Archive for the 'Parents' Category

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Good Schools reports

Published on 21 May 2009 in Administration, News, Parents, Policy and The press. 0 Comments

Via Give Kids Good Schools I learned of a new report entitled “Lost Opportunity: A 50-State Report on the Opportunity to Learn in America” that compares students’ access to factors considered critical for educational success. The report presents a metric it dubs “opportunity to learn” that is based on access to early education, qualified teachers, college preparatory curricula, and equitable instructional resources. On the national level, the report indicates that students who come from historically disadvantaged groups have only about half the opportunity to learn that is enjoyed by their peers from White and non-Latino backgrounds. On a state-by-state level, the results are equally dismal.

The results of this study merit careful consideration by policy makers. It is incredibly important for students to have access to education that meets sensible quality metrics. I certainly think that the components considered in this metric (early education, qualified teachers, college preparatory curricula, and instructional resources) represent a valuable suite of factors. I am wary, though, about people thinking that this version of “highly qualified teacher” equates with one who employs effective, evidence-based procedures. And, it’s the latter that we really need to provide to students.

In fact, let me go a step farther: Perhaps US schools ought to consider policies that make it especially rewarding for teachers who (a) employ evidence-based procedures and (b) have a demonstrated history of promoting high student outcomes to teach in schools where the students are mostly likely to need effective teaching. That is, maybe, instead of seeking equal access, we should secure unequal access that’s the flip-side of the conditions documented in this report.

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Corporal punishment needs to be beaten

Published on 23 March 2009 in Administration, Behavior Management, Musings, News, Parents, Policy, Research and The press. 0 Comments Tags: , .

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) published a policy paper examining a report the Human Rights Watch and the ACLU about corporal punishment in US schools. It provides a clear and powerful indictment of what amounts to a state-sanctioned assault on children.

A Violent Education
Corporal Punishment of Children in U.S. Public Schools

Every year in the United States at least 220,000 children in public schools are subjected to corporal punishment, or “paddling.” Permitted in 21 states, the practice leaves many children injured and disengaged from the process of learning. African-American students and students with mental or physical disabilities receive corporal punishment at disproportionately high rates, creating a hostile school environment in which these students may struggle to succeed.

This practice should stop. I hope readers will review A Violent Education and advocate an end to corporal punishment.

Download the executive summary here and review an earlier post on TE about corporal punishment.

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Keep or sweep?

Published on 11 March 2009 in Administration, Arithmetic and mathematics, News, Parents, Policy, Research and The press. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

In “Schools to Retain Controversial Math Curriculum” Michael Birmbaum reported that a local education agency has elected to continue teaching arithmetic using a curriculum that has minimal evidence of effectiveness. Mr. Birmbaum, who works for the Washington (DC, US) Post, wrote about the decision by the school system of a county that is in neighboring northern Virginia (it’s, in fact, where I attended first through third grades).

Prince William County elementary schools will continue to teach mathematics with a textbook series that has drawn parent criticism and national scrutiny, despite deep divisions in the community over whether students should be given other options.

The curriculum from Pearson Education, “Investigations in Number, Data, and Space,” which is used in thousands of classrooms nationwide, has been debated virtually since Prince William began using it three years ago under the administration of Superintendent Steven L. Walts. Critics say it fails to help students learn basic skills and facts.

Continue reading ‘Keep or sweep?’

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Special ed done the right way

Published on 4 January 2009 in Administration, Assessment, Musings, Parents and Policy. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , .

After the note I posted about access trumping success, I’ve had some back-channel correspondence with colleagues who also lament the situation. Some of that correspondence focused on how important it is to determine students’ special education needs (i.e., complete an IEP) before determining the students’ placement (i.e., special school < --> full-inclusion). The discussion reminded me of a diagram that has appeared in each edition of Better IEPs by Barbara Bateman and Mary Anne Linden.

Continue reading ‘Special ed done the right way’

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Beyond access: Improving success

Published on 29 December 2008 in Administration, Musings, News, Parents, Policy and The press. 0 Comments Tags: , .

