MadCAP Spring Concert Video Clips
| MadCAP held their music studio recital last night. 20MB video clip excerpts. |  |
French Universities & US K-12
The United State’s has one of the most admired university systems in the world and one of the most deplored k-12 systems. Could the difference have something to do with the fact that universities operate in a competitive market with lots of private suppliers while k-12 is dominated by monopolistic, government provided schools?
What would our university system look like if it operated like the k-12 system?
Look to France for the answer. The riots of 1968 forced the government to offer a virtually free university education to any student who passes an exam but as a result the universities are woefully underfunded especially for the masses. Amazingly, with just a few exceptions for the elites, students are required to attend the universities closest to their high schools. Sound familiar?
The Deification of Mathematics
Google constantly leaves numerical puns and riddles for those who care to look in the right places. When it filed the regulatory documents for its stockmarket listing in 2004, it said that it planned to raise $2,718,281,828, which is $e billion to the nearest dollar. A year later, it filed again to sell another batch of shares—precisely 14,159,265, which represents the first eight digits after the decimal in the number pi (3.14159265).
The mathematics comes from the founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page. The Russian-born Mr Brin is the son of a professor of statistics and probability and a mother who works at NASA; Mr Page is the son of two computer-science teachers. The breakthrough that made their search engine so popular was the realisation that the chaos of the internet had an implicit mathematical order. By counting, weighting and calculating the link structures between web pages, Messrs Page and Brin were able to return search results more relevant than those of any other search engine.
Local Property Tax Assessment Challenges Are Way Up This Year
Prices seemed to be falling as he was buying, he said, and he paid less for his condominium than ones that were sold a month or two earlier. He paid $259,000, including a parking stall, and his fight against City Hall is to have it assessed at $221,000 rather than $241,000, plus $18,000 for the parking stall, which is now treated as a separate property.
He said others in the building have nicer views and are higher up, but have lower assessments for the same floor space. In particular, he points to Ald. Mike Verveer’s condo two floors above him, which faces the lake instead of the courtyard, and is assessed at $231,000. Like those of all units in the building, its assessed value did not increase from 2005 to 2006.
“Obviously,” Taylor wrote in a letter submitted to the Assessor’s Office, “my second-floor unit’s value should be far less than a fourth-floor unit with a lake view.”
A close look at assessments raises many more questions. Some municipalities, such as Fitchburg reassess properties every 3 to 5 (or longer) years rather than annually as Madison does. Learn more via Access Dane (I do find it odd that some publicly financed data requires a “subscription” – we have the opportunity to pay twice).
Sensenbrenner’s article provides more grist for the consideration of a fall referendum.
School Board / Community Resources
Via the DeHavilland Blog:
- Iowa Association for School Boards
- The Coalition for Community Schools
Seattle School Board Puts off Decision on Math Textbooks
New math textbooks for Seattle middle- and high-school students are on hold.
Concerned that it may cost too much and not produce results, School Board members have delayed a decision to allow more time to study the issue.
At stake is whether the district adopts a single style of teaching math that focuses more on understanding concepts than honing computation skills — a prospect that has sparked debate among parents, teachers and administrators.
An Impasse on Civic Science
Many experts outside of Harvard advocate teaching the practical side of science to nonscientists so that they will be able to make sense of it in their everyday lives. Yet few scientists appreciate the civic importance of making science understandable for all students, said Jon Miller, a professor of political science at Northwestern University.
“General education courses need to be, for scientists, your last chance to speak to someone before they are elected senator,” he said.
No States Meet Teacher Quality Goal
Not a single state will have a highly qualified teacher in every core class this school year as promised by President Bush’s education law. Nine states along with the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico face penalties.
The Education Department on Friday ordered every state to explain how it will have 100 percent of its core teachers qualified – belatedly – in the 2006-07 school year.
FMPS Seeks a President
Foundation for Madison Public Schools. www site
Increasing minority population reflected in preschool, kindergarten
Forty-five percent of children in the United States under the age of 5 are minorities, according to Census Bureau numbers released Wednesday.
“In Madison, those numbers are higher,” said Karen Dischler, intergenerational program coordinator for RSVP of Dane County and co-director of the United Way’s Preschools of Hope project. This year, just under 50 percent of kindergarten students in the Madison School District are minorities.
The growing number of minority students is largely the result of higher birth rates among minorities coupled with a rise in immigration.
A Judge Stands Up for Ignorance
I wish I were shocked at a last-minute judicial fiat that runs roughshod over a much-needed school reform — much as, in a different age, a French aristocrat’s coach might ram over peasants unfortunate enough to stand in the way. In this brave new world, if anyone tries to improve schools — and you can’t improve schools without raising standards — no matter how weak those standards are, some court likely will step in to quash the reform lest it hurt someone.
As if ignorance doesn’t hurt children.
Math or Technology: Take Your Pick
Recently Utah schools have been given an F for technology use in the classroom (or lack thereof). This is one area I hope Utah continues to fail in. Technology has been touted as a fabulous tool for teaching math and other subjects, but it’s not. Technology teaches technology; you still have to learn math separately if you want to know math too.
I agree. The basics come first – technology, which changes frequently and may not always be appropriate (see Powerpoint, and here.)
Denver Schools Seek Non-Traditional Instructors
In a move some say could shake up traditional teacher-hiring practices, the Douglas County School District on Wednesday asked the state to let it create its own licensing program to more quickly bring nontraditional teachers into the classroom.
The district – which is already eyeing a pipe-fitter, Naval officer and instructors from China as potential teachers – said current state licensing regulations cut some of the most talented workers out of the teaching pool.
“It’s saying, ‘Here is somebody in the community who has real-world experience, but we can’t hire them because they’re not licensed,”‘ said Kristine Sherman, vice president of Douglas County’s school board.
Scores on New SAT Expected to Decline
College Board officials say they are expecting as much as a five-point average decline in math and verbal scores on the new SAT, leading many high school counselors to conclude that the longer test is wearing out test takers and hurting their performance.
At least 15 colleges and universities have reported even greater drops in the average scores on the nation’s leading college entrance exam among applicants for this fall’s freshman class. On the nine campuses of the University of California, the largest user of the SAT, average scores declined by 15 points, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill reported a 12-point drop. Final national figures are not expected until August.
“Asbestos Removal – Who Knew?”
Madison’s Sandburg Elementary School is in the midst of an asbestos clean-up…but no one notified the parents. A parent with children at the school contacted 27 News after discovering the project.
We spoke with to Madison district officials about the asbestos removal guidelines they follow. They say it’s not standard procedure to notify parents, nor are they required by law to notify them. Doug Pearson, director of Madison’s district building services, says the project does not pose a health concern.
Tom Beebe Presentation at Van Hise
Carol Carstensen:
Parent Group Presidents:
One more message from me. Van Hise Elementary is inviting the public to their meeting next Tuesday, May 16 to hear a presentation about state funding by Tom Beebe of Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools (WAES). WAES has ideas about how schools ought to be funded and is working to build a state-wide movement to bring about change at the state level. Here are the details:
When: Tuesday, May 16 at 7 p.m.
Where: Van Hise Elementary Cafeteria [Map]
Tom gave a presentation to the Board last October and it is well worth your time (though I know how hectic May is).
Carol
More on Tom Beebe.
Exotic Education: Stars Of Reptile Exhibit Teach Fourth-graders About Conservation
Some fourth-graders at Madison’s Marquette Elementary School got to see something Wednesday they likely never will again — Principal Joy Larson wearing a boa.
