High School Help

President Bush has put improving high schools at the center of the education agenda for his second term—and that's great. But what's his strategy? More testing.

This, despite the growing consensus among both educators and parents that public schools are already spending too much time and energy testing and retesting students.

The so-called No Child Left Behind law (NCLB) requires testing every year in grades 3 through 8, plus once between grades 10 and 12. President Bush proposes to add two more years of testing: Every child would be tested every year between grades 3 and 11.

Most educators don't think that's the path to higher achievement. Here's a summary of NEA's plan to boost learning in America's high schools:

• Coursework that is relevant to students' futures in higher education and the workforce
• Aggressive dropout prevention programs
• Strong school re-entry efforts focused on the individual needs of students
• Smaller schools and learning communities
• Accountability systems that include both high academic standards and low dropout rates as a measure of school success
• And federal funds to help pay for all this.

NEA is not alone. Some 45 groups have joined in an alliance to fix NCLB, including leading civil rights, religious, parents', and educators' organizations. There's a rising, bipartisan chorus of state legislatures and members of Congress calling for many of the same changes.

Go to neatodayextra for more.

Hitting the Books

Photos: Corbis

High school students are spending more time on core academic subjects, earning 9 percent more credits in these subjects than in 1990, and 25 percent more than in 1982. And more students are taking—and passing—Advanced Placement exams: 21 percent of the class of 2004 took AP tests, with 13 percent passing. In the class of 2000, 16 percent took AP tests and 10 percent passed.

Notepad Funding Gap Grows To those who have, more is given. That's what the Education Trust found in a recent school funding study. On average, districts that have the highest numbers of low-income and minority students get less state and local money than the richest, whitest districts. Nationwide, the gap was nearly $900 per student for low-income districts, $800 for high-minority districts. And the gaps are growing. The study looked at the percentage of students living below the poverty line in each district and compared per-pupil funding in the top 25 percent of districts statewide with districts in the bottom quarter. It also compared the top and bottom districts in percentage of minority children. In 25 states, the highest poverty districts received less state and local money than the lowest poverty districts. And in 31 states, the highest minority districts got less money. The report also notes that low-income students cost more to educate, so low-income districts should get more money, not less. Since 1997, the poverty gap has gotten larger. But the study noted some shining exceptions. Read more (see "Reports and Publications")   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.

Smarties Get Hitched

You know that student who takes out her compact mirror and face powder during your class discussions?

Photo: Mathias Tunger

Recent news from Grand Valley State University in Michigan may convince her to work on her homework instead of her highlights for reasons that appeal specifically to the high school hormone bundle: getting smart gets the guys!

In an analysis of 22 years' worth of engagement announcements, students in Sonia Dalmia's gender and economics class found that wives have become more likely to have more education than their husbands.

In 1980, brides-to-be, on average, had fewer years of schooling; but in 2002, more smart girls were getting hitched.

As the days of households headed by a single breadwinner have faded into the past, a potential spouse's education and earnings potential have become more attractive, says Dalmia, an economics professor.

Moreover, America continues to transform from a manufacturing giant into a service-based economy, which means "brain power is more required than physical power and clearly women are equally equipped, if not better, than men," Dalmia adds.

Seeing Red?

Photo: Getty Images

If your red pen makes your students squirm, they may no longer have reason to fear. Although red has been the preferred shade for corrections since the 1700s, when clerks and accountants dipped quills into red ink to fix ledgers, the trend in correction color may be changing: Purple may be the new red. Sharon Carlson, a health and education teacher in Northampton, Massachusetts, switched a few years ago. "Purple stands out, but it's not as scary as red," she explains. Pen manufacturers have taken the hint and increased distribution of the friendlier purple pens. This year, Paper Mate raised production of purple pens by an estimated 10 percent.

According to color psychologists, purple mixes the authority of red with the serenity of blue, making it a better color for constructive corrections. Students may view purple advice more positively.

Says Carlson, "Red is danger; purple is gentler."

—Sarah Rabovsky

Toxic Computers?

Photo: Gerard Launet

They may be standard fare in homes and schools, but computers may not be helping students learn. In fact, they could be hurting kids—or so concludes a sophisticated study by researchers at the University of Munich in Germany.

Thomas Fuchs and Ludger Woessmann used a major math and reading survey called the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), involving 15-year-olds from 32 countries. At first blush, PISA seemed to show that computers at home help: Students from homes with computers scored higher than those who were computerless.

