Information provided by USA Today, June 21, 2009
Despite concerns about childhood obesity, the only states that require PE classes for all kids in kindergarten through 12th grade are Illinois and Massachusetts. Even with the requirement, however, an estimated 20.7% of 10- to 17-year-olds in Illinois are obese, according to a 2007 survey released last month. Many credit this to Illinois’ lack of a standardized PE curriculum, which means that what counts as physical activity can vary widely. Additionally, the state doesn’t monitor schools to see if they are complying with the requirement, nor is there a penalty if they don’t. According to the Center for Disease Control, an estimated 32% of American school children from ages 2 to 19 are overweight, 17% of who are obese. Health experts recommend thirty minutes of physical education a day for elementary school students, and forty-five minutes for students in junior high or high school. In a recent CDC study, however, less than 4% of elementary schools, less than 8% of middle schools and just over 2% of high schools required daily PE for all students for the entire school year. Some educators blame No Child Left Behind for the lack of physical education, as it forces administrators to put as much time towards math and reading as possible in order to ensure success on state exams.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
delawareonline article "2009: A state of change"
2009: A state of change
Legislature passes long-fought landmark measures -- gay rights, FOIA
By BETH MILLER • The News Journal • July 5, 2009
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090705/NEWS02/907050362/1006/NEWS&referrer=NEWSFRONTCAROUSEL
The article states:
"Even with a gaping $800 million ditch to fill and a toolbox that seemed to have more Tinkertoys than earthmovers, Delaware lawmakers managed to roll some big old boulders off the state's legislative landscape.
Three had seemed especially immobile over the years -- opening the Legislature's meetings and records to greater public scrutiny, outlawing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and eliminating the much-despised Delaware Student Testing Program.
All three passed this year -- not without debate, not without some dragging feet, wringing hands and pointing fingers, but all three passed.
As a result:
• Any member of the public may attend critical budget negotiations and listen to the debates as they occur (instead of as they leak through a closed door), and review legislative documents that previously were not public. The new law removes a legislative exemption in place since 1985.
• Anyone who loses a job, a housing opportunity, an insurance policy, a public contract or a spot in a public facility because of sexual orientation now has legal remedy. For the first time, that kind of discrimination is no longer legal in Delaware.
• Kids and parents who have dreaded the annual ordeal of state testing in public schools can remove the 11-year-old Dela-ware State Testing Program from the list of things that keep them awake at night. Another test will replace it, but that one -- observers say -- will have more give, more nuance, a faster turnaround for results, and provide a more precise picture of where students are advancing and where they still don't get it."
Legislature passes long-fought landmark measures -- gay rights, FOIA
By BETH MILLER • The News Journal • July 5, 2009
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090705/NEWS02/907050362/1006/NEWS&referrer=NEWSFRONTCAROUSEL
The article states:
"Even with a gaping $800 million ditch to fill and a toolbox that seemed to have more Tinkertoys than earthmovers, Delaware lawmakers managed to roll some big old boulders off the state's legislative landscape.
Three had seemed especially immobile over the years -- opening the Legislature's meetings and records to greater public scrutiny, outlawing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and eliminating the much-despised Delaware Student Testing Program.
All three passed this year -- not without debate, not without some dragging feet, wringing hands and pointing fingers, but all three passed.
As a result:
• Any member of the public may attend critical budget negotiations and listen to the debates as they occur (instead of as they leak through a closed door), and review legislative documents that previously were not public. The new law removes a legislative exemption in place since 1985.
• Anyone who loses a job, a housing opportunity, an insurance policy, a public contract or a spot in a public facility because of sexual orientation now has legal remedy. For the first time, that kind of discrimination is no longer legal in Delaware.
• Kids and parents who have dreaded the annual ordeal of state testing in public schools can remove the 11-year-old Dela-ware State Testing Program from the list of things that keep them awake at night. Another test will replace it, but that one -- observers say -- will have more give, more nuance, a faster turnaround for results, and provide a more precise picture of where students are advancing and where they still don't get it."
