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Teaching, Leading, and Social Justice
Gov. Brown agrees not to hold back money from California schools next year
John Fensterwald, EdSource
California school districts won’t have to wait an extra year to get nearly $1 billion in one-time funding, as Gov. Jerry Brown proposed last month. And after-school and summer program providers will see their first funding increase in more than a decade, under the terms of the 2017-18 state budget that legislative leaders and the Brown administration negotiated last week. The Legislature must pass the proposed $126 billion state budget by Thursday to meet a constitutional deadline. Schools and community colleges will get a sizable share of the funding increase. Funding under Proposition 98, the formula that determines K-12 and community colleges’ share of state revenue, will rise $3.1 billion – 4.4 percent – to $74.5 billion. School districts’ share of the increase will be $2.8 billion.
Nonprofit sues Education Dept. for release of information on campus sex-assault investigations
Emma Brown, The Washington Post
The National Women’s Law Center filed suit Monday against the Education Department in an effort to force the release of information about federal enforcement of Title IX, a law that governs how schools handle campus sexual harassment and assault. In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the D.C.-based nonprofit group alleges the department has wrongfully failed to release public records that should have been released by now under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The Law Center argues that the information is important for understanding how the Trump administration is approaching Title IX enforcement — especially given that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has declined to say whether she intends to uphold or withdraw controversial guidance to schools and colleges on sexual harassment and sexual violence issued during the administration of President Barack Obama. “Without the release of these documents, students, families, and advocates are kept in the dark about whether the department is enforcing legal protections for student survivors of sexual harassment and rape,” said Fatima Goss Graves, the organization’s president-elect. “Without their release, survivors won’t know if they can trust the government to intervene on their behalf.”
Implicit bias in the classroom: Can video games help combat it?
Brenda Iasevoll, Education Week
Researchers at University of Wisconsin-Madison are developing a video game that will guide K-12 teachers through the hazards of unconscious attitudes and assumptions that affect the way they see their students, a phenomenon called “implicit bias.” This summer, the researchers will work with staff from two school districts to design the game, which will allow teachers to experience bias in the schoolyard, cafeteria and classroom from a student’s perspective. Christine M. Pribbenow, a senior scientist at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the university, says one scenario that could turn up in the game is common enough in real life—a teacher in a majority white school calls a black student by the wrong first name, confusing him for another student of color. “What do you do about that?” said Pribbenow. “If you are calling students by the wrong name, a very simple strategy is to get to know them as individuals. If you’re doing something like that, you’re probably grouping kids together, like all the Asian kids together and all the black kids together.”
Language, Culture, and Power
‘Why do I need a note for my religion?’ Students are told to get permission slips to wear hijabs.
Moriah Ballingit, The Washington Post
When Fatmata Mansaray and Hajah Bah cross the stage Saturday for their high school graduation, they plan to do so proudly wearing headscarves of black and gold tucked beneath their graduation caps. Those are the Freedom High colors. But last month their hijabs drew sharp questions from administrators at the Northern Virginia school — in what the two observant Muslims described as an embarrassing level of scrutiny. School officials threatened them with discipline, the students said, demanding that they remove the scarves and pressing them to get permission slips from their parents to prove they were Muslim. The young women, both 18, said the principal suggested the scarves might simply be a cover for an unfinished hairdo. Mansaray said an assistant principal threatened to write her up for being disrespectful when she explained they were wearing hijab for a religious observance. “I interjected, ‘It’s religious. We’re fasting for Ramadan. You guys are constantly harassing us,’ ” Mansaray recalled.
UC Irvine’s rare distinction: It’s an elite research university that’s a haven for Latinos
Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times
For most of her life, Angela Vera never imagined herself at the University of California. She grew up in a low-income Santa Ana neighborhood, the daughter of a Mexico-born carpenter with second-grade schooling who stressed the value of education but didn’t know how to guide her. “I always thought UC was for students up here,” she said, holding her hand above her head. “I never saw myself as capable.” But after a Santa Ana College counselor encouraged her to raise her sights, Vera transferred to UC Irvine two years ago. The campus, she said, gave her the financial aid, academic support and leadership opportunities she needed to thrive — and fueled her ambitions to pursue a graduate degree after she completes a double major in criminology law and society and social ecology next year.
