***INTERNATIONAL TEST SCORES: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW***

International test scores were released this week. Soon we will begin to hear that familiar tagline on the nightly news,”U.S. students lag other nations.”

Here are three things that you need to know but will not get from the mainstream media:

1) Out of the world’s 35 developed nations — the same nations that our test scores are compared to — the U.S. has the second-highest percentage of children living below the poverty line. Only one other country has a higher percentage of impoverished kids: Romania…..Yes, Romania.

2) Research overwhelmingly proves that poverty is linked to student performance: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/12/opinion/the-unaddressed-link-between-poverty-and-education.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

3) In the U.S., all children are guaranteed the right to be enrolled in public schools. No exceptions. This is a foundation of our democracy. Also, all students who are enrolled in American public schools are required to take these tests — even children with special needs. And, yes, all scores are officially reported: the good, the bad and the ugly. Yet, we compare ourselves to places like China, where hundreds of thousands of students are turned away from “public” schools and only the highest test scores are officially reported.

As you can see, this is not apples-to-apples.

In fact, it’s more like apples-to-corrupt dictatorships.

These flawed international comparisons are what led to the current era of high-stakes standardized testing that we now live in.

It started out as “No Child Left Behind”. Then they changed the name to “Race To The Top”. Now they are getting ready to change it again. “The Common Core State Standards”, they are calling it, and it will come with the same, punitive tests as before.

Who are “They”?

“They” are the politicos, the hucksters, the Beltway think-tankers, the left and the right; the oligarchs, the bureaucrats, the blue-bloods, the elite, the “smartest people in America.”

“They” are not the auto technician who works fifty hours a week while finding the time to coach Little League and attend PTA meetings.

“They” are not the single Mom working on two jobs and a nursing degree who takes great pride in the high-poverty neighborhood public school where her children attend and whose teachers she adores, only to see them constantly threatened and labeled by “them” as failing.

“They” are out of touch, yet they are imposing their hair-brained schemes on our children.

Enough is enough.

Call your state legislator today and ask him or her to put a moratorium on high-stakes testing.

After all, we are still a democracy, right?

At this point, I honestly don’t know the answer to that question.

However, I do know that you and I have the power to find out by communicating with our elected officials.

PSW

 

 

 

 

**PUBLIC SCHOOL SHOCKER!!*

The MHS Academic Team. From left: Scott Ellis, John Price, Pearson Kelly, Chris Cross and Kyler Drury.

This group of teenagers might have just started a revolution.

Last weekend, the Meridian High School Academic Team came in 2nd place at a statewide competition.

Here is an excerpt from the official press release:

“Congratulations to the Meridian High School Academic Team!! On Saturday the Academic Team finished in 2nd Place at the Madison Central Fall Classic. The Wildcat Academic Team defeated Columbia Academy, Tupelo High School, and Jackson Academy twice before losing to St. Andrews Episcopal in the championship final.”

Now, here is where the press release ends and my words begin….

Jackson Academy, a mostly white, low-poverty private school with a stellar academic reputation, was defeated not once but twice by MHS, a mostly black, high-poverty public school with a not-so-stellar academic reputation.

Most people believe that schools like Meridian High are academically inferior to schools like Jackson Academy. You know it and I know it. This is what most people think.

Well, the MHS Academic Team just proved most people wrong.

The federal government, state legislature and state department of education tell us that Meridian High School is mediocre by giving us a “C” rating.

The MHS Academic Team just proved all of them wrong.

For decades, the national media, D.C. think tanks and blue-blooded political elites have fed the American people an orchestrated, false narrative: Public education has failed. This narrative has been exacerbated in recent years by ideologues who promote the false, self-destructive notion that anything having to do with government, aka public education, is bad.

Yet, in one day, these five young scholars proved all of them wrong.

This is not boasting.

This is a call for truth.

This is not a claim of public school superiority.

This is a call for community.

Let the revolution begin.

PSW

**COMMON CORE: SAME OL’, SAME OL’**

Last night I attended the Meridian stop of Interim State Superintendent Dr. Lynn House’ s statewide Common Core tour. After months of personal indecision over whether or not “The Core” will be a good thing, I’ve finally come to a conclusion: same ol’, same ol’.

