Taos/ State to Vote on 2 Taos Charter School Proposals
By Matthew van Buren
Taos News
September 13, 2012
The Public Education Commission (PEC) will decide next week whether to approve the applications of 14 proposed charter schools, including two in Taos.
The charter schools being proposed locally include:
- Taos Mountain Charter School, which would offer a Waldorf-inspired curriculum, and
- the Taos International School, which would offer a dual-language curriculum and, eventually, an International Baccalaureate program.
Taos Municipal School District Superintendent Rod Weston spoke in opposition to both schools during hearings held in Taos Aug. 20.
Charter schools are also being proposed in Alamogordo, Carlsbad, Deming, Las Cruces, Santa Fe and elsewhere.
According to information from the New Mexico Public Education Department (PED), the meetings will take place Sept. 19 and 20, if two days are needed, starting at 8 a.m. at the Jerry Apodaca Education Building, 300 Don Gaspar, Santa Fe.
For more information about the proposed charter schools, or to download their applications: http://ped.state.nm.us/Charter/2012a/.
Taos Mountain Charter School
Taos Mountain Charter School would take the place of the privately funded Taos Waldorf School in El Prado. Following the resignation of the majority of the Waldorf School's board last year, school leaders appealed to the community for funds, saying the school was facing a "financial crisis."
According to Taos Mountain Charter School's letter of intent, "financial challenges" led to the loss of significant numbers of students.
"The current economic realities have made a tuition-based model difficult if not potentially impossible to maintain in the Taos community," the letter states.
School organizers and supporters have also argued that, if approved, Taos Mountain Charter School would bring a Waldorf-style education to a public school that students could attend at no cost. According to the school's application, it would begin by serving grades K-6 and ninth grade, eventually expanding to grades K-12.
- "Taos Mountain Charter School is a new entity looking to offer Waldorf education in the private sector," an email to The Taos News from founders Emily Cohen and Allison Bradley states. "We want to offer this valuable educational opportunity to any family regardless of ability to pay."
In her testimony before the PEC Aug. 20, Bradley, who serves as the Taos Waldorf School's coordinator, said "sustainable living practices" are at the school's foundation. She said the charter school's curriculum would emphasize "gardening, farming, sustainable building skills and exploration of our surrounding local environment," while also incorporating nature and art.
Bradley said the Waldorf approach to education is different in that "the early years in the classroom emphasize building the capacity for learning rather than strictly content."
"This pays off, as students learn content more quickly in high school and retain it more readily, with test scores among the highest within their peer groups," she said.
Bradley told the PEC that Taos Mountain Charter School's organizers would emphasize "sound management and fiscal oversight."
Several members of the audience Aug. 20 spoke in favor of approval for the charter school. Ted Dimond said the school would provide a "great opportunity" for the Taos community and that having choices when it comes to education is important for children. He said Taos Mountain Charter School would offer a "true alternative" to other area schools.
Jesús Hernández, who has been helping to plan the charter school, discussed his granddaughter's experience at Taos Waldorf School, saying a Waldorf education has helped her "become an independent thinker and a problem-solver."
"What I love about the Waldorf curriculum is that it not only addresses the academic needs of the child, but also the physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs, as well," he said. "It cultivates social and emotional intelligence, connects students to nature and ignites a passion for learning."
Cohesiveness
Superintendent Weston made several arguments in opposition to the creation of Taos Mountain Charter School. He said he "(doesn't) have any disagreements with the philosophical foundation" that had been presented to the PEC. However, he said Taos' students already have opportunities to engage in art and music - both in district schools and at a charter school already in existence, apparently referring to the Taos Integrated School of the Arts, a K-8 charter school with a curriculum that integrates the arts. Weston also said the district's funding would be diluted by the addition of another charter school without a corresponding decrease in costs and expenses.
Cohen and Bradley wrote in their email to The Taos News that Taos Mountain Charter school "will be bringing in students that have not previously been enrolled in the public education system, thereby expanding overall funding for public education in our region."
Weston expressed concern that the creation of Taos Mountain Charter School would not support "the cohesiveness of this community."
"My past experience is that this is especially problematic when transitioning from an existing private school into a public charter school, that there are slots already filled within that private-school situation," he said.
According to the school's application, currently enrolled students and siblings of returning students would have priority for enrollment. The school's application also proposes to give priority for enrollment to children of board members, children of full-time teachers and staff and children of "founding families." However, Commissioner Carla López told the organizers that practice is not allowed, adding that she and her husband founded a charter school in Santa Fe, and their daughter didn't get in.
Budget
The PEC's questions largely centered on budgetary concerns. Commissioner Eugene Gant asked who would be managing the school's budget; Cohen said organizers are looking at different options, including contracting with the New Mexico Coalition for Charter Schools. Gant also noted that no funds were budgeted for a librarian, media specialist or data processing specialist and asked for an explanation. Cohen said the library would be staffed with parent volunteers.
"There is not going to be a focus on media within a Waldorf context," Cohen also said in response to Gant's question.
"That's not part of our curriculum."
Gant asked further about an information technology specialist, as the school would need to maintain a database that would interface with the state. Bradley said the work would be done by "certified volunteers" and that the school would "be lean and mean to get started."
"Since we wouldn't be starting until next year, we have several months to work these questions through," Bradley said. "And we'll be completely honest. We're not financial experts. We're not budget experts. But what we have is incredible fortitude, and we will research this until we find our answer."
Commissioner Carolyn Shearman echoed several of Gant's concerns, saying the school "can't survive without a business manager" and needs an IT person, as well.
"If you don't do your STARS (data) reporting (to the state) correctly, you're up the creek without a paddle," she said.
