Today: Back to school for us. What to do about waning HOPE and the long-awaited APS cheating report.
UPDATED: Just dropped my two off to middle school. Mine were frozen with fear, but were not crying. I saw two sixth graders in tears. Most others seemed tense, but not paralyzed. Hoping for happier scenes by week’s end. Teachers were doing their best to project cheeriness and excitement, but I think kids are naturally scared of the bigger school and the eighth graders who appear old enough to drive themselves to school. I found the staff very helpful and that reassured me, if not my twins.
Saw an endearing sight on the way; All the parents of kids in my neighborhood starting elementary school gathered them for a photo down the street. There were 22 or so young kids with their new backpacks and their back-to-school outfits and about 35 parents in front of them with cameras and video recorders. Lots of parents carrying paper towels and hand sanitizer, which is today’s version of an apple for the teacher. Off to cover HOPE. Talk to you all later.
I am not the only parent who apparently left back-t0-school shopping to the very last minute. Just came from a big box store where I was on a scavenger hunt for Mead five-subject notebooks, per the request of my twins’ social studies teacher. I joined dozens of other parents surveying the wreckage of the notebook aisle where single subject notebooks were in abundance, but five-subject were nowhere to be found.
After much rummaging through piles, I found two battered five-subject notebooks. And I found my two-pocket folders, my eight-pack dividers and my notebook paper. (I refuse to buy new pens and pencils every year, insisting my twins dig through drawers to fill their pencil boxes.)
I am still stunned that my kids go back tomorrow morning. Because we were away this final week on vacation, my kids missed the Thursday meet-and-greet so my husband and I are going to take them a few minutes early to help them find their homerooms and pay the lunch tab. (I always pay in advance for half the year so I avoid those warning notes that my kids will be relegated to P&J because they are late on lunch fees.)
At a weekend potluck with several out-of-towners, my announcement that my district resumed classes Aug. 2 stunned the visitors from the Midwest and the north. They could not fathom why any schools would start up at the hottest point in the summer and were dubious when I explained that my district adopted a shorter-summer-more-breaks-during-the-year-calendar as a teacher recruitment tool. Two teachers at the event told me that they much preferred the longer summer and traditional calendar so their own kids go visit cousins and go to camps.
Tomorrow is a busy news day as I plan to attend the four-hour legislative hearing on HOPE funding and then dash six blocks to the Atlanta Public Schools release of its cheating report.
Stay tuned.
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78 comments Add your comment
William Casey
August 2nd, 2010
10:47 am
ADAM: The need for organization is very important in learning. Somehow, I suspect that you missed that point.
decaturparent
August 2nd, 2010
10:49 am
Re short summers. We looked at a very big, national study done by Ohio State on whether year around or balanced calendars benefit students. It found that they do not. We also did our own home grown study looking a large metro district that went to a balanced calendar to see if achievement of their students improved since they adopted the new calendar. Over five years, there was no improvement at all – it made no difference. This was made clear to our superintendent and our school board, but they went forward with the balanced calendar anyway, saying it is a teacher recruitment too. I’m friends with several teachers who hate the balanced calendar so I’m not sure if it’s as effective of a tool as it’s made out to be. Plus, we get 100 or more applicants per teaching position in most cases so I’m not sure why we need to beef up our recruitment ability.
My family can work with a balanced calendar or any calendar – I just don’t see any evidence that it’s necessary or beneficial. I have friends who don’t have the job flexibility that I have, and they are panicked b/c there is little or no childcare, and the college kids that they use to babysit in the summer are long gone. They do not want to rely on a high schooler to watch their kids all day every day for a week… it’s a bit much to ask of most 15 year olds.I also have a friend with an Asbergers kid who decided not to enroll in our system b/c this on again/off again type of schedule is terrible for a lot of special needs kids who thrive on routine.
Yes, school is not daycare so parents should be responsible for their kids childcare regardless of the school schedule. However, when the only reason to implement a policy that caused childcare problems for hundreds of families is to make some admins and a few teachers happy… I think the admins should do what they can to help the parents that pay the teachers’ salaries and support the school system. Now, if there was any non-biased evidence that balanced calendars help students achieve, that would be another story. However, there is no objective study showing any measurable, lasting improvement brought about by any particular type of school calendar.
But whatever, I gave up caring about a year ago. It makes no difference to care or not to care. After years of involvement …..I finally figured out that admins will do what they want regardless of the opinions of those affected by their decisions. It’s just how things work.
momof two
August 2nd, 2010
10:51 am
I knew JoD lived in Cherokee and if you in Cherokee love this so much than great. But here in Cobb the voters spoke loud and clear in the last elections of school board members and voted in a majority that supported later school start dates. We were lied to. We went to the polls again in July and voted in two new school board members that strongly support later school start dates. So obviously the majority do not want this, but for some reason a few teachers get to choose the school calendar. If you in Cherokee love having your children warehoused year round with the exception of your Disney and Vail breaks and teachers like JoD who don’t give a rat’s butt about education just the BREAKS that is fine, but we don’t want it in Cobb. And please do not give me that Cherokee county made AYP. Big deal….I can list ten other counties on balanced calendars that did not make AYP. Also, Murray county made AYP and they didn’t start till after Labor Day last year. This argument will rage on…those that want vacation and those that want the best fiscal responsibility from our school boards in these dire economic times.
