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Item(s) found: 336
In-Depth Summary of Changes to FERPA Rules
Date CapturedThursday December 11 2008, 7:54 PM
Hug the kids, turn the page
Date CapturedSunday September 02 2007, 10:00 AM
Times Herald-Record opines, "For parents worrying about how they are going to fit in soccer practice and choir rehearsal, how about adding another stop to the itinerary — a weekly trip to the library, a few hours reading and talking about what was in the books. Let's face it, the kid is not going to make it in the MSL or the WNBA or the New York City Ballet. Reading, writing and communicating are the keys to the future. Think about 'no child left behind' not as a law or a line item in a budget but as a philosophy. Lobby the government to provide funding, show up at school events to show support. It's the start of a new school year. Time to read with the kids."
Schools Wait, Teeth Gritted: Their Grades Are Coming
Date CapturedSaturday September 01 2007, 9:31 AM
NY Times reports, "Making good on a promise to hold educators more accountable for student performance, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg will oversee the distribution of report cards for each of the city’s schools next month. Each school (and by extension its principal) will receive a letter grade in the mail, and the grade and the data that led to it will be posted on the Web, where parents can see and possibly stew over them. Mr. Bloomberg described the grades as part of 'the most sophisticated achievement data system in the nation, which will allow us to focus on how well individual students are learning.'"
QUEENS PARENTS: OUR SCHOOL'S A MAJOR HAZARD
Date CapturedSaturday September 01 2007, 9:25 AM
NY Post reports, "Angry parents at a Queens elementary school questioned yesterday why portions of the building resembled a hazard zone just days before it was set to open - and whether the rushed project was done aboveboard."
Who knows your student?
Date CapturedThursday August 30 2007, 12:24 PM
Vermont County Courier reports, "Many parents, though, are surprised to find out that more general information about their children - names, addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, honors and awards - can be more openly shared under FERPA. FERPA calls this 'directory information' that 'is generally not considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if released.' Mark Oettinger, the General Counsel for the Vermont Department of Education, said, 'The "directory information " piece is the exception.' According to FERPA, directory information can be disclosed by schools without parent consent."
SCHOOL 'HOT LINES' GO COLD: GOTBAUM
Date CapturedWednesday August 29 2007, 6:20 AM
NY Post reports, "Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum said employees at district offices, which are designed to serve as one-stop information centers on issues like transportation and enrollment in public schools, were largely unavailable or unresponsive to nearly 100 calls from her office last week. At nearly half the districts her team contacted, phone calls went unanswered or were not returned, according to the report. As a result, Gotbaum said she is launching an education hot line, at (212) 669-7250, to fill in the information gap."
Campus Safety 101
Date CapturedSunday August 26 2007, 9:35 AM
NY Times op-ed contributor Carolyn Reinach Wolf opines, "One of the major areas of concern in setting up a coordinating office is confidentiality requirements and parental notification. These issues, however, can be addressed by clarifying federal and state confidentiality laws, educating campus employees and parents about exceptions to these laws, and developing protocols to address those situations in which a choice must be made between liability for breach of confidentiality and liability for serious injury or death."
Speed up school safety audits
Date CapturedThursday August 23 2007, 8:25 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle opines, "There should be ongoing, month-to-month audits of every school. Results should be released to parents. Remediation should be immediate, and the public should be informed at every step. An unsafe school should be identified quickly, and dealt with quickly."
E-danger: Children vulnerable to sexual predators at popular Web sites
Date CapturedWednesday August 22 2007, 8:20 AM
Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin reports, "Have a discussion with your child about the value of privacy and how important it is not to disclose information that strangers anywhere could use to harm you. Never allow a child to use a suggestive name or one that describes personal features, disclose a school name or the name of the parents' workplaces. (Predators are very adept at using the simplest clue to figure out a child's location. Remind your child that it's not unusual for predators to cross the country to reach their targets.) Don't allow your child access to a Webcam, either."
Schools must pay when parents dispute special education
Date CapturedMonday August 20 2007, 8:08 AM
Journal News reports, "The law now says that school districts must prove their special-education decisions are made in the best interest of a child, instead of parents proving recommended programs harm their children."
Truancy could result in tickets
Date CapturedSaturday August 18 2007, 7:59 PM
Farmington Press reports, "The absence policy is on a semester basis. After three absences, a letter is sent to the parents about the school attendance policy. This letter is sent out automatically to those students who have missed that number of days, even if they have a doctor’s excuse. 'There is a contact number to call on the letter. Many times, parents who have received this first letter will call and say they have sent doctor’s excuses,' said Swinarski. 'They should not worry — if they’ve called, then that means they’re doing what they should do.' She explained this also gives parents an opportunity to perhaps let the district know about a certain health issue a child may have that can keep them from attending school. 'We can help them in whatever way they may need (after reviewing the case),' she said. A letter is also sent when a student has six absences in a semester. At seven absences, more steps are put into place. 'When a student reaches that seventh day, a letter is sent to the parents saying that anymore absences over that number would not allow the student to make up the work. We send out a date and time for a meeting that we would like to discuss this with them,' said Burch."
Yonkers schools make new push to involve parents
Date CapturedSaturday August 18 2007, 9:46 AM
Journal News reports, "School officials say they want to change the reception parents get from the district's employees to build more parental involvement in the schools. This year, the district will make an extra effort to reach out to more parents by extending more information, courtesy and invitations to get involved."
Tell parents who good teachers are
Date CapturedFriday August 17 2007, 9:45 AM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution opines, "Despite the rhetoric about the importance of improving schools in Georgia, no one in authority — not the governor, not the state school superintendent or local school boards — wants to acknowledge the elephant in the classroom, which is teacher quality. The leadership remains silent for fear of being trampled by outraged teachers and education lobbies protesting that there's no fair way to measure teacher performance. The conspiracy of silence is abetted by the state's colleges of education, which deny any responsibility for the skill of their graduates and avoid any discussion of quality out of fear that they'll be implicated and their profitable franchise jeopardized. After all, programs such as Teach for America have already demonstrated that bright college graduates can become excellent and effective teachers without ever stepping foot in a college of education."
After troubles, district looks to repair image
Date CapturedThursday August 16 2007, 7:25 AM
Poughkeepsie Journal reports, " After hearing the results of the recent state audit of the Poughkeepsie City School District, parents and community members said they want to be kept up to date about improvements in the district's management."
School Translators Can Help Parents Lost in the System
Date CapturedMonday August 13 2007, 8:37 AM
NY Times reports, "Forty-two percent of the parents of children in the school system [New York City schools], the country’s largest, are not native English speakers, and communicating with them is an immense challenge. That is especially the case at a time when the system is offering ever-increasing school choices but is also requiring students to go through a complex admissions process for high school and certain programs. So prodded by advocates for immigrants, Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein created a unit three years ago to translate a never-ending flow of school documents, like press releases, report cards and parent surveys, into the eight languages most commonly spoken in New York, after English: Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Bengali, Arabic, Urdu, Korean and Haitian Creole. It has since expanded to an office with 40 employees and a $4.5 million budget, and is the largest of its kind in any school system in the United States, said Kleber Palma, the unit’s director."
MIKE KOS CELLS IN SCHOOLS
Date CapturedFriday August 10 2007, 8:25 AM
NY Post Maggie Haberman reports, "Mayor Bloomberg yesterday vetoed a City Council bill that would let parents give kids cellphones to carry to and from school as part of a battle over letting students have them inside the buildings."
New Jersey Governor Calls for Training Teachers on Internet Safety
Date CapturedThursday August 09 2007, 11:15 AM
School Library Journal reports, "Teachers and administrators would use the training to instruct students, parents and community groups on the potential dangers they may encounter on the Internet, Corzine said in a letter to Attorney General Anne Milgram and Education Commissioner Lucille Davy. The letter asks that the departments of Law and Public Safety and Education work together to strengthen existing Internet safety training and that the program be established and implemented by the beginning of the 2007-2008 school year."
Engaging Parents in Education: Lessons From Five Parental Information And Resource Centers
Date CapturedThursday August 02 2007, 12:31 PM
The purpose of this guide, "Engaging Parents in Education: Lessons From Five Parental Information and Resources Centers," is to explain "how to" strategies that the Parent Information Resource Centers (PIRCs) use to improve or expand their parental involvement programs in public schools.
Checking on child care is duty of providers, the state, parents
Date CapturedThursday August 02 2007, 9:30 AM
Rochester and Democrat Chronicle Op-ed contributor Barbara-Ann Mattle, CEO of Child Care Council Inc. opines, "Parents have the responsibility to perform due diligence in selecting care for their children. This process can include a call to a child care consultant at the Child Care Council. Parents may also do an online search of the Council's Web site. Parents then should visit programs to determine their own and their child's comfort level. The New York State Office of Children and Family Services maintains a Web site that contains information on all complaints (resolved and unresolved) for any licensed or registered child care provider or program. This data base is available to parents as an additional research tool at www.ocfs.state.ny.us. Parents are the most consistent monitors of the child care system. They may visit their children at any time throughout the day. New York state regulations emphasize this 'open door policy.' The state Bureau of Early Childhood Services also continues to monitor the effectiveness of the regulatory system and to make adjustments that reflect the changing environment of care."
State is on guard to keep schools safe
Date CapturedWednesday August 01 2007, 8:52 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle guest essayist Alan Ray, director of communications and policy development, New York State Education Department opines, "During the past year, we have: *Provided help to Rochester's and other schools to create safer, more supportive learning environments and prevent bullying. *Held focus groups with parents, students, teachers and administrators to get more ideas on how to make schools safer. *Given uniform training to school personnel statewide on accurate reporting. *Made site visits to nearly 100 schools statewide to determine the accuracy of their data. *Provided detailed guidelines on the Internet so school officials can refer to them easily as needed. We are constantly adding to a question-and-answer document on the Web site as people seek additional guidance. *Developed a fully automated incident reporting system so schools can submit data electronically. This system has controls to help schools check the accuracy of their data and omit inadvertent errors."
PTA Response to Chairman Miller’s NCLB Reauthorization Proposal
Date CapturedTuesday July 31 2007, 9:09 PM
Our expectation is to work with Chairman Miller so that Congress will pass a bill providing more opportunities for parents to get involved, to build the vital parent-school-community partnerships, and to ensure schools will better inform parents about the progress of their child.
Federal grants will fund updates of school libraries
Date CapturedMonday July 30 2007, 12:38 PM
Buffalo News reports, "Ten schools in Niagara Falls will benefit from a $298,304 grant, and extended hours will be instituted to encourage families to visit school libraries."
PTA leader has strong message
Date CapturedMonday July 30 2007, 8:31 AM
Poughkeepsie Journal opines, "Men concerned about how schools handle issues that stretch well beyond classrooms should heed Saylors' call to get more involved by joining the PTA. You don't have to have a child in school to become involved. Membership is open to anybody concerned about the health, well-being and education of American children."
Fighting toxic school sites
Date CapturedTuesday July 24 2007, 7:17 AM
NY Daily News reports, "Toxic school sites could soon come face to face with a potent enemy - angry, protective parents."
Houston district keeping baseball stats private from parent
Date CapturedThursday July 19 2007, 6:23 AM
Houston Chronicle reports, "The law generally is viewed as covering students' educational records, such as grades and disciplinary history. Schools across the country regularly release player statistics for newspapers and game programs, but the Houston district contends that the FERPA law covers athlete's statistics."
EYE$ ON SIZE
Date CapturedWednesday July 18 2007, 7:44 AM
NY Post Chuck Bennett reports, "Parents and advocates will be able to look at how the money is used in every targeted school — a move they had been loudly demanding for some time. Still, leaders of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, the coalition of school and parent groups that initiated the suit against the state, were cautious in giving their thumbs up to the latest proposal, noting they still want to comb through the fine print. In all, the New York City school system will receive $1 billion extra in city and state funding for the 2007-08 school year. "
Smaller schools work well in NYC
Date CapturedSunday July 15 2007, 12:33 PM
Murray B. Light, former editor of The Buffalo News opines, "Truancy, discipline problems, substance abuse and gang involvement show great improvement. The level of student activity in extracurricular school also is much higher and more varied in the small schools than in the larger ones. The report also shows that student attendance was better in the smaller schools and that a smaller percentage of students dropped out of the smaller schools than the larger ones."
Yonkers school panel's closed meeting may have violated law
Date CapturedThursday July 12 2007, 8:41 AM
The Journal reports, "While parents at Tuesday's meeting were shut out of any budget talk, the board did discuss fostering a better relationship with parents by awarding a contract to a company that would canvass parents about their views of the Yonkers public schools."
An insider's view of a school board
Date CapturedSunday July 08 2007, 11:30 AM
Times Union reports, "He [Peter Golden] was motivated to start it [blog], he said, because more people vote in presidential elections than in school board races, even though the latter could have more of a direct effect on their lives. 'I wanted to open the process," Golden said. "I wanted people to be more interested.'" (website address is: http://petergolden.com/Boardside.htm)
Bill seeks to 'delete' Web site predators
Date CapturedWednesday July 04 2007, 8:44 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports, "According to the U.S. Department of Justice, one in five children are approached by an online predator and only 25 percent of those children tell their parents about the situation. About 50,000 sexual predators are online at any given time, and many of them often utilize social networking sites, according to data compiled by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children."
A Local Lesson That Democrats Fail
Date CapturedTuesday July 03 2007, 9:18 AM
Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen opines, "The litany of more and more when it comes to money often has little to do with what, in the military, are called facts on the ground: kids and parents. It does have a lot to do with teachers unions, which are strong supporters of the Democratic Party. Not a single candidate offered anything close to a call for real reform. Instead, a member of the audience could reasonably conclude that if only more money were allocated to these woe-is-me school systems, things would right themselves overnight."
Patrons’ Sway Leads to Friction in Charter School
Date CapturedFriday June 29 2007, 9:04 AM
NY Times DAVID M. HERSZENHORN reports, "The Reichs said the problem was that the board was 'constituency-based' and that they wanted members with practical skills like fund-raising or public relations instead. To get the changes, they threatened in a strongly worded letter to cut off their support unless all but three of the board members resigned. Among those told to quit were five parent and faculty representatives. At a board meeting last month, parents lashed out at the Reichs, angrily describing their relationship as that of master and servant or landlord and tenant."
Schools Plan to Pay Cash for Marks
Date CapturedTuesday June 19 2007, 9:56 AM
NY Times reports, "Sol Stern, a fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute, called the idea a[n] 'insult to every hard-working parent.' Mr. Stern has said he would support paying teachers more to work in low-performing schools. But he cautioned against giving too much credence to the notion that money would prod students. He said the mayor was being a 'sucker for the market system.'”
PAY-THE-POOR PLAN: 3G TO PASS 5 TESTS
Date CapturedTuesday June 19 2007, 8:57 AM
NY Post Maggie Haberman reports on Bloomberg's plan, "Gibbs [Deputy Mayor] said it would cost 'hundreds of millions' if the program works without a hitch and the city decided to try it on a broader basis after two years."
Bloomberg to pay the poorest to learn and work
Date CapturedTuesday June 19 2007, 8:43 AM
NY Daily News reports, "The city is dangling a big fat carrot in front of New York's poorest kids, offering them $600 for every tough Regents exam they pass as part of Mayor Bloomberg's ambitious $53 million anti-poverty program. And it's not just hitting the books that pays off. Families who do what's right - such as going to the doctor, getting a job and even showing up for parent-teacher conferences - can make between $4,000 and $6,000 a year, tax-free."
DOE Officials Field Parents' Questions At Town Hall Meeting
Date CapturedSunday June 17 2007, 10:59 AM
NY1 reports, "Parents with questions about their children's schools got some time with Department of Education officials Saturday. Chief Family Engagement Officer Martine Guerrier led a town hall meeting, open to all parents, at Brooklyn Tech High School in Fort Greene. "
The NetLingo Top 20 Internet Acronyms Every Parent Needs to Know
Date CapturedSaturday June 16 2007, 7:59 PM
Manhattan: Money to Support Parents in Schools
Date CapturedFriday June 08 2007, 8:19 AM
NY Times reports, "Robert Jackson, the chairman of the City Council Education Committee, yesterday proposed a $3.2 million budget outlay to support programs that encourage parent involvement in public schools."
Four simple steps can boost grad rate Reworking Rochester: Schools
Date CapturedThursday June 07 2007, 6:41 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle guest essayist Michael Christman, president of the New York State Institute of Educational Excellence opines, "An examination of district data provides us with four simple steps that can be accomplished now: Ensure that all students attend school regularly; ensure that all students are safe while at school; ensure that all students take the coursework necessary to graduate; and ensure that everyone is held accountable for the outcome."
Auburn schools fight poor attendance
Date CapturedSaturday June 02 2007, 10:35 AM
Post-Standard reports, "He [Auburn schools Superintendent John Plume] addressed the problem in this month's district newsletter and said the district will take these steps in 2007-08: *Attempt to list attendance records on student transcripts that are reviewed by colleges and businesses. *Make more calls to parents and dole out more consequences for unexcused tardiness and absences. *Give students with the best attendance first crack at taking driving classes in the summer. 'However, little will change unless students want to be in school and parents and community members help boost the importance of improved attendance,' he said in the newsletter."
Real education begins at home, especially in summer
Date CapturedWednesday May 30 2007, 9:16 AM
Times Herald-Record op-ed contributor Dorothy Rich, founder and president of the nonprofit Home and School Institute, MegaSkills Education Center in Washington opines, "In the light of what we are learning about how many children today are feeling lonely, it is more important than ever for families to use time off from school to help children feel loved and be able to do better when schools come back into session again."
Study ties religion to student success
Date CapturedMonday May 28 2007, 9:43 AM
CONTRA COSTA TIMES reports, "The White House has embraced a researcher whose work suggests religion can do what ample federal nourishment has not -- narrow the achievement gap between white and minority students. The gap narrows by 25 percent in religious schools, said William Jeynes of Cal State Long Beach in the current issue of the Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion. When the student comes from an 'intact family' and professes religious commitment, the gap disappears."
