COMMUNITY MEMBERS NEEDED

WHAT COUNTS?

The Board of Education will be hosting a forum entitled "What Counts?" tentatively scheduled on Thursday, September 4th. This forum will include roundtable discussions to gather input from our community. Attendance and participation at this forum is by invitation only. Each board member has been asked to submit a list of 15 names by May 2nd as invitees.

If you are interested in being one of my 15 invitees to this event, please EMAIL ME as soon as possible, with your name and mailing address.

In the Mainstream but Isolated

By Daniel de Vise
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 17, 2008; Page B01

Victoria Miresso cannot button a shirt, match a sock or tell one school bus from another. Yet at Roberto Clemente Middle School in Germantown, she is expected to function much like any other sixth-grader, coping with class changes, algebra quizzes and lunchroom bullies.

Victoria's parents say she is a victim of inclusion: a trend, in Montgomery County and across the nation, toward shutting down traditional special education classes and placing special-needs students in regular classrooms at neighborhood schools.

Read more HERE

Notes from Board Meeting, 4/8/08

The Board Meeting from Tuesday, April 8th will be broadcast on Channel 96 on Wednesdays at 6 p.m.; Fridays at 9 a.m.; and Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. . To view the full agenda and the various reports, please visit BoardDocs.

The below notes are my personal notes and are not intended to be all-inclusive or official minutes for the Board of Education meetings and are provided as a request from my supporters and the general public in a personal effort to be more transparent. Although I have diligently tried to make these notes as unbiased and accurate as possible, I am only human and do make mistakes.

Superintendent Report

• Budget not being presented today - financial challenges. All depts. & principals ask to go through budget for cuts of non-essentials. All out-of-state travel ceased. All outside staff development and food purchases ceased.
• New HS architect is working for cuts including costs for a green school and pool. More at work session on 4/28
• Davis dedication
• Neal & Levilee is preparing ...mascot choosing
• MSA began last week
• upcoming activities
• Thanks to student leadership & Mr. Pete Mahon.

Board Members Updates

• Cook - NSBA conference - Ethical Literacy Session; Internet Cyber Safety
• Carrington - Congratulations Stodderts Celebration of the Arts
• Abell - NSBA conference, notes aren't prepared yet but some on website. MABE nominations due 5/30/08; MABE budget meetings 6/26 & 7/21
• Wise - NSBA...Sidney Portier: Handling Media Inquiries with Nerves of Steel; Can you Hear Me now?; Cyber Bullying; Wants to submit one of our programs for Magna Awards
• Pedersen - Fantastic first time conference; Use & Listening Tools; English Language Learners; School Board Financial Literacy
• Wade - Charles Willis Award - due 7/3

EACC Update

• Bus to visit with legislators
• hired R.J. Pellicore Associates to review the county's budget. Full report still being compiled
• School not receiving 52.4%. BOE based on projections not actual
• See EACC Report for eye opening details
• Teacher compensation #1 priority; teacher shortage
• will join Board at commissioners meeting in May
• Bailey - Will final report be available to the public?
• Fisher - IT will be available to the Board
• Bailey - Will you give a copy to the commissioners
• Fisher - We'll see how we need to use.

Student Board Member Report

• Jessica Mundy read Shah's report; he's away at a college interview
• Student meeting and elections on Friday at 11:30 at LaPlata HS

Supporting Services Report CIP Update

• Neal on schedule
• Somers ahead of schedule
• Requested a transfer of $2M from projects that came in under budget to purchase two 8 classroom modular units for North Point. Always planned for those units. Approved.
• Architects working to reduce cost of new HS
• Pedersen - requests for description of units for duplex
• Wineland - relocateables come in classroom singles (1), duplex (2), quads (8). The quads are more cost efficient. One door at each end - center hallway - 4 classes on each side.
• Wise - Duplex at Lackey?
• Wineland - Yes
• Wise - Electrical still there; same spot as previous relocateables?
• Wineland - same spot; no electrical there; will need to be done
• Bailey - Questions regarding costs
• Wineland - $1.7M is cost of units; remaining $300K is for installation sidewalks, etc.
• Wade - How Many relocateables
• Wineland - 248 units next year; less expensive to buy a new one than move an old one

Instruction Report - New Textbooks

• Advanced Placement English Language & Composition - $56.25 need 600
• Health - Uses the term STI instead of STD; has new food pyramid; last purchased Health books in 1994. Comes with a video
• Marketing and Web Design - Marketing $60.50 need 50;
• Web Design course requires two books $49.50 & $52.50 & one optional $37.50
• Books will be on display for 30 days at Lackey; Stone; and Starkey
• (side note - I have personally reviewed all books and like them; let me know what you think)

Human Resources - 09-10 Calendar - Oral Report

• This was an oral report; Actual report will be presented to the Board at the May meeting
• Abell - Spring break before Easter as opposed to after
• Hettel - arranged around MSA testing. Good Friday and Easter Monday are mandatory holidays per state law.
• Hettel - First MD teachers fair in Baltimore at the Sheraton. 1300 interested applicants at fair. Charles County spoke to about 175 people. Long line. Interviewed 40 people. Grasmick there
• Cook - Diverse group?
• Hettel - racially and gender diverse; good things happening in Charles County
• Carrington - States they were from
• Hettel - MD - PG & Baltimore & Anne Arundel County & new MD grads
• Wise - Area of interests?
• Hettel - Math, Science & Special Ed

Legislative Update - Oral Report

• Session is over
• Attendance Age 17 - Unresolved...will come back next session
• Student Bullying Bills ...HB199 passed, combination of multiple bills
• Public Labor Relations Board - Unresolved...next session
• P.E. Bills - amended to a task force
• Disabled Athletes - Passed; regulations coming from the state
• HSA - Unresolved; thinks we'll see changes at the state level with new state board
• tax credits for donation to scholarships
• notification to parents to opt out of NCLB military recruitments - Passed
• Wise - Disabled sports bill clarification
• Schwartz - Howard County case - female wheelchair track runner; changes in COMAR forthcoming
• Bailey - Boast bill vote count
• Schwartz - Senate 30-17 House Died
• Carrington - Sports bill unfunded mandate
• Schwartz - yes

Unfinished Business

• Pedersen - Number of students identified and removed for attending out of zone/county this year
• Staff response was 77

New Business

Future Agenda Items

• Pedersen - Communication issue with commissioners. They stated they were unaware of our APFO vote during a televised session
• Abell - Didn't we discuss this with them at the retreat we had, and gave them the vote of unanimous?
• Wise - Yes and the press was present. Suggests Wade send out a letter and call Commissioner Cooper
• Abell - Consensus or motion
• Wade - Consensus

UNANIMOUS

Recognition

Public Forum (Must sign-up prior to 6:30)

• Female - Lacross...4/2 article in Post. Team sport of MD. Fastest growing sport. Charles & PG only two counties. Only SMAC county not participating. Other counties had to go out of area. Parents happy to provide own gear. Coaches and buses only expense. Concern of effect on other sports not an issue. Kids already not participating in school sports because they are traveling out of town to play. Scholarships available.
• Male - Drivers Ed in after school with CSM excluding private companies. Instructors required to have a license and instructors license. Instructors must have a physical and background check every two years $150. Taxpayers will have to pay for CSM or CCPS teachers. Consider cost factor if the wheels not broke don't fix it. Less parent involvement in schools.
• Male - Athletic event attended with children and could not enter because of the smell of marijuana. Our Drug Free school zone is a joke. HSA's- reject Bridge Plan; make graduates pass. HSA's - if they don't pass no participation in extracurricular activities or athletics. On January 6, 2006 the Board passed to approve early entrance into Kindergarten, he's been calling for three years and still hasn't gotten a response. Black children progress on standardized test is appalling. Why are they so far behind? And he is disgraced that he is the only black parent here to speak for public forum.
• Male - Lacrosse; post article; coach of lacrosse team in Mechanicsville; no Charles club teams after 8th grade. Please fund a Varsity Team. Look at other funding sources.

