How We Reform Schools: Bill Maher Versus John Legend

GOOD Education > Amanda M. Fairbanks on March 17, 2010 at 12:30 pm PDT

Ever since Central Falls High School in Rhode Island fired 93 teachers and staffers for poor performance, the debate around school reform has taken all sorts of interesting twists and turns.

President Obama voiced his support. Newsweek devoted a cover story to it, whose headline "The Key to Saving American Education," was nearly obscured by the subtle refrain: We must fire bad teachers. We must fire bad teachers. We must fire bad teachers.

If schools are failing, how do we reform them? And are teachers solely to blame?

Enter Bill Maher, stand-up comedian versus John Legend, pop star.

On Friday night's Real Time with Bill Maher, he criticized Obama's stance on backing the Rhode Island superintendent.

Some highlights of Maher's rebuke: “Let's not fire the teachers when students don't learn—let's fire the parents. Isn't it convenient that once again it turns out that the problem isn't us, and the fix is something that doesn't require us to change our behavior or spend any money?"

Full clip below:

Read more: http://www.good.is/post/how-we-reform-schools-bill-maher-versus-john-legend/#ixzz0icOmY2tk

Yesterday, John Legend responded by penning a letter to Maher for The Daily Beast. It began:

Hey Bill,

So, from one man without children to another, I think you were pretty off base in your closing monologue about education on Friday.

You were right about some things: Parental involvement really matters. Parents should turn off the TV, encourage reading, talk with their kids about their day, help with their homework, hold them accountable, and get involved in their education.

However, a child’s academic success does not only depend on parenting. Parents control what happens at home. But parents do not control what happens at school where students spend a large portion of their day being educated. Parents don’t determine whether the books are woefully out of date, whether the school and surrounding neighborhood are safe, whether there are too many kids in the classroom, and whether the teacher leading the classroom knows what they are doing. Individual parents can’t always influence those factors, especially when they themselves may be struggling in poverty or working double shifts just to make ends meet.

In the battle to reform schools, whose side are you on—Maher's or Legend's?


Read more: http://www.good.is/post/how-we-reform-schools-bill-maher-versus-john-legend/#ixzz0icPGysoo

NIEER - Early Ed hot topics 3/12

A First: Proposed National Standards for K-12 Math, English
Kindergartners should, among other things, be able to count to 100, says a set of proposed national learning standards released this week. The standards, drafted at the behest of the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, are an evidence-based list of what children should learn at each grade level. They are intended to replace the patchwork of standards that now exists across the country and enable more standardization of textbooks and testing. While some have criticized the effort as representing a step toward nationalizing education, most welcome it. Only Texas and Alaska chose not to participate. The public comment period runs until April 2.

Immunizing Kids for Flu Protects the Whole Community
A vaccination trial conducted in isolated Canadian Hutterite colonies found that immunizing children for the flu protected the entire community. Children ages 3 to 15 in 25 colonies received the flu vaccine while children of the same ages in 24 colonies received a hepatitis A vaccine instead. More than 10 percent of the people of all ages in the colonies receiving the placebo contracted the flu while less than 5 percent of those in treatment group colonies came down with it. Experts say the study confirms that when it comes to the flu, vaccinating children goes a long way toward conferring "herd immunity" on the entire community. It also affirms the wisdom of the Centers for Disease Control H1N1 flu shot recommendations that called for vaccinating children.

Impact of Poverty in Early Childhood Lasts Well into Adulthood
A study tracking the lives of children born between 1968 and 1975 found that poverty during the period when children are infants to age 5 has a lasting detrimental impact on outcomes related to attainment such as earnings and hours worked. Negative impacts from poverty during this early period could be measured as late as age 37. Subsequent periods of poverty, when children were older, had fewer effects. Greg Duncan, University of California, and colleagues found that an increase in income of $3,000 per year between a child’s prenatal year and fifth birthday is associated with 19 percent higher earnings and an increase in hours worked.

Pearson Report: Mobile Digital Devices Changing Early Literacy Dynamics
A new white paper by Arizona State University's Jay Blanchard and Terry Moore says that developmental milestones are changing as a new generation of young children approach learning and literacy in ways not thought possible in the past because of the availability of mobile digital devices such as cell phones. Funded by the Pearson Foundation, the report was released at the annual Consortium for School Networking international symposium. Blanchard says new opportunities to develop emergent literacy skills are occurring worldwide, in such disparate places as video game rooms in Mumbai, cybercafés in Nicaragua, and Internet-enabled schools in Senegal.

New Pew Report: Pre-K Teacher Training a Significant Factor in School Readiness
Teachers with bachelor’s degrees and specialized training in early childhood education support stronger social-emotional and cognitive development for children, says Linda Darling-Hammond, professor of education at Stanford and co-author of a new report from the Pew Center for the States. She and Danielle Gonzales, formerly of Pre-K Now, examined the research on pre-K teacher preparation, children's learning and program quality to determine how preparedness influences effectiveness. The report recommends that states move toward requiring a bachelor's degree and specialized training in early education, and highlights some models for doing so.

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New on Preschool Matters...Today!

