Owner: Education Reporitng URL:http://educationreporting.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Thu, 04 Jan 2007 10:20:33 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: Educational Reporting, Inc. (ERI) provides free accounts so that account holders complete report cards on teachers and administrators at high schools. Our blog is about making education in high school real and worthwhile. Imagine your high school educatio Site statistics:Click here
Not a fan of NCLB 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Let's face it…. Politicians cannot even balance the budget. How can they realistically expect to understand what the requirements are to reform education? What would happen if parents raising children taught them to balance their budget like politicians balance the budget by print more money. Education is complicated and dynamic… much more so than the annual budget. The budget deals with dollars and programs and education deals with people lives and providing opportunities fore learning and developing life skills. We need a fresh approach to make education more successful in America and politicians aren't going to cut it. We need the voice of students, parents and teachers to be heard and taken into consideration.Seriously, a recent report just concluded we aren't really sure how to define student proficiency in achievement given the recognized number of biases that openly exist.Here is a snippet from Education Weekly …..http://www.edweek.org/ew/index.htmlIn response, the
Is education working in high schools and middle schools? 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Today is a beautiful day to renew education. Education isn't meeting the needs of students today. The class schedule used by the majority of schools was put in place a long time ago …. so long ago ….. but does that mean it fits the needs of 21st students. I don't think so. Do you? Most of the students I talk to today say they would do better academically, be able to focus more, and concentrate better if school began later in the day and went longer in the afternoon. Studies show that teenagers need sleep due to the tremendous changes happening in their bodies. Geez, some Administrators I have talked to also indicate they wouldn't mind the school day starting later ….. What would happen to the misbehaving students in class, a constant source of irritation to teachers and other students, maybe they too could focus better later in the day and then cause less disruptions. Yeah, that's far fetched I know. Usually, there are other issues bothering them that are ca Read more:middle
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Education Refresh 1970-01-01 00:59:59 It's hard for me to imagine that government intervention, like NCLB, will produce much good. I tend to think that good old fashion common sense will prevail. In the classroom Project Based Learning (PBL) is an excellent teaching strategy. I have used it and know that to be the case. The PBL approach creates, enables, and supports students to be and act as a community of learners. When you combine that community with a passionate teacher you have learning in action. PBL means students are naturally helping other students, you have a synchronicity that doesn't have the opportunity to show up in teacher led instruction. The proof is in the pudding. PBL provides an ongoing performance based assessment, contrasting with the usual paper (multiple choice, fill in the blank) exam this is a more accurate measure of what students are learning. PBL is a teacher dream … so cool … since the learning and assessment occur naturally. Students are genuinely learning. The robot Read more:Education
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Remaking Education 1970-01-01 00:59:59 This is a good day for signs about the winds of education shifting …… Recently, National Public Radio (NPR) posted an interview/review of a study completed by a nonpartisan group in assessing high school graduation and the trends of continuing education. One thing I learned by listening is that only 18 of 100 graduating high school students in USA will complete a college or university degree within 6 years. Another learned item is that higher educated people in other countries will work for less money that their peers in the USA. Put those together and down the road … 20-25 years … the USA won't have a skilled work force, which translates into jobs requiring higher educated folks headed to folks over seas, while our economy gets turned upside down. That left me with something to chew on….. check it out … Education
Study: Remake the Public Schools at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6646361 Lisa Suben knows what works and has the guts to do it
Leverage Student Feedback to Improve Academics 1970-01-01 00:59:59 In Quality Counts 2007 From Cradle to Career, Education Week, it was reported that a consistent lack of communication contributes to students becoming lost and not succeeding in public elementary and secondary education. Whether a purchase is done online or in a store, chances are after the sale an opportunity arises to take one type of customer survey or another, because the company making the purchased product wants to understand the rationale behind the purchase and learn about customer satisfaction. Nowadays, businesses make a concerted effort to learn about their customers. In contrast, the business of public education does little to pinpoint the teaching methods that support behaviors and cognitive processes to help customers, the students, learn. I'm not advocating more or different tests to examine what content students learn, however; I am pointing out the necessity of identifying what classroom activities/methods produce the most effective learning environment for new c Read more:Academics
