Why High School Rankings Are Meaningless and Harmful

mimin

May 9, 2015

Over the past month or so, in newspapers and local-news websites all around the country, public high schools and school districts have been trumpeting reports about how they’ve done on various national rankings of high schools. For instance, here’s Bill Runey, principal of Attleboro High School in Massachusetts. “We’re really proud of this,” he said in a press release put out by the school district. He was referring to the fact that Attleboro had been ranked 1,947th in the nation on the Washington Post’s annual ranking of “America’s Most Challenging High Schools.”

On a local level, school rankings long have been the sort of thing city magazines thrive on, along with their “best of” issues that purport to tell readers where to buy the best burger in the city or get the best waxing. In a single metropolitan area (or even in a single state), rankings of public schools may have some utility if they are done thoughtfully, using sensible metrics. Parents might be able to use that information to find an affordable residence near good schools, while still leaving themselves within reasonable reach of their place of employment. It’s harder to fathom the logic for ranking high schools nationwide. Few

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How and Why to Teach Your Kids to Code

mimin

May 3, 2015

Whether or not your child grows up to be the next Zuckerberg, programming is a highly useful skill for him or her to learn. It teaches vital problem-solving, creativity, and communication skills. Plus, it can be downright fun for you both. Here are some of the best tried-and-true apps for teaching kids of all ages how to code.

There’s No Time Like the Present

Perhaps there’s no better group to teach coding to than children (cue in Whitney Houston song about children and our future). Kids absorb information and use new technologies like they’re old hat. (Just ask any parent who’s given an iPad to a diapered child or the dad who raised his kids on the command line.

It’s hard to imagine the amazing apps and tools they’ll develop when they’re older if we get them started learning how to tinker now. But most importantly, when

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New school facilities address 21st century challenges

mimin

April 24, 2015

A new generation of school facilities features cutting-edge technology, more flexible learning spaces, and other enhancements.

“The school reminds me of a college,” she said.

One of several new school facilities to open this year, Dr. Abraham Cano is part of a new generation of facilities that feature cutting-edge technology, more flexible learning spaces, plenty of natural lighting, and other innovations designed to promote collaboration and enhance students’ experience.

In Merced, Calif., more than 800 freshmen and sophomores started school Aug. 20 in a brand-new, $98 million campus called El Capitan High School, a nine-building complex featuring more than 100 Wi-Fi access points and desks that encourage teamwork. In Springfield, Ohio, the new $51 million Northwestern Junior/Senior High School opened in late August with improved security, natural lighting, and technology—including Apple TVs and interactive boards in every classroom.

And at Dr. Abraham Cano, a college campus style and other 21^st-century elements had students buzzing with excitement as they returned to school.

“Today’s kids are digital learners. They take in the world via the filter of computing devices,” said Eli R. Ochoa, president and chief executive officer of ERO Architects.

Designed by McAllen, Texas-based ERO in conjunction with the Harlingen community, the school supports project-based learning in

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Featured

Lake Washington voters to see bond pair of levies

mimin

April 19, 2015

Initial polling data from the district shows levies that look likely to pass. The polling also shows the bond measure could pass, but it is within the poll’s margin of error.

At an Aug. 6 school board meeting, Deputy Superintendent Janeane Fogard presented basically the same information she had in June when she introduced the bond and levy packages.

If approved, the packages would fund school operations, help purchase new technology and pay for a laundry list of school construction projects.

The total cost would mean an additional 81 cents per $1,000 of property value. The owner of a $500,000 home would pay $405 per year more, starting in 2015.

Over the summer, officials conducted polls of district residents about the proposals. According to Fogard, 59 percent of those surveyed approve of the educational programs and operations levy, 62 percent favor the capital projects levy and 62 percent favor the bond. The polls have a margin of error of 5 percent.

A levy requires 50 percent approval, plus one vote, to pass, while a bond requires 60 percent.

The bond

District officials will use bond funding to build accommodations

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Featured

Here’s a school improvement idea Let teens sleep in

mimin

April 11, 2015

A sign that fall is growing near is that it’s staying dark longer in the mornings. Driving recently to meet teachers and students, I felt renewed sympathy for the teenagers I passed trudging half-asleep to their bus stop. Some walk to school.

The BBC, citing Oxford University experts, says half of all British teenagers are sleep-deprived. A similar narrative fits American teens.

Research suggests teenagers need nine hours of sleep to function the next day. But natural hormone changes and
technology such as social media and texting means only about 8 percent of them are getting it, according to the National Sleep Foundation.

Start School Later Inc., bills itself as a national coalition of “health professionals, sleep scientists, educators, parents, students, and other concerned citizens” who believe better school hours could improve student health, safety, equity and learning. The group says starting high school classes at 9 or 9:30 a.m. would help students stay awake, improve memory consolidation and reduce absenteeism and tardies. Ongoing petitions in school districts around the country are here.

It is a tough call. Changing school start times can impact bus transportation along the elementary, middle and high school continuum. After-school activity schedules would be pushed later as well. There would be challenges

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Featured

Open union bargaining meetings to the public

mimin

April 2, 2015

WASHINGTON state’s Open Public Meetings Act begins with the bold declaration that the people do not give public servants the right to decide what is good for them to know or not know.

Unfortunately, the letter of the act fails to live up to its spirit in one important area: Contract negotiations between government agencies and public-employees’ unions.

The 1971 law encourages government transparency and accountability by requiring meetings of public agencies and governing bodies to be open to the public, from the state level down to local school boards.

Overall, the Open Public Meetings Act is an important contribution to responsive government, promoting citizen involvement in and monitoring of the institutions which govern them.

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