Lack of Math, Science Teachers Prompt US Alarm

Ledyard King:

School systems scrambling to find qualified science teachers are trying to recruit him. He's a prized commodity in Texas, where nearly a quarter of science classes in middle and high schools are taught by teachers without proper science credentials.

"You have to want to (teach). They're not paying teachers like the glamorous research jobs," said Sinski, who had thought he'd follow his parents' footsteps and become a pharmacist. But "research science doesn't appeal to me. It's monotonous. Teaching exposes you to different faces and new and exciting things."

Children, Media and Sex: A Big Book of Blank Pages

Jane Brody:

In last summer's prize-winning R-rated film "Me and You and Everyone We Know," a barely pubescent boy is seduced into oral sex by two girls perhaps a year older, and his 6-year-old brother logs on to a pornographic chat room and solicits a grown woman with instant messages about "poop."

Is this what your teenage children are watching? If so, what message are they getting about sexual mores, and what effect will it have on their behavior?

The journal Pediatrics addressed the topic last July in a supplemental report, "Impact of the Media on Adolescent Sexual Attitudes and Behaviors." It is an important and, sad to say, much neglected subject. The report, based on a thorough review of scientific literature, was requested by Congress and supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

East / West Task Force Report: Board Discussion and Public Comments

Video | MP3 Audio

Monday evening's Board meeting presented a rather animated clash of wills between, it appears, those (A majority of the Board, based on the meeting discussions) who support Fitchburg's Swan Creek residents and their desire to remain at a larger Leopold School vs. those who favor using existing District schools that have extra space for the 63 Fitchburg children (no other students would move under the plan discussed Monday evening), such as Lincoln and/or the Lincoln/Midvale pair.

Lawrie Kobza and Ruth Robarts suggested that the District's overcrowding priorities are: the Memorial area first (District forecasts that area at 111% of capacity by 2011 [3:08 minutes into the video]), LaFollette second (106% in 2011 [3:10], which was not addressed by the Task Forces) and 3rd, the West attendance area (West currently under capacity, according to the District, will be at 98% capacity in 2011). They further suggested that any building decision should be part of a district wide 5 year plan. Johnny Winston argued that the Board should "give the people what they want [28:42] and that the District should look for alternative financing options, such as naming rights [22:00]. The Board made a commitment to the community when it acquired land from Oregon. You will be attending Leopold School." Mary Gulbrandsen discussed bus routes and forecasting.

Video | MP3 Audio

This video clip includes the public comments.

The MMSD has had opportunities over the years to construct a facility in Fitchburg. The District turned down an offer of free land from Promega during the mid-1990's. Eagle School occupies that land today.

Local media roundup:

• Susan Troller: School Board Split on Referendum
• Paul Soglin notes recent discussion on further school district consolidation (Milwaukee & Suburbs) and mentions that Madison did this

  within its school district by pairing Franklin-Randall and Lincoln-Midvale. There was success, it could have been greater.

  There are certainly no shortage of views on the pairing results, recently expressed within the West Side Task Force.

Facilities are always a tough issue. A reader emailed that Thoreau, for example, does not have a lunch room. Students march in and out of the gym.

Well worth watching, particularly when these questions are sent to the voters via a referendum.

As a parent, taxpayer and citizen, I very much appreciate the questions Lawrie Kobza raised Monday evening (I strongly supported her candidacy last spring). The District's fiscal challenges are not small: flat enrollment, revenue caps which limit growth in the district's $321M budget to 2.5% annually - as long as enrollment is flat, high property taxes and two recent failed referenda. In my view, the District must exhaust all options, thoroughly, before asking for more money. I was glad to see Johnny suggest that other means be pursued to fund these facilities. Finally, Fitchburg's public school climate is a challenge to read. Our neighbor to the south voted down the Leopold expansion referenda last spring. Linking Leopold expansion to a new far west school - built on land which was purchased last fall before the west task force began its work - (part of the Memorial attendance area) is an interesting approach to the question (and, perhaps the April School Board elections).

Another update: another reader emails that four members of the west side task force represented Leopold's interests vis a vis currently or recently enrolled children.

UW-Madison Ranks as Top Producing Peace Corps Institution

Rachel Alkon:

Since the program's inception in 1961, UW-Madison has produced thousands of volunteers. And today, for the 20th consecutive year, UW-Madison takes the top spot, with 104 volunteers currently serving in the field.

UW-Madison also ranks as the institution with the second highest number of volunteers with advanced degrees, with 18 alumni. The University of Michigan-Ann Arbor earned the number spot in this category, with 22 volunteers.

The UW's new website has an RSS feed.

State ranks 13th in national health study

By Anita Weier, The Capital Times, JAnuary 31, 2006

Wisconsin ranked 13th among the states in a national health study, down from ninth in 2004, as obesity and child poverty rose.

The study, titled America's Health Rankings 2005, analyzed personal behaviors, community environment, health policies and health outcomes.

The healthiest states were Minnesota, Vermont, New Hampshire, Utah and Hawaii, in that order. The least-healthy was Mississippi, followed in order by Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas and South Carolina.

Wisconsin's strengths included a high rate of high school graduation, a low rate of violent crime, a low incidence of infectious diseases and a low rate of uninsured people.

Challenges included low per capita public health spending at $79 per person, which put the state in 46th place, and a high rate of smoking at 21.9 percent of the population, which put it in 31st place.

Herb Bostrom, deputy administrator of the state's Division of Public Health, agreed that smoking and some other behavioral issues are a problem. But the public health funding issue is another matter, he said.

The study tends to look only at state funding for public health, not at grants and fees, according to Bostrom. "Wisconsin has been very successful in acquiring federal grants and grants from non-federal sources," he said.

Another factor is that some states provide direct health services while Wisconsin funds other providers that do so. "Different states do things differently," he said.

The study was conducted by the United Health Foundation, the American Public Health Association and the Partnership for Prevention, and was published in State Policy Reports as well as other publications and Web sites.

Another major health problem cited by the study was the fact that the percentage of children in poverty increased by 17 percent - from 15.4 percent to 18 percent of those under 18, from 2004 to 2005.

That figure would have been worse, the study said, if the rate of births per 1,000 teenage females had not decreased by 26.1 percent - from 43.7 births per thousand in 1991 to 32.3 births per thousand in 2002.

Since 1990, the prevalence of obesity soared by 105 percent - from 11.3 percent to 23.2 percent of the population.

Additionally, Wisconsin ranked 23rd for cardiovascular deaths and 23rd for total mortality.

Racial disparities also existed.

For instance, the infant mortality rate was substantially worse for minorities. Non-Hispanic whites had a rate of 5.6 deaths per 1,000 live births, while non-Hispanic blacks had a rate of 17.9 deaths per 1,000 live births.

Whites were screened for cholesterol levels at a much higher rate than Hispanics.

Bostrom added that blacks and American Indians have high rates of diabetes.

"Disparity is a big problem. The Division of Public Health is focusing on the disparity in health outcomes and working with minority populations in the Milwaukee area, Rock County and Dane County," he said.

But he pointed out that such differences are often due more to income than any sort of genetic tendency. "In many cases, there are socio-economic and education differences. These are societal issues," he said.

"If we could raise our health status for minorities to the level of the majority, that could make a substantial improvement."

School Board split on referendum: must vote by Feb. 17

By Susan Troller, The Capital Times, January 31, 2006

Madison voters may be looking at another referendum on school building this spring to address overcrowding issues, but the School Board appears split in its support of taking the issue to the voters.

School Board President Carol Carstensen has recommended that the administration prepare language that would ask voters to approve spending for a new $17 million elementary school on the city's far west side and an addition to Leopold Elementary, south of the Beltline in Fitchburg. Both proposals were unanimously recommended by a citizen-led task force that has been studying boundary issues and overcrowding since last fall.

"From the beginning, I have said I would support the recommendations of the task force," Carstensen said. She emphasized that the time frame for a referendum question on the April ballot would be very short, and that in order to keep that option open, it was necessary to move ahead with the language request.

"We have until Feb. 17 to decide whether to present this to the voters," she said.

On Monday, board members reviewed task force recommendations for the West/Memorial attendance area as well as recommendations from an East attendance area task force on how to deal with declining enrollments in that area of the school district. No final decisions on the recommendations were made at the meeting.

The majority of the board seemed to support a referendum based on the task force recommendations, which were the result of hundreds of hours of work by dozens of citizen representatives.

But board member Ruth Robarts was wary about what she terms rushing to referendum. She said, "We have a problem if we make a building recommendation in a vacuum. People deserve a comprehensive multi-year plan that takes into account the needs of all sides of town."

Robarts joined board member Lawrie Kobza in questioning the process at Monday's sometimes contentious meeting. Kobza said she had hoped that the task force recommendations would be analyzed by the board as part of a broader examination of needs in the district.

"It never occurred to me that these recommendations wouldn't become part of a larger plan," Kobza said. She noted that the task force charge did not include any scrutiny of the La Follette High School area and its projected overcrowding within five years.

Kobza rejects the proposal to build a Leopold addition. She favors a solution to overcrowding at the school that includes busing students to the undercapacity Lincoln-Midvale paired elementary schools, even if it means bus rides that exceed 45 minutes.

"A 45-minute bus ride isn't the end-all and be-all," she said.

Other board members were vehement in their support of the task force recommendations. "We gave this task force this job and if we weren't going to respect their recommendation we should have done it ourselves," Johnny Winston Jr., board vice president, said.

"We need to make decisions and not prolong this to next fall," Juan Jose Lopez said, noting that the schools are crowded now.

Arlene Silveira, a candidate for School Board and member of the West/Memorial boundary task force, supports a referendum to build a new school and an addition at Leopold. But she said she hoped that the decision to go to referendum would wait until the fall.

"My concern is that April is too fast," she said. "I supported last year's referendum and one of the things we heard is that people want information about how we came to the decisions we made. We need a communications plan to tell our story."

The State of High School Education in Wisconsin: A Tale of Two Wisconsins

Alan Borsuk on Phil McDade's report for the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute: [250K pdf]

"The growing performance gap is largely influenced by socioeconomic factors beyond the influence of schools," McDade said. "Property wealth, poverty and race were found to affect student performance."

The per-student spending difference was much smaller than the difference in test scores and actually was smaller in 2003-'04 than it was seven years earlier, leading McDade to conclude that increased spending would not be a key to closing the gap.

Even though the roots of the gap are in matters such as poverty, McDade suggested that policy makers consider steps to increase academic performance of high school students, including stronger graduation requirements, tougher admissions standards to University of Wisconsin campuses and increased emphasis on sending more high school graduates to college.

According to the report, Madison High Schools (along with Verona, Middleton-Cross Plains, Wisconsin Heights, Monticello, Monona Grove and Waunakee) were in the top 10% based on 1996-1997 WKCE results in. However, they (Madison) were no longer present in the top 10% based on 2003/2004 results (Deerfield, Dodgeville, Middleton-Cross Plains, McFarland, Waunakee and Verona were in the top 10% based on the 2003/2004 data).

FORUM: Abuses and Uses of Curriculum in the Area of Language & Reading

Video | MP3 Audio

Rafael Gomez recently organized a Forum on: Abuses and Uses of Curriculum in the Area of Language & Reading: Participants included: Albert Watson: Project Bootstrape (sp?) Mark Seidenberg Dr. Paul Yvarra

"Lessons From Privately Managed Schools"

Can professional business management practices improve the performance of troubled public schools? Several high-visibility projects have been undertaken to bring best management practices to the classroom, including Harvard's Public Education Leadership Project. But in the 1990s, a different approach was begun: Riding a wave of charter school legislation, for-profit and nonprofit startups called private education management organizations, or EMOs, were created, essentially private companies brought in to manage public schools

The result? Mixed, but promising, says Steven F. Wilson, a senior fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Wilson was founder and former CEO of one of those EMOs, Advantage Schools, which at its height had 10,000 students in its programs. He writes of his experiences in a new book, Learning on the Job: When Business Takes on Public Schools, published by Harvard University Press.

Leopold's Math Night

Reader Troy Dassler emailed this photo, taken a few hours ago, at Leopold's Math Night event.

Do recommendations meet stated goal?

When the task forces began, each had three stated goals to address, including the following:

Income dispartiy among schools

Just eyeballing the final reports of the task forces gives me the impression that the recommended changes will not significantly change the low-income percentages of kids in any of the schools.

The "Intelligence of 11 Year Olds has Fallen by 3 Years Worth in the Past Two Decades

The Sunday Times:

For a decade we’ve been told that our kids, just as they seem to be getting taller with each generation, are also getting brighter. Every year new waves of children get better GCSE, A-level and degree results than their predecessors. Meanwhile, in primary schools, the standards in national maths and English tests at 11 head in one direction — relentlessly upwards.

Last week came the bombshell that blew a gaping hole in this one-way escalator of achievement.

Far from getting cleverer, our 11-year-olds are, in fact, less “intelligent” than their counterparts of 30 years ago. Or so say a team who are among Britain’s most respected education researchers.

In the easiest question, children are asked to watch as water is poured up to the brim of a tall, thin container. From there the water is tipped into a small fat glass. The tall vessel is refilled. Do both beakers now hold the same amount of water? “It’s frightening how many children now get this simple question wrong,” says scientist Denise Ginsburg, Shayer’s wife and another of the research team.

Another question involves two blocks of a similar size — one of brass, the other of plasticine. Which would displace the most water when dropped into a beaker? children are asked. Two years ago fewer than a fifth came up with the right answer.

Scientific Brain Linked to Autism

BBC:

He believes the genes which make some analytical may also impair their social and communication skills.

A weakness in these areas is the key characteristic of autism.

It is thought that around one child in every 100 has a form of autism - the vast majority of those affected are boys.

The number of diagnoses seems to be on the increase, but some argue this is simply because of a greater awareness of the condition.

In a paper published in the journal Archives of Disease of Childhood ($), Professor Baron-Cohen labels people such as scientists, mathematicians and engineers as 'systemizers'.

NCES: "Status & Trends in the Education of Blacks"

National Center for Education Statistics:

Status and Trends in the Education of Blacks draws on the many statistics published by NCES in a variety of reports and synthesizes these data in one compact volume. In addition to indicators drawn from existing government reports, some indicators were developed specifically for this report. The objective of this report is to make statistical information about the educational status of Blacks easily accessible to a variety of audiences.

Bloomberg's Partnership for Teacher Education

NYC Department of Education:

Supported by a $15 million four-year grant from the Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation, the Partnership will address New York City’s need for highly qualified, well-trained teachers who will immediately be able to excel in the City’s public schools.

