RSS Feed

Teachers should teach, not be police

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2012-12-18T14:00:43-06:00

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The Sandy Hook massacre inside an elementary school has shocked us all. While we want everyone to be safe, we expect our youngest to be so inside their own school. My children attend Clayton School District, one of the wealthier districts in St. ... Like many local districts, it already has police officers at the high school and middle school. On Monday when I went to pick up my youngest, I saw a different police officer at the elementary school. I was a bit taken aback but assumed he was there to help parents feel more secure in the first few days after the Connecticut shooting. I am hopeful that the district does not spend money to keep police officers or even armed security at the elementary schools long-term as the expense would not be justified. Other school districts such as Kirkwood and Florissant are considering police officers at elementary schools in their school safety reviews. I believe, however, that time and calm parents will help them spend limited resources wisely. I do agree that schools should review safety procedures as they have after each school shooting and periodically otherwise. ... For example, whoever turned on the intercom at Sandy Hook, whether intentionally or not, alerted the teachers to the severity of the problem. These types of details are important to safety plans. ...Louis County Police Chief Tim Fitch said that each officer costs a district about $50,000 for a nine month contract. (Really a 10-month contract) In order to afford that, the district would need to lay off a teacher at each elementary school. That is not a trade-off I am willing to make. As an alternative to paying for police officers at the schools, some politicians such as Texas governor, Rick Perry, have advocated arming teachers as a way to make schools safer. On Sunday, Chief Fitch brought the gun control debate squarely to the St. ...Louis Post-Dispatch followed up with a front-page story discussing Fitch's suggestion and other security possibilities. The local districts did not react with enthusiasm. Fred Crawford, chief of security for the Parkway School District, said he would favor more police in schools over gun training for school officers. ...Teachers with guns in the classroom, even in a locked drawer, would bring a whole new set of problems to schools. That gun is more likely to be found and used against the teacher or other students, the teacher is not going to be as experienced as an active police officer, that gun is unlikely to be useful against a prepared killer like Adam Lanza with a bulletproof vest on, the teacher would be spending time helping students to safety, police might mistake teacher for intruder etc. I would not send my kids to school with a teacher carrying a gun or with a gun in a locked drawer in the classroom. If the gun is locked up in the office, I would still feel uncomfortable. ... Have the parents been notified who has access? ... The date and continuation of their training? In addition, districts hire teachers to teach, not to act as security. "I'm a former teacher and my daughter teaches currently. I want our teachers to be trained so that we can address the problems of literacy, so that we can improve our education system. Let the public safety people handle these other issues." --Rep. ...Districts should re-evaluate their safety plans and assess whether to add more security, depending on the local needs, not as an emotional reaction to a horrific situation. They should not, however, ask teachers to become that security force. ... ...

Spanking still legal?

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2012-10-05T14:22:48-05:00

When I was in elementary school, I remember one kid who had to go to the principal. The rumor was that he was spanked. I'm not sure how we all knew, but we did. Since I'm ancient (at least my middle school daughter tells me I am), I assumed that would never, ever happen in public schools today. And then I read the article in Huffington Post about a high school "high-achieving" (shouldn't matter) girl who had bruises and blisters after being spanked by a male administrator. Since spanking is apparently common in Texas, the article focuses on the high school's "oops" moment of having a male administer the corporal punishment instead of a female. My first reaction was that this was a sensationalized Huff Post story, but after doing a bit of research I found out that corporal punishment is still legal and practiced, not just in Texas but in Missouri too (Mo Revised Statutes 160.261. 1.) In fact, Missouri kids are spanked in public schools on a regular basis. Who knew? In 2006 districts in Missouri reported 5,159 incidents of corporal punishment. Ed. Gov Schools would only have to require parental notification if that is part of the district policy. Wow. Oh. Wow. This, of course, would never fly in your wealthier, high-parent-involvement districts in St. Louis County. On the Ed.gov site I looked up several geographically diverse county districts (Webster, Pattonville, Mehlville, Hazelwood, Normandy), none of which showed any instances of corporal punishment. I was surprised, however, to see that the St. Louis City schools did use corporal punishment. (70 instances per Ed.gov site) I was right to be surprised as spanking is against SLPS board policy as stated in the current faculty handbook. Corporal punishment of any kind is not permitted in the St. Louis Public Schools. Any employee who uses physical force or the threat of physical force as a means of student discipline or punishment shall be subject to disciplinary action, including discharge. (SLPS Faculty Handbook 2012-2013) adopted 1991 revised 1999 I will be interested to see if that number is 0 when the 2011-12 numbers from the Civil Rights Data Collection on the Ed.gov site are released. The Texas school district solved its dilemma by ruling that administrators could use corporal punishment on members of the same sex, which goes in the wrong direction. Which Missouri legislators will step up and protect our children?

"Slap Yo Mama" offensive, not funny

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2012-08-17T21:16:30-05:00

My kids may think it's funny, but I find the Green Light Auto Credit ad offensive. "It's so easy, it makes you wanna slap yo mama." It runs on Z107 all the time (among others I'm sure, but that's the one I hear it on), which skews young and female. The 2002 movie Friday After Next brought the phrase to the mainstream (see YouTube above). Currently, a line of Louisiana seasoning, a food truck in California and BBQ house in Mississippi all take their name from this not-so-funny saying. Joking to teens about domestic violence in order to sell car insurance should not be acceptable. Surely companies can show their creativity and make better ads without either harming or pissing off their potential clients.

Districts Need Higher Math Expectations for All

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2011-05-04T18:12:16-05:00

Cross-posted to Clayton Richmond Heights Patch School districts throughout Missouri are reevaluating their math programs because the state is planning on adopting the new Common Core standards. While some people may balk at the idea of nationalized standards, politicians need to put their petty power disputes aside and look at what is best for kids. Massachusetts said it would not join the coalition unless the standards were at least as rigorous as its own, driving the standards up rather than the more typical downward spiral we tend to expect. While the Missouri MAP tests are challenging, the standards were poorly written. Adopting the Common Core standards is a positive step. Clayton School District's math curriculum committee has made some substantial recommendations in its cyclical review of the math program. Other districts will be looking at their math programs whether they are up for review or not because of the upcoming changes in standards. Clayton recommended changes: •eliminating the integrated math sequence at the high school •requiring the majority of 8th graders to take a full algebra course in 8th grade instead of the “algebra light” course currently taught •recommending new textbooks for the high school and middle school (elementary will be reviewed this coming year) •beefing up content mastery and fluency at the elementary •requiring Algebra I level knowledge for all elementary teachers, Algebra II level knowledge for middle school math teachers While the board seemed pleased with the amount of work put into the 621-page document, the members were not completely satisfied. They wanted more. “Will this document guide us to ensure our teachers and curriculum teach a variety of ways so all of our children can excel?" she [Susan Bradley-Buse] asked the committee. “I don’t see that in here.” (Travis Pringle, “Math Curriculum Update Draws Questions on Textbooks, Teaching Styles” Clayton-RH Patch 29 April 2011) I want to see math educators broaden their view. Instead of focusing on test scores and teacher recommendations to select a few students into the honors sequence, they need to emphasize looking at practices that can help as many students as possible excel at a high level. Districts often provide support structures for struggling and exceptional students, but what about making those available for a wider base? For example, Clayton currently offers extra support courses for students in regular math classes so that they can be successful. This can help many students avoid taking less-intensive courses but gives them the extra help needed. I think this is a wonderful concept that should be more broadly applied. Possibilities could include a summer class to help middle school students move from regular math to honors, tutoring sessions taught by college and high school students, support groups for math anxiety, etc. Finland consistently ranks at or near the top on the international test PISA. All students take the same course together with struggling student provided extra help. A tactic used in virtually every lesson is the provision of an additional teacher who helps those who struggle in a particular subject. But the pupils are all kept in the same classroom, regardless of their ability in that particular subject. (Tom Bridge, “Why do Finland’s Schools Get the Best Results?” BBC 7 Apr 2010) U.S. students are not the same as those in Finland, but teachers here can learn from their strategies for helping all students. Moving algebra to the 8th grade for the majority of students is a good first step, which I would like to see replicated across the metropolitan area, but I think we need to go further. Students should be encouraged, not discouraged to challenge themselves even if it takes some extra work. I’m not advocating eliminating honors courses but emphasizing to students that practice and hard work is more important than innate ability in achieving at a high level in math. If districts start ability grouping at a young age, they have a responsibility to counter that unspoken message by providing creative and productive extra support all students could use to excel in math.

Canyon between high school and college expectations

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2012-10-06T15:26:38-05:00

(Photo by OliBac) UMSL, Mizzou and the other UM-System campuses require students to have a 24 composite on the ACT or equivalent SAT scores to be accepted as freshmen. (They can be accepted with lower scores with high grades and class rank. See rubric.) Unfortunately, our high schools are not graduating students at that level. The average ACT composite score in Missouri is 21.6 It's much lower at some of our metro school districts. Clayton School District provides a good picture since they have all (or almost all at 92.48%) seniors take the ACT. In 2011, they had a composite score of 25.8, well above the state average and above the state university cut-off. However, the UM campus cut-off of 24 is a minimum, not a mean, so even many Clayton students wouldn't test high enough to be accepted. Ferguson-Florissant had 68.75% of its seniors take the ACT in 2011 with a mean composite score of only 18.4. In order to be accepted to Mizzou or UMSL with that ACT score, a student also has to be in the top 14% of their class and have a 3.5 gpa in their core classes (no padding!). Riverview Gardens seniors don't have much of a chance. In 2011, 58.74% of seniors took the ACT with a dismal composite score of 16.1. If their ACT score is below a 17, no matter what their class rank or grades in their core classes, they will not be admitted to Mizzou or UMSL. Being accepted to a 4-year state university will be challenging for most students from Riverview Gardens, nevermind the costs. There is a reason this district is currently unaccredited. Every child should graduate from high school with the option of going to college, whether they choose to or not. The difference in expectations between high school graduation and college entrance is a canyon rather than a ravine for too many of our kids.

No posters, please!!!

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2010-04-12T13:27:07-05:00

iCarly has changed our lives. My 10-year-old daughter spends every waking moment with her friends creating their own web show. They brainstorm skits, storyboard them out, gathers costumes and props, rehearses, videotapes and then edits them. She has taught herself to use iMovie and will spend hours messing around with various special effects and transitions. For my sister's wedding, my daughter created a video in which she interviewed parents, siblings and the groom. The interviews were done in front of a green screen so she could edit in fun backgrounds and memorable photos. The song We Are Family played in the background at the beginning during the hilarious screen credits and then again at the end for the ending slideshow. She spent a lot of time creating this unique video shown at the reception. When my son needed to learn his math facts faster than I ever learned them, he made a PowerPoint with a math fact on each slide. Besides the fun of using the computer instead of actual flashcards, he could control the pace. As he improved with his facts, he would increase the transition speed. With media use so ubiquitous, it [is] time to stop arguing over whether it [is] good or bad and accept it as part of children’s environment like the air they breathe, the water they drink and the food they eat. (Tamar Lewin, "If Your Kids are Awake, They're Probably Online" New York Times, Jan. 20, 2010.) My kids are obviously not the only media savvy children. So why is it that both of them have been assigned to make posters this year? Posters? That was how my teachers tried to add some visual punch to reports. I understand the teacher not wanting to spend time teaching students how to make movies, but giving them options that would include technology (already available at the school) does not seem like a stretch to me. They use the computers for word processing and make use of resources such as Google Docs, but videos, slideshows and animation hasn't happened. I don't believe they are alone. Schools and teachers need to accept that children are now techno-savvy and run with it.

Learning on the roof

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2009-10-27T14:57:54-05:00

New City School's River Kids help plant the school's green roof in order to reduce water run-off. The school administrators want to save energy and provide a learning opportunity. Parents like the additional green space for their kids in an urban area. Looks like a winner all around. The segment by KMOV featured above provides some nice video of the plants on the roof. I like that the students worked on planting it instead of having it installed professionally. Kudos to New City School!

Cell phones help teach math?

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2009-10-22T17:03:32-05:00

photo by jtbrennan Can educators really turn those ubiquitous cell phones into educational tools? As the year got under way, Scott realized she'd be using her school-issued smartphone -- equipped with a touch screen, digital video recorder, and instant-messaging application -- for more than just solving homework problems with a stylus. She and her classmates had gotten used to passively absorbing teachers' lectures, but the new data-driven curriculum demanded intense participation. "We'd tape up big poster boards, write out how we got the solution to a particular problem, then video ourselves talking about it with the phone." After that, students posted their videos online to aid others who might be vexed by similar problems. ("Cellphonometry" Svoboda) Whether educators use phones or other devices, I can see advantages to this approach. My daughter already asks her friends for help with her math homework as students have done for ages. Couple the socially driven method with the fearless use of technology, and I think you have a much more efficient update to the telephone. If a student has a question, they can send out a text to the class and ideally get a response right away. Whether the content is math, history, science... the students could create protected class wikis with videos they make. Instead of using poster boards, the students could use the white board and save their work. If they are doing it at home, they can record their sessions on the computer, or go back to the poster boards or other creative means of communicating. At Southwest High, every student in one Project K-Nect class notched a 100% proficiency rating in algebra; students in a non-Project K-Nect class with the same teacher averaged 70% proficiency. ("Cellphonometry" Svoboda) Those are some numbers definitely worth following up.

Making Geek Cool Hall of Shame

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2010-05-07T14:55:55-05:00

As a follow-up to my previous post Making Geek Cool Hall of Fame in which I laud people, TV shows or events that improve the coolness factor of geeks, I've started compiling a Hall of Shame list. I actually had a harder time with this one. Maybe it's my inherently nice nature, but I found it easier to rail against the culture as a whole rather than specific elements. I'm sure, however, that you will not have that problem. I would love to hear additions to my list by comment, email or tweet! 1. Disney Channel—when making my Shame list, it ended up just being a list of Disney and Nickelodeon shows, so I decided just to name the two channels as numbers 1 and 2 on the list. Upper elementary kids are especially susceptible to the anti-geek message from television, so I think these two popular channels should be ashamed. Hannah, Wizards of Waverly Place, Suite LIfe on Deck: Can we just have an intelligent girl or boy in the lead role instead of the "geeky" sidekick or brother? 2. Nickelodeon—see comment above. I did put iCarly on the Fame list, so kuddos there, but it, too, has anti-geek elements. 3. Seventeen magazine and other teen magazines for girls 4. My husband—I hate to say it, and I'm sure he's not the only parent out there, but he has on occasion slipped into the the ‟You don't want to be a nerd so get out there and play some ball...″ fallacy My almost-middle school daughter thinks being called a nerd is the worst insult ever. I have tried to point out that she attends a school of geeks to no effect. I've pointed out that geeks make more money (a topic of interest for her) with an effect lasting for nanoseconds. I thought about showing her that geek chic is in but was afraid she wouldn't stop laughing and really wanted her to do that homework. I've decided she's just rebelling against her mother, so I'll get back to reading that Wired article on Geek Power.