Teachin' substance with style; Grand Concourse charter school tops city's 4th-grade test scores
Date CapturedSunday May 27 2007, 4:23 PM
NY Daily News Ethan Rouen reports, "The teachers often work 13-hour days, meeting with parents, grading weekly book reports and testing students every other month. Following tests, students are regrouped based on their performance. The school frowns on social promotion, refusing to graduate unprepared students based on age or parent pressure. The repetitive testing also serves as a way for Victor to grade his teachers."
Ottumwa, IOWA school parents peeved over policy
Date CapturedThursday May 24 2007, 8:19 AM
The Ottumwa Courier reports, "The district’s attendance policy, which went district-wide the first day of this school year, allows a virtually unlimited amount of 'excused' absences approved by a doctor or school nurse. Parents can only keep a child out six days without proof. After six 'unexcused' absences, the district starts sending letters stressing the importance of attendance. Successive letters contain stronger, more insistent language. If those do not work, the district orders an attendance hearing with the parents. If ignored, they can bring in the county attorney. 'These are threats and strong-arm tactics that are going to alienate parents,' Runkle claims."
Pay the poor for good behavior?
Date CapturedThursday May 24 2007, 7:56 AM
The Christian Science Monitor opines, "The value of Bloomberg's plan is that its incentives approach reinforces an emerging political consensus on how best to help the poor. The New Deal and Great Society programs generally didn't require people to change behavior to get assistance – thus the birth of the 'welfare queen.' But the welfare reform of the last decade showed that people really do want to do for themselves; they just need an incentive, or a consequence. Not only did plunging welfare rolls prove that point, but so has another incentive-based tool for the poor: the Earned Income Tax Credit. That direct payout is available only to whose who work. Studies show it has reduced both family and child poverty."
Section 104.1(i) of Commissioner’s Regulations
Date CapturedMonday May 14 2007, 9:18 PM
EXCERPT: (vi) a description of the incentives to be employed to encourage pupil attendance and any disciplinary sanctions to be used to discourage unexcused pupil absences, tardiness and early departures; (vii) a description of the notice to be provided to the parent(s) of or person(s) in parental relation to pupils who are absent, tardy or depart early without proper excuse. (viii) a description of the process to develop specific intervention strategies to be employed by teachers and other school employees to address identified patterns of unexcused pupil absence, tardiness or early departure; (ix) identification of the person(s) designated in each school building who will be responsible for reviewing pupil attendance records and initiating appropriate action to address unexcused pupil absence, tardiness and early departure consistent with the comprehensive attendance policy. (3) The board of education, board of cooperative educational services, charter school board, county vocational education and extension board and governing body of a nonpublic school shall annually review the building level pupil attendance records and if such records show a decline in pupil attendance the board or governing body shall revise the comprehensive pupil attendance policy and make any revisions to the plan deemed necessary to improve pupil attendance. (4) Each board of education, board of cooperative educational services, charter school board, county vocational education and extension board, and nonpublic school shall promote necessary community awareness of its comprehensive attendance policy by: (i) providing a plain language summary of the policy to the parents or persons in parental relation to students at the beginning of each school year and taking such other steps deemed necessary to promote the understanding of such policy by students and their parents or persons in parental relation; (ii) providing each teacher with a copy of the policy and any amendments thereto as soon as practicable following initial adoption or amendment of the policy, and providing new teachers with a copy of the policy upon their employment; and (iii) making copies of the policy available to any other member of the community upon request.
School survey: Syracuse parents pleased
Date CapturedSunday May 13 2007, 7:53 AM
Post-Standard reports, "The first major survey in more than a decade of Syracuse school district parents shows about 75 percent of them - be they black, white, more educated or less educated - generally are satisfied with the education their children receive. On the flip side, about one-quarter of parents or guardians are not satisfied, and school environment and discipline are big concerns."
Re-Engaging Youth in School: Evaluation of the Truancy Reduction Demonstration Project
Date CapturedSaturday May 12 2007, 5:46 PM
National Center for School Engagement, August 10, 2006. "The following data reflect all seven demonstration sites in the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Truancy Prevention project. These sites are located in Suffolk County, New York; Contra Costa, California: Tacoma and Seattle, Washington; Houston, Texas; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Jacksonville, Florida. The purpose of collecting these data was to identify the intervention population and track truant students’ progress. The first set of tables is the aggregate of these seven sites from the projects inception to July 21, 2006. Following these data are the individual site reports. This report includes the following information: • Students Served • Ethnicity of Students • Grades of Students • Age of Students • Gender of Students • IEP status • Discipline Problems • Involvement with Juvenile Justice • Primary Care Giver • Income Eligibility Status • Students who live in home with only one adult • Students who have no working adult in the home • Average Number of children in the home • Unexcused Absences over Time • Excused Absences over Time • Tardies over Time • Days of In-School Suspensions • Days of Out-of-School Suspensions • Overall Academic Performance (over time)" "The overarching goal of truancy prevention is obviously to improve attendance and this effort was successful. In general, while excused daily absences did not change appreciably, unexcused daily absences fell dramatically and tardies declined. Period absences did not change linearly and therefore a meaningful trend isn’t apparent. Of the sites that reported enough update data, the most successful sites were Jacksonville and Honolulu. These sites primarily targeted parents because the target student population were elementary students. All sites had less information for students across time. One reason for this may be that students who no longer needed intervention were no longer tracked. Thus, reported improvements may actually be smaller than what actually occurred." " In general, the elementary-level truancy issues may be easier to deal with because the children are not 'deep-end' yet and the parents are the primary focus. Older truants are likely to have more challenges and thus may require more intensive services."
U.S. Department of Education Awards $1.6 Million to Help Students Develop Strong Character and Good Citizenship
Date CapturedSaturday May 12 2007, 9:15 AM
The Partnerships in Character Education Program awards grants for up to four years to eligible state and local education agencies to design and implement character education programs that teach students core ethical concepts, such as: civics; citizenship; justice; responsibility; and respect themselves and others. Grant recipients must show how they have integrated character education into classroom instruction and teacher training. They also must involve parents, students and the community in the process. The projects are evaluated to determine their success in helping students develop positive character, reduce discipline problems and improve academic achievement. Projects also must increase parent and community involvement with the school.
Scarsdale schools' plan to drop AP courses sparks backlash
Date CapturedSaturday May 12 2007, 8:54 AM
The Journal News reports, "McGill [Scarsdale superintendent Michael V. McGill] said money has nothing to do with it. Rather, the school district wants to offer an education that will distinguish it from the thousands of high schools that offer AP courses. McGill explained that the board was responding to concerns about the quality of the advanced placement courses. The board authorized McGill on Monday to eliminate AP art and social studies courses in September to determine if an advanced topics plan works for those subjects. If results are positive, the district will eliminate AP courses such as English, math, science and foreign languages. McGill said that students who want to take an AP test can still do so, and the district will provide test preparation courses. About 70 percent of Scarsdale's high school students take an advanced placement class, and about half of those take more than one."
Manhattan School Survey Pushed Back
Date CapturedTuesday May 08 2007, 9:26 AM
NY Times reports, "The Department of Education has extended a deadline for surveys measuring satisfaction in the schools from May 18 to June 1, officials said. The surveys, for parents, teachers and students from grades 6 to 12, are part of a $2 million city effort."
Law gives parents more access to childrens' incident reports
Date CapturedMonday May 07 2007, 8:42 AM
AP reports, "A key provision of 'Jonathan's Law' will require residential health facilities to notify parents and guardians within 24 hours of incidents affecting the health and safety of their children. The law will require facilities to provide parents and guardians with incident reports upon request and it will give parents access to records pertaining to allegations of patient abuse or mistreatment."
District targets sports conduct
Date CapturedSunday May 06 2007, 9:02 AM
Star-Gazette reports, "The Horseheads Central School District is developing a "cutting edge" code of conduct for student-athletes, coaches and parents/spectators that could become a model for districts all over New York state."
Inform parents -- government policies must not keep families in the dark
Date CapturedFriday May 04 2007, 8:25 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle opines, "Unfortunately, it took the death of a child to alert government to the flaws in a law that left parents on the outside looking in. This should be a wake-up call to the state and government at all levels to ensure that laws and policies are clear when it comes to parents and minor children: parents are to be told about matters large, small and in-between. The state must facilitate the bond between child and parent. Not break it."
Schools survey sez... $3.3M plan will quiz all PS teachers, students & parents for overall grade
Date CapturedTuesday May 01 2007, 7:37 AM
NY Daily News reports, "In anonymous surveys going out this week, parents will describe their perceptions of schools, while teachers will rate their principals - and reveal whether parents respond to calls home. And kids in grades six through 12 will rate the quality of their assignments and disclose whether their classmates are in gangs or use drugs."
A Lack of Interest (and Candidates) in New System’s School Parent Councils
Date CapturedSaturday April 28 2007, 9:52 AM
NY Times reports, "Unlike the old school board elections, open to all registered voters, current state law restricts this election so that only the top three officers of each school’s parent association vote for council members. Parents serving on the district councils are ineligible to be officers in the parent associations of their own schools. Many parents who have been elected to the councils say they feel out of the loop, disrespected by an education department that, they say, decides first and asks later. And several council presidents said they were frustrated by a perceived lack of support from school principals, many of whom do not even know who their council members are."
We can stem truancy with community effort
Date CapturedWednesday April 25 2007, 9:53 AM
Indianapolis Star opines, "Gaylon Nettles, the state [Indiana] Department of Education's chief attendance officer, is right in noting that neither parents nor schools can stem truancy on their own. It will take a strong community effort to keep children on the path to improving their educational and economic destinies.
A battle with absentees
Date CapturedMonday April 23 2007, 11:08 AM
Indianapolis Tribune opines, "Changing the pattern of poor attendance must start with parents, who must take the time to ensure that their children are in school each day. But school districts, police and the community as a whole also have vital roles to play in holding students and their parents accountable. At a time when a good education has never been more important for economic stability, the high truancy rates that plague Wayne Township and other school districts are intolerable. Missing school may well translate into young people missing opportunities to graduate, land good jobs and secure their future."
CITY EDUCATION PLAN TO BOOT 'NEGATIVE' PTA FOLKS
Date CapturedSunday April 22 2007, 9:20 AM
NY Post reports, "Principals may soon have the power to expel parents from PTAs. The city Department of Education is mulling a stunning policy change that would allow principals to ban parents from the volunteer panels for patterns of 'negative behavior.' The controversial proposal to alter existing chancellor's regulations comes as the DOE is trying to increase parent involvement - adding paid parent coordinators at each school and hiring a $150,000 parent czar."
Mayor Revises Some Points of School Budget Proposal
Date CapturedFriday April 20 2007, 9:01 AM
NY Times DAVID M. HERSZENHORN reports, "The deals also call for the city’s Education Department to establish committees to improve parent relations, to comply with a new state law requiring the city to reduce class sizes, and to provide oversight of the new budget process. In addition, the administration agreed to work with the City Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn, on improving middle schools."
Parents, UFT and city in talkathon
Date CapturedThursday April 19 2007, 9:01 AM
NY Daily News CARRIE MELAGO reports, "The city officials offered to modify the proposed new school funding plan, possibly leaving teachers' salaries out of the formula, sources said. They also suggested the creation of a task force to study parent involvement, sources said. 'There were crumbs for everybody,' said a person who attended the meeting."
BROOKLYN SCHOOL IN SPACE WAR
Date CapturedTuesday April 10 2007, 8:44 AM
NY Post David Andreatta reports, "Parents claim the new school would force PS 282 to cram 35 students to a classroom and compromise its art, science and computer-instruction programs."
PTA Recommendations for Parent Involvement in the Upcoming ESEA-NCLB Reauthorization
Date CapturedMonday April 09 2007, 10:22 AM
As Congress moves towards reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), reauthorized in 2001 as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), PTA has crafted specific recommendations to improve the parent involvement provisions within the law. While ensuring local flexibility, PTA recommends creating a system of accountability designed to encourage parents to be active partners in their child's education.
High school attendance, discipline, grades available to parents online
Date CapturedSunday April 08 2007, 4:40 PM
Eagle Tribune (MA) reports, "The program also includes student biographical information, some of which, Hill admitted, is incorrect. He's hoping making that information available to parents will help clear up those errors."
New Jersey Special Education Enrollment Up Again in ’06
Date CapturedSunday April 08 2007, 11:08 AM
NY Times reports, "School officials have many theories about the growth, including the increasing sophistication of parents advocating for services for their children and backdoor efforts by districts to get more state money and increase achievement scores. But one thing is certain: The increase in special education enrollment is adding to tax bills."
Lifeline for Special Education parents
Date CapturedFriday April 06 2007, 10:51 AM
The Queens Courier reports, "The center acts both as advocate for the parents, explaining unfamiliar terms and informing them of their rights, and as a haven, providing 'respite' sessions for frazzled parents, to watch a movie on TV in peace, or pamper themselves with a manicure. Since starting up last October, PRCQ has helped about 40 parents 'get control of their family back,' according to Jacobs. 'Right now we have nine new intakes, and another five applicants. Sometimes they just need a referral to a therapist or an explanation and they move on. Some we work with on an ongoing basis.' she said."
Into School, Out Of Control
Date CapturedThursday April 05 2007, 5:35 PM
Hartford Courant reports, "The problem of violence among older children at the high school and middle school levels has been present for years in New Britain and across the country. But now, school officials say, an increasing number of elementary school children are resorting to physical and psychological abuse to resolve conflicts."
Charter OK no help till next year
Date CapturedMonday April 02 2007, 10:20 AM
NY Daily News Erin Einhorn reports, "Many of the city's 58 charter schools have long waiting lists of parents hoping to enroll kids. The schools, often seen as innovative, are subject to less bureaucracy and have more flexibility than traditional public schools. The new charter law addresses some parent concerns by requiring the Education Department to hold hearings before placing a charter within an existing public school. It also requires new charters that enroll 250 students in their first two years to hire only unionized employees."
MIKE'S MILLIONS TO BE 'REWARD' $$ FOR POOR
Date CapturedFriday March 30 2007, 8:06 AM
NY Post reports, "Regular attendance at elementary school would be worth $25 every two months. At the high-school level, the payoff doubles to $50. Students who get high grades on major exams could earn $200 to $300 a pop for their struggling households. Similar payoffs would be available for 20 to 25 other activities deemed beneficial to society and the family."
POL PUSH VS. SCHOOL CHANGES
Date CapturedThursday March 29 2007, 8:25 AM
NY Post David Andreatta writes, "[City Councilman and head of Education Committee] Jackson promoted the nonbinding measure [resolution urging the Department of Education to stop its reorganization of the school system] outside City Hall with a dozen officials and about 40 parents and protesters, who chanted 'Listen to the parents!' as Mayor Bloomberg exited the building without acknowledging the rallying cry. 'That just shows what he's doing - he's not listening even when you scream and yell,' said parent Corinna Lindenberg."
Mike's school funding fix worked out West
Date CapturedThursday March 29 2007, 8:11 AM
NY Daily News Guest Contributor Arlene Ackerman, Christian A. Johnson professor of Outstanding Educational Practice at Teachers College, Columbia University opines, "Many have complained that the reform push here has shut out community voices. But to their credit, Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein are now doing extensive outreach. People shouldn't hesitate to speak out - not only about what they think the precise sums of money ought to be but also, in the end, about how individual schools should spend their budgets given newfound autonomy. In San Francisco, site-based decision-making provided new opportunities for community members to participate in the decisions that matter most to children. The same can happen here. The mayor and chancellor have aroused anxiety in part because they have tackled one issue that we in San Francisco didn't address. We essentially said that schools with many senior teachers would be held harmless for those teachers' higher costs. Bloomberg has said he will do that for existing teachers, but not for future teachers. Because high-poverty schools chronically have lower-salary teachers, that's a big step. The mayor deserves applause for tackling this challenge."
PTA Urges Inclusion of Four Key Principals in NCLB Reauthorization
Date CapturedTuesday March 27 2007, 11:40 AM
The recommendations outline four major principals: assuring the implementation of parent involvement provisions required in NCLB; delivering clear, timely information to parents; integrating Parent Information and Resource Centers (PIRCs) into parent involvement plans; and providing incentives to businesses and community groups to encourage school-community partnerships.
Spitzer's school BMI plan borders on tyrannical
Date CapturedMonday March 26 2007, 8:54 AM
Times Union contributor and parent SVEN R LARSON, in a Letter to the Editor writes, "Ideas of enforced physical conformity have been practiced before, in a country six time zones east of New York. The results were disastrous. Perhaps the governor should give that some thought before he takes his BMI grade idea any further. He should also consider the risks of an epidemic of eating disorders among our kids. After all, that is the only way most kids will be able to comply with the anatomic standards in Gov. Spitzer's dream world."
CALL WAITING (& WAITING) FOR SPECIAL-ED PARENTS
Date CapturedMonday March 26 2007, 8:23 AM
NY Post David Andreatta reports, "A majority of parents of special-education students are left hanging on the phone when they call the Education Department for help, a report out today charges. A survey of 98 calls to the Committees on Special Education for each of the city Department of Education's 10 regions found that less than half were answered or returned within a week."
POTEMKIN PROTESTERS
Date CapturedWednesday March 21 2007, 7:30 AM
NY Post opines, "Frankly, it's the UFT and its dubious allies who are disrespecting parents. Shame on them."
PARENT PROTEST SHAKES SCHOOL-SHAKEUP MEETING
Date CapturedTuesday March 20 2007, 8:04 AM
NY Post David Andreatta reports, "Dozens of angry parents, students and activists last night disrupted a panel meeting headed by Chancellor Joel Klein, in protest of his planned reorganization of the city's school system. Chanting, 'No respect for parents' and 'Listen to the parents,' about 60 protesters stalled the monthly gathering of the Panel for Educational Policy at Department of Education headquarters for 20 minutes."
