Maryland’s new test requirement for graduation to be delayed two years

The Washington Post
October 2, 2014
By Ovetta Wiggins

The Maryland State Board of Education voted on Tuesday for a two-year delay in requiring that high school students pass new standardized tests in order to graduate.

This year, students in grades 3 to 8 and in English 10 and Algebra I will take the new tests, developed by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and based on the national Common Core State Standards.

Prior to Tuesday’s action, the new tests for English 10 and Algebra I were required for graduation. Under the new plan, students still will have to pass the courses to graduate, but will not have to pass the tests, state officials said.

The graduation requirement will go into effect during the 2016-2017 school year.

The action reverses a decision the state board made in July to implement the new test requirement.

“Our two-year plan will allow our students and teachers to become more knowledgeable in the more rigorous standards during the transition,” said Mary Kay Finan, the board’s vice president.

Maryland joins other states, including Massachusetts, that have either decided to delay the transition to the new tests or opted not to make them a graduation requirement this school year.

Since the board’s action earlier this year, some local district officials have raised concerns about holding students accountable during the transition to the new tests.

Read more HERE

CSM and BOE Joint Meeting Notes, 10/27/14

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.

Access CSM

• Offered at LaPlata High School this year as a pilot program
• Allows seniors to take a telepresence college class at the school during the school day and receive college credits.
• Tuition at 50% savings
• Currently offering Pop Culture and Sociology
• Program is successful
• Discussion involved both boards liking the partnership and increasing the opportunity to other high schools in the coming school year.

Early College Academy Proposal

• Program allowing students to earn 31 college credits by the time they graduate high school
• Similar to Dual Enrollment and the Access CSM but done via telepresence at your home school during the school year and on campus over the summer
• Tuition at 50% savings
• Begin summer prior to 11th Grade with interdiscpilinary course and communication course (6 credits)
• 11th grade year - one class per semester (6 credits)
• Summer prior to 12th grade - Science class and social sciences (7 credits)
• Senior Year - Two classes per semester (12 credits)
• Abell as well as others raised concern about the level of stress imposed on these students.
• not for all students, high achievers etc. with screening process
• both boards agreed to move forward with this proposal

Middle College Partnership

• Woudl involve middle school students being transported to the LaPlata Campus or another facility to attend college classes
• Would require a separate budget, staff, etc.
• Students would miss out on the extracurricular activities and socialization at their home school and also would not be involved with those activities at the collefe.
• Both boards agreed to table this initiative for now and focus on the first two.

CSM Hosts Board of Education for Joint Meeting

The Board of Education of Charles County and College of Southern Maryland (CSM) Board of Directors will meet at 6 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 27 at the Center for Business Industry in room BI 103/104, located on the CSM La Plata campus. The following is a tentative agenda:

·         Pledge of Allegiance

·         Dinner/Introductions

·         Access CSM

·         Early College Academy proposal

·         Update on Middle College

·         Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between CSM and Charles County Public Schools

·         Adjournment

Why Performance Incentives and Public Schools Don't Mix

Huffington Post
By:  Peter Greene
10/17/14


We have always paid public servants a flat fee, untethered to any sort of "performance measures." That's because we want public service to be completely disconnected from any private interests.

Fighting Fire With Money
Imagine if, for instance, we paid fire fighters on sliding scale, based on how many of which type fires they put out at a certain speed. This would be disastrous for many reasons.

Fire fighters would refuse to work in cities where there were few fires to fight, because they couldn't make a living. In cities where there were commonly multiple fires and their livelihood on the line, fire fighters would be encouraged to look at each fire call through a lens of "What's in it for me?"

For instance, in a system where fire fighters were paid based on the value of the flame-besieged property, fire fighters might view some small building fires as Not Worth the Trouble. Why bother traveling to the other side of the tracks? It's only a hundred-dollar blaze, anyway. Let's wait till something breaks out up in the million-dollar neighborhood.

In the worst-case scenario, one of our fire fighters depending on performance-based pay to feed his family may be tempted to grab some matches and go fire up some business.

Perverse Incentivization
Occasionally we've seen these kinds of perverse incentives in action, and we don't much like it. The areas of the country where you take extra speed limit care at the end of the month because the local police have a quota to meet. The neighborhood where cops have to roust a certain number of suspects a week to keep their job ratings. Nobody thinks these are examples of excellence in public service.

In fact, we have tried private police forces and private fire companies in the past. We don't much care for how that works out, because it creates a system that provides excellent service -- but only for the customers who are paying for it.

The idea of public service is to create a class of people who are above self-interest and who do not respond to a single boss. We are outraged when abuse of police power happens precisely because we expect the police to act as if they work for everyone, and to put their dedication to that service above any single interests, including their own.

That's the definition of public service -- service roles that are stripped of any possibility of incentives other than the mandate to serve the public good. That's what we mean by "professional" -- a person who puts all personal self-interest aside and focuses on Getting the Job Done. Trying to motivate a public servant with self-interest inevitably tends to pollute the professional setting with the very self-interest that we're trying to get out of there.

Read more HERE

Board Legal Bill over $140,000

Montgomery County school board,

critics at odds over $140,000 legal bill

The Washington Post
By Donna St. George
October 18 

First there was public uproar about how members of Montgomery County’s Board of Education used their district-issued credit cards. Now comes fallout regarding the $140,000 in legal bills that piled up as the records for those credit cards went under review and investigation.

Board President Phil Kauffman (At Large) defended the legal costs in a commentary recently published by The Washington Post, arguing that hiring outside lawyers to examine members’ spending decisions was “the right thing to do” as the school board sought to examine its own actions and come up with new procedures.