Action Items

• Minutes from 3/11/08
• Personnel

All action items were unanimously approved by the board.

Mr. Bailey was not present for this portion of the meeting.

Reverse the teen dropout trend

By Colin Powell and Alma Powell
April 9, 2008

When nearly one-third of our students fail to complete high school — and when many of those who do graduate are not fully prepared for college and the workforce — it isn't just an education issue. It's an issue of national security. As a country, that's how we must think of it.

In the time it takes to read these paragraphs, another U.S. teenager will drop out of high school: 1.2 million students per year, nearly 7,000 students per school day, one student every 26 seconds drops out. For young people of color, the statistics are even more startling. Nearly half of African-American and Native-American students will not graduate with their class, while less than six in 10 Hispanic students will.

We say we have a dropout crisis. Looking at these figures, and the impact they have on our young people, our families and our country, we have more than a crisis. We're facing a catastrophe.

Read more HERE

A Graduation Shortcut for Student Short Credits

I personally don't agree with this, let me know what you think.

By ELISSA GOOTMAN and SHARONA COUTTS
Published: April 11, 2008

Dennis Bunyan showed up for his first-semester senior English class at Wadleigh Secondary School in Harlem so rarely that, as he put it, “I basically didn’t attend.”

But despite his sustained absence, Mr. Bunyan got the credit he needed to graduate last June by completing just three essay assignments, which he said took about 10 hours.

“I’m grateful for it, but it also just seems kind of, you know, outrageous,” Mr. Bunyan said. “There’s no way three essays can possibly cover a semester of work.”

Mr. Bunyan was able to graduate through what is known as credit recovery — letting those who lack credits make them up by means other than retaking a class or attending traditional summer school. Although his principal said the makeup assignments were as rigorous as regular course work, Mr. Bunyan’s English teacher, Charan Morris, was so troubled that she boycotted the graduation ceremony, writing in an e-mail message to students that she believed some were “being pushed through the system regardless of whether they have done the work to earn their diploma.”

Read more HERE

Federal grant allows for HIV education in state classrooms

Jennifer Raley
Cumberland Times-News

CUMBERLAND - The Maryland State Department of Education received a $1.38 million grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for HIV prevention education and the Maryland Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

"I'm very pleased that MSDE is working with us on this," said Lorelee Farrell, director of health and family life at the Allegany County Board of Education. "Kids need to have this type of information. They have to learn that they play a huge role in determining their future. Life just doesn't happen; it's about choices."

During the first year of the grant, MSDE will conduct an inventory of the prevention programs to determine if improvements are needed. In addition to professional development, training and Web-based technology, the grant will be used to develop a strategic plan for guidance and direction of prevention activities.

In May, Farrell will learn more about what programs will be available in Allegany County as a result of the grant.

Read more HERE

Va. 8th-Graders Edge Peers in Writing

By Maria Glod
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 4, 2008; Page B06

U.S. eighth-graders and high school seniors showed stronger writing skills last year than their counterparts did five years earlier, a federal report says, and eighth-graders in Virginia public schools continued to beat the national average.

The writing assessment, part of a federally financed series of findings known as the Nation's Report Card, aims to get a handle on how well students across the country can craft essays, letters and stories.

Virginia's public school eighth-graders edged their peers elsewhere in writing scores made public yesterday, earning an average of 157 on a 300-point scale, compared with the national average of 154. The state also exceeded the national average for that measure in 2002 and 1998.

Maryland and the District did not participate in the writing test last year. There were no state-by-state results for 12th-graders.

Read more HERE

U.S. to Require States to Use a Single School Dropout Formula

By SAM DILLON
Published: April 1, 2008
New York Times

Moving to sweep away the tangle of inaccurate state data that has obscured the severity of the nation’s high school dropout crisis, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings will require all states to use one federal formula to calculate graduation and dropout rates, Bush administration officials said on Monday.

The requirement would be one of the most far-reaching regulatory actions taken by any education secretary, experts said, because it would affect the official statistics issued by all 50 states and each of the nation’s 14,000 public high schools.

Ms. Spellings will announce her action at a so-called dropout prevention summit in Washington on Tuesday, the officials said. The summit is organized by a group beginning a national campaign intended to reduce dropout rates.

“In the coming weeks, I will take administrative steps to ensure that all states use the same formula to calculate how many students graduate from high school on time — and how many drop out,” Ms. Spellings said in remarks prepared for delivery on Tuesday and made available to The New York Times.

Read more HERE

'Safe Harbor' Offers Shelter From Strict 'No Child' Targets

By Daniel de Vise
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 7, 2008; Page B01

Hundreds of schools in Maryland, Virginia and the District were judged to have made adequate progress last year under the No Child Left Behind Act even though they failed to meet performance targets for all groups of historically underperforming students, the requirement at the heart of the law.

The schools -- 153 in Maryland, 100 in Virginia and 11 in the District -- satisfied the law under a "safe harbor" provision. It forgives a school for low test scores from one or more subgroups if those students show yearly improvement and if the school scores well on the whole.

The extent to which schools rely on the provision illustrates the challenge posed by the No Child Left Behind law, which requires that poor and minority students meet the same performance goals as the overall school population, with the target rising by a few points each year. In Maryland, where students are being tested this week, schools must raise proficiency rates by five points in reading and seven points in math this year to demonstrate adequate progress. Testing begins April 22 in the District and in May for most Northern Virginia schools.

Read more HERE

REMINDER: Board Meeting 4/8/08

Just wanted to remind everyone there is a Board Meeting Tuesday, April 8th. Can't attend...you can watch it live on Channel 96. It will also be re-broadcast on Wednesdays at 6 p.m.; Fridays at 9 a.m.; and Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. . To view the full agenda and the various reports, please visit BoardDocs.

NEW MEETING TIMES!!

12:00 - Executive Session
1:00 - Board Meeting begins

The remainder of the meeting immediately follows Public Forum

Reports

• Superintendent - Report
• Board Members Updates
• EACC - Update
• Student Board Member - Report
• Supporting Services Report - CIP Update
• Instruction Report - New Textbooks-Advanced Placement English Language & Composition, Health, Marketing and Web Design
• Human Resources - 09-10 Calendar - Oral Report
• Legislative Update - (report not available yet)
• Budget Report - Presentation of Supt. 09 Budget

4:30 - Recognition

6:30 - Public Forum (Must sign-up prior to 6:30)

Action Items

• Minutes from 3/11/08
• Personnel

Class Schedulers Think Outside the Blocks

By Jay Mathews
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 10, 2008; Page B01

In most public high schools in the Washington area, classes last as long as 90 minutes apiece and course lineups for each student alternate every day under the block-scheduling innovation that took root a decade ago. Campuses often use color coding to remind students where to go. Fairfax High School, for one, has "blue days" and "gray days."

But some schools are switching back to the old routine of 45-minute daily classes as educators and researchers question whether the new approach has led to higher achievement.

Block scheduling aims to maximize time for in-depth teaching and opportunities for students to meet graduation requirements. Usually the schedules mean four courses one day and four others the next, although sometimes courses alternate in fall and spring.

Read more HERE

'Crisis' graduation gap found between cities, suburbs

By Greg Toppo
USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The likelihood that a ninth-grader in one of the nation's biggest cities will clutch a diploma four years later amounts to a coin toss — not much better than a 50-50 chance, new research finds.
Cross into the suburbs, and the odds improve dramatically.

The findings, which are being released today, look closely for the first time at the gap in high school graduation rates between public schools in the 50 biggest cities and the suburbs that surround them. Among the alarming disparities: In 12 cities, the gap exceeds 25 percentage points. Of those cities, nine are in the Northeast or Midwest.

The study was commissioned by America's Promise Alliance, a group of foundations, advocacy and non-profit organizations, and corporate and religious groups focusing on children's education, safety and health. It was founded by former general Colin Powell and is headed by his wife, Alma. The alliance plans a series of dropout-prevention summits in each state over the next two years.


