Doing the Math

Here's the bright news: A study released in December finds that compared with their international peers, American elementary and middle school students are faring pretty well in math and science, thank you. According to the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, or TIMSS, American fourth and eighth graders scored well above the international average.

Photos: Tanya Constantine

The discouraging news comes from another study, which shows the math lights dimming once U.S. kids enter high school. This study, also released in December, found American 15-year-olds scored below average among students from developed countries. Known as the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, this survey was sponsored by the Organ-ization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a group of the world's richest countries.

So what's the difference between the two surveys? One is the age of the students. Another is that PISA tested the application of math ideas to daily living situations, while TIMSS is more about whether students are learning the curriculum.

Each study was conducted in 2003. The TIMSS results showed no change for fourth graders since an earlier study in 1995, but the gap between Black and white students narrowed. Eighth graders scored higher overall than in 1995 and the gap between Black and white also narrowed.

Time Out?

Is there such a thing as being with your students too much?

Photos: Comstock

American teachers work more hours with their students than do teachers in any other developed country. That would be 1,139 hours a year in elementary schools and a few hours less in secondary, according to a recent survey. The average number of student contact hours in the survey was 803 in elementary, less in secondary.

Japan, notably, was at the bottom with 617 hours in elementary, 513 in "lower secondary," and 449 in "upper secondary." Japanese teachers get to spend lots of time outside their classes working together to develop and improve their lessons—which may have something to do with why Japanese students consistently score at or near the top in international competitions.

(Too Much) Love Abounding

Is your school a jungle of flowers and balloons on Valentine's Day? Do you see more teddy bears than students? When it comes to celebrating Valentine's Day in schools, love isn't always so sweet.

Photos: Comstock

The holiday may be full of fun for students, but, according to USA Today, some teachers and administrators think Valentine's Day has gotten out of control in schools and are trying to limit Valentine's gifts during school hours. Some teachers point to how distracted students get with all those sweets and gifts coming in—and how embarrassed students who don't receive anything feel. Plus, some school offices have become more like loading docks for balloons and flowers, which somebody (and we aren't calling names) has to distribute.

The chaos has led some administrators to politely ask students to send their little gifts of affection somewhere else besides school. A number of Greenville County high schools in South Carolina have outright banned Valentine's Day deliveries.

Some educators, though, think that Valentine's Day at school is all in good fun.  David Sawhill, a math teacher at Pioneer Junior High in California, says teachers "could actually use the deliveries as a teaching tool."

After all, he notes, they allow "students to express themselves toward others."  Hmm. Sawhill, whose school allows deliveries, does add that an organized delivery system could help keep some of the Valentine chaos under control.

Notepad Take the Break With the first semester of school just about behind you, you're probably wincing at the amount of money you've already spent outfitting your classroom with supplies. Fortunately, you'll be able to claim at least part of those expenses on your taxes this year and next. Congress has extended a plan that allows educators—both teachers and support professionals— to deduct up to $250 of their out-of-pocket classroom expenses on their 2004 and 2005 taxes. Congress originally passed the legislation in 2002, but it expired at the end of 2003. NEA worked with lawmakers on the two-year extension and continues to fight to make the deduction permanent and expand it to include professional development expenses. The tax bill also extends a federal tax credit bond program that provides funding for school construction and extends a tax deduction for corporations that donate computers to public schools. Read next month's NEA Today to see how much some of your colleagues spend on their classrooms and what they buy. Have a great idea? Send it by mail: NEA Today 1201 16th St., N.W. Washington, DC 20036 Send it by e-mail: neatoday@nea.org.

Let's Hear It for...
...Good News!

Photos: Stockbyte

Okay, so you're bummed out about all that testing. District officials are at your door with their progress check pads. Your kids are needing a serious chill pill.

Take a deep breath. Surely something's going right this year—and we want to know! Tell us your good news tale in 200 words or less, and we'll select the best of the best for a future NEA Today issue. But get to it—you have until February 20 to send your story to neatoday-reply@list.nea.org.

TV Teacher

He may be a TV producer and photojournalist, but, for all practical purposes, Omaha, Nebraska's Ben Gray is an educator. And he's using his journalistic expertise to help adults and kids understand important lessons about African-American history—not just during the month of February, but throughout the year.

Photos: Ryan McVay

Gray's groundbreaking work in the community and with students last year earned him the Carter G. Woodson Memorial Award from NEA and the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. But he's had little time to stop and muse about that too much.

