Monday, November 24, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Should Kids Be Able to Graduate After 10th Grade?
By KATHLEEN KINGSBURY Kathleen Kingsbury – Fri Nov 7 TIME
High school sophomores should be ready for college by age 16. That's the message from New Hampshire education officials, who announced plans Oct. 30 for a new rigorous state board of exams to be given to 10th graders. Students who pass will be prepared to move on to the state's community or technical colleges, skipping the last two years of high school.
Once implemented, the new battery of tests is expected to guarantee higher competency in core school subjects, lower dropout rates and free up millions of education dollars. Students may take the exams - which are modeled on existing AP or International Baccalaureate tests - as many times as they need to pass. Or those who want to go to a prestigious university may stay and finish the final two years, taking a second, more difficult set of exams senior year. "We want students who are ready to be able to move on to their higher education," says Lyonel Tracy, New Hampshire's Commissioner for Education. "And then we can focus even more attention on those kids who need more help to get there."
But can less schooling really lead to better-prepared students at an earlier age? Outside of the U.S., it's actually a far less radical notion than it sounds. Dozens of industrialized countries expect students to be college-ready by age 16, and those teenagers consistently outperform their American peers on international standardized tests.
With its new assessment system, New Hampshire is adopting a key recommendation of a blue-ribbon panel called the New Commission on Skills of the American Workforce. In 2006, the group issued a report called Tough Choices or Tough Times , a blueprint for how it believes the U.S. must dramatically overhaul education policies in order to maintain a globally competitive economy. "Forty years ago, the United States had the best educated workforce in the world," says William Brock, one of the commission's chairs and a former U.S. Secretary of Labor. "Now we're No. 10 and falling."
As more and more jobs head overseas, Brock and others on the commission can't stress enough how dire the need is for educational reform. "The nation is running out of time," he says.
New Hampshire's announcement comes as Utah and Massachusetts declared that they, too, plan to enact some of the commission's other proposals, such as universal Pre-K and better teacher pay and training. Still more states are expected to sign on in December. And the largest teacher union in the U.S., the National Education Association, is encouraging its affiliates to support such efforts.
Some reform advocates would like to see the report's testing proposals replace current No Child Left Behind legislation. "It makes accountability much more meaningful by stressing critical thinking and true mastery," says Tracy.
No date has been set for when New Hampshire will start administering the new set of exams, which have yet to be developed. But to achieve the goal of sending kids to college at 16, Tracy and his colleagues recognize preparation will have to start early. Nearly four years ago, New Hampshire began an initiative called Follow the Child. Starting practically from birth, educators are expected to chart children's educational progress year to year. In the future, this effort will be bolstered by formalized curricula that specify exactly what kids should know by the end of each grade level.
That should help minimize the need for review year to year. It will also bring New Hampshire's education framework much closer to what occurs in many high-performing European and Asian nations. "It's about defining what lessons students should master and then teaching to those points," says Marc Tucker, co-chair of the commission and president of the National Center for Education and the Economy in Washington. "Kids at every level will be taking tough courses and working hard."
Right now, Tucker argues, most American teenagers slide through high school, viewing it as a mandatory pit stop to hang out and socialize. Of those who do go to college, half attend community college. So Tucker's thinking is why not let them get started earlier? If that happened nationwide, he estimates the cost savings would add up to $60 billion a year. "All money that can be spent either on early childhood education or elsewhere," he says.
Critics of cutting high school short, however, worry that proposals such as New Hampshire's could exacerbate existing socioeconomic gaps. One key concern is whether test results, at age 16, are really valid enough to indicate if a child should go to university or instead head to a technical school - with the latter almost certainly guaranteeing lower future earning potential. "You know that the kids sent in that direction are going to be from low-income, less-educated families while wealthy parents won't permit it," says Iris Rotberg, a George Washington University education policy professor, who notes similar results in Europe and Asia. She predicts, in turn, that disparity will mean "an even more polarized higher education structure - and ultimately society - than we already have."
It's a charge that Tracy denies. "We're simply telling students it's okay to go at their own pace," he says. Especially if that pace is a little quicker than the status quo.
High school sophomores should be ready for college by age 16. That's the message from New Hampshire education officials, who announced plans Oct. 30 for a new rigorous state board of exams to be given to 10th graders. Students who pass will be prepared to move on to the state's community or technical colleges, skipping the last two years of high school.
Once implemented, the new battery of tests is expected to guarantee higher competency in core school subjects, lower dropout rates and free up millions of education dollars. Students may take the exams - which are modeled on existing AP or International Baccalaureate tests - as many times as they need to pass. Or those who want to go to a prestigious university may stay and finish the final two years, taking a second, more difficult set of exams senior year. "We want students who are ready to be able to move on to their higher education," says Lyonel Tracy, New Hampshire's Commissioner for Education. "And then we can focus even more attention on those kids who need more help to get there."