GRADUATION RATES: 50 largest cities

Read more HERE

NSBA Conference: Blogging School District Leaders

I had the distinct pleasure of helping present this session to a standing room only yesterday. (Some were even turned away at the door due to room capacity) The interest of among attendees was astounding and I'm looking forward to hearing from board members across the nation that will soon be starting blogs of their own.
The session ran very smoothly with plenty of time for questions and answers.

Consultant and freelance writer Craig Colgan, whose blog Municipalist discusses blogging issues, began the session with a wonderful overview. School board member Brian Wheeler, SchoolMatters, spoke next about this powerful tool. I spoke last about my journey through design, implementation, and adversity about my blog. Everyone was encouraged to use blogs as another way to communicate with parents.

NSBA Conference - Making Meetings Matter

Blogging from the NSBA conference in Orlando.

I had the pleasure of attending one of the Early Bird sessions called Making Meetings Matter. The presenters were from the Illinois Association of School Boards and it was very informative with wonderful attendee participation and discussion. Here's some of the highlights...

Ingredients of a Successful Meeting
1. A focus on board work
2. Effective participation by individual members
3. Effective leadership by the presiding officer
4. Efficient procedures for transacting routine business
5. Well-understood rules of order
6. Legal compliance
7. Good record keeping, both minutes and policies
8. A mutually supportive relationship with the superintendent
9. Procedures for policy making and other board functions
10. Public participation that is orderly, democratic and constructive


Legal Requirements
-Legal references and resources (school board association, district attorney, policy, laws)
-Email among board members shall be limited to (1) disseminating information, and (2) messages not involving deliberation, debate, or decision making.

Planning (agenda and time management)

Conduct (set policy)
-Individual board member behaviors can contribute to or inhibit a successful board meeting.

Evaluate (self evaluation)

High School For Charles Put on Hold

A decision by the Maryland Board of Public Works not to approve funding for a planned new high school in Charles County throws into question the Charles school system's ability to keep pace with years of rapid growth that left every existing county high school overcrowded.

Charles public schools officials have instructed architects from the SHW Group, the Reston-based firm that designed three county schools, to stop work on plans for the school, which had been slated to open in 2011 with a price tag of about $97 million. The County Commissioners, who have urged the Board of Education for months to cut costs on the project, told Superintendent James E. Richmond last week that the high school should be placed on hold indefinitely.

According to the funding formula that governs school construction, the state government would be responsible for about $42 million of the cost of the school as originally planned.

Read more HERE

Md. School Superintendents Push for Changes to No Child Left Behind Law

ANNAPOLIS (March 26, 2008) - Maryland school superintendents met with U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Raymond Simon on Wednesday, asking him to consider changes to the No Child Left Behind law for disadvantaged students.

"Special education students, English language learners and our poverty students -- those are the issues most of us are grappling with," said Kevin Maxwell, superintendent of Anne Arundel County Public Schools, at a roundtable discussion with 13 county superintendents, Maryland Schools Superintendent Nancy Grasmick and other state education officials.

Maryland schools placed in the top three states nationwide in an Education Week survey this year and showed an upward trend in several key performance measures since 2002. Yet Maryland still has a way to go before all children pass basic math and reading proficiency tests by 2014, the absence of which may trigger state takeovers of schools or reduced federal funding.

Read more HERE

Nearly All Area AP Teachers Get Passing Grades in Audit

By Daniel de Vise
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 25, 2008; Page B01

When the College Board announced last year that every high school Advanced Placement teacher would have to prove he or she was actually teaching a college-level course, there was widespread fear the process would purge worthy teachers from the program, weeding out good courses along with the bad.

They needn't have worried. In the first quality-control audit of the AP program, no AP teacher or course was rejected in the Fairfax, Montgomery, Prince George's or District school systems, according to area education officials. Of the 146,671 AP courses submitted for review nationwide, 136,853, or 93 percent, were approved.

Read more HERE

States’ Data Obscure How Few Finish High School

JACKSON, Miss. — When it comes to high school graduation rates, Mississippi keeps two sets of books.

One team of statisticians working at the state education headquarters here recently calculated the official graduation rate at a respectable 87 percent, which Mississippi reported to Washington. But in another office piled with computer printouts, a second team of number crunchers came up with a different rate: a more sobering 63 percent.

The state schools superintendent, Hank Bounds, says the lower rate is more accurate and uses it in a campaign to combat a dropout crisis.

“We were losing about 13,000 dropouts a year, but publishing reports that said we had graduation rate percentages in the mid-80s,” Mr. Bounds said. “Mathematically, that just doesn’t work out.”

Read more HERE

State urged to drop exit test

By Kristen Wyatt
March 17, 2008

ANNAPOLIS (AP) — Maryland families are urging state lawmakers to change or repeal legislation that will require exit exams for high-school seniors to receive a diploma.

"It started as a whisper, and now it's growing into a roar," said Delegate Justin D. Ross, Prince George's Democrat. "People are very concerned about these tests."

The class of 2009 will be the first to take the Maryland High School Assessment exams in algebra, biology, English and government. And those who don't pass will not receive a diploma.

The requirements were established in 2000, when Maryland joined a national trend of requiring exit exams. The premise was that diplomas will become a guarantee that students know certain things. But with the pass-to-graduate deadline looming — and no lesser diploma or attendance certificate for students who don't pass despite several attempts — legislators are hearing more calls to modify or drop the exam requirements.

Read more HERE

Smaller Classes Don't Close Learning Gap, Study Finds

By Jay Mathews
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 10, 2008; Page B02

For 20 years, a large study of class size in Tennessee, known as Project STAR, has raised hopes that reducing the number of children in inner-city classrooms to 17 or fewer would yield significant increases in achievement. It was by far the most authoritative finding in favor of reducing class size and was generally considered one of the most important educational studies of its time.

But a Northwestern University researcher, looking closely at the same data on thousands of students from kindergarten through third grade in 79 schools, has concluded that high achievers benefited more from the small classes than low achievers. Since low-income students in urban neighborhoods have lower achievement, on average, than students from more affluent families, the finding in the March issue of Elementary School Journal contradicts assumptions that class size reduction might have a significant effect on the gap between rich and poor students.



Read more HERE

Notes from Board Meeting, 3/11/08

This meeting wil be re-broadcast on Channel 96 on Wednesdays at 6:00 pm, Fridays at 9:00 am and Saturdays/Sundays at 2:00 pm.

The below notes are my personal notes and are not intended to be all-inclusive or official minutes for the Board of Education meetings and are provided as a request from my supporters and the general public in a personal effort to be more transparent. Although I have diligently tried to make these notes as unbiased and accurate as possible, I am only human and do make mistakes.

Superintendent - Report

• Science fair and Spelling Bee
• Read Across America
• Senior Citizens Prom
• Middle School Transition Dinners
• Math Challenges, History Fair, music competitions, art show, DI
• Japan Bunkyo University partnership
• SAT?ACT podcast
• New high school

Board Members - MABE Presentation

• Carrington - Black Saga competition at Indian Head. two teams going to state
• Carrington - First Tech Challenger - invite middle schools next year
• Wise - Stone playing at Comcast center
• Cook - Spelling Bee kudos
• Pedersen - Legislative update - Letter from Board to say "yes" to public school funding; no cuts to Gov. budget
• Bullying bills - NO
• Labor relations - NO
• Physical education mandates - NO
• disabled students in athletics - NO
• HSA Bills - NO
• Richmond - state supt. meeting report on bridge to excellence act
• Abell - MABE nominating committee

EACC - Update (Report not available yet)

• Teacher shortage Task force
• wants $60,000 starting salary with quick climb to $100,000
• BOE to pay $75,000 to fully fund 5 students to U of MD
• Sabbaticals - pay teachers to go back to school to become certified in critical areas
• Make some teaching jobs 12 months
• offer free daycare and affordable housing
• tuition reimbursement
• DOES NOT support differentiated pay or bonuses for shortage areas