Making Geek Cool Hall of Fame

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2009-10-20T08:54:41-05:00

Wired magazine believes that making geeks cool could reform education and gives some suggestions for schools. One of the main suggestions was "stamping out youth culture" by surrounding kids by adults. Some good ideas and examples to be sure. I believe that our whole culture needs to make geeks cool. In that spirit I list my Making Geek Cool Hall of Fame. Since this blog is St. Louis centric, I've added a few local additions. 1. Mythbuster's Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman 2. Jon Stewart—when a late-night comedian makes it cool to follow politics, economics, history... 3. Bill Gates—as much as I want to hate Microsoft, he has shown how geeks do philanthropy. That's cool. 4. Pres. Obama 5. Steve Jobs—brought design to technology 6. Danica McKellar—Hollywood star and mathematician writing math books for middle school girls. Maybe every tween girl should be given this book, and she should be number 1. 7. SciFest 8. Chuck 9. Rex Sinquefield for bringing back chess to St. Louis 10. Mayor Francis Slay for bringing FIRST Robotics Championship to St. Louis 11. iCarly—any time a Nickelodeon show encourages tween girls to spend their time directing movie shorts and editing them on the computer, I will applaud it 12. Rick Riordan—any author that can get my son to read... If they want to be fabulous and sexy and all that, great. There's no problem with that. But you don't have to give anything up for it. You don't have to give up your brain. (Danica McKellar) I would love to add to the list if anyone would like to send me their suggestions. I'll also be composing a Hall of Shame, so if you have ideas for that, feel free to send them to me via comments, email or twitter.

Olympics? Who needs it—we landed the Robotics Championship!

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2009-10-15T12:04:56-05:00

Congrats St. Louis—new home of the cool geeks.

Mystery makes history fun

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2009-05-29T13:38:23-05:00

“I hate history!” My daughter’s plaintive was a dagger to the heart to this history lover. She has a great teacher, but salt dough maps were not enough to make Missouri history exciting in any way. My daughter had refused to read my beloved Laura Ingalls Wilder books, so I was not surprised, just disappointed. My favorite city to visit is New Orleans because of all the history, which gave me an idea. I told my mystery lover that the reason she hated history was the school couldn’t teach it “Allison style.” I bought Haunted St. Louis: History & Hauntings Along the Mississippi and started reading it with her by flashlight late at night. Success. When her teachers had a Meriwether Lewis expert come to speak to the students, she sneakily asked how he died. She wanted to see if he would discuss the mystery surrounding his death, which he did. I’ve already bought every spy book set during the Revolutionary war times to read over the summer to prep her for next year. Knowing that George Washington wasn’t just our first president, he was our first spymaster may keep her going through the tedium of her history textbook. (George Washington, Spymaster: How the Americans Outspied the British and Won the Revolutionary War) When she studied pioneers, we talked about her great, great great grandmother who came to Missouri. She knows I have the little pitcher of hers from her childhood, which is my only family heirloom. Making history personal helps make it real and more interesting. One example of making history real to students is this 4th grade, which has adopted Eddie Cemetery, a local historic cemetery. Besides creating a memorial garden and researching the occupants, these student learned about preserving and repairing headstones. As a genealogist myself, I think this is an excellent history lesson (and it passes the Allison test). I might not convince my daughter’s teacher to take the class to Bellefontaine Cemetery for a class field trip, but I am inspired to take her there to see some historic graves and to my family’s small ancestral cemetery in northern Missouri this summer. (By the way, Bellefontaine has suggested lesson plans for teachers based on this historic cemetery.) Infusing a little bit of mystery and personal touch is possible and a good goal for all history teachers.

Best high schools list out

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2009-06-10T18:38:00-05:00

The perennial Newsweek best high school list compiled by Jay Mathews is out again. Valid criticisms of the list may be made, but the criteria is clear, is easy to understand and has changed the education landscape. Only 13 schools from Missouri made the list, but at least that is up one from last year. In St. Louis Eureka dropped off the list, but Parkway West made it. Kansas City only has one non-selective school on the list versus seven for St. Louis. There are, however, four high schools on the list on the Kansas City, Kansas side. Both high schools in Columbia made the list, which is impressive. The Springfield high school with 50 percent on subsidized lunch that made the list is not, as far as I can tell, selective. I believe that is the high school closest to the university, which may skew the subsidized lunch demographics, but those numbers are still impressive. In 2005 St. Louis schools dominated the 10 schools from Missouri that made the list with only Lincoln College Prep, Hickman in Columbia and Park Hill in Kansas City rounding out the list. Lafayette in St. Joseph made the list in 2006, which would be nice to see return. I think the geographical map of the top 1300 schools is interesting with a sea of blue on the coasts and in Florida. I zoomed in on Missouri and the surrounding states, which show blue in the urban areas with some pinpricks in some college towns. With Missouri Virtual Instruction Program offering AP courses (pdf), students in rural schools now have more opportunities to take advanced classes. I would like to see more rural schools make the list. Schools have to continually increase the percentage of students taking AP/IB exams just to stay on the list. For example, Ladue improved its index number from last year but dropped in rank. This is meant to be a “race to the top,” where the top means access to challenging courses for as many students as possible. A new, non-researched phenomenom has begun in which some schools are all-out embracing the AP courses as a challenge for struggling students in coursework that doesn’t require prerequisites. The rise of high-participation, low-passing-rate AP schools like Bell and Hogan has led NEWSWEEK this year to put them in a separate category, the Catching-Up list, for schools that have met the NEWSWEEK standard for college-level test participation but have AP passing rates below 10 percent. Once such schools pass the 10 percent passing mark, they will have about the same number of passing tests as the average American school, where passing rates are higher but participation is much lower. (AP Programs as Educational Shock Therapy) Two high schools in Kansas City are using this approach. We’ll watch to see how they do next year. Missouri ranges from 10 to 13 schools on the last from year to year. Next year, I would like to see that change and blown away.

Let them eat...zucchini?

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2009-06-17T18:37:28-05:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Little Crop of Horrors

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Ron Paul Interview

With the attention paid to our nation’s pathetic eating habits and the Obama’s organic garden, now seems to be a good time for the St. Louis area school districts to vastly improve their school lunches. Maplewood Richmond-Heights is in front of the “Race to the Top”, in terms of lunches anyway, as it implements its Healthy Eating with Local Produce grant in conjunction with St. Louis University. "The kitchen staff has reshaped menus and already ordered their produce from the farmers in the Missouri Farmers' Union," superintendent Henke said. "Some of our high school students will have summer jobs helping process the foods this summer." (Gardening Teaches, Suburban Journals, 2 June 09) This is in sharp contrast to most of the area school districts. Yes, they may offer some fresh fruit and vegetables at a food bar, a recent and welcome addition, but the overall menu is still weak. Here’s a typical week’s menu. This one is for elementary schools from one week in May from Kirkwood school district, which uses Chartwells. Here’s a menu from Chef Ann Cooper’s elementary menu (pdf). A daily menu might be chicken or veggie quesadilla, rice and beans, salad bar, 1% milk, fresh fruit. Elem_calendar_sept Like Maplewood, Kirkwood, U City, Ferguson-Florissant, St. Charles and Clayton have farmer’s markets within their borders. Let’s step up to the plate, schools.

Nixon needs to act on standards, now!

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2009-06-22T15:36:43-05:00

Missouri is one of only four states to not have the governor sign on to work together to create a set of voluntary national standards. Texas, Alaska and South Carolina are the other three--conservative governors with presidential aspirations is the common denominator among them. ...Jay Nixon sign on for Missouri? presumably because we are currently without a commissioner. However, since this was an association of governors, Nixon has the authority, the responsibility to lead the state. He doesn’t have to wait until a new commissioner is hired. The president of Missouri's board of education said he, too, expected his members to revisit the issue soon." I think we'll seriously consider it over the next several months," said state board President Russell Thompson. "Once we're assured Missouri can have higher standards." ...But the state doesn’t have that much time. Panels are working on suggested standards set to come out in July. Later, a separate national "validation" panel, made of up of experts nominated by the states, will review the proposal. ...If we wait too long, we won’t have a chance to review the proposal. We have to make that deadline. Some (such as Caitlin Hartsell for Show-Me Institute) say we don’t need to join the common standards movement because Missouri already has high standards. And, as it is, fewer than half of Missouri’s students are meeting or exceeding the MAP standards Adopting lower national standards instead would only provide a misleading inflation of achievement metrics. But this is mixing up the challenge level of the MAP, which is high, with the Missouri standards, which are not. In fact the math standards are under review, which is being extended because of disagreement with the draft standards. Members of prominent university mathematics departments in Missouri are calling for an evaluation of state standards and expectations in K-12 math curriculum. ...The math wars are nothing new, but the rigor of the Mo. standards is not high, is confusing and contains jargon. For example, for fourth grade, the proposed standard is broken into Core Concept, Learning Goal and Performance Indicator. (Ed. to add--I chose this somewhat randomly. I’m familiar with 4th grade, and fractions are difficult and important. I did not pick and choose.) Grade 4, Core Concept B--Develop understanding of decimals, including the connections between fractions and decimals.2) Understand relationships among whole numbers, commonly used fractions, and decimals. ...Model fractions (halves, fifths fourths, eighths, and tenths) on a 10 x 10 grid representing one unit in order to convert fractions to decimals.  ...Rename whole numbers as fractions with different denominators (e.g., 5 = 5/1, 3 = 6/2, 1 = 7/7), with or without models.  ...Relate fractions with denominators of tenths and hundredths to decimals of equivalent values.  ...Identify equivalent fractions and decimals (less than one, equivalent to one, and greater than one), with and without models, including locations on a number line.  ...Use a variety of methods to compare and order decimals and fractions.  ...Compare this to a similar California standard: ...1.0 Students understand the place value of whole numbers and decimals to two decimal places and how whole numbers and decimals relate to simple fractions. Students use the concepts of negative numbers: 1.1 Read and write whole numbers in the millions. 1.2 Order and compare whole numbers and decimals to two decimal places. 1.3 Round whole numbers through the millions to the nearest ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, or hundred thousand. 1.4 Decide when a rounded solution is called for and explain why such a solution may be appropriate. 1.5 Explain different interpretations of fractions, for example, parts of a whole, parts of a set, and division of whole numbers by whole numbers; explain equivalents of fractions (see Standard 4.0). 1.6 Write tenths and hundredths in decimal and fraction notations and know the fraction and decimal equivalents for halves and fourths (e.g., 1⁄2 = 0.5 or .50; 7⁄4 = 1 3⁄4 = 1.75). 1.7 Write the fraction represented by a drawing of parts of a figure; represent a given fraction by using drawings; and relate a fraction to a simple decimal on a number line. ...As a state with a difficult assessment, I think we’ll benefit from a common standard. We won’t look bad when compared to states with easy assessments when they upgrade their tests. We won’t need to “dumb down” ours; instead, the rest of the country will need to catch up to our assessments. In fact, our standards need to catch up to our assessments. Agreeing to work to create the common standards is not the same as agreeing to follow and change the MAP to assess by the common standards. This first step is a no-brainer. I’ll wait until the actual standards come out to make a decision on the next, but with our transient population that needs to meet international standards I applaud the effort and strongly encourage Gov. Nixon to sign on today. Otherwise, we’re likely to be looking at standards we did not have a role in helping to create.

Missouri beats Lithuania by one—in math

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2009-06-23T13:34:51-05:00

photo by apesara Last fall, I blogged about the importance of comparing our students not just to other students locally or to other states but internationally. Ideally, we would have information for individual districts, but until we do, the American Institutes for Research has released a report that allows you to compare individual states with other countries. Missouri, not surprisingly, is right at the U.S. median for both fourth and eighth grade math scores. At the fourth grade level only six states received a B; by eighth grade only Massachusetts received a B. “These Asian nations consistently perform at the B+, B, and B- levels,” Phillips [acting commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics from 1999 to 2002] said. “Their students are learning mathematics not just at a higher level than students in the United States, but at a level that is a quantum leap higher.” The math proficiency average for U.S. students is C+ in grade 4 and C at grade 8. (AIR news release 16 June 2009) Since Missouri is right behind the U.S. average, we are not competing well against Asian students. “Our states and school districts should no longer be comparing themselves to their neighbors. They will be competing for jobs and innovations with students around the globe.” (AIR news release 16 June 2009) I’ve said that before. our states and school districts fall comparatively further behind in Grade 8 than they do in Grade 4. Although the United States falls further behind in the higher grade, the highest achieving countries maintain their level of performance. AIRInternationalBenchmarks2009 The middle school problem is real in the United States and, apparently, Missouri also. As a culture we are more concerned about their social lives than their academic abilities. Our expectations are not high-- “They can’t think clearly with all those hormones!” --but they obviously work hard in other countries. I would love to see if any of our middle schools are bucking this trend. Here is the chart showing where Missouri places compared to other countries for eighth grade math. The grey bars are for countries with scores that are considered statistically similar. The interactive chart is fascinating to play with. I eagerly await the time when we can put individual school districts in for comparison.

Math standards—Lowest Common Denominator?

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2009-06-25T11:00:00-05:00

Photo by ansik Should Missouri math standards be written as the minimum that students should learn, which would be too low for most students, or should they be written for most students with expectations of extra help for struggling students? Currently, they are written to be the minimum, but a group of math professors believes they should be raised. Statement in the revised draft as of 18 May 09: Although the core content, learning goals, and performance indicators specified in this document are intended for ALL students, many Missouri students will be able to move through this content more quickly and will need more mathematics than is outlined here. For that reason, we urge local educational agencies to develop and implement policies and programs serving all students beginning in elementary school, including those who are ready for early advancement and need more mathematics than the material described in this document. As essential support for raising Missouri’s performance in mathematics, specification of core content, learning goals, and performance indicators for fourth-year high school mathematics courses is under development. math learning goals 051809 - sh - 2 are published, schools will base their curricular decision on these low standards and will already be committed to these curricular decisions." rel="external">Response to Missouri State Board of Education 29 May 09 by Ian Aberbach, professor and director of undergraduate studies, mathematics dept., University of Missouri—Columbia: If the current standards aimed no higher than to 20th percentile students (ALL) are published, schools will base their curricular decision on these low standards and will already be committed to these curricular decisions. Yes, the state plans on adding an addendum with supplemental standards for college-bound students, but we should not have a two-tiered approach. All students should graduate from high school prepared for college, whether they choose to continue on or not. The two-tiered approach is not in alignment with Obama’s goals nor is it the best decision to keep Missouri competitive either nationally or internationally. (Hat tip to Lisa Jones for the links)

Ode to the MAP

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2009-04-13T13:32:59-05:00

Photo by Marxchivist While some schools went to extravagant lengths to pump up their students for Missouri’s standardized test, the MAP, others were more low-key. My daughter’s teacher showed the students a constructive method for expressing their anxieties and other feelings about taking the test by having them write a poem about the MAP to include in their poetry unit. My daughter’s poem included below with permission was inspired by Jack Prelutsky’s Homework! Oh, Homework!

