Notes from the Board of Education Meeting, 5/11/10

The Board Meeting on Tuesday, May 11th will be re-broadcast on Comcast Channel 96, Verizon FIOS Channel 12 and is available via webstream at http://www.ccboe.com/ . 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.

Executive session 12 p.m.

Call to order 1 p.m.

• Pledge of Allegiance, Thomas Stone High School's JROTC unit

Reports of officers boards/committees

Superintendent's update

• Read report

Correspondence/Board member updates

• Pedersen - mentioned various system-wide events
• Carrington - Gale-Bailey's spring concert
• Wade - kudos to Richmond on forging forward and swaying state officials to approve the high school at 1600 student capacity.
• Wise - North Point High School Engineering Projects

Education Association of Charles County update

• Read Report

Student Board member update

• Read report
• Thank you to all board members and staff

CIP update

• Read Report
• Lights at North Point complete and adjusted
• Gwynn Center Renovation
• All Day Kindergarten renovations

Educational Facilities Master Plan

• Read report

Instruction Update - Title I Parent Involvement Update

• Read report and power point presentation

FY 2011 Budget

• Read report

Out-of-County Tuition Fees

• See report

Policy: 3910 (debt management); 4740 (severance); 3320 (Expenditure: Purchasing Procedures); 4820 (General Policies and Procedures: Duties and Responsibilities) and Policy Series 6000

• Bailey - proposed change to Policy 3320. "THE SUPERINTENDENT SHALL OBTAIN BOARD APPROVAL PRIOR TO EXECUTION OF ALL CONTRACTS SUBJECT TO THE PROCUREMENT LAWS OF THE EDUCATION ARTICLE."

Motion by Bailey; Second by Pedersen
(yes) Abell, Bailey (no) Carrington, Cook, Wise, Wade, Pedersen

Unfinished business

• Pedersen - What Counts in Education Committee is working on consolidating responses before publishing on the web-site. Proposes all responses go out to those invited to attend the event, a letter to the editor, and the possibility of encouraging PTO and PTSO Presidents to hold similar meetings.

New business and future agenda items

• Wise - Pedersen reappointed to Blue Ribbon Commission
• Bailey - Staff provide list of requirements for different recognitions given at graduation.

Recognition 4:30 p.m.

• Students
• Employees
• Ruth Ann Hall Awards

Public Forum 6 p.m.

• None

Action items

• Minutes

Motion by Carrington; Second by Pedersen
(yes) Abell, Carrington, Cook, Bailey, Wise, Wade, Pedersen


• Personnel

Motion by Pedersen; Second by Carrington

(yes) Abell, Carrington, Cook, Bailey, Wise, Wade, Pedersen

• Policy #6411.21 Physical Education and Athletic Programs for Students with Disabilities

Motion by Abell; Second by Pedersen

(yes) Abell, Carrington, Cook, Bailey, Wise, Wade, Pedersen

Adjournment

Police Tasers and their use ...on our students, our BABIES?

This is a topic that was recently brought to my attention by a parent. Does CCPS have a policy on the use of Tasers on students (by law enforcement, of course). My answer, "No, we do not." Next question was whether CCSO has a policy on the use of Tasers on students? Answer...no, it does not. Here is the statement I received from CCSO:

"To date there have been no Taser deployments in the schools against students. The Use of Force Continuum is the same for all persons. The only variances for the Taser are for age, weight and known medical conditions. Please remember that the Taser is an intermediate weapon that has through study been proven to reduce injury to both the officer and violator in a physical confrontation as well as avoiding the use of deadly force where if the Taser was not available the officer would have been forced to fire their pistol. The use of the properly deployed Taser has been proven to bring an immediate resolution to dangerous confrontations. As an entity we conduct an extensive basic Taser User Course, as well as a mandatory yearly re-certification, with the system to include practical exercises, legal updates, manufacturer updates and following a policy review a written test. I would invite any interested party upon completion of a written waiver to attend the course and experience an exposure. The exposure breaks no bones, leaves no scars and knowledge of the Tasers presence and existence deters resistance. Please let me know if there is any other questions."

With that being said....how do you feel? Give me your opinions. Do we need a policy? If so, provide me with wording so we can discuss the pros and cons.

As with all policy, I believe in doing my homework thoroughly; therefore, I will, in the near future, allow CCSO to Taser ME. Why, you might ask? Because I want to see how bad it really is BEFORE one of our students is hit with it.

REMINDER: Board of Education Meeting 5/11/10

The Board of Education's next monthly meeting is Tuesday, May 11, at the Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building on Radio Station Road in La Plata. The public portion of the meeting begins at 1 p.m. and recognition begins at 4:30 p.m. The meeting is televised live on Comcast Channel 96 and Verizon FiOS Channel 12, and is rebroadcast throughout the week. Program schedules are available at www2.ccboe.com/publicinfo/channel96/schedule.cfm.

Executive session 12 p.m.

Call to order 1 p.m.

• Pledge of Allegiance, Thomas Stone High School's JROTC unit

Reports of officers/boards/committees

Superintendent's update
Correspondence/Board member updates
Education Association of Charles County update
Student Board member update
CIP update
Educational Facilities Master Plan Update
Title I parent progress update
FY 2011 budget update
Out-of-county tuition fees
Policy Updates 3910 (debt management); 4740 (severance); 3320 (expenditure: purchasing procedures); 4820 (general policies and procedures: duties and responsibilities); and series 6000

Unfinished Business

New business and future agenda items

Recognition 4:30 p.m.

• Ruth Ann Hall award winners, presented by EACC
• Students
• Employees

Public Forum 6 p.m.

Action items

• Minutes
• Personnel
• Policy 6411.21: Physical education and athletic programs for students with disabilities

Adjournment

About those school lunches...

From Jamie Oliver to Rear Admirals, the quality of school lunch offerings is under ever-increasing scrutiny. Some current blurbs:

Jamie Oliver improves Huntington, W.Va.’s eating habits

By Jane Black
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 21, 2010

It's happy-ending time for Huntington, W.Va.: Six-year-olds can now distinguish between tomatoes and potatoes. Cooks are tossing apple-cucumber salads with honey dressing for the lunch line. College students and parents are learning to make omelets and soups in free cooking classes. And Jamie Oliver, the crusading British chef who arrived last fall to help change habits in "the unhealthiest town in America," has apparently won the hearts, minds -- and stomachs -- of the locals.

With the finale of his ABC program this Friday, "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution" has officially been televised. But can the six-part, prime-time series help a real revolution take root?

There is progress!

Report says school food making kids unfit to serve

By MARY CLARE JALONICK
The Associated Press
Tuesday, April 20, 2010; 9:30 PM

WASHINGTON -- Too fat to fight? Many American children are so overweight from being fed french fries, pizza and other unhealthy foods at school lunchrooms that they cannot handle the physical rigors of being in the military, a group of retired officers say in a new report.

National security is threatened by the sharp rise in obesity rates for young people over the last 15 years, the group Mission: Readiness contends. Weight problems are now the leading medical reason that recruits are rejected, the group says, and thus jeopardize the military's ability to fill its ranks.


Read more HERE.

Notes from the Board of Education Meeting, 4/20/10

The Board Meeting on Tuesday, April 20th will be re-broadcast on Comcast Channel 96, Verizon FIOS Channel 12 and is available via webstream at http://www.ccboe.com/ . 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.

Executive session 12 p.m.

Call to order 1 p.m.

• Pledge of Allegiance, Maurice J. McDonough High School's JROTC unit

Reports of officers boards/committees

Superintendent's update

• Read report

Correspondence/Board member updates

• Wade - kudos to board members attending national conferences
• Cook - spoke on sessions attended at conference
• Pedersen - spoke on sessions attended at conference
• Carrington - ditto
• Wise - attended conference in Colorado Springs

Education Association of Charles County update

• Read Report

Student Board member update

• Read report

CIP update

• Read Report
• One Room School House - Edward L. Sanders, wife and son attended and spoke of the donation of the school house to CCPS. It has been relocated to the Davis Middle School Site.
• New High School - reviewed design & floor plan. Budget is $59,580,000 without pool. Pool would cost $6.2M. Bidding to start soon & bidding is very competitive. Possible for budget to include pool. Still planning on 1600 seat HS (school will open overcrowded)...state wants 1300; building designed for plan to cut back, but would delay planned opening of 2013.