Focus on school district access; Watchdog group reaches out to educate public on right to know
Date CapturedThursday March 15 2007, 8:11 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports, "A fledgling education watchdog group has announced an outreach program to improve accountability in the Rochester School District. According to the Rochester Fund for Educational Accountability, its mission is to educate parents and taxpayers on their right to public information."
E-mails, Web sites provide parents easier access to district information
Date CapturedFriday March 09 2007, 8:18 AM
Poughkeepsie Journal reports, "Shortly after he became superintendent of the Webutuck School District, Richard Johns started sending out e-mails called the 'Key Communicator.' Gian Stagnaro relies on the periodic messages from the district to keep him apprised of issues and events."
Dial down the nasty, Regent urges angry New York City parents
Date CapturedFriday March 09 2007, 7:48 AM
NY Daily News Erin Einhorn reports, " State Board of Regents member called on city parent leaders yesterday to 'tone down' the rhetoric they're using to oppose the Education Department. Following weeks in which Mayor Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein have met with rising fury from parents who feel they've not been consulted on sweeping changes planned for schools, Regent Merryl Tisch, a longtime Bloomberg ally, visited a citywide parents group to urge calm."
Caution urged on school makeover; Parents and community groups raise questions and seek input on Albany reorganization
Date CapturedFriday March 09 2007, 7:09 AM
Times Union reports, "Sherita Traywick, a mentor to several students, told city school district officials earlier this week that the massive reorganization planned for the middle schools and Albany High is missing crucial input from parents and other community members. 'In order for this plan to work, you need us,' she told the school board and other officials, her voice rising. 'What you need to do is halt this plan and have a town hall meeting where community members can ask their questions."
Why We Fight: How Public Schools Cause Social Conflict
Date CapturedThursday March 08 2007, 2:48 PM
Neal McCluskey, policy analyst at the Center for Educational Freedom writes, "This paper reexamines the accepted story about public schooling’s role in creating unity and upholding democracy. First, it documents outbreaks over the past academic year of the most divisive kinds of public school conflicts— those pitting people’s deeply held values against each other—and makes clear that such combat is inevitable when everyone is required to pay for an official school system that only the most politically powerful control. Next, it examines the historical record of American education and finds that conflict and division have long been part of public schooling. Finally, the report identifies the true foundations of the nation’s unity and success, and explains why the only system of education that can effectively support a free society is one that is itself grounded in freedom."
Elmira Schools chief rejects uniforms
Date CapturedThursday March 08 2007, 10:30 AM
Star-Gazette reports, "Superintendent Raymond Bryant put the school uniform issue to rest Wednesday night, recommending that the Elmira City School District instead focus on strengthening its dress code. Bryant told the school board his decision to change direction was based on statements made by parents and students at last week's public hearing and by the results of the district's telephone survey of residents over the past several days. Uniforms had been a hot topic since the board took up the issue last spring."
Children's Zone needs focus
Date CapturedThursday March 08 2007, 10:25 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle opines, "The challenge ahead will be to prioritize, to decide where to start among the many needs identified, and to maintain the collaborative flavor. The best approach might be to start with one issue, say parenting skills, in a two- or three-block area, and to show early success on a small scale, thus countering the notion that this is just another over-planned Rochester initiative that goes nowhere. Another test will be to figure out how to fit the Children's Zone and its major strategic vision into what social services agencies are already doing in the city's northeast."
All must see to it that schools succeed
Date CapturedThursday March 08 2007, 9:58 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle Guest Essayist Stephen Uebbing, professor in the University of Rochester's Warner School of Education writes, "Schools are reflections of the society they serve, and thus, real accountability must include the social systems surrounding the schoolhouse. Schools must embrace deep parent and community involvement if they hope to realize true reform, especially in high need areas. Fundamental systemic changes, such as the Rochester Children's Zone, offer real promise. In the end, society deserves accountability for its investment, and if the superintendent has to serve as the vanguard for such accountability, so be it. But let's also recognize that we are all accountable for our public schools, and only when we make the entire system accountable do we achieve 'true' reform."
Big brother is looming; $80M computer to track kids and educators in detail
Date CapturedTuesday March 06 2007, 7:18 AM
NY Daily News Erin Einhorn reports, "The system will combine existing data on kids - from a child's gender and race to whether he or she needs special education services to the name of his or her third-grade teacher - with new data to be generated from annual state exams and interim tests given to kids every four to six weeks. The interim tests measure whether kids havemastered specific skills, such as multiplying fractions or distinguishing fact from opinion, at different times of the year. Teachers will be able to see an entire classroom of results at once. Principals will be able to see an entire school. Parents eventually will have access to their own kids' data plus summary facts about their child's school, the results of parent, student and teacher surveys and details about how their school scored on annual reviews."
A poseur for parents
Date CapturedTuesday March 06 2007, 6:58 AM
NY Daily News opines, "The United Federation of Teachers is orchestrating a vocal, visible campaign that casts Bloomberg's reforms as the work of inept bureaucrats. And, give her credit, UFT President Randi Weingarten has done a masterful job of pulling together a Noah's Ark of advocates and packaging them as the one true voice of city parents."
Mike's leap of faith
Date CapturedMonday March 05 2007, 8:31 AM
NY Daily News reports, "Last week, more than 1,000 parents and activists rallied against the Education Department's reorganization plans and complained their opinions are being ignored. Bloomberg told the congregations he plans to make the teacher tenure process "more accountable and more rigorous." He also said a new program will start in September to base school funding on the number of students enrolled. 'Some schools get more money than others - that's just wrong,' Bloomberg said."
BROOKLYN MOM'S A 'SCHOOL FOLKS' HERO
Date CapturedSunday March 04 2007, 10:12 AM
NY Post reports, "Guerrier said the first thing on her agenda are meetings with parents that have written to the chancellor about specific needs."
Ohio local district considers new book selection policy for teachers
Date CapturedFriday March 02 2007, 10:03 AM
AP reports, "A school board is considering a new policy to guide teachers’ book selections that would require them to support their choices with professional reviews and provide as many as six titles for parents to choose instead. The book summaries would have to come from an outside organization with a scholarly view, such as the American Library Association, and include information about the age or grade level for which the text is appropriate, said Eric Gordon, executive director of secondary learning for Olentangy Local Schools in suburban Columbus. The proposed policy, presented to the board this week, was sparked by parents’ concerns over the content of books that the district had intended to use last year, Gordon said."
Elmira schools to enforce dress code
Date CapturedFriday March 02 2007, 9:22 AM
Star-Gazette reports, "In a news release, the district said students who violate the rules of dress will be asked to change clothes or cover up the offending item. If the student can't or won't do that, a parent will be called to bring appropriate clothing, the statement said. The statement said the cooperation of parents is a key to the success of that effort."
MAYOR BLOOMBERG TAPS CRITIC FOR EDUCATION POST
Date CapturedThursday March 01 2007, 6:55 AM
NY Post David Andreatta reports, "Martine Guerrier, a Brooklyn mom and member of the Panel for Educational Policy, the successor to the Board of Education, will be paid $150,000 a year to manage parent-support functions as the CEO of family engagement for the Department of Education. The differences between the pair were evident immediately after the mayor announced her appointment at City Hall, when she disagreed with his assessment that "most parents really are pleased" with the school system."
Tracking bad behavior will help students' parents: Misconduct data will show school trends
Date CapturedTuesday February 27 2007, 8:34 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle opines, "One of the lingering problems with education is that the public has little sense of continuity, the way that a strong pre-kindergarten program, for example, leads in a quantifiable way to better scores in second, third and fourth grade. Or, on the negative side, how intermittent stories of teacher misbehavior reveal not isolated events but an increasing problem."
New York City principals powerless to quell violence - Public advocate charges DOE is not helping administrators get a handle on woes
Date CapturedSaturday February 24 2007, 2:25 PM
Brooklyn Heights Courier reports, "Some Brooklyn parents suggest that the DOE implement intervention services to prevent disagreements between students from escalating into all-out brawls that put school administrators and staffers in danger. They’ve called for the creation of school-based health centers in more local schools, as the facilities provide medical and psychological care to youths."
White Plains program offers immigrants help with children's education
Date CapturedTuesday January 16 2007, 5:49 AM
The Journal News reports, "A new family dinner-workshop run by the White Plains Youth Bureau aims to integrate immigrant parents into their children's schooling and the community. The 12-week Family Excel, or 'Avance Familiar' in Spanish, usually meets Wednesday nights at the White Plains Middle School's Highland campus to answer parents' questions about homework, education and other city services."
'It's gotten better, but it's bad'
Date CapturedMonday January 15 2007, 9:01 AM
Chicago Sun-Times reports, "In schools with high concentrations of Hispanic students, it has long been common to see empty seats in class the week or two before and after Christmas, when immigrant families take their kids to visit relatives back home. But parent outreach efforts at the Chicago Public Schools, turmoil in Mexico and Latin America, and increased border security have meant fewer kids are missing days this school year, say teachers and administrators."
Emotions high at hearing over schools' axing
Date CapturedMonday January 15 2007, 3:52 AM
NY Daily News reports, "Each of the targeted schools had a graduation rate below 45% - a statistic that Region 6 Superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard called 'unacceptable.' Creating small schools 'is the best way to change the tide and to change it quickly,' he said. Some in the audience agreed, but opposed the decision-making process."
Caney Valley (Oklahoma) implements truancy program
Date CapturedThursday January 11 2007, 9:46 AM
Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise reports, "The team sets up a plan with the parents — to decrease absences and tardiness — and closely monitors the attendance of the child to be sure that the plan is being followed."
BADILLO'S SALVO AT HISPANIC CRITICS
Date CapturedWednesday January 10 2007, 12:40 PM
NY Post CARL CAMPANILE reports, "Herman Badillo yesterday defended his controversial book in which he writes that Hispanic parents don't value education - and slammed his Latino critics as caring more about organizing big parades than educating kids."
Adding up teachers
Date CapturedWednesday January 10 2007, 6:24 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle opines, "The state's teacher data give high marks to most local suburban districts and a lower grade to the City School District. Rochester officials said Tuesday the information is flawed and that the district has more "highly qualified'' teachers than they're getting credit for. For example, the numbers show 44 percent of the city's reading teachers are below the standard. The city says they're all highly qualified. Let's get the numbers right, but with the knowledge that, even when they are right, they don't tell the whole story. Only a good teacher-child-parent relationship can fill in the gaps."
HVCC expands to Troy housing project
Date CapturedMonday January 08 2007, 5:34 AM
Troy Record reports, "There are 261 children under the age of 6 and 91 between the ages of 14 and 18 living in the 390-unit complex on Madison and Spring avenues. Parents and children who reside there could benefit from this kind of opportunity [child development courses], HVCC Teacher Preparation Department Chairperson Nancy Cupolo said."
Put down the pitchforks and hear Badillo out
Date CapturedSunday January 07 2007, 7:31 AM
NY Daily News ANDREA BATISTA SCHLESINGER writes, "If we're ever going to have systemic change, we need all parents, no matter their race or background, to be involved in the school system - and not just ankle deep. It's not enough to check homework each night. So how do we do it? First of all, the school system makes it far harder than it needs to be for Hispanic parents. It took years to get the Department of Education to agree to provide translation services to parents."
No Child Left Behind Act flawed but likely to stay
Date CapturedSaturday January 06 2007, 2:31 PM
sbsun.com reports, "Before he was a teacher in Inglewood, Sanders was a black kid growing up in Birmingham, Ala., in the era of Jim Crow laws. His mom had a seventh-grade education, and his dad was illiterate. But his family valued education, and he worked hard in school. Sanders says No Child Left Behind unfairly blames schools and teachers for poor student performance. He says the law should do more to address societal issues affecting children in urban areas, including poverty and what he describes as a lack of parental interest in education."
California child care rating system needed
Date CapturedFriday January 05 2007, 9:57 AM
San Francisco Chronicle reports, "California licenses about 58,000 child care facilities serving 1.2 million children, but little information is readily available to parents about their safety and quality of care. To fix the problem, California should adopt a uniform ratings system, the state Legislative Analyst's Office urged in a report released Thursday." Approximately 13 states have detailed ratings systems while 30 others have partial ratings systems.
Online database opens a window for parents to compare schools
Date CapturedThursday January 04 2007, 5:53 AM
USA TODAY Greg Toppo reports, "A website by the National Council on Teacher Quality (www.nctq.org/cb), scheduled to launch today, promises to shine a light on teachers' working conditions. It gathers the minutiae of union collective-bargaining agreements and state policies for the nation's 50 largest school districts into a consumer-friendly database that allows anyone to compare districts. Together, the 50 districts educate 8 million children — about one in six public school children in the USA — and employ nearly half a million teachers."
Union-Endicott school district to show school targeted for work
Date CapturedWednesday January 03 2007, 4:24 AM
Press & Sun-Bulletin reports, "'It's important for the public to get a firsthand look at the school so they can get a feeling of the condition that it's currently in,' said Matt Schroedel, the father of an eighth-grade student at Jennie F. Snapp who chairs the district's facilities committee."
Report Card on American Education: A State by State Analysis: 1983-1984 to 2003-2004
Date CapturedTuesday January 02 2007, 7:33 AM
This American Legislative Exchange Council study ranks the educational performance of the school systems in the states, and the District of Columbia according to several criteria including National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), SAT, and ACT scores. Author Andrew T. LeFevre concludes, "As more and more parents see that they can—and should— have a choice in their child’s education, it causes more and more leaks in the dam that has been holding back real educational reform. And soon, the educational establishment will run out of fi ngers to plug those leaks and then the fl ood of educational reform and school choice will finally be free to flow all across this great nation—bringing liberation to many that have struggled far too long to escape from an educational system that has failed them all too often."
Iowa school turn to parents
Date CapturedMonday January 01 2007, 9:25 AM
The Quad-City Times reports, "The Davenport district has started in the past year to use Epstein’s model of parental involvement, called “Building Successful Partnerships,” to strengthen ties with parents. That comes after parents told district officials two years ago they wanted more ways to communicate with schools and be involved in the education of their children, said Karen Farley, a spokeswoman for the district."
Mount Vernon school board considering uniforms for students
Date CapturedThursday December 28 2006, 6:00 AM
The Journal News reports, "The proposed policy is the latest in a series of changes by the new principal, Stephen Jackson, in an effort to turn around the troubled high school. The school has a new computerized security system that requires students to swipe identification cards to enter the building or the school cafeteria. Jackson has also implemented tougher penalties for breaking school rules and has overseen the creation of a ninth-grade academy for incoming students. Jackson said the uniform policy would reduce discipline problems and make it easier for school staff to spot intruders."
Truancy can spell trouble for Colorado parents
Date CapturedWednesday December 27 2006, 10:52 AM
Cortez Journal reports, "'Parents may be surprised to hear that if they do not support their children in their education and their children account for too many unverified absences, the parents could face hefty fines and could go to jail. 'Truant' is defined by Webster's II New Riverside Dictionary as 'one who avoids doing work or fulfilling a duty, especially one who is absent from school without permission.' Under this definition and the No Child Left Behind Act signed by President Bush in 2002, which calls for every child not only to be enrolled in school but also to pass achievement tests, truant would include not only students who do not attend school, but also those who don't complete their schoolwork and receive below-average grades."
Perils of online grading
Date CapturedSunday December 24 2006, 9:19 AM
Boston Globe contributor Ron Fletcher, English teacher at Boston College High talks about online use and education, "The school has been pushing teachers to do more online through our website such as taking attendance, posting assignments and syllabi, and issuing progress reports and report cards, which students and parents can access."
Some kids who 'failed' skip ahead
Date CapturedFriday December 22 2006, 4:36 AM
NY Daily News reports, "More than half of the 1,400 city kids who were wrongly held back because of changes in statewide exams decided to advance a grade in the middle of the school year, officials said yesterday. The kids and their parents made that choice against the advice of Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, who said they would be better served by a second year in the third or fifth grades."
Parents up-in-arms after school tests positive for lead
Date CapturedThursday December 21 2006, 7:35 AM
News 10 reports, "School and health officials[in Marathon, NY] say the levels aren't high enough to cause health problems. But, some samples had high enough levels that Appleby had to take action. All drinking fountains have been replaced with water coolers and taps are being flushed on a daily basis. After learning school officials have known about the problem for years, parents are upset they weren't told earlier."
Literacy initiative extends to babies
Date CapturedMonday December 18 2006, 8:02 AM
Florida Times-Union reports, "Reading to infants is important in part because it teaches the child how to hold a book, flip the pages and identify colors, shapes and other objects, said Linda Lanier, who heads the Jacksonville Children's Commission. Plus, it gives babies the chance to spend special time with their parents, other adults or siblings. 'Children are learning even if they're not learning their ABCs,' Lanier said. The carry-all contains a bib, burp cloth, two board books, a cup, a soft toy in the shape of a key and a CD of children's songs. There's also a magnet with important numbers and parents' 'to-do' list and a short resource guide."
Citizens can help decide who'll lead Rochester City School District
Date CapturedMonday December 18 2006, 6:15 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle contributors Malik Evans, school board vice president and search committee chairman and Brennan and Elliott, school board and search committee members invite Rochester residents to respond to survey about a new schools superintendent, "We plan to use a written survey, community forums and personal contact to ensure that all who want a voice in this process are heard. Close to 20,000 paper surveys will be distributed this month through the mail and by hand delivery to public libraries, community and recreation centers, public service agencies and the faith community. In addition, the survey will also be available by going to www.rcsdk12.org and following the link there."
Resources for Florida parents
Date CapturedSunday December 17 2006, 10:20 AM
Sun-Sentinel reports, "Florida's Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services provides resources for parents of teens with particular challenges that complicate the pressures of adolescence. Go to www.firn.edu/doe/commhome/ese-home.htm or call 800-245-0475."
