Youth Social Workers UNITE!: http://www.vindy.com/news/2014/nov/06/increasing-r...

Youth Social Workers UNITE!: http://www.vindy.com/news/2014/nov/06/increasing-r...: http://www.vindy.com/news/2014/nov/06/increasing-rejection-of-levies-for-ohio-/ This articles first outlines the foundation of school fund...



I don't understand how it can be found unconstitutional 4 or 5 times and remain the standard business as usual.  Who holds accountability for this and why call it unconstitutional if nothing's done?

http://www.vindy.com/news/2014/nov/06/increasing-rejection-of-levies-for-ohio-/

This articles first outlines the foundation of school funding in Ohio.  Some dollars come from federal sources, some from state, and some from local.  The local dollars are on a levy system, meaning that schools propose levies and the constituents of that area vote whether to renew (continue) or pass new levies.  This system was found to be unconstitutional decades ago, but little has changed.

Unfortunately in this system there is much inequity.  Additionally, there is little hope for the schools to gain the necessary funding to be successful in a myriad of sectors: safety, academics, resource management, etc...  Statewide, new levies pass at a rate of 29% which means that most of the schools are not receiving the money that they felt it was dire to ask for to improve the lives of children in Ohio.

Education in Juvenile Detention

Lawsuit: Juvenile Solitary Confinement Blocks Education
http://colorlines.com/archives/2014/03/lawsuit_juvenile_solitary_confinement_blocks_education.html

The following article published by Colorlines discusses the conditions experienced by incarcerated youth and youth involved in the juvenile system with a particular emphasis on educational resources. The article follows a lawsuit that was filed against Contra Costa County Juvenile Hall in for placing children with disabilities in solitary confinement for 23 hours, denying them any contact, and preventing their access to education resources. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of three youth of color, one of whom spent a total of 90 days in solitary confinement triggering a psychotic break that resulted in three weeks of hospitalization.

The article highlights a number of problematic practices inside Contra Costa and facilities across the nation. Such as the practice of placing youth are "suspended" from the detention center school into solitary confinement. All of these issues prevent youth from keeping up with their education and significantly reducing the likelihood that they will be able to graduate from high school or continue with school upon their release. In mid-February, the U.S. Department of Education and the Department of Justice released a joint statement in response to the lawsuit asserting that youth with disabilities in solitary confinement are entitled to appropriate public education.

There is a lot of complexity within this issue that raises many questions about education, but also the juvenile justice system, mental health system, disabilities and race. Many juvenile facilities do not provided adequate education for youth and even less so provide special education resources, despite the fact that the majority of youth involved in the system has special education needs and disabilities. Some youth may be able to continue their education while detained, only to find out their credits aren't accepted at their public school once released.

Is science a new area of segregation?

Science and engineer sectors have made great contributions to building a diverse labor forces in current American. However, we may notice that women and minority groups have fewer participation in those sectors. Therefore, a question has been proposed "is science a new area of segregation.
The author presented the statistics as below:
African American accounted 12% of population and 11% of all students beyond high school, however, there is only 7% of African American earn a bachelor degree in STEM field, 4% of African American earn master degree of STEM, and 2% of AA earn PhD in this field. There is only 6% of African American work in the field of STEM.
In terms of women, although female account half of the workplace, there is only 26% of female work relate to STEM.
The multiplying and decent paid job in STEM, as well as the long-term under-representative of female and minority in this field, have aggravated the entrenched economic inequality by race and gender.
Some reasons for this reality have been proposed as "a complex equation of self-doubt, stereotype, discouragement and economics, and sometimes just wrong perceptions of what math and science are all about".
Some solutions should be made to promote the diversity in the field of STEM to tackle with the inequality caused by gender and ethnicity, the inequality that might be deepened as the science and engineer sectors keep on developing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/02/opinion/charles-blow-a-future-segregated-by-science.html?_r=0

Class In Classrooms, Kathy Drobny

In December of 2011, Helen F Ladd, a professor of public policy and economics at Duke University, and Edward B. Fiske, a former education editor, wrote an editorial piece for The New York Times that exposes the elephant in the room regarding policy makers and education. Despite the good intentions of legislators, the authors assert that denial prevails regarding poverty.  The authors believe that policy makers continually ignore the impoverished socioeconomic environments in which many school children live. Legislators do this by believing that schools are capable of offsetting poverty through various programs such as No Child Left Behind and The Occupy Movement, which Ladd and Fiske argue has actually heightened anxiety regarding poverty.

