CUBE Report on Schools "Where We Teach": And we don't mean "Ice Cube"

Many teachers see failure in students' future

More teachers than administrators agree or strongly agree with the statement:

"Most students at this school would not be successful at a community college or university."

Strongly disagree/disagree
• Teachers: 58.1%
• Administrators: 85.2%

Agree/strongly agree
• Teachers: 23.6%
• Administrators: 7%

Not sure
• Teachers: 18.4%
• Administrators: 7.4%

Source: National School Boards Association

By Greg Toppo, USA TODAY

Ask a teacher whether her students are on track to earn a college degree, and she'll probably say "Sure."

Grant her anonymity, and you may get a different point of view.

In a wide-ranging survey being released Tuesday, nearly one in four teachers in urban schools paint a sobering picture of students there. They say most children "would not be successful at a community college or university."

Even more say students "are not motivated to learn."

In all, 23.6% of public school teachers at all levels say success in college would elude most students in their school. An additional 18% say they aren't sure.

The results were surprising even to the study's author, Brian Perkins, a professor of education law and policy at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, Conn.

"I anticipated that there would be some teachers who feel that way," he says. "What I did not anticipate was the number who responded that they didn't think students would be successful."

White teachers seem to have the bleakest view: 24.5% predict failure in college, higher than among black (22.1%) or Hispanic (17.6%) teachers.

Administrators paint a rosier picture: Only 7% predict the same for their students. But 15.6% say their students "are not motivated to learn."

Part of the problem could be a perceived lack of support from parents: 57% of teachers say parents "are supportive" of the school and its activities; 28% say parents aren't supportive.

John Mitchell, director of educational issues for the American Federation of Teachers, says the findings could be largely the result of events that happened in the day or so before the survey.

"You go through a lot in a day, and you have days when you feel optimistic and days when you don't," he says.

But he says the results shouldn't be considered "a statement of (teachers') aspirations for the kids — it may very well be a statement that these kids aren't getting enough to make it through college."

Other findings:

•One in eight teachers say their school is not a safe place.

•65.8% of black administrators say children are bullied regularly at their school; only 49.3% of white administrators and 29.7% of Hispanic administrators say the same.

The survey on school climate is among the largest teacher surveys ever. Sponsored by the National School Boards Association, it queried 4,700 educators from 127 schools in 12 urban districts. It has a margin of error of plus/minus 3 percentage points.

To see the full survey, visit www.nsba.org/cube/whereweteach.

Take a little off the TOP!

POLITICALLY SPEAKING: School boss tries a new look

March 28, 2007

State schools Superintendent Mike Flanagan brought an electric razor on stage when he spoke at the Governor's Education Summit in Lansing Monday.

Then, in front of several hundred school officials gathered for lunch, he began to trim his beard.

BZZZZ!

Twice during his 20-minute presentation, he took the razor to his gray foliage to illustrate his theme that school officials must transform themselves to educate kids in an increasingly competitive global economy.

When he removed a little more mustache than he wanted, he joked, "I'm going for the Pennsylvania Dutch look." (Apparently, Flanagan decided later for aesthetic reasons to take it all off, and he showed up for work Tuesday clean-shaven.)

He told the crowd Monday, "I want to burn into your brains that this is about our decisions ... All kids can do it if we're willing to transform."

Tell that to Britney Spears.

The FUTURE is NOW!

Classrooms for the Future

Colonial School District is among the first districts to receive a "Classrooms for the Future" grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

By News Staff

In September 2006, Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell announced "Classrooms for the Future," an initiative to transform the high school learning experience. The program will put a laptop computer on every high school English, math, science and social studies desk and provide teachers with a multimedia workstation and intensive training to enhance education. The governor's 2006-07 budget provided $20 million for the first year of the initiative, with plans to expand the program statewide.

An additional $6 million in state and federal resources will be used to train teachers and administrators on how to best harness the power of technology to enhance classroom discussions, lessons and projects.

In addition to the laptops, each classroom will be equipped with an interactive whiteboard and projector, Web cams and other video cameras. Teachers and students will also have access to imaging software.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education's Web site, Classrooms for the Future "is designed to ensure there is a laptop on every high school classroom desk in English, Math, Science and Social Studies in all public high schools and career and technical centers in Pennsylvania ... High school students are poised to enter the global marketplace or to continue their education beyond preK-12 and it is our obligation to prepare them within a short window of opportunity." Seventy-nine school districts were selected to participate in the first year of the program.

The Colonial School District is among the first districts to receive a Classrooms for the Future grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The $202,539 grant is among the largest issued to a single school and will be used to purchase 192 wireless student laptops for classroom use the Plymouth Whitemarsh High School (PWHS) Social Studies Department, as well as provide staff development and training.

The entire PWHS campus was equipped with wireless capability as part of an extensive upgrade of technology resources. Interactive whiteboards and high-powered digital overhead presenters connected directly to a video/data projector for real-time viewing were installed in 52 classrooms in time for the start of the school year. There are presently 90 of these classrooms engaging students in the Colonial School District this fall. An additional 32 classrooms are scheduled to be online for the 2007-08 school year thanks to the ongoing support of the community and the school board of directors.

"This grant confirms that the Colonial School District has been on the cutting edge of technology and the use of technology to deliver curriculum for the past three years," said Superintendent Dr. Vincent F. Cotter. "From extensive use of data analysis to interactive classrooms, Colonial has been a leader in utilizing technology to educate our students. This grant gives us the impetus to accelerate our technology implementation schedule."

As part of its Classrooms of the Future Grant, Colonial uses a server-based digital video delivery system, a pre-screened academic content search engine, Internet2 and conferencing solutions. In spring 2006, middle school students learned about Australia's Great Barrier Reef through a video conference with instructors from down under.

