Friday News Roundup

It’s Friday. Time for the News Roundup.

What Happens When a 48K-Student District Commits to the “Science of Learning” (The 74)

This is a head scratcher. Why more school districts don’t commit to teaching learning science to their teachers is perplexing. One must guess school districts think that learning science is covered in a teacher’s course of study. But in most cases, it’s not.

Recently, The 74 reported that,

“Frederick County, situated about 50 miles north of Washington D.C., and 50 miles west of Baltimore is…one of the only a handful to use learning science research to try to improve schools at scale. Launched in 2015, it’s the centerpiece of a school improvement plan, and leaders ay the goal is to raise academic achievement overall, as well as shrink stubborn gaps between more advantaged students and their less advantaged peers.”

For Frederick County, learning science includes training adults on how the brain works, using time differently, and stopping the urge to chase the latest greatest thing in school reform.

“The district is seeing steady progress in a positive direction, even when accounting for pandemic-related learning loss. Third-grade English Language Arts scores, for example, on the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program test, rose from 49.5% proficient in 2018, to 60% proficient in 2023 – 12 points above the state average. In math, students from disadvantaged groups have also seen steady gains. African-American third graders were 38% proficient in 2018, but rose to 43.8% by 2023; over five years, low-income Title 1 third graders slowing grew from 32% to 37.6% proficient.”

18 Years, $2 Billion: Inside New Orlean’s Biggest School Recovery Effort in History (The 74)

18 years after Hurricane Katrina leveled New Orleans and most of the public schools throughout the city, The 74 reports that reconstruction of those schools is now complete:

“In July 2023, 18 years after Hurricane Katrina left most of New Orleans underwater, NOLA Public Schools hosted a ribbon-cutting at the last school building reconstructed in the wake of the storm….”

“The 2005 hurricane and subsequent flood destroyed or severely damaged 110 of the 126 public school buildings operating at the time. Bringing them back was a linchpin of efforts to rebuild the city. Displaced families could not return until there were classrooms to welcome their kids.”

“The logistical challenges of the $2 billion effort were unprecedented. No one had ever tried to rebuild an entire school system. The Federal Emergency Management Agency was mostly in the business of repairing or replacing houses and residential buildings, and was notorious for doing so excruciatingly slowly.”

And let’s remember, as these schools were being rebuilt, New Orleans became the first city in the nation to offer its families a charter school system that basically replaced the existing public schools. Recently, that trend has reversed itself, with public school districts now opening new campuses in the city.

Responding to Post-Pandemic Norms, More States are Lowering Test Standards (The 74)

The 74 reported recently that,

“When an official with the Green Bay, Wisconsin, school district previewed new students test results for the school board last month, he urged members not to get too excited.”

“While it looked like the number of students scoring at the lowest level dropped by over 12%, the reality was more complicated.”

“’Comparing 2023 to 2024 is challenging,’ David Johns, an associate superintendent, told the board. In conjunction with the unveiling of new standards last year, the state lowered its bar for proficiency and recalibrated performance levels. Below basic become ‘developing’ and basic, ‘approaching.’”

…

“Wisconsin isn’t the only state that recently instituted changes that effectively boost proficiency rates. Oklahoma and Alaska recently made similar adjustments. New York lowered passing or ‘cut’ scores in reading and math last year, while Illinois and Colorado are considering such revisions.”

Readers shouldn’t be surprised by this. When I worked in Texas, their state board of education, along with the Texas Education Agency, mostly lowered the bar for proficiency periodically to insure there were enough Lone Star kids passing to elected officials could get re-elected. Too bad of news on the testing front was not good for politicians interested in winning another term.

Looks like this continues today.

Why Schools Are Getting a Jump on Their Smartwatch Policies (EducationWeek)

First cellphones. Then Chat GPT. Now smartwatches.

EducationWeek reported recently,

“Are tiny screens any less disruptive than bigger ones?”

“Some schools aren’t waiting around to find out: A small but growing number have already crafted and adopted policies on the use of smartwatches in their schools. Schools are restricting or banning the use of these wearable devices during instructional time, or only allowing them during recess and lunch, akin to cellphones.”

Very soon there won’t be any technology inside our schools. Think of that. A place of learning without technology.

Weird.

That’s all for this week. Til Monday. Have a great weekend. SVB