DC Chancellor Fires 250 Teachers Deemed Ineffecive

D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee fired approximately 250 tenured and new instructors last week for poor performance or failure to obtain a license.  It was believed that about 60 of those terminated were first- or second-year teachers on probation,  80 were experienced teachers who had been placed on improvement plans and the remaining 110 individuals failed to obtain proper certification.










About 3,500 classroom teachers work in D.C. public schools. The union would appeal the firings in instances in which it believes teachers did not receive adequate support on the 90-day plan.

Do Teaching Credentials Still Matter?

 

As entry into the field of education varies in terms of preparation and training, one may ask do teaching credentials really matter.  In a study through Duke University, the researcher focused on high school achievement and found the following:

• After five years on the job, another year of experience did not impact success.
• Teachers who graduated from more-selective colleges generated bigger learning compared with those from less-selective schools.
• Teachers who had earned a master's degree before entering the field were no more effective than those without master's degrees. 
• Teachers who attained a  master's degree after teaching were more effective than their less-educated teaching peers.
• Teachers who worked in-field were found to be more effective than those who were not.

For more information about this article, please see full article. 

Some Schools Not Accepting Undocumented Immigrants

Three decades after the Supreme Court ruled that students could not be denied access to a public school due to immigration status, the New York Times reported that 1 in 5 school districts in their state are requiring a child’s immigration papers as a prerequisite to enrollment, or asking parents for information that only lawful immigrants could provide.

The ACLU is involved in battling this practice and it appears that the reason for this problem may revolve around the unintentional, routine practices of various districts.  Conversely, after the Haitian earthquake, target districts in other parts of the country not only accepted the victims but relaxed their requirements beyond the normal standards.  

Where is the Least Educated City in America?

According to Brookings Institute, Bakersfield, California is the least educated metropolitan area in the country.  In particular, Bakersfield had the lowest rate of adults 25 and over with a bachelor's degree and the second-lowest rate of adults 25 and over with a high school diploma. In fact, 3 of the 4 least educated cities resided in California.  The two most educated cities were Washington D.C. and Bridgeport, Connecticut. 

In terms of growth, the fastest growing educational areas were Worchester, MA and Southern Florida, while the area with the slowest growth was New Orleans which may come as no surprise due to Hurricane Katrina and other factors.  

To see the full report click here.

19 People Arrested at North Carolina School Board Meeting

At the Wake County, NC School Board meeting on Tuesday, several protesters and police scuffled  over claims that a new busing system would resegregate schools.  The conflict led to 19 arrests and increased racial tension.  Fox News reported that the head of state NAACP chapter was banned from the meeting due to a trespassing arrest at last month's session.


Every school district has strict diversity guidelines which link with the landmark case from Brown vs. Board of Education.  One can assume that there will be more coverage on this case as this matter will proceed through the court system.  


For more information about this case, please see the article in The Daily Tarheel. 

Should We Rethink The Way We Group Students?

With the push for mastery for our low performers and enrichment for our higher functioning students, should we group students more by ability as opposed to grade level.  According to Teacher Magazine, this has become an increased practice.  Much of the positive research focused on middle and senior high and addressed the academic benefits.   With states that have non-spiraling standards, I am curious how this measure would work in elementary schools. 

Scarcity of resources and class-size compliance may make the doubters more receptive to this practice. This also opens the debate to heterogeneous vs. homogeneous grouping.  What do you think?

Do Something Drive

DoSomething.org and Staples are teaming up for the 3rd annual Staples/Do Something 101 national school supply drive. All school supplies and donations will be given locally to the Boys & Girls Clubs in your area. The drive will continue through September 18. For more information, contact the Staples store in your area or go to http://www.dosomething.org/

Report : Teacher Layoffs Among Most School Districts Next Year

The Center on Education Policy reported that while stimulus funding buffered employees and saved jobs, that money in many cases was already utilized and not available in future years. The ability to comply with class-size requirements in certain states, along with covering state funding shortfalls, supplemental IDEA and Title 1 funding have impacted the problem. This past year, the stimulus did not prevent layoffs everywhere.  It was reported that 45 percent of school districts cut teaching jobs in the 2009-10 school year. 

Another issue revolves around the mandate of No Child Left Behind (NCLB).  The federal accountability law for K-12 education has a goal of all students demonstrating proficiency in math and reading by 2014.  With the increased scarcity of resources, many districts are not clear how they will meet the federal demands while remaining solvent.

Teacher Fired, Administrators Disclipined Over Student Field-Trip Drowning

Last week, a teacher was fired and two administrators were disciplined after the results of an investigation found that a 12 yr old student's death may have been the result of the school’s poor planning and supervision during a field trip.


An investigation found that officials at the school did a poor job planning the trip and failed to obtain the required parental consent forms. It was believed that the teacher chaperoning the trip should have noticed the beach was closed to swimmers and that no lifeguards were on duty. The school seemed to also be aware that some of the students did not know how to swim.

School employees must follow the designated procedures for their school and district. This was an easily preventable situation.




To read the New York Times version of this story, click here.

FCAT testing company also has problems in Minnesota

Several sources reported that the troubled testing company, which had several problems with Florida's FCAT, incorrectly scored the state-mandated science tests given to fifth- and eighth-grade students Minnesota.  Pearson, who facilitates these assessments, confirmed the issue and was working to resolve it, according to correspondence between the testing company and the Minnesota Department of Education.

The news comes a week after the Florida Department of Education hired two independent auditors to review this year's FCAT scores after finding widespread irregularities in the data.

Details to come.

Schools May Be Reimbursed For Haitian Victims.

When the catastrophic earthquake hit Haiti this past January, the United States and other countries provided immediate assistance. A segment of the people from Haiti migrated to the United States. Hence, a number of school districts assumed the responsibility of assisting these children.

