Pulpit Chorus: 'Fix NCLB'

Illustration: Photodisc

It's no secret that education and community groups are joining hands in increasing numbers to press for improvements to the No Child Left Behind law (NCLB). But what about religious leaders? Should they keep hands off? Absolutely not, says Jan Resseger of the United Church of Christ (UCC). Indeed, she feels that working to fix the law is a religious duty. "Public education is the largest civic institution in this nation," Resseger notes, "so it's important that 'love our neighbors as ourselves' be embedded in that institution."

Resseger, who works for the UCC Justice and Witness Ministries, has been mobilizing religious groups to join the alliance of organizations working together for common sense changes in the law—and she's making progress: the 53-member alliance now includes the National Council of Churches, the Presbyterian Church, and several other Christian and Jewish organizations.

Resseger says she and her colleagues are alarmed at the growing resegregation of our schools, made worse by NCLB because urban schools are targeted as failures even when they're doing a good job. The way to really leave no child behind, Resseger argues, is to "invest in policies that we know matter, like small classes and incentives for the best teachers to come into the most challenging areas. We need to invest more in places where children face the challenges of poverty."

Read more at NEA Today Extra. Find out about NCLB myths.

Good News!

Today's teens are having fewer babies and are less likely to die in an accident, homicide, or suicide, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation's annual Kids Count report. Births per 1,000 girls ages 15 to 17 have fallen from 38 in 1994 to 23 in 2002, the most recent data available. And deaths occurring because of accident, homicide, or suicide among 15- to 19-year-olds dropped from 68 in 1994 to 50 per 100,000 in 2001, the most recent data for those numbers.

Notepad A Benefit That Isn't Proponents of 401 (k)-style retirement plans often say these plans are better suited to today's mobile employees, who might not stick around long enough to vest in a traditional defined-benefit pension plan. A recent study by Hewitt Associates hints at the downside: many workers with 401 (k)s use the portability to raid their own nest egg. A whopping 42 percent drained their retirement account as they cleaned out their desks—even though it meant they had to pay taxes on the funds and an additional penalty. Even among those ages 50–59, who should be coming down the home stretch to retirement, one-third cashed out their 401 (k)s when they changed jobs. Defined-benefit pension plans not only offer more retirement security via a guaranteed monthly check, they often allow you to purchase service credit, in case you move from one retirement system to another during your career. Check with your pension system for details. But many states are considering forcing public employees into 401 (k)-style plans. For more, see the April NEA Today cover story or go to retirement 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.

Belle of the Ball

Illustration: Digital Vision

Ah, prom night—the time teenage girls don pretty gowns and fancy themselves princesses. But what does an aspiring Cinderella do if she doesn't have a dress for the ball?

She turns to her fairy godmother, of course. At least that's what hundreds of girls in Clark County, Washington, are doing, thanks to the Vancouver School District Foundation. Last year the foundation began Operation Fairy Godmother, a program to collect used and new formal and semiformal dresses and accessories, for the county's high school seniors. Girls either donate their used dresses to select a different one at no cost or simply purchase a gown for $10. Students who don't have a formal to donate or the $10 to buy one may be eligible to receive a dress voucher. The program collected more than 500 dresses the first year.

Liana Brown, a senior at Mount Vancouver High School who helped with the dress campaign last year, estimates that 65 girls donated dresses from her school alone. "That's 65 girls who'll be able to get an affordable dress for the prom this year," she says, "and that's great."

No glass slippers, though.

—Maya T. Prabhu

Helping Hands

Illustration: Greg Hargreaves and Levan/Barbee

When mammoth waves destroyed lives and schools in the Indian Ocean last December, educators around the world opened their wallets to help their colleagues rebuild. As of NEA Today's press deadline, NEA members had donated more than $104,000 to the tsunami fund established by Education International (EI), the world federation of educators' unions. Meanwhile, members have given $6,000 to the EI Fund for Beslan, Russia, where a very different, human-made disaster hit in September: 20 teachers murdered in a school hostage takeover. The fund will guarantee that their children can complete their educations.

