ACLU investigates Lee

A national probe of the way schools treat minorities and students with disabilities has made its way to Lee County.

The ACLU Racial Justice Project has raised concerns about the way schools use their alternative schools and has discovered some hot spots through its research. That's what brought its team to Lee, the Fort Myers News-Press reports.

Apparently, the group is conducting similar work in a handful of other Florida districts, too. But the paper didn't have any details. Do you?

Teachers, black males and cultural competence

Maybe if teachers were more culturally competent, fewer black males would be doing so poorly in school. So suggests a provocative draft report from the Florida Council on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys, a group formed by the Legislature last year that is now putting together its first report by a Dec. 15 deadline.

“This issue is critical,” says the draft, which The Gradebook obtained from the Florida Attorney General’s Office. “Just as teachers are tested on their academic/cognitive skills before they enter the profession, they need to also be tested in the affective and psycho-social domain as well. … Cultural competency and its impact on student success are as pervasive as the air we breathe and just as essential to the survival of those who are ‘different’ in the context of majority classrooms.”

Making gains

If NAEP results offer any valid measure, black students actually are showing strong progress in a system that's supposedly failing them, the Economic Policy Institute reports in a release titled "Significant gains in educational achievement by blacks go underappreciated."

Just look at fourth-grade math.

In 1990, the average score for white kids was 220, and for black kids it was 188 - that's a 32-point divide. In 2007, the average score for white fourth-graders was 248, and for black students it was 222 - a 26-point gap.

Even more noteworthy, the EPI points out, the black students' average score rose by 34 points - that's larger than the 1990 gap. And the trend is much the same for eighth graders.

"Educators and policy makers should celebrate these gains in academic performance by blacks and build on this success to improve performance in reading and further narrow the racial gaps," EPI economist Joydeep Roy concludes.

What works for English learners

When it comes to teaching kids who are still learning English, some elementary schools are missing the boat while others are making great strides. What's the difference? A new report looking at 237 California schools points to four key areas that seem to hold the key. And for the first time, the study doesn't just pit bilingual education against English-only or some other approach. Instead, it looks at effective classroom practices, something that Margarita Calderon, a key Johns Hopkins University researcher not associated with the report, called groundbreaking and compelling. What are the successful schools doing that the failing ones are not? Here's the list:

• Using student assessment data extensively to determine whether instruction is working for each students.
• Ensuring access to good teachers and instructional resources.
• Aligning the curriculum with state academic standards, within each grade level and between the grades.
• Setting measurable, ambitious goals for student achievement.

"It's all about what is happening in the classroom," Stanford University researcher Michael Kirst, who worked with EdSource on the report, told the Education Writers Association annual meeting in Los Angeles, where the report was released today.

Florida, which has its fair share of English learners, could learn a lot from this report and its findings. For instance, the study reveals that pull-out English language courses are more effective than having every classroom teacher get a "weak" English Language Learner credential - like Florida requires.

Whittling away the achievement gap

The rate at which minority students in Florida have taken Advanced Placement tests has risen rapidly over the past several years. The numbers, however, remain low in comparison to the overall total of students taking the college-level courses and exams. (Hey, it's pretty easy to get high percentage increases when the base is small - just 8,700 Florida minority students took AP tests in 1999, compared to about 26,000 white kids.) To boost participation even higher, lawmakers want the Florida Partnership for Minority and Underrepresented Student Achievement do more to identify and help teens get into the AP program and succeed. The Senate unanimously approved the bill (SB 108) this morning, and the House is to take up the identical lanugage (HB 403) this afternoon. Once participation rises enough, maybe someone will do something about the the success rates the students find on the AP exams. (Want to see how Florida students did on AP exams most recently? Click here for a report from the College Board.)

UPDATE: The House approved the identical bill unanimously Monday afternoon.

Urban school check-up

Inner city schools are making progress with some of the nation's most challenging students and appear to be chipping away at the achievement gap, according to a report released this morning by the Council of the Great City Schools. The council, which represents 67 of the nation’s biggest school districts, including Hillsborough (but not Pinellas), compared data on state tests between 2002 and 2006 and found more progress in math than reading, more progress in elementary than middle schools, more progress in some districts than others … but progress nonetheless.

Among fourth graders, for example, the council found 55 percent of inner-city fourth graders were proficient in reading in 2006, up from 43 percent in 2002, and that 77 percent of Great City districts narrowed the gap between black and white students over that period.

