Religious Education at School?!?

“Before School Ends, Time to Make the Matzo” by Fernanda Santos
New York Times, April 12, 2011

Topic: “Released Time” in New York Public Schools for religious education

Summary: Since the 1950s, students in the New York Public School system have had the opportunity to leave school an hour early every Wednesday to participate in religious education. Even though the program has been challenged in court (separation of church/state issues) and fewer people participate today, the program is still in use by over 10,000 kids in the school system.

Intended audience: General Public

Key Points:

• Kids can receive religious education once a week for an hour during “released time”. This instruction is funded by the public schools.
• Traditionally, Jewish and Catholic students have used the program the most.
• Instruction cannot take place on school property.
• This provides a good alternative for parents who may not have the money to send their children to religious private schools, but still want them to receive some education related to their faith.
• Problems can arise when so many students leave a classroom… the teacher can’t deliver any vital instruction, give tests, etc. without those students missing out.

Relevance: I found this article really interesting! I am not particularly religious, so I never would’ve participated in something like this. I do think it looks like a lot of fun to make Matzo bread though… I think it is important for students to learn about all the religions in the world, I hope this isn’t taking the place of that in the regular curriculum. It’s really a shame that not all kids get to participate in a fun out and about every week! This also brings up the same issues that we have talked about regarding pulling kids out of class for Title 1, ESOL, TAG, etc…

In New York Charter School Debate, the tables are turned

A City School’s Uphill Fight Over Sharing Space With a Charter
New York Times
By MICHAEL WINERIP
Published: April 10, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/11/nyregion/11winerip.html?_r=1&ref=education
Topic: In what many might consider a "Man bites dog" story, it is the defenders of the public schools who are up against the larger, better funded, better connected charter school system.

Key Point: In a mixed race and mixed economic area of New York City, the goals of the local public school parents to improve the Middle School have hit unlikely snags. P.S. 9 parents have fought City Hall, scoring a few upset victories. But they have also learned a hard lesson: once the mayor’s people set their sights on a charter school location, the chances of successfully challenging a charter are slim. Supporters of district schools fear that once a charter moves in, it will take over the building. They resent being compared academically, when on average, charters in New York City have fewer poor, immigrant and special-education students.

Childhood Obesity in Mexico

“Mexico Puts Its Children on a Diet” by Elisabeth Malkin
New York Times, March 13, 2011

Topic: Childhood obesity in Mexico

Summary: New guidelines in Mexico have been implemented to regulate what types of snack foods can be sold in schools (Mexican public schools do not provide lunch). The guidelines prohibit soda, limit portions, fried foods, and sugar in snacks sold at recess.

Intended audience: General Public

Key Points:

• Mexico has one of the highest obesity rates in the world (similar to the United States)
• Regulations were relaxed from original proposal, but may still be successful – at least they are a step in the right direction
• “The central issue is to educate children to exercise moderation in what they eat and emphasize healthier products”
• Some schools have already done this on their own – a principal at an elementary school in Mexico City has remade the recess menu.

Relevance: We have seen a lot of articles posted about childhood obesity – I believe they have all been in the United States. It is interesting to see an article about a different country struggling with the same issues of soda and junk food sold at school. An 11 year old in the article says, “Almost all of the girls eat fruit. Sometimes we eat candy. But that’s because we’re kids.” I think that it is important for schools to offer healthy options for students at snack/lunch and also educate on why that is important. Because, as the article says, as soon as school is over, students “poured out of the gates onto a narrow street cluttered with vendors selling candy, chips, nachos, and ice cream.” Junk food is everywhere, and just eliminating it from schools without any education on nutrition and exercise will not have a large impact. When I was in middle school, I always got off at the school bus stop by the minimart to buy myself candy, cookies, etc.

Panel of Expert Editors

“With More Than Yawns, Pupils Rate Teacher’s Book” by Grace Rubenstein
New York Times, March 10, 2011

Topic: A third grade teacher in the Bay area uses his class as the “front-line editors” of the childrens chapter book he is writing.

