class in literature to expose inherent prejudices and agendas. The draft places literature as one of the three fundamental elements of an English course, along with language and literacy, and defines literary texts so as to include "multimodal texts."

The first key element of the curriculum is knowledge of English, covering strategies in learning to read and write. "The explicit and systematic teaching of sound-script correspondences is important," it says. The draft says a quarter of school students learn English as an additional language, so the curriculum had to focus on the teaching of the basics. Read more in The Australian online.

Wyoming teacher credentials and licenses are now available online for school districts and educators, though the same information may one day be available to parents and community members. The Wyoming Professional Standards Teaching Board recently put individual professional data online so districts and teachers can easily access information such as credentials and professional development.

Executive director Connie Pollard said the board is considering making credential and license information public, a growing national trend in the age of accountability. But issues like personal privacy and information security have caused a bump in the road. "We want to be more open, we want to give more access," Pollard said. "But how do you maintain security?" Read more about it and what other states are doing in the Casper Star-Tribune online.

From Blue's Clues to Star Wars, Jesse and Johnnie Talquenca have always shared the same literary tastes. That is partly because they spend so much time around each other. But when their mother, Tina, compares her identical 8-year-olds with their bookworm younger brother, it is hard for her to find any explanation other than genetics for the overwhelming similarities in their aptitudes and preferences for reading.

In their kindergarten year the twins moved through reading grades at the same speed. Since then they have been in separate classes at their Green Valley public school but, despite this, "they're still amazingly on the same level of reading. They bring home the same spelling words," Talquenca says. So it is unsurprising to her that as much as 70% of reading aptitude is inherited. The logical conclusion of that finding, based on research by Brian Byrne from the University of New England, is that specific techniques to teach reading—the subject of an interminable argument between proponents of rival phonics and whole-language approaches—can make only a modest difference to most children.

The study, which includes 2000 children in Sydney—including the Talquenca boys—and from the US and Sweden, follows identical and non-identical twins from age four through the early years of schooling. Read more in The Sydney Morning Herald online.

Scientists discovered that searching the world wide web exercised the mind far more than reading and was similar to completing crosswords and puzzles.

Brain scans showed that going online stimulated larger parts of the brain than the relatively passive activity of reading a novel or nonfiction book. It was so stimulating that the authors of the study believe it could actually help people maintain healthier brains into their old age.

The study results are encouraging, that emerging computerised technologies may have physiological effects and potential benefits for middle-aged and older adults," said principal investigator Gary Small, a professor at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at University of California. Read more about the study in The Telegraph online.

As students develop their reading skills, it’s important to see if they are making growth with their reading skills and one way to do that is by doing running records. Teachers at Campbell Elementary School in Sterling, Colorado, participated in a running records training earlier this week, led by Margaret Clark, reading recovery teacher trainer for RE-1 Valley School District.

The purpose of Monday’s session was to help teachers understand what running records are and how they work. While some teachers knew about running records and have used them, others haven’t used them at all.

Running records are one of the things the teachers will use with the Response to Intervention (RTI) plan they’ve developed to help identify students who might have learning disabilities. Running records involve the systematic and objective recording of exactly what a student does. “It gives a picture of reading behavior,” Clark said about running records. Read more in the Journal-Advocate online.

Doing several things at once can feel so productive. But scientists say switching rapidly between tasks can actually slow us down. Even though modern technology allows people to perform more tasks at the same time, juggling tasks can make our brains lose connections to important information. Which means, in the end, it takes longer because we have to remind our brains what we were working on.

Zach Weinberg, a junior at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, sits in front of his computer in his family home in suburban Maryland. Within the span of seconds, Zach switches between e-mail, iTunes, Facebook, a computer word puzzle game and messaging his buddy online. Somewhere amid the flurry, Zach manages to squeeze in some homework, too.

While he is working on an algebra calculation, an instant message from his buddy Alex Donesky pops up on the screen. They chat about a French assignment for a few minutes, exchanging quips about Robespierre and Napoleon. Then Zach shifts his attention back to math, but not before changing to his favorite band on iTunes.

For the record, Alex and Zach are good students. And obviously they're good multitaskers, too. Alex's mom, Barbara Donesky, says she'safraid Alex is losing out on other skills. "I want him to be able to concentrate. I want him to be able to focus," she says. Scientists say she has reason to be worried—although there's not much data yet on teens. Read more at NPR online.

 Prairie Elementary School in Sacramento, California, had not missed a testing target since the federal No Child Left Behind law took effect in 2002. Until now.

The school, perched on a tidy, oak-shaded campus in a working-class neighborhood, has moved each of its student groups—Hispanics, blacks, Asians, whites, American Indians, Filipinos, Pacific Islanders, English learners, the disabled—toward higher proficiency in recent years. Overall, the number of its students passing tough statewide tests had increased by more than three percentage points annually, a solid record.