The authors cite a study by Stanford University in which the achievement gap over the last 50 years between high and low income families is reportedly far greater than the gap between Caucasian and African-American students.  Additionally, Ladd and Fiske cite data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which shows that, nationally, greater than 40 % of the variation in reading scores and 46% of the variation in average math scores are linked to the variation in child poverty rates.  When creating programs, policy makers have not addressed students’ challenges that stem from the poverty they carry into the classroom each and every day.  The authors recommend that since the education system cannot eradicate poverty, policy makers should try to provide similar support and experiences to impoverished students as received by their higher socioeconomically advantaged peers.  Examples of such support include afterschool programs, summer camps, mentors, enrichment services, health centers, counseling and food provisions, all of which need improved funding.  I completely agree with the authors of this editorial.  It seems ironic to me that our politicians spend an abundance of time arguing about money when so many individual citizens suffer from not having any money at all.  Rather than argue about cutting funding in one education program in order to create another program in education, consistent support and consistent prevention methods should be of primary focus, particularly when impoverished children have little support outside of school.  Denial may seem easier for some policy makers, but advocacy is far stronger.  Based on Ladd and Fiske’s article, it seems that strong legislators are needed in order to push that elephant out of the room. 

Class Matters. Why Won't We Admit It? The New York Times, December 11, 2011

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/12/opinion/the-unaddressed-link-between-poverty-and-education.html?_r=0

Ohio's Unconstitutional School Funding

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/03/25/15-years--no-school-funding-fix.html
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/editorials/2014/04/20/revisiting-derolph.html

The issue touched on this week is Ohio's system of school funding. In 1991, the second article points out that the controversial words "thorough and efficient" have caused a system of school funding that is primarily based off property taxes. This system has been ruled unconstitutional four times and has led to an incredibly wide range of disparity in the quality of education offered inside the state. It has led to district battles for the approval of emergency levies to continue education as usual. It has created wealthy districts that are miles away from districts that are underfunded and overpopulated.

Clearly, money isn't the complete reason for quality education inside of a school system. Many factors contribute to the success of young adults among which are curriculum, teaching expertise, parental involvement, etc. However, money is a powerful resource that can attract skilled teachers, provide resources for students inside the system and create staff-pupil ratios that promote academic excellence. Until school funding is repaired, these inequalities will needlessly exist and larger, poor districts will continually remain a step behind wealthier districts. I do not pretend to have any concept of a possible solution to resolve these issues.

On an anecdotal level, this was my experience on a small scale. I attended Columbus public schools and what I witnessed spoke to the issues surrounding school funding. The Columbus public property taxes are dispersed to over 70 schools and many of them are run down, old, and simply underfunded. It was evident that the schools I attended and played sports in were woefully maintained. This contrast was especially clear when comparing Columbus Public to the surrounding districts. Upper Arlington, New Albany, Bexley and Dublin were all within a fifteen minute drive of Columbus Public schools and were tremendously wealthier. This vast difference in wealth only reinforces stereotypes of "city kids" and can do nothing but hinder long term goals and perceptions. I'm passionate about this issue because education plays such a vital roll in the outcome of individuals and until this issue is fixed, students' projections will be negatively affected.

Comprehensive Sex Education in Ohio

I figured I'd stay true to the trend and post another piece of moving legislation for this final blog. This time around it deals with revising the teaching of sexual education in Ohio. Well, the bill is actually pretty big and wide-reaching, but specifically, Section 3313.6011 revises sex education in Ohio. The full bill can be reached here: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA131-HB-132, in case anyone is interested in seeing the language.

