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The valedictorian of a charter high school in Los Angeles was barred from making her graduation speech due to her participation in recent school sit-ins organized to protest the direction of the school, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Aurora Ponce, the senior class president of the Accelerated School, one of a family of charter schools in South L.A., said the school administration has also taken away her summer tutoring job and other honors.

"We, as students, we feel like we are not being heard," said Ponce, who has a near-perfect A average. "The administration treats us like we're ignorant."

School officials involved in the incident did not return calls to speak about incident to The Times.

The popular Accelerated School’s collection of schools were once known for their collaborative environment between students and teachers. However, they have recently been criticized for instituting a more hierarchical school-management system that is reportedly unresponsive to parents and students and covert in its decision-making.

Ponce participated in a sit-in along with dozens of other students on May 15, protesting the authoritative management, as well fewer college prep classes, larger class sizes and teacher departures. Although it’s unclear how many students were punished, Ponce said she was immediately escorted from the school and suspended for two days.

Aurelia Teodoro, whose child was also suspended for two days for participating in the sit-in, said, "I'm so angry because they are abusing our kids and the parents and the teachers.”

Update 6/30/09:

Ponce was allowed to give her valedictory speech at the Accelerated School’s graduation ceremony in South L.A. this past Saturday. After two hours of discussion with school officials on Friday, the issue remained unresolved, Ponce said, but ultimately she was given permission to present her speech, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Posted by Rebecca Kern at 3:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

In 2007, Greg Craven, a high school science teacher from Oregon, posted a YouTube video titled, “The Most Terrifying Video You’ll Ever See,” debating the science behind global warming, according to The Guardian. The video went viral and after millions of views, thousands of comments, and 78 additional YouTube videos, Craven has followed up with a book, What's the Worst That Could Happen?: A Rational Response to the Climate Change Debate.

The homemade videos (complete with "horns and brimstone") and the book attempt to deconstruct the global warming argument, although Craven claims he hasn’t been completely successful on that front. "The main criticism I got from both sides was — I went too easy on the other side!..No one likes me," he said.

Craven takes a cost-benefit analysis to getting to the truth (or fiction) behind global warming by weighing the risks of inaction versus action. Craven may try to be impartial, but he clearly comes down on the side of the grave threat that global warming poses to humanity.

In spite of the dark message, the videos are not without humor. Be sure to check out minute seven in Part 2 when Craven presents the world’s greatest problems as a stack of labeled soda cans. It's funnier than it sounds.

Posted by Rebecca Kern at 5:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A recent lawsuit and an upcoming documentary examine Communist allegations made against hundreds of teachers in the 1950s.The lawsuit was filed against the City of New York by Lisa Harbatkin whose parents were school teachers. Harbatkin wants 150,000 documents related to 1,500 teachers who were investigated for Communist ties reopened, according to The New York Times.

The 1952 Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, which investigated Communist influence in schools, accused two-thirds of New York City teachers of being “card-carrying Communists.” Similar interrogations took place in Philadelphia, Detroit, Boston, Cleveland, and Buffalo.

One accused teacher, Irving Adler, age 96, former math department chair of Manhattan’s Straubenmuller Textile High School and executive member of the Teachers Union, was subpoenaed by the subcommittee but refused to answer questions. Invoking the Fifth Amendment cost Adler his job, although he later admitted being a member of the Communist Party. "I was teaching a class when the principal sent up a letter he had just received from the superintendent announcing my suspension, as of the close of day," he recalled.

Clarence Taylor, a professor of history at Baruch College who has written about the tensions that arose in the Teachers Union over party affiliation, notes the distinction between ideology and teaching ability. “None of those teachers were ever found negligent in the classroom,” said Taylor. “They [the United States government] went after them for affiliation with the Communist Party.”

Photographs of some of the accused teachers and a copy of Margaret Harbatkin’s interrogation papers can be found in The New York Times’ photo slide show.

Posted by Rebecca Kern at 5:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In California, teachers may not be bound to use printed textbooks much longer. By the fall of 2010, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to provide free, open-source digital textbooks for California high school math and science classes, according to ABC News.

Schwarzenegger says the measure will save the state $350 million. Critics, however, doubt that digital textbooks would in fact save money, saying that they would require investing in new technology and teacher training.

Either way, the initiative has reignited debate about the use of digital textbooks.

Open-source digital textbooks offer more updated information in a timely manner, says Neeru Khosla, of CK-12, a nonprofit in California that offers free Web-based content for primary and secondary schools. In contrast, states approve print textbooks on a six-year cycle.

"Today, I was actually looking at my kids' textbook and Pluto was listed as one of the planets. You're not going to be able to change that until the next textbook comes out. But online you can change that information immediately," says Khosla.

But while critics acknowledge that digital textbooks would literally lighten students’ book bags, they say that schools are not ready yet ready for them because not all students have access.

"Where are you going to get a computer for everybody? How many of these kids actually have computers at home?" says David Sanchez of the California Teachers Association.

Questions also persist as to the quality of open-source texts in comparison with the more expensive, copyrighted textbooks produced by traditional publishing companies.

Posted by Rebecca Kern at 3:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

A Connecticut middle school’s attempt to create mixed-level, integrated classes is facing a backlash from parents, according to The New York Times.

