Why do some schools with disadvantaged and low-SES populations succeed "against all odds"? In Canada, one economist set out to learn the reason. His findings? Those schools that did the best job of "doing more with less" were those with strong administrative leadership, teaching teams, well-organized activities, and good communication with parents. The researcher points out that high performing schools and high performing students don't always correlate. Also, in a statement that may endear him to those of us in gifted education who are tired of defending G/T programs from those who consider them classist, he stated that findings linking SES and test performance were "not very interesting:"
www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1111963808667&DPL=IvsNDS%2f7ChAX&tacodalogin=yes
In Our Eyes
As anyone who's ever tried to start up a controversial program in a school knows, it's a tricky business at best—and these days, the definition of what can be controversial is getting broader and broader. The American Association of School Administrators offers some guidelines on how to promote programs, using Kohlberg's stages of moral development as a backdrop for understanding the views of others:
www.aasa.org/publications/sa/2005_04/hedgepeth.htm
Up In Arms: Science Teachers and the Origin of Life
In debates between creationism and evolution, we most often hear about creationists who feel their values and beliefs threatened by science in the classroom. But what about the other side? According to a recent survey, nearly 1/3 of science teachers feel pressured to teach creationism, even when it goes against their own understanding of science. The situation has drawn the attention of the congressionally-chartered National Academy of Science, whose chief recently put out a call to all members—including leading American scientists—to fight this threat to science teaching in America's public schools:www.usatoday.com/news/education/2005-03-23-evolution_x.htm
Stopping the "Rollercoaster"
This creatively-titled website isn't about amusement parks—au contraire, it's about the very serious topic of helping parents to help their teens cope with life, on issues ranging from depression to delinquency. The site offers tips for keeping lines of communication open, suggestions for the summer, and lots more:
www.pleasestoptherollercoaster.com/Parenting-teenagers.htm
Grow Your Own Teachers
With the teacher shortage a growing problem for many schools, some districts have solved the problem by "growing their own" future teachers—recruiting high school students with an interest in education to do internships in teaching while still in high school, then offering scholarships to a local college and a guaranteed job in the school system afterward. The district's superintendent talks about the program here:
www.scholastic.com/administrator/marapr05/articles.asp?article=newsmaker
Data for All!
Whether you're a researcher or a teacher or both, SchoolMatters is a great source for the latest in education research and analysis. The website, funded by a Gates grant, provides straight talk about every kind of education research imaginable, organized by state and region:
www.schoolmatters.com
Grammar Growth
With the new focus on writing skills in the SATs, grammar instruction may be making a comeback. But while more teachers and schools are interested in raising the level of grammar instruction offered to students, teachers favor different means of achieving the same end: some prefer to teach grammar as a separate subject, while others like to make it part of overall instruction in reading and writing on various topics:
www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/04/03/war_of_the_words_in_class_grammar_rears_its_ugly_head
A Dancing RevolutionMany kids enjoy Dance Dance Revolution—and some may now get to play it at their school systems' expense! A program in West Virginia is now studying the impact that DDR has on students' weight, with an eye to using the popular game to help overweight students slim down.
www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2005/04/02/study_uses_video_games_to_fight_obesity
The Impact of Bullying
We all know that bullying is all too often a fact of life for students, and the incidents of school violence at Columbine and other schools show what can happen when the bullied reach the breaking point. But what are some of the less-known consequences of victimization? A recent study found that bullying victims not only show higher rates of absenteeism and fewer friends than other students, but also may show effects, such as depression, that last into adulthood:
www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1047497,00.html
A Trip To New York—From Your Own Desk
The New York Public Library is making its image collections accessible to patrons around the world via its new Digital Gallery. And, unlike a "meatspace" library, patrons can't just queue up outside when the gallery is full—the first time the site went online, the library had to take it down within days in order to improve their ability to handle the massive volume of traffic the site generated. It's well worth the wait, though, and unlike pictures in a live gallery, these can be downloaded and printed as you view them:digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/index.cfm
Read an article about the gallery here:www.csmonitor.com/2005/0321/p25s01-stin.html
An Investment With Dividends
In France, President Jacques Chirac proposed a bold initiative to make thousands or French-language classics and other French resources available online. His motives, however, aren't purely altruistic: the move came in part as a response, even a counterattack, to the American-based Google Print project, which intends to make millions of English-language works available online. Supporters of Chirac's plan expressed concern that Google Print might contribute to America's "cultural domination".
Recently, the Public Education Network delivered an open letter to the Bush administration on the ever-engrossing subject of NCLB. The letter requested adequate funding and support for key provisions of the act, including parental involvement and state accountability, and was based on a series of open community meetings intended to give concerned citizens a chance to make their voices heard. Read the letter and report here:
Make Your Voice Heard!
"A Marathon and a Sprint"
Making School a Home for Students
This article from the First Amendment Schools Project addresses the vital role that schools can play in students' mental health. In the wake of the Red Lake shootings, they look at ways to reach disaffected students, including allowing students more opportunities to speak out in school and offering them the chance to connect in a meaningful way with adults: