Education News: April 17, 2009

Following are some of the top headlines from the world of education for the week ending April 17, 2009.

Schools Launch Programs to Help Prevent Violence
(USA Today, April 13, 2009)  Jeff Daniels, a counseling psychologist at West Virginia University, has studied schools that foiled rampage killings and found several common qualities.  He found that each of the schools had informal but respectful contact between students and staff, emphasized that any child could turn to an adult if danger surfaced, had staff that took rumors seriously, and had anti-bullying programs with staff training.  According to Princeton sociologist Katherine Newman, most school shooters tell classmates of their plans.  Assuring students of complete confidentiality can go a long way to preventing the shootings.  Since Columbine, many schools have set up methods for anonymous reporting and implemented staff training on how to spot possible shooters. 

Plans for No Child Left Behind Begin to Take Shape
(New York Times, April 14, 2009)  While President Barack Obama and his administration have remained relatively silent on their plans for the future of No Child Left Behind, plans have started to emerge.  Clues point to a Congressional rewriting of the federal law later this year.  The rewrites will likely toughen requirements on issues such as teacher quality and academic standards as well as intensifying the focus on aid to failing schools.  Additionally, the Federal role in education policy is expected to grow.  The evidence has come from the four “assurances” that governors must sign to receive funds under the economic stimulus law.  The assurances include pledges to raise the quality of standardized tests and standards, and to distribute teachers equitably.  In regards to failing schools, the administration aims to raise standards across the nation, with the possible creation of national standards.  While the administration is certainly dealing with the laws largest inadequacies, many critics of the law are disappointed after hoping for a sharper break from the law.  The heads of both the NEA and AFT teachers’ unions are generally positive of reform efforts, but both have voiced concerns over Obama’s support of data systems.

L.A. School Board Votes to Layoff Thousands of Teachers
(San Francisco Chronicle, April 15, 2009)  On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Board of Education voted to layoff as many as 5,400 teachers and support personnel for the upcoming school year.  The vote came shortly after 1,996 elementary school teachers in the district retained the jobs thanks to federal stimulus money.  The cuts result from the school system’s $596 million budget shortfall for the 2009-10 school year.  The exact number of layoffs will be determined once the district knows the exact amount of state and federal funds that it will receive.

Study Finds 47% of High Schoolers Have Been Hazed
(USA Today, April 16, 2009)  A recent report found that 47% of college freshman arrive to college having gotten hazed in high school.  High school hazing often pervades groups ranging from sports teams to the yearbook staff and performing arts.  Hazing activities included being required to associate only with the peer group, singing or chanting in public, verbal abuse, sleep deprivation, and getting a tattoo or piercing.  The report’s findings suggest that there has been little improvement since a 2000 survey of hazing in American high schools.  While this is troubling, many educators are more concerned with how dangerous and destructive the hazing has become, especially with regards to drinking.  The study was led by professors Elizabeth Allan and Mary Madden of the University of Maine's College of Education and Human Development.

Schools Use Video Games to Curtail Bullying
(Boston Globe, April 16, 2009)  A Canadian software company LiveWires Design Ltd. has developed a series of interactive computer games which teach students about the dangers of bullying on the internet and in real life.  The games are called “Braincells” and were first launched in the Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School District in Massachusetts.  They takes place in the imaginary “Brain Cells High” and deal with computer and cell phone hacking, bullying, and cyberbullying.  The focus is to show students how working together can put an end to bullying.

VP Biden Aims to Make Higher Ed More Affordable
(USA Today, April 17, 2009)  In a town hall-style meeting in St. Louis, Vice President Joe Biden pledged to make college affordable for more families.  He plans to urge the Treasury Department to examine ways to increase the reliability and effectiveness of college-savings plans.  He said the government will consider options such as low-tax loans against 529s, which are tax deferred plans that people commonly use to save money for college.  The administration aims to make college more affordable by extending the American Opportunity Tax Credit beyond 2010.  Additionally, it has been working to increase funding for the Pell Grant program, which provides need-based assistance.  Biden also commented on a consolidation of student loan programs which could save $94 billion over a decade.

Five-Year Study Aims to Help Deaf-Blind Children Communicate
(Kansas City Star, April 17, 2009)  A recently completed five-year study puts forth strong evidence that current methods of communicating with deaf-blind children need to be changed.  The study was conducted by the Schiefelbusch Institute for Life Span Studies at the University of Kansas.  The study formed a communication system for deaf-blind children that was based on the gestures and noises used by typically developing infants.  Because dead-blind children face many obstacles when trying to communicate, such as a parent not being able to point to things or use eye contact, the researchers had to find a new way for them to communicate a need or desire.  One solution was to alert a child to the presence of a toy through touch or vibration, and then teach the child a gesture to indicate desire for the toy.  Many deaf-blind children don’t communicate at all until they are old enough to learn sign language.  Even that, however, is often difficult because they didn’t learn the gestures and noises which are normally the foundation for communication in developing infants.