Seattle Schools Community Forum: Ask the Mayor, Ask the Governor

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Ask the Mayor, Ask the Governor:

Ask the Mayor, Ask the Governor

Have any burning public education questions for either man?  Both are participating in "ask me" forums.


Mayor
Ask Mayor Murray about the issues that matter most to you. This month, KUOW host Marcie Sillman will sit down with the mayor to discuss city issues on Seattle Channel’s Ask the Mayor, where the mayor will also respond to questions submitted in advance. Here’s how to send in a question for the November taping of Ask the Mayor. 

• E-mail askthemayor@seattle.gov. 

• Tweet @SeattleChannel using the hashtag #AsktheMayor. 

• Comment on Facebook. 

• Call Seattle Channel (206) 684-8821. 

The deadline to submit a question is 5 p.m., Friday, Nov. 13. Ask the Mayor will premiere 7:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 20 on Seattle Channel cable 21 followed by additional broadcasts, which will be listed in Seattle Channel’s TV schedule. You can also watch the show online.

Governor

On Tuesday, November 10, 2015 KCTS 9's Enrique Cerna will sit down with Governor Jay Inslee to talk about the pressing issues facing Washington State. For the first time in the 22-year history of the show, KCTS 9 takes Ask the Governor on the road to the University of Washington campus.

Time: Tuesday, November 10, 2015 at 7 p.m.
Location: Kane Hall, University of Washington
RSVP: Reserve a spot on Eventbrite Reservations are not required, but greatly appreciated

Submit a question here.

There seems to be little question that the Mayor wants to be a major player in Seattle public education (as well as some on the City Council.)  That none of them showed up for Nyland's State of the District speech (along with none of Seattle Schools Community Forum: Ask the Mayor, Ask the Governor:

A Teacher’s Tale recalls urban school troubles and offers ideas for reform | Oklahoma Gazette

A Teacher’s Tale recalls urban school troubles and offers ideas for reform | Oklahoma Gazette - Linkis.com:

A Teacher’s Tale recalls urban school troubles and offers ideas for reform

Dr. John Thompson is known for sharing countless stories from his teaching days at John Marshall High School in blog posts and newspaper columns.

The retired educator doesn’t write the stories to reminisce or complain about inner-city school teaching.

Instead, Thompson writes to illustrate implementation of the controversial No Child Left Behind Act and how that accountability system — based on data — overlooked educational difficulties caused by poverty.

His firsthand accounts from 18 years spent in the Oklahoma City Public Schools district are now presented in a 464-page book appealing to those in education and those not. Thompson describes it as a teacher memoir mixed with “a case study of teaching in the inner city during an age of reform.” Tate Publishing will release A Teacher’s Tale: Learning, Loving and Listening to Our Kids on Tuesday. In it, Thompson advocates for more student connections, a team approach to student learning and less federal policies implemented into urban school districts.

“It is the story of how a run-of-the-mill inner-city school, John Marshall, had problems but had a lot of great strengths,” said Thompson in an Oklahoma Gazette interview. “The school was ripped apart by school reform. We still don’t know how to turn around schools that have that intense concentrations of poverty.”

Atypical educator

The award-winning historian entered the education field after witnessing an influx of drugs moving into his neighborhood after the devastating oil bust of the 1980s in Oklahoma. When Thompson passed crack houses during walks with his dog, children would run to him to pet the dog and then engage in a friendly conversation.

Thompson got attached to the children, who he mentored. Despite witnessing the struggles of OKCPS, A Teacher’s Tale recalls urban school troubles and offers ideas for reform | Oklahoma Gazette - Linkis.com:

CURMUDGUCATION: How Assessment Ruins Standards

CURMUDGUCATION: How Assessment Ruins Standards:

How Assessment Ruins Standards

Long time readers know that I do not subscribe to the whole "The standards are swell; it's just those evil tests that screw everything up" school of thought. I think there are plenty of reasons to oppose national standards no matter what standards they are, and plenty of reasons to believe that no set of national standards will ever accomplish any of the goals set for them.

But let's set all of that aside for a moment and talk about how the very attempt to assess standards-based outcomes ruins those standards.

For my example, I'm going to pick the oft-noted CCSS standards about evidence.