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Useful Finance, Performance, & Demographic Data 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Greetings in 2007, may this new year bring us closer to beginning some meaningful process changes in the education of our country's greatest resources - our teenagers. I finally found a site with stats about what we spend on schools and how we spend it. Standard and Poor's is doing an excellent job with this "School Matters" site they created. That they do it speaks volumes about its' reliability and validity. The site is located at http://www.schoolmatters.com/.In 2004 we had 49 million students in public schools and were spending $4,910 on instruction for each student in 2003. Yes, those are public tax dollars being spent. There is a ton of information here. You can drill down by state on performance, spending, and demographics or look at the national averages. This is an excellent resource to learn more about specific schools and who the education leaders are in a specific geographic location. Happy browsing! Read more:Performance
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Teaching is an Excellent Career 1970-01-01 00:59:59 In case you are wondering, I am pro teacher. I do think that teachers, when given the necessary support, can and do produce extraordinary results. Right now I am a science teacher in a public high school. This is my third year teaching after leaving a successful career in business. I see many good teachers doing amazing things with students …. opening many doors intellectually and emotionally. Teachers have the best job since we are able to work with the minds and hearts of the future leaders of our planet. I also think there are teachers who need to retire. I am not saying there are bad teachers, just teachers who, it looks like to me, no longer have the passion they once had for the work, so it's time to go. This happens in any career people work in. After a while it's possible to loose the passion …if you are in law enforcement, a business owner, a politician, whatever career you have chosen. That is what happened to me working in business and that is why I left. Read more:Career
Teacher Search Engines: Science, Lessons, Methods 1970-01-01 00:59:59 The majority of teachers, as I was talking about yesterday, are doing a remarkable job! It's unfortunate - in any profession - when a few folks spoil the reputation of all the committed and hard working professionals. To help teachers, especially in science, here are three specialized search engines that focus in finding useful teacher content on subjects and methods: 1. Biology and Chemistry Labs for class2. ScienceTeacher
Material3. Teaching Methods
http://www.educationreporting.com/search.aspx Biology and Chemistry Labs for classThis search engine is loaded with sites that have online resources to use in front of class or at a computer lab with class. It also has hundreds of traditional resources relating to all the concepts in these two sciences to get material, handouts, and read about real time issues. Science Teacher MaterialHere are thousands of specific sites relates to earth science, physical science, life science, geology, physics, and che Read more:Lessons
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Teacher Search Engines: Science, Lessons, Methods 1970-01-01 00:59:59 The majority of teachers, as I was talking about yesterday, are doing a remarkable job! It's unfortunate - in any profession - when a few folks spoil the reputation of all the committed and hard working professionals. To help teachers, especially in science, here are three specialized search engines that focus in finding useful teacher content on subjects and methods: 1. Biology and Chemistry Labs for class2. ScienceTeacher
Material3. Teaching Methods
http://www.educationreporting.com/search.aspx Biology and Chemistry Labs for classThis search engine is loaded with sites that have online resources to use in front of class or at a computer lab with class. It also has hundreds of traditional resources relating to all the concepts in these two sciences to get material, handouts, and read about real time issues. Science Teacher MaterialHere are thousands of specific sites relates to earth science, physical science, life science, geology, physics, and chemistry for material Read more:Lessons
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U.S. public schools could have as much as $77 billion... 1970-01-01 00:59:59 "U.S. public schools could have as much as $77 billion
more a year to improve teaching if they reduced spending on seniority pay increases, teacher's aides, class size limits and other measures often found in teacher union contracts, a new study contends"*Jay Mathews I think Jay has a definite possibility for raising money or freeing up money in education. My question is, what is the benefit for students? Is that money going into purchasing real tools that students can use for learning and if so - what are they and when will they arrive? In other words, if the money is going to end up on a budget line and then tools never get purchased then everyone loses. This simple sounding scenario shows the complex equation of education. A feasible idea to raise money …. yet that money can get lost in the inefficient system management pervasive in the business of education. * Find this entire article at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/07/AR2007
