Personal Note: I'm tending to family affairs for awhile so commentaries will be few and far between until good health returns ... ~ 05 October 2005

CBS 60 Minutes: Revisiting Rex

The human mind can be mystifying in its capacity to accommodate both disability and genius in the same person, as we found in a little boy named Rex.

Comment: This story emphasizes improving weaknesses by building strengths!

24 October 2005

Textbook-free Arizona school finds kids more engaged

Students at Vail's new Empire High School, which opted for laptops instead of textbooks, say they no longer have to worry about which books to bring to class. Administrators report their wireless curriculum is going well, although teachers were initially surprised that students weren't as proficient in computing as had been expected.

... So is this the wave of the future? Calvin Baker believes more schools will move towards laptop instruction in the years ahead, but he says it will be hard to break old teaching and learning habits. Voice of America (10/20)

Comment: Can you teach old dogs new tricks? Interesting note in this article ...

"We thought the kids would be better at computing than they actually are. Being able to drive your X-box or your I-pod is not the same thing as being able to take a computer, use it, create a document, save it with a file name, put it in a particular location and retrieve it. And that has been a real challenge."

24 October 2005

Vermont college to create curriculum for special-needs students

The U.S. Education Department has awarded a $1 million grant to Landmark College to develop a curriculum that community colleges can use for students with disabilities. Landmark, which for 20 years has served students with dyslexia, ADHD and other disorders, will collaborate with five community colleges nationwide on the three-year project. The Boston Globe/Associated Press (10/21)

Comment: Sounds like a model to share.

24 October 2005

British teachers win right to restrain students

British teachers soon will have the "clear and unambiguous" legal right to punish and restrain unruly pupils, now that Education Secretary Ruth Kelly has concurred with recommendations from a government task force on school discipline. Kelly also vowed to adopt other key proposals from the panel, such as requiring that parents monitor suspended students. The Guardian (London) (10/21)

Comment: I love the idea of requiring parents to monitor suspended students! Let's hope that all of the teachers receive some training in effective restraints so that those involved are not injured which is the big problem with physical restraint.

24 October 2005

Writing proves therapy for Katrina victims

Through online journals, letters and poetry, young people who witnessed Katrina's horrors are working through their grief and venting their frustration over their inability to help others in need. Louisiana State University's Katrina Writing Project and other programs are encouraging far-flung evacuees of all ages to share their experiences.

Comment: Writing for those who can write, art for those who can't or prefer art, and play provide therapy for many damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

24 October 2005

Mother accused of tossing children into San Francisco Bay

Comment: Some children have more life-threatening things to worry about than doing well in school. How sad.

20 October 2005

Special ed students fall through net in ISTEP

Comment: In Indiana, nearly 20 percent of the students are enrolled in special education programs, but NCLB only allows 3% to be exempted from the mandatory standardized testing. Presently, admininstrators are debating if the tests should be given in the fall or the spring. This special educator wonders why the timing of the test is more important than students with special needs "who become so frustrated that they simply color in the test blanks or get so angry they tear up the test ."

20 October 2005

Don't test well in school? Don't I know it!

They call it assessment but it's judgment. They call it reform but it isn't. To me, with four-decade-old memories still fresh, the MCAS pigeonholes children, teachers, and entire communities. And to me, there is nothing new -- or productive -- about this.

Comment: Author pointedly states that we are missing what's important when we test, judge, label.

Because some of the most important things -- patience, kindness, loyalty, curiosity, dependability, steadfastness, grit, wonder -- cannot be measured on an exam.

20 October 2005

Special Ed Seniors Now Must Pass Exit Exam

Comment: Govenor Schwarzenegger vetoed the requested extension so ALL students, from the summa cum laude speech-making valedictorian to the blind and the emotionally disturbed student must pass the CAHSEE. He has also vetoed accommodations which some say make the test results invalid. WOE IS ME! As this writer concludes, this issue will be resolved in the courts. The Governator himself participated in vocational education working as a carpenter. I think that earning different diplomas for different "tracks" should be reinstituted.

"It does not make sense to force all students into the same curricular pattern [or] mold. This is likely to yield many disaffected students, a lot of dropouts, and other unintended consequences. I think it is better to have some flexibility in courses, a variety of tracks, if you like." ~ Howard Gardner, in The News Journal, 3/5/05

14 October 2005

Helping Pupils, Other Teachers

Comment: Filipino teachers have been recruited to come to the US to earn more money, then they spend it on classroom supplies! They are shocked when they are disrespected by students and watch inspirational movies like Stand and Deliver and Dangerous Minds to remind them of their mission to help students and earn enough money to rejoin their families.