Instruction Update

• Career & Technology - See Report

Budget Update

• See Report

Legislative Update

• Maintenance of Effort bills did NOT pass
• Labor Relations Board PASSED (mediators b/n boards and unions)
• Race to the Top PASSED
• Policy on Gangs and violence PASSED
• Youth Crisis hotline PASSED
• Parents of Multiple Births student placement PASSED
• Ethics - Conflict of Interest Policy PASSED
• Virtual Schools PASSED
• Transfer of Pension committee

Draft policy update 6411.11 Physical education and athletic programs for students with disabilities

Unfinished business

New business and future agenda items

• Request from Michelle Obama to have one member from every Board to be on the Let's Move committee

Recognition 4:30 p.m.

Public Forum 6 p.m.

• Latrina Carr - concern about implementation of topics discussed at the What Counts Forums? Wants to see topics implemented. Concerned about communication between parents and teachers and the lack thereof. Has asked on numerous occasions for responses from teachers. Needs attention.

Action items

• Minutes

Motion by Carrington; Second by Cook
(yes) Abell, Carrington, Cook, Bailey, Wise, Wade, Pedersen

• Personnel

Motion by Carrington; Second by Pedersen

(yes) Abell, Carrington, Cook, Bailey, Wise, Wade, Pedersen

• Revision to Superintendent's Contract

Motion by Wade; Second by Pedersen
(yes) Carrington, Cook, Wise, Wade, Pedersen: (no) Bailey: (abstain) Abell

• SY2011 - 2012Calendar

Motion by Pedersen; Second by Wade
(yes) Abell, Carrington, Cook, Bailey, Wise, Wade, Pedersen

Adjournment

REMINDER: Board of Education Meeting, 4/20/10

The Board of Education's next monthly meeting is Tuesday, April 20, at the Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building on Radio Station Road in La Plata. The public portion of the meeting begins at 1 p.m. and recognition begins at 4:30 p.m. The meeting is televised live on Comcast Channel 96 and Verizon FiOS Channel 12, and is rebroadcast throughout the week. Program schedules are available at www2.ccboe.com/publicinfo/channel96/schedule.cfm.

Executive session 12 p.m.

Call to order 1 p.m.

• Pledge of Allegiance, Maurice J. McDonough’s JROTC Unit

Reports of officers/boards/committees

• Superintendent’s update
• Correspondence/Board members updates
• EACC update
• Student Board member update
• Deputy Superintendent’s update
• CIP update
• Oral update on high school project 2013
• Instruction update – Career & Technology Education
• Budget
• Legislative update
• Draft Policy update – Policy #6411.21 - PE & Athletic Programs for Students with Disabilities

Unfinished business

New business and future agenda items

Recognition 4:30 p.m.

• Students
• Employees
• Teacher Appreciation Week
• Administrative Professionals’ Week
• Child Nutrition Employee Appreciation Week
• National PE & Sport Week
• Washington Post Distinguished Educational Leader

Public Forum 6 p.m.

Action items

• Minutes
• Personnel
• SY 2011-2012 Calendar

Adjournment

Study of space becoming a victim of school budget cuts

By Michael Alison Chandler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 2, 2010

The David M. Brown Planetarium opened a few months after the United States put a man on the moon. More than 40 years later, little has changed in the weathered white dome that marks the entrance to the Arlington County school system's headquarters. Students sit in the same faded electric blue stadium seats and stare up at a stellar showcase provided by 16 slide projectors, two laserdisc players and the original Spitz A4 star projector.

School officials estimate that it would cost $500,000 to make the facility, named for an Arlington graduate killed in the 2003 Columbia space shuttle disaster, state of the art again. Instead, Superintendent Patrick K. Murphy has proposed closing the dome and converting it to standard classrooms. His proposal follows a decision last year by the Fairfax County School Board to cut funding for elementary field trips to the nine planetariums there.

More than 500 planetariums were built in the heat of the space race, many of them proud additions to public schools made possible by federal funding. Today, school boards across the country are debating whether the costs of maintaining or updating the aging domes are worth it for a generation of students shaped more by the Information Age than the Space Age. Read more HERE.

What makes a teacher great? (School reformers, take note.)

Our kids need great teachers. Who makes the grade?
By Marc Fisher

Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 28, 2010

The YouTube video shows an anonymous first-grade teacher trying, and failing, to get her students to discuss a book. You see kids yammering away, wandering off, squabbling with each other. The teacher snaps her fingers at one child, sends another to the corner and tells a boy, "You're really bugging me."

My job was to study a roomful of would-be teachers as they watched -- and gauge their reactions to determine if these candidates for a fellowship had what it takes to be "inspired teachers." But what could I really tell about a person's aptitude for teaching from how they responded to a few minutes of video?

When one candidate praised that first-grade teacher for her classroom management -- and then recommended using candy to get the kids to quiet down (Starbursts would be particularly effective, she said) -- even I knew that was the wrong answer.

But that same aspiring teacher, a few hours later, was the only one in the room to challenge a competitor who suggested that the way to teach geography to D.C. schoolchildren was to ask parents to talk to their kids about where their families lived before they came to the District. "You can't assume they can help their kids," she said. "You have to focus not on giving the kids the facts, but on getting them to want to know the facts."

Now I was confused; her ideas about discipline were flawed, but couldn't she become a teacher who opens up a child's world?

Read more HERE.

Character More Important Than Winning

By: Gregory Kane
Examiner Columnist
March 11, 2010

Nick Romero is my new hero.

It is at this point many readers might be saying, "I don't know Nick Romero from a tree stump." And the truth is, neither do I.

Romero is a wrestler for LaPlata High School in Maryland's Charles County. Don't tune out just yet.

This isn't a story about high school wrestling; it's a story about character, which is in shorter and shorter abundance these days.

Last Saturday, at Cole Field House on the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park, Romero taught me a lesson about character that will stick with me for the rest of my days. It's a lesson all of us would do well to learn.

After Romero's lesson, the crowd gathered at Cole Field House to watch the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association wrestling championships was on its feet cheering, and I'm willing to bet there was nary a dry eye in the place.


Read more HERE

Governors, state school superintendents propose common academic standards

By Nick Anderson

Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 11, 2010

Maryland and several other states are pushing rapidly toward adoption of new academic standards proposed Wednesday for English and math, adding momentum to the campaign to establish common expectations for public school students across the country.

The District also is on track to adopt the common standards drafted by experts in a project led by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. However, it is possible that Virginia will not join the apparent surge toward approval.

Widespread adoption of common standards would mark a watershed for schools, triggering consequences for curricula, textbooks, testing and teaching. Some critics say common standards amount to a thinly disguised ruse to establish national standards under federal control -- an allegation that state and federal officials deny.

In most places, power to adopt standards rests with state boards of education.

Read more HERE.

Notes from the Board of Education Meeting on 3/09/10

The Board Meeting on Tuesday, March 9th will be re-broadcast on Comcast Channel 96, Verizon FIOS Channel 12 and is available via webstream at http://www.ccboe.com/ . 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.

Executive session 12 p.m.

Call to order 1 p.m.

• Pledge of Allegiance, Henry E. Lackey High School's JROTC unit

Reports of officers boards/committees

Superintendent's update

• Read report

Correspondence/Board member updates

• Carrington - What Counts, Spelling Bee etc. Attended awards at McDonough & would like to see more participation
• Cook - What Counts has been posted on Channel 96 and all participants will be receiving the results personally. Attended awards at LaPlata and it was well attended and had several different presentations
• Pedersen - Over 70 participants non-school related...thanks to everyone; Westlake High School awards recognition successful; attended band and orchestra events and wow!
• Bailey - requests that results be mailed to ALL who were invited
• Wise - congrats to Stone for going to regionals in basketball

Education Association of Charles County update

• Read Report

Student Board member update

• Read report

Deputy Superintendent Update

• Haitian Relief; read report

CIP update

• Read Report - snow was not detrimental to ongong projects
• New high school - into the "small details" stage planning. Department of Environment has reclassified "good" dirt to "bad" dirt at the site. Meeting tomorrow

Early childhood

• See report - I requested more information on the Judy Centers

Race to the Top grant

• Federal funds could in jeopardy for those systems not participating early.

