CHS lifts ban on social networking sites

CAROL’S SUMMARY:
As the article below illustrates, educators are discovering that social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace, have applications that extend beyond an individual’s circle of family and friends to the classroom. Although not cited in the article, following are observations from a landmark study by researchers at the University of Minnesota, released on July 8, 2008:

94 percent use the Internet, 82 percent go online at home and 77 percent had a profile on a social networking site. When asked what they learn from using social networking sites, the students listed technology skills as the top lesson, followed by creativity, being open to new or diverse views and communication skills. Data was collected over six months from students, ages 16 to 18, in thirteen urban high schools across the Midwest. Beyond the surveyed students, a follow-up, randomly selected subset was asked questions about their Internet activity as they navigated MySpace.

“What we found was that students using social networking sites are actually practicing the kinds of 21st century skills we want them to develop to be successful today,” said Christine Greenhow, a learning technologies researcher in the university’s College of Education and Human Development and principal investigator of the study. “Students are developing a positive attitude towards using technology systems, editing and customizing content and thinking about online design and layout. They’re also sharing creative original work like poetry and film and practicing safe and responsible use of information and technology. The Web sites offer tremendous educational potential.”

“Now that we know what skills students are learning and what experiences they’re being exposed to, we can help foster and extend those skills,” said Greenhow. “As educators, we always want to know where our students are coming from and what they’re interested in so we can build on that in our teaching. By understanding how students may be positively using these networking technologies in their daily lives and where they as yet unrecognized educational opportunities are, we can help make schools even more relevant, connected and meaningful to kids.” Based on these findings, here are questions to consider:

How can we incorporate the educational benefits of social networking into student success and transition programs, which may offer a more flexible teaching format than core curriculum classes?

How can we create a 21st century global education to include project-based learning, which connects social networking to curriculum standards?

How can we teach students to become online leaders and digital citizens by using technology in appropriate, respectful ways?

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ARTICLE via ASCD feed–BIMSMARCK, ND
Century Star
by Jordan Stalk
What started out as a way to keep in touch with family and friends has how grown to be much more. Social networking has been absorbed into the lives and daily needs of the average person.

To view the entire article visit
http://bit.ly/7ZPz8

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Study Finds High Rate of Imprisonment Among Drop Outs

CAROL’S SUMMARY:
A new study from Northeastern University cites that students who quit high school are 3.5 times more likely to become incarcerated in their lifetimes than high school graduates. The research also estimates a national cost of $292,000 per drop out, based on lost tax revenues and government assisted amenities and programs.The director of the report, Andrew Sum, told New York Times reporter, Sam Dillon:

“We’re trying to show what it means to be a dropout in the 21st century United States,” said Sum. “It’s one of the country’s costliest problems. The unemployment, the incarceration rates — it’s scary.”

Among African-American males who drop out of high school–which is estimated at 40 percent–the situation is worse. Of those, 72 percent are jobless, and the likelihood of being incarcerated jumps to 60 percent, according to statistics from Ronald B. Mincy, professor of social work at Columbia University and editor of “Black Males Left Behind” (Urban Institute Press, 2006).

One obvious question is why do students drop out? While it’s often assumed that students do so because they can’t keep up with the academic load, recent studies paint a different picture. For example, in a joint project by the Civic Enterprises and Peter D. Hart Research Associates for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,”The Silent Epidemic: Perspectives of High School Dropouts,” the study found:

Nearly half of the former students – 47 percent – quit not because of the academic challenge, but because they found classes uninteresting. “These young people reported being bored and disengaged from high school,” the report said. “Almost as many (42 percent) spent time with people who were not interested in school. These were among the top reasons selected by those with high GPAs and by those who said they were motivated to work hard.”

An even larger number of students – 69 percent – said they were not motivated or inspired to work hard. In fact, two-thirds said they would have worked harder had it been required of them.

These findings underscore why schools must challenge students and prepare them for the different transitions they face. Freshmen year, in particular, is a precarious time in student’s academic future because students typically drop out the summer between their freshmen and sophomore years. If we don’t engage them at this entry point, we may lose them for the rest of their lives at great cost to the student and to society.