The reason? "The standards movement," the report says. "Urban schools know that it is not enough to assure people that we are working harder to meet high standards or to say that the public's money is worth the investment, although both are surely true. We must back up those assurances with results - concrete, verifiable documentation that our efforts to improve education in the cities are paying off and that the public's money is being well spent."

- Ron Matus, state education reporter

Today's news

CARING FOR COWS: St. Petersburg College is looking at a partnership with the University of Florida to create the state's second veterinary school.

HEADING DOWN THE HOMESTRETCH: And the Legislature still has much work to do. One key unresolved issue is whether to increase tuition for the state's universities. Lawmakers say yes, the governor says no.

FROM THE OP-ED PAGE: Florida's promise for high-quality universal prekindergarten is a promise unkept, the editorial board says. Maybe Gov. Charlie Crist can cash in on all the talk about improvement.

A DIFFICULT DEMAND: Florida, like all other states, is trying to fill its classrooms with highly qualified teachers - those who know their content area and have the right preparation, too. It's not proving easy, as nearly half of the state's new teachers don't have a degree in education, the Palm Beach Post reports.

A 'MORAL IMPERATIVE': A suburban New York school district pays extra attention to black boys to ease the achievement gap, offering special mentoring with black teachers, extra homework and cultural activities. Black girls were doing well enough and didn't need the attention, the New York Times reports.

HATE DETENTION? A Milwaukee-area school district lets kids work off their misdeeds cleaning the cafeteria, weeding the garden and performing other "soft labor" instead on Amnesty Day, the Journal-Sentinel reports.

Today's news

HIGH HOPES: Florida A&M stalwarts look to James Ammons to lead their school out of scandal and back to success. He's got a promising track record at North Carolina Central University. Already, Ammons has begun his work, meeting with Florida lawmakers despite not officially taking the reins until July. To read an exclusive interview with Ammons, click here.

WAYNE'S WORLD: Wayne Alexander is Hernando County's new schools superintendent. Coming from Connecticut, he offers his views about education, leadership and the Boston Red Sox.

DON'T SAY 'FAT': Parents, politicians and educators want overweight kids to lose the pounds. One way is to make it fun, rather than punishing. Another is to banish the oppressive words like 'fat' and 'diet.'

THE FIRST TO GO: The saying goes that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. So you've got to wonder what it means when schools eliminate recess so kids can prepare for FCAT. That's what is happening in Lee County, the Naples Daily News reports, and parents are not too happy.

FROM THE OP-ED PAGES: The Palm Beach Post argues that the House bill pushing "world class"  standards does anything but.

A BIG GAP: Black males in Bay County aren't meeting expectations in school. In third grade, for instance, just one black boy was reading at grade level on the FCAT. County officials are now trying to tackle the problem, the Panama City News Herald reports.

MARKETING 'HONORS': The teens are seeking an edge to get into college. The companies? Well, they're selling something that purports to carry significance. Some of them are just scams, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

THEY CALL IT CHEESE: It's really a mix of black tar heroin and crushed Tylenol PM. It sells for as little as $2 a hit. And the drug is becoming a big problem for Dallas public schools, the Dallas Morning News reports.

Today's news

FORGET EQUAL ACCESS: A group of black Pinellas County residents argues that black children deserve special treatment as a group if the district truly intends to eliminate the achievement gap. School district officials contend that a color-blind approach is better. A lawsuit exploring the issue is set for trial July 9.

DO YOU KNOW MAX THOMPSON? Pasco County teachers do. They're training in his teaching methods, which the school district has adopted for everyone to use, at a cost of $4.5-million. Some love the system. Some are so upset they've filed a grievance against its implementation.

DISAPPOINTED AND ANGRY: Students of the Richard Milburn Academy and their parents decry the loss of their charter high school, which closes in June. It had been their only alternative to the mainstream Pasco County school system.

NOT QUITE A DEGREE: The University of Florida finds a way to honor former governor Jeb Bush, after all. The school makes him an honorary alum, even though he couldn't find a way to earn his honorary degree.

TEACHER TALK: Often isolated in their classrooms, teachers increasingly turn to blogs, listservs and other forms of electronic communication to keep up with their peers and their profession, the Miami Herald reports.

CHARTER SCHOOL PAINS: The publicly funded, privately run schools serve a smaller proportion of poor, minority and disabled students now than when the movement began a decade ago, the Orlando Sentinel reports. That despite the state's recent brag that charters help close the achievement gap because of their diversity.