Student Board Member - (report not available yet)

• Recruiting and electing of officers for next year
• Senior citizens prom
• MASE convention

Deputy Superintendent - Pupil Personnel Workers

• See Report

Instruction Report - Capturing Kids Hearts Report; Presentation

• Implemented at Stone
• Flippen Group
• Training program for staff
• Very good
• Abell requests implementation and training for all staff

Supporting Services Report - CIP Update

• Everything on schedule and running smoothly

Legislative Update - (report not available yet)

Wise motioned; Pedersen seconded to send a letter to Gov. in support of educational funding

Bailey amended; Abell seconded to receive a draft via fax for approval

Yes = Abell, Bailey, Cook, Pedersen; No = Carrington, Wade, Wise

AMENDMENT PASSED

Motion with amendment

Yes = All

PASSED

NEW BUSINESS

• Abell move public forum to 6:00

Unanimous

• Task Form Committee Report submitted
• Abell - requests placement on Board Docs
• Bailey - Considers this an internal memo, not to be made public
• Abell - documents presented during public session are public documents
• Will be placed on Board Docs

6:30 - Public Forum (Must sign-up prior to 6:30)

• None

Action Items

• Minutes from 2/19/08 & 2/25/08
• Personnel
• Worker's Compensation Rule; Action

All board members voted unanimously for all action items.

Panel Proposes Streamlining Math

American students’ math achievement is “at a mediocre level” compared with that of their peers worldwide, according to a new report by a federal panel. The panel said that math curriculums from preschool to eighth grade should be streamlined to focus on key skills — the handling of whole numbers and fractions, and certain aspects of geometry and measurement — to prepare students to learn algebra.

“The sharp falloff in mathematics achievement in the U.S. begins as students reach late middle school, where, for more and more students, algebra course work begins,” said the report of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel, appointed two years ago by President Bush. “Students who complete Algebra II are more than twice as likely to graduate from college, compared to students with less mathematical preparation.”

Read more HERE

Hovering Parents Bully Teachers

Please let me know what you think about this article....

By John-John Williams IV Sun reporter
March 4, 2008

Carroll County school officials told a grandmother to stop coming to her grandchild's class after she spent two weeks studying the teacher. A Baltimore County teacher recalls being threatened physically by a parent who happened to be a boxer.

And in Howard County, overbearing parents are becoming such a concern that more than half the teachers surveyed say they have experienced "harassing behavior."

For the past two years, 60 percent of the teachers responding to a job satisfaction survey conducted by the Howard County Education Association reported that they have been subjected to harassment. Last year's survey specifically identified parents as the offenders in 60 percent of the cases. This year's survey, to be released in the coming weeks, will report similar results, said Ann DeLacy, the HCEA president.

Read more HERE

Should We Put the Brakes on Advanced Placement Growth?

Duh! Isn't this what we've been saying?

By Jay Mathews
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 10, 2008; 4:47 AM

Patrick Mattimore -- lawyer, teacher and freelance journalist -- is one of the most insightful writers about schools I know. So when he published a piece in Education Week criticizing the rapid growth in Advanced Placement courses in the country, I read it carefully and asked him to discuss it with me in this column. Mattimore is not only an astute judge of AP policy, but until recently, he was an AP Psychology teacher in San Francisco. He knows the territory like few others, and unlike many people in the debate over how to use AP, he has accomplished the rare feat of changing his mind after discovering facts at odds with his views.

His March 5 Ed Week commentary points out that if you look at all high school graduates, the percentage taking and passing AP exams is increasing. But if you look at the percentage of exams with passing grades -- 3 or above on the 5-point tests -- that is declining in many subjects. To Mattimore, this means the program is growing too fast -- a 10 percent jump every year in the number of exams taken. He says the rapid expansion ought to be reined in until school systems improve instruction in lower grades so students are better prepared for the rigors of AP.

Read more HERE

Next Question: Can Students Be Paid to Excel?

New York Times
By JENNIFER MEDINA
Published: March 5, 2008

The fourth graders squirmed in their seats, waiting for their prizes. In a few minutes, they would learn how much money they had earned for their scores on recent reading and math exams. Some would receive nearly $50 for acing the standardized tests, a small fortune for many at this school, P.S. 188 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

When the rewards were handed out, Jazmin Roman was eager to celebrate her $39.72. She whispered to her friend Abigail Ortega, “How much did you get?” Abigail mouthed a barely audible answer: $36.87. Edgar Berlanga pumped his fist in the air to celebrate his $34.50.

The children were unaware that their teacher, Ruth Lopez, also stood to gain financially from their achievement. If students show marked improvement on state tests during the school year, each teacher at Public School 188 could receive a bonus of as much as $3,000.

Read more HERE

Teaching Change

New York Times
By ANDREW J. ROTHERHAM
Published: March 10, 2008

WHEN teachers at two Denver public schools demanded more control over their work days, they ran into opposition from a seemingly odd place: their union. The teachers wanted to be able to make decisions about how time was used, hiring and even pay. But this ran afoul of the teachers’ contract. After a fight, last month the union backed down — but not before the episode put a spotlight on the biggest challenge and opportunity facing teachers’ unions today.

While laws like No Child Left Behind take the rhetorical punches for being a straitjacket on schools, it is actually union contracts that have the greatest effect over what teachers can and cannot do. These contracts can cover everything from big-ticket items like pay and health care coverage to the amount of time that teachers can spend on various activities.

Quote of the Day

"I would much rather put a phenomenal, great teacher in a field with 30 kids and nothing else than take the mediocre teacher and give them half the number of students and give them all the technology in the world."
ZEKE M. VANDERHOEK, 31, who is starting a charter school that will pay teachers $125,000 a year.

Read More HERE

REMINDER: Board of Education Meeting, 3/11/08

Just wanted to remind everyone there is a Board Meeting Tuesday, March 11th. Can't attend...you can watch it live on Channel 96. It will also be re-broadcast on Wednesday at 9:00 am and Sunday at 2:00 pm. To view the full agenda and the various reports, please visit BoardDocs.

NEW MEETING TIMES!!

12:00 - Executive Session
1:00 - Board Meeting begins

The remainder of the meeting immediately follows Public Forum

Reports

• Superintendent - Report
• Board Members - MABE Presentation
• EACC - Update (Report not available yet)
• Student Board Member - (report not available yet)
• Deputy Superintendent - Pupil Personnel Workers
• Instruction Report - Capturing Kids Hearts Report; Presentation
• Supporting Services Report - CIP Update (report not available yet)
• Legislative Update - (report not available yet)

4:30 - Recognition

6:30 - Public Forum (Must sign-up prior to 6:30)

Action Items

• Minutes from 2/19/08 & 2/25/08
• Personnel
• Worker's Compensation Rule; Action

Merit Pay Yields Mixed Results

By The Associated Press

Texas school districts are paying teachers smaller bonuses than what was recommended by lawmakers, one factor that has led to mixed results in the first year of the nation's largest merit pay plan, according to an independent study funded by the state.

The $100 million Texas Educator Excellence Grant program received a favorable response from teachers in the 1,148 schools where bonuses were awarded, according to the study.

But researchers said they are unsure if the program will prove to be a long-term success, in part because of massive turnover among schools participating in the merit pay program and smaller-than-expected bonuses. Although the Legislature recommended awarding teacher bonuses between $3,000 and $10,000, the average bonus awarded across the state was $2,263.

Read more HERE

Florida’s ‘Theory of ...’

An intersting editorial from the New York Times about Florida's new science curriculum.

Has Florida come to its senses over the teaching of evolution? Sound science appears to be winning the latest round, but the struggle isn’t over.

We were cheered last year when a committee appointed by the State Department of Education drafted a new set of science standards that, for the first time, actually used the word evolution and called it a fundamental concept underlying all of biology. This was a huge advance over the previous standards, which gingerly referred only to “change over time,” leaving it up to teachers to decide whether they dared to mention the e-word in class.