Negotiations Are Signaled on Phone Ban in City Schools
Date CapturedSaturday December 16 2006, 8:41 AM
NY Times ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS reports, "David Cantor, a spokesman for Chancellor Joel I. Klein, said yesterday that the school system stood by the cellphone ban. But the Department of Education said earlier this week that it was considering whether to hire a private vendor to store students’ cellphones in small lockers outside schools for a fee of 25 to 50 cents a day."
New Jersey student database raises concerns
Date CapturedThursday December 14 2006, 8:57 AM
The Reporter writes, "'It is quite clear that New Jersey has not built in any legal safeguards for the data,' [Joel Reidenberg, professor of law and director of the Center on Law and Information Policy at Fordham University] he said, noting that under current federal law, schools must preserve their students' privacy in certain ways, including a date for deletion, or risk losing their federal funding. There is no information about how long the state will keep the data. 'That means it becomes a statewide adult database as soon as the kids turn 18,' he said. The state has also said that third parties can view the data with permission, but not about what third parties those will be, he said, speculating that one of them will be the state Department of Health and Senior Services, given the health questions in the voluntary data set. One organization has already received federal funding to study the information in data warehouses similar to New Jersey's database, he said."
What do you think of New York City Department of Education's school cell phone plan?
Date CapturedThursday December 14 2006, 7:54 AM
NY1 Snap Poll: What do you think of the Department of Education's school cell phone plan? VOTE HERE!
Professor flunks schools' curricula
Date CapturedThursday December 14 2006, 7:44 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports, "Making the learning experience relevant to black and Hispanic students, said [UCLA Professor] Howard, requires teachers to take the time to learn where a kid is coming from, value cultural differences to better relate to students, and inject students' cultural and community points of reference into math, language arts, science and social studies. Greater parental involvement and communication between teachers and parents is also a key, said Howard."
Saugerties school board deals with attendance, communications
Date CapturedWednesday December 13 2006, 5:54 AM
Daily Freeman reports, "Failing students due to poor attendance is 'an empty exercise,' [high school prinicipal]Price said. Dropping the minimum attendance requirement and implementing a phone system that automatically calls each student's home every time they are absent has helped Saugerties crack down on attendance problems, Price said."
School bus losses feared
Date CapturedWednesday December 13 2006, 5:00 AM
NY Daily News reports, "The plans, which would eliminate 250 student bus routes throughout the five boroughs, would hit Queens particularly hard because thousands of immigrant and low-income families there rely on the free transportation, state Sen. John Sabini said."
NCES Kids Zone
Date CapturedTuesday December 12 2006, 8:39 AM
The NCES Students’ Classroom has been redesigned and renamed as the KidsZone. You'll still have the same tools to help you find schools, libraries, or colleges and the Create a Graph is still just a click away. You can find updated information on education or compare where you stack up to students from across the globe.
Class dismissed
Date CapturedTuesday December 12 2006, 4:25 AM
NY Daily News reports on NYC schools closings, "'It is no secret that there have been problems at Lafayette, so its closing is not surprising,' said United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten. 'As to Lafayette, we are working with the DOE to create a redesigned school - and potentially two new schools - that parents will want to send their children to and where educators will want to teach,' she said."
Massachusetts schools target dropout rates
Date CapturedMonday December 11 2006, 9:29 AM
Worcester Telegram & Gazette reports, "Mrs. Haskins said that at Southbridge High School, a 'crisis team' — including the district psychologist, social worker, school resource officer, guidance personnel and the school nurse — meets to discuss students who are believed to be at risk of dropping out. The reasons vary with each student, Mrs. Haskins said. An 18-year-old who is still a freshman may consider dropping out because of his age, or family and economic issues can come into play, she said. The intervention begins at home. 'Parents are called every single day a student is absent,' Mrs. Haskins said."
Achievement gap seems to be widening even as scores rise
Date CapturedSunday December 10 2006, 10:11 AM
Louisiana Weekly contributor Marc H. Morial, President and CEO, National Urban League writes, "It is partially our responsibility as parents and members of the community to ensure that future generations acquire the skills needed to thrive in a dynamic and competitive world economy and to hold the powers that be accountable for their obligation to provide a good public education to all - regardless of color, religion or economic class."
Attendance at school starts at home
Date CapturedWednesday December 06 2006, 8:29 AM
Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Annette John-Hall writes, "You can't treat a kid who ditches class like an overdue library book - if you return, your check-out privileges get reinstated. It's a complicated human problem that requires consistent parental involvement - not three years before graduation, when it's too late."
Early action on early education
Date CapturedTuesday December 05 2006, 6:46 AM
Boston Globe opines, "Menino [Boston mayor] has a big vision: not just a program or two, but a citywide culture of excellence, an early-education artery that runs through maternity wards, pediatricians' offices, grocery stores, and neighborhoods. Narrowing the achievement gap that leaves many poor and minority students struggling to keep up is one goal. But Menino wants to go farther, to meet the needs of the whole family. So, for example, just as parents live in a given school district, very new parents might live in a certain early-education district, and that could mean access to any number of services, from home visits to parenting classes. Medical, dental, and mental-health care would be readily available. Prevention would be key, especially of well-known problems such as maternal isolation and depression."
Schools track students with online tool
Date CapturedTuesday December 05 2006, 5:31 AM
Times Union reports, "Shenendehowa plans to open the system's parent portal by next fall, which would provide parents access to some of their student's academic information through the Internet. The district is discussing what should be accessible to parents, but teachers will retain control over what part of their electronic grade book will be permitted viewing, according to district officials. Shenendehowa staff now records attendance electronically. Teachers have home access to the system, which makes grading at home easier, said Koopman, who teaches social studies, science and reading."
Parents Gather To Express Concern Over DOE's Cut Backs
Date CapturedMonday December 04 2006, 9:23 AM
NY1 reports, "More than 600 people rallied together in the North Bronx Saturday to vent their frustrations with the city's plan to cut 1,500 seats at local schools. Elected officials came forward to say education is a priority to them, and they want to work with the community to fix the flawed system."
Tests & Pests
Date CapturedMonday December 04 2006, 5:29 AM
NY Post DAVID ANDREATTA and HEIDI SINGER write, "Parents of a child found carrying a bedbug are notified. But the decision to issue a letter to the school community is made on a case-by-case basis by the Office of School Health."
FREE US ALL FROM UNFAIR AND CORRUPT ED. SYSTEM
Date CapturedSunday December 03 2006, 8:57 AM
NY Post Ryan Sager writes, "When companies have to compete, consumers win. Yet when it comes to one of the most important products any of us will ever purchase - a child's education - we treat parents (at least the nonrich) as prisoners instead of as consumers. The reason? Because a corrupt education monopoly - consisting of the teachers' unions, the principals' unions, and public-school administrators - doesn't want to have to compete."
Study says localities curb ed reform
Date CapturedFriday December 01 2006, 8:52 AM
The Boston Globe reports, "Under the No Child Left Behind law, schools that fail to meet minimum testing standards for two consecutive years must let students transfer to a different school in the district, then pay for tutoring in the third year. Schools eventually could face the removal of their leaders. Several of the studies mentioned the low rate of parents accepting the transfers or tutoring, in part because many schools don't tally their test results until the subsequent school year."
Roane County Tennessee: Board considers amending attendance policy
Date CapturedFriday December 01 2006, 8:48 AM
Roane County News reports, "If a student accumulates 10 unexcused absences over two consecutive semesters, the school system will file a petition against them in juvenile court. Another change in the policy allows one unexcused absence when a student's parent is deployed for military service or returns from a tour of duty."
California poll finds support for posting public schools' data on the Web
Date CapturedFriday December 01 2006, 8:26 AM
LA Times reports, "[Gov.]Schwarzenegger wants large amounts of data — from enrollment numbers and school test scores to reports on the quality of textbooks and individual school budgets — to be posted online in a user-friendly way."
Philadelphia parents get mass truancy warning
Date CapturedFriday December 01 2006, 8:17 AM
Philadelphia Daily News reports, "Letters telling parents it is their duty to make their children attend school - and warning that failure to do so could result in fines or jail time - went to thousands of homes of children ages 12 to 14. Some protested, saying they couldn't make their kids go to school. Others complained that they had sent letters giving legitimate reasons for absences and been summoned unfairly." Children and parents were asked to sign a "Family School Attendance Agreement."
Schools consider same sex classrooms
Date CapturedFriday December 01 2006, 7:22 AM
Capital News 9 reports, "Brighter Choice Charter School is unique, in that it's one of the few public schools in Albany that offer single sex classroom settings. And now all public schools have the option to do the same. Brighter Choice Principal Melissa Jarvis-Cedno said, 'Its essential that parents have options that have not been traditionally afforded to them. If you look in the Capital Region, we have so many single sex schools, but they're for people who can afford that. So its crucial that public education allows parents to have equal opportunities for the children to enjoy single sex education.'"
Montana school officials defend new student ID numbers
Date CapturedWednesday November 29 2006, 9:22 AM
Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports, "Every [Montana] student will get a unique nine-digit number, so that their achievement on statewide reading and math tests can be tracked, and those results can be broken down by gender, race or ethnicity, and whether the student is low-income and qualifies for free and reduced-cost lunches. Special education, limited English and migrant status will also be recorded. That should make it easier for OPI to report on students' progress, information sought both by the Montana Legislature and by the federal government, under the No Child Left Behind Act. Quinlan said it should help schools figure out, for example, if a new reading program is working, how well low-income American Indian fourth-graders are performing, and better track graduation and dropout rates. School officials are still subject to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which protects the privacy of student records, Quinlan said."
So Many Schools, So Few Options:How Mayor Bloomberg’s Small High School Reforms Deny Full Access to English Language Learners
Date CapturedWednesday November 29 2006, 7:08 AM
Key findings: ELLs Are Not Given Full and Equitable Access to All Small High Schools, Parents of ELLs and Students Reported Barriers in the High School Admissions and Enrollment Process, The Small School Policy for ELLs Appears to be Forcing ELLs to Remain in Large High Schools that Do Not Have Services to Meet Their Needs , Small Schools are Not Being Created in Queens, in which the Largest Number of ELLs Reside. A joint report by: The New York Immigration Coalition & Advocates for Children of New York In collaboration with: Chhaya Community Development Corporation Chinese Progressive Association Chinese-American Planning Council Council of Peoples Organization Haitian Americans United for Progress Make the Road by Walking Metropolitan Russian American Parents Association November 2006.
New York City Schools hit on immigration bar
Date CapturedWednesday November 29 2006, 7:01 AM
NY Daily News Erin Einhorn reports, "The report charges the vast majority of small schools either don't have services for so-called 'English language learners' (ELLs), who comprise almost 12% of the high school population, or exclude them altogether. It also says that immigrant families have less access to information about options for their kids. The city Education Department allows new schools to exclude both ELLs and special-ed students in their first two years because the schools are too new to properly serve those kids. It's a policy being reviewed by the U.S. Education Department's Office for Civil Rights, which launched a probe after a complaint from a citywide group of high school parents. "
Trends in the Use of School Choice: 1993 to 2003
Date CapturedTuesday November 28 2006, 10:27 AM
"This NCES report uses data from the National Household Surveys Program (NHES) to present trends that focus on the use of and users of public schools (assigned and chosen), private schools (church- and non church-related), and homeschoolers between 1993 and 2003. The percentage of students enrolled in their assigned public school decreased from 80 percent to 74 percent between 1993 and 2003, while this decrease was nearly offset by an increase in chosen public school enrollment from 11 to 15 percent between 1993 and 2003. During this same time period, enrollment in church-related private schools remained stable at 8 percent and enrollment in non church-related private schools increased from 1.6 to 2.4 percent. This report also presents data on parental perceptions of public school choice availability and associations between the public and private school types children were enrolled in and parental satisfaction with and involvement in the schools. About one-half of all students have parents who reported that public school choice was available in their community, with one-quarter of students attending assigned public schools having parents who considered enrolling them in a school other than the one they were currently attending, while 17 percent of all students and 27 percent of Black students attended a school other than their parent’s first-choice school. Generally, there were no parental involvement differences detected between students enrolled in assigned and chosen public schools. Parents of students in private schools reported more direct involvement in their children’s schools than parents of students enrolled in other types of schools."
School reform: Haven't we been here before?
Date CapturedTuesday November 28 2006, 9:07 AM
Washington Times reports, " Schools cannot improve academic performance alone. They do not, and cannot, operate in a vacuum. But we expect educators to address all manner of social ills and economic impediments plaguing students who are not ready or too stressed to learn when they reach the schoolhouse doors. Then we place the additional pressure on overwhelmed teachers of teaching to a standardized test, as if that is the Holy Grail of measuring individual improvement."
Pennsylvania urging districts to get tough on school-skippers
Date CapturedMonday November 27 2006, 7:53 AM
Post Gazette reports, "The state said the recommendations came from a Statewide Task Force on School Attendance and Truancy Reduction. Because federal and state performance standards require growing percentages of students to post gains on math and reading tests, the state considers truancy a growing concern. Dr. Cupples said the Pittsburgh district will send parents a letter to explain the policy changes, remind them of their obligations under the state's compulsory attendance law and outline the penalties violators face. For repeated violations, parents face $300 fines, jail sentences, parenting classes and even the possibility of having their children placed in foster care. But the state says it wants to deal with truancy in the school whenever possible."
No Child Left Behind law deemed a burden on schools
Date CapturedMonday November 27 2006, 6:19 AM
The Journal News reports, "Although Cornell and her report praise the good intentions of NCLB - which seeks to give all children a quality education on a level playing field - Cornell said she saw no evidence that the law had actually done any good in that direction since its enactment in 2002. Instead, she recorded evidence that the law seems to broaden the differences between rich and poor, creates barriers to schools trying to educate children with diverse needs, and costs taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars as schools put programs in place to help struggling students with almost no reimbursement from the federal government that requires them."
Service members read to their kids on video
Date CapturedSunday November 26 2006, 1:43 PM
AP reports, "A national literacy program is helping service members from two Ohio units make a long-distance connection with their children through reading. The troops record themselves reading books and send the D-V-D home. Back in the states, the children follow along with their own copies. Soldiers at 126 locations worldwide participate in United Through Reading."
Institute trains parents to be school advocates
Date CapturedFriday November 24 2006, 9:33 AM
HERALD-LEADER reports, "CIPL was established in 1997 to cultivate parent leaders. Participants are encouraged to become involved in school district politics in the form of school decision-making councils, district PTAs and the county school board. The program has been particularly successful in Fayette County, with 60 percent of the school board having completed the course. 'The final biggest step of parent leadership is to serve our families and communities on the school board,' said Alice Nelson, former manager of the program."
Cell phone letters fall on deaf ears
Date CapturedFriday November 24 2006, 5:39 AM
The Queens Courier reports, "Although the situations of angry parents and students who sent complaints about the City's cell phone ban in schools were varied, their messages were similar: 'Our children have the right to have immediate access to their parents,' one parent wrote."
Recommendations for Berlin Central School District discussed
Date CapturedWednesday November 22 2006, 7:13 AM
Troy Record reports, ""The charge to the committee, a 25-member group of parents, teachers, staffers and other stakeholders, was to explore long and short term solutions to the table for the board to consider. With the help of Questar III, the committee explored a number of options and outlined the pros and cons of each option. Now the board will have to determine which options to take."
No spare time for lost school bus: Call in, ask for help
Date CapturedWednesday November 22 2006, 6:23 AM
The Journal News opined, "Buses will be delayed by traffic conditions or road detours at times. Substitute drivers are sometimes needed. Yet, we believe this incident was all the more upsetting because a health department worker first appeared to downplay the situation, and the parents believed they were given little information not only during, but after the event. Really, what matters here is common sense and clear procedures. If a bus is more than 10 minutes behind schedule, an aide or driver should have an easy and efficient way to communicate with a supervisor or dispatcher, which, in turn, should alert parents. If a driver is unsure about a route, early contact within minutes is needed. The communication technology is available. It should be used. There should never be a question about the location of a school bus."
'School Squeeze' Protest
Date CapturedWednesday November 22 2006, 6:06 AM
NY Post David Andreatta reports, "At a meeting with Department of Education officials following the protest, parents voiced concerns about safety, overcrowding and the agency's refusal to commit to its own projected timetable to move the Columbia school to a new location in two to three years. "
Manhattan: Parents Protest Columbia Plan
Date CapturedWednesday November 22 2006, 3:26 AM
NY Times reports, "Much of the anger from parents seemed to stem from the fact that preliminary decisions were made without them."
Mount Vernon officials secure grant to help police keep kids in school
Date CapturedTuesday November 21 2006, 6:26 AM
The Journal News reports, "Under the grant, eight police officers will be assigned to to locating and returning students to their schools. Capt. Robert Kelly will lead the unit. The $143,000 grant is from the state Division of Criminal Justice Services. When children are returned to the school, their parents will be contacted and will have to come in the next day for a conference with the teacher, Smith said. Other measures include attendance, teachers visiting the homes, and counseling for the students."
Wilmington officers bond with kids over literacy and lunch
Date CapturedSaturday November 18 2006, 4:25 PM
The News Journal reports, "In a duel effort to promote literacy and improve the perception of law enforcement among Wilmington youth, members of the Wilmington Police Department and area youngsters are spending the afternoon reading and feasting together. This is the fourth year for the event dubbed Cops and Kids Day, which is held during National Literacy Week to promote parental involvement in children's education."
Big classroom squeeze in New York City
Date CapturedThursday November 16 2006, 4:23 AM
NY Daily News Erin Einhorn reports, "The average class-size details for kindergarten to eighth grade were released for the first time yesterday under City Council legislation requiring the Department of Education to turn over the data twice a year. High school classroom sizes will be released at a later date, officials said."
$3 million drive targets truancy: Philadelphia schools would add 400 parent officers to tackle 18% absenteeism.
