[Ohiogift] Public Education NewsBlast — July 23, 2013

[Art Snyder]

                July 23, 2013 - In This Issue:
       Preschool: vindicated
  Have we evolved past integration?
  Charter segregation: symptom or disease?
  Charters merely perform on a par
  Lost in the shuffle
  For low-income students, pitfalls in those final months
  The Common Core kerfluffle
  First steps, great impact
  BRIEFLY NOTED CALIFORNIA
  BRIEFLY NOTED
  GRANTS AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
                                            
Preschool: vindicated
New federal data show that children who receive early childcare beyond parents or relatives perform better in reading and math in kindergarten than those cared for only at home, reports Sarah Sparks in Education Week. The report from the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics includes 41 key indicators across seven domains: family and social environment, economic circumstances and health care, physical environment and safety, behavior, education, and health. This year's report included a special section on kindergartners' reading, math, and science achievement, as well as approaches to learning, using data from the ongoing federal Early Childhood Longitudinal Study of children who started kindergarten in 2010-11. As expected, kindergartners from households with incomes near and below the federal poverty line had lower reading, math, and science scores than children from households with incomes at least 200 percent of the poverty level. The data also show that students with both parents working full-time or one full- and one part-time had higher math and reading scores than those with only one parent working. The gap between children who attended preschool with a non-relative and those who did not, and the gap between children with two versus one working parent, had not entirely closed by the end of the child's kindergarten year.?More


 
Have we evolved past integration?

In Greenwich, Connecticut, two public elementary schools are two-thirds minority and look demographically nothing like schools in the town's whiter, wealthier areas, writes Al Baker in The New York Times. Connecticut forbids districts from letting any school vary too much in racial makeup from any of its other schools, which puts Greenwich on "a collision course" with the state. The district is drafting solutions, but many question if the law, passed in 1969, is still relevant. "We have evolved educationally in recognizing that we must provide high-quality instruction based on individual student needs, regardless of where the school is in the district," said Superintendent William McKersie. "I am not convinced that forcing students to move from their neighborhood elementary school is the best strategy for improving academic outcomes, especially in a district where students attend integrated schools from 6th through 12th grade." Greenwich education officials are weighing several proposals for state review, including additional magnet schools and modest redistricting, with busing for those options. The district's student body is 69 percent white, 16.9 percent Hispanic, 8 percent Asian, 2.9 percent black, and 2.8 percent multiracial. Its gap between whites and blacks in meeting state reading goals was 27.4 percentage points in the 2011-12 academic year, and 21.7 percentage points between whites and Hispanics.?More



Charter segregation: symptom or disease?

The Twin City suburbs have an increasing African-American and Hispanic population, but this is not always reflected in area schools, reports Sarah Butrymowicz in The Hechinger Report. The number of predominantly white charters in the area has risen from 11 in 2000 to 37 in 2010. Charter proponents say charters take any student who wants to attend -- and randomly select students through a lottery if too many apply. Yet some see the end result as the next phase of white flight. Much research has focused on predominantly black charters in cities, but pockets of mostly white charters are emerging in diversifying suburbs across the country. So -- have charters fostered a rise in racially isolated schools? Or are they symptomatic of an enduring self-segregating tendency now manifest through parental choice? Sixteen states try to ensure charters reflect the diversity of surrounding communities, but such rules are rarely followed with fidelity. There has been a small trend toward urban charters with an explicit aim of racial or socioeconomic diversity, but until diversity is made a priority at all levels, any changes will be incremental, says Andre Perry of the Institute for Quality and Equity in Education. "We never include diversity into our notion of quality," he says. "When you don't measure diversity, you don't get diversity."?More