I pick it because it's a part of the Common Core that doesn't particularly bother me. Like most English teachers, I've been encouraging (in many cases, quite vigorously) my students to provide support for whatever idea they are trying to assert. ("No, Chris-- saying Huck Finn is a dynamic character because he does dynamic stuff in a dynamic way does not really make your case"). When I assign a paper, two of the main questions I consider when assigning a grade are 1) did you actually have a point and 2) did you support it with actual evidence.

So in this area, the Core and I can co-exist peacefully.

But this kind of evidence use is a tool, a technique, and so it can't be assessed in a vacuum, just as you cannot judge somebody's hammering skills by just watching them hold a hammer or judge their CURMUDGUCATION: How Assessment Ruins Standards:

New Jersey Eighth-grader Has an ELA Assignment on Contracting Herpes from a One Night Stand | deutsch29

New Jersey Eighth-grader Has an ELA Assignment on Contracting Herpes from a One Night Stand | deutsch29:

New Jersey Eighth-grader Has an ELA Assignment on Contracting Herpes from a One Night Stand

On Tuesday, November 03, 2015, an eighth grader brought the following teacher-made assignment home from his language arts class at Myron L. Powell Elementary School in Cedarville, New Jersey (click on image to enlarge):

The assignment reads:

You had a really rotten day, but lucky for you, your best friend is having an awesome party later. You go to the party and start drinking. You have a little too much to drink and start talking to this girl/guy you’ve never seen before. You head upstairs to get better acquainted despite several friends telling you that you don’t even know this person. You end up having sex with this person. The next day you really can’t remember everything that happened and rely on your best friend to fill you in. A week later you find out that you contracted herpes from your one night stand and that this is a disease that you will have all your life and never know when an outbreak will occur.

Thirteen-year-olds are then asked to write a “reactive response” to the scenario, which is supposed to be connected tSean Covey’s bestselling book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens.

In an email, the school superintendent told the mother that her child could opt out of New Jersey Eighth-grader Has an ELA Assignment on Contracting Herpes from a One Night Stand | deutsch29:

Louisiana Educator: Online Charters. .. . One of the Worst Ways to Spend our School Taxes!

Louisiana Educator: Online Charters. .. . One of the Worst Ways to Spend our School Taxes!:

Online Charters. .. . One of the Worst Ways to Spend our School Taxes!

A new study by CREDO, the Center for Research on Education Outcomes based at Stanford University, finds that students attending online charter schools across the nation perform at significantly lower levels than comparable students in traditional public schools.

The study found that the online charter schools in Louisiana perform on average at the lowest level of all 17 states operating online charter schools. Louisiana now has two online charter schools supported by our tax dollars. They are Louisiana Connections Academy and Louisiana Virtual Charter School. These schools are allowed to recruit public school students from anywhere in the state and they then receive the MFP money dedicated to each such student. 

I was shocked to find that the study concludes (see pages 26 and 27 of the CREDO report) that on average students attending online charter schools in Louisiana lost over a year of instruction compared to students attending traditional public schools for each year they attended the online charter! 

Valerie Strauss of The Washington Post summarizes the findings in this way: "It is literally as if the kid did not go to school for an entire year!"

The study shows that students in Louisiana's online charter schools scored .28 of a standard deviation lower in reading than comparable students in traditional public schools. That equated to 200 fewer days of instruction. Louisiana online Louisiana Educator: Online Charters. .. . One of the Worst Ways to Spend our School Taxes!:

What in the fresh hell, another ‘viral’ teacher resignation? | @ THE CHALKFACE

What in the fresh hell, another ‘viral’ teacher resignation? | @ THE CHALKFACE:

What in the fresh hell, another ‘viral’ teacher resignation?

The viral Facebook post follows the same narrative. A teacher leaves her district by and large because of the following:

Like many other teachers across the nation, I have become more and more disturbed by the misguided reforms taking place which are robbing my students of a developmentally appropriate education.

Teachers like myself, especially those in early childhood, have felt the same frustrations, but can’t/won’t simply quit in the middle of the school year. I can also state, with confidence, that developmentally appropriate teaching is possible, even in this reform climate, but with some caveats. You will meet resistance and will get frustrated. Yet, nothing worthwhile comes easy.

