Check out the article today on CNN online- " Why Schools Hate Snow Days."
If you are at home today due to the snowstorm in the Northeast, please let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment. Stay safe and keep warm.
Jeff and Ida Margolis devoted their careers to public education. Jeff was an academic advisor and adjunct professor at Rowan University's College of Education. Ida was a high school social studies chairperson and also an adjunct faculty member at Rowan.We have collaborated on articles on educational topics. Our blog provides information and resources for teachers seeking professional development. Book reviews,lesson plans,editorials and pertinent articles will be available.
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Friday, January 16, 2015
Choosing School Textbooks- The Debate Rages on
Who should be choosing the textbooks that are used in
America’s public schools?
Should it be the state department of education for each of
the states? It is in the state of Texas where the same books are used at every
grade level throughout the state. Should it be the federal government? That is
a difficult question to answer because the Founding Father left the education
issue out of the Constitution and relegated it to the individual states. That
would have been fine until Common Core came along and the federal government is
now dictating what is to be taught in mathematics and Language arts in
America’s school curriculum. Is federal textbook selection next?
The state of New Jersey has been in a somewhat unique
situation. There are over 600 independent school districts that are controlled
by either elected or appointed school boards. These boards had the
responsibility of approving textbook selection for its schools. So it was
entirely possible that districts near to each other used very different books
for the teaching of certain subject. Board members tried to choose texts that
would mirror the sentiments of the community.
In other states, the decision is left up to each county
where the county superintendent is the chief school administrator and oversees
book selection.
But the issues of bias, political agendists and book banning
have crept into the decision process. What should children be exposed too and
who should in truth, should make the decision?
When I first started teaching middle school social studies in the
1970’s, the school principal allowed me to select the books and she went ahead
and approved them for use in my classroom. Of course political correctness was
not an issue then. Today it is. That is one reason I enjoyed teaching in the
college classroom. The university allowed a high degree of academic freedom for
textbook selection. Where a basal text was required, the professors were permitted
to require ancillary books of their own choice- often ones that they wrote. In
courses that professors created, there was complete freedom. Other professors
presented an array of supplemental books and allowed the students to choose which
ones they wanted to read.
This issue is not going to disappear. Concerned parents,
teachers and community leaders should keep a watchful eye on the textbook
selection process.
c.2015 J. Margolis
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
High School/ College Combinations- Can They Work?
Is it possible to take college courses while still in high
school? The answer is a resounding yeas and it seems that more and more school
around the country are creating options for students complete course work and
even degree requirements simultaneously. The benefits are significant. Students,
who say they are bored or not sufficiently challenged, can now take course work
that is more rigorous. Students can investigate courses not offered in
traditional high schools that may be of interest to them. A number of years ago
I met a young lady who was a high school junior in Miami, Florida. She was
already taking community college courses through her high school. She expected
that when she graduated from high school she would also have attained her associate’s
degree from the local community college. Florida Atlantic University. Located
in Boca Raton, has a high school where students can pursue a Bachelor’s degree
while completing their requirements for a high school diploma.
Indiana University in Bloomington had a program a few years
ago that trained high school teachers to teach college level undergraduate
courses, for credit, in her home high schools.
In short, the opportunities are out there.
The other significant benefit is a financial one. The cost
of a four-year traditional undergraduate degree program has become prohibitive
to many students and their parents. The opportunity to save the cost of two (or
four) years of a college education is a major incentive.
The social implications of some of these changes can also be
significant. Can a 16 year old be comfortable living away from home at a
university where all of his or her “peers” are two are three years older? What
about a 17-year-old college graduate? Graduate school may seem like the easy
option but at some point a young graduate needs to enter the work force and the
real world.
This topic certainly is one for discussion throughout the
academic community and educators, students and their families need to assess
such a venture.
C.2015 J. Margolis
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Public Education- It’s STILL About Socio-economics
An articled that recently appeared in the New York Times
chronicled the trials and successes of the Mott Hall Bridge Academy in
Brownsville, Brooklyn. Their school, which has currently just under 200
students enrolled, has 85% of them enrolled in federal free and reduced school
lunch program. The academy is a public chartered middle school and is regarded
as a safe haven in a bad neighborhood. The school has a tradition that is quite
symbolic. Every year the six graders walk across the Brooklyn Bridge into
Manhattan- a place -while only a few minutes away- where many of the students
have never been. The walk symbolizes that there is much more to life than
Brownsville and the world outside of their neighborhood has much to offer.
Students can take a course in entrepreneurship and many of
the students opt to go to high schools elsewhere in New York City.
Mott Hall is not without its problems. Student test scores,
while showing improvement, are below New York City standards. Additionally, it
has been extremely difficult to engage parents their their children’s
education, especially getting the to attend parent-teacher conferences.
Unless we can narrow the socio- economic gap, and unless we
can convince the parents that education is the way of the of poverty culture
and drug and crime culture, then we will be dealing with these same problems
decades from now, wit no better success rates.
I know that this is a tall order for a New Year’s resolution
and most such resolutions are broken in the first eight days of the New Year,
but this is a resolution that we cannot afford to break. The stakes are too
high. We need to find leaders who are willing
to take their students over Brooklyn Bridges everywhere and show them the
marvels that exist out there so that they can find a path for a better
tomorrow.
c.2015 J. Margolis
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