The Secret Life Of Erin And Tiffany
FOUND by Laura Warman in Washington [79 comments]
Worried about cupcakes in schools? Dr. Rob Riggle finds out that cupcakes are the "number one killer" of our children:
From The Daily Show.
The Daily Show's Demetri Martin shows the latest "advances" in standardized test prep (Princeton Review podcast tutorials, Kaplan MySpace pages, comic books with words like "alacrity" in them, bad pop songs with the same):
"I know this test seems like a big deal that will determine your entire future. And it is. Because it will."
"The Texas State Library and Archives Commission spent 18 months and canvassed more than 170 agencies and public colleges and universities, checking on all the reports they are assigned to do.The commission found more than 1,600, and state records administrator Michael Heskett is pretty sure his team hasn't found them all." (State report: Texas has too many reports)
According to entrepreneur Maria Botham, lice infestation is the #1 reason for school absenteeism, and on average it costs the U.S. public school system over $500 million every year: Gold Standard for Lice Removal Opens in Lincoln Park. Via Yahoo! Finance.
School Chief’s Embarrassment Is a Lesson for Itchy E-Mailers NYT
“Please go KILL these people....Please, please, please.”
A little Monday-morning humor, this video spoofs all the movies like "Freedom Writers" where a committed teacher -- always a white woman -- helps urban youth reach their dreams:
Via Whitney Tilson.
Inspired by a vivid reader comment on my Chicago blog from last week (A Day At Crane High School), I'm having a contest of sorts for the next few days in which readers are invited to describe the school (or administrative office, or reform office) where they work, or where their children attend, or where they pass by every day, or where they tutor. So brush off your writing skills and tell us what it's like where you are -- what it looks like, what it sounds like, what things you notice from being there all the time, or how it's changed lately. [Or, if you have a great blog entry that does the same thing, tell us where to find it.]
PS: This post was written while I was on the phone and watching TV.
Thanks to JM for passing along this link from DCist about the upcoming taping of the Ellen Degeneres Show at Ballou High School. Check out this video snippet from a new documentary that's coming out on the school and it's band:
Or if your'e in the area go see the taping tonight at 9:30 live.
"While the merits of banning goodie bags filled with Reese’s and Skittles seem obvious — especially at a time when the risk of childhood diabetes is high for American children — many parents draw the line at cupcakes."
If you see the kids in the hall doing some crazy thing with their hands covered in marker, they might not be flashing gang signs. The "Daft Hands" video on YouTube has been watched over 3 million times, and done "live" on the Ellen Degeneres show.
Check it out - you can be the first in your teacher's lounge / office / cubicle to master the whole thing.
Here's the video that everyone's watching, in which a confrontational student is eventually tasered by campus security after begging not to be:
You know you want to see it.
Good vs. evil is rarely all that interesting, which is why internal conflicts -- the nemesis in the other cubicle, "frenemies" and underminers, siblings, hipsters vs. yuppies, Jon Stewart vs. Stephen Colbert -- are so much more fun to watch. Nearly everyone has a nemesis -- whether he or she realizes (or admits) it or not. Usually it's someone nearby.
'Students First In Line' Program To Offer Job Training At Needy Schools
Stolen from Alan Gottlieb's Schools For Tomorrow blog.
A hearty thanks to Sherman Dorn for bringing a little humor to a dreary Monday morning. My favorites:
1. It was the best of laws, it was the worst of laws.
2. All happy reforms are alike; each unhappy reform is unhappy in its own way.
6. It was a dark and stormy reauthorization.
My nomination: "As George Miller awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed... into a gigantic standardized test." Dorn welcomes additional nominations. Go here for some ideas.
Or, if you have to, you can listen in/watch the hearing here.
New York City isn't the only place where it's hard to get into a "good" kindergarten, but it's perhaps the most dramatic example of the phenomenon. Watch tonight on TLC (7pm Eastern) as three very different sets of parents try and figure out what's best for their kids and how the process works. Who knew that the nursery school directors were so important?
More Youth Die In Chicago Than Anywhere Else Chicago Reporter
Between 2000 and 2005, the Chicago Police Department reported 375 murders or manslaughters of people younger than 18–more than any other police department in America.
School District Has Dress Code, and Is Buying the Uniforms, Too NYT
Many public schools are supplying their students with an ever-growing list of essentials that go far beyond textbooks. Now they are dressing them, too.
Don't pay kids for good grades Christian Science Monitor
If we give our children $10 for an A, what's next - an iPod for every goal they score in soccer?
Lather, Rinse, Donate NYT
One of the most popular ways young people are contributing to charity these days is growing their hair long and donating it for wigs. But a lot of that hair is unusable.
