DPCC Blogmeister retiring, new blogmeister sought

The last posting on this blog was back in December, 2009. It is time to retire. I could go with the politicians answer; "...to spend more time with my family...".
Might just be winter but my mind has been wandering faraway to places like Bora Bora lately - the pic to the left there. in my opinion this confirms the need to retire...

So, if the DPCC wants to keep the blog going someone will need to step forward and either take over this existing blog or just start one new.
The goal of this blog has been to keep parents informed about all the stuff happening in education that you may feel is important and may have possibilities for our kids here in Buffalo.
I have two children in the Buffalo Public Schools. One graduates this year and the other in two years...and boy am I looking forward to graduating!
The good news is is that in my years as a parent in the Buffalo schools I have seen a marked improvement in how things are going. It was pretty dicey there for a few years and having to take on "the system" to do what is right for your child and your school can be exhausting.
In my opinion though the status quo no longer rules. I believe the Joint Schools Construction Project has been a catalyst for getting more and more parents involved. Once you have a nice, shiny new school building you then want a program with teachers and administrators who see your kids as shiny and new and give them the opportunity to be their best.
The DPCC seems to be coming into its own and it is wonderful to see an ever increasing turnout at the monthly meetings. So keep up the good work parents and if anyone is interested in taking up this blog let the good folks at the DPCC know and we'll get things moving.
Take care.

EDUTOPIA Weekly Online Newsletter

This Week's Features: Think It Over

Decision Making Becomes the Newest Life Science
Students in two Omaha magnet schools learn to weigh the pros and cons of every problem.


When Teaching the Right Answers Is the Wrong Direction
Students can learn more from wrong answers than we think.



What Is Critical Thinking?
How do we teach it? And how does it fit into great PBL?


EDUTOPIA online newsletter here...

Fast-food standards for meat top those for school lunches

In the past three years, the government has provided the nation's schools with millions of pounds of beef and chicken that wouldn't meet the quality or safety standards of many fast-food restaurants, from Jack in the Box and other burger places to chicken chains such as KFC, a USA TODAY investigation found.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the meat it buys for the National School Lunch Program "meets or exceeds standards in commercial products."

That isn't always the case. Continue reading here...

Why it is important to get the parent perspective...

A new survey uncovers an interesting gap between what low-income parents and students want from high school and what high school educators see as their main job.

The survey asked low-income parents and students to rank the main aims of high school, and 42 percent of the parents and 48 percent of the students put college preparation at the top. Only nine percent of teachers did the same.

The study points up a host of other interesting dynamics, some of which are depressingly familiar refrains from other studies. Here is one: seven in 10 students reported strong intentions to attend college, but fewer than three in 10 said they felt prepared to handle the coursework. Only six in 10 teachers expressed confidence that they know what students really need to be prepared for college.

Read survey here...

From North of the Border

Ontario's government is conducting a sweeping review of curriculum from Grades 1 to 8 to fix what educators charge is an overcrowded jumble of disconnected facts that fail to prepare the province's students for the future.

It is the first overhaul designed to weed out some of the staggering 3,400 "expectations" built into the new curriculum designed 10 years ago when Grade 13 was abolished. Read on here...

Parent-School Ties Should Shift in Teen Years

By Debra Viadero

Many educators and parents would agree that it’s important for parents to spend time in their children’s classrooms, to closely monitor homework, or to read to children at home.

Try telling that, though, to a 13-year-old, argues Harvard University researcher Nancy E. Hill.

Read on....

The Fresh Air Fund

One out of four school children in the U.S. has vision problems, and 86% do not get their vision checked before age 12.

Many Fresh Air children do not have access to affordable vision care. Glasses break, are too expensive to replace, or are never prescribed in the first place. And often as a result, children's performance in academics, sports and activities suffers.

Read on here to learn more and how you may help...

Without a Penny More

Interesting commentary by Ron Steiger, who is the assistant chief budget officer for the Miami-Dade County school system, in Miami.

To create districts that can flexibly streamline during financial crises, we must start with open and honest conversations about where dollars are being spent, and why.
Read full commentary here...

NY State Lawmakers Inaction - $300 million a year to run this train wreck?

