InsideEd

Baltimore schools and colleges

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0500

Baltimore schools chief Andres Alonso proudly presented a group of high-achieving students going off to the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland, College Park at a board meeting recently.

It was an honor for the students, who are among a smaller-than-usual pool who had been accepted at those schools through special programs.

In recent years, Hopkins and College Park have attempted to boost the number of city public school students who were able to attend their institutions – among the most prestigious in the state – by getting rid of one of the most difficult barriers: money.

Maryland State Board takes on job of vetting candidates

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:42:28 -0500

The Maryland State Board of Education has decided to take on some of the role of vetting candidates for the city school board. In my story today, I detail the questions the board is now asking candidates who apply for the job. It seems they are trying to prevent a repeat of the Brian Morris problem. Morris, the former city school board chair, was found to have a long history of financial problems.

One of the questions on the candidate questionaire asks if there is anything in the candidate's background that would be potentially embarrassing to the citizens of Baltimore if it came out. State school board president James DeGraffenreidt said the school board expects to "conduct more detailed inquiries concerning the qualifications and backgrounds" of the candidates. In other words, the state will be doing its own background checks.

State school board member Blair Ewing dies

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:20:41 -0500

Anyone who was a frequent visitor to state school board meetings over the past year knew that when Blair Ewing raised his hand to ask a question, it was time to perk up and listen because you knew he was likely to get straight to the heart of the issue. He was always a gentleman, polite and respectful, but he could also boil down all the education jargon to ask simple questions that exposed the core of a problem. He didn't mind putting the staff of the state department on the spot and more than once asked for more information or suggested a different course of action. Lately, he had taken a great interest in finding a way for students in Maryland to take an international test that would expose how well they compared to those in other countries.

Ewing, who lived in Montgomery County and served on the school board there for many years, died today. He had been active on the state board through May. I asked the chair of the board for his thoughts. Here is what James DeGraffenreidt said: "Personally, I enjoyed the fact that he exhibited such a consistent, positive tone even when there were substantive disagreements over major policy issues. The fact that he always prepared well and listened to everyone's point of view made the state board more effective. We certainly will miss him and express our deepest sympathy to his family."

End-of-year message from Dr. Alonso

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:00:00 -0500

Here is the text of the end-of-year-message Andres Alonso sent out today. What do you think about what he says?

June 26, 2009

Dear City Schools Colleagues, Staff, Partners and Friends,

Next week we begin the 2009-10 fiscal year, and I want to thank you again for your part
in making this past year a tremendous one for our students and schools.

This time a year ago I wrote to you about changes we were implementing throughout
Baltimore City Public Schools to allow us, together, to build a system of great schools. It
was a time marked by uncertainty, but also by hope and imagining what could be.

Then, throughout the 2008-09 year, we saw those possibilities take root and begin to
become reality. We saw record and historic student achievement gains; the first
enrollment growth in four decades; a brand-new level of family and community
engagement in our schools; and elected officials, partners and friends rallying around our
students like never before. We saw what can happen when the work of a city and its
school system is all about what is best for kids, staying true to that focus and being
accountable for our students’ success. We saw not only that great things can happen in
City Schools, but that great things are happening in City Schools.

The transformation of City Schools is under way. And I’d like to share with you a few
things about the past year that give me cause for such confidence.

The final day of Space Camp

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:14:19 -0500

Thursday was the final day of the Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy program, which 33 middle school math and science teachers from the Baltimore area took part in in Huntsville, Ala. Here are the final reports from some of the teachers who have been blogging about their experiences this week.

From City College math teacher Luis Lima:

Thursday was the last day of Space Camp. For Team Destiny, it was an emotional roller coaster. We started with an update on the status of NASA’s Ares program (the next manned mission to the moon). We were all very excited because after the update we were going to complete out mission on the Endeavour. Emotions were also running high because we knew we were hours away from saying goodbye to the amazing group of people who made up Team Destiny. But that is another story.

