Entries for March 2009

Texas's State Board of Education voted Friday to alter the state's science curriculum and drop a standard that critics say undermined proper teaching of evolution in the classroom for the past 20 years, the Associated Press reports.

The standard, which mandated instruction about the "strengths and weaknesses" of scientific theories, indirectly allowed instructors to teach evolutionary theory alongside intelligent design, a belief that an intelligent being created life on Earth. The new standard approved by state educators encourages students to scrutinize "all sides" of scientific theories, a compromise that still disappoints some pro-evolution scholars. The board also adopted a series of slight curricular changes that critics say unnecessarily encourage debate about key pieces of evolutionary theory, like natural selection and common ancestry.

If you're thinking about going into teaching, take heed of this message from Katherine Merseth, a senior lecturer and director of the teacher education program at Harvard University: "The dirty little secret about schools of education is that they have been the cash cows of universities for many, many years, and it's time to say, 'Show us what you can do, or get out of the business.'"

Merseth, who spoke at an event in Washington, D.C., this week as part of a panel about how to improve teacher quality, was not trashing her employer, to be sure. Nor was she discouraging aspiring teachers from going to graduate school. Merseth was taking aim at institutions that produce ill-prepared teachers and yet insist on holding a monopoly in awarding teaching degrees. "It's high time that we broke up the cartel," she said. "We need to hold graduate schools of education more accountable." Merseth says that of the 1,300 graduate teacher training programs in the country, about 100 or so are adequately preparing teachers and "the others could be shut down tomorrow."

True or false: A credit-card holder who pays only the minimum amount on monthly card balances will pay more in annual finance charges than one who pays the balance in full. If you are a high school senior and your answer was true, which is the correct response, consider yourself in the minority. Only 48 percent of high school seniors who responded to a 2008 national survey correctly said credit-card holders should pay monthly balances in full.

This and other surveys showing American students' poor grasp of personal finance have prompted some schools in recent years to focus on financial literacy education. The question that many of the movement's supporters are now asking is whether more schools will use the nation's economic crisis as a teachable moment. Should schools carve out time to teach kids everything from how to balance a checkbook to how to respond to dozens of credit-card offers in college? As it is, schools are already struggling to cram so many requirements into the school day.

A bill that would create a task force to study the impact of cellphone cameras and video-recording devices in Connecticut classrooms has sparked a debate between educators who say the captured content can be harmful to their careers and those who say that restricting what images students can document might lead to battles over free speech.

The state's largest teachers union is leading the push for state lawmakers to intervene. Union leaders say imposing limits on the use of cameras and other recording devices in school might be necessary to prevent damaging videos and pictures from ending up on Facebook and YouTube. The Hartford Courant reports that there are thousands of these videos online. One pokes fun at a Connecticut high school physics teacher who is shown "flailing his arms, short-hopping across the classroom, then pushing against the wall" in an attempt to demonstrate how molecules move. The problem is that the surreptitiously shot video doesn't carry the teacher's explanation of the principles, only the sound of instrumental music. The teacher, who had no knowledge of the video's existence until the newspaper contacted him, has since asked a former student to take it off the Web. Still, the union says that secret recordings of teachers are an "increasing concern" and that they can hurt teachers' reputations and put minors at risk.

Chicago Public School students have lost 28 of their classmates so far this academic year, a number that eclipses the number of students killed all of last school year, the Chicago Tribune reports—and the students have three more months to go until summer break.

Responding to public outcry over the high-profile murders of Chicago teens in spring 2008, school and law enforcement officials pledged to provide greater police presence at school bus stops, crack down on curfew violators, and promote a texting-tip program for youth. But police also acknowledge that most of the violence against students stems from gang membership, gun proliferation, and the drug trade—factors over which the public school system has little control.

Unemployed Wall Street traders will soon have new career opportunities just across the Hudson River. The New Jersey state legislature this week unanimously approved a new program that will expedite the certification of new public school math and science teachers, the Newark Star-Ledger reports.

Because the program will initially focus on attracting former financial services employees whose jobs have been swallowed by the recession, supporters consider it a win-win for the economy and the public school system. New Jersey and many other states frequently face shortages of qualified teachers in math and science, areas of study where American students lag behind their international peers.

Despite President Barack Obama's call for students to spend more time in school, the recession seems to be forcing more districts to go in the opposite direction. Districts in about 17 states already have a four-day week, and similar proposals are being debated in Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maine, Missouri, and Washington, the Associated Press reports. In Broward County, Fla., for example, district officials are considering a four-day schedule for high schools.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan chided South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford today for his refusal to accept $700 million in federal stimulus money that could help strapped colleges and public schools in his state. "The children of South Carolina are hurting and desperately need these resources," Duncan told reporters in a briefing about the stimulus. "I can't begin to understand why any adult would do anything that would jeopardize children's education. That's unfathomable to me."

Sanford, a Republican, has been one of the most vocal opponents of the federal stimulus package, saying it will only create more debt for states once the funding runs out. He has put South Carolina lawmakers on notice that he plans to reject much of the $700 million available for the state unless he can use the money to pay down the state's debts instead. His proposal puts him at odds with members of the state House of Representatives, which recently passed a budget that relies heavily on federal stimulus aid, mostly to fund healthcare and education agencies.

In his first major speech on overhauling the country's education system, President Barack Obama broke with members of his own party and urged states to open more charter schools and expand programs that pay teachers based on performance. The president also called on states to stop "low-balling" academic standards and end the use of "off-the-shelf" student testing. "We have let our grades slip, our schools crumble, our teacher quality fall short, and other nations outpace us," Obama told the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. "What is at stake is nothing less than the American dream."

Obama said that making the country's education system the envy of the world again will require a mix of innovation and investment. Besides urging states to expand the number of charter schools that give parents a choice, the president called for a longer school day and academic year. "I know longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas," he said. "But the challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom."

It's uncommon for the leader of a public school system to support a voucher program that diverts money from public schools to private schools. But the District of Columbia's schools chancellor, Michelle Rhee, is not your typical public schools leader. She is the head of one of the worst-performing public school districts in the nation. And she supports vouchers if it means that children will attend better schools. That is exactly what school choice supporters say the Scholarships Opportunities program has done for children in Washington, D.C., since 2004. The program provides scholarships of up to $7,500 so that some 1,700 low-income, minority children in the city can attend private schools that are, by many accounts, better than the district's anemic schools. But now congressional Democrats could eliminate that option for D.C. families.

Last week, Rhee got word that federal funding for the city's voucher program might end by fall 2010 and that her public schools should prepare to re-enroll those students currently attending private schools on taxpayer money. Rhee was not thrilled with the news. "Part of my job is to make sure that all kids get a great education, and it doesn't matter whether that's in charter, parochial, or public schools," Rhee told the New York Times last week. She went on: "I don't think vouchers are going to solve all the ills of public education, but parents who are zoned to schools that are failing kids should have options to do better by their kids."