AJC.com > Blogs > Get Schooled > Archives > 2005 > March
March 2005
School Data-O-Rama
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here’s a new site I haven’t had a chance to fully explore. It’s put out by Standard & Poor’s, a division of the McGraw-Hill Companies, and claims to be “the largest easily searchable collection of education performance data ever assembled.”
Click here
‘Let Me See You In…’ Jail
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The mother of a Redan Middle School boy was arrested Tuesday after she threatened her son’s counselor saying, “Let me see you in the street,” authorities said.
The woman got in the counselor’s face and was being loud and disruptive, the counselor told police. She called the school police officer who attempted to place the mother in handcuffs. She resisted, saying she wasn’t going anywhere, according to the police report.
She hit the police officer in the right eye with her fist. As she was being arrested she told her son to take her purse. Police took the purse and later found a .380 caliber handgun inside.
DeKalb Police charged her with two felonies and two misdemeanors.
Advanced Placement Vs. International Baccalaureate
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So the top colleges want to see one of these two signals of a tough curriculum on a student’s transcript. Which one is better?
Advanced Placement courses are for students who want to tackle college-level work. Teachers have latitude on curriculum and teaching methods, but students are held accountable for the material through standardized tests they must do well on to be eligible for college credit.
AP courses are great for students who excel in a specific subject, such as math, science, foreign language or literature. Critics have accused AP courses of being dry and overly focused on the standardized test.
International Baccalaureate, in high schools, is an intensive two-year curriculum that gives students a well-rounded education with an international focus. Critics of IB say it’s too expensive for some schools to adopt. Though IB is generally less familiar to Georgians, its popularity is growing. The IB program is widely respected by top colleges.
What do students and parents think about these programs?
UGA…Letters are In the Mail
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Acceptance letters are in the mail and high school seniors have been logging onto UGA’s Web site since Friday to see whether they got in.
According to a UGA press release: The admissions office has extended offers to 7,825 of the nearly 12,300 students who applied. About 500 students have been placed on an unranked waiting list. The goal is to enroll a freshman class of 4,600.
Those applying had an average GPA of over 3.5 and average SAT of 1218. Those accepted had an average GPA of almost 3.8 and an average SAT of 1268. Almost all have taken advanced placement or international baccalaureate classes, with the average student taking three of these college-level classes.
In terms of diversity, more than 1,600 of the students offered admission identified themselves as other than Caucasian and another 57 chose not to identify their ethnicity. Race and ethnicity were not considered in reviewing students’ applications.
All admitted students are required to reserve their space by May 2 with a nonrefundable commitment deposit of $200. Following receipt of the deposit, invitations to new student orientation are mailed in May. At that point, admissions officials will notify wait-listed students as space in the class is available.
Did you or your child get into UGA? Get rejected? Is it a good thing that UGA can be so selective? Or does it shut out good students? Is getting into UGA overrated?
On another topic, leave it to my mother to chide me for failing to post on Friday. Sorry!
Social Promotion
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I hate this term, actually, “social promotion.” It sounds so political, and yet for a child it is the hugest of huge deals. It’s the difference between getting to go onto the next grade even when you can’t do the work in the grade you’re in or the most humilating of alternatives: getting held back.
State law required last year’s third graders to pass the reading portion of the CRCT to get promoted. Almost all of them did. (It’s a miracle!… Or was it just an easy test to pass?) This year, fifth graders must pass the reading and math portions to make the leap to middle school. Seems like a sensible policy, right?
Well, there’s actually scant evidence that holding kids back enhances their chances of graduating. And, there’s the issue of what to do when kids get held back more than once and are older and bigger than their classmates. What to do then?
I don’t think there’s any question that “social promotion” does the child no favors, but what should schools do with the kids who by the end of the year don’t know enough to move on to the next grade?
Looking ‘Beyond What’s On the Paper’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I recently attended a crowded meeting in north DeKalb, where parents spoke up on school crowding and how to fix it. The most logical solution, some say, is to redraw attendance boundaries so schools that currently have too few students will fill up, thus relieving overcrowded schools like Vanderlyn and Austin elementary schools.
Parents at Vanderlyn and Austin, however, made it clear they want to stay. One Vanderlyn Dad said he checked the test scores and parents would be fools to want to be anywhere but Vanderlyn or Austin. He said the other north DeKalb schools appear to be “also rans.”
This drew boos from parents, most likely from Chesnut and Kingsley. They say their schools are just as good. In fact, one very proud Kingsley Mom took to the mic, noting that Kingsley actually beat Austin in several categories. So there!
A Chesnut mother implored parents to give her school a chance. “We have to get over what’s on paper,” she said. She noted that children from homes where the parents are educated score high on standardized tests across Dunwoody, regardless of the school. Some schools, like Chesnut, have more students from homes were the parents are not as educated.