Not the fluffy, feathery kind, mind you.
The 45-pound, 8 1/2-foot boa draped around Larson’s neck and shoulders was scaly and very much alive.
The red-tailed boa constrictor was one of three reptiles who took a field trip from their home at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium to promote its new exhibit “Lizard and the Komodo King,” which is on view through February.
Grade-a-Matic
Can an automated grading system score human articulation and reason? The tool Paris uses compares student work to “training” essays, or models of the class assignment, at each scoring level. SAGrader, software developed by Ed Brent, a sociology professor at the University of Missouri at Columbia, works similarly. His students type a sociology essay about community, for example, into an input field on the assignment’s Web site. Moments after students click on the Submit button, SAGrader assesses whether they have identified concepts such as urban renewal or gentrification and have used appropriate examples.
Cut Soda Demand with Education
Wisconsin State Journal Editorial:
The most effective way to improve the diets of young people is to educate them to make healthful choices.
That’s worth remembering in the aftermath of last week’s announcement that sugared sodas will be banned from U.S. schools by the 2009-2010 school year.
The ban, voluntarily agreed to by the nation’s largest beverage distributors, addresses the public health problems that have accompanied the soaring consumption of sodas in the past generation.
The WiSJ is correct – education is key. I imagine that there will be “underground” soda suppliers once these changes are implemented.
A Revolution of One
My European friends ask me all the time why America doesn’t do what they do in Europe. The first time I was asked was 20 years ago by a friend from the Netherlands. Just recently I was asked by a German friend. Why not allocate money for all the schools from the state’s general tax base, and not by district according to real estate taxes, as is the current practice? Then every school gets the same amount of money per student no matter whether the students are black, white, brown, or any other minority. Whether their parents are rich or poor. That ways no child is truly left behind.
I believe that when this is seen as an integration issue, basically a black and white issue, it short changes both blacks and whites. Specifically poor blacks and poor whites. Because it is the poor of both races and other minorities who have poor schools and end up stuck in a cycle of poor education which leads to prison or poverty or both. Which leads to in turn poor education for the next generation. My finely tuned sense of paranoidar leads me to suspect that it’s a good way for the rich folk to keep out the competition. Kids with rich parents don’t have to compete with the poor for a good college education and later for good jobs and eventually for a nice house in a good neighborhood. It keeps poor folk right where they are generation after generation. A kind of neo-serfdom. The poor and middle class, distracted by arguments over integration, spend time fighting each other over busing, as America under-educates its potential workforce into third world status. Meanwhile the privileged point their fingers at minorities and blame them for generation after generation of failure. But this is a failure of the system. Given the same chance at education, the poor, all the poor, minority or otherwise, would have much improved lives.
Reining in Charter Schools
The charter school movement began with the tantalizing promise that independently operated schools would outperform their traditional counterparts — if they could only be exempted from state regulations while receiving public money. It hasn’t quite worked out that way. With charter laws now on the books in about 40 states and thousands of schools up and running, the problem has turned out to be too little state oversight, not too much.
Joanne has more.
A day as a Regent sparks new pride
A reader emailed this article: Verona High School Student Kristen Zubke visits Madison West High School for a day [April 2006: full student newspaper 25MB]:
On Monday, March 27th, I took it upon myself to shed a little light on our neighboring rivals, the Madison West Regents. I was shadowing a friend, but I guess you could say I did a little undercover investigating just to see if I really felt the Wildcat shame as I previously professed. My day was in one word, shocking. Overall I witnessed a school that strongly resembled an outrageous metropolitan school such as that seen on the television show, Boston Public. Despite its many obvious downfalls, there are indeed perks to being a Regent, yet in the end, my appreciation of Verona went up after seeing the chaos at West. I may not openly be proud of Verona’s reputation, but our education morphed my shame into pride.
Educators Blend Divergent Schools of Thought
In the first year of the YES College Preparatory School, community service was as important as reading, writing and mathematics. The public charter school’s name stands for Youth Engaged in Service, and its mostly low-income students moved through city neighborhoods like young social workers, practicing their academic skills by collecting information on bus routes, health clinics and many other real-world topics.
The Preschool Fade
Georgia’s Preschool System Gets High Marks, proclaims the LA Times. Georgia provides full-day preschool to all four-year-olds, regardless of financial need. The program, which started in 1995, is very popular. But the academic gains fade away in a few years.
Confessions of an Engineering Washout
Not long ago, I showed up for my first year at Smartypants U., fresh from a high school career full of awards and honors and gold stars. My accomplishments all pointed towards a more verbal course of study, but I was determined to spend my college days learning something useful. With my strong science grades and excellent standardized test scores, I felt certain that I could handle whatever engineering challenges Smartypants U. had to offer. Remember: Kern = real good at math and science. You will have cause to forget that fact very soon.
via edspresso.
Writing the Case for Public School Reform
“One observation that we made early in PELP is that school systems have essentially not changed their personnel practices around hiring and retention since the end of World War II,” says Thomas. It was assumed then that applicants for a teaching position didn’t want to do anything else, or that they didn’t have many other options, conditions that clearly don’t hold in today’s world, where vacancy rates in urban districts can reach as high as 50 percent at the start of the school year.
Thomas was struck by the Philadelphia district’s approach to recruitment and retention. First, Tomás Hanna, special assistant to the district CEO, assembled a task force in 2002 of district employees and private-sector talent to create a blueprint for what came to be called the Campaign for Human Capital. He then oversaw the implementation of a variety of efforts, including a marketing blitz touting the benefits of teaching in Philadelphia; a recruitment event, “Rolling Out the Red Carpet”; leadership training programs for principals; and a mentoring program for new teachers.
America’s Apartheid School System
Jonathan Kozol, the former teacher who has written about race, poverty and education for nearly four decades, spoke about what he calls the “restoration of apartheid schooling in America” Friday at Carleton College in Northfield.
audio
Geology by Light Plane
UW Geologist Louis J. Maher, Jr:
Light plane photography of many United States locations, including a number in Wisconsin.
Fabulous, via Doc Searls.
School Reform in Danger
This was supposed to be a landmark year for the No Child Left Behind Act, which requires the states to close the achievement gap between white and minority students in exchange for federal education dollars. By this year, states were to have put a highly qualified teacher in every classroom and created rigorous annual math and reading tests in grades three through eight.
The state tests and standards are still wildly uneven, and mediocre in many places. The teacher quality measures are also in jeopardy, with many states defining the problem away by simply labeling their teacher corps “highly qualified.”
NEA Opposed to NAACP on No Child Left Behind
It’s official, the National Education Association is on record opposed to the NAACP in the CT anti-NCLB lawsuit (pdf). The NAACP response here(pdf). I think this is what they call a harbinger…but remember, no political problem here for Democrats to worry about…as you were!
All Boys Class in the Works At Grafton
he Grafton School board will consider a proposal Monday to create a largely self-contained all-boys class, with 28 students led by a single teacher.
If the board approves the one-year proposal, the district would become one of just a handful of public middle schools across the nation to offer a single-sex classroom.
“Some kids get lost in the shuffle of every 45 minutes, heading to a new teacher,” Engel said. “There are a number of boys who could benefit from a structure that’s a bit different from the norm.”
Across the country, single-sex classrooms have become more popular in recent years.
Strings Program – Why is it So Important?
Reader Andrea Cox emails:
I don’t understand why it’s so important to keep the elementary strings program. Some things have to go because of the budget constraints imposed upon the schools. Strings strikes me as much less important than, say, class size, mathematics, or reading. We can’t have everything without major changes in how the school funding is set at the state level.