The district Web site is an integral portal for students, teachers, parents, community members and school board members to stay informed on major developments taking place in the district. The K-12 social studies curriculum is online and available to all stakeholders. Resources aligned with the curriculum are also available via the Web site. Teachers have created best practice lessons that can be implemented and shared using all of the technologies available; this model is currently being applied to other content areas such as language arts, science and math. The district continues to expand the framework, moving to a portal solution to provide all the instructional tools necessary for the 21st century classroom.

Laptop equipment from the Classrooms for the Future grant is expected to be released to the district first as one of selected pilot schools ready for implementation into the classroom instructional program. The 192 wireless laptops are just the first phase in the Classrooms for the Future grant from PDE. Approximately 720 additional laptops will be brought online in the next two years, pending finding approval by the Pennsylvania Legislature. Those laptops will support the language arts, math and science curriculum.

Classrooms for the Future is a $250 million, three-year comprehensive high school reform project that leverages all of Pennsylvania's education efforts. The program recognizes and embraces the need for high school reform, enables teachers to use technology as an effective tool for educating students and prepares students to enter and successfully compete in the ever-expanding high-tech global marketplace.

School Begins "Long-Slog" into Digital Irrelevance!

Parents back school's MySpace ban

March 24, 2007

BY FRANK WITSIL

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

On the first day of a strict policy banning students at St. Hugo of the Hills Catholic School from using social networking Web sites, administrators and parents were online ferreting out those who had yet to comply.

"You get to know their code names," Judy Martinek, the school's office manager, said Friday.

Sister Margaret Van Velzen, principal of the Bloomfield Hills school, said the policy took effect Friday in response to concerns about students posting "nasty things on the Internet," and as an attempt to keep the children safe.

Van Velzen said Friday she does not know of any other school with such a policy, nor had she received complaints about it.

"I have not had one parent who is opposed to this," she said.

Still, as technology becomes more accessible, St. Hugo's new policy raises questions for educators. How, for example, will schools control Internet access when free wireless access becomes available through all of Oakland County in 2008? Or, as prices drop for handheld phones that connect to the Web and more students get them, what then?

"There are so many changes in technology," said Marcia Wilkinson, director of community relations for the Birmingham public schools. "A lot of issues are coming up that people were not dealing with even a year ago."

Social networking sites, such as MySpace, market themselves as places in cyberspace for people to meet and communicate, often connecting using clever aliases. But, law enforcement officials say, children who join these sites may be putting themselves in harm's way -- especially from sexual predators.

St. Hugo, which runs from kindergarten through eighth grade, also enacted the policy because it wanted to eliminate unhealthy competition among young students who were comparing the number of people in their network, Van Velzen said. One student, she said, bragged of linking with as many as 800 others.

The school's policy also raises the question: How much control can a school exert beyond the classroom?

Officials in Oakland, Macomb and Wayne County public schools -- and University Liggett School, a private pre-kindergarten through 12th grade school in Grosse Pointe Woods -- said they leave it up to parents to decide whether students can use MySpace, or other similar sites, at home.

"Schools have to be responsible for students when they're at school, but with the blurring of the lines of virtual and real-world education, where are the lines?" said Linda Wacky, director of communications for the Michigan Association of School Administrators in Lansing. Melodye Bush, a researcher with the Education Commission of the States, said she has never heard of another school enacting such a policy and has doubts about whether it is constitutional. The commission is a Denver-based think-tank that tracks education trends nationwide.

St. Hugo has had a policy prohibiting its 773 students from posting offensive or inappropriate comments and pictures on the Web for years, Van Velzen said. But the new policy went a step further by banning students from using MySpace and other similar sites all together. Under the policy, students who refuse to delete their accounts will be suspended.

"People know the difference between using social networking for a good reason and for things that would be hurtful," Van Velzen said.

Under MySpace rules, children 14 years and younger should not have a presence on the site anyway, but, Van Velzen said, the company does not adequately enforce that, and many students simply lie about their age. St. Hugo students with sites who were caught Friday were told to dismantle them.

Contact FRANK WITSIL at 248-351-3690 or witsil@freepress.com.

Copyright © 2007 Detroit Free Press Inc.

RESPONSE: Mosaic Ghana Africa / Offer to Participate and Endorse

Hi Joe:

CONGRATULATIONS on the continuing development of a "meaningful conversation" regarding the various opportunities and possibilities represented by the identified constituents namely Ghana, West Africa and the United States of America.

As you and I have discussed on many occasions this is truly a mission which is dear to our organizations hearts, minds and endeavors. Over the last several years we have crossed paths several times on this "purity of purpose" undertaking. Witness, our seminal discussions and interactions with our Detroit community partners at the "Friends of Detroit & Tri-County" community learning center and mutual efforts on behalf of the "Gateway to West Africa Project" orchestrated by Chief, Nana Kwaku Yiadom. Additionally, we have participated in and supported from its inception the annual Oakland Schools "Global Trade Mission" efforts under the leadership and tutelage of Dr. Marlana Krolicki, Oakland Schools ISD, by providing real-world, subject-matter experts, leadership-speakers from the Sub-Saharan Continent of Africa namely Mr. Edo Mansaluca (2 years) of Angola, West Africa and The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Chief Nana Kwaku Yiadom (2 years) of Ghana, West Africa. Clearly, as you and I will agree these are not merely co-incidences but rather may indeed be guided by a much higher-ordered hand.

Your invitation to participate and/or endorse these continuing efforts via Mosaic Ghana Africa is well received by our organization and we wish to affirm our continuing commitment and support to this shared alignment of purpose. Of course as they say, "the devil is in the details" and without a thorough understanding of those details on our part we are unable to define the potential depths of our contributions and involvement. Perhaps a "meeting of the minds" is in order to further our base-understanding of this undertaking and to "plumb the depths" of the various possibilities this truly collaborative opportunity represents? Additionally, if you would kindly forward the Mosaic Ghana Africa Information/Media Kit (address below) as you proposed it would be much appreciated and serve to facilitate our deeper understanding.

Although I can not speak for Kent Roberts and his organization (Civility Center), nor would I assume to, I'm sure he would resonate with this collaborative missions intentions. His organization and his personal message, mission and mind would be a great addition and complement to this endeavor.