With test scores so important in driving a school’s reputation and a neighborhood’s property values, can parents look beyond what’s on the paper and support a school that has lower overall test scores than the neighboring school?
This is not just a DeKalb issue. Every metro Atlanta school district has wealthier neighborhoods and less wealthy ones. Are the teachers at the schools with high test scores really better? Or are the schools just lucky they don’t have any apartment complexes in their attendance zone?
BTW, I would like to apologize to the parents of Vanderlyn Elementary School. In writing about the overcrowding at their school for Thursday’s paper, I inadvertently referred to the school as Vanderbilt in the fourth paragraph. (Hey, one’s a precursor to the other, right?) Not the silliest mistake I’ve ever made in print, but it’s a contender for the Top 10. We corrected the story online, but by the time a reader discovered the error, the DeKalb and Northside editions had already gone to press. Thanks to the eagle-eyed reader who pointed out the mistake.
One Teacher’s Very Bad Day
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Today, I got the following e-mail from the Clayton County school district:
The following is an account of an incident this morning at FPHS based on reports from school officials at Forest Park High School …
At around 8:25 this morning as students were arriving at the school, a teacher asked a female student (age 16) who was sitting on the sidewalk in the area that students were arriving, to move to the cafeteria or the gym. After repeating this request, the female student basically told the teacher not to bother her. When the teacher approached the student, she reportedly put her hand in his face touching him. The teacher then took her by the arm to take her to the office. The female student protested.
As this action was taking place, the female student’s brother (17) told the teacher to leave her alone. He then punched the teacher in the face. The teacher, in an effort to gain control on the brother, slipped in the grass and went down with the brother. While down on the ground two additional male students joined in the fray, one (16) punched the teacher on the other side of his face, while the other (16) grabbed the teacher by the head and waist. As other school officials and staff members arrived to gain control of the situation, the brother and sister left campus.
The school’s SRO, who works with Forest Park Police, investigated the incident with assistance of other Forest Park officers. The two male students who joined in the situation as well as the brother have been arrested and charged with battery on a teacher and with the disruption of the operation of a school. All students involved are members of the school’s freshman class.
The teacher was treated for minor injuries at the scene. The teacher was allowed to leave the campus after participating in the investigation.
Talking Points
We commend the school’s administration and staff for taking swift action in dealing with this matter so that the situation stayed contained and that other students and staff were safe and out of harms way.
We also commend the Forest Park Police and Forest Park High’s SRO Sgt Randall for their prompt and professional handling of the situation.
What Educators Earn
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Salaries of public employees are a matter of public record. Last week, my colleague, Paul Donsky, showed me that they are also just a click away.
Parents Wanna Know
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Should students have to get their parents’ permission to join a school club? Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox has proposed a rule requiring club sponsors to make sure members have the OK from their parents to join. Though the proposal doesn’t mention clubs for gay students, nobody’s talking about the importance of Mom and Dad knowing their kid is in the Spanish club. Here’s Mary MacDonald’s story.
Should this become a state policy?
AP Follow Up and Block Scheduling
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Several metro Atlanta school districts (Fulton, Forsyth and Douglas) responded to my query about AP courses and how they teach them in schools with a 4 X 4 block schedule. There are a variety of ways districts handle it, none of which include creating phantom courses as DeKalb did.
*Teach AP courses on alternate days for the entire year.
*Squeeze the AP course into one semester (90 minutes per class instead of 50 minutes). If the course is taught in the fall semester, the teacher holds review sessions in the spring leading up to the administering of the AP exam.
*Pair two AP courses together and teach each one for the entire year during a single block.
School districts agree the 4 X 4 block schedule poses some challenges with AP courses. But they have found ways to offer the courses and have the block schedule. There are some disadvantages for AP students. If they want to take an AP course that is spread over two semesters, that would cost them a course they may also want to take. Also, they may have to take the course the AP course is paired with, even if they hadn’t planned to.
Administrators say they have asked the College Board to give AP exams after the fall semester, but that would cost money and so far it has not come to pass. No one I spoke with saw this issue as a reason to abandon the 4 X 4 block.
Speaking of block scheduling, do you love it or hate it? I see it as merely a scheduling issue, with pros and cons. I don’t see it as a catalyst for rapid school improvement nor do I see it as something that should hinder students. It seems a matter of preference.
It’s Budget/Headache Season
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Local school boards are starting to work on budgets for the 2005-2006 school year. Here’s a story about Atlanta’s plight.
The Atlanta city school system has the second-highest per-pupil spending in metro Atlanta and enrollment is falling. Yet, money is tight because expenses are rising. Go figure.
