By: KENRIC WARD
Sunshine State News January 14, 2012
More Florida high schools are earning A's and B's while only 39 percent of 10th-graders are reading at or above proficiency levels on the state's FCAT exam, Department of Education records show. Some 78 percent of high schools scored either an A or B grade in 2011, up from 71 percent last year. A-rated schools receive financial awards from the state of up to $150,000 per campus.
Yet high school students' academic competence is flat or falling. The 39 percent of students reading at or above Level 3 "proficiency" was the same as it was in 2010. Though math scores were better -- 71 percent of 10th-graders were "proficient" -- that was down 2 points from 2010.
The 2011 high school grades were boosted by a new formula that factors in more than scores on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Graduation rates, as well as participation and performance in advanced-placement courses, now count toward a school's grade.
The FCAT writing battery, where 90 percent of students score at or above the "proficient" level, helps pad the scores.
"Reading and math scores may not improve. In fact, they can decline, but a school can still improve its score by achieving growth in the other benchmarks," said Jason Caros, president of the Florida Council of the Social Studies.
Amid indications of campus grade inflation, the state Board of Education last month voted to raise the "cut scores" that determine which pupils are passing and which are failing. It was the first time in a decade that the state approved tougher standards.
The state expects that many more students will be required to take remedial lessons as a result of the higher score requirement, which first applies to the class of 2014. The new system will kick in with exams taken this coming spring.
Amber Winkler, a senior researcher for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, said, "Florida should be lauded for raising its cut scores. Too many states are content to rest on their laurels, but Florida keeps raising the bar.
"Raising expectations now becomes even more important since Florida plans to implement new Common Core standards in 2015 -- which will require even more of students. There has to be continued pressure on the system to improve," Winkler said.
Meantime, the state Board of Education took another step to thin the herd of A-rated schools. Currently, a school must earn 525 points or more (on an 800-point scale) to earn an A grade. A final level hasn't been determined yet, but beginning in 2012-2013, if, for example, 75 percent of Florida’s high schools earn an A, an "automatic trigger" would raise the minimum threshold to 560 points the next year.
Jaryn Emhof, spokeswoman at Jeb Bush's education-reform think tank, Foundation for Florida's Future, hailed the state's moves. "The foundation has said standards need to be raised across the board," Emhof said.
Caros, an educator in Volusia County, says poor reading skills at middle schools and high schools are "a byproduct of the failure to teach core knowledge" in early grades. "Much of the reading elementary students engage in at school is fiction. While fiction is certainly important, a 2006 Stanford University study found that Florida’s failure to emphasize 'the acquisition of appropriate knowledge at each grade level' made comprehension of nonfiction texts very difficult for middle and high school students," Caros writes in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of the James Madison Institute.
Citing one example, Caros asks: "Why would it be bad for someone to meet their Waterloo?" Without broad background knowledge, readers will find it difficult to make sense of the many historical and literary allusions that appear in readings," Caros says in his article, "Why Johnny Can't Understand What He Reads."
Still, many teachers and administrators bridle at the tougher, upcoming cut scores. Maintaining that academic deficiencies begin at the lower grade levels, high schools are particularly concerned.
Orange County School District Superintendent Ron Blocker told the Orlando Sentinel, "There will be blood on the table."
"Adding more focus to an already flawed assessment process will not result in real learning gains in reading," Caros predicted in an article written for the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
But DOE Commissioner Gerard Robinson says the new standards will put high school students "on a pathway for colleges and careers in a far better way than we've ever seen before."
State officials say the whole testing system is being reformed as Florida replaces FCAT math, reading and writing exams with new “common core” exams in 2015.
Developed by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, a consortium of states that won federal Race to the Top funds, the new exams will likely include two tests per subject.
It is not yet known how the "PARCC" tests will stack up against FCAT, but education observers point out that continual changes in test regimens thwart any longitudinal, apples-to-apples comparisons. Skeptics say that's exactly the intent and objective.
Whatever assessment devices and scoring systems Florida uses, Bill Mattox, resident fellow at James Madison Institute, says, "We ought to be raising the bar, not lowering it. Hold everyone -- students, teachers, parents -- to higher standards."
Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.
http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/more-florida-high-schools-earn-a-while-fcats-fade
Monday, January 16, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Ruling on ethnic students program splits Arizona community
Ruling on ethnic students program splits Arizona community
By Casey Stegall January 14, 2012
Years ago, many urban school districts around the country created ethnic studies programs in an effort to help minority students succeed in the classroom and learn about their heritage. The Tucson Unified School District in Arizona was no exception, considering about 61 percent of
the student population there is Hispanic.
The courses first started being offered a little more than ten years ago but top education officials in the state say the program has spiraled out of control in recent years because of failed oversight.
Now the issue has a community divided. John Huppenthal, Arizona’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, says somehow the district's "Mexican-American Studies Program" went rogue because the curriculum, lesson plans and textbooks stopped being approved by the school board at some point.
The state's top school chief says that makes it in violation of state law because all materials being taught in Arizona classrooms must get the local board's seal of approval. In fact, his office launched an investigation that found that erroneous facts were being taught to the students and the classes promoted "racial resentment."
"We have no problem with a history class talking about historical injustices. It becomes problematic though when you take every historic event and you interpret it in racial terms, in a radical context and you use that to inflame a low income Hispanic minority against a white Caucasian majority. Then you're not talking about injustice. You're not talking about how each of us has individual rights and responsibilities for a better future. Now you're talking about getting even," Huppenthol told Fox News.
An administrative law judge in Arizona, Lewis Kowal, agreed with the investigation findings. The judge says teachers were presenting material in a biased, political and emotionally charged manner.
Kowal's 37 page ruling went on to say the course was "designed for Latinos as a group that promoted racial resentment against 'Whites' and advocates ethnic solidarity of Latinos." After
these statements were made, state education officials threatened to suspend millions of dollars in funding to the district unless the problem was fixed.
Supporters of the program have maintained the state's findings are bogus. They argue the classes are vital in teaching children about Chicano history, literature and social and justice. Teachers say they're insulted by the mere suggestion that they're promoting racism and students tell Fox the classes actually help them excel in their other mandated courses.
"We have the right to culture, history, affinity, language and education. We want an educational system where all cultures fit. Unidos we stand, divided we fall," one student says of the program.
The issue came to a head this week when the Tucson Unified School Board voted 4-1 to halt the ethnic studies classes for the time being. TUSD's Superintendent, John Pedicone, says ethnic studies teachers are already reverting to core curriculum. The courses are gone but the epartment still remains as the district works on creating new classes that will combine core curriculum and some ethnic studies lessons, all in compliance with Arizona law.
Hundreds of students, parents and teachers are outraged over the school board's decision and there were some tense moments at the meeting. "You're an autonomous board. You can
appeal this decision… this racist decision… this ignorant decision that was made by the state. Do the right thing! Stand up for something they way I was taught. That if I go and stand for something I'm going to fall for anything.
That's what you should have to do! That's what you need to do!" one teacher yelled.
More than 100 students also staged a march this week, walking from their charter school to TUSD headquarters in protest. A legal fight is already underway because of a federal lawsuit that was filed prior to this vote. Richard Martinez is a Tucson attorney representing the plaintiffs who says the state law could very well be a violation of the teachers' First Amendment rights. The American Civil Liberties Union has also expressed interest in helping appeal the school board’s decision. Supporters of Tucson's ethnic studies program say they're not going down without a fight and the issue certainly isn’t going away anytime soon.
To be continued . . . .
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/01/14/ruling-on-ethnic-students-program-splits-arizona-community/#ixzz1jUHEdkvO
By Casey Stegall January 14, 2012
Years ago, many urban school districts around the country created ethnic studies programs in an effort to help minority students succeed in the classroom and learn about their heritage. The Tucson Unified School District in Arizona was no exception, considering about 61 percent of
the student population there is Hispanic.
The courses first started being offered a little more than ten years ago but top education officials in the state say the program has spiraled out of control in recent years because of failed oversight.
Now the issue has a community divided. John Huppenthal, Arizona’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, says somehow the district's "Mexican-American Studies Program" went rogue because the curriculum, lesson plans and textbooks stopped being approved by the school board at some point.
