Education News Roundup: Sept. 21, 2012

Today’s Top Picks:

D-News looks at Wasatch Elementary partnerships.
http://goo.gl/BO3oZ (DN)

Schools are growing in Tooele.
http://goo.gl/r3JkG (TTB)

WaPo looks at President Obama’s education record.
http://goo.gl/J1zP1 (WaPo)

Education Next and Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University release a new poll on public perceptions of education issues.
http://goo.gl/bLlo9 (Ed Next)

Ed Week sees Democrats turning toward vouchers.
http://goo.gl/fFhix (Ed Week)

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TODAY’S HEADLINES
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UTAH

School, community partnership flourishes in new building

Davis schools help parents bridge ethnic achievement gap

School enrollment climbs by 2.7 percent

Ed leaders seeking input on updated earth science standards Academics » Meetings scheduled to get public comment.

Spirit sticks raise motivation at Lehi elementary school

Liahona Preparatory coach accused of sexually abusing students

Students get sneak peek of circus

Better testing help students, teachers and families Chicago schools back in session after strike

OPINION & COMMENTARY

Ogden School District shows academic growth

Interim Day: Grim impact of fed spending cuts on schoolchildren

U.S. Needs Strike Over Inequities in Public Schools

Schooling Beyond Measure

Common standards ≠ national curriculum

Democrats Introduce Bill to Overhaul Teacher Training

Government School PR Group Hammers “Won’t Back Down” Movie

NATION

Rethinking the Classroom: Obama’s overhaul of public education

New Survey Shows Majority of Independent Voters Favor Charter Schools, feel Unions do ‘More Harm than Good’
Overall, public says teacher salaries and tenure should be based heavily on student test performance; public has less confidence in teachers than previously reported

Vouchers Gain Foothold Among State, Local Democrats

Idaho releases teacher merit pay bonus data

State superintendent proposes revamped math objectives

Social media acts as megaphone and sword in CTU strike

One in five Page teachers left the school district last year

Take tuna off school menus, group says

Life Spans Shrink for Least-Educated Whites in the U.S.

Cheerleaders’ biblical-themed signs OK, for now

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UTAH NEWS
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School, community partnership flourishes in new building

CLEARFIELD — A unique community partnership was strengthened Thursday when officials at Wasatch Elementary School in Clearfield and the Davis Community Learning Center celebrated the ribbon-cutting of the new building they share.
Wasatch Elementary Principal Janet Sumner said the center plays a crucial role in advancing the education of children in the community by reaching out to and providing services for parents and families. Her school’s boundaries include a large number of students who come from low-income or single-parent homes, or households where English is spoken as a second language, if at all.
“As we work with the kids educationally, very frequently we find that partly why we’re having a hard time with behavior or academics stems from things that are happening in the home,” she said.
Last year, 68 percent of students at Wasatch Elementary qualified for free or reduced lunch. A recent boundary change added 150 students to the school, which caused the low-income percentage to fall below 60 percent while the total number of struggling families stayed the same.
“It changed the percentage but it didn’t change any of the people,” Sumner said.
http://goo.gl/BO3oZ (DN)

Davis schools help parents bridge ethnic achievement gap

LAYTON — Bridging the gap between the lower test scores of minority students and the scores of their counterparts was the goal of the Davis School District’s Parent Equity Night at Northridge High School.
The difference in scores creates what district officials call an achievement gap.
Minority students comprise approximately 7 percent of the district’s student population, said Suzanne Cottrell, representing the district’s Assessment, Research and Evaluation Department.
Cottrell broke down student test scores by ethnicity and income to show that minority and low-income students score anywhere from 16 to 24 percent lower on their end-of-level tests than their nonminority peers. The exception was Asian students, with whom there is no achievement gap.
http://goo.gl/q2zMj (OSE)

School enrollment climbs by 2.7 percent

As of last Monday, enrollment in Tooele County School District is up by 369 students over last year — a 2.7 percent increase. This is the third consecutive year of growth for local schools.
“While we are currently at plus 369, things still might change as schools clean up their records by Oct. 1,” said Terry Linares, Tooele County School District superintendent.
Oct. 1 is the enrollment counting date used by the state to determine where to allocate funding.
The district budgeted for an additional 200 students this year.
http://goo.gl/r3JkG (TTB)

Ed leaders seeking input on updated earth science standards Academics » Meetings scheduled to get public comment.