If you want to develop a searing headache, try to figure out exactly where money in a large or midsize school district goes. The short answer is salaries. But a clear picture of school-by-school spending is generally elusive. This year, I’m covering DeKalb’s budget process and I’m determined to get a detailed breakdown. When I do, I’ll share it…
Have you ever tried to dissect a school district budget?
Changing the subject: Are you a Clayton County parent? I’m looking for Clayton parents for a story I’m working on. Please shoot me an e-mail at pghezzi@ajc.com if you fit the bill.
AP Confusion in DeKalb
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
What to make of the AP situation in DeKalb?
Some DeKalb high schools switched this year to a 4 X 4 block schedule, which means students take four courses in the fall and four different courses in the spring. District officials came up with a creative way to make sure Advanced Placement courses ended in the spring just before AP exams. (Students who do well on the exams can earn college credit.)
Administrators instructed teachers to pair the AP course with a “dummy course” and to give the student the same grade in the dummy course as in the AP course. This has caused a myriad of transcript problems and confusion, as well as questions of ethical violations. Superintendent Crawford Lewis is trying to sort it all out.
So am I. I know other schools have lamented the challenge of teaching complex courses such as AP Biology during one semester, even though class time is extended to 90 minutes. But I have never heard of extending the AP course into two semesters, which greatly increases the amount of seat time students devote to the class.
AP teachers, parents and students in other districts with 4 X 4 block schedules, how does your district handle AP classes?
On the Education Beat
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A storyin the Columbia Journalism Review has generated some buzz in my profession. Basically, the author says we education reporters spend too much time transcribing the party lines from school district administrations and not enough time inside classrooms. That’s where we’ll find the real stories, she says.
Here’s an exerpt: “Ironically, just when some reporters are losing touch with their true subjects - children - many parents are becoming more curious about what exactly is happening in the classroom. In wealthier districts, so-called “helicopter parents” hover over every aspect of their children’s lives, scouring relevant reports as they groom their offspring for success in the world of high-stakes testing and college admissions. In low-income neighborhoods, parents rely on the media to help them negotiate the new rules and new tests, along with the new possibilities for tutoring or transferring as they angle to keep their children from being left behind. Both groups of parents want to know the difference between standards and standardized tests, between reading scores and real knowledge. But such stories don’t lend themselves to simple answers, and so are too often missed by reporters who come at the beat from the wrong end.”
I don’t spend as much time in the classroom as I would like, because I’m so busy with other aspects of this complex assignment. As important as it is to observe children learning to read, it’s also important to pressure the state to release the number of questions required to pass the state reading test. I spent a good bit of time doing just that last year. I’m not looking to blow my own horn or to get defensive, just to give an example of how I spend my time. I try to provide a mix of stories readers will take time to read.
I would love to hear from you. What do you look for in education stories? Do you want to read about what’s going on in classrooms? Do you want to read about what the school board is up to? How about the Georgia Department of Education? The Legislature? College admissions officers? What’s most important to you?
The Freshman Academy Concept
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Some love it, some don’t. I learned this reading my favorite education blog not called Get Schooled…It’s called The Chalkboard
North Carolina parents have recently successfully fought a Freshman Academy coming to their school. The idea is to sequester freshman and make sure they get the resources and support they need to make it to tenth grade. But some parents see this as a plan that benefits remedial students, but not those who are advanced. Those students want to be a part of the whole high school. Also, with so much attention on ninth graders, the parents feel older students will lose out on course offerings.
Many metro Atlanta high schools have created freshman academies. Is this a good model?
Bring On the New SAT
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After years of hysteria over the SAT adding a writing section, students will finally sit down and take the new SAT on Saturday. The change has been a boon for the test-prep industry, agony for students who say they can’t write well under time constraints and frustration for those who say their strength is math. (The college admissions test is now two-thirds reading and writing)
Lost amid the hype is this good news for the Class of 2006: Yes, you are the guinea pigs. Therefore, college admissions folks for the most part are going to cut you some slack. At most schools, including UGA, the writing portion won’t factor into the admissions formula this year. College admissions officers want to study the data for a couple of years and see whether performance on the writing portion is indeed a predictor of college success.
For more info on the new SAT, read my story, and check out the College Board Web site.
Parents and students, what do you think about the new SAT.
Surviving Ninth Grade
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When I first started covering education in 1997, all the talk was about first and second grade, teaching kids to read. Then, middle school. We all wrote stories about “the muddle in the middle.”
Now, educators are talking about ninth grade. How to make sure more kids make it to tenth and graduate with a diploma. “If you can get a student to tenth grade, they’re probably going to make it,” a school official is quoted as saying in today’s story.
What can be done to help ninth-graders?