Read more HERE

Bills Seek New Kind of Graduation Requirement

By Philip Rucker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 28, 2008; Page PG01

A Prince George's lawmaker has introduced legislation to prohibit the use of standardized tests as public high school graduation requirements in Maryland, arguing that the High School Assessment tests could unfairly deny diplomas to deserving students.

Beginning with the Class of 2009, the Maryland Board of Education will require students to pass a series of curriculum-based exams in algebra, biology, English and government to earn a high school diploma. Students unable to pass the tests could complete projects in those subjects as an alternative.

But legislation introduced by Del. Jay Walker (D-Prince George's) would eliminate the assessment tests as graduation requirements. A second bill introduced by Walker would weigh students' scores on the standardized tests with their attendance record and grade-point average in determining eligibility to receive a diploma.

Read more HERE

Teaching Boys and Girls Separately

New York Times
By ELIZABETH WEIL
Published: March 2, 2008

On an unseasonably cold day last November in Foley, Ala., Colby Royster and Michael Peterson, two students in William Bender’s fourth-grade public-school class, informed me that the class corn snake could eat a rat faster than the class boa constrictor. Bender teaches 26 fourth graders, all boys. Down the hall and around the corner, Michelle Gay teaches 26 fourth-grade girls. The boys like being on their own, they say, because girls don’t appreciate their jokes and think boys are too messy, and are also scared of snakes. The walls of the boys’ classroom are painted blue, the light bulbs emit a cool white light and the thermostat is set to 69 degrees. In the girls’ room, by contrast, the walls are yellow, the light bulbs emit a warm yellow light and the temperature is kept six degrees warmer, as per the instructions of Leonard Sax, a family physician turned author and advocate who this May will quit his medical practice to devote himself full time to promoting single-sex public education.

Read more HERE

Demographics Change in Charles Co. Schools

From WTOP News...

Black students are expected to become the majority demographic group in Charles County's public school system this year.

School officials say the number of black students in the county surpassed the number of white students for the first time last year, and the number probably will rise above 50 percent this year.

Over the past decade, the school system has increased from about 20,000 to 27,000 students. The number of white students dropped by about 3,000 during that period, while the number of black students has more than doubled.

The school system is mirroring population changes in the county.

Charles County now has the fastest-growing black population of any large county in the nation except the Atlanta suburbs.

Notes from Board Work Session, 2/29/08

This meeting wil be re-broadcast on Channel 96 on Wednesdays at 9:00 am and Sundays at 2:00 pm.

The below notes are my personal notes and are not intended to be all-inclusive or official minutes for the Board of Education meetings and are provided as a request from my supporters and the general public in a personal effort to be more transparent. Although I have diligently tried to make these notes as unbiased and accurate as possible, I am only human and do make mistakes.

The board had a work session with a MABE facilitator, Ms. Kitty Blumsack, to discuss priorities for the coming year. We reviewed our priorities from last year...viewed here, discussed our progress, and which priorities still need to be addressed.

• Code 8140, Board Code of Behavior, will be reviewed at a future meeting.
• Abell - requested a complete calendar of all tests given system-wide
• Pedersen - requested a report on % of new teachers and what is a good %
• Current teachers being used to recruit in their home areas
• 100 - 150 teachers needed for next year
• Richmond - possibility of hiring some CSM professors to teach higher level classes
• Evening classes and Saturday classes to acccomodate student scheduling. Use of technology

In addition each board member and the superintendent was instructed to list their two priorities for the coming year.

Richmond

• Budget 09,10,11
• Opening new high school and operating budget

Bailey

• Dual enrollment; AA degree by 12th grade
• School Capacity
• Teacher training through CSM

Pedersen

• Encourage rigor and depth in learning
• Continue open communication with community

Cook

• Alternative funding
• Teacher retention

Wise

• Get students interested in careers in teaching
• Show case programs available to students

Wade

• JROTC Joint Ball
• Strategic planning (personnel; staff)

Carrington

• Recruit more minority teachers
• Showcase 3 year old program

Abell

• Alternative funding for school construction (overcrowding; developer built; state legislation)
• Academic Rigor (Qualified teachers in higher level classes; dual enrollment; etc.)

Virginia considers leaving education act behind

By Richard Quinn
The Virginian-Pilot
© February 25, 2008
RICHMOND

The General Assembly is flirting with abandoning a landmark federal law that governs schools in the United States.

The decision could make Virginia the first state to set a deadline – summer 2009 – for planning a pullout from the No Child Left Behind Act, which ties billions of dollars to federally mandated testing standards in public schools.

State politicians have balked at some of those standards in the past few years. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has signed bills asking the U.S. Department of Education to waive parts of the federal law.

Most of those exemptions were granted, but the notable ones that have not been approved frustrate educators and annoy legislators.

Read more HERE

County students participate in SAT/ACT Podcast

More than 10 Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) students were recently invited to participate in a SAT/ACT Podcast multimedia project to help students and parents better prepare for the college-entrance exams.

Students from five county high schools were chosen by teachers and/or guidance counselors to participate in a focus group for the project and were required to have taken either the SAT or ACT exams, or both. The students were then filmed discussing advice and strategies about how to successfully prepare for the exams.

The Podcast covers topics such as which test is appropriate for students to take, the format of each exam, how to best prepare a study plan, where students can go or ask for additional help and what to expect after the exam. Student input and advice comes directly from those who have taken the test and are based on personal test-taking experiences. Their comments are meant only as helpful hints for other students.

The Podcast was recently added to iTunes, a popular audio/video application, and is available for free to download on the school system website at www.ccboe.com/sat/podcast/.

USDA Beef Recall

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) notified Charles County Public Schools on Friday that it might have received two cases of frozen, precooked hamburgers affected by a recent recall. The products contain beef processed by Westland/Hallmark Meat Company, which is under investigation for animal cruelty and possible processing violations. No illnesses related to the products have been reported and federal officials said the possibility that the beef would cause illness is remote.

According to Patrick Tague, supervisor of food service, two of 122 cases of frozen hamburger patties received on Jan. 24 from Zartic Food Company were processed with meat from Westland Meat Company. The school system received information on Feb. 11 from the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) that the shipment might be involved in a secondary recall as a result of the ongoing investigation into Westland's practices. Formal notification from USDA was received by email on Feb. 22.

Food service workers at all schools immediately checked inventory and the two cases, which contain 240 hamburgers each, were not found. The school system served 14,468 hamburgers between the receipt of the shipment and the date it was notified of the possible recall by MSDE. Food service managers continue to check production dates and lot numbers on all hamburgers before using any additional products from Zartic.

Superintendent James E. Richmond said, "The school system's food service department responded immediately to the recall information and is working to ensure that no other beef provided by this company is served to our students. We continue to monitor the investigation for additional information and will make any needed adjustments to our food and nutrition program. At this time, we are assured that the recall of all the meat from this processing company is precautionary."

Florida Adds 'Evolution' to Statewide Science Standards

Florida’s state board of education today approved science standards that for the first time refer specifically to the theory of evolution, and give what many supporters say is a more coherent and concise treatment to important topics across science.

The board adopted the new document by a 4-3 vote, after making a change to the language that seemed aimed at mollifying criticism from Florida parents and religious organizations.

That change inserts the words “scientific theory of” before various references to evolution and other major scientific concepts, such as the Big Bang in cosmology, and plate tectonics in geology. A second alteration adds the words “law of” in front of other terms, such as gravity and the conservation of mass.

Read more HERE

Notes from Board Work Session, 2/25/08

The below notes are my personal notes and are not intended to be all-inclusive or official minutes for the Board of Education meetings and are provided as a request from my supporters and the general public in a personal effort to be more transparent. Although I have diligently tried to make these notes as unbiased and accurate as possible, I am only human and do make mistakes.

