Silver City/ Sixth Street Elementary School to Celebrate 130th Birthday
Silver City Sun-News Report
November 12, 2012
Sixth Street Elementary School will celebrate its 130th Birthday at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at the school at 405 W. 6th St.
The block between Sixth, Cooper, Kelly and Arizona streets has been home to a public school for 130 years.
- The first building, named the Central School, was started in 1878 funded entirely by public donations.
- The Territorial Legislature of New Mexico formally decreed it as the Silver Public School System in 1882, the first official school district in the state.
At Thursday's celebration, pictures and memorabilia from the school's history will be on display.
New Mexico Sen. Howie Morales will act as master of ceremonies. Kindergarten teacher and local musician Brandon Perrault will lead a student musical presentation, and light refreshments will be served. The public is invited to attend. For more information or to RSVP call (575) 956-2150.
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ABQ/ COLUMN: APS Boss Gives Thanks
By Winston Brooks [APS Superintendent]
ABQ Journal
November 13, 2012
When you run a school district of 89,000 students, about 12,800 employees and tens of thousands of parents, it's a given that you're going to be on the receiving end of headlines, sound bites, news stories and editorials that you don't like.
I accept that - admittedly, somewhat grudgingly - as part of the job, because I always know there are thousands of people and accomplishments to be proud of in Albuquerque Public Schools. They just don't always make the news.
So, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, and with all due respect to my friends at the Journal, who generously afford me this space to share my thoughts, I thought I'd write a few headlines of my own:
"Graduation Rates Stabilize or Grow in 12 of 17 APS High Schools" - It's true. Albuquerque's graduation rates, in spite of significant budget challenges, are better in 12 of our 17 comprehensive and alternative high schools. While there's much work still to be done, that's a huge accomplishment.
"Community Partners Step In to Help APS Programs and Schools" - You simply could not put a price tag on the support APS gets from businesses and individuals.
- Many help through the APS Education Foundation's Horizon Campaign, fundraisers like A is for Art! and the Superintendent's Cup.
- Others volunteer time and resources in schools throughout the city.
- I know, and our employees know, that at the ground level, APS is the rallying point for our community.
"International Baccalaureate Program Comes to APS" - Sandia High in 2013-14 will offer the renowned IB diploma program. IB works with more than 3,000 schools around the world, and Sandia will be one of the first public high schools in New Mexico to offer the program, in part because we want to offer more choices for parents, not fewer. To learn more about IB, go to www.aps.edu/ib.
"Too Many Good Kids To List in One Headline!" - Every day, we have great students doing great things. I'm going to name a few names, thanks to New Mexico Educators Federal Credit Union, which sponsors Student of the Week in the Journal:
- Brigette Lowe of Eldorado High;
- Victoria Namusavyumuremyi of Wilson Middle;
- Ashley Montoya of Edward Gonzales Elementary;
- Ellie Ford of Hubert Humphrey Elementary;
- Katerina Bonilla of Sunset View Elementary;
- Melinda Clibon of Cleveland Middle; Auston Nitz of Manzano Mesa Elementary; and
- Yalixza Gonzalez of Rudolfo Anaya Elementary. And, that's just September and October!
"Too Many Good Teachers, Too!" - Pepsi and the APS Education Foundation recognize the Teacher of the Month, and thanks to the Foundation's Horizon Awards, we also honor innovators with grants that go directly to instruction. Our teachers of the month so far are:
- Tia Christmas of Governor Bent Elementary;
- Susan Leo Russell of Susie Rayos Marmon Elementary and
- Kim Crabtree of Jackson Middle School.
