School Board News

BoardBuzz told you previously about the eighth annual survey of 100 Best Communities for Music Education. And the wait is over. The list was released this week, showcasing the very best across the country.

The survey even caught the eye of BroadwayWorld.com, which published this article. Perhaps some of the students in these prestigious districts will find homes on Broadway thanks to the excellent music education they receive at school.

“Arts are designated as core subjects within the federal No Child Left Behind Act, and the districts that participated in the ‘Best 100′ survey, and those who are being recognized here today, know that music education is connected to success in school and in life,” said Mary Luehrsen, Director of Public Affairs and Government Relations for NAMM. “The results of this year’s survey found that music programs receive support from many parts of a community-teachers, administrators, boards of education and community members, including local business owners. Parents, however, are the strongest force in assuring that young people have access to music as part of a complete education.” Luehrsen encourages parents who are committed to music and arts education for their children to become active locally by supporting efforts to be sure that all children have equal access. Support for community-based advocacy is available at www.supportmusic.com.

Participants in the survey answered detailed questions about funding, enrollment, student-teacher ratios, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, support for the music program, private music lesson participation, and other factors in their communities’ music education program. The responses were verified with district officials, and the sponsoring organizations reviewed the data.

You can view the complete list and see if your school district is one of the 100 best by clicking here. Learn about the participating organizations, including NSBA, by clicking here. And learn more detailed information about the survey itself by clicking here.

Time Magazine, yes, the same people who brought us ourselves as the “Person of the Year”, recently came out with an article touting “How to bring our schools out of the 20th Century.” BoardBuzz will forgive them for their cop-out of naming us (although we were flattered and are considering adding it to our resume) as Person of the Year, because the article offers some really interesting suggestions for updating the modern school.

The article criticizes the “big public conversation the nation is not having about education, the one that will ultimately determine not merely whether some fraction of our children get ‘left behind’ but also whether an entire generation of kids will fail to make the grade in the global economy because they can’t think their way through abstract problems, work in teams, distinguish good information from bad or speak a language other than English,” and goes on to criticize the competency required by NCLB as “the meager minimum.”

Fine. And the article actually offers solutions for what needs to change, including: making students into “global citizens,” learning a foreign language and foreign history; interdisciplinary learning and “thinking outside the box”; being able to process and digest the sources that are coming at them from all directions–this is the information age, after all; and becoming students with high EQs (that’s emotional intelligence) as well as high IQs.

And there are innovative schools and teachers who are tackling these tasks head on. For example, a second grade class as John Stanford International School in Seattle challenges students to name how many ways you can combine nickels dimes and pennies to get 20 cents. All students at the school take some classes in either Japanese or Spanish. “Stanford international shows what’s possible for a public elementary school, although it has the rare advantage of support from corporations like Nintendo and Starbucks, which contribute to its $1.7 million-a-year budget.”

Farmington High School in Michigan has an engineering-technology department that “functions like an engineering firm, with teachers as project managers, a Ford Motor Co. engineer as a consultant and students working in teams. The principles of calculus, physics, chemistry, and engineering are taught through activities,” and results in kids who “learn to apply academic principles to the real world, think strategically, and solve problems.”

It sounds like we can all take a lesson from these innovative programs. Do you know of a 21st century program? Leave a comment and tell us about it.

It may not be the Billboard Hot 100, but this top 100 is even more important … one might even say that the future of the Billboard Hot 100 depends upon it. The American Music Conference (AMC) is conducting the eighth annual survey to find the Best 100 Communities for Music Education. The press release notes, “Numerous research studies continue to reveal the positive relationship between music education and success in school and life.” Just ask any American Idol finalist!

Since 2000, the Best 100′ survey has assessed a community’s actions and commitment to music through budget, staffing, variety of programs, instructor certification, availability of private instruction and other criteria. The results are measured proportionally, so that communities of different sizes are compared on an equal footing. The survey’s sponsors encourage people to complete the survey themselves, or pass it along to school administrators and independent educators in their communities who may best be able to fill in the required data.