“Objectivity was an important part of this process,” he wrote, saying that the board hired the Venable law firm for its experience handling public-integrity issues. The board asked Venable to review board expense records, provide a written report and recommend actions.

“This is standard operating procedure when an organization is reviewing its own practices, whether it’s a business, a sports league or a government agency,” Kauffman wrote.

But several Montgomery County Council members and a Montgomery watchdog group have challenged the need to involve outside lawyers and assailed the cost of the help.

“I just don’t think there is any way you can tie a ribbon on the fact that our school board spent $140,000 getting advice on how to stop wasting money and make it look good,” County Council member George L. Leventhal (D-At Large) said.

Read more HERE

Now this is interesting! Opting Out Of State Testing - Could we do it?

Florida School District Sets Precedent

By Opting Out Of State Testing

Huffington Post
August 28, 2014
By Letitia Stein

TAMPA, Fla., Aug 28 (Reuters) - A Florida school district is opting out of all state-required testing, a move that experts said on Thursday sets a national precedent amid a growing controversy over the use of high-stakes standardized assessments in public education.

The Lee County School Board voted 3-2 on Wednesday to reject state-mandated testing in a district of some 90,000 students, saying it was acting on behalf "of administrators, teachers and most importantly students, whose educational growth has not been enhanced as a result of such testing."

Lee ranks as the 33rd largest school district in the nation, according to school officials based in Fort Myers in the southwestern part of Florida.

"We can sit here and roar like little kitty cats in the future and nothing is going to happen," said school board chairman Thomas Scott, who voted to reject the testing. "We have to make an impact on what is going on."

District Superintendent Nancy Graham raised concerns about the move. "This will hurt children. There is no way around it," she told school board members.

 

Read more HERE

We're not the only ones feeling the growing pains...

Montgomery schools see enrollment jump of 3,000 students

Starr says he will try to restore construction projects that were cut

The Gazette

by Lindsay A. Powers    

October 15, 2014

 

Montgomery County Public Schools gained another 2,941 students this school year, according to preliminary numbers discussed at the county school board’s Tuesday meeting.

That figure moves the system’s total enrollment to 154,230 students, Bruce Crispell, director of the school system’s Division of Long-range Planning told the board.

Final enrollment numbers will be released at the end of the month.

By 2020, the system’s enrollment is projected to hit more than 165,000 students, Crispell said. Even with added space from currently approved construction projects, he said, the system expects its schools to face significant overcapacity.

Superintendent Joshua P. Starr said at the meeting that, after construction projects the school board requested last year were delayed due to a lack of funding, he aims to restore the project schedule as much as possible. Starr will make his recommendations for amendments to the system’s Capital Improvements Program budget on Oct. 28.

The school system needs to make its capital needs “very clear” and push for legislation at the state level, Starr said. He referenced lawmakers’ unsuccessful efforts in the General Assembly’s last legislative session to direct more construction money to schools.

Read more HERE

Notes from Board of Education Meeting, 10/14/14

The Board of Education Meeting on Tuesday, October 14 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

Superintendent’s update to the Board - See Report

Correspondence/board member updates

• Pedersen - GWWO survey, thank you to everyone for attending
• Wise - College Fair
• Abell - APFO Committee; commissioners dismissing
• Lukas - New Teacher Reception

Education Association of Charles County update - See Report

• testing, teacher workloads, emails of complaints, edline does NOT make it easier, natives are restless, do more with less, no one listening to concerns, SLO workshop

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees update - See Report

• Assist Lifestyles, collecting Twin size blankets to help the homeless.
• North Point HS incident.  Lockdown.  Commend them on their efficiency regarding students.  Need training for visiting staff, maintenance, and parents.

Student Board member’s update - See report

Access control system

• All exterior doors will be locked during school hours. Main door entrance will need to be buzzed in.  Doors utilized by students during school hours have been fitted with access control panels.

Student recognition update

• Individual plans for each school.  More opportunity for students to be recognized.  Board members will receive invitations.
• No more cluster recognition

FY 2014 Independent financial audit - nothing noted; no abnormal findings

• Charles County BOE - FinStmt - Final.pdf (586 KB)
• Informational Item for the Board of Education - October 14 2014.pdf (18 KB)
• Charles County BOE - GovCom - Final. (2).pdf (2,801 KB)

Pension Policy -

• BOE pension policy.pdf (8 KB)

CIP update - Report

• St. Charles High School - Pool walls are going on now.
• F.B. Gwynn Center - Completeing roof top units and Boiler replacements
• Dr. Brown - Completeing roof top units and Boiler replacements
• Lighting Improvement project at 18 schools almost complete
• Gale-Bailey - new sewer system should be complete in the Spring.
• Henson - Gym upgrade ongoing
• LaPlata - Gym upgrade just began in September
• Aging schools program - funding from state to replace ventilators
• Access Controls - large project; installation, badges, programing and training; lost badges should be reported ASAP and there is no penalty
• Security initiative to place outside cameras at 18 schools
• T.C. Martin - site refurbishment for parking and bus flow to get permit for work over the summer

Bridge to Excellence and Race to the Top - Report

Secondary Academy of International Languages (SAIL)

• MHS SAIL ACADEMY NEWSLETTER VOLUME 1 ISSUE 1 10 8 14.pdf (930 KB)
• INS_SAIL_Oct 14 BrdMtg. (2).pdf (1,446 KB)
• 52 students participating in the program at McDonough; over 30 students are at a level 1 or 2 (little English literacy)

Microsoft Office Textbook Approval - Report

• Book will be on display at Thomas Stone, Westlake LaPlata and Starkey building)

Recruitment and staffing update - Report

• Math and English areas of greatest need
• Special Education is a need across the state
• Attended additional job fairs at historically black colleges
• Abell - requested additional information on where are we losing teachers to?

