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With policies aimed at separating students based on ability flourishing in schools, educators have noticed a correlation between ability-based grouping and the continuation of the minority achievement gap, according to NPR.

Schools like Columbia High School in Maplewood, N.J., which place struggling students in remedial classes, have created an environment where predominantly minority students continue to end up in the lower-level classes, while their white counterparts succeed in higher-level classes.

"What you're seeing in suburbia and how it is playing out along racial lines is testimony to the fact that race still matters quite a bit in a society and very much so in education," says Amy Stuart Wells, a sociology and education professor at Columbia University's Teachers College.

This racial division can have profound effects upon the minority students' levels of motivation, some educators believe.

"Black children in higher-level classes were ignored, or perceived that they were being ignored, or did not feel comfortable going to the teacher after school to get help," Lovie Lilly, principal of Columbia High School says. "They gave up and decided to go to level three classes where at least there were other black children."

When minority students opt to drop themselves down into lower level classes, the NPR report says, they often opt out of a solid education, as teachers in the remedial classes expect less from their students. A former student of Columbia High, Jerry Mornvil, recalls his time spent in a lower-level class: "Our first day, going to that class, we made a nickname for that class. We called it the retarded class."

District Superintendent Brian Osborne recalls, on his second day on the job, asking a group of students what their teachers' expectations are for them. "The very first thing that one of the students told me was 'It depends what level you're in.' "

Osborne believes all is not lost for students in these remedial classes—he has created a task force to study the technique of separating in Maplewood's schools.

Posted by Bryan Toporek at 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In response to the sickening news of gang rape occurring outside a Calif. high school's homecoming dance, a USC professor is calling attention to role of student tips and reports in efforts to stop school violence.

Ron Avi Astor, Ph.D, a professor in USC's Schools of Social Work and Education, writes an opinion piece on CNN.com that says instead of asking questions such as "Why are our kids so messed up?" and "What's happening in our schools?," we should be asking, "What can we do to prevent such heinous acts from happening?"

Astor believes that students themselves hold the power to stopping school violence. He cites research showing that students typically know where and when violence on campus will occur, largely due to the prominence of online social networks, text messaging, and widespread cellphone use.

Since the tragedies of Columbine in 1999 and Virginia Tech in 2007, Astor believes students to have become more vigilant in noticing potential safety threats. Student reports halted a Columbine-style massacre at a high school in Green Bay, Wisc. a few years back; and in August, student tips and an alert teacher stopped a potential tragedy from occurring at Hillside High School in San Mateo, Calif.

"Unfortunately, the public is largely unaware of these frequently heroic acts by high school students and their teachers because they don't often get national media attention," Astor explains. "That lack of information has helped obscure the important roles that students and their responsive teachers play in preventing school violence."

Ultimately, Astor believes school administrators and teachers must answer the call and teach students procedures about how to handle reporting incidents of violence in schools. If the schools provide the backbone, he thinks students will do the rest when it comes to preventing school violence.

Posted by Bryan Toporek at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The debate continues in the nation's capital over the hiring and firing of hundreds of teachers, according The Washington Post. Why did Chancellor Michele Rhee hire 934 teachers over the summer, only to turn around a few months later and fire 266 teachers when the city was faced with a $20.7 million school budget deficit? Did the chancellor know the budget cuts were coming? And why did she hire almost 25 percent more teachers to the city's 4,000 member teaching force?

On Thursday, Chancellor Rhee faced off with Washington, D.C.'s, City Council to answer those questions and more under oath. According to council members, Rhee ignored their directive to curtail summer school to deal with the budget shortfall and instead turned around and laid off teachers, almost a third of those she hired over the summer. Many suspect she was interested in laying off older teachers, a charge she has repeatedly denied.

Criticized for a lack for transparency and poor communication, Rhee was reproached by the council for her "incredibly cavalier" decision. Her approach to dealing with the budget shortfall was called a violation of the law for manipulating the budget, by Council Chairman Vincent A. Gray. While Rhee claims she did not know about the budget shortfall, her chief financial deputy, Noah Wepman, acknowledged he knew about the budget cuts mid-July while the school system was in the midst of hiring teachers. He said he briefed Rhee and that they discussed layoffs as a means to trimming the budget.

For her turn, Rhee defended her decision, explaining that it was more important to salvage summer school than to save teacher jobs. "I would have not have taken this step had I had not believed that the advantages to going this route, in the long run, far outweigh the short term disadvantages," she said.

The teachers' union, which has denounced the October layoffs as "illegal," claiming Rhee just wanted to get rid of older teachers, has gone to court to reinstate those who were laid off.

Posted by Elizabeth Rich at 4:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Edward Vickerman, the head of business at England's Freeston Business and Enterprise College—the equivalent of a high school in America—recently won the British outstanding new teacher of the year award despite suffering from dyslexia.

