Archives for March 2009

It depends on who counts and how they count!

Tulsa World (www.tulsaworld.com/site) in an article by education reporter Andrea Eger, reported that the state of Oklahoma didn’t report “more than 1,000 state dropouts because of the way the agency defines its dropout rate. Many of these dropouts are exiting the classroom before they even reach high school.” The state doesn’t include them if the student hasn’t reached the ninth grade or is 19 years or older.

We need a national dropout measure. Many states do not report students who dropout of middle school. Some states only count those who dropout in the senior year. Some states report students who are in prison as dropouts while others do not.

Educators and researchers are aware that the largest group of students who dropout are transitional students — those students who are transferring from middle to high school (from the 8th or 9th grade to high school). Until we start accurately reporting who drops out and when we will continue to have schools and district “fudge’ the data.

Fifteen months ago today I began a blog in “Franklin’s Thoughts” and sent out my first newsletter. Since then 140,261 people have visited my website.

Back then I was not sure if there would be a second blog. I really was not sure I would be able to sustain it. But I have and it has been a rich and rewarding experience. It has kept me in touch with people who are interested in children, potential school dropouts, at-risk learners and education in general. There are very few educational blogs and I am glad that the educational community has accepted mine. I have had people forwarded to my website from my publisher, Eye on Education, the National Dropout Prevention Center, focus.ac, success4teachers.com, Amazon.com and a number of other sites and I would publicly like to thank them.

I know that not everyone who visits the website, spends a great deal of time reading it. But, I get 10-15 people commenting on each. Some challenge my views, many add their own perspective, and all are encouraging.

When I wrote the first, I was concerned that people would be highly critical. Did I get it right? Will people like it? Is the topic relevant? I worry much less about that now. Readers really like the letters in which reflect on the topic that most interest me.

If something is bothering me, I like to write about it. It forces me to research what others have said on the subject and in the process of reading and writing, I solidify my own views.

As expected, most readers come from the United States (63%) and Canada (4%) but people in MOROCCO, the PHILIPPINES, INDIA, UNITED KINGDOM, REPUBLIC OF KOREA, , BRAZIL, SPAIN, GERMANY, MALAYSIA, AUSTRALIA, SINGAPORE, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, MEXICO, IRELAND, SOUTH AFRICA, FIJI and FRANCE round out the top 20.

To readers, this website is copyright free and you should feel free in using any material you need to help you in helping children. Keep sending me comments, suggestions on what you would like to see my thoughts about and feedback, ([email protected]) both positive and negative. I do like to know that there are people who are reading this. Stay well, and stay in touch.
Franklin

The Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce Education Committee conducted a mini-summit at the Chamber’s Office on February 9, 2009. About 20 members of the committee attended the mini-summit.

“¢ Dropout problem has resulted in increased crime in our neighborhoods
“¢ Students’ attention span is short; this results in impatience
“¢ We need to provide more alternative schools
“¢ The social fabric of our society is disintegrating; this results in lack of direction for students
“¢ We are testing too much in the schools
“¢ Middle school students cannot see beyond themselves; difficult to get them focused.
“¢ Students learn differently, and this challenges teachers to teach differently.
“¢ Students do not see relevance in the curricula.
“¢ Bring business representatives to the classroom.
“¢ Information technology is not being used enough in the classrooms.
“¢ We need more career preparation classes.
“¢ Parents do not come to the schools to help the teachers.
“¢ We should require two years of national service from each student; we coddle our students too much.
“¢ The social norms have shifted; respect and responsibility seem to be lost.
“¢ We live in an entitlement society; students are not motivated.
“¢ There is quite a bit of apathy among our young people.
“¢ The parents are leaving too much of the responsibility of bringing up our youngsters to the schools.
“¢ Place financial resources into promoting parental responsibility.
“¢ Schools should market their services to the students; treat students as customers/clients.

The Census Bureau has reported that the percentage of American households with children under 18 living at home last year hit the lowest point “” 46% “” in half a century.

The trend reflects the aging of the Baby Boom generation and younger women having fewer children.

MORE STATS:
Few Americans live outside state where they were born.

