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So your district's students aren't performing well on state standardized tests? Here's one way to motivate them: Allow students who pass the state tests to skip their in-class final exams. That's what's planned for spring semester at Cypress-Fairbanks district high schools in Houston, Texas, where students who pass the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills and have at least a D average can say "no thanks" to several final exams. But some parents and education experts are uneasy about the plan and the message about mediocrity that students might take away. "Who wants their kids going to a district who says a 'D' is good enough for us?" asked one parent. School leaders argued that they've long suspected that students slack on the TAKS exam because a passing grade is not needed to be promoted or to graduate, and the new policy will help them collect more accurate student achievement data. "Students have to be focused and engaged in the test," one district official said. "We're hoping this will provide the motivation needed." Jason Stephens, an educational psychology professor at the University of Connecticut, questioned that strategy. "It is sort of sending them a lesson that mediocrity pays. If you can skate by with a 70, just keep on skating."

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Two National Assessment of Educational Progress reports were released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Education. One found that students who graduated in 2005 had racked up more high school credits, more college-preparatory classes, and markedly higher grade-point averages than students 15 years ago.

The other report showed that 12th grade reading scores on standardized tests have generally been dropping since 1992, which throws into doubt what students are actually learning in those ostensibly college-prep classes, but also whether two decades of education reform have actually made any significant headway.

Math scores were also low—fewer than one-quarter of the 12th graders tested scored in the "proficient" range—but couldn’t be compared to previous students because they took a different test.

Daria Hall, assistant director of the Washington, D.C., nonprofit Education Trust, called the transcript study clear evidence of grade inflation, as well as "course inflation"—classes that have "the right names" but a dumbed-down curriculum.

"What it suggests is that we are telling students that they're being successful in these courses when, in fact, we're not teaching them any more than they were learning in the past," she said. "So we are, in effect, lying to these students."

Posted by Scott J. Cech, Teacher Magazine at 1:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This year’s winner of the highly coveted Newbery Medal, The Higher Power of Lucky, is a book you may not see on your school’s library shelves. Why? Because of one word that refers to a part of a male dog’s anatomy that’s been bitten by a snake. The book’s 10-year-old eponymous heroine, after hearing the word, thinks it sounds “like something green that comes up when you have the flu.” And on one of the many school-library-affiliated mailing lists abuzz with debate over Lucky, the reference is compared to “Howard Stern-type shock treatment.” As school librarians across the country pull the book from shelves, or threaten to, author Susan Patron claims she’s shocked by the reaction. The snakebite is based on a real-life incident involving a neighbor’s dog, she says, and a big theme in the book—aimed at 9-to-12-year-olds—is how Lucky is preparing for adulthood. Pat Scales, former chairwoman of the Newbery Award committee, says of the flap: “That’s what censors do—they pick out words and don’t look at the total merit of the book.” Perhaps that’s true, but imagine this: You’re in class, allowing your 4th, 5th, or 6th graders to read the book silently, when, suddenly, a girl raises her hand and asks, “What’s a scrotum?”

Posted by Rich Shea, Teacher Magazine at 9:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Most people agree that teachers should not be allowed to turn their classrooms into forums for their personal and political beliefs. But where is the line? Legislators in Arizona are working on a proposed law that would prohibit instructors in public schools and colleges from expressing opinions on politically contentious issues. "In any class, any issue could be discussed as long as the instructor is neutral on the issue and not telling you what your conclusion should be," said the bill's author. But some worry the law would discourage classroom discussions on controversial subjects, or require educators to bend over backwards to stay on politically neutral ground—for example, by presenting the argument that global warming is not real.

Posted by Denise Kersten Wills at 1:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It’s perhaps a sign of the times—when public schools are being pressured to pour every available resource into acing standardized tests—that the Scotts Valley Unified School District in California is asking parents to donate $36.13 for each school day a student is absent. The exception: sick days. “If a child is sick, we want that child to stay at home,” Superintendent Susan Silver explained. “But if a child is out skiing or going to Disneyland or whatever, that has a financial effect on other children in the district.” That’s because California funds schools according to daily attendance, not overall enrollment. Last year, the district lost $223,500, with the average student missing 7.7 days—more than two for reasons other than sickness. Silver, who’s helmed the Scotts Valley district for just over a year, brought the idea with her from another district, which raked in $30,000 annually. And parents have been receptive—mainly because the donation is voluntary and tax-deductible. Already, after just a few weeks of the policy being in place, district officials have collected more than $2,000

Posted by Rich Shea, Teacher Magazine at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just when you were getting used to the idea of a Highly Qualified Teacher requirement, a high-profile panel comes along and says what we really need is a Highly Qualified Effective Teacher requirement. A much-anticipated report by the Commission on No Child Left Behind, a bipartisan panel convened by the Aspen Institute to advise Congress on refurbishing NCLB, recommends that states be required to set up systems to track teachers’ effectiveness based on student achievement data over time, as well as principal and peer evaluations. Under the plan, if a teacher does not achieve “HQET status” after five years (including three years of specialized professional development), his or her principal would be required to notify the parents of students in the teacher’s classes. Teachers who fail to attain HQET status after seven years would no longer be allowed to teach in a school receiving Title I funds. ''The Commission believes that it is time to raise the bar and allow all teachers to demonstrate their effectiveness in the classroom rather than just their qualifications for entering it,'' the report says.