“Music education is integral to a quality education and a child’s education is really not complete without music,” says Mary Luehrsen, Director of Public Affairs and Government Relations for NAMM, the International Music Products Association. “Research tells us that music education builds strong bridges to success in school and in life. The Best 100′ survey highlights communities in America that are committed to creating opportunities for music education for children and young people.”

NSBA is a partner along with other organizations in support of this program. The survey is currently accepting online submissions through January 23. The survey can be completed at www.amc-music.org and is open to anyone—school board members, parents, teachers, school administrators, community members—who thinks their community deserves the spotlight.

A new study out this week indicates that women who are told they cannot do well in math fall victim to a self-fulfilling prophecy. Forbes is reporting on a study conducted by Canadian researchers that says “women who were told that men were better equipped, genetically, to solve math problems performed worse on math tests than women not exposed to this notion.”

The study notes that this phenomenon is called “stereotype threat” in which “individuals from stereotyped groups often ‘choke’ in situations where those stereotypes are put to the test.”

The findings also point to the new power of genetic theory to reinforce negative stereotypes, experts say. For example, women who are told they have a “gene” for poor math performance may then feel there’s no point in trying to prove otherwise.

In that sense, genetics may be as powerful a tool for discrimination today as religious dogma was in the past, experts say.

The “stereotype threat” is not new to researchers, and “usually, all that is needed for it to kick in is a subtle reminder that the person belongs to a stereotyped group — for example, asking them to check a box for race or gender at the top of an exam.” This new research goes a step further and examines whether certain ideas about gender make the stereotype threat even stronger.

This Sunday is Constitution Day. NSBA has earned something of a Scrooge-like reputation about this midnight concoction of Congress, as this Cleveland Plain Dealer article reflects. Long-time BoardBuzz readers will recall our initial groans, here, which the Plain Dealer encapsulates as follows:

Some educators have noted an irony in this unfunded mandate, saying it steps on the Constitution’s Tenth Amendment, which has been interpreted to bar the federal government from setting educational curricula. Congress should not become a school board, the National School Boards Association and the American Council on Education agreed.

More here, and small but welcome favor noted here. NSBA wasn’t alone, of course, and even some who are not attuned to the collective problem of every group in America thinking it’s got another great idea for a law telling schools what to do wondered whether the whole thing was a bit gimmicky compared to real issues like overall curricular standards.

As we acknowledged then, though, even if this was a disturbing precedent there’s a lot to be said for efforts to make Americans more constitutionally aware, especially when it comes to public education. Things like this, for example. And, as we said, the Tenth Amendment. So here’s a collection of resources on the Constitution. Have a fun browse. Bah. Humbug.

For years, students have wondered why they have to do homework, and now experts are wondering that as well. An article in yesterday’s Washington Post reports that younger students may not get any academic benefit from homework. And with that, thousands of of elementary schoolers breathed a collective sigh of relief.

The article, by the way, noted that the American Child Health Association, in the 1930s cited “homework and child labor as leading killers of children who contracted tuberculosis and heart disease.” Yowsa! Turns out homework actually can kill you!

Even teachers can’t agree on whether or not homework is beneficial or not. At the heart of the issue are two things: Many teachers “get little or no training on how to create homework assignments that advance learning,” and “parents are too involved or negligent.”

Alfie Kohn examines this in his new book, The Homework Myth. In a recent Education Week column, he writes, “I am always fascinated when research says one thing and we are all rushing in the other direction. It is striking that we have no evidence that there is any academic benefit in elementary school homework,” he said. “Then people fall back on the self-discipline argument and how it helps students learn study skills. But that is an urban myth, except that people apply it in the suburbs, too.”

BoardBuzz can almost feel the ground shake as children jump for joy. Additionally, the research coupled with teachers’ feelings about the merits (or lack thereof) of homework isn’t always backed up by school district policies and curriculum.

Read BoardBuzz’s previous thoughts here.

Did we call this one, or what?

Education as a capitalist venture? Suh-weet for some. And who better than the College Board, those folks who brought us the SAT and Advanced Placement tests? With a new strategy and products targeting middle and high school classrooms, as well as principals and educators, will the College Board become the Microsoft of the education arena?