UC Berkeley to offer gender-inclusive locker room
Kimberly Veklerov, San Francisco Chronicle
UC Berkeley will become the first college in California to build a large-scale gender-inclusive locker room inside its campus gym. Supporters say that when the 4,500-square-foot room opens next year at the Recreational Sports Facility, it will allow transgender students and disabled students whose aides are of a different gender to access fitness services from which they otherwise would abstain. Men, women and gender-nonconforming individuals will all be able to use the locker room, which will include private changing rooms and lockers as well as partitioned showers and bathroom stalls, campus officials say.
Whole Children and Strong Communities
Huge boost in state arts funding includes support for pre-K programs
Priska Neely, KPCC
The state agency responsible for advancing creativity in California announced Tuesday that it’s awarding a record number of grant funding for nonprofits – nearly double the amount from the previous year. The California Arts Council is awarding more than $15 million to 1,076 grantees to support a wide range of arts and culture project and programs across the state. This boost is made possible by a $6.8 million, one-time increase in funding from the state budget. The added funds are supporting grant categories for formerly incarcerated people and arts research, and – for the first time – grants were open this year to organizations that serve children from birth to age five. Josy Miller, the arts council’s arts education specialist, said supporting early education was a priority, especially for students from low-income backgrounds.
Students perform better at schools offering extra services on campus, study finds
Carolyn Jones, EdSource
Schools that offer dental care, mental health counseling, food assistance and other services have a significant and measurable positive impact on student achievement, according to research released this week by the Learning Policy Institute and the National Education Policy Center.
The 26-page brief, “Community Schools: An Evidence-based Strategy for Equitable School Improvement,” found that schools that collaborate with nonprofits and government agencies to provide extra on-campus services in many cases showed increases in attendance, graduation rates and academic achievement, especially in math and reading. Community schools, which have been gaining popularity for the past decade as Congress increased funding for them, are traditional public schools that serve as community hubs for families and students. Services can range from health care to job training for parents and teens to English classes to high-quality after-school and summer programs.
How to apply the brain science of resilience to the classroom
Anya Kamenetz, NPR
Neuroscience isn’t on many elementary school lesson plans. But this spring, a second grade class at Fairmont Neighborhood School in the South Bronx is plunging in. Sarah Wechsler, an instructional coach with wide eyes and a marathoner’s energy, asks the students to think about the development and progress that they’ve made already in their lives. “You probably don’t remember, but there was a time when you didn’t know how to speak and you were just like ‘Wah wah wah blah blah blah, mama, mama!’ ” she tells the kids. “Our brain grows and changes when you try hard things, when you learn new things.” The children offer their own ideas. “Brains are pink!” “Your brain can get smarter. For example, if you need help with your work, your brain is there in your head for you.” After watching a video with a cartoon brain, and doing an exercise where yarn stands in for connections between neurons, they seem to have absorbed the main point of the lesson. “There is stuff in your brain that if you take on a challenge and if you stick with it, it makes your brain smarter and it makes you smarter,” says one girl.
Access, Assessment, and Advancement
Through observation and play, toddlers take on science
Ashley Hopkinson, EdSource
Ashley Barajas watched intently as toddlers stacked foam blocks and examined colorful cylinders. It may look like child’s play, but Barajas, an early education science specialist, knows that exploration is the gateway to magically transforming circle time into toddlers learning science. At a recent playgroup in Oakland, she led the way by example. “So if I can put this, like this and maybe this, I can build something,” she said, placing a plastic record on top of a cylinder. “And even knock it down,” she said, sweeping her right hand across it, eliciting giggles from some of the kids, who range in age from 18 months to 4 years. To parents and teachers, she explained: “The goal is not necessarily for them to build a tower, but to explore.” Barajas’ work is part of a longtime effort by science specialists at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science to bring free, play-based science lessons to children from low-income families across the San Francisco Bay Area. Science specialists help to conduct research, develop curriculum and lead training workshops and science lessons at the Hall and in other areas, especially where there is limited access to science.