Date CapturedThursday November 16 2006, 3:52 AM
Philadelphia Inquirer reports, "Among the other efforts in the truancy blitz: more sweeps to round up students, an expansion of after-school programs to serve 27,000 additional children, the tripling of the number of children and families served by counselors, and the tripling of parent-education classes for parents of truants. District officials estimate that 32,000, or 18 percent, of the city's 180,000 public schoolchildren, are illegally absent on any given day. Last school year, 80,000 missed eight or more days."
New York City parents peeved over cell phone ban
Date CapturedWednesday November 15 2006, 4:59 AM
amNewYork City Michael Clancy reports, "The public school system has prohibited cell phones in school buildings for years, but the policy was generally not enforced at most schools. Last spring, the issue exploded when school officials started performing random searches for weapons systemwide and guards seized hundreds of cell phones. Critics of the ban also say students who attend schools with permanent metal detectors suffer more than children at schools without the detectors because students at those schools are allowed to bend the rules."
New York City parents angry over nixed school meeting
Date CapturedWednesday November 15 2006, 4:55 AM
NY Daily News reports, "They [parents] are concerned the addition of middle-school students will disrupt the character of PS 36, which enrolls children in prekindergarten through second grade, and decried a lack of parent input in the Education Department's decision."
Dozens of NYC parents e-mail City Hall over cell phone ban
Date CapturedWednesday November 15 2006, 4:12 AM
AP reports, "Gotbaum [public advocate] and some other lawmakers say principals should set their own policies. They site safety as the No. 1 concern. In the e-mails, some parents pointed to the Sept. 11 disaster and the daily threat of terrorism as the primary reasons why their children need phones. "The reality is that the NYC subway system is vulnerable to terrorist attack," said the parent of a ninth grader. 'When we have so little control over these horrific incidents, and must continue to live our lives (as Mayor Bloomberg suggests we do), something as simple and basic as cell phone contact with our children should not be up for negotiation.' Another wrote: 'She and I both feel a little less crazy knowing that if something major happens - an accident, a crisis - that she can be in touch with me. If your child went to school blocks from ground zero, you'd know what I'm talking about.'"
Bus stop issues are unresolved
Date CapturedTuesday November 14 2006, 7:04 AM
The Poughkeepsie Journal reports, "More than 10 weeks into the school year, parents in Dutchess County's largest school district are still battling to have their children's bus stops changed."
'Guinea Pig' Kids Uproar
Date CapturedTuesday November 14 2006, 5:35 AM
NY Post CARL CAMPANILE and STEPHANIE GASKELL report on students as subjects in university studies, "More than 50 of those studies focused on health, psychology, race, ethnicity and religion - mostly on kids in the poorest neighborhoods. All were conducted with parental consent, but as an incentive, parents and kids often were compensated. 'This is outrageous,' Brooklyn Councilman Charles Barron said. 'I'm concerned about any form of therapy going on in our schools.' But Mayor Bloomberg defended the research. 'We've been doing this for a number of years and we will continue to do it,' he said.
Buffalo schools weather test of new, speedy phone system
Date CapturedMonday November 13 2006, 11:29 AM
Buffalo News reports, "In Buffalo, school officials can specify who will receive the calls - for example, all parents and staff, students at one particular school or in a single class, all sixth-graders in the district, or a handful of students scheduled to be honored at a Board of Education meeting."
Parents want Nobel Prize winner's novel pulled from school
Date CapturedSunday November 12 2006, 8:50 AM
Daily Freeman reports, "'According to (a school district) policy ... set in place in 1985, if a parent has a problem with one of the books that's being read, they submit a petition to the board, and that gets the process going,' Callejo [school board member] said. Callejo said the committee being assembled to consider the book's suitability for students will include a school district administrator, a teacher, a parent, a psychologist and a community member."
Session seeks parent involvement in North Carolina education
Date CapturedSunday November 12 2006, 7:42 AM
Myrltle Beach Online reports "New Carolina [state economic development group] officials and its partners plan to create a 'tool kit' of best practices for fostering parent involvement for education organizations and businesses. They also hope to push for full funding and implementation of a 2000 law, approved by state lawmakers, called Parental Involvement in Their Children's Education Act. The act requires schools to implement parent involvement programs, requires training in those programs and delineates expectations for parents. The law was not fully funded, conference leaders said."
Provision of Special Education Services to Parentally Placed Nonpublic Elementary and Secondary School Students with Disabilities
Date CapturedFriday November 10 2006, 8:28 AM
Provision of Special Education Services for the 2007-08 school year: The public school district where the nonpublic school is located must begin to develop procedures for the evaluation and provision of special education services to students with disabilities enrolled in nonpublic schools located in their district for the 2007-08 school year in accordance with the new federal regulations. In this process, the school district must consult with nonpublic school representatives and representatives of parents of parentally placed private school students with disabilities for nonpublic schools located within the boundaries of the school district. Additional guidance will be issued upon further changes to State law.
Reminder of Annual AHERA Notifications to Employees and Parents
Date CapturedFriday November 10 2006, 8:16 AM
Public and nonpublic schools must also provide a written notification to all parent, teacher, and employee organizations of the availability of the school’s asbestos management plan for public inspection. A description of the steps to notify these organizations, as well as a dated copy of the notification, is to be maintained in the asbestos plan. The asbestos management plans are to be made available for inspection to representatives of the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the State, the public, including parents, teachers, and other school personnel within five working days after receiving a request for its inspection.
New York City schools shakeup fury
Date CapturedFriday November 10 2006, 4:35 AM
NY Daily News Erin Einhorn reports, ""Every single year that I've been involved in the school issue, it's been a fight from one borough to another and from one district to another over a totally insufficient pie,' said Leonie Haimson of the advocacy group Class Size Matters. Officials have proposed cutting seven schools from its five-year construction plan because of increased costs." Hearings on the construction plans will be held.
Staten Island High School Athletic Fields In Dangerous State Of Disrepair
Date CapturedThursday November 09 2006, 6:56 AM
NY1 reports, "Years of neglect have left a Staten Island high school athletic field in a dangerous state of disrepair, and some parents and administrators are asking for help, before a student is hurt."
Ap-parent Snub
Date CapturedWednesday November 08 2006, 6:00 AM
NY Post David Andreatta reports, "Overall, just 1,189 schools [New York City], or 82 percent, have an operational association, despite rules set by the chancellor that require schools to hold elections for parent officers in June and for each school to have an association in place within a year of its existence."
School Children Return to New Orleans, Alone
Date CapturedTuesday November 07 2006, 11:41 AM
NPR reports, "Hundreds of children have returned to New Orleans to finish high school, without their parents. It's a chance to graduate with the classmates they've known for years. But school officials say the lack of parental supervision is causing discipline problems."
Boost for migrant education
Date CapturedTuesday November 07 2006, 8:32 AM
Monterey Herald reports, "There are both home-based and school-based programs. The home program is structured to have teachers and aides work in the family's home. The school program has parents and children attending class together at one of 12 school districts in the county."
School Bus Drivers Angered by Corruption in Union
Date CapturedMonday November 06 2006, 3:18 AM
NY Times reports, "Many of New York City’s school bus drivers say their union local is so awash in corruption problems that they want the parent union to appoint a trustee to run it. And some drivers say they are angry and baffled that the parent union has done so little to address their concerns that their union, Local 1181 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, has been sullied by guilty pleas and indictments among its leaders."
Schools attempt to improve through contract with parents
Date CapturedSunday November 05 2006, 9:35 AM
Myrtle Beach online reports, "'The contract to me is very condescending," said 'Reid. 'It reads as if CMS is the parent and the parents at West Charlotte are the children.' A meeting last week drew about 350 parents to West Charlotte to talk about the school's turnaround plan. Everyone who spoke agreed that parents and students must be part of the solution. But Reid's husband, Norbert, raised questions about the tone of the contract and why CMS is singling out parents at the four schools. All of them have high poverty levels and serve mostly black and Hispanic students. A handful of others approached Principal John Modest afterward and agreed with the criticism."
Private schools wary of vouchers
Date CapturedSaturday November 04 2006, 1:43 PM
The Greenville news reports, "McCreary [director of research, evaluation, accountability and testing for Greenville County school district] says the simple fact that parents have chosen to pay for private school education is a statistically significant indicator of academic achievement. 'If you have the means to afford a private education, then normally things at home are different than they are with some public school students,' he said. 'When parents choose, they're usually more involved in their children's education,' he said. 'There's more reading, more books, more opportunities for learning at home.' There's no reason why people of disadvantaged backgrounds shouldn't be able to avail themselves of the opportunity to choose, however, said Thomas Simuel, president and CEO of the South Carolina Center for Grassroots and Community Alternatives, a school-choice group focusing on low-income black communities. 'I totally disagree with the assessment that vouchers would rob public schools,' Simuel said. 'I think public schools are already robbing from too many children who aren't cutting it in the public education system.' His group is holding 'town meetings' across the state to encourage parents in black communities to seek school choices, whether with publicly funded magnet or charter schools, or in home schools or virtual schools, or religious and secular private schools."
Chancellor Cites Favoritism at a New York School
Date CapturedSaturday November 04 2006, 7:31 AM
NY Times ELISSA GOOTMAN reports, "Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein said the school’s practices were a 'stark and different' example of the kind of favoritism that he has been trying to eliminate from the city’s array of coveted schools and gifted programs. Officials say an examination of the school’s most recent kindergarten admissions documents shows that school officials were looking not only at students’ performance, but also at how involved their parents were likely to be."
Help Negotiating Needs For Special-Ed Students
Date CapturedFriday November 03 2006, 9:16 AM
Washington Post reports, "Five school systems are testing a new state program designed to help parents and educators avoid the conflict that sometimes makes it difficult to develop education plans for students with special needs. The process of drafting an individual education program, or IEP -- a blueprint for what services and support a special education student needs to be successful -- often is contentious. Parents and educators sometimes disagree about what services a student needs."
Port Chester's Edison School plans workshops for educators
Date CapturedWednesday November 01 2006, 7:14 AM
Journal News reports, "Principal Eileen Santiago began the first of many community programs with an after-school program 10 years ago, run by the organization SER. The school has since added other services, including adult job training, parenting programs, health services and English classes. As time went on, the improvised effort became an example of what came to be known around the country as "community schools" and received federal funding."
New York State Education Department PARENT and FAMILY PARTNERSHIPS
Date CapturedTuesday October 31 2006, 5:12 PM
NYSED: Please share your perspective on these Key Questions. Thank you for your thoughtful contribution to informing the Board of Regents and the State Education Department and to improving family partnerships throughout the state of New York.
Parental apathy – or just poverty?
Date CapturedTuesday October 31 2006, 12:58 PM
The News-Sentinel columnist Kevin Leininger writes, "The statistics seem to support the connection between poverty and academic achievement, or the lack of it. Of the 11 schools on probation, almost all are at or near the top when ranked by the percentage of students qualifying for free or reduced-price meals. (See chart.) And when there are exceptions to that ranking, other demographic factors may be at work, Coutts said. At South Wayne Elementary, nearly half of students moved at least once last year, playing havoc with academic continuity. The mobility rate at Lakeside Middle School was 33 percent. And about 8 percent of the students at Maplewood Elementary list a language other than English as their primary tongue – an impediment to doing well on state-mandated English-language tests."
School threat probed
Date CapturedTuesday October 31 2006, 4:38 AM
Newsday writes on increased security report at John F. Kennedy High School in Bellmore, "The statement also said a letter will be sent home with students today."
Symbol of hope
Date CapturedMonday October 30 2006, 7:56 AM
Philadelphia Inquirer reports, "To upgrade instruction, she [Adderly, a hands-on principal] tapped two of the school's best teachers to be math and literacy leaders and to coach other teachers. Every day, the coaches and Adderly work with teachers from a different grade and brainstorm how to help struggling students. Because many students also come to school with family, emotional and behavioral problems, Adderly set up three meetings a week to deal with them. For those meetings, Adderly introduced videotaping to capture students' classroom behavior. The tapes are shown when counselors, parents and teachers meet to devise plans to help."
Yonkers parents split on school uniform policy
Date CapturedSunday October 29 2006, 7:35 AM
The Journal News reports, "Close to 5,400 parents responded, representing more than 25 percent of the district's student households. 'We want to look at the data, and we wanted a broad look,' Martinez [Board of Education Vice President] said. 'We didn't want to just listen to a few parents who were able to come to a meeting. We wanted to give parents an opportunity to respond to the question.'"
Wyoming School Safety Drill Upsets Some Parents
Date CapturedSaturday October 28 2006, 7:01 PM
Newsday reports, "Principal David Britten said students weren't told ahead of time to make the drill as realistic as possible. Teachers were informed moments before it took place, he said. 'I think this is the best way to do it,' Britten said. 'We're not looking to scare anyone, but we want a sense of urgency.' But Wyoming Police Chief James Carmody said his officers were not aware students and parents were not told. He said his department will mandate that parents be notified ahead of time in the future."
DODEA seeks parents’ opinions in online survey
Date CapturedSaturday October 28 2006, 6:45 PM
Stars and Stripes reports, "The survey, which is based in part on the Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools, helps DODEA identify areas that need improvement. Teachers, parents and students in grades four and five, six through eight and nine through twelve are given separate surveys. Questions focus on areas such as curriculum, instruction, standards, assessment, technology and student support, according to a DODEA statement."
Strip-searches probed at Rockland BOCES high school
Date CapturedSaturday October 28 2006, 8:39 AM
The Journal News reports, "The strip-searches appear to violate rules and regulations of both the Police Department and the Rockland Board of Cooperative Educational Services. Usually, students are not questioned by police without their parents or guardians being notified or present."
FURY OF BOOTED NEW YORK CITY SCHOOL PARENTS
Date CapturedSaturday October 28 2006, 8:16 AM
NY Post David Andreatta writes, "Parents claimed the principal, Olga Livanis, has cut student counseling sessions, single-sex math and science classes and sports programs; failed to supply students with a crossing guard and a nurse; and ignored their complaints. Some suggested Livanis, whose predecessor stood with parents in their loud public fight against the charter school, had a mandate to quash parent involvement."
Teen-drinking epidemic definitely crosses line
Date CapturedSaturday October 28 2006, 7:56 AM
Troy Record opined on teen drinking and school imposed consequences and plans to deal with the problem, "We are glad that teens who engage in such activity will have to face these tougher consequences. More school districts should take a cue from Averill Park. At the same time, parents everywhere need to be more vigilant and must hold their children accountable for their actions. Teachers and schools are not substitutes for a solid foundation of values taught at home. Children - even today's 'worldly' teenagers - want to know where the line is drawn. It is up to parents to make their children understand what will happen should they cross that line."
Atlanta, Georgia schools move to gender divide
Date CapturedFriday October 27 2006, 4:53 PM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, "Atlanta forged ahead before the rules came down from the federal government because officials were confident their schools would pass legal muster, Barnes [Atlanta schools administrator overseeing single-gender schools] said. 'We're being careful in the planning process to make sure both schools provide an equitable education," he said. "We were never concerned that we would face a legal challenge.' Parents who oppose the idea will be offered transfers to other schools. But so far, officials say parents have been overwhelmingly supportive, saying they think their kids will have fewer distractions. The plan has other supporters as well. More than 160 educators have applied for each of the principal positions."
FIRST 5 CALIFORNIA
Date CapturedThursday October 26 2006, 8:03 PM
Research shows that a child’s brain develops most dramatically in the first five years and what parents and caregivers do during these years to support their child’s growth will have a meaningful impact throughout life. Based on this research, First 5 California, also known as the California Children and Families Commission, was established after voters passed Proposition 10 in November 1998, adding a 50 cents-per-pack tax on cigarettes to fund education, health, child care and other programs for expectant parents and children up to age 5.
Pittsfield (Massachusetts) Public Schools not making the cut
Date CapturedThursday October 26 2006, 5:41 PM
Capital News 9 reports, "The Pittsfield [Massachusetts] School Committee now faces questions from concerned parents. Some wonder why they have not been included in school improvement plans. 'One thing that seems to be missing out of those school improvement plans is the word parent. The word parent is missing from many of those plans,' concerned parent Tricia Farley-Bouvier said. For the past four years, the school district has failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress required by the No Child Left Behind Act. Now the district is being placed into 'corrective action.'"
School system problems
Date CapturedThursday October 26 2006, 11:19 AM
Burlington Free Press contributor ROBERT MAYNARD, a member of Freedom Works Vermont opined on universal pre-k, "If a decentralized and flexible approach puts our children at an advantage in early education, why not apply that approach to our current K-12 system? Perhaps we should put parents back in control of their own children’s education and put an end to the government monopoly over education."
The No Family Left Behind Amendment
Date CapturedWednesday October 25 2006, 7:59 AM
Seattle Times contributor Richard Slettvet, a special-education teacher working in the Edmonds School District opined, "Acknowledging the role that families play in the educational success of their children, Congress today enacted the No Family Left Behind (NFLB) Amendment to the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. The NFLB will increase standards of accountability for Congress and the president to ensure that all families achieve high socioeconomic status (SES). Congressional districts that fail to achieve adequate yearly progress (AYP) will be subject to corrective action."
Pittsburgh city district putting heat on charter school students
Date CapturedWednesday October 25 2006, 7:09 AM
Post-Gazette reports, "The Pittsburgh Public Schools yesterday sent a letter to Pittsburgh's district judges, asking for their help in enforcing compulsory attendance laws involving students at the Career Connections Charter Middle School."
Program linking dads, kids gets boost
Date CapturedWednesday October 25 2006, 6:01 AM
Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin reports, "The national initiative calls for the Parents as Teachers National Center to work with the National Fatherhood Initiative to develop strategies and a curriculum to target and include more fathers in their child's education, Johnson said. Officials from programs at the four pilot sites will go to St. Louis early in 2007 to be trained in these strategies. They will then return to their communities to develop their own plans to reach out to fathers. The sites will then compile data to gauge their plan's effectiveness."