Gant also asked about food service, noting that the school is planning to have its students bring "brown bag" lunches. According to the school's application, the students would be responsible for bringing their own lunches, but that "school gardens will provide supplemental produce for snacks and salads." Gant noted that "there's no funding in (the budget) whatsoever" for a garden, food storage, water or related supplies.
Bradley said a foundation would collect donations for the school, and organizers could also write grants. Shearman said school organizers' relying on grants and other outside funding sources is worrisome.
Commissioner Vince Bergman took issue with a proposal in Taos Mountain Charter School's application that sets "a reasonable estimate for outside, private" fundraising at $500 per student. Though Cohen said, "obviously some kids are going to do $10" but that "some kids might be able to do more," Hernández said the $500 target is only a per-student fundraising goal and "may have nothing to do with the students."
"We have many artists that give concerts, and the proceeds come to the school," he said. "That's what we're looking at."
In their email to The Taos News following the hearing, Cohen and Bradley wrote that the application process has been a "complex and great experience."
"We believe in our project and have enjoyed working with the PED, who have been professional and helpful," the email states.
Taos International School
Nadine Vigil, former Enos García Elementary School principal and lead organizer of the proposed Taos International School, addressed the Public Education Commission (PEC) Aug. 20, saying there is "limited space" in the Taos Municipal School District's existing dual-language programs.
Vigil, who helped to found the dual-language program at Enos García, also said "there is no continuation" of dual-language programs at Taos Middle School. According to its application, the school would start in the fall of 2013 serving up to 120 students in grades K-1 and grade 6, growing in five years to serve as many as 360 students in grades K-8.
"Taos International School will produce bilingual-biliteral students, prepare them for the global world, for college, the workforce," Vigil told the PEC.
She said school organizers plan to keep classes at 20 students or fewer and that it would use the 90:10 dual-language model to teach students Spanish and English, meaning instruction would be in Spanish 90 percent of the time in kindergarten, with Spanish instruction decreasing and English instruction increasing by 10 percent each year as students advance. In fourth grade, students would be introduced to Mandarin Chinese.
Vigil said Taos International School would offer a non-traditional sports and activity program and an "enhanced, enriched music and art program."
School organizer Carlos Pagan said Taos International School would essentially replicate an educational model already in use at the Corrales International School and New Mexico International School, both in the Albuquerque area.
"It's something that has been highly successful in Albuquerque, with huge waiting lists," he said.
Vigil emphasized the school's plan to provide an International Baccalaureate program by the end of its fourth year.
According to the school's application, the International Baccalaureate program engages students in building and reinforcing their sense of identity and cultural awareness; fostering their recognition and development of universal human values; stimulating curiosity and inquiry; equipping students with skills to learn and apply knowledge; providing international content while also "responding to local requirements and interests"; encouraging diversity and flexibility in teaching approaches; and providing appropriate assessment methods.
Seeking change
Vigil said she has heard from many who are interested in and supportive of the Taos International School.
"They want to see a change in Taos," she said. "And I believe this is a big change."
Several people spoke in favor of Taos International School, including school organizer Kenleigh Winters. Winters said his daughter was in the dual-language program at Enos García and that there was "very large demand" for the program. However, he said the program has "slipped" over the years, that art and music were lacking, and that he supports school choice.
UNM-Taos Career and College Prep Director Juan Montes also spoke in favor of the school, saying space is limited in the existing dual-language programs. He also said the district is facing "serious drop-out issues" and that bilingual students are more engaged.
"I think the two-way, dual-language immersion should be instituted in all the schools," he said.
Warren Kelly, who said his daughter started second grade at Enos García, spoke in favor of Taos International School, saying it may attract lower-income students than other charter schools. He said he supports a dual-language program that would continue through middle school.
John Rainey, the parent of a child currently enrolled in Enos García's dual-language program and president of the parent-teacher association, said he is opposed to the proposed charter school. He said a similar dual-language program already exists and that he is concerned Taos International School would be a duplication of efforts and related costs. He also wondered how the school would pay certified bilingual teachers, whom he said are "the hottest commodity in teaching right now."
Rainey said it would make more sense to hire more teachers and expand existing programs than to create a new school.
Building community
Taos Superintendent Rod Weston addressed the PEC, speaking against the creation of another charter school in Taos, which already has five charter schools. He said Taos already has a K-5 dual-language program at Enos García and a K-4 dual-language program at Arroyos del Norte Elementary, with plans to add a dual-language program at Ranchos Elementary next year.
Weston said, particularly with elementary charter schools, "The parents who are most capable in terms of educational background, awareness of the educational system, they are the people who tend to move toward the charter schools," resulting in "a much lower percentage of (charter school) students needing Free and Reduced Lunch" than students in regular public schools.
- "In a multicultural community like this, it's critical that students of all socioeconomic groups attend school together so that they begin to build those bonds that last a lifetime," he said, later adding, "Those kinds of bonds are critical here. And to further separate people at an early age like that I feel would be very detrimental."
Weston said the creation of Taos International School could lead to "flight" from Enos García of highly functioning students with strong parental support, making it "more difficult to bring the other students up to that level."
"We need to build community, not divide community," Weston said.
The PEC questioned several aspects of Taos International School, including its performance goals for students and its ability to find certified, qualified teachers to teach Mandarin Chinese as well as Spanish. Commissioner Carolyn Shearman said the school would likely have difficulty finding bilingual-endorsed teachers willing to work for an average salary of $40,000 per year.
Other budgetary questions followed regarding auditing, facilities, maintenance, custodial services, utilities and other aspects of Taos International School.
Commissioner Vince Bergman asked about the school's "no homework policy" outlined in the application.
