Archives for 2010

The recent suicide of Phoebe Prince who was literally bullied to death has caused me to republish an article that I was asked to write by a Mental Health Unit.  The death of one youth is one too many but when it is by suicide, it is even more painful.  For parents, educators, and teens, feel free to share this article.

YOUTH SUICIDE

Franklin P. Schargel

It doesn’t seem right that a young person between the ages of 11 and 19- who has lived for such a short time and has a long life ahead ““ would choose to die.  Look up “teenage suicide’ at google.com and you will find 1,100,000 “hits.” And with good reason:

DID YOU KNOW?

• In the next 24 hours 1,439 teens will attempt suicide.  As many as 250,000 adolescents made a serious unsuccessful effort to kill themselves last year.
• Every 90 minutes a teenager or young adult is successful in killing themselves.
• According to experts, suicide is the third leading cause of teenage deaths after automobile accidents and homicide.  Almost as many teens die from suicide as the fourth through the tenth leading causes of death combined.
• The suicide rate in the past 25 years has been decreasing, yet the rate for those between 15 and 24 has tripled. The adolescent suicide rate is nearly 33% higher than that of the overall population.
• Many youths have sought help in the month before the suicide.
• The ratio of male to female suicides is four to one.  However young women attempt suicide nine times more frequently. Guns are the most common means of suicide among males.  Pills are the most commonly used method of suicide for females.
• White males have had the highest increase in suicide, which rose 50% between 1970 & 1978.  The incidence for white females increased 12%.  Suicide among young blacks has also dramatically increased.
• Half of all children who have made one suicide attempt will make another, sometimes as many as two a year until they succeed.

WHAT ARE THE CAUSES?

Depression- A teen that is feeling suicidal may see no other way out of their problems, no other escape from emotional pain or no one to whom they can communicate about how they feel.  Depression expresses itself in a variety of ways including:  changes in appetite; chances in activity level; loss of sleep; lack on interest in activities that normally give pleasure; social withdrawal; and thoughts of death or punishment.

Substance Abuse Problems– Alcohol and some drugs are depressants.  Youths who are depressed may take these substances thinking that they will help ease the pain.  In reality, they make the situation worse.  They may limit their ability to assess risk, cloud their judgment, make good choices and think of solutions to their problems.

Teenage Stress ““ There are many pressures on teenagers – one’s that they have never experience before.  These include social, academic and personal, sexuality and relationship pressures. Some teens struggle with weight and eating problems, while others face learning difficulties in school. Getting in trouble in school or with the law, fighting with parents are risk factors for suicide.  A traumatic event like a breakup, failing a test, an unintended pregnancy or getting into an accident can bring on suicidal tendencies.

Violence ““ There is more violence in the newspapers, on television, on electronic games and in the movies.  Many children live in increasingly violent neighborhoods.  There is increased violence in the homes including familial violence and sexual abuse.  And it is easier to get the tools (guns and pills) of suicide.  If there is a gun in the home, youths are 5 times more likely to commit suicide than in homes without a gun.

Lack of parental interest – Many children grow up in single ““parent households.  Others have two working parents. According to one study, 90% of suicidal teenagers believed their families did not understand them.

Data show that families are spending less time together and more of our young people are spending more and more time in front of television screens.

WHAT ARE THE WARNING SIGNS?

The list below lists the most prevalent causes of youth suicide.  The list is not all-inclusive but should assist educators in identifying the most common warning signs. Not all youngsters who exhibit these signs will commit suicide.  However the greater the number of warning signs, the greater the likelihood of suicide predictors.

Warning Signs

Youth are most at risk of attempting suicide are those who:

• Made previous suicide attempts
• Talks about committing suicide
• Feels that “it is all my fault”
• Exhibit anger
• Signs of serious depression, moodiness, hopelessness, withdrawal
• Is a loner.
• Increased use of drugs or alcohol
• Changes in the sleeping or eating habits of the student.
• Cries often
• Talks about being bullied
  
• Chronic or sudden truancy
• Gives away possessions
• Recent suicide of a loved one or family member
• Preoccupied with death and dying
• Loses interest in their personal appearance
• Turmoil within family (divorce, remarriage, separation, merging of two families)
• Have a family history of suicide
• Have had a recent stressful event or loss in their lives
• Have easy access to lethal methods, especially guns
• Show signs of changes in eating and sleeping habits.
• Exhibit rebellious behavior or running away.
• Have difficulty concentrating or decline in quality of school work
• Loss of interest in previously pleasurable activities
• Gives verbal hints, such as “I won’t be a problem for you much longer,” or “Nothing matters.”
• Conflicts around sexual orientation
• Experienced a romantic break up
• Accessibility of firearms
• 
  
• Increased pressure to perform, achieve, be responsible
• Taking unnecessary risks

The greater the number of warning signs, the greater the risk.