Mission Endeavour was a complete success. We had the most anomalies (things that can go wrong during any mission) thrown at us. At one point in time we were hit by a tornado and had to evacuate mission control while two of our crew members were space walking in order to repair the tiles on the orbiter. As I described in my previous blog, this is a very realistic environment and it was interesting to see how we all worked together to complete the mission and also have some fun. Today’s simulation brought home to me a statement I heard during my five days here: that NASA trains the fear out of its astronauts. Not that we were in danger at any time. But the mission simulation is pretty realistic and I had insight.

I guess we were on the right path today, since we were visited by a star trooper. After the mission, we were on the war path to complete all of our other chores: creating memorabilia to share with the team and to present to our counselors. Leigh and Lindsey, the multi-talented pair of educators who were our camp leaders, made our experience even more memorable through their competent, effective and meaningful leadership. But I digress ...

So, this is after lunch and we are all in the auditorium to attend Story Musgrave’s lecture. It was one of the most memorable presentations I have attended so far. Story’s amazing life story is an inspiration. He is brilliant and funny and, at his age, is still going strong. You may be asking, Story, who? Story Musgrave is the astronaut who has flown six shuttle missions. He was also responsible for the design of the tools and repair procedures for the maintenance of the Hubble telescope. Check him out. He was more than accommodating with our picture requirements, he signed anything you could have asked him to, and was really nice to all of us. I am in awe of the brilliant simplicity and technical excellence of his design.

Our next adventure was to explore the Lunar Stations with a set of problem-solving activities related to living and working on the moon. There were lots of great and easy-to-use activities to help students cooperate in the solution of complex problems. Very cool.

Let me give you a quick tip. If you ever come here, take the time to go on the Space Shoot. Now, you want to face the Apollo 11 rocket.

Math teacher's Space Camp report

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:04:41 -0500

From Hereford Middle School math teacher Rachel Murphy, one of the 33 area teachers participating in the Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy program in Huntsville, Ala., this week:

Wow, where do I start? I will try my best to fill you in on all the amazing things we have been doing while at Space Camp. First let me say that I did not realize that Honeywell employees actually pay with their own money for our scholarships, so thank you to those employees who provided me with this experience. So far, this has been the greatest professional development that I have ever participated in. Saturday when we arrived, there were no scheduled activities planned, but a bus was provided to go to a local “mall” (I would compare it to the avenues at White Marsh and Hunt Valley back home). It was very upscale, and beautiful, and included a canal with gondola rides. I ate dinner with five others from Maryland and two other teachers, one from Delaware and one from Tampa. It was fun getting to know the other teachers in a laid-back and social setting.

Sunday morning we were up and running early in the morning (7:30). I met my teammates - Team Destiny. I’m not sure what the other bloggers have been saying, but I have to say that we are the best team! There are 18 of us, six from Maryland. Other states and countries represented include England, Canada, Delaware, Texas, Utah, Pennsylvania and California. We bonded quickly through a few team-building activities. Throughout the day we took a tour of the museum, learned the ins and outs of how NASA builds and launches their shuttle missions, as well as more about the Honeywell Corp. My favorite part of the day was building a bottle rocket. I have never seen a 2-liter bottle of soda go that high before! We ended the “scheduled” activities around 8 p.m., but hung out with each other for a few more hours before we called it a night. They were not kidding when they said they send us home tired!

Monday, again we were up bright and early. We completed our first shuttle mission. I was an EVA on the International Space Station and got to build a tower “in space.” That was awesome! Once I return, you will be able to see some pics and video of my mission. In addition to our first mission, we participated in another rocket-building event (they were launched today - super cool!), and listened to a presentation from Ed Buckbee, who was selected by rocket scientist Wernher von Braun to start the U.S. Space and Rocket Center Museum and started space camps. He had many fun and inside stories to tell about the “good old days” of NASA.

Another Space Camp Dispatch

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:00:00 -0500

From City College math teacher Luis Lima, one of the 33 area teachers participating in the Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy program in Huntsville, Ala., this week:

I can’t tell you how much fun this has been. Just to give you a short run, I played with toys in space, landed an egg on Mars, launched an engine rocket, helped air traffic control teach math, trained for a space shuttle mission to the International Space Station, walked on the moon, and spun around out of control.

