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Post by southsidesignmaker on Sept 28, 2010 7:33:20 GMT -6
Local educators, Obama agree: Kids need more time in class
By Steve Lord and Kathy Cichon slord@stmedianetwork.com kcichon@stmedianetwork.com Sep 27, 2010 08:24PM
President Barack Obama is interviewed on the NBC "Today Show" and broadcast to an audience in New York at the NBC News' "Education Nation" Summit on Monday, Sept. 27, 2010. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
It’s not like extending the American school day, or the school year, is a new idea.
But maybe it’s an idea whose time has come.
With the release of a new film called “Waiting for Superman,” an extended school year with more core instruction for students has jumped to the forefront for many educators, reformers and policymakers. The documentary on the state of America’s public schools was done by Davis Guggenheim, who also directed “An Inconvenient Truth.”
America’s top policymaker, President Barack Obama, addressed the issue in an interview broadcast nationally Monday, during discussion of America’s decreasing educational competitiveness around the world.
In Illinois, and even locally, there are those who would agree with Obama’s assessment that the idea of a longer school year “makes sense.”
“It would be a positive step, for sure,” said Dr. Don Wold, dean of Aurora University’s School of Education. “The two biggest differences between us and Europe and the Pacific Rim are school year length, and the homogeneity of our classrooms.
“We are more diverse than they are. But one of the things we can change is the school year.”
More days, more hours
Mike Chapin, community relations director for the West Aurora School District, agreed.
“Educational research shows that there is a correlation between academic success and time spent in the classroom,” said Chapin. “So, time does equate to success. There are a variety of ways to do it.”
It’s already been done in part in Illinois. This year, the Chicago Public Schools started about a quarter of their students in August, a few weeks earlier than the rest.
Another way to get students more time in the classroom is to extend the school day itself. One of Chicago’s charter schools, the KIPP Ascend School on the west side, has a school day that goes from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., for example.
West Aurora has lengthened its school day, by one additional period in the high school two years ago, and last year for the rest of the grades. Chapin said the additional time equals “a couple extra weeks in core-level instruction.”
Change could be costly
One of the perceived drawbacks to more time in school is additional cost. Wold pointed out that sometimes the cost can be as obvious as paying the staff, or as obscure as having to provide air conditioning, which many Illinois schools do not have.
Kristine Servais, associate professor of education at North Central College in Naperville, agreed that extending the school year and making other improvements could be expensive.
“As an educator, it’s well worth it to me, but it’s a tough time in our economy to be asking for more,” she said. “We know we need it, but we know it’s difficult to ask taxpayers to allow for more money to go for schools.”
Wold suggested a way of increasing the school year by three weeks — which he did about 15 years ago on a limited basis when he was superintendent of the Westmont School District.
Wold said he was able to use federal Title I money to extend one elementary school by three weeks for half days, from 8 a.m. to noon, providing only core instruction and no extracurriculars. Not only was it unnecessary to provide things like music or sports for those additional three weeks, but the school also did not have to provide lunch.
“If you ease into it in a reasonable fashion, it may be more affordable,” said Wold. “I thought it worked pretty well, and students and parents seemed to like it.”
Strategy to compete
Servais called expanding the school year a “necessary strategy” because other countries are spending more time and money on education than the United States.
“We want to be on the forefront being a global competitor,” she said. “It’s not all about money. It is about time. Our best schools are using their time well, but there is a shortage of it. I think we have to get away from this idea of nine months of school and three months off in the summer. We aren’t an agricultural community anymore.”
In addition to extending the school year, Servais said that to stay competitive, the U.S. educational system also needs more quality teachers and principals, must seek solutions to the high dropout rate and address inequities among schools. More efforts, she said, should be made to improve schools in high poverty areas.
West Aurora made its move to a longer school day as a direct result of looking at student test scores. And while longer days help some, policymakers must consider that South Korean students spend the equivalent of two more years in class over any comparable time frame for American students.