But the researchers reasoned that families with computers were probably better off in many ways, and that could account for the higher scores. So they used statistical techniques to show the effect of computers on achievement when income and other family characteristics are equal. The result: Students with computers at home scored lower than comparable students without computers. Fuchs and Woessmann think the damage may be done by computer games. Among students who had computers, those with Internet access and e-mail did better than those without, perhaps because they spent more time on educational pursuits.

How about computer use in school? Controlling for other school and family characteristics, computers seemed to make little difference. Occasional users did slightly better than non-users, but frequent users did worse than either non-users or occasional users.

So, are computers harmful? Probably not. But you need to take care how, and how much, little Johnny uses them.

Get a Cup and…Go!

Photo: Stephen Wisbauer

If you think stacking cups means putting away the dishes, you have some catching up to do. Although it may sound more like a chore, this fast-paced game has been growing wildly popular among students of all ages, with an estimated 7,500 cup-stacking programs worldwide.

The challenge involves moving a dozen small cups—similar to everyday tumblers—into numerous pre-determined stacks and sequences, and doing it as speedily as possible. More and more, physical education teachers across the country are using cup-stacking to improve hand-eye coordination, reaction time, ambidexterity, and focus.

But is it a sport? Industry pioneer Speed Stacks Inc. thinks so, and P.E. teacher John Dunlop of Portage, Michigan, agrees. When Dunlop's students get stacking, it really brings out their creativity and competitiveness, he says. Cup-stacking also "offers something for kids that don't traditionally excel in P.E.," Dunlop adds.

Still, don't try this at home. Just because your kids excel at cup-stacking doesn't mean they should practice on your china!

—Sarah Rabovsky

Global Takes Staying Home They're not coming to America anymore—high school exchange students, that is. The number of exchange students is falling, says  the Associated Press. Some 62,000 studied here in 1993–94 in programs accredited by the Council on Standards for Interna-tional Educational Travel. But the number fell to 45,000 in 1999–00 and 28,000 last year. Why? A combination of schools' reluctance to shoulder the expense of extra students, and growing time pressures on American families—it's getting harder to find hosts. Save Money, Learn Less Mexico is using television to teach more students cheaply. The Christian Science Monitor reports one in five middle school students is now in a "telesecondary," a bare bones building where students watch televised lessons in six subjects, 15-minutes each. Then they review for half an hour in workbooks, helped by classroom assistants. The program is growing fast—it costs half as much as traditional, face-to-face teacher instruction. There's only one problem—Mexican education officials concede that students in these schools don't learn nearly as much. But, they argue, telesecondaries provide some education in rural areas where there isn't any at all.   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.

Seuss-inspired Prophecy?

'If our small school does not do well,

Then it will be torn down,

And you will have to go to school

In dreary Flobbertown.'

Hooray for Diffendoofer Day!—a Dr. Seuss-inspired story—tells about an unorthodox school with eccentric teachers and oddball lessons. Suddenly, the outside world intrudes: If students can't pass a special test, the school will close. Sound like today? We think so, but the book was published in 1998, more than two years before the No Child Left Behind law passed. The book was originally sketched out by Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss), and completed by Jack Prelutsky and Lane Smith after Geisel died in 1991. More...

—Mike Tucker

Teachers and the Tsunamis

Educators are still reeling from the horrific waves that killed hundreds of thousands of people last December. Just in Indonesia, over 2,300 educators and 45,000 children were killed and hundreds of schools destroyed, say educators' unions along the Indian Ocean coast.

Restoring education will be expensive. Education International, the world federation of unions to which NEA belongs, is raising money for educators who were hurt. "This is a way we can help our colleagues put their lives together and get their schools up and running," says NEA International Relations head Joanne Eide. You can send a check to NEA International Relations, 1201 16th St., N.W., Washington, DC 20036. Make it out to NEA and write "Tsunami Relief Fund" on the memo line. Need help teaching about the tsunamis? Try the Asia Society. Visit NEA Today Extra for more.

Paras PASS

Photo: Erik Burke/MEA-MFT

The tension in the room was palpable as nearly 50 Montana paraeducators sat down for four days of rigorous training capped by a high-stakes test. The so-called No Child Left Behind law requires all Title I instructional paras to be "highly qualified" by 2006. Some may be forced to go get a two-year college associate's degree—with no guarantee of a pay raise. But the law allows other ways to get qualified. In Montana, the MEA-MFT (a joint NEA-AFT affiliate) designed a course called "Paraprofessional Achieving Standards Successfully" ("Para PASS"), and got several Montana districts to agree that if you pass the PASS, you're highly qualified.