Finally, as you may or may not know "21st Century Digital Learning Environments" has been deeply embedded in the Detroit Public Schools system via Northwestern High School and the AIM Program (Achievement In Motion) for much of the last year. This is a "stellar" leading-edge technological K-12 Education Model Program under the visionary direction and leadership of Dr. Shedrick Ward, Director, Detroit Public Schools, Science Math and Technology Resource Center. Dr. Ward is also the sole-author of the Detroit Public Schools Technology Plan (2006) which in my humble opinion, is the finest example of an K-12 Education Technology Plan in this country. Perhaps there are some cross-pollination opportunities to "share the wealth" through this undertaking.

Please let us know what your thoughts might be. Much continued success!

Kind regards,

Jim

Jim Ross, president
21st Century Digital Learning Environments
41810 Huntington Ct.
Clinton Township, MI 48038
586-228-0608

Ghana, West Africa, Trade Mission

Hi John, Jim and Kent,

I trust all is well and sincerely wish you are getting everything out of life that you desire. I am sending this to you based on our previous discussions on ways to potentially develop and expand SE Michigan in the global marketplace and to make you aware of a cultural tour and trade mission originating from southeast Michigan. This summer a group of business owners and executives will be visiting the country of Ghana on the west coast of Africa. I am attaching a recent press release providing details of the tour. Research shows an alignment between Ghana and Michigan in certain business, government, and academic sectors. It is evident there are tremendous opportunities to create jobs on both sides of the ocean. I have developed a Power Point presentation providing potential business opportunities and similarities between the two geographic regions which if cultivated and developed would be win-win for all concerned.

The main purpose for contacting you is to ask you to consider participating and/or endorsing this mission, known as Mosaic Ghana Africa™. As a Participant, you would experience the cultural and business aspects of Ghana including meetings with key decision-makers, festivals and a trip to the area once known as the Ivory Coast. As an endorser you would provide us with a short quote that we could use as we spread the word about our trip. An example or an endorsement would be, “Win-win projects such as this are vitally needed to build the Michigan economy, replacing our dependency on the automotive industry.”

I look forward to your thoughts and comments regarding Mosaic Ghana Africa™. An informational/media kit is available and can be sent upon request. Please feel free to forward this information to friends and colleagues. . As a note, it is my intention to make a pre-Tour trip and I have permission from the House of Chiefs to videotape many aspects of my pre-Tour trip including spending overnight in a local village like I did in Nigeria and Botswana during my career. There may be an opportunity to develop a documentary.

Best regards and have a great week.

Joe

Joseph P. Cool

President

Cool & Associates, Inc.

248 683 1130

jcool@cool-associates.com

www.cool-associates.com

		The Future of Learning The Future of Learning is the topic of the next in a series of MacArthur Foundation regional public events on digital media and learning issues. This panel discussion will take place on Saturday, April 21 at 9:00 a.m. in the Peter and Ginny Nicholas Auditorium at Duke University's School of Nursing. The event is organized by HASTAC, a consortium of humanists, artists, scientists, social scientists, and engineers from universities and other civic institutions. Panelists will discuss how the digital age is changing learning. Video of the event will be available the following week on MacArthur's website.
			When April 21, 2007 9:00-10:30 a.m. (Eastern) Where Peter and Ginny Nicholas Auditorium Duke University, School of Nursing 307 Trent Drive Durham, North Carolina MacArthur's digital media & learning initiative Digital media & learning projects supported by MacArthur Spotlight blog on digital media & learning		Julia Stasch, Vice President of the Program on Human and Community Development at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, will provide an overview of MacArthur’s new digital media and learning initiative and how it is helping to build the field. Cathy Davidson and David Theo Goldberg , Co-Directors of HASTAC (Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Advanced Collaboratory), a virtual university, will discuss the future of learning institutions in the digital age. Carl Harris, Superintendent of Durham Public Schools, will discuss the future of learning from the perspective of public schools. The program will be moderated by Connie Yowell, Director for Digital Media, Learning and Education at the MacArthur Foundation. MacArthur’s $50 digital media and learning initiative seeks to gain a better understanding of how digital technologies are changing how young people learn, play, socialize, exercise judgment, and engage in civic life.
		www.macfound.org