NCLB - Time to Renew ... Do you agree? 1970-01-01 00:59:59 No Child Left Behind (NCLB), is it the right approach or a bad one? There are a lot of difference views out there. Basically, I think everyone will agree it's an effort to improve the reading, math and science skills of students by making states more accountable for the results of elementary and secondary students that attend their schools. After that premise, the controversy begins: 1) what is the appropriate way to fund this accountability of the states that the federal government is now requiring, 2) what are the best methods for measuring improved learning skills, and 3) what are most accurate processes and procedures for recording and identifying results. Personally, I think - as a teacher - that the premise of NCLB is good. After that I think the federal government should bow out and let the educators resolve the issues. Seriously, the federal government cannot even balance their own budget, how can they be setting policy on how to best educate the next generat Read more:Renew
Is Education Getting Students Prepared? 1970-01-01 00:59:59 This week let's talk about the dream of education - in honor of Dr King.Sometimes I talk to my students about what education means to them. Their most common responses are (not in this order): 1) education gets me prepared, 2) I have to go - it's the law, 3) and I don't know.I am going to make a bold presumption here .... most people think education is getting students prepared for the rest of life. If this is the case, then it naturally follows that we have to ask, what is secondary education preparing students for?From a teacher point of view ... my answer is for students to go to higher education.Realistically, I have to say students aren't being prepared for the future by current secondary education. Why? I see two distinct sets of students in my classes: those wanting to go to college and those with no plans to go to college.Today, the gauge of learning is based on students scores of required achievement tests. With that focus, we are missing the boat of preparing s Read more:Education
Is Education Preparing Students - Character Education 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Continuing from yesterday … are we fulfilling the promise of education … preparing students for their future? I hate to seem so negative, but a conversation I had today with another teacher today reminded me another important aspect I cannot find in the achievement tests I must give or ones I have reviewed …. character education. Are we providing opportunities and reinforcing to students the value of being global citizens, stewards of the environment or compassionate to one another? After all, they can be brilliant at math, know how to conduct perfect experiments and be excellent writers … but will they be able to balance a checkbook, understand a financial statement, comprehend the consequences of limited water resources, the ecology required for clear air, or discuss disputes without having to rage? After a day of working with students, I am reluctant to go on tonight. I am sounding so negative about what education students currently receive, suffice it to say I th Read more:Character
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Education - Robotics Team Gets More 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Education … is it fulfilling the dream of preparing students for their future? I was going to begin this by pointing out how the majority of education provided in high school DOESN'T get students "out of their box" in terns of critical thinking skills. I'm not here to blame the students, teachers or parents for this … just stating my observations. The evidence for this is in low achievement scores, increased drop out rates from high school, fewer students attending high education, fewer high school graduates moving in to degrees in technology and science … that's enough for now. Then I remembered the robotics team at Carl Hayden Community High School in Phoenix. A school placed one block from a major freeway artery and in the poorest part of AZ. However, those kids have stunned the nation by consistently placing in national competitions, after they beat MIT (yes, the university). And yes, I have talked about this team before. They are a poster example of Read more:Education
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Is Education Preparing Students - Teacher Quality Essential 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Research indicates that expert teachers are the most important—and the most inequitably distributed—school resource. In the United States, however, schools serving more than 1 million of our highest-need students are staffed by a parade of underprepared and inexperienced teachers who know little about effective instruction, and even less about teaching English-language learners and students with disabilities. Many of these teachers enter the classroom with little training and leave soon after, creating greater instability in their wake. Meanwhile, affluent students receive teachers who are typically better prepared than their predecessors, further widening the achievement gap.Promoting literacy involves teachers using an effective methodology to accomplish and support student ownership, teachers acting as a facilitator, and teachers stimulating student problem solving skills. The cognitive conditions necessary for accomplishing literacy include 1) retrieving information such as pri Read more:Education
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Education Reform - The Necessary Cornerstones 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Is the dream of education in high school being realized …. Is secondary education getting students better prepared for their futures? Remember, I am a teacher …. My two cents says "not" School isn't getting the job done today. There are three points I think make the cornerstones to rebuild our secondary education system: 1. Effective teachers 2. Whole teaching 3. Curriculum reform Effective teachers are noticeable. They are passionate and compassionate. They are flexible and thus have excellent classroom management and students naturally do better since they are interested in what is being taught. The methods used by these teachers engages students. I don't consider national board certified teachers to be necessarily effective. Whole teaching criteria means subjects are meaningful and pertinent, while the class environment is such that it's conducive to learning. Teaching methods comes into focus here. Are students better served using project based le Read more:Education
