Getting serious about science

Chester E. Finn, Jr. / December 8, 2005

Science education in America is in trouble. "Discovery learning" is attacking on one flank and the Discovery Institute on the other. That's the core finding of our just-released State of State Science Standards 2005 appraisal by the eminent biologist Paul R. Gross, former head of the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole and former provost of the University of Virginia.

Fordham undertook similar studies in 1998 and 2000. Why do it again? Because much has changed in five years. Most states have revised or replaced (or launched) their standards to prepare for the testing in science that No Child Left Behind will soon mandate. Also at play are the forces of anti-science, particularly neo-creationists flying the banner of intelligent design.

Simultaneously, pressure is increasing to fix America's slipshod performance in science education . A recent National Academy of Sciences commission concludes that "Without high-quality, knowledge-intensive jobs and the innovative enterprises that lead to discovery and new technology, our economy will suffer and our people will face a lower standard of living." (See here for more.) In his best-selling book, The World is Flat, Thomas Friedman hammers the point: "The truth is, we are in a crisis now.... And this quiet crisis involves the steady erosion of America's scientific and engineering base, which has always been the source of American innovation and our rising standard of living." Safeguarding the nation's future means paying serious attention to science

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Getting serious about science

Starting fresh

December 8, 2005

On November 30, Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco signed legislation that transferred control of 102 New Orleans schools to state management. For now, most of the Big Easy's public schools remain closed. But when they re-open in the fall, many will do so as charter schools. The Wall Street Journal's editors report that "Some 20 charters have been approved so far, but more will be needed." Indeed. Both the Broad and Gates foundations, the KIPP Academy program, and Tulane University have all expressed interest in supporting some of New Orleans' schools. Gadfly hopes the city will seize this opportunity to do chartering properly. If the governor, state lawmakers, philanthropists, and parents continue forward and carry through, Bourbon Street may soon not be the only sector of the city filled with joyous noise. So, too, will the city's long-failing schools.

"Orleans school takeover is official," Times-Picayune, December 1, 2005

"A Louisiana Education," Wall Street Journal, December 2, 2005 (subscription required)

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Starting fresh

Urban brawl

December 8, 2005

People typically try to avoid unintended consequences, but there are exceptions. This might be one. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's move to take control of the L.A. Unified School District is leading some activists again to call for the break-up of the sprawling system, which serves at least 27 municipalities other than Los Angeles proper. The residents of these outlying communities currently vote for LAUSD's school board; if that board goes away, so would their say in district affairs. So they are threatening to secede—an action that could unintentionally lead to a happy ending for everyone. If secession goes forward, the City of Angels would finally have someone to hold accountable for the quality of its schools (the mayor). And the L.A. metro area would start to look more like, say, Boston's, where a relatively large number of suburban districts compete for parents and students, thus raising achievement (see here). With the potential for this conflict to yield such gains, here's hoping for an un-amicable resolution this holiday season.

"School Takeover Plan: Too Big an Assignment?" by Richard Fausset and Joel Rubin, Los Angeles Times, December 6, 2005

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Urban brawl

Going down with the ship

December 8, 2005

Baltimore's school district performed dismally on this past spring's state standardized tests but, rather than address the problem seriously, school administrators decided to go trendy. "When the boat is sinking," says the district's Frank DeStefano, "you don't follow the manual. You fix it." Enter Sally Mentor Hay, former chief academic officer of Denver public schools and her self-created pet project, Studio Course. Baltimore has instituted this curriculum in all of its 21 traditional middle schools, two of its alternative schools, and one K-8 school. Hay's "cutting-edge" approach redefines nouns as "stuff" and uses the magazine CosmoGIRL! (this month's feature: "Five Hot New Kisses") to teach reading. Hay claims that, in between articles about smooching and such, Studio Course addresses basic skills, just not right away. "The first thing is to build some fluency in writing, not shut it down with overemphasis on spelling and grammar.... That is not the focus. The focus is to get these kids to realize they have something to say." Getting kids to realize that they have something to say? Has Ms. Hay ever actually spent time with middle schoolers? Or heard of Instant-Messaging? LOL!
"Schools rush into change," by Sara Neufeld, Baltimore Sun, December 4, 2005

