February 18, 2009

Below please find an excerpt from The Opening Bell 2.18.09

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Obama Seeks To Transform Schools With Stimulus Funds.

The AP (2/18, Quaid) reports that President Barack Obama "wants to do more than save teachers' jobs or renovate classrooms with his economic recovery bill. He wants to transform the federal government's role in education." The AP notes that public schools "will get an unprecedented amount of money -- double the education budget under George W. Bush -- from the stimulus bill in the next two years. With those dollars, Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan want schools to do better." Secretary Duncan is quoted saying that the bill is "an opportunity to redefine the federal role in education, something we're thinking a whole lot about. ... How can we move from being (about) compliance with bureaucracy to really the engine of innovation and change?" The bill "includes a $5 billion fund solely for these innovations, an amount that might not seem like much, considering the bill's $787 billion price tag. But it is massive compared with the $16 million in discretionary money Duncan's predecessors got each year for their own priorities."

        T.H.E. Journal (Feb 2009, Nagel) reports that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 signed into law on Tuesday by President Barack Obama "assigns significant funding to a variety of education and education-related programs." T.H.E. Journal points how the stimulus package will benefit education. Among the provisions included in the bill for education are "$13 billion for Title 1 help for disadvantaged students...$7.2 billion for "broadband and wireless services in underserved areas" for business, healthcare, and education sectors; $2.1 billion for Head Start and Early Head Start;" and "$250 million for competitive grants targeted toward the design and development of student achievement data analytics." Another $70 million will go toward "grants for the education (among other things) of homeless kids," and $100 million will go toward "teacher workforce 'modernization.'" The AP (2/18) also covers the story. 

Technology Seen As Largely Untapped Resource For Assessing Student Performance. Education Week (2/17, Ash) reported, "The power of technology to improve assessments, in part by providing useful data on not just what students know, but also on how they arrive at their answers, has been left largely untapped, especially in science, concludes a paper released" on Tuesday. The report "by the Washington-based think tank Education Sector" noted that "computerized testing can be less expensive and deliver faster results...but it also has the potential to provide richer data on student performance, which could help inform curriculum and instruction." And even though "little progress has been made in harnessing the potential technology has to craft performance-based assessments...there are a handful of promising models." The Problem-Solving in Technology-Rich Environments (TRE), for instance, "assesses scientific-inquiry skills by presenting students with a problem...to be answered in a performance-based model, rather than by multiple-choice questions." The report suggests that the "the federal government...provide incentives to states or districts that" implement "innovative assessment models."

Class Sizes In New York City See Largest Increase Since 2002. The New York Times (2/18, A22, Medina) reports, "Class sizes rose at nearly every grade level across [New York City] last year, according to a report released by the city's Education Department on Tuesday, the largest increases since Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (I) took over the school system in 2002." The report shows that "the largest growth was in the third grade, where the average moved to 21.8 students per class, compared with 20.9 students last year." Meanwhile, "roughly 45 percent of kindergarten students...are in classes of 22 to 25, and more than 4,000 of the city's roughly 61,000 first-graders are in classes with at least 28 students, according to Education Department figures." According to some "critics of the department...the increases showed that the mayor and Chancellor Joel I. Klein have ignored efforts by the state and the City Council to reduce class size."

Students At School In New Jersey Celebrate Picasso's Life, Work. New Jersey's News Transcript (2/18, Rosen) reports that "Pablo Picasso was highlighted during January at the Taylor Mills School, Manalapan, where pupils studied the life of the artist and created Picasso-like artwork." Art teacher Robbie Schafler developed the Picasso celebration, during which "students were immersed in an aesthetic experience in which they not only created their own art based on the works of Picasso, they learned history, culture, language arts and creative thinking skills while studying" his life and work. "The month-long Picasso celebration culminated in a traveling art exhibit that featured giant floor-to ceiling reproductions of some of Picasso's works hanging in the school's main hallway."

Elementary, Junior High Students In Iowa District To Showcase Classroom Technology. The Cresco (IA) Times-Plain Dealer (2/18, Daehn) reports that "Crestwood Elementary and Junior High School students and staff are preparing for a night showcasing how technology is utilized in the classroom." The event will feature demonstrations by "Kindergarten through eighth grade students and school staff...showcasing the types of technology currently used throughout the elementary and junior high to help support student achievement in the 21st Century." They will demonstrate "technology such as the school's electronic card catalog, PowerPoint presentations, a 3-D landscaping program and how parents can access grades and attendance records for their children on the internet, in addition to many other types of technology used at school." A silent auction at the event "will help...raise money to purchase more technology for the elementary and junior high building."

Educator Lists Seven Skills That Should Be Taught In Schools. The Northwest Arkansas Times (2/17, Bennett) reported that according to Tony Wagner, "co-director of the Change Leadership Group at Harvard University and author of The Global Achievement Gap," modern schools face the challenge of having to "find ways to keep students continuously engaged." He acknowledges, however, that "schools have so much pressure to teach to state assessments, they haven't been able to focus on teaching the critical-thinking skills students need." Nevertheless, Wagner argues that there are seven skills that should be taught in schools. They are "critical thinking and problem-solving, collaboration across networks and leading by influence, agility and ability, initiative and entrepreneurialism, effective oral and written communication, accessing and analyzing information, curiosity and imagination."