2011-2012 school calendar

• Abell requested a second look at in-service days in November and February to see if they can be moved closer to existing holidays to provide for a 4-day weekend.

Legislative update

• Senate Bill 590 Labor bill; we oppose, hearing this week
• Maintenance of Effort - bunch of bills in Annapolis...one waives the penalty to Montgomery County

Draft policy 6411.11 Physical education and athletic programs for students with disabilities

• Draft new policy; Abell requested a review of the assigned number....

Unfinished business

• Pedersen - Policy 6000 -- Should we wait to review after "Race to the Top"
• Abell is prepared to discuss and make changes now; last reviewed in 2005, then we have a fresh, good policy before "Race to the Top"

New business and future agenda items

• Race to the Top proposal

Motion by Wade; Second by Carrington

(yes) Carrington, Wade, Wise, Bailey

(no) Abell, Cook, Pedersen

• Request for waiver of school days

Motion by Bailey; Second by Pedersen

(no) Abell

(yes) Carrington, Cook, Bailey, Wise, Wade, Pedersen

• School naming committee - Each board member submit a name by April 1

Recognition 4:30 p.m.

• Students
• Employees
• Maryland Society for Educational Technology Outstanding Educator Using Technology Award winner: Sandra Chisholm, Piccowaxen Middle School
• Resolutions: Month of the Young Child and National Student Leadership Week.

Public Forum 6 p.m.

• Female - Child at Lackey High School. Needs to attend a full day of classes to monitor problems with child. Parent visitation policy and principal doesn't allow
• Female - EACC Representative believes the teachers should receive a 3.5% COLA worked into our budget

Action items

• Minutes

Motion by Carrington; Second by Pedersen
(yes) Abell, Carrington, Cook, Bailey, Wise, Wade, Pedersen


• Personnel

Motion by Carrington; Second by Pedersen

(yes) Abell, Carrington, Cook, Bailey, Wise, Wade, Pedersen

Adjournment

How to ruin a child: too much esteem, too little sleep

By George F. Will

Thursday, March 4, 2010
The Washington Post

Memo to that Massachusetts school where children in physical education classes jump rope without using ropes: Get some ropes. And you -- you are about 85 percent of all parents -- who are constantly telling your children how intelligent they are: Do your children a favor and pipe down.

These are nuggets from "NutureShock: New Thinking About Children" by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman. It is another book to torment modern parents who are determined to bring to bear on their offspring the accumulated science of child-rearing. Modern parents want to nurture so skillfully that Mother Nature will gasp in admiration at the marvels their parenting produces from the soft clay of children.

Those Massachusetts children are jumping rope without ropes because of a self-esteem obsession. The assumption is that thinking highly of oneself is a prerequisite for high achievement. That is why some children's soccer teams stopped counting goals (think of the damaged psyches of children who rarely scored) and shower trophies on everyone. No child at that Massachusetts school suffers damaged self-esteem by tripping on the jump rope.

Read more HERE.

REMINDER: Board of Education Meeting, 3/9/10

The Board of Education's next monthly meeting is Tuesday, March 9, at the Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building on Radio Station Road in La Plata. The public portion of the meeting begins at 1 p.m. and recognition begins at 4:30 p.m. The meeting is televised live on Comcast Channel 96 and Verizon FiOS Channel 12, and is rebroadcast throughout the week. Program schedules are available at www2.ccboe.com/publicinfo/channel96/schedule.cfm.

Executive session 12 p.m.

Call to order 1 p.m.

• Pledge of Allegiance, Henry E. Lackey High School's JROTC unit

Reports of officers/boards/committees

Superintendent's update
Correspondence/Board member updates
Education Association of Charles County update
Student Board member update
CIP update
Early childhood
Race to the Top grant
2011-2012 school calendar
Legislative update
Draft policy 6411.11 Physical education and athletic programs for students with disabilities

Unfinished business

New business and future agenda items

• Race to the Top proposal
• Request for waiver of school days
• School naming committee

Recognition 4:30 p.m.

• Students
• Employees
• Maryland Society for Educational Technology Outstanding Educator Using Technology Award winner, Sandra Chisholm, Piccowaxen Middle School
• Resolutions: Month of the Young Child; and National Student Leadership Week.

Public Forum 6 p.m.

Action items

• Minutes
• Personnel

Adjournment

Changes to Two-Hour Early Dismissal Days

Superintendent James E. Richmond has made several decisions regarding 2010 calendar changes. The Superintendent intends to request a waiver of three days from the state. If the state grants the waiver, Mr. Richmond will submit the recommendation to the Board of Education to restore the three days now scheduled to be made up during Spring Break. That decision will be announced March 9 at the Board of Education meeting.

Before granting waivers, the state is requiring school systems to show that sufficient efforts have been made to make up for lost instruction through calendar planning and modifications. The school system is going to make up for some lost instructional time by converting two-hour early dismissal days for students to full days.

The Superintendent has changed a number of two-hour early dismissal days into full days of instruction for students. Two-hour early dismissal days that are now full days for students are:

· Thursday, March 4

· Wednesday, March 24

· Wednesday, April 28

· Wednesday, May 26

· Friday, June 11

· Monday, June 14

Please change this information on your calendars.

The two-hour early dismissal days on April 8, May 12, June 15 and June 16 remain as early dismissal days for students.

As of Feb. 25, the school system had closed seven days for inclement weather. Four days are built into the calendar, leaving three days to be made up elsewhere. The school calendar, set by the Board of Education more than a year in advance, calls for any additional days used to be made up during Spring Break on March 29, March 30 and March 31. Also, if weather causes future closings, additional calendar changes are possible.

Official: FBI probing Pa. school webcam spy case

(A cautionary tale...?)

By MARYCLAIRE DALE
The Associated Press
Friday, February 19, 2010; 9:27 PM

PHILADELPHIA -- The FBI is investigating a Pennsylvania school district accused of secretly activating webcams inside students' homes, a law enforcement official with knowledge of the case told The Associated Press on Friday.
The FBI will explore whether Lower Merion School District officials broke any federal wiretap or computer-intrusion laws, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the investigation.

Days after a student filed suit over the practice, Lower Merion officials acknowledged Friday that they remotely activated webcams 42 times in the past 14 months, but only to find missing student laptops. They insist they never did so to spy on students, as the student's family claimed in the federal lawsuit.

Families were not informed of the possibility the webcams might be activated in their homes without their permission in the paperwork students sign when they get the computers, district spokesman Doug Young said.

Read more HERE.

A bipartisan look at No Child

By Nick Anderson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 18, 2010

Senior House Republicans and Democrats plan to announce Thursday that they will team up to rewrite the No Child Left Behind education law, a rare show of bipartisanship in the polarized Congress.

Last month, the Obama administration launched talks with lawmakers on an overhaul of the 2002 law, which mandated an expansion of standardized testing and established a national framework for school accountability. This month, President Obama's budget proposed eliminating the standard of "adequate yearly progress" for schools to close test-score achievement gaps, a key element of the law.

Read more HERE.

Grasmick to propose waiving 180-day rule for state schools

by Marcus Moore
Staff Writer
Gazette.net

‘We have to be sensitive to the weather,' state superintendent says

State Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick is planning to request a waiver for some of the instructional days school systems would have to make up because of this week's snowstorms.

Grasmick will ask the state school board later this month to waive three or four instructional days, she told the Gazette on Thursday.

Under state law, school systems are required to provide 180 days of instruction to their students. However, some systems have sought waivers of the 180-day rule due to the snow blanketing the state.

Back-to-back storms have kept schools closed this week and forced school systems to use all of their snow days.

For each instructional day lost because of inclement weather, the school year is extended one day.

