Friday News Roundup

It’s Friday. Time for the Roundup.

Why 20 Missouri School Districts Are Seeking New ‘Innovation Waivers’ to Rethink the Way They Test Students (The 74)

According to an article in The 74 online,

“A network of 20 Missouri school districts is asking the state to implement a more responsive assessment system in order to personalize student learning.”

“The group of schools, part of the Success-Ready Students Network, want to move away from the state’s annual standardized testing to assessments that would be administered multiple times a year.”

And you need an “innovation waiver” in Missouri to do this?

See, this is what’s wrong with public education today. What they think is “innovative” really isn’t “innovative” at all. And, you still need Moses to part the waters in order to make even the most non-innovative changes.

New Study: Kids Who Scored Worst on NAEP Missed the Most School Before the Test (The 74)

The 74 online reported this week,

“The results from the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress rattled the education sector, pointing to learning loss in math and reading on a national scale during the pandemic. Pundits have tied the test score declines to prolonged school closures, student mental health issues and an easing of academic rigor in many schools.”

“But a new analysis by a former senior federal education researcher suggests another potential contributing factor: the extraordinary number of students who have missed substantial amounts of school.”

I would change that last sentence a bit. I would guess that a contributing factor was “the extraordinary number of students who have missed substantial amounts of learning.”

And whose fault is that?

Here we go again – blaming the victim.

Just once I’d like to hear one superintendent come out and say “Our kids’ failure to learn during the pandemic is on us – the adult leadership of the school district. We just didn’t know how to help our kids learn when they weren’t in our schools or our classrooms. We’re sorry we were so unprepared, but it won’t happen again.”

Just once.

Seven Big Changes Iowa Parents and Students Will See When the New School Year Begins (The Des Moines Register)

Here are the seven big changes in Iowa’s public schools for the 2023-24 school year:

No books with sex acts in Iowa public schools.

No LGBTQ-related instruction in elementary schools.

New reporting requirements for violence, threats in school.

Parents added to the Iowa state board that licenses teachers.

Parental consent for student survey participation.

New restrictions for transgender students on pronouns, bathrooms.

Students have the opportunity to go to private school instead of public school.

I’m sure test scores will go up in the Hawkeye State because of these changes.

Teens Need to Start School Later. No More Excuses, Experts Say (EducationWeek)

I’m not even going to put a summary of this article here. It would be a waste of your time reading something that has been printed over and over for the past 40 years.

Ok, we know school should start earlier. But still most schools start way too early compared to what researchers are telling us.

We tried to start school earlier in Houston a few times when I worked there.

You know why it was never successful?

Buses. We couldn’t figure out how to run the buses earlier in the morning and earlier in the afternoon.

End of discussion. We didn’t change start or dismissal times.

Judge Sides with Youth in Montana Climate Change Trial, Finds Two Laws Unconstitutional (The Daily Montanan)

This story demonstrates the power of student voice, if adults allow young people to exercise that voice.

The Daily Montanan reported this week that,

“The State of Montana’s failure to consider greenhouse gas emissions from energy and mining projects violates the state constitution because it does not protect Montanan’s right to a clean and healthful environment and the state’s natural resources from unreasonable depletion, a judge ruled Monday in a victory for 16 youth plaintiffs who sued the state.”

“’Plaintiffs have a fundamental right to a clean and healthful environment, which includes climate as part of the environmental life support system,’ [Judge Kathy] Seely wrote in her decision.”

“The Held vs. Montana case was the first case challenging state and national climate and energy policies to make it to trial in the U.S., and is now the first in which plaintiffs, 16 Montana youth now ages 5 to 22, were victorious.”

There is a power to student voice. Maybe that’s what most adults are afraid of.

Do Classrooms Need Yoga Balls and Bean Bag Chairs? Teachers Weigh in on Flexible Seating (EducationWeek)

Here’s another article you don’t need to read.

And here’s the deal.

Instead of asking teachers about flexible seating, why don’t we train adult learning leaders to use the world, or at least their immediate community, as their classroom, instead of a four-walled square with linoleum flooring?

Instead of flexible seating, let’s talk about mobile learning.

It’s going to get hot and steamy in Iowa this week. Reminds me of Texas. Have a great weekend. I’m headed to the state fair! SVB