First, the bill strikes out the current language, which emphasizes abstinence education as the only reliable methods of avoiding pregnancy and "venereal disease." Additionally, the stricken language focuses on the consequences, physical, psychological, and financial dangers of sex outside of marriage, as well as stressing adoption as an option for unintended pregnancy.

The new language begins with the following two definitions:
(1) "Age-appropriate" means appropriate for a pupil based on the social, cognitive, and emotional level of the pupil.
(2) "Comprehensive sexual health education" means education regarding human development and sexuality that includes education on sexual health, family planning, and sexually transmitted infections.
The language goes on to specify that HIV/AIDS education is not comprehensive education and that all presented material shall be "medically and scientifically accurate" as defined by being published in peer-reviewed journals and recognized as accurate by medical professionals.

However, the legislation only allows that schools may offer comprehensive sexual education, and dictates that abstinence still be stressed as it is the only foolproof method of avoiding sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies. However, regardless if schools elect not to offer comprehensive sexual education information on contraceptives and infection reduction measures shall not be excluded in favor of abstinence only education.

Schools that do elect to offer comprehensive sexual education have to a list of requirements in order to meet the definition of "comprehensive sexual health education" above, such as additional information around the topic of navigating intimate relationships, recognizing sexual harassment and assault, the effect that drugs and alcohol have on the possibility of sexual violence, methods of resisting unwanted sexual advances, all health benefits and side-effects of contraceptive and infection reduction methods, etc. Additionally, the bill prohibits material from promoting any religious doctrine and requires that it be appropriate for all pupils, regardless of gender, race, ethnic and cultural background, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

This bill is a step in the right direction, though I'm not crazy about the fact that schools have the right to opt-out of comprehensive sexual health education. However, at least those schools are prohibited from teaching "abstinence only" education under this bill. I'm also a little surprised that the language specifically mentions sexual orientation and gender identity, as that seems surprisingly progressive for Ohio. There are a mix of additional good aspects. The broader approach, including the social aspect of navigating relationships and recognizing, as well as what to do about, unwanted or violent sexual interest, is refreshing, rather than dealing solely with the act of sex, and seems very progressive. The material presented is also supposed "emphasize personal accountability," and "resisting peer pressure," which reeks of victim blaming. Along with the ability for schools to opt-out and for parents to prohibit their children from receiving this education, there is a certain amount of continuing conservative sentiment among all of the progressive portions of the bill.

A life impacted and a future potentially diverted or derailed

Expansive Survey of America's Public Schools Reveals Troubling Racial Disparities is an article published by the Department of Education that looks at data collected over the 2011-2012 school year. According to the article, it is the first time since the year 2000 that this type of data has been taken from all 97,000 of the public schools in the U.S., as well as the 16,500 school districts. The data represents the 49 million public school students. This study also marks the beginning of the public database, crdc.ed.gov, that can be used to search state, district, and school-level information.

The quote in the blog title, "Every data point represents a life impacted and a future potentially diverted or derailed" comes from Attorney General Eric Holder. He explains that the findings show that racial disparities actually begin during preschool. Approximately 40% of school districts do not offer preschool, and many of the districts that do, only offer half-day classes. I was surprised to find out that preschool students can be suspended as well. The study found that 42% of preschoolers that are suspended at least once are Black, although Black preschool students only make up 18%.

For high school students, around 50-60% of Black and Latino students have access to advanced courses in math and science, whereas 70-80% of Asian and White students have access. Also, 1 out of 5 high schools do not provide a school counselor. This inhibits the students' abilities to locate and apply to colleges. Another statistic is that "English learners" account for only 5% of high school enrollment, but 11% of the students that are held back each year. The statistics show that there is an opportunity gap in the school systems today. President Obama proposed Race to the Top- Equity and Opportunity (RTT-Opportunity) to address these issues and create incentives for states and school districts to drive comprehensive change in how states and districts identify and close opportunity and achievement gaps.

http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/expansive-survey-americas-public-schools-reveals-troubling-racial-disparities

Gifted and Limited-English Students

I was looking through The Columbus Dispatch online and found this uplifting article titled “New sites set for gifted, limited-English students” by Bill Bush which talks about how Global Academy is expanding.   In the article, it was mentioned that Global Academy will be relocating to the former Brookhaven High School building which closed down last fall.