Are your jeans sagging? Go directly to jail NYT
The latest legislative efforts have taken a different tack, drawing on indecency laws, and their success is inspiring lawmakers in other states.
High schooler pulls off ultimate prank vs. rivals MSNBC
A high school student who tricked football fans from a crosstown rival into holding up signs that together spelled out, “We Suck,” was suspended for the prank, students said.
Pipe Cleaners, Googly Eyes Cut From School Arts Budget The Onion
"Times are tough, and cotton balls don't grow on trees," Bergen County Superintendent Jim Eckford said.
School officials defend tapping e-mails Boston Globe
No crime was committed when e-mails between Ottoson Middle School principal Stavroula Bouris and technology teacher Chuck Coughlin were intercepted by a school district technician, Arlington officials say.
Do School Cafeterias Make the Grade? USNews
Third graders gobbling down footlong hot dogs and extra-large burgers?
Who decides which children will be tried as adults? Slate
Last week, two 15-year-olds were arrested in connection with the execution-style murders of three college students in a Newark, N.J., schoolyard. Local authorities want to prosecute them as adults. Who decides which minors will be tried as adults?
Porn date leads to teacher's resignation MSNBC
Biagini, who uses a wheelchair, was interviewed on the radio show after returning home, and told the Valley Independent in Monessen that he was ridiculed for his disability and offended by how he was portrayed on the show.
Joanne Jacobs points to another district, in Arizona, that's trying something similar to what they're planning in NYC (see "Paying Kids..." below). Are there any places that have tried this and it hasn't worked, I wonder? Or where it's worked but they've run out of money for it like with teacher bonuses?
UPDATE: I'm not the only one who took note of this piece. D-Ed Reckoning says US News got it all wrong on the phonics thing.
Serve Breakfast in Class, Advocates for Poor Urge NYT
Advocates said that the practice of serving breakfast in cafeterias failed to attract most of the children who need it.
Marketing Tricks Tots' Taste Buds EdWeek
Anything in a McDonald's wrapper tastes better, youngsters said in a recent study.
Foundation Gives $20 Million to Fight Obesity in Schools EdWeek
The program is designed to promote healthy eating and exercise in schools in 17 states.
Mom, I’m at the Gym Doing Homework (Really!) NYT
The latest hangouts for teenagers are health clubs that cater to them.
Margaret Spellings' Summer Reading List NPR
Spellings says that she just finished this novel, which she found "reflective and thought provoking." Gibert's spiritual memoir follows her recovery from a messy divorce as she battles depression and loneliness.
Disney Acquires Web Site for Children
Racing to solidify its dominant position in children’s entertainment on the Internet, the Walt Disney Company said Wednesday that it had acquired a subscription Web site aimed at preteenagers, Club Penguin, in a deal that could total $700 million.
Bored out of your mind at an interminable summer workshop? Not sure what to do with your kids between summer camp and the start of school? Students complaining that school is "just like jail?" Do what these Phillipino (filipino?) prisoners did -- stage a full-scale re-enactment of Michael Jackson's famous video, Thriller, in the prison yard, featuring a cast of 100s.
If they can do it, so can you. Remember to tape it, though, and send it in.
Parents' Ire Grows at Unabashed Pedophile's Blog NYT
Jack McClellan, who calls himself a pedophile, has had Web sites in Seattle and Los Angeles detailing how and where he trolls for children.
Parents still seek the elusive 'right' school LA Times
No one knows exactly how many students are still without a school, but indicators show that the annual last-ditch scramble for a seat at a school of choice is in high gear.
This is going to have to be a group effort, since the Simpsonization site is working so slowly. But here's the preliminary list of folks who should be Simpsonized (even though some of them already look Simpson-esque in real life)>: Margaret Spellings & Rod Paige, George Miller & Ted Kennedy,
*Paul Vallas, Joel Klein, Rudy Crew, & Michelle Rhee. Or pick your own favorite education person. Either way, we'll have yellow Simpsons versions of our characters, to save and share and play with during the cold winter ahead.
UPDATE: Weeks and months ago, it seems, blogger Sherman Dorn (pictured) has Simpsonized himself (again, already fairly Simpsoneque before he started).
*Free Daily E-Mail Updates Now Available -- See The Yellow Box To The Right.*
UPDATE: Also pictured: Stephaan Harris, senior media coordinator at the Economic Policy Institute in D.C.
*The only example I know of is LA's private school Crossroads spinning off into New Roads and then Camino Nuevo charter.
