Krugman: America is Falling Behind, A Stimulus For Education Is Essential

by Mike Smith

Published October 09, 2009 @ 06:41AM PT

Paul Krugman linked America's historic economic success directly to education in a recent New York Times op-ed saying, "If you had to explain America’s economic success with one word, that word would be 'education.'" He fears the opinion that governmental spending is always wasteful, and that this fear of spending has resulted in America falling further behind other countries.

So what's the suggestion then Mr Nobel Prize Winner? Answer: Money! Money to retain teachers, and maintain funding of community colleges that help bright students from less affluent families get into universities. Krugman demands that we must "approve another big round of aid to state governments." He's right to fear calling it a stimulus. He wants America to remember that education made America great, and our actions must reflect a commitment to keep education spending high. With that in mind, it shouldn't matter what we call it. But money isn't the be and end all, and it must be spent wisely, either on innovation, resources, or reform. It seems obvious that more money is required. The real debate is where and how to spend it.

Photo credit: Alan Cordova

Closure of Schools in Chicago May Have Led to Teen Violence

by Mike Smith

Published October 07, 2009 @ 04:37PM PT

Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Attorney General Eric Holder have been sent by President Obama to Chicago to address teen violence, following the death of a 16-year-old sophomore. The President has also asked for $25 million for crime-prevention. Some fear that the closure of a dozen Chicago schools has exacerbated the gang problem. Arne Duncan responded with cliches: "This is a fork in the road, this is a line in the sand, and we need to get dramatically better."

Jim Horn at Schools Matter has more on the link between the closure of schools and subsequent increase in teen violence. Most worrying is that money has been thrown at this problem before: "$60 million over 2 years for a data system and intervention program to identify and assist 10,000 of over 400,000 Chicago school students."

Photo credit: Doug Siefken

High School Dropout Factories Stuck in an Investment Catch-22

by Mike Smith

Published October 06, 2009 @ 08:40AM PT

Dropout factories — the nations lowest performing schools — maintain their bad streak due to a lacking of investment, investment they miss out on because of bad results. It's a catch-22 situation that sees the status quo perpetually maintained for the "2,000 or so high schools that produce half of the country's dropouts," explains Catherine Gewertz. She argues that a separate stream of money for these dropout factories could get results.

Arne Duncan is proposing to close 35 dropout factories, and reopen them as charters. But the Massachusetts Teachers Association explain that many Boston charter school have become dropout factories, and that by Arne Duncan's own standard, "Boston’s charter high schools are among the worst ‘dropout factories’ in the state." Duncan would likely counter with examples where charters have worked, but is closing schools, accepting defeat, and hoping new schools will be better ever a good idea, even for the very worst schools?

Photo Credit: dave_mcmt

More Navy Seals in Schools! Alternate Paths to Teaching Improves Results

by Mike Smith

category: Teachers

Published October 05, 2009 @ 11:44AM PT

Should teachers without traditional education degrees be expected to teach at as a high a standard as traditionally qualified teachers? Many non-traditional teachers are entering the Indianapolis public school system, with the superintendent a big fan, noting the ex-Navy Seal commander who taught science, and did so excellently.

Critics wonder whether non-traditionally schooled teachers can handle special cases, like helping students struggling with reading problems or learning disabilities. Despite these cases, a 2008 study "found that programs such as The New Teacher Project drew smarter teachers and that students benefited." These teachers are more likely to be smarter and pass teaching tests first time.

A few more ex-Navy seals has got to be a good thing for kids' education, but it's up to The New Teacher Project and Teach for America to ensure that these teachers have learned enough. Year-long courses seem the right course, rather than intensive five-week courses.

Photo credit: Chicago2016

Deepening Segregation In Schools Missed By Mainstream Media

by Mike Smith

Published October 04, 2009 @ 12:57PM PT

Are schools today more segregated than in the 1950s? That's the conclusion of a UCLA study that was missed by the mainstream media earlier this year, so much so that it's one of the Top 25 Censored Stories for 2010; "the 25 most significant news stories that were largely ignored or misrepresented by the mainstream press," explains the San Francisco Guardian.

