Writing parents about teachers

Alabama school districts once again will be notifying parents if their child is not being taught by a "highly qualified teacher," as defined by NCLB. According to news report, letter will say: "As of the date of this letter, your child's teacher (name) has yet to complete every requirement of the new federal definition of 'highly qualified.' He/She is, however, currently working to meet the new requirement, and we have full confidence in his/her ability to teach effectively in the current assignment."

Undercounting dropouts

Tough new report from Ed Trust criticizes most states for continuing to seriously inflate their graduation rates and goes after US Department of Education for allowing them to get away with it. Lots of charts that compare official state graduation rates with more accurate (and lower) tallies from groups like the Urban Institute. The conclusion:

"If we want high schools that
truly serve all students and
prepare them for work, college,
and life, we first need to know how
many students are leaving school
altogether. And we need to know
who these students are. With
that information in hand, we can
begin to craft targeted, responsive
improvement strategies.
Some states know this and,
like Washington, have taken it to
heart. They’ve been thoughtful
and creative in calculating good
graduation rate estimates, even in
the absence of ideal data systems.
Others, under cover of a
negligent U.S. Department of
Education, have skirted the issue.
Some have allowed their work to
build future data systems, while
important and necessary, to eclipse
the very urgent needs of schools
and students. These states, and
the nation as a whole, cannot
afford to wait any longer for good
information, because as we wait,
doors are closing on hundreds of
thousands of young people.
Getting an honest picture
of who is graduating from high
school should be the priority
of everyone—educators,
policymakers, parents, business
and community leaders—who is
invested in improving our high
schools. As The Indianapolis Star
declared: “The first step is to tell
the truth.”

Helping with math

Good advice from District Admimnistrator magazine on how parents can help their kids with math.

Extracurriculars for homeschoolers?

Good front-page story in today's New York Times about the growing push to force districts to allow home schooled children the oppportunity to participate in sports and others extracurriculars.

New guidance on tutoring

New guidance document from US Department of Education on what states and districts must do to provide quality supplemental services to students in low-performing schools. The 57-page report answers questions such as: what must the notice to parents contain, can the district set a deadline for parents to apply, who is monitoring vendor quality, what resources are available to help parents make a good choice? And scores of others.

New Metlife survey

This year's MetLife survey includes an important chapter on parent involvement in middle and high school. I need to look more closely at it, but this finding jumped out at me: "According to two-thirds of secondary school principals (66%) and half (47%) of new teachers at the secondary school level, involving parents is a priority at their school. Students’ perspectives on this issue are slightly different. Parental involvement tends to be more focused on after-school activities. Nearly half
(45%) say that their school does a good job of encouraging parental involvement in after-school activities. But this is almost twice as many as say that their school does a good job of encouraging parental involvement in the classroom (27%). And for every student who says that their school does a good job of encouraging parental involvement in the classroom, there is a student who says that their school does not give parents the opportunity for any meaningful roles (24%). The predominant opinion among secondary school students is that their school only contacts parents when there is a problem with their child (68%)."

Engaging in finance lawsuits

Useful new guide from the Public Education Network makes the case for why parent leaders and community-based organizations need to get involved in school finance lawsuits...with advice on how to do so. This guide answers questions such as: What does finance litigation mean? How does it come about? Whom does it affect? What options and outcomes does it make available to communities?

Word-of-mouth choices

Interesting article about how parents choose schools in Milwaukee, which has one of the largest choice programs in the country: gut instinct and word of mouth typically trump extensive research. Part of a 7-part series by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on choice.

San Diego inspiration

Inspiring story of parents in San Diego who took charge of their children's education and created a charter school. From a column in the Sacramento Bee: "More than 700 parents representing about 70 percent of children in the Gompers Secondary School attendance area, signed petitions demanding that the San Diego Unified School District relinquish control of the campus and hand it over to a board of parents, teachers, academics and community activists. After initially resisting, the district's trustees approved the request.

"This fall, the site will reopen as Gompers Middle Charter School under a partnership with University of California, San Diego. It will have a longer school day, many new teachers and high expectations. The school will combine intense instruction in basic subjects with strong discipline and close attention to the problems many children from this area deal with outside of school.

Three other San Diego neighborhood groups took control of their schools the same day Gompers did. And what is happening here increasingly is happening throughout California. Parents, it seems, are less willing to accept a public school system that cannot or will not help their children succeed. This has always been the case in affluent neighborhoods, where families could turn to private schools if they were dissatisfied with what the government offered them. But now parents in poorer communities are finding the tools that allow them to do much the same thing within the public school system."

NCLB: Where are the parents?

Wendy Puriefoy of the Public Education Network, writing in Ed Week, says NCLB hasn't come close to living up to its promise of involving parents in their child's education. She's right. Excerpt: "By and large, the public has been assigned a perfunctory role in school improvement. Districts send out report cards that people cannot understand, agendas for reform parents had no hand in developing, and invitations to meetings at which they are expected to play no active part. Parents see the names of their children’s schools on watch lists, but they don’t know what those lists mean. They hear politicians talk about school choice, but they don’t see any real choices in their own neighborhoods. They know they need to speak up in order to get the services their kids deserve, but they don’t know how to voice their concerns or who will listen to them."

Getting tough with parents

New Georgia truancy law could have real consequences for parents of truant students: fines and jail time. Read more here.

Too reliant on mom and dad?

Middle and high school students may be relying too much on their parents for advice on what to do after high school, according to a new survey of 3,000 students conducted by ACT, the college testing company. The ACT report, "College Readiness Begins in Middle School," says students are not planning properly. One reason may be that students are relying more on parents and friends than on trained school personnel for help in selecting their high school classes. Fewer than two-thirds (63%) of respondents said they received help from a guidance counselor in selecting their classes, and around one-fourth (27%) said they were helped by a principal. In comparison, the overwhelming majority named their mother (92%), father (84%), or friends (85%) as sources who provided help in selecting high school courses.

"Trained school personnel know what classes students should take to be prepared for college and careers," said an ACT spokesman. "Parents and friends certainly have the student's best interests at heart and are strong sources of support, but unless the school district has a formal parent information program that focuses on educational and career planning, parents may not always be well enough informed to provide accurate advice."

The ACT report recommends that school districts set up a formal program to help students develop a college readiness plan starting in middle school. It urges schools to work with all students and their parents, explaining to them the importance of taking a challenging curriculum and the effect it can have on their future educational, career and income options. It also recommends that schools work with families to calculate college costs and develop a plan to meet those costs.

"Schools can help students by helping their parents," said ACT. "Information is vital. If parents understand what their children need to meet their goals, then they can properly advise and encourage them to make the right decisions on course planning."

Good advice.