"I was told I could never be a teacher, so this award is for anyone like me who is dyslexic and wants to teach," he said.

Vickerman keeps his students in the loop about his dyslexia and avoids any issues with writing by incorporating new technologies into his classroom.

Having received a degree in hotel management before switching to teaching, Vickerman hopes to provide his students with what it takes to succeed.

"He is the most talented, exciting and enthusiastic teacher we have ever had, with skills way beyond our expectations," said Vickerman's colleague who recommended him for the award.

Posted by Bryan Toporek at 1:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Starting next school year, Pennsylvania will began phasing in Keystone exams—final exams which students could be required to pass in order to graduate, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Starting next year, 11th graders in participating districts will begin taking the exams in biology, literature, and Algebra 1; by 2015, students now in 7th grade would be expected to take six Keystone exams to graduate. The Keystone exams look to replace the state-run Pennsylvania System of School Assessments, of which 50 percent or more 11th graders failed (in math or reading) in 132 of the state's 500 districts last year.

The Keystone exams will be issued by the state, meaning the tests and their curriculum will be state, not district controlled. The issue of state control has raised hackles, despite the fact that districts can opt out of the tests. Thus far, 33 districts have approved the tests for use in their schools, while 70 districts passed resolutions this year to oppose the tests.

Among the individuals who have expressed concern is Joan Duvall-Flyyn, president of a local NAACP chapter, who worries that the tests will "hold children accountable for the failures of the system."

And with the $176 million price tag to implement the Keystone exams, others believe the money could be better spent. Regarding the funding, Lawrence Feinberg, a member of the Haverford School District school board, suggested, "give it to the kids who need it—that's where the money should go."

Posted by Bryan Toporek at 3:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Theodore Sizer, influential education reformer and author of Horace's Compromise: The Dilemma of the American High School, has died at age 77. Among other traits, Sizer was known for his acute sense of the systemic challenges teachers faced in their work--often amid what he referred to as policy and social "silences." We'll have more on this. ...

Update, 5:15 p.m.: From Teacher's archives, an excellent 1996 profile of Sizer, as well as a 2000 appreciation of Horace's Compromise.

Posted by Anthony Rebora, teachermagazine.org at 4:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Students struggling with learning to read are receiving confidence boosts by turning to a new, unlikely reading partner: reading therapy dogs.

By reading to dogs, children can build their confidence and reading skills without facing the risk of judgment by their classmates.

Kathy Klotz, the executive director of a company which runs a program called Reading Education Assistance Dogs, believes that new readers benefit from their canine partners' attentiveness.

"A factor that we never planned for, that turned out to be really important, is that the child feels like they're letting the dog understand the story," Klotz says. "They get to be the teacher, the storyteller, the one who knows more than the dog for a change. ...They just blossom when they get to be the one who knows more than the dog."

Jim Wilmoth owns Bailey, a registered therapy dog who attends reading sessions every week at local libraries as part of the "Sit. Stay. Read." program—a therapy program similar to R.E.A.D.

"The kids come in and read stories to Bailey and other therapy dogs for about 15 or 20 minutes at a time," says Wilmoth. "It encourages them to practice their reading skills ... and it's a good way to involve families with the library system."

While Klotz doesn't have scientific data to prove her program's success, she believes its impact reaches far beyond teaching students how to read.

"It's not just reading scores," she says. "They start to speak up in class, and volunteer, and finish homework. They don't want to miss school when they're going to read to the dog, so it improves attendance. It kind of just flows over onto everything."

Posted by Bryan Toporek at 4:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A new study from the University of Alberta suggests that the epidemic of "chatspeak" probably does not negatively impact students' spelling abilities.

The study's lead author, psychologist Connie Varnhagen, believes that the abbreviated language of text messages and online instant messages should be considered a dialect with proprietary spelling and grammar.

"Young people can compartmentalize their language," Varnhagen said. "They have language that they use on the playground and then school language. They know how to speak in classrooms without sounding like goofballs."

Roughly 40 students, aged 12 to 17, were asked to save their instant messages for a week, and then take a standardized spelling test. The researchers discovered that the students seemed to know the "correct" spelling of abbreviated words— for example, students understood that "probably" was abbreviated as "prolly," and that "shoulda was derived from "should've."

"Kids who are good spellers [academically] are good spellers in instant messaging," she said. "And kids who are poor spellers in English class are poor spellers in instant messaging."

Posted by Bryan Toporek at 3:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A school district in Indiana is investing more than $1 million on 20 math and literacy coaches for the 2009-2010 school year to help provide teachers an opportunity to reflect on their teaching methods, according to a column in the Indianapolis Star.