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Area Schools Face Shortage of Black Male Teachers
Information provided by the Washington Post
Tynita Johnson had attended predominantly black schools in Prince George's County for 10 years when she walked into Will Thomas's AP government class last August and found something she had never seen.
"I was kind of shocked," said Tynita, 15, of Upper Marlboro. "I have never had a black male teacher before, except for P.E."
Tynita's experience is remarkably common. Only 2 percent of the nation's 4.8 million teachers are black men, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In fact, Thomas, a social studies teacher at Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. High School, never had a black teacher himself.
"I love teaching, and I feel like I am needed," said Thomas, 33, of Bowie. "We need black male teachers in our classrooms because that is the closest connection we are able to make to children. It is critical for all students to see black men in the classrooms involved in trying to make sure they learn and enjoy being in school."
The shortage of black male teachers compounds the difficulties that many African American boys face in school. About half of black male students do not complete high school in four years, statistics show. Black males also tend to score lower on standardized tests, take fewer Advanced Placement courses and are suspended and expelled at higher rates than other groups, officials said.
Educators said black male teachers expose students to black men as authority figures, help minority students feel that they belong, motivate black students to achieve, demonstrate positive male-female relationships to black girls and provide African American youths with role models and mentors.
"There are two axes in most American classrooms: a female axis and an Anglo cultural axis," said Janice Hale, director of the Institute for the Study of the African American Child at Detroit's Wayne State University. White girls fare best because they belong to both groups. White boys and black girls fit into one. "But black boys can't get under the female or the cultural banner," she said.
Howard University Provost Alvin Thornton, a former Prince George's school board member who conceived a black male achievement program for students 15 years ago, said students who don't see teachers who resemble themselves "grow up to think they don't contribute to knowledge."
"I think it is necessary that students be exposed to a knowledge transfer system that is diverse in terms of those who are transferring the knowledge," he said. "And that diversity should look much like the community."
Black males also leave teaching at a higher rate than their colleagues, according to a 2003 study by the National Education Association, a national teacher's union. Half of black males leave the profession before retirement, compared with 30 percent of all teachers.
"There was a time when teaching was almost the only profession that African Americans could get into that would give them recognition, respect and a little salary," said Reginald Weaver, a former NEA president. "As other areas of employment have opened up, many minorities entered into those."
Thomas is bucking the trend. He was hired to teach middle school social studies in Prince George's 10 years ago and moved to high school two years ago. He was chosen Prince George's Teacher of the Year and Maryland's 2009 Teacher of the Year, and he has no intention of taking more lucrative job offers that have come his way since.
"I remember when he taught at Kettering Middle School, where I was principal, that he was committed to staying in the classroom," said Marian White-Hood. "He'd get mad if you kept bringing up moving into administration. He would say, 'Doc, these kids need black male teachers in the classroom, and that's where I want to be.' "
Several of Thomas's students cited race as a factor in his students' success.
"He doesn't focus on being a black male teacher, he doesn't talk about it, but it helps me," said Claudius Solomon, 15, of Upper Marlboro, a student in Thomas's government class. "Mr. Thomas is my favorite teacher because he makes learning about politics and all fun, but he's also a role model for us."
Tynita said she notices a difference in the way boys act in Thomas's class. "The black boys talk a lot more. They participate a lot more," she said. "They really interact with him a lot more than they do with the female teachers. You can tell that they relate to him."
Local school districts compete to recruit the limited supply of black male teachers, and programs across the country encourage them as early as middle school to consider majoring in education.
Several colleges offer financial incentives for black male students who major in education. One such program, Call Me Mister, started a decade ago as a collaboration between Clemson University and three private historically black schools in South Carolina: Benedict University, Claflin College and Morris College. At the time, there were only 200 black male teachers out of 20,000 educators in the state, said program executive director Roy Jones.