(I would have posted a “comment” to this topic, but I couldn’t figure out how to do this on the site.)
Marshmallows and Public Policy
A longtime reader emailed David Brooks most recent column:
Around 1970, Walter Mischel launched a classic experiment. He left a succession of 4-year-olds in a room with a bell and a marshmallow. If they rang the bell, he would come back and they could eat the marshmallow. If, however, they didn’t ring the bell and waited for him to come back on his own, they could then have two marshmallows.
In videos of the experiment, you can see the children squirming, kicking, hiding their eyes — desperately trying to exercise self-control so they can wait and get two marshmallows. Their performance varied widely. Some broke down and rang the bell within a minute. Others lasted 15 minutes.
The children who waited longer went on to get higher SAT scores. They got into better colleges and had, on average, better adult outcomes. The children who rang the bell quickest were more likely to become bullies. They received worse teacher and parental evaluations 10 years on and were more likely to have drug problems at age 32.
Lots of Mischel test links here. Sara has more on this at the Quick and the Ed.
Announcement of 2006/2007 Madison School Board Committee Assignments
Via a Johnny Winston, Jr. email:
Dear Members of the Madison Media:
I am pleased to announce the following Madison School Board standing committee assignments:
- Finance and Operations: Lawrie Kobza, Chair – Carol Carstensen & Lucy Mathiak
- Long Range Planning: Carol Carstensen, Chair – Lawrie Kobza & Arlene Silveira
- Human Resources: Ruth Robarts, Chair – Shwaw Vang & Lawrie Kobza
- Performance and Achievement: Shwaw Vang, Chair – Carol Carstensen & Ruth Robarts
- Community Partnerships: Lucy Mathiak, Chair – Shwaw Vang & Arlene Silveira
- Communications/Legislative: Arlene Silveira, Chair – Lucy Mathiak & Ruth Robarts
Members of the Board of Education were placed based on their knowledge, skills and interests. Attached is a copy of a PowerPoint presentation [128K PDF], that I will make at Monday night’s school board meeting entitled “School Board President’s Presentation.” Please contact me if you have any questions or comments regarding the Madison Board of Education standing committee assignments. Thank you.
Johnny Winston, Jr.
President, Madison School Board
jwinstonjr@madison.k12.wi.us
347-9715 cell
A Letter to Parents Regarding Reading
Research has clearly shown that parental involvement – parents seen reading in the home, parents reading to their children, parents ensuring that children have an array of reading materials available to them – is one of the most critical indicators of success in helping a child learn how to read.
And the education community treats this as an unmentionable secret.
Jim Doyle’s Wisconsin Covenant
Gov. Jim Doyle asked the University of Wisconsin-Madison Board of Regents Friday to support his “Wisconsin Covenant” plan.
First proposed at his State of the State address, the plan calls for eighth-graders to make a pact with the state. The students would have to sign a pledge to stay out of trouble, take college prep classes and earn a B average — and in return the state provides a financial aid package for a college in the UW system.
“This is our opportunity as a state to declare that among our very, very highest priorities is to increase the number of college graduates. And one of the ways to do it is to make sure that kids who have met their promise to us, no matter what their economic background, have college ahead of them,” said Doyle.
Doyle’s press release.
“I have private preference but a public purse”
My 5-year-old daughter, Elizabeth Virginia, now attends a private school that teaches foreign language and arts and offers after-school music and dance classes. But tuition is forcing me to look at Atlanta Public Schools next year for kindergarten.
When I first started researching where to send Elizabeth next year, I was looking for private schools that offered tuition assistance. I also sent an e-mail, however, to my Atlanta Board of Education representative asking him to sell me on taking my child out of private school and placing her into public school. His energetic reply made me look at Atlanta schools.
NPR’s OnPoint Discusses the Top High School List
Anthony Brooks [Listen: 20MB mp3]:
Mention public education in the United States and the word “reform” is soon to follow. The need to reform the nation’s schools is almost as old as public education itself. Invariably the debate about how to improve public schools focuses on what’s wrong with them.
But across the country there are examples of schools that work; classrooms abuzz with creativity and the excitement of learning. They’re run by committed teachers, overseen by innovative principals and supported involved parents.
Participants include:
- Jay Mathews, Contributing Editor for Newsweek Magazine and Education Reporter for the Washington Post
- Robert Schwartz, Professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education
- Michael Satarino, Principal of Talented and Gifted Magnet School in Dallas, TX – Newsweek’s #1 public high school in the United States
- Spencer Kern, senior at Martin Luther King school in Nashville, TN, Newsweek’s #39 public high school in the United States
Background links: Newsweek’s top 1138 high school list, and Jay Matthews on Why AP Matters.
Andrew Rotherham has more.
The Economics of Plagiarism
The economics of plagiarism are changing:
1. Plagiarism is now easier to catch and publicize, mostly because of the Web, Google, and computer search programs.
2. We are exposed to more influences, whether consciously or not, than before.
3. “Cut and paste,” and other technologies, make cheating and plagiarism easier.
High School Wins National Award
Over the last five years, Wakefield, which has the highest percentage of immigrant and minority students of any high school in the county, has significantly increased participation in Advanced Placement tests.
More than half of Wakefield students qualify for federally subsidized lunches, and nearly 83 percent are members of a minority group. The school’s students come from more than 60 countries and speak more than 40 languages. Almost 17 percent speak a first language other than English.
“I think that this school is a particularly effective school, and it gets better every year,” said School Superintendent Robert G. Smith. Wakefield High plans to use the money from the award to expand college-preparatory programs.
In spring 2004, the school instituted a program called the Wakefield High School AP Network, designed to increase the diversity of the students taking honors and AP courses.
James Collier has more.
Civics Education in Schools
Last month, the Washington Post’s David Broder wrote a column trumpeting the value of teaching civics to American students. He interviewed Sandra Day O’Connor and former Colorado Governor Roy Romer (now serving as Superintendent of Los Angeles’s schools), both of whom are spokespersons for the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools (CMS).
A trip to CMS’s website reveals many applause-worthy sentiments—indeed, simply acknowledging the importance of civics education is commendable.
Yet both CMS and Broder’s fawning column make the same mistake that plagues many civic education initiatives. Instead of proposing that students learn civics through rigorous study of historical events, meaty biographies of important Americans, or lessons that integrate American history and politics with philosophy and character education, CMS offers a different model. One that puts the cart before the horse.
CMS offers “six promising approaches to civic learning” of which “Guided discussion of current local, national, and international issues and events” is one. What does this look like? The organization envisions teachers discussing “issues students find personally relevant … in a way that encourages multiple points of view.”
The problems with this proposal are legion. It says that issues discussed be limited to those that “students find personally relevant.” One wonders how relevant most 14-year-olds would find many international events, such as the recent country-wide protests in Nepal or Chinese President Hu Jintao’s U.S. visit. A major objective of civics instruction should be to educate students and make international events and issues relevant in their lives. It doesn’t work the other way around.
Joanne comments as well: “All opinion, no facts”. Jeff Jarvis on a new French-German history text.
Report Card on American Education
American Legislative Exchange Council:
LEC has released its newest edition of The Report Card on American Education: A State by State Analysis 1983-1984 to 2003-2004. The Report Card contains over 50 tables and figures that display in various ways more than 100 measures of educational resources and achievement. It strengthens the growing consensus that simply spending more taxpayer dollars on education is not enough to improve student achievement. In addition, the report includes analysis on numerous factors that affect the public education system, including demographics, school choice and charter school initiatives.
full report[pdf]
Taking the SAT, Graduating Middle School
These days, more than 100,000 students are taking the SAT while they’re still in middle school. Some are under increasing pressure to get ready for college, no matter how early. And some want to qualify for prestigious academic summer programs such as the one at Johns Hopkins University.
