Keith Curry’s Post

New Bedford’s Whaling City has just graduated a historically large cohort, larger than two dozen charter schools in Massachusetts. As with any success in education, there are quick judgements made as to reasons. Much relies on staff and student culture overhauled by Principal John Tweedie, M. Ed., CAGS. As John said at June’s graduation "no one will outwork us." When you look at two decades of graduation data in all of Massachusetts alternative high schools and small MA charter high schools, Whaling is clearly seeing a sustained higher rate than the former and higher number of seniors served and graduated than the latter. Charter and alternative school models were created to serve students not seeing the benefits of large comprehensive high schools. However, such models have not seen success at scale over the same period. Why? NCLB proposed that “dropout factories” were the cause, then the RTTT movement rushed to label schools as “underperforming.” This week, the Boston Globe highlighted majority-minority schools as “substandard.” In truth, Massachusetts school reform has relied heavily on a selective, screened and segregated choice model that ultimately chooses or rejects students. Students are cast aside and lost. Unseen and uncounted, a 2024 Boston College report noted that choice schools don’t even count homeless students. There are far better ways to serve young people than labels and sorting. As the article reveals, we fare better with a pathways model that students can choose, integrated and supported by strong traditional districts who serve all kids. Since its founding as the first truly popular, free and desegregated school system in MA, this is what New Bedford Schools has done. This is where Whaling City stands out.

Eighty-eight percent of #NorthDakota teachers feel that school districts will have a harder time keeping enough staff next school year, according to a new poll issued this month. The survey is from the statewide union North Dakota United. It says the results show teacher retention is a bigger threat to the profession when compared with its other recent polls on the topic. Monica Klein, a teacher at Fort Lincoln Elementary School in Mandan, said she sees too much burnout among colleagues around the state. She said many teachers, and the parents of their students, are overwhelmed with such concerns as tight household budgets and child-care access, and those stressors are spilling over. "So just lots of those issues that I noticed," said Klein, "that are affecting inside of my classroom are coming from outside of my classroom." Klein - also the president of the Mandan Education Association - said while the Legislature did approve new child-care investments this past year, she would like to see more support. She also called for a more robust system for bringing new educators into the pipeline. The North Dakota Department of Public Instruction points to state-level efforts, such as new teacher and principal apprenticeship programs as part of the solution. Klein said she feels the state shouldn't lose sight of giving incoming educators a boost, noting added support might not have them thinking about switching professions. "Not only learning how to teach the curriculum, not only learning how to implement the strategies, not only learning how to be a teacher, but experiencing it," said Klein, "because I can tell you that in the first five years of my career, I learned so much. And it wasn't things that I learned in my college education." According to the poll, 19% of educators younger than age 30, and 24% between ages 30 and 39, say they plan to retire as teachers. Survey authors say that represents a sharp contrast to the outlook young respondents have when first entering the profession. Disclosure: North Dakota United contributes to our fund for reporting on Children's Issues, Education, Livable Wages/Working Families.

The 10 most expensive boarding schools in America https://ift.tt/ZcnOp13 For some parents, the decision to send a child to boarding school is a long-term investment in the child’s academic future — even if it comes with short-term financial hardship. Private school students tend to outscore their public school peers across several metrics of success, including music, reading and math, according to data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, commonly referred to as “the nation’s report card.” These statistics are complicated, however, by the reality that many private school students were advantaged long before they entered the classroom. Many experts argue that private school students outscore their public school peers because their parents are more likely to have completed college and have more financial resources. “When you compare children who went to private school (for an average of six years) with those who only went to public school, any apparent benefits of private schooling — higher test scores, for example — are entirely attributable to parents’ education and income,” Robert Pianta, a professor of early childhood education at the University of Virginia, told U.S. News & World Report. “The fact that they went to private school does not account for any differences we might see.” The average cost of private school attendance, from kindergarten through high school, is $312,026, according to the Education Data Initiative. That average tends to increase when looking at private schools located in the northeast — with Connecticut schools having the highest cost of private education in the country. Other high-cost hotspots include California, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. To determine the most expensive boarding schools in the U.S., Quartz reviewed the combined cost of tuition and fees, before financial aid, at more than 50 highly-ranked boarding schools. While schools in the northeast tended to be more expensive, in aggregate, it was California high schools that dominated the list of the nation’s most expensive boarding schools. Continue reading to learn about the most expensive boarding schools in America. Business News via Quartz https://qz.com August 13, 2024 at 02:08AM

There is no alignment or accountability in education policy and it is hard to see how shifting a few chairs on the educational Titanic, called Michigan public education system is going to change this reality. If you have a hole in your roof, pretending to fix it, does not keep the rain out. Real change is needed in the governance of Michigan’s system of public education. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer launches new education office, seeking more college grads in Michigan. This may be a start, it certainly should not be an end as it does little if anything to address the dysfunction of alignment or accountability in education policy and direction in Michigan. https://lnkd.in/gqvgdQFa

It's #DualEnrollmentWeek in California! To realize the equity potential of this affordable and growing pathway to college, formal partnerships between community colleges and high schools can maximize access and opportunity. Researchers at University of California, Davis reported recently that 10% of all 9th-12th graders attending public high schools in CA enrolled in a community college course in 2021–22. Researchers found that 9th-grade dual enrollment, which occurs largely through formalized partnerships between high schools and community colleges (such as CCAP agreements), is more equitable by race and socioeconomic status. This evidence and prior research emphasizes the power of robust partnerships and intentional placement of students for increasing equitable access to higher education.  Much progress, yet much work to be done. #EdEquity #DECC #DualEnrollmentCoalitionOfCalifornia https://lnkd.in/guysiTAg

Watch this week and see if true structural reforms are proposed or more marginal ideas are put forth to protect the status quo—- which will not take Michigan where it needs to go to be relevant as the 21st century unfolds.