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Generally Speaking

Creating a Tech-Infused Culture By Harry Grover Tuttle June 15, 2006 URL: http://www.techlearning.com/showArticle.php?articleID=188702465 Use these proactive administrative methods to set the tone. As an educational leader, the technology administrator can and should take the lead in ensuring students benefit from the integration of digital technologies into classroom practices. Here are numerous practical strategies for achieving a culture in which students can be more engaged in their learning, have multiple means of accessing and demonstrating that learning, and have varied assessments through technology. 1. Dedicate staff time. Devote 10 minutes during each faculty meeting for team, grade, or subject-area teachers to present how they are improving student learning through technology by showcasing student projects. For example, science teachers demonstrate how students can learn from other students about purifying stream water; students in all classes have access to data from all the students' research projects through the same shared network folder. 2. Publish activity photos. Focus the school Web site on technology-infused learning in various subject areas. As you do several daily "walk-arounds" of the school, take digital pictures of student learning that involves technology. (Make sure all students have signed a media and Web release form.) Post those pictures with brief captions to the school Web site on a weekly basis. Because the teachers will want their classes highlighted on the Web site, they will invite you to see how their students are learning the standards through technology. 3. Display student work. Show technology-generated student work at the school entrance. Each week a different class showcases its standards-based learning done with technology. Displays take various formats such as posters, digital pictures, PowerPoint presentations, and digital movies. Create a sign-up sheet for this display. 4. Use morning news. Spotlight a technology-infused learning initiative in the morning announcements. In a short five-second spot, highlight student learning with brief mentions such as, "Mrs. Jones's 4th-grade social studies group learned about state government issues by exchanging four e-mails with our legislator." 5. E-mail research. Ask for reactions to practical subject-area articles on technology-infused learning. For instance, send science teachers an article about using computerized probes to analyze motion. The librarian or district technology director could help find these articles. 6. Share a monthly digital newsletter. Ask team, grade-level, or subject-area teachers to contribute a report on technology projects for a specific month. Other teachers often contribute as well since they soon develop the "I want my class to be included in the newsletter" mentality. 7. Build a digital resource "book" or online site showing how tech projects support standards. Meet with each department, and have members list, for each standard, all of the technology-infused projects that they have done or heard about. The programming class or computer applications class creates the Web page or digital resource book of standards-based technology projects. 8. Sponsor library teas and pizza breaks. These events focus on demonstrating how teachers can engage students in common curriculum topics through different technologies. For example, on the second Tuesday of each month, the library can host a pizza break during the lunch hour and a tea party after school to show teachers five different technologies that help students actively engage in a particular concept such as the Great Depression. The teachers may see an online Depression simulation, a series of digital images, a site that has music of the era, an online diary of a person who lived during the Depression, and sites looking at the impact of the Depression on future generations. Meet with teachers to select the topics, pay for the pizza and tea, and enlist the support of the librarian or district technology director in finding multiple resources for these common curriculum topics. 9. Provide bimonthly how-tos. Conduct 20-minute Common Technology sessions for teachers in the school lab and teach the most commonly used features of various technologies such as whiteboards or digital cameras. Make sure that each session starts with two or three short "best educational practices" with that technology. Then the teachers learn how to work with the most commonly used features of that technology to facilitate learning via multiple modalities. The sessions are before school, during teacher lunch, or after school. The librarian, lab assistant, district technology integration teacher, or district technology director can teach these sessions. 10. Target technophobes. Invite reluctant teachers to look at relevant technology-infused learning. For example, show teachers the Apple Exchange and then select "Video Library," or go to InTime to search for technology-infused projects in their subject area. Ask the teacher which part of the curriculum is the most difficult for students, and then help them explore Web sites that demonstrate or explain that part of the curriculum. 11. Suggest integration. Encourage team interdisciplinary projects to have a strong technology component. For example, meet with a 6th-grade team planning an environmental project and recommend that because they are including recycling, the students can use spreadsheet analysis and graphing to communicate their results. Also, suggest that the students use e-mail or videoconferencing to talk with a scientist involved in environmental research. 12. Volunteer to evaluate. As teachers plan for a unit involving a technology-infused project such as comparing biomes through a PowerPoint presentation, they can ask you to help them design a rubric that focuses on student learning, not on the glitz of technology. Observe and help the teachers assess the students' presentations. 13. Assist teachers in meeting standards. Demonstrate how teachers can keep track of various quizzes on the same standard to measure student progress on a simple spreadsheet. Show teachers how to modify the category labels in their present electronic grade book so that the grades represent standards such as English Language Arts Standard 1 instead of category labels like quizzes and homework. 14. Ask for electronic reports on students. Instruct teacher teams to e-mail a word-processed document or a spreadsheet of underachieving students, the reasons for their lack of success, and the action plan to assist each student. The digital format allows you to follow the progress of these students. 15. Comment during observations about the use or absence of technology. For example, suggest that the teacher can improve student learning by using higher-level thinking activities based on technology. For instance, a Spanish teacher who has the class learning basic facts about Spanish-speaking countries can ask students to compare live Webcam pictures of the countries. 16. Review lessons. Require each teacher to submit during the year at least three lesson plans that integrate technology. After talking about the characteristics of today's learners, ask teachers to develop lessons that involve the technologies students commonly use. For example, propose that students demonstrate the historical events of various time periods through music. 17. Work with the district curriculum council. Act as an advocate for integrating technology resources into all new curriculum. English teachers can include Web sites that have various interpretations about Shakespearean plays, have multiple images from the plays, and have a word search engine for the plays. 18. Spur planning. Create an application process for the distribution of new technology based on a team's plan to improve student learning with that specific technology. Say you know that LCD projection devices will be installed in all classrooms in a three-year cycle. Ask the teams to submit a proposal consisting of four lessons that detail how they will promote student learning through the use of the projectors. Award the first year's wave of projectors to those teams with the best evidence of student learning. 19. Budget for conferences. Build in money for teachers to go to local and state educational computer conferences. Afterward, have those teachers prepare word-processed reports on technology-infused activities and distribute them to all faculty. Collect all conference reports and reissue them electronically to all faculty on a semester basis. 20. Facilitate mentoring. Develop a technology mentor program so that students can provide technical assistance to their teachers as the instructors develop technology-infused learning. One middle school has student volunteers who are experts in various programs or technologies. A teacher explains what he wants his class to do — such as creating a visual explanation of math concepts via digital movies — and the student volunteer shows the teacher how it's done. A high school has an after school tech club where students learn the technologies and then volunteer their free time during school to help teachers. 21. Educate the community. Request that teachers and students help out at an evening learning fair at the mall that highlights students' technology-infused projects. This learning fair is very effective in helping the public understand how students learn with technology. Such an event is especially powerful just before a budget or referendum vote on technology spending. 22. Participate actively in professional development. Present at technology-infused training sessions for teachers. For instance, in a presentation about social studies and higher-order thinking, scan in local history items and, along with a group of teachers, word process document-based questions on one of the historical artifacts. You might also teach sessions about using PDAs to do daily assessment and other practical topics. Harry Grover Tuttle is an educator-in-residence at Syracuse University.

"Sticky-Thinking" vs. The Swift-boat of Unknowing

Published: March 20, 2007

Commentary

The New Anti-Intellectualism in America

When Curricular Rigor and ‘Pedagogical Fraud’ Go Hand in Hand

By Nel Noddings

It seems odd to accuse the schools of anti-intellectualism when they are engaged in a relentless drive for higher test scores, and students are required to take more difficult academic courses. Passing rates on some state and local tests show small increases, but there has been little if any improvement on well-established national tests. The small gains we’ve seen may be the result of concentrated instruction on narrowly defined objectives. But we are not promoting intellectual habits of mind. Indeed, we may be reducing intellectual life to mental labor. What are the signs that this is happening?