A GOOD TEACHER IS HARD TO FIND: So Duval County is joining a growing list of districts looking overseas to fill the ranks, the Florida Times-Union reports.

A TEST YOU CAN'T STUDY FOR: A growing number of school districts adopt random drug testing for students who want to participate in extracurriculars. The New York Times looks at the pros and cons, noting several studies question whether the policy actually works.

Challenge to educate Hispanics

The National Education Association released a report on the status of Hispanics in education today. Some of its key findings include:

•   The high school and college completion rates among Hispanics, though up from 1970 and 2004, still lag far behind the completion rates of whites.

•   Hispanic student scores in the National Assessment of Educational Progress between 1990 and 2005 improved in math and reading, but not enough to close the large achievement gap. Notably, less than half of Hispanic fourth-graders have achieved a basic level of reading performance on the test.

To make up ground, the group offers some recommendations. These include reducing class sizes; creating new classroom strategies to engage Hispanic students, and enhancing teacher preparation and professional development to better understand the culture of Hispanic students and to help students master English. The group also calls for better relationships between parents, the community and schools, and for more money to support education initiatives for Hispanic children.

This is a big deal in Florida, where the Hispanic population continues to grow. Any thoughts about the best course of action to overcome the gaps the NEA has identified?

Today's news

THEY COME BACK: To lure the most experienced teachers to the neediest schools, Hillsborough County pays "combat pay" - a 10 percent bonus on top of the base salary. The money has drawn some of the county's top teachers and, perhaps more important, kept them at schools that in the past had high turnover rates. The jury is still out on how achievement is affected.

HELPING TO ACHIEVE DREAMS: The High School/High Tech program gives teens with disabilities the education they need to make the transition from school to work. The Orlando Sentinel looks at how it's working at a Lake County high school.

FINDING TIME FOR ART: If it's not FCAT, it's the class-size amendment or something else. With so many demands coming down from Tallahassee, it's not easy to fit in arts education, some teachers tell the Palm Beach Post.

AT HOME, RELAXING: That's where you might find many Duval County high school upperclassmen during FCAT, the Florida Times-Union reports. They don't have to take the test, so they don't show up. District officials are seeking to change that.

IS IT RIGOR? Or just course-title inflation? A U.S. Department of Education report shows that more black students take a high school curriculum of "mid-level" difficulty than do white students, the Washington Post reports.

Today's news

HOMELESS: They live in hotels, cars and borrowed corners. They often have to move at a moment's notice. School sometimes provides the best hours of their lives. Reporter Donna Winchester explores the life of children who have homework, but no home.

TAXING QUESTION: Pinellas County voters approved a special tax 2-1/2 years ago to bolster the teacher salaries. The tax expires in about 18 months, and district officials are wondering whether the community is willing to renew the tax.

SURPRISE CHAMPS: Few expected the Lacoochee Eagles Special Olympics basketball team to go far. But the youngsters have become a source of pride for, this, one of Pasco County's poorest communities, as they head to the state championships on Friday.

READY TO REACH OUT: Looking for new ways to help kids who don't like school, Pasco County education and civic leaders visited the much touted Okaloosa County CHOICE program of career and technical institutes. Their reaction: "Blown away" and ready to jump on board.

GENDERS DIVIDED: And they're just fine, educators at a Fort Pierce middle school tell the Stuart News. "We have found it reduces the number of distractions and increases the time on task," teacher Katie Shook says.

RACES DIVIDED: The principal of a northern California high school split students by race while announcing test results. He said it was to keep harassment down, NPR reports. The decision has sparked some heated debate.

TEACHING THE TEST: Is it right to give extra help to some kids but not to others? Is it proper to ignore regular lessons to teach children how to stay focused on a test? The Washington Post explores the questions behind test ethics amid on Maryland district's efforts to make "adequate yearly progress."

Today's news

FORGET DARE: The days of just saying no to drugs have nearly evaporated, as schools turn their attention to attackers and sexual predators. A Citrus County elementary school is piloting a new program to teach youngsters how to evade people who are trying to harm them.

LIFE AFTER FCAT: Once teens pass the 10th-grade version of the test, they don't have to sit through it again. One Hernando County high school has them attend seminars on college, or volunteer in the community, while the rest of the students take the test.