Why School Reform Should Begin With Pre-K
The latest issue of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) quarterly journal American Educatorpost on Preschool Matters ... Today! features two articles devoted preschool education, including "The Promise of Preschool," by NIEER Co-Directors Ellen Frede and Steve Barnett. Read about it in today's blog

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Young Turks: Rewriting the textbooks

Behind the numbers

Don Wheeler

As I pored over the 2008-2009 Annual School Performance Report recently published by the South Bend Tribune I found a lot to think about.  We recently learned that the South Bend Community School Corporation realized a ten percent improvement in High School graduation in one year, which is great cause for celebration.  That sort of thing can’t happen solely because of what happens in the High Schools – it must start earlier.  The achievement would seem to indicate the whole SBCSC has made strides that really matter.

But when one throws in the No Child Left Behind program and the test scores which have been elevated to an almost dictatorial status, suddenly the waters muddy.  Suddenly it looks as though we’re actually doing worse.

I’m going to use examples of two particular schools – not because I think they are necessarily the best; rather, just that I know a bit more about them. 

Warren Primary Center on the west side and Hay Primary Center to the south are clearly two of the top non-magnet programs in the SBCSC.  Their test scores have historically topped state averages – but not in the most recent report.  Suddenly by this measure they have become inferior to mediocrity.

I know less about Warren than Hay, but here’s what I do know.   Someone I work with voiced great frustration last year because his son who attended Wilson Primary Center seemed to be doing fine but was told just ahead of summer break that he must attend summer school – or be held back.   Since Wilson is on probation, I suggested he look into other options for his son.  His son now attends Warren and by his father’s reports is doing fabulously well.  Other Warren parents seem happy too and last year’s Indiana Teacher Of  The Year, Tania Harman just happens to work there.

Our daughter is a First Grader at Hay.  My wife is Co-President of the PTO there.  We chose this school over all the magnet  programs and we’ve not been disappointed.  Principal Craig Haenes is not just an inspired administrator and team leader – he is the reason the Wilson LiPS reading program exists in the SBCSC.  Sarah’s teachers Debbie Fraser (this year) and Dixie Eichorst (last year) are dedicated, caring professionals.  The school flat feels good when you walk in the door.

But the test scores are down in both these schools – fairly dramatically over the prior year.  By this measure they would seem to be in crisis.  I don’t think they are.

I think that these schools are victims of their success – by test score standards.  Warren and Hay were designed to educate neighborhood kids and have done so with aplomb.  As nearby schools were designated as being in probationary status, both became destinations for students whose parents were looking for a better option.  Some of these students naturally had some learning deficits, so their test results would drag down the average numbers.

I sense this turn of events is a bit discouraging for educators at Warren and Hay.  But I hope they can hang with this and ride out an ill-conceived program to its death.   Getting kids a better opportunity for success at the cost of a lowered institutional test average seems like a fabulous trade-off to me.  Just as long as these folks doing what we absolutely need them to do aren’t penalized.

NIEER Feb. Hot Topics

Teach the Scientific Method in Pre-K? Here's How …
Two Rutgers University professors affiliated with NIEER have co-authored Preschool Pathways to Science, a new book that serves as a guide for implementing science in preschool classrooms. In addition to writing the book, Rochel Gelman, a NIEER scientific advisory board member known for her research on children's causal and quantitative reasoning, and Kim Brenneman, NIEER assistant research professor and lead author of the policy brief Math and Science in Preschool: Policies and Practice, are content advisers to the popular PBS show Sid the Science Kid. They explain in the video in this week's post on Preschool Matters … Today!

Mothers Influence How Children Develop Executive Functioning
A new longitudinal study finds that the way mothers act when they are playing and solving puzzles with their babies can explain some of the differences in how their children develop executive functions such as controlling impulses and showing mental flexibility. Children of moms who answered their children's requests for help quickly and accurately and talked to the kids about their thoughts and memories during play performed better on tasks requiring executive function.

Pew Center Report: How the Recession Might Change States
The states are running out of short-term fixes for the deficits plaguing most of them, forcing them to consider downsizing government and re-examining delivery of services and outdated tax policies, says the State of the States 2010 report just out from The Pew Center on the States. It takes a clear-eyed look at the economic drama unfolding in many states and predicts it will take years for states to return to normal in part because the recession reduced the base for future revenue for many states.

Art Rolnick to Retire from Minneapolis Fed This Summer
The Star Tribune reports that Art Rolnick, senior VP and director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, is retiring from the bank in July after 40 years of service. Rolnick, who has focused attention on cost-benefit analysis of early childhood education, will become co-director of the Human Capital Resource Collaborative at the Humphrey Institute, University of Minnesota. He said he hopes to raise funds and develop pilot early education programs in Minneapolis, his home town of Detroit, and perhaps other cities.

Online Early Ed Degrees Seventh Most Sought After
The distance education web portal eLearners.com says that online degree programs for early childhood education rank seventh on its list of top 10 online degree searches. The company says it has seen an increase in searches for the "helping professions" since the downturn in the economy began.

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New on nieer.org

State Pre-K: Will Tight Budgets Threaten Progress?
In the latest issue of Preschool Matters, NIEER looks at state budgets and preschool education, one of many areas where the funding progress seen in recent years has taken a considerable blow. Other articles in the new issue include:
• Yet More Evidence: Time to Beef Up Math and Science in Pre-K
• Long-Term Studies Show Lasting Gains from Pre-K
• The Benefits of Investments in Early Development Around the Globe
• Preschool's Role in Fighting Childhood Obesity

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