Through an unprecedented collaboration among K-12 educators and higher education faculty in education and the arts and sciences, the Partnership plans innovations in how pre-service teachers--students who are receiving formal education but have not yet become full-time teachers--are taught and by whom; how they first learn the craft of teaching, and how they continue to develop teaching skill throughout their careers. The Partnership will demonstrate how teacher education can be responsive to the City’s most pressing needs, how learning what to teach and learning how to teach can better come together, and how beginning teachers can be ready from the start to work effectively in urban classrooms.

Five Rules for Florida School Reform

Florida Governor Jeb Bush:

This year, Florida will introduce the largest reform package since the sweeping changes we made in 1999.

These reforms include differentiated pay and performance-based pay for teachers to attract and retain talented educators in critical subject areas, encourage them to teach in economically challenged schools and reward them for improving student performance.

Our proposed reforms will bring rigor and relevance to middle schools by requiring students in grades six through eight to earn 12 credits in math, science, language, arts and social studies for promotion to high school, and requiring those who cannot read at grade level to get reading instruction.

We're also looking to revamp high schools to better prepare students for the future and for postsecondary education by creating career academies, where students can major or minor in math and science, or fine arts, or on career and vocational skills, depending on their goals and interests. The goal is for students to graduate knowing what they want to do with their lives, so they leave school armed with college credits toward their goal or, if they choose a vocational route, with certified skills for a specific industry.

Schools of Hope Needs More Math Tutors

Sandy Cullen:

Expanding on its efforts to increase the reading skills of elementary school students, the Schools of Hope project led by the United Way of Dane County also is focusing on helping middle school students develop the math skills needed to be successful in high school, college, employment and daily life.

Since the Madison School Board adopted the goal that all students would complete algebra by the end of ninth grade and geometry by the end of 10th grade, the option of taking less rigorous classes, such as general or consumer math, has disappeared.

All high school students are now required to take algebra and geometry - or two credits of integrated mathematics, combining algebra, statistics and probability, geometry and trigonometry - in order to graduate.

"These are really gate-keeping courses and skills," said Mary Ramberg, the district's director of teaching and learning. She added that without them, students "will have a lot of options closed."

Rafael Gomez is organizing a Forum on Math Curriculum Wednesday evening, February 22, 2006 at McDaniels Auditorium. Look for more information soon.

School Transfer Limit Ends

Amy Hetzner:

As state politicians and interest groups argue over whether to lift the enrollment cap in Milwaukee's voucher school program, the cap in another school choice initiative is quietly slated to expire.

Under state law, the 2006-'07 school year will be the first time in Wisconsin's open enrollment public school choice program in which school districts will be unable to control the number of students leaving their boundaries if they exceed a certain portion of their enrollment.

The provision, which had been in effect since open enrollment began in 1998, was used by at least 10 school districts to limit potential monetary losses in the current school year, according to figures from the state Department of Public Instruction. They include districts such as Florence, which faced possible dissolution this year before voters bailed out the financially ailing school system, and Palmyra-Eagle on the outskirts of the metropolitan Milwaukee area.

New Accounting Rule Shifts Retirement Costs

Avrum Lank:

For unions representing teachers and other government employees, the fine print is making it harder to negotiate improvements in benefits such as retiree health insurance.

"It certainly made my life more complex," said Michael McNett, director of collective bargaining for the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the state's largest teachers union.

For the Port Edwards School District, which has an annual budget of $6.1 million and 90 employees, the rule will mean an additional expense of about $120,000 a year - about the cost of employing two teachers , said Superintendent Michael W. Alexander.

Interesting Madison School District Budget Notes

A reader emailed this interesting MMSD budget item. The land and buildings around East Towne Mall are not in the MMSD, according to the district's map.

Fitchburg contributed $10,030,120 or 5% [Fitchburg City Budget PDF] to the MMSD's $200,363,255 total Tax Levy (total MMSD 2005/2006 budget is $321+M [includes funds redistributed via other means such as income, gas and other taxes/fees from state and federal organizations]); see the 2005-2006 Budget Amendments and Tax Levy Adoption [PDF].

Latin lovers whoop it up at convention

Capital Times article published on Saturday, 1/28/06
by Susan Troller

When more than 400 enthusiastic young Latin lovers packed Great Hall of the Memorial Union this week, their whoops and cheers were loud enough to, well, awaken a dead language.

Hailing from both public and private high schools, the exuberant students were attending the annual Wisconsin Junior Classical League Convention, which began Thursday and ends today. The unlikely object of their enthusiasm was the study of Latin, which was, repeatedly, described as awesome, amazing and life-altering.

Carolyn Briggs, a Madison West junior who is president-elect of WJCL, said, "When I first went to the national convention, I fell in love. Not with a person, but with a language. Now my devotion to Latin, and to WJCL, borders on an obsession."

Briggs, dressed for the Spirit (pep rally) portion of the convention, was wearing boxer shorts emblazoned with the legend LATIN KICKS across the back.

Carolyn Hill, also from West, is a senior and outgoing WJCL historian. A beginning student in Greek, she said she intends to become a classics major.

"I really want to be a Latin teacher, and I think I'd like to teach in a public high school. Latin has been an amazing class, a great thing to study. When I was a kid, I wanted to be an archeologist, so maybe my interest is an extension of that.

"But it's conventions like these that really get you going," she added. "I mean, where else would you find people willing, or able, to sing 'Yellow Submarine' in Latin?"

Aaron and Caleb Burr, a senior and freshman brother duo who are part of a 33-student convention delegation from Edgewood High School, are also Latin fans. Aaron, who is taking Advanced Placement 4th year Latin, finds the ancient history compelling, and he loves a competition called Certamen that poses tough Latin questions in a Jeopardy-style format.

Caleb, a freshman in his first year of studying the language, confessed he wasn't very good, but that he liked the challenge. He keeps at it because, rugged or not, he enjoys it. "I also like the mythology," he said.

West is Madison's only public high school that still maintains a Latin program.

According to Gale Stone, West's Latin teacher and convention co-chair, there are about 100 Latin students in any given year at her school. A Latin teacher for 25 years, 18 of them at the high school level, she brought 67 of her students this year to the state convention.

In addition to the deafening Spirit competition on Friday morning and Certamen, events included a war machines competition, memorized and impromptu oratory, testing in Latin proficiency, a costume contest, a Roman banquet and an impromptu art competition. Part of the JCL creed promises "to hand on the torch of classical civilization in the modern world."

Eight public schools and seven private schools, including a home school association, were represented at the convention. "I try to make my classes fun, and a little different," Stone said, explaining the devotion her students show toward Latin.

"The language is extremely difficult, and it takes at least a couple of years for students to get much of a sense of proficiency. It's important for them to be able to find their own passion," she said.

"It's kind of like checking in at a hotel. There are lots of different rooms to capture the imagination, from mythology to military history to engineering feats to how they made their underwear," she laughed.

"Another great thing about Latin is that it's a great leveler of backgrounds for the students. Very few kids come in with an advantage. It doesn't matter whether you come from a professorial household, or a janitorial household. At the outset, it's unfamiliar to everyone," she said.

E-mail: stroller@madison.com
Published: January 28, 2006

Copyright 2006 The Capital Times

The Vanishing Class: Why Does High School Fail So Many?