Pagan said school organizers have "extensively researched" the homework issue.
"I think the research is clear that homework does not help," he said.
Bergman also asked about the challenges of raising start-up funding. Pagan said private funding would be sought for the first year if the charter is approved, and that organizers would apply for grants, potentially waiting an extra year to open the school.
Bergman also said charter schools commonly have trouble finding facilities. He suggested Taos International School "move that up to the top of your list."
In an interview following the hearing, Vigil told The Taos News she felt "really good about it."
"The room was full of supporters," she said.
Vigil said Taos International School would take highly qualified teachers from other Taos schools if the teachers were interested. She said she is hoping to offer a new opportunity to Taos' students but that she doesn't want to harm the regular public schools.
"They were my bread and butter for 35 years," she said. "I am not here to hurt the district in any way, in any manner."
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ABQ/ Poll: Majority Backs Linking Teacher Salaries to Scores
ABQ Journal Poll Results
September 13, 2012
New Mexico voters generally support tying teacher evaluations and salaries to student test-score improvement, a Journal Poll found.
Gov. Susana Martinez and her education chief, Hanna Skandera, have pushed revamped teacher evaluations that include test score improvement, but the Legislature has twice rebuffed the proposal. The Martinez administration is now moving ahead with a version of the plan that it will implement by rule.
In the statewide Journal Poll conducted Sept. 3-6 by Research & Polling Inc., voters were asked:
- "Do you support or oppose basing salaries of public-school teachers and their job performance evaluations partly on their students' improvement in test scores?"
- 53 percent said they support the concept, 36 percent oppose it and 11 percent said they were undecided or wouldn't say.
- 60 percent of Republicans and independents, or those who decline to state a party affiliation, supported the change.
- There was no significant difference between ethnicities or gender on the question, but support among Democrats was lower, at 47 percent.
Voters' support dropped slightly below 50 percent in the heavily Democratic north-central region of the state, which also is the heart of the 3rd Congressional District.
The only other exception to 50 percent-plus support was in the education-level category.
- Only 35 percent of voters who said they have graduate degrees supported the change,
- compared with 49 percent who said they opposed it and
- 16 percent who were undecided.
"This is a tough issue. We do see more of a variation here between D's and R's, said Brian Sanderoff, president of Research & Polling Inc. "The Democrats tend to be a little more aligned with concerns that have been expressed by teachers."
Executive overhaul
Twice, the Republican governor and her public schools chief have tried to pass state laws that would include test score improvement in teacher evaluations, replacing a current system that bases teacher salaries mainly on their levels of experience and education.
Since legislative efforts have been unsuccessful, Skandera has instead overhauled teacher evaluations through administrative rule.
Under her rule, which was issued Aug. 30,
- 35 percent of a teacher's evaluation will be based on three years of data about how much their students' standardized test scores improved.
- Another 15 percent will be based on other measures of student achievement, to be determined by school districts.
- Another 25 percent will be based on classroom observations, and
- the last 25 percent will be based on other "multiple measures" to be decided at the district level.
For teachers in untested subjects and grade levels, a full 50 percent of their evaluations will be based on other measures of student achievement, to be locally established.
This system will be piloted at select schools and districts around the state this year, and adopted statewide next year. In its current form, the rule does not attach any salary changes to the evaluation system.
Teacher salary ranges are still determined by the three-tier licensure system.
However, the new rule does specify that teachers who are rated "ineffective" or "minimally effective" under the system will be placed on a growth plan to improve their practice. That will include more frequent classroom observations and other forms of support from school districts, to help the teacher improve shortcomings.
If teachers don't improve during a 90-day growth plan, the rule opens the door for them to be fired at their superintendent's discretion, or to have their contract non-renewed if they have been at a district for less than three years.
Union split
The issue has divided New Mexico's major teachers unions, and Skandera's rule was opposed by APS Superintendent Winston Brooks. However, Brooks' opposition is related to the details, and he has overseen a pilot program in APS that also uses test scores as part of teacher evaluations.
The New Mexico chapter of the National Education Association has been generally supportive of Skandera's rule. Although he has advocated for lowering the percentage of an evaluation tied to standardized tests, NEA Executive Director Charles Bowyer recently co-wrote a Journal opinion piece with Skandera in support of the rule.
Bowyer has said teachers need a better evaluation system than they currently have, and he is pleased the rule will be piloted before it is adopted statewide.
By contrast, the Albuquerque Teachers Federation and its affiliates around the state have been stridently opposed to Skandera's rule, saying it relies too heavily on standardized tests and that the statistical measures used to control for student demographic challenges, like poverty, disabilities, or limited English skills, are not reliable.
The Journal Poll was conducted Sept. 3-6 by Research & Polling Inc. Voters were interviewed over land-lines and cellphones. Results for the full scientific sample of 402 voters statewide have a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points. The margin of error increases for subsamples, such as party affiliation, ethnicity and region.
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Rio Rancho/ RRPS Workers Receive $500 Payment
By Elaine D. Briseño
ABQ Journal Staff Writer
September 13, 2012
Rio Rancho school district employees are getting a one-time, $500 payment to cover increased living expenses, but the head of the union told the board it doesn't even come close to what they deserve.
RRPS spokeswoman Kim Vesely said the $500 "cost of living adjustment" is being given to non-union employees and the district is in negotiations with the union to offer its members the same thing.
Monday, during the Rio Rancho Public Schools Board meeting, Peggy Stielow, president of the Rio Rancho School Employees Union, told the board she had received several calls about the impending payments. The union represents all employees excluding administrators.
- "The overwhelming response has been, 'Are you kidding? Five hundred dollars?,'" she said. "We have an increased workload, more students in the classroom and we've gone five years with no raise. Five hundred dollars for five years is only $100 a year."
