Get Schooled

I warned Matt Cardoza at DOE that many of you will hoot at the announcement that Georgia is a national leader in student information systems according to evaluations by two different groups.

“I know that’s what they say but compared to other states these two national organizations show we’re well ahead,” countered Matt.

According to the Southern Regional Education Board:

Eight of the 16 Southern Regional Education Board states are cited by the Data Quality Campaign as among the nation’s leaders in building student-data systems that will more accurately monitor high school graduation rates and may help states capture additional federal funds. The eight SREB states identified among only 11 nationwide to have implemented all 10 of the DQC’s key elements of a high-quality student data system are Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.

In addition, a recent U.S. Chamber of Commerce report showed Georgia ahead of other states in the …

Continue reading Hard to believe: We’re praised for student data system »

I am all for core/national standards as it doesn’t make sense today for students in Atlanta to learn to different standards than their peers in Austin or Albuquerque. The Internet has changed the way the world does business and erased not only state borders, but all borders.

But I have followed the Legislature long enough to realize that core (no one uses the dread “national” label any longer because of the negative baggage) standards won’t be an easy sell.

However, I think ultimately Georgia will embrace the movement. After all, Gov. Sonny Perdue co-chaired the International Benchmarking Advisory Group for the National Governors Association and issued this statement last year:

We are now living in a world without borders, and in order to maintain America’s competitive edge into the future we need students who are prepared to compete not only with their American peers, but with students from all across the globe for the jobs of tomorrow.

The Georgia PTA intends to lead the …

Continue reading New name for national standards. Same old problems? »

Do children learn more and act better when they leave the classroom and go outside? (VINO WONG / AJC)

I thought this cold, rainy day was the ideal time to talk about the Waldorf School’s “forest kindergarten” in which very young children spend three hours outside each day regardless of rain or snow or cold.

While all schools are trying to involve kids in gardens, nature hikes and more outside activities in general, a New York Times story describes how the forest kindergartens push the notion to an unprecedented level. The story visits a Waldorf school in New York state. (There is a Waldorf school in Decatur.)

The forest kindergarten at Saratoga Springs is one of a handful in the United States that are taking that concept to another level: its 23 pupils, ages 3 ½ to 6, spend three hours each day outside regardless of the weather. This in a place where winter is marked by snowdrifts and temperatures that regularly dip below freezing.

The new forest kindergarten, which opened …

Continue reading Neither rain nor snow will stay these kindergarteners »

AJC reporter Laura Diamond has a good Q&A today with the Emory University director of admissions on how to get into college. (You are on your own in figuring out how to pay for it.)

I love reading these sorts of interviews, although I still think that there are many puzzling aspects to the whole college admissions process. (That’s why there is an entire cottage industry now around the experience. I have a stack of new “how to get into college” guidebooks on my desk.)

With more competition for college admissions, the process has become more complicated. (John Moran/New York Times Photo.)

Why are some kids admitted to Duke and Princeton and rejected by Washington U and Williams?

Is a straight A record with lots of “honors” courses – which are undefined by any set criteria and vary in rigor from school to school – better than a B record loaded with AP classes?

The admissions people typically say to go with more AP classes but I remain dubious. I think that a straight A …

Continue reading College admission secrets revealed: Still a mystery to me »

In June, the Georgia Supreme Court reversed a sexual assault conviction against 28-year-old schoolteacher Melissa Lee Chase who had a romantic relationship with a former student. In its 5-2 decision, the court said the teacher should have been allowed to present a defense that the 16-year-old student consented to the sexual relationship. (The student had testified that she pursued the relationship and pushed it.)

The Supreme Court decision could affect two Cobb cases, including one due in court today involving former Marietta High School teacher Christopher King.

The AJC has reported that King’s attorney Scott Semrau contends the Supreme Court decision should apply to his client’s relationship with a 17-year-old student.

“They have an affidavit from the student stating unequivocally that it was a consensual relationship,” Semrau said. Cobb County Magistrate Judge Frank Cox sentenced King to serve five additional days, following Thursday morning’s hearing. King was …

Continue reading Can sex between teacher and student ever be consensual? »

Accounting firm Deloitte released a new survey this week on education contrasting the views of parents and teachers on the role of high schools.