1) As educators, how can we provide a more supportive academic environment at school and at home that would improve students’ chances of remaining in school? What needs to be different—with students, parents, teachers, counselors and administrators—for that to happen?

2) How can we continuously challenge teachers so that they are always learning, growing and contributing to their own passion-level? If a teacher isn’t motivated, students aren’t likely to be either.

3) How can we help students discover their gifts and talents so that they can envision the crucial role that education plays in their future? When students know what they are good at, research shows they will persevere.

4) What can we do to increase awareness of the value of student success and transition programs in fostering engagement and relevance in the classroom? How can we start these classes in fifth grade so that we avoid these costly patterns from the get-go?

ARTICLE
New York Times
by Sam Dillon

On any given day, about one in every 10 young male high school dropouts is in jail or juvenile detention, compared with one in 35 young male high school graduates, according to a new study of the effects of dropping out of school in an America where demand for low-skill workers is plunging.

To view the entire article visit
http://bit.ly/MIGHi

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Attorney General, in Chicago, Pledges Youth Violence Effort

CAROL’S SUMMARY
Chicago has been in the national and international news lately not only for losing the bid as host city for the 2016 summer Olympics, but for the tragic beating death of high school honor student, Derrion Albert, who was caught between two rival gangs on his way home from school on the city’s southside. Derrion’s murder is sparking a national conversation about youth violence. Many people compare the incident, which has been viewed by millions over YouTube, to Emmett Till’s brutal killing at the hands of white supremacists in 1955, when his open-casket funeral on television sparked the American Civil Rights Movement. Derrion was the third adolescent killed this school year. Since the beginning of 2007, close to 70 students have been murdered mostly on their way to or from school.

As the New York Times article below points out, youth violence isn’t only a Chicago problem; “it’s an American problem,” said Attorney General Eric H. Holder in his meeting yesterday with U.S. Secretary Arne Duncan, the former superintendent of Chicago Public Schools. As an admission counselor (who asked to not be identified) from another local high school on Chicago’s westside neighborhood said, “We’ve always heard of kids fighting kids, but they lived to tell about it. That’s not true anymore.”

Addressing such serious issues like youth violence requires support from many facets of society, including our school system. When former New York Times science journalist and co-founder of the Yale University Child Studies Center (now at the University of Illinois at Chicago) Daniel Goleman first coined the term emotional intelligence, he cited strong emotions as holding the potential for promoting great good in society as well as terrible atrocities, because some people use violence to release feelings of anger or frustration. LifeBound’s People Smarts for Teenagers program works with adolescents on developing self-awareness, as well as managing strong emotions. The principal at Skyway Elementary School in Colorado Springs, Patrick Webster, who used the People Smarts resources last spring told his counselor: “We have had ZERO disciplinary referrals from 6th grade this year, which is phenomenal.” In a typical time frame they would have received half a dozen by now.

As educators we need to cultivate a vision and establish a comprehensive game plan like they have in Colorado Springs for helping school communities curb violence and assess measurable goals. In addition to our resources for students and faculty, LifeBound provides programs for parents on coaching skills and other strategies so that they learn how to model the kinds of attitudes and behaviors they want their children to emulate. Children absorb how parents deal with a job layoff and other traumatic and stressful life events, and supporting parents in their roles is another effective way to stem the escalation of violence among school-aged children and teens.

For a review copy of People Smarts and more information about our programs for parents, please contact us by calling toll free 1.877.737.8510 or emailing contact@lifebound.com, and we’ll be glad to help you. Together we can answer the call to make a profound difference in our school communities.

ARTICLE:
Attorney General, in Chicago, Pledges Youth Violence Effort
By SUSAN SAULNY
Published: October 7, 2009

CHICAGO — Trying to spark what he called “a sustained national conversation” about youth violence, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. met with public school students and elected officials here Wednesday, pledging a heightened crime-fighting commitment from the federal government toward vulnerable children.