Stielow commented on the board's recognition - earlier in the meeting - of a district employee for his great work.
- "All the praise and commendations are great," she said. "But they become hollow when there is no monetary compensation."
Board president Don Schlichte said the district was not to blame for no raises and Stielow should instead be lobbying local legislators as public school districts get their funding from the state.
"In the board's defense, we understand this is a token payment," he said. "But we cannot invest in that recurring expense of a raise if the state is not going to fund it. We won't risk the financial well-being of this district."
Stielow spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting. The board is not supposed to reply or engage speakers but occasionally does reply.
Stielow added Rio Rancho has some of the lowest paid teachers in the state. Vesely said the district does not have the lowest paid teachers but does have a lower average, $45,700, than some districts because it has a higher number of new and less experienced teachers.
"We tend to skew a little younger," she said. "It's because of the high growth we have experienced in the past. We've had to hire a lot of new teachers."
Meanwhile, the board also approved a new ski and snow-boarding club at V. Sue Cleveland High. Senior Austin Pellegrino spoke to the board about starting the club, saying the school's activities director had denied his request because of insurance concerns. He then took the matter to the principal who sent him to the superintendent, Sue Cleveland. Cleveland told the board they had to give the club its stamp of approval before the district's insurance provider would even consider extending coverage to the club.
"I want to give students a chance to go snowboarding and skiing," Pellegrino said. "Some cannot afford to do that and I want them to have that opportunity."
The board approved the club, 4 to 0. It's contingent on getting approval from the insurance provider.
Member Margaret Terry was absent and it was the first meeting for new board member Reinaldo A. Z. Garcia.
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Washington DC/ Common Core Thrusts School Librarians into Leadership Roles
Educators help teachers acquire inquiry-based skills integral to standards
By Catherine Gewertz
Education Week, Vol. 32, Issue 3 [Edweek.org]
September 12, 2012
It's the second week of the school year, and middle school librarian Kristen Hearne is pulling outdated nonfiction books from the shelves. She is showing one teacher how to track down primary-source documents from the Vietnam War and helping a group of other teachers design a project that uses folk tales to draw students into cross-cultural comparisons.
With the common standards on her doorstep, Ms. Hearne has a lot to do. Her library at Wren Middle School in Piedmont, S.C., is a nerve center in her school's work to arm both teachers and students for a focus on new kinds of study. She's working to build not only students' skills in writing, reading, research, and analysis, but also teachers' skills in teaching them. She and other librarians say they view the common core, with its emphasis on explanation, complex text, and cross-disciplinary synthesis, as an unprecedented opportunity for them to really strut their stuff.
- "When it comes to the common core, librarians can be a school's secret weapon," said Ms. Hearne, who blogs as "The Librarian in the Middle."
Like most school librarians, Ms. Hearne has been trained both as a teacher and a librarian, a combination she thinks is perfectly suited to helping students and teachers as the Common Core State Standards presses them into inquiry-based modes of learning and teaching.
- She helps them find a range of reading materials in printed or online form and
- collaborates to develop challenging cross-disciplinary projects. And like colleagues around the country, Ms. Hearne also plays important instructional roles often unrecognized by the public: as
- co-instructor alongside classroom teachers, and as
- professional-development provider for those teachers.
"The common standards are the best opportunity we've had to take an instructional-leadership role in the schools and really to support every classroom teacher substantively," said Barbara Stripling, the president-elect of the American Library Association, and a professor of practice in library science at Syracuse University.
Ms. Stripling's work to implement the common core in the New York City schools illustrates the central role school librarians are playing as the standards move from ideas on a page to instruction in the classroom.
Overseeing that district's 1,200 school librarians,
- Ms. Stripling and her staff analyzed the standards' expectations for inquiry and information-literacy,
- developed sample lessons and formative-assessment tools around key common-core skills, and
- shared those and other resources during four-day development sessions with the district's librarians.
Guiding Teachers
Adopted by all but four states, the standards have prompted coordinating discussions among the library-association divisions that represent librarians in public schools, city libraries, and higher education, said Susan Ballard, the president of the American Association of School Librarians, one of those divisions.
All librarians are affected by the new expectations, she said:
- those who help at K-12 schools, at city libraries during the after-school and weekend hours, and
- those on college campuses, who have had to support students unequipped for college-level research and inquiry.
"[The common standards] drove us to look at ourselves as an ecosystem, all working together," Ms. Ballard said. "Students have a false sense of security that they can find anything online, but that's mostly quick facts. They don't know how to ask good, researchable questions, assess information critically. So much of the core is based in inquiry, and that is what librarians do on a daily basis. It speaks our language."
A comparison of the AASL's own standards for learning with the new standards showed similar expectations for students' skills and "habits of mind," she said.
As lead librarian for the New Hanover County schools in Wilmington, N.C., Jennifer LaGarde has been focusing intently on "beefing up" her role as an instructional support to teachers, she said.
- "The common core is so much about how we teach," said Ms. LaGarde, a national-board-certified librarian, winner of the ALA's 2011 "I Love My Librarian" award, and the author of the "Adventures of Library Girl" blog.
- "We've been looking at support materials, but we're more focused on shifting to inquiry-based instruction.
- "Materials are almost secondary; it's really about helping teachers think about new ways to provide instruction and helping them see that there is someone in the building who already knows how to do that," said Ms. LaGarde, noting that North Carolina, like many states, requires librarians also to be certified teachers.
As part of her district's common-core implementation team, Ms. LaGarde spends a lot of time providing staff development on the standards. As the teacher-librarian for Myrtle Grove Middle School, she attends teachers' planning and departmental meetings and works one-on-one with them to design projects and to scour new books, journals, and subscription databases for interesting and challenging reading material.