Mitchell Landsberg:

On a September day 4 1/2 years ago, nearly 1,100 ninth-graders — a little giddy, a little scared — arrived at Birmingham High School in Van Nuys. They were fifth-generation Americans and new arrivals, straight arrows and gangbangers, scholars and class clowns.

On a radiant evening last June, 521 billowing figures in royal blue robes and yellow-tasseled mortarboards walked proudly across Birmingham's football field, practically floating on a carpet of whoops and shouts and blaring air horns, to accept their diplomas.

It doesn't take a valedictorian to do the math: Somewhere along the way, Birmingham High lost more than half of the students who should have graduated.

It is a crucial question, not just for Birmingham but for all American schools.

High school dropouts lead much harder lives, earn far less money and demand vastly more public assistance than their peers who graduate.

Lucy Mathiak posted MMSD dropout data, including those who showed high achievement during their elementary years.

iTunes U: College Lectures via Podcast

May Wong:

The University of Missouri offered podcasts of lectures through its school network before it signed up with Apple last summer as a pilot school. But "iTunes U" offered a software and service package for free, said Keith Politte, the development officer at the university's School of Journalism.

Wanting Better Schools, Parents Seek Secession

Randal Archibold:

Ladera Heights, an unincorporated community of about 8,000 people, has for decades belonged to the school district in adjacent Inglewood, a decidedly poorer, predominantly black and Latino city whose schools have struggled academically and financially.

A group of Ladera Heights residents, many of whom have pulled their children out of Inglewood schools in favor of private ones, want their neighborhood assigned to the school district in Culver City, a more racially mixed, more affluent community than Inglewood.

2006 Candidate Forum Audio/Video: Dane County Public Affairs Council

Dane County Public Affairs Council 2006 Madison School Board Candidate Forum. View [video] or listen [mp3 audio] to the entire event, or read each question below and view the candidate responses.

1. Opening Statements [video]

   
   
   

2. Describe how you would strengthen the role of the Board of Education in the relationship with the Superintendent and the unions (especially the teachers’ union) representing employees in negotiating contract agreements and in the implementation and oversight of those agreements? [ video]

   
   
   

3. There are serious budget issues facing the district for the next budget cycle. What changes in the budgeting process will you support to assist the Board of Education to best resolve those issues locally, within the current revenue structure? What is your position with respect to a referendum to raise the revenue cap related to budgeting for the District? [ video]

   
   
   

4. Reading and mathematics are two of the most critical curriculum issues needing attention in the District. What solutions should the Board work toward for improving effectiveness, efficiency and performance with the achievement issues in those areas? [ video]

   
   
   

5. Health care costs for all employees and incentive/merit pay for teachers are two critical issues in the District. Contracts for teachers and others must be negotiated during your term of office. What are your views about these issues? What will be your approach to dealing with these issues in the negotiating processes? [ video]

   
   
   

6. Task Forces appointed by the Board are preparing recommendations for the Board with attention to changing demographics and facility capacities. What are your observations regarding preliminary options of the Task Forces? What are your views regarding constructing school additions, a new elementary school and school closings? What will be your approach to reviewing the recommendations of the Task Forces and to weighing options within the context of the budgeting process for the next fiscal year and beyond? [ video]

   
   
   

7. The Community Services Fund (80) has undergone significant growth (nearly 250%) outside the revenue cap in the past six years. What will you do as a member of the Board in reducing the burden of this fund on the taxpayers and for providing rigorous oversight and accountability for programs, services, budget and taxing authority within this fund? [ video]

   
   
   

8. The Board provides little, if any, leadership in the development of District policy related to curriculum. What are the public policy issues you believe need to be addressed related to curriculum standards; and, to addressing achievement differences among students of different races and cultures? What will be your role as a member of the Board to provide leadership and set direction in this area? [Question skipped due to time constraints]

   
   
   

9. A safe school environment from violence, crime and harassment for students and staff is increasingly challenged by negative and disruptive incidents with respect to these issues. What must the Board do in order to assure a safe climate in our schools? [ video]

   
   
   

10. Closing Statements [ video]

Local media coverage:

• Jason Soriano:

  Candidates for two seats on the Madison School Board had mixed opinions this morning on whether to build new school space to handle the enrollment problems in the district. Earlier this week, a task force representing west side schools (many of which are overcrowded) unanimously recommended building a new far west side elementary school and a seven-classroom addition at Leopold Elementary, while a similar task force for the east side recommended moving district programs to fill empty space in schools there.

• Sandy Cullen:

  Group Says Voters Have A Chance To Change The Way The Board Does Business.

A Different Approach: Affiliated Alternatives

Jason Shepherd recently wrote an article on the Madison School District's Affiliated Alternatives Program. This differentiated program supports about 150 students:

Many of the school's students have multiple problems, from severe learning deficits to turmoil at home. A countywide survey found they use alchol and marijuana at three times the rate of other students in Dane County.

Academic classes follow state standards but are tailored to students' interests and needs, with a focuse on practical life skills.

One of the delights in spending time at Affiliated Alternatives is watching Principal Fischer in action.

It's clear she's in command, and she's set high expectations for staff and students. She talkes to students with respect, and kids say they feel as if they can share problems with her.

View full article.

Sort of related: Carol Carstensen mentioned that the Board's Performance and Achievement committee, in a somewhat rare meeting, will discuss heterogeneous groupings at 5 p.m. Monday, January 30, 2006. This is apparently the first of several meetings on this topic. West High School's imminent English 10, one curriculum for all (apparently 40+ sophomore English electives reduced to none) has created no small amount of heterogeneous grouping discussion. I'm glad that a Board committee will soon discuss curriculum, in my view, the District's #1 priority.

Carol Carstensen's Weekly Update

Parent Group Presidents:
BUDGET FACTOID:
The district’s contract settlement with MTI for this year and next are 3.98% and 3.97% package increases. This is below the state average (about 4.5%), below the average for large districts and below the average for Dane County districts.

Jan 23rd Meetings:
5 p.m. Special Board Meeting:
The Board discussed the status of contracts for administrators but took no action. The administration has already proposed reducing 4 administrative positions next year.

6 p.m. Long Range Planning Committee Meeting (Bill Keys, chair):
The Committee received the reports and final recommendations from the East Area and the Memorial/West Areas Task Forces. The recommendations are as follows: East Area recommendations:

Do not close schools
2. Move Affiliated Alternatives to Marquette/O’Keeffe
3. Move MSCR to Emerson
4. Change the middle school feeder pattern to move either Emerson or Hawthorne students to O’Keeffe.
5. Move the undeveloped land near the intersection of Milwaukee St. and Fair Oaks to the East Area.
6. Possible boundary changes affecting the 4 schools on the north side (Gompers, Lakeview, Lindbergh and Mendota).

Memorial/West recommendations:

1. Build an addition onto Leopold and build a new school on the far west side.

The Task Force also provided the Board with 2 “fall-back” plans if the Board did only one of the above (either the addition or the new school). If the Board chooses to do neither (or if a referendum for both fails), the Task Force could not put together an option that provided enough space for the 5 years it was charged to consider. It did give the Board a sample plan of the kind of boundary changes that would be necessary, as well as the information that there were at least 14 other plans they had considered but none were supported by a majority of the Task Force.

The Committee accepted the reports and recommendations and voted to pass them to the full Board for further discussion and decisions.