Tips for dealing with No Child Left Behind
Date CapturedTuesday October 24 2006, 10:52 AM
Macon Telegraph prints Washington Post story, "A recent study by the public interest law network Appleseed, based in Washington, found many flaws in how schools deal with parents under the No Child Left Behind law. The report, 'It Takes a Parent,' reached five conclusions." Most of the conclusions were related to communication with parents. READ REPORT ON EDUCATION NEW YORK ONLINE, EDUCATION POLICY PAGE, NCLB FOLDER.
Grades go home, but tests don't
Date CapturedTuesday October 24 2006, 9:13 AM
Dallas Morning News reports, "A Plano parent's four-year struggle to review his daughter's tests at home reveals a common practice at several area high schools. Teachers often prohibit students from taking graded tests home because they want to reuse them without worry of cheating or test-swapping on the Internet. The Plano school district is weighing two sides of the equation: parents' right to help their children vs. teachers' desire to keep difficult-to-prepare tests secure."
Delaware County, Indiana schools teaching flu pandemic prevention
Date CapturedTuesday October 24 2006, 7:32 AM
Star Press reports, "With so much media attention given to the possibility of a flu pandemic, school officials are often asked if they are aware and how they will respond if a major outbreak occurs, Muncie Community Schools Supt. Marlin Creasy said. The letter alerts parents 'preliminary steps' schools are taking now, Creasy said. Education and communication about potential hazards and prevention is key, said Bill Gosnell, Delaware County Emergency Director."
Respect kids’ privacy while checking e-mail, expert says
Date CapturedMonday October 23 2006, 8:58 AM
Terrell Tribune reports, "To safeguard against any inappropriate computer use, either by children or by people trying to contact them, computers should be kept in central locations in the home, Meadows [professor in Eastern Illinois University’s School of Family and Consumer Science] advised. That way, children are more likely to behave if 'they don’t know when you’re going to walk by and look over their shoulders,' she said."
English with barriers
Date CapturedMonday October 23 2006, 8:39 AM
El Diaro la Prensa reports, "This start-and-stop English, on top of a shortage of classes, stifles the growth of workers. It hinders the potential to earn more money and advance. And it can make it difficult for parents to support the educational needs of their children. Limited English proficiency also curbs participation in the electoral process, and in emergency situations, can make the difference between life or death."
Press #1 for a Bad Idea
Date CapturedSunday October 22 2006, 8:44 AM
NY Times op-ed contributor Rebecca Jacobsen, former teacher and doctoral candidate in the politics and education program at Teachers College, Columbia University writes, "THE Yonkers Public Schools just started an automated polling program, called Connect-ED, that asks parents to enter their opinions on school policies by pressing the number keys on their phones. The president of the Yonkers Board of Education, Bernadette Dunne, says the system will help close the information “backpack gap” — so called because school notices requesting parent responses typically get buried in children’s backpacks, never to emerge."
The American Competitiveness Initiative: The Education Revolution Begins
Date CapturedFriday October 20 2006, 4:05 PM
Baltimore Times reports, "With the announcement of American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI), low-income and minority students have an excellent opportunity to prepare themselves for well-paid careers in science and technology. However, this federal assistance program will best benefit students of color, only if their parents are aware of the initiative's goals, areas of focus and the criteria to qualify for financial aid to support secondary education."
Alliance using the workplace to encourage greater Iowa parent involvement in education
Date CapturedFriday October 20 2006, 8:39 AM
The Courier reports, "The Alliance for People Promoting Learning & Education --- or Apple --- launched an effort Tuesday encouraging businesses to promote the idea that parents and other employees should be involved at schools. A parent's involvement in their child's education has been identified as an important factor in how well the child does in school."
Students need support if expected to succeed
Date CapturedFriday October 20 2006, 7:51 AM
Ithaca Journal contributors Steve Cariddi (Family Advocacy Project) & Kandea Mosley (Village at Ithaca's Youth Services Committee) write, "Ensuring that public education is an engine of social mobility for all Americans — regardless of race or class — requires a concerted effort from every person who has direct or indirect contact with a struggling student, including parents, teachers, administrators, and community members. The obstacles facing children today — poverty, discrimination, racism, inappropriate role models, hopelessness — are not of their doing, and it is unreasonable to expect a 7-year-old child (or even a 17-year-old student) to overcome them without additional support."
Upgrade could save Rochester district $1 million annually in costs
Date CapturedThursday October 19 2006, 6:13 AM
The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports, "Each school will be equipped with a communications platform with embedded voice mail capabilities, making it adjustable to increased user demand, and increasing the chance that district computer needs won't outgrow the computer system's capabilities." The phones have can send text messages in case of emergencies.
Tips for a Better Parent-School Relationship
Date CapturedTuesday October 17 2006, 3:29 AM
Washingon Post Jay Mathews writes, "In many ways, parents are the most important teachers children will ever have. But drawing them into schools is often difficult. So is forging a constructive parent-school relationship. Teachers complain about parents who meddle too much and those who can't be found. Parents say that educators claim to want more involvement but that they belittle their suggestions. Here are 10 recommendations for better relations from educators and school-savvy parents."
Merit system won't pay off
Date CapturedMonday October 16 2006, 2:29 PM
Statesman Journal contributor and mother of eight children, Karen Utley writes, "Public education is expensive. The rate of student failure is deeply depressing. Policy makers and budget-keepers search for simple solutions, but complicated problems require incremental adjustment and no progress will be made until they stop hoping they can fix the schools by blaming the teachers."
Texas Police Offer Gang Education in Spanish
Date CapturedThursday October 12 2006, 8:39 PM
Kfoxtv.com reports, "Through labeled pictures of gang members and their common dress codes, parents learned all they need to know, and how to keep their children away from gangs."
No Undergrad Left Behind
Date CapturedThursday October 12 2006, 8:27 AM
Heritage Foundation fellow and former deputy secretary of education during President Bush’s first term, Eugene Hickok writes, "One of No Child Left Behind’s hallmarks is transparency. Today parents know more about the performance of their children’s schools than ever before. This same principle needs to be applied to higher education. Colleges and universities need to be able to explain why they charge the tuition they charge, what their graduation rates are, what they feel constitutes an educated person and how they propose to get first year students from here to there. The various college rating systems and publications are entertaining and interesting to read, but they don’t provide the sort of objective data tuition payers need to make informed decisions."
Michigan plan on hold for special ed room policy
Date CapturedThursday October 12 2006, 12:06 AM
The Detroit News reports, "Seclusion -- or timeout -- rooms have been a hot button issue in the county [Livingston County, Michigan]since the agency's parent advisory committee discovered a 5-by-5- foot padded room during a tour of the new $5 million special education school, Pathway, last month. They said they were not told of the room during the planning sessions for the school."
Schools bridge culture gap
Date CapturedWednesday October 11 2006, 6:15 AM
The Journal News reports, "The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires school districts to work on parental involvement and to devote 1 percent of Title I funding toward such efforts. For immigrants and other parent groups, the efforts go beyond the traditional PTA structure into new kinds of organizations. All the efforts have grown out of research that ties parental involvement to academic performance."
Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL), Harvard start project
Date CapturedMonday October 09 2006, 11:09 PM
Austin Business Journal reports, "Research shows clearly that, with knowledge and support, families can make a difference in their kids' success in school," says Wes Hoover, the lab's president and CEO. 'We look forward to working with Harvard ... to address this critical need.'"
New York state and Guardian Angels partner in online safety prgram
Date CapturedMonday October 09 2006, 1:45 PM
AP reports, "Teachers will also be taught to make sure students' work has not been plagiarized and learn how to detect and stop cyber-bullying: attacks on children by other children through e-mail, instant messaging or rumors on Web sites."
Improving minority education means knowing law, New Jersey parents told
Date CapturedMonday October 09 2006, 1:38 PM
The Record (New Jersey) reports, "The statute [Title 18A], for instance, lists classes that must be taught in all districts. It outlines professional qualifications for teachers and lists the powers of the state and local school boards. In short, it's a blueprint for public education in New Jersey."
Making the grades
Date CapturedMonday October 09 2006, 4:58 AM
NY Daily News reports, "Teachers and principals have publicly worried that the department [New York City Department of Education] will oversimplify their efforts, dismissing the many subtleties of creating a safe and successful school."
Punish parents when kids are tardy? No
Date CapturedSunday October 08 2006, 8:51 AM
NY Daily News op-ed contributors John Beam, Executive Director of the National Center for Schools and Communities at Fordham University and Cecelia Blewer, co-founder of the Independent Commission on Public Education in New York City write, "Of course students should get to school on time and show up every day they can. Our experience as researchers and parents - and plain common sense - suggests that strong attendance goes hand in hand with other positive results in schools, from fewer discipline issues to higher academic achievement. But humiliating parents for their children's attendance and tardiness problems is a big mistake - one that puts shortsighted punitive instincts before the good of parents, children and schools."
Indianapolis, Indiana Charter schools show fast progress
Date CapturedSunday October 08 2006, 7:54 AM
Indianapolis Star reports, "At least one critic was skeptical of the importance of such figures. Gains on testing aren't likely to be caused by better curriculum or teaching, said Marilyn Haring, an education professor at Purdue University. She said charter school results usually result from smaller classes.":
’The Plight of Black Students in South Carolilna.’
Date CapturedFriday October 06 2006, 9:40 AM
The Times and Democrat report, "Proponents of school choice and vouchers as well as supporters of the public schools agreed at a recent South Carolina State University forum that strengthening the black family, getting more parental involvement in the education of children and more early childhood education programs are essential to producing successful students."
President Bush Says He'll Strengthen Education Policy
Date CapturedFriday October 06 2006, 7:22 AM
LA Times reports, "The president said that parents are not necessarily getting information about students' progress quickly enough to switch a child's enrollment to another school if they think a change is necessary." Bush suggested school districts were not appropriate in their use of federal funds provided for tutoring.
North Rockland meetings on TV
Date CapturedThursday October 05 2006, 6:50 AM
The Journal News reports, "He [North Rockland Schools Superintendent ] said he couldn't guarantee how many people would watch North Rockland's school board meetings, but he wanted them available to the public. 'Under the circumstances, it seems the more information people have, the better for everybody,' he said."
Education gains start with widespread literacy
Date CapturedWednesday October 04 2006, 9:53 AM
Buffalo News contributor Sherry L. Byrnes, family literacy coordinator at Literacy Volunteers of Buffalo & Erie County writes, "Literacy is essential to that task, but it cannot develop meaningfully in a "school vacuum." For this reason, I encourage everyone - our civic leaders and businesses, grass-roots block clubs and churches, and every person who just wants to live in a decent community - to get involved. Our children and our city are at serious risk. In January, the Buffalo Reads Coalition will launch a citywide strategic initiative for literacy that will require every person to ask how he or she can take part in solving our city's literacy challenge - and to act."
Parents must help information-age kids cope with fear amid news of school shootings
Date CapturedWednesday October 04 2006, 9:07 AM
AP reports, "Today’s adolescents and teens happen upon an endless amount of news while researching homework on the Internet or talking with friends through instant messaging systems, chat rooms and blogs. Some even receive news updates on their cell phones. So while parents’ instincts might be to shy away from talking about frightening real-life stories of harm to children, chances are they will need to confront the news instead."
Conservatism’s Big Test
Date CapturedWednesday October 04 2006, 8:32 AM
National Review Michael J. Petrilli writes, "Parents need the information yielded by standards and tests for the education marketplace to function efficiently. But most states have proven unable to develop these tools and current federal policy is pushing them in the wrong direction."
Experts argue North Carolina tests need elevated standards
Date CapturedMonday October 02 2006, 1:46 PM
The Sun News reports on raising standards, "Raising standards creates a political dilemma, however. Fewer students are likely to pass, and more schools could face sanctions under the federal No Child Left Behind law. 'It will be a shock to the system,' state board Chairman Howard Lee says. 'But I think the citizens and parents have a right to know the truth.' National comparisons In many quarters, North Carolina's tests are viewed as too easy. In July, editors of the education journal Education Next gave North Carolina an 'F' for the rigor of its testing program.
Make policy clear, apply to everyone
Date CapturedMonday October 02 2006, 6:52 AM
Utica.com opined on school policy, "Ideally, establishing policies would be a joint effort by school officials, parents, community and students. Definite boundaries should be set, and the final policy should not only be part of the student handbook, but included in the district newsletter so all taxpayers are aware of it."
California law tightens school rules: It could become harder to avoid summer school
Date CapturedSaturday September 30 2006, 8:23 AM
Press Telegraph reports, "The law allows districts to further involve parents in the decision about whether children should attend summer school or other programs, he [spokesman for Long Beach Unified School District] said. Districts could 'make sure that the parent is aware of these opportunities and is fully informed before their child does or does not participate,' he said."
Public forum is part of school reform
Date CapturedFriday September 29 2006, 8:04 AM
Selma Times-Journal letter to the editor: Gerald Shirley, Principal, School of Discovery, Selma, Ala. writes, "Engaging the public is now a form of school reform. Public dialogue can generate positive action-oriented results. It is more than just talking or offering lip service."
Evaluating your school's safety plan
Date CapturedFriday September 29 2006, 1:41 AM
CNN Gerri Willis writes, "Parents should know who's in charge. If something goes wrong you need to know the chain of command. Make sure your child's school has procedures for communicating with parents, local and state government officials and the media. Kenneth Trump of SchoolSafety.org told us that cell phones can actually make the situation worse by accelerating the spread of rumors and causing parents to flock to the scene. This could distract officials from the crisis."
Is the Feds' Lesson Plan Working? YES: Expectations + Rigor = Promising Results
Date CapturedFriday September 29 2006, 12:19 AM
Op-ed by Secretary Margaret Spellings, in the San Francisco Chronicle on September 26, 2006, "Going forward, we are working closely with states to help them comply with NCLB. States that follow the 'bright lines' of the law—assessing students regularly, disaggregating data, hiring highly qualified teachers and informing parents about their options—may qualify for flexibility in measuring and reporting their results. We prefer collaboration to confrontation. Many states, including California, clearly have room to improve. But the bottom line remains the same. No Child Left Behind has added a fourth 'R' to reading, writing and 'rithmetic—results. We are beginning to see those results. And soon the world will, too."
Help Rochester student athletes make grade
Date CapturedThursday September 28 2006, 6:36 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle guest essayists and parents Jim Greco and Bowers, former school board member write, "The school must provide opportunities for probationary athletes to receive academic assistance or tutoring. It directs the coach of the sport in which the student participates; his or her guidance counselors, teacher or teachers and the school's athletic and academy directors to collectively monitor the probationary athlete's academic progress. "
It Takes a Parent: Transforming Education in the Wake of the No Child Left Behind Act
Date CapturedThursday September 28 2006, 1:07 AM
"With the goal of demonstrating the importance of parental involvement as a key strategy for improving student success, this report provides recommendations for education leaders and policymakers. It focuses on three major strands that are crucial to effective parental involvement: 1. Information: The opportunities and challenges of parental awareness about student and school performance; 2. Engagement: The importance of meaningful parental engagement with school officials and teachers; and 3. Advocacy: The critical role that effective parent advocacy, based on good information and informed engagement, plays in student and school performance." The report was produced by Appleseed, in coordination with several other key law firms and groups. Law firm, Holland & Knight, coordinated and carried out much of the research and drafted the final report, with assistance in two states from volunteers from DLA Piper. The National Center for Children and Families at Teachers College, Columbia University and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP played key roles in gathering and assessing information.
School and Parent Interaction by Household Language and Poverty Status: 2002-03
Date CapturedWednesday September 27 2006, 3:35 PM
NCES: Language minority parents may face a number of challenges when trying to communicate or become involved with their child’s school. This Issue Brief describes school-to-home communication practices and opportunities for parent involvement at school as reported by parents of U.S. school-age students from primarily English- and primarily Spanish-speaking households during the 2002–03 school year. Among the findings: A greater percentage of students in English-speaking households than in Spanish-speaking households had parents who reported receiving personal notes or e-mails about the student; receiving newsletters, memos, or notices addressed to all parents; opportunities to attend general meetings; opportunities to attend school events; and chances to volunteer. Differences were still apparent after taking poverty status into account. This Issue Brief was prepared by Christine Enyeart, Juliet Diehl, Gillian Hampden-Thompson, and Marion Scotchmer of the American Institutes for Research.
Charter schools are not a drain on public schools
Date CapturedWednesday September 27 2006, 6:21 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle contributor John Bliss, founder and director of instruction, Urban Choice Charter School in Rochester writes, "Here are the facts: Charter schools were designed to provide parents with badly needed options. Charter schools are just as 'public' as any other public school. Charter schools do not drain money from other public schools. In fact, their existence helps other public schools financially and this is the point that no one seems to really get."
Experts: Education plan likely won't fly
Date CapturedTuesday September 26 2006, 8:18 AM
The Houston Chronicle reports on the Commission of the Future of Higher Education's 62 page report, "The commission did not recommend mandatory testing, but encouraged institutions to measure learning and make the results available to students and tuition-paying parents."
Blacks take education into their own hands: Once dominated by whites, homeschooling appeals to more African Americans
Date CapturedMonday September 25 2006, 1:06 PM
San Francisco Chronicle reports, "The Marshalls, who had both worked as teachers' aides, feared public school would contradict their Christian beliefs, and they wanted to avoid having their sons labeled as violent or hyperactive or seeing them pressured by peers to drink, do drugs and have sex. A desire for more rigorous academics and greater emphasis on black history also has led black families into homeschooling, educators say."
Schools, parents and police monitor online hangout in search of bad guys - and good information
Date CapturedMonday September 25 2006, 8:37 AM
Newsday reports on website, "'In one way, it's a tool for a parent,' Palmer [parent] said. 'We found it [MySpace] just to be really an avenue where we can kind of get a grasp on what kids are doing, what they're talking about, what they're getting involved in.'"