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What are teachers? 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I have been busy dealing with the overwhelming traffic at the website. Your comments and appreciation make this hobby the best time I have ... besides teaching class. :)We started this site the beginning of this month. In the last three weeks we have moved up 3,000,000 web sites due to the major traffic from you all. Please keep you ideas and thoughts coming. Here is a great "teacher metaphor" my sister sent me today. It says so much about what teachers
can do .... WHAT TEACHERS MAKE The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued,"What' s a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?" He reminded the other dinner guests what they say about teachers: "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach." To stress his point he said to another guest; "You're a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?" Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty an
What Teachers Make 1970-01-01 00:59:59 The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued,"What' s a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"He reminded the other dinner guests what they say about teachers: "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach."To stress his point he said to another guest; "You're a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?"Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, "You want to know what I make? (She paused for a second, then began...) "Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could. I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor. I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't make them sit for 5 without an iPod, Game Cube or movie rental... You want to know what I make?" (She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table.) I make kids wonder. I make them question
School environments - are they healthly? 1970-01-01 00:59:59 As a teacher I understand the importance of education; however, I am not sure we cover all the basics students need. For example, when do we teach them about the criticality of a healthily environment? I know as a biology teach that we have 6 weeks to cover ecology, which doesn't leave much time for drilling down on the how's, why's and what's of being environmental stewards. Yes, there's time in class to discuss the importance of recycling and share some facts, like the hundreds of years it takes for a plastic diaper to decompose. It would be better if we can instill in students the importance of environmental friendly behaviors so they can practice them - but that takes time and it's not a "Standard" in our District.Looking from a whole different point of view, what about the status of our nation's school buildings? I know at our school we have one very old building. Teachers that have been in that one for years swear its' air system is spewing bad stuff. I don't mean Read more:environments
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The under rated value of attitude 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I think education is meant to be a service to all young people in our country. Unfortunately, our forefathers did not list in the Bill of Rights that every student has the right to an equal education. Nonetheless, giving a basic education to all youngsters seems a pragmatic approach to insuring that as these folks grow older they will care for themselves and those around them; in other words be good global citizens.I read an article today at NPR, that really hits this nail on the head. It's a study pointing out that when you make children aware their intelligence will grow if they tend it - they do tend it. For me, understanding that means recognizing the ground floor in the institute of education. Yet, leaving it just to teachers to sort out the how's/why's of having students understand this study becomes a daunting task. Parents need to take it on too. The trick is, can we instill in young students this power of their own perception without blaming, shaming or guilti Read more:attitude
Newsletter - March 10 2007-03-11 15:58:00 Our goal with this edition is to get you up to speed with the changes on the web site, which has been up for just about 12 weeks. In that time the responses we received exceeded what we expected. The down side is we are playing catch up. The good side is that we are connecting with sincere folks like you that have similar education goals to ours: 1) integrating green education in the classrooms and 2) improving education.Giving students opportunities to be global citizens means building character, which in turn helps improve education. There is work to do in making sure that the stakeholders in education understand the basic issues at a classroom perspective. Putting a mechanism in place that provides feedback directly from people involved in day-to-day school activities is the intention of our work. Your voice, the feedback you provide, contributes to that intention.Table of Contents1. Update on Integrating Green Education in K-12 Classes2. Collecting Voices to Improve Education3. Mem Read more:March