Making a difference

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2009-04-09T14:23:02-05:00

Last week, my students were discussing a topic one of them presented to the class. One said something to the effect that “they” will never change the law. Instead of focusing on using a pronoun without an antecedent, I emphasized that “they” is really the people since we elect the legislators. The class then detoured for a few minutes into a discussion on the influence that individuals can have on policy. Since the presenter had given a problem/solution speech on a subject that no one in the class had thought about, we decided that raising awareness was something individuals could do and could make a difference. Changing state laws is doable but can be intimidating and a bit overwhelming. While the patchwork system of school districts in St. Louis County may have its drawbacks, one positive aspect is the individual districts’ responsiveness to its constituents. The “they” is a bit more personal. Smaller school districts may not have economies of scale, and the St. Louis County districts’ reliance on property tax within each district has created a have/have not system. However, people know the school board members, their votes for or against tax levies and bond issues have meaning, and parents can have real influence in the schools. They may not always realize it, but they can. Someone can talk to others (raise awareness), groups of parents can meet with principals and other administrators or ask for open meetings, individuals or a representative of a group can speak at a board meeting during public comment time and/or go to the media for coverage. The ultimate control is elections, either tax levies/bond issues or for board members. Clayton’s bond issue passed by 2.6 votes. That is a close election! When the community didn’t like the Wydown/Washington University land swap idea, people let the board know. This tight election is an extension of that and will not be forgotten. I am confident that the process will be more open and transparent going forward. University City also passed its bond issue. Clayton Group Plans to Protest School Bond Vote School Bond Issues Pass Clayton School District Bond Issues Passes: Construction May Start in Fall Election results including school board members

Teacher quality matters

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2009-03-24T12:31:53-05:00

If improving teacher quality is the number one (hat tip Lee Rakes) way to improve education, what are some ways districts and states can do that? I wish I had the magic answer, but I do think we have some examples for the right direction. 1. Support beginning teachers better. Mentor teachers are a start but not enough. One year my dad worked in a quasi-administrative position as a support for first year teachers in his district. The situation was ideal for those teachers because he was in a solely supportive role, not evaluative. He also observed experienced teachers who excelled in challenging situations the first year teachers were having so that he could share ideas. Since his position was districtwide, he facilitated conversations between teachers in different schools. I would take this idea and expand it to include the first three years of teaching. The position could be full or part-time for a master teacher, depending on the size of the district. ...Provide more time for working collaboratively. Teaching in isolation can lead to burn-out and lack of growth. Working as teams, either as grade levels in elementary school or middle school or as content areas in high school, can help the more inexperienced teachers learn, invigorate the veterans and improve everyone. Time for cross-team work such as interschool or across the grades needs to increase also. Parents at my kids’ elementary school were surprised to learn that teachers only met with their counterparts at the other elementary schools twice a year and on specific topics. A subject such as math may not be addressed formally at all in a year. I, personally, thought the district was generous in giving them two times to meet—an obvious difference in perspective from an educational point of view than a business point of view. ...Require meaningful professional development. I’ve been to workshops, conferences, classes and meetings that have made me a better teacher and ones that have been a waste of time. Targeted professional development though is necessary for any profession, including teaching. One of the reasons I chose my children’s pediatric group was that the doctors attended weekly lectures at Children’s Hospital. Doctors also must keep up by reading journals and attending lectures and conferences. I expect educators to do the same. ...Change student teaching structure. Student teaching should be a one-year, paid internship for those who have already completed their degree. Schools have a commitment to student teachers and I like that my children’s pediatric group has residents, but as a parent I don’t like student teachers. They are put in charge of the class too quickly and make transitions hard on the younger kids. A one-year internship would give them a better feel for teaching in a more gradual manner. Teaching is a challenge; we should provide support instead of taking the “throw them in and see who makes it” approach. 5. Increase teacher pay. This is a capitalistic economy. To get a stronger teaching pool, we need to increase the pay. I’m not talking about the exceptions or individuals but about the profession as a whole. This may not be the only change needed, as Bill Gates said on Fareed Zakaria’s show last Sunday, but it is certainly one of them. 6. Increase difficulty level of teacher education schools. This is a whole area in itself, but if we are going to work on increasing teacher pay and making the profession more respected, the typical teacher ed program can NOT be the easiest school at the university. Period. Requiring teachers to act like professionals by keeping up with education research starts in teacher ed programs. The direction of education is often decided by politicians and “policy experts.” Too many teachers stay out of the discussions. Besides the theory, ed schools need to have their students involved in schools early, not wait until student teaching. (See posts Get them into the classrooms, Lessons from med school) 7. Change the salary schedule and change to a system in which districts can fire the teachers who have quit teaching. Improving teacher quality and teacher ed schools is one of my passions. I would love to hear other ideas.

Teach more content, please

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2009-03-30T14:40:03-05:00

I’m going to admit one of my biggest secrets here on the Net—I watch American Idol. OK, now that that’s done, I’ll proceed. My youngest loves to sing and decided, after watching Peter Pan at the Muny, to be on stage some day. Since music is not one of my talents and she is still quite young, I asked a musically inclined friend for advice. He suggested just exposing her to a wide variety of music. I thought about that advice last season while watching American Idol; it was obvious to me that both of the two finalists were comfortable with an array of musical styles and had experience with them. Several of the top ten were true “just off the street” beginners, which really showed as they made it further in the contest. They were able to sing really well the style and songs they were used to but struggled when pushed out of their comfort zones and when asked to learn more songs each week. Those who had been performing for a long time (a lifetime, really) could pull from a wide background even if they knew the style the wanted to sing professionally. The winner needed to do more than just practice scales but to be familiar with the history of music and use that to help him develop his craft. Likewise, kids need to know about the world around them to read. Practicing decoding is not enough. Studying vocabulary, even word etymology, isn’t enough. In fact, discussing the finer points of well written fiction isn’t enough. Kids need to be exposed to a myriad of topics and to experience a wide variety of activities to comprehend what they’re reading. The YouTube clip above demonstrates this well. (hat tip Matthew K. Tabor) I can think of three ways to increase the content of what is taught in the elementary schools. 1. By upper elementary school students should be spending more time on content rather than process. As a booklover myself, I love the fiction that elementary teachers encourage and appreciate the variety of styles they require (mysteries, historical fiction, science fiction, etc.). I understand that kids pick up a lot about the world around them by reading fiction, especially if directed to certain books and genres. However, students rarely are required to read non-fiction except academic books such as textbooks and an occasional biography. I love Jay Mathew’s idea of assigning a non-fiction book to high school students and would like to see this start in elementary school. 2. Most schools use an incredibly high percentage of their minutes for reading with math taking up the lion’s share of the rest. Science and social studies are given substantially less time. Some teachers will make the most of their time, essentially double dipping it, by assigning books that relate to the science or social studies topic being covered. Well organized teaching teams can plan together to include other specials also; for example, elementary Spanish teachers can coordinate science or social studies topics when possible. Still, a more balanced schedule would give appropriate time for all areas, especially important in districts that can’t rely on the families to take the kids on a lot of vacations throughout the country (Williamsburg!) or make frequent trips to the Science Center. Adding time to the school day is probably needed. 3. Make the science and social studies MAP tests required, not optional. What gets tested gets taught. I would love to hear other ideas. I especially liked the baseball and cricket examples in the YouTube clip above. Don’t miss it!

Charter schools as partners?

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2009-03-21T12:41:29-05:00

Is St. Louis moving to a “portfolio” approach to public education, as Education Secretary Arne Duncan calls New Orleans where charter schools make up over half of the public schools? Duncan said the model works as long as accountability requires the quick closing of poor performing schools. Kelvin Adams, the new SLPS superintendent, brings a willingness to work with charter schools. In a recent interview on St. Louis on the Air on KWMU, he explained his rationale. It’s not about charters schools or not charter schools but about what’s best for our kids. He talked about sharing ideas about what works between charter schools and regular public schools and how they influence each other. State Sen. Jeff Smith has been twittering about attending committee and board meetings for Confluence Academy. At achievement subcommittee mtg for Confluence Academy, charter skl susan uchitelle and I co-founded in 2000. doing well but need 2 do bettr At Confluence Academies board mtg. They're the charter skls I co-founded in 2000. We're abt to move into a new bldg, the stl pub library... I haven’t focused on the charter schools, but he got me to thinking about the quality of charter schools here in St. Louis. So I thought I would do a quick mini-check. I randomly chose fifth grade comm. arts MAP scores to compare and 11th grade for the high school charter schools. Since Lift for Life only has middle school scores, I included its eighth grade MAP scores. I can definitely see some charter schools than need some attention. Confluence, St. Louis Charter School and Lift for Life seem to be doing the best but with a lot of room left to improve. The CAN! charter school for high school drop-outs has been closed. With KIPP coming to St. Louis to provide some upward competition for the charters and an openness to charter schools from the new SLPS superintendent, a dynamic partnership that incubates new ideas and improves education for all may be coming to the Lou.

I need a 20 on Callahan

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2009-03-20T13:49:51-05:00

Kelvin Adams, the new superintendent of the St. Louis Public Schools, said during an interview on KWMU’s St. Louis on the Air Monday that the SLPS would have a person at every school who would be responsible for monitoring attendance and a developing relationship with each family in order to improve attendance. I immediately thought of this ad. SLPS reported an attendance rate in 2008 of 88.9 compared to the state average of 94. This is a dramatic increase over the 2006 low of 80.3 but is still not high enough. Improving attendance is a first step toward improving quality, including test scores.

Change the salary schedule!

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2009-03-18T14:34:05-05:00

Christian Science Monitor has an article out on changing the structure of teacher pay (hat tip Abner Oakes tweet), which discusses giving bonuses for various incentives such as improving student performance or working at a high-poverty school. I have some more ideas. First, as long as districts follow a salary schedule, teachers should get one-for-one credit for teaching in other districts; i.e., they should be given credit for teaching five years if they have taught five years when being hired at a different school district. Not giving one-for-one credit unfairly eliminates them from changing districts—they get “locked in” to a particular district after teaching for only a few years since they would have to take a pay cut to move to a different district. This elimination of competition between districts is bad for teachers. Only the wealthiest districts currently can lure experienced teachers by giving one-for-one credit since most districts do not. Let’s even that playing field. Second, tenure needs to be much, much, MUCH! harder to get. It should not be automatic but should be something to work toward like at the college level. Professors apply for tenure going through an arduous process. I recommend the same for K-12 teachers. Third, first year teachers should have a reduced teaching load to go with their lower salary. (I’ll expand on this idea in a post later this week.) As they gain experience and ability, they should gain responsibility, recognition and salary. Fourth, non-performing teachers should be fired. A more flexible salary schedule with teachers applying to move to different teacher levels equivalent to college’s instructor, assistant professor, associate professor and full professor would be a hybrid system between a strict schedule and open negotiation.

Do content areas play together?

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2009-03-15T22:24:39-05:00

I expect, and will pay extra for, my computer programs to integrate seamlessly, or at least as seamlessly as possibly, which is constantly improving. When software doesn’t work together, customers are irritated and pressure the companies to play nicely. (Right now chat protocols are not standard, which is quite irritating!) Districts are slow to learn this lesson. They still see each department as individual “silos” in foreign policy speak or islands unto themselves. Yes, they may spout some PC integration speech, but the way curriculum is developed and then presented to the school boards individually does not lend itself to a comprehensive outlook but a segmented one. If a school board is asked to increase funding for one department, will it consider funding requests by departments who will give their curriculum reviews two or three years later? The asst. supe for curriculum would act as a “czar” in Obama’s world (why are we using Russian terminology?), but I’m not convinced that that is enough. I’m not advocating for the dissolution of departments; rather, I would like to see a change of methods used in curriculum planning at a district level. I chose Parkway by random and searched its Board Docs for math. It completed the last comprehensive math review (pdf) in 2006 and, as is traditional, will review it again in another five years with updates in between. In going over the report given to the board and posted on the Board Docs, no mention is given to how the math department is connected to the other departments. Nor is any mention given to how recommendations would affect other departments. I decided to check if its neighbor Rockwood had shown wider thinking. Nope, and their latest math review (pdf) was just approved this January. However, I do like Rockwood’s Curriculum Advisory Council, which looks over completed curriculum reviews and makes their comments/suggestions before they are submitted to the board. The council is made up of teachers, principals, board representatives, parents and students (plus more including counselors, librarians etc.). While I would like for the council to have input before the final document stage, I think this is an excellent idea although it still doesn’t address my concern about looking at the broader picture. At least though the council wouldn’t be made up only of experts in that particular field who tend toward tunnel vision so they could and probably do ask questions about how the proposals affect the wider body. This is an idea that all districts should follow. Maybe we can start to at least build some tunnels between the silos.

Stay in school!

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2009-03-12T14:51:58-05:00

Today the Everyone Graduates Center issued a report (pdf) on graduation rates. Missouri was one of the states going against the trend and improving its rates. Yeah! While we didn’t make as great of gains as states like Tenn., we weren’t as far behind to start with either, so I would rather be in our position. In fact we are one of the states with the higher graduation rates. Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin have the highest graduation rates. As Missouri increases its graduation requirements, which go into effect for the class of 2010 (e.g. 3 math courses instead of 2 and 24 credits instead of 22), I wonder how that will affect the graduation rates. States such as Alabama improved grad rates while tightening standards, so it can be done. Defining graduation rates seems to be a problem as various states have traditionally defined it differently. In fact the percent for Missouri given in the report mentioned earlier is different (and lower) than the percent given on the DESE website. Just trying to do some preliminary research is frustrating, to say the least. Whatever the definition used, the city of St. Louis has decreasing graduation rates instead of improving (62 percent in 2004 to 49.8 in 2008). Because of the sheer size of the district, helping the city with its problem helps the state.

Longer school year?

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2009-03-11T16:17:13-05:00

Arne Duncan is looking at longer school days or years to help improve our country’s education and to help our students compete in a global economy in which many countries such as India and China go 20 to 30 days more a year. I’m sure students won’t like this idea, I doubt teachers will, and I’m not confident parents will either. However, I think that we should consider a longer school year. I was at a committee meeting last night at my children’s elementary school in which the principal was telling us about a decision made to change the allocation of minutes. Every addition of time is a trade-off. Adding more minutes to the school day isn’t necessarily the best decision since young children need some time to play, but a longer year would ease the minute turf war and reduce summer retention problems. The parents at the meeting kept asking about when the teachers were able to meet together district-wide by grade level. Teaching has traditionally been a solitary profession but is increasingly team-oriented as planning is done in groups. To facilitate this districts need to provide time for teachers to meet in various teams. Some districts do better at this than others, but all of them need to do more. School year length ranges from 190 days for Farmington to 167 for Wheatland in Hickory County and Appleton City in St. Clair County. The St. Louis city and county districts have a narrower range from 174 to 178 with Ritenour as an outlier at 182 (good for it!). (Numbers from DESE) The length of school day in St. Louis county and city ranged from 6.6 in Kirkwood (with quite a few districts at 6.5) to Jennings at 6.0. Jennings has a shorter day and one of the shorter years, but other districts mixed the two. For example, Clayton has one of the longer years but shorter days to allow for after school teacher meetings. Some of the districts such as University City and Bayless had a longer day at 6.5 hours but relatively shorter year at 175 days. Kirkwood, Ladue and Ritenour have students attending the most hours. Jennings and Hazelwood are at the bottom. The number of hours taught ranged in the state from a high of 1209.5 (Centerville in Reynolds County) to 1014.5 (Calhoun in Henry County). I predict that the we don’t have a significant change in the next couple of years but a quickening of the incremental pace we’ve been having in the increase of time as pressures mount on districts to improve. The state will need to come in and establish minimums for the rural areas that don’t face the same competition.

Fire those non-performing teachers!