L.A. Unified moves closer to a unified enrollment system
Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times
Pressed by L.A. schools Supt. Michelle King, the Board of Education on Tuesday unanimously approved a plan to create an enrollment system that will allow students and families to apply to just about any schools they choose at the same time, through one online application. The $24-million project is central to King’s strategy for increasing district enrollment. Reversing years of declining enrollment is key to her plan to keep Los Angeles Unified financially solvent while improving district academics. “It’s a one-stop shop,” said King, who said parents have told the district that the current variety of enrollment processes is “too confusing.” “The idea was that we have to bring everything together in one space at one time so that all parents can have access and knowledge about what’s happening in our district,” King said.
What to know before using school ratings tools from real estate companies
Valerie Strauss, The Washington Post; Jack Schneider, Massachusetts Consortium for Innovative Education Assessment
I like where I live, in New England’s most densely populated city. My wife likes it, too, as does our daughter, who attends the public school across the street. Each morning, when we walk her to school, we feel lucky to live where we do, and happy about the education she’s getting. And when we interact with other families at the school — families that represent the many colors, creeds, and conditions of America — we worry a little less that the nation is coming apart at the seams. But we wouldn’t have moved here if we had given any consideration to the school rating tools available from real estate companies like Zillow and Trulia. We wouldn’t have even looked at what their websites deem an “average” school, earning only a 6 on a 10-point scale. Instead, we’d be scrambling to make our mortgage payment in one of the region’s leafy suburbs. Just because we ignored the ratings doesn’t mean we ignored the basic question of school quality. Before we put our bid in, I visited the school and took a tour; I talked with the principal and assistant principal. I took in as much information as I could and, equally important, I dismissed a lot that wasn’t particularly informative. It took a lot of time. It also helped that I’m a professor of education, and my wife is a teacher.
Inequality, Poverty, Segregation
Poor students face digital divide in how teachers learn to use tech
Benjamin Herold, Education Week
It’s like any other small video-game-development studio, except the coders are 10 and their games have titles like “Evil Donut Unicorn Ping Pong.” The scene unfolded in a classroom at South Fayette Intermediate School, about 20 minutes from downtown. The walls were covered with whiteboards and sticky notes. Students worked in teams, arguing passionately and high-fiving when there was a breakthrough. Teacher Victoria Bishop circled the room, quietly making sure her 5th graders’ code included functionals and conditionals, the two computer science concepts embedded in the day’s lesson. Bishop is 23. She’s not yet through her first year at South Fayette. Already, she’s developed a solid knowledge of Scratch, the kid-friendly programming language her students are using. She’s learned to design classroom projects that cultivate in her students everything from computational thinking strategies to narrative storytelling skills. In addition to her classroom duties, she’s helping lead a districtwide “Python incubator.” The high-level programming language powers Instagram and is used to test microchips at Intel. Soon, Bishop will be working to integrate it into South Fayette’s 8th grade curriculum. A year ago, she was teaching art and music at a local Catholic school. What if Bishop had been told then what she’d be doing now? “I would’ve said you’re crazy,” she said.
Why schools still can’t put segregation behind them
Derek Black, The Conversation
A federal district court judge has decided that Gardendale – a predominantly white city in the suburbs of Birmingham, Alabama – can move forward in its effort to secede from the school district that serves the larger county. The district Gardendale is leaving is 48 percent black and 44 percent white. The new district would be almost all white. The idea that a judge could allow this is unfathomable to most, but the case demonstrates in the most stark terms that school segregation is still with us. While racial segregation in U.S. schools plummeted between the late 1960s and 1980, it has steadily increased ever since – to the the point that schools are about as segregated today as they were 50 years ago. As a former school desegregation lawyer and now a scholar of educational inequality and law, I have both witnessed and researched an odd shift to a new kind of segregation that somehow seems socially acceptable. So long as it operates with some semblance of furthering educational quality or school choice, even a federal district court is willing to sanction it. While proponents of the secession claim they just want the best education for their children and opponents decry the secession as old-school racism, the truth is more complex: Race, education and school quality are inextricably intertwined.