According to the Deloitte 2009 Education Survey: “We are failing our low-income students.  Too few are graduating high school.  Too few feel prepared for college. And too few educators seem focused on this situation.”

The survey found:

-  Only 9 percent of high school teachers think that preparing students for college is their primary mission.

- Only 10 percent of high school teachers think that ensuring students graduate is their primary mission.

-  But nearly half of all parents and students believe that college preparation is their high school’s primary mission.

-Sixty percent of teachers said it was important to them personally that the students from their high school attend college. Thirty-six percent said it was “somewhat important.”

In a statement, Deloitte CEO Barry Salzberg said:

What parents and students …

Continue reading High school: A launching pad or final destination? »

At an event last week, President Obama called for more acclaim for high achieving students in the STEM disciplines. Doug Mills/New York Times

In a speech last week, President Obama outlined an ambitious plan to ratchet up math and science education.

I thought his speech was provocative, especially his comments about South Korean and China.

Take a look:

You know, we live in a world of unprecedented perils, but also unparalleled potential.

Our medical system holds the promise of unlocking new cures, but it’s attached to a health care system that’s bankrupting families and businesses and our government. The sources of energy that power our economy are also endangering our planet. We confront threats to our security that seek to exploit the very openness that is — is essential to our prosperity.

And we face challenges in a global marketplace that link the trader to Wall Street to the homeowner on Main Street to the office worker in America to the factory worker in China; an …

Continue reading Obama: “Show young people how cool science can be.” »

Most discussions about school attendance focus on students. Now, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan wants to talk about teachers.

Duncan has made teacher attendance one of the measures to determine which low-achieving schools receive federal improvement funds. So, for the first time, the federal government will collect data on how many days teachers miss classes each year.

The reason is simple: Research shows that students suffer a small, but significant decline in academic performance as a result of teacher absences.

In addition, the nation’s public schools pay a big price — as much as $4 billion a year according to the National Center for Education Statistics — to hire substitutes to fill in for absent staff.

When he was CEO of Chicago public schools, Duncan was dismayed to discover that the system was spending more than $10 million a year on substitute teachers. He tangled with the teacher unions when he added teacher attendance data to school scorecards.

“This is …

Continue reading Teacher absences: Are they excessive and do they hurt students? »

Too many public schools continue to blur the church-state divide in Georgia

The zest with which Georgia schools test the church-state divide never fails to stun me.

I wonder if other states grapple with this issue or is this unique to the Bible Belt?

With the threat of litigation, public schools ought to think very carefully about allowing any religious group access to students and the possible charge of proselytizing on school grounds.

Yet, a north Georgia parent sent me a note that Bibles were handed out at her high school last week. She is a Christian and reveres the Bible, but doesn’t think the high school was the right place to hand it out.

Her concern mirrors my own: Our schools are attended by students of all faiths and traditions. All those faiths and belief deserve respect. We risk making many students feel like outsiders when we elevate one religion above all others.

Consider the 1656 warning by devout Baptist Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, on the …

Continue reading Handing out Bibles at a high school: Why do we keep doing this in Georgia? »

I thought Thanksgiving was an apt time to discuss a Pennsylvania university’s new requirement that overweight undergraduates take a fitness course to receive their degrees.

An historically black college, Lincoln University said that the school is responding to deadly rates of obesity and diabetes, especially in the African-American community.

Here are excerpts from the Associated Press story on this issue:

“We know we’re in the midst of an obesity epidemic,” said James L. DeBoy, chairman of Lincoln’s department of health, physical education and recreation. “We have an obligation to address this head on, knowing full well there’s going to be some fallout.”

The fallout began this week on Lincoln’s campus about 45 miles southwest of Philadelphia, where seniors — the first class affected by the mandate — began realizing their last chance to take the class would be this spring.

Tiana Lawson, a …

Continue reading No college degree for overweight students without fitness class »