Still Putting It All Together

Work on hand washing together Perhaps the most common way for a child to contract an illness is to rub their eyes or their nose after the germs that cause the cold are on their hands. Studies show that only about half of middle school and high school students wash their hands after going to the bathroom. Of those, only about a third of girls and 8% of boys used soap. Work with your child on getting in the habit of washing his hands every time he uses the restroom, as well as both before and after meals.

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I already feel the scratchiness at the back of my throat.  I’m going to see if I can get some help translating some tips into Spanish.

In the most recent school year, Cleveland’s schools — the second largest district in Ohio — ranked 608th out of 611 school districts on the state’s performance index. It’s no surprise then that, since 2000, with the introduction of vouchers and charters, enrollment has shrunk by 30,000 students as families have left the city’s underachieving schools for better educational opportunities elsewhere.

Allowing trends like that to continue doesn’t lead to revival and renewal. It’s not acceptable and must be changed. For Cleveland to be a global magnet for economic growth, families, children and communities must have the opportunity to fully participate in an improving quality of life. Essential to that are, of course, strong schools.

Achieving that is why a broad-based, bipartisan coalition came together to conceive and support the Cleveland Plan. The Cleveland School District, Cleveland Teachers Union, American Federation of Teachers, city of Cleveland, Cleveland and Gund foundations, Greater Cleveland Partnership, Breakthrough Charter Schools, national education leaders and a host of Cleveland’s civic and clergy leaders developed the ideas and momentum to make change possible.

Not surprisingly, many were initially skeptical. What helped bring people together behind the plan, however, is the simple fact that, without exception, the plan puts children first.

Do students at a particular school struggle with reading? The district’s best reading teachers could be deployed there to help them catch up. Could children benefit from the extra teaching attention of a longer school day or a longer school year? It could happen more easily now. Is an organization sponsoring charter schools that siphon taxpayers’ money without delivering good results? That sponsor will not operate in Cleveland.

The reforms may sound like common sense, and they are, but even changes that are desperately needed can be difficult to make. Fear of the unknown can paralyze even those in need. By carefully and patiently listening to and working with the community, teachers, parents and members of the General Assembly, however, eventually the value of the Cleveland Plan’s reforms secured the support needed to become law. It’s a case study in how different people with different views can come together to get something important done.

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AMID the  ceaseless and cacophonous debates about how to close the achievement gap, we’ve turned away from one tool that has been shown to work: school desegregation. That strategy, ushered in by the landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, has been unceremoniously ushered out, an artifact in the museum of failed social experiments. The Supreme Court’s ruling that racially segregated schools were “inherently unequal” shook up the nation like no other decision of the 20th century. Civil rights advocates, who for years had been patiently laying the constitutional groundwork, cheered to the rafters, while segregationists mourned “Black Monday” and vowed “massive resistance.” But as the anniversary was observed this past week on May 17, it was hard not to notice that desegregation is effectively dead. In fact, we have been giving up on desegregation for a long time. In 1974, the Supreme Court rejected a metropolitan integration plan, leaving the increasingly black cities to fend for themselves.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this article.

I don’t think schools will “turn around” as much as we want them to until we address the issue of poverty.  Still, these numbers are encouraging.

I think this could be a good way to generate money, but would be nervous if the ads were directed at the students.  I don’t think that kind of consumer access would be appropriate.

What do you all think?

[…]

But in some corners of the country, especially in the rural South, open prayer and Christian symbols have never really disappeared from schools, with what legal advocates call brazen violations of the law coming to light many times each year.

At a school assembly here in South Carolina on Sept. 1, a preacher described how Christ saved him from drugs, telling his rapt audience that “a relationship with Jesus is what you need more than anything else.” A rapper shouted the Lord’s praise to a light show and most of the audience stepped forward to pledge themselves to Christ while a few remained, uncomfortable, in their seats.

Such overt evangelizing would not be unusual at a prayer rally, but this was a daytime celebration in a public school gymnasium, arranged by the principal for sixth, seventh and eighth graders.

When the rapper posted a video on YouTube, announcing that “324 kids at this school have made a decision for Jesus Christ,” he drew unwelcome public and legal scrutiny to the event. It was the kind of religious advocacy that is increasingly coming to light, legal experts say, as school populations become more diverse and as the objection of non-Christians— or, in this case, the rejoicing of evangelists — is broadcast on the Internet.

[…]

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Special-education advocates are calling for the state to do more to address the bullying of disabled students, saying that a recent lawsuit against the city school system highlights the long-lasting harm that harassment can do to such children.

Experts want officials to strengthen Maryland’s anti-bullying laws to provide more detailed rules for educators to follow in reporting incidents and more scrutiny in situations that involve sometimes-fragile students.

“They have targets on their back, and with a child who already has a disability, the damage can be greater,” said Ellen Callegary, an attorney and special-education advocate for more than 30 years, who is part of a coalition of advocates pressing for changes at the state level. “There appears to be an inability of school personnel to understand how deeply that is felt.”

According to the New York Department of Education’s Web site, students may access the Internet for limited educational purposes. The Department of Education grants access to the Internet for relevant learning activities both in school and at home, for career development, and communication between teachers and students.

Students may use social media networks only for educational and current school activities. Therefore, popular Web sites like Facebook and Tumblr are blocked in New York schools.

Web sites containing what is deemed inappropriate information are often monitored. The New York Department of Education will ban Web sites deemed unsuitable for students.

New York schools do not like the use of electronic devices like cell phones because officials view them as irrelevant to the academic mission of schools.

However, not all educational leaders in other school systems feel the same way. In New Jersey, Eric Sheninger, the principal at New Milford High School in Bergen County, has different views about the use of technology in school.

Thoughts?

 Elementary, middle, and high schools with large minority populations — but not necessarily higher crime rates — are far more likely than others to require students and visitors to pass through metal detectors, according to new research to be presented at the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association.

he company formerly known as Trump University is one of several for-profit schools under investigation by the New York Attorney General, a Trump spokesman confirmed Friday.

George Sorial, managing director of The Trump Organization, said the group has received an inquiry from the state of New York and is planning to provide the information requested.

Interesting.  Excuse me, Mr. Trump — but can you please produce your Teaching Certificate?

CA students study a case of cyberbullying, then hold a mock trial to determine its consequences.

Middle School students got a lesson in real-world consequences this Wednesday, at an event organised by court reporter Karen Sotela, learning that what happens on Facebook doesn’t necessarily stay there. The Sacramento Bee reported how, with guidance from Sotela, the sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders put together a fictional case of cyberbullying, and then held a mock trial to determine the outcome.

I am so happy to see what different schools are doing to deal with bullying both in school and on the internet.  This mock trial was an excellent way to show that what you do as a minor can have very real consequences, not only for the people you hurt, but for you as well.