Proposed 2015 legislative positions - Report

Unfinished business

• Review of 2012 Board goals - alot of talk about not reviewing, changes, not holding accountability.  I again requested a review on how we, as a board, did on the goals we set just two years ago.
• Review of Board benchmarks - done in 2005, different board, rejected.
• Bowie - requested next board to be more proactive and almost demanding of co-board meetings with the commissioners, delegates, etc.
• Pedersen - board should get more involved in other community agencies, such as the planning commission.

New business - none

Future agenda items -

• Lukas - eligibilty requirements, based on current numbers how would we fair
• Pedersen - how is lack of activity buses affecting extracurricular activities other than sports and was the number of buses being used prior inflated.  Could we reinstate at lower quanitity.
• Abell - GWWO study review of public comments and decide where we are going from here.

Recognition – 4:30 p.m.

• Students - Jack Goodwin, 5th grade; Academic Achievement; Gale-Bailey Elementary School, Principal: Toni Melton-Trainor; John Gibson, 5th grade; Personal Responsibility; Mary H. Matula Elementary School; Principal: Carrie Richardson; Allissa Barnes, 5th grade; Academic Achievement; Arthur Middleton Elementary School; Principal: Sabrina Robinson-Taylor; Emily Maljack, 8th grade; Personal Responsibility; Milton M. Somers Middle School; Jordan Parker, 12th grade; Career Readiness; Maurice J. McDonough High School; Principal: Bradley Snow
• Employees - Debra C. Haan, physical education teacher, Middleton; Christine D. Busey, pre-k instructional assistant, Bailey; Lauren M. Hoza, kindergarten teacher, Matula; Holly C. Marsh, instructional assistant, Somer
• Resolutions – American Education Week; Accepting: Linda McLaughlin, President of EACC, Georgia Benson, student member of the Board; and student liasion; American Freedom Week: Accepting: Henry E. Lackey's JROTC Unit

Public Forum – 6 p.m.

• Jonathan Cook - Broadband education and issues in the county.  Disparity. FCC information provided.  Copper, fiber optic, cellular, satellite, fair access...bandwidth restrictions.  Homework or data given to our students eats through a families data usage.  Please consider when assigning homework.
• Debbie Vahl - school bus driver; notification of delayed opening, closing, bad weather, etc. Now has to log into email.  wants schoolsout.com reinstated.  Notification needs to be made sooner and more efficiently.  Staff explained new county system. 

Action items

• Minutes

Motion to accept the minutes by Cook; Second by Pedersen

Yes = Abell, Bowie, Cook, Lukas, Pedersen, Wise

• Personnel

Motion to accept the personnel by Abell; Second by Pedersen

Yes = Abell, Bowie, Cook, Lukas, Pedersen, Wise

• FY 2015 Comprehensive maintenance plan

Motion to accept the comprehensive maintenance plan by Lukas; Second by Pedersen

Yes = Abell, Bowie, Cook, Lukas, Pedersen, Wise

Adjournment

WANTED: Corporate Sponsors to Build It!

Ever since I was first appointed to the Charles County Board of Education in 2004, I have repeatedly advocated for developer built schools.  WHile I have heard arguements ranging from "it can't be done" to "we don't have a big enough developer in this county" there are counter-arguements to ALL of them.  Yes, it can be done! No it's not against the law!  Yes, we the school system still have control over design and programs!  And if we don't have a developer big enough in the county (which i find hard to believe), what about a consortium of developers.  Come on people, think outside the box and let's work together.  See the article below.  Yes, it's just a stadium and it is on the other side of the country....but can we at least SERIOUSLY, look into this now?

Albuquerque Schools Seeking Corporate Sponsor For New Stadium

Huffington Post
By Joseph Kolb
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Oct 7 (Reuters) - A New Mexico public school district is following the lead of professional sports teams and searching for a corporate sponsor for its new stadium to raise funds for dwindling athletic and classroom budgets.

Monica Armenta, spokeswoman for the Albuquerque Public School District, said that, faced with an increasing number of private and charter schools in the region, the public school system needs to be inventive to make up for lost revenue.

She said there has been a drive to market the district, its programs and its facilities, including the year-old $38 million Community Stadium complex on the city's west side, which boasts a 7,000-seat football stadium, a 2,600-seat track and field area, and parking for more than 1,400 cars.

She would not comment on what the district was looking for, but local media have cited an asking price of $1.8 million over the course of a 10-year deal.

"The majority of the money will go to the APS Education Foundation to fill the education gaps in programs for literacy and middle school sports," Armenta said.

The Albuquerque district's drive to find a sponsor is part of a growing trend nationwide as school districts look beyond selling the local sponsorship banners that have been a mainstay of scholastic sports for years.

Brian Siatkowski of Baltimore-based marketing strategists Tebo and Associates said he was hired to spearhead the district's efforts after doing similar work in Florida.

Siatkowski said that Nemours Children's Hospital in Orlando, Florida, signed a five-year sponsorship deal worth $108,000 for the Lake Nona High School football stadium. Baptiste Orthodontics, also of Florida, underwrote the Olympia High School baseball field for $78,000 for five years, he added.

He said he had already received inquiries about Albuquerque's stadium, which he described as "a new shiny toy."

Mark Koski, director of Sports, Events, and Development for the National Federation of State High School Associations, said the corporate sponsorship at the high school level is still in its infancy.
"The Albuquerque Public School District needs to be commended in spearheading this new trend," Koski said. "If this is successful, many schools will follow suit." (Reporting by Joseph Kolb; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Andre Grenon)

Link to article:  HERE

The Common Core: A Good Journey

(This is a blog post published by a teacher, interesting.)

