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February 2008
Don’t know much about history or literature
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You’d think teenagers would know who this country fought during World War II.
Not so. A survey of 1,200 17-year-olds found many students ignorant in history and literature. Common Core, a non-partisan group advocating for stronger liberal arts in school, commissioned the survey.
Here are some of the findings:
Nearly 25 percent couldn’t say who Adolph Hitler was.
Less than half knew the Civil War took place in the last half of the 19th century.
About 45 percent thought “The Scarlet Letter” was about correspondence or witch trials.
More than half didn’t know Oedipus was.
Why is this happening? Common Core and other groups say part of the blame rests with the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Teachers emphasize subjects tested under the law and other areas are pushed aside.
Do you think this survey represents what teenagers know? If so, how did we get here and what can we do to fix it?
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Challenging the school principal
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Parents and students often write letters and call school board members protesting a decision made by a school principal. But a Buford High graduate has gone beyond that: he’s suing his old principal.
Joshua Pugh, a 2006 graduate from Buford High, filed a claim against Principal Stephen Miller in magistrate court earlier this month. Pugh said Miller made false statements about his possible involvement in several racial incidents at the school in 2006. Miller expelled Pugh for a year following a school tribunal on the incidents, according to the claim. The Buford school board later overturned the expulsion.
Pugh says the false statements led to “community outcry and violence” against him. He is seeking $5,819 in legal fees plus punitive damages.
(As an aside, Miller resigned in January, weeks before Pugh filed the lawsuit and the ethics complaint. Read about Miller’s resignation here.)
How far have you gone to challenge a decision made by a principal or teacher?
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Taste-testing lunch
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Diane Stepp wrote about students trying out some food Cobb County may put on school lunch menus next year.
Students sampled healthier fare like soymilk, toasted green beans and whole grain penne pasta. Kids found some items yummier than others.
For the last couple of years, schools across the country have offered healthier food in cafeterias. Items with zero trans fat, lower sodium and other healthy buzz words can be found next to pizza and tater tots.
What would you like to see added to the school lunch menu?
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Straight A’s or else
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Two Atlanta parents pleaded guilty to beating their son because he didn’t earn all A’s on his report card.
This story is an extreme and sad example of what some parents do to push their children to earn top marks.
We’ve all heard of parents and schools who use special methods to encourage children to get high grades. Some parents promise cars, lavish gifts and expensive trips. Schools hand out iPods, bikes and special treats to students who excel.
How far can you push kids to do well in school before it gets to be too much?
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To Resign or Not to Resign
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It seems as though everyone is pushing members of the Clayton County School Board to resign.
This pressure of course stems from the scathing report issued by Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The group investigated allegations of micromanaging, misuse of funds, abuse of power, bid tampering and other problems. It found the district “fatally flawed” and recommended that the system lose accreditation.
Groups of students and teachers have said some members of the troubled board should step down. The Georgia NAACP said all nine members should quit.
In Sunday’s newspaper, the Clayton County Chamber of Commerce took out an ad calling for the school board to resign “for the good of the school system, community and, most importantly, the children.”
At what point should elected officials step down?
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This is P.E.?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A story in Thursday’s Living section described a new gym class activity. Students at five Atlanta public schools use a video fitness program called Hopsports. Atlanta school leaders say they want to make the program available systemwide.
I’ve heard of schools across the country using different activities to get students involved in gym class. P.E. teachers say they need to use programs kids like to get them hooked into exercise.
Many schools offer yoga and hip-hop themed gym classes. High school students can even take an online course to earn required p.e. credits. It makes one wonder, whatever happened to dodgeball and kickball?
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A TAD difficult
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia Supreme Court last week banned cities and counties from taking property taxes that would go to schools and instead funnel them toward community redevelopment projects.
Many officials hoped to use these tax allocation districts, called TADs, for projects like the Atlanta Beltine, the large Sembler project in DeKalb County and others.
School board members say they were under pressure to approve the use of these TADS. When they didn’t, they caught a lot of flack. But many school board members say all the money coming their way should be spent on students and schools.
Some legislators said they plan to file a bill calling for a referendum on the November ballot that would let communities use school property taxes in TADs.
What do you think, should TADs continue?
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Books for boys
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I flew up to New York this past weekend and on my flight back to Atlanta I sat next to a teenage boy reading “Heart of Darkness.”
