Wichita District, Union Clash Over Lesson Plans, Professional Development

The Wichita (KS) Eagle (5/3, Tobias, 73K) reports, "Representatives for the Wichita school district and the teachers union clashed Wednesday over elements of a contract proposal that would require teachers to keep written, detailed lesson plans. They also debated the role of mandated professional development for teachers, which district officials said is crucial to student achievement and union leaders said is often irrelevant."

Maine Ranks 12th For Number Of Male Teachers

With a personal interest angle, the Bangor (ME) Daily News (5/3, Steeves, 49K) says National Education Association data ranks Maine 12th nationally in 2011 for its percentage of male public school teachers (27%), compared to Kansas, which led the nation in its proportion of male public school teachers (33%), and Virginia, which had the lowest rate of male public school teachers (17.5%).

Teachers Face Challenges In Teaching Science Of Climate Change

PBS NewsHour (5/3) reports on "the challenges of teaching about climate science," reporting that many students "enter the classroom with preconceived notions about climate change." The piece features a teacher discussing the various sources students have for their conceptions about climate change, and their craving for "clarification," and notes that "in a recent survey by the National Science Teachers Association, teachers say they're facing skepticism about climate science; 82 percent of science teachers say they faced it from students, and 54 percent say they faced it from parents." The piece continues to profile the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, quoting the group's outreach director, Susan Buhr, saying, "Teachers in science classes are always going to want to talk about the science. And, increasingly, it's difficult for them to do so because of resistance from parents or from students to hearing about the evidence of climate science and climate change."

Maine School Set To Abandon Boys-Only Third Grade Program

The Lewiston (ME) Sun Journal (5/3, Steeves) reports, "The students in a boys-only third-grade class" at Camden-Rockport Elementary School in Lewiston, Maine, "likely will mix back in with the girls and their other male peers next year. The local curriculum committee plans to ask the school board to reintegrate the boys." The piece quotes assistant superintendent Elaine Nutter saying, "It has been very positive for the boys in the classroom. As we look at the end of the year we will look at learning for all of these students. They have done very well and it has a very nice climate to it when you go into the classroom. We feel it's been very effective. It was not intended to be a long-term program."

Idaho Districts Using Problem Solving-Based Math Curriculum

The Twin Falls (ID) Times-News (5/3, Wootton) reports that some schools in Twin Falls and Blaine County, Idaho, are using "Investigations in Number, Data, and Space," a critical thinking-based math curriculum which "follows national math trends by focusing more on problem-solving and concepts than strictly on algorithms - the set of instructions to solve a problem. Ted Popplewell, elementary programs director for the Twin Falls School District, said having a new math curriculum has meant more work for teachers this year." The piece notes that the use of such curricula is in line with the state's math initiative.

Report Finds NYC Charter Schools Enroll Less High-Needs Students

The New York Post (5/2, Gonen, 476K) says the New York City Charter School Center released its first "State of the Sector" report that shows charter schools "outperformed traditional public schools last year in every grade from 3 to 8 in math, and in every tested grade, except fifth, in English." But the report notes that "less than a third of the city's 136 charter schools enroll as many high-poverty and special-education students as their districts do, and just 4 percent of charter schools serve as many English Language Learners. It's the first time some of the critical components have come from the charter world itself."

Rise In Autism Classifications Prompts Call For More Training

Education Daily (5/2, Sherman) reports that despite a steadily declining number of IEPs being filed in recent years, the number of diagnoses of children with autism has risen. "Thus, although the number of students with IEPs has dropped by 4.8 percent since 2004, to 5.82 million, the number of such students who have an autism designation has grown by 122 percent, to 370,000, according to the Data Accountability Center. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also noted this trend," and VA8 Rep. Jim Moran (D) has proposed legislation to "would authorize demonstration grants to a district or group of districts that work with a nonprofit group or institution of higher education. The grants would pay for in-service training for teachers, paraprofessionals, and other staff; technical assistance; efforts to improve staff recruitment and retention; and programs to boost parental involvement."

California Columnist Pans Chronic Teacher Layoffs From State Funding Instability

Dan Walters writes in a column in the Modesto (CA) Bee (5/2) about California's law mandating that teachers be given pink slips by a certain date every years "if administrators and trustees believe cuts are needed to balance their budgets. Later this month, the districts must decide whether to continue or rescind those layoffs on the assumption that by then they'll know the state of their 2012-13 finances. That's problematic in any year, because the Legislature, which supplies most of the schools' money, typically doesn't settle the state budget until weeks or even months later." Walters describes the various laws and policies that make it difficult for administrators to predict the actual funding that they will receive, noting that the "mess precludes even diligent officials from making rational decisions about staffing levels, building maintenance or other cost factors."