The lead applicants for our Horizon Awards included:
- Gloria King of Eisenhower Middle; Heather Dahl of Eldorado High;
- Dale Simpkins of Hoover Middle;
- Debora Easton and Carl Brady of La Cueva High;
- Michele Lockhart-Henry and
- Lacy Fulbright of Rio Grande High;
- Sara Hutchinson of APS Fine Arts;
- Camilla Haneberg of Nex+Gen Academy;
- Laura Wicks of Kennedy Middle;
- Mona Grigsby-Suarez of Lew Wallace Elementary;
- Rhonda McDaniels of Manzano High;
- Sara Winsett of New Futures;
- Jennifer Abeyta and Hannah Hancock of Painted Sky Elementary;
- Scott McIndoo and Heidi Wells of Volcano Vista High;
- Carmen Trujillo of E.G. Ross Elementary;
- Ronda Davis of Highland High;
- Eleni Georgiou of Pajarito Elementary;
- Rebecca Gardner of Roosevelt Middle;
- Adolphus Washington of Sandia High;
- Tania Salinas of Sunset View Elementary and
- Arlene Rickard of Valley High.
And, that's not even mentioning the 50 co-applicants in these grants. Now, that's pretty impressive company.
I wouldn't pretend to be able to write a newspaper headline or produce a TV news story, but as we enter the holidays, I want you to know I'm grateful for the everyday stories of success that I know to be true throughout this district, all districts.
These folks are the meat-and-potatoes - in November, the turkey and stuffing - of what we do. I'm thankful to the people who make it happen for kids, and for the kids themselves.
So thankful.
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Santa Fe/ OPINION: 3rd-Graders Will be Talk of 2013 Legislature
By Milan Simonich
Farmington Daily Times
November 12, 2013
Would it be smart policy for the state Legislature to order retentions of thousands of third-graders who are in the bottom tier on reading scores?
Debate on that question will resume Tuesday at the Capitol.
At issue is whether local school boards or the state should decide how best to help poor readers become proficient ones.
Under current law, parents can - for one time only - overrule a school staff that recommends holding back a student.
- Republican Gov. Susana Martinez says this leads to "social promotion" - a system in which kids are advanced to the next grade, even though they cannot do the work.
Martinez for three legislative sessions has wanted a bill to automatically hold back third-graders who score poorly on reading tests. So far, she has not gotten her way.
- State Rep. Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, says Martinez's state-mandated retention plan was a copycat of a failed system in Florida.
A former teacher, Stewart, right, said legislators in January had a bill on reading that was mostly good. It would have added money and staff to help kids from pre-kindergarten through third grade become good readers.
The snag was the provision the governor wanted to force retentions, leaving parents without a say-so.
Stewart said Martinez's administration, for political purposes, wants to duplicate an initiative in Florida, even though it did not work well.
Florida kids who were held back against the will of their parents did not become better students. They became more likely to fall behind and quit school, Stewart said.
Democrats often call Martinez unwilling to compromise to find solutions. But forced retentions are an issue in which the governor has yielded on some of her demands.
In her first weeks in office last year, Martinez called for a bill requiring retentions of third-, fifth- and eighth-graders who were struggling in school.
Legislators said such a law would cause mass dropouts, especially among eighth-graders, who would give up rather than trail behind their peer group.
So Martinez, working with certain Democrats such as Rep. Mary Helen Garcia of Las Cruces, decided to focus on a retention bill that would force retentions of nobody beyond the third grade.
Kids who cannot read well by fourth grade are likely to lag behind, lose confidence and drop out of school, Martinez has said. She argued that a stand against passing along unqualified younger students must be made.
On Tuesday, the Legislative Education Study Committee will devote itself to reading issues.
It will start with a presentation from the committee staff on pre-K through third-grade reading policies and initiatives in selected states. Then staff from the Neuhaus Education Center will brief the committee on reading initiatives in Texas.
- Rep. Rick Miera, D-Albuquerque, chairs the committee. In this year's legislative session, he called Martinez's plan "the third-grade flunking bill."
"It's a bill that says we want parents involved in their children's education until third grade. Then we don't care what they think," Miera, right, said last winter.
But other Democrats said the state's low rankings in academics persuaded them that a drastic step such as forced retentions was necessary.
The automatic retention bill failed to clear the House and the Senate in a 30-day session this year. In 2013, the session is 60 days.