In her school in South Carolina recently, Ms. Hearne guided one social studies teacher in preparing for a cross-disciplinary unit on the Vietnam War. In language arts classes, students read the novel Cracker! about a bomb-sniffing dog and its handler during that war. The social studies teacher wanted primary-source materials to pair with the novel. Working with Ms. Hearne, she found photographs of dog-handlers from that war, along with videos and transcripts of interviews with them.
Ms. Hearne and the other two middle school librarians also recently trained science and social studies teachers, who are now expected to teach their students literacy skills specific to those disciplines. That kind of staff-development work is especially important in tight budget times, Ms. Hearne said.
"There isn't a lot of money to bring people in from the outside, so we have filled those shoes for our district," she said.
Even as they play that role, however, librarians themselves are drawing on a leaner set of resources because of cutbacks in recent years.
- Between the 2004-05 and 2010-11 school years, 32 states lost library positions, according to an analysis by Keith Curry Lance, a consultant with rsl Research Group in Louisville, Colo.
- Those losses averaged 161 positions, or 16 percent, per state, but went as high as 48 percent in Michigan.
Ms. LaGarde said she has had no dedicated library budget in Wilmington for four years and instead must resort to "begging the principal" for what she needs. The common core's emphasis on complex texts, and in particular on rich nonfiction, has given her "great ammunition" to expand her collection, as teachers demand new kinds of reading materials, she said.
In some places, the common core appears to be driving restorations of those budget cuts. Ms. Hearne reports that although this is her third year without an assistant, her book budget has doubled this year. That came in the wake of her superintendent's request for a report on the percentage of fiction and nonfiction, and the age of the nonfiction materials, in the district's school libraries, she said.
Revamping Collections
The common standards have prompted school librarians to "take a hard look" at their collections to weed out dated material and bolster challenging fiction and nonfiction resources, said the AASL's Ms. Ballard. In doing so, they are looking especially closely at the rigor of the readings they offer, since the standards emphasize assigning students "on-grade-level" texts, even if that means extra supports are needed to help them. Librarians are also looking to better balance their collections with high-quality nonfiction, she said, since the standards use such texts as content-builders and vehicles for the teaching of discipline-specific literacy skills.
Paige Jaeger, who oversees 84 school libraries in the Saratoga Springs, N.Y., area, counted more than 700 "power verbs" in the standards, such as "analyze," "integrate," and "formulate," that press students toward more rigor and inquiry-based learning. That has implications both for a library's collection of resources and for the way teachers teach, said Ms. Jaeger, who conducted a recent common-core training for the AASL and posted those resources on her blog. She is preaching a three-part gospel to her colleagues: rich text, raising rigor, and repackaging research.
Ms. Jaeger helps teachers rework their curricula into research-driven activities that require students to put those power verbs into action. "If your assignment can be answered on Google, it's void of higher-level thought," she quipped.
Case in point: the typical report on a country, which is often little more than an assemblage of facts. Ms. Jaeger and her colleagues have reshaped it around a question.
- Students might be asked what it means to live in a globally interdependent world.
- They could be sent home with an assignment to examine the labels on their clothing and food and note their countries of origin.
- As a class, they can graph those nations and examine the emerging portrait of importers and exporters. Each student could dive into his or her country's place in that system and write about the perils and promises of that role.
- Then, imagining themselves as ambassadors at the United Nations, they would have to figure out what issues are most pressing for their country and how best to plead for funding.
That kind of repackaging, Ms. Jaeger said, necessitates bolstering the rigor and richness of materials students use across the disciplines. Even as leisure reading at all levels of difficulty must still be well represented, more-challenging readings for core assignments are a must, she said. "If you have a core novel for a language arts class that's off by four or five grade levels, you've got to re-evaluate that," she said.
For instance, the immensely popular Hunger Games books are often read in 8th grade classes, Ms. Jaeger said, even though the widely used Lexile framework for text difficulty rates them as easy enough for late-elementary-level students. She suggests teachers consider as more-challenging replacements, such as The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, about a woman whose cancer was instrumental to later scientific research, or Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World, an account of British explorers whose ship was trapped in ice in Antarctica in 1914.
- Many 9th and 10th graders read Agatha Christie's mystery And Then There Were None, which Lexile rates as appropriate for 2nd and 3rd graders. Ms. Jaeger is encouraging teachers to consider instead The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, about an autistic boy's attempt to solve a dog's murder.
- Instead of The Catcher in the Rye, which Lexile pegs to the 4th grade level, she suggests sophomores could read The Stone Diaries, which Lexile places at the 11th and 12th grades.
A Place for Literature
Librarians report having to work to allay two strains of worry among teachers: that the standards' emphasis on nonfiction will reduce the role of literature in the curriculum and that every text assigned must be a complex text.
"I think those things have been misinterpreted, and people have freaked out a little bit, thinking literature won't have a place" in classrooms anymore, said Ms. Stripling, the ALA's president-elect.
As common-core authors have noted, the recommended balance of nonfiction to fiction-half and half in elementary school, rising to a 70-30 split by high school-takes all subjects into account, not just language arts classrooms, she said. Teachers can meet the "complex text" expectations of the standards, she said, by "sprinkling" such readings into their assignments, surrounded by a variety of other materials.
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Washington DC/ Literacy Information and Communication System Launched
Unveiling of landmark adult education web site coincides with National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week
U.S. Education Department Press Release [ed.gov]
September 12, 2012
Today, the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Vocational and Adult Education re-launched its first-ever online, professional learning community for adult educators called the "Literacy Information and Communication System" (LINCS).
