Franklin Schargel’s Blog

GRANT ALERT!

Terri Lynne Lokoff/Children’s TYLENOL National Child Care Teacher Awards

Deadline: December 6th, 2013
This award acknowledges the critical role of child care teachers in providing quality early care and education. Fifty teachers are selected for their commitment and dedication to the children they serve. Of the top ten recipients, one is selected to receive the Helene Marks Award and is named the National Child Care Teacher of the Year. As a part of the application process, each applicant is asked to design a classroom enhancement project for the children they teach illustrating the educational, social, and emotional benefits of the project. A committee of early childhood educators and specialists review the applications. An award ceremony takes place each spring in Pennsylvania – hotel and transportation are provided for the recipients. The event celebrates the best and the most dedicated child care teachers.
Funder: The Terri Lynne Lokoff Child Care Foundation and Tylenol
Eligibility: Child care teachers from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and on U.S. Military bases and installations around the world are invited to apply.
Amount: $500 – $1,000 for the teacher’s personal use and $500 to implement the project.
Contact: https://www.tllccf.org/pr_nccta.php

Watch What You Say – You Can Be Fired

In 1927, teachers could be and were fired for smoking cigarettes after school hours. or for card-playing, dancing and failure to attend church. Even after Prohibition ended, teachers could be dismissed for drinking or frequenting a place where liquor was served.

Teachers can be suspended, and even fired, for what they write on Facebook. Just ask a New York City math teacher who may soon be dismissed for posting angry messages about her students. Last June, just before summer vacation began, a Harlem schoolgirl drowned during a field trip to a beach. The math teacher had nothing to do with that incident, but the following afternoon, she typed a quick note on Facebook about a particularly rowdy group of Brooklyn fifth graders in her charge.

“After today, I’m thinking the beach is a good trip for my class,” she wrote. “I hate their guts.”

One of her Facebook friends then asked, “Wouldn’t you throw a life jacket to little Kwami?”

“No, I wouldn’t for a million dollars,” she replied. She was pulled from the classroom in February and faced termination hearings.

Her online outburst was only the latest example of its kind. In April, a first-grade teacher in Paterson, N.J., was suspended for writing on her Facebook page that she felt like a “warden” overseeing “future criminals.” In February, a high school English teacher in suburban Philadelphia was suspended for a blog entry calling her students “rude, disengaged, lazy whiners”; in another post, she imagined writing “frightfully dim” or “dresses like a streetwalker” on their report cards.

Restrictions on teacher speech lie inside the schoolhouse walls, not beyond them. Last October, a federal appeals court upheld the dismissal of an Ohio high-school teacher who had asked students to report about books that had been banned from schools and libraries. The exercise wasn’t in the official curriculum, and parents had complained about their children reading some of the banned books.

As they say, “A word to the wise…”

Opinionator | Draft: Tipped Off

How Long Should The School Year Be?

A typical public school calendar is 180 days, but the number of school districts are adding about a month to the academic year making the school year 200 days.

According to the National Center on Time and Learning, about 170 schools “” more than 140 of them charter schools “” across the country have extended their calendars in recent years to 190 days or longer.

A growing group of education advocates is agitating for more time in schools, arguing that low-income children in particular need more time to catch up as schools face increasing pressure to improve student test scores.

Education advocates have been calling for more school time at least since the 1983 “Nation at Risk“ report presented an apocalyptic vision of American education. Teachers’ unions, parents who want to preserve summers for family vacations and those who worry that children already come under too much academic stress argue that extended school time is not the answer. Research on longer school days or years also shows mixed results. But studies also show that during the summer break, students “” particularly those from low-income families “” tend to forget what they learned in the school year. Getting back to school early, supporters of a longer calendar say, is one of the best ways to narrow an achievement gap between rich and poor students.

Many charter schools, including those in the academically successful KIPP network, attribute their achievement in part to longer days and calendars. President Obama has repeatedly promoted expanded school time.

Within the last two years, both the Ford Foundation and the Wallace Foundation have made multimillion dollar commitments to help nonprofit groups work with school districts to restructure the school day and year.
Last year, legislators in Arkansas and New Mexico introduced bills to institute a 200-day school calendar, but both stalled. In Iowa, after Gov. Terry E. Branstad discussed the possibility of lengthening the school year at several town-hall-style meetings, protesters prompted the state to convene a study group to examine the issue.

Advocates say that schools need to plan carefully how they will use the extra time. Some say that adding the kinds of art, music and other activities that more affluent students typically get outside school is as important as beefing up academics. In Chicago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the teachers’ union have been battling over his plan to lengthen the school day; an agreement was reached last month when the school district agreed to hire back teachers for more enrichment programs rather than simply forcing classroom teachers to work longer hours.