I recall during a district wide PD with every K teacher in the city present, I declared, with audible gasps, that my students have almost an hour of free play every school day. We get back from our special class at 2:15. Typically, depending on the day and general mood, we do some silent or partner reading for 15 minutes. I then go over to the board and draw a box, the numbers 1-4 at the top and four or five choices on the left. Yesterday, the choices were tablets (pre-loaded with some good apps), the sand table, playhouse (built with PVC pipes and replete with a kitchen), blocks, and legos. The legos closed quickly because we just got a series of Star Wars figures in the mail. I limit each area to four students, and we draw names at random.

I’m not saying that free play, or choice time, is all that matters for developmentally appropriate practice. What I’ve explained above doesn’t take a lot of effort either, although it does take some additional money on my part to fund these activities. There’s no money in school budgets for dress up clothes, play-doh, and What in the fresh hell, another ‘viral’ teacher resignation? | @ THE CHALKFACE:

Using early warning systems in education

Looks like we’re going to use “early warning” data, something new to me. Although, it’s a new title, but relatively old concept of trying to use BIG DATA to solve all of our problems.

I’m looking some things up, but a very preliminary Google Scholar search was kind of funny to me. Searching for “early warning systems education data” brought up entries on West Nile Virus and natural disasters. This is how we talk about education nowadays.

This is also funny/interesting. Absenteeism data is apparently one of the risk factors identified as an early indicator of dropping out of high school. It can also be used to identify a potential outbreak of disease. Who knew?

Using early warning systems in education

South Korea: Tops in PISA and Suicide | deutsch29

South Korea: Tops in PISA and Suicide | deutsch29:

South Korea: Tops in PISA and Suicide

Inscription on the Bridge of Life (Seoul, Korea): “Just go and see the person you miss.”

In fall 2014, Eric Hanushek, Paul Peterson, and Ludger Woessmann of Education Next published an article entitled, “U.S. Students from Educated families Lag in International Tests.” The article includes three graphics ranking countries and US states using both 2012 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores and 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores.

The first graphic ranks countries and states on “student proficiency overall”– percentage at or above proficiency level in math among all students in the Class of 2015 in US states and Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.

The second graphic ranks countries and states on “student proficiency, low parental education”– percentage at or above proficiency level in math among students whose parents have a low level of education in the Class of 2015 in US states and OECD countries.

The third graphic ranks countries and states on “student proficiency, high parental education”– percentage at or above proficiency level in math among students whose South Korea: Tops in PISA and Suicide | deutsch29:

The Nation’s “Best Test” Scores Released: Test-Based Policies (Evidently) Not Working | VAMboozled!

The Nation’s “Best Test” Scores Released: Test-Based Policies (Evidently) Not Working | VAMboozled!:

The Nation’s “Best Test” Scores Released: Test-Based Policies (Evidently) Not Working

From Diane Ravitch’s Blog (click here for direct link):

Sometimes events happen that seem to be disconnected, but after a few days or weeks, the pattern emerges. Consider this: On October 2, [U.S.] Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced that he was resigning and planned to return to Chicago. Former New York Commissioner of Education John King, who is a clone of Duncan in terms of his belief in testing and charter schools, was designated to take Duncan’s place. On October 23, the Obama administration held a surprise news conference to declare that testing was out of control and should be reduced to not more than 2% of classroom time [see prior link on this announcement here]. Actually, that wasn’t a true reduction, because 2% translates into between 18-24 hours of testing, which is a staggering amount of annual testing for children in grades 3-8 and not different from the status quo in most states.

Disconnected events?

Not at all. Here comes the pattern-maker: the federal tests called the National Assessment of Educational Progress [NAEP] released its every-other-year report card in reading and math, and the results were dismal. There would be many excuses offered, many rationales, but the bottom line: the NAEP scores are an embarrassment to the Obama administration (and the George W. Bush administration that preceded it).