The Communication Goal was originally submitted by a committee including myself, Mark Crawford and Cecil Marshall an approved on May 10, 2005. It was last reviewed on October 11, 2005. The intent was for the committee to devise goals to improve the Boards communication with national, state, and local leaders, faculty, businesses, the community, and each other in order to create a more consumer-friendly school board and public school system.

My notes are a little sparse because I was tasked with reading the communication goal item by item with the Board discussing and coming to a consensus on each individual bullet. My notes on the individual discussion portion are lacking and I apologize.

The benchmarks were discussed following the communication goal and it was late. I suggested staff give us some facts/statistics on how are faring to date with these. Once again, Col. Wade opposes tasking staff with any additional work. I explained that these statistics were readily available to them, nothing new, easily at hand, etc. Wade opposes. I volunteered to pull the statistics myself and report at the next meeting. Mr. Richmond volunteered staff to report and explained to Col. Wade that it’s not additional work. Board consensus was that staff will report on the benchmarks at a future meeting and then the Board will discuss which ones to keep or discard.

COMMUNICATION GOAL DISCUSSION

GOVERNMENT
The Charles County Board of Education will meet with federal and state elected representatives on an annual basis.
The Board has been meeting this goal. Consensus was to keep this as a goal.

The Charles County Board of Education will meet with the Charles County Commissioners four times a year.
After lengthy discussion about whether to change the number of times to three and what exactly constitutes a meeting, i.e. a retreat vs. a presentation at the commissioners’ office. A consensus was reached to leave this goal as stated and further clarification on what constitutes a meeting was not decided.

The Charles County Board of Education will meet with the College of Southern Maryland Board and a representative from the University of Maryland annually.
The CSM portion of the goal has been met. Discussion. Consensus was for a rewording of this goal. It will now read…
The Charles County Board of Education will meet with the College of Southern Maryland Board and other post-secondary educational institutions.

The Charles County Board of Education will confer with other county Board of Education’s on “best practices” and share them with the public during a special meeting to determine what, if any, of these can be instituted here in Charles County.
Has not been met on a consistent basis. Discussion. Consensus was for rewording. This goal will now read…
The Charles County Board of Education will confer with other county Boards of Education.

The Charles County Board of Education members will attend at least one in-service activity or MABE meeting a year.
Consistently meeting this goal. Consensus was to keep this goal.

FACULTY
The Charles County Board of Education will meet with staff/faculty on an annual basis to gather input, concerns, desires, etc. Develop a project plan for tracking/follow-up.
A considerable amount of discussion on this goal. Some considered it the Superintendent’s job. Micro-managing. Abell suggested rewording. Actual vote take to strike this goal from the document.
Abell – NO. Bailey, Carrington, Cook, Pedersen, Wade – YES.
This goal is no longer part of the communication goal.

BUSINESS
Seek out more business partnerships through exploration of different partnerships, such as enrollment in the Academy of Finance Research.
Consistently meeting this goal. Consensus was to keep this goal.

Enhance existing partnerships with groups such as the Economic Development Commission and Charles County Chamber of Commerce.
Consistently meeting this goal. Consensus was to keep this goal.

PARENTS/COMMUNITY
Continue communication efforts that have proven to be successful including the Parent Handbook/Calendar, web site, hotline, schoolsout.com, etc.
Consistently meeting this goal. Consensus was to keep this goal.

Ensure all schools have an up to date, functional website. Additionally, if a teacher chooses to have his/her own website, he/she must keep it up to date.
Discussion on verbiage. Consensus was to reword. This goal will now read…
It is the desire of the Charles County Board of Education that all schools have an up-to-date, functional website.

Request the Superintendent to review Policy 1240 and associated rules, and offer his recommended changes for parents/guardians to be encouraged to observe/volunteer at their child’s school. In addition, the resulting policy and rule shall be effectively communicated at the start of the school year and implemented consistently throughout the school system.
This goal was considered to be completed. Consenus was to strike this goal.

Each school shall develop a communication plan and share that plan with parents at the beginning of each school year.
Consistently meeting this goal. Consensus was to keep this goal.

Meet with members of the community at various locations throughout the county in town meetings three times during the school year. Procedures and dates for the meetings shall be developed well in advance of the first meeting.
Not consistent in meeting this goal. Only one town meeting since 2005 and it was not considered effective or productive. Consensus was to strike this goal.

Better utilize educational television station to include regular programming and promotion of Charles County Public Schools. Improve content and frequency of programming. This could include, but should not be exclusive to, the addition of televised Board meetings. Develop a lending library of tapes for those without access to cable television.
Consensus was that this goal has been completed and will no longer appear in this document.

Conduct a survey to assess: a) the communication measures in place, and b) where parents and community members get their information about schools. The collected data shall be utilized in updating communication strategies.
Consensus was that this goal has been completed and will no longer appear in this document.

Develop use of BoardDocs, which will place Board meetings, agendas, decisions and policy on-line for easy access to all. Continue to provide hard copies of policies to county libraries and schools.
Consensus was that this goal has been completed and will no longer appear in this document.

BOARD
The Board will meet in a retreat twice annually.
Discussion. Bailey opposed. Reworded.
Abell, Carrington, Cook, Pedersen, Wade – YES; Bailey – NO.
The goal will now read…
The Board will meet in a retreat once annually.

Continue to participate in opportunities for social interaction with school system personnel and other Board member, such as Back-to-school and end-of-school events.
Consistently meeting this goal. Consensus was to keep this goal.

ADJOURNED TO EXECUTIVE SESSION

Invitation from NSBA

Once again, I have been invited to participate as a national blogger at the upcoming National School Board Association Conference to beheld in Orlando this year. I have accepted this wonderful opportunity and anxiously look forward to fulfill my obligations.

In addition, last November (I thought I posted about this, but I couldn't seem to locate it) I was invited to co-present a seminar at the upcoming NSBA conference and I accepted that opportunity as well. The title of the seminar is “Blogging School District Leaders: Directly Engage Your Community Using the Internet." More to come later.

Thank you for your support and maybe, one day, all elected officials will have a blog :)

HEADS UP!! Two New Meetings

BOARD PRIORITIES

FEBRUARY 29, 2008

10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Board room @ the Starkey Building

This meeting will be televised.

The Board of Education will be meeting with Ms. Kitty Blumsack

to discuss board priorities for the coming year.

----------------------------------------------------------------

NEW HIGH SCHOOL

MARCH 4, 2008

9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.

Commissioners Office

The Board of Education will be meeting with the

county Commissioners to discuss the new high school.

SCHOOLS THAT CHANGE: EVIDENCE-BASED IMPROVEMENT AND EFFECTIVE CHANGE LEADERSHIP

This Week's Live Chat

When: Monday, Feb. 25, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern time

Submit questions in advance.

Join us for a live chat with Lew Smith, author of Schools That Change: Evidence-Based Improvement and Effective Change Leadership, a new book from Corwin Press.

Drawing from the findings of an eight-year national research project, Schools That Change looks at schools that have significantly improved. The book examines why change is often met with resistance and why it is often difficult to implement. Mr. Smith also explores how to measure change in schools, as well as providing “portraits” of four elementary schools that changed for the better.


Mr. Smith will answer your questions about change, school improvement, and his conceptual framework for change based on three components: context, capacity, and conversations.


About the guest:
Lew Smith is the director of the National Principals Leadership Institute, Panasonic National School Change Awards. He has served as associate professor in educational leadership and associate dean, program development and outreach, at the Fordham University Graduate School of Education. Mr. Smith, who also was a principal of a New York City high school, conceived and directed the New York City Middle School Initiative, which launched reform in 26 of the city's 32 community school districts.

Submit questions in advance.

No special equipment other than Internet access is needed to participate in this text-based chat. A transcript will be posted shortly after the completion of the chat.

Reading, math eat up class hours

Driven by stress on test scores, systems trim other subjects

The pressure for elementary schools to show progress under No Child Left Behind has come at a cost - less time is being devoted to social studies, science, art and music.

But time for reading and math has received a substantial boost, according to a study that examined 349 of the nation's school systems.