Huffington Post
October 8, 2014
By Nicole J. Di Donato

Little heads bent over white-lined paper, pencils scratching out a story barely keeping up with the imaginative ideas swirling. I survey my third graders while they write -- their passion for what they have to say, and the diligence with which they tackle saying it is heart-warming. A few years ago, I wouldn't have asked my students to write a fictional story, narrative writing being difficult for young learners to handle with all of its many attributes. But along came the Common Core, and when it did, I was forced to rethink my stance, and find ways to begin teaching this style of writing. That was just the beginning of my journey with the new standards.

I am a teacher, and I support the Common Core State Standards. These days it feels like I need to keep this to myself. The Common Core seems like everyone's favorite initiative to hate, but exactly who are the critics? Politicians running in mid-term elections? Celebrities like Louis C.K.?

In the last few years, my colleagues and I have been stepping up the rigor and content of our instruction in response to the standards' implementation. Dare I say we have actually enjoyed this work? I must admit that Massachusetts' educators were lucky. Our former learning standards were comprehensive to begin with. For us, adopting the Common Core has been more of a shift than a radical change, but a shift I am more than happy to make if it leads to equal educational opportunities for students in all parts of the United States.

The Common Core is a list of vertically-aligned learning standards from grades K through 12. The skills build year to year, allowing students the opportunity to go deeper in their understanding of each standard as they mature as learners. This type of intentional, developmentally-appropriate plan for instruction is not easy to create, but yet, here it is, arguably one of the most sweeping education reforms in our country's history.

Where there are learning standards, there needs to be an assessment for measuring how schools are doing in their teaching. Of course an assessment tool needed to be developed to go with the Common Core. Massachusetts has chosen PARCC. It is computerized, although a paper/pencil version exists, and has been designed to match the rigor of the Common Core. Having seen samples of PARCC questions, it is definitely not a typical fill-in-the-bubble test, but one that will ask students to think critically about the information they are given.

Read more HERE.

New Charles County Public Schools App

Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) has launched a mobile App that puts all the school information in one easy to use location. Called CCPS On the Go (OTG), the App makes it easy for parents, students, teachers and other members of the CCPS learning community to access information while on the go, from the device of their choice.

 

Users can enjoy custom feeds to the CCPS calendar, news, contacts, CCPS TV, transportation, My Payments Plus, meal menus and more. The news feed provides personalized, on-demand access to news and alerts for parents, students, staff and community members.

 

Additionally, parents and students can now easily access their Blackboard/Edline accounts and their personalized activity feeds, grades and calendars. 

For more information about the CCPS App, visit http://www.ccboe.com/ccpsotg/.

Parents, students and staff can download the application for free through the Apple iTunes and Google Play App stores.

How to find and download the CCPS App

 

On your iPhone or other Apple device (iPad, iMac)

Launch the App Store on your device.

 

On your Android or Samsung device

Go to the Google Play Store and search for CCPS. Look for the foursquare CCPS icon and select install.

Download and user advice for all devices:

Use the search function and type in CCPS or Charles County Public Schools. A four-color CCPS icon followed by the initials CCPS OTG  (pictured) will appear. Click on the word free to initiate the install process. If you are using an Apple product, your device will prompt you for your Apple iTunes account information in order to verify the App download. Click install.

Once the installation is complete, your device will ask you to turn off or allow push notifications. Push notifications require an active Wi-Fi or cellular connection and firewalls and proxy servers may affect your ability to receive notifications. CCPS will only push important notifications like emergency alerts, school closures or early releases.

CCPS will only push emergency or important notifications. For example, if CCPS sends a message through Blackboard about school closings or delays or an emergency situation, your device will notify you based on the notification settings on your mobile device. Check the settings tab on your cell phone or portable device to get push notifications.

Once your App is installed, press the three bars to the left of the CCPS icon for a drop down menu of available information.

The App is free; however, standard data rates through cell phone carriers apply.

Student Government Afraid To Fund 'Sex Week,' Says It Could Be 'Dangerous'

(Not sure of my opinion on this one, I can see both sides.  Maybe a less "in your face" approach, or different name.  I would love to hear your feedback.)

ETSU Student Government Votes Against Funding 'Sex Week' Fearing Conservative Backlash

Huffington Post
Tyler Kingkade
October 8, 2014

The student government at East Tennessee State University voted Tuesday against providing funding for a student group that wanted to organize a "Sex Week" event on campus, with student leaders going so far as to call the proposed events "dangerous" because of potential backlash from conservative lawmakers.

With 23 students in favor and one opposing, the ETSU student government overwhelmingly voted against providing the nearly $10,000 in student fee funding requested by the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, a pro-abortion rights student group, to cover costs for a Sex Week on campus in February. Student senators told The Huffington Post that they were worried the sex education events for adult students would prove too risqué.

"When they started organizing this at ETSU, we were very concerned about it," Brandon Johnson, a junior and student senator at the university, said. "We are all for sexual education -- we made a very proud stance on that, everyone should be informed about it. Unfortunately, the 'Sex Week' banner has such a negative name associated with that."


Read more HERE

Montgomery school officials asks for delay in using new state tests for graduation

The Washington Post
By Donna St. George
October 8, 2014

Montgomery County school leaders asked state officials Wednesday for a two-year delay in requiring that Maryland high school students pass new standardized tests in order to graduate.

The new tests, based on the national Common Core State Standards, are viewed as a more rigorous replacement for the High School Assessments, or HSAs, which Maryland has used since 2005 to test learning in Algebra 1, English 10, biology and government.

Montgomery has supported the new state tests — developed by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) — but district officials have voiced concern about how the results will be used as Maryland transitions to them.

Students in Maryland will take the PARCC tests for the first time this year across grades three to eight, and in Algebra 1 and English 10, courses linked to a high school graduation requirement.

