February 15, 2008: Suggestions For Classroom Blogging Listed

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February 15, 2008: Suggestions For Classroom Blogging Listed

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Customized Briefing for THERESA CAVANAUGHFebruary 15, 2008

Leading the News

In the Classroom

On the Job

Special Needs

Safety & Security

Facilities

Also in the News

Editor's Note

Due to the upcoming President's Day holiday, U.S. News Custom Briefings will

not be publishing on Monday, Feb. 18th. Publishing will resume on Tuesday,

Feb. 19th.

Leading the News

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Suggestions for classroom blogging listed.

T.H.E. Journal (2/14, Sturgeon) reported on classroom blogging. Many

teachers find that their " students perform better when " the students " know

their peers will be reviewing their work as opposed to merely having to face

the judgment of their teacher. " However, said engineering teacher Brock

Dubbels, blogging also presents " potential trouble, " as " [k]ids will always

push the line on what they say to each other, and what they link to, and

educators can find themselves on the defensive. " Even so, Dubbels added that

" the potential trouble is worth the rewards. " The article contains a number

of recommendations to teachers considering classroom blogging. Among them

are " setting up...guidelines and objectives, " including " a code of conduct

for blogging that covers areas such as bullying, slander, and foul language "

as well as appropriate penalties for the code's violation. Also recommend

were picking an appropriate software platform, focusing the blogs " on

academic collaboration, " and " structuring entries by topic rather than by

time helps readers to make more sense of a blog. " The contributors also

argue for the teacher's written participation.

In the Classroom

Extra literacy classes provide limited benefit, study finds.

Education Week (2/20, Viadero) reports that the Enhanced Reading

Opportunities Study, " a federal program that is testing promising strategies

for low-performing adolescent readers in 34 high schools across the

country, " found " that giving struggling 9th grade readers an extra literacy

class can boost their reading-comprehension skills, but not dramatically

enough to get them up to grade level by the end of a single school year. "

The federal " study focuses on two intervention programs -- Reading

Apprenticeship Academic Literacy...and Xtreme Reading, " which " were chosen

from a pool of 17 by a panel of reading experts. " The two programs were

implemented in schools randomly chosen in 10 districts, and provided

students with literacy instruction " at least 225 minutes a week, on top of

their regular language arts classes. " The study found that, " overall they

helped move students' reading performance over the course of the school year

from the 16th to the 25th percentile, " a 26 percent improvement. However,

" nearly 90 percent of the students still scored below grade level in reading

comprehension in the spring. "

Bilingual paraprofessionals needed to assist teachers, educator writes.

In the education column of the Arizona Republic (2/14), educator Mark

wrote, " Teaching science, math, social studies and language arts is hard

enough, but what can a teacher do when he or she only speaks English and the

classroom has students who speak other languages? " He suggests that " by

actively recruiting bilingual paraprofessionals made up of parents and

community volunteers, we can place another adult in the classroom to serve

the needs of children. " adds that " recruiting bilingual

paraprofessionals from an involved community to assist bilingual children is

an imperative for quality education. "

Cleveland proposes STEM academy with corporate campuses.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer (2/15, Ott) reports, " The Cleveland schools this

fall will open a unique, regional high school devoted to science,

technology, engineering and mathematics. The academy, meant to draw students

from the suburbs, will conduct freshman and sophomore classes on corporate

campuses so the teenagers can observe the kind of jobs they hope to land

someday. " In addition, " juniors will fan out to internships and seniors will

take courses at Case Western Reserve or Cleveland State universities. " The

school is part of Ohio's promotion of " STEM education as a strategy for

economic development. "

land district approves financial education as prerequisite for

graduation.

The AP (2/14) reported that students in Allegany County, Md., " will have to

pass a financial literacy course to graduate high school beginning in 2012. "

Skills the students will be required to learn include investment, maximizing

" their earnings potential, " managing their finances, and understanding and

building a good credit history. Assistant Superintendent of Instruction

Janet informed the county Board of Education (BOE) that " a great deal

of attention needs to be given to this area because students are having

difficulty with this when they leave high school. " The AP noted that the

BOE " approved requiring the course, increasing the total number of credits

needed for graduation from 21.5 to 22. "

Wisconsin middle schoolers learn survival skills.