Highlights of the week ahead in DC (mostly) include:
Today: Hearing on S. 1642 (Kennedy, Massachusetts), the “Higher Education Amendments of 2007” to reauthorize the Higher Education Act of 1965 .
NB: Also today: Spellings does press event (National Science Teachers Association) and meets with Congressional Black Caucus education task force re NCLB.
Also: The Center for American Progress (CAP) and the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET) will host a news conference to release the report, "Creating a Successful Performance Compensation System for Educators." 10:00 a.m.; National Press Club, 14th and F Streets, NW, Washington,
Senate committee meeting Wednesday (misc.)
Also Wed: The Center for American Progress Action Fund will host an event to highlight the recently introduced pre-kindergarten bills by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Sen.
Bob Casey (D-PA) [Note: RSVP required.] 10:30 a.m.; Center for American Progress Action Fund, 1333 H Street, NW,
Thursday Senate Judiciary Committee meeting on School Safety among other things.
More EdSec events:
Tuesday: Event with First lady at Driggs Elementary in CT.
Wednesday: Appearance before the Future Farmers of America
Thursday: Speaks before the Hugh O’Brian (H.O.B.Y.) Youth Leadership World Congress
Via FritzWire, USDE, and a little birdie.
Thanks to a friend for passing this one to me. They really know how to do things down there, I guess.
Summer vay-k* is getting shorter and shorter for some St. Louis area students, according to this story (For St. Louis, School Begins in the Middle of August): "This week, fireworks and hotdogs. Next week, shopping for school supplies....Classes start as soon as Aug. 13 in some local schools...Students are predictably aghast." Via DA Daily.
*Also spelled like it's pronounced: vay-kay.
We've all seen full-grown adults crumble and fluster when faced with hard-charging newscasters who disagree with their points of view, but give credit to this Boulder high school sophomore Jesse Lange who takes on none other than the firebreathing Bill O'Reilly over a controversial sex and drug talk given at a Boulder high school:
Great to see the kid's calmness fluster the host. If you really want to read more about this, here are some mainstream news stories.
The parents of a sophomore high school student say they tried to stop their sixteen year-old daughter from getting involved with a 40 year-old cross-country coach, but according to this story signed a consent form for them to get married. Read all about it, I guess.
And if you can't get enough of this kind of stuff, check out Teachers Behaving Badly, a blog dedicated to criminal other inappropriate things that education staff do. Yes, there's a blog for everything.
Parents and teachers (and Harry Potter fans) would do well to remember that the latest (last) Potter book is out at midnight Thursday, according to Chicagoist (Libraries Gear up for Potter mania). "Unless you’ve been living under a rock since February, you already know that the seventh and final chapter in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows, will be released on July 21 at 12:01 a.m."
"The Internet is fueling an extreme version of the high-school food fight, threatening innocent teachers and students with ham sandwiches, eggs and rotten tomatoes," according to this article (Internet fuelling extreme food fighting, police warn). "Police said Thursday that students are using the Internet to prepare for the fights, then posting videos on websites such as YouTube."
Indeed -- here's just one example:
Board Game Teaches Chemistry to Kids NPR
A 13-year-old entrepreneur has a way to make money and help his fellow students learn about chemistry. Anshul Samar is hoping for $1 million in revenues from the sale of his board game.
Cyberfamilias: ‘omg my mom joined facebook!!’ NYT
A nosy parent goes where the kids are and learns more than just what her kid is up to.
Every Wednesday, there's Sam Freedman in the NYT (On Education) vs. Jay Mathews in the Post (Class Struggle), dueling education columnists fighting it out to the death. Take your pick of this week's offerings, both of which focus on their papers' readers' favorite topic: college admissions.
Who Needs the SAT? Washington Post (Jay Mathews)
About three times a week I introduce a hot topic among people struggling with the college admission system [Admissions 101], then stand back and let users tell me what is really going on, throwing in a comment or two when necessary.
Maybe I'm the last person to hear about this, but there's a new-ish mockumentary about new teaches that came out last month called Chalk that seems to be the antithesis of the sappy inspirational education movies that we all can't stand (but watch anyway). Check out the trailer here -- it might make you giggle:
Boy who slept in trash is student of the year MSNBC
For much of his life, 11-year-old D.J. Graffree was a cocky kid who didn't need any adults to look after him or tell him what to do. Now he is an example for other children.
How to avoid pesky NCLB testing requirements EIA Intelligencer
Just start measuring fingers.
Washington state teen wins geography bee MSNBC
What city, divided by a river of the same name, was the imperial capital of Vietnam? The answer won 14-year-old Caitlin Snaring from Redmond, Wash., a $25,000 college scholarship Wednesday at the 19th annual National Geographic Bee.
