Greetings!

Welcome to the January 19th  edition of the POST and Happy New Year
The HML website, Click here.
The HML  Flipboard magazine, Click here.
The HML Pinterest Board. Click here.
Archived issues of the HML Post, Click here.
 
Release of the report "School Performance in Context:  The Iceberg Effect" by James Harvey, Gary Marx, Charles Fowler and Jack McKay.
  On Tuesday, January 20th, the report on "School Performance in Context:  The Iceberg Effect" will be released to the Horace Mann League membership. 

Besides the full report, a summary report, a press release, and other information will be accessible under the School Performance in Context menu on the HML website.  A special edition of the HML Update will be sent to HML members on Tuesday, the 20th.  The HML, along with the National Superintendent's Roundtable will hold a news conference at The National Press Club in Washington, DC.


 


 

  
The Southern Education Foundation reports that 51 percent of students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade in the 2012-2013 school year were eligible for the federal program that provides free and reduced-price lunches. The lunch program is a rough proxy for poverty, but the explosion in the number of needy children in the nation's public classrooms is a recent phenomenon that has been gaining attention among educators, public officials and researchers.


 


 

Percentage of Poor Students in Public Schools Rises  by  Motoko Rich in the New York Times

   Just over half of all students attending public schools in the United States are now eligible for free or reduced-price lunches, according to a 
new analysis of federal data.  According to the report, which analyzed data from the National Center for Education Statistics, a majority of students in 21 states are poor. Close to two-thirds of those states are in the South, which has long had a high concentration of poor students. In Mississippi, for example, close to three-fourths of all public school students come from low-income families.


 


 

 Is There Any Relief in Sight for Our Overtested Kids?

Studies have shown the importance of the first few weeks of school for fostering relationships and building motivation in children. Instead, we were forced to take a route that was sterile and demoralizing-a school-wide lobotomy, if you will. Each morning my former students would trundle into my classroom to submit to an onslaught of questions whose responses were restrained to an A,B,C,D paradigm that rewarded compliance and rote memorization at the expense of creativity and critical thinking.


 

Challenging the Myth of Content vs. Character Education in the Age of Common Core  by Randa Grob-Zakhary on the Brookings website

  Academic content is without question an important platform for a growing knowledge base, and you'll not find any attack on the role of knowledge acquisition here. However, solid and growing evidence uncovering the importance of skills-including grit, but extending to other life-critical skills such as emotional self-control and critical thinking-has clearly opened our eyes to the link between these skills and success in school, jobs, and
 life.


 

Helping the Poor in Education: The Power of a Simple Nudge  by Susan Dynarski in the New York Times

  There are enormous inequalities in education in the United States. A child born into a poor family has only a 9 percent chance of getting a college degree, but the odds are 54 percent for a child in a high-income family. These gaps open early, with poor children less prepared than their kindergarten classmates.
 


 


 


 


 

  The charter school movement is built on the premise that increased competition among schools will sort the wheat from the chaff.  It seems self-evident that parents, empowered by choice, will vote with their feet for academically stronger schools. As the argument goes, the overall effect should be to improve equity as well: Lower-income parents won't have to send their kids to an under-resourced and underperforming school just because it is the closest one to them geographically.


 

5 Strategies For Raising A Kid Who Won't Be A Bully  by Charles Sophy  on the Huffington Post website

   No parent wants to get THAT call. On the line is another parent or the principal of your child's school with the news that your son or daughter has threatened another child. Or maybe your kid has started a vicious rumor about a former friend and spread it around the school. Or perhaps, he has relentlessly teased another child and pushed him to the ground. The iterations are endless - and all too common. If you're blindsided when you get the call, then you haven't been paying proper attention to your child, because the signs have probably been there. 

 

Dealing With the Fear of Public Speaking: Seven Tips  by Gadadhara Pandit Dasa  on the Huffington Post website

  It is the number one fear people carry around. According to Psychology Today "Our fear of standing up in front of people and talking is so great that we fear it more than death..." This might stem from the fear of making complete fools of ourselves and tarnishing the reputation we've worked hard to establish. That perhaps, people won't think we're as smart or savvy as we present ourselves to be.

1. Believe in Your Message

2. Get Personal and Tell Your Story

3. Rehearse in Front of a Mirror or Video Camera

and four more. 


