Department of Justice reviewing concerns at Toledo Public Schools

The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio are investigating Toledo Public Schools amid allegations of significant racial disparities in student discipline and issues with how the district provides services to English Language Learner students.

The Justice Department sent a letter to Toledo Public Schools requesting information about each time school officials called law enforcement for an incident on school grounds, details about each time the district received complaints about racial discrimination in student discipline since 2008, and a list of all students disciplined since 2009 for school infractions, listed by race, school, and other categories. They also requested information about how the district provides services to English Language Learners and how it distributes information to parents whose first language isn't English.

The new investigation follows a compliance review started in 2010 by the Education Department after complaints that predominantly black Scott High School offers few college-prep classes when compared to other schools.

Houston public school testing charter school techniques

Houston public schools are testing whether techniques proven successful in high-performing urban charters like those in KIPP can also help raise achievement in regular public schools. Working with Roland G. Fryer, a researcher at Harvard who studies the racial achievement gap, Houston officials last year embraced five key tenets of charters at nine district secondary schools; this fall, they are expanding the program to 11 elementary schools. A similar effort is beginning in Denver.

Dr. Fryer identified five policies common to successful charters, including those run by KIPP and the Harlem Children’s Zone: longer days and years; more rigorous and selective hiring of principals and teachers; frequent quizzes whose results determine what needs to be retaught; what he calls “high-dosage tutoring”; and a “no excuses” culture. The experiment, which is known as Apollo 20 and cost $19 million in its first year, has had mixed results.

South Dakota schools go to a 4-day week

A recent article in the Detroit News discusses how a rural school district has decided to go to a four-day school week to reduce costs and deal with South Dakota's education budget cuts. Superintendent Larry Johnke said that the $50,000 savings will preserve a vocational education program that otherwise would have been scrapped. The downsizing comes as schools in some larger cities like Chicago, are moving in the opposite direction.

Nearly 30% of Michigan teachers report pressure to cheat

A recent article in the Detroit Free Press discusses statistics taken from a volunteer survey that focused on the pressure on school educators to cheat on standardized tests. At schools that don't already meet the federal standards, the survey showed a 50% to change grades and 46% pressure to cheat on standardized tests.

Detroit Schools: Proposal to turn 41 schools to charter operators

An article on CNN describes how Detroit Public Schools has proposed turning over 41- low performing schools that were scheduled for a shut-down to charter operators. The Renaissance Plan 2012 would select operators to run the schools as public academies as with DPS as their authorizer.

Michigan approves plan to close half of Detroit schools

According to an article published on CNNMoney, Michigan has approved a proposal that calls for the closing of 70 Detroit public schools by 2014, leaving only 72 public schools open. As a result, high school class sizes are expected to jump to 60 students per class over the next few years. Robert Bobb, the emergency financial manager of the Detroit Public Schools acknowledges the current plan will drive parents and students away from the school system, which may translate into an additional financial squeeze. A spokesman for Mr. Bobb, stated that for every student that leaves the system, this means $7,660 less in state aid that they will receive.

Schools Facing Cuts if Lunches Aren’t Paid For

According to an article in the New York Times, New York city school principals are being encouraged by their Education Department to collect overdue lunch money or have it docked from their school budgets. This situation isn't just unique to New York. A school district in Albuquerque started serving cold sandwiches and milk to students whose parents had not paid what they owed. In Louisiana, some districts did not feed children with overdue accounts at all until the state legislature passed a law that required these children to at least be fed a snack. For students that were fed a snack at least three days in a row, districts were directed to notify child welfare authorities.

A September survey of the School Nutrition Association showed that during 2009-2010, 34% of school districts saw an increase from the previous year in the number of meals not paid for.

Friday Roundup

Here is a listing of articles of interest that have been published within the last 7-10 days:

Health

1. New medical school model: Adopt a family to treat, Jan 5, 2011, NPR.org

Brief Intro:"Medical education in the U.S. is going through a growth spurt. After decades without a single new school, five new medical schools have opened since 2009, and 10 more are being accredited — a response to the growing doctor shortage.

Besides producing more doctors, many of the new medical schools are also trying to reshape medical education. Florida International University's College of Medicine in Miami is one of these new schools. Its approach to rethinking medical school is a community-based medical curriculum."

2. Health spending rose in '09, but at a low rate, Jan. 5, 2011, NYT.com

Brief Intro:"Total national health spending grew by 4 percent in 2009, the slowest rate of increase in 50 years, as people lost their jobs, lost health insurance and deferred medical care, the federal government reported on Wednesday."