JANUARY 30th MEETINGS : (these will be in McDaniels auditorium and televised on Channel 10)
5 p.m. Performance & Achievement Committee (Shwaw Vang, chair)

Several presentations on heterogeneous grouping. (This is the first of several meetings on this topic.)

6 p.m Special Board Meeting:

The Board will discuss the recommendations from the Task Forces and begin to make decisions. If the Board is going to authorize a referendum in April it must make that decision within a few weeks.

FUTURE MEETINGS:
February 6 (televised)
5 p.m. Finance & Operations (Johnny Winston, Jr, chair) recycling report; shared savings; 5 year budget forecast
6 p.m. Performance & Achievement (Shwaw Vang, chair) - continued discussion of heterogeneous grouping;
7:15 p.m. Regular Board meeting

Last September, when the cost of natural gas skyrocketed I proposed that the Board pass a resolution to “cancel” winter this year. Do you suppose the recent unseasonably warm weather is a consequence of that?

Carol

Carol Carstensen, President
Madison School Board

"Until lions have their own historians, the hunters will always be glorified." - African Proverb

Sweden Pays Teachers for Performance

Eduwonk:

Sweden did: ($$):

In Sweden the fixed pay scheme for teachers was abolished in the mid-1990s as part of an agreement designed to enhance local autonomy and flexibility in the school system. The government committed itself to substantially raise teacher salaries over a five-year period, but on the condition that not all teachers received the same increase. There is accordingly no fixed upper limit and only a minimum basic salary is centrally negotiated, along with the aggregate rise in the teacher salary bill. Salaries are negotiated when a teacher is hired and teacher and employer agree on the salary to be paid upon commencement of the term of employment. Teachers’ work roles and performance are considered in the negotiation and linked to the pay. There is now much greater variety in teachers’ pay, with those in areas of shortage and with higher demonstrated performance able to negotiate more.

It may seem strange that a social democracy so willing to limit economic freedom would embrace market-oriented reform of teacher pay. But according to this, Swedish policymakers concluded that "an expansion and improved quality of social services could not be accomplished without improving the efficiency in the public sector." And the unions agreed, "in order to improve salaries and working conditions."

Too often in America, we are forced to choose between destroying the public sector and preserving its every bad feature. But this guy was on to something. There is, well, a third way. And it's a little sad when Sweden is working harder to find it than we are.

Proposal Would Send All Swan Creek Students to Lincoln

Kurt Gutknecht:

The plan advanced by Jerry Eykholt, a member of the task force studying ways to deal with overcrowding at schools on in west side of the Madison school district, would move students to Lincoln Elementary School.

Eykholt drafted the proposal in response to a letter signed by 185 households in Swan Creek who opposed moving students from Leopold.

One of the proposals had recommended moving Swan Creek students to Midvale and Lincoln elementary schools. Eykholt?s proposal would move them only to Lincoln, thereby reducing the length of the bus ride, which he said would address one of the major concerns of the residents.

Previous proposals would move elementary students to Lincoln (grades 3 through 5) and Midvale (grades K through 2). His proposal would require Lincoln to offer all elementary grades.

Eykholt called Lincoln "a very nurturing environment" that provided an exceptional level of assistance to students, a consequence of the district?s efforts to serve students from low-income families.

Palm on the $100 Budget

Madison Alder and MMSD employee Larry Palm attended a $100 budget session. Palm posts his thoughts here. Anita Martin, writing in the Madison Times also reviews the $100 budget.

Internet Wake-up Call for Parents

Amy Hetzner:

In the crowded media center at West High School on Thursday night, Special Agent Erik Szatkowski led parents to what he considers manna for sexual predators: an online site where adolescents post their pictures, interests and other tidbits about themselves.

On the Web site, which describes itself as "a community of online diaries and journals," Szatkowski introduced his audience to 14-year-old Katie, who likes "The O.C.," and 14-year-old Brooke, who posted a photo of herself on her page. He also found a 12-year-old Milwaukee boy who boasted: "I'm a b-ball player. I'm a sexy beast. I'm a ladies man."

Seeking A's in a Few More Zzzz's

Maria Glod:

At 6:20, the bus pulled up, and Carly was on her way to Robinson Secondary School.

Carly, an eighth-grader who complains she's frequently groggy during early-morning classes, said she would prefer it if school "started at 8:30 and ended at 3."

"I wake up because of all the people" in class, she said. "But I'm still tired."

Primary School Beats NASA to Internet Award

The Telegraph:

Woodland Grange Primary school in Leicestershire beat the space agency and its online updates of the Rover Mars probe to win the education category of Yahoo! Search Finds of the Year.

The school's mix of field trip tales, homework tips, nativity play photos and pupils' weblogs won over judges, who also picked it ahead of opinion polls site YouGov and the British Geological Survey.

30 Years of Clout: MTI's John Matthews & the '76 Teacher's Strike

Susan Troller:

The key architect behind that transformation was the tough young executive director of Madison Teachers Inc., John Matthews, who had come to Madison eight years earlier from Montana.

Thirty years later, Matthews is still tough and, more than ever, still casts a powerful shadow across the public education landscape of Madison as a tireless and relentless advocate for teachers. With Matthews at the helm, MTI has remained a dominant force in education and labor.

Former Madison Mayor (currently with Epic Systems - Verona) Paul Soglin weighs in as well.

In Public Schools, The Name game as a Donor Lure

Tamar Lewin:

Next fall, a stunning $55 million high school will open on the edge of Fairmount Park here. For now, it is called the School of the Future, a state-of-the-art building with features like a Web design laboratory and a green roof that incorporates a storm-water management system. But it may turn out to be the school of the future in another sense, too: It is a public school being used to raise a lot of private money.

One of these things is not like the others: School Board Oversees Task Forces Except When Savings in Health Care Costs at Stake

Recently, the Madison School Board has authorized a plethora of special committees to consider issues confronting the district and to make recommendations to the board. These committees have the potential to improve future board decisions by bringing new ideas and new information to our attention.

Currently, there is a special committee to advise the board on advertising. There are the two large task forces that recently issued recommendations regarding overcrowding and under-utilization problems in the West, Memorial and East High attendance areas. There is committee of parents, teachers, and administrators to suggest changes in our health and safety policies regarding animals in our classrooms. There is a committee to review whether staff and other resources are allocated equitably to the schools, taking differences in student populations into consideration. There are budget forums intended to seek community input on next year’s budget.

In every case, the board publicly discussed its goals for the committee before launching it. In every case, the board voted on a specific charge to the committee and set procedures and a timeline for meetings. In every case the board has received regular reports on the progress of the committee.

The glaring exception to this process was the creation of a task force of teachers union and district representatives to consider whether changes in health insurance programs for the teachers might make it possible for the district to shift dollars from health insurance payments to wages. Millions of dollars in potential savings are at stake.

In this case, the board did not set goals for the committee. It did not take the time to issue any instructions to the district representatives. Nor has the board required any reporting from the district representatives regarding the scope of its discussions or the nature of savings that the district representatives are seeking.

On January 23, the board discussed the report from the committee on animals in classrooms for more than two hours. The board clarified its prior charge to the committee and directed further work. It’s inexplicable that the leadership of the same board shows no interest in directing the work of its representatives in their discussions of potential health insurance savings with the teachers union.

Student Posting on District Food Policy

I am a member or the MMSD's Student Senate. I am currently involved in a group discussing a draft of a proposed food policy which I feel is rather Draconian. The draft has not yet been made public (I am told this is because it is a "draft" and thus not ready for release) and that the issues have been publicized. However, I am concerned about some measures of the policy and feel that they have not been highlighted for interested parents. I think some of you might have concerns as well. Here are some of the propositions that my committee has voted against altering as well as what parents were told at the January 17th meeting about the policy

"When beverage vending is available, the only beverages that be offered for sale [not me wording] or permitted in schools at all sites accessible to students will be water, milk, fruit juices composed of 100% fruit juice with no added sweeteners of caffeine, and electrolyte replacement ("sports") beverages that do not contain caffeine or more than 42 grams of added sweetener per 20 oz serving."

"No food will be sold to students in vending machines"

This is currently true of all elementary schools and most middle schools, but not the high schools. Vending sales at the four major high schools bring in roughly $15-20 thousand a year for the school (some of a principal's only discretionary income). Personally, I feel eliminating all sales of soda and snacks seems extreme, especially considering the current financial pressure schools are under. The "cold turkey" elimination of all of these sales starting with the 06-07 school year seems like too much.

"Candy will not be given or sold to students nor offered for sale at school or to the community by the school during the school day. The sale of candy and snacks [this language will be revised to be more specific] is not permitted on school grounds during the school day."

This would mean that clubs that rely on sales of such items would have to search for new methods. Bake sales would be eliminated. Students would be able to buy a giant cookie in the lunchroom, but not a small one in support of a club.

From the information packet from the parent meeting on the 17th, it seems the district made it's intentions somewhat clear here. "Should we continue [vending/fundraising sale of soda/snacks] in light of what we know about the relationship of food intake to the increase in overweight and obese children?" The document does not mention the proposed elimination of such sales.

The district was less open about some other issues. For example, while healthier lunch was discussed, the following was not:

"All 'a la carte' items that are available during the school breakfast/lunch program that is served to students during the school day will have no more than 40% (35% by 9/1/2007 and 30% by 9/1/2008) of total calories derived from fat and no more than 10% of calories derived from saturated fat."

On the surface, this sounds like a good idea. However, the realities would be, quite simply, stupid. Students would be able to purchase pizza as part of a meal, but not just as a slice. What this would mean, since many students who buy meals don't eat the included fruit and milk, is that they would end up paying more for the same slice.

Also:
"No food preparation or cooking is permitted in the classrooms other than Family and Consumer Education classes or other classes with the express purpose of teaching cooking In these classes, no peanuts or nut products will be used."

Thus, foreign language classes would no longer be allowed to prepare tradition dishes (a common practice in my experience) and elementary school classes would not be able to cook (I know some of these schools have special school-day programs involving cooking that would have to go).

On these issues, parents were only given questions asking what would be done to ensure the safety of children with food allergies without unduly infringing on the food choices or others' and how the safety of none Food Services prepared foods could be insured. No mention of the proposed policies was made (which is especially egregious considering some of the provisions under the food allergies section that were modified just today).

I know some of your views may differ from mine, but I feel that what is most important is that you are not kept in the dark about what is going on in this district. There will be a second parent meeting held this Thurs. the 26th. I can't seem to find the time or location on the district web site so if you are interested, good luck finding it. Sometime in late March or Early April, this issue will go before the full Board of Education (I will try and let you know when that meeting will take place) so you will have another opportunity to voice your opinion.

TABOR: Missing the Mark

Craig Maher:

Key to the discussion about state and local fiscal policy is the shared revenues program. While few would disagree with the premise that the shared revenues program was conceived in the early 1970s to compensate local governments for the State’s exemption of the manufacturing property and equipment, one cannot ignore the effect the program has been having on spending behavior.

Much of my research over the past six years has been on the impact of WI’s Shared Revenues program on local spending. It is important to understand that both in terms of the amount (nearly $1 billion annually) and the lack of strings attached to this aid (local governments can spend the money on whatever they see fit), WI is unique when compared to other states. While other states such as Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota and New Jersey have sizable intergovernmental aid programs, most are either tied to a specific revenue source such as sales or personal income taxes or require the funds to spent on specific programs/services.

Isthmus: Take Home Test for Week 1; Madison School Board Candidates

Isthmus has posted week 1 of their Take-Home Test:

weekly question-and-answer quiz of the five candidates vying for two seats on the Madison Board of Education.

Every week, we'll ask them a set of questions, one dealing with school board dynamics or the issues facing the 24,000-student-district, and the other more personal, aimed at revealing their experiences and attitudes.

Fabulous.

Wisconsin Biotech: Could be a $10B Industry

Jim Leonhart:

“We have the critical mass to get serious about this sector of our economy,” Jim Leonhart, a biotech executive said Tuesday at a Wisconsin Innovation Network luncheon.

“We don’t have any option but to promote life science technologies, including stem cell research here in this state,” added Leonhart, who heads the Wisconsin Biotechnology and Medical Device Association.

Obiviously, our young people will need to tools (curriculum) to play in this era.

MTI Endorsements

Madison Teachers Inc's PAC, MTI Voters endorsed [pdf] Juan Jose Lopez (Seat 2 vs. Lucy Mathiak) and Arlene Silveira (Seat 1 vs Maya Cole or Michael Kelly) for Madison School Board. Learn more about the candidates here. Cole and Mathiak have posted their responses to MTI's candidate questions.

These endorsements have historically included a significant amount of PAC campaign support. Prior election campaign finance reports are available on the City Clerk's website (scroll to the bottom).

School Boundary Changes & Housing

Channel3000:

The looming boundary changes in the Madison Metropolitan School District are having an impact on the local housing market. Home sellers and buyers aren't sure where kids will go to school.

Elimination at Jr. High

My Jr. High student at Jefferson has been informed that there is a good chance his Family and Consumer Education (FCE) and his Technology classes will not be at Jeffferson next year. I have heard ramblings about foreign language being reduced at Jr. High level as well.

This is where I begin to think Public Schools are going to continue to lose students. My son would never choose to take a foreign language or FCE. He is my "jock" and the wonderful cultural and diverse information he is receiving from foreign L.A. and F.C.E are the reason we keep sending our kids to a public school. If the public offerings dwindle to nothing, why would we, a middle to high income family continue to send our children to public schools? If MMSD continues eliminate the diversity and class selection, they can continue to see the decrease in high income students. Money is required to offer these classes, however, if the extra-curricula activities and interesting diverse classes are eliminated, the district will deal with less students, higher numbers of low income students, and the continual decrease of middle and high income students. Many will not see the significance of these numbers, but it is significant as costs rise to educate students that demand more social and psychological needs. The district needs to evaluate the long term effects of eliminating these programs.

Candidate Forum: Dane County Public Affairs Council

Wednesday, 1.25.2006; 7:30 - 9:00a.m. @ US Bank Plaza [map / directions] Lower Level Conference Room:

A discussion of issues facing our school district and community such as: high costs and low achievement; the budget; revenue caps; referenda; reading and math curricula; health care costs; dministrative costs; contract negotiations; boundary changes and school closings/new buildings; violence in schools; Fund 80; and more. Primary election for seat one is Feb. 21. Final elections in April. Who will earn your support?

Curriculum Policy - Top School Board Priority

Student achievement is a top priority of all school boards. To me student achievement in any subject area results from how well the student is able to learn and to experience what’s being taught. Multitudes of factors effect how well students are able to learn –for example, a students’ personal socioeconomic background and parents’ education, the school environment, teacher training, etc. There is something else that can effect how well each and every child will learn – curriculum.