The site provides adult educators with access to resources;
- on-demand, Web-based professional development opportunities, including online courses and targeted face-to-face trainings; and a connected network of practitioners, called a "community of practice."
- LINCS also offers specialized tools, including the ability for educators across the country to engage in real-time discussions.
The new and improved Web site features enhanced functionality and ease of use, providing a collection of quality, evidence-based online resources for adult educators and other practitioners within the adult education system.
One of the key features of the Web site is the "LINCS Community" that includes 16 topic-area groups.
- These virtual community groups provide an opportunity for those in the field and related fields to engage in topic-specific networking and information sharing activities.
- By engaging in a group, educators are able to share and obtain real-time answers to peer-driven questions based on their collective professional experiences.
"We want adult educators to use LINCS to improve their practice and connect with peers and experts. We believe that a professionalized teaching workforce and high-quality professional development are key to improving program effectiveness and raising student outcomes so that more adults can complete college or training," said Assistant Secretary for Vocational and Adult Education Brenda Dann-Messier.
LINCS receives support from the U.S. Department of Education's Adult Education-National Leadership Activities Program, which funds activities to enhance the quality of adult education and literacy programs nationwide. To join a LINCS community group, visit http://lincs.ed.gov.
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New York NY/ Poll: Parents and Teachers Support Spending for Classroom Technology
By Jackie Mader
Hechinger Report
September 12, 2012
Parents and teachers are generally united in the belief that the United States should spend more money on technology in classrooms, according to the results of an August poll conducted by the LEAD Commission. [http://www.leadcommission.org/]
The group, which is studying the way technology can be used in classrooms, surveyed 883 parents and 812 public school teachers to determine if there is grassroots support for major investments in classroom technology. The poll did not ask parents and teachers what kind of technology is currently being used in classrooms, or what the nation's next steps should be to utilize technology in schools.
Over 60 percent of the parents and teachers polled said that the United States is behind the curve when it comes to using technology in the classroom, and over 90 percent of those polled said that technology is, "important to the education of American students today."
And at a time when many districts are looking for ways to save money and cut costs, the majority of those polled said that classroom funding should be spent on Internet-connected devices rather than on traditional methods of learning, such as textbooks. However, only 18 percent of teachers polled said they are receiving the necessary training to use technology to its fullest potential in their own classrooms
In a press conference on Monday, LEAD Commissioner and Founder Jim Steyer said the results show him that parents and teachers are invested in improving education by utilizing technology. "They know this is critical. They know their kids need it," Steyer said.
Despite a general consensus, the poll results varied when other factors, such as income and political affiliation, came into play.
- Teachers at low-income schools and parents who made less than $30,000 were more likely to say that in the next 10 years, the role of technology will become "much more important" in preparing young people for their future.
- The same subgroups, as well as Democrats and Independents, were also more likely to support additional investments in technology on the local and federal level.
"With less affluence, there is a greater emphasis on doing more," said Geoff Garin, president of Hart Research Associates. "Parents and teachers recognize what the opportunities are and are making a pretty clear call for school systems and others who affect education policy to make sure those points of potential are realized as we move forward."
Since taking office, President Obama has prioritized science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education.
- The President's 2012 budget included a proposal for a $90 million investment in the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Education (ARPA-ED) that would help develop digital tutors, online classes, and "compelling" educational software that would rival video games.
- In July, the Obama administration announced a plan to spend $1 billion to create a national corps of STEM teachers over the next four years.
- This announcement followed a goal set by Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julias Genachowski in February: to have all students in the nation using digital textbooks by 2017.
The LEAD Commission plans to release a blueprint in November that will use data from this poll, as well as other research, to recommend ways schools can better utilize technology.
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Denver CO/ INTERVIEW: State Board Representative Elaine Gantz Berman on CO's Educational Landscape
By Andrea Rael
The Huffington Post
September 12, 2012
Some of the biggest and best news in Colorado this year is that education funding isn't being cut in the state's budget for the first time in years.
Colorado has held onto its average per pupil funding at $6,474 with the lowest per pupil funding at $6,058.86. To help put this good news in perspective however, the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data shows that Utah spent the least on per pupil funding, out of all 50 states and D.C., at $6,064.
With the number of students attending Colorado schools slated to surpass 817,000 this year, educators in the state continue to face challenges that are often summed up as "doing more with less."
Last year the state made education news as a judge ruled during the Lobato v. State of Colorado case that Colorado is not upholding it's own constitutional education standards of providing a "thorough and uniform system of free public schools throughout the state."
That decision will likely continue to forge Colorado history as lawmakers and state board of education members seek an appeal and those in agreement with the ruling have to stay on legislators because there was little to no guidance in the ruling as to how to achieve a more thorough and uniform education system throughout the state.
Colorado State Board of Education member Elaine Gantz Berman (D-Denver) took time out of her busy schedule to talk with The Huffington Post about what the state's educational landscape looks like now.
- You have said publicly that you voted against appealing the Denver District Court's Lobato decision in an op-ed published in EdNewsColorado.org saying, "I cannot come up with any reasonable rationale to defend the status quo of how we fund schools." What do you think would be an appropriate or ideal way to add funds to schools? In other words, what would you like to see happen?
Colorado has unusually low property taxes. People who move here from other states are stunned with how little we pay. The idea of raising taxes is far from a popular solution but if (we) believe we need to reinstate the billion dollars which have been cut from schools over the (past) four years, I'm not sure we have much choice.
The $1 billion cut from schools over the past 4 years are due to a combination of factors: districts have not received funding for increases in students, the state has cut funding to schools, and property values have declined cutting revenues received from property taxes.