Calculators tell teachers which pupils need help USA Today
Texas Instruments, whose calculators helped make the company a household name, has found a way to help teachers quickly identify students who may be failing math, Chief Executive Rich Templeton said Monday.
Glitch Forces Students in Va. to Stop Mid-Exam Washington Post
Thousands of Virginia students who took state standardized tests online yesterday were forced to stop because of a computer problem and will have to retake the exams, state education officials said.
Some Chicago-area students put together this video about kids being bullied. The song isn't great, but the visuals and the message are pretty powerful:
via think:lab
Drug dealers' gimmicks target kids Dallas Morning News
Pot Tarts. Strawberry Quick. Cheese. The names are cute and hip, but the products drug dealers are peddling with them are deadly nonetheless, according to police who are struggling to keep up with the latest gimmicks aimed at getting young kids hooked on narcotics.
Why It Is NOT Harder to Get Into Top Colleges Washington Post
Please be careful to whom you show this column...It may render obsolete one of our most beloved newsroom traditions -- the college angst story.
Making a difference amid a school's culture of cruelty CSM
Anger is the unofficial mascot at my school...The acts of grace I've glimpsed, however, give me hope that the struggle against cruelty is well worth waging.
Diversity sours at Lakeside Joanne Jacobs
A push for diversity has backfired at a posh Seattle private school that happens to be the alma master of Bill Gates.
Views of Parents, Students and Teachers Sought NYT
New York City’s Department of Education has begun a $2 million citywide survey concerning attitudes about the public schools.
Barely Legal Field Trip Action The Chalkboard
Matthew Carr, Jay Greene, and Marc Holley look at field trips gone wild in the latest City Journal. Remember all this crazy stuff is going on in a nation where all we supposedly do from September to July is teach to the test.
Creeping Big BrotherishnessTQATE
Objectively speaking, I'm sure that new tools like Edline, which gives parents up-to-the-minute information about their children's academic progress--class attendance, quiz grades, the whole megillah--are probably a good thing. in high school
Aid Providers, Some Invited and Some Not, Arrive En Masse Wash Post
As thousands of students returned to class Monday at Virginia Tech, they were greeted by legions of people who came to help.
Schools Revisit Gun Policies After Va. Tech Rampage NPR
Last week's deadly shooting rampage at Virginia Tech shattered the image of college campuses as idyllic sanctuaries of safety. Virginia Tech -- like most American universities -- forbids students from carrying guns on campus. Now many schools are re-evaluating their gun policies.
Power Trips for Tots WSJ (free)
Adventure vacations around the globe are becoming a status symbol for parents seeking an edge for their kids. Some families are heading to sub-Saharan Africa or Asia, while others are packing itineraries with extreme experiences, sending their children to the jungle or bicycling through rice paddies in Thailand.
He's going to Harvard (or Yale, or Princeton, or
) Houston Chronicle
These days, competition to get into a brand-name institution is so intense that desperate students apply to 10, 12 and even 20 schools. Twelve percent of students entering college last fall applied to seven or more schools, according to a survey by the University of California at Los Angeles.
Crime In The Quad US News
While murder on campus is exceedingly rare, its continued occurrence, along with the far more frequent incidence of sexual assault, has only increased calls for heightened security, improved alert systems, and more thorough crime reporting.
Emmanuel professor fired over Virginia Tech lecture Boston Globe
An adjunct professor at Emmanuel College was fired last week following a classroom discussion about the Virginia Tech shootings that included him pointing a marker at some students and saying "pow."
Chris Edley (Former Clinton Civil Rights, now at UC Berkeley) and Maria Echaveste (Former Clinton Labor, now at UC Berkeley). Howard Fuller (Marquette University) and Deborah McGriff (former Milwaukee deputy super, now at Edison Schools). Goodwin Liu (former Clinton National Service) and Ann O’Leary (9th circuit?). Carolyn Henrich (UC lobbyist former National PTA) and Joel Packer (NEA).
Warning -- I haven't verified these, so they may be wrong or outdated.
Previously noted (here): Former Heritage and USDE Nina Rees and journalist husband Matt (the one with the glasses). TFA founder Wendy Kopp (with bonus school pic) and KIPP CEO Richard Barth.
Some California Schools Close After Threat NYT
The police in Northern California were searching on Thursday for a man who they said was planning an attack that would “make Virginia Tech look mild.”
After Columbine, School Shootings Proliferate US News
The number, frequency, and death toll for shootings at schools has increased dramatically since the attack at Colorado's Columbine High School eight years ago this Friday.