First, there is a proliferation of fake academic courses. These courses are instigated by the demand that almost all children now take academic courses such as algebra and geometry. The decision for this requirement has not been supported by strong, well-informed debate. Is it true, for example, that all students need more mathematics today than people did in previous generations? If the answer is yes (but there are powerful arguments in favor of a negative reply), then it is reasonable to ask, What sort of mathematics? Must it be traditional algebra and geometry? Why?

Instead of debating these questions, policymakers have mandated—in the name of equality—that all children, regardless of their talents and interests, should have the “opportunity” once reserved for relatively few. Hardworking teachers then must try to get unwilling, unprepared students through material they have no interest in learning. Many youngsters have alternative, genuine talents, but these are disregarded. To give such students a chance to pass the required courses, teachers concentrate on a few discrete skills that can be gained through a steady routine of drill.

Providing a complete structure of what is to be learned and a detailed list of outcomes expected of all students facilitates quick, shallow learning and swift forgetting.

I’ve observed such classes. In some, no word problems or applications are even attempted. In a bow to analytic geometry, the distance formula is memorized, but with no mention of the Pythagorean theorem. In many geometry classes, no proofs at all are done. (Reducing the emphasis on proof is justified, but eliminating it entirely casts doubt on whether the course should be called geometry.) The end result is that many students have “algebra” and “geometry” on their transcripts, but they can’t pass state tests in math, and they need remedial courses in college. They have had pseudo-algebra and pseudo-geometry. This is pedagogical fraud, and such students are doubly cheated. They do poorly in the required courses, and they are deprived of courses in which they might have done well.

I am not arguing that the traditional academic courses are properly “intellectual” and other courses are not. On the contrary, I believe that intellectually exciting topics and challenging problems can and should arise in all well-taught classes—in cooking, chemistry, photography, mechanics, and everything else the schools offer. My objection is to the virtual elimination of intellectual content in many of today’s academic courses.

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A second signal is that the overuse of specific learning objectives in all subjects works against the development of intellectual habits of mind. Superficially, it seems fair to tell students exactly what they must learn and be able to do as a result of instruction. This is instructionally sound when we are teaching a narrowly defined skill, but it is a poor way to encourage problem-solving, critical thinking, and the habits of mind that support further, deeper learning. Too often the result of such instruction is students who can add when told to add, or solve quadratic equations when told to “solve the following quadratic equations,” but cannot decide when to use these techniques in solving problems. In the interest of intellectual habits of mind, students must be asked to identify for themselves the important points in every unit of study, construct their own summaries, attempt problems that have no obvious solution, engage in interpretation, and evaluate conflicting explanations and points of view.

TalkBack

Join the related discussion, “Standardized Expectations vs. Creative Thinking.”

Providing a complete structure of what is to be learned and a detailed list of outcomes expected of all students facilitates quick, shallow learning and swift forgetting. The little actually remembered is very like a collection of meaningless bits for Trivial Pursuit. Students come to expect that they should have answers at their fingertips instead of developing an attitude of inquiry—one of willingness to figure things out.

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The insistence on precisely stated learning objectives, moreover, also drastically reduces the number of classroom sessions designed to expose students to new, interesting ideas that may or may not result in specific learning. It is right to pay continuous, careful attention to whether students are learning certain specific material. But there should also be sessions devoted to intellectual “inputs”—topics teachers choose to present or offer—leaving open what students might do as a result.

To support intellectual life and the joy of learning, we should expand the possibilities, not narrow them.

Many intellectually exciting and socially significant lessons conducted by creative teachers are designed to induce awareness, not specific learning. It is a shame to sacrifice such sessions in our zeal to achieve a pre-specified learning objective for every lesson, every day. In addition to asking the question, Has Johnny learned X? we should also ask, What has Johnny learned? In a class of 25 students, we might get 25 different answers to this—some disheartening (from which we should learn), and some quite thrilling.

To support intellectual life and the joy of learning, we should expand the possibilities, not narrow them. Part of our job as educators is to offer opportunities, to open the door to a world of intellectual possibilities. Another part is to encourage our students to think and to take responsibility for their own expanded learning. It is important, therefore, to consider intellectual inputs as well as pre-specified student outcomes.

Students do not come to us as standard raw material, and we should not expect to produce standard academic products. Intellectual life is challenging, enormously diverse, and rewarding. It requires initiative and independent thinking, not the tedious following of orders. It should not be reduced to mental drudgery.

Nel Noddings is the Lee L. Jacks professor of education, emerita, at Stanford University. Her latest book is Critical Lessons: What Our Schools Should Teach (Cambridge University Press, 2006).

THE SPACE in the PLACE! ("Promise to Practice Center")

The "PLACE" could be the epicenter of urban retail Renaissance. A "PLACE" wehre the future (our youth) engage in Recreation/Retail/Social Responsibility and 21st Century Education in a proactive environment.

Successful 21st Century students will need skill sets not being taught or made available to them in many of their current classroom settings.

Shopping in the established settings are familiar but the boundless frontier of the electronic storefront is changing the landscape dramatically. The merging of the retail experience and the electronic speed-of-light technologies is a 21st Century job and will be a career for many of our young people.

What better group to lead this experience than the future of our community OUR YOUTH.

Certainly the papers are full of the small % of young people creating the crime, but there is a silent majority of young creative minds sitting in classrooms focused on state prescribed curriculum designed for marketplaces that are no longer viable in this world economy. There is a tremondous amount of creative expression waiting to be unleased on projects for the betterment of the community and "THE PLACE" could be that vehicle of expression and success.