But this year, California schools were required to make what experts call a gigantic leap, increasing the students proficient in every group by 11 percentage points. For the first time, Prairie, and hundreds of other California schools, fell short, a failure that results in probation and, unless reversed, federal sanctions within a year. Across the nation, far more schools failed to meet the federal law’s testing targets than in any previous year, according to new state-by-state data. Read the article in The New York Times online.

 Local schools in San Diego County are enrolling a growing number of students who don't speak English—students who typically fare poorly on standardized tests—at a time when the federal No Child Left Behind Act calls for unprecedented test score gains.

Nearly 123,000 students in San Diego County public schools are classified as English learners, up from nearly 116,000 two years ago. The increase would be enough to fill three large high schools or every classroom in the Ramona Unified School District, making the federal goal of a 100% pass rate in math and reading in five years almost impossible, educators say.

“Every district at some point is not going to be able to meet the requirements of No Child Left Behind because of the contradiction,” said Shirley Day, who coordinates English-learner programs for the Poway Unified School District. “An English learner is someone who by definition is not able to perform at grade level proficiency. If they were able to perform, we would not have identified them as English learners.” Read more in the San Diego Union-Tribune online.

What literature best captures American dreams, opportunities, and challenges? Which books could help build mutual understanding between the United States and the Arab world?

Kalima ("word" in Arabic)--a nonprofit initiative which translates classic and contemporary writing into Arabic--invites Americans to nominate U.S. novels, poetry, or short stories for translation for Arabic readers worldwide. For further information and to submit a nomination, visit the Kalima webpage.

 Improving student literacy is a daunting task and it is certainly not accomplished overnight. But, as we all know, students’ success both in and out of school hinges on their literacy abilities. Therefore, secondary level educators will welcome Meeting the Challenge of Adolescent Literacy: Practical Ideas for Literacy Leaders, a new book published by the International Reading Association. Written by Judith L. Irvin, Julie Meltzer, Martha Jan Mickler, Melvina Phillips, and Nancy Dean, the book is a hands-on guide to starting and sustaining a schoolwide literacy initiative aimed at overcoming critical issues in adolescent literacy and improving student achievement.

This practical text is essential for principals, literacy coaches, teacher leaders, and others who are responsible for literacy programs. Each chapter addresses one of the critical issues that middle and high school literacy leaders across the United States have said get in the way of implementing a schoolwide plan to raising students’ literacy achievement.

Chapters are filled with concrete suggestions for implementing a plan, including using data, supporting teachers to improve instruction, building leadership capacity, and allocating resources to improve student literacy. “For Discussion” boxes provide statements and questions to generate discussion and to help you understand teachers’ beliefs and current practices. Readers also will find practical protocols, strategies and guidelines, and more than 25 diagnostic tools that specifically address each issue.

Meeting the Challenge of Adolescent Literacy: Practical Ideas for Literacy Leaders is available at a cost of $22.95 for IRA members and $28.95 for nonmembers. For further information about the book, to browse the contents, or to read a sample chapter, visit the following page on the IRA website.

The Poetry Foundation has named Mary Ann Hoberman as Children's Poet Laureate for the United States. Hoberman follows Jack Prelutsky in the two-year position, which carries a $25,000 prize and is designed to raise awareness of poetry among children.

Hoberman is the author of more than 40 children's books, including alphabet books, counting tales, and sing-along books. Among her well-known titles are A House Is a House for Me, The Seven Silly Eaters, and You Read to Me, I'll Read to You, to name just a few.

For further information, visit the Poetry Foundation website.

The Weekly Reader Student Publishing Contest, sponsored by Weekly Reader and organized by the Association of Educational Publishers (AEP), honors the best nonfiction publications and individual writing by students in grades 3-12. Winners get cash prizes, national recognition, and publication in a Weekly Reader magazine or on the Web.

Students and teachers may submit entries in two categories. The Whole Publication category is open to student-produced newspapers, magazines, or literary magazines that feature nonfiction writing. Electronic components such as an official, student-created website are also considered in Whole Publication judging. The Individual Entry category is open to any piece of nonfiction student writing between 500 and 2,500 words. This could include memoirs, essays, or individual news articles. Individual entries do not need to have been published.

One winner is chosen at the elementary, middle, and high school level for each entry category. Each of the three Whole Publication winners will receive a $500 check for their school, a plaque, and a visit from a Weekly Reader editor. Teacher sponsors of winning publications receive a one-year full subscription to the Weekly Reader magazine of their choice. Individual winners each receive a $500 check and a plaque. Weekly Reader will also publish (or republish) the winning piece in one of its publications or on its website.

To find out more about the Weekly Reader Student Publishing Contest and to download an entry form, visit the contest webpage or write to dgladney@AEPweb.org.