Sunday
July 06, 2008
by desertjim
Here in the high desert of southern New Mexico it is becoming apparent that the coming election will usher in big political change. Change that may approach the level of 1932 when FDR was elected and fostered the New Deal. This trend seems to surpass the desire for change that elected Ronald Reagan and the Republicans to power in 1980.
If this year turns out to bring a major political change to America, we as educators need to be able to articulate how we want the new Congress and administration to approach public education. Clearly NCLB, the last major education policy change, was a disaster. Public schools have been forced to teach to standardized high-stakes tests and shortchange actual education.
What should be the federal government’s role in public education?
I have my own biases. I think federal aid to education should go predominantly toward funding districts which adopt research supported programs. For example, studies clearly show that inquiry science education and early childhood programs like Headstart are effective.
Perhaps you have other priorities. Should the government concentrate on mandates like Title IX or the ADA rules on special education? Should the nation return to programs like the Eisenhower funding that paid for teacher training and adoption of exemplary curricula? Perhaps the National Science Foundation summer workshops for teachers should be reinstated. Would block grants to states be the simplest approach?
I would like to hear other opinions on this issue. What do you think must be done to improve public education using federal dollars? What priorities will you present to your congressional representatives when the education bill comes up for renewal?
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Wednesday
July 02, 2008
This week’s Carnival of Education at An (aspiring) Educator’s Blog features last week’s TEN post on Academic Capital among many others. A few I found particularly interesting:
Bill Ferriter at The Tempered Radical wonders,
How can we, as educators, come to grips with the idea of a job well done, when “a job well done” inevitably includes failures in the form of children who we just
didn’twouldn’tdecided not tocouldn’t reach?
Lorem Ipsum wonders, with tongue in cheek, what would happen if we decided to solve the school budget crunch and silence the critics of teachers by just getting rid of all the teachers.
Firing teachers would solve so many problems. No more problems with kids being given too much homework, no more problems with kids being taught evolution, no more problems with “unfairness” in general.
Right on the Left Coast shares a story of a teacher who taught a book despite being specifically forbidden to teach it and got suspended. Do you agree with his conclusion?
[I]t may not be smart for schools or districts to keep particular books out of classrooms, but it is legal. And since we teachers are public employees and not private contractors, we follow the instructions that are laid out by the elected school boards and implemented through the school administration. I’m sorry this teacher lost her job over this, but she defied specific instructions about curriculum.
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Monday
June 30, 2008
The Illinois Education Research Council is releasing a new study on the “Teacher Academic Capital Gap in Illinois.” (Download the full study or policy brief [pdf])
Teacher academic capital is a measurement combining the mean ACT score of teachers, the percentage of teachers who failed the IL Basic Skills Test on the first attempt, the percentage of teachers who were provisionally or emergency certified, and the mean Barron’s competitiveness ranking of the undergraduate institutions attended by teachers. It represents, according to the IERC, “a collection of intellectual resources and assets that are available to schools through their teachers.”
The study found that between 2001 and 2006, schools with the highest percentage of low-income and minority students made major gains in academic capital. Though Chicago still has a lower average than the rest of the state, it is increasing faster than any other region, and increases in Chicago’s measures are the main driving force behind the statewide increase.
The report points out that Chicago’s huge increases in teacher academic capital are “largely the result of hiring inexperienced teachers with stronger academic backgrounds.”
The found that ISAT scores showed a “positive link between improvements in [academic capital] and achievement gains.” They also found that “[academic capital] gains tend to have a greater positive effect on a school’s student achievement than the negative effect associated with teacher inexperience.”
They specifically warn schools against seeking out experienced teachers as the expense of looking at new teachers with strong academic qualifications. But, to be sure, there are challenges to focusing on academic capital, as the IERC reported last year:
Unfortunately, in a recent study on teacher attrition in Illinois (DeAngelis & Presley, 2007), the IERC found that teachers with the highest ACT scores and degrees from the most competitive institutions are less likely to remain teaching in the lowest-performing schools. If this trend continues, the improvements in the distribution of Illinois’ teacher academic capital in recent years could be eroded. State and district officials need to ensure that all school leaders are implementing effective mentoring and induction support for new teachers, and striving to improve their schools’ teaching and learning climates.
Links to news coverage and related teacher achievement data in New York at This Week in Education.
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Saturday
June 28, 2008
[via Joanne Jacobs]
A Los Angeles teacher talks about class size. It’s not about giving teacher fewer papers to grade or parents to call. It’s about giving teachers and students a fighting chance to fight the entrenched classroom culture that pervades high-need schools.
In Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man,” invisibility translates to a lack of individuality and signifies how being looked at is not the same as being seen. When one is invisible in any culture, one feels no sense of personal motivation or accountability. Class-size reduction is one very important way to change the culture. Being able to look each student in the eye, to touch each student on the shoulder, to make each student feel responsible for his or her behavior is impossible when the room feels like one huge organism that has devoured individuals and turned them into a monstrous mass. With an environment that allows us the ability to give attention where attention is needed, we can all accomplish more. With an environment that allows us the ability to see one another as individuals, despite the enforced limitations of an obsolete institution like the Los Angeles Unified School District, we might even exceed all our expectations.
Thursday
June 26, 2008
This week’s Carnival of Education at Where’s the Sun highlights a recent TEN post on standardized test score analysis.
Also worth checking out:
An (aspiring) Eduator’s Blog looks at four different personas taken on by teachers to address race in the classroom: the colorblind champion, the touchy-feely empathizer, the devil’s advocate, and the social justice league. Each has pros and cons. She says,
[A]ll of my teachers have influenced my blackness - from how I see myself as an African American to how I relate with others in and outside of my racial group. Many teachers are not cognizant of the power they have over this domain.
Tween Teacher is talking about how to find a teaching job you love. She’s got detailed steps and potential interview questions. If you’re in the market for a first (or new) teaching job, be sure to take a look! “[Y]ou are entitled to work in a place that ‘gets’ you, and wants what you have to offer.”
Chicago’s Curie High School Youth Radio project wondered what their teachers do for fun and during the summer. Hear the interview here. Answers included quilting, singing, golfing, gardening, “being a soccer mom,” and moshing at heavy metal concerts.
Everyone’s got their own special summer thing. Hope everyone’s got something relaxing, fun, and/or inspirational planned for this summer. What will you be doing?