I would like to see created a space design that allows for the creative expression and success of all who enter "THE SPACE". The SPACE that young people come together to engage retailers in a cooperative creative fashion to seek interships, foster internet web development for greater penetration into the community and helping to develop incubator companies that eventually take space in "THE PLACE". THE SPACE could be the new kind of 21st Century School experience where the rubber truly meets the road and becomes an incubator of new ideas.

"THE PLACE" could be the new destination for differnt target groups and provide additional enrichment for local students old and young to seek remediation, intellegent exchange, skill development, social networking or even social service help.

The SPACE in "THE PLACE" could challenge all to invest in themeselves and their community.

THINK: Tipping Point, Relevance or Irrelevance, Finally Permission (NOT)!

Technology Literacy and the MySpace Generation By Susan McLester March 15, 2007 URL: http://www.techlearning.com/showArticle.php?articleID=196604312 from Technology & Learning They're not asking permission. These are responses from my 15-year-old daughter, Hannah, and her friends, who are all freshmen at Northern California's Berkeley High School, regarding the safety of kids using MySpace. On a typical day after school, you'll find Hannah in her bedroom, iPod charging on the desk, headphones in ears, cell phone in one hand, paperback book in the other, television tuned to a Gilmore Girls rerun, and computer with display divided among iTunes, YouTube, a Pride and Prejudice DVD, and, of course, MySpace, which she constantly checks for messages from friends. This portrait of a digital native is particular to the year 2007. It is not what we would have seen 10 years ago, and it's definitely not likely to resemble what we'll be seeing a decade down the line. So when we, as adults, bandy about the concept of technology literacy, inherent within that is the knowledge that technology and the digital native are constantly evolving. Our challenge as educators, parents, and community members? How do we empower and protect our students in an environment that increasingly excludes us? NET Standards In 1997, the International Society for Technology in Education pioneered the first set of National Education Technology Standards in an attempt to define the new literacies and identify crucial skills for students and educators. In the original set of standards, the skills revolved more around the mastery of technology tools and multimedia than behaviors, although social, ethical, and human issues were addressed. For example, students were expected to "use telecommunications to collaborate, publish, and interact with peers, experts, and other audiences," and "use a variety of media and formats to communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences." Says ISTE CEO Don Knezek, "The standards were something to shoot for." Since then, and in the absence of any government-spearheaded federal education technology plan—in fact, despite ongoing deep cuts in the last protected bucket of technology funds (Enhancing Education through Technology)—ISTE has maintained stewardship of the NETS, with 49 states implementing some or all of the standards. This past year ISTE began a refresh process of the NETS, inviting feedback from stakeholders on a new draft (see "NETS for Students"), with a target release date of June 2007. It is a sign of the times that creativity and innovation now top the chart of standards identified as essential for students and that cultural understanding and global awareness have also been elevated to crucial skills. One person happy to see the evolution reflected in the new draft of standards is ed tech guru Alan November. A NETS critic from the start, November balks at the standards for trying to impose standardization at all and for their lack of foresight in not taking into account the rapid rate of technology change. "It was downright embarrassing, like going to farms in Russia and telling everybody they have to milk cows in the exact same way," he says. November cites the use of Logo in schools in the early '80s and the widespread belief then that all kids needed to know Logo. Later, educators were forced to acknowledge that Logo wasn't transferable to the real world. "Learning Logo would have been one of the standards," November remarks. "It wasn't thought through." Although November concedes that the proposed new standards have come far, he remains critical. "The devil is in the details," he says. "How do we implement these standards?" November cites the vagueness of the term digital media, for instance. "That could mean PowerPoint to one person or designing a Moodle course to share online to another," he says. Moreover, he decries the time and effort it will take for all 49 states to go back and "undo implementation" of the original standards. Despite being no fan of standards ("What if we told Microsoft they had to standardize their software development?"), November is nevertheless dedicated to working toward a "positive outcome" for education and has plans to partner with Knezek toward that end. "Now they need some really imaginative examples, some national best practices, so people can have a sense of what they really mean." Sun and Open Source When technology literacy and the needs and activities of the digital native dovetail with the goals of business, global trends can be accelerated. Such is the case with Sun Microsystems, whose longtime promotion of open-source applications, such as its OpenDocument-based StarOffice application suite, is now placing the company in a leadership position for customizable applications. Kim Jones, Sun's vice president of global education, government, and health services, has closely monitored the evolution of Web use in China, India, and other technologically developing countries. "The emerging digital student has been the impetus for the evolution of the Web from information source to participation," Jones says. Beyond that, Jones is already talking about Web 3.0, which she characterizes as active and participatory, offering an open and flexible learning environment with content created by students. Jones sees multiple delivery methods as the trend for this environment that focuses on "learning, plus content, plus the ability to customize." As for technology standards, not surprisingly Jones touts the need for open source over proprietary applications. And like November, she says the nation's educational system needs to reach out to the best and most innovative practices, including global learning models, such as Singapore's and Korea's approaches to teaching math, which have the best proven outcomes. Sun's global, participatory theme is also being borne out in a new offering for educators, the Curriki (curriculum plus wiki) open source, online, free, world-based curriculum that Jones feels should be part of any tech literacy standards. Listening to the Students Observing students and making decisions about what they should and should not do and know is one thing. Listening to them speak directly is another. At this year's Sun Worldwide Education and Research Conference in San Francisco, whose theme was Education 2.0, Santa Clara University's Lorrie Ma and Darian Shirazi of the University of California at Berkeley addressed an international audience of K-12 and college education professionals. During an hour-long Q&A session with these students, three clear messages emerged: Students want free and open access to information. "Teach kids to be careful about what they post on the net as it will be part of their proverbial permanent record," says Ma, who's double