"There were 600 elementary schools, and so even if you take one teacher per elementary school, it would mean that 400 schools didn't have a black male," he said. "We also found that many of the teachers were concentrated in a few school districts."
Fifty black men have completed the program, and 150 more are enrolled. The effort is in 15 colleges, including similar programs at Bowie State, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and Norfolk State. Longwood University in Farmville, Va., where 50 years ago segregationists closed schools rather than integrate them, is the only local college to offer Call Me Mister, Jones said.
The Maryland Board of Education has declared shortages of African American and male teachers for several years. In 2008, 4.3 percent of the state's 59,789 teachers were black men, and 17 percent were white men. In majority-black Prince George's, where African Americans were 53 percent of the teachers, 12 percent were black men.
In the District, which is also majority black, 18 percent of the 3,800 teachers are men, and 9.7 percent are white men. In Virginia, 2.6 percent of the 100,908 teachers are black males, and 16.4 percent are white men.
"We have very limited numbers of males," said Maryland State Public Schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick. "If you break it down more and talk about African American males, they are even more scarce."
Prince George's has received a grant to recruit blacks into teaching math and science. The county also has programs to attract professionals into the classroom and to develop black male teachers.
"In general, many of our young men have gone away from teaching as a bread winning career for their families," said William Hite, the Prince George's superintendent. "We have to work to make it a more worthy option."
Tynita Johnson had attended predominantly black schools in Prince George's County for 10 years when she walked into Will Thomas's AP government class last August and found something she had never seen.
"I was kind of shocked," said Tynita, 15, of Upper Marlboro. "I have never had a black male teacher before, except for P.E."
Tynita's experience is remarkably common. Only 2 percent of the nation's 4.8 million teachers are black men, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In fact, Thomas, a social studies teacher at Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. High School, never had a black teacher himself.
"I love teaching, and I feel like I am needed," said Thomas, 33, of Bowie. "We need black male teachers in our classrooms because that is the closest connection we are able to make to children. It is critical for all students to see black men in the classrooms involved in trying to make sure they learn and enjoy being in school."
The shortage of black male teachers compounds the difficulties that many African American boys face in school. About half of black male students do not complete high school in four years, statistics show. Black males also tend to score lower on standardized tests, take fewer Advanced Placement courses and are suspended and expelled at higher rates than other groups, officials said.
Educators said black male teachers expose students to black men as authority figures, help minority students feel that they belong, motivate black students to achieve, demonstrate positive male-female relationships to black girls and provide African American youths with role models and mentors.
"There are two axes in most American classrooms: a female axis and an Anglo cultural axis," said Janice Hale, director of the Institute for the Study of the African American Child at Detroit's Wayne State University. White girls fare best because they belong to both groups. White boys and black girls fit into one. "But black boys can't get under the female or the cultural banner," she said.
Howard University Provost Alvin Thornton, a former Prince George's school board member who conceived a black male achievement program for students 15 years ago, said students who don't see teachers who resemble themselves "grow up to think they don't contribute to knowledge."
"I think it is necessary that students be exposed to a knowledge transfer system that is diverse in terms of those who are transferring the knowledge," he said. "And that diversity should look much like the community."
Black males also leave teaching at a higher rate than their colleagues, according to a 2003 study by the National Education Association, a national teacher's union. Half of black males leave the profession before retirement, compared with 30 percent of all teachers.
"There was a time when teaching was almost the only profession that African Americans could get into that would give them recognition, respect and a little salary," said Reginald Weaver, a former NEA president. "As other areas of employment have opened up, many minorities entered into those."
Thomas is bucking the trend. He was hired to teach middle school social studies in Prince George's 10 years ago and moved to high school two years ago. He was chosen Prince George's Teacher of the Year and Maryland's 2009 Teacher of the Year, and he has no intention of taking more lucrative job offers that have come his way since.