It's About Time!

Time! What time? We know you don't have enough hours

in the school day to do everything you need to do—take attendance, track and report student discipline, write lesson plans (aligned to state standards, of course), compile Individualized Education Plans, and, oh, what else, maybe teach?

Check out the NEA Teacher ToolKit, where help is just a click or two away. The ToolKit is a suite of Web-based tools designed by your colleagues to help you assemble class rosters, track attendance, report discipline problems, and document academic interventions and their results.

With the ToolKit's seven-step Individualized Education Plan (IEP) module, it's also much easier to develop a student-focused, standards-based IEP, says NEA's Patti Ralabate. Normally it can take three hours per plan, but "if you follow our Web-based tool you can go to the IEP meeting with draft goals, seek the parents' assistance, and make changes to them if necessary, and have the IEP done in an hour—maybe less."

More neat stuff—including online grade books, personalized assessments, and performance tools to show the percentage of students who have mastered each standard—will be available on the site by May 1 at an annual cost of $71.95 for NEA members.

'Sorry, that's mine now!'

Illustration: Chad Shaffer

Somewhere by your knees, underneath the test reports, Individualized Education Plans, and Slim-Fast snack bars, there's a desk drawer with the good stuff. It's a stash of super bouncing balls, singing pens, love-stained notes, and other precious distractions that your students are just dying for—because you snatched them from their hands six months ago.

So give them to us! Share some of the best stories, oddest items, and other excitements from your drawer of confiscated goodies.

Send them to neatoday-reply@list.nea.org.

Global Takes AIDS in Africa More than two-thirds of the nearly 40 million people living with HIV are in sub-Saharan Africa. Already, 11 million children have been orphaned by the disease, and that number is likely to grow to 20 million in the next five years, according to a report in Education Week. Many teachers are succumbing as well. Orphaned children and children with sick parents are much less likely to go to school, where they could learn how to stay clear of the pandemic. Dr. Peter Piot, head of UNAIDS, says canceling international debts, lowering Western trade barriers, and cutting drug prices could do more for Africa than aid from rich countries. Dropping out in China While China's cities are zooming ahead, rural areas are falling behind — economically, in health care, and also in education. Junior high school dropout rates in rural areas are rising to nearly 40 percent, reports China Daily. One Chinese education leader says family finances and student boredom both play a role. He says rural education should shift away from preparation for college admissions tests to focus more on preparing students for farm life.   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.

Remembering One of Their Own

Photos courtesy of Gregory Family

Joyce Gregory and Neva Rogers never met. But they shared a common commitment to their students, their friends, and their colleagues. "She was just an outgoing person," says Jamie Baggett, a special education teacher who worked with Gregory at Stewart County High School in Tennessee. "She cared so deeply [about people] and she loved children."

The same can be said of Rogers, who taught English at Red Lake High School in Minnesota. "She was just very jovial, a wonderful woman," special education teacher Patty Stomberg says in a tribute article from Education Minnesota. "She will be missed."

It's no surprise then that the untimely deaths of these two NEA members have impacted countless people nationwide.

In March, Gregory, a paraeducator and bus driver, was fatally shot by a student during her morning bus route. Barely three weeks later, Rogers died when a student embarked on a shooting rampage at her school.

Friends describe Gregory as a loving woman, strongly connected to her Christian faith, who volunteered with the local Cub Scout troop and youth sports teams. Rogers, meanwhile, loved to garden and bake and often brought fresh flowers and homemade cakes to school for her colleagues. 

To send your condolences, visit NEA Today Extra.

First Amendment's Last Stand?

Nearly half of high school students say newspapers shouldn't be allowed to publish freely without government approval of stories, according to a recent University of Connecticut survey. More than a third think the First Amendment goes "too far" in the rights it guarantees. And while 97 percent of teachers and 99 percent of principals believe people should be allowed to express unpopular views, just 83 percent of students feel the same way.

Help Wanted

Looking for a new job?