NBC Under Fire Over "Exploitative," "Insensitive" Airing Of Gunman Video HuffPo
Families of some of the victims, some law enforcement officials and executives from competing television news organizations have accused NBC of being insensitive or exploitative in the way it presented the materials on the air.
I'm still working on getting more paparazzi pics, but the power couple pics I've come up with so far include former USDEr Nina Rees and journalist husband Matt (there are a couple -- she's married to one of these guys):
Also, TFA founder Wendy Kopp (with bonus school pic) and KIPP CEO Richard Barth:
Other amusing nominations I've received: Miller and Kennedy, Petrilli and Finn, Spellings and Paige.
No, I don't have anything better to do.
Spate of threats plagues schools MSNBC
A series of bomb threats and other security alerts rattled U.S. schools and universities Wednesday.
Experts ponder patterns in school shootings USA Today
To most of us, tomorrow is just another Friday. But to educators, it's one of the bigger nail-biters on the calendar.
Colleges seek faster ways to warn studentsCNN.com
"There is no one magic communication system that we can press a button and let everyone know what is going on," says Chris Meyer, assistant vice president for safety and security at Texas A&M University.
McCain Says He Favors "No Gun Control" After Shootings HuffPo
The Arizona senator said in Summerville, S.C., that the country needs better ways to identify dangerous people like the gunman who killed 32 people and himself in the Blacksburg, Va., rampage.
Victims remembered with 'hearts full of sorrow' CNN.com
Families and friends of the 32 victims of Monday's shootings on the Virginia Tech campus joined thousands of students clad in maroon and orange in chanting "Let's go Hokies!" to end an emotional convocation on campus.
Threats Rattle Schools Across the U.S. Washington Post
Bomb threats and menacing notes sent to several colleges and universities across the country a day after the deadly shootings at Virginia Tech led officials to temporarily evacuate buildings, shutter campuses and see weapons where there were none.
Texting When There's Trouble Wall Street Journal (free)
More communities and schools are using automated electronic-alert systems that can send voice, email or text messages in case of emergency.
Two-Hour Delay Is Linked to Bad Lead NYT
Virginia Tech officials were pursuing what appears to have been a fruitless lead after the first shooting when the second began.
University Campuses Face Security Challenges PBS
Monday's deadly shootings at Virginia Tech University have sparked concern over security at many colleges and universities around the country.
But are there any power couples in education? Not that I know of. I met Heather Podesta at an education event in DC earlier this year, married to Tony Podesta, brother of John. They're on the WMonthly list. Any others?
UPDATE: Readers share their nominations below. Got any to add?
Universities Are on Alert, Rethinking Own Security Wash Post
Security was heightened yesterday at some colleges and universities in the Washington area, and officials began reviewing procedures in reaction to the fatal shootings at Virginia Tech.
Topic: Responding to the Virginia Tech Massacre
The WaPo asks a litany of questions concerning yesterday's massacre at Virginia Tech, the deadliest mass shooting in American history: "Under what circumstances, and where, did the gunman obtain his weapons? Would the university have suffered the same tragedy if Virginia law did not prohibit the carrying of guns on campus? Should metal detectors be ubiquitous in American classrooms and dormitories? And why are gunmen so apt to carry out their lethal rampages at American schools?"
Dealing With Poverty in the Schools Washington Post
According to Ruby K. Payne, a consultant to school systems locally and nationwide, teachers need to know more about the poor.
Robotic trio wins 'Super Bowl of Smarts' CNN.com
After six weeks of strategy and sweat, a coalition of high school teams from Connecticut, Massachusetts and Nevada took the top prize at the FIRST Robotics competition, otherwise known as the "Superbowl of Smarts."
Healthier food, drinks slowly enter U.S. schools CNN.com
These are welcome changes since 17 percent of Americans between the ages of 2 and 19, or 12 million of them, are overweight. But nutrition experts said the food and beverage industry needs to do more.
With Homework, a Helping Hand Can Sometimes Be a Hindrance Washington Post
Joe knew just what to do when his daughter, who was studying Roman history, came home with an assignment to build a catapult. He ordered a catapult kit from the Internet and put it together himself.
Abstinence students still having sex AP
Students who participated in sexual abstinence programs were just as likely to have sex a few years later as those who did not, according to a long-awaited study mandated by Congress.
Yesterday I told you about some of the education-related videos that had won Peabodies (including Dateline's "Teaching Ms. Groves"). Tonight, check out a Learning Matters segment on the PBS NewsHour called Lessons Of War, about schools that teach military kids at Fort Bragg.