WHAT CAN EDUCATORS DO?

1. While no one single symptom ““ or even a combination of factors is a predictor of suicide. If you suspect that a student is suicidal, teachers and students should tell a counselor or an administrator.
2. Always take suicidal comments very seriously.  If a student says that he or she is thinking about suicide, you need to take the comments seriously.  If you assume that the person is only seeking attention, you may be making a serious and potentially fatal decision.
3. Listen attentively to everything that a potential suicide person has to say. Encourage the person talk as much as he or she wants to.  Listen closely so that you can be as supportive as possible, and learn as much as possible about what is cause the pain.
4. Comfort the person with words of encouragement. There is no script to follow in these situations.
5. Don’t lecture or point out all the reasons a person has to live. Instead, listen and reassure the individual that depression and suicidal tendencies can be treated.
6. If you suspect that the individual is at high risk of suicide, do not leave the person alone. If you are in doubt, call 911.
7. Know your limits. Most of us have not been trained in how to handle situations like this.  Be supportive; listen attentively; let the person know that you are deeply concerned.
8. There are a number of local suicides “hotlines.” Their numbers are listed in your local telephone directories.  Check the numbers in front of your telephone directory or call the emergency numbers.  There is a National Suicide Helpline-1800-SUICIDE.  These telephone lines are staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by trained professional who can help without ever identifying the name of the individual calling.  All calls are confidential.

Website Resources

Teenage Sucide.com, https://www.1-teenage-suicide.com

American Academy of Pediatrics https://www.aap.org/advocacy/childhealthmonth/prevteensuicide.htm

Teen Suicide https://.focusas.com/suicide.html

Teens Health, https://www.kidshealth.org/

Franklin Schargel is a former classroom teacher, school counselor, and school administrator.  Mr. Schargel is currently a consultant and Senior Managing Associate.  He presents workshops on at-risk learners and preventing school dropouts.  He is also the author of 12 books dealing with school reform.  His latest book, 152 Ways To Keep Students in School” is a national best seller.

On April 1 NPR reported that Loyola Law School in Los Angeles is retroactively increasing all of its current students’ grades. That C+ from last year is now a B-. Everybody’s GPA just went up by 0.333. “For example, what previously was a B- would be a B, what previously was a B would be a B+, and so forth. All other academic standards based on grades, such as the probation and disqualification thresholds, are also adjusted upwards by the same magnitude. These changes are retroactive to include all grades that have been earned under the current grading system since it was adopted. This means that all grades already earned by current students will be changed. It also means that all grades going forward will be governed by the new curve. The effect of making the change retroactive will be to increase the GPA of all students by .333. The change will not alter relative class rank since the GPA of all students will be moved up by the same amount.”

The school says that it’s been grading on a harder curve than almost all the other law schools in California, so its students have been at an unfair disadvantage.

By “curving its grading system Loyola Law School is saying that education may be important not only because of whatever facts students learn, but grading is more important.

As one person commented, “Grading isn’t teaching, and testing isn’t learning. Professors don’t need grades. Students do, both to motivate them and to signal employers. Professors are being forced to impose a curve that did not match the actual performance of the students.”

If this weren’t so funny, it would be sad.  We are entering the generation of Lake Woebegon where all students are performing above average.  What do grades really indicate?  Do they reflect learning or are they simply a way of making students and parents and colleges feel better?  I believe that testing and ranking, while providing some benefits simply serve as a sorting system.  Possibly the best grading system would simply be “outstanding”, “passing” and “incomplete”.

This was the headline from the March 2010 ASCD publication, Education Update.  STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.  According to the article, 700 percent of all jobs will be created in STEM fields.  The article stressed the need for more females to be trained in STEM fields stating, “In 2007, women made up (only) 26 percent of mathematical and computer scientists and 11 percent of engineers.  As educators (we need) to think of new ways to engage girls in STEM classes”

I feel that we need to encourage all students, not just females to get involved with science, technology, engineering and mathematics.  Especially if 70 percent of the marketplace will be composed of these jobs.