The report released yesterday by the Center on Education Policy shows that some school districts increased math and reading time by as much as 150 minutes a week, while cutting time for social studies, science, music and art by one-third.

Read more HERE

County offers local scholarship opportunities

The Charles County Scholarship Fund, Inc. is offering more than 35 scholarships to Charles County high school seniors. Applications are available at all county high schools and must be submitted by March 1.

Applications are also available on the school system website, www.ccboe.com, under the students section, located on the left-hand side of the home page. Click on the Scholarship & College information tab. Seniors can also contact their guidance counselor or Career Center coordinator for more information.

Each scholarship has specific eligibility criteria and information regarding eligibility is located on page two of the applications. The following scholarships are available through the scholarship fund:

American Rental Management Company, $1000;

Apartments of St. Charles, $1000;

Jeremiah and Elijah Borgnis Memorial, $500;

Unnae Pak Borgnis Memorial, $500;

Charles County Chamber of Commerce, $1000;

Charles County Health Department and School Nurses, $250;

Charles County Retired School Personnel Association, $500;

Charles County Teacher Education Assistance Grant, $1000 (renewable);

Charles County Retired School Personnel Association, $500 (five awards);

Kiwanis Club of La Plata, $500 (two awards);

John H. Cox Memorial Scholarship, $500;

Kate Donahue Memorial, $400;

Lisa Michele Duckett Achievement Award, $1000;

William and Vivian King, $1000;

Thomas Kurtz Memorial, $1000;

Harold Allen Levy, $1000;

Mary Matula, $300;

Grote Memorial, $500;

Timothy Minor Memorial, $1,000;

Timothy Minor Criminal Justice, $500;

Stephen E. Mitchell Educational Scholarship, $500;

Thomas B.R. Mudd, nurse, College of Southern Maryland, full two years;

Thomas B. R. Mudd, teacher, College of Southern Maryland, full two years;

Mildred Rice O'Callaghan Memorial, $500 (two awards);

Katherine D. Racey Memorial, $1500;

Edward Rorer Memorial, $500;

St. Charles Community, $1000 (three awards);

Starkey Memorial, $500;

Robert Dean Stethem National Memorial, $1000;

Robert Dean Stethem Thomas Stone, $1000;

Patricia Sugg Weiers Memorial, $250;

Woman's Club of Southern Maryland, $1000; and

Zonta of Charles County, $1000 (two awards).

Contact Jeannette Kaufman, Charles County Scholarship Fund, Inc., at 301-934-7314, for more information.

County to host College Savings Plan parent workshop

Charles County Public Schools will host three College Savings Plans of Maryland workshops at three county schools to inform elementary and middle school parents of opportunities to prepare for their child's college expenses.

The sessions will cover two college savings plans being offered by the Maryland Savings Plan: The Maryland Prepaid College Trust plan and the Maryland College Investment Plan. Sessions are as follows:


Tuesday, Feb. 26, 7 p.m., Gale-Bailey Elementary School;
Thursday, Feb. 28, 7 p.m., J.P. Ryon Elementary School; and
Monday, March 10, 6:30 p.m., Benjamin Stoddert Middle School.

The Maryland Prepaid College Trust Plan offers tuition plans and payment options for parents to save money for future use at any Maryland public college or an eligible private or out-of-state college or graduate program. The trust plan also has state and federal tax benefits and is backed by a Maryland Legislative Guarantee.

The Maryland College Investment Plan offers 13 investment portfolio options for parents, ranging from aggressive to conservative investment strategies, which are managed by T. Rowe Price. The funds can be used at nearly any public, private or technical college nationwide and Any portfolio earnings are state and federal tax free when used toward college expenses.

Visit www.collegesavingsmd.org or call 1-888-4MD-GRAD for more information.

Maryland State Board of Education Meeting, 2/26 - 27

For the agenda click HERE.

Lawmakers seek to hold schools accountable

ANNAPOLIS — Local educators have asked the state for years for more and more money to fund their programs. But this General Assembly session, some lawmakers are pushing harder to make sure those dollars are spent wisely.

Some have introduced legislation to hold school systems more accountable for how their money is used. Other lawmakers are pushing bills to repeal the hotly contested High School Assessments or speed up the time it takes to calculate the scores.

The bills point the finger not only at lawmakers, but at the state school board and the Department of Education for moving forward with the test without preparing students to pass, said Del. Jay Walker, whose legislation would repeal the HSA as a graduation requirement altogether.


Read more HERE

Lack of Services Causes Juvenile Detention, Court Review Shows

According to Advocates for Children and Youth...


Youth end up in a cycle of delinquency in Maryland because of a failure to link them to existing, effective community supports and interventions, according to a review of court records by Advocates for Children and Youth, a Maryland-based nonprofit organization. In a quarter page ad in The Washington Post, Advocates for Children and Youth said that full use of evidence-based community services like Multi-Systemic Therapy could allow the State to reduce significantly new spending on juvenile facilities that offer “degrees in delinquency.”

Evidence-based community programs can save $20 million in the first year alone, based on a new budget analysis Advocates for Children and Youth completed with the Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute.

Read more HERE

School Suspensions Spike

School suspensions spiked and hit near record levels last school year, according to a new analysis by Advocates for Children and Youth. Records were broken in Prince George’s and Baltimore Counties, and the number of students receiving multiple suspensions increased. Racial disparities reached new highs. The negative trend demonstrates the need to expand effective alternatives like Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. Governor O’Malley proposed statewide expansion of PBIS as a candidate, and The Baltimore Sun recently endorsed PBIS. Some schools are adding mental services to PBIS, a far better solution for students with extra needs than segregating students in separate schools.



For the full analysis, click here. For the Technical Appendix, click here

House Bill 920

I wanted to bring House Bill 920 to every one's attention because it is one I personally support and have stressed/worried over issues surrounding these events previously. The hearing will be held on March 19th at 1:00 p.m.

Currently if a student is a victim of a violent crime and the perpetrator is also a student at the same school, the only legal solution to the uncomfortable situation is for the victim to request a transfer to another school, which of course the system legally grants. How wrong is this? The VICTIM has to change schools according to current laws. The above legislation would provide legal grounds for the perpetrator to be moved. YEAH!!!

REMINDER: Board Work Session, 2/25/08

Just wanted to remind everyone there is a Board Work Session on Monday, February 25th.
Can't attend...you can watch it live on Channel 96. It will also be re-broadcast on Wednesday at 9:00 am and Sunday at 2:00 pm.

6:00 - Student Recognition at North Point
7:00 - Travel to Starkey Building (Central Office)
7:30 - Work Session/ Public Forum

The remainder of the meeting immediately follows Public Forum

To view the full agenda and the various reports, please visit BoardDocs.

Board to discuss 2005 Communication Goal and Benchmarks

Notes from Board Meeting, 2/19/08

The below notes are my personal notes and are not intended to be all-inclusive or official minutes for the Board of Education meetings and are provided as a request from my supporters and the general public in a personal effort to be more transparent. Although I have diligently tried to make these notes as unbiased and accurate as possible, I am only human and do make mistakes.

To view the full agenda and the various reports, please visit BoardDocs.

Superintendent - Report

• Upcoming Events
• Meeting with US Senate staff & partners from the Space Foundation
• "Go Places with Math & Science" NSWC & CSM partnership
• Staff meetings with teachers regarding testing and workloads
• New teacher breakfasts
• Residency proof required for incoming 6th & 9th grade students
• Neal Elementary work progressing. Spirit group for mascot naming being formed
• Russia and Japan partnerships

Approval of Minutes from 1/8/08 & 1/28/08

*Motion by Carrington, seconded by Wise to approve Minutes
Unanimous
PASSED

Board Members Update

• Carrington - Indian Head Elementary - 2/22 Black Saga Program
• Wise - Message to news agencies; quotes directly in paper incorrectly. DO NOT summarize and use quotes. Ensure credit is given to the appropriate board member.
• Abell - McDonough Wind Ensemble asked to performa th the Kennedy Center on Tuesday, March 4th at 6:00 p.m. in celebration of Music in Our Schools Month. Admission is free.