Virginia Board Of Education Will Vote On Graduation Benchmarks For Schools. The Richmond Times-Dispatch (2/18, Meola) reports that "Virginia's public schools could soon have to meet graduation benchmarks just as they do for academics to earn accreditation, depending on the outcome of a state Board of Education vote expected tomorrow." The proposed regulations would require the state to award "points for various credentials, ranging from 100 points for students who graduate in four years or less, to 75 for those who earn a General Educational Development diploma." To be considered fully accredited, "a school would need a graduating class with a minimum of 85 percentage points."

Illinois Teacher Battles District Over Right To Wear Respiratory Mask On Campus. The Chicago Tribune (2/18, Hood) reports that Patricia McReynolds, an elementary school teacher in the Joliet School District 86 "who suffers from severe allergies, is on leave this week as she battles school district officials who have barred her from wearing a respiratory mask on campus." The 14-year teaching veteran "filed a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after" district officials "questioned her need to use the small white masks and told her she could not wear one on school grounds." The school system "has asked her to go to her doctor for written proof that she needs a mask," but "McReynolds said she already has notes from three doctors." According to the Chicago Tribune, "at issue is whether the district's stance violates the Americans with Disabilities Act."

Utah House Education Committee Endorses Performance-Pay Bill. The Salt Lake Tribune (2/18, Stewart) reports that "two measures -- a performance-pay pilot program and a resolution in support of tying compensation to multiple measures of excellence -- were unanimously endorsed Tuesday by" Utah's House Education Committee. Under HB328, the State Board of Education would award $300,000 "in competitive grants...to school districts and public charter schools. ... Districts would come up with their own best ideas for how to measure and compensate teacher performance, but" the funds would be "restricted for use at the elementary school level and would last two years." In addition, "The bill stipulates that 40 percent of the performance compensation be awarded based on gains in student learning. Another 40 percent would be based on instructional quality as gauged by classroom observations. The remaining 20 percent would reflect peer, student and parent satisfaction."

North Carolina District Limits Access Sex Offenders Will Have To School Campuses. North Carolina's News & Observer (2/18) reports, "In compliance with a new state law, the Wake County school board approved a policy today limiting the access that registered sex offenders will have on school campuses." Under the new policy, parents, students, and voters that are registered as sex offenders "must get permission ahead of time to come on campus and, depending on the situation, be supervised while there." In addition, "every school principal [must] register to receive e-mail notification when a registered sex offender moves within a one-mile radius."

Employees In Florida District Could Face 10 Percent Pay Cut. The St. Petersburg Times (2/18, Winchester) reports, "Pinellas school employees could face pay cuts of up to 10 percent this fall in response to a district budget shortfall that could grow to more than $100 million." Superintendent Julie Janssen told school board members that the "$47.8 million in cuts already identified" may not be enough to help balance the district's budget. The St. Petersburg Times adds that "based on original projections of a $68.9 million funding loss, the district would be left with a $21 million gap after applying the $47.8 million in identified reductions." The worst-case scenario, meanwhile, "follows the state's newest projection of an additional 15 percent reduction for next year." In that case, "the district would be looking at a $107 million shortfall, calling for a 10 percent pay cut."

Elementary School Teacher Overcomes Fear Of Math With Help Of Teen Tutor. The Denver Post (2/18, Meyer) reports on aspiring elementary school teacher Emma Schultz's journey to improve her understanding of mathematical concepts. As a teaching intern, "mathematics made [her] sick -- to the point where she would get nauseous or faint when confronted with a fraction problem, long division or something to do with decimals." To overcome her fear, Schultz received tutoring twice-a-week from an 18-year-old high school senior. "The two figured out ways to make Schultz understand, used repetition and drilled in the essence of the math concepts. Schultz said once she got over being the only adult getting tutored and being taught by a teenager, her fear of math faded, and she began to learn." During those tutoring sessions, Schultz "said she learned a valuable lesson that she now tries to impart to her students: ask questions, take time and work with your teacher to figure out ways to understand the core ideas."

NEA President Has "High Hopes" For Duncan. In the Seattle Post Intelligencer's (2/18) School Zone blog, Jessica Blanchard writes, "I had the chance to sit down Friday afternoon with the president of the National Education Association," Dennis Van Roekel. Blanchard provides a list of highlights from that interview. Regarding the Obama Administration, Van Roekel said that "he has 'high hopes' for U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and the two have scheduled monthly meetings -- a change from the previous regime." Van Roekel also expressed concern that No Child Left Behind has "narrowed the curriculum" and "'taken the joy out of teaching,' he said." Sill, "he doesn't think Congress will tackle changes to the law until at least next year." Blanchard also highlighted Van Roekel's thoughts on merit pay and high school graduation rates.

Recession Leads To Slightly Reduced Raises For New Jersey Teachers. New Jersey's Star-Ledger (2/17, Alloway) reported, "With the country in a recession and job losses mounting, many New Jersey school districts and education unions said the state of the economy is influencing their contract talks." While "New Jersey teachers -- who were paid an average salary of $62,667 during the 2007-08 school year -- are still getting raises...they have shrunk slightly." According to the "New Jersey School Boards Association...the average salary increase for teachers for the 2009-10 school year is 4.5 percent statewide, and many of those deals were negotiated a few years ago. But for contracts that have been settled since last October, the average raise has dropped to 4.4 percent." The Star-Ledger also notes that "districts are looking to cut health care costs." The New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) acknowledges that "economy always plays a role in negotiations," but the organization "does not believe the recession should mean lower raises for teachers."

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