Some school systems are concerned about losing much-needed instructional time for students, but "we have to be sensitive to the weather," Grasmick said. "We're going to be looking at what's viable."

Some systems are seeking to hold classes Monday, which is Presidents Day, and Grasmick said she would allow them to open their schools. However, weather forecasters predict another 3 inches or more of snow Monday.

Policy 6000 Review

Well it's that time again! The Policy Review Committee (myself, Pedersen, Cook) will be meeting soon (date TBD) to review and discuss changes that need to be made to Policy 6000, which involves curriculum and instruction. Please take some time and review this Policy and forward and recommended changes to me as soon as possible.

POLICY 6000

Race To The Top

I attended the abbreviated BOE meeting on 2/9/10 to catch the budget briefing, but what I ended up finding most interesting was the presentation on the new "Race To The Top" federal educational grant program (Power Point presentation found here ). This grant program ushers in a new set of standards and assessments that local school systems will be forced to accept in order to be eligible for the money. What's interesting, and was pointed out during the presentation, is that the new standards and assessments will be in addition to NCLB, not in place of it. How the two sets of government mandates and controls will be reconciled was not addressed.

Per the presentation, the state of Maryland would be eligible for between $125,000,000 and $250,000,000. Fifty percent of that total would be distributed to the Local Education Agencies (LEAs), with the remainder staying at the state level. Of that total Charles County would be eligible for approximately $1.5 to $1.7 million. The question was asked what the state would use the remaining fifty percent (between $75,000,000 and $125,000,000) on, and the answer was to develop the new data collection systems, curricula, and standards and assessments. (Here is where I'd love to voice my opinion, but I made a promise)

Additional information included in the presentation:

• All schools, including charter schools, are expected to "embrace the effort."
• The MOU must be signed by the school superintendent, BOE president, and the local teachers' union leader (as of now, the EACC is refusing to sign)
• Each LEA must develop a performance and evaluation plan
• Lowest performing schools will get the most funding
• Teachers and principals will be evaluated based on the achievement of the students in their control. Higher performing teachers and principals will be reassigned to lower achieving schools.
• LEAs must adopt numerous state dictates on core standards, assessments, data collection, remedial actions, teacher and principal evaluations, etc.
• Program will include four "intervention models" for underachieving schools.

Again, how all these new standards and criteria are going to exist side by side with NCLB has not been addressed. Considering all the overhead involved in simply running the program (local systems have to develop and maintain new data collection and analysis systems, new assessments for students, new evaluations for teachers and principals, and new reporting systems) one has to wonder how much of the $1.5 to $1.7 million will actually go toward anything remotely associated with instruction.

With Federal Stimulus Money Gone, Many Schools Face Budget Gaps

By SAM DILLON
Published: February 7, 2010

Federal stimulus money has helped avoid drastic cuts at public schools in most parts of the nation, at least so far. But with the federal money running out, many of the nation’s schools are approaching what officials are calling a “funding cliff.”

Congress included about $100 billion for education in the stimulus law last year to cushion the recession’s impact on schools and to help fuel an economic recovery. New studies show that many states will spend all or nearly all that is left between now and the end of this school term.

With state and local tax revenues still in decline, the end of the federal money will leave big holes in education budgets from Massachusetts and Florida to California and Washington, experts said.
Read more HERE

A Federal Effort to Push Junk Food Out of Schools

By GARDINER HARRIS
Published: February 7, 2010

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration will begin a drive this week to expel Pepsi, French fries and Snickers bars from the nation’s schools in hopes of reducing the number of children who get fat during their school years.

In legislation, soon to be introduced, candy and sugary beverages would be banned and many schools would be required to offer more nutritious fare.

To that end, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will deliver a speech Monday at the National Press Club in which he will insist, according to excerpts provided to The Times, that any vending machines that remain in schools be “filled with nutritious offerings to make the healthy choice the easy choice for our nation’s children.”

Read more HERE

BOE vs Commissioners - Budget FACTS

• On April 22, 2009, at Mr. Cooper’s and the Commissioners' request, the Board of Education was required to sign a “settlement agreement” which agreed to the terms and conditions of funding the BOE 2010 operating budget effective July 1, 2009. Included in that request was a commitment statement that the County would “meet its Maintenance of Effort Obligation” for 2010 and rescind their MOE waiver request.

• During this same timeframe, Mr. Richmond was called over to a meeting with the Commissioners where he was asked to sign a separate confidential agreement indicating that he would not XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. Mr. Richmond refused and indicated to them that it would be illegal to do so and a violation of collective bargaining. Mr. Richmond, Mr. Balides, all five commissioners and the County Administrator were present at this meeting.

• On September 09, 2009 the county administrator announced across the board cuts totaling $8-10 million based on anticipated future cuts from the state. Of that amount the County requested that the BOE cut 2% or $2.9 million. "I am proposing these reductions so that we are able to sustain future anticipated state cuts, sustaining a loss of revenue due to the economic recession and to prevent additional cuts throughout the year," said County Administrator Rebecca B. Bridgett in an article in the Maryland Independent.

• On September 10, 2009 Mr. Cooper met with Mr. Richmond, Col. Wade, Mr. Cunningham and Mr. Balides at Hawthorn Country Club, to discuss the County’s budget problems. Mr. Richmond and Col. Wade reminded Mr. Cooper that we could not (and would not) violate the maintenance of effort law by returning funds below the maintenance of effort level. If the county government wanted to violate the law, that was its option. It was at this meeting that Mr. Richmond also told Mr. Cooper that the teachers' contract required us to open negotiations for salaries in January, and that we hoped to have saved enough money to make good on the contract. Mr. Cooper stated “that would be great.”

• On September 18, 2009 the County identified $934,000 in BOE funding cuts which would not violate the maintenance of effort laws.

• On October 23, 2009 the County Commissioners sent over a letter indicating that they were reversing a longstanding agreement which allowed the Board of Education to transfer funds between categories as long as it did not require additional funding from the County.

• In a meeting on November 3, 2009 between Mr. Cooper, Ms. Patterson, Col. Wade, Ms. Wise, Mr. Richmond, and Mr. Balides, Mr. Cooper indicated that the intent of the letter was to prevent the BOE from using fund balance so that could revert back to the County at year end. Once again Mr. Richmond, Mr. Balides and others reiterated the maintenance of effort law and emphasized (provide Mr. Cooper and Ms. Patterson with documentation) of prior attorney generals legal opinions that any fund balance that a school system generates does not relieve a county from its maintenance of effort obligations.

• On November 18, 2009 Gov. O’Malley announced a second round of cuts which did not include cuts to local County governments. Interestingly enough, the County still implemented the cuts from its earlier $10 million estimate, including staff furloughs.

• January 12, 2010, the BOE approves funding step and scale increases (no COLA) through internally generated savings. The MSEA teacher’s representative indicated to Mr. Balides and Mr. Hettel that she had had several conversations in the past with Mr. Cooper and he was supportive of providing teachers their scale increase.
  

NOTES from Board of Education Meeting, 2/9/10

The Board Meeting on Tuesday, February 9th will be re-broadcast on Comcast Channel 96, Verizon FIOS Channel 12 and is available via webstream at http://www.ccboe.com/ . 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.

(PLEASE NOTE...THE MEETING WAS CONDENSED FROM THE ORIGINAL AGENDA DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER)

Executive session - 11 a.m.
Call to order - 11:20 a.m.