Rhode Island Department of Education is implementing sweeping changes for high school graduation requirements that leaders anticipate will open avenues of opportunity for thousands of students each year, creating college- and career-ready high school graduates equipped with real-world skills and ready to take on the rigors of academia or transition into high-demand professions. Rhode Island Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Angélica Infante-Green said she’d been leading the state’s schools for a little over a year in 2019 when she first came to face-to-face with the reality that Rhode Island wasn’t preparing students for their futures, shortchanging not only the students but potentially crippling the state’s future workforce. A deeper audit in 2020 revealed just how prevalent and pervasive the challenges were. After analyzing thousands of transcripts and surveying students and parents, Rhode Island Department of Education leaders learned that what students wanted and what their high schools provided them didn’t line up. Even more alarming, schools weren't providing the basic requirements to prepare students to thrive in college. When that information was presented to the Rhode Island Council on Elementary and Secondary Education and the state’s education commissioner, they gave an immediate green light to create a new division in the state’s education department with the sole focus of reimagining high school. To achieve this, they recognized they needed data beyond test scores and graduation rates. Policy makers needed to understand what aspirations students hold for themselves, what barriers keep them from reaching those aspirations, what motivates and inspires them, and what skills they need to be successful in college or in the job market. Their marching orders from the top were simple: “We go big.” Here’s what they did. https://lnkd.in/dBb8HJ4F

New from Douglas Harris and Matthew Larsen: For more than a century, children in the United States have been enrolled in public schools based on where they live, and pressure to improve public education has been mainly channeled through school board elections, inter-district housing decisions, and test-based accountability. Over the past 30 years, however, charter schools, vouchers, and public-school choice programs have challenged this model. Rather than voting at the ballot box, market-based accountability allows families to vote with their feet and select the schools they prefer without moving households. In theory, this alternative also increases competition that promotes educational improvement systemwide. How choice and competition affect the market for education depends on the characteristics of schools that families prefer. To the extent that families value school effectiveness with respect to academics, there is the potential for schooling choices and competition to lead to improved school quality along this dimension and better learning outcomes. However, if families prefer characteristics that are unrelated (or negatively related) to academic effectiveness, there is a possibility of reduced academic learning. Understanding family preferences is thus crucial in understanding the potential consequences of school-choice policies. We study family preferences in one of the most competitive school markets ever developed in the United States: New Orleans, where virtually all district students attend a charter school. The vast majority provide transportation from anywhere in the city, and none can charge tuition. Admission is based on parental preferences expressed through a common application system. For many years, an advocacy group also published detailed school guides to inform families’ choices. Not only do parents have more freedom to choose, but they have a ready source of information and a wide variety of options to choose from. Keep reading: https://lnkd.in/gzi6cpyZ

According to New America, community college enrollment has increased two years in a row. While this is great news, completion rates have yet to break similar ground, indicating that students are enrolling, but many are not making it to the finish line.   Affordability is a major barrier for community college students and often negatively impacts classroom performance. Nearly 50 percent of students said they had to “stop out” to work. This is too many students who must put their learning on hold to make ends meet. Higher education should bring students closer to economic opportunity, not stand in the way of it.    Let’s work together to reverse rising stop-out rates and ensure completion rates are rising with enrollment.   Sophie Nguyen and Olivia Cheche investigate findings from the latest Community College Enrollment Survey in this blog and more coming (a new series running through March).   Read on:

A recent initiative by All Saints Catholic College in west London to extend the school day to 12 hours has ignited a robust discussion about the future of education. The headteacher's vision to enhance student engagement and limit distractions from smartphones through longer school hours is innovative, but it prompts a deeper analysis of the potential impacts on students and their families. The benefits of a 12-hour school day are considerable. Extending the school day can provide students with more instructional time, potentially leading to improved academic outcomes. It also offers a structured environment for extracurricular activities, which might otherwise be inaccessible to students due to logistical or financial constraints. This approach ensures that children are engaged in productive activities, reducing the time they spend on less constructive pursuits like excessive smartphone use. However, there are significant drawbacks to consider. The most poignant is the reduction in family time. Family interactions are crucial for the emotional and social development of children. They provide a support network that helps students navigate the pressures of school life. Extended school hours could strain these vital relationships, leaving less time for family activities and potentially increasing stress for both students and their parents. Moreover, a longer school day might lead to fatigue and reduced engagement in learning, especially if not managed with regular breaks and diverse, stimulating activities. The risk of burnout is real and could counteract any potential academic benefits if students become overwhelmed by the extended hours. While the extended school hours at All Saints Catholic College offer a novel solution to the challenges of modern education and technology distractions, it is essential to balance these benefits with the needs for family time and mental well-being. An optimal approach might involve a more flexible schedule, allowing families to choose how best to integrate these extended hours into their lives without compromising the crucial family-student bond.