For nearly 15 years, Presidents Bush and Obama and the Congress have bet billions of dollars—both federal and state—on a strategy of testing, accountability, and choice. They The Nation’s “Best Test” Scores Released: Test-Based Policies (Evidently) Not Working | VAMboozled!:

Unions file respondents’ brief in Supreme Court case that threatens working families - California Teachers Association

Unions file respondents’ brief in Supreme Court case that threatens working families - California Teachers Association:

Unions file respondents’ brief in Supreme Court case that threatens working families

Friedrichs v. CTA seeks to undermine public-sector collective bargaining

WASHINGTON—The National Education Association and the California Teachers Association, together with a number of unions, today filed the union respondents’ brief with the U.S. Supreme Court inFriedrichs v. California Teachers Association, a case backed by corporate special interests who are pushing their own agenda by asking the Court to overrule the sound law of Abood v. Detroit Board of Education.

In their brief, the unions argue that the rule established by Abood is constitutional and a common-sense principle that supports the rights of workers to come together, speak up and get ahead. Where employees have chosen to elect a union to represent them, employers have a strong interest in ensuring that all employees contribute their fair share of the costs of that representation.

“Everyone who works should be able to make ends meet, have a say about their futures, and have the right to negotiate together for better wages and benefits that can sustain their family,” said NEA President Lily Eskelsen García. “Fair share fees allow Americans to have better public services, stronger public schools and more vibrant communities.”

Strong collective bargaining relationships support high-quality public schools and services. Maryland’s Montgomery County serves as an example where labor-management relations are strong and its public schools are leading the nation.

“By standing together with my fellow teachers, we have been able to address issues such as funding sources and classroom sizes,” said Ambereen Khan-Baker, an Advance Placement English teacher from Rockville, Md. “In Montgomery County, our union collaborates directly with the superintendent to ensure that cuts made in our system are far removed from the classroom. The superintendent, along with the three unions in our county, actually all sit at the table together to create a budget each year that tries to keep necessary cuts away from directly impacting students. This collective action benefits my students.”

The thumbprints of those behind Friedrichs are evident and unmistakable.

“This case is really about corporate interests who are attempting to tip the balance of power in their favor,” said CTA President Eric C. Heins. “Our economic rules unfairly favor corporate CEOs and the rich Unions file respondents’ brief in Supreme Court case that threatens working families - California Teachers Association:

Schooling in the Ownership Society: UNO corruption just the 'tip of the iceberg'. Billions lost to waste, fraud and corruption annually in privately-run charters

Schooling in the Ownership Society: UNO corruption just the 'tip of the iceberg'. Billions lost to waste, fraud and corruption annually in privately-run charters:

UNO corruption just the 'tip of the iceberg'. Billions lost to waste, fraud and corruption annually in privately-run charters

UNO boss Juan Rangel was Rahm Emanuel's campaign chairman in 2011.  

Chicago's $80-million/year UNO charter scandal, adds significantly to the estimated $200 million which will be lost this year alone to charter school waste, fraud, and corruption. That estimate is only "the tip of the iceberg" according to a report issued last April, by the Center for Popular Democracy and the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools. It based on a study of only about one-third of the states with charter schools.

According to the report:

The number of instances of serious fraud uncovered by whistleblowers, reporters, and investigations suggests that the fraud problem extends well beyond the cases we know about. According to standard forensic auditing methodologies, the deficiencies in charter oversight throughout the country suggest that federal, state, and local governments stand to lose more than $1.4 billion in 2015.

In 2014, the Federal Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged UNO Charter School Network with defrauding investors in a $37.5 million bond offering for school construction by making materially misleading statements about transactions that presented a conflict of interest. According to the SEC’s complaint, UNO failed to notify the state of two construction contracts totaling $12.9 million with the brothers of one of UNO’s top executives. Additionally, the charter school operator failed to notify bond investors that the state could take the loan that the bond was assured Schooling in the Ownership Society: UNO corruption just the 'tip of the iceberg'. Billions lost to waste, fraud and corruption annually in privately-run charters:

So I listened to the candidates' forum I was disappointed on how little there was on education.

So I listened to the candidates' forum:

So I listened to the candidates' forum

you read that right.  I listened.  I did not watch. About half an hour before it started the tube on our tv set died, but I still had sound.

So I was listening to content and to tone of voice.

I also listened to the approximately 15 minutes of discussion afterwards, lead by Chris Matthews.  

I have a few takeaways, and this is probably a good final diary for the current version of Dkos.