This is not the radical change in education that many on both sides of the debate are claiming it to be. In fact, it’s the same ol’ flawed practice of using a single test as the end-all-be-all measurement of student performance that we’ve seen since “No Child Left Behind” was ushered in more than a decade ago.

The only thing changing is the test.

It will be harder. Much harder.

Yes, even though our current state reading test for fourth graders is the seventh most difficult 4th grade reading test in the nation……

And, yes, even though our current 4th grade Math test is the 23rd most difficult 4th grade Math test in the nation(ahead of states like California at 26th, Texas at 38th and New York at 45th)……….

….the Magnolia State, through Common Core, is getting ready to make these tests even harder.

What a terrible idea.

Expect test scores to plummet across the board, just as they have in the states that are already seeing results.

High-poverty children — already branded as “failures” by the twisted, yet legislated, name-calling of school accountability labels — will be hurt the worst.

Just as troubling, still, is the fact that Common Core is a double-down on the mythical idea that a school’s performance can be measured by a single test.

I was hoping, perhaps foolishly, that we might see some new “tests” with Common Core; tests that would measure “skills” like sportsmanship, compassion, civic involvement, kindness, abstract creativity and teamwork.

I was wrong.

In the real, day-to-day world of public school classrooms, businesses and life, such skills are vital — no less than being able to read, add and subtract.

But, then again, the politicians and policy wonks who hatch and promote ideas like No Child Left Behind and Common Core don’t live in the real world, do they?

Same ol’, same ol’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Name That School

Business and Technology Courses:

Accounting
Advanced Programming
Advanced Software Topics
Computer Applications
Desktop Publishing
Digital Media Design
Digital Photography
Digital Video
Graphic Design
Innovative Applications Using Technology
Keyboarding
Financial Technology
Multimedia Projects
Programming I – Beginning
Programming I – Foundations
Programming II
Telecommunications
Research Using Technology’s Information Tools
Web Page Design
Word Processing

Fine Arts — Visual:

Art 1
Art II
Painting I
Painting II
Drawing I
Drawing II
Ceramics I
Ceramics II
AP Studio Art
AP Drawing Portfolio
AP 2-D Design Portfolio
AP 3-D Design Portfolio
AP Art History

Fine Arts — Performing:

Theater I
Theater II
Theater III
Theater IV
Theater Production
Oral Interpretation
MHS Band, Level I, II, III, IV(Marching Band)
Instrumental Band, Level I, II, III, IV(Concert Band)
General Music
Jazz Band
Freshmen Singers
MHS Concert Choir
Piano
Guitar 1
Guitar 2
AP Music Theory

Foreign Language:

Spanish I
Spanish II
Spanish III — Honors
French I
French II

General Electives:

Driver’s Education
Family Dynamics
Health Education
Physical Education
Aerobics
Team Sports

Language Arts:

Compensatory Reading I and II
English I
English II
English III
English IV
Honors English I
Honors English II
Honors English III
Honors English IV
AP English IV
Creative Writing
African-American Literature
Mythology
Short Stories
Twentieth Century Literature
Public Speaking

ROTC:

JROTC Leadership and Education Training Program I, II, III, and IV

Mathematics

AP Calculus
Honors Calculus
Advanced Algebra
Honors Pre-Calculus
Honors Trigonometry
Trigonometry
Honors Algebra II
Algebra II
Survey of Mathematical Topics
Geometry
Algebra I
Transition to Algebra
Pre-Algebra
Compensatory Mathematics I and II
Statistics

Science:

Intro. to Biology
Biology I
Biology II
Physical Science
Human Anatomy and Physiology
Chemistry I
Honors Chemistry I
AP Chemistry
Honors Physics
AP Biology
Zoology
Botany
Genetics
Earth Science

Social Studies:

Mississippi Studies
Geography
World History From The Age of Enlightenment to the Present
Honors World History From the Age of Enlightenment to the Present
AP European History
US History (1877 to Present)
AP US History
Economics
Honors Economics
US Government
Honors US Government
AP US Government and Politics
Psychology
Sociology
Law Related Education
Minority Studies
Humanities I
Humanities II

Ross Collins Career and Technical Center:

Architecture/Drafting I
Drafting II
Automotive Service I
Automotive Service II
Business Fundamentals(Marketing I)
Marketing II
Career Pathway Experience
Construction I(Electrical)
Electrical II
Construction I(Carpentry)
Carpentry II
Collision Repair I
Collision Repair II
Culinary and Related Foods Technology I
Culinary and Related Foods Technology II
Health Science I
Health Science II
Information Technology
Teacher Academy
Welding Technology

— Average non-elective class size: 19

— 52% of teachers hold a Master’s degree or higher.