Will the extra time matter?
It may not. Democrats such as Stewart have no confidence in Martinez's plan for forced retention of students.
In turn, Martinez campaigned on ending social promotion in New Mexico. So far she has insisted on state power to hold back underperforming third-graders.
Retaining the bottom tier of third-graders would equate to as many as 3,000 kids statewide. But drafts of earlier bills have contained so many exceptions that the number could be far lower.
That raises more questions.
If various low-performing kids were exempted from automatic retention, would social promotions really be eliminated, or would the change be mostly cosmetic?
Also, if mass retentions become law, would the Legislature year after year allocate millions of dollars to help struggling young readers through summer school, through more teacher aides and through early childhood screenings?
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Tucson AZ/ Ethnic Studies Could Return in Proposed Desegregation Plan
By Lesli A. Maxwell
Education Week [Edweek.org]
November 12, 2012
Mexican-American studies is poised for a comeback in Tucson.
After a years-long, tumultuous fight that came to a head earlier this year when local school officials pulled the plug on the program, a leading civil rights group today announced that the ethnic studies courses will not only return to the school district, but could be expanded.
This turn of events stems from a much broader plan to settle a nearly four-decades-old desegregation lawsuit against Tucson Unified that must still be approved by the federal judge overseeing the case.
- The lawsuit involves both plaintiffs who are Latino and African American.
- The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or MALDEF, which represents Latino students, along with representatives of African-American students who are also plaintiffs in the suit, joined the Tucson school district and the U.S. Department of Justice in filing the desegregation plan.
A court-appointed special master, Willis Hawley, oversaw the plan's development. This is the second time in the lawsuit's history that a final settlement has been attempted. An earlier effort was appealed by the plaintiffs.
The new plan-intended to bring "unitary status" to Tucson Unified-involves numerous, highly prescribed components related to student assignment, transportation, enhancing the racial and ethnic diversity of its workforce, access to rigorous curriculum and programs, family and community engagement, dropout prevention, and discipline practices.
In a call with reporters on Monday, MALDEF lawyer Nancy Ramirez particularly highlighted the plan's restoration of the popular, yet politically charged Mexican-American studies program.
- In the draft settlement, the district would not only bring the program back to its high schools, but it would have to expand the course offerings to middle schools by 2014 and
- propose plans to bring "culturally relevant curricula" to students in the earlier grades.
- "This is a critical strategy for closing the achievement gap for Latino students," Ms. Ramirez said.
It was not even a year ago that the Tucson school board shuttered the popular Mexican-American studies program because they argued it was their only choice to avoid losing nearly $15 million in state funding for the 60,000-student district.
Arizona's state schools chief, John Huppenthal, had threatened to withhold the funds because he said the courses violated a new state law that prohibits public schools from offering courses that are designed for a particular ethnic group, advocate ethnic solidarity, or promote resentment toward a race or group of people.
Tom Horne, the Arizona attorney general-a former state schools chief and one of the most vocal opponents to Tucson's Mexican-American studies program-has until later this month to formally object to the plan.
Also Monday, researchers at the University of Arizona released a new study that found a "consistent and positive" relationship between students' participation in the Mexican-American studies program and his or her academic performance. The study was done at the request of the court's special master.
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Washington DC/ ELL-Focused Projects are Big Winners in i3 Competition
By Lesli A. Maxwell
Education Week [Edweek.org]
November 8, 2012
The U.S. Department of Education has announced 20 awards in the latest round of its Investing in Innovation competition, and proposals that pledge to improve outcomes for English-language learners are well-represented in the winners' circle.
Winners of the i3 competition-some school districts; others, nonprofit organizations-will share $150 million in federal prize money to help underwrite their various projects. As a condition of getting the federal money, they must secure private matching funds.
Under the department's rules for the competition, proposals had to include one of six areas (teachers and principals, STEM, standards, to name a few) as a chief focus, or "absolute priority," in Education Department parlance. But under a second tier of five "competitive preference priorities," applicants could earn additional points for targeting, for example, English-language learners and/or students with disabilities. According to the department, 8 winning applicants did just that.