But can less schooling really lead to better-prepared students at an earlier age? Outside of the U.S., it's actually a far less radical notion than it sounds. Dozens of industrialized countries expect students to be college-ready by age 16, and those teenagers consistently outperform their American peers on international standardized tests.
With its new assessment system, New Hampshire is adopting a key recommendation of a blue-ribbon panel called the New Commission on Skills of the American Workforce. In 2006, the group issued a report called Tough Choices or Tough Times , a blueprint for how it believes the U.S. must dramatically overhaul education policies in order to maintain a globally competitive economy. "Forty years ago, the United States had the best educated workforce in the world," says William Brock, one of the commission's chairs and a former U.S. Secretary of Labor. "Now we're No. 10 and falling."
As more and more jobs head overseas, Brock and others on the commission can't stress enough how dire the need is for educational reform. "The nation is running out of time," he says.
New Hampshire's announcement comes as Utah and Massachusetts declared that they, too, plan to enact some of the commission's other proposals, such as universal Pre-K and better teacher pay and training. Still more states are expected to sign on in December. And the largest teacher union in the U.S., the National Education Association, is encouraging its affiliates to support such efforts.
Some reform advocates would like to see the report's testing proposals replace current No Child Left Behind legislation. "It makes accountability much more meaningful by stressing critical thinking and true mastery," says Tracy.
No date has been set for when New Hampshire will start administering the new set of exams, which have yet to be developed. But to achieve the goal of sending kids to college at 16, Tracy and his colleagues recognize preparation will have to start early. Nearly four years ago, New Hampshire began an initiative called Follow the Child. Starting practically from birth, educators are expected to chart children's educational progress year to year. In the future, this effort will be bolstered by formalized curricula that specify exactly what kids should know by the end of each grade level.
That should help minimize the need for review year to year. It will also bring New Hampshire's education framework much closer to what occurs in many high-performing European and Asian nations. "It's about defining what lessons students should master and then teaching to those points," says Marc Tucker, co-chair of the commission and president of the National Center for Education and the Economy in Washington. "Kids at every level will be taking tough courses and working hard."
Right now, Tucker argues, most American teenagers slide through high school, viewing it as a mandatory pit stop to hang out and socialize. Of those who do go to college, half attend community college. So Tucker's thinking is why not let them get started earlier? If that happened nationwide, he estimates the cost savings would add up to $60 billion a year. "All money that can be spent either on early childhood education or elsewhere," he says.
Critics of cutting high school short, however, worry that proposals such as New Hampshire's could exacerbate existing socioeconomic gaps. One key concern is whether test results, at age 16, are really valid enough to indicate if a child should go to university or instead head to a technical school - with the latter almost certainly guaranteeing lower future earning potential. "You know that the kids sent in that direction are going to be from low-income, less-educated families while wealthy parents won't permit it," says Iris Rotberg, a George Washington University education policy professor, who notes similar results in Europe and Asia. She predicts, in turn, that disparity will mean "an even more polarized higher education structure - and ultimately society - than we already have."
It's a charge that Tracy denies. "We're simply telling students it's okay to go at their own pace," he says. Especially if that pace is a little quicker than the status quo.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Unlike Bush, Obama favors charter schools
By Lyanne Melendez
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Most teachers' unions and educators in California expect President-elect Barack Obama to make changes to the nation's education system. He has been a critic of President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act, and unlike President Bush, he supports charter schools.
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/education&id=6493242
President-elect Obama has spoken of changes for America's young. He has said those changes begin in the classroom. Obama is expected to push for revisions within the No Child Left Behind Act.
"It's been chronically underfunded. He wants to see some strong reforms so that it really does help struggling schools," said Susan Solomon with United Educators of San Francisco. Obama is against using public money for vouchers for private schools, but he is in favor of charter schools.
"I doubled the number of charter schools in Illinois despite some reservations from teachers' unions. I think it is important for us to foster competition inside the public schools," Obama said during his third presidential debate with Senator John McCain.
"That's providing an option to a bunch of kids in Chicago who wouldn't otherwise have that option if there weren't charter schools," said Molly Wood, principal of KIPP Bayview Academy, a San Francisco charter school.
However, teachers' unions are often against charter schools.
"Not all charter schools, for example, have to meet the same standards that public schools do. So we have a concern about the students -- what about the education they are getting?" said Solomon.
ABC7 News has obtained a report, yet to be released, which says 12 of California's 15 highest performing public schools serving children in poverty are charter schools.
The report was compiled by the California Charter Schools Association. They used the 2008 Academic Performance Index (API) which measures a student's proficiency in reading and writing.
Bay Area Congressman George Miller (D) of Concord is the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. He says he will help Obama promote more charter schools.