— No tuition.

— Not a college.

— Not a charter school.

— This is Meridian High School, a traditional Mississippi public High School.

PSW

CHARTER SCHOOLS, TAKE TWO.

A new year is about to begin, along with a new attempt to create publicly funded, privately managed charter schools in Mississippi.

Despite the legislature’s failed attempt to pass a charter school bill in 2012, which was due in large part to stiff resistance from educators and parents from across the state, charter proponents will be at it again in 2013.

Indeed, unlike our neighbors in Alabama, whose elected officials actually listened to their constituents’ well-founded objections to the return of separate and unequal public education to the Yellowhammer State, Mississippi’s political class has taken the opposite approach by essentially saying “To hell with what the people think”.

The facts surrounding charter schools remain unchanged, and you can find plenty of them here, here, and here.

School choice has existed in Mississippi for over a decade now.

Teach for America really wants charter schools in our state.

Wal-Mart and Microsoft really want charter schools in every state.

Charter schools do not offer real, honest competition.

And, yes, two essential questions still linger unanswered:

1) What happens to the kids who don’t get in to the charter school?

2) Why not strengthen all of Mississippi’s public schools?

I urge you to ask our elected officials in Jackson these questions.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

PSW

 

 

A few words on Newtown.

Last Friday morning in Newtown, Connecticut, twenty innocent children were murdered in cold blood. Six of their teachers were also killed.

I have spent a lot of time on this blog bragging about the students and teachers who populate our nation’s public schools. I have done so with anger towards those who wish to tear down our teachers and students.

But, today, I am not angry.

Today, I am simply heartbroken, deflated and disappointed.

How little and petty my feelings are compared to what those parents are going through in Connecticut right now. How utterly clueless I am….

Yet, still, I grieve.

Every school teacher and every administrator in America would have done the same thing that those heroic staff members did at Sandy Hook Elementary.

Every. Single. One.

Please keep that in mind the next time you hear someone bash America’s schools.

May these names be burned into our collective conscience for many years to come:

Charlotte Bacon, 6

Daniel Barden, 7

Olivia Engel, 6

Josephine Gay, 7

Ana Marquez-Greene, 6

Dylan Hockley, 6

Madeleine Hsu, 6

Catherine Hubbard, 6

Chase Kowalski, 7

Jesse Lewis, 6

James Mattioli, 6

Grace McDonnell, 7

Emilie Parker, 6

Jack Pinto, 6

Noah Pozner, 6

Caroline Previdi, 6

Jessica Rekos, 6

Avielle Richman, 6

Benjamin Wheeler, 6

Allison N. Wyatt, 6

Rachel Davino, 29

Teacher

Dawn Hochsprung, 47

School principal

Nancy Lanza, 52

Mother of gunman

Anne Marie Murphy, 52

Teacher

Lauren Rousseau, 30

Teacher

Mary Sherlach, 56

School psychologist

Victoria Soto, 27

Teacher

“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us and, therefore, we ought to lay down our lives for one another.” 1 John 3:16

 

 

 

 

 

THE POWER OF SHOWING UP

Something profound took place on Tuesday, November 6th, 2012. It was a true act of civic duty, an authentic exercise in democracy.

It was something that can change history and affect lives. It costs nothing. In fact, all a person has to do is show up.

It was on this day that a friend and I toured our City’s public High School.

Yes, there was also a Presidential election on that day, but a public school tour is no less important, no less dramatic. In fact, a sixty-minute walk-through of your local public High School might have more of an impact on your community than the person or the party who presides from the Oval Office.