My team, Team Destiny, is awesome! There are educators from all over the U.S., and Canada, the Philippines and, yours truly, Brazil. We had a full day of activities, beginning with the Toys in Space Workshop. Not only were there lots of neat ideas on how to use regular toys to represent laws of physics and gravity, but we also got to make our own. It’s super interesting to watch Team Destiny work together to complete the assignments, document the whole experience and have fun.

After a quick break, we all went to Mars - or had a quick fly by some interesting activities and projects we can use. I learned a lot about Mars and again worked in a small group to design and build a spacecraft to safely land a chicken egg on the Red Planet. To land an egg traveling at about 250 mph whole was a lot of work. I believe all the eggs used during this project landed safely. It was not the landing of the eagle, but the next best thing.

Engine Rocket Launch followed our lunch break. Fifteen model rockets flew off into the summer skies of Alabama, where the weather is a lot like my hometown of Rio de Janeiro than I thought possible. My engine did not fly - lots of smoke but no take-off! I was told it happens. I was happy to see that the parachute assembly worked as designed, but the whole thing remained attached to the launching pad. It was a little frustrating until I remembered that at least the engine was not devoured by the rocket-eating trees around the launching field. I watched 15 successful launches. And I had a few ideas on how to use rockets in my math classes this fall.

Another workshop today was on how to use aeronautics to teach math ... airplanes and flights. It must have been my lucky day: how to use the math behind air travel and some cool Web sites to bring it all together. It was quite cool to me.

State Board of Education update

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 09:30:00 -0500

While the state Board of Education is still mulling over possible changes to the vetting process for city school board candidates, several other things came out of their meeting yesterday.

The board approved the restructuring plan for Baltimore's Moravia Park Elementary/Middle School, which will require all school employees to reapply for their jobs. All the staff positions at Moravia have been posted and interviews and selections are already taking place, city schools CEO Andres Alonso said.

Alonso told members that he was happy to be there "for only one school,” noting six schools were brought before them the previous year, and more the year before that. Alonso said he saw that as a sign of the progress that's been made.

For those who've been asking about the MSAs: State schools Superintendent Nancy Grasmick said during yesterday's meeting that the results have been sent to each district, and the appeals process has begun, as adequate yearly progress is being determined. Grasmick said the results should be reported at the board's meeting in July.

And finally, the "voluntary state curriculum" may officially become "voluntary" no more: Grasmick said the board will be asked to remove the word from all references to the VSC.

Supreme Court rules on special ed

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:26:27 -0500

Dear Inside Ed folk,

We're working on an editorial for tomorrow's paper about recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions, including one dealing with special ed. The court decided 6-3 that federal law allows parents of special ed students to seek government reimbursement for tuition at a private school that can meet their children's needs, even if they've never gotten special ed services in public school. We have an entry about it over on the Second Opinion blog. Swing by and let us know what you think. We'll print some of the comments in the paper.

//AAG

Honeywell director talks about Space Academy

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:11:12 -0500

Dave Wickersham, Honeywell's director of environmental projects, talks about the company's sponsorship of the Educators @ Space Academy program, which 33 Baltimore-area middle school math and science teachers are attending this week at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala.

Tackling school dropouts

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 09:45:00 -0500

In my story today, I take a look at dropouts – and, more specifically, dropout prevention and intervention – the focus of a day-long summit at Randallstown High School yesterday. Hundreds of state educators, believed to represent all 24 school systems, attended the event, said to be a first for Maryland. It was sponsored by America’s Promise Alliance, an organization tied to former Secretary of State Colin Powell and his wife and current chair, Alma.

One of the noteworthy moments during the summit involved a theatrical performance put on by a troupe from Garrett County, who portrayed seven characters – six students and a parent – explaining why they chose to drop out. The writer of the play, called The Goodbye Kids, explained to the audience that the concept emerged from more than 20 interviews she did with dropouts. The characters were composites of what she gleaned from those talks, she said.

The characters, all students at “Run of the Mill High School,” ranged from a boy who bellowed about how much his teachers bored him to a girl whose family never set a high priority on finishing school to a poor student who was sick of being mocked for his appearance – and stench. Other highlights included a student who’d always gotten by – until that one teacher noticed his inability to read – and the mother of another who had been regularly mocked for being gay.