What is the school board’s responsibility regarding curriculum? In the next few blogs, I’ll be posting some information I’ve gathered and thoughts/questions I have about curriculum policy and school board responsibility. Personally, I feel that developing and overseeing curriculum policy is one of the most important roles of any school board if that board’s top priority is student achievement. What is the MMSD School Board's curriculum policy?

On Becoming the Bad Class

All Things Considered:

Commentator Emily Wylie teaches 11th grade English at a New York City public girls' school. She also taught them when they were in 8th grade, and since then they've gotten a reputation as a bad class. Wylie doesn't disagree.

Vonnegut on Modern Society

Morning Edition:

The author Kurt Vonnegut has been looking to the future through his writing ever since the publication of his first novel, Player Piano. The story tells of a time when men are displaced by machines in the workplace. Society is reduced to a managing class and a consuming class. His books have often included an element of science fiction, including his most famous work, Slaughterhouse-Five.

audio

Vonnegut's short story, Harisson Bergeron is a must read:

THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General.

Candidate Interviews Continue: Seat 1, Arlene Silveira

Video | MP3 Audio

The second candidate interview is now available. Look for an interview with Lucy Mathiak soon (I've not heard back from Michael Kelly or Juan Jose Lopez). Maya Cole's interview is here Candidate details here

Searches for Superintendents Hang on a Pivotal Decision

Ian Shapira:

As many of the nation's school systems begin searching for new superintendents in the next few months, they will employ a traditional tactic: secrecy. In many cases, the process will involve only a select few who know who is being considered for what can be a municipality's most highly paid public...

Administrator Contracts - School Board Adds to Agenda

An agenda item has been added to tomorrow night's School Board meeting - Administrator Contracts. The board meeting begins following a 5 p.m. executive session. Meeting location is in Lincoln Elementary School, 909 Sequoia Trail.

I hope the State of WI legal requirements regarding this class of employee contract is presented. Does MMSD meet / exceed these legal requirements? If so, how?

Questions that are not clear to me include: a) is a two-year rolling contract required for all administrators, b) what is the difference between non-renewal and extension of a contract - is the end of January date really an extension?, c)is there a Board policy - if not, does one need to be developed, d) are there options open to the School Board to hold on one-year contract extensions due to upcoming cuts to the budget, e) how can changes be made by moving/retraining staff if needed, and f) can grant money being used to pay for administrators be used in other ways (not including grant oversight/accounting? We're in the same spot as the past two years - not talking about administrator contracts until one week or so before a deadline.

I feel this information needs to be clear and to be transparent to all employees, the board and the community. I believe a multi-year staffing strategy as part of a multi-year strategic plan is important to have, especially given the critical nature of the district's resources. This idea is not proposed as a solution to the public school's financial situation - not at all, that's not the point.

The $100 budget process is helping the community learn about the fiscal constraints and is an important first step, but this community exercise does not provide for reallocation of resources or different ways of doing things. A next step could help answer the question - now what? A multi-year strategic plan would provide the opportunity for the community to talk about those next steps, convey their values, etc. What does the community want Madison's public education to look like in five year (ten years), what do we need to do, and what do we need to do differently.

MAUE School Board Candidate Forum

Madison United for Academic Excellence [www site] held a Madison School Board candidate forum Tuesday evening, January 17, 2006. Maya Cole, Michael Kelly, Lucy Mathiak and Arlene Silveira participated (election website). Candidate statements and questions appear below:

Opening Statement video What strategies/ideas do you have that can elevate academic success for ALL MMSD students while avoiding the pitting of parent groups against each other? [Video] What is one of the most important things you want to accomplish as a board member? [Video] Many people in our group are concerned that the District's single-minded strategy for closing the achievement gap is to eliminate "high end" learning opportunities and give all students -- regardless of ability, motivation or interest level -- the same curriculum, delivered in completely heterogeneous classrooms. They see this approach being enacted, for example, in the West HS "small learning communities" restructuring and they fear that it will permeate and determine the results of the middle school redesign effort. Do you think that this is a sound strategy for closing the achievement gap? [Video] As a Board what oversight is currently in place to assess whether the district is sufficiently meeting the academic needs for gifted students? Do you believe the current oversight is sufficient? In particular for both the student population as a whole and on an individual student basis: How is/should progress be measured in the gifted context? [Video] The school district is once again faced with the dilemma of cutting between 6-10 million dollars from the budget. Where do you think these cuts should come from in the budget? Please tell me where the money is going to come from without suggesting that state or federal funds are not important for all programs. [Video] How would you address the often heard complaint that special education programs drain too much money from the budget? (Jeff): I later provided some additional information for this question: there are approximately 5000 special education students in the district and special education programs and services account for more than $15 out of every $100 that the district spends. [Video] Almost three years ago, during the public comments section of a budget-focused BOE meeting, a parent was asking the BOE to put "TAG" ("talented and gifted") services on the "do not cut" list. In response, a BOE member said to him, "Friend, this has nothing to do with minority students. Why should I support it?" Q: How do you react to that assertion/position/logic? Do you think the "TAG" dollars have anything to do with the District's minority students? [Video] Can you name five good things about the Madison [public] schools? [Video] Jeff's closing remarks: [Video]

Citizens swing ax at school budget

A story by Sandy Cullen in the Wisconsin State Journal reports on two groups that tried the $100 budget exercise:

The State Journal asked 10 people to participate in the exercise led by Superintendent Art Rainwater and his assistant superintendent for business services, Roger Price. District administrators will lead additional sessions of the exercise at Madison's 11 middle schools on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

"This is not a process to build a budget," Price said. Rather, the exercise is meant to give residents an opportunity to express their priorities to administrators and School Board members as the district puts together its 2006-07 budget.

College Aid Plan Rates US High School Academic Rigor

Sam Dillon:

The measure, backed by the Bush administration and expected to pass the House when it returns next month, would provide $750 to $1,300 grants to low-income college freshmen and sophomores who have completed "a rigorous secondary school program of study" and larger amounts to juniors and seniors majoring in math, science and other critical fields.

It leaves it to the secretary of education to define rigorous, giving her a new foothold in matters of high school curriculums.

Mindful of the delicate politics at play when Washington expands its educational role into matters zealously guarded as local prerogatives, senior Department of Education officials said they would consult with governors and other groups in determining which high school programs would allow students to qualify for grants.

Administrator and Teacher Contracts - Timing and Position do Seem to Matter

Teachers sign their contracts for the next year usually in March - however, this is not a guarantee of a job for next year. Teachers can still be surplused or laid off from their jobs. The process for this is governed by their MTI contract.

Surplusing teachers effects the school budget the next school year, so there is an "immediate" effect upon the number of teachers, upon the district's educational resources available for children's learning and upon the budget's bottom line. This is different for MMSD personnel on administrative contracts. Administrative contracts are in most cases two-year rolling contracts, except as stated in the Human Resources (HR) policy , so the financial effect of reducing administrative positions that are filled can take up to 18 months to be reflected in the budget. Wouldn't this reduce the Board's decisionmaking authority during the budget process and potentially put an additional burden of budget cuts on teachers, psychologists, social workers, custodians, etc.?