MySpace, Seventeen launch parents education plan
Date CapturedMonday September 25 2006, 6:17 AM
Reuters reports, "To download the parents guide, surfers can click on 'Safety Tip" at MySpace.com. Brochures will also be distributed to about 55,000 schools representing grades 7 through 12 in the United States in October."
Elmira student information available online (second story)
Date CapturedMonday September 25 2006, 5:32 AM
Star-Gazette reports, "Parents of Elmira City School District students may register at any time for ParentCONNECT, an online program that allows them to view information about their child's attendance, classes and grades as well as their discipline and attendance records."
Albany High security tighter after incident
Date CapturedMonday September 25 2006, 4:58 AM
Times Union writes, "Melissa Mackey said it was hypocritical of school officials to call for more parent involvement and ban parents from Sunday's meeting. Mackey, who is involved with the group Community United for Quality Education and has a daughter at Albany High, said school officials should engage students and parents in an effort to stop the violence."
Too much time wasted on homework?
Date CapturedSunday September 24 2006, 10:05 AM
Philadelpha Inquirer prints Washington Post story by Valerie Strauss, "Elementary school students get no academic benefit from homework - except reading and some basic-skills practice - yet schools require more than ever. High school students studying until dawn probably are wasting their time because there is no academic benefit after two hours a night. For middle schoolers, the benefit ends after 11/2 hours. And perhaps more important, Cooper said, is that most teachers get little or no training on how to create homework assignments that advance learning."
Providing Highly Mobile Students with an Effective Education
Date CapturedSaturday September 23 2006, 10:48 PM
"Various military branches have devised strategies to address these [highly mobile children] challenges and to promote academic and social success, which in some case may be useful for other subpopulations. They include: the establishment of family and educational support networks during deployments; the encouragement of parental involvement associated with high academic achievement; the use of school counselors to meet the needs of military adolescents and to advocate and implement strategies for smoother school transitions; and a "corporate culture" that supports families and encourages strong school-family-military partnerships." Walls, Charles A. ERIC Identifier: ED482918 Publication Date: 2003-11-00. ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education.
KIDS ARE 'READ HOT' IN BROOKLYN AND QUEENS
Date CapturedSaturday September 23 2006, 8:05 AM
NY Post reports, "PS 108 Principal Constance Hahn attributed their success to parent involvement and intensive professional development for teachers. Newer teachers are mentored by veterans weekly, and all teachers collaborate on classroom strategies for 45 minutes a week. 'It really is a joint effort,' Hahn said. 'The parents, the staff, they're all wonderful. Once you show that this or that will help a child, people listen.'"
Secretary Spellings encourages free tutoring program
Date CapturedFriday September 22 2006, 9:45 AM
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH reports, "Spellings said some school districts haven’t been forthcoming enough about parents’ options, perhaps because the districts pay for the tutoring with the federal funding it receives."
'Dangerous' special ed controversy
Date CapturedThursday September 21 2006, 4:57 AM
NY Daily News reports, "Parent leaders and educators are steamed about a state list that labels three special education schools in Queens 'persistently dangerous.' They charge the report is inaccurate and has needlessly upset parents."
RFID and student privacy in California
Date CapturedWednesday September 20 2006, 12:19 PM
e-week reports, "Last year the Brittan Elementary School District in Sutter, Calif., required all its students to wear an ID badge implanted with a radio-frequency chip [RFID]. The badges, which stored a 15-digit identifier for each student, were intended to be used as an attendance aid. Parents, however, were up in arms over the practice, which many said violated their kids' privacy rights."
Impact of steroids felt across high school sports
Date CapturedWednesday September 20 2006, 9:20 AM
San Francisco Chronicle columnist C.W. Nevius writes, "Every high school [California] athlete must sign a pledge that he or she will not use anabolic steroids. Every coach and volunteer must complete the American Sport Education Program course on steroids. And finally, in many schools, such as Archbishop Riordan in San Francisco, parents are required to attend a meeting to discuss the use and abuse of steroids."
Community needs to analyze bond requests
Date CapturedWednesday September 20 2006, 7:50 AM
Ithaca Journal guest columnist Allen Lambert, former member of the Ithaca City School District Board of Education writes, "Of what use is a public hearing when citizens do not have details to comment on, or when it is too late to influence a decision? No information was available to the public until the evening of Sept. 7. And little detail has been published in newspapers so citizens can begin to examine particulars. Yet, the board of education is expected to make a huge decision without adequate time for itself or the community."
Mayor Bloomberg Re-emphasizes School Control
Date CapturedWednesday September 20 2006, 3:16 AM
NY Times reports, "In addition, education advocates and elected officials say, Mr. Bloomberg has alienated many parents — precisely the public needed to bring pressure on legislators — who feel excluded from influencing decisions about the system."
Boston schools win top education award; Jersey City a finalist
Date CapturedTuesday September 19 2006, 8:48 PM
AP reports, "The Boston public school system won the nation's largest prize in public education Tuesday, earning $500,000 in college scholarships for making steady gains in the classroom. Jersey City's school system was a finalist for the award and will receive $125,000."The other four finalists will each receive $125,00. They are Bridgeport Public Schools in Connecticut, Jersey City School District in New Jersey, Miami Dade County Public Schools and the New York City Department of Education.
Program targets bullying via awareness, caring
Date CapturedTuesday September 19 2006, 12:55 PM
Huron Daily Tribune reports, "LaPine [teacher] said the parochial schools also can bring Bible lessons into the discussions, teaching students what Jesus would do about bullying. 'It's an extra advantage,' LaPine said about teaching from the Bible. To include parents in the program, the bullying prevention coordinating committee is planning a parent kick-off for each school to inform parents about the program and how it will help students."
Rochester District advice council to meet
Date CapturedSunday September 17 2006, 7:10 PM
The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports, "All parents and guardians of district students are welcome to attend. Topics will include a review of the opening of schools and organizing standing committees. DACT works with state and national coalitions supporting programs under the federal No Child Left Behind Act."
Laura Bush to Hold Global Literacy Conference
Date CapturedSunday September 17 2006, 11:26 AM
VOICE OF AMERICA reports, "The educators say the conference will focus on three initiatives for combating global illiteracy, including teaching mothers to read and to pass that skill on to their children. The other two initiatives are aimed at improving reading skills, so adults can make informed decisions about health issues, and ways to use literacy to build basic business skills."
Once upon a time: The power of a story
Date CapturedSunday September 17 2006, 11:20 AM
Star Gazette contributor Chris Corter, head of youth services at Steele Memorial Library in Chemung County and a member of the Family Reading Partnership of Chemung Valley opined, "No matter what your age or background, everyone has a story to share. Storytelling is a powerful tool for encouraging a love of reading and family literacy. So what's your story? Share it today with someone you love."
Urban education program promises focus
Date CapturedSunday September 17 2006, 10:29 AM
Republican-American reports on proposed curriculum in Connecticut school, "The Comer program is not focused specifically on academic achievement, though supporters say fostering a warmer attitude toward school leads to higher test scores. 'Academic achievement is an outcome of good development,' Joyner [education professor who helped develop the program] said. 'It's just as important for a kid to be good as it is to be smart.'" Joyner said a particular focus for Walsh [Connecticut school] would be developing a schoolwide focus on learning proper English, and recognizing when to use it instead of street slang."
Johnson City schools seek input on funds
Date CapturedSunday September 17 2006, 9:42 AM
Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin reports on EXCEL, a one-time allocation to help school districts fund new building projects, "The Johnson City Central School District received an unexpected gift in April when state lawmakers approved $2 million more in building aid for the district. Now, school board members are asking the public to help determine how to spend the money. They are asking district residents to participate in focus group sessions in October to get feedback on the best use of the $2,030,375 coming to Johnson City under EXCEL, or Expanding our Children's Education and Learning."
Parental consent form one of many special education changes
Date CapturedFriday September 15 2006, 10:54 PM
The Wilton Villager reports on 2004 reauthorization of the national Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA] changes, "The teacher is required to change his or her teaching style, slow down, work in small groups and work one on one with the child before having the student evaluated for special education services."
Volunteers sought to research school configuration
Date CapturedFriday September 15 2006, 6:48 PM
Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin reports, "The Susquehanna Valley Board of Education is still looking for volunteers to research a possible reconfiguration of the school district's two elementary schools. The volunteers will study having one of the schools house kindergarten through second grade students, and the other school house third through fifth grade students, district officials said."
Los Angeles Unified School District left the parents behind
Date CapturedFriday September 15 2006, 1:31 PM
LA Daily News reports on highlights of a California state audit, "The district has 'all but abandoned' efforts to increase parental and community involvement, a goal of its 2000 reorganization. Promised staffing reductions were only temporary, and the number of support employees has actually increased over 1999 levels. The district says additional employees are needed to manage school construction and technology programs. The district should evaluate why local advisory councils have not met objectives; develop guidelines for what the councils should accomplish; and define how local districts can help."
California school district nixes attendance campaign
Date CapturedFriday September 15 2006, 11:33 AM
North County Times reports, "The [Temecula Valley Unified] school district has nixed its campaign offering students prizes ranging from computers to a new car for near-perfect attendance. The effort's debut last year produced only a minor bump in attendance."
Secretary Spellings' Prepared Remarks to the National Conference of Editorial Writers Convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Date CapturedThursday September 14 2006, 11:04 PM
"When I [US Department of Education Secretary Spellings] hear people say things like some children just can't learn, I say, 'Whose child are they talking about?' Not mine, I hope, because as a mom, I don't think it's too much to ask that my child leave the third grade reading and doing math at the third grade level. And I'm pretty sure almost all parents feel that same way—regardless of where they live or how much money they make."
Education Policy Should Not Be Based on Programs that Cannot be Replicated
Date CapturedThursday September 14 2006, 12:06 PM
Education Finance and Accountability Program at the Maxwell School, Syracuse University (EFAP) Director John Yinger writes, "The use of additional funds does not, of course, guarantee success. Many schools undoubtedly use policies and practices that cost more than equally effective alternatives. But one cannot identify these alternatives simply by looking at a few successful schools. Instead, we need to continue evaluating a wide range of programs to determine which ones can raise student performance under what circumstances and at what cost."
Kentucky home educators required to teach rigid curriculum
Date CapturedThursday September 14 2006, 8:41 AM
Pioneer News reports, "Kentucky law recognizes home schools as private institutions. The laws that apply to state private schools apply to home schools as well."
Principal's cell grab is right call: Mayor Bloomberg
Date CapturedThursday September 14 2006, 8:20 AM
NY Daily News reports, "But some students and parents, including a group suing the city over its cell phone ban, maintain the phones are needed in cases of emergency."
Rochester area schools shorted $44M by fed
Date CapturedWednesday September 13 2006, 5:16 PM
The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports, "The Rochester area is being shorted $44 million in federal school aid promised under the No Child Left Behind Act, Senator Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said today while announcing a report detailing statewide school funding shortfalls."
Texas Extension Program Helps Prepare Special-Needs Students for Life After High School
Date CapturedWednesday September 13 2006, 1:21 PM
Texas A&M University AgNews reports, "The program, funded through the Texas Education Agency, is designed to assist career and technology teachers – formerly known as vocational teachers – who are working with students with special needs, primarily in high school, he [Dr. Rick Peterson, Extension parenting specialist and project director] said."
Derby [Connecticut] to ease cell phone ban
Date CapturedWednesday September 13 2006, 9:05 AM
Connecticut Post reports, "Cell phones are banned classrooms, but Board of Education members are trying to balance that policy with parents' desire for their children to have access to them during emergencies."
Petition seeks busing for Auburn, New York pupils
Date CapturedWednesday September 13 2006, 6:06 AM
Post-Standard reports, "Another parent with concerns about her child walking was critical of the lack of response to her inquiry about a walk-back pass. Susan Phillips Coe said safety 'should be a top priority, along with communication between the school and parents.'"
Segregated schools: New debate, old problem
Date CapturedTuesday September 12 2006, 7:12 AM
USA TODAY DeWayne Wickham opined, "In essence, this 1974 ruling gave whites who flee to the suburbs the cover they needed to perpetuate the school segregation that the high court outlawed 20 years earlier, many of the panelists argued. In 1935, W.E.B. DuBois, the black sociologist and civil rights activist, wrote that 'the Negro needs neither segregated schools nor mixed schools. What he needs is (a good) Education.' Chambers thinks DuBois is right — and so do I."
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA SCHOOL DISTRICT SEEKS SURROGATE PARENTS
Date CapturedMonday September 11 2006, 11:11 PM
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) reports, "Special education students are in need of San Franciscans who are willing to volunteer their time to be 'surrogate parents,' according to the San Francisco Unified School District."
Kentucky schools will compete in attendance
Date CapturedMonday September 11 2006, 2:03 PM
The Cincinnati Post reports, "Decades ago, rounding up kids cutting school was the job of the police truancy officer. It's an image best captured in the famous Norman Rockwell painting of the officer sitting at a diner counter next to a young boy who appears to be set to run away from home. Rockwell was so 20th-century. Today, Newport Independent Schools is the only district in Kentucky to track truants electronically and with lightning-speed."
Cooperstown plans kickoff for new academic targets
Date CapturedMonday September 11 2006, 7:00 AM
Cooperstown Crier reports, "The initiative is designed to push the Cooperstown School District from 'good to great' by 2010, officials said, and has been worked on by committees made up of parents, faculty, staff, administrators, community members and students since February."
Changing classrooms require change in teaching methods
Date CapturedSunday September 10 2006, 11:56 AM
Beacon News reports, "Local [Illinois] educators need to adapt their teaching styles to their increasingly diverse classrooms, West Aurora school administrators told a group of new teachers during an Aurora University seminar last week."
New York schools test scores made easy for parents
Date CapturedFriday September 08 2006, 5:22 AM
Times Union Rick Karlin wites, "'These reports are designed to be parent-friendly,' Martha Musser, coordinator of information and reporting systems for the Education Department, said Thursday as the agency unveiled the new reports. They also will allow parents to track how their children are doing on standardized tests over time, said Acting Deputy Commissioner Jean Stevens."
Dayton, Ohio schools want parents to know tutoring choices
Date CapturedFriday September 08 2006, 12:39 AM
Dayton Daily News reports, "No Child Left Behind requires districts that accept federal money for low-income children to set aside 20 percent of those funds to pay up to $1,600 per child for tutoring each year at schools not making the grade under NCLB."
D.C. Schools Fall Short of Test Goals, Superintendent Says
Date CapturedThursday September 07 2006, 6:29 PM
The Washington Post reports, "The number of District schools that failed to make academic benchmarks increased this year, according to test results D.C. School Superintendent Clifford B. Janey plans to release today. At the same time, he plans to cut the equivalent of almost five instructional days to accommodate more teacher training."
NEW YORK STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT UNVEILS NEW SYSTEM TO TRACK AND REPORT STUDENT DATA, SYSTEM WILL PROVIDE NEW TOOLS TO IMPROVE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
Date CapturedThursday September 07 2006, 6:10 PM
Beginning this fall, test results will be delivered directly to schools in an electronic format, giving authorized school administrators and teachers instant access to data regarding individual student performance, performance by groups of students (including breakdowns by race, ethnicity, disability status, gender, English proficiency, economic status, and migrant status), and overall performance by school and school district. This electronic system will give schools interactive reports on all this information. Parents will receive more detailed printed reports explaining their children’s performance on the tests. The reports will not only give the overall score but will also give a more detailed breakdown of a student’s performance on several indicators of achievement. All individual student information will be protected during every phase of data collection and reporting.
Behind the statistics
Date CapturedThursday September 07 2006, 8:46 AM
The Providence Journal reports, "It [NCLB} doesn't capture a child's speaking and listening skills,' Furia [principal] said. 'Our students can understand what's being read and answer an inferential question. That's an "Aha" moment that isn't captured here.'"
Louisiana high school keeps parents involved
Date CapturedWednesday September 06 2006, 9:32 AM
Daily World reports, "Several years ago, she [Leger, school principal] said, the school installed a voice mail system where parents can call to confirm their child's homework assignments. Leger said teachers are required to have their weekly assignments into the system by 3 p.m. on Mondays. They remain one of the few schools who still maintain the hotline. 'This allows teachers to leave messages on the system, and parents can also leave messages on the system, which keeps parents and teachers in constant communication,' she said. Leger is using computer technology to her advantage. She encourages teachers to exchange e-mail addresses with parents for easier contact."
Welcome to a new school year of building bridges
Date CapturedWednesday September 06 2006, 7:57 AM
Ithaca Journal guest columnist Judith Pastel, superintendent of the Ithaca City School District, writes, "Last year, many ICSD employees worked closely with me to upgrade our internal communications processes, that is, how we communicate with each other. This was the first major step toward a culture of on-going and improved communication. This year, we will build on those initial efforts and make serious headway with our external communication. Community members and the public will read monthly guest columns by district staff. Our goal is to publish a district newsletter during October and during May. Serious review of our Web site is in progress in order to improve accessibility and content. By the end of the school year, I will be asking community members to provide input on our efforts."
Get involved in education: Parents and residents all have a role to play in teaching our young people
Date CapturedTuesday September 05 2006, 10:21 AM
The Timberjay opined, "Along similar lines, researchers have found that students benefit when parents attend parent-teacher conferences, support school activities, or help out in classrooms or on field trips. And the earlier this occurs in a child’s educational process, the research says, the more powerful the effects will be."
Editorial: The nation's learning curve
Date CapturedTuesday September 05 2006, 6:16 AM
The Journal News opined on special education, "Among the high-profile changes in Congress' 2004 reforms now taking effect: States can no longer use the discrepancy formula as the sole reason for rejecting a child as learning disabled. Actually, New York's regulations have said for years that the formula's use was not required; in fact, if it was used, it couldn't be the sole determinant of learning difficulties. However, hundreds of appeals by parents to the state's education commissioners reveal widespread use of the practice by districts. No more. Under the new regulations, no state or district can rely solely on the discrepancy canard. Parents fighting for services for their children should know that."