ABC
August 2nd, 2010
10:52 am
@Beck, I thought Fulton was starting 2 weeks later due to “budget cuts”. This is the first I’m hearing about parent pressure. Who are these idiot parents who think it’s OK for kids to be out of school and out of regular learning for 13 weeks?
Dr NO
August 2nd, 2010
10:52 am
Thats wonderful Mr Casey. I guess your precious cargo must be the exception to the rule!
Dr NO
August 2nd, 2010
10:53 am
“If your parents make $100,000 or more; you can afford to pay for college.”
Is that gross or net?
MB
August 2nd, 2010
12:15 pm
@ Beck: Yes, but there was also a definite self-interest element in the school board decision to push back the start date as well as parental pressure. I am a parent in Fulton and shared my strong concerns about unbalanced semesters, impact in AP and CRCT readiness, the lack of breaks in the year, shortened Winter Holiday etc. with the board. One of the board members pushed HARD for approval of two years’ worth of calendars approved, but there seemed to be a compromise at one year. I predict some high school parents will be VERY unhappy in January and hope the school board waits until then to do the 2010-11 calendar. It doesn’t impact elementary, wo are the majority of the most visible and vocal parents, but this WILL impact high school students.
fultonschoolsparent
August 2nd, 2010
12:25 pm
A few comments – if you and other parents skipped the school preview, no wonder your kids are frightened walking into the middle school? They’re walking into the school completely cold unless there was a visit during 5th grade (routinely done in Fulton BTW). Sorry, but your vacation shouldn’t have taken precedent.
Also done routinely in FCS – PTA’s making up school supply bags. It’s a great idea. Offer to coordinate it in your school and get good bulk prices and save for your parents!
Finally, Cobb Mom is so right on about the heat factor being an on-going thing no matter what the start time. PLEASE quite complaining about the start times (and I seriously doubt that the FCS BOE listened to parents. They haven’t been listening to much of any thing for the past couple of years). The 180 days is 180 days (actually now 177 in FCS) and there’s no way to make everyone happy (except the high school students who aren’t taking exams AFTER the Winter Holidays. The minute the start time goes to after Labor Day, there will be another swell of complaints about the late release time in June, and how high school students don’t have enough summer job time before going to college! You can’t win!
Lynn2
August 2nd, 2010
12:25 pm
Grade inflation in high school is definitely a problem. So tying the HOPE scholarship to SAT/ACT scores would be a way to counter this problem. The other issue is the difference in the difficulty of various state colleges. Students at GT and UGA face more rigour and difficulty in maintaining the HOPE than students at other colleges. These students lose HOPE while students at a far less difficult college maintain the HOPE. I don’t know how to correct this problem, but it is something to think about.
Beck
August 2nd, 2010
12:41 pm
Oh believe me MB, I know about the unbalanced semesters. It was already a push to get through the 1st semester of World History in 90 days; now we have 83. 2nd semester will be 94. It was way easier to expand the second semester in planning ahead this summer, than it was to contract the first semester.
ABC – We still have a 177 day school year and each school day is 11 minutes longer, so this wasn’t really about budget cuts. So far teachers are down to 186 days on the contract since next Wednesday has been cut, and we’ve been told there will be at least 2 other furlough days beyond that.
MB
August 2nd, 2010
12:44 pm
Wm Casey & Lynn2, Thanks for chiming in on the grade inflation and the variation in retaining HOPE. Sorry, but it’s a FACT that a B at Ft. Valley State (for example) doesn’t compare to a B at Ga Tech. Students who don’t have the B average are put on probation after a semester of HOPE. At some schools, if they schedule their classes “right” (enough easy courses/professors) and drop the classes in which they struggle, they may even waste 3 or 4 semesters of HOPE dollars.
We are deluding some of our students and it is a SHAME. Refer once again to the “honor graduate” who couldn’t pass the ENGLISH graduation test. Some students are definitely victims of the “self-esteem at all cost” philosophy, and it will not serve either them or society well.
MB
August 2nd, 2010
12:54 pm
Beck, When those EOCTs for 1st semester Econ and Poli Sci come in, I HOPE parents will vent loudly to all within earshot! Board can’t say they weren’t aware of the conflicts, either, IF they read their e-mails…
The 177-day will save costs for buses, lunch and parapro staff. As we only had 177.5 with half-days before, there’s really no impact on the amount of time in school. Now the lack of a break for kids, especially first semester, is another issue.