Announcement from Madison School Board President Johnny Winston, Jr. (and the 04 / 07 elections)
Via a Johnny Winston, Jr. MMSD email:
It is with great humility that I announce that I have been elected to serve as President of the Madison School Board. I am honored to have the opportunity to provide leadership to our school district and community. Serving as President is the culmination of part of a life long dream to be a public servant.
I was elected to the board in 2004. During my tenure, I have served as Chair of the Finance and Operations and Partnership Committees and most recently as role of Vice President. I welcome working with the entire elected school board. Some of the critical matters for us to address include but are not limited to: the building of new schools to accommodate our growing district, student achievement, parent involvement and strengthening communication and partnership efforts in our community. Together, we can identify and implement creative solutions to these issues.
Johnny, along with Shwaw and Ruth’s seat are up for election in April, 2007. Today’s public announcement by former Madison School Board member Ray Allen that he’s running for Mayor [more on Ray Allen] (same 04/07 election) and MTI’s John Matthews recent lunch with Mayor Dave mean that positioning for the spring election is well under way.
Another interesting element in all this is the proposed fall referendum for a new far west side elementary school [west task force] and the Leopold expansion (I still wonder about the wisdom of linking the two questions together…., somewhat of a do-over for Leopold linked to another question). Have the local prospects for passing a referendum improved since the May, 2005 vote where two out of three failed (including a much larger Leopold expansion)?
I think it’s hard to say:
- I agree with Ed that Monday’s civilized board meeting absent any bullying is a good sign.
- There’s been some board turnover since that vote that may be helpful.
- On the other hand, there’s the ongoing effort to kill 4th and 5th grade strings (5th year of the Administration’s “onslaught” – not even a rounding error in the District’s 332.9M budget),
- this year’s distribution of 06/07 school allocations before any public budget discussion,
- the equity task force (the District’s enrollment is basically flat or slightly declining and many current facilities have needs: some elementary schools don’t have cafeterias for example)
- recent concerns over report card content (curriculum and school climate concerns and positive changes, which I hope to be able to post soon, not to mention the movement toward more mandatory grouping whether it’s the playground or West High’s English 10),
- health care costs ($37M – 11% of the budget)
- and food policy will certainly be on voter’s minds.
Televising all board meetings and a more active district website may or may not help, depending of course, on what’s being written or mentioned.
Jason Shephard’s seminal piece on the future of Madison’s public schools will resonate for some time.
It will be an interesting year. I wish the entire Board well as they address these matters. It’s never too early to run for school board 🙂 Check out the election pages for links and interviews.
Some Milwaukee Schools Face Additional Scrutiny
Andrekopoulos described in general terms to the principals – and to School Board members on Tuesday night – that the way schools are treated by his administration will differ, based on the academic success of students.
Schools where test scores are comparatively high and where the amount of progress students make from year to year is above average for MPS will be given more operating freedom. Andrekopoulos praised the number of schools showing improvements.
Good Teaching for Poor Kids
Former Teacher and Principal Ruby Payne:
To survive in poor communities, Ms. Payne contends, people need to be nonverbal and reactive. They place priority on the personal relationships that are often their only significant resources and rely on entertainment to escape harsh realities. Members of the middle class, in contrast, succeed or fail through the use of paper representations and plans for the future. They value work and achievement.
. . . teachers must recognize that children from poor families often benefit from explicit instruction and support in areas that could be taken for granted among middle-class students. Those include the so-called unspoken rules, mental models that help learners store symbolic information, and the procedures that it takes to complete an abstract task.
A teacher attentive to the needs of her low-income students fills the day with pointers and checklists. She puts tools for organizing information into her students’ hands, and helps them translate it from its “street” version to its school one. She spells out reasons for learning.
via Joanne Jacobs.
Notes from Middleton High School on the Sugar Water Ban
By lunch period Wednesday, most students at Middleton High School had heard the big news – the nation’s largest beverage distributors had voluntarily agreed to halt nearly all soda sales to schools.
There was disagreement over whether this was:
A.) A great day in public education.
B.) A sinister plot to rob youth of their sugar birthright
C.) No big deal.
Cheapening the Cap & Gown
RAMSES SANTELISES was supposed to graduate from John F. Kennedy High in the Bronx in June 2005, but, he said, he goofed off his senior year. He failed senior English in the second semester and two gym classes. “I got senioritis,” he said.
He was planning to make up the courses at summer school, but said that he got sick and was hospitalized, and that by the time he reported to summer school, he had missed too many days. They told him to sign up for night school in the fall. “I was upset,” he said. “I was hoping to start college.”
In late August he went to Kennedy to register for the night program, discussed the three courses he needed and, he said, got a big surprise. “They said, ‘No questions asked, we’re going to let you graduate,’ ” he recalled. “I never had to take the two gym classes and English class I should have taken.”
Virtual Schools Must Still be Great Schools
WEAC President Stan Johnson:
The Wisconsin Education Association Council has always believed that virtual education can benefit students in Wisconsin. Advocates of an Assembly bill that WEAC opposed have criticized us, in newspapers and elsewhere, as opponents of virtual education.
However, as they criticize WEAC for opposing Assembly Bill 1060 they never inform readers that other providers of virtual education also opposed this bill and they avoid details about the actual content of the bill.
More on Stan Johnson & WEAC.
Interview with Oregon’s New Superintendent
Fiscal challenges are testing the mettle of school superintendents across the country, but Oregon’s new hire for the top job has a lot of experience in tightening the belt on school spending.
“When you are in a district that faces financial challenges, it teaches you what the true priorities in public education are,” incoming Oregon School Superintendent Brian Busler said. “It teaches you how to be creative and utilize every dollar available to get the best return for a student’s education.”
McFarland Creates a Suicide Support Network
A community is in shock after losing two high school students to suicide in recent weeks.
Students and parents in McFarland are trying to make sense of the suicides and they will soon get some help.
A huge community-wide effort is underway to help teens grieve and begin to heal.
Most Soda Sales in Schools to End
The nation’s largest beverage distributors have agreed to halt nearly all soda sales to public schools, according to a deal announced Wednesday by the William J. Clinton Foundation.
Under the agreement, the companies have agreed to sell only water, unsweetened juice and low-fat milks to elementary and middle schools, said Jay Carson, a spokesman for former President Bill Clinton. Diet sodas would be sold only to high schools.
Citizens ask District to Spare School Programs
The Madison School Board held a public hearing last night on the Distirct’s proposed 332.9M+ 06/07 budget last night. Maggie Rossiter Peterman:
Sean Storch pleaded with members of the Madison School Board on Tuesday night not to cut teachers in the district’s four high school alternative education programs.
Storch, 28, and another teacher work with about 20 “at- risk” ninth-graders in the Connect program at La Follette High School.
Channel3000 has more.
“Underassessed Lakefront Houses”
Nan Brien recently wrote about local property taxes. Tom Bozzo spends some time looking at local tax assessments. Interesting. Via the Daily Page.
Going the Behavior Route
What non-drug treatments work to combat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)?
It’s a question more parents are asking doctors, prompted by new concerns about the safety of medicines used to treat a problem that affects an estimated 4.4 million American children.
