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Latest Private School Data from the USDE
 The U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics has released The Condition of Education 2011, a summary of "important developments and trends in education using the latest available data." The report may be downloaded in whole, or in part, here. A six-page sub-report on private school enrollment may be accessed, here.
After having increased from 5.9 million in 1995-96 to 6.3 million in 2001-02, national private school enrollment in grades K-12 fell to 5.5 million students in 2009-10. In 1995-96, students enrolled in private schools acounted for 12 percent of all students enrolled in grades K-12. In 2009-10, that figure dropped to 10 percent. Private school enrollment was lower in 2009-10 than in 1995-96 in all regions of the country. The number of private school students as a percentage of all students enrolled in grades K-12 was lowest in the West (8 percent), and highest in the Northeast (14 percent). Interestingly, the number of private school students as a percentage of total public and private enrollment decreased exactly 2 percentage points in both regions.
Enrollment in Catholic and Conservative Christian schools declined, while enrollment in unaffiliated and nonsectarian schools rose during the period of time reported. According to the report, 39.4 percent of all private school students enrolled in grades K-12 received their education in a Catholic school; 37.8 percent were enrolled in "other religious" schools, and the remaining 22.8 percent attended "nonsectarian" schools in 2009-10.
A plurality of private school students (25.9 percent) were enrolled in schools with total enrollments of between 150-299. Nearly half the national private school student population was found in schools whose total enrollments ranged from 150 to 499 pupils, with 5.4 percent attending schools enrolling fewer than 50 students, and 16.3 percent enrolled in schools with more than 750 pupils.
As for geographic distribution, 41 percent of all private schools were situated in urban areas, 39 percent were found in suburban areas, 7.1 percent were located in towns, and 12.9 percent existed in rural areas.
The racial/ethnic characteristics of the national private school population are broken out as follows:
White: 72.6 percent
Black: 9.2 percent
Hispanic: 9.4 percent
Asian/Pacific Islander: 5.7 percent
American Indian/Alaskan Native: 0.4 percent
2 or more races: 2.7 percent
In 2005-06, the national private school enrollment remained higher, at 6.07 million, than it had been in 1995-96 (5.9 million). Between 2005-06 and 2009-10, however, private school enrollment experienced a precipitous decline, falling from 6.07 million to 5.5 million (or more than 9 percent).
Recent data provided by the California Department of Education provides an indication that private school enrollment in the Golden State is stabilizing. From 2009-10 to 2010-11, the total California private school enrollment in grades K-12 dropped by only 3,823 students (less than 1 percent). By comparison, enrollment fell by 4.3 percent from 2008-09 to 2009-10, and by 5.0 percent from 2007-08 to 2008-09. The CDE figures, which are obtained from private school affidavit data, can be found, here. |
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New Kim Sutton Summer Workshops from CPSAC
 The California Private School Advisory Committee, K-12 is pleased to present a new, two-day workshop for nonprofit, private school teachers, resource specialists, and currulum coordinators serving students enrolled in grades K-5. The workshop, which is subvented in part by ESEA, Title II, Part A funding, will be offered in four locations.
Building a Strong
Elementary Math Program
Presented by:
Kim Sutton, M.S.
Dates and Locations
Pleasant Hill (East Bay)
August 2-3, 2011
Christ the King Elementary School
195-B Bandon Road
Pleasant Hill, CA 94523
Redding (Northern California)
August 4-5, 2011
Bethel Christian School
933 College View Drive
Redding, CA 96003
Orange (Orange County)
August 8-9, 2011
St. Joseph Center
480 South Batavia Street
Orange, CA 92868
Woodland Hills (San Fernando Valley - Los Angeles)
August 10-11, 2011
St. Mel Elementary School
20874 Ventura Blvd.
Woodland Hills, CA 91364
For All Locations
Per-Person Registration:
Early Bird (postmarked or faxed before June 25, 2011): $50.00
Postmarked or faxed after June 24, 2011: $75.00
Registration fee includes workshop materials, continental breakfast, and lunch, both days of the program.
Program Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., each day of the program.
Please mail your completed registration form, together with a check or purchase order payable to "SCOE Private Schools" to:
Private School Liaison
Sacramento County Office of Education
P.O. Box 269003
Sacramento, CA 95826-0003
Space is limited. Registration will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis!