The state's top school chief says that makes it in violation of state law because all materials being taught in Arizona classrooms must get the local board's seal of approval. In fact, his office launched an investigation that found that erroneous facts were being taught to the students and the classes promoted "racial resentment."
"We have no problem with a history class talking about historical injustices. It becomes problematic though when you take every historic event and you interpret it in racial terms, in a radical context and you use that to inflame a low income Hispanic minority against a white Caucasian majority. Then you're not talking about injustice. You're not talking about how each of us has individual rights and responsibilities for a better future. Now you're talking about getting even," Huppenthol told Fox News.
An administrative law judge in Arizona, Lewis Kowal, agreed with the investigation findings. The judge says teachers were presenting material in a biased, political and emotionally charged manner.
Kowal's 37 page ruling went on to say the course was "designed for Latinos as a group that promoted racial resentment against 'Whites' and advocates ethnic solidarity of Latinos." After
these statements were made, state education officials threatened to suspend millions of dollars in funding to the district unless the problem was fixed.
Supporters of the program have maintained the state's findings are bogus. They argue the classes are vital in teaching children about Chicano history, literature and social and justice. Teachers say they're insulted by the mere suggestion that they're promoting racism and students tell Fox the classes actually help them excel in their other mandated courses.
"We have the right to culture, history, affinity, language and education. We want an educational system where all cultures fit. Unidos we stand, divided we fall," one student says of the program.
The issue came to a head this week when the Tucson Unified School Board voted 4-1 to halt the ethnic studies classes for the time being. TUSD's Superintendent, John Pedicone, says ethnic studies teachers are already reverting to core curriculum. The courses are gone but the epartment still remains as the district works on creating new classes that will combine core curriculum and some ethnic studies lessons, all in compliance with Arizona law.
Hundreds of students, parents and teachers are outraged over the school board's decision and there were some tense moments at the meeting. "You're an autonomous board. You can
appeal this decision… this racist decision… this ignorant decision that was made by the state. Do the right thing! Stand up for something they way I was taught. That if I go and stand for something I'm going to fall for anything.
That's what you should have to do! That's what you need to do!" one teacher yelled.
More than 100 students also staged a march this week, walking from their charter school to TUSD headquarters in protest. A legal fight is already underway because of a federal lawsuit that was filed prior to this vote. Richard Martinez is a Tucson attorney representing the plaintiffs who says the state law could very well be a violation of the teachers' First Amendment rights. The American Civil Liberties Union has also expressed interest in helping appeal the school board’s decision. Supporters of Tucson's ethnic studies program say they're not going down without a fight and the issue certainly isn’t going away anytime soon.
To be continued . . . .
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/01/14/ruling-on-ethnic-students-program-splits-arizona-community/#ixzz1jUHEdkvO
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
| The following information is presented here as an information service to our members only. We neither endorse nor oppose the views of this particular group, but seek merely to inform social studies teachers of the current controversy concerning many of our most popular texts. Act for America is the not-for-profit organization managed by Brigitte Gabriel. (the Editors) Textbook Analysis Project Coming Soon! We have received a lot of emails asking when our textbook analysis project will be completed. If you’re not aware of this, 18 months ago we launched an in-depth analysis of thirty-eight 6th through 12th grade textbooks, to see how they treated the subject of Islam.
Stay tuned! | |||||||||||||||||||
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ACT! for America Education
P.O. Box 12765
Pensacola, FL 32591
member@americancongressfortruth.org
http://www.actforamericaeducation.com/
Friday, October 28, 2011
A Third of High School Seniors Lack Basic Grasp of Civics, US Government
Amanda Paulson, Christian Science Monitor, May 4, 2011
America’s students have little knowledge about how the democratic process works—including those on the cusp of voting themselves, according to the most recent results from the Nation’s Report Card.
The civics scores released Wednesday by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) had a few bright spots—particularly for fourth-graders and for Hispanic students. But overall they indicated relatively poor civics knowledge by students at all levels, and particularly among 12th-graders.
Just 24 percent of high school seniors scored at a proficient level or above, a slight drop from the last civics test in 2006, largely driven by declining scores for 12th-grade girls. Just 4 percent of seniors scored at an advanced level, and 36 percent didn’t even reach the most basic level. {snip}
Scores for Hispanic students also increased compared with 1998 for all three grades (fourth, eighth, and 12th), and the white-Hispanic achievement gap narrowed. In eighth grade, the percentage of Hispanic students scoring at proficient has climbed over time from 44 percent in 1998 to 50 percent in 2006 and 56 percent in 2010.