Persistent Challenge: Desegregating Urban Schools
Another court-monitored effort to integrate a big city school system is coming to an end. The Chicago Public Schools spent billions of dollars trying to integrate. But many of the city’s minority students still attend racially isolated schools. District officials say they’ll continue efforts to integrate, but maintain it’s impossible to truly desegregate when just 9 percent of the student body, citywide, is now white. Jay Field of Chicago Public Radio reports.
audio
Midwest Summit on Boys at Risk
Reader Kathy Andrusz emails:
1st Annual Midwest Summit on Boys at Risk will be held in Madison at the Pyle Center on Monday, June 12, 2006. The keynote speakers are Leonard Sax and Kevin Davern (see brochure for details).
The Gender Studies Project is delighted to announce their 1st Annual Midwest Summit on Boys at Risk. This pioneering conference will be held on June 12 at the Pyle Center in Madison, WI. The Summit boasts two prestigious keynote speakers: Leonard Sax, M.D., Ph.D., creator of the National Association on Single Sex Education; and Kevin Davern, founding headmaster of The Avalon School, Bethesda, MD, and classroom instructor for 17 years in the independent school education of young men. See the brochure for details. Download the brochure for details. (416kb pdf)
Why AP Matters
Only 30 percent of high-school students take any Advanced Placement courses at all; by the time Frausto graduates later this month, she will have taken 16 of them — in many cases earning the highest grade, a 5, on the three-hour final exam.
That is because Frausto’s school, the Talented and Gifted Magnet School near downtown Dallas, is one of a growing number of high schools trying to make AP as much a part of students’ lives as french fries and iPods. Located in a run-down neighborhood not usually associated with high-level learning, Talented and Gifted — “TAG” to its students — tops NEWSWEEK’s list of America’s Best High Schools. Members of its racially mixed student body say they feel united by the challenge. “What I really love about TAG is the atmosphere,” said Frausto, who will be attending MIT on a scholarship in the fall. “There is so much closeness.”
Large studies in Texas and California done over the past two years indicate that good grades on AP tests significantly increase chances of earning college degrees. That has led many public schools in disadvantaged neighborhoods to look for ways to get their students into AP and a similar but smaller college-level course program called International Baccalaureate (IB), in hopes that their students will have the same college-graduation rates enjoyed by AP and IB students from the country’s wealthiest private schools and most selective public schools.
Newsweek’s Challenge Index: Top 1138 US High Schools
Barbara Kantrowitz and Pat Wingert:
A one-size-fits-all approach no longer works for everyone, the new thinking goes; a more individualized experience is better.
“We are changing the goal of high school and what it’s possible to achieve there,” says Tom Vander Ark, executive director of the Gates Foundation’s education initiative, which has spent $1 billion in 1,600 high schools in 40 states plus the District of Columbia over the last six years.
For parents and students, these schools mean an often bewildering array of choices — small schools within larger schools, specialized charter and magnet schools for things ranging from fashion design to computer programming, even public boarding schools for budding physicists or artists.
Newsweek’s Top 1138 US High Schools (16 Wisconsin high schools including one from Madison – Memorial ranked #924).
Reclaiming The Lost Year
One in an occasional series looking at learning in the middle and high school years
High school senior Risa Masuda has no time to let “senioritis” get in her way.
She takes Advanced Placement courses, participates in a senior project on low-cost housing, works in student government and helps teachers during class — an experience, she said, that made her rethink her childhood dream of being an educator.
The 18-year-old credits her school, New Trier Township High School in Winnetka, Ill., with keeping her engaged during a year commonly perceived as the time when students snooze during lectures on Hamlet’s angst, take requirements they should have completed in ninth grade, do less homework than in the killer junior year and bide time before the rest of their lives begin.
Doyle Flunks Test on Virtual Schools
Governor Doyle recently vetoed Assembly Bill 1060 which would have reaffirmed and clarified the state’s commitment to virtual public schools in Wisconsin. Prior to his decision to veto the bill, WEAC (the teacher’s union) was making noise about the “outsourcing of education” to people who would not be qualified teachers, instructors or presenters to our children. In other words, parents! Governor Doyle reiterated the concerns of WEAC after vetoing the bill by stating, “Actual pupil instruction could be delivered by persons without a state-issued license or permit.”
Both WEAC and Governor Doyle misstate the intent of the bill to suit their own political agenda.
Interestingly enough, their take also ignores the reality of what goes on in public schools today. Currently in our public school system there are teacher aides, substitute teachers and guest presenters that instruct pupils on a daily basis. These individuals are not required to hold state-issued licenses or permits. In fact, state statutes and DPI administrative rules allow for the local school boards to determine the requirements for these persons.
West Bend Parent Owen Robinson calls the recent court decison on virtual schools “A Victory for Children“. Kristof’s recent article addresses this isue as well.
I am a Japanese School Teacher
In August 2003 I moved to Kyoto, Japan as a part of the JET program. I am an assistant language teacher in three Jr. High schools. The experience has been…interesting to say the least.
However, there isn’t just one editorial that could cover everything about my experiences here. So I decided to make it into an editorial series. This is the main page – check here for updates.
Parents say MPS lags in providing special education
Each of these cases are at the core of a federal class-action lawsuit alleging that the Milwaukee Public Schools district systemically failed to identify kids needing special education services in a timely fashion.
The parents of all three children testified in a three-week-long trial that wrapped up last week and now will be decided by U.S. Magistrate Judge Aaron Goodstein, probably this summer. At issue in the decision are the fates of thousands of children eligible for special education in the city and millions of dollars spent on special education each year.
Cal Podcasts
The University of California-Berkeley has posted an extensive set of podcasts:
- ACCESS & DOWNLOAD COURSES on your computer or MP3 player
- LISTEN TO EVENTS about the Arts, Education, Politics, Science and Technology
- BE CONNECTED with what’s happening at UC Berkeley
Fund 80 Is Worth Our Support
What is Fund 80, and why are people saying such awful things aboutit?
Fund 80 is the state accounting code for community services expenditures,the major portion of which is for Madison SchoolCarstensen Community Recreation (MSCR) and the district’s cable channel 10.The current budget for community services is $11 million. Of that $8 millionis from the tax levy; the remainder comes from fees and grants.
MSCR programs range from exercise programs for seniors to swim lessons forinfants and toddlers, from adult sport leagues to summer day camps forelementary students, plus art and dance classes for all ages.
The 2001-03 state budget allowed community services expenditures to bemoved out from under the revenue cap imposed on school districts. This wasdone so that adult softball leagues could be funded without reducing a schooldistrict’s core educational program for students.
On Food Policy
Reader Rosanne Lindsay emails:
On Food Policy: I would encourage MMSD to investigate the recent studies that attribute a poor diet, high in sugars and trans fats to hyperactive behavior. The more we learn about food additives, the more we realize its negative affect on behavior and health in general. Please go to http://www.feingold.org/ or alternatively look at a clear example of what a healthy food program can accomplish in improved focus and behavior in schools, as seen in our own backyard, Appleton, WI.
Name Rosanne Lindsay E-mail: lindsayvalley@msn.com
Suggestion: Improve Election Day
Reader Paul Malischke emails:
Board of Education: Common Council Liaison Committee Date: April 18, 2006
Here is a suggestion to improve election day: schedule a staff development day (no school for students) for the November gubernatorial and presidential election days, when there is a very high voter turnout. This would make it easier to find an appropriate room for the polls. Previously, schools have placed equipment and voters in hallways where there is heavy student traffic; or used classrooms, which disrupt classes.