In 2008, about 35.7 million families (46%) had children under 18 at home, down from 52% in 1950. The percentage peaked in 1963, when about 57% of families had children under 18 at home.

The data also show that about 67 million opposite-sex couples lived together in 2008; roughly one in 10 (6.8 million) were not married.

He adds that the economy will continue to affect family size: When cash-strapped workers have fewer dollars to feed another mouth, couples are likely to have fewer children, or none.

“¢There about 5.3 million “stay-at-home” mothers and 140,000 such fathers.

“¢The median age at first marriage was 27.4 years for men and 25.6 for women.

“¢Fewer women in their mid- to early 40s had children in 2008 (20%), up from 10% in 1976.

“¢The percentage of children with two parents at home varies: 85% of Asian children have two parents at home vs. 78% of white, 70% of Hispanic and 38% of black children.

The data come from the Census’ most recent Current Population Survey. It was conducted early last year with responses from about 100,000 American addresses.

A shift in family demographics could spell changes in local politics: Childless couples could be less willing to fund schools, for example, than other public needs. In addition with the population aging, many seniors do not support property tax increases to finance schools and school building.

I believe that it is imperative that school and school union leaders reach out to the community – businesses, chambers of commerce, policy makers and seniors to finance education. Obviously, it is not only the children (who will fund future community and senior services) who are at stake but the future of educators all over the nation.

My co-author, Dr. Tony Thacker and I will be presenting material from our two books, From At-Risk to Academic Excellence: What Successful Leaders Do and Creating School Cultures That Embrace Learning: What Successful Leaders Do at Alabama State University’s Southern Normal Campus at Brewton, Alabama. The theme of the conference is The Art of Leadership.

Dr. Thacker works for the Alabama Department of Education and is on the Alabama Governor’s Committee on High Quality Teaching.

If you are in the neighborhood of Brewton, come and say hello.

In the PISA (Program for International Student Assessment tests Examination given by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Finland consistently does well. In fact, in math, science, problem solving and reading comprehension, Finland’s 15-year-olds came out at or near the top in international tests given in 2000, 2003 and 2006. Finland beat the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, France, Germany, Russia and the United States. How has this small nation been able to do that and what can we learn from them? Let’s look at some of the data:

By the time Finland’s children complete the ninth grade, they speak three languages. They have studied algebra, geometry and statistics since the first grade. And they beat the pants off students from just about everywhere else in the world.

Even the least among Finnish students ““ the lowest 10 percent ““ beat their peers everywhere else.

What has enabled Finland to succeed?

“¢They established a single, national curriculum for all schools. No matter where you live in this small county, you get the same quality education.

“¢They expect good results from all students and providing extra teaching resources to get those results. Finland emphasizes creative problem-solving skills. Once students are familiar with the concepts of math, for example, they are expected to solve problems in front of the rest of the class. The goal of math education, in fact, is to equip students with both skills and logic so they can take responsibility for lifetime learning. Students having problems with the studies get special attention from tutors and remedial educators from the first until the last day of their education. Educators spend the most time and money on students in the seventh through ninth grades, because that’s where they see students having the most trouble with keeping academics a priority.

“¢They give well-trained teachers respect and freedom to teach. All of Finland’s teachers must have master’s degrees. Only one in 10 applicants seeking to major in education are accepted at Finland’s universities.

Finland has a much smaller and much more homogenous school population. Finland is also absorbing more immigrants. The Finns also realize that a decline in living standards is based on a poorly educated population. Even in the worst economic times, Finland has maintained spending for education in order to enhance its economic future. The system has critics, many of whom complain that Finland doesn’t do enough in the early years for its brightest students. And once they graduate from comprehensive school at the age of 15 or 16, some 14 percent of the boys drop out before completing upper secondary school ““ the 10th through 12th grades. Universities conduct tough entrance examinations, and nearly 70 percent of university students are female.

Reformers were convinced that Finland needed to stop putting students into different career tracks so early. By the end of the sixth grade, students and parents had to decide whether to take classes aimed at attending a university or a vocational school. The vocational track offered much easier math and science courses. The tracking system was changed in 1985. Students still choose whether to go into university or vocational prep schools, but not until they have completed ninth grade.

Source: Dallas newspaper, February 10, 2009