School Funding CenterCentral source of expertise on school improvement issues

Our proposed small grad school, with its very intense workload, is evidently swimming against the trend. This op-ed, in 2009, created a mini-firestorm. Kara Miller teaches at Babson College. She wrote:

Teaching in college, especially one with a large international student population, has given me a stark – and unwelcome – illustration of how Americans’ work ethic often pales in comparison with their peers from overseas.

My “C,’’ “D,’’ and “F’’ students this semester are almost exclusively American, while my students from India, China, and Latin America have – despite language barriers – generally written solid papers, excelled on exams, and become valuable class participants.

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More recently, Keith O’Brien contributed this thoughtful essay to the Boston Globe ideas section.

According to time-use surveys analyzed by professors Philip Babcock, at the University of California Santa Barbara, and Mindy Marks, at the University of California Riverside, the average student at a four-year college in 1961 studied about 24 hours a week. Today’s average student hits the books for just 14 hours.

The decline, Babcock and Marks found, infects students of all demographics. No matter the student’s major, gender, or race, no matter the size of the school or the quality of the SAT scores of the people enrolled there, the results are the same: Students of all ability levels are studying less.

“It’s not just limited to bad schools,” Babcock said. “We’re seeing it at liberal arts colleges, doctoral research colleges, masters colleges. Every different type, every different size. It’s just across the spectrum. It’s very robust. This is just a huge change in every category.”

We like to say there’s only one thing harder than our year-long teacher residency.

That’s the rookie year of teaching we’re preparing you for…

   Folsom, also a PACT Board member, got an opinion from the attorney general’s office that said any mail-outs from PACT, which is overseen by Ivey’s office, could include the website address for Save Alabama Pact.

   The statewide grassroots group was credited convincing the Legislature to appropriate nearly $548 million over the next 17 years go to keep the state’s promise to pay tuition for 44,000 students.

   Huckaby and Lambert were both leaders in the Save Alabama Pact movement before they were appointed to the PACT Board.

   Huckaby said today that Ivey had fought the group at every step in gaining access to communicate with PACT contract holders through the treasurer’s office.

   “We asked her many many many times,” he said. “She had her general counsel write us and tell us she could not provide private information (in mail-outs),” he said. “We asked to be included in mailings and were denied that.”

   Finally, Huckaby said Folsom asked for the opinion from King’s office, which gave approval for Save Alabama Pact to have a link on the PACT site and be listed on all PACT mailings.

   Chip Hill, a spokesman for Folsom, said the lieutenant governor twice made motions that were approved by the PACT Board to include Save Alabama Pact’s contact information in all future PACT mailings.

   “I think everyone was under the impression that the treasurer would abide by the decision of the board,” he said. “I don’t understand why she continues to antagonize these parents.”

   Ivey is the Republican nominee facing Folsom in the lieutenant governor’s race in November.

   Huckaby said a critical financial report on the status of PACT that was mailed earlier this year did not include the Save Alabama Pact information, nor did an Aug. 21 mail-out on “New PACT Rules.”

   “Nothing has changed,” he said. “How critical is that in this point in time I don’t think she (Ivey) is attuned to PACT holders needs this year. Kay Ivey just doesn’t want to follow the lead set down in a motion passed by the Board of Directors.”

   Ivey did not immediately return a phone call, but Deputy Treasurer Vickie Locke said the office opted for a postcard size mailing to save money, limiting space for information.

   While the postcard did not carry the Save Alabama Pact website address, it did carry the website address for the PACT program, she said.

    “When a PACT purchaser follows that link, they are immediately directed to a page that has the Save Alabama Pact address prominently featured,” Locke added.

   Huckaby said he continues to receive e-mails daily from PACT-holders who don’t understand the impact of the new legislation.

   He said many of those questions could be answered by Save Alabama Pact, which will be returning to lobby the Legislature again in 2011.

   Lambert said she was disappointed in the treasurer’s inaction.

   “We fought hard for that and they used every excuse in the world,” she said. “It’s just kind of heartbreaking to me. Just another thing . . .”

    Huckaby and Lambert predicted the legislative fix in 2010 would be short-lived, mainly because of continuing double-digit tuition increases at Auburn University and the University of Alabama. Sixty-five percent of PACT-holders attend those two schools.

   Huckaby said under current conditions, tuition is probably guaranteed only through the 2014 or 2015 school year unless the Legislature makes further revisions in the 2010 law.

I’m having fun with this K-12 school design work. That’s because I’m learning. I love learning new stuff.

Background: Last month we wrote a 25-page proposal to create a new MATCH School. We’ll find out this month if we advance to the next ground of the competition (which would mean writing a 55-page application).

In the next round, we would need to describe more specifically how we would teach little kids to read (since right now our model is only Grades 6 to 12).

There are so many juicy issues to explore.

One is the big debates is the usefulness of “reading strategies.”

This blog has two videos. The first one is a 6-minute video explaining the “reading strategies” approach.

The second video, 10 minutes long, from UVa prof Dan Willingham, attacks reading strategies. He believes there is massive overuse of this approach. He says strategies do help – but just a little, short-term. He recommends no more than 10 lessons on it (not sure if he means in a year, or ever).

Instead, Willingham argues, teaching reading should be mostly teaching “content” — topics in geography, science, history, art, or whatever.

His video is excellent. I find his argument quite persuasive. But I’m a newbie at this and I’m sure my opinions will swirl around for a while.

Reading Strategy Basics

Teaching Content Is Teaching Reading (Keep Strategies To Very Small Doses)

What is a reading strategy?

For example, one is making a “text-to-self” connection, or “text to text” connection. The idea is you try to get a kid to connect what he’s reading to his life, or to another book.

If I’m reading Curious George, and George is in charge of taking a dog for a walk, maybe I write down that my friend has a dog that he walks. Or that in the TV show “Martha Speaks,” the dog doesn’t get walked. She kinda ambles around on her own.

Good readers make connections like that automatically. The idea is that if kids learn to explicitly make those connections, it helps. Willingham says: Yeaahhhh not really that much.

Another day, another scrimmage. I got to admit this isn’t a bad life. With the soccer season continuing to inch closer and closer, I caught Bloomfield and Conard today in West Hartford. Both teams came across as young but I’ll have to wait for the official word when final rosters are made sometime in the next week. Hard to give that title of ‘young team’ to any group when so many junior varsity players are on the field. Still, that didn’t mean I didn’t see somethings worth noting. I really liked the energy from both the players and coaches. A fair share of junior varsity players impressed too. One thing I look for in scrimmages is a player willing to try and take risks; to attempt to stretch himself. Make the hard, but smart decision. It was nice to see players trying to go to the middle of the field and create open space rather than just depend on the flank. It’s also not the easiest thing to go out and try and win a varsity spot in 90 degree heat. And that’s what these kids we’re doing. I give them loads of credit. I give every player credit for that this week. Hard not to be impressed when you see players across the state playing in this weather.Both teams still need to make improvements in decision making, touch and timing. But then again, those things come with more and more time together. Should be interesting to see them again once the pieces are all in place. And one more thing, even though it really doesn’t matter or have any importance: I’ve noticed a lot more Adidas boots than Nike or Puma or any other rival maker in my first three days of practices. The Adidas Predator is the early champ for favorite boot of high school players.  Probably no one else cares but that’s just one of the things I seem to notice.That’s it for now. But we still have a ways to go for preseason coverage. I’ll have all the good stuff like rankings and players to watch next week. I’m also trying to establish a fan poll. we’ll see how it works. As for the next few days, I hope to catch up with past champions and look into coaching records. Thanks guys.