Does this mean that administrative employees on a two-year rolling contract have 18 months to retrain/to apply for an open position in MMSD or to find a new job while still keeping their current job and getting paid if their contract is not extended. WI law governs some of the policy in place, but I don’t know how much of MMSD’s policy is required by state law, and I don’t know if state law requires contracts for all administrative personnel.

For MMSD administrators, the administrative rules governing their contracts are contained in MMSD HR Policy 2.06 . There is no School Board policy that I could find on administrative contracts. Perhaps one is necessary to clarify a number of issues and to set policy/direction for the district.

The current HR policy on administrative contracts states: “An administrator who has been issued a two-year contract and whose performance is satisfactory shall be issued a one-year contract extension in the spring of each year, thereby creating a two-year rolling contract, except an administrator may not receive a two-year contract if the District is considering reorganization, reassignment, reduction in force or other personnel action that may result in the elimination of the administrator’s position.” Does that give the School Board the flexibility to hold on giving contract extensions to administrators at this point in the budget process. Holding on a contract extension is much different than a non-renewal notice. Which applies at the end of the month?

Teachers, custodians, social workers are covered by their union contracts. These personnel are paid for the year they worked, and these provisions are based upon collective bargaining. If these district personnel are laid off and not rehired into an open position, they do not receive pay after their contract ends.

If the administration feels all staffing is cut to the bone, maybe the school board needs to begin working on multi-year strategies. I'm concerned about relying on the state or referenda to pull us through, and this effort might make the needs/issues more transparent to the public.

Perhaps the School Board and its personnel committees would spend more time during the year talking about staffing strategies. This seems to me to be especially important to continue to do in these extremely tight financial times.

Additional information on surplus and layoff contract dates:

Teachers are often given surplus notices, usually in April, which can be a partial up to a 100% surplus from their job. Surplus notices can be given until July 1 (I think this is the date without checking the contract). These surplus notices often are based upon the budget cut proposed to the School Board, which always proceeds the budget before the School Board and seems to me to be the only focus in the budget once that list is made public.

Layoff notices can be given to teachers no later than 10 days before the end of the school year. While there is no contract language for administrators, a corresponding approach would be not to extend administrative contracts.

Barb Schrank, parent, artist, blogger
spouse of Madison school teacher
treasurer, Mathiak for School Board

Literacy of College Students Finds Some are Graduating with Only Basic Skills

Pew Charitable Trusts:

Twenty percent of U.S. college students completing 4-year degrees - and 30 percent of students earning 2-year degrees - have only basic quantitative literacy skills, meaning they are unable to estimate if their car has enough gasoline to get to the next gas station or calculate the total cost of ordering office supplies, according to a new national survey by the American Institutes for Research (AIR). The study was funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

1.9MB PDF

Science Standards Mediocre, Study Finds

Fordham Foundation criticizes focus on ‘discovery learning.’

More than two-thirds of states have science standards that earn a C grade or worse for their quality, in part because they overemphasize “discovery learning,” the idea that students should be encouraged to acquire knowledge through their own investigation and experimentation, a study issued last week concludes.

Too many of those standards—documents that spell out what students are expected to know—also present science in a sprawling, unorganized way that is short of facts and content, according to the report by the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation.

By Sean Cavanagh, Education Week, December 14, 2005

Titled “The State of State Science Standards, 2005,” the report is a follow-up to a 2000 analysis conducted by the conservative-leaning Washington-based think tank, which promotes strong academic standards and educational options such as charter schools. During the five years since the previous report, the overall quality of standards remained about the same, with roughly the same number of states, 19, receiving an A or B on both studies.
States' Standing

A new study indicates that state science standards are generally strongest in their presentation of biology and weakest in chemistry and environmental science.

Discipline or issue Average score for all states
Biological sciences 68%
Physical science 64%
Earth/space science 61%
Inquiry 57%
Evolution 57%
Chemistry, environmental science 50%

A majority of states received a C or lower on the quality of their science standards.

Grade Number of States
A 7
B 12
C 9
D 7
F 15
SOURCE: Thomas B. Fordham Foundation

“The nation, in its entirely, is neither making progress nor losing ground when it comes to its expectations for what students should learn in science,” the new report says. “Unfortunately, that’s hardly news worth celebrating.”

The analysis judges science standards on such factors as presentation of unambiguous learning goals, freedom from educational or academic jargon, organization, and treatment of core topics, such as evolution.

Paul R. Gross, a professor emeritus of life sciences at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, directed the study. He combed through the lengthy documents with the help of other researchers with extensive scientific backgrounds in college and K-12 education.

Just seven states scored an A on their science standards: California, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, South Carolina, and Virginia. Twelve states were awarded a B, nine received a C, seven states took a D, and 15 received an F. Thirteen states took higher grades than they did in 2000; 19 saw their grades drop.

When it came to the theory of evolution, whose handling by schools is a topic of furious debate around the country, 20 states earned a “sound” rating, or a grade of A or B, a decrease from 24 states in 2000, the study found. Twenty-two states received a D or F, compared with 12 in 2000.

For More Info
"The State of State Science Standards 2005" is available from the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation.

Upgrading U.S. students’ scientific knowledge is increasingly important in today’s economy, particularly in light of foreign competition, the authors note. The Fordham study generally judges states on their coverage of crucial scientific facts and ideas that the authors believe students will need, as recognized by the mainstream scientific community.

The overall weak treatment of evolution, the authors say, is probably not the result of recent pressure to include supposed alternatives to evolution, such as “intelligent design”—the idea that an unspecified architect has shaped life’s development. Instead, the report says, the inadequacy is a function of the “general weakness of disciplinary content for all science.”

Kansas alone received an F-minus grade on coverage of evolution, in large part because its standards were recently rewritten to suggest wrongly that the theory’s scientific basis was somehow “in deep trouble,” Mr. Gross said.

Fordham’s findings on evolution bear some similarity to the results of a recent Education Week analysis, which showed that many state science standards ignore the central principles and evidence associated with the established theory. The newspaper also found that state assessments include evolution to varying degrees. ("Treatment of Evolution Inconsistent," Nov. 9, 2005 and "Evolution Theory Well Represented in Leading High School Textbooks," Dec. 7, 2005.)
What Kind of Lessons?

The Fordham Foundation study particularly objected to states’ support for discovery learning, which expects students to gain scientific knowledge by working through problems on their own, such as hands-on experiments. That approach is sometimes considered the opposite of “direct instruction,” or lessons directed by teachers presenting basic facts.

“It’s not possible for [students], no matter how smart they are, to work out the law of thermodynamics on their own,” Mr. Gross said in a phone call with reporters. Such concepts “have got to be taught. [They] cannot come from hands-on” learning.

Fordham’s report does not reject hands-on learning outright, but says a balance between straightforward presentation of facts and “investigation in the field, laboratory, or library” should be struck.

Discovery learning is sometimes associated with a concept called inquiry. Fordham’s report approves of that approach to science standards, as long as it emphasizes “real and useful” subject matter. In fact, the study grades states on how well they promote inquiry, which it defines as the process of doing science, as well as incorporating explanations of its history, philosophy, and purpose.

Gerald F. Wheeler, the executive director of the Arlington, Va.-based National Science Teachers Association, disagreed with the report’s conclusion about the negative influence of discovery learning.

The NSTA official sees the opposite problem: Many science teachers are offering students an endless stream of facts for memorization, often reading them straight from textbooks, without making the content interesting or meaningful, he said.

“I don’t see the inappropr