What pushed Global Academy to relocate and expand is the increasing immigrant population in Columbus, OH. Global Academy has over 825 students assigned to the program in the former Linmoor Middle School building which put this location over capacity.  Even though it was stated that the Global Academy located in the South Linden neighborhood is not over capacity yet, the Brookhaven High School location will offer a better permanent location for the academy.  

With a new location, Global Academy will be able to reduce class sizes from 36 students to a teacher to 20-to-1. Along with reducing class size, more gifted and limited-English students will be able to attend Global Academy.  Another perk to the new location is that the Brookhaven building sits in an area where the majority of the current Global Academy students live.

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/03/20/Columbus-gifted-language-students-to-relocate.html 

Teachers' Biases Keep Girls from Succeeding in Math and Science

While many people believe that teachers can have a lasting positive effect on their students, research is showing that this may not be so true for girls when it comes to math and science. Due to the lack of women in the STEM fields, there are few female role model for young girls to look up to and want to emulate. New studies are showing that teachers may have an unconscious bias in the classroom that ultimately discourages young girls to purse further studies in these areas.

When girls are discouraged at a young age, such as elementary school, they are less likely to take advanced classes later in their academic endeavors. Boys on the other hand are more likely to perform better, later in life if they were encouraged as children. Women currently only account for 12% of collegiate computer science degrees. Studies have also found that professors as well as employers discriminate against female scientists.

It is evident that girls are at a disadvantage as they enter the workforce and it is not being attributed to the messages they receive as young girls. In a society that is know for keeping its women in an inferior role, it is so important for teachers, mentors etc. to give young girls encouragement and the belief that they are just as smart as the boys and are able to have the same opportunities. Teachers need to be aware of these unconscious biases and try to be more aware of the messages they may be sending to young girls who may hold the cure to cancer or technological advancements.




http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/07/upshot/how-elementary-school-teachers-biases-can-discourage-girls-from-math-and-science.html?abt=0002&abg=0

No Child Left Behind

In a New York Times article the pros and cons of the No Child Left Behind Act has continued to be debated. Featured in this article is an all boys school in Cleveland. This school continues to fail according to this Act even though the school is specifically for at-risk boys and the graduation rate is around 88% now. They look at success in different ways, whether that be getting a child to school everyday or the community service work the child does on their own time. 

This article looks at some of the possible outcomes from a reform of this Act. That includes possible elimination of federal testing mandates and possible funding cuts to the most impoverish school districts. Many parents and teachers have complained and even boycotted stipulations of the No Child Left Behind Act, however the ideas that have been tossed around to change it may also leave schools without the resources needed to provide a quality education. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/22/us/politics/schools-wait-to-see-what-becomes-of-no-child-left-behind-law.html?_r=0

 

closing the racial disparity in graduation rates

Good news:
     "New data from the Department of Education shows a decrease in the racial achievement gap among high school students in the United States.

According to the data, almost every single racial and ethnic subgroup has seen increases in their graduation rates, at a higher rate than their white peers, in the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years."

       The 2012-2013 school year saw an overall increase in grad rates across the U.S. at 81%, up from 79%. African.-Americans had a 3.7% point increase in rates and Hispanics had a 4.2% point increase over a 2 yr period.  Several groups had grad rates rise aat a faster pace than the national average and the overall rate of white students: American Indian, low income, ESOL students and students with disabilities. Oddly, Asian/Pacific Islanders rates dropped below white students' rate.       http://www.educationnews.org/k-12-schools/data-shows-us-graduation-achievement-gaps-narrowing/

This is  good news for narrowing the racial disparity in graduation rates. Maybe we should keep the Common Core testing that includes PARCC testing referred to in Taylor Guerrant's post.