Appearing alongside stories of US arms being used for war-crimes, and the carbon-trading fiasco, the story of deepening segregation is an important one. It explains that millions of non-white student are locked into "drop-out factory" high-schools, finding that "the two largest minority groups, attend schools more segregated today than during the civil rights movement forty years ago."

Photo credit: Cliff1066

Marking Standardized Tests During Happy Hour Proves Problematic

by Mike Smith

Published October 02, 2009 @ 06:45AM PT

Who should be marking standardized tests? How about people that are well into happy hour, then receive a call saying there's more marking to be done, and it's got be to done immediately, over the phone. This is a situation Todd Farley found himself in as project director of a private testing company. This isn't about marking multiple choice papers, which can be done by machine, but marking the more open ended answers, the response and correct answer to which can be entirely subjective and arbitrary.

Todd suggests some solutions in a New York Times op-ed suggesting, "we could start by requiring that scoring be done only by professionals who have made a commitment to education — rather than by people like me." It seems obvious that someone qualified should have to do it, but would schools be happy to have the costs of testing further stretched? And that's without even getting into whether standardized testing is the best way to measure student performance.

Photo credit: Serges Blog

Engaging Parents for Improved Student Success

by David Flatley

Published October 01, 2009 @ 08:00AM PT

Parents are universally accepted as a child’s first teacher. It’s intuitive, and we usually know it from our own experience. Schools that embrace this reality and recognize the important role parents play in their child’s education are better able to create curriculum and build relationships with parents that have a profound effect on a child’s journey through school.

The Illinois Parent Information Resource Center (Illinois PIRC) also recognizes how critical parents are to children’s learning and development. An initiative of the Center for Community Arts Partnerships at Columbia College Chicago, Illinois PIRC is part of the United States Department of Education’s national effort to support school improvement and student success through parent involvement.

Illinois PIRC uses an arts-based, community-centered approach to parent involvement that supports the school’s effort to meet the educational needs of children. Our services and resources are aligned with the opportunities that are outlined in Section 1118 of Title I. As such, we serve as an information depot to help schools, school districts and parent groups inform parents about school choice, supplemental educational services available in their community, and how to help parents better understand Illinois’ state accountability systems. As a result, we’re seeing parents learn how to communicate with teachers, participate in policy-making and school improvement efforts, and create a better learning environment at home.

Another critical part to this national effort is to build a more holistic environment in schools and districts where parents are viewed as an integral partner within the achievement puzzle our education system works to construct, and solve. Illinois PIRC supports this through a variety of strategies, resources and technical assistance, and by modeling best practices. We also offer professional development not only for schools wishing to strengthen their parental involvement plans, but also for parents who wish to demonstrate more leadership in their schools and communities. Our parent resource rooms in targeted schools are evidence of the welcoming spirit and strategy embraced for encouraging parents to become more active in their child’s education. Resources abound for parents wishing to become more supportive in their child’s learning in school and at home. We even have resources for parents, such as ESL or computer classes, that help strengthen their capacity to learn, to work within the system, and to better utilize the resources available to them.

Each PIRC around the nation looks a bit different, and Illinois PIRC has a unique focus in that it uses learning in and through the arts as a vehicle for strengthening parent engagement and the family-school connection. An excellent example is our Family Portraits program. Community arts organizations, schools and families are brought together in after school sessions that allow participants to connect and discover their creativity. Through text and digital photography, parents and their children explore ways to celebrate and lift up their own individual stories, and those of their families. Beautiful scrapbook and photo albums are created through these workshops, but more importantly parents become more engaged in the school environment. In working with facilitators and artists, they better understand the developmental needs of their children and become empowered to work more creatively with them when they return home. Parents also come to appreciate their school more, including the administrative leaders who help provide such programming.

This is just a sample of the innovative work being done by Illinois PIRC to increase parent involvement and improve student success. Learn more about how you can get involved at www.colum.edu/ilpirc because supporting parental involvement is more often than not the missing link to improving student achievement.

David Flatley is the executive director for the Center for Community Arts Partnerships at Columbia College Chicago and the managing director for Illinois PIRC.

[Photo credit: jose_kevo]