An additional advantage to this schedule proposal is that it will eliminate the extra election-day security concerns for students generated by the many people entering the school to vote. An additional safety concern is the increased vehicular traffic around the school on election day.
Paul Malischke E-mail: malischke@yahoo.com
What Makes A Good High School?
NPR’s Elaine Korry:
How can U.S. high schools do a better job? A new study identifies key characteristics of high schools that work. And at Granger High in Washington state, the principal demands high standards for students and staff.
audio
Opening Classroom Doors
A good teacher friend emailed this article: Nicholas Kristof:
Suppose Colin Powell tires of giving $100,000-a-pop speeches and wants to teach high school social studies. Suppose Meryl Streep has a hankering to teach drama.
Alas, they would be “unqualified” for a public school. Elite private schools would snap them up, of course, but public schools that are begging for teachers would have to turn them away because they don’t have teacher certification.
That’s an absurd snarl in our education bureaucracy. Let’s relax the barriers so people can enter teaching more easily, either right out of college or later as a midcareer switch.
Weekly Email Message
Carol Carstensen:
Parent Group Presidents:
MEMORIAL AND WEST AREA SCHOOLS: NOTE FORUM DESCRIBED UNDER MAY 8.
BUDGET FACTOID:
The 2006-07 proposed budget is on the district’s web site (www.mmsd.org/budget). The Executive Summary provides an overview of the budget. The list of specific staff cuts is found on pages 3 & 4 of Chapter 3, Department & Division Reports.
None of the cuts are good for the district or for the education of our children but they are required to keep the budget in compliance with the state revenue caps. Since there is likely to be considerable discussion about the cut affecting the elementary strings program, I wanted to provide a little additional information. The administration is proposing to continue the current structure (strings once a week for 45 minutes) for 5th graders only. Additionally, there is a recommendation to have a committee of district staff and UW music education specialists develop a new approach for K-5 music that will include, for all students, experience playing an instrument.
There are forums on the budget scheduled for Tuesday, May 2 at 6:30 p.m. at LaFollette and Tuesday, May 9 at 6:30 at Memorial.
Connecting Math with Literature
To visit the Exhibit Hall at an NCTM conference is an infuriating activity for me, but I can’t avoid it. I am charged with checking out the competition.
Via Joanne.
For Physics Teacher, Experiments in Learning
In his eternal quest to demystify the nuanced wonders of physics for his students at Gar-Field Senior High School, Bill Willis, 65, has conducted a number of experiments that educate as well as entertain.
Once, he built a hovercraft from a leaf blower and cushion so he could demonstrate Newton’s laws of motion. Another time, he lay on a bed of about 1,000 upright nails to show how weight distribution can affect pressure. And, on other occasions, he has swung a bowling ball hanging from the ceiling at his face to show how kinetic energy cannot surpass potential energy.
Milwaukee Public Schools 2006/2007 Budget Information
The Milwaukee Public Schools recently posted their 2006/2007 budget. Alan Borsuk has more:
Citing the intensifying impact of poverty on the lives of students, Milwaukee School Superintendent William Andrekopoulos unveiled a budget proposal Friday for the 2006-’07 school year that increases health and nutrition programs for students.
DeForest Student Arrrested with Loaded Guns
A 17-year-old DeForest High School student was arrested on Thursday for allegedly keeping two loaded guns in his car in the school parking lot.
Authorities said that a loaded 9 mm and a loaded .25 caliber automatic pistol were in the student’s car.
The student was booked into the Dane County Jail on charges of possession of a concealed weapon on school grounds, WISC-TV reported.
and Dodgeville
West students win Science Olympiad
Science students from West High School will be competing against students from all 50 states in May after winning the 2006 Wisconsin Science Olympiad state tournament last weekend at the UW Engineering Department.
La Follette High’s A team finished second and its B team was sixth, while Memorial High was seventh out of 46 teams.
Students competed in 28 events at the state meet, ranging from food chemistry and nuclear science to astronomy and protein modeling.
Audio: Mitch Henck Interviews Carol Carstensen and Nan Brien
Mitch Henck interviewed Carol Carstensen and Nan Brien this morning. They discussed the District’s 06/07 planned budget, health care spending, local property taxes and Monday’s approval of an 856K electrical upgrade to Sennett Middle School that was $397,000 over the estimated cost, funded by the maintenance referendum (I’ve not seen any discussion of this in the local media [Cap Times | Channel3000]. Excerpt: 5.7MB MP3 file.
The property tax discussion is interesting as there are many factors that affect what a homeowner pays for schools including:
- redistributed state taxes (“aid” – via income, sales and other taxes/fees), # of students (the district’s taxing/spending authority follows students numbers. Losing students is expensive.),
- assessed value changes (some communities like Madison reassess annually, while others, such as Fitchburg are on a much less frequent schedule) and
- Fund 80 – district spending that is not constrained by state revenue caps.
I’m glad Carol, Nan and others are discussing these issues. I hope we see more of this.
Fostering Young Artists: Start Spreading the News
The foundation awards high school seniors more than $500,000 in cash prizes each year for achievement in the performing, literary and visual arts. It also nominates presidential scholars in the arts, and some colleges refer to its rosters for recruitment.
Yet many people have never heard of the foundation.
“That’s what I was surprised about,” said Grace Weber, a winner in voice who attends Pius XI High School in Milwaukee. “People outside the art world don’t know about it.”
Billy Buss, a winner in jazz trumpet and a senior at Berkeley High School in California, added, “My friends only cared I was winning a lot of money.”
National Foundation for the Advancement of Arts website. 2007 registration is open.
100 Black Men of Madison Presents its Annual African American History Challenge Bowl
Via a Johnny Winston, Jr. email:
On Saturday May 6th, 2006 the 100 Black Men of Madison presents its Annual African American History Challenge Bowl at 8:30 a.m. This event will be located at 545 W. Dayton St. in Madison at the MMSD Doyle Administration Building, McDaniels Auditorium.
The African American History Challenge Bowl is a competition where teams of middle and high school students from the Madison School District and Edgewood answer questions based on African American history. Winners of the local contest are awarded savings bonds and an all expense paid trip to the national competition where they will compete against other chapters of the 100 Black Men of America in Atlanta, Georgia.
This event is free to the public. We are encouraging our community to attend. This event will televised live on MMSD Cable Channel 10.
LA’s Mayor Takes Charge
“WE CAN’T be a great global city,” says Antonio Villaraigosa, “if we lose half of our workforce before they graduate from high school.” The hyper-energetic mayor of sprawling Los Angeles is stating the obvious. A low graduation rate from the giant Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) feeds through into fewer skilled workers, more criminals and every social ill in America’s second-biggest city, from drug abuse to broken families.
And the rate is low indeed. According to a study last year by Harvard’s Civil Rights Project, only 45.3% of LAUSD students who started ninth grade (ie, senior high school, at the age of 14 or so) graduated four years later from 12th grade; for Latino students, who make up three-quarters of the student body, the rate was a mere 39%. School-district officials dispute the figures, saying they include as dropouts students who have simply moved away, but even their estimate—a dropout rate of around 33%—is unacceptable.
