Friday News Roundup…

It’s Friday! Time for the news roundup.

Oakland’s New Opportunity Ticket Gives Students in Failing Schools a Shot at Attending Its Most Sought-After Ones (The 74)

I mentioned this lottery program in yesterday’s column. This past March, the Oakland (CA) Unified School District board approved a plan to offer spots to some of their most successful schools to families zoned to some of Oakland’s worst campuses. If becoming a smarter and stronger learner is considered the civil rights issue of the 21^st century, then why would we depend on a lottery system to give just a few the opportunity to become those smarter and stronger learners? What Oakland should be doing is creating a new system where all young learners have a plan to make them strong readers, writers, problem-solvers, and possess the right characteristics to make them ready for life.

Are Aspiring Elementary Teachers Learning Enough Math? (EdWeek)

According to a National Council on Teacher Quality review of more than 1,100 teacher-prep programs that was released last week, about a fifth of undergraduate programs earned an “F” grade for providing less that 60 percent of the recommended mathematics coursework. Graduate programs fared even worse: 85 percent of those programs earned an “F” and just 2 percent earned an “A” or an “A+.”

These results aren’t surprising. During my days inside a school district and working with school districts as an educational non-profit leader, I witnessed firsthand how many elementary classroom teachers were deficient in their math skills.

Maybe it’s time to create a new leadership position within a new system of learning – the numeracy coach. This person, along with a literacy coach, could lead learning for 40-50 kids. Young learners would have large chunks of time to work on their reading, writing, and problem-solving skills. Young learners would have access to a well-trained professional in both literacy and numeracy to help them reach their learning goals.

Capstone Day: St. Johnsbury Students Present Projects About an Ice Shanty, Seaweed, Parental Addiction (Vermont Public Radio)

St. Johnsbury Academy is located on the New Hampshire-Vermont border. St. J’s Capstone Day isn’t unique. Lots of schools offer an end of the year project where students tell others what they’ve learned about a topic they are passionate about.

But what if all learning was built around the Capstone model? What if all learning was built on interests and passions? Skeptics say kids wouldn’t learn what they needed to learn, skills like reading, writing, oral communication, or problem solving.

I’m not sure about that. It seems to me that learners learn what they need to learn when they realize they need that skill to further their interest- and passion-based work. What would happen if we created a needs-based learning plan instead of state curriculums designed to educate all the same?

Helping Student Build Social Capital – and a Path to the Future (The 74)

David Etzwiler is the Chief Executive Officer at the Siemens Foundation. Matt Gandal is president of Education Strategy Groups, which supports America’s education leaders and employers at the transition points that have the highest stakes for students and the highest impact for state and local economies.

Etzwiler and Gandal write, “When it comes to educational and career success, it’s difficult to overstate the importance of relationships. No one succeeds alone, and doors to opportunity are not opened solely by academic achievement. Social capital – the benefits and opportunities that stem from personal networks and connections – matters tremendously for success in higher education and careers. But as with more traditional forms of capital, many are not able to access and leverage social capital.”

Five cities across America will launch a new initiative to build relationship and network development into the heart of the educational pathways they offer to students – their future workforces.

This is what learning should look like for all kids. Why are we still isolating our kids in schools and not letting them take advantage of the world classroom?

Confronted with Mass Shootings, Texas Republicans Have Repeatedly Loosened Gun Laws (Texas Tribune)

“In the past few years, Texas Republicans have been quick to consider a crackdown on gun violence after a mass shooting.”

“They did so in 2018 after a 17-year-old entered Santa Fe High School and killed 10 people. Then again in 2019, when two mass shootings weeks apart occurred in El Paso at a Walmart and then in Midland and Odessa after a dismissed worker opened fire.”

“But when lawmakers have reconvened in Austin in the months after a mass shooting, those same leaders tend to fall silent on any restrictive measures when it comes to guns. In the last two legislative sessions, Texas legislators have loosened gun laws, most notably by passing permitless carry in 2021, less than two years after mass shootings in El Paso and Odessa took the lives of 30 people.”

Texas is not a safe place for children, especially poor children, mainly because elected leaders don’t care enough to pass laws to protect and provide for their young people, especially those who are black, brown, and poor. It starts with gun laws, but it doesn’t end there. When it comes to legislation that helps children at risk with food, housing, mental health, and other needs, Texas ranks close to the bottom compared to other states. It’s been like that for years.

Case Study: The Hard Transition to 1-to-1 Computing Continues (Ed Week)

William Pierce, executive administrator of digital innovation and project management for Kentucky’s Jefferson County Public Schools, stated the problem correctly when he said, “I think the easy part is getting devices. I don’t think that’s hard. The thing that keeps me up is: What are we doing to support our teachers in understanding how to teach with technology, how to integrate technology within their own world?”

School districts are blaming COVID “learning loss” on the fact that kids were unable to attend school during much of 2020 and some of 2021. But if you ask me, “learning loss” occurred because of what William Pierce points out above. “Learning loss” occurred because our present educational system was totally unprepared to make a shift when it came to how teaching and learning happened. So shame on us, the adult learning leaders, who allowed kids to fall behind in their reading and math skills because we weren’t prepared to teach in different ways than those familiar to us.

Have a good Memorial Day weekend, and we will talk Tuesday. SVB