What disturbs me is the emphasis on female involvement.  According to USA Today, 57% of all college attendees are female even though there are more men (15 million) than women (14.2) in the 18-24 year age group.  In addition most of the teachers in early childhood education are females.  One would think with the dominance of females in college and in elementary school classrooms, more young ladies would be majoring in STEM fields.

There was an outcry when Harvard President Lawrence Summers remarked that women might be underrepresented in sciences because of innate differences in ability.  There was an outcry when a 1992 report by the American Association of University Women entitled “How Schools Short-Change Girls”.

There has not been an outcry when more males dropout of high school and college resulting in a widening of a gender gap in educational achievement.  To state, as ASCD appears to be doing, that we need to encourage more females to enter fields, appears to me to be gender discrimination.

Full disclosure:  I am a male.

Jaime Escalante, the teacher who did the “impossible” (sic), got all minority students to take and pass higher levels of mathematics tests recently died.  Because he was dealing with minorities, the powers that were, refused to believe that they didn’t cheat.  The following tribute was issued by the White House Initiative for Education Excellence for Hispanics, U.S. Department of Education, Hispanic Outreach & Resources.

Stand and Deliver’ Inspiration and Long-Time Educator Jaime Escalante Loses Battle with Cancer

It is with a heavy heart that the White House Initiative announces the passing of Jaime Escalante, mathematics educator and the inspiration for the movie “Stand and Deliver,” starring Edward James Olmos. The native Bolivian and education veteran, 79, lost his battle with bladder cancer at 2:27 p.m., Tuesday, March 30. We pay tribute to Jaime Escalante and his lasting contributions to the field of education.  Our thoughts are with his wife, children and grandchildren.

To read more about Jaime Escalante’s phenomenal career visit:
https://www.biography.com/hispanic-heritage/jaime-escalante.jsp

American schools are frequently compared to higher performing foreign schools with the reminder that our schools need to be globally competitive in today’s economic climate.

If we look at the TIMSS Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study or PISA Programme for International Student Assessment examinations given by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development and (OECD), we can see many differences between America’s low achievement rate and those of other countries.   One of the major differences is about to be addressed by the Obama’s administration’s “Common Core State Standards” which were released on March 10th.

The Constitution of the United States does not mention education and therefore education is assumed to be a state function not a federal government function.  This has led to a patchwork of high and low state standards.  The new “Common Core” is designed to remedy that.  The draft lists a grade-by-grade list of common standards which 48 states and Washington, DC have agreed to follow.  (Alaska and Texas are the only holdouts.)

The English/language arts standards aim to “lay out a vision of what it means to be a literate person in the 21st century.”   There are 300 pages of appendices which offer examples of student work from the minimally acceptable to highest performing.  There does not seem to be an attempt to tell teachers how to teach to the standards.

The government is soliciting public comments until April 2 by going to www.corestandards.org  The final version is expected to be posted in late spring.

School sports provide important functions in schools.  They teach team work, build school morale, raise funds, inspire competition and competitiveness and provide problem-solving skills. Yet there is a downside to this activity.

The United States Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, has said that if he had any say in it, dozens of teams in the NCAA championship basketball competition would be declared ineligible to participate.  It seems that a number of teams had graduation rates of less than 40%.  The list includes #1 ranked Arkansas (29%) and includes Baylor (36%), California (20%), Clemson (37%), Georgia Tech (38%), Kentucky (31%), Louisville (38%), Maryland (8%), Missouri (36%),  New Mexico State (36%) Tennessee (30%), and Washington (29%).

The figures were compiled from NCAA rates and come from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at Central Florida.  The reported rates do not include transfers or players who leave early for the NBA.

School sports also cost schools a great deal of money.  To have such high failure rates among basketball players is unacceptable.  It would appear that the players need to have academic mentors and additional academic assistance.  why can’t these schools allocate funds to assist these young people?

If these graduation rates affect colleges, then school administrators in middle and high schools should look at how many of their athletes fail to graduate.  After all schools weren’t built to develop athletes but were built to develop brains and academics.

Of course they should!

As most of you are aware, all staff from Central Falls High School in Rhode Island have been fired because the school has made little progress in improving student’s tests scores in reading and mathematics.