Lawmakers leave Albany without deal to cut deficit

By Tom Precious

News Albany Bureau

Updated: November 11, 2009, 7:32 AM / 3 comments

ALBANY — State lawmakers returned Tuesday to Albany, collected their per diems, ate free lunches, huddled with lobbyists and met with each other in private. But they were unable to accomplish the chief task that brought them back to the Capitol: budget repair. If you want to bother reading on...

How NYS spends our money

Most dysfunctional state in the country?

States Lag in Educational Innovation, Report Says

A report card issued Monday on state-level innovation in education found what a trio of ideologically varied groups sees as deeply disturbing results, with most states earning C’s, D’s, or even F’s in such key areas as technology, high school quality, and removal of ineffective teachers.

The report, “Leaders and Laggards,” uses state data and existing and original research to assign letter grades to states, based on seven indicators of innovation: school management, finance, hiring and evaluation of teachers, removal of ineffective teachers, data, “pipeline to postsecondary” (or high school quality), and technology.

Though the report does not give states overall grades, the worst marks are in the category of removing ineffective teachers. But most states got C’s and D’s in the other categories. Continue reading here...

Click on map above to go to interactive map

THE ELEPHANT IN THE LIVING ROOM

By John Jensen, Ph.D.

Today I watched while a large group of senior high school girls and boys argued loudly about why they didn't get along. Girls blamed the boys and boys blamed the girls. Neither was interested in how the other saw the situation, nor in careful listening to the other side, nor in any understanding of problem-solving. No one suggested that their own behavior might contribute to a problem. The single intent evidently shared by everyone was simply "Who is to blame?"

It dawned on me that this argument played out "the elephant in the living room" of US education, the unspoken presence that everyone knows about and no one addresses. It was the presence of irrationality driven by unmanaged emotion. Allowed to have its way, it demonstrates as does nothing else why education produces poor results so often, and also why the customary aims of education fall short. Continue on...

Visit EDUTOPIA.org video library for lots of short videos on schools, programs, parent involvement, project based learning, lunch programs,....you will find something worth watching HERE

Rediscovering the 'Pygmalion Effect'

"High expectations" is the mantra of today’s school reformers, who are convinced that the trouble with public education is that students have been allowed to slide by with little effort. Their version of high expectations is requiring college-preparatory courses, advanced subject matter, more-difficult assignments, and a longer school day and year for all students. They believe that research and the records of selected schools show that demanding more of students brings the desired results.

But do they understand the research, or know what successful schools really do?

The original research on teacher expectations tells a far different story from what today’s reformers are calling for. More than 40 years ago, an experiment in a California elementary school that produced what was called, the “Pygmalion Effect”: the amazing transformation of an ordinary person into someone special. READ ON...

Could this happen in Buffalo?

Teacher Contract Called Potential Model for Nation
A teacher contract approved in New Haven that lays the groundwork for changes to the way teachers in the Connecticut city are paid, supported, and evaluated, has been hailed by union and district leaders alike—as well as federal education officials—as a potential model for the country.
The contract outlines a number of areas that would be settled by two committees of union officials, district representatives, and parents. Read on here...

Study: Kids Feeling School Pressure

Students feel significant levels of stress about schoolwork as early as elementary school reveals a new survey in Highlights, the children's magazine . When asked, “What is your biggest problem right now?,” 23.4 percent of kids ages five and older responded “schoolwork,” according to Highlights’ “State of the Kid” Survey, which was released September 30.
Continue reading here...

"State of the Kid" interview videos with kids here...

Hawaii teacher furloughs will cut class time, not preparation days

In scheduling 17 furlough days that will shut down Hawaii's public schools, the Department of Education and the Hawaii State Teachers Association agreed not to use any of the six available waiver and professional development days to offset the loss of instructional time or relieve parents of child-care worries.

Other cash-strapped school districts in the nation that have implemented furloughs are scheduling them to take place on teacher preparation and training days, though most are dealing with far fewer furlough days than Hawaii's public schools.

Read on about how Hawaii & other states are dealing with budget problems here...



How will NY State handle things?




A good idea to propose spending $75,000,000/year more during a budget crisis?

Education in the News

the Great Schools blog good place to find out the latest education news from all over the place...
Go to the greatschools blog here

A Science, Technology, Engineering & Math Lesson

In Be The Game, high school students mentor peers and use game design as a tool for teaching science, technology, engineering, and math, and the program's high tech bus travels to locations where tech facilities are not available.