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2009-03-10T16:32:42-05:00

So, should we be able to fire teachers? Of course. I can’t stand the current system and don’t think it helps teachers or students at all. Focusing on getting rid of teachers in the first three to five years before they’re tenured and no longer able to be fired is counter-productive. This is the time when schools should be doing everything possible to help new teachers—those first few years are tough, tough, tough. Requiring districts to keep poor teachers is detrimental to students because they are not learning and to teachers because it lowers the professional standards. Having had a math teacher who, literally, sat at his desk day by day and did not teach AT ALL (except the many, many days he was being observed), I feel for kids who have teachers who have quit working. This would absolutely not be allowed in any other profession. Why in teaching? More help for beginning teachers coupled with the ability to fire truly non-performing teachers would go a long way toward improving learning.

Parents as experts?

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2009-03-09T21:17:55-05:00

Photo by Brittany_G When I go to the doctor, I expect to work with someone in a partnership to figure out what is wrong or to assess my current health situation. I don’t want a doctor who is offended when I suggest possibilities or when I do research on the net. I respect his or her experience and expertise, but I know my body. The best doctor/patient relationship is a partnership. If it isn’t, I’ll go elsewhere. There may be times in an emergency situation when I might rely more heavily on the doctor’s expertise, but usually if I don’t agree or don’t feel I’m being listened to, I’ll seek another opinion (or just avoid going—not a good alternative). Unfortunately, too many doctors still have the “god complex,” and bristle at any give and take. School districts are facing the same philosophy tug-of-war. Educators want parents to be more involved in their kids’ academic lives, but not everyone agrees on their role in the school district. How much say do parents collectively have over curriculum? Does a district appoint a parent to the curriculum committee to give lip service to including parents’ views or do they actively seek and incorporate their input? Do the teachers and administrators have a “we know better—we’re the professionals” attitude, or do they value parents as equal experts with a different perspective?

Cut the Educational Jargon, Please!

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2009-02-19T14:29:16-06:00

A few weeks ago I helped a friend with a résumé and cover letter. She’s also required to submit a “Philsophy of Education,” so I looked at one she wrote a few years ago for an education course. She had received a good grade, but I told her to rewrite it. Why? Too much jargon! She needed more content, more specifics, and less airy fairy language. This sparked a discussion about education courses and whether they were helpful to her as an instructor, how much, and how they could be more so. Her ideal is strong content knowledge first with small doses of educational workshops/courses while teaching with plenty of time to pursue content interests. While she doesn’t teach secondary, I think the premise still holds. Teacher ed schools need to focus on helping teachers improve their teaching rather than trying to sound more academic by encouraging or even accepting the overuse of jargon. The prestige they seek will come from success rather than imitating other so-called soft sciences. (See previous posts Lessons from Med School, Get Them into the Classroom)

Missouri top schools in math

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-11-05T17:21:52-06:00

Photo by Fábio Pinheiro As part of my mission to widen the focus from St. Louis area to at least the state, I looked at the top school districts in Missouri in math in fourth grade and tenth grade. I chose fourth grade to give students the first year of testing to get used to taking standardized exams. I chose tenth grade as the highest grade of testing to look at the overall or “final” results of the district’s teaching. I looked at the median scale score instead of the number of proficient and advanced as I felt it was more representative of the spectrum of abilities including the advanced students. Also, this would discourage districts from overfocusing on the “bubble” students and, instead, work with each one equally. The median is more representative than mean as it is less affected by a student who fills in bubbles in cute patterns or one or two 0 scores. Many of the top school districts have grade levels that are quite small, so I included the numbers for perspective. I also included the median Terra Nova score to provide some national comparison and a frame of reference for the MAP scale score. Missouri top 30 school districts 4th grade math Missouri top 40 school districts 10th grade math I dipped down to the top 40 (41) instead of the top 30 for the 10th grade math to pick up three more St. Louis County school districts. To me it’s clear that while St. Louis County schools are strong, they have some competition in the state that should be acknowledged.

What about the students outside St. Louis?

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-10-29T12:52:08-05:00

Photo by Hira3 Local school districts like to tout their rankings in MAP scores as a way to demonstrate quality. “We’re #1 in St. Louis in this particular grade in a math scores at this elementary school. Yay us!” While districts do have some reasons to compare themselves to other districts within the metropolitan area, they do need to realize the limitations. After listening to a district list its MAP score rankings within St. Louis at a parent meeting, a friend complained to me about the “provincial” thinking. “These kids compete for college with students across the country, not just from St. Louis.” Friends of mine who are from other cities don’t understand our emphasis on competing against only local schools. I’ll start by trying to focus less on St. Louis-only comparisons and incude more state comparisons when discussing MAP scores. I’ll also try to compare across state lines and international when possible. If I want districts to broaden their outlook, I should start by doing so here.

Reporter asks Obama re NCLB

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-10-18T19:02:16-05:00

At a rally of 100,000 here in St. Louis, Leisa Zigman of KSDK asks Barack Obama about the future of NCLB especially considering that no St. Louis County district met AYP goals even though many of them are “overperforming.” (Overperforming?) He said we need to change the way we assess schools so that we encourage accountability but in a way that is possible for schools to meet.

Science: What gets tested gets taught

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-10-13T09:45:58-05:00

Since the MAP is including science now, schools are increasing their focus on teaching science although I’m not sure they have enough. All of this comes as economic and education experts worry about U.S. global competitiveness. “We should be embarking immediately on an all-hands-on-deck, no-holds-barred, no budget-too-large crash program for science and engineering education.” ... Friedman in The World is Flat 3.0) Missouri needs to increase its state requirements for graduation. All students need to take biology, chemistry and physics (not necessarily in that order). Students graduating in 2010 are required to take three years (same as math and history), which is an increase from the currently required two years. I think all students should take four years of all four core subjects. Most schools don’t require physics, but the concepts are essential in science and can be taught to all. (See previous post on teaching physics first.) For example, Hazelwood currently requires students to take Physical Systems and Chemical Systems, each a semester course. Then students are required to take biology for a year. This includes students with a College Prep designation on their diploma. With the requirement increase, students are then required to add another year of science of their choice. Only one semester of chemistry? They offer a full year of chemistry but don’t require it. This is not enough science for people competing with other countries for jobs and deciding on the direction of science via elections. Francis Howell currently requires a year of physical science and a year of biology. Chemistry and physics are optional. Elementary schools need to increase the emphasis on science and integrate science with math and reading. MRH, which has a helpful curriculum online, does not include science K-5. Is it not important enough? Rockwood does include a grade-by-grade detailed list of its science curriculum starting at the K level. It also puts on a Science Expo at the beginning of the year to stir up excitement and let the students and parents know of science resources available in St. ...Mehlville doesn’t include the detail that Rockwood does, but it gives an easy to decipher overview of the content covered in each grade, the name of the textbook used (!) and suggested resources and activities for families. As an educator I like the Rockwood detail, but the Mehlville overview is definitely more readable. I would like districts to include both. I looked at the 2008 MAP 5th grade science scores comparing median MAP scale scores. None of the top 10 in the state were in the St. Louis metropolitan area, but none of them had more than 27 students taking the test, so I narrowed my list to districts in the metropolitan area, including charter schools. The top school districts were not surprising, but I was intrigued by some of the districts on the list such as Washington, Windsor and Fox. ... Union and Festus were 11 and 12. ...ROCKWOOD R-VI ...KIRKWOOD R-VII ...FOX C-6 ...I then searched to see if the same districts had the highest number of students scoring at the advanced level. ...ROCKWOOD R-VI ...KIRKWOOD R-VII ...FOX C-6 ...Most of the districts were the same with Orchard Farm joining the list and Windsor falling to 11. Parkway moved up to 12. Sorting by median Terra Nova scores shuffled the districts a bit bringing New Haven (Franklin Co. R-II) into the top. ...ROCKWOOD R-VI ...KIRKWOOD R-VII ...FOX C-6 ...Rockwood comes out on top in every configuration. Whether it is the Science Expo, detailed expectations or another reason altogether, the elementary schools there come ahead. I’ll be interested to watch whether this new focus on science raises everyone’s scores.

Put that curriculum on the website!

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-10-08T11:47:10-05:00

As part of my mission to make schools more transparent and accessible to parents, I searched several random area school districts’ websites for curriculum information. Some of them presented detailed information in an easy-to-use format (Rockwood, Mehlville and Maplewood-Richmond Heights), some had partial information (Clayton, Ladue) and some none (Ferguson-Florissant and St. Louis Public Schools). Rockwood: detailed information on curriculum by content area, info on curriculum development, easy-to-use website Mehlville: pdf of each grade and high school MRH: pdf of each school level (elementary, middle, high) and content area, assessment report, easy-to-use website Clayton: info on curriculum development including names of curriculum coordinators but not information on content level or grade level objectives Ladue: info limited to elementary math under the district curriculum section Ferguson-Florissant: no information on district site that I could find via browsing or by search, no info in at least two elementary schools (Airport Elementary, Bermuda Elementary) SLPS: no information that I could find via browsing, no search available; no info in at least three elementary schools (Adams, Ashland and Cote Brilliante) Since curriculum drives education, I applaud Rockwood and MRH for having comprehensive, easy-to-use curriculum sections on their websites. Clayton and Ladue have some catching up to do. Ferguson-Florissant and the SLPS are embarrassingly lacking in this area. While I didn’t look at every district’s website, I encourage educators to think about what they include and emphasize on their websites and the message that sends to their parents and broader community.

Need for more transparency, participation in education

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-10-03T12:45:11-05:00

Photo by GPTwisted As quickly as the financial bailout rescue bill was passed (for Congress anyway), it was remarkable in that legislators attempted an announced public markup period, as short as it was. I hope that all legislation will eventually go through this process. School districts can learn from the Sunlight Foundation and involve the community earlier in the process. Some St. Louis County districts use BoardDocs to post agendas, minutes and supporting documents in an easy-to-access manner. (See Rockwood for an example) I would like to see them go one step further and open up documents for a public markup period before they make it to the board presentation stage. For example, if a committee is going to recommend changes to content area’s curriculum, posting the proposed changes before the board presentation allows for more parent involvement than the one or two parents selected to be on the committee. This encourages buy-in or at least allows for time to work on consensus. Openness and transparency can go a long way to bring our schools into the 21st century.

MAP student reports give parents LESS information

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-09-24T14:42:29-05:00

Photo by flag75* If giving parents more information is the national trend, Missouri is going in the wrong direction. This year’s MAP student report (pdf) given to parents provides less information than before (pdf). Previously, parents were given the number of points possible and the percent of points earned for each subsection, which were related to the standards. That way they could see their child’s strengths and weaknesses within a content area. This year parents are given the total score, no subtest break-outs. As a parent I like that my child is also given a TerraNova score as it is nationally normed. Most parents I know prefer normed scores rather than standards based scores because it provides them with a frame of reference. (I have yet to meet a parent that actually likes standard-based report cards since they appear pretty meaningless to us.) How hard is it to get into the advanced category? proficient? Speaking of frame of reference, the other piece of information given, the Lexile score, is completely lacking that for most parents. What does it mean? Oh, we’re told to go look it up. In the past parents were provided some information on the score, but not this year. Now it’s just see the website and talk to your local librarian. ❝The score measures the reading skill level of your child, so you may choose books that will encourage reading progress at www. Lexle.com. Here you will find a list of titles withn your child’s Lexile range. Your local/school librarian can also help you find books within your child’s Lexile range.❞ I’m an informed parent, and I had to find a conversion chart. Parents want information, but I’m afraid educrats are too used to seeing these results and don’t know how to provide them in a helpful manner and manage to both under and overestimate parents at the same time. So while educators, policy wonks and social scientists debate the validity of various assessment measurement methods (which I’ll follow with interest), I would like the state to improve its communication to the parents. Perhaps it should start by having some parents help out.

Parents tracking their kids' attendance, grades online

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-09-17T14:53:49-05:00

Photo by Ian Fuller When Sarah Brodsky of Show-Me Institute asked why St. Louis area weren’t being more innovative by implementing programs such as online grade and attendance monitoring by parents, I was surprised as I thought they were doing that. After checking most of the county school districts, I found that they were. (I couldn’t find it on Parkway’s website. Do they not have it or is it just not easily found on the website? They do have online lunch accounts, which I wish my kids’ district had, so I’m assuming they have chosen not to have attendance and grades monitoring.) The St. Louis Public Schools did not have any online monitoring that I could find. For a district that struggles with attendance, I would think that allowing the parents to easily check on their kids’ attendance and tardies would be a high priority. “Johnny, you were tardy for biology again today. You’re grounded!”

Hospitals, school districts benefit from open data

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-09-09T17:28:17-05:00

Driving home the other day I heard a discussion on NPR Talk of the Nation about putting hospital statistics online so people can compare them. I immediately thought that if one substituted the word schools for hospitals the discussion would be the same. Challenges of comparing high-risk patients to low-risk patients. Check. Hospitals not being eager to provide data. Check. Benefits of openness and transparency. Check. Need to put checks in to prevent hospitals from gaming the system. Check. The show concluded by the experts agreeing that this is an important but still small first step in accountability, openness and transparency. The biggest benefit comes not from patients being able to compare hospitals but from hospitals sending staff to high-scoring ones to learn from them. In that spirit, if I were a superintendent in the St. Louis metropolitan area, I would send someone to Fox to find out why they have the highest percentage of free and reduced lunch students in the St. Louis area scoring at proficient or advanced in both math and communications MAP scores. I chose this picture because I liked it and Children’s is, unfortunately, the hospital I have used the most often as I have three children. The website focuses on acute care and doesn’t include pediatric hospitals like Children’s or Cardinal Glennon even though it has a section for children’s asthma.

District spending seems a bit random

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-09-08T15:08:33-05:00

A commenter to skoolboy’s post on the Chicago protest wondered if wealthier districts did a better job educating students eligible for free or reduced lunch. So I ran some St. Louis numbers. Nope. There is no correlation between per pupil spending in a district and the percent of free or reduced lunch students who test proficient or advanced on the math MAP test. (-.24) There isn’t even a correlation between per pupil spending and the percentage of total students who test proficient or advanced on the math MAP test (-.04) After looking at the numbers, however, I was surprised at the districts’ spending levels. Clayton having the highest spending is no surprise to anyone, but the number two district is Wellston, the district that has the lowest test scores in the county and that has lost its accreditation. Does per pupil spending reflect a community’s wealth though? Not as much as we would expect. In fact, not at all. The correlation between per pupil spending and median household income is -.15 (This differs from skoolboy’s findings on Illinois and could from the state of Missouri, but I focused on the St. Louis metro area. I also didn’t use the exact same method he did.) My next attempt to find a commonality was to draw a map. Bingo. I colored in the top third per pupil spending purple, mid third medium blue and bottom third yellow. Since the city and middle corridor obviously spend more irrespective of community wealth, I hypothesize that the older buildings cost more to maintain. Obviously, teacher salaries could play a factor here too, but those are numbers to run another day. I’m not arguing that since there’s no correlation, we should reduce funding for all the districts. However, we also can’t equate funding with equality as so many other factors come into play.