Open educational resources fill gap for underserved students
Lisa Petrides and Barbara Dezmon, Education Week
During the past decade, the idea of education as a 21st-century civil rights issue has surged. Many of our nation’s public schools that serve large numbers of low-income communities frequently face funding challenges that result in inadequate facilities and educational resources. While efforts have been made to address these disparities, one of the cornerstones of a quality education has largely gone overlooked: access to curricula, textbooks, and other instructional and self-directed learning materials that drive rigorous academics. Less affluent districts often struggle to provide their students with quality, up-to-date materials aligned with today’s more demanding state standards. Research in the past few decades has shown that teachers in schools with predominantly minority or poor populations are more likely to consider their teaching materials inadequate. One 2015 report from nonprofit organization The Education Trust found that the highest-poverty public school districts nationwide receive about $1,200 less per student in state and local funding than the lowest-poverty districts. And in about half of the 100 largest U.S. cities, most African-American and Latino students go to public schools where at least 75 percent of all students are low income, according to The Atlantic’s 2016 analysis of federal data. Without access to quality instructional materials, high standards and high expectations represent an empty promise to students of color and traditionally underserved students.
Public Schools and Private $
DeVos says some charter school ‘reformers’ have become ‘just another breed of bureaucrats’
Louis Freedberg, EdSource
In a speech to over 4,000 charter school educators and advocates, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos praised their work, but in the same breath leveled sharp criticisms at the charter school movement. Speaking Monday to the annual convention of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools in Washington D.C., she said a quarter century ago, when charter schools were getting off the ground, charter school leaders embraced “creativity, innovation and flexibility.” But along the way, she said, the movement has departed from some of its founding principles. “Somewhere along the way, in the intervening 26 years and through the process of expansion, we’ve taken the colorful collage of charters and drawn our own set of lines around it to box others out, to mitigate risk, to play it safe,” she said. “This is not what we set out to do, and, more importantly, it doesn’t help kids.”
In a city of charters, the LA school district runs many of them
Mikhail Zinshteyn, EdSource
Los Angeles school board race that attracted millions of dollars from well-heeled donors has shone a spotlight on the nation’s largest collection of charter schools. With a new charter-backed majority on the board, there’s lots of speculation about whether the district will accelerate the growth of charters in the years to come. But while charters are often referred to as a monolithic group – public schools that are typically free of most district rules – the Los Angeles school district actually operates 54 of the district’s 279 charter schools. The 54 district charters are funded and run by the district mostly like traditional public schools but they allow for more innovation, such as setting their schedules, hiring and training staff and shaping their curriculum. Statewide some 330 of California’s roughly 1,250 charters are similarly fashioned. They’re variously called “dependent,” “semi-autonomous,” or, in L.A. Unified, “affiliated” charters.
Ravitch: Why is PBS running this education documentary?
Valerie Strauss, The Washington Post; Diane Ravitz, former Assistant Secretary of Education
Public education today faces an existential crisis. Over the past two decades, the movement to transfer public money to private organizations has expanded rapidly. The George W. Bush administration first wrote into federal law the proposal that privately managed charter schools were a remedy for low-scoring public schools, even though no such evidence existed. The Obama administration provided hundreds of millions each year to charter schools, under the control of private boards. Now, the Trump administration, under the leadership of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, wants to expand privatization to include vouchers, virtual schools, cyberschools, homeschooling, and every other possible alternative to public education. DeVos has said that public education is a “dead end,” and that “government sucks.”
Other News of Note
Education aid eludes countries that need it most
Julie Depenbrock, NPR
In the West African country of Burkina Faso, nearly 50 percent of children do not attend school. The reported cost of getting them there would be close to $182 million, and yet the small, francophone country received only $17 million in education aid in 2012. This comes from a new policy paper released this week by UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report, which found that the countries most in need of education funds aren’t getting them. While total development aid has risen 24 percent, aid for education has been on the decline for six years — falling 4 percent since 2010. The report analyzes data from every country in the world. Some believe the refugee crisis is to blame — that as more resources are pulled to address the immediate needs of health, food, and shelter for asylum seekers, education is neglected. But the report finds “little evidence” of that. So why the decrease?