[Ohiogift] Public Education NewsBlast — Aug. 13, 2013

[Art Snyder]

                August 13, 2013 - In This Issue:
       Syracuse: Busy Saying Yes
  NYS charters take a dive
  Lousy grades for the A-to-F model
  Florida's racial expectations
  Pre-K in Tennessee
  Does more time equal more learning?
  Are states ready for CCSS?
  The vapid Mr. Damon
  BRIEFLY NOTED CALIFORNIA
  BRIEFLY NOTED
  GRANTS AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
                                            
Syracuse: Busy Saying Yes

Five years ago, Syracuse became the first city to adopt, citywide, an education partnership with Say Yes to Education, reports Sarah Sparks in Education Week. The program provides academic, legal, social, and health supports to families and students from preschool through college, culminating in free tuition for any student who graduates from high school and wants to attend college. Eight out of 10 of the district's 21,000 students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, and 19 of the district's 32 schools have been designated "priority schools" by the state for persistently low academic performance. Say Yes doesn't fund every aspect of Syracuse's initiative, but it coordinates services through a representative at each school and a biweekly task force of leaders from the district, the teachers' union, local universities, state and county social-services agencies, and mental- and physical-health offices. Six schools have full-service dental and physical-health clinics, with screening available in all schools and health-insurance support available. The state's office of mental health partnered with Say Yes to provide mental-health clinics in 23 of 32 district schools, as well as social workers. Since the initiative began in the 2008-09 school year, the 9th-grade dropout rate has fallen by nearly half. High school graduation rates have risen 10 percent to 55 percent in 2011, and college certification and degree-earning grew by a third, from 451 students to 579 in 2012.??More


 
NYS charters take a dive

Fewer than a third of New York State public school students passed the recent Common Core-linked tests, with highly touted charter schools faring particularly badly, reports Stephanie Simon on Polito.com. Charters are often put forward as a means to boost student outcomes, yet just 23 percent of New York State charter students scored proficient in English language arts, compared with 31 percent of NYS public schools overall. In math, 31 percent of charter students scored proficient, same as in public schools. Significantly, results were mixed at some of New York City's "miracle" charters. The Success Academies network continued to post outstanding results, especially in math. But the Democracy Prep chain posted uneven results, with particularly poor scores in sixth grade. The KIPP network also stumbled, with proficiency rates well below the city average for several grades and subjects. The poor results for KIPP, Democracy Prep, and other renowned charters suggest that "we have to be more careful about claims of miracle schools," said Michael Petrilli of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. That said, Petrilli cautioned that the new tests are "a terrible metric to use for measuring school quality," since they generally reflect school demographics, with low-income students entering school with weaker skills and having a longer road to proficiency.??More,?and related articles in orange.



Lousy grades for the A-to-F model

The scandal that accompanied Tony Bennet's resignation has raised questions about the validity of A-to-F school grading systems in more than a dozen states, reports Lyndsey Layton in The Washington Post. Besides Florida and Indiana, other states that use an A-to-F scale include Arizona, Alabama, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah, as well as New York City. Virginia plans to implement an A-to-F system in 2015, as does Ohio. Many states made the grading system central to their plans for a waiver from NCLB. Several states, including Indiana, have used the scale to determine funding, closure, and school takeovers. Florida was first to grade its schools in 1999; then-Gov. Jeb Bush touted it as a simple way to boil down complicated information for parents. But simple isn't always better, says RiShawn Biddle, who writes the DropoutNation blog. "It's seductively simple. But it doesn't provide families the information they need to be able to make decisions. If you're a parent, you want to know growth over time. Are they providing AP courses? How are they doing in algebra? If you've got young black sons, you want to know: Can this school serve your son well? You can't get that from a letter grade."?More