Workshop Description
This two-day course is designed for K-5 teachers, resource specialists and curriculum coordinators. The class provides a powerful model for creating an intensive mathematics program that will empower students to achieve the goals of a standards-based curriculum. Kim Sutton has designed her model for effective management using four areas of instruction and reinforcement that will work with any mathematics curriculum. She will model focus activities that are short in duration but long on reinforcement of skills. Telling time, money, computational review, and algebraic challenges can all be used to reinforce math skills and teach correct math language. Kim will share her philosophy of daily drill and practice using motivational ideas that help students master basic arithmetic facts.
Throughout the intensive workshop, teachers will learn the importance of creating a structured mathematical environment in the elementary classroom through rich visual, auditory, and hands-on experiences. Participants will experience Kim's motivational style of instruction. They will also receive effective modeling of small group instruction. The class will include a critical set of measurement choice activities to enhance any weak areas of assessment in participants' elementary curriculum.
Participants will:
- Receive Kim Sutton's course training manual, Number Line, Toolkit, and Math Drills to Thrill book;
- Experience a powerful model for Building a Strong Elementary Mathematics Program through hands-on experiences that are meaningful and motivational;
- Build new mathematical knowledge through five areas of emphasis: number and operations, algebra, geometry, measurement, and data analysis and probability;
- Explore new titles of children's literature that are effective for mathematical content;
- Experience new and classic management "treasures" that assist in creating a visual connection to math content in the classroom;
- Discover specific tools for mathematical content to be constructed by elementary students using masters included in the couse manual;
- Practice using new drill and focus activities to review important math concepts; and,
- Gain ideas for effective whole class lessons that encourage participation by all students of diverse levels.
About the Presenter
Kim Sutton, M.S., is a motivational presenter who has taught thousands of teachers the joy and excitement of "hands-on" math. Kim's teaching experience includes over 25 years of classroom teaching as well as several years as a regional math specialist and university instructor. She has worked with schools and districts nationally and internationally as a staff development consultant. Kim has written many articles about pattern blocks and classroom management and is the author of Math Engineers, Math Focus Activities, Visual Tools, Number Line Workbook, Making Math Books with Children, The Powerful Numbers 0-100, Place Value With Pizzazz, Dynamic Dice, Do The Math, Math Drills to Thrill, and The Power of Digital Root. Experience what others have learned - Kim Sutton is a dynamic, extraordinary educator whose enthusiasm and love for teaching are contagious! She gives you practical, easy to implement information and ideas that you will use wiht your students for years to come. Don't miss this wonderful opportunity to be challenged and energized!
University Credit:
One unit of credit from Humboldt State University is available for an additional charge. These credential/licensure course offerings are designed primarily for elective or professional development purposes. Verification of hours of participation will be provided for continuing education requirements.
For additional information, please contact Jackie Adams, either by phone at 916-228-2207, or via e-mail. |
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Quick Takes
Impending ESEA Bill Raises Concern
This month's edition of the CAPE Outlook newsletter reports that the House Committee on Education and the Workforce will soon take up a new bill that may threaten longstanding federal equitability requirements designed to benefit all children, regardless of which schools they happen to attend. The bill is likely to extend greater flexibility to states and local school districts when it comes to determining how federal education dollars are spent. The Outlook article quotes Committee Chair John Kline (R - MN) as making the case for flexibility as follows: " Too often, federal education dollars come bundled with myriad requirements, rules and restrictions that can tie the hands of educators and undermine schools' ability to meet the unique needs of students. That's why we are developing a proposal that will give states and local school districts the freedom to target taxpayer resources where they're needed most. If a school determines greater resources are better spent on reading or new technologies, it should be free to adjust its budget to reflect the reality of its classrooms."
According to the Council for American Private Education, there is cause for concern: "When ESEA was reauthorized as the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001, equitable services for private school students and teachers began to break down. Under Title I, for example, funds set aside for Supplemental Educational Services, public school choice, and school improvement were reserved for public-school-only uses, even funds generated by the count of private school students. In Title II-A, flexible funds directed by districts away from professional development and toward class size reduction or teacher recruitment/retention are not available for equitable services to private school teachers." Both CAPE and CAPSO are strongly committed to the preservation of the federal education law's equitability provisions, all of which are designed to meet the needs of students, not schools. Once the anticipated bill has been introduced and evaluated, we will have more to report. Stay tuned!