EACC - Update

• Roundtable discussion of teacher workload and testing results and suggestions
• Comments were forwarded to the board
• Requests one early dismissal day per week
• Prepared lesson plans for teachers and for substitutes
• BOE buy materials of instruction that have plans and lessons
• address special education paperwork issues
• Hire IEP facilitators
• IEP planning days
• Hire more speech language pathologists
• Increase mentoring efforts with formal training
• hire employees for hall/bus duty etc.
• reduce mandated paperwork and plans to be turned in
• Invite to Read Across America event @ Old Country Buffet
• Abell - requested copies of teachers comments from roundtable discussions. Board has NOT received.
• Pedersen - Big Brothers/Big Sisters

Student Board Member

• Senator Middleton and Sheriff's Office meeting regarding teen driving - more next month
• MASC legislation session at Chopticon
• MASC state convention in March in Ocean City 3/5 - 3/7
• CCAC meeting last one in April. Elections
• Freshman Seminar discussed and forwarded to staff
• food service taste test for breakfast & lunches for next year
• 2/29 Senior Prom at Jaycees "When Hollywood was Young"

Deputy Superintendent - Student Service Guidance

• See report
• Bachelor's Degree; Master degree in school counseling, 48 graduate credits and 600 hours internship
• 73 in system; 7 nationally certified
• 1 in all Elem.; 2+ in Middle; 4+ in High
• system goal is one for each grade level 6th grade and up
• 759 crisis interventions already this year
• MSDE recommends ration 1:250
• CCPS Elem = 1:434; Midd= 1:296; HS = 1:344
• Wise - appaled @ number of students counselors have to work with
• Pedersen - Where is diversity discussed in MD and HS.
• Grier - Beginning MS; HS it is not discussed due to difficulty with scheduling. Freshman Seminar it is discussed as is suicide
• Pedersen - staff support and counseling
• Grier - Yes
• Shah - Retention rate for counselor
• Grier - Not an issue
• Pedersen - work on reaching MSDE goal. How do we compare locally?
• Grier - Published throught he state of Maryland; don't have on hand

Instruction Report - Middle School Programs

• Extensive powerpoint presentation....very informative
• Wise - Geometry in 8th grade
• Estep - Transportation is busing students to HS

Supporting Services Report - CIP Update

• Neal 77% complete
• Somers - chimney restoration; Phase II of renovation
• Craik - almost done, no longer on report
• Diggs - 8 modular classrooms installed
• Bailey - Trailers at Diggs, amazing yet APFO doesn't indicate a shortage of allocations :)
• Pedersen - Retreat with commissioners...state capacity to core capacity...how did we get here? :)
• Carrington - Can't cut funding when things slow down; perservance...ridiculous :)

Finance Report - Workers Compensation Policy #3541; Rule

• No discussion. Action next month

Legislative Update - Schwartz

• HB21 - Compulsory attendance to 18 - large fiscal impact
• HB199 - Bullying
• HB546 - Bullying
• HB732 - Bullying
• SB850 - public school labor relations board - oppose
• SB96 - high truancy
• SB77 - In-county transfers
• HB169 - In-county transfers
• HB920 - transfer students of violent crimes per victims requests
• HB841 - 2 credits physical education and certain # of minutes per week
• HB1411 - Increase opportunities for disabled in athletics
• SB849 - Increase opportunities for disabled in athletics
• HB760 - Allow students who don't make an athletic team at one HS to try out for the same program at another school
• Pedersen - HB841 affects on CCPS
• Shah - compulsory attendance age - old or new?
• Schwartz - a version of this has been submitted for the last 5 - 6 years
• Bailey - # of students affected by HB21
• Cunningham - dropout rate approx 3% of all HS students. Don;t have exact #'s
• Wise - HB21...MABE voted to support with age change to 17
• Schwartz - hard to implement in some schools because of shared space gym/cafeteria

Action Items: Personnel

*Motion by Wise, seconded by Pedersen to approve Personnel
Unanimous
PASSED

Unfinished Business

• Bailey - staff development for counselors & person in charge
• Cunningham - they attend regular staff development meetings and specialized ones
• Wise - Task committee has met and will be forwarding in update for discussion at work session
• Pedersen - APFO committee - include a review every 3,5,10 years?
• Abell agreed

Future Agenda Items

• Emily Ferren - Charles County LIbrary requests time on the agenda to brief the board with opportunities available
  
  

Evaluating Teachers

At edweek.org...

Research suggests teaching matters more to student achievement than anything else schools do. This year’s Quality Counts 2008 report focuses on states’ efforts to improve the teaching profession. One set of indicators in the report—and the focus of this stat of the week—concerns states’ teacher evaluation policies.

To shed light on teacher evaluation policies, the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center examined whether states require: (1) all teachers' performance to be formally evaluated; (2) teacher evaluations to be tied to student achievement; (3) teacher evaluations to occur on an annual basis; and (4) evaluators to receive formal training.

Read more HERE

City hires independent auditing firm to explore School System spending

In Richmond...

To view a video of this press conference, click here.

The City of Richmond has engaged an independent auditing firm, TCBA of Washington, D.C., to immediately begin an audit of the Richmond Public School System’s spending practices.

“When people are writing to me on a regular basis that their real estate assessments are going up 100 percent and the people who spend those taxes pay no heed, then the Richmond Public Schools’ situation has reached crisis proportions,” said Mayor L. Douglas Wilder. “It is very difficult for people to hear the truth sometimes, but we need to be clear that the City of Richmond has a responsibility to ensure the prudent use of taxpayers’ dollars.”

Two prominent educational leaders, Dr. Robert Holsworth and Dr. William Bosher, spoke of the need for prompt action by the School System to implement ways to make more efficient use of its available funding. They were joined by John Gerner, the City Administration’s consultant on School System funding.

Read more HERE

AP Trends: Tests Soar, Scores Slip

From Education Week...

While more American public school students are taking Advanced Placement tests, the proportion of tests receiving what is deemed a passing score has dipped, and the mean score is down for the fourth year in a row, an Education Week analysis of newly released data from the College Board shows.

Data released here this week by the New York City-based nonprofit organization that owns the AP brand shows that a greater-than-ever proportion of students overall—more than 15 percent of the public high school class of 2007—scored at least one 3 on an AP test. The tests are graded on a scale of 1 to 5, the highest score.

Yet, as the number of AP exams taken in U.S. public schools has ballooned by almost 25 percent over the four years that the College Board has released its “AP Report to the Nation,” the percentage of exams that received at least a 3—the minimum score that the College Board considers predictive of success in college—has slipped from about 60 percent to 57 percent.

Read more HERE

Parents Rise Up Against A New Approach to Math

By Ian Shapira
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 19, 2008; Page A01

Greg Barlow, an Air Force officer in the defense secretary's office at the Pentagon, was helping his 8-year-old son, Christian, one recent night with a vexing problem: What is 674 plus 249?

The Prince William County third-grader did not stack the numbers and carry digits from one column to the next, the way generations have learned. Applying lessons from his school's new math textbook, "Investigations in Number, Data, and Space," Christian tried breaking the problem into easier-to-digest numbers.

But after several seconds, he got stumped. He drew lines connecting digits, and his computation amounted to an upside-down pyramid with numbers at the bottom. His father, in a teacherly tone, nudged him toward the old-fashioned method. "How would you do that another way?" Barlow asked.

Read more HERE

Greenip: Spend 65 percent of education budget in classroom

At HometownAnnapolis.com..



State Sen. Janet Greenip, R-Crofton, wants to make sure students aren't overlooked in education budgets by mandating local boards of education spend 65 percent of school funds in the classroom.


Mrs. Greenip told the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee yesterday her proposal would boost classroom funding by millions of dollars without any tax increases.



Read more HERE