Wisconsin ABC-affiliate WQOQ-TV (2/15) reports on a " winter camping event "

participated in by students at Riverview Middle School in Barron, Wisconsin.

" Each year, the seventh grade class spends one week learning outdoor

survival skills at the camp. " According to math as science teacher Tom

Warnberg, it is important for " schools...to teach kids how to learn about

teamwork and trust in each other. "

Schools recognized for success despite obstacles.

Louisiana's Shreveport Times (2/14, Northington) reports that " 20 schools in

the state " are being " recognized for high academic success despite their

location in poor areas. " The Times continues, " All of the schools scored at

least 80 on the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education's school

performance score assessment. " None are open-enrollment or magnet schools,

and all but one " have at least 90 percent of their students qualifying for

free or reduced-price lunch. " According to principal of Pine

Grove Elementary, one of the recognized schools, students " all need the same

basic things. ... As a society, we put so much emphasis on cultural,

economic and social differences, but the human need is still the same. It

doesn't make a difference. " Louisiana Education Superintendent Pastorek

said the schools " could serve as a model for schools in similar areas. "

On the Job

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West Virginia House committee backs new teacher-retirement program.

The AP (2/15) reports that on Thursday, the West Virginia House Finance

Committee " endorsed an amended version of Gov. Joe Manchin's (D) bill to

allow teachers with shaky retirement accounts to join a different state

pension program. " The House measure, which " addresses teachers and other

school employees with 401(k)-style retirement accounts, " would " require at

least 75 percent of the more than 19,000 account holders to transfer into

the Teachers Retirement System. " According to the amended version, the

" makeup payment required from these transfers to guarantee full benefits "

would be lowered, " but the bill " would also carve $78 million from the state

budget. "

Study finds different degrees of flexibility in teacher contracts.

Education Week (2/14, Keller) reported, " Just five of the teacher contracts

in the nation's largest school districts grant school leaders the kind of

flexibility they need to run schools well, but two-thirds of the rest do not

obviously hamstring administrators with rules applying to teachers,

according to a report " from the B. Fordham Institute. The report

rated districts " on a scale that ranges from 'highly flexible' to 'highly

restrictive.' " No school met the study's " highly flexible " criteria, which

it characterized as an asset. Bill Raabe, the director of collective

bargaining and member advocacy for the National Education Association, said

that blaming " labor agreements for poor student achievement based on surface

analysis is dangerous and shortsighted. " Raabe added that the study

" distracts us from addressing the real issues that these schools are dealing

with-such as not having the infrastructure, learning materials, and

technology they need to provide each child with the quality public school

education he or she deserves. "

Arizona school district cuts positions, increase class sizes.

The AP (2/15) reports, " Tucson Unified School District's governing board has

approved increasing class sizes and cutting counselor and librarian

positions -- cost-saving measures designed to close in on a projected budget

deficit of $15 million next school year. " Schools " with less than 350

students " would have " to choose a halftime librarian or a halftime

counselor. Schools with 350 to 750 students will have to choose a full-time

librarian, a full-time counselor or one of each who would work halftime. "

The governing board " also approved a plan to increase class sizes for some

kindergartners and all first-graders. " Currently the " grade levels...have an

18-to-1 student-teacher ratio. " That would rise to 24-to-1.

Special Needs

Court rules special education " must give way " to NCLB.

Education Week (2/14, Walsh) reported, " A three-judge panel of the U.S.

Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, in Chicago, " has ruled " that even if

the NCLB law was at odds with the Individuals with Disabilities Education

Act, the special education law 'must give way' because NCLB is the newer

statute. " The lawsuit was brought by two school districts and " the parents

of four students in special education in the districts' schools, " who

" claim[ed] that the NCLB law's testing requirements conflicted with the

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). " In particular, the

lawsuit pointed to " the IDEA's requirement that each special education

student have an individualized education program, " saying that this was

" contrary to the requirement under the No Child Left Behind law that special

education students count as a distinct subgroup whose test results help

determine whether a school makes adequate yearly progress. " Earlier rulings

confirmed that the group had standing to bring the suit, but " the 7th

Circuit panel quickly moved on to conclude that...the Illinois suit 'is too

weak to justify continued litigation.' "

Safety & Security

Iowa high school athletic union institutes sexual offender checks for

officials.