Many parents support the initiative, some teachers resisted, worried that they would not receive enough extra pay to compensate for the additional time. The school board voted in 2009 to extend the year, and with the additional state financing and a local property tax increase, the district raised teacher salaries by 9 percent.

In one school district, the district transitioned to the longer calendar, the proportion of students passing state reading tests has gone to 65 percent from 51 percent, and math scores are also improving. Some teachers say that it is a new curriculum, targeted tutoring and two hours of professional development a week, as much as the extra days, that have helped raise achievement. The district has lost several teachers since the longer school year began. At Griffith, Alexis Wilson, the principal, said 10 out of 23 classroom teachers retired or resigned last year, some citing the 200-day schedule. The shorter summer break seemed to help the students adjust quickly to being back in school.

GRANT ALERT!

Below is information about the latest Race to the Top Grant grant announcement.

The announcement states that the emphasis is on personalizing education for all students

and “is aimed squarely at classrooms and the all-important relationship between teachers

and students. The competition will encourage transformative change within schools,

providing school leaders and teachers with key tools and support in order to best meet

their students’ needs.”

Many proposals sent in will focus only on the instructional component and treat

personalization mainly as a technical consideration. We think that’s shortsighted. Grants

such as this provide another opportunity for those concerned about addressing barriers to

learning and teaching and re-engaging disconnected students to advocate for including a

focus on building a system of student/learning supports.

The announcement stresses “transformative change within schools [to provide] school

leaders and teachers with key tools and support in order to best meet their students’

needs.” In many schools, it is evident that such change requires development of a unified,

comprehensive, systemic, and equitable learning supports component. Such a system of

learning supports is essential in these schools for transforming the learning environment

(e.g., promoting a positive classroom climate and working relationship between students

and teachers). Developing a system of learning supports enables (1) truly personalized

instruction (i.e., an instructional match for both personal capabilities and motivation) and

(2) brings special assistance into the classroom as needed.

So, if there are local plans to apply for this grant, we recommend finding a way to the

grant writing table and taking a leadership role for including a focus on learning supports

component as an essential facet of enhancing classroom effectiveness.

See information at https://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop-district/index.html

Excerpt from Announcement: “The U.S. Department of Education announced today that it has finalized the application for the 2013 Race to the Top-District competition, which will provide nearly $120 million to support bold, locally directed improvements in learning and teaching that will directly improve

student achievement and educator effectiveness….Race to the Top, launched in 2009, has

inspired dramatic education reform nationwide, leading 46 states and the District of Columbia to pursue higher college- and career-ready standards, data-driven decision making, greater support

for teachers and leaders, and turnaround interventions in low performing schools.

…In 2012, the Department rolled out Race to the Top-District to support bold,

locally directed improvements in learning and teaching. … This year, the Race to the Top-District competition seeks to build on the innovative strategies already employed in classrooms across the country. This year’s competition invites applicants to demonstrate how they can personalize

education for all students and is aimed squarely at classrooms and the all-important relationship between teachers and students. The competition will encourage transformative change within

schools, providing school leaders and teachers with key tools and support in order to best meet their students’ needs. Applicants from all districts are invited to apply. The Department plans to support

high-quality proposals from applicants across a variety of districts, including rural and non-rural as well as those already in a State with a Race to the Top grant and districts that are not. These 4-year awards will range from $4 million to $30 million, depending on the population of students served through the plan. Grantees will be selected based on their vision and capacity for reform as well as a strong plan that provides educators with resources to accelerate student achievement and prepare students for college and their careers. Plans will focus on transforming the learning environment so that it meets all students’ learning abilities, making equity and access to high-quality education a priority. Teachers

will receive real-time feedback that helps them adapt to their students’ needs,allowing them to create opportunities for students to pursue areas of personal academic interest – while ensuring that eachstudent is ready for college and their career. The program also offers competitive preference to applicants that form partnerships with public and private organizations to offer services that help meet

students’ academic, social, and emotional needs, outside of the classroom.

More information, including the application for the Race to the Top-District competition, can be found at: https://www.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop-district

The Department is requesting interested districts to submit their intent to apply by

August 23, 2013. Applications are due Oct. 3, 2013 with awards being announced

no later than Dec. 31, 2013.”