The coaches in the Warren Township district are responsible for helping teachers in the elementary and middle schools examine data and enhance instructional practices. .
"It's not that the coach is the expert," said Betsy Snapp, who serves as the district's math coordinator and gets to manage the coaches.

"It's just the fact that they provide teachers a resource. They give teachers the opportunity to reflect on the teaching methods and what's working. It's colleagues coming alongside each other to help support instruction," she said.

Third-grade teacher Laura Koomler, in her fourth year of teaching, appreciates the freedom provided by the coaches.

"They don't have a classroom full of students to work with and take care of," said Koomler. "In some ways, they have it easier than the classroom teachers, but they also feel a lot of pressure for our test scores."

Diane Buchanan was one of the district's first teachers to switch over from classroom teacher to math coach, and she is happy in her new position.

"I get the best of both worlds," Buchanan said. "I get to go into classrooms and work with teachers and be around kids, but I also have the flexibility of being outside the classroom and really digging deep into mathematics instruction and devoting a lot of energy to finding the best practices on how to teach math."

Posted by Bryan Toporek at 3:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Long thought of as a tool for deaf and special education students to improve communication skills, sign language is making its way into traditional classrooms. Teachers are incorporating sign language into their daily class routines in order to manage their classrooms more effectively, a recent story in the Washington Post reports.

According to the Washington Post, several products exist for helping teachers learn how to sign, including DVDs, CDs, and posters.

Second-grade teacher Fran Nadel, who works at Woodburn School for the Fine and Communicative Arts in Falls Church, Va., invented a system four years ago where students sign letters for basic needs— "B" for bathroom, "W" for water fountain, "L" for library, and "S" for pencil sharpener. Nadel responds to the signs with a nod or by pointing.

"The very first year I taught, I realized how much time I was wasting in my classroom...," said Nadel. "I realized if they could do this without talking, I could send them somewhere with a flick of my finger."

"It's fun because it's pretty quiet in the room," said seven-year-old Steven Ly, one of Nadel's students.

Bridget Chapin, the principal of Woodburn, believes that sign language can boost instruction, particularly in the age of accountability. "So many kids are so visual that words just wash over them," said Chapin. "A lot of times the more words you use, the less effective you are."

Posted by Bryan Toporek at 1:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It was a strange week for six-year-old boys—a trifecta of odd events that read as follows:

As of today, Ohio has repealed a school safety law that was named after a six-year-old who was killed in school, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "Jarod's Law," honoring a boy who was struck by a falling cafeteria table, required every public and private school to undergo an annual inspection and repair anything that presented a danger to a child. It had strong legislative support. But, the Plain Dealer reports, the law's repeal was buried in the state's budget. Said principal Jill Petitti of Lorain County Joint Vocational School, who has spent more than $50,000 to comply with the law, "It's kind of frustrating. Schools spent so much and so many people got involved with this, and then it just stopped. We thought that it was very strange."

On Monday, six-year-old Zachary Christie of Delaware made news for facing a 45-day sentence in a reform school for having brought his Cub Scout camping utensil to his school, which has a zero-tolerance weapons policy. In an articulate statement on the Today Show, the 1st grader said he'd delivered utensil to a teacher who said she'd give it his classroom teacher, but then turned it over to the principal. His mother, Debbie Christie, created a Web site and pushed the issue, figuring publicity would bring the board of education around. It worked. The threat of punishment was dropped. Zachary has returned to his 1st grade classroom. It is not clear if his record will be expunged.

And then, finally, yesterday, much of the country was gripped by the images of a jiffy-pop looking helium inflated balloon sailing 7,000 feet in the air across the Colorado Plains. Could six-year-old Falcon Heene be inside the balloon his storm-chasing father built? Anyone watching wouldn't have had to think for too long or too hard about what might have happened to a little boy trapped in his father's science experiment. After the balloon touched down without the child who was later "found" in the family's attic, speculation arose about the possibility of a hoax, particularly after a strange interview on CNN during which the boy said, looking at his father, "You said that we did this for the show."

According to reports, the father enjoys building science projects with his children. "We're always doing some kind of scientific research," Heene said. "We're always building something together. I teach my kids how to shoot cameras. It's highly educational for my boys...This is not some kind of hoax."

Posted by Elizabeth Rich at 1:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Three years ago, Marie Reed Elementary School in Washington, D.C., adopted a professional development instruction model called "lesson study" developed in Japan and, by all accounts, it appears to be working, according to The Washington Post.