The question is, will it make a difference now that more attention is being drawn to the possibility of a longer school day, both in media efforts and by the president of the United States?
“It’s still probably a wish list thing,” Wold said.
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Post by southsidesignmaker on Sept 28, 2010 7:38:15 GMT -6
“It would be a positive step, for sure,” said Dr. Don Wold, dean of Aurora University’s School of Education. “The two biggest differences between us and Europe and the Pacific Rim are school year length, and the homogeneity of our classrooms.
“We are more diverse than they are. But one of the things we can change is the school year.”
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More time in the classroom may bridge the gap between our education system and other industrial countries. I would suspect that addressing the blatant poverty that accompanies many under performing schools will be tougher to tackle. Addressing the hopelessness that often accompanies poverty must also be addressed in a meaningful way.
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Post by asmodeus on Sept 28, 2010 8:27:36 GMT -6
But my guess is the gap exists primarily for those disadvantaged kids.
As for the cost, I have no problem asking teachers to work more than nine months for the same pay.
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Post by Arch on Sept 28, 2010 9:16:11 GMT -6
My opinion is they would just creep in more non-instruction into the newly created time and you would have the same results you have now (at an additional cost). There's enough time as it is if you remove the time wasting activities.
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Post by doctorwho on Sept 28, 2010 10:58:42 GMT -6
“It would be a positive step, for sure,” said Dr. Don Wold, dean of Aurora University’s School of Education. “The two biggest differences between us and Europe and the Pacific Rim are school year length, and the homogeneity of our classrooms. “We are more diverse than they are. But one of the things we can change is the school year.” ______________________________________________________________________________ More time in the classroom may bridge the gap between our education system and other industrial countries. I would suspect that addressing the blatant poverty that accompanies many under performing schools will be tougher to tackle. Addressing the hopelessness that often accompanies poverty must also be addressed in a meaningful way. while I don't agree with Mr Obama on too much ( since socialism or bigger government really doesn't appeal to me) - I agree that money alone is not going to fix the issue We have 22-27 or 33 countries ahead of us educationally deoepending on whether this is math, science or reading. I fully recognize that poverty plays into this- but let's not call it poverty alone. I grew up in a very poor area- went to Chicago public schools and most I know did Ok educationally considering what we had to start with. I am sure in today's world I wouldhave gotten a few things free at school based on our income level- and some of my friends would have gotten even more. This is a fundamental breakdown of the family unit that supports these kids ( or does not) and the value THEY place on their children's education. This can also happen at any income level. Are we saying none of the countries head of us deals with poverty as an issue also ? I think that would be a bad assumption - also many of the countries are more diverse than you may think. Since my job became global 5+ years ago, I have had my eyes opened to the makeup of many of the countries listed above us-- including language differences, extreme religious differences and people living in a coutry where the culture is very different from their own. One of the differences in assimilation is that in Europe especially- most kids in school speak at least 2 languages- as they are taught to do so from a young age. I did love the fact that the FIRST response from the teachers unions( who I am sure were stunned by a hugely pro union president's remarks) was money would have to be involved. The fact of reality is with a traditional pension system far above 90% of the rest of the population ( only being on par with government workers) and step increases in time where provate sector employees are taking cust -- this will not sit well. If they are not interested then charter schools etc. may be the way to proceed.. I just watched a special on a charter school in the Englewood neighborhood- Urban Prep.( this is my old area of residence- and you don't get much more impoverished or crime ridden than this today) - that is succeeding in meeting the needs of students - and it is not a 'test in' public school like Whitney Young etc - it is a lottery system. They have 3 campuses. this is their 5th year- and they sent 100% of class # 1 to college. We need to be data mining these places to see how this is happening and why - not trying to keep them from opening up. www.urbanprep.org/ |
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Post by doctorwho on Sept 28, 2010 11:03:30 GMT -6
Student Performance on the Reading, Scientific and Mathematical Literacy Scales, mean score, 2006
Countries are ranked highest to lowest score
Countries ranked by reading scores. In the other tables below, countries are ranked by mathematics and science scores
See also notes below the tables.