Posted by Anthony Rebora, teachermagazine.org at 12:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (20)

What do you do with mostly low-income students from single-parent families who need something constructive to keep them busy after school? If you’re Confluence Academy, a charter school in St. Louis, you create a table tennis team coached by a Chinese pro. Sheri Xu, a former junior champion from Shanghai, is the one who, during a dinner party, suggested forming the team to school founder Susan Uchitelle. Effusive in her praise, Uchitelle says of the sport, known more commonly as pingpong: “It ties in with achievement. [The students] have to concentrate, have agility ... practice for hours.” She’s not alone in her assessment. Although the Confluence team, made up of 30 kids in grades 3 to 8, is the first in St. Louis public schools, the American Youth Table Tennis Organization has been working with needy students in New York City and New England for years, tying the disciplinary and team-player aspects of the sport to academics. Already one formerly troubled 5th grader at Confluence has experienced a turnaround, thanks to Xu’s volunteer efforts. “I have never seen him so focused,” says one teacher.

Posted by Rich Shea, Teacher Magazine at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Forget about grievance policies and transfer rules—the teachers union in Newark, New Jersey, has more important things to worry about these days. The union recently paid for six billboards in the city that read “HELP WANTED: STOP THE KILLINGS IN NEWARK.” At least 106 people have been murdered in the city of 227,000 in the past year—a wave of violence that the union says has become a grim working-conditions issue for educators. Some 100 teachers have resigned or retired from Newark schools since September, and in a recent poll, the union’s members cited improving safety and preventing violence in schools as second in importance only to salary and benefits issues. “Who’s going to send their daughter or son to teach here?” asks union president Joseph Del Grosso. Some residents—and apparently the mayor’s office—have objected that the billboards project a negative image of the city. Del Grosso just hopes they will spur action: “Maybe these billboards aren’t the solution, but at least it’s calling attention to the need for a solution.”

Posted by Anthony Rebora, teachermagazine.org at 3:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Maybe you won’t need that summer job after all. A new report by the Manhattan Institute, a conservative New York think tank, finds that teachers actually have it pretty good. Who knew? The report, which looked at data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, found that teachers’ average hourly wage in 2005 was $34.06—roughly $9 more than the average for other white-collar workers. “It’s a widely held belief that public school teachers are horribly paid,” said Jay P. Greene, one of the report’s authors. “The facts are public school teachers make more than other professionals.” The study, which purports to make no judgment about whether teachers make too much, also says that paying teachers more does not correlate with higher graduation rates or student test scores. Teachers’ union officials were quick to take issue with the findings, saying the report used flawed methodology and did not account for extra hours worked or advanced degrees held. A teachers’ union study of labor data “found that teachers earned $20,000 below the average of other white-collar professional jobs,” according to the spokeswoman for the Iowa State Education Association.

Posted by Anthony Rebora, teachermagazine.org at 1:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

How would you feel if you discovered that a kid in your class, a seemingly shy 7th grader, was really a 29-year-old convicted sex offender? “Our staff is devastated,” says Rhonda Cagle, spokeswoman for Imagine Charter School in Surprise, Arizona, where “Casey Price” was enrolled for four months before being kicked out for attendance problems. The man’s real name is Neil H. Roderick II, and it wasn’t until after he’d attempted to enroll in two other Arizona charters that school officials alerted police, thinking, ironically, that the 5-foot-8-inch, 120-pound “Casey,” who claimed to be 12, was possibly an older, abducted child. An investigation concluded, however, that Roderick—who served seven years in an Oklahoma prison after making indecent proposals to minors—had been shacking up with two other sex offenders claiming to be older relatives while enrolling in the schools. Authorities haven’t yet determined whether any kids were harmed, but the indictment against Roderick includes an assault count. All of the men, who’ve pleaded not guilty to fraud and failing to register as sex offenders, will appear in court later this month. Meanwhile, Imagine Charter, where “Casey” spent most of his time, as a quiet, mediocre student who did his homework, is reevaluating its admissions policy—and more. “This is something that is bigger than our school,” says spokeswoman Cagle. “It affects the way we live and the way we look at each other.”

Posted by Rich Shea, Teacher Magazine at 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)