Cieslewicz State of the City speech
Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz spoke at yesterday’s Rotary club meeting. His 3416 word state of the city speech included 159 directly related to our local public schools:
8. We need to work more seamlessly to maintain our excellent public school system.
Our public schools have recently been ranked the third best in the nation. Yet, they face unprecedented challenges as they work to educate more children that come from impoverished families and more children with special needs. I am very aware that we elect a school board to make these decisions and it is not my intent to overstep my authority, but I do recognize that good schools are vital ingredients in healthy neighborhoods. We will renew our efforts to work with the school district, with parents and teachers to make sure that city government and the schools are pulling together, not working at cross purposes. For instance, the decisions the City regarding new housing development has a significant impact on school attendance and boundary issues. Our recently-adopted Comprehensive Plan notes the importance of city and school planning staff working together.
Kristian Knutsen attended the speech.
New Study Examines Industry’s Demand for Highly Educated Workers
The Campaign for College Opportunity:
Can California Keep it’s Competitive Edge?
California has long been regarded as a center of innovation and industry. The state ranks as the sixth largest economy in the world, and much of this economic success has been driven by a highly-educated workforce.
Yet, looking ahead, California’s competitive advantage – and therefore our economic vitality and quality of life – may be at risk. California’s population is growing in regions of the state and among ethnic groups with lower levels of educational attainment.
“Keeping California’s Edge: The Growing Demand for Highly Educated Workers,” is a new study commissioned by the Campaign for College Opportunity and researched by economists at the Applied Research Center at California State University, Sacramento. Looking forward to 2022, this study identifies growing sectors seeking highly educated workers, analyzes the economic value created by those workers and identifies the top six industries with the most at stake in our state’s highly educated high demand future.
Executive Summary [pdf] Fast facts, Full report [pdf]
There’s a webcast today @ 1:00p.m. CST where you can listen to a variety of perspectives from education and business leaders on the report. A number of my classmates immediately left Madison after graduating from the UW for a warmer climate and far better tech career opportunities in California. They’ve not returned.
Lisa Krieger has more.
Gap in teacher quality falls on income lines
Public school teachers in the nation’s wealthiest communities continue to be more qualified than those in the poorest despite a federal law designed to provide all children equal educational opportunity.
Preliminary data released by the Department of Education show that in 39 states, the chance of finding teachers who know their subjects are better in elementary schools where parents’ incomes are highest. The data show that’s also the case among middle and high schools in 43 states.
“Obviously, we have a long way to go,” says Rene Islas, who monitors teacher quality for the Department of Education. “Even if you have high numbers (of certified instructors) in the aggregate, there are pockets where students are being taught by teachers that are not highly qualified.”
Under the No Child Left Behind law President Bush signed in 2002, states are supposed to have “highly qualified teachers” for all core academic courses, such as math, English and science, by the end of this school year. States that don’t face a loss of federal funding.
Educating from the Bench
Spending on public schools nationwide has skyrocketed to $536 billion as of the 2004 school year, or more than $10,000 per pupil. That’s more than double per pupil what we spent three decades ago, adjusted for inflation–and more than we currently spend on national defense ($494 billion as of 2005). But the argument behind lawsuits in 45 states is that we don’t spend nearly enough on schools. Spending is so low, these litigants claim, that it is in violation of state constitutional provisions requiring an “adequate” education. And in almost half the states, the courts have agreed.
Arkansas is one such state, and its “adequacy” problem neatly illustrates the way courts have driven spending up and evidence out. In 2001 the state Supreme Court declared the amount of money spent at that time–more than $7,000 per pupil–in violation of the state constitutional requirement to provide a “general, suitable and efficient” system of public education. Like courts in other states, Arkansas’s court ordered that outside consultants be hired to determine how much extra funding would be required for an adequate education.
A firm led by two education professors, Lawrence Picus and Allan Odden, was paid $350,000 to put a price tag on what would be considered adequate. In September 2003 Messrs. Picus and Odden completed their report, concluding that Arkansas needed to add $847.3 million to existing school budgets. They also recommended policy changes, but the only thing that really mattered, at least as far as the court was concerned, was the bottom line–bringing the total to $4 billion, or $9,000 per pupil.
Californial Public Education Poll
Almost two-thirds in the state say education quality is a major problem, but most oppose tax hikes to fix it—except on the rich.
Uniforms Proposed at Janesville School Board Meeting
School uniforms were proposed at the Janesville School Board meeting Tuesday night, even thought the topic wasn’t on the agenda.
Board member Todd Bailey suggested a pilot program, taking place as early as next January, with uniforms consisting of trousers and polo shirts.
Bailey said it would end arguments between parents and children over school attire, cut family clothing costs, and eliminate distractions inside the classroom.
Bailey declined WISC-TV’s request for an interview.
Many students at Janesville Craig High School said the idea of uniforms hinders their ability to express themselves.
Knitting and School Board Meetings
WTDY is running a poll on whether new board member Lucy Mathiak should knit during meetings. Watch Monday’s meeting, where the Board discussed the just released 2006/2007 budget. Monday’s agenda can be found here. I’m glad WTDY is having a look at the school board. Perhaps they might include some additional topics. The meeting included the award (8C) of a 856K electrical upgrade for Sennett Middle School (referendum – estimated at 459,300).
West High Student Does A Virtual Hip Replacement
West High School sophomore Haya Khatib, 16, is already planning a career as a physician. And even though she hasn’t even picked a college yet, Khatib had an opportunity Monday to perform her first operation.
A nonprofit Web site called Edheads.org lets visitors wield a scalpel through a virtual knee surgery, and beginning Wednesday, a virtual hip replacement surgery. Developed with the help of UW Health doctors, this is the latest addition to an online education site that offers interactive experiential learning programs. Students at West are testing the program before its national launch.
The program was funded through a grant from Zimmer, an orthopedic products company in Warsaw, Ind.
Florida Links Teacher Pay to Student Test Scores
A new pay-for-performance program for Florida’s teachers will tie raises and bonuses directly to pupils’ standardized-test scores beginning next year, marking the first time a state has so closely linked the wages of individual school personnel to their students’ exam results.
The effort, now being adopted by local districts, is viewed as a landmark in the movement to restructure American schools by having them face the same kind of competitive pressures placed on private enterprise, and advocates say it could serve as a national model to replace traditional teacher pay plans that award raises based largely on academic degrees and years of experience.
Gov. Jeb Bush (R) has characterized the new policy, which bases a teacher’s pay on improvements in test scores, as a matter of common sense, asking, “What’s wrong about paying good teachers more for doing a better job?”
But teachers unions and some education experts say any effort to evaluate teachers exclusively on test-score improvements will not work, because schools are not factories and their output is not so easily measured. An exam, they say, cannot measure how much teachers have inspired students, or whether they have instilled in them a lifelong curiosity. Moreover, some critics say, the explicit profit motive could overshadow teacher-student relationships.
Milwaukee Schools Budget: District wants to spread funds evenly
Next year, the High School of the Arts might not have a spring musical at all.
Some parents and teachers say the soul of the school is at stake. Their concern is echoed at some of the other most renowned high schools in Milwaukee Public Schools, including Rufus King, considered the toughest school to get into.
Parents are crying out that MPS schools with strong academic or art specialties can’t survive much longer under current budget realities. They argue that their programs have been taken for granted as the district moves to put more families in neighborhood schools and create dozens of smaller high schools.
“I’m really afraid the School Board is positioning itself to cut its arts program,” said John Glaspey, whose daughters attend the arts high school. “I think they are hellbent on sacrificing that for the neighborhood and K-8 schools and this small high school initiative.”
A Lengthy Reading Recovery Discussion
The use and effectiveness of Reading Recovery is in the news elsewhere. More links. Joanne Jacobs has more.