MORE STAR: The Pasco School Board pre-empts a teacher vote by opting out of the performance pay program on its own. Palm Beach goes the other way, the Sun-Sentinel reports, saying the money is too good to pass up.

NOT GOOD ENOUGH: The ACLU is threatening to sue the Palm Beach County school district over the No Child Left Behind Law, the Sun-Sentinel reports. Their complaint? Some children are being left behind.

RETHINKING FRENCH: Schools are paying a lot of attention to Chinese as the language to learn these days. Spanish remains importante, tambien. But French is losing ground. One Maryland school district is embroiled in a controversy over rumors that the romance language is on its way out, the Washington Post reports.

PARENT IN CHIEF: The New York City school system now has a top parent, appointed by the mayor, to make sure parents' concerns and complaints aren't overlooked, the NY Times reports. The job pays $150,000.

ICKY SCIENCE PROJECT ALERT: A suburban-D.C. teen was fascinated with mud. Now he's experimenting with sewage, aiming to create an alternative fuel source, the Washington Post reports.

MIAMI A MODEL: Surprise. The once infamous school district now greets education reformers from all over the country who are looking for ways to improve their schools, too, the Miami Herald reports.

NEVER TOO OLD: Jean "Grandma" Evans, 61, raises three grandchildren and, in her "spare time" volunteers at Forest Hills Elementary in Citrus County. For her hard work, she's been named outstanding senior volunteer in a 19-county region of northern Florida.

Today's news

FALLEN STAR: Everyone who knows Anthony Giancola, the disgraced now-former principal of Tampa's Van Buren Middle School, expressed shock at his Thursday arrest. They knew him as a top educator and community activist, not a crack smoker who wanted a hit in his office while students took classes outside. Giancola, who resigned Friday, proved like so many others with hidden problems, that you can be both.

REAL STAR: James Gibbs III is Hillsborough County's teacher of the year. He encourages his students to strive for perfection at Burns Middle School in Brandon.

DOWNWARD DOG BEFORE MATH: When stress gets to consuming, a Broward County elementary school turns to yoga for relaxation, the Miami Herald reports. The school kicks it up a notch when FCAT rolls around. Breathe in and stretch.

SPEAKING OF FCAT ... Kids start taking the test Monday. The Sun-Sentinel reports that many educators, parents and children consider this year's stakes higher than ever.

END OF DESEG IN LITTLE ROCK: The case began while Dwight Eisenhower was president, and troops had to escort black children into all-white schools. A judge now says the Little Rock schools have met their burden in providing an equal education in a unified system, the Associated Press reports. Here's the New York Times version.

Today's news

FIX THE HIGH SCHOOLS: The Gradebook reported yesterday about the sorry state of high schools, as evidenced by two national reports. Today, Times reporter Tom Tobin gives a fuller accounting of what the experts say needs to be done. And here's the LA Times story on the issue.

DRUG STING SNARES PRINCIPAL: In his own school, while classes were in session, the principal of Tampa's Van Buren Middle decided it was the right time to buy and try to use $20 of crack. The seller was an undercover cop, and the principal ended up giving his students an up close look at an arrest.

MORE STAR: Hernando County's School Board imposed a plan on its teachers, who had declared impasse. Pasco County negotiators reached an agreement and hope the state will accept it without union and school board ratification. The common theme: No one likes STAR and they are doing it reluctantly. Sen. Don Gaetz, chair of the Senate Education Committee, says he and his House counterpart hear the complaints and want to make changes. Read more here.

EXPANSION PLANS: The growing Pasco County school district wins approval for a needed high school site, over neighbors' objections. The growing Hillsborough County school district explores its options for a needed high school, looking to possibly reuse an old courthouse.

SPELLINGS VISIT: The nation's education chief dropped by Tampa for a visit. For the Department of Education's version of events, click here.

GOVERNOR'S ED BUDGET: Gov. Charlie Crist released his budget weeks ago, but only yesterday did he get around to holding a press conference to talk about what he wants to do for Florida schools. Here's the Fort Myers News-Press report.

RECOGNIZE YOURSELF? PTAs are getting corporate in their efforts to raise cash for schools, the New York Times reports.

OPPOSE NCLB? Lots of educators say they do. But the Fairfax County (Va.) School Board is doing something about it, refusing to test English language learners on reading before they're ready, the Washington Post reports. The district could lose millions. Not quite the same response as all those Florida school districts that are imposing performance pay plans they say they despise.