When I asked if the Joseph Conrad novella was a school assignment he shook his head no. “I wish we could read this instead of all that chick-lit stuff,” he said.
That got me thinking about several national studies showing boys are more likely to fail reading and writing classes than girls.
I’ve visited English classes and noticed how boys would rather read about Shakespeare’s Julius Caeser than the doomed lovers of Romeo and Juliet. Knowing what types of books boys like, what if for every book students read by Jane Austen teachers followed with a novel by Mark Twain?
What can schools do to get more boys interested in reading?
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Clayton schools bailout
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I know we blogged about Clayton County schools yesterday, but this situation is too important to cover in one posting. Today let’s focus on this question: Who will clean up Clayton County schools?
Could a newly elected school board do it? The SACS report found many problems with current board members, saying members abused their power and acted unethically.
Should the state take the district over? The state is required to provide an adequate education for all children, but Georgia has a long history of promoting local control.
What role must parents, teachers, business leaders and other Clayton voters play to save this school district?
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When schools let students down
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools recommended Clayton County schools lose its accreditation. The group described the system as “fatally flawed.”
Megan Matteucci wrote a great article looking at how some students could miss out on HOPE scholarship money and the chance to attend a top college if the district is stripped of its accreditation. Eric Stirgus wrote that some parents are considering moving elsewhere.
These stories focused on Clayton County but there is a universal theme here: What happens when your school district lets you down?
I can think of countless parents who move to a particular area for the schools only to get zoned to another school a few years later. Sometimes student test scores plummet and parents wonder if the school is still right for their children.
The same holds true for teachers who may apply to work in a certain school or district because of the leader. Then the leader turns out to be a disappointment or is transferred to another school.
What choices do you have when the school you hoped for no longer exists?
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Let them eat lunch
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A bill before the state legislature would give all teachers the right to a 30-minute lunch without interruption. Now only elementary school teachers get an undisturbed lunch. Many middle and high school principals require teachers to monitor lunch periods or take on other responsibilities during teachers’ lunch.
The bill didn’t make it out of a House education subcommittee Tuesday, but lawmakers say it could get another chance. Rep. Roger Bruce (D-Atlanta) sponsored HB 994, which has the backing of the Georgia Federation of Teachers.
Verdaillia Turner, president of the federation, had this to say about the bill: “Even prisoners have a duty free lunch period … Allowing teachers to eat their food uninterrupted should be a basic human right on the job.”
What do you think of this bill? Are principals expecting teachers to do too much? Many employees, regardless of what jobs they hold, work during lunch. Should the same be expected from teachers?
A matter of trust
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In the spirit of Valentine’s Day I was thinking how you can’t have a good relationship without trust. Not just romantic relationships, but anytime people have to rely and depend on one another.
How can anyone have a good relationship with a teacher, student, parent, principal, school board member or superintendent without trust?
Trust doesn’t just happen — it must be earned. It seems like some school officials assume people should automatically trust them just because they work in education. But that isn’t the way it works.
How long does it take to build this trust? Once lost, can it be restored?
Mystery meat
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I was prepared to blog about something else today, but then I read Elizabeth Lee’s story about the possibility of mad cow disease in school lunch meat.
Two dozen Georgia school districts — including Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett — received beef from a California slaughterhouse now under federal investigation. The government alleges the plant processed downer cattle, which are banned from the food supply because it has a higher risk of mad cow disease.
Schools use the beef in tacos and other student favorites. Schools are no longer using the meat, but some was served before it was put on hold by the agricultural department.
We’ve heard the jokes about the “mystery meat” served in schools. I know some parents make their kids pack lunches if the school cafeteria fails its regular health inspection. Does this new round of warnings make you nervous?
A school’s job is to …
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
My email inbox gets flooded with news releases from different groups holding special programs at schools.
There’s the group working to combat childhood obesity. Another organization tells kids to walk or ride their bikes to school to promote clean air. Others visit schools to talk about art, recycling, finance and countless other topics.
Many of these groups promote noble causes, but do they belong in schools?
Schools were created to teach children. Somewhere along the way, schools became the go-to place to fix society’s problems. How are schools supposed to do both? In balancing both, what happens to the quality of education students receive?
Homework headaches
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Once a week I mentor a seventh-grader at a Gwinnett middle school. We work on reading, writing, social studies and math. I took AP calculus in high school, so I’m not math illiterate. But seventh-grade math is killing me.