Well, you're in luck, according to an annual report from the American Association for Employment in Education (AAEE). Of the 64 education fields surveyed by AAEE, half currently have a shortage of qualified educators. The greatest demand exists for special education, math, science, bilingual education, and English as a Second Language teachers. Educators who teach social studies, elementary school, health, and physical education, meanwhile, face a tighter job market because these areas have a surplus of qualified candidates. Want to improve your odds of finding a job? Check out urban and rural schools. They generally have a greater need for teachers than schools in the 'burbs.

NCLB Dividends

You probably won't find Elaine M. Garan's book on President George W. Bush's reading list. In Defense of Our Children: When Politics, Profit, and Education Collide (Heinemann, 2004) could be the strongest assault yet on the so-called No Child Left Behind law (NCLB). The beneficiaries of NCLB, she suggests, are not the kids, but the companies that sell the tests and other services required by the law.

Garan, a former reading teacher, takes aim at government-approved phonics and reading programs used to meet the NCLB requirement that methods be researched-based. She disputes the data used for these programs and says such "approved" strategies undermine teaching and learning.

The book, written in question-and-answer format, reveals which corporations are getting ahead in the name of school reform, while taxpayers foot the bill and many children are left behind.

Among the companies cashing in: CTB/McGraw Hill, publisher of standardized achievement tests; Voyager Expanded Learning, a provider of reading programs; and the Sylvan Learning Centers, which offer tutoring.

Garan opposes federal mandates on education including high-stakes testing. She cites data from the federally run National Assessment of Educational Progress that shows 21 percent of fourth graders and 20 percent of eighth graders "proficient" in reading last year—mirroring results from 1992. So much for the No Child Left Behind fast track.

—Thomas Grillo

Two-Minute Tips Homework Check I have an easy way to take attendance and check homework at the same time. I print an 8 1/2 x 11-inch copy of my seating chart on heavy paper, like card stock. Then I staple or tape a write-on transparency over it. As I move around the room row by row, or group by group, I use a wet-erase marker to mark whether the students have their homework.   —Jennifer Etsell Columbus, New Jersey Bulletin Board Hint Interesting and theme-related fabrics work great as backgrounds for bulletin boards. The fabrics don't fade and you don't have to throw away a lot of paper at the end of the year. Just fold up the fabric, store it, and use it again next year. —Susan McCullough Prineville, Oregon Poster Storage If you are looking for an inexpensive way to store your posters, try using the flat boxes that hold tag board. The boxes come in several sizes. Check with your office, art department, or other colleagues who purchase tag board to see if they have any extra boxes. —Mary Jo Hendrickson Walnut Grove, Minnesota 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.

Mid-Atlantic Mobility

Looking for a way to increase your job prospects? Well, a new reciprocal licensing agreement among five Middle Atlantic States and the District of Columbia may give prospective educators the flexibility they need to go where the jobs are. Aspiring teachers can now seek out an optional designation to become a Meritorious New Teacher Candidate (MNTC), which allows them to teach in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the District of Columbia without having to meet additional state certification requirements. (Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia already offer reciprocity to experienced teachers who achieve National Board Certification.)

To qualify for the MNTC distinction, teacher candidates must complete a state-approved teacher preparation program, complete at least 400 hours of supervised field experience (of which at least 300 hours are directed instructional student teaching), earn a minimum 3.5 cumulative grade point average, and score in the top quartile of students nationally on the Praxis II tests and on the verbal portion of the SAT, GRE, or ACT.

Want to see if you make the grade? Visit their website for more information on how to apply for the distinction.

Photo Faux Pas

Early in my first year as an eighth-grade math teacher, we had picture day for the annual yearbook. During my planning period, I reported to the library (where the photos were being taken), signed up for a picture, received a slip for the photographer, and got in line. When I handed the photographer my slip, she told me to have a seat and asked me what grade I was in. I was so stunned that I just stared at her before asking if she was kidding. The best part? My students were having their pictures snapped at the same time. I got lots of laughs from everyone.

—Amanda Gilstrap
Auburndale, Florida