2008 April 04 Archive at The Core Knowledge Blog

Archive for April 4th, 2008

Turning Around a Turnaround Tale

Published by Robert Pondiscio on April 4, 2008 in Education Leadership and Education Practice. 0 Comments

A few years ago, the trustees of Chattanooga’s Benwood Foundation resolved to do whatever it took to reverse the failure of several of that city’s failing schools, devoting millions of dollars in grants to raise student achievement. The focus on attracting and retaining highly qualified teachers with financial incentives paid off and the “Benwood Initiative” became a nationally heralded school turnaround “how-to” tale.

A new Education Sector report by Ellen Silva argues that “Benwood’s success was not just about attracting new talent, but helping existing teachers improve the quality of their instruction. Arguments that the initiative brought new and better teachers to troubled Chattanooga schools, however are overstated.

“These findings have implications for other districts looking to turn around low-performing schools—of which there are many in the era of the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB),” Silva notes. “There is no doubt that disadvantaged students are disproportionately likely in American education to be taught by less experienced, less qualified, less effective teachers….As the Benwood Initiative demonstrates, individual teacher effectiveness is not a fixed trait. School systems can take many steps, as Hamilton County has, to improve teachers’ work in classrooms.”

Juro Fidelidad a la Bandera

Published by Robert Pondiscio on April 4, 2008 in School News. 0 Comments

For years, Tucson 2nd grade teacher Anne Lee has had her students recite Pledge of Allegiance in three languages–English, Spanish and American Sign Language. One of her students whose father is a member of the Minuteman Civil Defense organization got wind of the practice, and inevitably, a grand fecal oscillatory collision resulted.

“When Lance Altherr learned last week that his son was reciting the pledge in Spanish, he was outraged. He spoke with Lee and then Principal Paula Godfrey, demanding they stop the practice. They wouldn’t, and Altherr moved his son to a different class,” reports the Arizona Star. “In the days before the Internet, that’s where the drama would have stopped. But Altherr…took his case to the Internet, sending out mass e-mails and posting on message boards.”

Godfrey did some due diligence with her school district’s legal department and Arizona’s Department of Education. No problema, they said. To her credit, she even asked the Veterans of Foreign Wars if they deemed the practice offensive.

“The VFW gave her mixed signals on the matter,” reports the Star. “A VFW official first said in an e-mail that it was ‘not disrespectful to say the Pledge of Allegiance in either’ language ‘as long as it was stated as written.’ But when the heat turned up, the VFW’s national director sent the [Tucson Schools'] Governing Board an e-mail Thursday demanding a stop to the practice of Spanish-language pledges.” So far the school and Ms. Lee are sticking to their guns.

I seem to recall hearing that a Republican from Arizona is running for President this year who has had a little trouble with his party’s conservative wing on immigration issues. I wonder if Juro De La Bandera could be Campaign 2008’s version of the flag burning amendment?

Bringing Up the Rear

Published by Robert Pondiscio on April 4, 2008 in Assessment and Testing. 0 Comments

Improvements shown in the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) writing assessment, the first time eighth- and 12th-graders were tested in the subject since 2002.

The overall percentage of kids rated as “proficient” didn’t change, but both 8th and 12th graders saw upward movement on the percentage scoring at the lower “basic” level. “Large achievement gaps still persist, though,” notes the Christian Science Monitor “between white and minority students, higher-income and low-income students, and, far more than in other subjects, between girls and boys.”

“The overall improvement in 12th grade is the first good news out of high schools, and that’s great,” Ed Trust’s Amy tells the paper. “But our excitement about that is seriously tempered by the lack of national gap closing.”

In 2002, the average score for 12th-graders was 148; it’s up to 153 as of 2007. The percentage of students scoring at the basic level went from 74 percent to 82 percent. “The biggest gains among eighth-graders were also among low performers, with more students reaching the basic level. It’s a trend that has also emerged in NAEP tests on other subjects: the lowest performers are getting better, with little change at the middle or top,” reports the Monitor.