In Billings, the school district paid paras for two of the four days of the course. The paras learned practical strategies for teaching reading, writing, and math. It was all about how to work better with children. Said Billings para Gayle Bauer, "You know it's effective when you can say at the end, 'I can go do this!'"

MEA-MFT is continuing to offer the course to paras around the state and the pass rate so far is 93 percent. For more, contact Erik Burke.

A Few Bad Apples

Is your teaching effectiveness hobbled by a few persistent troublemakers?
Ever thought of quitting because of them?

Photo: Erik Burke/MEA-MFT

If so, you've got a lot of company, according to Public Agenda, a nonprofit research organization, which polled public secondary school teachers and parents to get their views on discipline problems and what to do about them. Three-quarters of the teachers say they "could be teaching a lot more effectively" if it were not for discipline problems, and one-third have "seriously considered quitting" because of them.

Parents who don't discipline their children get most of the blame—from teachers and from other parents. But school officials and lawyers also get some criticism. Nearly 80 percent of teachers say their schools have persistent troublemakers who already should have been removed and sent to alternative schools. Fifty-five percent believe a fear of lawsuits causes many administrators to back down when challenged by parents.

It's not surprising then that 94 percent of teachers think holding parents more accountable for their kids' behavior would keep more problem pupils in line.

Two-Minute Tips Classroom Secretary As a middle school teacher, I try to get my students to take on leadership positions in class. One way to do this, and keep accurate records of class activities, is to assign a student to be class secretary for the week. That student takes notes in our class notebook, writes down homework assignments, records pages we read in class, and helps students who are returning from an absence. This has cut down on the questions I get from absent students, because I have a running record of what transpired during a lesson and what goals we met. New students also transition easily into our procedures because they have a weekly buddy to help them catch the classroom flow. Because I teach five classes of the same subject, the class notebook also helps me see what I've covered in each class. Students earn extra credit for being the secretary. They look forward to being my co-teacher for a week. —Mellanay Auman Tucson, Arizona Clean Desks To remove ink from desks, try using hairspray. It works wonders! Just spray the ink and wipe it away immediately. —Aimee Melillo Brick, New Jersey 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.

Surviving That First Year

Think back to the first time you walked into a classroom as a new teacher. Chances are you felt a little overwhelmed—and under-prepared.

If so, you'll identify with Donna Moffett, the subject of Ms. Moffett's First Year: Becoming a Teacher in America (PublicAffairs, 2004), whose foibles, missteps—and occasional morale-saving breakthroughs—are expertly chronicled by New York Times reporter Abby Goodnough.

Moffett is one of 323 provisional teachers hired in 2000 as the "New York City Teaching Fellows" and sent to some of the city's toughest schools. Answering a call for "talent-ed professionals" willing to dedicate themselves to teach-ing the poorest children, Moffett and her peers receive a mere four weeks of training before getting the keys to their own classrooms that September.

Inevitably, Moffett, who lands as a first-grade teacher at P.S. 92 in Brooklyn, learns as many lessons as her charges that year. At first bewildered by her students' diverse learning needs—in fact, their sheer neediness—Moffett soldiers on, combating parental apathy and bureaucratic inertia as she gamely tries to tie together a few successful lessons, a few successful days in a row.

To Moffett's credit, she guts it out and, Goodnough adds in an epilogue, still teaches at P.S. 92. By 2003, half of the original fellows, though, had quit, signaling the dire need for more sustained preservice training and ongoing support for new teachers.

'Sure, I Remember Her!'

Photo: Comstock Images

As a biology teacher, I have a lab full of interesting animals from chinchillas to degus. When I have too many guinea pigs, I often sell them to students or their younger siblings. This year, a younger grade school student kept asking for a picture of me to take home. I was flattered that I had such an insistent fan. On the day I remembered to bring one in, I asked him what his plan was for my picture.

"Oh, Mrs. Gray," he said happily, "I've had my guinea pig George for three years now. He used to be one of yours. I want to show him your picture and see if he remembers you!"

—Lois Mittino Gray
New Harmony School, New Harmony, Indiana