Pledge of Allegiance

Reports of officers/boards/committees

Superintendent's update

• DVD on new high school

Correspondence/Board member updates

• Wise reported on the annual Beg-A-Thon in Annapolis
• Carrington-Thanks students at Dr. King breakfast...Canadian Embassy/Space Foundation
• Pederson-Unity in the Community Forum

Education Association of Charles County update

• See Report

Student Board member update

• See Report

Race to the Top grant

• See power point presentation, lots of information...EACC is strongly against...see separate post
• Evaluations tied to student achievement
• Compensation tied to student achievement
• Difficult to staff schools in trouble
• Tenure

Report item: FY 2011 budget

• See power point presentation

2011-2012 school calendar

• See proposal and provide input to CCPS

Legislative update

• Labor Relations Bill H#243; S#590 (Middleton is one of the leads)
• Eric Schwartz says we oppose

Unfinished business

• Review RSVP's for What Counts and call them

New business and future agenda items

Resolutions

• Read Across Charles County
• Women's History Month
• Fine and Performing Arts Month

Action items

• Minutes - YES Unanimous
• Personnel - YES Unanimous

Adjournment

REMINDER: Board of Education Meeting, 02/09/10

The Board of Education’s next monthly meeting is Tuesday, Feb. 9, at the Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building on Radio Station Road in La Plata. The public portion of the meeting begins at 1 p.m. and recognition begins at 4:30 p.m. The meeting is televised live on Comcast Channel 96 and Verizon FiOS Channel 12, and is rebroadcast throughout the week. Program schedules are available at www2.ccboe.com/publicinfo/channel96/schedule.cfm.

Executive session - 12 p.m.
Call to order - 1 p.m.

Pledge of Allegiance, Westlake High School's JROTC unit

Reports of officers/boards/committees

• Superintendent's update: DVD on new high school
• Correspondence/Board member updates
• Education Association of Charles County update
• Student Board member update
• Schools system's outreach to Haiti
• CIP update
• Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) and equity training
• Race to the Top grant
• Report item: FY 2011 budget
• 2011-2012 school calendar
• Legislative update

Unfinished business

New business and future agenda items

• New business
• Future agenda items

Recognition - 4:30 p.m.

• Students
• Employees
• Maryland Society for Educational Technology Outstanding Educator Using Technology Award winner, Sandra Chisholm, Piccowaxen Middle School
• Resolutions: Read Across Charles County; Women's History Month; and Fine and Performing Arts Month

Public Forum - 6 p.m.

Action items

• Minutes
• Personnel

Public hearing on FY 2011 budget

Work session on FY 2011 proposed operating budget (if needed)

Action item

• FY 2011 proposed operating budget

Adjournment

Finding the better high school

Jay Mathews
Washington Post

On the second page of the Post's Metro section, and on this Web site, you see the results of the 12th annual Washington Post survey of high school student participation in college-level tests, what I call the Challenge Index.

The ranked list of public schools -- both the Washington area version in the Post and the national version in Newsweek each June -- gets lots of attention, but the outrage and acclaim usually swirls around the issue of whether ranking schools is good for you. With much support from Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate teachers around the country, I think it is. But how can you use it?

I invented the list to show that some schools in good neighborhoods don’t deserve their great reputations, and some schools in poor neighborhoods don’t deserve their terrible ones. Opening up AP and IB courses to everyone who wants to work hard -- the philosophy of the teachers who inspired me to do this -- is a relatively new idea. Ten years ago, most schools in the United States did not let students take these courses unless they had strong grade point averages or teachers’ recommendations.

Many still have those rules, or at least don’t encourage students to challenge themselves as much as they could. The list helps you find the ones that have shed those old, bad habits.

Read more HERE

Administration Outlines Proposed Changes to ‘No Child’ Law

By SAM DILLON
Published: February 1, 2010

The Obama administration said on Monday that it would ask Congress to raise education spending by about $3.5 billion, a 7.5 percent increase, for the 2011 fiscal year, even as it sought to limit other categories of domestic spending.

In outlining its budget request, the administration also said it would seek an extensive rewrite of the main federal law governing public schools, known as No Child Left Behind, and would seek to replace the law’s much-criticized system for rating schools based on student test scores.

The administration proposed replacing that system, known as adequate yearly progress, with a new accountability system that officials said would more fairly characterize schools’ academic progress.

Read more HERE

Why students fail AP tests

Wasington Post
Jay Mathews

My column last week about how to reveal the secrets of which teacher is getting the best Advanced Placement results received many more comments than I expected. This was, I thought, a topic only for insiders, AP obsessives like me. I forgot, once again, that college-level exams have become a rite of passage for at least a third of American high schoolers, with that proportion increasing every year.

The column provided links to the several local school districts that have posted the subject-by-subject AP results for each school. I was shocked that any were doing it, since five years ago when I asked about this, few school officials had given it much thought. Since the AP tests are written and graded by outside experts, a teacher who does not challenge his students in class is likely to have lots of low scores on that school report, which until now hardly anyone had a chance to see.

Many thought I glossed over the effects of opening up AP courses to anyone who wants to get a useful taste of college trauma, sort of like camping in the back yard before your dad takes you to the Sierras. Enough mediocre students have enrolled in AP, and a similar program International Baccalaureate, to lower average scores even in the classes of the best teachers.

Read more HERE

Exercises can help combat and prevent girls' ACL injuries

MisFits
by Lenny Bernstein
The Washington Post by Lenny Bernstein
Thursday, January 28, 2010

It's no secret that young women athletes are suffering an epidemic of crippling injuries to their anterior cruciate ligaments (ACLs), one of the four strong bands of tissue that connect the leg bones at the knee joint. A decade of research and books such as Michael Sokolove's "Warrior Girls" have shown that our daughters are three to eight times as likely as our sons to tear an ACL.

Less recognized is that preventive measures can be quite effective if the right program is implemented in the right way, according to some of the same research.

Read more HERE.

Notes from the APFO Meeting with the Commissioners

The Board of Education met with the Charles County Comissioners on January 26th to discuss the next Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) Cycle. To view all the documents click HERE.

Interesting facts....

• The state recently analyzed the use of classrooms in our schools and derived new state rated capacities (SRC) for eight of them. Of these eight, six were elementary schools that received renovation to accomodate for the all-day kindergarten. In other words it was expected. The two remaining schools were NOT expected and are listed below. (Old SRC/New SRC)....Lackey 1474/1539........Davis 949/1148
• Bad news.... if you were interested in building a home in the following school districts, Diggs, Jenifer, Malcolm, T.C. Martin, LaPlata or Westlake....ummmm...there is none. Sorry Charlie :(.

One last side note and something to ponder...so what is exactly happening to the DRRA funds that are collected for the building of the schools? The balance is decreasing at alarmingly levels but the school system hasn't received any of it....(scratching my head)

Your school's AP secrets

Jay Mathews’s Class Struggle
January 21, 2010
The Washington Post

[This is my Local Living column for Jan. 21, 2010.]

Ever seen the Advanced Placement Grade Report for your high school? I thought not. Most people don’t know it exists. That is why I have so much pleasure going over the reports. It is like reading the principal’s e-mails, full of intriguing innuendo and secrets that parents and students aren’t supposed to know.

Although these subject-by-subject reports rarely appear on public Web sites, some schools will show them to me if I ask, for the following reasons: 1. I am very polite; 2. no reporter has ever asked for them before, so there are no rules against it; and 3. they don’t think anyone will care.

They are wrong on that last count. The AP Grade Report allows the public to see which AP courses at a school produce the most high grades, and the most low grades, on AP exams. You can gauge the skill of the teachers and the nature of the students who take various AP subjects.

This region’s schools have made AP (and the similar International Baccalaureate, which provides comparable reports) the most challenging and influential courses they have. On Feb. 1, The Post will publish my annual rankings of Washington area schools based on participation in these tests, written and scored by outside experts. Students who do well on them can earn college credit. Many people would be interested in the actual results (different from the participation figures I use in the rankings) if they were readily available. To my surprise, that is beginning to happen.

Read more HERE.

In Suburban Schools, an Alternative to A.P.

By WINNIE HU
Published: January 8, 2010

JERICHO, N.Y. — In a St. John’s University English class the other day, 10 students tackled George Orwell’s “1984” like generations of collegians before them. But while there was plenty of higher-order thinking, the class — and the students — were technically still in high school.

The college class is one of 16 being taught at Jericho High School here on Long Island, half of them added in the past two years through new partnerships with St. John’s in Queens, Molloy College in Rockville Centre and the Rochester Institute of Technology. The Jericho students simultaneously fulfill their high school graduation requirements and, for a reduced fee, earn college credit.