“We think there are lots of practical issues we should be looking at before we make these tests count, so to speak, for our students,” Montgomery County Board of Education President Phil Kauffman said Wednesday, shortly after the county released a letter he sent to the state on the board’s behalf.

“Time is of the essence; this is a real issue that will impact the real lives of students,” Kauffman wrote in the letter.

Maryland education officials emphasized that passing the new state tests is not a graduation requirement for this year’s juniors or seniors, who must still show that they have passed the HSAs or completed a project-based assessment known as a bridge plan.

Read more HERE.

School meals face rules on fat, meat, veggies -- but no limits on sugar

[Note: This article was published a year ago.]

Eleanor Yang Su
October 3, 2013
CIROnline

Almost everything about a school cafeteria meal has a regulation. The federal government caps the amount of fat and salt in breakfasts and lunches. It sets minimum standards for servings of fruit, vegetables, grains, milk and meat.

But one widely used and often-overused product has no official limits: sugar.

As Congress faces increased scrutiny over subsidies to the sugar industry, nutritionists and anti-obesity crusaders are focusing on the amount of sugar in school meals – and asking whether regulations governing school lunches deliberately exclude limits on sugar to favor a powerful industry.

“Certainly, the food industry has pushed back against having a sugar standard,” said Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which has been pushing for a limit on added sugars for years. “If the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) is going to address other key parts of the dietary guidelines – fats, salts and calories – why choose to leave one dietary guideline out?”

Recent research shows that sugar levels in school meals are more than double what is recommended for the general public. Elementary school lunch menus contain 115 percent of the recommended daily calories from added sugars and fats, according to a November study by the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service. Middle school and high school lunch menus also are sugar- and fat-heavy, averaging between 59 and 74 percent of the recommended amounts.

About 1 in 5 school lunch menus includes dessert, the federal study said. The most common are cookies, cakes and brownies, some of which are counted as grain requirements. Other popular options are fruit with gelatin, ice cream and pudding.

The data from the School Nutrition Dietary Assessment is based on a 2010 survey of about 900 schools across the country and is considered the most comprehensive federal research on school meals.

For years, schools added sweets, such as graham crackers or cookies, to bump up calorie counts and meet minimum thresholds. Researchers say that practice is less common now that the USDA has implemented calorie limits. But some say sugary treats still are appealing to school administrators.
“Sugar-related products are the least expensive source of calories in the school meal program,” said Matthew Sharp, senior advocate for California Food Policy Advocates. He said many school officials oppose reducing sugar in meals because it would force them to buy more expensive products.

The report did not break out sugars specifically. It also didn’t count sugars that occur naturally in fruit and milk, but rather sweeteners added to processed or prepared foods...

...“Sugar is the only nutrient with no dietary reference intake, and it’s because the food industry doesn’t want it,” said Dr. Robert Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist at UC San Francisco. “They know when they add sugar to food, you buy more. So they don’t want any limits. And they have very effectively lobbied the USDA to not have any limits.”

Read the complete article HERE.

SAT scores plummet as test takers increase

The Baltimore Sun

By Liz Bowie

October 7, 2014

                                                                               

As more students took the SAT in Maryland last year, average scores on the college readiness exam plummeted, falling below the national average for the first time in years, according to data released Tuesday.

The drops appear to have been influenced by policy changes in at least two large school systems — Baltimore and Prince George's counties — that allowed every high school junior to be given the test.
With the school system paying for the test, Baltimore County had a 58 percent increase in test takers and saw scores drop about 50 points on each section of the test — critical reading, math and writing.

The school system expected to see dramatic drops but wanted to remove barriers, said Russell Brown, chief accountability officer for Baltimore County Public Schools.

"It is a push to afford that opportunity to all students. Many students find the additional cost to be a burden," Brown said. "It communicates to the students an expectation of college and career readiness."

Statewide, the average score dropped 5 points in each section to 492 in critical reading, 495 in math and 481 in writing. The national average was 5 points higher in critical reading, 18 points higher in math and 6 points higher in writing. The highest score on each section of the test, which is administered by the New York-based College Board, is 800.

The number of students who took the test in Maryland increased by 3 percent.

Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/education/bs-md-sat-ap-scores-20141007,0,6331784.story#ixzz3FYcdcfGx

REMINDER: Board of Education Meeting, 10/14/14

The Board of Education’s next monthly meeting is Tuesday, Oct. 14, 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. The meeting is televised live on Comcast Channel 96 and Verizon FiOS Channel 12, and is rebroadcast throughout the week. Board meetings are also streamed live on the school system website www.ccboe.com. Select CCPS TV and then choose the Live Broadcast tab.
Executive session – 12 p.m.
Call to order – 1 p.m.
Pledge of Allegiance – Henry E. Lackey High School
Superintendent’s update to the Board
Reports of officers/boards/committees

• Correspondence/board member updates
• Education Association of Charles County update
• American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees update
• Student Board member’s update
• Access control system
• Student recognition update
• FY 2014 Independent financial audit
• CIP update
• Race to the Top
• Bridge to Excellence
• Secondary Academy of International Languages (SAIL)
• Recruitment and staffing update
• Proposed 2015 legislative positions

Unfinished business

• Review of 2012 Board goals
• Review of Board benchmarks

New business and Future agenda items

• New business
• Future agenda items

Recognition – 4:30 p.m.

• Students
• Employees
• Resolutions – American Education Week and American Freedom Week

Public Forum – 6 p.m.

