Articles tagged with Pittsburgh

Sex and the awkward, political dance schools do around it

The Pittsburgh school board recently revamped its sex education curriculum. By an 8-1 vote, it re-placed its abstinence-only model for a more comprehensive approach that includes a discussion of contraception.

A bold move, I must say. Sex education is a no-win issue for school boards.

It’s ironic, isn’t it? Schools were created to educate children and prepare them to be productive citizens. Yet any discussion in schools of one of the most fundamental of human activities is certain to spark controversy and discord.

Sex education is the proverbial “hot potato” issue.

This is why it’s no surprise to hear about a new study by two Texas State University researchers that found that two percent of Texas school districts shy away completely from the issue of sex education.

And that’s in a state with the third-highest teen birth rate in the nation.

But ignoring the issue may not be as irresponsible as it sounds. If a school board is struggling with several important issues-a budget deficit, for example, or low student achievement-it might not be in the best interest of students to distract school leaders and the community with a knock-down brawl over one part of the curriculum.

That’s particularly true if there is a sizable segment of the community with moral or ideological beliefs so powerful that they are incapable of a rational discourse.
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Naomi Dillon|February 26th, 2009|Categories: Leading Source, Student Achievement|Tags: , , |

Grades, not just economy, prone to inflation these days

Who would have thought that the grading system you use to award little Johnny an A, B, or C could cause such headaches for a school district?

But that’s exactly what’s happening these days in two school districts-Pittsburgh, Pa., and Fairfax County, Va.

The irony is each district faces complaints for exactly opposite reasons: Pittsburgh officials are accused of watering down their academic standards by mandating that no student receive less than a 50 percent grade for their homework, test scores, or grading period.

In Fairfax County, on the other hand, parents complain that the grading system is too tough-demanding a score of 64 percent for a passing grade and 94 percent for an A.

Officials in Pittsburgh have logic for their policy. Mathematically, students with a few bad test scores cannot hope to bring their grades back up to passing, and that gives scores of 0-50 more “weight” than higher grades.

Officials say the 50-percent minimum gives students a chance to save themselves academically and may serve as an incentive to stay in school, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. A passing grade still remains 60 percent.

This logic hasn’t swayed critics. “The district was skewered on radio shows and blogs, and backlash from teachers prompted the district and union to form a committee to consider modifications,” the paper reports.

Some accused Pittsburgh officials of a system that could lead to “grade inflation,” but that’s exactly the danger that school officials in Fairfax County raised to defend their tough grading policy.
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Naomi Dillon|January 8th, 2009|Categories: Assessment, Governance, Leading Source, Student Achievement|Tags: , , |
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