I’m expecting increases in absenteeism for students and staff. We will be out of school about the same days the dentists’ offices will be off for Thanksgiving and winter breaks, for example, and everyone can’t get their teeth cleaned after 4pm!
Danielle
August 2nd, 2010
1:04 pm
The last time I checked parents do not create school calendars in the public school sector, but they can home school their children and create a calendar that allows them to go to Disney World, Disney Land, and La La Land whenever they choose.
Niki
August 2nd, 2010
1:05 pm
I agree with Danielle 170%.
MB
August 2nd, 2010
1:06 pm
Decaturparent, Research does show that longer summers disproportionately affect achievement among students from lower socio-economic populations. Go to Google Scholar and check out the research. Since we’re already pouring a gazillion dollars into Title I programs with questionable efficacy, seems that adjusting a school calendar, which costs nothing, isn’t a bad option. (Also, sometimes Title I funds can be used for extended learning, and that money may be used to fund programa during the school year breaks (when students are more likely to attend than summer school). Try a little proactive strategy for the students who struggle…
Caveat, notice that the studies often include year-round school schedules set up to address overcrowding. Several researchers note that these should be excluded from those established to address student achievement.
Example: http://rer.sagepub.com/content/73/1/1.abstract
JoDeeMcD
August 2nd, 2010
1:09 pm
@momoftwo
I teach in Fulton. The best arguments and debates do not include vulgarity and the lexicon of early adolescents.
Decatur mom
August 2nd, 2010
1:53 pm
I was told by Decatur city school employees that the new longer school calendar was voted in overwhelmingly by city parents. I wonder who all these parents are? I know of NO ONE in favor of it. It is just more of the same BS Decatur uses to justify their reactive approach to education.
decaturparent
August 2nd, 2010
2:17 pm
Decaturmom… not true. 2/3 of parents were against it… 1/3 of teachers and staff were against it. Overall, of all the people who responded (about the same number of staff responded as parents) about 51% were for the balanced calendar. Once the survey came in at 51% or so in favor.. it was over – we were going to the balanced calendar.
Now… lesson learned… when surveys are sent home to you in your kid’s folder.. please actually fill them out and send them back. They matter. Only about 250 or so parents even bothered to respond to the calendar survey. About 250 staff also responded.
Again, I have mixed feelings about the new calendar. I do have opinions about not implementing things and have no evidence of increasing achievement. I also have opinions about school system employees knowing their facts before they speak.
Claire
August 2nd, 2010
2:18 pm
I am quite amazed at the tone of those who are in favor of the shorter summer schedule…MB in particular. Just an FYI, my kid is not in daycare, and your snotty attitude implying that everyone who likes a long summer is using school as a free babysitting service is insulting. I like a full summer to hang out with my family. So let’s all assume that you are a crappy parent who can’t wait to get away from your kids, that must be why you want them in school earlier (see how stupid assumptions look?) Additionally, I don’t start any sentence with “I hate” except one…I hate when idiots make
assumptions about people they don’t know.
decaturparent
August 2nd, 2010
2:33 pm
MB, the article you cited was written in 2003 and noted that there was no reliable research at that time on school calendars and achievement and that the study was a summary based on a “weak inferential framework.” If you had read the abstract carefully you would have seen that. The Ohio State study is peer reviewed and came out in 2007, four years later. At the time I researched this, it was the only objective, peer reviewed study on the subject. Here is a link to the summary of that study. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070811151449.htm
It was funded by the Spencer Foundation and the National Institute for Child Health and Development. Neither of these sources have any particular agenda with regards to school calendars.
Our small, unofficial, anecdotal studies of a local system with a balanced calendar showed similar results to the Ohio State Study. No real difference in achievement based on the calendar. Some test scores were up a bit… others were down.. completely random distribution.
The vast majority of other studies on this subject are funded or actually conducted by NAYRE, the National Association for Year Around Schools. These guys make money consulting for schools who are trying to implement year around calendars. They have an agenda.
Again, I don’t have strong feelings about school calendars. I do have strong feelings about truth.
MB
August 2nd, 2010
2:41 pm
Claire, Go back and read some of the previous posts Maureen has had on this topic and you will find SEVERAL parents complaining vehemently about the child care issue. That was what I was referencing, as are others here. Sorry about the “hate” statement, but notice it took you three periods to belie your own words, lol. Chill, girl.
Didn’t have my kids in daycare either, FYI, and now only have one still in high school so this doesn’t apply for me personally. I do HATE some things, btw, including how our board set up our students for a miserable year just to accommodate the longer summer you crave. I’d much rather be in Cobb or Cherokee, even though it would mean I’d already be at work now!
