Education News: May 21, 2009

Following are some of the top headlines from the world of education for the week ending May 21, 2009.

Schools Receive Little Guidance for Dealing with Swine Flu
(New York Times, May 18, 2009)  As schools debate whether or not to close, they have received little guidance from health officials’ pandemic plans. The Center for Disease Control has been equally ambivalent.  Two weeks after originally advising schools to close for two weeks if a confirmed case was found, acting director Dr. Richard E. Besser claimed that closing schools was ineffective at halting the spread.  Flu viruses can live up to three days, so closing the schools for a week does ensure that they will be dead before students return.  Some suggestions that have been put forth so far are to make students wear surgical masks or to have students wash their hands with alcohol rubs before entering a class.  Parents are not helping to decide the matter either.  When a school closes, parents are unhappy because they must pay for childcare and their children are missing out on education time.  When a school remains open, parents worry their children are in danger.  Many fear that schools full of teenagers are especially dangerous because teenagers are prone to resist advice such as washing their hands for twenty seconds, covering every cough with a tissue or sleeve, and, most importantly, staying away from other teenagers.  Even when given the day off, teenagers are prone to spend time in contact with many other teenagers.

Flu Closings Keep Children Out of School But Not Out of Close Contact
(New York Times, May 20, 2009)  As 15,000 schoolchildren across the country receive an unexpected week off due to swine flu, kids are being seen everywhere.  An even greater number of students are out and about as schools that did not close are seeing a spike in absenteeism due to parents deciding for themselves whether or not their child belongs in school.  Libraries accustomed to scolding truants now must accommodate the influx of students with nothing to do.  Many students, however, will meet up with friends once their parents are at work.  Locations such as malls can be just as dangerous as schools, as they too are crammed with people in close proximity.  This is not the outcome school officials had in mind when they decided to close the schools trying to prevent an outbreak.  The Department of Education posted educational material for every grade level, in the hopes that students would keep up with their school work.

D.C. Schools Develop ‘Seven Keys to College Readiness’ as a Path to College
(Washington Post, May 19, 2009)  In an area where college preparation often begins at birth, Montgomery County Public Schools’ brochures exhibit its formula for college success titled "Seven Keys to College Readiness."   The readiness keys are a seven-step pathway to higher education, which can begin as early as kindergarten.  Tests and courses are mapped out in order to help a student achieve academic prosperity.  Some of the steps included are scoring at least a 1650 out of a possible 2400 on the SATs, passing at least one Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exam, and taking Algebra I in middle school.  School analysts found that a student who completed one goal would likely complete the next.  Montgomery County School Superintendent Jerry D. Weast aims to have 80% of the county's 140,000 students on the college ready path by 2014. 
You can view the initiative here.

Californians Reject Proposed Budget Fixes, Cuts For Education Likely
(Reuters, May 20, 2009)  After California voters rejected ballot measures to bolster the state’s finances, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers must now figure out how to cope with a $21 billion budget gap.  Prior to the vote, Schwarzenegger promised short term borrowing and deep cuts in education if the voters rejected his budget proposals.  Of six measures on the ballot, only one barring pay raises for state officials amid deficits was approved.  Defeated measures included instituting a spending cap, extending tax increases, borrowing against lottery revenues and tapping dedicated funds.  Some feel that the election was the voters’ way of rebuking the governor and lawmakers, whose job approval ratings are at record lows.  Without approval for tax increases, state officials will likely turn to deep cuts, which analysts think voters may regret.  Schwarzenegger has warned that cuts would likely be especially deep for education, which shocked many teachers whose districts’ budgets are already shrinking.

Firing of a Teacher in California Leads to Entire School Board Being Recalled
(Los Angeles Times, May 20, 2009)  For the first time in memory, an entire school board has been unseated.  The Big Oak Flat-Groveland Unified School District, a small, rural district near Yosemite National Park in California, voted overwhelmingly to oust all five board members after the board voted not to reinstate a popular math teacher.  The teacher was originally fired due to allegations of plagiarism in a course he took at Cal State Fresno, but was not rehired even after being cleared of the charges.  Upset students boycotted classes and signed a petition urging their parents to recall the board.  Those who opposed the recall, especially those who lost their seats on the board, accused the student effort of being a front for angry parents who wanted seats for themselves.  The math teacher Ryan Dutton has yet to be rehired.

U.S. Education Secretary Calls for Rules on Restraining Students
(Washington Post, May 21, 2009)  On Wednesday, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan told state officials to develop plans over the summer to ensure that restraints are used safely and sparingly.  Duncan is responding to a “disturbing” report by the Government Accountability Office, of students with special-needs being harmed when teachers place them in restraints.  The report gave particular attention to a 2002 case from Texas, where a teacher lay on a student who wouldn’t sit in his seat, and the student died.  Several states, including Virginia and Maryland, already have measures in place, where students are only restrained when they appear to be a danger to themselves or to others.  According to the report, no federal law prohibits the use of restraints or seclusion in schools, and the central government makes very little effort to track the use of restraints or allegations of abuse.  Duncan, while speaking during a congressional hearing on President Obama's education plan, extolled Illinois’ model.  The Illinois model includes extensive training for teachers, prohibits the use of restraints as punishment, and requires documentation of each incident.

Denver Public Schools Identify Dropout Indicators to Lower Dropout Rate
(Denver Post, May 15, 2009)  A recent report by Johns Hopkins University found that even one failing grade on a report card suggests a higher risk that a student will dropout of school at a later date.  The report analyzed 3,657 who dropped out of Denver schools during the 2006-07 school year, and looked at their careers and found common characteristics.  A majority of the dropouts had received an F during freshman year and two thirds had missed twenty or more days of school.  Even middle school can be a predictor as one third of the dropouts failed a course in sixth grade, and 44% had missed twenty days of school or more throughout middle school.  The report suggests that the keys to success are to decrease absenteeism, decrease the number of students failing high school courses, and provide academic interventions in middle school to help prepare students for high school.  While these findings may not be revolutionary, the report also suggests that teamwork amongst teachers is one of the keys to success, especially, as it will require a whole-school approach to fix the problems.