These so-called dual-enrollment courses have long been used in urban schools to provide some higher education to poor and minority students and encourage them to go on to college. But now many top suburban high schools are embracing dual enrollment as a way to challenge their brightest students and ward off senioritis once college applications are done. They say the college courses offer an alternative to the high-pressure AP program, in which students receive college credits or advanced placement based on their performance on an exam at the end of the year. The courses are also attractive in the current economy because they award college credit for a fraction of the normal tuition cost. (At Jericho, for example, students pay $250 for a three-credit course, while the cost for a St. John’s student would be $2,934.)

READ MORE HERE

Another "PRIVATE" Meeting?

When will the commissioners learn that Charles County citizens do NOT condone or want the county business decided at the golf course, country club or behind closed doors?

On Wednesday January 13 there was a meeting that occurred between BOE Chair Bobbie Wise, BOE Vice-Chair Donald Wade, Commissioner Wayne Cooper, and County Administrator Dr. Rebecca Bridgett. Mr Wade and Ms. Wise were informed that the Commissioners were very "disappointed" that the Board of Education gave their employees their step increase. Dr. Bridgett wanted to know why the Board of Education didn't transfer any extra money they had in the salary category to another category that would allow "students to graduate without any fees" or "transfer to a category so that teachers don't have to spend their own money on supplies" and "every department gave back 2% except the Board of Education". "What are you going to do next year when you don't have the money for this reoccurring expense?".

Fees? What fees?

Transfer? Wasn't the BOE told we could not do this at our budget meeting?

Did they ever hear of MOE?

Well read the press statement you have in front of you - it states exactly what could happen next year.

Lots more was said and discussed and I suggest that you the public query those that were present!

Charles Schools Will Pay 73% of Employees Retroactive Pay Raises

Posted on January 13, 2010

LA PLATA, Md. (Jan. 13, 2010) -- The Charles County Board of Education voted Tuesday to provide eligible employees step increases, effective immediately and retroactive to July 1, 2009. The change affects 73 percent of employees.

The vote closes this school year’s negotiations, which did not provide for any raises in July, but were left open for renegotiation in January to discuss step and scale increases. No cost of living (COLA) raises were provided. Negotiations were completed earlier this week with the school system’s two bargaining groups, the Education Association of Charles County (EACC), which represents certificated employees including teachers, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which represents support or classified employees.

READ MORE HERE

Union Chief Seeks to Overhaul Teacher Evaluation Process

By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
Published: January 12, 2010

WASHINGTON — Facing criticism that her union makes it too hard to get rid of bad teachers, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, on Tuesday announced a union-backed effort to develop a new model for how public school teachers should be evaluated, promoted and removed.

The effort will be run by Kenneth R. Feinberg, the federal government’s special master for executive compensation.

In a speech at the National Press Club, Ms. Weingarten sought to present a more flexible, cooperative face for her union as she announced Mr. Feinberg’s new role and called for sweeping changes in how school districts evaluate teachers and work with teachers’ unions.

READ MORE HERE

As School Exit Tests Prove Tough, States Ease Standards

By IAN URBINA
Published: January 11, 2010

A law adopting statewide high school exams for graduation took effect in Pennsylvania on Saturday, with the goal of ensuring that students leaving high school are prepared for college and the workplace. But critics say the requirement has been so watered down that it is unlikely to have major impact.

The situation in Pennsylvania mirrors what has happened in many of the 26 states that have adopted high school exit exams. As deadlines approached for schools to start making passage of the exams a requirement for graduation, and practice tests indicated that large numbers of students would fail, many states softened standards, delayed the requirement or added alternative paths to a diploma.

READ MORE HERE

NOTES from Board of Education Meeting, 1/12/10

The Board Meeting on Tuesday, January 12th will be re-broadcast on Comcast Channel 96, Verizon FIOS Channel 12 and is available via webstream at http://www.ccboe.com/ . 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.

Executive session - 12 p.m.

Call to order - 1 p.m.

• Pledge of Allegiance, North Point High School's JROTC unit

Election of Chairman/Vice Chairman

• Chair Nominations - Wade 4; Wise 3
• Chair Vote - Wise 4; Wade 3
• Vice-Chair Nominations - Wade 3; Abell 1; Pedersen 1; Wise 1; Carrington 1
• Vice-Chair Vote - Wade 5; Wise 1; one blank vote

Chair Official Public Vote-

Pedersen motioned to accept Wise as Chairman; Cook seconded.
Yes=Abell, Bailey, Carrington, Cook, Pedesen No=Wade,
Wise

Vice-Chair Official Public Vote

Pedersen motioned to accept Wade asVice-Chairman; Carrington seconded
Yes=Bailey, Carrington, Cook, Pedersen, Wade, Wise Abstain=Abell

Reports of officers/boards/committees

Superintendent's update - Read report

• Correspondence/Board Member updates - Wise pointed out recent articles on CCPS. Parents magazine on autism. Maryland Independent article on student & teacher cancer survivors at Higdon and the school family support. Carrington enjoyed the choral concert at McDonough


• Education Association of Charles County update - Read report


• Student Board Member update - Read report


• CIP update - Read report; Wineland attended commissioners mee


• Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) kindergarten through grade 12 Algebraic Thinking - Awesome demonstration of "Magic Planet"; please see the report and view this portion either online or on television.


• Budget update - Read report


• Legislative update - State Budget Review

Unfinished business

• Pedersen - Finalize What Counts? specifics; Cook says they still need a moderator; Bailey suggested Cecil Marshall

New business

• Strawberry Hills school site - See report. Abell - confused about this being on the agenda, thought it was decided that we were requesting this in writing and hold off. Wineland stated a letter was sent on 12/8, never forwarded to board. Abell - park has already been placed on the property? not prepared to move forward. Pedersen in ready.

Wade motioned to return the property to the county. Bailey seconded.
Yes=Bailey, Carrington, Cook, Pedersen, Wade, Wise. No=Abell

• Negotiations

Carrington motioned to accept the Superintendent recommendations for
FY2010. Abell seconded. Yes=All

Future agenda items

• Abell - Parent@School update
• Pedersen - hold off on Policy review until March after budget and What Counts.

Recognition - 4:30 p.m.

• Students
• Employees
• Resolutions: African-American History Month; Career and Technical Education Month; and National School Counseling Week.

Public Forum - 6 p.m.

Action items

• Minutes

Carrington motioned to approve. Cook seconded. Yes=all.

• Personnel

Cook motioned to approve. Carrington seconded. Yes=all.

Adjournment

REMINDER: Board of Education Meeting, 1/12/10

The Board of Education's next monthly meeting is Tuesday, Jan. 12, at the Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building on Radio Station Road in La Plata. The public portion of the meeting begins at 1 p.m.; recognition begins at 4:30 p.m. The meeting is televised live on Comcast Channel 96 and Verizon Fios Channel 12 and is rebroadcast throughout the week. Programming schedules are available at www2.ccboe.com/publicinfo/channel96/schedule.cfm.

Executive session - 12 p.m.

Call to order - 1 p.m.

Pledge of Allegiance, North Point High School's JROTC unit

Election of Chairman/Vice Chairman

Reports of officers/boards/committees

• Superintendent's update
• Correspondence/Board Member updates
• Education Association of Charles County update
• Student Board Member update
• CIP update
• Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) kindergarten through grade 12 Algebraic Thinking
• Budget update
• Legislative update

Unfinished business

New business

• Strawberry Hills school site

Future agenda items

Recognition - 4:30 p.m.

• Students
• Employees
• Resolutions: African-American History Month; Career and Technical Education Month; and National School Counseling Week.

Public Forum - 6 p.m.

Action items

• Minutes
• Personnel

Adjournment

FACT BOOK

The Maryland State Department of Education has released the 2008-2009 FACT BOOK. Please click on the link below for a wealth of information and comparison on the school systems throughout Maryland.

FACT BOOK

Gifted education outrages

Class Struggle by Jay Mathews

Washington Post  [This is my column for the Local Living section of Jan. 7, 2010]

My Dec. 10 column about that troublesome Washington area gifted child, future billionaire Warren Buffett, said our schools are never going to help such kids much. I said the gifted designation was often arbitrary and should be disposed of. Instead, we ought to find ways to let all kids explore their talents.