To say that public schools are important would be an understatement of the highest degree. Our country has a unique system of instruction, one that has been called “the greatest American idea”. Unlike many of the world’s industrialized nations, our public schools are open to all children; free of charge and regardless of race, religion, income or learning style. They are microcosms of raw democracy; required by law to enroll all who apply and to provide the learning needs of every student — regardless of the space or complexities that are required to do so.

The reader may wonder how in the world a seemingly mundane school tour could be more dramatic than a Presidential election. The answer to this question can be found in the faces of Mr. Abdella’s History class, where we saw the diverse future of Meridian hanging onto his every word with laser-like focus, responding with intellectual comments and challenges that would rival the world’s greatest thinkers.

Indeed, it was dramatic to look into Mr. Berg’s Art class, where students were thoroughly engaged in the abstract creativity that is required of today’s modern, global economy; an economy that is based on scientific understanding while relying on the essential, complementary component of artistic innovation.

And, yes, it was dramatic to hear what was perhaps the most powerful lesson of the day, as Principal Victor Hubbard looked at us at the end of the tour and said, very thoughtfully, “Our students really do love to see visitors from the community.”

This wasn’t my first tour of a local school, but I left with the same, immeasurable impact that always occurs when I see “the greatest American idea” in action. I always tell people about these tours, and I do so with a profound hope that they, too, will visit one of our city’s schools and become inspired.

Inspiration is a powerful thing. It is larger than one person, even if that person is the President of the United States.

Big Money In Washington State

Charter schools are currently not allowed in Washington State. However, that may change this November when its residents vote on a ballot measure that, if passed, will open the state up to charter schools.

There are people with a lot of money who really, really want charter schools in Washington State. They want ’em bad. So bad that they’re pouring in millions of dollars in an effort to pass the measure.

One of them is the second wealthiest person on the planet. Another is the eighth wealthiest in the United States.

Here is the complete list:

http://www.pdc.wa.gov/MvcQuerySystem/CommitteeData/contributions?param=WUVTIFdDIDUwNw%3D%3D%3D%3D&year=2012&type=initiative

Got School Choice? Yep.

In 2001, the United States Congress passed a sweeping piece of education legislation known as “No Child Left Behind”. The law established an unprecedented emphasis on the relationship between federal funding and test scores.

There has been much talk over the last decade about the law, most of which has centered around the pros and cons of tying dollars to test results. We often hear catch-words such as “accountability” and “growth”.

However, a new phrase has emerged in the education discussion — “school choice”. Many are claiming that too many of America’s children are “trapped” in “failing schools” when, in fact, according to No Child Left Behind, children who are enrolled in “low-performing” schools are free to leave at any time.

I’ve been familiar with this part of the law for some time, but I recently decided to dig a little deeper, at least from a local perspective. I wanted to know:

1) How many of my city’s schools qualified for NCLB’s “school choice” provision in 2011-2012?

and

2) Of the students who were eligible, how many took advantage of it?

I contacted MPSD’s central office and discovered the following:

— Two out of the District’s ten schools qualified for school choice in ’11-’12: George W. Carver Middle School and Magnolia Middle School. Each were labeled by the State Department of Education as “Low-performing” or worse for two consecutive years.

— G.W. Carver showed a total enrollment of 370 students. Nine(9) of these students chose to enroll in a different school; about 2% of the school’s total population.

— Magnolia showed a total enrollment of 371. Like Carver, nine(9) Magnolia students chose to enroll in another school; about 2% of the school’s total population.

— In a school district with 6,254 students,  741 were eligible for school choice. However, of that 741, only 18 individuals chose to switch(2%).

— Keep in mind that the school choice provision has been available since 2001.

— I went on to ask the person at central office if space was limited to students wishing to transfer. Her answer was  “No. We would be required to provide choice regardless of the capacity of the receiving school.”

My investigation was complete. I learned a lot from it.

However, nagging questions remain:

If “school choice” is so wonderful, and if it already exists as an option, why aren’t more families taking advantage of it?

Perhaps many of our children’s “low-performing” schools aren’t truly deserving of a “low-performing” label?

Perhaps some schools face bigger challenges outside of the classroom than other schools?

Perhaps these challenges are partially reflected in test scores?