Interestingly, the profiles foreshadowed a later presentation from Robert Balfanz, director of the Everyone Graduates Center at the Johns Hopkins University.

Teachers' first day at Space Camp

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:44:11 -0500

This week, 33 middle school math and science teachers from the Baltimore area are in Huntsville, Ala., to participate in the Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy program. They will be blogging about their experiences all week. Here are the reports from two teachers about their first day.

From Sabourah Abdunafi of ConneXions Community Leadership Academy in Baltimore:

The first day of camp was filled with excitement. We started with a wonderful breakfast. I met so many people from Maryland. That was one of the best feelings in the world: We always hear people speak of Maryland’s educational system being so low and we have over 30 teachers here. Every activity we had, the leaders would ask where you are from, and someone would say Maryland. I could hear a few people saying — here we go, or another one? We are really representing here!

The team-building activity was my favorite part of the day. This is something that we do in advisory at my school and it really works. We got into a circle and went around, saying our name, I’m going to space camp, and I’m bringing some item or person. Then each person would repeat until we got to the end of the circle saying each name and what they are bringing. At the end of the activity, I knew everyone’s name. At no time during the day did I have to say what’s your name?

Then we did a second activity that I’ve also done with my advisory, where everyone is in a circle and each person grabs the hands of a person across the circle to make a human knot. We were doing well with this from the beginning. Everyone communicated and we were getting loose. Then a group member, Luis, had to let go because he was afraid he would throw out his back. I was worried about him because it happened to me once before. Another group member recommended that we start over and try again — and we did. It was nice to see that Luis didn’t want to quit. The second time I was stuck, tangled, under the group and Luis threw his back out. A few people let go and the remainder of the group continued. The activity was all about communication and teamwork and my group, DESTINY, is all about both.

Coming next week: Baltimore-area teachers to share their Space Academy experiences

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:15:00 -0500

During the week of June 22, InsideEd will feature reports for some very special correspondents. Thirty-three elementary and middle school math and science teachers from the Baltimore area will be in Huntsville, Al. to participate in the Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy program.

These teachers applied for and were awarded scholarships for this week-long program, during which they'll take part in astronaut-style training and simulations, and work together on educational activities. They will carry back what they learn from these experiences to their classrooms to help students gain a better appreciation for math and science.

Throughout their week at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, 8 of these educators will serve as "teacher/reporters" for InsideEd, sending us daily updates about what they're doing and what they're learning.

Some of the teacher/reporters are also shooting video and taking photographs during the week. After they get back, we'll collect these visuals and edit them into a presentation about the Space Academy that will be published on baltimoresun.com before the next school year begins. That presentation will also include more information about the Honeywell Educators @ Space Academy program that these teachers and others can use in the classroom.

Our teacher/reporters for the week will be:

Sabourah Abdunafi of ConneXions Community Leadership Academy

Susan Allen of Urbana Middle School

Sarah Clark of Franklin Middle School

Mary Horner of Notre Dame Preparatory School

Luis Lima of Baltimore City College

Rachel Murphy of Hereford Middle School

Adren Thompson of Rising Stars Academy

Amy Wood of the Maryland Science Center

Including more males in the classroom

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 16:25:31 -0500

In my story today, I wrote about efforts to increase the number of males in schools.

For whatever reason, males have been noticeably absent from the school setting. Recently there have been initiatives to reverse that. The program that I found at one Howard County elementary school encourages fathers at the school to spend the day helping out teachers, and serving as an addition set of adult eyes in the hallways.

What do you think about increasing the number of males in the school? Is it necessary? What other creative ways might work to accomplish this?

Who should vet Baltimore school board candidates?

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:45:55 -0500

In today's story on the vetting of candidates for the city school board we talk about what process has been used in the past and what is happening today to choose the next school board member.

I wonder what readers think about who should be responsible for the vetting of candidates. The state board chair says the state board is just beginning the process. Should the state board decide to advertise? Who should be out there trying to convince Baltjmore citizens to apply for the school board, for an unpaid job that can consume many hours a week and doesn't get the person a lot of thanks from the public?