O'Malley offered a lot of good ideas. What was not addressed was that some of the problems endemic in what we saw in the Freddy Gray case are directly attributable to the policies he implemented as Mayor of Baltimore.  Then again, a lot of supposedly liberal Democratic mayors were moving in the direction of no broken windows policing.  I felt that was an issue that could have been more directly addressed.

I was disappointed on how little there was on education.  Yes, Bernie again mentioned free tuition at public colleges and universities.  And Hillary talked about the school resource officer in SC (to which I will return beneath the fold), as well as the increasing percentage of students receiving Free and reduced Meals (for increasing numbers it is breakfast as well as lunch), but there was no discussion of what this administration has done that has distorted and damaged public education, and whether any of them would take a different approach.  

On a general basis, I see no change in the dynamics of the race.  Yes, Sanders was able to offer some credibility to his long commitment to racial justice.  Without seeing his picture from 1962, that he was protesting segregated university housing then in the North will carry some weight (and many people do not realize how segregated Chicago was and still is as a Northern city). I grit my teeth when he said he was there with Dr. King in 1963 -  he was perhaps 22 then, I was 17, I was there, along with about 250,000 other people.  But neither he nor I were there "with Dr. King" in any sense of a participation beyond that of a committed individual, which is noteworthy.  His words implied a greater role, perhaps just awkward So I listened to the candidates' forum:

Arts education in all schools needs to be a priority and better funded, advocates say - LA Times

Arts education in all schools needs to be a priority and better funded, advocates say - LA Times:

Arts education in all schools needs to be a priority and better funded, advocates say

L.A. Unified School District Arts Education Executive Director Rory Pullens, center, visits Normandie Elementary School.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

tting school districts on track to offer state-mandated arts programs could require incentives, legislation and enforcement, arts advocates said at a hearing Friday in Beverly Hills.

Arts programs across California have waned in the wake of budget cuts and a sharpened focus on academic subjects measured on standardized tests. Thousands of students in the state don’t have access to arts classes, a violation of state law.

“How do we really force compliance?” said state Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), chairman of the Legislature's Joint Committee on the Arts, at a hearing focused on improving arts education.

“How do we really make the case to our school boards and to our superintendents that this is an important part of code?” Allen said. “We’re going to help them put in place good programs, but it’s got to be a non-negotiable portion of the curriculum.”

State law requires that schools provide music, art, theater and dance at every grade level. But the law lacks teeth and few districts across the state live up to the requirement.

Lupita Cortez Alcala, deputy superintendent of the California Department of Education, said the state should focus on providing incentives to school districts such as offering professional learning opportunities, providing funding to share best practices and working to make sure teachers are certified in teaching the arts.Arts education in all schools needs to be a priority and better funded, advocates say - LA Times:

'Teachers Are Your Second Parents'

Teen Mom Shares Heart-Warming Photo of Her Teacher Holding Her Son: 'Teachers Are Your Second Parents' - Yahoo News:

Teen Mom Shares Heart-Warming Photo of Her Teacher Holding Her Son: 'Teachers Are Your Second Parents'

A single mom has paid tribute to her former teacher by posting a photo on Facebook of him holding her toddler son before her graduation.

Kimmy Lopez, who is now 20, said she was an 18-year-old single mom living in a shelter when she enrolled in a Massachusetts summer re-engagement program that would allow her to get back on track and graduate.

During one of her summer classes, Kimmy said Tommy Guy, her education program coordinator, was captured in a photo holding her son Javiour, who was 10-months-old at the time.

Read: Students Help Teacher's Boyfriend Propose to Her in the Classroom

She decided to post the photo on Facebook to thank Mr. Guy for contributing to her success and for being so kind to her and Javiour, who is now three.

"Some teachers go all out for their students, they will do just about anything to help you succeed!" she wrote on Facebook. "Teachers are your second parents."

In the days since her post went viral, Kimmy has said about how grateful she is to have had the experience. "Who would have thought that my post would attract thousands of people’s attention! The motivating and insightful comments are just wonderful. I am starting my journey in life at the age of 20 years old," she wrote.