Lunch debts piling up for school districts

USA TODAY

More children are getting into school lunch lines without being able to pay, creating a financial burden for school districts.
Some schools are toughening their policies — limiting students to two or three unpaid meals, creating payment plans and using collection agencies.
Read on here...

More links to more articles of interest...
Rising costs bite into school lunches - Sept. 2008
3 Ways to Revolutionize Your School Lunch Program
School Lunch Problems
The Problem with School Lunch

Inside the Teenage Brain

It's the mystery of mysteries -- especially to parents -- the unpredictable and sometimes incomprehensible moods and behaviors of the American teenager. Generations of adults have pondered its cause. Hormones? Rock music? Boredom? Drugs?

In "Inside the Teenage Brain," FRONTLINE chronicles how scientists are exploring the recesses of the brain and finding some new explanations for why adolescents behave the way they do. These discoveries could change the way we parent, teach, or perhaps even understand our teenagers.

Click on image on image on left to go to interactive site

Just 19 minutes - good stuff

Involvement Matters: What To Tell Parents

Building parent involvement is the single most important thing that parent groups do. Often, it's the most difficult, too. And that's too bad because there are many compelling reasons why parents—all parents—should get involved in their children's education. If you're having trouble building involvement, the problem might be that you're not making the right argument. You simply need better ammunition.
A common way to think about getting people involved is to...keep reading here

Project Dropout

According to a recent study by the Education Trust, the United States is now the only industrialized country where youths are less likely than their parents to earn a high school diploma. What’s being referred to nationally as the “silent epidemic” has ramifications for individuals and communities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts few of us can imagine. From February — April 2009, public broadcasters WGBH and WBUR focused a journalistic lens on the dropout crisis in Massachusetts. They invite you to follow student video diaries on our website....Visit Website here to watch student stories.

Some intersting stuff at EdWeek site

Management Guru Says 'Student Load' Key to Achievement
Higher scores are linked to lowering the number of students to teach and the number of papers to grade.

The Arts Education Effect
“Put simply, we provide students who are likely to benefit from arts instruction most with the least of everything,” writes Sandra S. Ruppert.

Why School? Rethinking Essentials

Excerpt from letter to the Bridging Differences blog at EdWeek...

What I want to argue out with you, and our readers, is the nature of the kind of curriculum or subject matter for which schools in a democratic society, funded by public monies, should be held accountable. What can we demonstrate is essential for 100 percent of all voters—18-year-olds—to understand?

1. Reading the newspapers or non-fiction magazines—or their equivalent. Being able to report to others on stories, engage in a discussion about them, and write a letter to the editor and op-ed column on a few with which they disagree. Maybe on two levels—one at around ages 11-12 and the other at 16-18.

2. Sufficient mathematics to make sense of what they find in the media—statistics, probabilities, forms of graphing, percentages, et al to a high degree of sophistication by the time they are 16. Basic arithmetic computation by 13.

Continue Reading Here

Students won’t learn much math or science this year

Mark C. Schug, Ph. D., is professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukeeand is former director of the UWM Center for Economic Education.

As students across the country get back to school, I got to thinking: Will our young people learn enough math and science to help keep America productive? It seems unlikely.

International comparisons reveal that American 15-year-olds score near the bottom on standardized tests in math and science. Out of the 30 member nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, American students ranked 25th in math and 21st in science.

Why are our students lagging so far behind? One rarely discussed factor is the dysfunctional labor market for hiring teachers. Continue reading here...

A Healthy School Lunch

The Secret of Success and High Test Scores

Bridging Differences is a blog to discuss the policies of improving schools and offers insights on what matters most in education.

An excerpt from the blog...
....became aware of the startling extent to which the New York State Education Department has manipulated the state test results. So, while politicians crow about their "success" in raising test scores (as if they had anything to do with students' learning!), it turns out that the tests have been rigged in recent years to produce higher scores. The more I learned, the more I wondered if New York was on its way to becoming a national laughing-stock. Continue reading here...

6 Ways to Change a District

Moving Beyond the Conventional Wisdom of Whole-District Reform

Faced with dismal international comparisons and federal 'Race to the Top' Fund pressures, school districts must take on two difficult tasks at once: raising the outcomes of top-performing students, while accelerating the learning of students who are behind. And they must find ways to do this in every school, not just in a few exemplars. Read on here...