"I remember when he taught at Kettering Middle School, where I was principal, that he was committed to staying in the classroom," said Marian White-Hood. "He'd get mad if you kept bringing up moving into administration. He would say, 'Doc, these kids need black male teachers in the classroom, and that's where I want to be.' "
Several of Thomas's students cited race as a factor in his students' success.
"He doesn't focus on being a black male teacher, he doesn't talk about it, but it helps me," said Claudius Solomon, 15, of Upper Marlboro, a student in Thomas's government class. "Mr. Thomas is my favorite teacher because he makes learning about politics and all fun, but he's also a role model for us."
Tynita said she notices a difference in the way boys act in Thomas's class. "The black boys talk a lot more. They participate a lot more," she said. "They really interact with him a lot more than they do with the female teachers. You can tell that they relate to him."
Local school districts compete to recruit the limited supply of black male teachers, and programs across the country encourage them as early as middle school to consider majoring in education.
Several colleges offer financial incentives for black male students who major in education. One such program, Call Me Mister, started a decade ago as a collaboration between Clemson University and three private historically black schools in South Carolina: Benedict University, Claflin College and Morris College. At the time, there were only 200 black male teachers out of 20,000 educators in the state, said program executive director Roy Jones.
"There were 600 elementary schools, and so even if you take one teacher per elementary school, it would mean that 400 schools didn't have a black male," he said. "We also found that many of the teachers were concentrated in a few school districts."
Fifty black men have completed the program, and 150 more are enrolled. The effort is in 15 colleges, including similar programs at Bowie State, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and Norfolk State. Longwood University in Farmville, Va., where 50 years ago segregationists closed schools rather than integrate them, is the only local college to offer Call Me Mister, Jones said.
The Maryland Board of Education has declared shortages of African American and male teachers for several years. In 2008, 4.3 percent of the state's 59,789 teachers were black men, and 17 percent were white men. In majority-black Prince George's, where African Americans were 53 percent of the teachers, 12 percent were black men.
In the District, which is also majority black, 18 percent of the 3,800 teachers are men, and 9.7 percent are white men. In Virginia, 2.6 percent of the 100,908 teachers are black males, and 16.4 percent are white men.
"We have very limited numbers of males," said Maryland State Public Schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick. "If you break it down more and talk about African American males, they are even more scarce."
Prince George's has received a grant to recruit blacks into teaching math and science. The county also has programs to attract professionals into the classroom and to develop black male teachers.
"In general, many of our young men have gone away from teaching as a bread winning career for their families," said William Hite, the Prince George's superintendent. "We have to work to make it a more worthy option."
Friday, July 3, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
The Bond Bill Committee Had to Trim Certain School Projects
Information provided By J.L. MILLER • The News Journal • July 2, 2009
The bond bill, which pays for school construction and other capital projects, topped out at $284.5 million for the fiscal year that began Wednesday.
It contains $211.6 million in capital projects and $72.9 million in transportation authorizations.
The Bond Bill Committee trimmed $200,000 from the Cedar Lane Elementary School project in the Appoquinimink district; $198,500 from the Smyrna Intermediate School project; $682,900 from W.B. Simpson Elementary School in the Caesar Rodney district; $709,300 from Milford Elementary School; and deferred funding for one year to Colwyck Elementary School in the Colonial district.
Having to cut school construction to make up the shortfall, Kowalko said, was "the fulfillment of the obstinacy of the administration to consider" his corporate tax measure.
The $3.09 billion operating budget that was passed and signed into law on the first day of the new fiscal year is 8.1 percent smaller than the one that preceded it. The budget for fiscal 2009 was $3.36 billion.
The bond bill, which pays for school construction and other capital projects, topped out at $284.5 million for the fiscal year that began Wednesday.
It contains $211.6 million in capital projects and $72.9 million in transportation authorizations.