The word problems read like a foreign language. It sometimes takes us 15 minutes to get through one problem. Then she has about 20 more to solve. We search her textbook for clues. If that’s no help, I try looking through the teachers’ guidebook.
This left me wondering about homework and its purpose. What’s the difference between busy work and true homework and how often is that line blurred? Where do you turn when you can’t help your students or children?
Hands-on science
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Cobb schools reporter Diane Stepp wrote about a plan to open a charter school emphasizing a hands-on approach to science. Research shows students perform better in science when there are more hands-on activities.
Georgia kids could use help with science. Just look at how students did on the End of Course Tests last year — 43 percent failed biology and 38 percent failed physical science.
More schools have started classes where students don’t just read about science, they touch and feel it. Grayson High in Gwinnett offers a biotechnology program where students have cloned a rose bush. Students use industrial grade equipment and complete experiments most kids don’t get until junior year of college. Students say the class is harder than Advanced Placement biology.
But here’s the catch: most students don’t sign up for biotechnology. Teachers in other districts and programs have the same problem. They say kids don’t take these hands-on science classes because they’re too hard. Parents are afraid a low mark might cost their children the HOPE scholarship. Teachers say parents push their kids into Advanced Placement classes instead because it might look better on transcripts.
If these hands-on classes are a way to boost science scores, how do teachers get more kids to sign up? Are there better ways to get kids interested in science?
Who gives guidance?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Application fever has hit high school guidance offices as seniors scramble to finish applications for college admissions and scholarships.
During this high-stress time, students and parents depend on guidance counselors for everything from getting transcripts to filling out forms to learning about different awards. I’ve heard from parents who wonder if their children are getting enough guidance. High schools do provide one-on-one counseling with students. Students can make appointments to see their counselor, too. But some parents and say it’s hard to get individual attention at a school with 600 or 700 seniors.
Some counselors say the blame can’t be placed with them. The problem, they say, is too many teenagers wait to the last minute, meaning counselors are swamped with tons of paperwork and recommendation letters to write under tight deadlines.
What’s the best way to handle the deadline dilemma? Are you willing to hire private consultants? Or are parents and students having to do more work themselves?
Checks and balances on discipline
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A new coalition wants parents to question discipline policies and data in local school systems. The Gwinnett Parent Coalition to Dismantle the School to Prison Pipeline is encouraging parents to dig into the data and see if decisions are fair and logical.
The coalition officially begins in March, but members wrote a guest column explaining the group’s purpose. The pipeline mentioned in the group’s name refers to a national trend showing many children, particularly minority students, are funneled out of public schools and into the criminal justice system.
I’ve heard from parents frustrated with how school leaders discipline children. Many parents are afraid to challenge school officials. Some don’t know what questions to what ask.
Do you this coalition will help? How open should school leaders be when it comes to explaining disciplinary decisions?
Keeping gangs out
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Schools have used metal detectors and hired police officers to protect students from gang violence. Fayette County High is limiting when kids can go to the bathroom.
According to the story by John Hollis, students needing the bathroom during class must go to the front office for a key to the visitors’ bathroom. Administrators started the rule because of a recent gang initiation beatdown in a school bathroom.
I’ve never heard of a school doing something like this. Schools need to protect students, but is this a step too far?
Paying for new schools
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gwinnett school leaders want voters to approve a $750 million bond referendum when they go to the polls Tuesday. District leaders plan to use the money to build eight schools and add-on to 10 existing campuses.
Gwinnett may be the only metro county with this ballot question, but it isn’t the only system wanting more money for school construction. Cobb school leaders are planning a referendum to extend its SPLOST (special purpose local option sales tax).
School leaders say this money is imperative as student enrollment increases. But not all voters are convinced.
Do you think school boards have used bond and SPLOST money correctly? Is there a better way to pay for school construction?
Permalink | Comments (43) | Categories: Laura Diamond
Burying the past
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fulton schools reporter Michelle Shaw wrote about a mock funeral Banneker High held Thursday where students buried various things that keep them down. Read the story here.
The funeral was an unusual approach to help students move beyond their struggles. What obstacles do you think prevent some students from succeeding? What can be done to help them bury the past?
Permalink | Comments (19) | Categories: Laura Diamond
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