 

Early-Childhood Education in the U.S.: An Analysis  in EDWeek.

Nationally, most-but not all-children ages 3 to 6 are enrolled in school. Results indicate that preschool participation is heavily influenced by a range of socioeconomic factors, including household income, parental education levels, and race and ethnicity. The state where a child lives also has an impact.

 


 

 

 Politico Updates the Debate About NCLB Testing

 by Diane Ravitch on the Ravitch blog
  NCLB is the name given to the basic federal education law, which was originally titled the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. The crucial question now, as Senator Lamar Alexander begins the revision of NCLB is what will happen to the mandate of annual testing from grades 3-8. Accountability hawks love it, especially when it is attached to high-stakes testing. Most teachers and parents hate it, because it narrows the curriculum, encourages constant test prep, promotes teaching to the test, and incentivizes cheating and gaming the system.
 

 
Gene Carter
Pedro Noguera
 The 95th Annual Meeting of the Horace Mann League will be held in conjunction with AASA's National Conference on Education, in San Diego, on Friday, February 27, 2014, at the San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina. 

Recipients of the League's major awards are Dr. Gene Carter, Emeritus Executive Director of ASCD and former public school leader along with Dr. Pedro Noguera, Professor at New York University and internationally recognized scholar on school improvement and student achievement. Click here for registration information.


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Horace Mann Prints

 The 11 * 18 inch print is available for individual or bulk purchase.  Individual prints are $4.00.  Discount with orders of 50 or more.  

For additional information about this or other prints, please check here.

 

    


 

 

A Gift:  On the Art of Teaching   by Horace Mann

In 1840 Mann wrote On the Art of Teaching. Some of HML members present On the Art of Teaching to new teachers as part of their orientation program.  On the inside cover, some write a personal welcome message to the recipient.  Other HML members present the book to school board members and parental organizations as a token of appreciation for becoming involved in their schools.  The book cover can be designed with the organization's name.  For more information, contact the HML (Jack McKay)
 
  
  

  

 
  

The Horace Mann League website (click here) contains information about the League's projects, activities, past events, galleries, publications, and much more.
 
 The HML Notes -Spring 2014 Edition, click here to download
 
All the past issues of the HML Posts are available for review and search purposes.
 
Finally, 6 links that may be of interest to you.
Jack's Fishing Expedition in British Columbia - short video

 

 

Reprinted with permission.

 

 

About Us
The Horace Mann League of the USA is an honorary society that promotes the ideals of Horace Mann by advocating for public education as the cornerstone of our democracy.

 

Officers:
President: Gary Marx, President, Center for Public Outreach, Vienna, VA
President-elect: Charles Fowler, Exec. Director, Suburban School Admin. Exter, HN
Vice President: Christine  Johns-Haines, Superintendent, Utica Community Schools, MI
1st Past President: Joe Hairston, President, Vision Unlimited, Reisterstown, MD
2nd Past President: Mark Edwards, Superintendent, Mooresville Graded Schools, NC

Directors:
Laurie Barron, Supt. of Schools, Evergreen School District, Kalispell , MT
Martha Bruckner, Supt., Council Bluffs Community Schools, IA
Evelyn Blose-Holman, (ret.) Superintendent, Bay Shore Schools, NY
Carol Choye, Instructor, Bank Street College, NY
Brent Clark, Exec. Dir., Illinois Assoc. of School Admin. IL
Linda Darling Hammond, Professor of Education, Stanford U. CA
James Harvey, Exec. Dir., Superintendents Roundtable, WA
Eric King, Superintendent, (Ret.) Muncie Public Schools, IN
Steven Ladd, Superintendent, Elk Grove Unified School District, Elk Grove, CA 
Barry Lynn, Exec. Dir., Americans United, Washington, DC
Kevin Maxwell, CEO, Prince George's County Schools, Upper Marlboro, MD
Stan Olson, Director, Silverback Learning, Boise, ID
Steven Webb, Supt. of Schools, Vancouver School District, WA

 

Executive Director:
Jack McKay, Professor Emeritus, University of Nebraska at Omaha, 
560 Rainier Lane, Port Ludlow, WA 98365 (360) 821 9877
 
To become a member of the HML, click here to download an application.