President Obama joined the discussion this week by stating, “If a school continues to fail its students year after year after year, if it doesn’t show any sign of improvement, then there’s got to be a sense of accountability.”  Later this month,  Secretary of Education Artie Duncan will release a list of 5,000 of the nation’s lowest performing schools.  The firing of teachers or at least making them reapply for their jobs is becoming a nationwide trend.  In Boston public schools announced that staff at six low-performing schools would have to apply for their jobs.  In California, staff in 188 low-performing schools would have to do the same.

I  do not know enough about the situation to form a opinion about whether these firings were justified.  I would like to know what assistance, if any, was provided to help these teachers succeed.  I feel certain that the problem in Rhode Island  did not begin in the high school.  How much professional development was provided by the superintendent or principal?  How much seniority did the principal have?  How much responsibility for learning did the parents have?  How much extra assistance was provided to students in the form of tutoring?  Were teachers supplied with qualified mentors?  Until we have answers to these questions, we should not rush to judgment.

I do not know how many of you saw this in Newsweek.  For those of you who didn’t, here it is.

Diane Ravitch is one of the brightest educational writers in America.

The Shame of Newsweek
By Diane Ravitch on March 16, 2010 8:33 AM | 55 Comments | No TrackBacks
Dear Deborah,
Did you see Newsweek last week? What a stunning and uninformed attack on teachers and teachers’ unions. The cover of the magazine told the story: The Key to Saving American Education, by Evan Thomas and Pat Wingert. It was printed on a classroom blackboard. In the background, on the same blackboard, was the handwritten phrase, repeated again and again, “We must fire bad teachers.”
The story itself is a parody of a right-wing rant. It seems that the nation’s classrooms are overrun with “bad teachers,” pedophiles, “weak” teachers, ineffective teachers, dumb teachers, and others who remain in the classroom only because they have “lifetime tenure.” Evil teachers’ unions protect these people who are harming our nation’s children. Researchers now know, the writers say, that if we could fire all these malingerers, the notorious achievement gap between the races would soon close and America would once again lead the world in education.
The writers hold out hope: non-union charter schools and Teach for America will “save” American education.
Leave aside the odd assertion that “much of the ability to teach is innate.” (How do they know?) Leave aside the adulation for Michelle Rhee, Wendy Kopp, KIPP, and anyone who fights teachers’ unions. Leave aside the horror stories about teachers accused of abusing students and keeping “a stash of pornography and cocaine at school.” The article is a flamboyant example of outright hostility to teachers, to the organizations that represent them, and to public education itself.
Nowhere does the article mention that the highest-performing state in the nation is Massachusetts, where all or almost all teachers belong to unions; nor does it mention that the highest-performing nation in the world is Finland, where all or almost all teachers belong to unions. Nowhere in the article is there an example of a non-union district or state in the United States that has achieved high academic performance.
Instead, the article baldly asserts that “New Orleans has made more educational progress than any other city, largely because the public-school system was wiped out.” Hurricane Katrina made it possible to get rid of public education and to wipe out unions, which the article claims are the biggest impediments to high academic achievement.
No use to point out that TFA, with its 4,100 new teachers every year and its 17,000 alumni, is not going to “save” American education or replace a teaching force of 4.6 million. No mention of the many studies that show that TFA often does not outperform ordinary, experienced teachers. No reason to note the high attrition rate of students at charters like KIPP and YES Prep or to acknowledge that teachers at such schools typically work 50-60 (or more) hours each week, which is not sustainable. (By the way, all of this is documented in my book.)
The Newsweek writers applaud the firing of all the teachers at Central Falls High School in Rhode Island. It doesn’t bother them that teachers were not individually evaluated, but fired en masse. But that is not enough. They won’t be satisfied until large numbers of teachers are dismissed, teachers’ unions are crushed, and public education is replaced by non-union charter schools.
Never mind that the research on teacher effectiveness on which they rely is highly speculative and highly contested. Never mind that non-union charters, on average, do not outperform regular public schools. Why bother with such details?
Newsweek, it seems, speaks for the Jack Welch School of Management: Fire the bottom 10 percent every year. A friend said the other day, “If Newsweek is so smart, how come the magazine is in such deep financial trouble? Maybe they need to fire 10 percent of their staff every year.” A dose of their own medicine?
Diane