"No smoking. No drinking. No talking on cell phones while driving. Now, the latest no-no in state laws aimed at underage teens is indoor tanning,"begins this Stateline.org story (States say no to teen tanning). "Spurred by worries about skin cancer, Utah and Virginia this year joined 25 other states in placing limits on teens seeking a bronze glow from the ultraviolet lights of a tanning bed. North Dakota's Legislature is putting the final touches on a measure to also clamp restrictions on tanning salon patrons under age 18."
In telling the horrifying story of a student who'd pushed through all sorts of obstacles but was killed just before graduation, yesterday's Sam Freedman column in the NYT (here) is essentially a reflection on the meaning of accountability both inside schools and outside. "Jeffrey had proved accountable to the state by passing the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. But what about the accountability the state had to keep Jeffrey alive?"
The NYT gives a big writeup (Teenager Casts Light on a Shadowy Game) to "the choking game" (also known as The Fainting Game, Airplaning, Dying game, Sleeper Hold, Space Cowboy, Space Monkey, Suffocation Game, Suffocation Roulette according to Wikipedia). It's nothing new, but may be spreading (isn't everything?) via YouTube. Click below for a news video about a San Antonio student who died doing it.
Apparently news in the Chicago Tribune of a high school student in Texas being given up to seven years in jail for pushing a hall monitor has generated quite a reaction (see here).
"A 14-year-old black girl from the small Texas town of Paris, was sent to a youth prison for up to 7 years for shoving a hall monitor at her high school. A 14-year-old white girl, convicted of arson for burning down her family's house, was sentenced by the same Paris judge to probation."
Once in a while, strange little crazes start in schools, often making adults crazy in the process. Showing his roots as an education reporter, This American Life's Ira Glass included a segment about a video-making craze that overtook one set of kids in the show's video premier, which aired last week. Not surprisingly, the craze turned out badly, and the grownups had to step in. It's shown here for free: Video: embedded. I think you can also watch the full segment online here.
"On MySpace three weeks ago, one student told anyone who cared to read, “I made a hit list.” The student added, “It was so fun to write their names down saying I want them dead.” Readers took turns guessing the names on the list." From Hitlists, a disturbing but generally hype-free NYT article that explores the topic while making clear that there's not much correlation between the lists and actual violence. Below is an example: 
You know it's a slow week when nobody can resist peppermint and stinky feet stories:
"A middle school in Maryland is using a unique method to help kids do better on their tests" (School Backs Peppermint for Student Alertness NPR). I think they got it from here: "Along with smart teaching, careful preparation, a good night's sleep and a full stomach, peppermint candies are said to improve test performance" (The power of peppermint is put to the test Wash Post).
"Thirteen-year-old Katharine Tuck's sneakers smell as bad as they look. Now, the Utah seventh grader is $2,500 richer because of it" (13-year-old wins rotten sneaker contest AP).
In response to recent reports surrounding the further spread of KIPP, the Threat Awareness Office at the Department of Homeland Security has just posted the following adjustments to the National Hype Warning System. Hold onto your bags:
KIPP Is Our Savior
National Standards
Bring On The Growth Models
"Human Capital" Is Where It's At (Teachers, Principals)
The 65 Percent Solution (A Bad Dream?)
There's not that much of interest going on in education this week, but I'm going to keep you interested anyway. For example, here's the New Yorker's Simon Rich humorously describing the adult world from the younger generation's point of view (Shouts & Murmurs: The Wisdom of Children). I especially liked the first section, "A Conversation at the Grownup Table, as Imagined at the Kids’ Table."
But maybe it's just me. For the record, that's Defense Secretary Bob Gates on the left, Miscrosoft zillionaire philanthropist Bill Gates on the right.
You never know what issue is going to pop up in the news, but today there are at least a couple of articles about school buses, of all things -- their safety (Little Consistency in Bus Safety Standards NYT), and -- yikes! -- their potential use by terrorists (FBI: Foreign extremists sign up to drive school buses AP).
From the AP story: Members of extremist groups have signed up as school bus drivers in the United States, counterterror officials said Friday, in a cautionary bulletin to police. An FBI spokesman said "parents and children have nothing to fear."
About six weeks ago, I started getting emails and comments about a conflict between the African-American principal of one of the city's high schools and the Latino head of the local school council, which is in charge of hiring principals in Chicago, on my Chicago blog, District 299.
What makes this more than just a Chicago story is that, at a time when cities like New York are going back to some forms of school-based governance, the Curie situation illustrates just how difficult "local control" can be, just how messy representative democracy is (whether it's a school council or a condo board), the shift from black-white tensions to black-Hispanic ones, and the mixed blessings of having a mayor who's nominally in charge of the city's schools but whose superintendent still can't pick and choose principals.