How long do we need to study about Missouri

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-09-03T13:32:41-05:00

While my natural inclination is for local control as much as is feasible, nationalizing standards has some appealing arguments. For example, fourth graders throughout Missouri aren’t studying world history, American history, civics or other typical social studies topic. Nope, they’re taking a year to learn all there is to know about—Missouri. The state of Missouri. I’ll grant you we have some interesting history in the state. I even understand how they can acquire necessary skills such as reading maps, comparing and contrasting geographical regions etc. But, really? A whole year on Missouri? If you live in another state, don’t start feeling superior because the children in your state are also studying it for a year most likely. If you’re lucky, they will revisit it in a later grade (here’s looking at you South Carolina!). I think a unit or even two on the state is sufficient. I would even spiral that back around in later grades as students get closer to voting age. Heck, by then they might even still live in the state by the time they’re 18, so learning the names of their governor, state reps and state senators isn’t asking too much of a high schooler. If families never moved, you could make the case for studying their own state in such depth, but that is not reality. With mobility rates of 15-20 percent, we can hardly justify spending an entire year on a single state. Some may make the case that kids start out learning about their family, their neighborhood, then their community, and work their way up to their state, country and finally the world. How boring is that! Besides, kids have an easier time understanding other countries than state or county divisions, so learning is not quite so linear as that. I suggest choosing high-interest topics such as ancient Egypt, pre-Columbian Maya or medieval Europe to introduce historical methods and skills. You could certainly include some Missouri-related units such as Lewis & Clark. I would then emphasize the state history within context of U.S. history as kids develop a sense of time flow in later elementary. That would seem to make more sense. I think lack of world knowledge is a bigger problem overall than lack of state knowledge, so I can’t see how reducing time spent studying the state will harm our country’s ability to compete in the global economy.

How are those charter schools doing?

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-08-21T13:31:15-05:00

University Academy charter school in Kansas City Charter schools seem to be all the rage today—among policy wonks, politicians like Mayor Francis Slay and libertarian think tanks. Unfortunately, here in St. Louis the results have not been encouraging for African-American parents. Here are the 10 schools that had the lowest percentage of black students scoring proficient or advanced (+growth) on the communications portion of the 2008 MAP. The number of students is the number of black students reportable, which I included to show size. # students Prof/Adv + Growth IMAGINE REN ACAD ENV SCI & MA 251.00 ...IMAGINE ACADEMY ES AND MATH 325.00 19.10 ...BANNEKER ACADEMY 119.00 16.80 ...LEADERSHIP ACADEMY 120.00 16.70 IMAGINE ACAD. ...197.00 16.20 IMAGINE ACADEMY OF CAREERS 324.00 ...GENESIS SCHOOL INC. 67.00 13.40 CONSTRUCTION CAREERS CENTER 40.00 10.00 HOGAN PREPARATORY ACADEMY 54.00 3.70 DON BOSCO EDUCATION CTR. 46.00 0.00 What do all 10 schools have in common? They are all charter schools and all test below Wellston, a St. Louis County district which lost accreditation (24.4). They also test well below the SLPS at 31.4. To be fair, there are some successful charter schools. Academie Lafayette in Kansas City boasts the third highest rate in the state at 66.3. It’s a French Immersion school. Another charter that is doing well is University Academy, a college prep charter school in Kansas City (49.7). Confluence Academies in St. Louis came in at 38.4, St. Louis Charter School at 35.2, Paideia at 27.4 and Lift for Life at 26.9. The county schools ranged from upper 30s to 50 with Fox at a much higher 71.4, tied for highest in the state. (Worthy of further research!) While I like the concept of charter schools, I think some tightening up of supervision needs to happen in order to get state funds.

Should teachers go to school?

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-08-20T13:29:52-05:00

(photo by dcJohn) Ladue teachers are going back to school. ❝Ladue, one of the top-performing districts in the state, has recently told its teachers with bachelor's degrees that a master's degree "will be the new standard expected" within four years.❞ (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) The Post article basically says that the teachers aren’t going back to improve their teaching, as “study after study” shows that further education isn’t worth much. Then why would Ladue encourage their teachers to spend their time in class? ❝To the Ladue School District, it's worth their reputation, and the support of voters who may approve or deny tax increases.❞ That seems harsh. Maybe pragmatic? I had noticed the Ladue outlier in a post on teacher salaries last spring. I would like to drill deeper into the research on graduate studies since it seems so counter-intuitive to me as both a former teacher and as someone who has looked at a lot of numbers. I have a lot of questions. Would the research differ if we factored in the type of degree and/or the challenge level? ❝I still see a lot of generalist master's programs that are pretty easy and painless for teachers to get through," Hausfather [dean of education at Maryville University] said. "It's still hard to push programs that push people. They just want to get a degree and a pay raise.❞ (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) ❝They [Goldhaber and Brewer (1996) also found that, although advanced degrees in general were not associated with higher student achievement, an advanced degree that was specific to the subject area that a teacher taught was associated with higher achievement.❞ (Center for Public Education) Would the research differ if we isolated certain age levels or certain subject areas? ❝Goldhaber and Brewer (1996) found that the presence of teachers with at least a major in their subject area was the most reliable predictor of student achievement scores in math and science.❞ (Center for Public Education) What long-term effects does being perceived as more professional have on the teaching profession? This seems to be the affect Ladue is going for. I’m not sure how it can be measured. Have they done surveys?

MAP scores highlight U.S. inequality

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-08-04T13:28:15-05:00

I am intrigued by the newly released Mo. MAP scores in a similar way to my fascination with political polling, complete with a need to understand the caveats and to dig deeper. Fareed Zakaria, in The Post-American World, explains the U.S. math score mediocrity. ❝But even if the U.S. scores in math and science fall well below leaders like Singapore and Hong Kong, the aggregate scores hide deep regional, racial, and socioeconomic variation. [...] The difference between average science scores in poor and wealthy school districts within the United States, for instance, is four to five times greater than the difference between the U.S. and Singaporean national averages. In other words, America is a large and diverse country with a real inequality problem.❞ This inquality is highlighted in the St. Louis County MAP scores. The 10th grade math scores ranged from 81.4 percent of a school scoring proficient or advanced at Clayton to 0 at Wellston. OK, that is pretty extreme. The top five scoring districts averaged 71.6 prof/adv.; while the bottom five districts (excluding Wellston) averaged 15.6. I excluded Wellston because it has had its accreditation stripped and students may go elsewhere. In fact several go to Clayton. The elementary math numbers aren’t any better. I chose 5th grade because I felt that gave students several years to get used to testing. The top five districts averaged 75.02 prof/adv; whereas, the bottom five averaged 18.76.

Yikes, the teachers aren't certified

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-05-15T16:02:17-05:00

I have a friend who insists that research shows that teacher certification means nothing. He's not the only one. I thought I would throw out there the correlation numbers for St. Louis County school districts between the certification rate and the median math score on the Terra Nova for third graders: .72 (excluding Special School district). Occasionally districts will hire someone who will finish certification within a specified time frame because they believe that teacher is an excellent choice. This may especially be true in some of the more specialized areas. My theory is that the difference between 100 percent certification and 99.4 isn't much. When I sorted by certification percentage and only checked the correlation of districts below 99 percent, the number decreased slightly to .70. However, by using only the districts below 98 percent, it increased to .76. It stayed the same for under 97 percent The highest correlation numbers I found were when sorting for median score and then only using the lower numbers. So schools with a lower median Terra Nova math score in third grade highly correlated with certification rates. Maybe some time I'll run more numbers to see if this holds up both with other grades and other content areas. Correlation numbers are far from conclusive but do show an area in which to do more precise research. Does this only work in an area with competing districts? Within a larger district? Over an entire state? What areas are the non "highly qualified" teachers teaching in? Enquiring minds want to know. (Numbers from DESE)

Physics for freshmen

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-04-23T14:53:44-05:00

Dr. Leon Lederman, 1988 winner of Nobel Prize in Physics discusses teaching physics first The St. Louis Post-Dispatch ran an article about the Missouri Physics First program, which encourages and trains high school science teachers to teach an introductory, hands-on physics course for freshmen. ❝Physics drives chemistry and biology," said Sara Torres, director of a program at the University of Missouri in Columbia that trains future ninth-grade physics teachers. "To understand chemistry, you need physics, and to understand biology, you need chemistry. So it makes sense to teach physics to ninth-graders.❞ The counter-arguement is that students need to use higher-level math to understand physics. ❝Those students don't have a sound enough basis in math skills," said Gwen Thomas, the secondary science curriculum coordinator for St. Louis Public Schools.❞ Since the intro course wouldn't replace a higher-level math-based physics course that many to most (depending on the district) students wouldn't take anyway, I love the idea of an introductory physics course for all students. This would help them see a need for that algebra they're learning, expose them to an area of science they might not see otherwise and help them better understand other branches of science.

Rock and roll the Mother Nature way

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-04-18T14:39:00-05:00

I wonder what all the kids will be talking about at school today? (Hint: 5.2) Enterprising teachers across the Midwest will be bringing up the 1906 San Francisco earthquake anniversary, the Missouri quakes of 1811-12 and some good earth science lessons. Some might even tackle how a 5.4 is 10 times greater than a 5.2 Here's a well done YouTube (albeit long) on the New Madrid quakes of 1812 and predictions:

What do teachers make anyway?

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-04-16T17:08:10-05:00

Source: DESE I assumed that Clayton would be the top-paying district in the county, and I was correct. The average is high because the district prioritizes experience and advanced eduction. The average number of years teaching is 15.6; while Webster Groves, the next highest, is 14.7—almost a year less. Clayton, Brentwood and Kirkwood all have over 80 percent of teachers with at least a master's degree. They are also the highest paying districts. This is no coincidence as I found a .76 correlation between average salary and percent with a master's. This is much higher than the still statistically significant .40 correlation between average salary and average number of years teaching. At a future date I will compare the percent with a master's to quality of schools because in looking at it, that seems to be a pretty good indicator, with Ladue as a weird outlier. (What's up with Ladue only having 50 percent of its teachers with a master's? They're not young (14.1). This deserves further research.)

Get outside! (Improve your science scores)

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-04-15T16:55:41-05:00

Finally, a break in the incessant rain. Go outside and play, I mean, learn! The No Child Left Inside Coalition advocates for more outdoor education, citing research showing improved science scores (pdf) among other benefits. As our students are now taking a science section of the MAP, I thought this was especially relevant. I believe the school tagging the monarch butterflies at 4:20 is the fifth grade at The College School. Let me know if I'm wrong.

Moving beyond the math wars

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-04-10T19:44:34-05:00

I'm agnostic on the math wars—I see the arguments to both sides. Traditional curricula don't do enough to teach the why's of math, but the reform lacks rigor on the how's. So I'm excited to see my favorite curriculum make its way to the St. Louis metro area public schools. ❝Wentzville is believed to be the first public school district in the St. Louis area to plan a widespread adoption of Singapore math, said Jeffery Thomas, president of SingaporeMath.com, which supplies school districts and home schoolers with books for the program. Some other districts in the region have recently purchased review materials, he said. The program or something similar already is taught in some private schools in St. Louis, and about 800 schools nationwide.❞ Singapore is rigorous with an inspired visual method of teaching problem solving that leads kids into algebra using bar diagrams. Even those who use a different curriculum could supplement with its Challenging Word Problems books. But this doesn't come at the expense of students who need more help like one of the private schools that have already started using Singapore. ❝City Academy, the private school on North Kingshighway that targets disadvantaged students, introduced the program this year. It is already reaping the benefits of the switch from the way math is traditionally taught in the United States.❞ The U.S. distributor recently revamped the series to match California standards, which should make it easier for public schools to adopt it because the scope and sequence should line up better with standardized tests. Singapore may use the traditional algorithms, but it still isn't like a traditional math program. ❝William Tate, professor and chairman of the department of education at Washington University, said that a series of workshops for parents consistent with what the teachers learned about the Singapore math would be vital. The program is different enough from traditional teaching that parents will have a steep learning curve, he said.❞ Now that parents are finally figuring out reform math, but the effort is well worth it.

Elite universities go low cost

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-02-20T16:35:28-06:00

Wash U and Stanford have joined Harvard in loosening up the endowment pocketbooks to provide grants for students of middle-class families to attend for free or a least close to it. Besides the obvious benefit of helping more students attend, I think this could have long-reaching benefits. Financial aid is a confusing, messy business. Yes, students can get it, but they don't know how much until they apply. This way lower middle-class families can aspire to send their kids to elite universities without worrying as much about money. The finances won't keep them from even dreaming. ❝We are concerned about assuring that students of all backgrounds have the opportunity to study here," said Chancellor Mark Wrighton. "We think this policy will encourage people who have modest circumstances to apply.❞ This news should be heralded in every 8th grade high school planning session in every district, including SLPS. I would put up flyers in every guidance office throughout the state. Heck, I would start younger. I would make sure to mention it at every opportunity in the elementary schools. Elite universities are becoming a little less aristocratic.

Researching history at the library

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-02-18T16:27:37-06:00

National History Day 2007 Documentary Category National Winner: The Great Seattle Fire I'm such a nerd. While in college my roommate skipped classes because she was hanging out with her boyfriend, she was sleeping, it was raining or any other excuse she could find (before flunking out). I skipped classes (and not just one or two) to hang out at the State Historical Society of Missouri. I was doomed as soon as I discovered it was actually on campus. I had one professor give us an assignment that required us to dig into old Missouri papers on microfilm. The other students complained about doing a stupid assignment that was probably just to help a prof with his research, but I was in my element. Over 2,600 Mo. students grades 6-12 compete in National History Day. This year's theme is "Conflict and Compromise in History," which seems apropo in an election year. About 500 students will then compete at the state level in April with 45-50 going on to nationals in June. The St. Louis region's contest will be this Saturday, Feb. 23, at UMSL. The ability to do real historical research and present their studies instead of just memorizing dates is a wonderful way to show students the relevance and fascinating aspects of history. Go St. Louis history students!

Students taking AP classes in Mo., or not

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-02-15T22:57:59-06:00

My Humps—Calculus Students in Missouri are not taking AP courses at nearly the same levels as in other states according to the College Board annual report released earlier this week (Wed. Feb. 13). In Mo. 10.6 percent of students take an AP class versus 24.9 percent national average. We're at less than half the national average. Nationally, 15.7 percent of students earn a 3 or higher on at least one AP exam; whereas, in Mo. only 6.7 percent do. In fact, Mo ranks 46th. (Yeah, the College Board recommends against ranking for a lot of valid reasons, but I did I did it anyway.) Last summer, Mo. DESE sent out a press release praising the uptick in numbers of students taking the exam. ❝This year we sent more money to Missouri classrooms than ever before and also secured funding to encourage even more students to take AP classes, including training for more AP teachers and assistance to help cover the cost of AP exams. It is clear by our students’ outstanding performance that our investments are helping our students prepare for the challenges ahead,❞ he [Gov. Matt Blunt] said. However, the 2.0 percent increase in the past 5 years is quite a bit less than the national average of 3.5 percent increase. Our students are falling behind. It's possible students here are taking AP courses but not the exam. Adding in IB classes wouldn't raise the rates much since only a few high schools here offer them (Lindbergh, Metro). However, I wonder if St. Louis University's 1-8-1-8 program decreases students motivation to take the AP exam. I couldn't find numbers on students in Mo. taking AP courses, but I did look up a few districts' offerings to compare to the national average (9). Clayton offers 21 AP courses including Calculus BC, Music theory and Macroeconomics. Hazelwood offers 15 including Computer Science and Physics. I also looked up a rural district and chose DeSoto at random. I couldn't find evidence they offered any AP courses. I didn't see any listed in the course schedule (except possibly calculus); nor were any mentioned in the student handbook. They are proposing a college prep certificate starting class of 2010. If that is reflective of rural districts, Mo. is in trouble. Missouri has started two centers at Truman and SeMo to help train teachers to teach AP courses. This is a good start but not enough.