Mr. Holder, joined by Education Secretary Arne Duncan, the former head of the local public schools, said the Obama administration was dedicated to being a full partner in the fight against youth violence, in part, because “too many of today’s victims become tomorrow’s criminals.”

To view this entire article visit www.nytimes.com

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Skills Set Drafted For Students Nationwide

CAROL’S SUMMARY:

The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a joint effort by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) in partnership with Achieve, ACT and the College Board. Governors and state commissioners of education from across the country have created a state-led process to develop a common core of state standards in English-language arts and mathematics for grades K-12.

According to their web site at www.corestandards.org, these standards will be research and evidence-based, internationally benchmarked, aligned with college and work expectations and include rigorous content and skills. The NGA Center and CCSSO are coordinating the process to develop these standards and have created an expert validation committee to provide an independent review of the common core state standards, as well as the grade-by-grade standards.

In math, the goal is to have students “solve systems of equations; find and interpret rates of change; and adapt probability models to solve real-world problems.” In English and language arts, the goal is to have students be able to “analyze how word choices shape the meaning and tone of a text; develop a style and tone of writing appropriate to a task and audience; and respond constructively to advance a discussion and build on the input of others.”

There is still much work and research to be done if a national consensus on education is to be adopted, but one thing is certain: Students from the United States need to be prepared to compete in the global marketplace among students from Asia and Europe. With education reform inevitable, here are some important questions to consider:

· Could standards be developed by type of student? College-bound, career-school bound?

· Could we identify skills that will make students successful no matter what path they choose and emphasize cross-curricular learning?

· How can we better work with the initiatives such as the 21century skills, which foster critical thinking, technological literacy, cross-curricular core-competencies and global knowledge needed to compete with counterparts world-wide?

Whatever standards are developed, the voice of Higher Education and employers will need to be heard. Learning needs to be linked to success in the working world. To fuel our economy of the future, students will need knowledge, skills and the initiative to tackle the toughest problems with confidence, competence and faith that the solutions—while difficult and elusive—can and will come with a quality mindset and follow-through.

ARTICLE:

Skills Set Drafted For Students Nationwide
By Nick Anderson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Experts convened by the nation’s governors and state schools chiefs on Monday proposed a set of math and English skills students should master before high school graduation, the first step toward what advocates hope will become common standards driving instruction in classrooms from coast to coast.

The proposal aims to lift expectations for students beyond current standards, which vary widely from state to state, and establish for the first time an effective national consensus on core academic goals to help the United States keep pace with global competitors. Such agreement has proven elusive in the past because of a long tradition of local control over standards, testing and curriculum.

To view this entire article visit www.washingtonpost.com

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Schools Official in New Jersey Orders Plan to Combat Hazing

CAROL’S SUMMARY:

Bullying can take many forms (verbal, psychological and physical), and administrators for a district in New Jersey will participate in sensitivity training and devise a plan within the next two months to combat hazing at Millburn High School. These actions were ordered by the president of the Board of Education after a board meeting revealed that another school year started off with hazing of freshman girls by seniors that included being pushed into lockers, having whistles blown in their faces and the release of a “slut list.”

In the past, some seniors have been expelled, but Principal William Miron said that no student will be disciplined without proof. Board member Debra Fox remembers being hazed as a freshman and suggested punishing the entire female population of the senior class in order to get the names, saying “because no one is going to take the rap for someone else.” One parent was applauded when she said parents must also take responsibility when their children acted like bullies.

Tragically, every day thousands of students wake up afraid to go to school. As educators, we have an inherent responsibility to make our schools safe, bully-free cultures because every child and teenager has the civil right to learn unhindered. Because parents, teachers, and other adults don’t always see it, they may not understand how extreme bullying can get. According to the web site, www.kidshealth.org, two of the main reasons people are bullied are because of appearance and social status. Bullies pick on the people they think don’t fit in, maybe because of how they look, how they act (for example, kids who are shy and withdrawn), their race or religion, or because the bullies think their target may be gay or lesbian.