DeKalb School Board Gets Closer To A Raise
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here’s the story. Though board members didn’t get as much as they asked for, $6,000 is still a leap. They’ll now make $18,000 a year, pending approval from the Senate delegation.
How much should school board members make?
Georgia Isn’t Always Last
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We get a lot of studies dropped on our desks over here. Today, Andrea Jones, who covers colleges, got one from the Atlanta Regional Consortium for Higher Education or ARCHE.
Georgia ranks 37th among states for the percent of residents age 18 to 20 enrolled in college with 28 percent. New Jersey leads the nation with almost 40 percent, followed by California, New York, Connecticut and Maryland. Trailing Georgia are Texas, Utah, Alaska and Idaho. Montana (Who knew?) is ranked last with 21.8 percent. The organization’s source is the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2002 - 2004 population studies.
The report goes onto highlight the rather obvious disadvantages for those without high school and college educations. “More than three-fourths of public assistance goes to citizens with a high school diploma or less,” the report says. “Three out of four Georgians living in poverty have a high school diploma or less.”
Other benefits of a college degree: You get to pay more taxes! (“…People with more education contribute more to the state’s tax base…”)
And this oft-cited statistic: “Dropping out of school can lead to big trouble and big bills to pay. More than two-thirds of Georgia prison inmates never finished high school Last year alone, the state spent more than a half billion dollars on their incarceration.”
ARCHE’s mission is, in part, “to inform civic and business leaders and the general public of the direct and indirect ways in which higher education benefits the Atlanta region and the State of Georgia.”
Lawyering Up
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Are public schools getting choked by laws, policies and regulations? A self-described bipartisan group called Common Good (“Restoring Common Sense to American Law”) thinks so. In a report titled, “Over Ruled: The Burden of Law on American Public Schools,” the organization showshow complicated it is to fire an inept teacher, suspend a student with disabilities, replace a heating system and organize an athletic event.
Manuals spell out the proper procedures for reporting suspected child abuse, understanding the federal law guaranteeing a free and appropriate education to every child and making sense immigration laws. Charter schools, teacher contracts, food safety … all potential legal landmines. Sure, a school board attorney can get involved once a lawsuit is filed, but those on the frontlines, teachers and principals, need to know an awful lot to avoid getting into legal trouble in the first place. It seems if you work in a school, a law degree would come in handy.
Common Good founder Philip K. Howard writes: “Intractable problems usually have a silent partner, some assumption that everyone takes for granted. In education, the practice of reformers has been to identify a worthy goal—say, safety or fairness—and then to create a detailed legal structure to make sure it happens. Taken alone, each legal requirement seems reasonable. Together, they present an insurmountable legal barrier, blocking even the simplest choices.”
A Hot Topic: When Should Summer Vacation End?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We have two reporters, Mary MacDonald and Jen Sansbury, covering today’s public hearing on a bill that would force school districts to start the school year no earlier than late August. This is clearly a hot issue. Hundreds are expected to attend.
Local school boards want the power to set their own calendars, but some parents say the earlier and earlier start dates (most metro districts started in early August this year) are interfering with family time.
I know we’ve talked about this before, but I thought it wouldn’t hurt to throw it back out there. Do parents not buy the school district’s rationale for starting school in early August (so final exams can be given before winter break)?
(Friday’s update: Lacking support from Gov. Sonny Perdue, this bill appears dead, my colleagues say. The general sentiment among lawmakers: “Take it up with your local school board.”)
Berkeley Teachers Are Really Ticked
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
An Associated Press story reports that students in the Berkeley, Calif. school district aren’t getting written homework assignments, because teachers are refusing to grade work on their own time. The teachers, angry after going two years without a pay increase, are sticking strictly to the hours they’re contracted to work.
As a result, a black history event was canceled, and parents had to staff a middle-school science fair.
The action was organized by the Berkeley Federation of Teachers, which wants teachers to get a cost-of-living increase next year.
“I have stacks of papers I haven’t graded,” said Judith Bodenhauser, a high school math teacher. “Parents want to talk to me; I don’t call them back.”
Rachel Baker, who has a son in kindergarten, said: “Teachers do a lot with a little. All of a sudden, a lot of things that they do are just gone.”
Georgia teachers, do you feel their pain?
Home Schooling Anyone?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So I wrote a story for today’s paper that touches on home schooling. I don’t get a chance to write about this topic as often as I would like, because of time constraints. I am still curious about many facets of home schooling. I’d love to hear from more families who do it…
How do you decide what materials and curriculum to use? How do you handle it when your child isn’t motivated? Whom do you turn to when you have a question about an aspect of your child’s education? Also, what motivated you to teach your child at home? And any home schooling dads out there?
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