majoring in marketing and engineering. "But after discussing what's right, wrong, and appropriate, and arming students with that knowledge, back off with the rules and the filtering and let them take responsibility." Shirazi concurs that school (at least from high school on up) is not a place for spoon-feeding. "I would rather sift through bloggers and other content and do my own iltering," he says. Social networking hubs are here to stay and should not be constrained by schools. Sites such as MySpace and Facebook are the avenues of daily commerce for the digital native and therefore the most efficient means of communication. Students check these sites several times a day, circumventing more sluggish institutionalized avenues to accomplish tasks quickly and efficiently. Says Ma, "It's easier to go to a student's Facebook entry than to have to dig up their e-mail through the university system." The face of education and the idea of the "campus" are changing. Shirazi speaks of the 80 percent of his time not spent in classes, but learning via podcast lectures, Googling for research, and discussions with peers at various campus venues such as the gym or a coffee shop. The student, who is in the process of starting up his own technology company, points to innovation and open source as key to learning. "I'd like to see as much software as possible go open source, so that others can build on it," he says. His advice for students entering the 21st-century workplace? "This is a clich�, but think outside the box, not about what it takes to get an 'A,'" he says. Businesses and venture capitalist firms have given Carnegie Mellon the word that teamwork is an essential ingredient for leadership positions in the global, 21st-century workplace. What Employers Say The kind of innovative, self-guided learning students like Ma and Shirazi tell us are so central to the lives of digital natives are the same skills businesses say they're looking for in 21st-century employees. Moreover, it makes sense that as the schools of 1900 were responsive to the industrial workforce, so should schools today reflect the global workforce. New models are leading the charge. In response to calls from venture capitalists and businesses sending a clear message about what they need, the San Francisco Bay Area-based Carnegie Mellon West recently announced a master's of science program in software management. With a nod to "globalization, outsourcing, and world-flattening advances in technology," this online course model emphasizes interdisciplinary training in technical, business, and organizational skills, recognizing all three as essential to leadership in a global economy. The program harnesses technology to offer real-world simulations, collaborative projects, and a variety of instructional methods, including team-based coaching, "just in time" feedback, problem-driven seminars, and more. Diane Dimeff, Carnegie Mellon's associate dean for external relations and professional development and a former K-12 and university educator, says K-12 students should be comfortable learning and operating in all such aspects of technology. In particular, she identifies technology exposure, teamwork, self-direction, and an interdisciplinary skill set as important technology literacies for all. "The ability to adapt to constantly changing technologies, to use the Web for authentic research, and to work in teams for the greater good—knowing when to lead and when to follow—are essential for the global workplace," says Dimeff. Tech Literacy and the Future As we continue to move forward through the new century, as open source and other participatory Web venues become the norm, educators will be facing an even more overwhelming technology learning curve. A new digital divide is in our future, one that is largely generational. At its heart will be the fundamental questions of what "school" really means and whether digital immigrants can ever really get comfortable with a user-generated paradigm. At a time when students are empowered by their own technology skills, are being asked to innovate and create by the global marketplace, and are no longer dependent on our "permission" to interact with the world's content and each other, what choice do we really have? Susan McLester is editor in chief of T&L. NETS for Students To participate in ISTE's NETS Refresh project, visit www.iste.org/nets-survey. I. Creativity and Innovation Students think creatively, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products using technology. Students: apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas and products. use technology for creative self-expression. use systems thinking to explore complex issues. identify trends and forecast possibilities. II. Communication and Collaboration Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students: collaborate, publish, and interact with peers, experts, and others employing a variety of digital media and formats. communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences utilizing a variety of media and formats. develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures. contribute to project teams to produce original works. III. Research and Information Retrieval Students access, retrieve, manage, and evaluate information using digital tools. Students: locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and use information from a variety of sources and media. evaluate and select information sources and technological tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks. process data and report results. IV. Critical Thinking, Problem-Solving, and Decision-Making Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate technology tools. Students: identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation and plan strategies to guide inquiry. plan and manage activities to develop solutions and complete projects. collect and analyze data to identify solutions and make informed decisions. use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions. V. Digital Citizenship Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior. Students: advocate and practice safe, responsible use of information and technology. exhibit positive attitudes toward technology uses that support collaboration, learning, and productivity. demonstrate personal responsibility for lifelong learning. exercise proactive leadership for digital citizenship. VI. Technology Operations and Concepts Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations. Students: understand and use technology systems. identify and use applications effectively and productively. troubleshoot systems and applications. transfer current knowledge to learning of new technologies. Characteristics of a Digital Native Following is a compilation of characteristics of 21st-century learners gleaned from a variety of sources, including an American Association of School Librarians blog, high school and university student interviews, and Kim Jones, vice president of global education for Sun Microsystems. Multimedia oriented Web-based Less fear of failure Instant gratification Impatient Nonlinear Multitasker Less textual, more modalities Active involvement Very creative Less structured Expressive Extremely social Need a sense of security that they are defining for and by themselves Egocentric Preference for electronic environments Have electronic friends Thrive with redefined structure Surface-oriented Information overload Widening gap to information access Share a common language Risk takers Technology is a need Aren't looking for the right answer Feel a sense of entitlement Constant engagement All information is equal No cultural distinctions (global) Striving to be independent —with acknowledgment to Diane Beaman