"How we do that is a matter of discussion. But I think it's very important that we continue along this line. I think it has a great deal of support on both sides of the aisle in the Congress of the United States," said Miller.
Miller is also expected to continue playing an important role in reforming No Child Left Behind.
(Copyright ©2008 KGO-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Most teachers' unions and educators in California expect President-elect Barack Obama to make changes to the nation's education system. He has been a critic of President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act, and unlike President Bush, he supports charter schools.
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/education&id=6493242
President-elect Obama has spoken of changes for America's young. He has said those changes begin in the classroom. Obama is expected to push for revisions within the No Child Left Behind Act.
"It's been chronically underfunded. He wants to see some strong reforms so that it really does help struggling schools," said Susan Solomon with United Educators of San Francisco. Obama is against using public money for vouchers for private schools, but he is in favor of charter schools.
"I doubled the number of charter schools in Illinois despite some reservations from teachers' unions. I think it is important for us to foster competition inside the public schools," Obama said during his third presidential debate with Senator John McCain.
"That's providing an option to a bunch of kids in Chicago who wouldn't otherwise have that option if there weren't charter schools," said Molly Wood, principal of KIPP Bayview Academy, a San Francisco charter school.
However, teachers' unions are often against charter schools.
"Not all charter schools, for example, have to meet the same standards that public schools do. So we have a concern about the students -- what about the education they are getting?" said Solomon.
ABC7 News has obtained a report, yet to be released, which says 12 of California's 15 highest performing public schools serving children in poverty are charter schools.
The report was compiled by the California Charter Schools Association. They used the 2008 Academic Performance Index (API) which measures a student's proficiency in reading and writing.
Bay Area Congressman George Miller (D) of Concord is the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. He says he will help Obama promote more charter schools.
"How we do that is a matter of discussion. But I think it's very important that we continue along this line. I think it has a great deal of support on both sides of the aisle in the Congress of the United States," said Miller.
Miller is also expected to continue playing an important role in reforming No Child Left Behind.
(Copyright ©2008 KGO-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
Thursday, November 6, 2008
"You never change things by fighting the existing reality....to change something...
build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete".
R. Buckminster Fuller.
Dear supporters of It's OK to Vote:
I wanted to personally THANK YOU for your votes and support throughout my pursuit of obtaining a seat on the '09 San Francisco School Board. Although the outcome was different than anticipated, the primary goal is to be an advocate for parents and children maneuvering through the ever present bureaucracy of the SF Unified School District; not necessarily the 'seat' itself. Because I believe in the new found principles of what our nation is currently standing on - in order to make progress, we need to be active participants within our own communities/families in order to promote change for the betterment of our children's education and the overall success of our households. The platform isn't just having a seat on the school board, but rather providing an 'open-door policy' to any and every parent/child who is about positive change and action where their education is concerned. In the months to come, I will keep you abreast of the challenges that we as a community, face within SF proper and how they may/may not affect our children's educational needs, through blogging on my websites (facebook and myspace), as well as videocams from youtube. I encourage you to email me or write on my blog, questions that you may have concerning your children as it relates to their education. I am here as your partner/advocate to help you attain the best possible education for your children that San Francisco proper has offer; and if this means attempting to change policy starting at a grass-roots level, I am whole heartedly behind it! After all, our 44th president got elected utilizing these same principles! Thank you again for all of your support, votes and encouragement! Let's not have an unfilled seat on a board keep us from helping our children strive to be all they're intended to be!
Regards, Omar Khalif
build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete".
R. Buckminster Fuller.
Dear supporters of It's OK to Vote:
I wanted to personally THANK YOU for your votes and support throughout my pursuit of obtaining a seat on the '09 San Francisco School Board. Although the outcome was different than anticipated, the primary goal is to be an advocate for parents and children maneuvering through the ever present bureaucracy of the SF Unified School District; not necessarily the 'seat' itself. Because I believe in the new found principles of what our nation is currently standing on - in order to make progress, we need to be active participants within our own communities/families in order to promote change for the betterment of our children's education and the overall success of our households. The platform isn't just having a seat on the school board, but rather providing an 'open-door policy' to any and every parent/child who is about positive change and action where their education is concerned. In the months to come, I will keep you abreast of the challenges that we as a community, face within SF proper and how they may/may not affect our children's educational needs, through blogging on my websites (facebook and myspace), as well as videocams from youtube. I encourage you to email me or write on my blog, questions that you may have concerning your children as it relates to their education. I am here as your partner/advocate to help you attain the best possible education for your children that San Francisco proper has offer; and if this means attempting to change policy starting at a grass-roots level, I am whole heartedly behind it! After all, our 44th president got elected utilizing these same principles! Thank you again for all of your support, votes and encouragement! Let's not have an unfilled seat on a board keep us from helping our children strive to be all they're intended to be!
Regards, Omar Khalif
Sunday, November 2, 2008
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