Education Short List

In the past two weeks there have been so many print articles and news stories about education that have gotten me fired up. Too many for me to take them one by one and present them to you. So here I have complied a few, with my added commentary, for you to peruse.

Evening News with Katie Couric — All teachers being fired from schools in Rhode Island

This story focused on a school district in Rhode Island that is planning on firing ALL of the teachers at one of its schools. The reason why? Not meeting NCLB standards and it gives them a chance to get approximately $2 million in national aid.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/23/eveningnews/main6236348.shtml?tag=mncol;lst;3

Video of Evening News Program

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6236440n&tag=related;photovideo

Firing All Teachers in Rhode Island School

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Longview Principal Fired for Funds

Very similar to the previous story, a principal is fired for low test scores and the hopes of millions in federal financial aid.
http://www.king5.com/news/local/Popular-Longview-principal-forced-to-quit-by-low-scores-84807537.html

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Oregon’s Online Education Choices

Since families, students and parents alike, are ‘fed up’ with the public school options, there is an increase in alternative school settings. One of the largest of those being online schools.
http://www.opb.org/thinkoutloud/shows/going-school-online/

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Oregon’s Failing Schools

Also from Oregon, the state releases the new data and research on the success rates of the public school system.
http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2010/01/report_oregon_fails_at_measuri.html

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Commentary on President’s Education Address

President Obama’s March 1st speech on Education
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/us/02obama.html

President Obama on Education, Specifically Commencement
http://www.whitehouse.gov/commencement

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All of these articles talk about education, how it’s failing, and how ‘we’ are going to make it better. And it frustrates me deeply. Firing a principal? Firing all of the teachers? NCLB? The whole point of school is to gain an education – TO LEARN. Test scores aren’t the only indicator of learning. And, each student and school operates under different circumstances. How is an all English speaking upper class school able to compare with an all English learning language school? It can’t. And for some reason we continue to treat them as the same. Until the playing field is equalled out, the schools will never be the same. And lots of children, teachers, and schools will get left behind. and forgotten.

Really, what about the Olympics can’t be made into a lesson? There’s history, athletics, mathematics, geography, measurements, distance, arts, public speaking, coloring/drawing, graphs, reports, research, languages, foreign cultures, etc.

For me, as an educator, the biggest frustration I had with graduate school was that my professors wanted me to bring more to my lessons and give my students more; but never gave me the direction on how to do that. By taking this long-term option of integrating the Olympics – a teacher has a great opportunity to do more with the lessons they are already teaching.

For elementary school:
– find a map of the world and locate the countries that are participating in the Olympics on it

- coloring: the flags of the different countries could provide fine motor skills functions lessons for pre-k -3rd grade

- biography reports

- reading stories from other countries or stories about the Olympics

http://www.lessonplanspage.com/MathOlympicsMedalsGraphIdea35.htm

http://www.lessonplanspage.com/PEMDOlympicOpeningCeremoniesAndGameDaysK6.htm

For middle school:
- Book Reports about athletics, athletes, biographies, history of the Olympics, countries, using the country and creating a personal family history timeline

- listen to music and national anthems from various countries

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/17/gk2/olympic.html

For high school:
- Reports about athletics, athletes, biographies, history of the Olympics, countries, using the country and creating a personal family history timeline. The same idea as the middle school lessons, but more indepth and have them include resources

- Pick a country and discover their journey to the Olympics

http://www.vancouver2010.com/

http://eduforum.vancouver2010.com/

These are just a few ideas I can think of off the top of my head. Here are some additional links that should support your work academically. I’d like to know if you have any other ideas or lessons that have worked for you in the past.

And families — don’t be afraid to get in this action yourself!

There is a bit of irony involved with this article – as the majority of public schools across the country are in the midst of their yearly dose of state testing. Furthermore, college students have just finished up their finals for the year; at the same time, high schoolers get ready to take their exams for the end of this school year.

Nonetheless, it is a valid point – do our schools test too much? Personally, yes I do believe that our students are tested far beyond what they need to be. And this is a topic that I will be bringing up again at a later point. So until that happens, here’s another article from The New York Times.

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Do Schools Test Too Much?
Daniel Koretz is a professor of education at Harvard. His book Measuring Up examines our national obsession with standardized tests.

Does U.S. education policy rely too heavily on test scores?
Yes. We need accountability in education, and standardized tests give comparable information from different schools. But tests don’t measure things like complex problem-solving ability, creativity, and persistence. High-stakes testing puts pressure on teachers to take shortcuts to raise scores and can give an illusion of progress.

Doesn’t an improved score show real progress?
Not necessarily. There are many ways to prepare students too narrowly for a specific test. If you substitute another test designed to measure similar knowledge and skills, the “improvements” sometimes shrink markedly or even vanish altogether. Employers and college professors don’t care how students do on a particular math test—they want them to know math.

Should teacher compensation be linked to test scores?
If pay is linked to performance, tests will have to be part of the package, but it would be a mistake to use them as the only criterion. A good teacher keeps students engaged, fosters curiosity, and helps students learn from their mistakes. Test scores alone can’t measure that.

