Mexicans and Student Achievement in New York

A recent New York Times article cites issues with the increase in drop out rates among Mexicans in New York.  Although Des Moines is nothing compared to New York City, our Hispanic population continues to have high drop out rates and low test scores when compared to their white counterparts.  Many of the problems New York City cites are similiar to what I see as an educator.  First, many parents do not speak English and therefore feel uncomfortable communicating with school.  Furthermore, many immigrant parents work one or more jobs and do not have the time to get involved in their son/daughters school.  I have to say that many schools in the Des Moines area are fortunate to have Family Liaison's who many times are bilingual and reach out to our minority populations to make them feel more comfortable with communicating with school and getting them involved.  Overall, states and cities who have in the last 10-20 years experienced an influx of immigrants have to think about how they can help the current and future generations achieve success.  Regardless of what people think about illegal immigration, we as educators and the community have to continue to find ways to reach out to our at-risk population.  I believe the first step is finding a way to communicate effectively with the parents and get them involved as much as they can in their children's schools.  To many times I see students take advantage of the fact that their parents do not speak English and therefore do not have to exceed.  We should not allow this as an excuse anymore. 

Teacher Bullying?

I honestly do not know where to start with this one.  Bullying has been a concern in schools for several decades now and has increasingly gotten worse with students having an online presence.  However, I did not expect the latest stories to be about teachers bullying students.  In both cases, the students bullied were Special Education students who went to school and were verbally abused by the very people who are supposed to be role models, mentors, and cheerleaders for these students.  

Being a former Special Education teacher, I understand the stress, the lack of support that you often get, and the feeling of never making a difference.  However, to day after day, year after year, continue to verbally abuse your own students?  I find several things wrong these situations.  

First, the story out of Ohio that was featured on the Today Show, was about a female teacher and associate verbally and physically (through force of exercise for punishment) bullying a student.  This had been going on for four years, despite complaints from the parents.  Where was the administration?  Obviously, when doing a formal evaluation, the teacher was going to put on a show, but did any of them happen to do several walk throughs per week, especially after the parents had concerns?  The second story is very similiar and was just as appalling.  Perhaps I'm more appalled at the lack of concern that both districts had with these teachers.  I feel that most districts that I have worked in would have resolved this long ago.  These two stories are very concerning to me, especially at a time when education and particularly teachers and administrators, are under constant scrutinity.  Between these stories and the PSU story, it makes me often wonder what the hell is wrong with people?  Do they ever ask themselves what they would do if it were their son or daughter?  I know if it were my son, there would be severe consequences for that district.  

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/16/julio-artuz-15-records-teacher-verbally-abusing_n_1097166.html

Merit Pay for Principals

A recent story at huffingtonpost.com, talks of the new merit pay program that the Mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel is enforcing for the upcoming school year.  This is something I know Iowa administrators feel is coming to Iowa sooner, rather than later.  I feel like merit pay is something to look at,  but according to a study cited in the article, has yet to prove it directly impacts student achievement.   If merit pay is going to be enforced for the administrators of CPS shouldn't teachers get this as well?  Afterall, it is a collaborative effort.  How do you monitor this?  I feel that this would encourage administrators, feeling the pressure, to skew results.  I will be very interested to see if this works for CPS, as this will be watched closely by other urban districts.
Everytime I read a story on changing education I am greatful that I received my education in Iowa.  Although our system is not perfect, I would say, it's better than most.  We are slowly changing the way we think about instruction, and the continous need to improve.  Is merit pay the answer to student achievement?  Is it also a way to "weed out" weak links?  I would also like to look at the study done by the Rand Corporation on merit pay results in New York.  I am also interested to see if any studies will be coming out or have already,  on the former district in Colorado that Jason Glass came from.  Is their merit pay program working?

Homework and Grading

Traditional grades versus standard based grading has become a hot topic in the last 5-10 years.  In
 U. S. schools,  70% of teachers use homework to figure student grades, as compared to other countries like Canada  and Japan (Vatterott, "Homework Central to Learning").  According to the article, "Homework is Central to Learning", there are three reasons why teachers continue to rely on grading homework assignments.  The most common response is that teachers fear that if they don't grade homework students will not do it.  Vatterot says that this is an illusion and that homework and grades only works for students who are motivated by grades.  As a future administrator, I still believe that we have to look beyond homework and the content.  I am a big believer in doing what works for your school.  I have to say that my feeling is we don't give homework as a way to assess student understanding, but because it teaches responsibility. The thought of using grades as a reward is often a common response too.  However, is a student's hardwork reflected in how much they know?  The last reason that is often used, is that homework is used to balance out a students grade who does not test well.  I have mixed feelings about this because I was one of those students.  I always earned A' and B's in my classes because I did my assignments and did them well, for I knew I would not do well on the test.  If I was not allowed to do this, I honestly think I would have been a C or D student.

The topic of grading is hard for me to take a strong stance on.  I understand both sides.  However, I also know that we as educators need to rethink why we give assignments.  Which are the most important?  Which assignments measure how much a student knows?  If I were to become an administrator in the future I would ask my staff these questions as well.  Overall, I believe in balance.  I would never take away grading assignments completely, but would begin to get teachers thinking about what assignments assess a student's learning.  I think the first step to change is talking about it.  Our school is currently taking that step.
http://www.educationalleadership-digital.com/educationalleadership/201111/?pg=62&pm=2&u1=friend#pg66

What I Learned From Weekend Two

I feel like the big theme from weekend two was, have balance.  It was very clear that when you are in an administrative position, you have to find balance between your job and your family.  In excepting an administrative position, you have to have a strong family support in order to do your drop well.  The exercises at Urbandale Middle School allowed me to see what all to consider when in a leadership role.