Here's a quick summary of winners with a focus on English-learners:
- Texas A&M University won a "validation" grant of up to $15 million for its proposal to conduct further study on the effectiveness of specific language and literacy interventions for English-learners in kindergarten through 3rd grade that were previously examined. The study-called "English Language and Literacy Acquisition Validation: ELLA-V"-will be a randomized, controlled trial that seeks to parse out the impacts of individual interventions on the English-language acquisition of native Spanish-speakers at each of the four early grade levels. Texas A&M will partner with Sam Houston State University, Johns Hopkins University, and 25 urban, suburban, and rural school districts in Texas.
- Jobs for the Future also won a validation grant with an award of up to $15 million. This project, which will include two school systems in the predominantly Latino Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, as well as the Denver school district, focuses on putting Jobs for the Future's Early College High School program into practice. Each participating district has an ELL population of more than 30 percent.
- WestED's validation grant of up to $15 million is for its proposal to design an effective mathematics intervention that can be used in the early grades to address gaps in math knowledge that already exist between low-income and higher-income children when they enter kindergarten. Urban and rural school districts across California are partners in the project and all have high numbers of English-language learners. The interventions that are designed for home math activities will be provided to parents in English and in Spanish. Teachers will also receive guidance on using mathematical language in both languages.
- Intercultural Development Research Association has a "development" grant of up to $3 million. This project, called PTA Comunitario, focuses on family engagement and school culture as the centerpiece to improving college access and completion for English-learners in low-income, minority communities. The project, already in some Texas school districts, will expand to five additional districts in the Rio Grande Valley.
- The Clark County school system in Las Vegas secured a development grant for up to $3 million for a project that aims to increase access to and success in STEM coursework through project-based learning and extracurricular activities. Teachers who work with English-learners will be among the targeted group of educators who are trained to provide the instruction and supports to students in the program.
- The California Association for Bilingual Education won a development grant to implement a parent-engagement program in four Southern California districts with large numbers of English-learners who are either native Spanish- or Vietnamese-speakers. The program features a curriculum that helps parents understand their role in supporting their children's education, and now includes a component on the common standards.
- The California League of Middle Schools' development grant will establish a project to follow a cohort of ELLs and their families from the start of 6th grade in six middle schools through the fall of 10th grade at four high schools in Moreno Valley, Calif. It will use various strategies for student, peer, parent and family engagement, with a focus on keeping students on track to graduate from high school and enter college.
- Internationals Network for Public Schools, a small network of schools in New York City, California, and Virginia that serve newly arrived immigrants, will use its development grant to bring its curriculum and support model to additional schools in New York City and San Francisco that serve large numbers of English-learners.
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Washington DC/ Maryland College Presidents Praise Dream Act Victory
By Nick Anderson
Washington Post
November 7, 2012
Maryland's fight over in-state tuition benefits for undocumented college students - illegal immigrants, as some prefer - turned out to be no fight at all but instead a walkover.
Tuesday's vote on Question 4 showed a resounding 58 percent majority choosing to uphold the 2011 state law known as the Dream Act. The law sets a path for undocumented students to obtain in-state tuition rates if they attended a Maryland high school for three years, meet various other conditions and go first to community college.
Now, Maryland has become the first state to approve such a law through legislation and a popular vote. About 12 states around the country have similar laws and policies. Texas, under Gov. Rick Perry (R), became the first in 2001.
Two college leaders had a deep stake in the outcome:
- University of Maryland President Wallace D. Loh and
- Montgomery College President DeRionne P. Pollard.
For Loh, the issue of education for immigrants is personal. He was born in China, moved to Peru as a small child, grew up speaking Spanish as his native language and became a naturalized U.S. citizen. He voted for the law in Question 4.
On the meaning of the outcome, Loh said: "The American dream is alive. It can be adapted to every generation and to new circumstances. This will give all these young people living in the shadows hope."