14 October 2005

Scientists Identify Tourette's Gene

Comment: Tourette's Syndrome may be a much more complex disorder than originally thought involving multiple genes interacting and different sets of genes in different people. TS can be inherited or appear suddenly. There is no known cure but medication and relaxation therapies are effective. Hopefully, this new knowledge will help prevent TS in the future. Most teachers know little or nothing about TS and should learn about this neurological disorder if teaching a student with TS.

Learn more about Tourette's Syndrome.

14 October 2005

Jay Leno: How to be the class clown

Leno said he finds that many youngsters are natural performers who lack good material or an outlet to develop their talents.

"Luckily, when I was a kid, Ritalin hadn't been invented yet," Leno joked in a recent interview with Reuters.

"I kind of wrote this book for all the kids who really couldn't throw a ball," he said. "In schools nowadays, with all the programs being cut, unless you're doing sports, there's very few ways for kids to express themselves."

Comment: This reminds me of a favorite quote ...

"You can go your whole life and not need math or physics for a minute, but the ability to tell a joke is always handy." ~ Garrison Keillor

05 October 2005

Two articles note that high stakes testing can harm too many students, especially students with special needs, non-native English speakers, minority students, and poor students ... Go figure!

When an exit exam becomes an exit ramp for too many Texans

Some quotes ...

... a new study shows high-stakes testing programs in Texas and elsewhere might do as much harm as good. ...

The study, released earlier this month by the Education Policy Studies Laboratory, examined the effect of high-stakes testing in Texas and 24 other states. It found "no convincing evidence" that punitive measures aimed at pressuring schools and students to improve scores produced better student achievement than would otherwise have been expected. But it did find that high-stakes testing was having a negative effect on many minority students. The study found that states with greater numbers of minority students are using testing systems that exert greater pressure. Researchers think that increased testing pressure is related to larger numbers of students being held back or dropping out of school. ...

It is true that Texas' testing program has illuminated the gap in performance between white and minority students and between students from middle- and upper income families and those from low-income homes. That is good because it allows schools to focus their resources on the students who need it most. It also helps schools design more challenging curricula for higher performers who might otherwise be ignored. ...

20% of Seniors Flunk High School Graduation Exam

Some quotes ...

But the report by the Virginia-based Human Resources Research Organization showed that tens of thousands of students, particularly those in special education and others who speak English as a second language, may fail the test by the end of their senior year despite remedial classes, after-school tutoring and other academic help.

Teachers, according to the report, said that many students arrive unprepared and unmotivated for their high school courses and that their grades often reflect poor attendance and low parental involvement.

Comment: And some students test poorly, some don't want to learn college prep, and some will never learn beyond the basic, functional skills they need to survive to the best of their abilities!

The report recommended that the state keep the exam but consider several alternatives for students who can't pass.

"Clearly, we need to have some options for these students," said Lauress L. Wise, the firm's president, in a telephone interview with reporters.

The state, for example, could allow seniors to submit portfolios of work that demonstrate mastery of English and math, the report's authors suggested.

Comment: Alternative ways of assessing student knowledge? What a concept!

It's unfair to give this test because of the unequal school system we have ...

Comment: What?! You mean kids attending Beverly Hills HS in LA don't get the same quality of education as kids attending Martin Luther King HS in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans? Really?! Pardon my sarcasm, but common sense has told sensible educators this for years! One of the reasons that I left the classroom was because of the impossible goals of NCLB and testing kids until they drop out.

The high school protesters — carrying banners that read "Educate Don't Terminate" and "Don't Judge Students By One Test" — denounced the exam as discriminatory.

01 October 2005

Principal resigns over special ed system

The popular principal of Rogers Elementary School in Chula Vista resigned suddenly early this month after 15 years as leader of a school with scores of special education students.

Principal Larry Alvarado's explanation that the special education system is broken indicates he's a casualty of special education burnout.

Comment: Parents' requests, lawsuits, and threats of litigation are the basis of many special educators' stress. For me, the paperwork took more time than teaching, and I wanted to teach the students.

01 October 2005

Out-of-line preschoolers increasingly face expulsion

Expelled at age 3 seems a brutal way to start an academic career. But researchers say it's an increasingly common occurrence. Each year, about 5,000 children are asked to leave state-financed preschools, which include some private institutions, a rate three times higher than public school students in kindergarten through grade 12, according to a report by the Yale University Child Study Center. ...

Isn't preschool the very first place where we're taught about conflict resolution? ... I just feel it's a shame those very skills couldn't have been used by adults to maybe help this kid.

Comment: Using punishment and isolation at such an early age seems like neglect to me. Kids who are misbehaving at this stage of development need some serious help with physical or mental health. Parents and families need help, too, with this situation.

01 October 2005

Back to top

Commentary Archive