Leonard Pitts on "What Works" for Education in Urban Populations

NPR RADIO
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=8898739

Talk of the Nation, March 14, 2007 · Pulitzer prize-winning columnist Leonard Pitts talks about his series, "What Works?" where he asks his readers to present him not with problems, but with solutions for improving the lives of black children in five specific areas: self-esteem, violence prevention, education, fatherlessness and poverty.

Leonard Pitts E-mail: lpitts@herald.com

Detroit AIM Program Rises to Prominence!

AIM "Makes it's Indelible Mark" for Educational Excellence!
HEAR IT FOR YOURSELF!
http://www.wwj.com

Kilpatrick tells Detroit: Let's tackle crime, grime together

'Nobody's coming to save us'

March 14, 2007

BY MARISOL BELLO

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Saying it's time for Detroiters to stop blaming outsiders for the city's ills, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick called on residents Tuesday to take personal responsibility and promised a more focused government that would reduce crime by adding 200 police officers, establish job centers and restore six neighborhoods with an aggressive, five-year plan.

He said he wants to do that and more without raising taxes. In fact, the mayor said he'll cut both property and income taxes, though he would not say how the city, already facing a $96-million deficit, would make up the money.

Kilpatrick made the comments in his sixth State of the City speech at Orchestra Hall with much of his administration and City Council in attendance.

Residents besieged by crime in some of the city's forgotten neighborhoods hope the mayor can make good on his promises.

Mary Abner, 49, who lives on the east side near Davison and 6 Mile, wants to take the mayor's message to heart and hopes her neighbors will, too.

"If he holds up to all that he's talking about, we're rolling," Abner said. "I liked everything about it, especially the part on the neighborhoods and the crime and the kids."

Touching on a tried-and-true mayoral theme hit hard during the administration of Dennis Archer, the mayor strongly took Detroiters to task for the crime ravaging the city. He called on parents to become active in their children's lives, pastors to engage in the neighborhoods where they preach and residents to clean their sidewalks, fix up their homes and reclaim their streets.

"My beloved community, I truly understand the history of African-American people in this country," he said. "But we have come to a point in our community where this is no outside conspiracy doing this to us. This is us killing us. ... And we, as a community, have to stop it now. Nobody's coming to save us."

The more than 2,000 people, including state Sen. Hansen Clarke, D-Detroit, and U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, a Detroit Democrat; city appointees, community activists, residents, pastors and business leaders who packed the hall for the invitation-only event cheered the loudest when he called for personal action and laid out his plan to fight crime. They gave him several standing ovations.

Citing that 70% of homicides are narcotics-related, Kilpatrick called on parents to warn their children about the dangers of the thug life.

"We need to help them understand that the so-called glamorous life that they see in some of these videos is not reality," he said.

"We need to help our children understand that, when you get involved in drugs and sitting in a drug house, there's no high-priced champagne, there's no dancing pretty girls, no nice clothes. There's no bling bling. You can get killed."

The number of homicides in the city increased by almost 10% from 2005 and 2006, according to the Police Executive Research Forum, which tracks crime trends in the country.

A significant portion of the mayor's speech focused on an anticrime strategy that calls for hiring 200 police officers to complement the city's 3,100-member force. The mayor said he will augment the force by deploying a SWAT team to patrol areas where there is significant drug dealing or high incidence of robberies and shootings, as well as creating rapid-response units for priority 911 calls.

Patrol officers will be joined by desk officers and commanders, including Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings, who will be deployed during weekend nights to hot-spot areas, such as nightclubs, party stores and all-night restaurants.

Thomas Wilson Jr., a west-side resident who is president of the Northwestern District Police Community Relations Organization, said the mayor's crime fighting plan did not go far enough to beef up a police department that at its height had more than 5,000 members.

"He's saying he's going to put 200 officers on the street, but you have so many police officers retiring or leaving," Wilson said. "You've got people leaving out the back door of the house and people walking in the front. Does the house ever get full? No.

"It's one thing to tell the chief to take the streets back. It's another to have the manpower to do it," he said.

For all the rhetoric in the mayor's speech, it was still light on the specifics of how he plans to accomplish many of his promises. He has said he will unveil more specifics on funding in coming weeks.

The money issue is critical. Last week, the mayor mentioned a bond initiative he said would fund some of his ideas.

Kilpatrick also announced Tuesday some financial assistance for his Next Detroit Neighborhood Initiative from several foundations and agencies, including the Knight and Skillman foundations.

The mayor said he would address the deficit and the city's fiscal state when he presents his budget plan to the City Council on April 12. He said the current year would end in the black, but he has made that pledge before, and the year-end deficits have always been higher than the mayor estimates.

The mayor also pledged to make workforce development a critical component of his administration, creating programs to help Detroiters in all aspects of job hunting, from preparing resumes and developing employable skills to finding jobs with growth potential.

He said, by year's end, the city's Workforce Development Center will create career centers to help people find jobs in such high-demand industries as health, information technology, construction and retail.

"The only thing this process requires of each participant is personal commitment to be ready to learn and to prepare themselves to work," Kilpatrick said. "That means going to class. That means developing the skills that will make you employable. That means good work habits. And, yes, it means passing the drug test."

He also outlined his plan to transform six city neighborhoods but offered few specifics since announcing the initiative in December.

Meanwhile, he said, the city is working with the Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, to develop a strategy over the next three years to assess the buying power in Detroit's neighborhoods in order to attract more businesses.

"They have been very successful in convincing retailers who once said no to a community to actually change their decision and locate in the that community," Kilpatrick said.

"We know Detroiters can shop with the best of them," he said. "And we deserve and have the right to have the best retail in our communities."

At least one mayoral critic, Councilwoman Barbara-Rose Collins, liked what she heard about revitalizing the neighborhoods and even pledged to help him find the funding.

"I thought he was right on target," she said. "I'll do my part to help him find the money."

Contact MARISOL BELLO at 313- 222-6678 or bello@freepress.com. Staff writers Kathleen Gray and Suzette Hackney contributed.

Copyright © 2007 Detroit Free Press Inc.

TODAY'S REMINDERS!

MASH-UP

*5:30PM to 6:00PM
Possible "Immersive Experience" at the Summit Place Mall (Front North Eastern Sear's Entrance near the Art Experience)
Purpose: Visioning of Space & Place (Bring your imagination)

COMMUNITY WORKSHOP

to discuss Summit Place Mall and surrounding area

March 13, 2007

6:30 p.m.

Oakland Schools

2111 Pontiac Lake Road

Waterford MI 48328

Don't forget: If you care…be there!

SUMMIT PLACE MALL MASH-UP HTTP://WWW.SPMMASHUP.BLOGSPOT.COM

COURAGE: "The Breakfast of Champions!"

THE BIG PICTURE: "SECRET SAUCE" (Nothing Else Will Get the Job Done)

"THE URGENCY OF OUR DIGITAL EMERGENCY!"