'In a move intended to send an "unmistakably clear message" to Barstow County High School Principal Robert McCluskey, the school's student council approved by a vote of 22-3 during seventh period Monday a nonbinding resolution criticizing the principal's recent decision to install three extra hall monitors.' From The Onion (High School Student Council Passes Nonbinding Resolution).
Your Booing Is Crushing The Souls Of America's Youth Deadspin
The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association is in the business of protecting feelings, and they feel like your boos are going to make someone cry.
The Conspiracy Of Pizzas? Ed Wonks
Some folks seem to be convinced that Pizza Hut is orchestrating a top-secret scheme to make America's school children into Souless Automatons Pizza Addicts.
The Vagina Controversy The Hall Monitor
Three students have been suspended for saying the word “vagina” during an Open Mic Night Friday at John Jay High School in Cross River.
Before he was Borat, comedian Sasha Cohen was "Ali G," a hilariously ignorant and malapropism-inclined devotee of rap culture. Here he discusses everyone's favorite education issues -- sex ed and drug prevention -- with a bunch of folks who don't know he's pulling their legs:
It's Thursday and I'm behind as usual, but here are some news and links that you may not have seen and I think are worth knowing about:
Virginia Backs Down in Testing Showdown Learning The Language
Charles Pyle, the director of communications for the Virginia Department of Education, told me that Virginia has decided to "move on" ...
Democrats Pledge: No Vouchers in NCLB Heartland Institute
Matthew Ladner, vice president of research at the Goldwater Institute, a free-market organization in Phoenix, said differing statements from leading Democrats such as Kennedy and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) highlight a potential divide within the party's congressional caucus, which could have political implications throughout the entire Congress.
Study: Today's Students Too Narcissistic Huffington Post
Today's college students are more narcissistic and self-centered than their predecessors, according to a comprehensive new study by five psychologists who worry that the trend could be harmful to personal relationships and American society.
Kudos to Learning Matters (the folks who produce education segments on PBS) for putting out this original video podcast segment on learning disorders in college which, while not groundbreaking in terms of its topic, introduces us to "tray gazing" -- students scrutinizing each others' cafeteria trays as part of peer pressures surrounding food and weight -- and emphasizes that eating disorders aren't about the food but rather about anxiety or loneliness or stress.
Is standardized testing, like democracy, the worst of all forms of accountability except for all others that have been tried? The argument continues. But a recent study profiled in Inside Higher Ed suggests that standardized tests are at least more accurate predictors of future performance than that teacher favorite, class grades.
"The last year hasn’t been a good one for the standardized testing industry, what with SAT scoring errors and more colleges dropping the test as a requirement," begins the story (A Defense of Standardized Tests). "But on Thursday, the journal Science published a study backing the reliability of standardized testing in graduate and professional school admissions."
Thanks to an eagle-eyed reader for sending me this Houston Chronicle story about a Houston school district cafeteria worker who, after much discussion, gets to keep a pan on which, yes, an image of the Virgin Mary might be seen.
UPDATE: Forty-five minutes later (not bad, actually), Eduwonk catches up.
Often expressed in terms of fears for children, concerns about technology are often in my view just as much about adult ignorance, as well as fear of what children themselves do with technology. These two articles capture some of these issues particularly well:
Say Everything New York Magazine
As younger people reveal their private lives on the Internet, the older generation looks on with alarm and misapprehension not seen since the early days of rock and roll.
Looking for some good reading this weekend? Then check out Susan Orleans' fascinating article in the New Yorker about -- of all things -- origami (The Origami Lab). It chronicles the story of how one American physicist named Robert Lang "dropped everything for paper folding" -- and how origami has evolved as a pastime (ie, laser-cutting hundreds of folds) and as a scientific application (for surgical implants).
It matters much less whether you are a boy or a girl - success or failure can be a matter of how you feel about school and yourself, and almost nothing to do with your actual abilities.
Black Parents Seek to Raise Ambitions WaPo
Tom and Renee Carter joined last year with about 15 families, including the parents of nearly every black male sixth-grader, to push their sons to graduate on time in 2012 with options for the future and without lowering their expectations or test scores along the way. They call it Club 2012.
Researchers: Math anxiety saps working memory needed to do math CNN.com
Math anxiety -- feelings of dread and fear and avoiding math -- can sap the brain's limited amount of working capacity, a resource needed to compute difficult math problems, said Mark Ashcroft, a psychologist at the University of Nevada Los Vegas who studies the problem.
Students' View of Intelligence Can Help Grades NPR
A new study in the scientific journal Child Development shows that if you teach students that their intelligence can grow and increase, they do better in school.