Magnet Schools Evolve Into School Choice Option

Education Week (5/2, Fleming) reports that magnet schools in large districts, historically used too "desegregate racially divided districts," have "been forced to evolve, given legal barriers that bar using race to determine school enrollment and increasing pressure to provide more public school choices. In a post-desegregation era, many large districts like Chicago, Los Angeles, and Baltimore County, have maintained high numbers of magnet schools, even amid the economic downturn, and others are using magnets as a strategy to meet new goals around improving school quality." The piece describes the evolution of magnets in recent decades, noting that "though the federal funding stream for magnets, the Magnet School Assistance Program, MSAP, has remained relatively consistent the past few years at around $100 million annually, and magnet schools were listed as a 'turnaround strategy' in the reauthorization bill for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act introduced by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, the federal funding for charter schools is much higher."

Free Online Resources Challenge Textbook Industry's Dominance

The Washington Post (5/2, Chandler) reports on the use of free online resources in Montgomery County, Maryland, classrooms, citing teachers who say they use online content more than they use their assigned textbooks. "Enterprising teachers have long scoured the Internet for ways to improve on their textbooks or local curricula. Now, though, lessons accessed via the Web are proliferating in the classroom as never before and are challenging the position of the powerful education-publishing industry in public schools." The piece notes that ED has taken part in the push to "promote access to free instructional materials tied to the new standards," noting that Education Secretary Arne Duncan "lauded the 'tremendous transformational promise' of open resources. 'In America, what a child gets a chance to learn will no longer depend on their ZIP code,' he said in an online video."

Writer Calls For Separate Strategies For Black, Hispanic Students

In an op-ed in USA Today (5/2, 1.78M), author Richard Whitmire writes that student data indicate that Hispanic students are making strides in narrowing the education gap, but that black students "continue to lag." Whitmire concedes that Federal data shows a more equal progress among the groups, but states that "the trend doesn't appear in federal data" because it relies on standardized testing, and not on other metrics, such as college readiness data. He argues that this disparity indicates that "we need to stop lumping blacks and Hispanics together - both in terms of how we measure progress and in terms of policy - as 'students of color.' The groups have different education needs." Whitmire continues to describe the different approaches that successful schools have had in improving the performance of black or Hispanic populations, noting that "lumping the two groups together only shifts attention away from differing strategies that can work for each group."

Philadelphia Turnaround Plan Sparks Community Protest

The Philadelphia Daily News (5/1, Simon) reports, "About 200 people attended a quickly convened town-hall-style meeting at a church Sunday night to decry a Philadelphia School District plan that would close dozens of schools and shift thousands of students into charter schools." The piece notes that the plan calls for some 67 schools to be closed over the next five years, and for the central office being "dismantled." "In spirited speeches at the Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church, speakers encouraged listeners to let public officials know that they believe the proposed plan would not benefit the city's public education system."

CAP Paper Calls For Universal ELL Teacher Proficiency

Lesli A. Maxwell writes at the Education Week (5/1) "Learning the Language" blog that given high rates of non-English speaking students in the US, "it is reasonable to ask-and propose answers-to the question of whether every single teacher, regardless of grade level or discipline, needs to know how to meet the particular needs of ELLs. I hear it all the time from folks in the field-that until ALL teachers are trained in how to work with English-learners, these students, as a subgroup, will always trail far behind their native English-speaking peers. And that sentiment has grown especially strong since all but four states are moving ahead with putting the more rigorous common standards into practice." Maxwell points to a new paper from the Center for American Progress which argues that all general education teachers should have a foundation in their training geared toward ELL instruction.

Teachers In High-Minority Schools Sense Little Support

Education Daily (5/1, Gossman) reports that a new report from UCLA's Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles on teachers' perceptions about "race, stability, and socioeconomic status on school climate and students," suggesting that it "could inform the national and local K-12 policy debate as stakeholders awaiting ESEA reauthorization tackle student and teacher equity issues and achievement goals. 'Accompanying the profound transition among the school-aged population is a set of policy initiatives that heavily sanction schools and teachers struggling to meet the needs of their students. ... Instead of providing support and incentives for teachers who commit to working in hard-to-staff and under-resourced schools, we have adopted punitive measures that may discourage or derail long-term commitments to building inclusive school communities,'" the report says.

Colorado Rural After-School Program In Conflict With State Child Safety Laws

The Denver Post (5/1, Augé) profiles "Kids at Their Best," an after-school program in Wiggins, Colorado, intended to give rural children public speaking experience and to boost their confidence, noting that it is technically illegal. The piece notes that the program's creator, Jodi Walker, says that state child-care regulations favor urban districts, but that state officials counter that Walker is not making adequate efforts to protect children from convicted felons and other risks.