The State Office of Education is seeking public comment on possible updates to Utah’s earth science standards.
The standards outline the skills and knowledge students studying earth science should learn. Sarah Young, state office science specialist, said state leaders decided to update the standards to make sure they clearly convey to teachers the goals of the course, offered in high school.
The updated standards will change how vocabulary is emphasized in lessons. The name of the standards has also been changed from earth systems to earth science to better reflect the hands-on nature of course activities, Young said. And the new standards also include more opportunities for community connections.
http://goo.gl/XHqDj (SLT)

Spirit sticks raise motivation at Lehi elementary school

LEHI — Sego Lily Elementary School has adopted a food-free reward program that has put students and teachers in a collection frenzy.
Spirit sticks are thin rectangular patches students can collect on a Sego Lily key ring attached to their backpacks. A wide variety of sticks can be earned for different good behaviors.
As part of emphasis on healthy lifestyle, Sego Lily principal Courtney Johnson wanted to come up with a way to motivate children without candy and treats. A teacher found spirit sticks while searching on Pinterest.
http://goo.gl/3USpq (PDH)

Liahona Preparatory coach accused of sexually abusing students

A Liahona Preparatory Academy soccer coach is accused of having sexual relationships with two 16-year-old students.
Pleasant Grove police arrested Broch DeGraff, 27, Wednesday night at his home after the teenage girls came forward two months ago about the alleged relationships, said Lt. Britt Smith. DeGraff was booked into Utah County Jail under suspicion of eight counts of forcible sexual abuse — two of them being first-degree felonies, the other six being second-degree felonies, Smith said.
“Our hearts go out to those victims. They were taken advantage of by a man [who was] selfish,” Smith said. DeGraff’s role at the private school places him in a position of trust with the victims.
http://goo.gl/WnuZ1 (SLT)

http://goo.gl/bgUQ4 (DN)

http://goo.gl/3QvJF (KSL)

Students get sneak peek of circus

SALT LAKE CITY — Students from Blessed Sacrament Catholic School and the Guadalupe School took part in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus’ “Dragon Games” CircusFit Challenge event at EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012. The circus will be at the arena from Sept. 20-24.
http://goo.gl/fCzSQ (DN)

Better testing help students, teachers and families Chicago schools back in session after strike

Families in Chicago are sending their children back to school after a teacher strike that highlighted the difficulty of evaluating teacher quality. In order for parents to know they are entrusting their children to effective teachers, it is important that evaluations be able to accurately measure teacher quality.
Despite reaching agreements on many issues before the strike began on Sept. 10, teachers disagreed with the city of Chicago that student test scores should account for 40 percent of teacher evaluations. Teachers believed giving test scores such weight would deter good teachers from working in areas of high poverty where student test scores remain stubbornly low.
According to retired principal Leon Hundall, quoted in the Grio, the test score stubbornness is partly due to overcrowded classrooms and “deplorable” conditions in the poorest areas. Another factor is summer learning loss, which disproportionally affects low-income kids.
http://goo.gl/b9YoW (DN)

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OPINION & COMMENTARY
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Ogden School District shows academic growth
(Ogden) Standard-Examiner op-ed by Mike Caldwell, mayor of Ogden

I have never been more encouraged by the educational opportunities available to them, and every student in Ogden. I am very impressed with the transformational progress I am seeing in Ogden School District. This improvement has a very personal meaning to me as a father and an incredible community development and economic impact for our city as Mayor.
The academic progress that Ogden School District is making under the leadership and strategic vision of Superintendent Brad Smith is inspiring. Superintendent Smith and the Ogden School Board have committed to a set of guarantees, attitudes and standards that are driving the changes in the school district with a relentless focus on closing the achievement gap and helping every student maximize their academic excellence and success. Ogden High school graduates earned $1.027 million in scholarships this year and have surpassed a 75-year record with 302 of 307 high school seniors graduating.
http://goo.gl/Xq5aK

Interim Day: Grim impact of fed spending cuts on schoolchildren Sutherland Institute commentary by Derek Monson, director of public policy

At the Education Interim Committee on Capitol Hill this week, the committee heard a presentation about the potential impact of the pending federal sequestration policy on Utah’s public school and higher education systems.
The sequestration policy would be enacted early next year if Congress and the president do not reach an agreement to avoid it, and the policy would mean across-the-board federal spending cuts, including cuts to federal education spending, with the intent of lowering record federal deficits.
http://goo.gl/Wj3ER

U.S. Needs Strike Over Inequities in Public Schools Bloomberg commentary by Matt Miller, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress

Lost in the clash between Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis is an injustice whose remedy would do more to improve schools in the Windy City than anything to which the two sides just agreed.
I’m talking about the uniquely American local system of school finance — one that dooms millions of poor children to the least-qualified teachers and most run-down facilities in the country. No other wealthy nation tolerates the funding disparities between rich and poor districts that the U.S. does. Even conservatives in other countries agree that poor kids need greater investment to overcome disadvantage. Yet calling attention to this scandal is taboo in American politics because it hides behind the mask of “local control.”
Look at the issues at the heart of the Chicago strike and you will see a common denominator: money. It takes money to boost teacher salaries to attract and retain decent talent. It takes money to extend the school day and to make sure the extra time is used well. It takes money to address overcrowded classes or textbook shortages.
Yet to listen to conservative critics, Chicago’s schools are already rolling in dough. “Chicago teachers already make on average far more ($71,000) than the average private worker ($47,000),” the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page chided, adding that the deal “will increase the wealth redistribution.”
Where to begin?
http://goo.gl/nIarL

Schooling Beyond Measure
Education Week commentary by Alfie Kohn, author of 12 books, including The Case Against Standardized Testing

The reason that standardized-test results tend to be so uninformative and misleading is closely related to the reason that these tests are so popular in the first place. That, in turn, is connected to our attraction to—and the trouble with—grades, rubrics, and various practices commended to us as “data based.”
The common denominator? Our culture’s worshipful regard for numbers. Roger Jones, a physicist, called it “the heart of our modern idolatry … the belief that the quantitative description of things is paramount and even complete in itself.”
Quantification can be entertaining, of course. Readers love Top 10 lists, and our favorite parts of the news are those with numerical components: sports, business, and weather. There’s something comforting about the simplicity of specificity. As the educator Selma Wassermann observed, “Numbers help to relieve the frustrations of the unknown.” If those numbers are getting larger over time, we figure we must be making progress. Anything that resists being reduced to numerical terms, by contrast, seems vaguely suspicious, or at least suspiciously vague.
In calling this sensibility into question, I’m not denying that there’s a place for quantification. Rather, I’m pointing out that it doesn’t always seem to know its place.
http://goo.gl/KZ8V2

Common standards ≠ national curriculum
Fordham Institute commentary by Institute President Chester E. Finn, Jr.

“Ladywonk” Dana Goldstein has written, and The Atlantic has just published, a mostly on-target profile of David Coleman, who takes the helm of the College Board in just a few weeks. This influential new role makes him—and his values, goals, and ideas—more important than ever in American education.
They were already moderately important, thanks to his previous role as a drafter of the Common Core state standards—and his subsequent advocacy for those standards.
The standards are strong, which is why advocating them is important and deserves praise. And David has indeed been effective, particularly in regard to the English language arts standards, his specialty and passion, although along the way he has been attacked by educators (and others) who either don’t believe that all kids are capable of rigorous academic work or who don’t cotton to the kind of deep analysis of literary and non-literary texts that David favors. (“Tell me what’s the evidence for stating that Brutus stabbed Caesar; don’t give me your opinion of whether stabbing is a nice thing to do—or whether you’ve ever been stabbed.”)
http://goo.gl/Csem3

http://goo.gl/HuJbr (The Atlantic)

Democrats Introduce Bill to Overhaul Teacher Training Education Week commentary by columnist Stephen Sawchuk

Democratic Representative Mike Honda (D-Calif.) and Senator Jack Reed (D-R.I.) have introduced identical bills that would reauthorize and make major changes to federal laws governing teacher preparation, including the reporting requirements, accountability provisions, and TEACH grant scholarship program.
Unveiled today, the legislation has already won an endorsement by American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. Unlike the GREAT Act—the other major federal teacher-preparation proposal floating around—the new bill appears to work mostly within the heavily higher-education dominated teacher-preparation marketplace. (The GREAT Act would encourage the development of non-higher-education-based programs, in addition to those in colleges and universities.)
Teacher-preparation policy is a matter of hot debate at the moment. The U.S. Department of Education is poised to release regulations on it shortly, following a negotiated-rulemaking process that ended in stalemate. Although it’s hard to tell what inspired the introduction of the Honda-Reed proposal, it envisions a somewhat different system than what the Education Department has put forward.
Here’s a rundown of some of the features in the legislation.
http://goo.gl/fgMtM

Government School PR Group Hammers “Won’t Back Down” Movie Townhall.com commentary by Kyle Olson, Founder and CEO of Education Action Group Foundation

