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Philly to grade principals on breakfasts

October 9, 2009 By

In annual report cards, Philadelphia principals will be graded on attendance, math and reading scores — and how many students eat breakfast at school, reports the Inquirer.

Philadelphia’s public schools have made all 165,00 students eligible for a free (tax-funded) breakfast, but only about a third show up to eat it.

Many studies have shown that breakfast boosts student performance and health.

District officials say principals will be held to different breakfast participation rates depending on estimates of how many children in their area eat at home.

In theory, school breakfasts are nutritionally balanced. The Inquirer’s commenters complain the breakfasts are high in fat and sugar. They also don’t want to pay to feed other people’s children or see their own kids pushed into eating a second breakfast at school.

Studies show “more children eat when breakfast is served in the first class of the day,” reports the Inquirer.  Most schools serve breakfast in the cafeteria before school to avoid wasting instructional time.  But the Pennsylvania Department of Education has opened the door to counting in-class breakfast as instructional time. That means Philadelphia principals will be pressured to order teachers to devote part of the first class period to serving, eating and clearing breakfast.

This will be done in the name of improving student performance.

Update: In other news, cost-cutting Harvard no longer serves hot breakfasts in most dorms.

Filed Under: Education, Parenting Tagged With: , ,

School of the Future flounders

June 25, 2009 By

Philadelphia’s high-tech School of the Future (SOF), designed with help from Microsoft, was supposed to revolutionize education, writes Meris Stansbury on eSchool News. So far, we’ve seen the future and it doesn’t work very well. (I had doubts when the school opened in 2006.)

It would teach at-risk students critical 21st-century skills needed for college and the work force by emphasizing project-based learning, technology, and community involvement.

. . . From alternative school hours to laptops for every student, from a customizable school portal to campus-wide wireless access, and from a panel to design 21st-century curriculum to a new teacher hiring model, the SOF was thought to be a sure winner.

The school went through four principals in three years. Union contracts made it hard to hire teachers who were a good fit for the school.

Teachers received little training on how to use the technology to foster learning. Students had trouble using the laptops and worried they’d be stolen if they brought them home.

Although the technology itself was not supposed to trump basic classroom practices, Microsoft and the school’s planners had decided not to allow the use of textbooks or printed materials; instead, all resources were located online through a portal designed by Microsoft.

Yet educators frequently encountered problems accessing the internet, because the school’s wireless connection often would not work.

Just like Windows Vista, writes Lorri Giovinco-Harte at NY Education Examiner.

In a panel hosted by the American Enterprise Institute, Drew University Professor Patrick McGuinn found problems at every level.

“There is no clear definition of what project-based learning exactly is and how that can be step-by-step implemented in the classroom. Student remediation also didn’t fit with the project-based collaboration model.”

He added: “These teachers and administrators had to fly a plane while they were building it.”

Over time, the School of the Future adopted the district’s curriculum and assessments; it began to look a lot like schools of the present. However, school leaders are trying to learn from the early mistakes — they hired a tech support person! — and clarify the mission. We’ll have to see what the future holds for the School of the Future.

Update: Thirty-five years ago, Philadelphia’s school of the future was William Penn High, a “showpiece packed with amenities, including a television studio, an Olympic-size swimming pool, and a dance studio,” reports the Inquirer.  Now a wreck operating at less than 20 percent of capacity, the low-scoring school will be closed for two years for rebuilding. And, one hopes, rethinking.

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Teachers complain of pressure to promote

June 22, 2009 By

Philadelphia teachers are pushed to promote high school students who cut class or can’t read, reports the Inquirer.

“We have to give fake grades,” said a teacher at Mastbaum High in Kensington. “The pressure is very real.”

A teacher at University City High described getting pressure from the school’s administrators to pass a student who had 89 absences over a half-year.

. . . Schools are now judged on many criteria, including the number of students who pass.

. . . Teachers also blasted a district policy that requires them to give every student at least a 50 even if he or she didn’t attend class or do the work. At some schools, teachers said, the minimum grade is 60. Passing is 65.

I guess that’s what they mean by “failure is not an option.”

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: , ,

A diploma isn't enough

June 6, 2009 By

Without postsecondary training, high school graduates in Philadelphia struggle to earn a living, reports Johns Hopkins’ Everyone Graduates Center in Untapped Potential. Graduates worked more and earned more than dropouts, but many diploma-only graduates remained below the poverty line.  Only 35 percent of dropouts reported any income; those who worked averaged 25 weeks of employment and $9,000 in earnings. Those with only a high school diploma averaged $12,000 in earnings.  As time goes on, the earnings gap widens.

High school graduates experience greater earnings growth than dropouts, but the upward slope is much steeper for those with at least some postsecondary education.

Students who lack the motivation or academic skills to earn a college degree should be encouraged to aim for a vocational certificate at a community college. The effort will pay off.

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Students rehab houses, learn skills

June 3, 2009 By

Vocational students in Philadelphia are rehabbing houses as an after-school activity, reports the Inquirer. One team is working on a former drug house.

For two hours a day, five days a week, the students strip floors, frame walls, install plumbing, paint rooms, and lay tile.

But the members of a construction after-school club are also learning about the value of a job done well, the satisfaction of transforming a neighborhood eyesore.

Bok High’s first house took four years to gut and remodel; it sold to a first-time buyer for $75,000, which pays for supplies and $5 hourly salaries for students.

Construction club members aren’t allowed to work on the house unless they’ve gone to class, which has boosted attendance.

Andrew Meak, 16, a junior, paused from prepping the kitchen for its paint job.

“Maybe it’s a guy thing,” he said, shrugging. “I really like learning how to do stuff.”

I saw this on a visit to ISUS in Dayton, Ohio, a dropout-recovery charter school that lets construction students build houses from scratch and rebuild historic homes with green technology. For kids who aren’t academically inclined, hands-on learning — with a realistic shot at a job if they master the skills — is very motivating.

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: , ,
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