Education News: September 11, 2009

Following are some of the top headlines from the world of education for the week ending September 11, 2009.

President Obama Addresses School Children and Urges Them to Greatness
(New York Times, September 8, 2009)  In a national broadcast, President Obama addressed the nation’s schoolchildren and encouraged them to set high goals, focus on their studies and persevere through failure.  The speech was the first of its kind since elder President George Bush broadcast a national speech in 1991 urging students not to use drugs.   Many conservatives accused the White house of partisan motives and several districts in states such as Maryland, Texas and Virginia, where opposition was loudest, did not show the speech.  Even at schools that did show it, children opted-out after they or their parents decided that they should not watch.  Some districts in Texas even turned to an opt-in procedure, where parents had to call or email with explicit permission for their children to be allowed to watch.  The superintendent of the Fort Smith Public Schools in western Arkansas Benny Gooden, however, shared his feelings that, “This is not a conservative or liberal or libertarian issue, this is an American issue, of wanting every young person to know that if you apply yourself you can have a bright future.”

Associated Press Interviews Education Secretary Arne Duncan
(USA Today, September 3, 2009)  In an interview with the Associated Press, Education Secretary Arne Duncan shared his thoughts as a father and as a government official on the upcoming school year.  First and foremost he said that students need to apply themselves.  There are so many distractions for children these days between the internet, video games, etc, that students must remain focused if they want doors to remain open to them, now and in the future.  Along the same vein, he commented on President Obama’s impending speech and shared that the President will be “asking students think about how critically important it is that they do well, that they take advantage of those opportunities and they apply themselves and they work hard.”  He also pointed, however, that much of the effort will have to come from parents as well.  “There is nothing more important any of us can do than to help our students be successful academically, to really let our children know how important school is, how much we value education, and how much teachers and principals are our partners in helping our students fulfill their potential,” Duncan claimed.  He also shared that one of his main goals is for students to compete in an international economy, and if this requires more schooling, then so be it.

Boston Teachers Union Opens Its Own Elementary School
(Boston Globe, September 10, 2009)  On September 10, 2009, The Boston Teachers Union celebrated the opening of its elementary school in Jamaica Plain.  The aim of the oft-criticized union in creating the school is to prove that it can facilitate, rather than impede, innovation and educational achievement.  While it seems an unlikely choice, the school will be one of the city’s twenty-two semiautonomous pilot schools, which operate under fewer union contract provisions than other district schools.  The school will deviate only slightly from the teacher contract, however, with an additional thirty minutes added on to each school day and a weekly two-hour staff meeting.  Teachers will be compensated for both with additional pay.  The majority of the twelve teacher staff is in their thirties and has taught in the district for less than a decade.  The school will open with 150 students spread out amongst grades K-2 and grade six.  The school will eventually top off at grade eight.  Previously, the Union has voted against proposals to turn schools into pilots, due to concerns over lengthened workdays and relaxed rules for hiring and firing teachers.  Regarding their pilot school, Union officials claim that it will give teachers an opportunity to showcase what they can do when their voices are heard.  Additionally, pilot schools are able to ignore district-imposed programs, which teachers often think are misguided, one-size-fits-all approaches to boost test scores.  The school will have no principal, but two co-leaders instead.  The Mayor intends to keep seeking legislative approval to convert underperforming schools into union-free charters. 

Judge Threatens to Fine Washington Teachers If They Don’t End Strike
(Boston Globe, September 11, 2009)  King County Superior Court Judge Andrea Darvas ruled that striking teachers in Washington state's fourth-largest school district have until Monday, September 14th to get back to the classroom.  If they do not, they will be fined $200 per day from the day the judge ordered them back to work on the previous Monday.  The judge also ruled that the Kent Education Association will be fined $1,500 a day for defying her order to return to work.  The 1,700 teachers have been striking for two weeks, which has caused delayed classes for more than 26,000 students at forty schools.  On Thursday the union and district went back to the negotiation table.  It was reported that the two sides were getting closer to a compromise on the class size issue, which is said to be the issue at the heart of the strike.  Strikes have occurred before and while fines have been levied, they must have been rescinded later because the teachers were not required to pay.

Almost One in Ten 2009 California Seniors Fail to Pass Exit Exam
(Los Angeles Times, September 2, 2009)  In California, 90.6% of seniors managed to pass the state’s high school exit exam, which is required to receive a diploma.  The results showed little change from 2008, when 90.4% of students passed the exam.  Beginning in their sophomore year, students have several chances to pass the exam.  A score of 55% is required on the math section, which is an eighth-grade level, and 60% on the English section, which is a ninth- or 10th-grade level, is required to receive one’s diploma.  While more than 45,000 students in the class of 2009 have not yet passed the exam, due to the state budget deal this means that school districts can now spend state funding earmarked for remediation on other needs.  State Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell has urged the districts and their educators to continue helping these students try to graduate.  One positive outcome is that while there remains an achievement gap between the white and Asian students and their Latino and black classmates, the data shows that it is narrowing.  Another bright spot of the data is that more students are passing on their first attempt during their sophomore year.

Innovative Campaign Calls Out Testing
(USA Today, September 7, 2009)  A recent campaign aims to shift focus on education away from single day testing and towards "powerful learning and highly effective teaching."  Sam Chaltain, head of the campaign and director of the Washington-based think tank Forum for Education & Democracy, compares the current rating system of judging on a single set of scores to picking playoff teams based on one game's box score.  Instead, Forum and several other education and civil rights groups have launched an internet campaign soliciting personal stories about how and when someone gets excited about learning.  Forum will then present the information to lawmakers as they rewrite the No Child Left Behind law.  While the group doesn’t think that testing is bad, they believe it is overvalued and that the focus needs to shift towards longer-term measures of learning.

Schools to Begin Testing 9/11 Education Curriculum
(USA Today, September 8, 2009) On Tuesday, September 8, Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani joined Sept. 11 family members and college professors to unveil a plan to teach middle and high school students about the 2001 terrorist attacks.  The 9/11 curriculum will be tested this year at schools in New York City, California, New Jersey, Alabama, Indiana, Illinois and Kansas.  The curriculum was developed by the Brick, New Jersey-based Sept. 11 Education Trust.  It relies on primary sources, archival footage and more than seventy interviews with witnesses, family members of victims and politicians.  The curriculum utilizes videos, lessons and interactive exercises.  One exercise even requires students to use Google Earth software to map global terrorist activity.  The goal is to help those who were too young to experience the attacks develop a tangible connection with what happened.  Students and professors are also invited to participate on a website developed around the curriculum that enables them to share their own videos and lesson plans or discuss questions raised in their classrooms.  The curriculum was initially tested in 2008 at the River Dell Regional High School, a roughly 1,000-student high school in Oradell, New Jersey.