 

This produced a flood of comments on my blog. Many readers thought I was callous and daft. “Unfortunately, eliminating the label generally means that the schools give up doing anything for advanced learners,” wrote a reader signing in as EduCrazy. Another commenter, CrimsonWife, said “if educators are fine with giving special attention and services to kids who are far out of the mainstream on the low end of the spectrum, why is it so controversial to provide specialized services to kids who are far out of the mainstream on the high end?”

 

But some wondered if there might be promising alternatives. “When schools fail to challenge our most capable learners, what they learn is that effort is not required,” said mom22. “Unless, of course, some adult gives them the chance to do things differently, and to focus on something fascinating. My kids have found these things often in school, but out of their classroom.” I wonder if she realizes the consequences of such an approach, taken to its logical extremes. 

Take, for instance, Quaker Valley High School in Leetsdale, Penn., a Pittsburgh suburb. Linda Conlon, an academic specialist there, explained to me what they are doing. If you are easily shocked, please stop reading. I have checked Conlon out. She is telling the truth. Her school is like many in the Washington area, mostly middle class kids. But Quaker Valley lets them get away with stuff that flouts well-established educational rules and procedures.

 

One Quaker Valley student realized the established sequence of math courses barred her from taking calculus before graduation. She felt she needed that course to look good to colleges and prepare for advanced science, since she wanted to be a doctor. She asked to take trigonometry on her own over the summer, just her and the school textbook and maybe a tutor. Yeah, right, I said. But the Quaker Valley math department said yes. She passed the trig exam without taking the course, eventually took calculus, got the college she wanted and is now in med school.

 

It gets worse...

Read more HERE.

COMMUNITY MEMBERS NEEDED

WHAT COUNTS?

The Board of Education will be hosting a forum entitled "What Counts?" scheduled on Thursday, February 18th at Westlake High School. This forum will include roundtable discussions to gather input from our community on "What Counts in Education.". Attendance and participation at this forum is by invitation only. Each board member has been asked to submit a list of 20-30 names by January 12th as invitees.

If you are interested in being one of my 20-30 invitees to this event, please EMAIL ME as soon as possible, with your name and mailing address.

Earlier bedtime 'cuts teenage depression'

Going to bed earlier protects teenagers against depression and suicidal thoughts, research suggests.

A US study of 12 to 18-year-olds found those with bedtimes after midnight were 24% more likely to have depression than those who went to bed before 2200.

And those who slept fewer than five hours a night had a 71% higher risk of depression than those who slept eight hours, the journal Sleep reports.

Read more HERE.

O'Malley wants to apply in Jan. for U.S. education grants

Governor criticizes Grasmick plan to wait to seek stimulus money
By Julie Bykowicz julie.bykowicz@baltsun.com

December 19, 2009

Gov. Martin O'Malley criticized state schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick's decision to delay a request for federal stimulus money for education, saying Friday that he wants Maryland to go after the $150 million next month.

"I find it very unusual that in the area where we're recognized as the best in the nation, that this is the one department that's not applying as aggressively as every other department has for these things," O'Malley said in an interview with The Baltimore Sun.

Maryland has been awarded more than $4 billion in stimulus money this year, making it among the most competitive in the nation, O'Malley said.

Read more HERE

Grasmick calls for teacher changes

Linking test scores to teacher performance among proposals

By Liz Bowie liz.bowie@baltsun.com
December 11, 2009

Maryland state schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick made bold proposals Thursday to alter teacher compensation, tenure and evaluations - changes she said are needed to reform education and position the state to be competitive in applying for $250 million in federal stimulus money.

Speaking at a state school board meeting, Grasmick said the three proposals were sure to spur "lively discussion" in the coming months.

Read more HERE

State school board to review effects of long-term suspensions, expulsions

By Liz Bowie liz.bowie@baltsun.com
December 11, 2009

The Maryland state school board is beginning a major review of statewide policies on long-term suspensions and expulsions after concerns over a case involving a student who was suspended for nearly an entire school year without being given any access to public education.

In reviewing the Dorchester County case earlier this year, the state board decided it was deeply concerned by the failure to provide some education to a student during the suspension.

The review comes after the Baltimore school board adopted a hard-line policy giving its CEO the right to permanently expel a student. The CEO can even expel students younger than 16 in some limited circumstances.

Read more HERE

Virginia High School Is Best in the Nation

U.S. News ranks America's Best High Schools for third consecutive year
By Kenneth Terrell
Posted December 9, 2009

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Va., the top school in U.S. News & World Report's America's Best High Schools rankings, is designed to challenge students. A course load of offerings that include DNA science, neurobiology, and quantum physics would seem to be more than enough to meet that goal. But students and the faculty felt those classes weren't enough, so they decided to tackle another big question: What are the social responsibilities of educated people? Over the course of the school year, students are exploring social responsibility through projects of their own design, ranging from getting school supplies for students with cerebral palsy in Shanghai to persuading their classmates to use handkerchiefs to reduce paper waste. The One Question project demonstrates the way "TJ," as it's referred to by students and teachers, encourages the wide-ranging interests of its students.

Read more HERE

Notes - Board of Education Meeting, 12/8/09

The Board Meeting on Tuesday, December 8th will be re-broadcast on Channel 96 and is available via webstream at http://www.ccboe.com/ . 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.

Executive session  12 p.m.

Call to order  1 p.m.

Pledge of Allegiance, La Plata High School's JROTC unit

Superintendent's update to the Board - Cunningham read written report

Reports of officers/boards/committees

• Correspondence/Board member updates - various board members commented on events they have attended in the past month including Stone Senior Interviews, FEA Conference, and Robotics


• Education Association of Charles County update - Ms. Brown read the written report


• Student Board member update - Mr. Grusholt read the written report


• CIP update - see written report; Hand sanitizers in every elementary school home room, in numerous locations in middle and high schools; 265 "educational cottages'


• Charles County library, CCPS resources for students and parents - See power point presentation. Great media resources available on the ccboe.com web-site (click on Library Media Resources in the center). Students MUST obtain a username and password from their school media specialist.


• Legislative update - nothing new...budget cuts, shortfall in teacher pension funding by $189,000...the sky is falling, the sky is falling
  

Unfinished Business

• Pedersen - What Counts in Education Roundtable Discussion - February 18, 2010, 6:30 pm at Westlake. Need all board members to submit 25-30 names of possible attendees. (Let me know if you're interested)

New business and future agenda items

• Abell - Review of policy and procedures for early entrance into kindergarten
• Pedersen - Presentation on diversity

Recognition- 4:30 p.m.

• Students - James Nichols, Merwan Mourtaj, Harrison Palmer, Jacob Veazey
• Staff - Janice McGeehan, Rebecca Irwin, Tina Francis, John Lush
• Maryland Middle School Counselor of the Year - Mattawoman Middle School

Public Forum  6 p.m.

• No one present

Action items

• Minutes 11/10/09 & 11/30/09 - Passed unanimously
• Personnel - Passed unanimously

Adjournment

8 killed, 26 injured in China school stampede

How horrible! I hope this isn't indicative of what happens when you build a "stacked" school!

12/08/2009 2:20:37 AM
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN Associated Press Writer

Eight youths were killed and 26 injured when students descending a crowded staircase after evening classes at a school in central China lost their footing amid a crush of bodies, state media and the local government reported Tuesday.

Students were rushing out of evening study sessions at 9:10 p.m. on Monday (1310 GMT) at Xiangxiang city's private Yucai Middle School when some lost their footing and began to fall on top of one another in a stampede on the steps.

More than 400 students had been exiting classrooms via an enclosed stairwell just 4 feet (1.2 meters) wide, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

The dead were listed as seven boys and one girl, aged 11-14, while eight other students were hospitalized with serious injuries, according to a local government notice and the official Xinhua News Agency.

Board of Education Meeting, December 8, 2009

The Board of Education's next monthly meeting is Tuesday, Dec. 8 at the Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building on Radio Station Road in La Plata. The public portion of the meeting begins at 1 p.m. and Public Forum is at 6 p.m. The meeting is televised live on Comcast Channel 96 and rebroadcast throughout the week. All televised Board meetings are also streamed live on the school system Web site at http://www2.ccboe.com/boe/live/.