Gray works for television station KETV in Omaha, where he produces Kaleidoscope, a show focusing on the Black community. The program addresses controversial issues, such as the growing influence of Islam in the penitentiary, and features celebrities and politicians. Gray also chairs the Omaha Public Schools' African American Achievement Council, gives talks in schools, and produces a book club show that allows students to tackle touchy subjects, such as intraracial discrimination against African Americans with darker skin.

Gray says while February's Black History Month celebrations are important, African-American

history "ought to be infused in curriculum" instead of being largely marginalized or ignored, and adds that positive African-American images "enrich and motivate Black children and engender respect from other ethnic groups." Encouraging respect is important because, as Gray reminds in one of his television programs, "We can choose to live together as brothers and sisters or perish together as fools."

—Sarah Rabovsky

See more on Ben Gray's work via streaming video at NEA Today Extra.

Hygienic Heroes

Hearing the familiar song of cough, cough, sneeze, snort? You're not alone. Cold and flu season has arrived and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say kids miss 22 million school days every year because of the common cold. 

Photos: Andrew Bret Wallis

But instead of stocking up on chicken soup, you may want to reach for the antibacterial soap and team up with Ship-Shape and his Scrub Club to fend off those pesky viruses. With some guidance from this legion of germ fighters, children can stay healthy by learning the dos and don'ts of hand washing at www.scrubclub.org, an interactive Web site that features seven "soaper-hero" kids in a "webisode," games, songs, and activities, as well as helpful advice for teachers and parents for keeping kids germ-free. 

NSF International, an independent, not-for-profit organization devoted to public health, launched the site in September as part of National Clean Hands Week and National Food Safety Education Month. The organization, along with The Partnership for Food Safety Education, hopes that by getting kids to wash their hands properly, the Scrub Club will help kids stay healthy and increase the number of days children spend learning in class instead of coughing and sneezing at home.

—S.R.

Global Takes Hunger rises again At least 5 million children die of hunger every year, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported in December. That comes to one every six seconds. The total number of people who are hungry grew to over 850 million, or more than one in seven. FAO found that the number of hungry people fell during the 1990s, but now it is rising again. Many countries have reduced the number of hungry people, however. More than 30 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America reduced hunger by at least 25 percent. Hunger was down slightly in Subsaharan Africa as a whole, FAO reported. Can Thais Lift IQ? The government of Thailand has announced a drive to boost children's IQs by 25 percent over the next decade. The program will start before birth, teaching pregnant women how to help their children develop high IQ. Curricula will also be revised. Thailand's prime minister wants children to start learning a foreign language before age 6. He said the government will give financial aid to poor students so they can finish secondary school and go on to a university. Have a good story? Send it by mail: NEA Today 1201 16th St., N.W. Washington, DC 20036 Send it by e-mail: neatoday@nea.org.

Mixed Messages

Photos: Nathan Ham

Once again, large numbers of public schools have received failing marks for their performance on the federal No Child Left Behind law, while simultaneously scoring at the top of the pack on their own state accountability systems. It's a bit like getting an "F" and an "A" for math at the same time. In Florida, for example, 1,262 schools got the coveted "A" from the state—and 827 of them didn't make "adequate yearly progress" (AYP) under the federal statute. In North Carolina, 102 schools rated "excellent" by the state didn't make AYP. In California, 403 achieved double the state growth target but failed AYP. And on and on.

How is this possible? Because there are so many ways—literally dozens—to fail in the federal system. Not only must the student body pass standardized reading and math tests, but each of many subgroups of students—ethnic groups, low-income students, special education students—must also pass, and 95 percent of each group must take the test. Highly useful information comes from looking at the scores for each of those groups, but flunking a school because of one slip-up is—well, insanity. That's why a large and growing coalition of groups that work to improve public education are joining NEA in pushing for reform. For more, see NEA Today Extra.

NCLB: Test Yourself

Photos: Comstock

You live it every day, but how much do you really know about the so-called No Child Left Behind law? Find out by taking a test developed by NEA member Stan Karp for Rethinking Schools magazine. It's fun, it's enlightening, and you won't see your score published in your local newspaper. If you send in your results, Rethinking Schools promises that "we will send you a list of the slots in society for which you seem qualified."

Visit www.rethinkingschools.org and go to the archives. The test is in the fall 2004 issue.