The AP (2/14) reported, The Iowa Girls High School Athletic (IGHSA) Union

board voted Wednesday to increase its protection of female athletes " by

requiring that applicants seeking " to become officials with the union...be

asked if they have ever been listed on the sexual offender registry.

Officials will also check their names against the registry. " The decision

follows " three cases in the past 24 months " in which " officials have been

suspended because of inappropriate contact with athletes. " IGHSA Union

executive director Troy Dannen said, " Those situations showed us that we

need to be a little more proactive in ensuring that those officials that we

license as officials are appropriate for the interscholastic environment. "

Facilities

U.S. House education committee debates funding school facilities.

Education Week (2/15, Klein) reports that the U.S. House Education and Labor

Committee " heard testimony Feb. 13 from Democratic lawmakers who have

sponsored a spate of bills aimed at providing federal resources for school

construction, including so-called 'green schools,' which are generally more

energy-efficient and seek to maximize natural light. " Citing a " 2000

estimate by the National Center for Education Statistics that it would take

$127 billion to bring the nation's schools into 'good overall condition,' "

Rep. (D-Calif.) said that a " new federal investment in school

facilities would help raise student achievement, save school districts money

on energy costs, and spur the troubled U.S. economy. " However, Republicans

said that " the government should consider other demands for federal

education aid before committing to financing school construction projects. "

Rep. N. Castle (R-Del.) said the committee " ought to weigh carefully

whether Congress could afford to finance school facilities, given that it

hasn't provided enough funding for existing programs. "

Advertisement

D.C. officials hope better school food will increase sales.

On the front of its Metro section, the Washington Post (2/15, B1, Haynes)

reports that D.C. Schools Chancellor A. Rhee on Thursday announced

" that she will seek a contractor to upgrade the cafeteria menus with more

nutritious and tasty food, saying the in-house program lost $30 million in

three years partly because students refuse to buy meals that don't taste

good. " School officials said that only about " 40 percent of high-school

students consume a school lunch, compared with more than 70 percent in other

urban systems. " Rhee said the system " budgets $27 million annually for the

food program. "

" The shortfall has led to a loss of $9.5 million in fiscal 2006 and

an estimated loss of $11.6 million in 2008 for the food service office, "

adds the Washington Times (2/15, Wagner). D.C. Mayor M. Fenty (D)

said, " In order to effectively provide nutritious food that's

cost-effective, the administration has decided to turn to food service

experts who have the capacity and expertise to provide this difficult, yet

much-needed service. " In the bidding process, food service professionals

" will be required to take on the 222 full-time food service employees

already in the school system and provide fresh-cooked food and new menus for

high schools, as well as cooking equipment necessary for each school. "

School officials are also looking for a " plan to eliminate the system's food

services cost deficit in future years, or pay the school system if greater

deficits occur. "

" School officials are looking for a vendor who will replace items

like pizza, lasagna and chicken nuggets with fresh wraps, green salads and

made-to-order hamburgers, " the AP (2/15) adds. " The mayor and I want to

introduce students to a variety of foods to help train their palates to

choose healthier foods for the rest of their lives, " Rhee said. " Good

nutrition can certainly help enhance academic achievement. " A student panel

of " taste testers will help choose the contractor. "

Also in the News

New technology allows New Jersey school board to broadcast meetings.

On its front page, New Jersey's Suburban (2/14, Acker) reported that

residents of Sayreville " will soon be able to watch Board of Education and

Borough Council meetings from the comfort of their homes, thanks to new

technology. " According to School Business Administrator Emidio D',

the " board has been taping its meetings for several years now, but now will

do so in digital media format instead of analog. " The cost of the new

equipment was $6,000. Sandi , the school district's director of

technology, " is working with the cable company to upload the recorded

meetings to the cable system equipment. " Pat Lembo, board vice president,

noted that the " funds that the Board of Education used to buy the digital

recording equipment came out of the technology department's budget. "

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