The New York Times reports today that the board is “marketing new products, like English and math curriculums for grades 6 through 12. It has worked with New York City to start five College Board Schools, with plans to open 13 more in New York and other cities by 2007. It is also trying to improve existing schools, starting this fall with 11 public high schools outside New York State and adding 19 next year. In November, it will open an institute for principals.”

And if the College Board is Microsoft, then its Bill Gates is President Gaston Caperton, a former governor and business executive who came to the board in 1999. According to NYT, “Under Mr. Caperton, the board’s revenues have doubled to about $530 million, and the new products are likely to bring millions more. Mr. Caperton has more than doubled the board’s staff and increased its assets.” Interestingly enough, the board is strongly supported by (who else) the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

With his goals of making “the College Board play a bigger role in American education, to be a force to make American education better,” Caperton is leading the education giant down an interesting road. Critics wonder “whether [the board's] entry into middle and high schools will bring too much standardization of curriculum and further promote a culture of testing.”

What do you think?

Washington, D.C. area elementary schools are stepping things up a bit by adding bilingual programs. According to an article in today’s Washington Post, schools are responding to a “call from government and business leaders who say the country needs more bilingual speakers to stay competitive and even to fight terrorism.”

What educators have long known, that younger students have the greatest ability to learn and absorb languages and those who are bilingual at a young age have an easier time of learning a third or fourth language later on, is now coming to the forefront as school districts step up elementary bilingual programs.

Kindergarteners in seven schools in Fairfax County, Va. started last week with Spanish lessons. Shepherd Elementary in the District will offer a pre-kindergarten French immersion program, while Thomson Elementary will offer Mandarin immersion.

“The U.S. Department of Education recently pointed out that more than 200 million children in China are studying English in primary school, but only 24,000 students in U.S. schools are learning Chinese.” And some savvy parents are already thinking ahead to the doors speaking another language can open when it comes time to enter the work force. “China is quickly becoming a dominant player in the world economy, and I want my child prepared for that,” said Claire Hassett, a director of product marketing for Verizon Business, and mother of Sam, 7, who is learning Mandarin. “There are a lot of countries not as rich as ours that are teaching their children a second language. I feel it’s smart public policy.”

The article does point out that

a shift toward adding foreign language for the youngest students is not easy. School systems are already required by the federal No Child Left Behind law to improve student achievement on math and reading tests. That makes it hard to find time to teach Italian, French or Arabic. Schools that have programs can find it difficult to hire qualified teachers. Plus, adding a program can carry a significant cost.

One thing’s for sure, remaining competitive on a global scale definitely includes learning foreign language, and getting ahead in kindergarten might just be the way to go. Until next time, au revoir, auf wiedersehen, arrivederci, and adios!

BoardBuzz found two interesting editorials yesterday about summer “homework” for students. One, in the New York Times, argued against this growing practice, aimed at keeping students on track during summer vacation. The authors argue that the homework “overburdens our children and sends many back to school burnt out and sick of learning.”

But how much is too much? A summer reading list, 10 book reports, a math packet? Again, the authors cite “one ninth grader we know was assigned a packet of materials on the Holocaust. Another must read a 656-page book on genocide, on top of three chapters of a science textbook followed by a 15-page take-home exam, prepare a 20-slide PowerPoint presentation and complete an English assignment involving three books and essays.” Phew, that hardly leaves time for soccer camp, swim team, and a trip to Disneyland!

On the other hand, an editorial in USA Today contends that while many teachers “will slip a summer reading list into their student’s backpacks,” so that “their brains don’t turn to mush,” what they should really be doing is “encouraging students to practice their math skills.” The author goes on to say that while educators have long lamented the summer break as time that “wreaks havoc on learning,” the havoc is most concentrated in math. “That’s not to say that kids don’t need to work on reading over the summer … they need active encouragement from teachers and parents to stay up on math.”

No matter what your position is on summer homework, encouraging students to pick up a book while lounging by the pool or staying sharp with a few extra math problems while on a car trip to grandma’s seems like a no-brainer to BoardBuzz. Now where’s our copy of War and Peace?