It's not just teens, college kids, and business types who want to connect. If you combined LinkedIn, the professional networking site, with Teach For America, Wendy Kopp's effort to get elite college grads to teach in low income schools and take over the world, then you'd have LinkEd, a new organization based in New York and started by a couple of TFAers. They're having an event in NY on Tuesday, and they're already hooked up with DonorsChoose.
"Students at Adams Middle School have been feverishly speculating about the true circumstances surrounding seventh grade history teacher Mr. Benson's unannounced second-semester leave of absence—now approaching one month—raising the mysterious disappearance well into the status of legend among the student body at large," according to this article from, yes, The Onion (Teacher's Leave Of Absence Shrouded In Legend). "I heard he was a pot addict, and he went mental, and they took him away to a mental institution," said Gregory Oswald, 13, a student of Benson's, adding that he remembered noticing a growing impatience in Mr. Benson in the weeks before Christmas break. "Someone told me that the first night he was there, they shocked his brain. Now he can't remember anything about the Civil War."
The House of Representatives voted to cut interest rates on certain student loans last week. What do you think?
Georgia Cummings,Systems Analyst:
"But the only excitement I have in my life is the cat-and-mouse game I play with my student loan officer."
Jeffrey Cain, Referee:
"I can't wait to tell my loan officer that I'll be paying back my loan two weeks earlier than my previously stated goal date of never."
Robert Loehman, Body Piercer:
"As this will inevitably entice many to purchase more education than they can afford, please let me know when I can buy one of those fancy educated brains at foreclosure."
Student-Loan Interest Cut | The Onion - America's Finest News Source
As if it isn't bad enough that a 29 year-old sex offender signs up and attends school for a time as a 7th grader, it turns out that he's done this before -- and this time at least chose a charter school.
"Though many parents have publicly praised the Surprise school’s handling of the deception, Mr. Rodreick’s enrollment has raised questions about admissions procedures, which officials at Imagine, one of the state’s largest charter schools, said they were reviewing," according to this NYT article (Posing as a Family, Sex Offenders Stun a Town).
"Arizona, the nation’s fastest-growing state, is a leader in charter school enrollment, with more than 450 schools that account for 8 percent of the state’s total student body. 'He probably thought that a charter school was easier,” said Candace Foth, another parent in Surprise. “It is not really difficult to enroll.'”
I generally try and avoid reading education pieces over the weekend, since I see so many of them during the week, but sometimes I can't resist. Here are a few interesting-looking ones (If you've seen any better be sure and let us know in the comments section):
Lives: Assimilating Circumstances NYT
I’ve taught English as a second language for eight years, and I’m no slouch. I’ve taught in
Bush's Baby Einstein gaffe. Slate
For the succeeding 25 years, every January some hapless White House functionary has been called upon to find a few new heroes to park next to the first lady in the House visitor's gallery. The supply was bound eventually to run a little thin, but whoever chose Julie Aigner-Clark, founder of the Baby Einstein Co., should have done a little more research…No one told the president, I presume, that this profit-making scheme ignores advice from the
Social Networking Evades Schools Fast Company
A recent survey from the National School Boards Association found that most schools don't have policies regarding the use of social networking sites. Prior to the association's annual Technology + Learning conference, an e-mail survey revealed that 35% of respondents...
It's not just about what poor people eat that makes them more prone to overeating and obseity, according to this article from Salon (The anxiety of appetite). It's why they eat.
"When food stamps run out, or the kids' medical expenses take precedence, or the local food bank shuts down or runs out of food, you're not going to eat a lot. And when food becomes available again, you binge."
In their efforts to help the poor eat healthy foods, says the author, those who are trying to help run the risk of failing and creating a new form of progressive discrimination against the poor and overweight.
There's been a slew of banning going on around the country, it seems (cell phones, games of tag, etc.) -- most of which seem ridiculous from the outside even as they make sense to those who propose them. This one might take the cake: a Georgia town has banned kids from playing soccer on public playing fields. But of course it's simpler, and more complicated, than that. In the NYT: Refugees Find Hostility and Hope on Soccer Field
Snowed in and looking for something good to read? Check out Jay Mathews' uplifting profile of what sounds like an amazing teacher in LA (America's Best Classroom Teacher).
The teacher, Rafe Esquith, has a new book out, Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire, and has been profiled by NPR in the past (Inner-City Teacher Takes No Shortcuts to Success).
Mathews points out that most big-name teachers have left the classroom (though not Jason Kamras, I'd point out -- he went back, last I heard). He also says that Esquith disagrees with KIPP folks like Mike Feinberg (who was interviewed here recently), but doesn't say exactly how.