Traditionally, Cloonan middle school in Stamford, Conn., has tracked students and put them in separate classrooms based on academic performance, with students ranked as zeros for highest achievement and ones and twos for medium and lower levels respectively. According to the Times, the system has created an “uncomfortable caste” system in which classes are segregated predominantly by race and socioeconomic level. “Black and Hispanic students … make up 46 percent of this year’s sixth grade [class], but are 78 percent of the twos and 7 percent of the zeros.”

In an attempt to address that disparity, the school launched trial mixed-ability grouping last month by combining zeros with ones and twos in its 6th grade science and social studies. There have been reports of fewer behavior problems and better grades for struggling students in the mixed classes, but there have also been reports of high-performing students being under-challenged.

Over 300 parents signed a petition opposing the mixed-level classes saying they are unfair to gifted students and making threats to put their children in private school. The school says it plans to keep a top-honors level, but integrate most other classes in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades over the next three years.

For the students themselves, the numbered tracking system creates social and academic stigma. Jamiya Richardson, a 6th grader at Cloonan, is a two and says that students all know their own number and their classmate’s numbers. “I don’t like being classified because it makes you feel like you’re not smart.”

Posted by Josh Cohen at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

The Equity Project, a charter school in New York City that will open this fall, has attracted a staff of eight accomplished teachers by offering a $125,000 salary with the possibility of a $25,000 bonus, reports the New York Times.

Founded by Yale graduate Zeke M. Vanderhoek, 32, the school is rooted in the finding that teachers are the most significant factor in student success. The Equity Project expects 120 5th graders, most of whom are from low-income Hispanic families, in its first year, with plans to expand to the 8th grade.

After a 15-month nationwide search—in which he conducted 100 personal interviews and 35 classroom visits—Vanderhoek now has an eclectic teaching staff, including several Ivy League graduates, a 30-year veteran from Arizona, and a gym teacher who once worked as Kobe Bryant’s personal trainer. Each of these teachers, Vanderhoek observed during his visits, has contagious enthusiasm and a talent for keeping students engaged. “There are people who it’s like, wow, they look great on paper, but the kids don’t respect them,” he said. Watching them teach enabled Vanderhoek to vet for qualities that he couldn’t find on a resume.

At The Equity Project, teachers will work longer hours and more days than in a typical New York City public school, and will take on extra duties since there will be no assistant principals, academic coaches, or substitutes. They can be fired at will.

Judith LeFevre, the incoming science teacher, wrote in an e-mail to the Times that she sees the school as an experiment, with herself as a subject. “This could be unsettling were it not for the excitement of working with a team of master teachers, all of whom are motivated to help every student succeed, with no excuses and no blame,” she said.

In comparison, principal Vanderhoek will earn a humble $90,000. “I have tremendous confidence that the staff is going to be excellent,” he said. “But we will see.”

Posted by Liana Heitin at 5:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

High School students in Charlotte-Mecklenburg are waging grassroots campaigns to save their favorite teachers from layoffs, reports The Charlotte Observer.

The district gave layoff notices to 304 teachers last month as part of budget overhaul, but students hope they can get some of decisions reversed—or at least voice their disapproval—through collective action.

“We all know that we have about a .001% chance of winning the fight,” said one student, “but these teachers taught us to take a stand in the face of difficulty, so writing letters is the least we can do.”

The protests go beyond letter and e-mail campaigns. A Facebook page entitled “History Is My Life! A Tribute to Dave Layton,” for example has amassed 573 followers, most of whom are current and former students of the pink-slipped history teacher.

And in an effort to keep English teacher Maggie Koller at Ardrey Kell High, junior Ali Suhren began a petition and collected 230 student signatures. “Her classroom has become a home for us,” explained Suhren.

Koller, like other area teachers, is humbled by her students’ efforts. “In my English class we talked about taking a stand,” said Koller. “I didn't think I'd be the one they're taking a stand for, but I'm proud.”

However, these campaigns are not likely to yield results. When asked about pink-slip reversals, Superintendent Peter Gorman replied in an e-mail, “We are following the criteria. Where stipulated, staff have appeal protections. We intend to be fair, legal and consistent and to follow the criteria.”

Posted by Liana Heitin at 3:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A recent New York Times Magazine essay, adapted from Matthew B. Crawford’s book Shop Class as Soulcraft, explores the pressures students face to get a four-year college degree and pursue a white-collar career. Crawford, who has a Ph.D. and a history of white-collar jobs (including heading up a Washington, D.C.-based policy organization), looks at the cultural stigma surrounding careers in skilled-labor. After five months at the policy organization, Crawford quit to open his own motorcycle repair shop, which, he says, has brought him emotional, intellectual, and physical satisfaction. A choice, notes Crawford, that for a “gifted young student…is viewed as eccentric, if not self-destructive.”

The stigma surrounding labor jobs, believes Crawford, is undeserved and untrue. “Because the work is dirty, many people assume it is also stupid.” His experience repairing vintage motorcycles is as intellectually stimulating, if not more so, than the white-collar jobs he held in the past.

In Crawford’s words, “A good job requires a field of action where you can put your best capacities to work and see an effect in the world.” His hope is that, along with the change in the way people think about work and money in the face of this economic crisis, parents, educators, and students might start thinking differently about careers. “The good life comes in a variety of forms … For anyone who feels ill-suited by disposition to spend his days sitting in an office, the question of what a good job looks like is now wide open.”

Posted by Josh Cohen at 1:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)