— Lyric Wallwork Winik

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Even though this article is from last year, it is still relevant – since most schools across the country have either already starting their state testing for the year or are gearing up to.

Starting last year I found at least five articles the discussed the cutback schools had made in order to finish out the school year. Although I applaud districts for their creativity, I struggled to understand how our modern day society thought that these cuts were alright. Why wasn’t anyone thinking about the impact that these cuts would have on the students and their teachers?

Here in Oregon, we let go over 2,000 teachers in the past year. The qualified experienced educators were let go, while newer college graduates were hired (since it would cost less to pay them); all of this was done in order to save more money. Again, very creative. However, I don’t want to discuss how much that upsets me. Instead, I want to highlight the difficulties this financial crisis is having on the people who matter the most in the schools – the students. It doesn’t matter how creative school districts are at juggling funds, we are still impacting their learning.

Last school year I had three students who were directly affected by the money pitfalls of their schools.

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First was V; my hyperactive elementary school boy. Usually during the year he was given a weekly bulletin. It was great, it gave families, students, and tutors a chance to prepare for the upcoming week. V and I could breakdown what he needed to focus on day by day. But after his Spring Break the bulletins started showing up on blue paper, then every other week, and by May not at all. So, this tool that helped V (and others) wasn’t available any longer; all because the school could no longer afford to buy paper. Can’t. afford. Paper. Paper….

Another story dealing with V, and another student of mine from the same school, began having all of their worksheets on blue paper. Both boys informed me that their school ran out of white paper and couldn’t afford to buy more that year. Thereby forcing teachers to, not only use colored paper, but to use it sparingly – because once there were out of it that was it for the year. This happened in April.

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For J and the high-schoolers he went to school with, they had an interesting way to take tests – on overhead projector transparencies. Let me repeat that. In all of his classes last year, students had to take their own paper and use it to take exams from an overhead. There are several issues with this that I had a hard time knowing where to put my focus.

The teachers weren’t able to give students a paper test, or even paper to write the test on. What about the students who didn’t have paper? There sure hoped another classmate brought extra. What about students who had a hard time seeing the transparency? Or what would happen in a student missed part of the information? Maybe they skipped a question? However you look at it, this wasn’t a good situation.

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Which is just like what my other student J had to cope with in his film studies class last winter. Typically the students would watch movies, or clips of them, discuss it as a group, and then do an assignment on what they watched. But what happens when the teacher can no longer afford to rent the movies needed to study? Oh, well, the students have to go and rent them themselves. Exactly. Remind me again how this is giving students a proper education?

All three of these stores are all true and all part of the reality that is facing students in the American school system. It’s a lose – lose – lose situation. Without getting too political, there are changes that need to be made so we can stop shortchanging the individuals who truly have the most to lose, and need the most to gain – the students.

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On a caveat, last night I watched the new to find out that the state of Utah’s Department of Education is considering getting rid of 12th grade. Yup, the WHOLE YEAR. Tell me again why this is a good idea?

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700008175/Lawmakers-mull-ed-budget-cut-ideas.html

As if we needed more reason to encourage our kids to get healthy.

Parade Magazine
http://www.parade.com/news/intelligence-report/archive/100110-should-students-be-forced-to-get-fit.html

I think that our kids should be forced to be fit. When I was in school, not too many eons ago, we had to do jumping jacks, sit ups, run a mile, and get dirty too. Now, those things are elective. Parents don’t want their kids to get dirty or exert themselves too much. Coupled with the lack of certified physical education instructors – our kids are fat, out of shape, and aren’t aware that it is going to get worse. We are the adults, it’s our responsibility – and privilege – to show our children and our students the right way to get healthy.

Oregon prescription for fitness

http://www.oregonlive.com/health/index.ssf/2010/01/doctors_prescribe_play_to_get.html

Another article (how many more is it going to take to convince people to eat better?), this one from The Oregonian; that discusses how doctors are getting more involved with childhood obesity. Here, the article directly relates to others I have posted about the need for play. Playing, being physically active, not only is the best way to stay in shape – but it exercises the mind as well. Does anyone see the link between the increase of obesity and A.D.D diagnoses and the increase of television watching tied in with the decrease of physical activity?

Not all adults know the name of Jeff Kinney; but if you were to ask middle school and elementary aged boys – they would tell you who Mr. Kinney is. The author of The Diary of a Wimpy Kid books has recently released the fourth installment of the series.

As an educator, I am glad for these series of books that are geared towards boys, and younger aged boys too. To me, it seems that boys, more than girls, have a hard time getting into reading or finding books of some depth that really relate to them. Yes, I will always be grateful to Captain Underpants; but I like to give my students something more — something in between Captain Underpants and Harry Potter. I feel that Diary of a Wimpy Kid fits there. There are two additional reasons I encourage my students to read the series.

One, I like the comic strips added into it. It tricks some students into thinking that a comic strip isn’t real reading. When in reality, any reading, is well — reading. And two, I like how it is set up for journaling. When I taught in the classroom I had my students journal every day for at least fifteen minutes. Journaling is a great activity for anyone, but especially students who are in the beginning stages of writing and creating longer written works. Once this series came to my attention, I made references to it. I would also show my students how writing in a journal is different for everyone, and that NO it didn’t have to be called a diary.