- What are the problems you see with the current school finance formula? Where is it falling short of school's needs, and do you think it is meeting them in any school?
The intent of the current school finance formula is to distribute funds equitably across the state. For those areas of the state that are poor, they do not and cannot generate the same amount of revenue even though their mill levies from their property taxes may be the same. For example, a one mill tax increase in Agate, Colorado will generate considerably less than a one mill tax increase in Denver. This means that many rural districts are in worse shape financially than districts like Boulder, Douglas and Denver. We need to develop a new school finance formula that takes into account the capacity for local districts to generate revenue through property tax. We also need to direct resources into proven programs which will impact the unacceptable achievement gap between Anglo students and students of color.
- What are some examples of things Colorado schools still desperately need?
If you were to ask any teacher in any classroom in Colorado, I would venture to say they all spend their own money on school supplies. Some schools are still using antiquated text books when the Soviet Union still existed. Many schools are desperate for air conditioning and have delayed the opening of school to later in August. DPS did just this because of the unbearable heat last summer. More than 1/3 of all districts in the state have moved to a four-day school week to save money on heating in the winter and the high cost of fuel for their buses.
If we want our students to be prepared for jobs in all sectors, they need computers and access to the internet. We take this for granted in the Denver-Metro area, but it is not the case in many parts of the state.
Many small and rural districts have struggled to provide their schools the high-speed broadband connections necessary for 21st Century learning to take place. One example is Silverton School District which is a small remote school district in the south west part of the state that has struggled to get high speed broadband in their school district for many years.
Douglas County School Board has found itself in the news a lot lately. First with a voucher program allowing public school students to opt out of the system and into a private school, a February Romney endorsement, a ballot proposal to sever union ties and now lawsuits that claim that last action is illegal. Can you please talk a little bit about how politics makes its way onto school boards that are supposed to be nonpartisan, and how it can affect school boards?
I fervently believe that all school boards, including the State Board of Education and the CU Board of Regents, should be nonpartisan. I should note that neither the State Board nor the CU Regents are nonpartisan, we are elected according to our party affiliation. As policy makers for public education, our decision filter should always be what we think is best for the students. I welcome a legislative proposal to address this issue. Unfortunately, whichever party has the majority on either of these boards at the time, will be reluctant to support this change.
Public education has become increasingly political over the past couple of decades. This is very unfortunate, we should be able to debate and discuss the merits of reforms without the influence of party platforms. Certain education issues have become associated with one political party or the other. For example, choice and charter schools was initially associated with the Republican Party. I am a supporter of both and I am a life-long Democrat. Party politics have no place on school boards. The issues are touchy enough without further complicating the deliberations.
- Are there any new tools being integrated into schools this year? For example, in El Paso County there's talk of utilizing iPads as a learning tool. Or how else are Colorado educators being innovative?
There are many new approaches to school this year. There is a great deal of attention being paid to expanding the school day, the school week and the school year. The Colorado Legacy Foundation has issued a request for proposal for schools interested in piloting more time, more technology, and more community partnerships. People interested in learning more about the expanded learning opportunities RFP, should check out the Legacy Foundation website. There is also growing excitement around a new approach to teaching called "blended learning"- this combines the more traditional "teacher in the classroom" with the use of technology and computers with the teacher as a resource.
Too much screen time or use of the computer for students is not optimal. But the combination of teacher-led classes and the use of technology could be ideal. Students (and adults) of all ages are hooked onto iPads, PDA's and computers. The education system needs to keep pace with the direction students are moving - because today, in 2012, they are leading the way, not the educators.
- What do you think is behind the current "trend" behind charter schools or online schools? What's the appeal for parents/students? And what are some of the drawbacks?
Charter schools are no longer new in Colorado. Actually, we were among the first states to enact charter school legislation. As with traditional public schools, there are exceptional charter schools and underperforming charter schools. They offer another option for parents and this is a good thing. I would say that charters are not a passing trend, they are here to stay and schools like Denver School of Science and Technology and West Denver Prep, now called Strive, are among the best in the state. I would add that a district like DPS has many other non-charter schools that are equally high-performing such as the Denver School of the Arts, the Denver Center for International Studies and neighborhood schools such as Steck, Steele, University Park, Bromwell and many more.
- Manual High School started class much earlier this year to provide more time for their students and is looking for ways to give them more opportunities for hands-on learning. Do you think this approach is one that other Colorado schools may seek to emulate?
Yes, the U.S. has an unusually short school year. It makes no sense that our students are out of school for three consecutive months. They forget over the summer and time then has to be spent reviewing what was learned the previous year. Our school calendar is way, way out of date and needs to be changed.
- What are Colorado schools doing to close the achievement gap? Please give us an example of some of the strategies being utilized.
The achievement gap in Colorado is alarmingly wide. We seem to be doing a reasonable job educating middle class students but there is much room for improvement when it comes to educating our low-income students, many of whom are children of color. Schools that are seeing success use tutors for students who are not at grade level and need additional assistance; after-school and Saturday programs; providing rigorous courses and expecting the student will succeed - failing is not an option.
- How do you think SB 191 - the educator evaluator bill that largely ties student performance to principal and teacher evaluations - will affect teachers? Can you share some of the initial feedback?
SB 191 is a revolutionary piece of Colorado legislation that ties 50 percent of a teacher's evaluation to the performance growth of their students. The Race to the Top initiative led by Education Secretary Arnie Duncan is partially modeled on Colorado's bill. It is too early to tell the success of this new way to evaluate teachers. We are optimistic that with teacher involvement in the development of the evaluation model, teachers will embrace and support the new approach. Stay tuned!
- How does Colorado measure student success?