She added in another Facebook post: "I am glad [my teacher] Mr. Guy got some recognition for it. He deserves the best. The Re-Engagement Team were my guardian angels my senior year. They were there for me 150%. They stood by my side and fought with me even on graduation day they STILL kept fighting for me. I am beyond thankful to have had this team in my life. I don't know where I'd be without them."

Tommy Guy told ABC News that he isn't surprised that Lopez has gotten as far as she has in such a short time.

"The first time I met her, I was very impressed with her," he said. "Even in the situation she was in, she was very positive. She was living in a shelter, a single mom with her son. She took advantage of everything she had, even thought it was a very tough spot."

"I knew when she left, I knew she was going to go on and do good things," Guy added. "I think Teen Mom Shares Heart-Warming Photo of Her Teacher Holding Her Son: 'Teachers Are Your Second Parents' - Yahoo News:

Students in Utah call for transparency in Koch brother gifts - Yahoo News

Students in Utah call for transparency in Koch brother gifts - Yahoo News:

Students in Utah call for transparency in Koch brother gifts

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A group of students at Utah State University are calling for the institution to release information about money donated by the billionaire Koch brothers.

Sophomore Diego Mendiola organized a protest Thursday calling on Utah State to be transparent about the donations that have totaled hundreds of thousands of dollars since 2008.

About 15 students marched from the Huntsman Business College building to the office of University President Stan Albrecht, where they presented a letter formally requesting the school's contract with the Charles Koch Foundation. It came as in connection with an event called UnKoch My Campus, where students protested at 50 colleges that have received Koch donations.

"We're not saying the Koch brothers can't do this, what we're asking for is just transparency," Mendiola said.

Utah State spokesman Tim Vitale says the institution, based in Logan, Utah, is working to fulfill a request that Mendiola made on Monday. The current contract with the foundation stipulates that the university has to give the foundation 10 days' notice before releasing the details of the document, the same period allowed under Utah public record law, he said.

"The Koch foundation donation, we look at it not differently than any other donations," Vitale said.

Past donations have included a five-year, approximately $625,000 grant to help hire new professors and the $45,000-a-year Koch Scholar program for students.

Charles and David Koch are known for pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into backing conservatives and libertarian causes. The brothers have built an elaborate network of political and social groups that have funneled tens of millions of dollars to groups like Americans for Prosperity, building one of the country's most potent outside forces driving Republican politics and candidates.

Foundations linked to them gave more than $19.3 million to a total of 210 colleges all over the country in 2013, an increase of $6.6 million over the year before, according to an Oct. 30 analysis of tax records from the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit investigative journalism organization in Washington, D.C. Students in Utah call for transparency in Koch brother gifts - Yahoo News:

The 2014 teacher of the year says this is the secret to being a great teacher - Business Insider

The 2014 teacher of the year says this is the secret to being a great teacher - Business Insider:

The 2014 teacher of the year says this is the secret to being a great teacher

Everyone who stands at the head of a classroom has a different philosophy for how to do the job.

For Sean McComb, the mantra is clear: "Love first, then teach."

McComb should know. The Council of Chief State School Officers, endorsed by President Obama, named McComb the 2014 National Teacher of the Year.

An English teacher at Baltimore's Patapsco High School & Center for the Arts and, at 30 years old, the youngest person ever to receive the award, McComb recently took the stage at the TED Talks Live event in New York City to talk about his experiences.

He brought up his own source of inspiration growing up, Mr. Reagan, who routinely stayed late with kids because they had nowhere else to go. For McComb, who came from a broken family awash with alcoholism and early death, this level of caring was huge. 

It gave him the courage to pursue his dreams when life was telling him they were unreachable. Mr. Reagan made it possible, he says.

"Hope rests in the hearts of teachers," he said from the stage.

That mentality ultimately led McComb to start AVID — or the Advancement Via Individual Determination program. In place at more than 2,000 schools around the country, the class recognizes middle-of-the-road kids who show potential in going to college. It then gives them the motivation to pursue more rigorous courses and inspires them to see themselves as more than just mediocre.

The system works: In AVID's last two graduating classes at Patapsco High, 98% of students were admitted to four-year colleges.