Excerpt from Executive Summary:”….Absolute Priority 1: Personalized Learning Environments. To meet this priority, an applicant must coherently and comprehensively address how it will build on the core educational assurance areas (as defined in this notice) to create learning environments that are designed

to significantly improve learning and teaching through the personalization of strategies, tools, and supports for students and educators that are aligned with college- and career-ready standards (as defined in this notice) or college- and career-ready graduation requirements (as defined in this notice); accelerate student achievement and deepen student learning by meeting the academic needs of each

student; increase the effectiveness of educators; expand student access to the most effective educators; decrease achievement gaps across student groups; and increase the rates at which students

graduate from high school prepared for college and careers. …”

Key Dates

?Technical Assistance Webinars: August 7, August 13, August 27, and September

4, 2013

?Webinar to Answer Questions Submitted to Email Box: August 15, 2013

Additional webinars will be held approximately every other week

depending on the number of questions that we receive. Please check the

Race to the Top -District website for information on future webinar dates.

Optional Intent to Apply Due: August 23, 2013

Application Due: October 3, 2013

I am indebted to to the Center for Mental Health in Schools at UCLA for the posting of this announcement. https://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/mhpractitioner/practitioner.pdf

What Parents Can Do To Protect Their Child From The Internet

What Parents Can Do To Protect Their Child From The Internet

Children enjoy the interactivity of computers and smart telephones but they also need to be made aware of the dangers.

Giving Away Personal Information ““ Insist that your children never reveal their names, addresses, telephone numbers, their ages or the schools they attend. If your child has an email address, check it to make sure it doesn’t have clues to their identity such as first or last name, or their birth date.

“Free” Gifts ““ Children like to believe that every time they enter a contest, they will win. Spammers are aware of this naivetÃ© and take advantage of it by offering “free gifts” in exchange for information. Train your child not to complete online surveys or to buy anything without seeking your permission.

Don’t Be Too Trusting ““ Children who use social media sites like Twitter, or Facebook do not realize that some people using the sites may be disguising themselves and their identities. Your children should never agree to meet with anyone they do not know that they met online.

Online Means Forever – Children tend to post suggestive pictures or personal information on the web. Colleges and potential employers are accessing that information. Teach your children never to post things on the web that they would later in life regret.

Being Over Protective

According to “The Week” magazine, a Florida Homeowners Association has banned all outdoor play to protect the neighborhood children. They have banned skateboards, roller blades, and bicycles from the complex’s roads and common grounds. Even ball playing has been banned.

I do not know about you, but I remember riding a bicycle without a helmet, roller skating and scraping my knees and riding in a car, driven by my parents, without a seat belt.

Does Going To College Result in Higher Paying Jobs?

Nearly 2 million college students are set to graduate this year and enter the real world. There are many benefits to going on to higher education, but with the cost of a degree skyrocketing and heavy college debt loads weighing on graduates, does it really pay to graduate from a college or university?

Research shows a positive correlation between college education and levels of individual and national well-being. Yet, the full potential of graduates is not being realized, as nearly half of graduates from four-year colleges say they are in jobs that do not require a four-year degree, according to a wide-ranging study by consulting firm McKinsey & Co. and research data outfit Chegg. This is leading to college debt causing regret. The study involves nearly 5,000 graduates, with the majority finishing college between 2009 and 2012.

How Effective is it to Place Police in Schools?

In light of the school violence taking place, some (have that read The National Rifle Association) have suggested the posting of police officers in schools. I have worked in schools where there is a police presence and I am not in favor of these proposals. School incidents which traditionally have been handled by professional educators in the principal’s office have a way of escalating to criminal charges in the courts and have resulted in a surge in criminal charges against children.

Some school districts, including those in Houston, Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia, have created police forces of their own, employing thousands of armed officers. Thousands of districts, often with federal subsidies, have paid local police agencies to provide armed “school resource officers” for high schools, middle schools and sometimes, even elementary schools. Even the White House has proposed an increase in police officers based in schools.

The most striking impact of school police officers in schools has resulted so far in a surge in arrests or misdemeanor charges for essentially nonviolent behavior “” including scuffles, truancy and cursing at teachers “” that sends children into the criminal courts.

“There is no evidence that placing officers in the schools improves safety,” said Denise C. Gottfredson, a criminologist at the University of Maryland who is an expert in school violence. “And it increases the number of minor behavior problems that are referred to the police, pushing kids into the criminal system.”

Nationwide, hundreds of thousands of students are arrested or given criminal citations at schools each year. A large share are sent to court for relatively minor offenses, with black and Hispanic students and those with disabilities disproportionately affected.

Children charged with crimes have a “permanent record” that may impact their future employment, getting into college or being rejected by the military.

In New York, a lawsuit against the Police Department’s School Safety Division describes Many judges say school police officers are too quick to make arrests or write tickets. In some well-publicized incidents officers handcuffed and arrested children for noncriminal behavior. “We are criminalizing our children for nonviolent offenses,” Wallace B. Jefferson, the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Texas.

Despite the media headlines, schools are safer than ever for children. Data indicate that school violence has decreased in the past 10 years.

Franklin Schargel’s Blog

More in Opinion (1 of 22 articles)