'Twas the night before school and hope sprang eternal
Date CapturedMonday September 04 2006, 10:31 AM
Times Herald contributor Laura Giner Bair , Newburgh Schools teacher, writes "We hope that our children are safe and that they make academic progress. We hope that children are respectful and grow in moral conduct. We hope that teachers are wise and kind and mindful that our children are young and sometimes fragile. We hope that parents are supportive and join us as partners in the education of all our children. We hope that whatever there is that might need to change will change."
D.C. School Superintendent Janey Proposes Year-Round Classes to Aid Ailing Programs
Date CapturedMonday September 04 2006, 9:35 AM
The Washington Post reports, "D.C. School Superintendent Clifford B. Janey is proposing year-round classes at five mainly low-achieving schools in an effort to give students more time in the classroom by shortening the long summer break."
Standing by their principals: 'Empowerment' bigs win freedom from educrats
Date CapturedSunday September 03 2006, 7:56 AM
NY Daily News Erin Einhorn reports, ""The thing people are really concerned about is where they go if there's a problem,' said Tim Johnson, head of a citywide parents group. 'There doesn't seem to be a clear path of accountability like there is in the current system.' Empowerment principals say they understand the concerns, but they argue that the consequences of failing will drive the schools toward success."
Rochester district to boost security measures: Two 'dangerous' city high schools take extra safety steps
Date CapturedSunday September 03 2006, 7:51 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports, "As required by the No Child Left Behind Act, the district sent letters to parents and guardians of the more than 2,000 students in both schools to alert them that students can transfer if they wish. The district received about 60 transfer requests before those letters were sent."
Flap over summer reading at least shows engaged parents
Date CapturedThursday August 31 2006, 9:33 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle opined, "From hundreds of channels of cable television to satellite radio to the World Wide Web, young people have access to more media than ever. They need parents who are paying attention."
Age 2: Findings From the 2-Year-Old Follow-up of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort
Date CapturedTuesday August 29 2006, 10:52 AM
This report presents information on selected child and family characteristics, on children’s mental and physical skills, on children's attachment relationships with their primary caregivers, on their first experiences in child care, and on their fathers. Mulligan, G.M. and Flanagan, K.D. (2006). Age 2: Findings From the 2-Year-Old Follow-up of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) (NCES 2006-043). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics.
Hyde Park district appeals special ed ruling
Date CapturedTuesday August 29 2006, 8:18 AM
Poughkeepsie Journal reports, "The parents, identified under confidentiality rules as Frank G. and Dianne G., disagreed in 2001 with the district's special education committee that the special needs of their son, Anthony, could be met in a regular classroom setting at Ralph R. Smith Elementary School — with the assistance of a full-time aide and other additional services. After writing the district to dispute his placement, the parents in August 2001 placed their son in Upton Lake Christian School in Clinton Corners. The Hyde Park district later refused to reimburse the parents $3,660 in Upton Lake tuition."
Literacy program to expand in Buffalo
Date CapturedMonday August 28 2006, 12:56 PM
Business First of Buffalo reports, "The program will allow Project Flight to establish BookNook programs with on-site libraries and a family literacy resource center, as well as tutors for children, parents and teachers at the two at-risk schools."
Back to School / 7 trends to watch: From reading to algebra, everything in school is starting earlier
Date CapturedSunday August 27 2006, 9:25 AM
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports, "Everything is starting earlier and earlier in education. The trend is being driven by a combination of factors: parental anxiety that children will fall behind if not pushed almost from birth; frustration with schools that have failed to boost achievement for disadvantaged students or challenge the middle and top tiers sufficiently; cut-throat competition for college entrance; a growing reliance on high-stakes testing; a sense that America is losing ground in the global marketplace."
For rural schools, hurdles are huge: Kentucky options to improve test results are limited
Date CapturedSunday August 27 2006, 9:13 AM
HERALD-LEADER reports, "In reality, some NCLB sanctions don't hold a lot of weight in rural, lower-income districts. 'The law can sound tough, fire the teachers, fire the principals, take over the schools,' said Jack Jennings, president of the Center on Education Policy. 'But the practicality of the situation is that more likely than not, you are left with just improving the curriculum and retraining the teachers you have already. That's the practical side of all this.' Jennings said a community's attitudes also have a direct effect on student achievement."
Debate continues over content of kids' required reading
Date CapturedSunday August 27 2006, 8:09 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports on censorship in schools, "We face enough problems trying to raise children today. What they see on TV or at the movies is bad enough, but when you give it to them and call it curriculum, we begin to lose the battle," she (a parent) said. 'I don't want to shelter my children from what happens in life, but I think we need to be held accountable for our choices in teaching them life lessons.'"
Shed light on exams: New York should be more parent-friendly in explaining tests
Date CapturedSunday August 27 2006, 8:02 AM
The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle opined, "A lot of this information is now available on the Education (New York) Department's Web site. But getting to it requires weeding through a lot of dense education-speak. The site, which should be regarded as a prime information source for literally millions of New Yorkers, lacks clarity and readability — two standards, by the way, of writing that the state purports to measure."
Tutoring Glance
Date CapturedSaturday August 26 2006, 7:27 PM
AP reports on No Child Left Behind and tutoring, "School districts: provide yearly notice to parents about how they can enroll their children and which tutors are available; must use clear language."
Arizona Maricopa County faces canceling 84 school races
Date CapturedSaturday August 26 2006, 9:58 AM
The Arizona Republic reports, "In all, 84 races could be canceled: 65 races have only one person running, and 19 have no candidates."
Utah preschool alternative proposed
Date CapturedFriday August 25 2006, 2:26 PM
Deseret Morning News reports, "It would offer training to day-care centers and existing preschools. It would provide outreach for low-income, immigrant and otherwise disadvantaged families, including home visits, creating small groups and working with public libraries and neighborhood schools, Stephenson [Senator] said. Families also could attend 'learning parties' at public or private schools to acquire such skills and build school community bonds."
Most parents are not in conflict with special education in school districts
Date CapturedFriday August 25 2006, 8:45 AM
Times Union Op-Ed TIMOTHY G. KREMER, Executive Director, NYS School Boards Association responds to Marc Brandt's commentary, "Let's not forget that the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires that parents be integrally involved in program decisions regarding their children from the outset. They bring their perspectives and insights to a meeting of the professionals who make up the rest of the district committee on special education. Together they decide on an appropriate education program for the child. IDEA forbids considerations of cost from entering into the decisions despite the fact that special education costs are rising faster than other education costs."
POLL CALL FOR CITY SCHOOLS: MASSIVE OPINION SURVEY PLANNED
Date CapturedFriday August 25 2006, 7:37 AM
NY Post DAVID ANDREATTA reports, "The questions will focus on school safety, student-parent-teacher engagement and 'the quality of respectful and collaborative interaction' regarding student achievement."
Children's pre-K education is crucial to their future success
Date CapturedThursday August 24 2006, 9:06 AM
Idaho Statesman Op-Ed contributor Eldon Wallace, retired associate commissioner of finance with the Missouri Department of Higher Education opined on early learning, "We are being confronted with overwhelming evidence that the great potential for early learning and for social-skill development during the first five years of life has not been met for many of our children. As a result, there is a major gap in kindergarten readiness in Idaho between the children who are educationally neglected and the children of parents who can afford preschool and/or have time, knowledge and motivation to work with their child."
City slapped in special ed lawsuit
Date CapturedThursday August 24 2006, 7:52 AM
NY Daily News reports on class-action lawsuit charging special education children are cheated out of services when disputes erupt, "A lawyer who has represented parents of special education students but is uninvolved with the lawsuit agreed that the hearings are an obstacle, particularly for those who can't afford lawyers."
SMEARING SCHOOLS THAT WORK
Date CapturedThursday August 24 2006, 7:39 AM
NY Post Op-Ed contributor Peter Murphy, New York Charter Schools Association writes, "In the forefront of opposition to charter-school expansion is the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), the statewideteachers' union. Most charter-school faculties have chosen not to unionize - a freedom of choice codified by the state's charter-school law - putting them outside NYSUT's monopoly control. Thus far, NYSUT's raw political opposition to charters has prevailed over the schools' academic merits and the demands of thousands of parents of children on charter waiting lists."
NAACP Hosts Back To School Rally In Brooklyn
Date CapturedWednesday August 23 2006, 4:23 PM
NY1 reports, "Schools Chancellor Joel Klein advised kids to 'read, read, read every day more than you read yesterday' during a back to school rally Wednesday sponsored by Brooklyn's chapter of the NAACP and the Brooklyn Public Library."
Kingston school board trustees limit absences
Date CapturedWednesday August 23 2006, 9:26 AM
The Daily Freeman reports, "After every absence, teachers are required to call parents or guardians notifying them of the absence. After the fifth absence, a high school guidance counselor will be notified, and will schedule a meeting with the parents. If the parents refuse to schedule a conference, a social worker will be requested to visit the student's home, and a letter will be sent home. After the 10th absence, the student's assistant principal will set up a meeting with the student's guidance counselor, assistant principal, psychologist, and social worker and parents. Again, a social worker will visit the parents' home if they refuse to attend the conference."
When it comes to schools, Texas parents know best
Date CapturedMonday August 21 2006, 9:08 AM
Chron.com contributor Dr. James Leininger funds private scholarships for low-income children and advocates enactment of school choice programs in Texas. Leininger writes, "Giving all parents the same ability to find the best school for their child gives power to parents to fulfill to the needs of their children. Under such choice programs, schools are no longer able to take students for granted, but instead must compete to convince parents that they will do the best job in educating their children."
Foster parents getting organized
Date CapturedMonday August 14 2006, 10:14 AM
USA Today reports on the needs of foster children, "The department [Washington state Social and Health Services] is trying to recruit more parents in places with a lot of foster children so a child, if moved, can stay in the same school, Spears says. 'We're moving toward more involvement from children's families, whether foster parents or relatives,' she says."
Iowa Gov. Vilsack urges innovation in Iowa schools: Suggests creative solutions, such as mix of ages in classroom
Date CapturedSaturday August 12 2006, 2:20 PM
Des Moines Register reports on Iowa school reforms initiatives to improve international competition, "Multi-age classes are already held at the Downtown School in Des Moines, which also uses other research-based practices such as parental involvement, a longer school year, ungraded classes and small class sizes."
325 Arkansas schools not meeting NCLB standards
Date CapturedThursday August 10 2006, 11:03 PM
Arkansas News Bureau reports on NCLB, parent involvement and accountability, "James [state Education Commissioner Ken James] urged parents whose children attend a school on the list to ask why the school failed to meet guidelines. 'Parents should always look at what has triggered a school to be in school improvement,' James said. 'While the level should raise some level of concern, there's a difference when the school has failed to sufficiently raise test scores for the entire population in both literacy and math as opposed to one subgroup of students missing AYP in one subject by a narrow margin.'"
Special-needs preschool to get more county cash
Date CapturedThursday August 10 2006, 7:46 AM
The Journal News reports on $5 million agreement with Saint Francis Hospital, "'These specialized services not only help our children develop into happy and confident adolescents and young adults, but also greatly enhance the lives of our families dealing with these developmental issues,' he [Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus] said."
Mississippi parents group will tackle education
Date CapturedTuesday August 08 2006, 11:52 AM
AP reports, "A new nonprofit group is trying to mobilize parents to lobby for full education funding, but a key lawmaker says public school supporters need to be careful not to slam lawmakers who might be their friends."
Florida judges, special education advocates team up for foster children
Date CapturedMonday August 07 2006, 9:51 PM
Daily Record reports, "Cole [Judge] said foster children often switch caregivers and homes frequently. Those changes can pose both emotional and academic problems, Cole said – and cause learning disabilities to go unnoticed and untreated. 'If their residence changes multiple times in a calendar year, you don’t want these children to switch schools multiple times,' said Cole. 'Teachers tell me a mid-year school move is tantamount to losing three months of academic progress.'"
Mahopac group confident it will raise enough money for sports
Date CapturedSunday August 06 2006, 9:54 AM
The Journal News reports, "The 'pay-to-play' system was put together by the MSA, parents, teachers and the Board of Education after this year's second budget defeat, which required that the school board adopt a $95.8 million contingency budget. The board voted to eliminate all extracurricular activities for a savings of $1,037,000."
'Bickering' over state aid crucial to Albany city schools
Date CapturedSunday August 06 2006, 8:50 AM
Times Union contributor and Albany City PTA co-chair MARK S. MISHLER opined, "Albany, in particular, has been made into the laboratory for right-wing opponents of public education who have oversaturated the city with charter schools. Close to 10 percent of the charter schools in New York are here, even though Albany has never been determined by the state Education Department to be a 'district in need of improvement.' Why are the charter schools not all in the 50 districts that have been deemed 'in need of improvement'?"
One Million Fathers March Back to School
Date CapturedThursday August 03 2006, 8:51 PM
BET.com reports, "Believing that fathers should take a more active role in their child's education and overall development, a community-based group is hoping to get 1 million fathers to escort their children on the first day of school."
Principals Offer Advice for High School Students' Families
Date CapturedTuesday August 01 2006, 7:34 PM
Business Wire reports, "Of the respondents, 62 percent said 'Maintain regular communication with teachers and school administrators.' This includes talking or emailing monthly with teachers and school counselors, participating in open houses and parent-teacher conferences, and reading and responding to school communications."
Pataki veto maintains special ed process
Date CapturedTuesday August 01 2006, 7:13 AM
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports, "Gov. George Pataki has shot down an effort to give families of students with disabilities more power in dealing with schools."
Pataki vetoes special-ed measures; Burden-of-proof legislation was meant to empower parents
Date CapturedMonday July 31 2006, 7:44 AM
Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin reports, "Gov. George E. Pataki shot down an effort last week to give families of students with disabilities more power in dealing with schools and vetoed a measure to give special- education school districts more financial flexibility."
Parents’ Rights (and Wrongs)
Date CapturedSunday July 30 2006, 11:15 AM
NY Times contributors Kate Stone Lombardi and Sandra Salmans write, "Colleges fear that parental interference prevents students from developing into independent and resilient adults. So they hold special orientation sessions to help parents understand what role they should play in their child’s next four years."
Colorado schools teaching immigrant parents how to be more involved
Date CapturedTuesday July 25 2006, 10:54 PM
KUSA reports, "Often, immigrant families don't get involved with school. Some blame the language barrier. Other say they don't trust the education system."
Parents Dismissed: An Analysis of Manhattan"s Community Education Councils and the New York City Department of Education's Role in Engaging Parent Leaders
Date CapturedFriday July 21 2006, 12:08 AM
"This report on Manhattan’s Community Education Councils (CEC) finds significant failures by the City’s Department of Education (DOE) and violations of state law as it pertains to their obligations to adequately provide support and training for the parent councils."
“Parents Dismissed" gives NYC schools failing grade on education councils
Date CapturedThursday July 20 2006, 11:49 PM
The Villager reports, "Borough President Scott Stringer is calling for action from the Department of Education to address what he calls the failing performance of Manhattan’s Community Education Councils."
Fathers of U.S. Children Born in 2001: Findings from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort
Date CapturedWednesday July 19 2006, 10:33 AM
This NCES publication presents information on specific demographic characteristics of resident and nonresident biological fathers’ involvement in pregnancy and birth, fathers’ attitudes about fathering, and father involvement. By Kirsten Ellingsen, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Christine Winquist Nord, Westat; Frank Avenilla, Education Statistics Services Institute; Emily Rosenthal, Teachers College, Columbia University; Jerry West, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
No Child Left Behind’ well-intentioned by misguided
Date CapturedMonday July 17 2006, 10:56 AM
The Free Press reports, "If we really want to improve education in this country, the first thing we need to do is get serious about education at home. Parents, not teachers, are ultimately responsible for pressuring students to work hard in school."
NEST charter doesn’t fly; Is principal’s goose cooked?
Date CapturedFriday July 07 2006, 9:00 AM
The Villager reports, "The department claims it overturned its original, seemingly steadfast, decision to place Ross Global Academy inside the building because it wants to keep stability in the building after the change of the principal at NEST+m."
Committing to better education; Nevada now asking for a pledge to be signed by parents
Date CapturedWednesday July 05 2006, 9:11 AM
The Nevada Appeal reports, "In the upcoming school year, students, parents and teachers in the Carson City School District will be asked to sign an agreement pledging to improve education."
It's not your mom's PTA
Date CapturedWednesday June 28 2006, 4:40 PM
New York State PTA
Date CapturedSaturday June 24 2006, 7:29 PM
Educators are surrogate parents
Date CapturedWednesday June 21 2006, 7:35 AM
Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa's School Plan Prompts Parent Rally
Date CapturedMonday June 19 2006, 10:26 AM
Texas district survey says parents seek more online interaction
Date CapturedSunday June 18 2006, 10:11 AM
Connecticut PTA tackles achievement gap with aid money
Date CapturedSunday June 18 2006, 9:20 AM
PARENTS GET 'TEST'Y (NY Post registration)
Date CapturedFriday June 16 2006, 7:04 AM
Parents Still Feel Powerless in Community Education Councils
Date CapturedThursday June 15 2006, 4:14 PM
Report Finds Unhappiness With City's Parent Units (NY Times registration)
Date CapturedWednesday June 14 2006, 8:02 AM
Building a Better Elementary School, One Tchotchke at a Time (NY Times registration)
Date CapturedSunday June 11 2006, 7:45 AM
Parents of the Gifted Resist a Call to Share a School Building (NY Times registration)
Date CapturedTuesday June 06 2006, 7:44 AM
Home Schooling Keeps Students, Parents Closer: A Fast-Growing Education Trend
Date CapturedSunday June 04 2006, 8:44 AM
Hanging Up on Parents?
Date CapturedMonday May 22 2006, 8:52 AM
Read, write, redial
Date CapturedThursday May 11 2006, 7:27 AM
Education News Parents Can Use
Date CapturedFriday April 14 2006, 10:34 AM



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