PSW

 

 

 

 

 

HOLDING HOLLYWOOD ACCOUNTABLE

I am not a film critic. But, after spending some time in recent years visiting with the students and teachers of my City’s public schools, I feel compelled to give my take on a film I saw this week called “Won’t Back Down”.

The movie opens in a stereotypical inner city school named Adams Elementary, which is “failing”. It is grey and lifeless. A teacher is texting instead of teaching. The class is running wild. A dyslexic student named Malia, who is the daughter of the main character, Jamie(Maggie Gylenhall), struggles to read the words on the chalkboard while the teacher ignores her.

Not only is the teacher lazy, she’s downright evil. She even shuts little Malia in a closet at one point in the movie. This teacher is a monster. She makes Stalin look like the Easter bunny.

With this character, we, the peons who live in the non-Hollywood world of public education, are immediately introduced to a glaring lie; a deeply offensive misrepresentation of the school teachers whom we entrust our children with.

The film and I were not getting off to a good start.

Later, we are introduced to another teacher, Mr. Perry. He, on the other hand, is the greatest thing since peanut butter. He plays the ukulele to his students as part of his lesson plans. His classroom is an educational utopia. Each of his students are engaged. They adore him. He is young and handsome.

He is the perfect teacher, stating that he came “straight to Adams from Teach For America”, which is, in fact, a real-life organization that provides a six-week summer training program to non-education majors who, in turn, enter public school classrooms as licensed teachers.

On the other hand, most of the other teachers at Adams Elementary are career educators. They are initially portrayed as washed-up and selfish; caring more about a paycheck than the well-being of their students. Here, the film offers yet another false portrayal.

To be sure, all of us probably had two or three mediocre teachers in school. However, it didn’t take long for me to realize the essential sales pitch of “Won’t Back Down” , which is that the majority of teachers are bad and that it is their fault alone when students struggle, regardless of outside factors. It is a sales pitch that is not based in fact, and one that clearly shows the film’s creators’ lack of long-term experience in having anything to do with public education.

Anyway, Jamie finds out about a parent-trigger law in which parents and teachers can petition to “take over” a school. She builds support from other parents and convinces the majority of Adams’ teachers that the new school will be perfect and wonderful.

The unions fight this effort. They even offer Jamie an under-the-table scholarship for dyslexic Malia to attend the private school across town, which is also portrayed as perfect and wonderful. Indeed, Jamie thinks long and hard about this seductive offer, and something else becomes clear to the viewer; that the film’s creators hold the assumption that suburban, private schools are inherently superior to urban public schools.

Jamie turns down the union’s offer. The film climaxes as she and the other “Parentroopers” arrive at the school board hearing that will determine whether or not Adams can be taken over and converted to some other type of school(the film never specifies exactly what type of school that would be).

At the board meeting, the parents are met with stiff opposition from union protestors, one of whom is holding up a sign that reads “Public School Advocate”. Thus, the film’s creators choose to label “public school advocates” like myself and the millions of other Americans who are willing to fight for our children as the enemy. If standing up to the stereotypes, lies and false premises of “Won’t Back Down” makes me and people like me the enemy, it is a label that I wear with honor.

The film concludes as the school board votes to approve the take-over of Adams Elementary. The parents are happy. The unions are mad.

The teachers who choose to remain undergo a puzzling transformation by buying-in to Jamie’s ridiculous assertion that they are the problem. They decide to try harder because, of course, they weren’t trying very hard before Jamie came along.

What a joke.

To say that I didn’t like the movie would be an understatement. However, I was glad to see that the film touched on the importance of parental and community involvement in our public schools.

Indeed, hopefully, some will see the film and be inspired to get involved, albeit in a constructive fashion that doesn’t pit parent against teacher, as the film would have them. More community-minded volunteers are truly needed in our schools. Our teachers and students will, in fact, be happier knowing that they have the full support of the communities which they serve.

And, yes, a misinformed few will likely go and see the film, believe its false and misguided suggestions, then demand new laws that will allow the creation of more “perfect and wonderful” schools, where every teacher is just like the young Mr. Perry and there are no problems whatsoever and everything is just so fantastic and so incredible that it’s just too good to be true……literally.

In this age of accountability labels, “Won’t Back Down” gets an F.

PSW