Web Watch

According to the BBC, more than 250,000 qualified teachers are no longer working in England’s schools. And between 2000 and 2005, nearly 100,000 switched careers--more than double the number than in the previous five years. The Tories, the country’s conservative party, point to “poor class discipline” and “red tape” among the reasons why teachers are fleeing the profession.

Member of Parliament and Shadow Schools Secretary Michael Gove, a Tory, said that teachers needed to be removed from “government micro-management.” In a statement earlier in the month before Parliament, Gove presented his country’s slipping education numbers: “…We have fallen from fourth to 14th in the international league tables for science, from seventh to 17th for reading, and from eighth to 24th for maths.”

Addressing the issue of classroom discipline, which is high on the list of teacher complaints at home in the United States, Gove asked a familiar question, “Why is there no determination to give teachers the power to impose effective discipline by excluding disruptive pupils without having teachers second-guessed by those outside the school?” Anyone care to tackle that one?

Posted by Elizabeth Rich at 11:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)

Last month, the state director of science curriculum in Texas Chris Comer resigned under pressure after forwarding an e-mail from a Texas professor who opposes teaching creationism in public schools. Now word comes from The Dallas Morning News that a master’s in science education that supports creationism has been approved preliminarily by a state advisory board. Developed by the Institute for Creation Research, the online curriculum for future science teacher includes instruction in the use of lab equipment as well as “advanced studies in creationism.”

After visiting ICR’s campus and meeting with faculty, the advisory board found the school’s curriculum sufficient preparation for state licensure exams, according to Glenda Barron, an associate commissioner of the board. Responding to the brouhaha over the school’s support of creationism, Baron said, “The master’s in science education, we see those frequently … what’s got everybody’s attention—is the name of the institution.”

ICR’s Web site, however, suggests a different story: It’s more than just about the name of the institution. ICR’s mission statement makes their purpose undeniably clear: “The Institute for Creation Research equips believers with evidences of the Bible’s accuracy and authority through scientific research, educational programs, and media presentations, all conducted within a thoroughly biblical framework.”

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board will make the final determination next month over whether to approve ICR's teacher curriculum.

Posted by Elizabeth Rich at 4:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (51)

Israel’s second largest teacher’s union, the Secondary School Teacher’s Organization, reached a deal with the government to end its record-breaking, two-month teacher strike, according to Israeli news sources.

Hours before the activation of a back-to-work court injunction, the head of the SSTO, Ran Erez, signed the deal, which includes a teacher wage hike of at least 17 percent, a pledge from the government to fund efforts to reduce class sizes, and the payment of salaries to teachers for wages lost during the strike.

Not everyone applauded the deal, however. Dozens of teachers and students protested outside the Ministry of Education, saying that the agreement was incongruent with their demands. On the other side of the debate, labor officials said the SSTO unnecessarily prolonged its strike because it was offered the same deal a month ago.

The nine-week strike kept about a half-million students and 40,000 teachers from middle and high schools, according to previous reports.

Posted by Brian Freedman at 2:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Educational Testing Service doesn’t just grade students and produce teacher licensing exams, they also study teachers. According to The New York Times, the ETS reported Tuesday that the teaching profession is attracting a stronger pool of applications. “We’re seeing a pretty big jump in qualifications,” said Drew H. Gitomer, the ETS researcher who led a recent study that looked at a pool of prospective teacher candidates.

The ETS reports that teachers taking the Praxis subject-area licensing exams between 2002 and 2005 had higher SAT scores and better college grades than their mid-1990’s counterparts. Coming out below average for all college graduates, however, were teaching candidates for elementary and physical education.

Encouraging as this news may be for the 90,000 public schools nationwide, some studies report that the United States now recruits from the bottom third of college graduates while other countries, including Singapore and Finland, recruit from the top third. Also striking, according to the ETS study, is the degree of homogeneity among the nation’s prospective teaching force—mostly white and female—at a time when minorities comprise almost fifty percent of the student body.