Greening St. Louis Schools

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-02-13T17:31:42-06:00

I have previously challenged districts with building initiatives like Rockwood to include green elements. Parkway is having public meetings where residents can voice their opinions. I'm sure other districts are also considering renovation projects. Missouri is a bit behind with no LEED certified schools although one is expected to open in Kansas City next year. In St. Louis County, most schools are renovating, not constructing new buildings, which makes the LEED certification trickier. Ohio is requiring all new schools and major renovations to be LEED Silver certified and is helping with funding. Julia Feder, a green schools advocate for the U.S. Green Building Council St. Louis Chapter, spoke last night (Tues. Feb. 12) to the Clayton school district about the advantages of building green and the "triple bottom line." Good for environment nuff said Good for economics While building green costs 3-5% more, the payback time is 5-7 years. Obviously, schools last longer than that, so taxpayers benefit. The average green school saves $100,000 per year in operating costs. ❝Analysis of the costs and benefits of 30 green schools and use of conservative and prudent financial assumptions provides a clear and compelling case that greening schools today is extremely cost-effective, and represents a fiscally far better design choice. Building green schools is more fiscally prudent and lower risk than continuing to build unhealthy, inefficient schools.❞ (Greening America's Schools: Costs and Benefits, Gregory Kats, Capital E Report, pdf) Good for health and wellness An AIA (American Institute for Architects) report gives some promising data: 38.5 percent reduction in asthma because of improved air quality and 1.41 fewer teacher work days missed. (eSchool News) Improving kids' health because of better building design and implementation is a moral obligation. Illinois has passed the Green Cleaning for Schools Act, which will help all schools take steps toward making schools a healthier environment. Will Missouri step up? Learning A Heschong Mahone Group study showed that daylighting, contrary to previous assumptions, doesn't decrease learning. Instead, students showed a 20-26 percent faster learning rate. I remember the middle school I attended with its miniscule windows. Sigh. Studies have linked a decrease in ADHD behaviors to time spent in the outdoors. Outdoor classrooms are another component to green schools. USGBC-STL is giving a presentation "Greening Your School and District 101: What do you need to know to take the first steps?" at Crossroads Preparatory School April 3 8-10 a.m.

A Vision of K-12 Students Today

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-02-12T13:56:47-06:00

Here's the K-12 version of the popular A Vision of Students Today YouTube that is so popular. Sure, students still need to learn how to read books, but kids are often more visually oriented and technologically literate than their teachers, and this disconnect often makes for "unengaged" learners and frustrated children.

Wash U involves multiple schools, depts. in KIPP sponsorship

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-02-11T17:49:49-06:00

Some are excited about Wash U.'s sponsorship of KIPP charter schools in St. Louis because it provides more options for families in the city, some because Wash U is one of the first "elite" schools to sponsor a charter school. Some like the data. I'm excited because I believe Wash U won't just write a report once a year; I think they will be an active sponsor. ❝The University expects to have significant involvement in the success of this new school.❞ This involvement isn't just tutoring although I'm sure undergrads and master's level students will work directly with kids. Faculty and doctoral students will perform research, which should provide interesting info on charter schools. ❝But he [Robert Wild], thinks the many different university schools — education, social work and others — can all get involved. KIPP schools would provide undergrads and faculty alike with real-world exploration and real-world research.❞ A top-ranked school of social work working with the ed dept. provides for exciting opportunities. The different schools working together isn't just happy talk; the dean of George warren Brown School of Social Work is officially involved. The reputation will be on the line. Since Wash U emphasizes science education research and projects, I would watch to see if the KIPP schools follow suit. I'm aware that KIPP schools are controversial, but I'll be eagerly following this partnership.

Come rain, SNOW, sleet, or shine, the Science Fair must go on!

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-01-31T11:48:03-06:00

In spite of the anticipated snow day tomorrow, our school's beloved science fair will go on. Yes, we'll trek those projects up to school in however much snow we get. Of course, we could take them up today if we were organized enough to be finished.... Participation may be emphasized over winning and that pizza party is motivating, but the competitive kids know that some of the projects get to go to Queeny Park, the world's largest regional science fair. It really is impressive. Hear, hear for well run science fairs that motivate students to learn more about their world and teach them how to do so scientifically.

Trip to Seville? Ph.D.? Working on the bucket list

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-01-29T22:36:43-06:00

When I graduated from college, I set three goals for myself to achieve by the time I was 30: buy a house, travel to Europe and finish the coursework for a Ph. D. program (I was trying to be realistic). I only met one of those goals. So on my 31st birthday, I just reworked my objectives a bit, putting off those goals of a trip to Europe and the Ph. D. program until I was 40. My 30s was all about babies, not overseas travel or furthering my education formally. Having kids has broadened my perspective and enriched my life, but it didn't lend itself to my narrowly worded intentions. Well, I'm 41 now. While I think a trip to Costa Rica with the kiddos might happen before that trip to Europe, I still dream about English manor houses, Italian villas, German castles, Spanish tapas bars and French cafés. I'm also seriously considering starting a Ph. D. program in a few years. I guess my original goals set when I was 21 are still the same, just delayed by, uh, a few years. I'm not even going to bother graphing my success rate (20's=1 goal, 30's=0 goals, 40's=?), but if I do think my initial objectives were well thought out. I haven't been to Europe yet, but I have traveled domestically and to Central America. I haven't even started a Ph. D. yet, but I did get a master's and a graduate certificate. I've also read quite a bit about education as my children have started school, providing me with a broader perspective. See ya in Seville!

Moneyball

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-01-29T13:59:16-06:00

I know that everyone on the East Coast is hyperfocusing on the Superbowl, which I'll watch, but, really, I'm just counting the days to spring training. In fact, baseball and education are amazingly similar. ❝He [Joe Maddon, Tampa Bay] knows human factors affect the numbers radically. Context is partially external (in baseball, factors like ball park effects, weather, a humidor or not) but it's vastly internal (human players as individuals and as part of the team and their individual quirks and personal strengths and weaknesse

He knows the numbers only take you so far and that you have to go farther than that to achieve excellence. Maddon doesn't lose sight of the vast pool of non-numeric data out there...that goes into his pool from which to draw❞ (Management by Baseball) Tony LaRussa, while not exactly a Moneyball proponent, gives a great quote. ❝The 'Moneyball' kind of stuff has its place, but so does the human," La Russa said by telephone from Pittsburgh. "Really, the combination is the answer.❞ As teachers, principals, administrators, researchers and policy wonks, we all need to remember that data can help us improve education without being so data-driven as to lose sight of good teaching.

Passion, or lack thereof, in ed schools

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-01-28T17:42:41-06:00

I've been reading David Labaree's The Trouble with Ed Schools for my late-night reading material because I am passionate about improving the quality of teacher education. OK, I'm passionate about education in general and expect people going into the profession to be so also. Alas. A friend and I were chatting yesterday about the people we knew in various teacher prep programs. Unfortunately, most of them majored in ed because they 1) needed a fallback if they couldn't make money doing what they really wanted to do 2) they had to choose something 3) like teaching well enough but only plan on doing so a few years until they have children. None of these are bad reasons in themselves, and I don't fault these individuals, but it demonstrates the low status that Labaree demonstrates U.S. society gives to ed schools. Would anyone go to law school as a fallback? nursing school? (Ed school is often compared to nursing and social work schools, so I think that one is a particularly valid question.) I asked someone who went to Truman if anyone she knew didn't feel passionately about teaching. Nope. Nobody there majored in education because they didn't know what else to do. Perhaps this is because Truman did away with awarding a bachelor's in education, so the students are planning on a five-year program. The purpose may be to strengthen the academics, but the side benefit may be to strengthen the education program. Passionate students improve classes. Washington University is now also moving to a master's only program.

Missouri students write for their state assessment too!

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-01-28T10:14:39-06:00

Debbie Monterrey and Doug McElvein of KMOX's Total Information AM interviewed (audio download) Thomas Toch of Education Sector this morning about NCLB, focusing on how the tests differ between states. Yes, states construct their own tests of varying difficulty levels. I thought it ironic, and showing of poor prep all around, that the state everyone kept referring to as one that uses open-ended questions, you know, actually having the kids write, was Massachusetts. True, Massachusetts has challenging tests, but, hey! Missouri does too! The kids complete short answer questions in addition to a writing prompt. The local angle and all that. MAP practice tests IES Research and Development Report Mapping 2005 State Proficiency Standards onto the NAEP Scales (MO not included in Reading) 4th grade math Mo 5th highest and close to the NAEP proficient cut score (242) 8th grade math Mo highest score and well above the NAEP proficient cut score (311) Rant over, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Can data improve my teaching?

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-01-25T13:59:34-06:00

I am required to include an assessment statement on my syllabus and perform CATs (classroom assessment techniques) periodically throughout the semester. I did my first formal CAT yesterday. I've added a new assignment this semester (group wiki), so I asked them to write down strengths and areas to improve on the assignment. We then discussed it, and I told them my ideas for improvement also. I use this in conjunction with their final products to help me improve my teaching for next semester or possibly future assignments if applicable. That is my background on assessment. I've enjoyed reading Eduwonkette's week on data-driven posts and appreciated the link to Scott McLeod's data resource page where I found an article that made the parent side of me salivate. ❝Stage-three schools shift the focus from groups to individual students — every single, individual student.❞ McIntire discusses how schools can say that they focus on all students but most don't have the systems in place to do so. I've had friends whose districts say they differentiate, but they don't feel the district follows that mission statement at all. Differentiating is the buzzword right now, but it is hard to implement without support. ❝In stage-three schools, school leaders establish structures of accountability that ensure teachers regularly analyze student performance data, talk about it in functional units, and enact specific action plans at the classroom, team, grade, and school level.❞ Of course to do that requires time for teachers to meet together in teams, which they should be doing anyway. ❝How can teachers hope to provide customized instruction to dozens or even hundreds of students?❞ But they can, and do. I've seen it. Using data to improve instruction shouldn't be overrelied on but if used with commonsense can help more kids learn. Off to read Datawise now.

A+ for school choice--private anyway

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-01-22T20:22:17-06:00

A fellow parent who is from the west coast remarked that while while her former area had schools in the typical top 10 lists, she is impressed with the educational opportunities in St. Louis, especially the choices available. Forbes recently ranked St. Louis #9 best places for education. We received an A+ in private school options and college opportunities. If there had been a category for public school options, we would have scored high there also (although not an A+ because of access). We like options. The Libertarian-leaning Show-Me Institute is recommending tuition tax credits for families in St. Louis city, Kansas City and Wellston school districts that are under a certain percentage of the poverty level. Another, very visible, attempt to increase access to choice is Mayor Slay's push to increase charter schools. Andy Rotherham of Education Sector has proposed five "deals" (pdf) for critics and advocates to work on. I was especially intrigued by #3. ❝School districts should receive temporary transition aid to help them adjust to losing students, but that funding should be linked to giving charter schools access to unused space..❞ SLPS has extra room, charter schools don't have room, and transitional money would make everyone more likely to sit down at the peace table at come up with a plan to help our kids. St. Louisans like choice after all. Now we just need to find a model that will work in real life and not just in ivory towers. Photo of 6th grade Lift for Life students at space camp

MLK, Kiva and Natalie Portman

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-01-21T11:42:23-06:00

MLK inspires me. I'm listening to Natalie Portman's Big Change: Songs for Finca, spending money on Kiva (notice a microfinancing theme here) and making gumbo as taught to me by a neighbor from New Orleans. What are you doing today? Thanks to a reader's comment I learned about a St. Louis based organization providing microfinancing opportunities, Microfinancing Parners in Africa.

Teachers can do research too!

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-01-19T13:41:37-06:00

The St. Louis Post profiled an elementary teacher in the beleaguered city school system. ❝Johnson labored at night and through winter and summer breaks for three years, and the product of that passion is a supplemental learning project. It represents one teacher's homegrown effort to solve one classroom's deficiencies, with the hope of later helping to turn around an entire district.❞ The program works by having students progress through levels as they learn their basic math facts down cold. ❝When a master steps to the podium, there's good reason that mesmerized classmates congregate at the podium like mere mortals gathering at the cage while Albert Pujols takes batting practice:

A master can write the answers to 100 multiplication questions in 110 seconds.❞ It sounds like a personalized version of the Fastt Math that is becoming popular in suburban districts. I want to highlight one of the problems with the attitude of the city school district. ❝Though district officials subscribe to the theory that the achievement gap needs to be erased one classroom at a time, they say educational practices must first undergo rigorous research and academic review.

"He knows what works for him. That's not to say he doesn't have a program that works well for his students. But he doesn't have the research base yet to implement what he is doing on a larger scale," said William Parker, an assistant superintendent for elementary education.❞ I understand wanting to use research-based curriculum changes, but the district is essentially telling its teachers that no matter how hard they work and how effective they are since they can't provide the large research basis that commercial suppliers can, they are not as important. A better response would be to work with him to run a larger pilot study and to help publish. Working with teachers as collaborators instead of just implementers of off-the-shelf but "researched" curriculum would go a long way toward improving working conditions. ❝When his wife, Cathy, asks why Johnson remains in the city when he "could be making $10,000 more to work in the county" his response is uniform. And it starts with those students who hail, as he did, from a single-parent home absent a father.❞ While the city schools don't pay that much less than the county, an effective African-American male elementary teacher is highly recruitable. The city shouldn't rely on his desire to help kids from single-parent homes and should provide the supportive environment that teachers like him need, including helping them know how to share their work with others.

Length of contract affects salary

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-01-17T17:05:38-06:00

When I first read Education Gadfly's post critiquing the Quality Counts 2008 report, I was struck by his reference to teachers only working 9 months as I always had to work longer. In looking over Missouri's data, however, I can see the disconnect. While Mo. teachers ave. 181.49 contract days, St. Louis teachers average 190 contract days with several districts at 195 or above (Mehlville, Brentwood, Lindbergh). In looking through the state numbers, some districts only required 175 or even 174 (!) days. That's as much as a four week difference. Yes, the urban districts pay more, but they also expect more of their teachers. Since Missouri's minimum number of school days is 174, some of the rural districts must not have any or minimal professional development days. I think this needs to be addressed in any minimum salary legislation. Numbers taken from MSTA Mo. Salary Schedule and Benefits Report

Education builds green

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-01-16T14:41:41-06:00

St. Louis Community College-Wildwood Building green is popular here in St. Louis with commercial and residential properties having or going for LEED certification. Higher ed is getting on the bandwagon. St. Louis Community College opened a fourth campus this year at Wildwood. The first building is going for LEED Gold with its green roof and daylight lighting. St. Louis University built a new research facility that is connected to its med school. That facility is going for LEED Silver with its efficient, open space. Few labs go for LEED certification, so kudos to SLU. It also has a partial green roof. Not to be outdone, Wash U opened its Danforth Center (student center), which is going for LEED Gold. Universities are greening up because of the educational and environmental aspects. ❝To a large extent, the push is coming from the ground up, fueled by students' passions and interests and enthusiasms," says Peter MacKeith, associate dean in the School of Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis.❞ I could not find any secondary schools that were being built to meet even LEED certification including the new CBC campus. MRH built a new elementary school. While the school is beautiful, it is not green. Rockwood's 2008 bond issue proposition does not include any green elements even though many additional classrooms are listed. A few, however, are leading the way. (Excel document) Crossroads College Prep is seeking platinum for its new science wing. (Fox news link) Hazelwood East John Burroughs Theatre addition I had a hard time finding information on Hazelwood or Burrough's projects. I would think they would be telling the world. I challenge those districts with future building or renovating projects to step up and take leadership. Our kids deserve no less.