The heart of AVID's success is the strength of the student-teacher relationship. Creating a bond The 2014 teacher of the year says this is the secret to being a great teacher - Business Insider:

States are spending an average of $407.58 per day, and $148,767 per year, on juvenile incarceration

What Will $150K a Year Get Teens in Juvie? No Diploma - Yahoo News:

What Will $150K a Year Get Teens in Juvie? No Diploma

A Michigan boy with ADHD handcuffed for acting out in class, a teen boy in Texas cuffed for building a clock at home, and a teenage girl in South Carolina slammed to the floor of a classroom by a school police officer. Thanks to zero-tolerance classroom discipline policies and the disproportionate suspension and expulsion of minority students, plenty of recent incidents confirm what several studies have shown: The school-to-prison pipeline is real.

Now, a first-of-its-kind report released Thursday by the Council of State Governments Justice Center examines what’s happening to kids—or what isn’t—on the incarceration end of the pipeline. 

RELATED: Go Directly to Jail: Typical Teens Face Police Instead of Principals

Most locked-up children aren’t getting a quality education and don’t have the same access to educational services as their peers, and it’s hard to determine which state officials are responsible for educating them, according to the report. That’s despite the pricey reality that local taxpayers may shell out more than $100,000 a year for an incarcerated child.

Indeed, last year a survey from the Justice Policy Institute found that states are spending an average of $407.58 per person per day, and $148,767 per person per year, on juvenile incarceration—a bill several times higher than the yearly tuition at Harvard. 

Meanwhile, the image of child inmates learning a trade behind bars is nearly a thing of the past: Just nine states provide community-equivalent vocational training to kids in lockup, according to the report. Few states track whether juveniles who are released from custody are subsequently enrolled in public school or go on to graduate high school, their best shot at turning their lives around. 

Young people in criminal detention typically need social services or psychological help or both, and it’s easy to conclude that “there’s no subset of youth more in need than incarcerated youth,” says Michael Thompson, the CSG Justice Center’s director. 

The report found that at least one in three of the 60,000 youths who are incarcerated needs—or is What Will $150K a Year Get Teens in Juvie? No Diploma - Yahoo News:

The Average American Made This Much Last Year, by Level of Education -- How Do You Compare? -- The Motley Fool

The Average American Made This Much Last Year, by Level of Education -- How Do You Compare? -- The Motley Fool:

The Average American Made This Much Last Year, by Level of Education -- How Do You Compare?

The benefits of a degree are astounding over a lifetime.

FOR THE AVERAGE AMERICAN, THROWING YOUR HAT IN THE AIR CAN MEAN A SIGNIFICANT BUMP IN INCOME.

If you recently graduated from college -- or forked over thousands for one of your children to do so -- you're well aware of the cost-inflation taking place in higher education. The College Board estimates that the average cost of tuition, room, and board at a public school has increased almost 140% since 1974, after taking inflation into account.

That's a massive increase, and it rightly causes many students and parents to wonder whether or not pursuing higher education is worth the investment. But after crunching the numbers from the latest Consumer Expenditure Survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the verdict is clear: Education beyond high school is clearly worth the investment.

The figures below represent household income before taxes and the highest level of education that someone in the household has attained determines classification.

The difference between those who only complete high school and those who complete their bachelor's is striking: more than twice as much income.

What's more: the average out-of-pocket cost for tuition, room, and board at a four-year public institution is roughly $19,000 this year. The difference in income between a high school graduate and college graduate in one year alone -- $45,000 -- justifies the costs of going to a four-year public university.

Short vs. long-term concernsOf course, there are caveats to the data above. For instance, the income of each group represents the mean, or average. That means that those who are high earners -- think CEOs -- disproportionately bring the average up. Those who are older do the same thing, as they are further along their career earnings arc.

Consequently, the recent graduate with her bachelor's degree is unlikely to be earning the average of $85,000. In fact, a recent study by National Association of Colleges and Employers found that the average starting salary for a graduate of the class of 2014 was just $45,000.

When you consider that those who enter the labor force right out of high school have been earning money for four or five years by the time their peers graduate from college -- and that they didn't have to take on so much student debt -- it's easy to see why skipping college altogether might make economic sense to some.