But the gap is still wide for most minority groups. While 37 percent of white fourth-graders performed at or above proficient, for instance, just 12 percent of black students and 10 percent of Hispanic students scored at that level. At the lower end of achievement, the differences are just as stark: 13 percent of white fourth-graders scored below basic, compared with 38 percent of black students and 42 percent of Hispanic students. {snip}
“Studies have shown that African-American and Hispanic students and those not planning to go to college receive fewer effective civics opportunities,” Quigley says. “This is ironic in the fact of abundant evidence that when these students do receive these opportunities, they perform as well as anybody else.”
Original article (Posted on May 5, 2011)
Amanda Paulson, Christian Science Monitor, May 4, 2011
America’s students have little knowledge about how the democratic process works—including those on the cusp of voting themselves, according to the most recent results from the Nation’s Report Card.
The civics scores released Wednesday by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) had a few bright spots—particularly for fourth-graders and for Hispanic students. But overall they indicated relatively poor civics knowledge by students at all levels, and particularly among 12th-graders.
Just 24 percent of high school seniors scored at a proficient level or above, a slight drop from the last civics test in 2006, largely driven by declining scores for 12th-grade girls. Just 4 percent of seniors scored at an advanced level, and 36 percent didn’t even reach the most basic level. {snip}
Scores for Hispanic students also increased compared with 1998 for all three grades (fourth, eighth, and 12th), and the white-Hispanic achievement gap narrowed. In eighth grade, the percentage of Hispanic students scoring at proficient has climbed over time from 44 percent in 1998 to 50 percent in 2006 and 56 percent in 2010.
But the gap is still wide for most minority groups. While 37 percent of white fourth-graders performed at or above proficient, for instance, just 12 percent of black students and 10 percent of Hispanic students scored at that level. At the lower end of achievement, the differences are just as stark: 13 percent of white fourth-graders scored below basic, compared with 38 percent of black students and 42 percent of Hispanic students. {snip}
“Studies have shown that African-American and Hispanic students and those not planning to go to college receive fewer effective civics opportunities,” Quigley says. “This is ironic in the fact of abundant evidence that when these students do receive these opportunities, they perform as well as anybody else.”
Original article (Posted on May 5, 2011)
Friday, October 21, 2011
AMERICAN YOUTH LOSING INTEREST IN HISTORY, CIVICS AND PATRIOTISM.
America Was Great Because We Were Good. Why Is American Greatness Now Fading?
“Failing Liberty 101”
By Walter E. Williams, professor of economics at George Mason University July 13, 2011
A recent Superman comic book has the hero saying, "I am renouncing my U.S. citizenship" because "truth, justice, and the American way -- it's not enough anymore." Though not addressing Superman's statement, Stanford University professor and Hoover Institution senior fellow William Damon explains how such a vision could emerge today but not yesteryear. The explanation is found in his article "American Amnesia," in Defining Ideas (7/1/2011), based upon his most recent book, "Failing Liberty 101: How We Are Leaving Young Americans Unprepared for Citizenship in a Free Society."
The National Assessment of Educational Progress reports that only 1 in 4 high-school seniors scored at least "proficient" in knowledge of U.S. citizenship. Civics and history were American students' worst subjects. Professor Damon said that for the past 10 years, his Stanford University research team has interviewed broad cross sections of American youths about U.S. citizenship. Here are some typical responses: "We just had (American citizenship) the other day in history. I forget what it was." Another said, "Being American is not really special. ... I don't find being an American citizen very important." Another said, "I don't want to belong to any country. It just feels like you are obligated to this country. I don't like the whole thing of citizen. ... It's like, citizen, no citizen; it doesn't make sense to me. It's, like, to be a good citizen -- I don't know, I don't want to be a citizen. ... It's stupid to me."
