National High School Graduation Rate Improves

It’s Good News …But

According to a recent report issued by the non- profit organization ,America’s Promise Alliance, the high school graduation rate in the  United States has exceeded 80%.

Based in information gleaned from the US Department of Education, four out of five students in America’s public high schools are graduating. A portion of this success is being attributed to the impact of No Child Left Behind and the Race to the Top programs which imposed new higher standards on school districts nationwide where funding was linked to a school’s performance.

Unfortunately all of the news is not positive. The success rate figures for minority student were significantly lower than for the nation in general. According to the report, 76% of Latino student and 68% of African- American students graduated during the same period. So for all of the bluster and rhetoric about the success of these two programs, two of the targeted minority groups are still being left behind. Throwing money and changing the paradigms of American public education don’t always produce the desired result. A new and innovative program (since there have been so many in public schools) is bound to produce some successes.  The answer is that there is no one system that will produce universal success and certain environmental factors will have to be addressed before these success rates can improve even further. That is not to mitigate this success, but we need to be reminded that it is only a step in a continuing ladder to raise the quality of education for ALL of America’s school children.

c. 2014 J. Margolis

Introducing the Six Year High School

What if you could combine a four year high school diploma with a two year college degree? What if you could get a major US corporation to guarantee a good paying job to every student who successfully completes such a program? What you would get is Chicago’s Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy. This program is jointly sponsored and funded by the Chicago Public Schools and IBM Corporation. The Goode Academy is located in a low- income area of Chicago and provides a unique opportunity for student to achieve a high school diploma plus an Associate’s Degree in technology. This program is a prototype  for additional schools with the help of IBM, Microsoft, Verizon, and Motorola Solutions. These corporations will develop curricula, summer internships and guarantee interviews for all program graduates. Presently there is only a 25% completion rate for two year college programs. The goal is to get students not only to stay in high school and graduate but to continue their education and obtain the skills necessary to compete in the high tech 21^st century job market.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel stated “They (the corporations) have a shortage of workers. We have a student population ready to fill those jobs if they have the educational opportunity to do it.”

The additional high schools to be added to the program will bring in a freshman class in the fall of over 1000 students. Several of the schools will operate as neighborhood school not taking outside student enrollments. One of the schools will be a magnet school with an admissions process.

Chicago is not the only city to experiment with the six year high school alternative. Programs are also being developed in New York City. I suspect that if such programs are successful, other cities with join in.

c.2014 J. Margolis.

Coursera for Teachers

For those of you are seeking opportunities for professional growth and development and do not have the time or the money to attend graduate courses, you may wish to investigate Coursera. Coursera is an international initiative to provide low cost (or in some instances no cost) college level courses taught online by renown professors for around the world. I had an opportunity to take a look at the outline for an eight module course entitled “Foundations of Teaching for Learning.” The program is very suitable for those teachers who entered the profession through alternative programs and did not have an undergraduate degree in education.

 According to the course syllabus, the program will provide:

• an explanation of how the Foundations of Teaching for Learning program will benefit you in your role as a teacher;
• an explanation of the three domains that constitute the basis of the program;
• an overview of each of the seven courses in the program;
• details of the components of the courses;
• information on evaluation techniques to provide feedback on your learning; and
• Guidance on the development of your portfolio. 

The eight modules are divided as follows

Part 1-Introduction

Part II- Being a Teacher

Part-III- Learners and Learning

Part IV- What is Curriculum?

Part V- Planning for Teaching and learning

Part VI- Introduction to Student Assessment

Part VII- Being a Professional

Part VIII- Developing relationships

The program concludes with a capstone project, which in this course is an essay. The cost for the entire program is $281 and enrollees may pay as you go. Those who successful complete entire program will receive a “Specialization Certificate.” Be prepared to spend about 4-6 hours per week on the course requirements.

If you peruse the Coursera catalog, you will find hundreds of courses in a vast variety of topics. (Coursera.org). Enjoy

"Fat Letters" and Individual Rights

In an effort to combat the growing epidemic of childhood obesity, a number of school districts across the United States have resorted to unconventional efforts in order to get their students on a healthy track of diet and exercise. Eliminating soda and cupcakes at classroom parties is one of the more simplistic ideas that, at the very least, is a high profile attempt to do something. However, the Chula Vista California School District is taking a more aggressive initiative by measuring and recording every student’s weight and height every two years. The district uses the data to identify students who are at risk for becoming obese or developing juvenile diabetes and creating strategies to address these issues. However the parents are not notified with the results.

When the city’s 25,000 plus students were measured four years ago almost 40% of the school children were identified at obese or overweight. The program in Chula Vista measures students in grades K-6.

The state of California has a mandate that all fifth, seventh, and ninth graders be screened and their parents notified of the results. The students are screened for their Body Mass Index (BMI).  BMI is a score that measures a person’s fat mass in proportion to height and weight. Arkansas also has a program in place. The school district in North Andover, Massachusetts sent home “fat letters” to parents of students whose BMI is in the obese range. At the present time, 19 states have similar programs in operation.

This policy has met with resistance from parents and eating disorder groups, especially from schools that send home the so called “fat letters.” Schools have been accused of traumatizing students and making them targets from their peers. Since such programs are in their infancy, there is little quantitative data to indicate the success of such initiatives.Your comments and suggestions are welcome.

C.2014 J. Margolis