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Going down with the ship

Verboten goodies

December 8, 2005

Pity the grandmother who sends a bounty of oven-fresh cupcakes to the school bake sale. Grandma may have good intentions, but she and others of her ilk are inadvertently condemning America's school children to an obesity 'epidemic.' At least, that's what University of Minnesota professor Martha Kubik argues. She conducted a study linking schools that hold bake sales to more-obese student bodies. Perhaps. The good professor does acknowledge that 'her research doesn't prove that such food practices contribute to adolescent obesity.' A New Haven principal who has banned vending machines and insists his cafeteria serve only 'healthy food,' however, does see a link between less candy at school and few chubby kids in the hall. And he says the bon-bon ban has other positives - no candy wrappers, for example, so 'our hallways are impeccable.' Which leads Gadfly to wonder, where are all the banana peels and edamame pods? But at least one person stands up for Grandma. Another U of M professor, this one an expert in popular culture, says, 'Leave the ladies with the cupcakes alone!' Hear hear.

"Study links bake sales, weight problems," Boston Globe, December 5, 2005

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Verboten goodies

Our School: The Inspiring Story of Two Teachers, One Big Idea, and the School that Beat the Odds

Martin A. Davis, Jr. / December 8, 2005

Joanne Jacobs
Palgrave Macmillan2005

Christmas shopping for the education lover? Joanne Jacobs's new book is a gift that charter school boosters - and many others - would welcome. They will celebrate Jennifer Andaluz's and Greg Lippman's vision for educating underachieving Hispanic students in San Jose. Readers' spirits will soar as they follow the lives of those students in Downtown College Prep's first graduating class - all but one of whom went straight to college. (The holdout was a young lady who was offered admission to Wesleyan if she first agreed to attend an East Coast boarding school for one year - on full scholarship. She took the deal.) They'll even feel good for the ones who didn't make it to graduation day. Pedro, a bright but rebellious kid, was kicked out for bad behavior. "It was my fault," he admitted. But his sister's still in DCP and, largely because of Pedro's constant encouragement, she is determined not to make the same mistakes he did. But the book won't make charter supporters any surer about the future of the movement. DCP's success had as much to do with luck as with the founders' pluck.. What if Andaluz and Lippman had never met Father Mateo Sheedy, a dying priest who bought into their vision and provided them space for the school? Or what if they lacked the modest support of the San Jose Unified School District? Change any one of these factors, and

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Our School: The Inspiring Story of Two Teachers, One Big Idea, and the School that Beat the Odds

States Test Limits of Federal AYP Flexibility

Michael J. Petrilli / December 8, 2005

Naomi Chudowsky and Victor Chudowsky
Center on Education Policy
November 2005

Lowering standards and making tests easier aren't the only ways that states might seek to shield schools from the sunlight and sanctions of the No Child Left Behind Act (see here and here). They can also finagle their definitions of "adequate yearly progress" (AYP) and, according to this report  released last month by the Center on Education Policy (CEP), such sleight-of-hand is rampant. The report explains, in refreshingly clear language, how each state must create an AYP formula that, at its heart, delineates what proportion of a school's students (and subgroups) must reach the "proficient" level each year in order to stay off the "schools in need of improvement" list. By 2014, that proportion must rise to 100 percent. Early on, some states found ways to game this system. For example, several used the "balloon mortgage" approach to set their timelines, thereby delaying dramatic gains in achievement to as late a date as possible (see here). But states have since become even more creative. Forty-six of them now use a "confidence interval," which CEP defines as "a margin of error that creates a certain amount of 'wiggle room' around the test results...and makes it easier for a school to demonstrate AYP." Twenty-three states increased their "minimum subgroup sizes" in 2004 or 2005, making it more likely that subgroup scores - including those for African-American or

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States Test Limits of Federal AYP Flexibility