What the Public Thinks of Public Schools

Interesting perceptions to read thru here...

Texting-Motorist Video Draws Controversy

The British tend to create very graphic Public Service Announcements. This PSA on the dangers of texting while driving is disturbing and rightfully so. And it might be good for adults to take heed as well. It is not just teens texting but adults as well, or trying to, and for those folks who don't realize that trying to dial or read through their phone menu while driving is also "texting" then you to need to watch this PSA.


TIME.com: A graphic British public service announcement about the dangers of sending text messages while driving has become an Internet hit and sparked debate around the world.
The film shows a bubbly teenager named Cassie — "a nice girl from a nice Gwent Valleys family" — who triggers a pileup that kills four people when she tries to send a text message while driving. The graphic, slow-motion depiction of the crash shows heads going through windshields, bloodied bodies and the lifeless eyes of a baby.
British PSA found here...

College video tours

Click on graphic on left to go to a map of the U.S. then pick a state and view video list of colleges to choose from.

How to Deal with Teenage Learning Fatigue

The single most important thing a teacher must do is manage the learning state of his or her students. Twenty minutes is probably the maximum time that most people can stay in a positive learning state without a change of stimulus. Most students may even be aware that they have moved down the spectrum from a positive learning state to a feeling of the brain being out to lunch!

An effective teacher is aware of the looks on the faces of students, the squirming, and general disinterest. These teachers are always scanning the class for signs of learning fatigue and know what to do to ameliorate the problem. Read on...

Vision Problems Linked to Poor Grades

If Junior is coming home with poor grades, it might be worth checking how well he can see.

With nearly one in four children having vision problems, experts say many children with academic issues actually could be having trouble because they can't see up close to read or can't see far enough to make out what's on the board. Read on here...

The problem with problems

By Daniel Pink
A quick thought about the disconnect between how we prepare kids for work and how work actually operates:

In school, problems almost always are clearly defined, confined to a single discipline, and have one right answer.

But in the workplace, they’re practically the opposite. Problems are usually poorly defined, multi-disciplinary, and have several possible answers, none of them perfect.

Are timed, standardized tests the way to ready youngsters for real-world problem-solving?

Business leaders seem to think otherwise. Look at the chart below, drawn from research done by the AASA and Americans for the Arts, about how employers and school superintendents (who might have the hardest jobs in America –Ed.) define “creativity.” There’s a fair bit of alignment — but employers seem more concerned with how employees can frame problems and whether they’re comfortable with the absence of a “right” answer.

Visit Author Daniel Pink's site here...

A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future charts the rise of right-brain thinking in modern economies and describes the six abilities individuals and organizations must master in an outsourced, automated age.

September EDUTOPIA

Visit www.edutopia.org

Arthur Benjamin's formula for changing math education

A persuasive 3 minute talk...

Sage Advice: The Wisdom of Crowds

Topics posed and answered by many such as...
Fresh Start for the Fall
Educating Educators
Students Teach Tech
Parent Involvement
Beyond Report Cards
Staying Connected with Parents
And many more here...

Oh, Oh!

If there was any doubt that the Obama administration was going to be aggressive on the teacher-quality front, it was put to rest by the Race to the Top application guidelines released today. The new federal push is clearly on ways to measure teachers' effectiveness and create systems to help them improve, all as defined by their performance with students.

States like New York, California, and Wisconsin, may be ineligible because of their "data firewalls"
Read blog here

...two criteria would be absolute requirements: States must have been approved by the Education Department for stabilization funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (most already have been), and states must not have any laws in place barring the use of student-achievement data for evaluating teachers and principals. Read on...

More info on where things stand amongst states and "Race to the Top" funding...

"Race to the Top" and how it works

How "Race to the Top" funds could work at EdWeek.

Sporcle.com: Mentally Stimulating Diversions

If you want to dazzle your children with the vastness of their parent's trivial knowledge go here...it gets addictive.

Report Urges Halt to Extra Pay for Master's Degrees

A new report has found little correlation between increased teacher pay for earning advanced degrees and improved student achievement. The report suggests that the $8 billion states spend annually rewarding teachers for advanced degrees could be spent more effectively on other academic-improvement efforts.

Between federal, state, and local funding sources, states devote 1 percent to 2 percent of their current annual education expenditures to those added costs, according to the report. Read on...

And this...Masters degree in education: A better way?