Posted by Elizabeth Rich at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

An Educational Testing Service study suggests that students’ low standardized test scores may have little to do with school quality, and much to do with outside factors like poverty and home environment, according to The New York Times.

The study examined four variables outside of school control to predict state results on federal eighth grade reading tests. States with the lowest test scores tended to be those which had the highest percentages of children from single-parent homes, eighth-grade absenteeism, and eighth graders watching a lot of television, and the lowest percentages of young children being read to daily. The findings point to an achievement gap that exists before children enter school and underscores the need for government programs that could help, like quality day care and paid maternity leave, the study concludes.

“Kids start school from platforms of different heights,” says study co-author Richard J. Cooley. “If we’re really interested in raising overall levels of achievement and in closing the achievement gap, we need to pay as much attention to the starting line as we do to the finish line.”

Posted by Danielle Woods at 5:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Students in Seminole County, Fla., now have a new reason to work hard in school and get good grades: They can get a free Happy Meal out of it. Under a deal made by the county’s school board and local McDonald's restaurants, elementary students who get all A’s and B’s or have two or fewer absences can, in essence, redeem their report cards for McNuggets and fries (among other options) and a gender-specific toy. But that’s not all. As part of the deal, the students’ report cards now come in special jackets that include images of Ronald McDonald, the Golden Arches logo, and Happy Meal selections.

According to The New York Times, at least one parent—who, interestingly, happens to be an advertising executive—has complained about the program. “There’s a tasteful and professional way for large corporations to sponsor such programs,” said Susan Pagan. “This just seemed very inappropriate, very blatant and direct, into the hands of my daughter.” The director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood also blasted the initiative, suggesting it sends a perverse message by linking good grades with fast food.

Regina Klaers, the spokeswoman for the school district, said the program would be reevaluated before next school year. She also noted that the district had had a similar deal with Pizza Hut for 10 years and “did not receive any complaints.”

Posted by Anthony Rebora, teachermagazine.org at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

A boost in Massachusetts students’ MCAS scores has many speculating that a longer school day may be the key ingredient for improved student performance. Scores increased across all grade levels in math, English, and science, according to The Boston Globe.

Last fall, public schools in mostly low-income and low-performing districts extended the school day by one or two hours. According to state educators, the longer days afford students more time to focus on weak subject areas, hands-on instruction and participation in extracurricular activities. In turn, teachers can cover material more thoroughly, have more planning time, and receive extra training.

Other states are considering replicating the model. Massachusetts is the first state to adopt and fund such an experiment. But the state Board of Education cautions that the model may not remedy all struggling schools. “More time is a bit like more money, it doesn’t have inherent value; it depends on how you use it,” said state education board chairman Paul Reville. The state Education Department is currently conducting a separate three-year evaluation on the effectiveness of extending the school day, and will present a preliminary report in January.

Posted by Danielle Woods at 3:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Thousands of secondary special education teachers in Michigan have lost their status as highly-qualified teachers because of a governmental mix-up. Michigan allowed its secondary education teachers to gain status as “highly qualified” teachers by taking an exam for elementary education, the Detroit Free Press reported today.

In September, the U.S. Department of Education caught the state’s folly. Now, to comply with the No Child Left Behind law and to avoid sanctions from the federal government, Michigan must re-qualify its teachers.

The state is giving the teachers until June 30, 2009, to re-qualify, which they can do by taking a secondary-level test in each of the subjects they teach. School administrators statewide are working closely with the frustrated teachers to facilitate the process.

"I just want Michigan and the federal government to be on the same page and not make us do things that are useless, not waste our time," said Kelly Campbell, one of the thousands of affected Mich. teachers.

A spokeswoman from the U.S. Department of Education said that getting secondary special education teachers highly qualified is a nationwide problem. She added that she did not know of any other states that used an elementary education exam to qualify secondary school teachers.

Posted by Brian Freedman at 2:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)