The Toughest Grades - For Teachers The U.S. Department of Education has committed $1.6 million to fund a study whose purpose is to determine whether repeated exposure to 7th and 8th grade students traumatizes teachers. This article might have been a candidate for a You're Kidding Me, Right? column, but having taught 7th and 8th graders, I know this is no laughing matter. A team of Texas researchers has been commissioned by the USDE's Institute of Education Sciences to gauge the extent to which prolonged exposure to upper-middle-school students attenuates teacher effectiveness and, in turn, impacts student achievement. According to this Inside School Research blog piece, "The teachers and their students will be studied for three years, using a combination of teacher stress diaries and observational assessments, blood pressure and heart-rate monitors, school records and class observations." Some 200 math, science, and social studies teachers working in 20 Houston Independent School District middle schools will be studied. Having conducted similar research, the study's lead investigator, Teresa McIntyre estimates that as many as one-in-three teachers in the Houston district are "significantly stressed." The E-mailer wonders whether that estimate is liberal or conservative, and hopes the study will not suffer from experimental mortality. Ups and Downs In last week's Education Intelligence Agency Communique, Mike Antonucci crunches some numbers from a recent Census Bureau report showing that though in the grip of economic recession, per-pupil spending in the nation's public schools increased by 2.3 percent from 2008 to 2009. (Perhaps the "stimulus money" was shovel ready?) But that's not the zinger unearthed by Mr. Antonucci. He found that in 2008-09,"...48,238,962 students were enrolled in the U.S. K-12 public education system. That was a decline of 157,114 students from the previous year. They were taught by 3,231,487 teachers (full-time equivalent). That was an increase of 81,426 teachers from the previous year." Nearly every lost student was replaced with an additional employee.
In California, between 2003-04 and 2008-09, K-12 public school enrollment decreased by 1.4 percent. Over the same time period, the number of K-12 public school teachers increased by 1.1 percent. As Mr. Antonucci wryly concludes, "It's an odd enterprise that reacts to fewer clients by hiring more employees." |
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Holidays and Every Day
 On Memorial Day, one hopes that each of us found time between shopping outings, watching baseball, and eating barbecue to remember the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in service of our nation. When remembering the fallen, we think of them not as Democrats or Republicans, members of a particular race, faith, ethnicity, or gender, but as sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, neighbors, friends and loved ones, fellow citizens.
During the course of my life, the men and women serving in our armed forces have fought in a succession of controversial wars: Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Each conflict had, or has critics who protest(ed) that there was/is no good reason for our involvement. They contend(ed) that lives were/are placed at risk, and lost for no justifiable purpose. Those whose objections are sincere raise difficult moral and political questions resulting in a divisiveness that may never be reconciled.
Be that as it may, we manage to unite to honor those that serve. Therefore, it might behoove us to consider how we might best honor the fallen? Clearly, watching a parade, visiting a veteran's cemetery, or barbecuing hamburgers and hot dogs while feebly trying to convince ourselves that doing so is a celebration of the freedom for which our war dead lost their lives is woefully inadequate. How then?
While thinking about the question, it occurred to me that Memorial Day is flanked by two quasi-holidays that should also be laden with meaning: Mother's Day and Father's Day. In a way, these occasions bear a certain relation to Memorial Day. It is, after all, mothers and fathers who bring new life into the world. In so doing, they, like soldiers, assume a diminution of personal liberty in order to maintain our society. They, too, commit themselves to considerable sacrifice. It may not come in the form of the threats to life and limb encountered by soldiers, but the decision to bring a child into the world is accompanied not only by massive economic and physical obligations, but by exposure to the lifelong possibility of emotional pain and, sadly, at times, unspeakable loss. Needless to say, parenthood offers many of life's greatest blessings and joys, but few would contend that these come without sacrifice and exposure to risk.
How does one honor one's parents? Surely, the answer consists of more than a box of chocolates on Mother's Day, and a tie on Father's Day. We do honor to our parents by conducting our lives in such a manner as to make them proud and fulfilled. The purpose of the two holidays is simply to remind us that we owe our parents nothing less, each and every day.
So, too, with Memorial Day - a day that serves as a reminder that we remain capable of feeling and acting as one, without abandoning our distinctive identities or political leanings. Perhaps the most fitting way to honor the fallen is to contribute in some small way to healing the wounds that divide our nation, finding common cause, and bringing people together every day.
Every day can't be a holiday, but some holidays are very much about every day.
Ron Reynolds |
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Publication Note
The next edition of the CAPSO Midweek E-Mailer will be published on June 29, 2011.
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