A law professor, whom Damon leaves unnamed, shares this vision in a recent book: "Longstanding notions of democratic citizenship are becoming obsolete. ... American identity is unsustainable in the face of globalization." Instead of commitment to a nation-state, "loyalties ... are moving to transnational communities defined by many different ways: by race, ethnicity, gender, religion, age, and sexual orientation." This law professor's vision is shared by many educators who look to "global citizenship" as the proper aim of civics instruction, de-emphasizing attachment to any particular country, such as the United States, pointing out that our primary obligation should be to the universal ideals of human rights and justice. To be patriotic to one's own country is seen as suspect because it may turn into a militant chauvinism or a dangerous "my country, right or wrong" vision.
The ignorance about our country is staggering. According to one survey, only 28 percent of students could identify the Constitution as the supreme law of the land. Only 26 percent of students knew that the first 10 amendments to the Constitution are called the Bill of Rights. Fewer than one-quarter of students knew that George Washington was the first president of the United States. . . .
Discouraging young Americans from identifying with their country and celebrating our traditional American quest for liberty and equal rights removes the most powerful motivation to learn civics and U.S. history. After all, Damon asks, "why would a student exert any effort to master the rules of a system that the student has no respect for and no interest in being part of? To acquire civic knowledge as well as civic virtue, students need to care about their country."
[Dr. Williams then editorialized as to the current state of American politics which was heavily partisan. These comments are not reprinted here.]
Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University.
From: http://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2011/07/13/failing_liberty_101
America Was Great Because We Were Good. Why Is American Greatness Now Fading?
“Failing Liberty 101”
By Walter E. Williams, professor of economics at George Mason University July 13, 2011
A recent Superman comic book has the hero saying, "I am renouncing my U.S. citizenship" because "truth, justice, and the American way -- it's not enough anymore." Though not addressing Superman's statement, Stanford University professor and Hoover Institution senior fellow William Damon explains how such a vision could emerge today but not yesteryear. The explanation is found in his article "American Amnesia," in Defining Ideas (7/1/2011), based upon his most recent book, "Failing Liberty 101: How We Are Leaving Young Americans Unprepared for Citizenship in a Free Society."
The National Assessment of Educational Progress reports that only 1 in 4 high-school seniors scored at least "proficient" in knowledge of U.S. citizenship. Civics and history were American students' worst subjects. Professor Damon said that for the past 10 years, his Stanford University research team has interviewed broad cross sections of American youths about U.S. citizenship. Here are some typical responses: "We just had (American citizenship) the other day in history. I forget what it was." Another said, "Being American is not really special. ... I don't find being an American citizen very important." Another said, "I don't want to belong to any country. It just feels like you are obligated to this country. I don't like the whole thing of citizen. ... It's like, citizen, no citizen; it doesn't make sense to me. It's, like, to be a good citizen -- I don't know, I don't want to be a citizen. ... It's stupid to me."
A law professor, whom Damon leaves unnamed, shares this vision in a recent book: "Longstanding notions of democratic citizenship are becoming obsolete. ... American identity is unsustainable in the face of globalization." Instead of commitment to a nation-state, "loyalties ... are moving to transnational communities defined by many different ways: by race, ethnicity, gender, religion, age, and sexual orientation." This law professor's vision is shared by many educators who look to "global citizenship" as the proper aim of civics instruction, de-emphasizing attachment to any particular country, such as the United States, pointing out that our primary obligation should be to the universal ideals of human rights and justice. To be patriotic to one's own country is seen as suspect because it may turn into a militant chauvinism or a dangerous "my country, right or wrong" vision.
The ignorance about our country is staggering. According to one survey, only 28 percent of students could identify the Constitution as the supreme law of the land. Only 26 percent of students knew that the first 10 amendments to the Constitution are called the Bill of Rights. Fewer than one-quarter of students knew that George Washington was the first president of the United States. . . .
Discouraging young Americans from identifying with their country and celebrating our traditional American quest for liberty and equal rights removes the most powerful motivation to learn civics and U.S. history. After all, Damon asks, "why would a student exert any effort to master the rules of a system that the student has no respect for and no interest in being part of? To acquire civic knowledge as well as civic virtue, students need to care about their country."
[Dr. Williams then editorialized as to the current state of American politics which was heavily partisan. These comments are not reprinted here.]
Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University.
From: http://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2011/07/13/failing_liberty_101
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