The Bond Bill Committee trimmed $200,000 from the Cedar Lane Elementary School project in the Appoquinimink district; $198,500 from the Smyrna Intermediate School project; $682,900 from W.B. Simpson Elementary School in the Caesar Rodney district; $709,300 from Milford Elementary School; and deferred funding for one year to Colwyck Elementary School in the Colonial district.
Having to cut school construction to make up the shortfall, Kowalko said, was "the fulfillment of the obstinacy of the administration to consider" his corporate tax measure.
The $3.09 billion operating budget that was passed and signed into law on the first day of the new fiscal year is 8.1 percent smaller than the one that preceded it. The budget for fiscal 2009 was $3.36 billion.
Public School Teachers Will Have Cuts, But Not the Original Proposed 8 Percent Pay Cut (Click here to read entire article.)
Information provided By JENNIFER PRICE • The News Journal • July 2, 2009
Public school teachers, who once faced a potential 8 percent pay cut as well as the loss of salary boosters for furthering their education or completing professional development classes, fared better than expected in this year's budget bill.
School employees' annual salaries will be reduced by 2.5 percent, but they will receive five additional days off. For teachers, those five days will be former professional development days. Other school employees will work out a plan with their district's union and superintendent to identify what days they will take off.
"I'm very pleased with where we ended up. Everyone's hard work and commitment on this effort paid off," said Diane Donohue, president of the Delaware State Education Association -- the state's largest school employee union. "Now instead of a salary reduction, we have a 2.5 percent pay decrease. Their pay is being reduced, but they are not working for five of those days. That's a huge difference from a salary reduction."
While employees' salaries are being reduced, their base pay will remain the same. Therefore, their salaries will return to the 2008-09 school year level next fiscal year barring another salary reduction next year.
"I would imagine that everyone in public education is pretty relieved and satisfied with the results that were achieved," said Frederika Jenner, president of the Red Clay Education Association teachers union.
Public school teachers, who once faced a potential 8 percent pay cut as well as the loss of salary boosters for furthering their education or completing professional development classes, fared better than expected in this year's budget bill.
School employees' annual salaries will be reduced by 2.5 percent, but they will receive five additional days off. For teachers, those five days will be former professional development days. Other school employees will work out a plan with their district's union and superintendent to identify what days they will take off.
"I'm very pleased with where we ended up. Everyone's hard work and commitment on this effort paid off," said Diane Donohue, president of the Delaware State Education Association -- the state's largest school employee union. "Now instead of a salary reduction, we have a 2.5 percent pay decrease. Their pay is being reduced, but they are not working for five of those days. That's a huge difference from a salary reduction."
While employees' salaries are being reduced, their base pay will remain the same. Therefore, their salaries will return to the 2008-09 school year level next fiscal year barring another salary reduction next year.
"I would imagine that everyone in public education is pretty relieved and satisfied with the results that were achieved," said Frederika Jenner, president of the Red Clay Education Association teachers union.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
How do we encourage our children to be competitive without going over board?
In school and in sports the pressure is always on to be the best. There will always be top students and winning teams. There will always be parents and children who aren't happy unless the grades are perfect and the team wins.
How do we know when to praise our children for trying their hardest and when to push them to do better? How can we tell when they've done the best they can do? What can we do when our children beat themselves up for what we know was their best effort? How competitive is too competitive?
How do we know when to praise our children for trying their hardest and when to push them to do better? How can we tell when they've done the best they can do? What can we do when our children beat themselves up for what we know was their best effort? How competitive is too competitive?
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Good luck to Dr. Daugherty
Dr. Merv Daugherty is now Red Clay's superintendent. Good luck in your new position Merv!
Full Day Kindergarten, How Was the First Year?
Full day kindergarten was implemented last year, how was the first year? Parent and teachers are you happy with the full day program? What changes could be made to improve the program to help the students and teachers? Tell us the pros and cons of the program.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Red Clay offers Summer Enrichment Program
Read:
This summer, students get ahead
Youngsters keep their minds fresh through Red Clay's enrichment classes
By JOSH SHANNON • The News Journal • June 28, 2009
http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200906280345/NEWS03/906280323
From the article:
For students in the Red Clay Consolidated School District's Summer Enrichment Program, this summer has not been the same as most.
The program, which began June 15 and runs through Wednesday, is designed to give students entering third through sixth grade a preview of the material they will be learning once the school year begins in late August.
"The focus is on pre-teaching for the following year," said Jodi Albers, district coordinator for the program. "It's not a 'Oh, you didn't make the cut, so we're going to stick you in summer school and shove it down your throat' kind of thing. It's a positive thing for kids to go to their next year and say, 'Oh, I learned this. I know this word.' "
The concept is different than the district's summer programs in past years, which focused largely on reteaching content in preparation to retake Delaware Student Testing Program exams, Albers said. The state cut funding for summer school because of budget constraints.
Now, the district is pushing a program designed to gear students up for the coming year, and it already has plans to expand the initiative next summer.
Teachers use some of the same units and themes they will use during the regular school year so students in the summer program already will be familiar with the concepts and vocabulary, she said. Lessons are heavily focused on vocabulary and reading comprehension, but students also get math instruction.
Funded by federal Title 1 grants, which support schools with a large percentage of low-income and at-risk children, the half-day program serves more than 300 students from around the district at the program's two locations -- Baltz and Warner Elementary in Wilmington. Students receive a free breakfast and lunch, also provided by federal funds.
Students were invited to the voluntary program based on need.
Classes are kept small, with the maximum class size being 12 students.
Alice Mason, who teaches students going into fifth grade in the enrichment program, hopes the experience will allow students to be more prepared when school starts.
"For some of the kids, it lessens the gap that occurs in the summer," Mason said. "Especially in Title 1 schools, you really see that gap when they come back."
The summer instruction time will give the students, many of whom struggle in their classes, a head start for next year, said Andrea O'Reilly, who is preparing students for third grade this summer.
This summer, students get ahead
Youngsters keep their minds fresh through Red Clay's enrichment classes
By JOSH SHANNON • The News Journal • June 28, 2009
http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200906280345/NEWS03/906280323
From the article:
For students in the Red Clay Consolidated School District's Summer Enrichment Program, this summer has not been the same as most.
The program, which began June 15 and runs through Wednesday, is designed to give students entering third through sixth grade a preview of the material they will be learning once the school year begins in late August.
"The focus is on pre-teaching for the following year," said Jodi Albers, district coordinator for the program. "It's not a 'Oh, you didn't make the cut, so we're going to stick you in summer school and shove it down your throat' kind of thing. It's a positive thing for kids to go to their next year and say, 'Oh, I learned this. I know this word.' "
The concept is different than the district's summer programs in past years, which focused largely on reteaching content in preparation to retake Delaware Student Testing Program exams, Albers said. The state cut funding for summer school because of budget constraints.
Now, the district is pushing a program designed to gear students up for the coming year, and it already has plans to expand the initiative next summer.
Teachers use some of the same units and themes they will use during the regular school year so students in the summer program already will be familiar with the concepts and vocabulary, she said. Lessons are heavily focused on vocabulary and reading comprehension, but students also get math instruction.
Funded by federal Title 1 grants, which support schools with a large percentage of low-income and at-risk children, the half-day program serves more than 300 students from around the district at the program's two locations -- Baltz and Warner Elementary in Wilmington. Students receive a free breakfast and lunch, also provided by federal funds.
Students were invited to the voluntary program based on need.
Classes are kept small, with the maximum class size being 12 students.
Alice Mason, who teaches students going into fifth grade in the enrichment program, hopes the experience will allow students to be more prepared when school starts.
"For some of the kids, it lessens the gap that occurs in the summer," Mason said. "Especially in Title 1 schools, you really see that gap when they come back."
The summer instruction time will give the students, many of whom struggle in their classes, a head start for next year, said Andrea O'Reilly, who is preparing students for third grade this summer.
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