Poverty

1. To beat back poverty, pay the poor, Jan 3, 2011, NYT.com (opinion blog)

Brief Intro:"Several factors contribute to Brazil’s astounding feat. But a major part of Brazil’s achievement is due to a single social program that is now transforming how countries all over the world help their poor."

Immigrant populations

1. State lawmakers outline plans to end birthright citizenship draws outcry, Jan 5, 2011, NYT.com

Brief Intro:" Conservative legislators from five states opened a national campaign on Wednesday to end the automatic granting of American citizenship to children born in the United States of illegal immigrants."

Education

1. Math that moves: Schools embrace the iPad, Jan 4, 2011, NYT.com

Brief Intro:"A growing number of schools across the nation are embracing the iPad as the latest tool to teach Kafka in multimedia, history through “Jeopardy”-like games and math with step-by-step animation of complex problems."

2. Georgia facing a hard choice on free tuition, Jan 6, 2011, NYT.com

Brief Intro:"The largest merit-based college scholarship program in the United States offers any Georgia high school student with a B-average four years of free college tuition.

But the Hope scholarship program is about to be cut by a new governor and Legislature facing staggering financial troubles."

A Mission to Transform Baltimore’s Beaten Schools

A recent article in the New York Times discusses a mission to transform Baltimore's under performing schools. In 2007, the school board hired Dr. Alonso to head up the reorganization of the school system, which required the closing of some schools and the laying off of staff. While some disagree with Dr. Alonso's methods, since he was hired the school dropout rate has fallen by half.

D.C. schools dinner program aims to fight childhood hunger

According to an article in The Washington Post, D.C. public schools have started offering an early dinner to approximately 10,000 students, many of which are now receiving 3 meals a day from a school system looking to expand efforts to curb childhood hunger and poor nutrition. The program, which is estimated to cost the school system about $5.7 million this year, comes at a time of heightened concern about childhood poverty in the city. The dinner initiative has three goals: hedging against childhood hunger, reducing alarming rates of obesity and drawing more students to after-school programs.

Friday Roundup

Here is a listing of of articles of interest published within the last 7-10 days:

Health
1. Obesity traced to early eating habits, UPI.com, October 29, 2010
Brief Intro: Canadian researchers have found that food behaviors developed in early childhood may contribute to obesity. The study, published in the International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, suggests parents may be rewarding children for certain types of behavior. The research team recruited 1,730 4 and 5-year old Canadian children for the study.

2. Foodmakers pledge to fight obesity with clear package labels, Bloomberg.com, October 28, 2010
Brief Intro: The Food Marketing Institute and the Grocery Manufacturers Association announced a new voluntary labeling system. By developing a clear and easy to read label, it is hoped that it will help customer understanding and help parents and other shoppers identify and select products that contribute to a healthy diet, according to Ms. DeLancey, an FDA spokeswoman.

Education
1. In sharp rise, 47 city schools may close over performance, NYTimes.com, October 28, 2010
Brief Intro: The New York City Department of Education said that up to 47 schools may be closed for poor performance. The schools face a potential "phase-out", which means that the schools will stop accepting students and loses one grade per year until it ceases to exist.

2. School Diversity: The problems with economic integration, Yahoo News (Time.com), October 28, 2010
Brief Intro: In an article by Andrew Rotherham, he discusses the challenges of economic integration in education. In his opinion, he says that the U.S. has spent decades bringing low-income children to good schools. He believes that it may be best to realize the limitations and practical constraints of these approaches.

A call for providing e-readers to students

A short article on PBS' Need to Know blog discuses how Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York is calling for the provision of e-readers to public students. By Weiner's estimation, the use of digital textbooks could save public schools thousands of dollars by eliminating the purchase of print books that cost about $137/pupil in Weiner's home city of New York.

The switch to e-readers would of course be a big boon to manufacturers who are trying to reach a textbook market worth almost $10 billion.

CNN Article: A teacher shares his opinions on how to fix public schools

Bryon Ernest, an award-winning teacher, was interviewed by CNN for his opinions of how the public school system should be fixed. His nine ideas include:
1. Quality teachers should be in the classroom
2. Stop the testing obsession
3. Promote digital literacy
4. More teacher collaboration
5. Find alternative sources of funding
6. Improve parent-teacher relationships
7. Year-round schooling
8. Embrace creativity and risks
9. Meet basic needs