Red Flag in the Brain Game
The members of Duke University’s computer programming team had solved only one problem in the world finals of the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest in San Antonio on Apr. 12. The winning team, from Saratov State University in Russia, solved six puzzles over the course of the grueling five-hour contest. Afterward, Duke coach Owen Astrachan tried to cheer up his team by pointing out that they were among “the best of the best” student programmers in the world. Edwards, 20, still distraught, couldn’t resist a self-deprecating dig: “We’re the worst of the best of the best.”
Nine Madison School District students named All-State Scholars
Madison Metropolitan School District:
Nine Madison School District students named All-State Scholars
Nine students from the Madison School District have earned the All-State Scholars honor out of 120 so named in Wisconsin. In addition, the nine Madison students comprise 60% of the 15 students chosen from the six-county Second Congressional District.
The All-State Scholars from Madison are:
- Lauren Brown, La Follette HS
- Brian Lee, Memorial HS
- Adeyinka Lesi, West HS
- Neil Liu, Memorial HS
- Edson Makuluni, Memorial HS
- Alexander Pinigis, East HS
- Yaoli Pu, West HS
- Mitchell Shanklin, La Follette HS
- Mary Thurber, West HS
Selection as an All-State Scholar is based primarily on a student’s
overall high school grade-point average and ACT or SAT scores. In the
event of a tie, judges consider student statements, extracurricular
activities, and leadership.All-State Scholars receive a $1,500 one-year scholarship which can be renewed for an additional three years.
2006 / 2007 Madison School Board Budget Discussion
Superintendent Art Rainwater presented the proposed 2006 / 2007 budget Monday night (Barb earlier pointed out that 06/07 allocations were sent to the schools on 4/3/2006). Board questions followed. Video and audio [22MB mp3]:
 36 minute video |
 1 hour Board Q & A/Discussion video |
Additional commentary:
Fordham Foundation’s 2007 Education Excellence Nominations
Thomas B. Fordham Foundation:
The Foundation awards two prizes annually:
- The Thomas B. Fordham Prize for Distinguished Scholarship is awarded to a scholar who has made major contributions to education reform via research, analysis, and successful engagement in the war of ideas.
- The Thomas B. Fordham Prize for Valor is awarded to a leader who has made major contributions to education reform via noteworthy accomplishments at the national, state, local, and/or school levels.
Eligibility
Anyone can be nominated whose work has had a profound impact on education in the United States. Candidates may be nominated either for cumulative lifetime achievement or for extraordinary one-time accomplishments. Employees and trustees of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation are not eligible, nor are members of the prize committee.
Competition as an Effective Education Reform
Reminding the audience that public education is charged with educating our citizenry to participate in self government, he quoted Jefferson, “If you want a nation that is both ignorant and free, that is something that never was and never will be.” Because a good education should afford each person an opportunity to participate in the American Dream, education taxes are levied so that generations may acquire the skills necessary to earn a living, knowledge required to sustain a Democratic-Republic, and civility essential to a free society.
A plethora of studies implicate the public schools for failing to provide a good education. The American Institute for Research found U.S. math students at all grade levels were consistently behind their peers around the world. A survey, conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics, found only 31% of college students tested as proficient in reading and extracting information from complex material, such as legal documents. In an employer survey from The National Association of Manufacturers, 84% of respondents reported K-12 schools were not doing a good job of preparing students for the workplace; lacking basic employability skills, such as: attendance, timeliness, and work ethic, exhibiting deficiencies in math and science, and in reading and comprehension. Hoover Institution’s Koret Task Force found the performance of the U.S. public education system virtually unchanged in the twenty years since the publication of A Nation at Risk. The Knight Foundation found most U.S. high school students don’t understand the First Amendment. Finally, none of the eight education goals (Goals 2000) established by President Bush (41) and 49 state governors were achieved.
Insurance trumps teachers’ raises
The dilemma has hit smaller school districts the hardest.
According to unofficial estimates, health insurance premiums are expected to increase between 16 percent and 23 percent in the next school year in the Athens, Auburndale, Edgar, Marathon, Spencer, Stratford and Tomahawk school districts, affecting more than 460 teachers. Some districts pay 100 percent of the premiums. Others require teachers to pay a portion.
In response, Athens, Auburndale, Edgar, Marathon and Stratford are considering options such as finding a new insurance carrier that offers a cheaper plan, shifting to plans with fewer benefits or joining an insurance consortium.
Teachers share fear of questioning school boards
A grass-roots group, Parents for Positive Change, invited the two lawyers after controversies erupted in the Logan School District earlier this year, leading to the resignation of a popular principal and the early retirement of an embattled superintendent.
Many of the complaints centered on the rights of teachers to complain without fear of retribution.
McCoy assured teachers that challenging school officials on issues of public concern is protected speech. “You do have substantial rights,” he said.
State law prohibits retaliation against teachers who speak out about practices or policies they perceive as detrimental to students, McCoy said. Punishments such as the loss of salary, prestige and job opportunities are illegal, he said.
Families Need to Take Responsibility
Wisconsin State Journal Editorial:
Madison’s attempt to reach a growing number of low-income, minority and immigrant students requires a return effort: The target families need to take responsibility for their own success.
That means the low-income, minority and immigrant communities should build more organizations to promote their own causes. The Madison School Board needs to hear from them when decisions are made about what programs to keep or cut. The Madison Area Family Advisory Advocacy Coalition, which speaks up for black students, is an example.
MAFAAC’s website.
Adapt to New Student Population
Wisconsin State Journal Editorial:
If Madison is to maintain the high quality of its public schools, the community must solve a growing problem. But first, Madison must distinguish what the problem is from what it is not.
It is not a dramatic increase in the number of minority, immigrant and low-income students requiring extra services. That is not a problem. That is a fact.
The problem is the community’s response to the stunning change in the student population. We must find ways to cost-effectively educate the new and vastly more diverse generation of Madisonians.
DC Public Schools & Charters
Normally I leave charter school issues to my colleagues Eduwonk and Sara Mead. But this morning’s front page article in the WaPo struck me as too obvious to pass up. It details how DC Public Schools is considering a novel arrangement with KIPP, one of the city’s most successful charter schools. KIPP wants to start a new middle school, but is having a hard time finding space. Meanwhile, one the regular DCPS elementary schools is losing enrollment and thus has too much space, to the point that it’s in danger of being closed. Thus, the arrrangement: co-locate in the same building, don’t overlap grades, and coordinate curricula so students from the elementary school can stay in the building and go to the KIPP middle school if that’s what they want to do.
Sounds great, right? Not to DC school board vice president Carolyn Graham, who said:
“We want to fully embrace a working relationship with KIPP, but we don’t want to do it to the detriment of our student body and financial viability,” she said, adding that the system lost about $11 million in city funding this year after more than 3,000 students departed. “We want them to come up with a way of working with our charter school partners so that all our students would benefit.”
Hmmm. You know, that’s kind of wordy, let’s tighten that up a little:
“We want to fully embrace a working relationship with KIPP, but we don’t want to do it to the detriment of our
student body andfinancial viability,” she said, adding that the system lost about $11 million in city funding this year after more than 3,000 students departed. “We want them to come up with a way of working with our charter school partners so thatall our studentsI would benefit.”There we go. Much more clear.
It’s true that more students in charter schools means less students in DCPS. But if you’re going to complain about that, you’ve got to at least make an attempt to say why that would be bad, particularly wih the test scores, parental demand, and the best judgment of the DCPS superintendant providing evidence to the country. The fact that Graham offers nothing of the kind is enormously telling