Safer But Plumper

Were the "good old days" really that good? Not necessarily, according to Kenneth Land, a sociologist at Duke University, who analyzed seven quality-of-life indicators from 1975 to 2002. He found mixed results. 

Photos: Diital Vision

YES, MORE CHILDREN  live in single-parent homes, and teen suicides are up. But children are safer than they were three decades ago. Student achievement has remained fairly steady. 

Meanwhile, the teen birth rate has dropped from 18.7 births per 1,000 to 11.9. Teenagers are having less sex these days, and when they do, they're more likely to use contraception.

But children have gotten chubbier—partly, Land believes, because of fear. Parents want to keep their children safe, he says, so some kids end up in after-school activities. But too many others stay home, watching television, playing video games, and consuming extra calories they don't burn.

That's something Arkansas parents are hearing about. Under a 2003 law, Arkansas schools measured students' height and weight, discovering that 22 percent are clearly overweight, and another 18 percent are close to it. Parents got the news on their children's report cards, along with advice on what to do about it.

America's Founding Myths

Was Patrick Henry really the one to say "Give me liberty or give me death?" Did Paul Revere even take that famous Midnight Ride? Was Molly Pitcher actually a real person?

The answers to these questions may come as a surprise. Ray Raphael uncovers the historic errors that have been advanced by our nation's treasured stories surrounding the American Revolution and the birth of our nation in Founding Myths: Stories that Hide our Patriotic Past (The New Press, 2004). The stories you have heard of our nation's founding aren't necessarily the truth.

In fact, the real founding heroes may not be who you think. Raphael reveals that true stories of our nation's beginnings tell not of the heroism of a few, but of the patriotism of the many.

He points out that the founding of the United States depended on an impassioned network of anonymous activists who were committed to freedom. It was these dedicated and determined people who are the real heroes.

—SARAH RABOVSKY

Two-Minute Tips Organizing Student Information To keep my homeroom organized, I keep a three-ring binder with a plastic report cover pocket sleeve for each student. Each sleeve contains a contact card with home information, address, phone numbers, allergies, etc. This way I always have each child's information at my fingertips. I also use the pockets to store notes I send home, conference confirmations, and notes on discipline for each child. At conference time, I have all the information I need on a student readily available. —Martha Baughman South Carolina Border Bonanza After 14 plus years of teaching and buying nearly all of the decorative borders available, not to mention going broke in the process, I came up with an alternative to expensive borders: I go to discount stores and buy their cheap rolls of decorative or theme wrapping paper. I buy several different patterns and laminate the paper. Then I cut the paper to the desired widths and/or lengths to border my bulletin boards. The borders last a long time. —Myrna Spear Rialto, California Have a good story? Send it by mail: NEA Today 1201 16th St., N.W. Washington, DC 20036 Send it by e-mail: neatoday@nea.org.

Lights, Camera, Teach!

Teachers at Roosevelt Elementary School in Long Beach, California, have grown accustomed to being videotaped at work. It's not some kind of Big Brother spy operation, though. They're doing it to themselves, to help new teachers improve their practice.

Photos: Sandy Schaeffer

THE TAPING BEGAN in 2001, and its success brought teachers Joan Kennedy (right) and Patty Nagano (left), who coordinate the program, the NEA Foundation's 2004 Hilda Maehling Award for innovative professional development activities.

New teachers in the program review their tapes with their more experienced teaching coaches. Bad hair days, though, can be a distraction on video, and one teacher adds that she was watching her weight more closely than her teaching. So the teachers decided to point the camera only at students. Another safeguard: A teacher can watch the tape first and decide whether to show it to the coach. "Initially everyone was apprehensive," says Kennedy. "But it turned out not to be an administrative gotcha." Administrators are taped, too, and the principal was first in line. 

Kennedy and Nagano say the program has built a collaborative support system at the school, which has helped boost teacher retention to 90 percent. They say it has helped experienced teachers as well as newcomers teach better.

Yikes! Not me!

While grading essays for my 10th-grade class one evening, I came across a student's paper that was fairly well-written. This student was not doing well in class, and because there was such improvement, I wanted to tell her how proud I was of her achievement. I wrote on the paper in large red letters, "SEE ME."

After I handed the papers back and the bell rang, she tapped me on the shoulder, held up the paper, and said, "Mr. P., I can't see you, I'm seeing four other guys!"

At that point I didn't know what to say and just squeaked out, "Good job."

—Alan Pressman
Montville, New Jersey

Have a funny school story you'd like to share?
Send it to neatoday@nea.org.