Hazing is a form of bullying and often the result of underdeveloped emotional intelligence, or people smarts, such as empathy and compassion. LifeBound’s book, People Smarts for Teenagers: Becoming Emotionally Intelligent, helps students develop these skills by boosting self-awareness and empathy. Every chapter includes a real-life story about another teenager who overcame their own obstacles to emotional well-being. This past spring, a progressive district in Colorado Springs used this book with all of their sixth graders and observed a spike in test scores, which they attribute to this program. Learning is linked to emotions and when we teach children and teens emotional and social skills we give them another advantage in the learning process. For more information about this and other student success and transition resources, visit www.lifebound.com

ARTICLE:

The New York Times
September 22, 2009
Schools Official in New Jersey Orders Plan to Combat Hazing
By TINA KELLEY

MILLBURN, N.J. — The president of the Millburn Board of Education said on Monday night that district administrators would have to undergo sensitivity training and ordered them to come up with a plan within the next two months to address the longstanding tradition of hazing at Millburn High School.

The action came at a board meeting that drew about 50 parents and lasted more than three hours.

“This is not acceptable behavior; it will not be tolerated,” the board president, Noreen Brunini, said of the most recent hazing, which included the distribution of an annual “slut list” of incoming freshman girls. “This is the end of this.”

To view this entire article visit www.nytimes.com

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Panel Urges Attention to Adolescent Literacy

CAROL’S SUMMARY:

In the article below, Carnegie Corporation of New York’s Council on Advancing Adolescent Literacy experts gathered to discuss their final report in which they spent five years examining the need for better reading and writing skills among students in grades 4 through 12. The experts stressed the importance of action at each state level, suggesting reading and writing standards be set high and state tests be set to the levels of the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Statewide data systems for all literacy, as well as, including adolescent-literacy training in state teacher-certification programs were considered of high importance.

Catherine Snow, a Harvard University education professor who chaired the Carnegie panel, said an important tenement of the report is to have the nation’s entire education system recognize that the traditional literacy approach (focusing on building skills at a young age) doesn’t help students with “complex vocabulary, composition, and concepts they encounter in high school.” Another panelist, Michael Kamil, a Stanford University education professor, said that the sole responsibility for teaching adolescent literacy cannot rest on the shoulders of English teachers. Literacy needs to be taught across the disciplines in each subject of middle and high school, because at these higher levels, literacy comprehension, and therefore instruction, is grounded within the content.

Students learn best when they can draw comparisons and connections between information they already know and the new knowledge presented to them. That is why in Critical and Creative Thinking for Teenagers, the basics of problem solving are presented to high schoolers within profiles about innovators in medicine, science, math, finance, art, music and English to relate their previous knowledge of the core subject to the new critical and creative thinking skills taught within the book. There is no reason why adolescent literacy cannot also be strengthened if it were taught within the core subjects.

How can literacy instruction be integrated into the curriculum of other subjects?

What can districts do to ban together and mastermind effective statewide standards and data systems to measure and track outcomes?

What role does emotional intelligence play in students’ ability to build a strong literacy foundation for cross-curriculum learning?

ARTICLE:

EducationWeek

Published Online: September 15, 2009
Panel Urges Attention to Adolescent Literacy
By Catherine Gewertz

Washington

Leading figures in education policy, academia, and philanthropy called today for a “re-engineering” of the nation’s approach to adolescent literacy, saying nothing short of a “literacy revolution” is needed to keep students in school and ensure that they are able to learn the complex material that college and careers will demand of them.

The experts gathered to discuss and draw attention to the release of the final report of the Carnegie Corporation of New York’s Council on Advancing Adolescent Literacy, which has spent five years examining the need for better reading and writing skills among students in grades 4 through 12. Vartan Gregorian, the president of the foundation, urged audience members to “be good ancestors” to future generations by pushing for sound adolescent-literacy policy and practice, given the pivotal role such skills play in young people’s lives, and the low level of skill students have shown on national tests.

To view this entire article visit www.edweek.org

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A New Assignment: Pick Books You Like

As the article below iterates, some schools nationwide are forming reading workshops which allow students the freedom to select their own books rather than the traditional approach of assigning a classic that the entire class reads together. Critics of this approach are concerned that children won’t be exposed to classic literature because they’ll gravitate toward books that are trendy or popular.