Summary: Each time that Mr. Imwalle finishes a chapter in the book he is writing, he reads it allowed to the students in his third grade class. The students provide feedback about what they liked, what they didn’t like, and he can also judge based on their behavior during the read-aloud.

Intended audience: General public

Key Points:

• The students have a rare opportunity to be exposed to the process of writing a book – as opposed to just seeing the final product on the shelves of the library.
• Kids are excited about creative writing activities in class after being a process of the teacher’s own creative writing work.
• Great way to motivate students who don’t like writing – many in the class are ELL. This puts the focus on the enjoyment of writing, not the grammar/spelling/technical part that is difficult for students at this level.

Relevance: This is something we may be able to use as teachers in the future. I don’t see myself writing a book, but as a child I remember having local authors come in for workshops or assemblies to teach about the process of writing books/creative writing. How cool for these students to get to be a process of that through their teacher! I also really liked the way Imwalle empowers the students to be editors for his book – it goes along with Bruner’s idea that students can practice a discipline at some level with integrity – these 8-9 year ARE editors! How lucky that he has a panel of experts at his disposal :)

How to Raise the Status of Teachers

Another "Room for Debate" er, Debate

New York Times
March 27, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/03/27/how-to-raise-the-status-of-teachers

Topic: Debate

Key Point: This is a collection of 9 short written segments by 'debaters' answering the question, "how to raise the status of the status of teachers". Each writer has links and references to other articles, organizations, and studies, so it makes for a great start to branch off to other resources.

States around the country are looking to trim their budgets, and public school teachers are feeling unfairly attacked. At the same time, the United States continues to fall behind other countries in student performance rankings.

In high-scoring countries like Finland, Japan, The Netherlands, Canada and South Korea, teachers have higher status and are typically paid better relative to other workers. It also noted, "countries that have succeeded in making teaching an attractive profession have often done so not just through pay, but by raising the status of teaching."

Why Blame the Teachers?

Room for Debate
New York Times
March 6, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/03/06/why-blame-the-teachers?ref=education
Topic: Debate

This is a collection of 8 short written segments by 'debaters' including Diane Ravitch author of Language Police and Daily Show guest.

With states and cities going through hard times, teachers, their pensions and their unions have become big targets for budget cutters. Lawmakers in some states are trying to change teacher tenure rules and school districts are laying off teachers by the thousands. In public debate and private conversations, teachers have come under increasing criticism for being ineffective and overpaid. Yet not long ago, education reform efforts sought to elevate the prestige and pay of teachers as a key to improving achievement in the classrooms.

Middle School Sexting

A Girl's Nude Photo, Altered Lives
Jan Hoffman

New York Times
March 26, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/27/us/27sexting.html?pagewanted=1&ref=general&src=me

Topic: High Tech flirting turns explicit, Altering Young Lives

Key Points: Last year in Olympia Washington this case of middle schoolers being arrested for 'sexting' made the news, the article follows the longer term ramifications when the naked photo goes 'viral'. The girl who originally sent the photo was not arrested, but three others were for disseminating it, making it more a case about bullying than child pornography.

Relevance: As we have discussed in our Learning Communities class, we are expected to know what's going on with our students. We need to know how easy it is for bullying to occur using this media. The article goes into considerable detail how the administration handled the issue and is using it to educate new middle schoolers.

In Advanced Placement Redesign Bruner tops Skinner

Rethinking Advanced Placement
Christopher Drew

New York Times
January 7, 2011

Topic: Advanced Placement test get a redesign, out goes memorization, in comes discovery and critical thinking.

Key Points: Beginning in 2012, the College Board will present redesigned AP tests which will focus on critical thinking skills. Previously, students were responsible for learning the entire AP textbook which amounted to memorization of large amounts of facts with no time for context or lab work (history & biology being the worst offenders).

"We really believe that the New A.P. needs to be anchored in a curriculum that focuses on what students need to be able to do with their knowledge,” Trevor Packer, VP of the AP, says. The new approach is important because critical thinking skills are considered essential for advanced college courses and jobs in today’s information-based economy. College administrators and veteran A.P. teachers familiar with the new biology curriculum believe the changes could have significant reverberations for how science is taught in introductory college classes and even elementary school classrooms, and might bring some of the excitement back to science learning.

A committee of the National Research Council, called attention to the A.P. problems in 2002. It criticized A.P. science courses for cramming in too much material and failing to let students design their own lab experiments. It also said the courses had failed to keep pace with research on how people learn: instead of listening to lectures, “more real learning takes place if students spend more time going into greater depth on fewer topics, allowing them to experience problem solving, controversies and the subtleties of scholarly investigation.”


Relevance: The article shows how the A.P. courses are adapting to what colleges say they want to reflect in their A.P. students. That is, they want them to think critically like college students before granting the "Placement" part of the A.P. It also reinforces what we are discussing in Ed Psych, where colleges expect a completely different type of learning style than high schools.

Charter School Champion Shifts Focus

Charter School Champion Shifts Focus
Sam Dillon

New York Times
March 26, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/26/us/26charter.html?ref=education
Topic: The evolution of Charter Schools

This is an article about the founder of an organization who has more enthusiasm than patience and is moving on from his project to take on new ones. It is a typical pattern.

Key Points: Steve Barr, the founder of an LA based charter school organization, "Green Dot" has moved on to form his own organization in New York and elsewhere.

Green Dot is one of a dozen or so nonprofit, high-performing charter chains that focus on students from low-income families and have grown rapidly over the past decade with philanthropic financing. Most of the others, which include the Kipp Schools, with 99 schools in 20 states, and Achievement First, with 19 schools in Connecticut and New York, operate with largely nonunion teachers.

Green Dot is similar but staffs its schools with union represented teachers.

Relevance: The article is a good jumping off point for a look at different charter school operations. It references a forthcoming book about the Green Dot experience written by Alexander Russo, which might be interesting to those with interest on the subject.

"Disintegration"

“Seeking Integration, Whatever the Path” by Michael Winerip
New York Times, February 27, 2011

Topic: Integration in the Wake County Public School System in North Carolina.

Summary: This school district has long been known for integration. Originally, this meant racial integration. After that was outlawed, the district went to integration based on socio-economics. Now there is a proposal from community leaders in the Chamber of Commerce to integrate schools based on achievement.

Intended audience: General public

Key Points:

• After race-based integration was outlawed in 2000, Wake County adopted socioeconomic integration.
• The integration plan was dismantled in 2009.
• New proposal (Mid-February 2011) suggests achievement based integration with a “70-30 mix – 70 percent of students who have scored proficient on state tests and 30 percent who are below grade level.”
• All the schools will be academically successful – Hurrah!
• Ultimately, the decision is up to the board; however, it has been received favorably by conservative and liberal members of the nine person board.

Relevance: This article was really interesting to me – what an innovative way to look at school integration! The article touches on issues of diversity that we have discussed student achievement, race, socioeconomics, and politics. I am interested to see how this idea plays out.

Note - Here is the clip from the Colbert Report mentioned in this article about the Wake County Schools issue:

NY Teacher Evaluation Legislation

“Cuomo Seeks Speedy Change in Teacher Evaluations” by Thomas Kaplan
New York Times, March 1, 2011

Topic: Cuomo’s bill seeks to put legislation into place that will create an evaluation system to help determine who should be laid off with budget cuts.

Summary: A bill in NY would create new standards for teacher evaluation. Governor Cuomo wants to “move beyond the so-called last in, first out system of relying exclusively on seniority”.

Intended audience: Teachers, general public

Key Points:

• Senate passed legislation that reverses a rule protecting “long-serving” NYC teachers from layoffs.
• New standards have been developed with support from teachers’ unions.
• Budget cuts may force lay-offs of 4600 teachers in NYC. Applying new standards can help decide who to lay-off.
• The bill may or may not make it past the Senate… wait and see.

Relevance: Teacher evaluation is a hot topic in our “cloud”. It’s something that is concerning – how can evaluation be objective, who does the evaluation, and how do you really know what the results mean? Also, why should teachers that have been around for decades be retained while excellent young teachers are being let go?