Action items

• Minutes
• Personnel
• FY 2015 Comprehensive maintenance plan

Adjournment

Schools scramble to help teens who crossed border

WTOP News
9/29/14
KIMBERLY HEFLING
AP Education Writer

In this photo taken Sept. 11, 2014, a student in the Accelerating Preliterate English Language Learners (A.P.E.L.L) class, taught by Lori Ott, of Millsboro, Del., at the G.W. Career Educational Center in Frankford, Del., looks over a worksheet aimed at teaching basic introductions in English. U.S. schools are now dealing with the fallout from the dramatic spike in the number of children and teenagers who crossed into the United States unaccompanied by family; the Supreme Court has ruled that they have an obligation to educate all students regardless of their immigration status. (AP Photo/Emily Varisco)

FRANKFORD, Del. (AP) -- American schools are scrambling to provide services to the large number of children and teenagers who crossed the border alone in recent months.

Unaccompanied minors who made up the summer spike at the border have moved to communities of all sizes, in nearly every state, Federal data indicates, to live with a relative and await immigration decisions. The Supreme Court has ruled that schools have an obligation to educate all students regardless of their immigration status, so schools have become a safe haven for many of the tens of thousands of these young people mostly from central America living in limbo.

Delaware's rural Sussex County has long attracted immigrants, partly because of work in chicken factories, and soybean and corn fields. The district's population is more than one-quarter Hispanic, and for years has offered an early learning program for non-English speakers.

Still, officials were caught off guard by about 70 new students mostly from Guatemala -- part of the wave crossing the border -- enrolling last year, mostly at Sussex Central High School. The Indian River School District over the summer break quickly put together special classes for those needing extra English help.

On a recent school day, a group of these mostly Spanish-speaking teenage boys with styled spiky hair and high-top sneakers enthusiastically pecked away on hand-held tablets at the G.W. Carver Education Center, pausing to alert the teacher when stumped.

"If you don't know what you're supposed to write on the line, look at my examples, OK?" Lori Ott, their English language teacher, told one.

The students are eager but face barriers. Some can barely read or write in their native language.
The district's goal is to get them assimilated -- and eventually into a regular high school. There, they can earn a diploma, even if that means participating in adult education programs and going to school until they are 21.

'It's Not Worth It To Become A Teacher At This Point,' Veteran Educator Says

Huffington Post        

09/30/2014

Sam Levine 

When single mom Callie Hammond wants to buy something for her daughters, she says she has to choose between spending money on them or on the high school English students she teaches each day.

Hammond, a teacher in North Carolina for 22 years, says she buys supplies for her students with her own money. She hasn’t gotten new textbooks since 2009. If she wants new ones, she says she has to go to other high schools and beg.

“I’m at a school trying to make better lives for those kids, but I’m not able to go out and make a better life for my own kids. And that's not fair,” Hammond says in a video released by the progressive advocacy group Progress North Carolina.

According to an analysis by the National Education Association, North Carolina ranked near the bottom of U.S. states in expenditures per student for 2012-2013. A separate study found that North Carolina teachers' pay was among the lowest for public school educators. 

“I would say if you’re in North Carolina, it’s not worth it to become a teacher at this point. It’s really not,” Hammond says in the video.

June Atkinson, North Carolina’s superintendent of public instruction, said the state has not supported its teachers.

Continue reading and view the video HERE.

The Remarkable Idiocy of 'Economically-Driven Education'

Huffington Post      

10/01/2014

Mercedes Schneider                                                                                                                

 

 

 

On October 2, 2014, I will be speaking in Indiana to an audience chiefly comprised of university students who have a passing understanding of the intentions of monied interests to usurp control of public education.

With a mind toward preparing for my upcoming engagement, I happened to read three pertinent (and powerful) articles: This one on September 26, 2014, in Chalkbeat on Indiana Governor Mike Pence's plan to use workforce data to determine what schools teach in order to subjugate education to the requirements of the job market, excerpted below:

...Indiana is quietly taking steps to position itself for a future where data drives much of what is learned in school. Gov. Mike Pence has made connecting education and workforce development a centerpiece of his administration's agenda...
This year, a bill he wrote created a new state office, under Pence's direction, with a director who has been nicknamed the state's "data czar." That office will manage an expanded network of K-12, higher education and workforce data, working with an outside company to identify trends and opportunities to connect what is learned now to what students will some day need to know.
Just last month, Pence named [state representative Steve] Braun as the state's new director of the Department of Workforce Development. [Emphasis added.

Pence wants to tailor education to serve the workforce, not the individual being educated -- an important point.

Next is another article, a Living in Dialogue post by Professor Emeritus Denny Taylor, one that deals quite skillfully with the sinister push to make public education little more than the servant of the US economy. The second article refers to very-well-compensated "non-profiteer" Marc Tucker's 1992 "Dear Hillary" letter, excerpted below. Tucker's vision is

... to remold the entire American system" into "a seamless web that literally extends from cradle to grave and is the same system for everyone," coordinated by "a system of labor market boards at the local, state and federal levels" where curriculum and "job matching" will be handled by counselors "accessing the integrated computer-based program. [Emphasis added.]

Continue reading HERE.

Students Protesting Conservative Rewrite Of History Get Their Most Important Endorsement Yet

Huffington Post
Posted: 09/26/2014 
Matt Ferner

The organization that oversees the Advanced Placement curriculum, whose history course is being defended by massive, ongoing student protests in a Denver suburb, has now said that it backs those protests.

"The College Board’s Advanced Placement Program supports the actions taken by students in Jefferson County, Colorado to protest a school board member’s request to censor aspects of the AP U.S. History course," said a statement from the College Board released on Friday.

"These students recognize that the social order can -- and sometimes must -- be disrupted in the pursuit of liberty and justice. Civil disorder and social strife are at the patriotic heart of American history -- from the Boston Tea Party to the American Revolution to the Civil Rights Movement. And these events and ideas are essential within the study of a college-level, AP U.S. History course," the statement continued.