Florida's racial expectations

In an interview on the NPR show "Tell Me More," host Michel Martin spoke with Jerri Katzerman of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which recently filed a civil rights complaint against the Florida Department of Education over its race-based goals for increasing student achievement. These goals set higher proficiency levels for Asian-American and white students than for black and Hispanic students. For instance, in reading, it calls for 90 percent of Asian-American students to be at grade level by 2018, 88 percent of white students, 81 percent of Hispanic students, and 74 percent of black students. Supporters say it sets realistic targets for student performance, based on where students are starting. Katzerman explains that the SPLC is suing because Florida has drawn lines simply based on race, rather than including resources or strategies that would help children actually meet any goal -- the state is moving the goal post for its own benefit. These race-based goals differ from affirmative action, Katzerman said, because affirmative action promotes diversity and offers opportunities to kids of different backgrounds, acknowledging that differences in experience add to a university or college setting. Florida has created "wildly divergent expectations without any real pedagogical reasons," other than acknowledging that the baseline for some subgroups is low.??More



Pre-K in Tennessee

A new study from the Peabody Research Institute of Vanderbilt University and the Tennessee Division of School Readiness and Early Learning evaluates the effectiveness of Tennessee's voluntary pre-K program (TN-VPK), finding that TN-VPK children made significantly greater gains in literacy, language, and math over the pre-K year, and were rated by their teachers as better prepared for kindergarten and having better social and work-related skills, than similar children who did not attend TN-VPK. However, by the end of the kindergarten and first grade, achievement differences between TN-VPK children and non-participants were no longer statistically significant. Similarly, ratings of academic preparedness and classroom behavior by first grade teachers showed no differences. However, significant TN-VPK effects were found for non-cognitive aspects of performance at the end of the kindergarten and first grade: fewer TN-VPK participants were retained in kindergarten than non-participants, and school attendance in first grade was better. Since comparable studies show similar short-term results as well as benefits over the much longer term, the study will follow TN-VPK participants as they progress through school. At this point, the study's data reveal great variation in teacher experience, time management, classroom environment, and instructional interactions with students. When data are complete, they can help identify characteristics of more effective classrooms and offer guidance for program improvement.??More.?Related.


     
Does more time equal more learning?

Hundreds of schools nationwide are adding time to the school year, lengthening school days, requiring Saturday classes, or shortening summer vacation, reports Sarah Carr in The Hechinger Report. Nationally, schools adding hours or days have jumped 53 percent since 2009, according to a 2012 report from the National Center on Time & Learning. Schools have various reasons for adding time. Some cite global competitiveness, pointing to the long day and year at many Asian schools; others want to accommodate the schedules of working families. Charter schools, whose teachers are not usually unionized, have greater calendar and work-hour flexibility. The most common reason is summer learning loss. Yet research is inconclusive about whether more time in school equals more learning. A 2012 literature review by Child Trends found most schools that added time showed academic growth, yet it was impossible to attribute improvement directly to increased time in school. The report concluded that more time will never compensate for bad teaching. There is also a question of resources. For instance, in one charter in New Orleans -- the ReNEW Cultural Arts Academy, which began the school year on July 22 -- additional time costs about $500,000 annually, which comes out of various grants.?More



Are states ready for CCSS?

A new report from the Center on Education Policy finds that most states adopting the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are already teaching to them. These states are preparing teachers and principals to implement the standards, but state education agencies are struggling to secure adequate staffing and resources for implementation and teacher training. In 30 of the states responding to a survey, curricula aligned to the Common Core in math and ELA are being taught in at least some grades and districts. Some states are phasing in CCSS-aligned curricula by grade span, district, or both. Several states (nine in math and 10 in ELA) will begin implementing aligned curricula in 2013-14 or later. All 40 surveyed states are providing some type of teacher professional development in the CCSS; 39 are training principals. Only 10 states estimate more than three-fourths of teachers of math and ELA have received CCSS-related training. Thirty-two states report challenges in developing educator evaluation systems. Thirty-seven states are struggling with overall implementation, including 31 states that find providing all math and ELA teachers with professional development to be difficult. Most states report adequate staff expertise to implement CCSS-related activities, but fewer have enough staff and/or resources.?More