Charters merely perform on a par

A new review from the National Education Policy Center of a study from the Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) finds that the study merely confirms that charters perform on a par with traditional public schools; the study asserted "charter school students now have greater learning gains in reading than their peers in traditional public schools," a conclusion widely repeated in the media. The primary findings of the CREDO study were: (a) a small positive effect of being in a charter school on reading scores and no impact on math scores; and (b) a relative improvement in average charter school quality since CREDO's 2009 study. The ?NEPC reviewers indicate several methodological concerns, which they discuss. They find the study itself shows only a tiny impact on the part of charter schools. Specifically, students in charter schools were estimated to score approximately 0.01 standard deviations higher on reading tests and 0.005 standard deviations lower on math tests than their peers in traditional public schools. "With a very large sample size, nearly any effect will be statistically significant," the reviewers conclude, "but in practical terms these effects are so small as to be regarded, without hyperbole, as trivial."??More



Lost in the shuffle

Youth advocates have identified a troubling pattern nationally of students removed from regular school and dispatched to alternative campuses, where plans are casual and include long stretches of stay-at-home "independent study," writes Susan Ferriss in The Sacramento Bee. Across America, alternative schools have become the last resort for troubled students. Some say, however, that educators are just dumping kids there. California's Department of Education doesn't track students expelled and returned to home schools, so how they fare is hard to measure. Nor does the state require county-run schools to report how many students are put on independent study. However, the state did report that during 2011-2012, over a third of students at more than 75 county-run schools for kids with discipline problems dropped out. Most did poorly in core subjects, which is why advocates are confounded by plans that put the onus on these same kids to self-educate, sometimes with only a few hours of class time a week. "You take a kid who has already demonstrated that he's not successful in conventional school, and then you impose on him the duty that he's going to self-study, to me that just seems insane," said Tim McKinley, an attorney for California Rural Legal Assistance.??More


     
For low-income students, pitfalls in those final months

A new paper from the Harvard Graduate School of Education describes a phenomenon it calls "Summer Melt" -- in which 20 percent of low-income students who at high school graduation say they're continuing on to college in fact encounter obstacles and don't attend college in the fall, reports Shankar Vedantam of NPR. Previous research indicates that a sizeable share of low-income students who paid college deposits reconsidered where, and even whether, to enroll in the months following graduation. The study's authors used data from a national survey and a smaller study focusing on Boston, and found the "melt" was much more likely with students headed for community college versus other institutions. The researchers identified a number of complicating factors. Kids often lack role models and resources. They may be the first of their families to attend college, with peers who are not going: "It's tough to be making plans to leave when your girlfriend or your boyfriend is staying back home." Low-income students also seem to have difficulty navigating the considerable paperwork required for financial aid and matriculation. The authors recommend that districts retain guidance counselors for a full 12 months of the year to help low-income students clear these final hurdles.?More. See report?



The Common Core kerfluffle
Despite an unprecedented backlash against the Common Core State Standards this spring, actual policy changes were minimal, writes Dylan Scott in Governing Magazine. 2013 was the first year the standards became heavily politicized, most likely because the Obama administration fully endorsed them. The White House has vocally supported the Common Core in the past few years, including provisions around them in the Race to the Top and the NCLB waiver program. This support spurred some conservative figures and institutions to decry the standards as a federal takeover, and in turn led to legislation specifically opting out of the Common Core. But despite strong rhetoric, most anti-Common Core bills failed. In some ways, the debate was part of the broader ideological fight between tea party conservatives and their more moderate counterparts. As the Common Core debate intensified in state legislatures, moderates rallied business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Business Roundtable, to lobby lawmakers to keep the Common Core because they think it will improve education and thus be good for business. At least for 2013, that argument has won. But opponents expect the debate to resurface as the realities of implementation draw closer.?More