This debate begs the question: What is the goal of reading in school and for that matter what is the goal of educating our children? Educational reformer John Dewey said, “The most important attitude that can be formed is that of a desire to learn and go learning.” As most educators agree, a passion for learning isn’t something you have to inspire kids to have; most children are innately curious. Author Alfie Kohn writes, “Anyone who cares about this passion will want to be sure that all decisions about what and how children are taught, every school-related activity and policy is informed by the question: “How will this affect children’s interest in learning, and promote their desire to keep reading, and thinking and exploring?”

Several months into the experiment, the English teacher at Jonesboro Middle School in a south Atlanta suburb says, “I feel like almost every kid in my classroom is engaged in a novel that they’re actually interacting with. Whereas when I do ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,” I know that I have some kids that just don’t get into it.”

Perhaps a middle-road approach could be implemented where children are allowed to choose books, and so is the teacher. It’s best to teach reading in a way that mixes free choices with great literature. We want to trust students enough to give them some leeway in making decisions at school, which might help promote a lifelong love of reading while also exposing them to some of the reading “greats” from throughout time.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

ARTICLE:
A New Assignement: Pick Books You Like
By MOTOKO RICH
Published: August 29, 2009
The New York Times

JONESBORO, Ga. — For years Lorrie McNeill loved teaching “To Kill a Mockingbird,” the Harper Lee classic that many Americans regard as a literary rite of passage.

But last fall, for the first time in 15 years, Ms. McNeill, 42, did not assign “Mockingbird” — or any novel. Instead she turned over all the decisions about which books to read to the students in her seventh- and eighth-grade English classes at Jonesboro Middle School in this south Atlanta suburb.

To view this entire article visit www.nytimes.com

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Making the Transition to Middle School: Tips for Students and Parents

The transition to middle school can be a tough one for both parents and students. As I have often noted, US students can go toe to toe with their counterparts in the other developed nations until they get to 6th grade. Once students are in middle school, their scores start to slip and by the time students are in high school, U.S. students perform near the bottom in math, science, reading and other academic measurements.

Given these harsh facts, how can parents ensure that the transition to middle school is smooth? According to the article below, it’s not what you would think.  By the time students hit middle school, many parents are used to the “involvement” model of participating in their children’s education: volunteering in class, helping with homework, getting to know teachers, etc.  However, once middle school hits, this model is often turned on its head: parents are encouraged to let students experience school on their own.   Now that parents have stepped away from the classroom, how can they best help their students?

The answer is simple, and one LifeBound has been promoting for years through our work, Stop Parenting and Start Coaching.  Parents must become an advocate and a sounding board for their child’s education, encouraging their teenagers to set goals, value learning and hold themselves accountable for their decisions.  Equally important is that both parents and students understand the unique academic and social challenges that come with the transition to middle school.  The sooner that students build a solid understanding of how to face the new challenges that middle school presents, the better they will do during this difficult time.

To find out more about how to help your student make a successful transition to middle school, visit www.successinmiddleschool.com

How Parents Can Best Help Middle-Schoolers

By Sue Shellenbarger

juggle_class_art_257_20080506110155.jpg

Associated Press
I volunteered often in my children’s elementary school, serving as a classroom tutor and becoming close to many of their teachers. Sara has posted on how volunteering is a good way to say thanks to teachers and to be more than a “phantom presence” in school.

But I was at a loss to figure out a new role for myself when my kids entered one of the big public junior high schools in our town, which was six times the size of their elementary school. Overnight, it seemed, I was unwelcome in my kids’ much larger classrooms, and expected to communicate with teachers only through my student. That, actually, is exactly what should happen when a kid hits 12 or 13 years of age. But it took me a while to figure out what parents should be doing at that level to remain involved and support their students.

A new research survey on parental involvement in middle school nails down an answer: The best way to promote achievement in middle school isn’t to help student with their homework, or even to volunteer for school fundraisers. Instead, middle-school students posted the best results in school when their parents stepped back a bit and moved into more of a “coaching role,” teaching them to value education, relate it to daily life and set high goals for themselves, says the study, published recently in the journal Developmental Psychology.