As a result, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz announced that schools may be reimbursed for their efforts in helping these children. In addition to the basic educational costs, the districts had to pay for transportation, translation, curriculum support and other services. Southern Florida alone took in over 2,700 students at an estimated cost of 17 million.


This item still must go through the senate to even receive consideration.
We will keep you posted as this story develops.

Court Says Teacher E-mails Are Private

Last week, the Wisconsion Supreme Court ruled that a teacher's school e-mail may be private. Specifically,the Court said

"that the content of government workers' personal e-mail messages are not part of government business and are therefore not always subject to the state open records law."

The issue for many is what are the expectations of someone who sends personal messages on public machines? Will a uniform acceptable use policy suffice? Some think the rule of thought is that an employer should provide reasonable work conditions which allows for some level of flexibility.

My suggestion is not to use the public/work computer for private use unless you are prepared to share that information with others.

Educational Apps for the iPad

One of the hottest technological devices to come out this year is the iPad. This device seem to be great in simulating real life items in an effective way. As we become a more paperless society, I expect these devices to have a stand in the education arena. The Washington Post provided a sample of educational items that can be used for the iPad (or iPhone or iPod Touch).

1. Tales2Go, free for 30 days, then $24.99 for a year. Get unlimited access to more than a thousand audio books and stories for kids of all ages.

2. Star Walk, $4.99. A portable planetarium. Hold the iPad up to the sky, and it shows you the stars in that direction as if you were looking through a telescope. You can get information on constellations, celestial bodies and how the sky changes over time.

3. PopMath, 99 cents. Get your math facts down with this addictive app that makes math a game.

4. Wurdle, $1.99. A fun word game that's like Boggle.

5. Magic Piano, 99 cents. Play and learn classic piano pieces on a regular keyboard, or you can make the keys display in a spiral or circle pattern.

6. Musée du Louvre, 99 cents. Take a virtual tour of one of the greatest museums on Earth, the Louvre in Paris.

Resources for Bullying

A group known as the National School Safety Center provides various free and premium resources which address school safety and security. The site has a section which provides quality resources on bullying which has been a national problem. With all the recent litigation on this topic, it is important that schools have a proper system in place to combat this problem. It is recommended that school address this issue with staff and students on the first day of school and provide continuous monitoring throughout the school year.

To access these resources, click here.

Florida Postpones School Grades Until Audits Are Completed

Several media sources reported that after 36 school districts raised concerns about the FCAT results, the Florida Department of Education late Wednesday said it had hired two independent contractors to examine the results.

Most questions centered on learning gains, or the amount of progress an individual student makes from year to year. School administrators from many counties said they saw the learning gains tumble for both fourth- and fifth-graders -- a statistical improbability.

One group will study the learning gains made by the lowest 25 percent of elementary school students over the past three years, while the other group will review the design and scoring of the exams at the elementary-school level during the past four years.

The last time there was an issue with the FCAT and its validity was in 2006 which involved an issue with grade 3 scores.

We will keep you posted as we learn more information.

The IRIS Center

Through Vanderbilt University's Peabody College of Education and Human Development, the IRIS Center is a free online interactive site which provides resources for working with special education students. I was impressed with the variety of areas and the amount of research-based content. What initially attracted me to the site was the ample information regarding Response to Intervention (RTI).

If you would like to view the site, click here.

Montana School District’s Controversial Sex Ed Plan

Source: Fox News

The Helena, Montana Public School system has a proposal that includes teaching kindergartners sex education was debated Tuesday evening at a school board meeting.

The proposal already has been criticized as school administrators consider a comprehensive plan for students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

The plan includes teaching first graders that people can be attracted to the same gender. In second grade students are instructed to avoid gay slurs and by the time students turn 10 years old they are taught about various types of intercourse. Fifth-graders should “understand that sexual intercourse includes but is not limited to certain forms of penetration.”

To view the comprehensive plan, click here

Collier School district being sued over Bibles

Source: WINK - July 2, 2010

COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. - The Collier County School District is being sued after they ban Bibles from their campuses.

One group who wants to distribute them said that's a violation of their rights. The group is called 'World Changers.' They distribute Bibles to Collier County students once a year on Religious Freedom Day, but this year, the group is not welcome.

No Bibles are wanted here. The superintendent of Collier County Schools made that decision after years of allowing Jerry Rutherford to distribute the Bibles one day a year. Rutherford said it's harmless.

"We just put the Bibles on the table with an explanation - these are free Bibles. We don't talk to anyone. We keep the school rules."

Now school officials claim Bibles do not provide any educational benefit to the students and can't be given out on campus. Even a disclaimer like ones used before won't work.

"The Collier County school system is neither endorsing or backing this event, so all the legal entanglements are taken care of in that disclaimer - so there's no reason why we shouldn't be able to do it."

5 school districts question FCAT results

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Five of the state's largest school districts are questioning the latest results of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

Superintendents of Broward, Miami-Dade, Hillsborough, Duval and Leon county schools sent a letter Monday to State Education Commissioner Eric Smith. They want the state to delay calculating annual school grades based on the test scores and for a committee of experts to review the data.

Smith said last month that test results were delayed this year because of problems in matching databases, not the quality of scoring. He said he was confident the scores were accurate.

No central Florida county was included in the letter, but Seminole County spokesman Regina Klaers says the district saw "some anomalies."

Tweet Chat

I will be hosting a tweetchat on Wednesday, July 14 at 7:00 p.m. The chat will last for about 45 minutes and will use the hashtag #edlchat. When chatting, make sure to include the #edlchat tag with every post. If you are on a PC, there is a site known as tweetchat.com which may help.