Protests in Jefferson County, the state's second-largest school district, began a week ago Friday. By this Thursday, there were nearly 1,000 students marching in protest of the county school board's call for an Advanced Placement curriculum on U.S. history that promotes "respect for authority" and discourages "civil disorder, social strife or disregard for the law."

Read more HERE.

Study: Youth exercise leads to cognitive development

Monday - 9/29/2014, 4:52am  ET
Paula Wolfson
WTOP

WASHINGTON -- New research shows that when children exercise their bodies, they are exercising their brains as well.

Scientists at the University of Illinois followed 221 7-, 8- and 9-year-olds for nine months. Half were in an after-school fitness program; the others, on a wait list.  The scientists found that those in the exercise group not only became more physically fit, but also their cognitive skills improved -- most notably, their ability to stay focused and shift easily and accurately from one cognitive task to another.  Specialists in children's health see the findings as more evidence that exercise has an important role to play in boosting the overall health of children.  "I think exercise has a lot of different effects, and it is not just about getting your heart rate up or burning "X" number of calories," says Dr. Nadia Hashimi, a pediatrician who works in the emergency room at Children's National Medical Center.

Read more HERE.

University system poised to establish stronger presence in Southern Maryland

Drone research is a ‘huge, unrealized opportunity in this region’

By NICOLE CLARK
Staff writer
September 26, 2014
Southern Maryland News

William “Brit” Kirwan, chancellor of the University System of Maryland, said Tuesday that a new unmanned aerial vehicle test site and plans for a research center in St. Mary’s herald a new era in the region for the state’s public colleges.

“We plan to substantially grow our presence in the region,” he said Tuesday during a keynote address at the annual Southern Maryland Navy Alliance dinner in Historic St. Mary’s City. The university is “already making this vision a reality.”

The university has agreed to gradually assume leadership of the Southern Maryland Higher Education Center, currently run by an independent board and located in California just across from the St. Mary’s County Regional Airport.

Kirwan anticipates that a third building housing academic studies, business incubation and research could be open on the existing campus as soon as the spring of 2018. Even before that time, Kirwan said, university faculty will begin creating a hub advancing the development and use of unmanned systems, commonly called drones.

It is an effort he said could be as successful as the higher education center at Shady Grove in Montgomery County, where educators have helped build an academic and commercial bioscience culture around the existing National Institutes of Health. In Southern Maryland, Kirwan said, the higher education center could grow with the help of technology developed at Patuxent River Naval Air Station and businesses looking to support that work’s application to commercial purposes.

Read more HERE.

Board wants staff, public to weigh in on facilities study

The Board of Education is hosting three public forums to provide information about a facilities report evaluating all Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) schools and centers as well as renovation and school construction recommendations for the next decade.

CCPS has scheduled the following sessions to present information to the public about the survey report, answer questions and accept comments:

• Benjamin Stoddert Middle School, 6 p.m., Sept. 22, in the cafeteria;
• La Plata High School, 6 p.m., Sept. 29, in the auditorium; and
• Maurice J. McDonough High School, 6 p.m., Oct. 13, in the auditorium.

Last school year, the Charles County Commissioners approved payment for a comprehensive survey to assess the physical condition of each school building and site to determine its ability to provide students with a modern education program aligned with CCPS educational specifications. CCPS contracted GWWO Architects to compile and analyze data including school capacity, student enrollment, physical building conditions, staff survey responses, mechanical system conditions and site characteristics. The Board of Education, on Aug. 25, received the report from GWWO and the school system’s supporting services staff.

The next steps, according to Keith Hettel, assistant superintendent of supporting services, are to analyze the GWWO report, inform the public and solicit input; continue with current Capital Improvement Program (CIP) submissions; discuss affordability and forecasts with county government staff; revise CIP submissions at the county and state level; and work with the state on CCPS decisions on future renovations and new construction.

The complete report is located on the Board of Education’s Board Docs area at http://www.boarddocs.com/mabe/ccpsmd/Board.nsf/files/9NBNWZ61FB52/$file/GWWO-Study-DRAFT-description%20sheets_4102014.pdf.

Communications staff earns top school public relations awards

The Charles County Public Schools communications department recently received five top awards in the 2014 National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA) National School Communications Awards program.

Department staff received two Golden Achievement Awards, which recognize exemplary work in all aspects of school public relations, communication, marketing and engagement. The awards highlight communications plans used for teacher retention efforts and developing an international language center.

Recognized with awards were the communications plans used to implement the New Teacher Bus Tour held in conjunction with new teacher orientation activities, and outreach tools used with the launch of the Secondary Academy for International Languages (SAIL) at Maurice J. McDonough High School. The two awards are among more than 90 Golden Achievement Awards distributed to school systems nationwide.

Three videos produced by communications staff also received awards in the Publications and Electronic Media portion of the awards program. This area of the contest recognizes outstanding work in all types and forms of education communication, including print, electronic, video, audio, websites and social media.

A video titled “The Portfolio of James Richmond” received an Award of Merit, which is the second highest electronic media award given by NSPRA. The video features the longtime educational career of former CCPS Superintendent, James Richmond.

Two videos – “The Evolution of Telepresence in CCPS,” which highlights the use of Telepresence technology used in CCPS, and the “Port Tobacco One Room Schoolhouse,” which highlights how the school system uses the schoolhouse to teach students about history, each received Honorable Mention awards.

Communications department staff includes Katie O’Malley-Simpson, director of communications; Kyle Graves, video production specialist; Kara Gross, communications multimedia assistant; Shelley Mackey, communications specialist; and Gary Nagel, web developer.