The educational establishment is ramping up its attack of “Won’t Back Down,” a fictional movie of a parent and teacher teaming up to take over a failing school through a “parent trigger” law.
The movie will be released nationally on Sept. 28.
The National School Public Relations Association is now working with the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers in issuing talking points to members about how to best dismiss the point of the movie without actually looking like they’re attacking it.
http://goo.gl/7NDwS

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NATIONAL NEWS
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Rethinking the Classroom: Obama’s overhaul of public education Washington Post

In 3-1/2 years in office, President Obama has set in motion a broad overhaul of public education from kindergarten through high school, largely bypassing Congress and inducing states to adopt landmark changes that none of his predecessors attempted.
He awarded billions of dollars in stimulus funding to states that agreed to promote charter schools, use student test scores to evaluate teachers and embrace other administration-backed policies. And he has effectively rewritten No Child Left Behind, the federal law passed by Congress and signed by President George W. Bush, by excusing states from its requirements if they adopt his measures.
Under Obama’s framework, teachers with weak ratings tied to student achievement could lose their jobs, while high ratings could mean bigger paychecks. And children in 45 states and the District of Columbia will for the first time follow a set of common standards aimed at raising achievement, with a third-grader in Hawaii expected to know the same things as a third-grader in Maine. One result will be that children at all levels will read less literature and more speeches, journalism and other “informational texts” to prepare for life after graduation.
Obama’s agenda has amplified ideas that have been simmering around the country, including those championed by Republicans, among them the push to give parents more choice about where children attend school and to blast apart a long-standing system that rewarded teachers for longevity but not necessarily effectiveness.
http://goo.gl/J1zP1

New Survey Shows Majority of Independent Voters Favor Charter Schools, feel Unions do ‘More Harm than Good’
Overall, public says teacher salaries and tenure should be based heavily on student test performance; public has less confidence in teachers than previously reported Education Next

CAMBRIDGE, MA – Both Republicans and Democrats can take comfort in the latest findings about political independents contained in the most recent nationally representative survey released today by the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University (PEPG). More political independents lean Democratic than lean Republican, but the views of independents on educational issues appear closer to those ones articulated by Republicans than those traditionally espoused by Democrats.
When asked for their political affiliation, 41 percent of all those interviewed in May 2012 said they were independents, as compared to 34 percent who said they were Democrats and 25 percent who said they were Republicans. Further, 52 percent of the independents said they leaned toward the Democratic Party, and 40 percent said they leaned toward the Republican Party, with the rest saying they did not lean in either direction.
But 56 percent of independents thought teacher unions had “done more harm than good,” 54 percent supported school vouchers, and only 34 percent favored raising teacher salaries, once they had been informed about average salary levels in their state.
http://goo.gl/bLlo9

Vouchers Gain Foothold Among State, Local Democrats Education Week

This year’s presidential campaign offers at least one unequivocal contrast on education issues: The Republican candidate supports private school vouchers, and the Democratic incumbent does not.
But at the state and local levels, Democrats’ views on vouchers are more diverse and nuanced than what is suggested by the party’s national platform, which makes no mention of private school choice, or by the policies of the Obama administration, which has consistently opposed providing public money for private school costs.
Some Democrats see vouchers as offering an escape hatch for students who would otherwise be forced to stay in academically struggling public schools. Others say publicly funded private school scholarships provide opportunities for students to obtain a religious education they otherwise could not afford. Still others in the party accept vouchers when they are relatively narrowly defined, limiting eligibility to special education students, for instance, or restricting participation to impoverished students in substandard schools.
The strongest supporters of private school choice cite those instances of bipartisan backing as evidence of the concept’s broad appeal, which they predict will grow among Democrats over time.
http://goo.gl/fFhix

Idaho releases teacher merit pay bonus data Associated Press via (Boise) Idaho Statesman

BOISE, Idaho — The state Department of Education has posted data online telling school districts which teachers have earned a performance bonus under a new merit pay plan.
Districts were notified Wednesday they’ll have 30 days to review and appeal the state data being used to calculate the pay-for-performance bonuses. The department plans to finalize the results by Nov. 12, after incorporating data from merit pay plans developed by districts at the local level, and then send out the bonus funding Nov. 15.
The bonuses are part of reforms that were introduced by state schools chief Tom Luna and are being challenged at the ballot box.
http://goo.gl/GrARH

State superintendent proposes revamped math objectives Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch

RICHMOND, Va. — Superintendent of Public Instruction Patricia I. Wright is proposing to revamp Virginia’s annual math objectives with more aggressive standards aimed at closing the achievement gap between high- and low-performing schools and students.
By the 2017-18 academic year, every school division, school and student subgroup would have the same pass rate expectations for 2016-17 Standards of Learning assessments.
The proposal calls for pass rates of 73 percent across the board for 2017-18 and, if adopted, would create the largest gains to be made for students with disabilities (40 percentage points) and English language learners (34 percentage points). The state Board of Education will review the proposed benchmarks at its meeting next Thursday.
http://goo.gl/lcxpk

Social media acts as megaphone and sword in CTU strike WBEZ

As the Chicago Teachers Union strike drags closer to the one-week mark, it’s clear the CPS and CTU have more differences than just at the negotiating table. Take, for instance, how each organization has utilized social media throughout this process. For the CTU Facebook and Twitter are wielded like a battle ax, for CPS it’s more like a billboard.
http://goo.gl/TkDHM

One in five Page teachers left the school district last year Lake Powell Chronicle

The Page Unified School District had a shorter-than-usual governing board meeting Sept.11, with one of the main discussion items being the teacher turnover rate.
About 20 percent of Page teachers left the district last year.
The national rate is about 15 percent, according to a study by the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future.
http://goo.gl/2q2yz

Take tuna off school menus, group says
USA Today

A coalition of consumer groups is recommending the U.S. Department of Agriculture get tuna out of school lunchrooms after tests of canned tuna sold to schools found highly variable levels of mercury, in some cases higher than federal guidelines.
Tuna industry groups countered that canned tuna is safe and wholesome. The real public health issue is that “we don’t eat enough” seafood, says Gavin Gibbons of the National Fisheries Institute, a seafood industry group in McLean, Va.
http://goo.gl/Tj9va

Life Spans Shrink for Least-Educated Whites in the U.S.
New York Times

For generations of Americans, it was a given that children would live longer than their parents. But there is now mounting evidence that this enduring trend has reversed itself for the country’s least-educated whites, an increasingly troubled group whose life expectancy has fallen by four years since 1990.
Researchers have long documented that the most educated Americans were making the biggest gains in life expectancy, but now they say mortality data show that life spans for some of the least educated Americans are actually contracting. Four studies in recent years identified modest declines, but a new one that looks separately at Americans lacking a high school diploma found disturbingly sharp drops in life expectancy for whites in this group. Experts not involved in the new research said its findings were persuasive.
The reasons for the decline remain unclear, but researchers offered possible explanations, including a spike in prescription drug overdoses among young whites, higher rates of smoking among less educated white women, rising obesity, and a steady increase in the number of the least educated Americans who lack health insurance.
http://goo.gl/uyn6V

Cheerleaders’ biblical-themed signs OK, for now Houston Chronicle

The cheerleaders at Kountze High School were looking for alternatives to traditional messages, like “Crush the Cats” or “Kill the Eagles,” on the paper banners their football team runs through to take the field. Sophomore Macy Matthews said she and her colleagues wanted to use the opportunity to “give glory to God.”
And so, during the past three Kountze High football games, the players in the 2,100-resident town stormed the field through large banners referencing Bible passages, such as Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
The banners raised questions of religious freedom and the First Amendment. On Thursday, the cheerleaders scored a victory when a judge overturned, for now, school Superintendent Kevin Weldon’s order forbidding the religious-themed signs.
Weldon had told parents that student groups may not display religious signs at events sponsored by the high school.
“It was upsetting because it’s what motivated the boys each week,” said Matthews, 15. “I was shocked, really. I didn’t understand why it would be a problem.”
Parents of the cheerleaders filed a discrimination suit this week. On Thursday, state District Judge Steven Thomas of Hardin County granted a temporary restraining order forbidding enforcement of the ban.
http://goo.gl/cY3Oi

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CALENDAR
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USOE Calendar
http://tinyurl.com/5x9oh9

UEN News
http://www.uen.org

October 5:
Utah State Board of Education meeting
250 E. 500 South, Salt Lake City
http://www.schools.utah.gov/board/Meetings/Agenda.aspx

October 11:
Utah State Charter School Board meeting
250 E. 500 South, Salt Lake City
http://1.usa.gov/Axtt5K

October 16:
Executive Appropriations Interim Committee meeting
1 p.m., 445 State Capitol
http://le.utah.gov/Interim/2012/html/00001093.htm

October 17:
Education Interim Committee meeting
2 p.m., 30 House Building
http://le.utah.gov/Interim/2012/html/00001174.htm

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