As the new year approaches, with the hope engendered by a change in US government, here’s a salute to organizations—Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, Justice for All, and the World Institute on Disability, among others— that advocate for individuals with disabilities. These organizations and their siblings have done a great deal to secure health care, civil justice, employment, protection from violence, and many otherwise taken-for-granted features of daily life that are too often denied to individuals with disabilities. Now’s a good time to accomplish more.

On the educational front, one of the factors to which many disability rights organizations regularly point is the poor outcomes for students with disabilities after graduation from high school. The litany of unfavorable comparisons between students with disabilities and their not-disabled peers is familiar to many: higher unemployment, less frequent enrollment in post-secondary schools, more frequent contact with and incarceration by law-enforcement officials, etc. These are clearly outcomes that we would not only like to see improved, but also they are improvements that would auger well for our society (e.g., emphasizing the abilities of individuals) and economy (e.g., lower unemployment).

Among many advocates for individuals with disabilities, a (if not the) critical concern for public policy is ensuring access to situations to which those without disabilities routinely have access. Access may range from curb cuts that permit safer road crossings to computers that “read” printed text. Without elaborating further here, suffice it to say that the range of applications is far greater than this simple dimension, and information about possible means of ensuring or providing access abounds on the Internet.
Continue reading ‘Beyond access: Improving success’

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ALA sites for kids

Published on 10 December 2008 in Administration, Content learning, Parents, Technology and The press. 0 Comments

Since 1997, the first Children and Technology Committee of the US American Library Association has maintained a list of Web sites for children that should be on the list of to-be-visited-locations-on-the-Web for readers of Teach Effectively. Here’s a snippet about the content:

The Web is a lot like a flea market: there’s a vast selection of sites to choose from but not a lot of order to it. Some sites are offered by reputable “dealers” and some from individuals who want to show off their personal favorite items. Sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s a hidden treasure, what’s worth taking a look at, and what’s a waste of time.

It’s not hard to find sites if you use a search engine like Google, or a subject directory like Yahoo (or Yahooligans for kids). But how can you tell if a site you find is worthwhile?
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Loh on parental involvement

Published on 20 November 2008 in Administration, Musings, News, Parents, Policy and The press. 0 Comments Tags: .

Writing in the New York (US) Times on 19 November 2008, Sandra Tsing Loh calls for parents to mount a bottom-up revolution in public education. Although it’s short on specific proposals—and, of course, I hope the central feature would be a focus on teaching effectively—and long on criticism of politicians sending children to “toney private schools,” Ms. Loh’s concern about improving public education is well placed.

And yet, against all apparent odds, as a public school mother in the trenches, I’m extremely optimistic about this brave new era. The time is perfect for an American renaissance revivifying this most Jeffersonian of ideals — quality public education, available for all — where an educated citizenry is the heart of a thriving democracy.

I hope Ms. Loh’s call for a political renaissance aimed at improving the quality of public education is heeded. We in the US—and elsewhere on the planet—need not just a few well-educated elite children for the future but a mass of well-educated children. Going forward, as the pop phrase has it, out progress as a society as well as a species will depend on having lots of savvy workers, managers, innovators, and leaders.

I recommend Ms. Loh’s editorial. Here’s a link to it. For more about Ms. Loh’s thoughts regardinh parents taking a strong role in their children’s schooling, make sure that you read her sensible remarks cunningly disguised as notes about Jonathan Kozol’s views on education, see “Tales out of School.” The multi-talented Ms. Loh, who has a pretty solid educational pedigree (e.g., physics graduate of Cal Tech), has plenty of other interesting comments about education that merit perusal by parents and educators; browse her Web site at http://SandraTsingLoh.com/. I plan to read her book, Mother on Fire.

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Loh up on publics

Published on 20 September 2008 in Administration, Content learning, News, Parents, Policy and The press. 0 Comments

Sandra Tsing Loh, who may be familiar as a commentator on the US National Public Radio (among other venues), reports that some wit and persistence can make a difference in public schools. Although I’d followed her comments for other reasons, I was pleasantly surprised that she was presenting a fresh and thoughtful analysis of contemporary educational issues in multiple fora.

  • “Tales out of School” (from the Atlantic Monthly) in which she compares her own street-level activism to the utopian visions of J. Kozol;
  • “Ask a Magnet Yenta,” which helps parents in Southern California learn about magnet schools; or
  • Her current home page.
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