Another article reported Gov. Kasich saying that the Common Core Standards which track schools' effectiveness in teaching academics were established by governors and education professionals and are designed at the state level, expecting local school boards to design curriculum to meet higher standards.

http://www.educationnews.org/education-policy-and-politics/kasich-calls-talk-of-common-core-repeal-in-ohio-hysteria/

Youth Social Workers UNITE!: PARCC testing debate

Youth Social Workers UNITE!: PARCC testing debate: The PARCC test was created to assess students between grades 3-9. The purpose is to grade school districts. The PARCC test has two compo...







My question is what outcomes are we getting on the testing and what are we doing with it? Do the tests improve academic achievement for kids of color or low SES? I noticed that Gov. Kasich is looking to reduce testing after the State Superintendent studied Ohio and found schools did 20 hours of testing a year. The Superintendent found ways to reduce it by 20 %. That sounds reasonable to me.

PARCC testing debate

The PARCC test was created to assess students between grades 3-9. The purpose is to grade school districts. The PARCC test has two components: the Performance Based Assessment and the End of Year Assessment. The PBA is done when students are about 60% done with the school year and the EoY is done at the end of the year. All students take a Math and English component and depending upon the grade level they may also have to take the Science or Social Studies component as well. Testing is mostly done on computers. The testing is spread out over multiple days and takes about 10 hours. So, this equates to about 20 hours of standardized testing a year.

There has been a lot of rebuttal to this test from parents and teachers as well. Parents are opting their children out of testing because they feel that their kids are missing out on class time due to having to prepare and take these exams. Teachers are also rebutting. Stacie Starr from Ohio who won the 2014 LIVE with Kelly and Michael Top Teacher Search has put in her resignation because she thinks all this testing is too much. By federal law, 95% of students in each school district have to participate in the test. If school districts do not comply they could lose federal funds.  In the state of Ohio, legislation has been passed ensuring that schools will not lose state level funding due to opt-outs.

Ohio is debating what they should do in regards to standardized testing. State Senator Peggy Lehner who leads the Senate Education Committee and State Senator Keith Faber have created a Senate Advisory Committee on testing which is composed of superintendents, teachers, curriculum and testing specialists, and other educational professionals. This committee will meet twice a month for six months. The committee will discuss ideas such as the PARCC test itself, testing time, and whether or not they will shift to other testing such as versions of the ACT or creating their own standardized test for the state of Ohio.

I am just curious what everyone else thinks about this? I have a little sister who is in the 5th grade and we talked about the testing together. She said that they had a lot of computer issues and it took longer than expected due to that as well as the snow days. I also was listening to the radio the other day and they said there was a school who only had one computer for every three students. So, what happens when the schools don't have enough computers to administer the tests like they are supposed to? Also, with high schools, what happens with multi-grade level classes? How are teachers supposed to plan when a portion of the class could be missing at any given time?

·http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/some-parents-across-the-country-are-revolting-against-standardized-testing/2015/03/05/e2abd062-c1e1-11e4-9ec2-b418f57a4a99_story.html?wprss=rss_national
·http://impact.cleveland.com/metro/print.html?entry=/2015/03/should_ohio_cut_testing_time_or_keep_parcc_new_panel_will_review_states_key_testing_issues.html

the service system collaboration can reduce service disparity among different race groups

I read a research paper regarding the service use of child welfare population. 

It is : Hurlburt, M. S., Leslie, L. K., Landsverk, J., Barth, R. P., Burns, B. J., Gibbons, R. D., Slymen, D. J., & Zhang, J. (2004). Contextual predictors of mental health service use among children open to child welfare. Archives of General Psychiatry, 61, 1217–1224.

In this paper, the author pointed out that  race/ethnicity accounted for differentials in service use; specifically, African American children were 0.61 times as likely and Hispanic children were about half as likely to use services as white children. For example, African American and Hispanic children are less likely to receive specialty mental health services than white children. 

However, this service disparity can be attenuated if there is a strong linkage between child welfare and mental health systems. The research findings showed that in counties with stronger child welfare/mental health linkages, differentials in service use between African American children and white children diminished. As linkage levels increase, differences in rates of service use between white and African American children diminish. 

Therefore, the authors believed that the coordination of services between child welfare and mental health agencies, as it relates to the mental health needs of children, may be able to prevent disparities in mental health care use among African American children.