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If you haven’t gotten to know this series, I recommend that you do. Maybe give book one to a child you know during their December break from school.

www.theweek.com/article/index/101895/Author_of_the_week_Jeff_Kinney

www.wimpykid.com/

www.funbrain.com/journal/Journal.html?ThisJournalDay=1&ThisPage=1

Ahh, the last week of school before the big winter break. I don’t envy teachers this week. It’s a super busy week, with deadlines, papers to grade, projects to hand out or get back. Plus, if it’s snowing – or you even have the chance of snow – there’s no way you are going to get your students to focus. Add to that, if you are an elementary school teacher – the excitement of the holidays.

For new teachers, I would think that this week is more hectic than others; and a bit more stressful than even the first day of school.

Originally I had planned on giving out resources to aid educators in celebrating all the holidays found in December. But then I remembered my years as a teacher, and a substitute (which you can just forget about accomplishing anything if you are a sub) – and thought better of it.

So, here’s to you teachers, instructors, classroom aides, and educators. Good Luck this week. Do your best to enjoy this time with your students. And go drink a big glass of Martha Stewart’s eggnog (www.marthastewart.com/recipe/favorite-eggnog)

When I was a classroom teacher, I really enjoyed being able to bring current events into our classroom and integrate them into lesson plans.

Here is one that relates to the Gold Rush in California during the 1800s. A lost shipping vessel was recently found. There are so many great ways to use this story and build upon it in the classroom.

http://www.theweek.com/article/index/103471/Germany_restores_1936_highjump_record_to_Jewish_athlete_and_more

Divers find shipwreck from the Klondike Gold Rush
Archaeologists have located the only known untouched shipwreck from the Klondike Gold Rush, 108 years after the vessel sank. The sternwheeler A.J. Goddard vanished in Lake Laberge in the Yukon on Oct. 22, 1901, killing three of its five crewmen. But a diving team, funded in part by the National Geographic Society, announced this week that it had found the Goddard resting upright in 40 feet of water, relatively intact. “It’s a rare window into the past,” said nautical archaeologist James Delgado, who helped find the wreck. About 30 Gold Rush–era shipwrecks exist in the Yukon region, but most of them have either been salvaged or are in poor condition.

Earlier this year I wrote several articles about schools and how they are dealing with the economic recession. The majority of the articles spoke about how class sizes are becoming bigger and students are going without extracurricular activities.

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In The Week Magazine two weeks ago, there was an article about how Hawaii is creating shorter school years for the next two years. The reason for this is due to budgetary issues.

http://www.theweek.com/article/index/101995/The_world_at_a_glance____United_States

Honolulu
 School year cut: In an effort to cut $468 million from the state education budget over the next two years, Hawaii’s teachers have agreed to take Fridays off for the rest of the school year. The plan, which goes into effect next week, will give Hawaii’s 171,000 public-school students the nation’s shortest school year, at 163 days. Although teachers say they will try to compress five days of schoolwork into four days each week, parents are objecting. “It’s just not enough time to learn,” said state PTA president Valerie Sonoda. Hawaii already trails most states in national education achievement.

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A school district in Portland, OR head an auction recently. There they sold basketball bards, toilet paper, and copier paper (among other items). What was the reason for the auction? To aide the district in generating much needed funds. The reason for selling these particular items? Because the schools and teachers had deemed them unnecessary. How does someone find that toilet paper is unnecessary?

http://wweek.com/editorial/3551/13258/

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In California, local universities, teachers, and workers are taking furlong days for the year. Again, the reasoning being it is finances.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lausd14-2009nov14,0,359774.story

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These three stories aren’t the only ones out there. Schools and districts across the country are facing fiscal hardships. Although these little ways help the districts to save money; the long-term affects on the educators and their students doesn’t seem to be a concern.

It is confounding to me how someone can think that teachers can cram five days worth of lessons into four. There’s barely enough time as it is. And with more and more schools having to worry about meeting national standards, teachers are taking out any creative lesson planning and filling it with test preparations. How are students supposed to take their tests if they don’t have paper to write on? You laugh, but I had two students who, at the end of last school year, were doing work on colored copier paper; or taking exams from overhead copies because the teachers didn’t have enough paper to print out the test for all of the students.

Situations such as these, in my humble educational opinion, are a tragedy along the lines of a Shakespearean play. In the long run, the only ones who are going to be suffering from these shortcuts are our children. The depth and breadth of their education will diminish; which will put them at an even great disadvantage later on, then they already are facing today.

The consensus is in – American students aren’t achieving the same sort of scores that students in other countries are. And that is where the agreement ends. Now, as to how we go about fixing it – that is where all of the idea and options come flowing in. One such option, as mentioned in the Parade Magazine’s Intelligence Report is to extend the school year.

One part of me thinks that could help, if it meant taking different breaks throughout the year rather than the three month summer break. However, even extending the year might not give those sought after results. Perhaps reducing class size would…but that’s just a pipe dream.

http://www.parade.com/news/intelligence-report/archive/091115-should-american-kids-spend-more-time-in-class.html