Rank
-------- Country
----------------------- Reading
------------- Maths
----------- Science
-------------
1 Korea 556 547 522
2 Finland 547 548 563
3 Canada 527 527 534
4 New Zealand 521 522 530
5 Ireland 517 501 508
6 Australia 513 520 527
7 Poland1 508 495 498
8 Sweden 507 502 503
9 Netherlands 507 531 525
10 Belgium 501 520 510
11 Switzerland 499 530 512
12 Japan 498 523 531
13 United Kingdom 495 495 515
14 Germany 495 504 516
15 Denmark 494 513 496
16 OECD average 492 498 500
17 Austria 490 505 511
18 France 488 496 495
19 Iceland 484 506 491
20 Norway 484 490 487
21 Czech Republic1 483 510 513
22 Hungary 482 491 504
23 Luxembourg 479 490 486
24 Portugal1 472 466 474
25 Italy 469 462 475
26 Slovak Republic 466 492 488
27 Spain 461 480 488
28 Greece 460 459 473
29 Turkey1 447 424 424
30 Russian Federation 440 476 479
31 Mexico 410 406 410
32 Brazil1 393 370 390
33 United States .. 474 489
Rank
-------- Country
----------------------- Maths
----------- Science
------------- Reading
-------------
1 Finland 548 563 547
2 Korea 547 522 556
3 Netherlands 531 525 507
4 Switzerland 530 512 499
5 Canada 527 534 527
6 Japan 523 531 498
7 New Zealand 522 530 521
8 Belgium 520 510 501
9 Australia 520 527 513
10 Denmark 513 496 494
11 Czech Republic1 510 513 483
12 Iceland 506 491 484
13 Austria 505 511 490
14 Germany 504 516 495
15 Sweden 502 503 507
16 Ireland 501 508 517
17 OECD average 498 500 492
18 France 496 495 488
19 United Kingdom 495 515 495
20 Poland1 495 498 508
21 Slovak Republic 492 488 466
22 Hungary 491 504 482
23 Luxembourg 490 486 479
24 Norway 490 487 484
25 Spain 480 488 461
26 Russian Federation 476 479 440
27 United States 474 489 ..
28 Portugal1 466 474 472
29 Italy 462 475 469
30 Greece 459 473 460
31 Turkey1 424 424 447
32 Mexico 406 410 410
33 Brazil1 370 390 393
Rank
-------- Country
----------------------- Science
------------- Reading
------------- Maths
-----------
1 Finland 563 547 548
2 Canada 534 527 527
3 Japan 531 498 523
4 New Zealand 530 521 522
5 Australia 527 513 520
6 Netherlands 525 507 531
7 Korea 522 556 547
8 Germany 516 495 504
9 United Kingdom 515 495 495
10 Czech Republic1 513 483 510
11 Switzerland 512 499 530
12 Austria 511 490 505
13 Belgium 510 501 520
14 Ireland 508 517 501
15 Hungary 504 482 491
16 Sweden 503 507 502
17 OECD average 500 492 498
18 Poland1 498 508 495
19 Denmark 496 494 513
20 France 495 488 496
21 Iceland 491 484 506
22 United States 489 .. 474
23 Slovak Republic 488 466 492
24 Spain 488 461 480
25 Norway 487 484 490
26 Luxembourg 486 479 490
27 Russian Federation 479 440 476
28 Italy 475 469 462
29 Portugal1 474 472 466
30 Greece 473 460 459
31 Turkey1 424 447 424
32 Mexico 410 410 406
33 Brazil1 390 393 370
NOTES:
These tables show student performance on the reading, scientific and mathematical literacy scales, mean score, measured in 2006, and reported in OECD's Education at a Glance 2009.
Students were tested at age 15 and therefore approaching the end of compulsory schooling.
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Post by southsidesignmaker on Sept 28, 2010 17:05:44 GMT -6
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