This is the second consecutive year that the department has received awards through the NSPRA Communications Contest. Each year, NSPRA sponsors a national communications contest to recognize school districts for their efforts in school public relations. NSPRA was chartered in 1935 and provides school communication training and services to school system leaders throughout the United States, Canada, and the U.S. Dept. of Defense Dependents Schools worldwide. For more information on NSPRA, visit www.nspra.org.

CCPS named to Maryland School Breakfast Hall of Fame

Charles County Public Schools has been named to the Maryland School Breakfast Hall of Fame for achieving more than 70 percent breakfast participation systemwide during the 2013-14 school year. A total of 17 schools and centers were also recognized for high breakfast participation rates last school year. According to the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE), Charles County Public Schools had the third highest breakfast participation rate of 71 percent across Maryland counties.

Mt. Hope/Nanjemoy Elementary School topped the list in Charles County with a participation rate of 104 percent. Gale-Bailey Elementary School had the second highest participation rate, with 103 percent, followed by J.P. Ryon Elementary School with nearly 101 percent. Participation rates include reported meal totals for November 2013 and April 2014.

Additionally, the following schools and centers were named to the Maryland School Breakfast Hall of Fame:

·         Dr. Gustavus Brown Elementary School, 100 percent;

·         Mary B. Neal Elementary School, 99 percent;

·         F.B. Gwynn Educational Center, 98 percent;

·         Robert D. Stethem Educational Center, 97 percent;

·         J.C. Parks Elementary School, 94 percent;

·         Indian Head Elementary School, 94 percent;

·         Dr. Samuel A. Mudd Elementary School, 89 percent;

·         C. Paul Barnhart Elementary School, 86 percent;

·         Henry E. Lackey High School, 85 percent;

·         Eva Turner Elementary School, 84 percent;

·         Benjamin Stoddert Middle School, 83 percent;

·         Arthur Middleton Elementary School, 76 percent;

·         Piccowaxen Middle School, 74 percent; and

·         General Smallwood Middle School, 72 percent.

As an overall school system Hall of Fame inductee, Charles County Public Schools will receive a Governor’s citation and each school and center will receive a recognition certificate for their participation in the school breakfast program. A recognition ceremony will be held later this fall to honor schools and school systems for their Hall of Fame selection. Staff from Neal and Lackey was asked to represent CCPS at the ceremony.

The recognition program is part of the 2014 Maryland School Breakfast Initiative, which focuses on providing children with a healthy school breakfast. The initiative is a statewide effort launched through Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign, with support from Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, MSDE, the Maryland Partnership to End Childhood Hunger.

The initiative also includes the Maryland Breakfast Challenge, which seeks to expand the state’s school breakfast program to 10,000 additional students through challenge prizes and incentives and by emphasizing the importance of starting the day with a healthy breakfast, which can raise academic performance and reduce absenteeism. Principals can enroll their schools in the challenge – and interested parties can find more information about the program – at www.MarylandBreakfastChallenge.org.

The 2014 Maryland School Breakfast Challenge partners include the No Kid Hungry campaign, the Maryland State Department of Education, Action for Healthy Kids, Family League of Baltimore, Maryland Hunger Solutions, Maryland State Education Association and the Mid Atlantic Dairy Association.

This 17-Year-Old's Brilliant Invention May Lower Accidental Gun Deaths In America

Huffington Post
By Amanda Scherker
9/11/14

Seventeen-year-old Kai Kloepfer's idea for a finger-print sensitive smart gun came to him in a dream. This week, the Colorado teen won a $50,000 grant from the Smart Tech Challenges Foundation with the hopes of bringing that vision to life.

In an interview with FOX's Denver news channel KDVR, Kloepfer said that he believes his invention could improve America's gun safety and reduce accidental gun deaths. He describes a design that is simple and user-friendly.

"All you have to do is pick the firearm up and the way you naturally rest your hand on the firearm unlocks it," he says. "So you don't have to swipe or anything like that."

The design uses fingerprint sensors to prevent anybody but the gun's owner from firing a bullet. Because the gun can be programmed to store an unlimited number of owners, Kloepfer's invention could even be used by police forces and military units.

Previously, Kloepfer entered his design in the 2013 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, where he was ranked in the top 34 out of 7 million high school students.


Read more HERE

Board increases GPA, attendance rules for sports, clubs

The Board of Education on Tuesday unanimously voted to increase grade and attendance requirements for students participating in extracurricular activities and athletics.

The new requirements take effect next school year, but students’ grades the second semester of this school year will impact their eligibility to participate in extracurricular activities in the fall of 2015. The new rules require students to maintain a 2.25 grade-point average with no failing “F” grades to participate in any extracurricular activity, including sports. Additionally, students may not be absent more than 9.5 days in the previous semester.

The change raises the standards from a 2.0 grade-point average and takes effect with the 2015-16 school year. Incoming ninth graders are no longer automatically eligible to participate in fall sports or clubs the first semester; the student’s second semester grades in eighth grade will determine eligibility. Students promoted from fifth to sixth grade are automatically eligible to participate the first semester.

Currently, students must maintain a minimum grade-point average of 2.0 and receive no more than one failing grade per quarter in order to participate in extracurricular activities.
The Board also approved the following eligibility guidelines:

• Eligibility for fall extracurricular activities will be based on a student’s second semester grade-point average at the end of the previous year.

• Eligibility for winter extracurricular activities will be based on a student’s second semester grade-point average at the end of the previous year.

• Eligibility for spring extracurricular activities will be based on a student’s first semester grade-point average.

• If a student receives a failing grade in any quarter, they are ineligible for the remainder of the season and semester. Students cannot gain eligibility at interim.

• Any student who receives a failing grade for the semester is ineligible for participation for the following semester.

• Students academically ineligible at the end of the second semester cannot regain eligibility by enrolling in summer school.