A new report by LFA and Grunwald Associates, with support from AT&T, examines how parents perceive the value of mobile devices, how they see their children using mobiles, and what they think of the possibilities for mobile learning.
Rich Curriculum
Blog Entries
The Center on Education Policy just released a new report on changes to the elementary curriculum since NCLB. Their findings: Schools have put subjects like social studies and the arts on the chopping block to make way for more time in mathematics and reading. (Way back in 2004, yours truly wrote a similar, though less sophisticated, report that reached similar conclusions.) Given the wide range of skills and knowledge students will need to thrive (see here, here and here), this is unsettling news. ...
I recently spoke with Professor Yong Zhao from Michigan State University, a leading international education expert who worries that American fears for its economic competitiveness are actually fueling counterproductive education policies.
A native of China, Dr. Zhao is University Distinguished Professor of Education at Michigan State, the founding director of the US-China Center for Research on educational Excellence and a Phi Delta Kappa International Board Member. He and I spoke about the dangers of following in China's educational footsteps, the kinds of skills youth need in a global society, the promise of educational technology, and the importance of international education.
Listen to the following excerpts of our conversation, or read through the highlights below: ...
The New York Times is launching a new multimedia series following a "communitywide effort" to turn around a struggling school in Newark, New Jersey. The result of a partnership between the Newton Street School, Seton Hall University and the Newark Teachers Union, the school's reform strategy includes a longer school day, more attention to teacher professional development, integration of reading and mathematics instruction into other subjects, and more money for enrichment programs.
It's worth a look. ...
The Road to American prosperity might not be paved with engineering degrees alone.
At least, that's one conclusion I draw from the most recent issue of AASA's School Administrator, which includes a fascinating conversation between best-selling authors Tom Friedman and Dan Pink (whose PublicSchoolInsights.org interview you can find here). As most people know by now, Friedman's book The World is Flat claims that ubiquitous information technology (among other forces) will level the global playing field, putting Americans in direct competition with well-educated people in countries such as India and China. Many education reformers have used the "flat world" mantra to justify expanding time for mathematics at the expense of other important academic disciplines. ...
I wish the above title were my own creation, but it's the very clever title of a new poll demonstrating that Americans of all stripes see imagination as a core ability all schools should teach. Perhaps that's not so shocking, but another finding really did surprise me: Namely, that most Americans believe our schools are falling behind other countries' schools in their ability produce imaginative, innovative students.
Ouch.
It seems we're losing our formerly unshakable belief in America as a country where Thomas Edisons and Bill Gateses come as naturally as the leaves to a tree. Other countries might be good at math, we've told ourselves, but we're the natural-born innovators.
Maybe not. Americans appear to understand that developing an innovative spirit takes work, and that such work begins in our public schools. More and more worry that policies focusing too exclusively on mathematics and reading threaten to crowd out innovation and dull our competitive edge. ...
Success Stories
A Cinderella Story: The Spirit of Excellence
Story posted March 26, 2009. Results updated April 23, 2013
Results:
• In 2012, the school outperformed the state in reading at every grade level, despite serving a significantly higher proportion of free/reduced-price lunch students [they performed nearly as well, or as well, in math at every grade level]
Everyone loves a Cinderella story. When Newport Mill Middle School opened its doors in 2002, folks wondered how students would fare. The school is located in the section of Montgomery County, Maryland, that is most affected by poverty, mobility, and language diversity. The verdict is in: One of the highest-performing middle schools in the county, Newport Mill has demonstrated the remarkable power of the Spirit of Excellence.
Tiger Pride: Fueling the Character Education Initiative
An important aspect of the school’s success is its emphasis on ...
Expanded Learning Opportunities at The East Los Angeles Performing Arts Academy
Story posted January 22, 2013
Results:
- Attendance at the East Los Angeles Performing Arts Academy is ninety five percent.
- This past year, the school graduated 97 out of its 112 seniors.
- The school recently saw an increase in students’ English language arts test scores.
Background
The East Los Angeles Performing Arts Academy is one of five schools located on a single campus. Together, the five schools make up the Esteban Torres High School.
The Esteban Torres campus uses the community school strategy to meet not just the academic, but the social and mental health needs of students. There is a health clinic onsite, staffed by a pediatrician, a reproductive health provider and several mental health therapists. The school also partners with community professionals who offer special workshops and classes to students and their families, touching on everything from diabetes prevention to nutrition and healthy eating. The campus also has a community school coordinator who works closely with families to identify social problems that impede student learning—such as alcohol abuse or peer pressure to join gangs or crime hot spots near school and home.
Each of the schools that makeup Esteban Torres also share these characteristics: each school has some areas of autonomy from the Los Angeles Unified School District, each school offers expanded learning opportunities to students, each school uses a career theme to help drive teaching and learning practices, and each school is small enough (with a student population of several hundred) to allow the principal to know every student by name.
The high school campus is located in East Los Angeles, an area that is home to many low-income Mexican-Americans. Some East L.A. families are second and third generation, with family roots that are deeply tied to California history and culture. Other families are relative newcomers to the United States and may include undocumented immigrants. East L.A. was home to a thriving Chicano rights movement in the 1960s and today recognizes Latino contributions through its Latino Walk of Fame. As much as it has a reputation for cultural pride, East L.A. also has a reputation for being a tough place to live. Gang life in East L.A. has been documented in ...
Expanded Learning Opportunities at Carson High School
Story posted January 22, 2013
Results:
- Attendance is strong: students are coming to school every day for every class period.
- AMA’s students are outperforming the school district average on several standardized tests
- Last year 98 percent of the academy’s students passed California’s high school exit exam
Background
The Academy of Medical Arts (AMA) at Carson High School is a small high school located in Carson City-- an area between downtown Los Angeles and Long Beach. The city is home to California State University, Dominguez Hills—a major university in Los Angeles County.
The student population at AMA is ethnically diverse and includes young Filipinos, Samoans, Latinos, African-Americans, Whites, and Native Americans, among others. No single ethnic group dominates the student body, and teachers say that gives the campus a feeling of equality and balance. Many of the students come from families who work blue collar jobs as mechanics, oil refinery workers, longshoreman, drivers, and retail and grocery store staff. Some students’ parents also work in the medical field as nursing assistants or diagnostic technicians. ...
Story posted July, 2008
Story updated December 17, 2012.
Results:
• In 2012, 87% of 7th graders scored proficient or above on the state standardized reading test, 11 points higher than for the state as a whole. 86% of 8th graders scored proficient, up 23 points from the state.
• In 2012, 94% of 6th graders scored at proficient or above compared to 85% for the state.
• 4th graders scored above their state peers in proficiency in both math and reading in 2012 - 93% in math and 92% in reading - compared to those in the state at 88% and 85% respectively.
When visitors step inside Pocomoke Middle School, they are immediately surrounded by a profound sense of pride and high expectations. Students are actively engaged in instruction, the classroom walls are covered with student work, and the halls are lined with pictures of students demonstrating success. ...
Arts Education Broadens Horizons in Washington State
Story posted May 5, 2008. Results updated November 26, 2012.
Results:
• In 2011, Paternos School District improved on its 2010 state test performance across almost every subject in all but one grade.
• Students in both 7th and 8th grade reading improved proficiency rates by over 15% between 2010 and 2011; students in 7th and 8th grade math also had improved proficiency rates of over 15% in the same time period.
• Despite serving a significantly higher percentage of low-income students, Paternos exceeds state proficiency averages in several grades for both reading and math.
Pateros School District, a small rural district in north central Washington, is working with a regional arts group in an indirect approach to improving student achievement. ...
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A VISION FOR GREAT SCHOOLS
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