First steps, great impact

A new paper from Education Resource Strategies explores what actions districts can take to impact teacher effectiveness immediately. These "First Steps" can positively impact student outcomes; be implemented within a year; be implemented within existing collective bargaining agreements; require little or no new investment, or are budget neutral when implemented in combination; and build toward a new teacher-compensation and career-path system to attract, retain, and leverage skills of a highly effective teaching force. One "First Step" is to ask strong performers to assume responsibility, then reward them for their impact. Districts can do this by matching high-need students with the best teachers, and/or by expanding the reach of the best teachers through larger classes or leadership roles. Another "First Step" is to give low-performing teachers extra support to help them succeed, eliminate raises for underperforming teachers, manage out underperformers through absence and tardiness accountability, and deny tenure to underperformers. A third First Step is to link what's paid to why it's paid by linking COLA increases to actual cost of living, and closely monitoring what coursework counts toward lane progression. A final First Step is to invest more in recruiting and hiring, improving the quality of applicants through identification and robust screening.?More


BRIEFLY NOTED CALIFORNIA
The controversy continues
FBI and Internal Revenue Service agents seized several boxes of records, phones, and computers during a raid at the home of Ben Chavis, former director of three controversial Oakland charter?schools. More
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Towards a redefined role
The L.A. Fathers Program at Children's Hospital Los Angeles is designed to reach the often-forgotten partner in teen pregnancies and dispel the stereotypes attached to the young men: deadbeat, irresponsible, or absent fathers. More
BRIEFLY NOTED?
And yet somehow we don't feel hopeful
The House of Representatives has passed a Republican-backed revision of NCLB that would greatly reduce federal oversight of public education and give states and school districts authority once again over how to measure student achievement and fix failing schools. More
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Standing up
The National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, which together represent some 4.5 million teachers, are both urging the Department of Justice to investigate George Zimmerman, who was acquitted by a jury of second-degree murder in the Florida killing of teenager Trayvon Martin. More
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Heads still rolling
Citing a $1 billion budget deficit, Chicago Public Schools will lay off 1,036 teachers, half of them tenured, as well 1,077 school staff members, firings that are in addition to 855 employees who were laid off last month. More
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One step from meaningless
Many Florida schools that struggle under the state's A through F grading system will again get a reprieve this year after the state Board of Education narrowly agreed to keep rankings from dropping more than one letter, regardless of performance.?More
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That'd cut costs
A Utah state senator is seeking an end to compulsory education, arguing that it has resulted in parents disengaging themselves from the responsibility of overseeing the education of their children and has caused schools to falter under the burden of being all things to all people. More

GRANTS AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
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Mockingbird Foundation: Grants for Music Education
The Mockingbird Foundation awards grants to schools and nonprofit organizations to effect improvements in music education for children. Mockingbird is particularly interested in projects that encourage and foster creative expression in any musical form (including composition, instrumentation, vocalization, or improvisation), but also recognizes broader and more basic needs within conventional instruction. Mockingbird encourages applications associated with diverse or unusual musical styles, genres, forms, and philosophies. Projects may include the provision of instruments, texts, and office materials, and the support of learning space, practice space, performance space, and instructors/instruction. Mockingbird is interested in targeting children 18 years or younger, but will consider projects that benefit college students, teachers, instructors, or adult students. Maximum award: $5,000. Eligibility: public schools K-12, 501(c)3 organizations. Deadline for letter of inquiry: August 1, 2013.
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Thomson Reuters/ASIS&T: Outstanding Information Science Teacher Award
The Thomson Reuters Outstanding Information Science Teacher Award recognizes the unique teaching contribution of teachers of information science.?Maximum award: $1,000; $500 towards travel or other expenses to the grant recipient, contingent upon the recipient's attending the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) annual meeting, and $250 to ASIS&T Headquarters towards administrative fees. Eligibility: individuals directly engaged in teaching some aspect of information science on a continuing basis, in an academic or a non-academic setting. Deadline: August 1, 2013.
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National Endowment for the Arts: Art Works
NEA Art Works grants support projects that have learning as their primary outcome, in any artistic discipline, that are standards-based and align with either national or state arts education standards. Innovative projects are strongly encouraged. Maximum award: $100,000. Eligibility: 501(c)3 organizations. Deadline: August 8, 2013.
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
"Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago." - President Barack Obama, speaking on the George Zimmerman verdict.


 

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