Duke University researchers Nancy E. Hill and Diana F. Tyson came to that conclusion by surveying 50 studies of parental involvement. They divided parents’ roles into three categories: One was home involvement, included helping children with homework, taking them to museums or libraries, or making books and educational materials available. School-based involvement included attending parent meetings, volunteering for school activities or communicating with school officials.

A third kind of involvement, labeled “academic socialization” by the researchers, included communicating your values and expectations about education; pointing out connections between schoolwork and current events; encouraging children to set goals and follow their dreams; discussing learning strategies, and preparing and making plans for the future. Basically, it means helping your kid make good decisions about school, with an understanding of what those decisions will mean to him or her, and linking class work with students’ interests and goals.

Students whose parents played this coaching role posted the strongest academic gains, after controlling for other factors. School-based involvement was only moderately helpful. So were most kinds of home-based involvement, with one startling exception: Parental help with middle schoolers’ homework was actually linked to poorer school performance. This could be because parents tend to get involved with middle-school homework only after a kid is already in academic trouble. Also, middle schoolers may feel pressured or smothered by parents’ help at this stage.

Readers, what has been your experience trying to stay involved in your middle schoolers’ academic lives? What has worked for you? What about your younger or older kids?

Read original article…

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What Do Electronic Textbooks Mean for the Educational Publishing Industry?

Today’s story about digital textbooks comes from the front page of the New York Times. According to the story, many educators and pundits predict the complete demise of traditional paper textbooks within the next decade.  California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger calls traditional textbooks “antiquated, heavy (and) expensive” and hopes to implement electronic texts for many math and science classes in his state.  Given the advent of online textbooks, the publishing industry needs to adapt and evolve – whether e-textbooks constitute 10% or 100% of books used by students in the future.

But how can publishers react to such a fundamental shift in the business model?  To compete, publishers need to be able to create electronic textbooks that address the issues that educators have with the print version: high cost, static learning tactics and inability to engage all types of learning styles.  In addition, publishers must consider the practical aspects of teaching: will these e-texts free up instructor time or make it possible for colleges to hire fewer educators?  If not, then the true goal of interactive online texts has not been reached.

Upon closer examination, perhaps the benefits presented by the e-text format make the challenges look less bleak.  If publishers can become proficient at creating high quality, high interaction e-texts for students, their variable cost per unit sold will essentially drop to zero – no more printing costs, no more ink, simply the creation of an e-delivery system or an inexpensive CD-ROM.  Additionally, the advent of electronic texts will allow publishers to be much more nimble – facts, statistics, activities and other content can be updated with a quick software fix or a simple adjustment to units sold going forward.

 In a Digital Future, Textbooks Are History

In California, high school interns try out digital “flexbooks” created by the CK-12 Foundation.

By TAMAR LEWIN

At Empire High School in Vail, Ariz., students use computers provided by the school to get their lessons, do their homework and hear podcasts of their teachers’ science lectures.

Down the road, at Cienega High School, students who own laptops can register for “digital sections” of several English, history and science classes.

And throughout the district, a Beyond Textbooks initiative encourages teachers to create — and share — lessons that incorporate their own PowerPoint presentations, along with videos and research materials they find by sifting through reliable Internet sites.

Textbooks have not gone the way of the scroll yet, but many educators say that it will not be long before they are replaced by digital versions — or supplanted altogether by lessons assembled from the wealth of free courseware, educational games, videos and projects on the Web.

“Kids are wired differently these days,” said Sheryl R. Abshire, chief technology officer for the Calcasieu Parish school system in Lake Charles, La. “They’re digitally nimble. They multitask, transpose and extrapolate. And they think of knowledge as infinite.

“They don’t engage with textbooks that are finite, linear and rote,” Dr. Abshire continued. “Teachers need digital resources to find those documents, those blogs, those wikis that get them beyond the plain vanilla curriculum in the textbooks.”

Read more…

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