On Sunday we had two important guests come and speak with us.  Jason Glass, from the Department of Education and the Assistant Principal at St. Francis.  I may not always agree with what Jason Glass has to say, but in the two visits he's made to our class, I always learn more about where he thinks Iowa Education should go in the future.  My teacher colleagues would probably not appreciate this ccomment, although very vague, I agree with many of the concepts of the Iowa Blueprint.  However, even after his response to my question about testing in the 3rd grade, I do not agree with this at all, and probably never will.  The Assistant Principal at St. Francis, provided tips and suggestions for prospective administrators.  I really appreciated his advice on interviewing, resume's, and use of technology for organizational methods.

Overall, I always find that the School Management class has provided me with tools that I can use in the future as an administrator.

iPAD's to Improve Learning

I often wonder if Steve Jobs knew how much his devices have effected the education.  Ben Johnson, a former administrator and blogger on Edutopia, explains in his recent article, the uses of the iPad in the classrooms.  There are apps available to educators and students that I did not know existed until reading this article.  For example, if you were a math teacher you could use the Clineometer app to measure angles.  A special education teacher can use the Dragon Dictation app with students who struggle with note taking.  This app types the words for you while your teacher is speaking.  Social Studies teachers can have students take a virtual tour of a country through the TourWrist app. 

Reading this article, made me want to go to school and ask my principal if there was any money we had that we could spend on an iPAD mobile lab.  Being an apple user, I didn't realize how many apps there were out there that specifically were applicable to student learning.  The iPAD goes beyond Angry Birds and Facebook apps. 

I also thought about the convenience of iPADS.  They are smaller, compact, and more durable in many cases.  I have seen our brand new mobile laptaps missing keys, have scratches all over them.  Let's face it, kids are hard on things, especially technology, they need something durable that can last.  I am also a bit biased because I am huge Apple supporter and they generally have better products, as well as better customer service.  

I think I am going to go home and figure out a way to get an iPAD for Christmas, just so I can learn more about these Apps! 

Bracing for Budget Costs

In the Sunday Des Moines Register, the Associated Press, wrote an article on the upcoming budget cuts for public schools and what many districts have done to combat the yearly problem of doing more with less.  In the last five years, each year has gotten a little tougher.  The 2012-2013 school year, I predict, will be the toughest yet. 

The article mentioned that President Obama included in his jobs creation bill $30 billion to save teacher jobs.  However, the Senate voted the bill down, including the $30 billion for education.  As an educator I would like to ask the Senator's who voted down this bill, what their thinking was.  Have they visited rural and urban public schools to see for themselves how districts are managing with less money each year?  My guess is they haven't.  I know one of my Senator's says he doesn't vote for many bills such as this because it is a burden on the taxpayer.  So, I would like to say this to all the Senators.  WHEN IT COMES TO OUR CHILDRENS EDUCATION IT SHOULD BE A BURDEN!

Sure, there are districts out there that have misspent money in recent years, and have had more staff than they should.  But, most districts and lawmakers are asking our administrators and teachers to do more with less each year.  Any parent who has their children enrolled in a public school should be outraged with their state and federal government leaders.  Our children deserve more and need more than what they are getting.

This brings me my last point.  With all the budget cuts the last five years, what else can schools really cut? Ten years ago students who were not traditional "classroom students" were able to excel in Industrial Technology, Art, Drama, Mechanics, and Computer classes.  I know in my district, those programs have been cut at the elementary and middle school level.  There are going to be some major direct consequences of this; 1) Students who are interested in these classes are going to high school with no basic skills on how to read a ruler, measure, or type.  Causing high school teachers to rework their curriculum.  2) What will happen to what little manufacturing jobs we have with no skilled laborers?  People for some reason think, you have to be stupid to be a skilled laborer.  This is not true, as I am married to one.  I will be the first to admit, the tests he has to take and the exams he had to take just to be considered for job, I could never pass.  3) Our children should not be considered a "one size fits all".
People can blame educators all they want, but our leaders in this country have made it pretty clear, that education for "all students" is not what they truly believe in. 

Des Moines Register, Associated Press. "Schools Brace for More Budget Cuts", 10/31/2011.

Education is Overwhelming

Since attending my first weekend of School Management, I am beginning to question many things as teacher and future administrator.  We had many discussions last weekend on how to use technology as an administrator and a teacher.  It is becoming more and more clear that in my school, using technology is for engagement purposes.  I would like to think that it is for learning but most teachers use it as an engagement tool.  I too am guilty of this.  As an administrator I want to encourage technology because it exposes students to variety of instructional methods and does in fact engage most students.  However, if our primary focus is on how well our students score on tests than should I be worried about engagement? As a future administrator, I would like to say that engagement is what I want to see, but the pressure of test scores is going to take precendence. I personally, am getting confused on what is expected out of teachers.  Are we supposed to teach to the test?  Are we supposed to focus on Writing to Learn?  Are we supposed to focus on technology and engagement strategies?  Which one?  Most teachers are frustrated and overwhelmed because they simply can't do it all.  How do you handle this as an administrator?  How much is to much?