Executive session  12 p.m.

Call to order  1 p.m.

Pledge of Allegiance, La Plata High School's JROTC unit

Superintendent's update to the Board

Reports of officers/boards/committees

• Correspondence/Board member updates
• Education Association of Charles County update
• Student Board member update
• CIP update
• Charles County library, CCPS resources for students and parents
• Legislative update

Unfinished Business

New business and future agenda items

Recognition- 4:30 p.m.

• Students
• Staff
• Maryland Middle School Counselor of the Year

Public Forum  6 p.m.

Action items

• Minutes
• Personnel

Adjournment

Financial literacy gains traction as part of high school curriculum

By Laura Smitherman

The Baltimore Sun

November 30, 2009

Comptroller Peter Franchot has been going back to high school as part of his push for requiring that seniors take a course in financial literacy in order to graduate.

The proposal for a graduation requirement has met with resistance from lawmakers and educators who are wary of imposing curriculum mandates, but Franchot said the recent recession has convinced him that basic personal finance concepts must be taught. Franchot, the state's chief tax collector, has visited seven high schools since the school year began and plans to push for legislation during the General Assembly session that begins in January.

"Given the hard economic times and all the economic anxiety out there due to people making bad mistakes with debt and credit, I think the timing may be right for a successful initiative," Franchot said. "We need to make sure our young people are prepared with the basic building blocks of financial prosperity."

The Maryland State Department of Education is circulating a draft state curriculum that incorporates personal finance concepts into all grades. For instance, the proposal dictates that by the end of the fifth grade, students would be able to define loans and interest, and by the end of the 12th grade, students would be able to explain how to acquire and maintain credit.

But a separate course required for graduation is not part of the plan. Instead, the department is suggesting curriculum standards and allowing local leaders to choose how to best provide students with financial instruction across the learning levels, either with stand-alone courses or embedded in other courses.

Local school boards also could require financial literacy as a graduation requirement, as has happened in a handful of jurisdictions including Carroll and Allegany counties.

"We just don't want to dictate how it is done at this point," said William Reinhard, a spokesman for the Maryland education department.

UM system considers toughening math requirements

Applicants would have to take 4th math course, take math in senior year

By Childs Walker

December 1, 2009

The Baltimore Sun

Students applying to state universities would have to take a fourth math course and take math during their senior year of high school under revised requirements to be considered this week by the university system's Board of Regents.

Math skills atrophy in students who don't take a course their senior year, and those students are more likely to need costly remediation in college, said Chancellor William E. Kirwan, a strong proponent of the tougher application requirements.

"Math is not a spectator sport," said Kirwan, a one-time math professor. "If you get away from it for a year, you lose a lot. The research is pretty clear and consistent that it makes a difference to have math your senior year."

The new requirements would ask students to complete Algebra II and if they do so before senior year, to take another course at least as difficult. The changes, crafted in collaboration with the Maryland State Department of Education, would go into effect for students beginning ninth grade in 2011.

The requirements would align with a national trend toward toughening math standards, part of a larger quest to produce more science, technology, math and engineering, or STEM, professionals. The National Governors Association is leading an effort to develop core standards for high schools across the nation and those standards might include similar math requirements.

Read more HERE.

Teachers begin using cell phones for class lessons

By CHRISTINE ARMARIO

The Associated Press

Friday, November 27, 2009

washingtonpost.com

WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. -- Ariana Leonard's high school students shuffled in their seats, eagerly awaiting a cue from their Spanish teacher that the assignment would begin.

 "Take out your cell phones," she said in Spanish.

 The teens pulled out an array of colorful flip phones, iPhones and SideKicks. They divided into groups and Leonard began sending them text messages in Spanish: Find something green. Go to the cafeteria. Take a picture with the school secretary.

 Leonard's class at Wiregrass Ranch High School in Wesley Chapel, a middle-class Florida suburb about 30 miles north of Tampa, is one of a growing number around the country that are abandoning traditional policies of cell phone prohibition and incorporating them into class lessons. Spanish vocabulary becomes a digital scavenger hunt. Notes are copied with a cell phone camera. Text messages serve as homework reminders.

 "I can use my cell phone for all these things, why can't I use it for learning purposes?'" Leonard said. "Giving them something, a mobile device, that they use every day for fun, giving them another avenue to learn outside of the classroom with that."

 Much more attention has gone to the ways students might use phones to cheat or take inappropriate pictures. But as the technology becomes cheaper, more advanced and more ingrained in students' lives that mentality is changing.

 Read more HERE.  

Should we inflate Advanced Placement grades?

Class Struggle by Jay Mathews

The Washington Post

November 27, 2009

 The Rochester, N.Y., public schools do a fine job. Their leaders often have great ideas. But according to Rochester school board member Mike Reno, they are talking about doing something to their Advanced Placement courses that could be troublesome, even though I once thought it was a good idea. (Some people who know me say that is the very definition of a bad idea.)

Here is what Reno revealed in an email to me:

"Our district, in an effort to increase AP participation, is proposing to lower the grading scale for AP classes. The idea is based on the notion that kids in Rochester don’t want to take AP classes because they are afraid that the tougher work will lead to a lower grade, and they don’t want to damage their GPA for fear it will harm their college entrance chances. The district’s logic suggests by that lowering the grading scale, students will have a better chance of getting a better grade, and therefore be more willing to take the class.

Read more HERE.

Board of Education announces joint legislative brunch agenda

The Board of Education of Charles County will hold a joint legislative brunch with members of the Charles County delegation at 10 a.m., Monday, Nov. 30, at the Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building in La Plata. The meeting will be televised live on Comcast Channel 96. All televised Board meetings are also streamed live on the school system Web site at http://www2.ccboe.com/boe/live/. The agenda is as follows:

Executive session - 9 a.m.

Call to order - 10 a.m.

Pledge of Allegiance

Legislative Brunch

• Legislative issues

Adjournment

White House Begins Campaign to Promote Science and Math Education

By KENNETH CHANG

The New  York Times
Published: November 23, 2009

To improve science and mathematics education for American children, the White House is recruiting Elmo and Big Bird, video game programmers and thousands of scientists.

President Obama announced on Monday a campaign to enlist companies and nonprofit groups to spend money, time and volunteer effort to encourage students, especially in middle and high school, to pursue science, technology, engineering and math.

“You know the success we seek is not going to be attained by government alone,” Mr. Obama said kicking off the initiatives. “It depends on the dedication of students and parents, and the commitment of private citizens, organizations and companies. It depends on all of us.”

Read more HERE.

The playtime's the thing

A debate over the value of make-believe and other games in preschool classes is deepening as more states fund programs

By Emma Brown

Washington Post Staff Writer

Saturday, November 21, 2009

On a recent Thursday, 5-year-old Estefani Lovo Rivera took charge of a make-believe hair salon in her preschool classroom at Oakridge Elementary in Arlington County. Wielding a plastic fork as a hairbrush, dispatching customer after customer with a certain cool efficiency, she looked around the room for more classmates to entice.

"You have to come today," the budding stylist said. "Tomorrow we're closed!" 

To the untrained eye, such play appears to be nothing more than a distraction from the real letters-and-numbers work of school. But research shows that it might be an essential part in determining these children's social and emotional makeup as adults.  

Read more HERE.

Alternative test may inflate score gains

'PORTFOLIO' EXAMS SPREAD IN VA.

'How do you know we are closing the...gap?'

By Michael Alison Chandler

Washington Post Staff Writer

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Lynbrook Elementary School, which serves one of the poorest communities in Fairfax County, seems to be a model for reform. Three years ago, the Springfield school failed to meet state testing goals in English. Since then, it has charted double-digit gains in passing rates for every one of its closely monitored racial and ethnic groups of students.

But the success at Lynbrook and other schools throughout the state is not only due to better teaching. More and more, students who have struggled to pass Virginia's Standards of Learning exams are taking different tests.

Read more HERE.