The vapid Mr. Damon

Actor Matt Damon recently disclosed he is sending his children to private schools, despite his own vocal criticism of certain education reforms and his allegedly staunch support for public education; this again raises the question of whether it's hypocritical for education activists to make choices they would deny others through public policy, writes Andrew Rotherham in TIME Magazine. Public school activists quietly shipping their own children off to private schools is an old story, Rotherham says, and on the other side, supporters of school-choice plans often tout schools as great options for low-income parents when they wouldn't let their own children spend an hour there. Rotherham himself is a public-school supporter and parent, but admits that if public schools weren't working for his kids, he wouldn't hesitate to make a different choice.?Too bad not all parents are similarly empowered, he adds. Rotherham can think of many practical reasons that make a private school the best option for the Damons. Instead, Damon explained there were no longer public schools progressive enough for his family, so private was the only choice in their new home of Los Angeles. But Los Angeles specifically has an abundance of educational choices (some of which Damon opposes). And the crux of the matter is this: Los Angeles has many schools propelling first-in-family students into and through college.?Research shows this to be the best thing we can do to increase social mobility and reduce structural inequality in America. If these schools aren't progressive, what is???More


BRIEFLY NOTED CALIFORNIA
CORE-rect
School districts in eight California cities have been granted at least a one-year reprieve from NCLB, a waiver otherwise given only to?states.?More
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Appalling
A federal class action lawsuit filed by juvenile justice advocates alleges that Contra Costa County Juvenile Hall officials kept teenagers with disabilities in solitary confinement for up to 100 days and denied them special education services that the county is legally required to provide.?More
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Windfall for Early Learning
California has received an additional $22.4 million grant?under the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge.?More
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Is anyone surprised, though?
California education officials have identified 242 schools statewide where students posted standardized test-related images on social-networking sites?-- 16 of which included exam questions or answers that could be deemed as cheating violations.?More
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Trending downward
For the first time in a decade, California standardized test scores in English and math slipped, flummoxing educators who blame budget cuts and new national learning standards that have required curriculum changes.?More
BRIEFLY NOTED?
Coming clean

Indiana's current state schools superintendent has acknowledged manipulation in the way Indiana's schools were graded, and this year's school ratings will be delayed as a result of an independent review into the A-to-F grading system.?More
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To clarify
Pennsylvania will remain a member of PARCC and Smarter Balanced, but it will not use either consortium's assessments.?More
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A seat at the table
The Wyoming Department of Education has announced its new status as a voting member within the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium.?More
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Gambit
When the St. Paul, Minnesota teachers union continues contract talks later this month, it will demand that by next spring, the district stop giving students an assessment test required by the state and federal government.?More


GRANTS AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES


Carnegie Corporation of New York/New York Times: I Love My Librarian Award
The Carnegie Corporation of New York/New York Times I Love My Librarian Award encourages library users in the United States to recognize the accomplishments of exceptional public, school, and college librarians. Maximum award: $5,000 cash, a plaque, and $500 travel stipend to attend the awards reception in New York hosted by The New York Times. Eligibility: librarians with a master's degree from an ALA-accredited program in library and information studies or a master's degree with a specialty in school library media from an educational unit accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education. Nominees must be currently working in the U.S. in a public library, a library at an accredited two- or four-year college or university, or at an accredited K-12 school. Deadline: September 6, 2013.
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Kids in Need Foundation: Teacher Grants
Kids in Need Foundation Teacher grants provide funds for classroom teachers with innovative, worthy ideas. Projects may qualify for funding if they make creative use of common teaching aids, approach curricula from an imaginative angle, or tie nontraditional concepts together for the purpose of illustrating commonalities. The program is designed to be the sole funding agent for a project, and a budget must be included with the application. Maximum award: $500. Eligibility: K-12 certified teachers working at a public, private, charter, or parochial schools in the subject of the project. Deadline: September 30, 2013.
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GEF/Gardener's Supply Company: Green Thumb Challenge
GEF and Gardener's Supply Company are calling on schools and youth groups to submit chronicles of their garden projects. The award is designed to support the continued sustainability of an exceptional youth garden program that has demonstrated success and has impacted the lives of kids and their community. Maximum award: $1,000. Eligibility: Existing garden programs involving children currently in grades K-12, from schools and youth groups nationwide. Deadline: September 30, 2013.
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
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"It's difficult to turn off the faucet of religion once it's there, whether it's in the shape of the building or the people who are running it. If you are a person of faith you say, 'I am religious 24/7.' It's just really hard to turn religion off if you are as dedicated or as evangelical as many of these groups are."?-- Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, regarding charter schools in places of worship.


 

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