Principal Dayo Akinsheye, a former math resource teacher, brought the PD model to her school after landing a $47,000 grant from the D.C. school district. The program resembles a professional learning community with an instructional objective decided by the teachers. Together, they determine how they will teach it, anticipating student and teacher exchanges over possible misunderstandings. And then, they take the lesson to the classroom. There, a member of the group observes them—not to evaluate their colleagues, but to grasp how the lesson reaches the students. The teachers reconvene, putting the instruction under a microscope. This process goes back and forth, sometimes over the course of an entire year.

Ninety-four percent of Reed's study body is low-income and two-thirds struggle with English—demographics that can be tough for any classroom teacher, but educators at the school are finding support from each other. Says one 4th grade teacher, Elinor Stephens, "You don't stay in a corner there wondering, how do I teach this?"

Now in his eighth year of teaching, 5th grade teacher Eric Bethel agrees. "Lesson study is a way for teachers to get better. It provides a vehicle to grow. I've never been involved in any professional development that's been as enriching."

Posted by Elizabeth Rich at 11:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Six-year-old Zachary Christie faces 45 days in his district's reform school after bringing in a Cub Scout's camping utensil that can serve as a knife, fork, and spoon to school, the New York Times reports.

Knives are banned "regardless of possessor's intent" in the zero-tolerance weapons policy of the Christina School District in Delaware, where Zachary attends 1st grade. Citing the zero-tolerance policy, school administrators suspended Zachary, a new Cub Scout who was excited to use the camping tool at lunch.

"Zachary wears a suit and tie some days to school by his own choice because he takes school so seriously," said Debbie Christie, Zachary's mother. Following Zachary's suspension, Christie is home-schooling him while she fights his reform-school sentence. She started a Web site to generate support for Zachary, saying, "He is not some sort of threat to his classmates."

The president of the district's school board does appear to be open to the possibility of reducing Zachary's sentence.

"There is no parent who wants to get a phone call where they hear that their child no longer has two good seeing eyes because there was a scuffle and someone pulled out a knife," said George Evans, the board's president, before adding that he would be open to potentially adjusting the zero-tolerance rules for younger students such as Zachary.

As for Zachary? While he awaits his schooling fate, he seems concerned with his classmates' potential reaction to his knife-related blunder.

"I just think the other kids may tease me for being in trouble," Zachary said, "but I think the rules are what is wrong, not me."

Posted by Bryan Toporek at 4:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Here's a messy situation: Two former teachers at Achievement Academy Charter School in Albany, N.Y, are charging that school officials secretly planted video cameras in their classrooms.

One of the teachers, Ryan Marie Roberts, was fired shortly after the alleged videotaping, reportedly for poor performance; the other, Carol Connelly, resigned after finding a camera in her classroom. Both say they detected a camera hidden behind a sweater hanging in the back of the classroom (not exactly James Bond stuff here).

But here's the thorny part: School officials acknowledge that the classrooms were videotaped, but claim it was done as part of an evaluation system that teachers were informed of. Indeed, according to the Albany Times Union, shortly after the news of the alleged secret videotaping was first reported, the organization that manages the school, Brighter Choice Foundations, put out a press release praising the school for its effective use of videotaping for teacher evaluation.

"We do use videotaping for the betterment of the school. All teachers were made aware of it and reminded," Chris Bender, executive director of Brighter Choice, told the Troy Record.

Roberts and Connelly, however, both indicate they were not notified about the cameras. Roberts reasonably questioned why, if the videotaping was public knowledge, the camera was hidden underneath a sweater.

Connelly noted that her students were disturbed by the camera. "As soon as students saw it, they became really upset," said Connelly. "They said they felt violated and they brought up that their parents didn't sign anything about it."

Connelly has also reportedly claimed that the school systematically allows students to cheat on standardized tests--a charge Bender also denies.

Posted by Anthony Rebora, teachermagazine.org at 2:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This spring, at the Academy for Learning in Dolton, Illinois, a school police officer allegedly assaulted a 15-year-old special-needs student for not adhering to the school's dress code, according to CNN.

The confrontation, which was caught on a school surveillance videotape, reportedly began when the officer admonished the student for not tucking in his shirt properly, in violation of the school's dress code.

In the video, the student responds to the officer, after which a faculty member grabs the student's arm. The student resists, pulling away and walking down the hall, followed by the officer and faculty member. The officer then slams the student against the lockers and pins him on the floor, breaking his nose, according to the student's attorney. The officer was treated at a hospital for an eye scratch.

"Unfortunately, the physical restraint of a student sometimes becomes necessary," according to a statement submitted by the school to CNN. "In such instances, AFL and its staff are committed to employing techniques that are safe, effective and which conform to best practice standards.

After reviewing the tape, the Dolton police department removed the officer from the school and placed him on administrative leave; he has since voluntarily resigned.

The parents are considering suing the city of Dolton, the school, and the Dolton police department. The student now attends a different school.

Posted by Bryan Toporek at 2:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)