MB
August 2nd, 2010
3:15 pm
@Decaturparent, Sorry if you just went straight to the example article and didn’t read what I wrote about reading other peer-reviewed journal articles, using the break times for student remediation, and discounting programs that only address overcrowding. Here’s an article published in Education Week in October, 2008, that shows how combining a balanced calendar with extra time could impact student achievement. http://www.palmbeach.k12.fl.us/SuperintendentFolder/October2008/ConsensusonLearningTimeBuilds.pdf
I read the article you cited as well. It reports that students reading scores were higher in year-round schools, while math scores were flat. My first issue with this “objective” study was that it involved kindergarteners and first graders. Testing of that age group is um, not very reliable, so it’s interesting that they chose that as the study group. Secondly, the study involved mainly Hispanic (ESL) students in the year-round schools; the author said he accommodated for poverty and overcrowding in his comparisons but doesn’t state he compared with other schools with similar ethnic/ESL populations. This study also involved calendars with three- to four-week breaks between instructional periods, not the balanced calendar here (still with two summer months off).
Bottom line is that there is MUCH credible evidence that summer learning loss is REAL for lower socio-economic status students. How to address that is a real issue and, in our current economic climate, trying a balanced calendar seems a reasonable option.
Beck
August 2nd, 2010
3:57 pm
I don’t understand this whole “longer summer” argument.
With the exception of Fulton’s screwy calendar this year (and hopefully this year only), if your child is out of school before the end of May and goes back in August, it is that same as if that child went to school until the middle or end of June and goes back in September, it’s just shifted.
Many things are different from how they were when we grew up. Many things will be different for the generation of kids after this one. Change is inevitable. Roll with it and don’t sweat the small stuff.
Beck
August 2nd, 2010
3:57 pm
^^^ the same, not that same^^^
AJinCobb
August 2nd, 2010
4:50 pm
@fultonschoolparent,
“The minute the start time goes to after Labor Day, there will be another swell of complaints about the late release time in June, and how high school students don’t have enough summer job time before going to college! You can’t win!”
Right on! I’m so happy to see at least a few parents who agree with me. Unless people seriously think that school should be out from Memorial Day to Labor Day, then I can’t see why there’s such a fuss over being out in June versus being out in August. I fear some parents do like the idea of a Memorial-to-Labor-Day summer vacation, but I don’t see how that squares with caring about Georgia students getting a decent education that will allow them to compete in the workplace with graduates from other states and countries. Chinese and Indian kids don’t get long school vacations.
freshmaninhighschool
August 2nd, 2010
5:14 pm
i perpard by reviewing every list i have
decaturparent
August 2nd, 2010
5:15 pm
MB, the article you cited is not about changing calendars in the sense that we are debating it here. It’s all about adding time… adding days to the school year and hours to the day. I’m sure that you are going to see gains if you add time no matter what your calendar looks like.
There is no way that we are going to see funding to increase school time for students in the near future. Quite to the contrary, many school districts are reducing days. If we did start adding time to the year and school day, I would advocate only funding it for kids who need the extra time. There are many kids who are already performing at the top of their grade level and who have pursuits outside of school that are challenging them and helping them grow in ways that they cannot grow inside a school buiding. I would advocate not wasting precious taxpayer money on forcing those kids to stay in school – but spending the money on the kids who really need and will benefit from extra time in class or in school supervised activities. I’m all for that.
Back to playing with school calendars, we also did our own study just looking at two school systems here in GA year after year before and following implementation of a balanced calendar.. same schools, same types of students… no significant gains… no significant losses… everything remained the same no matter what the calendar was. This was not any sort of large scale or official study.. but if balanced calendars where so great, you’d think you’d see some sort of gains in these districts. There were none.
I think it can be argued that a kid living in poverty will lose as much information in 8 weeks as they would in 10 weeks. I think it could also be argued that with a full blown year around calendar there would be smaller losses throughout the year.
So.. show me your objective evidence that rearranging school days without adding time improves achievement.
I need a study funded and conducted by an objective organization… peer reviewed… adjusted for variance betweeen socioeconomics and other factors. Maybe it’s out there, and we just didn’t find it. That’s fine with me, I’d be happy to see it. Again, I don’t really care personally about what the calendar is.. I just want proof that it will actually benefit someone before we impose it on working families and single parents, especially where it is clear that there will be few if any options for reliable childcare. In Decatur right now, there are few options for the week long breaks. There are even fewer options for low income families.
Again, if there is solid, objective proof that we will get better outcomes in the end game with a balanced calendar, we can impose it on folks and they will just have to deal with the stress and inconvenience. If there is no evidence that it will help outcomes or if it is put in place b/c teachers want cheap vaction time at the beach or short lines at the airports, I love our teachers but respectfully think we should be considering students and their families first.
Really Amazed
August 3rd, 2010
1:08 am
Agree with Cobb parent once again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!