Reading at Some Private Schools Is Delayed
When I was looking at preschools for my daughter, I was torn between my roots as a progressive educator – a person who firmly trusts in the development of children and the need to educate and nurture the whole child – and pressures to seek out a school that would “maximize my child’s potential”. Looking back, I realize that the single most important thing anyone said to me back then was, “What’s so great about knowing how to read when you’re three!” This article echoes with the conflicts parents go through when trying to do what’s right for their children and get them educated too. These conflicts get more and more pronounced as children get older, the stakes get higher, and our culture of testing frenzy becomes louder and more pervasive.
Click here to read more!
(Click here to read our previous post: The Test Chinese Schools Still Fail!)
Obama to Seek Sweeping Change in ‘No Child’ Law
This exciting article, by Sam Dillon from the NY Times, clearly outlines some of the changes to the No Child Left Behind Law being proposed by President Obama and his administration. One of the most exciting changes would be the allocation of federal funds based on districts implementing reforms aimed at remedying problems. Under No Child Left Behind, funds are distributed using measures like the number of students in the district or the number of low income students served. There is no impetus toward change or reform.
“Significantly, said those who have been briefed, the White House wants to change federal financing formulas so that a portion of the money is awarded based on academic progress, rather than by formulas that apportion money to districts according to their numbers of students, especially poor students. The well-worn formulas for distributing tens of billions of dollars in federal aid have, for decades, been a mainstay of the annual budgeting process in the nation’s 14,000 school districts.”
School Adds Weeding to Reading and Writing
As with all educational topics, school gardens have been the subject of hot debate lately. This article by Kim Severson in the New York Times Dining section, outlines the debate and details the plans for the latest Edible Schoolyard backed by California’s Alice Waters. For those who don’t know, Alice Waters has been a huge champion of the idea that fresh, good food is a right, not a privilege. In many circles she is credited with the increased availability of organic foods in our local markets. The school garden at P.S. 216 in Brooklyn will be the sixth backed by Waters’ Chez Panisse Foundation.
“Teachers will use the garden to give students — 460 children from prekindergarten to the fifth grade — lessons in subjects like art, math, history and science. Administrators hope the school will eventually become a center for the study of the environment and agriculture.”
L.A. charter schools flex their educational muscles
Check out this week’s L.A. Times for a terrific overview of California Charter Schools and the educational reform movement in California. “Overall, L.A. charter students score significantly higher on standardized tests than their counterparts in traditional schools. But even some of the most strenuous charter advocates are wary of a blanket assumption that charters are superior, in part because they are so different from traditional schools and from one another.”
No Child Left Behind: New evidence that charter schools help even kids in other schools.
There’s new evidence that charter schools not only out-perform local public schools, local public schools improve their performance due to the presence of charter schools! It seems that public schools, knowing that they now have to compete, are stepping up their game.
“Stanford economist Caroline Hoxby recently found that poor urban children who attend a charter school from kindergarten through 8th grade can close the learning gap with affluent suburban kids by 86% in reading and 66% in math. And now Marcus Winters, who follows education for the Manhattan Institute, has released a paper showing that even students who don’t attend a charter school benefit academically when their public school is exposed to charter competition.”
Federal Researchers Find Lower Standards in Schools
Wow! Read this article that clearly outlines one more way that No Child Left Behind has left our nation’s children behind. It seems that a third of the states have lowered their academic standards to avoid sanctions under No Child Left Behind. Standards are a place to start measuring academic success, but they are not the place to stop. Valley Charter School’s curriculum will be informed by California State Standards, but will strive to go beyond them to deliver a top-notch education to all our students.
“At a time when we should be raising standards to compete in the global economy, more states are lowering the bar than raising it,” Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in a statement. “We’re lying to our children.”
leave a comment