Behaviors that Affect Learning 2007-04-21 23:46:00 Reading to Young ChildrenYoung children of well-educated mothers are much more likely to be read to every day by a family member than are children of less educated mothers...Parental Involvement in SchoolsThe percentage of students whose parents reported involvement in their schools rose significantly between 1999 and 2003 across several measures, including attendance at a general meeting, a meeting with a teacher, or a school event, and volunteering or serving on a committee...Watching TelevisionBlack students are much more likely than white students to watch four or more hours of television per day on the average weekday. Among eighth graders in 2003, for example, 61 percent of black students watched four or more hours of television, compared with 24 percent of white students...Learning
DisabilitiesChildren covered by public health insurance are almost twice as likely as uninsured children and children with private insurance to be identified as having a learning disability (12 percen Read more:Affect
Is Out of School Time Critical for Students? 2007-04-21 23:05:00 School-age children and adolescents in the United States have a lot of discretionary time (6.5 to 8 hours per day). Participating in organized out-of-school time programs and activities is one constructive and safe way that children can spend their free time. These activities can provide supervision, fun, and opportunities to develop new skills and relationships with others. Research has shown that consistent participation in organized, high-quality out-of school time activities can have both educational and social/emotional benefits, and may have the most positive effects for youth who are most at risk. Understanding who participates is an important question to answer in order for policy makers, funders, and practitioners to identify gaps and target resources.Race and Ethnicity Facts....- White children participated in at least one out-of-school time activity at very high rates in the past 12 months; 83 percent of white children ages 6-11 and 81 percent of white adolescents ages 12-1 Read more:School
Are smaller schools better for teachers and students? 2007-04-21 22:48:00 Teachers in the small public high schools cropping up in many U.S. cities find the human dimension of their jobs bringing both strains and rewards."About how many hours did you put in a week?” Starting at 8 in the morning, the faculty members at Ms. Madell’s new, small secondary school in New York City routinely worked till 6:30 or 7 at night. And then, after the teaching, planning, meeting, and tutoring, she and others went home many evenings to solitary thought and a heap of student work.Now as a co-founder of a school not unlike her old one, where she plans to keep a hand in teaching while coaching her colleagues, the 39-year-old mother of two is about to ask a fresh band of teachers
to shoulder similar burdens. The audacity of it makes her laugh.“There’s no way I can do [that job] and be a parent,” she admitted.A major strand in the current national push to improve secondary education is the movement to scale down schools into smaller, more personalized units, especially Read more:better
Get ready, set and go to digital learning materials - for free 2008-03-11 17:59:00 Hey, what if we got rid of the textbooks and allowed teachers to share digital texts and course materials? Then any teacher can modify/translate/contextualize that material for their class ... oh yeah, it's all free to do this. Would you use it? I would in a heart beat. This video below, Richard Baraniuk, shows this has already
begun around the world ... it's being realized right now in an effort called Connexions.
Earth Hour - a global blessing 2008-03-11 13:33:00 Originating in Sydney in 2007, the Earth
Hour campaign has now gained global attention. As a result, on 8pm March 29, 2008 millions of people in some of the world’s major capital cities will unite and switch off for Earth Hour. See what is happening in your city and how you can get involved.This is an awesome way to support the Earth and help educate our students by getting them to participate in a simple action. Yet and still, this promises an opportunity where they can behave to demonstrate their understanding of being a global citizen.Get involved and learn more at the Earth Hour website. Read more:blessing
Cool, free tech stuff for learning tools 2008-03-09 14:21:00 Technology is here to stay and as educators we have to learn it and, if we are lucky, keep up with it. Here are some tools you can use for free, each has a different level of skill requirements. Get "Pro" version of Google Earth for free. Read how and learn about how to apply it in your lessons here.Productivity: documents, presentations, file storage, database, and moreZoho is a suite of online applications (services) used from an online server. The applications are free for individuals and some have a subscription fee for organizations. Virtual WorldQuest Atlantis (QA) is an international learning and teaching project that uses a 3D multi-user environment to immerse children, ages 9-15, in educational tasks. QA combines strategies used in the commercial gaming environment with le Read more:stuff
Educator summer fun and learning too 2008-03-09 13:44:00 Walden Woods ProjectApplication are being accepted for Approaching Walden, a professional development summer seminar for high school educators and graduate students. This six-day workshop is professionally as well as personally enriching, and provides teachers with the skills needed to lead their students in a study of their home community. This place-based, interdisciplinary workshop uses Henry David Thoreau's ethic and his experience at Walden Woods as a model.National Parks Seek Teacher RangersThe Teacher to Ranger to Teacher (TRT) Program links National Park units with teachers from low income school districts. Under this program, selected teachers spend the summer working as park rangers, often living in the park. They perform various duties depending on their interests and the n Read more:Educator
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