Rhyme or reason to salary schedules?

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-01-15T14:31:24-06:00

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch provided an interesting graphic to accompany its Rod Jetton story which gave the district paying the most to beginning teachers and the district paying the least. I had assumed that Clayton would be the highest paying school, but I was wrong. Jennings. The lowest-paying district is Hancock Place. I wasn't surprised there. I ranked all of the districts and could discern no obvious pattern. I wondered if Jennings was one of those districts that encourages beginning teachers by paying them well but doesn't reward its more experienced and educated teachers, so I also looked at maximum teacher salaries. Nope, Jennings is just a high-paying district. I wondered if the maximum salary was tied to the median income level of the district. Seemed reasonable that the districts in wealthier areas would pay more. With a correlation number of -.26 though, that's not the case. Other market factors are in play. The spread between minimum and maximum salaries is important as teachers want to know that their salaries will increase. Quality Counts suggests a ratio of at least 2.0 The St. Louis districts do that to stay competitive even if the rest of the state does not (state average 1.66). ❝In fact, the salaries and career potential for teachers are remarkably flat: The average maximum salary that a teacher can earn is just 1.85 times the salary of a raw entrant, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, based on figures from the 2003-04 school year.❞ To get a better grip on which districts tighten their salary schedules, I ranked them and included whether each district has been named a district of distinction by Missouri based on MAP data. With Rockwood, Kirkwood and Pattonville the only districts under the 2.0 and on the bottom of the heap, I have to say that the compression ratio isn't the end all although I do think it's important. Studying all the districts of the state might show more of a difference rather than within a region or market area. I ran some correlation numbers to try to figure out whether the compression ratio is more highly correlated to the maximum salary or the minimum. Max. salary correlation .73 Min. salary correlation .24 Obviously it is tied to the max salary. Hancock Place did have the highest ratio with a low starting salary and high maximum salary. I was glad to see that the bad press it has received for its low starting salary isn't justified. Most of the time, however, low starting salaries meant little in terms of the ratio. Summary I doubt few prospective teachers compare salary schedules too closely as long as a district is within the regional norm, but I found it fascinating. Some of my assumptions were challenged, which will encourage me to dig deeper in the future. Numbers from MSTA's salary schedule report

Debating at the Chase

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-01-14T11:55:45-06:00

I really want to see The Great Debaters while it is still at the theater, but I admit it is probably not the top choice for most high school students. That is where the Rams have stepped up. (If only they could step up during the game also...) Linebacker Chris Draft's foundation sponsored a screening for 300 St. Louis city school high school students last Friday, Jan. 11, 2008. After watching the movie at the beautiful Chase, students heard a panel discussion moderated by St. Louis Post-Dispatch sportswriter Bryan Burwell. The panel consisted of community leaders, students, educators and Rams players Chris Draft, linebacker, Isaac Bruce, wide receiver, and Corey Chavous, safety. The Rams had previously seen a private screening of the movie set up by Denzel Washington' son, JD Washington, who is on the practice squad. Debating at the Chase is more inspiring than the Wrestling at the Chase! Update--I really want to encourage readers to watch the video of Draft on Fox news I linked to above. I've also pulled out a couple Draft's quotes I like. ❝We need you guys [students] to be leaders. We need you all to step up, and the way to do that is research and facts, communication. Stand up and say we want to learn, we want to be better. How can we help St. Louis public schools be better?❞ ❝We have to demand to be taught.❞

49th in teacher pay? Embarassing!

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-01-11T11:49:13-06:00

On the same week as the Quality Counts Report Card release, Mo. House Speaker Rod Jetton (R) introduced a plan to increase the state minimum for teacher's pay to $31,000, which is significantly higher than the current minimum of $23,000. The plan also includes other floors up to $46,000 minimum for the most experienced teachers. In fact he opened the 2008 session with increasing teacher pay as his first priority. This raise would not affect the St. Louis area much as all but one St. Louis county district already exceeds the minimum (Hancock Place). St. Charles County also already meets the minimum, but some districts in Jefferson County would need to raise their salary schedules. One of Jetton's problems is convincing the urban areas to go along with the legislation. Missouri has an urban/rural divide already, and some have the perception that the urban areas are going to pay for a benefit for the rural areas, again. Jetton counters that we need to entice young people to go into the profession in the first place and that improving rural education would also improve the county schools. (He called it the trickle up effect on the Paul Harris show on KMOX.) More practically, he said he was open to working with others to modify the bill. The most interesting caller to me on Paul Harris's show (episode download) was the school board member who ranted about how big teachers' pensions were. I wouldn't want him on my school board--not necessarily because of his opinions but because of his lack of judgement in calling in to the show presumably against increasing teachers' pay. But maybe that's how he was elected. Jetton countered that his focus was on bringing young people into the profession. Whatever your arguments are about whether to include benefits and the ten-month term in comparing salaries, 49th in teacher pay is embarrassing. The unscientific but interesting Post online poll asked "What do you think of teacher salaries?" 73% They should be higher 6 They should be lower 21 They're fine where they are (600 votes as of 1-11-08 at 8:54 a.m.) The numbers really didn't change much as I had checked the poll Thurs. (78, 5, 17 with 348 votes) Public opinion may be for increasing teachers' pay, at least until they see the bill, but we'll have to watch this one.

Data Mining

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-01-09T16:14:30-06:00

The Quality Counts 2008 Report is out, and Missouri didn't finish in the top tier. No surprise there. One interesting question deep down in the report was whether a teacher had an identifying tracking number assigned (yes). Another was whether Missouri links teacher and student records by course/subject and assessment results (no). These questions were in between ones on teacher pay parity, mentor teachers and other traditional teacher quality questions. Mmm.... ❝The day is not far off, teacher-quality advocates say, when a host of professional and policy decisions could be informed by analysis of data from thousands of teachers and students observed over time. Such longitudinal data allow researchers to measure changes in student achievement—and to link them with teacher characteristics.❞ Ah, a researcher's dream and a privacy advocate's nightmare. ❝For instance, teacher-preparation programs could be slated for overhauls—or not—depending on how well their graduates perform. Or state policies could reflect new knowledge about which qualifications indicate teacher effectiveness.❞ I already think teacher ed programs need overhauling, but research showing what works is always helpful. ❝While such systems have the potential to yield rich information on differences that affect student learning, they also raise a thorny question: Might teachers be ranked, assigned, or fired on the basis of such data?❞ The idea is to focus on student achievement instead of teachers, but in this day of accountability I don't believe that would really happen. As a researcher wanna-be, though, I see so much potential...

So many tech goodies! So little time!

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-01-08T15:24:14-06:00

I have been inspired this past month when I started reading the edublogs. When I go into the office this week to prep for classes, I will be spending time reworking some of my PowerPoints, thanks to Scott Elias and Tom Woodward. One of my friends who took the Missouri required Technology in Education course for his teacher ed prep last semester told me that he struggled staying awake in class (he liked the instructur, really he did) because half the class knew nothing about computers. His idea was to offer two courses, Tech in Ed and Tech in Ed for neophytes. (Titles may be changed for PC purposes.) Students who have grown up with cell phones and have MySpace pages just have a different technology mindset than veteran teachers who are just becoming comfortable with email. Some districts include use of technology as part of the teachers' evaluation, which would obviously encourage them to work to increase their knowledge. Dan Meyer wonders if forcing teachers to use technology is the answer. I think baby steps is the answer here. Sometimes it seems as if teachers assign students projects using technology without helping them to properly focus. Anthony Chivetta blogs about the making videos interesting. A student blogging about the importance of thesis even in video--this writing teacher is in love. Woo hoo! I will keep his advice in mind when creating assignments. Maybe I should also integrate a class wiki and make better use of that Smart Board. Sigh. I only have so much time! Update--even before getting the post up, I turned one written project into a group wiki. Migrating to a new version of Blackboard over the holiday break just made this a whole lot easier.

Can I have my kid's score, please?

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-01-07T13:54:27-06:00

Last semester I had a student tell me about the sneaky way she had to use to find out her child's reading level. I was appalled. I never asked which district and don't want to know. My kids' teachers have told me the reading scores at conferences, which I had assumed every teacher in the country did. I was disappointed to find out I was wrong. Jay Mathews lists parent participation as a way to improve schools. Participation can mean fundraising for the PTO, showing up for teacher conferences, helping in the classroom or even having a voice in school policies. If parents aren't even given their own child's assessments and standardized test results, then any talk about increasing participation is just so much fluff, happy talk, can-we-get-some-money-out-of-you talk. If I had more time, I would survey the local districts for participation rates (using multiple methods of participating) and see which factors had the highest correlation rate. My guess would be education level, more so than median income. Secondary factors might include size of district and transportation method. A theory of mine is that schools that don't provide bus service would have higher parent participation. They already have to walk or drive the kids to school. Double points for the schools that don't have efficient carpool lanes. The parents might actually have to go inside to pick up the kids and see the teachers. Find me one of those schools that doesn't have high parental partnership. Parents that want to know how to become more involved or help their school become more open can be inspired by St. Louis's own Project Appleseed, a national resource for improving parental involvement. Actually, it has a lot of good information for educators also. Schools usually include in their mission statements about the importance of parent participation. I want to see them walk it, which includes the first steps of thinking of parents as partners and providing them with all testing and assessment results, not just when the parents ask for it.

Daddy, can you work for Chrysler so I can go to Yale?

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-01-03T13:29:58-06:00

In her blog post Poor Kids Have It Easy, EduWonkette blasted Michele Hernandez's Acing the College Application (reviewed in the WSJ) for saying that kids from poor or working class backgrounds have an easier time getting accepted into Ivy League schools. ❝The cat's out of the bag, folks. Poor kids have the life and coast right into selective schools, according to a new book [...] Is she for real?❞ Eduwonkette, being Eduwonkette, provides great figures and studies to back up her indignation. I'll go a different route. ❝Best case: Neither of your parents attended college at all, your father is a factory worker, and your mom is on disability. . . . Worst case: Your father went to Yale as an undergraduate and then Harvard Business School and is now an investment banker and your mom went to Brown, holds a Ph. D. in chemistry and works as a research chemist.❞ Locally, if "best case" parents are factory workers that student might attend Fox, Hazelwood or a similar district. The district isn't losing accreditation but is isn't an Ivy League feeder either. Since those parents didn't attend college, they may support their child's schooling but have probably left the responsibility up to the school. The "worst case" student probably attended Clayton or Ladue if public or MICDS or Burroughs if private. Those are all Ivy League feeders with the private schools being on WSJ's list of top 50 feeder schools. That student also probably had tutors or classes in the summer starting in elementary school, not so much to feed a resume but to enrich. Language immersion classes are popular as are courses at the Gifted Resource Council. If the parents thought math facts were not stressed enough, they probably enrolled the student in Kumon. Home libraries are large, and educational kits and projects abound. All this is just in elementary school. Go back even further. Say the "best case" student is a transfer student and is able to go to the same public county school as the "worst case." Unfortunately, she'll come into K already at a disadvantage. The other kid has had a high quality preschool, has traveled abroad, been taken to lots of cultural events such as the symphony, participated in a children's opera and already knows how to read. The school will do everything it can, but it can't make up completely for the enriched home life. Yes, obviously some kids overcome odds, but there is a reason for the statistics favoring the upper middle class and wealthy. In the interest of full disclosure, I would probably buy Hernandez's book for my kids. (I would NOT, however, buy Elizabeth Wissner-Gross's What High Schools Don't Tell You, the other book reviewed by the WSJ. Recommending students only write positive puff pieces on school activities if they want to be a journalist? Blech.)

Lessons from med school

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2008-01-02T17:52:10-06:00

I've always been impressed by the six-year pre med/med school program my brother attended at UMKC. Students there are accepted out of high school into an intensive program that combines pre med with med school so that they end up receiving both degrees at the same time. Practically speaking this means that students theory and practice are interwoven through the six years. Students of varying years are placed together in a team with a docent. They make rounds with their team and are given increasing responsibilities at the hospital as they further their studies. They start making rounds the first week of school. I remember my brother needing to buy a lot of ties! ❝Docents are responsible for their own docent unit, comprised of 10 to 12 students. Year 3 students join a new docent unit and have individual offices at either the medical school or St. Luke’s Hospital. Docent units include Years 3-6 students, a clinical pharmacologist, an education team coordinator, a docent and other health care professionals.❞ We can implement quite a few of these into a strong teacher education program. Get them into the classroom Just like in my previous post, I believe students studying education need to be in the classroom right away. I love how the pre-med students were in the hospital making rounds their first week of college. What a great motivation! Integrating theory becomes so much easier when they see and experience teaching from the beginning. Put them into teams Teaching is no longer the isolated profession it used to be (or at least shouldn't be). Learning from each other and learning how to work with each other should be part of the culture. Strengthen their academics Truman University has experimented with requiring their education students to get their bachelor's in their content area or, for elementary ed students, in a related field like psychology and then get a master's in education. The students plan the program from the start as many of their undergraduate electives need to be education classes, especially elementary ed. I know that combining undergrad and grad isn't the answer for every program, but I do know that strengthening the academics overall is key.

Get them into the classroom

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2007-12-31T12:03:56-06:00

The boys at St. Louis University High School do a three week-long community service project their senior year. One of the options is to work in various local elementary schools. They are there all day, in the same classroom, for three weeks, not observing but helping. The boys are to keep a daily journal, complete a written report and follow-up with a discussion with their faculty advisor. By the way, the kids love the them. While few of these young men will probably go into teaching, especially elementary, they probably will have more classroom experience than most elementary education majors before their student teaching semester. I believe that education majors need to get in the classroom much earlier in their degree programs and not just to observe. An intensive intersession during the first year of schooling would help education students know if they really want to teach before their final semester and provide some context for their theoretical studies. While the SLUH program is for community service, it showed me a glimpse of what our teacher ed programs should be doing.

Do we read or not?