We measure individual student success by a number of different measures:
- Through the state test, which previously was called the CSAP, and now called the TCAP, we measure individual growth from one school year to the next. The expectation is all students will gain a minimum of a year's worth of growth in a subject area.
- Through graduation rates - the expectation is that every student will graduate high school ready to enter the work force and college.
- College acceptance rates - the expectation is that all interested students apply and are accepted to college and, that once attending college will not need remediation classes to keep up with college-level courses.
- All students will become good citizens and contribute back to their community and vote in all elections!!!!
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Washington DC/ OPINION: Business Group Gauges STEM 'Vital Signs' Across States
By Erik Robelen
Education Week [Edweek.org]
September 12, 2012
A collection of state-by-state reports on STEM learning issued today by a business coalition finds that in nearly every state elementary students are getting less instructional time for science than they did in the mid 1990s, and that many students lack access to rigorous STEM courses.
In addition, only five of 37 states where data were available set the standard for science proficiency at or above the level on NAEP, the nation's report card.
The announcement today from Change the Equation, a coalition of more than 100 corporate CEOs, is a continuation of the STEM advocacy group's "Vital Signs" series of reports on issues in STEM education.
- "States are undertaking a lot of heroic work in STEM education," said Linda Rosen, Change the Equation's CEO, in a press release. "We've come a long way, but we still have a lot of ground to cover."
Each four-page state report assembles a variety of statistics, including:
- changes in NAEP math scores,
- percentages of college graduates who earn STEM degrees, and
- the extent to which the state's science teachers took advanced STEM coursework in college.
Change the Equation produced reports for all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia. Below, I compare some of the key data points across an arbitrary sampling of states I've cobbled together. There's no magic here. I just tried to blend some of the most populous states with a dose of geographic and economic diversity.
NAEP Math Achievement
Average scale score for 8th graders in 2011, change since 2003
* California: 273 (+6 points)
* Maine: 289 (+7 points)
* Mississippi: 269 (+8 points)
* New Mexico: 274 (+11 points)
* New York: 280 (+1 points)
* North Carolina: 286 (+5 points)
* Ohio: 289 (+7 points)
* Texas: 290 (+13 points)
STEM Pipeline
Percentage of college degrees and certificates earned in STEM fields
* California (10 percent)
* Maine (10.4 percent)
* Mississippi (9.7 percent)
* New Mexico (13.3 percent)
* New York (10.2 percent)
* North Carolina (12 percent)
* Ohio (11.4 percent)
* Texas (12 percent)
Time for Science
Hours students in grades 1-4 spent each week learning science, comparing 2008 with 1994
* California (1.8 hours, down from 3.0)
* Maine (2.2 hours, down from 2.9)
* Mississippi (2.4 hours, down from 2.8)
* New Mexico (2.0 hours, down from 2.8)
* New York (2.5 hours, down from 3.3)
* North Carolina (2.2 hours, down from 3.4)
* Ohio (2.4 hours, down from 2.7)
* Texas (3.3 hours, up from 2.8)
Access to Calculus
Percentage of black and Hispanic students in schools that do NOT offer calculus
* California: Black (26 percent) Hispanic (25 percent)
* Maine: Black (10 percent) Hispanic (11 percent)
* Mississippi: Black (51 percent) Hispanic (49 percent)
* New Mexico: Black (61 percent) Hispanic (53 percent)
* New York: Black (43 percent) Hispanic (36 percent)
* North Carolina: Black (24 percent) Hispanic (28 percent)
* Ohio: Black (43 percent) Hispanic (30 percent)
* Texas: Black (24 percent) Hispanic (25 percent)
Teacher Content Knowledge
Percent of 8th graders whose science teachers took three or more advanced science courses in college
* California (72 percent)
* Maine (47 percent)
* Mississippi (56 percent)
* New Mexico (62 percent)
* New York (82 percent)
* North Carolina (58 percent)
* Ohio (45 percent)
* Texas (59 percent)
Science Labs
8th graders from low-income families whose schools have science labs
* California (84 percent)
* Maine (90 percent)
* Mississippi (60 percent)
* New Mexico (90 percent)
* New York (89 percent)
* North Carolina (85 percent)
* Ohio (78 percent)
* Texas (96 percent)
STEM Jobs
Number of STEM jobs available relative to state's unemployment figure.
* California (1.4 jobs available)
* Maine (3.3 jobs)
* Mississippi (1.7 jobs)
* New Mexico (2.1 jobs)
* New York (1.7 jobs)
* North Carolina (1.7 jobs)
* Ohio (2.3 jobs)
* Texas (2.5 jobs)
There is lots to mine in these state-by-state reports. From my quick analysis above, I noticed a few things.
- First, although instructional time for science has declined in most states (grades 1-4), Texas actually saw a fairly significant bump from 1994 to 2008. Makes me wonder what explains that. The data on access to science labs suggests that Mississippi has a long way to go catch up with many other states.
- Overall, national data show that 8th graders from low-income families are less likely to have access to science labs, 84 percent, compared with 89 percent for students not living in poverty. However, some states buck that trend, including Texas, where 96 percent of students in both categories have access to science labs, and North Carolina, where a slightly larger share of students from low-income families had such access (85 percent, compared with 84 percent for students not living in poverty.)
- The data indicate that, in many states, access to science labs is less common among students from low-income families than those who are not. In Ohio, for instance, 78 percent of low-income students had science labs, compared with 83 percent among their better-off peers.
Also, calculus access among black and Hispanic students showed troubling inequities. Of the eight states I examined closely, these were especially in evidence in Mississippi, New Mexico, and New York. But in all eight states, black and Hispanic students were less likely to have access to calculus than white students.