He added: "I myself am an immigrant. Most of us are hyphenated Americans, except for those of us who were here before the Pilgrims landed. Even the Pilgrims did not have documents when they arrived in this country."
The in-state tuition rate at U-Md. is $7,175 a year. The out-of-state rate is $25,554. Many undocumented students in the state view passage of the law as essential to their hopes of getting a four-year degree.
But, Loh warned, the Maryland Dream Act does not ensure that large numbers of such students will be able to take advantage of in-state subsidy. The reason: Requirements in the law that students or their parents file state tax returns and meet several other conditions.
Loh said a back-of-the-envelope guesstimate is that 20 students a year or so would qualify for benefits at U-Md. That's insignificant at a university of 37,000. Also, undocumented students generally don't qualify for the usual sort of financial aid, an issue Loh hopes to start addressing.
As leader of Montgomery College, Pollard presides over a school that has had the most liberal policy on tuition discounts in the state. The school grants in-county rates to all Montgomery County high school graduates who obtained a diploma within the past three years. Period. That means that undocumented students view the 27,000-student college as a haven. Elsewhere in the state, they have been forced to pay out-of-state rates to go to community college.
Critics alleged in a lawsuit that Montgomery College tuition policy is illegal, but they have so far failed in court to block the policy. Their lawsuit is pending in the Court of Appeals of Maryland, the state's highest court.
The result on Question 4, Pollard said, is "validating our long-standing practice" on tuition. For students who qualify under the Dream Act, she said, it means "They can live without fear. Now they'll know there is a direct path for them" to get an associate's degree and then a bachelor's degree. Pollard, like Loh, was an outspoken supporter of the Dream Act.
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St. Petersburg FL/ Teacher Rob Tarrou's YouTube Video Math Lessons: Global Access for Students
Huffington Post Report
November 12, 2012
Teacher Rob Tarrou is helping students around the world with math, without leaving St. Petersburg, Fla.
Tarrou has been teaching at St. Petersburg High School for 17 years, but started posting video lessons to YouTube last fall. Now, "Tarrou's Chalk Talk" has more than 300 videos covering subjects from factoring to matrices, and has more than 3,000 subscribers from more than 100 countries.
With more than a half million views, students in Australia, Sweden, India and Brazil, among others, have all written in to express their thanks and support. Comments on the "Tarrou's Chalk Talk" Facebook page sing the educator's praises.
The videos started as a way for Tarrou to teach a student who couldn't attend class, the Tampa Bay Times reports. Now, his St. Petersburg High students use them to supplement their learning, share with others, and wish their other teachers offered the same out-of-class resources.
- "My cousin in Croatia actually watches the videos," 16-year-old junior Martin Grabovac told the Times.
And while Tarrou isn't reaping in the millions kindergarten teacher Deanna Jump did by selling her lesson plans online, he's earning a little extra income of about $100 a month from ad sales.
Tarrou's approach echoes the now hugely popular Khan Academy, which similarly started when founder Salman Khan created tutoring videos to help his cousin with math. The Academy now boasts more than 3,500 videos in its online library.
- The so-called "flipped classroom" model has been gaining popularity across the country as students are becoming increasingly digital learners and as schools rapidly begin to adopt technology in teaching. The model has proven successful in a number of classrooms, as students listen to lectures at home at their own pace and use class time to complete assignments - allowing teachers to offer one-on-one, customized instruction.
But the system isn't without it's flaws.
- Some are finding that flipping classrooms is more popular and feasible in wealthier communities where students universally have access to Internet and computers at home.
- Critics also argue that the heavy reliance on teacher lectures is not as effective as live, hands-on learning.
Even so, Tarrou's lessons are proving successful for both his students in St. Petersburg and those learning from him around the world. His "z-score Calculations & Percentiles in a Normal Distribution" video lesson has alone received more than 33,500 views.
"I don't like math," 17-year-old senior Melissa Kent told the Tampa Bay Times. "But it's my favorite class because of Mr. Tarrou."