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2007-12-30T11:30:04-06:00

Now we're ranked the sixth most literate city, especially because of our great library resources. ❝St. Louis measured high in library resources — second only to Columbus, Ohio — which remained "outstanding," McLaughlin said.❞ A few days ago I posted that St. Louis was ranked the 9th best place to educate our kids by Forbes. Ironically, our lowest score was for our library system. C+ Sigh, I think I have a headache. One difference between the two is that the Central Connecticut State University library study just looked at St. Louis city; whereas, the Forbes report looked at the entire metropolitan area. The CCSU study looked at: 1. Number of school media personnel per 1,000 public school student
2. Number of branch libraries per 10,000 library service population
3. Volumes held in the library per capita of library service population
4. Number of circulations per capita of library service population
5. Number of library professional staff per 10,000 library service population
I couldn't find the specific methodology for the places ranked (Forbes) study, but it discussed number of volumes and turnover. It looks like the CCSU study looks at a wider variety of factors by adding in accessibility and number of librarians. Whether it is the accessibility or narrowing the scope to the city that made the library system higher ranked would be interesting to know. This is another example of seemingly conflicting assessments that could confuse the public. However, I guess most people who actually read the articles just remember the rankings and leave it at that. Maybe I'm the only one who gets confused. But hey, we're No. 6!

Getting "Slammed" by student teaching

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2007-12-29T14:20:00-06:00

The other day I was talking to a friend who is in college in a teacher ed program. He made the comment that you study all this pointless theory and then you get slammed when you student teach. I happen to disagree that the theory is pointless, but I definitely agree that you get "slammed" when you student teach and believe that the theory would be more meaningful after you have started some teaching. I talked to other friends who teach and supervise student teachers in hopes of learning that the teacher ed world has made great strides since I was more directly in the field. Nope. In that spirit I plan on making several posts presenting my ideas on teacher ed. I have yet to read up on what others are saying but will do so and, of course, comment. These first posts, however, are some ideas I've had based on my own experiences and/or observations.

We're a great place to educate our kids, so sayeth Forbes

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2007-12-27T15:42:22-06:00

Unlike CQ Press's crime statistics, Forbes seems to realize that St. Louis is more than just the city. In ranking the St. Louis area #9 for best places for education, David Savageau has looked at the entire metropolitan area. Grades Public School Support A Private School Options A+ Library Popularity C+ College Town B+ College Options A+ I find the lower grade for library popularity intriguing as I've always heard St. Louis had a strong library system. I'll have to look into this further. Where are the weak links? I don't have time this Christmas vacation to do much digging as I am busy catching up with my reading and paying those library fines.

It's Report Card time!

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2007-12-21T10:37:30-06:00

The Missouri 2006-07 Report Cards are out. Unlike the controversial New York report cards (here, here and here), DESE doesn't issue grades. It does, however, name certain school districts as having "Distinction in Peformance." I am sure I will be mining these report cards for data for some time, but for today's sneak preview I thought I would provide a chart listing the St. Louis county districts by median income and then whether or not they met the criteria for this "award." It's quite telling I think.

Life is all about ME, baby!

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2007-12-19T10:56:03-06:00

The stress! The stress! Eduwonkette tagged me. As a new blogger, this is both appreciated (thanks!) and stressful. I'm supposed to write seven things about me people don't know. Since I haven't been blogging very long and like to chat, that's easy. 1. I am a Nancy Drew aficionado. 2. I am trying to green my life—at least in baby steps. (I try to shop at Boutique Chartreuse) 3. I am always behind in grading papers. 4. I am a big Cardinals fan and am grieving over the trade of Jimmy (end of an era!) 5. I listen to talk radio (NPR and KMOX) 6. I collect Christmas music (Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is on my list!) 7. Like PREA Prez, the most famous person I've met was Muhammad Ali. I rode with him in an elevator at a convention. Between being the new girl in town and late to the party, I'm begging off tagging others this time (per NYC Educator). I must admit to enjoying clicking through to sites I don't usually read. Fun!

Zebra fish? It may have worked for her, but my daughter has something else in mind for the science fair

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2007-12-19T08:56:57-06:00

Science Fair time is coming up, so we have every intention of working hard over the winter break on those projects. Sigh. ❝Girls won top honors for the first time in the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology, one of the nation’s most coveted student science awards❞ The NY Times highlights how well girls did this year at the Siemens. ❝Isha Himani Jain, 16, a senior at Freedom High School in Bethlehem, Pa., placed first in the individual category for her studies of bone growth in zebra fish, whose tail fins grow in spurts, similar to the way children’s bones do. She will get a $100,000 scholarship❞. The other important science award is the Intel, formerly the Westinghouse. The St. Louis Science Fair Honors Division is a qualifier for the Intel. The 2007 Greater St. Louis Science Fair Honors Division second and third places were awarded to girls. This isn't a sweep but it does demonstrate that girls do science too. ❝Three-quarters of the finalists have a parent who is a scientist.❞ My kids don't have that going in their favor. Does having friends with scientist parents count? My daughter has known what she wanted to do for her science fair project for a long time. My son? No clue.

Why go private? Income? Religion? Ivy League?

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2007-12-18T15:43:34-06:00

Inspired by Eduwonkette's posts comparing private school rates in various census tracts in Manhattan and D.C., I did a much less systematic look at the St. Louis County districts using the DESE database. (Sorry--no cool maps) If I do a sort on median income the top three school districts would be Ladue, Rockwood and Parkway. If I do the sort on average income, Clayton shows up in the mix. Only Ladue of those four has a high private school rate. Region plays a large role in the private school rate as Mehlville and Affton have a higher private school rate than wealthier west county districts. It’s a Catholic area, baby! (Lutheran South may have a role in the numbers for Affton.) My theory is that the private school rate is dependent on multiple factors such as tradition, income and strong private school presences. Ladue and Clayton are often considered sister schools with similar test scores, rankings, size, finances etc. However, the private school rates differences are striking. Yes, CBC moved to west county, but that was after the 2000 census. (Will these numbers change greatly in 2010?) I would have to dig more to figure out what Clayton and Rockwood have in common that is different than Ladue. I don’t know if Clayton’s numbers are related to the high number of people who walk or ride their bike to work, but I imagine Ladue’s high numbers are related to the two Ivy league feeder private schools within its borders. This is the land that inspired Confessions of a Prep School Mommy Handler by Wade Rouse. Yes, of course, there’s a general correlation to income although the exceptions are more interesting. Look at Hazelwood and Brentwood with similar median incomes but different private schools rates or Affton and Ferguson-Florissant. I think the North County region just doesn’t have the tradition of attending private schools at the same rate. It’s not income there. Why is Lindbergh’s private school rate (top 3) higher than it’s median income or quality would lead someone to hypothesize? I’m going back to the Catholic tradition. Why is Kirkwood, a high quality school district, the number one private school sender? It’s not in the top three wealthiest by median or four by average. It’s numbers are more in line with Webster or Lindbergh. By tradition I would have put it with Webster, but, apparently, it aligns more with Lindbergh. I have so many ideas for more posts now—how about that ranking of school districts by how many people go to work by walking or biking? Is there any significance that I can pull out from that? Who knew I could find census data so entertaining.

White Flight? Let's look at those test scores

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2007-12-13T18:19:22-06:00

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch printed an interesting article on white flight affecting the Hazelwood School District. The Libertarian-styled think-tank Show-Me Center's education blogger, Sarah Brodsky, responded that maybe people were leaving the district because of state test scores. ❝The whites may be moving to districts that do better than Hazelwood on the state tests.❞ So I looked up the state test scores. Most of the population shift has been to St. Charles, so that was my comparison. St. Charles Comm 49.4 met 2 of 7 targets Math 49.4 met 2 of 7 targets Graduation rate 81.3 Hazelwood Comm 34 met 2 of 8 targets Math 30.2 met 4 of 9 targets Graduation rate 83.9 District improvement level 1 Hazelwood West Comm. 43.2 Math 33.9 While people in St. Louis are a bit jaded on the whole AYP since even the wealthy districts can't meet all their targets, neither of these districts have numbers to brag about. (Although in fairness, they could also be much worse.) Yes, St. Charles has higher scores than Hazelwood, but I don't see that they justify mass movement. If you look at Hazelwood West's scores, the focus school of the article, they are closer especially in reading. I suspect other factors are in play.

Mo bronze high schools don't have achievement gap; they just don't serve minority populations

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2007-12-11T15:02:19-06:00

Andy Rotherham and Sara Meade argue Newsweek’s best high school list is flawed because it overfocuses on high-achieving students to the detriment of the rest of the student body. Touché. ❝A successful high school should show high levels of student achievement, graduate almost all of its students and not let any demographic subgroup lag far behind.❞ Mathews counters that ❝such criteria automatically exclude virtually any school serving large numbers of poor or minority students.❞ I think he's onto something. Rotherham seems to focus on the forest: ❝Remember that when Sara Mead and I took a look at the performance of the top 100 Challenge Index schools on their state assessments we found average black - white gaps in pass rates of 26 points in reading and 31 points in math. One school had a 61 point gap in math!❞ Lafayette High School in Rockwood School District beats that with a 67.1 point differential between white and African-American students in math. Does that mean it’s a bad school? No. It means it’s a good school (great proficiency numbers!) with a challenge. District officials obviously need to address a real need, and they are. A high school like Alton made the U.S. News and World Report bronze star list with only 37% proficiency in math and 33.9% in reading. Sure their discrepancy numbers are only 3.5 in math and 9.8 in reading, but with only 7 African-American students in the high school (1.8%) and such low overall proficiency numbers, is it really a best school? It does have a high percentage of free/reduced lunch students, Missouri does have a tough test, and the school should be commended for the job it is doing, but that doesn't mean I would send my kids there. Maybe I would—I don't know because these numbers just don't provide enough information. (The number of AP courses offered is more relevant for me as a parent.) While policy wonks and politicians debate the achievement gap, parents want their kids to go to the best high schools for their kids, which is the purpose of the rankings. The St. Louis Black Leadership Roundtable, a group working with the St. Louis area school districts to decrease the achievement gap, found that the best schools for African-American students were not the ones with the lowest achievement gaps. ❝A telling conclusion of the report was that schools with the highest achievement levels among black students - such as Clayton, Webster Groves and Kirkwood - often also had the greatest gap in achievement levels between whites and blacks.❞ (BLR 2005 Education Report Card, link to actual report card not operable) Clayton has a reputation as one of the top public high schools in Missouri and has high (for Missouri) proficiency numbers (70.2 math, 63.8 reading) and relatively high numbers for black students (37.3 math, 22 reading). Again, wide discrepancy numbers (43.9 math, 55.7 reading). The district and others like it should be praised for choosing to continue in the voluntary transfer program instead of kept off of best high schools lists at the same time encouraged to improve black students' achievement. I prefer to focus on improving a subgroup's achievement over focusing on the achievement gap since lowering overall achievement decreases the gap. The U.S. News & World Report eliminated any school in Missouri with an ethnic population (except Metro and Lincoln College Prep, which are selective). That is not the way to encourage student achievement for all. (Mo. high school numbers from the Mo. DESE School Data and Statistics Database)

Zoooommmm!!!!! Changing our perspective

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2007-12-11T14:09:59-06:00

I have been thinking about Jay Mathew's parents' (alveit via a journalist) versus policy wonk's focus perspective on the best high school ranking wars (Newsweek versus U.S. News & World Report): ❝Our focus is not what works for policy makers but what is most useful for readers, particularly parents, trying to judge the quality of their local schools and others that might be available to them.❞ Parents are looking at the trees, at what is best for their kid. Policy wonks look at the forest, at they they think is best for the whole. The ideal of course would be to see both. This dichotomy plays itself out issue after issue. As a mother I find myself looking at topics from a different viewpoint than as a teacher or someone interested in policy. We need a sliding scale to easily resize our perspective up and down, from individual child to classroom to school to whole system.

But, but, why isn't MYYYYY school on the Best Schools List?

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2007-12-09T15:12:21-06:00

We are a country obsessed with rankings―more precisely, we are a country obsessed with being #1 although not necessarily the work it takes to get there. No surprise that U.S. New & World Report has come out with its best high schools list in competition with Newsweek's best high schools list. The two use different criteria and, therefore, list different schools. The Newsweek list, compiled by Jay Mathews, uses the number of AP and IB exams a high school gives as its sole criteria. The idea is that students can improve their academics by taking AP courses. The idea is that any school can improve its rankings by encouraging more students to take the exams. While the list has its faults, the criterion is easy to understand. In St. Louis the better high schools are ranked higher, so it seems to make sense. The new US News & World Report list though is different. The methodology is complex. A high school has to have its economically disadvantaged and minority populations outperform the state average on state tests. The focus here is on the achievement gap, which I will post on another time. If it passes this criteria, a college readiness score is given based on AP tests, both # given and average scores. High ranking schools are then slated into three categories: gold, silver and bronze. While I appreciate the attempt to measure multiple factors and applaud overperforming schools, I have several concerns about this method of ranking: ☹Mixing of methods. Since the bronze high schools don't include college readiness scores, they should be treated as a separate ranking. When I looked up the state proficiency scores for the Missouri bronze scores, they were often fairly low. Most parents aren't going to read complicated methodology papers (pdf) demonstrating that these aren't actually the "best" but overperforming in some statistical manner. ☹Mismatch between audience and methodology. Jay Mathews explained this one well: ❝Our focus is not what works for policy makers but what is most useful for readers, particularly parents, trying to judge the quality of their local schools and others that might be available to them.❞ The overperforming schools list would be better given in Phi Delta Kappan than a general magazine. ☹Too many criteria. Yes, I know what is best is determined by what priorities someone has. That is why the Newsweek list works―people know what is being measured. If Andy Rotherham wants to focus on broader criteria, multiple lists would be more helpful for parents. I enjoyed clicking through the top magnet schools, top open enrollment etc. ☹Regional lists. If you don't live on the coasts or in other large states, you must not have any good schools―at least according to people who do these rankings. I don't know how the numbers work that way, but those of us in flyover country are used to being overlooked, but we have excellent college prep public high schools too. In Missouri only Metro (St. Louis city's gifted magnet school) and Rock Bridge (suburban Columbia) made the silver list. No one disputes that these two are great high schools, and of course Metro has great numbers as it's selective, but I contend that some of the St. Louis county schools are as strong as Rock Bridge. 27 Missouri high schools are on the bronze list, but none of them are in St. Louis county. These are in the overperforming for their demographics but not necessarily strong schools category. I'll make a separate post with detailed numbers since this one is already long. I think most parents would prefer a clearer, easier to understand list that actually gives usable information. Here's to modifications for next year!

Barbie likes math!

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2007-12-17T14:26:22-06:00

Since I have a daughter interested in math, I've been closely following the girls in math topic for awhile. I was ecstatic to hear how well the girls' math olympiad team did in China. More importantly, they had fun. Ira Flatow, of NPR's Talk of the Nation: Science Friday, interviewed the coach and one of the team members in a segment on Women, Girls and Math. In an interesting "comment," Flatow asked the girl if team had been invited to the White House like so many winning sports teams. I think our country's priorities were demonstrated by her answer.

Introduction

Sharon@Edudiva.com — 2007-12-09T15:12:15-06:00

Grab a place at the Kaldi's coffee bar and let's chat educational issues.... In an effort to find another outlet for my thoughts on educational ideas besides my wonderful family, I've decided to start a blog, a place to voice my opinions about educational issues with a St. Louis perspective. I do not intend to focus on the problems in the St. Louis city schools. They are well covered elsewhere. Rather, I hope to look more at the big picture, just using local districts as examples of how that plays out. My intention is for the blog to appeal to both parents and educators as I am both. I like research and enjoy getting "down in the weeds," but my journalism background abhors jargon and meaningless generalities. Give me something useful, please! I hope to bridge multiple communities this way. If I start speaking too much doublespeak, let me know. Welcome!