But that's taking the short-term view. Those who attended for-profit colleges and universities The Average American Made This Much Last Year, by Level of Education -- How Do You Compare? -- The Motley Fool:

Vermont to parents: Don’t worry about your child’s Common Core test scores. They don’t mean much. - The Washington Post

Vermont to parents: Don’t worry about your child’s Common Core test scores. They don’t mean much. - The Washington Post:

Vermont to parents: Don’t worry about your child’s Common Core test scores. They don’t mean much.

It’s not common for education policymakers to tell parents that they can give short shrift to their child’s scores on Common Core standardized tests (or on pretty much any test, for that matter), but that’s what the Vermont State Board of Education has just done.

Meeting earlier this week, the board, which includes the state’s education secretary, Rebecca Holcombe, approved a remarkable message for parents about scores on the 2015 Common Core tests known as SBAC, for the multi-state Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, which created the exams.

The SBAC, along with tests created by another multi-state consortium, the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, were designed to be more sophisticated and better able to evaluate what students have learned than earlier-generation standardized tests. But the exams are not the “game-changing” assessment instruments the Obama administration — which funded their creation — had predicted because of time and money constraints.

[What the Common Core tests are — and aren’t]

With the recent release of the 2015 scores from tests taken in the spring, Vermont’s State Board, of which Holcombe is a member, approved a memorandum telling parents and guardians not to worry about the results because their meaning is at best limited. It says in part:

We call your attention to the box labeled “scale score and overall performance.” These levels give too simplistic and too negative a message to students and parents. The tests are at a very  high level. In fact, no nation has ever achieved at such a level. Do not let the results wrongly discourage your child from pursuing his or her talents, ambitions, hopes or dreams.

These tests are based on a narrow definition of “college and career ready.” In truth, there are many different careers and colleges and there are just as many different definitions of essential skills. In fact, many (if not most) successful adults fail to score well on standardized tests. If your child’s scores show that they are not yet proficient, this does not mean that they are not doing well or will not do well in the future.

We also recommend that you not place a great deal of emphasis on the “claims” or sub-scores. There are just not enough test items to give you reliable information.

Here’s the full letter:Vermont to parents: Don’t worry about your child’s Common Core test scores. They don’t mean much. - The Washington Post:

The Courier » NEA chief: Standardized tests alone don’t provide full picture of schools

The Courier » NEA chief: Standardized tests alone don’t provide full picture of schools:

NEA chief: Standardized tests alone don’t provide full picture of schools

Chris Oaks spoke with Lily Eskelsen García, president of the National Education Association.
Q: On Friday, you delivered a speech at the City Club of Cleveland on the subject of excellence in public education. But many have accused teachers’ unions in general, and the NEA in particular, of being part of the problem by resisting innovative school solutions. How do you respond to those criticisms?
A: We’ve been the punching bag for a lot of politicians for a long time. I get that. But I’m a sixth-grade teacher who has worked with homeless kids, with gifted kids and with some very gifted homeless kids. Every parent who has ever entrusted me with their child knows that I am in this for the right reasons.
And I’m absolutely optimistic that we’re ready to look at solutions that are actually going to work. We must make sure that every public school is a doorway to something better for every child. We have to get this right. No one can afford to get it wrong.
Q: You are known for railing against the use of standardized testing to measure student and school success, and teacher effectiveness. You call it “toxic testing.” But, while many recognize its shortcomings, no one as yet has come up with a better solution. Where is the accountability, if not through testing?
A: As I said, I’m a sixth-grade teacher and my students will certainly tell you that I do recognize tests have value. But tests alone don’t paint the entire picture of student achievement. That’s why we advocate the use of a dashboard of indicators that would reflect not only test scores, but also other metrics that we know play a part in student outcomes.
Q: Such as? What other metrics would you add to the mix?
A: Things such as classroom resources, from textbooks to science labs. Does the school have those classroom resources they need? What’s the student-teacher ratio? Is there universal access to technology? Are there counseling services, wellness programs, extracurricular activities? What about advanced placement classes or programs that allow students to earn early college credit? Let’s measure all those things so that we can better get to the root causes of why schools are underperforming.
Q: But those disparities are precisely the reason many advocate things like school choice and voucher programs, to offer families the option of moving their children to more effective schools. Aren’t you, in The Courier » NEA chief: Standardized tests alone don’t provide full picture of schools: