Parents, over the years, have had many different methods of tracking their children’s attendance and progress in school. Whereas before, parents may have had to rely on their children relaying information back to them, or spies letting them know of their children’s whereabouts, now one Oklahoma school district has made it easier than ever by granting parents access to student records through a smart phone app.

Tahlequah School District in Tahlequah, Okla. has partnered with School Connect, a mobile education app developer based out of Norman, Okla., to create this powerful tool that would give parents unprecedented access to student progress.
“There really is no place to hide now,” TPS Superintendent Dr. Shannon Goodsell said to The Tahlequah Daily Press. “Parents can come to the board of education office, show a photo identification, and we will give them a username and password to access all of their child’s information.”

The app would allow parents to have access to grade books, discipline records and attendance records. Parents will easily be able to pull up grades from each teacher and from each project or assignment. These will be instantly updated as soon as the teacher posts the information into the system, and also alerting parents of school absences.

Additionally the app will provide links to local, state and federal sites; district calendars; access to tap screens for email and phone numbers of district staff and board members; lunch menus; athletics information; and district announcements.

Another important tool is the ability for administrators to instantly send out messages to anyone with the app as well. This provides the critical ability to get information out about drills and emergencies.

Parents have been able to access their students’ records online for a while now through other programs. For example, the web-based program Pinnacle has been available to many different schools for a few years now, but does not yet have a smart phone app.

This is the first time that parents will have complete and easy access through their phones.

“People rely on their mobile devices for everything – contact, news, messaging, scheduling – so schools serious about community engagement are serious about robust mobile platforms,” Dr. Nick Migliorino, former Tahlequah High School principal, and president of School Connect said to The Tahlequah Daily Press.

The app comes at a time when parental involvement and school attendance have become a crucial topic in the education reform discussion. Earlier this year President Obama made a point of discussing the importance of school attendance and curbing high school dropouts.

While the app is only available for Tahlequah School District, if it is successful more school districts may adopt similar programs. The app is now available in both the Apple and Android app stores.

“Parents love it, and students probably hate it,” Goodsell said.

“Right now there’s a teacher somewhere out there delivering a mind-altering lesson and the frustrating thing is, it only reaches the students in that class,” TED-Ed project director Logan Smal¬ley said to The Washington Post. “We’re trying to figure out how to capture that lesson and pair it with professional animators to make that lesson more vivid and put it in a place where teachers all over the world can share it.”

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, nearly 100 percent of schools have access to the Internet, making it a nearly essential tool for teachers in their lessons as more teachers are using streaming videos and overhead presentations.

The TED-Ed videos are, however a departure from the regular streaming videos from TED. TED-Ed videos are usually shorter, employ animated visuals and are designed to be used in the classroom on specific subjects, whereas videos produced by TED are often 18- to 20-minute long lectures discussing big ideas. Additionally, advertising is barred from the videos, and if the videos are carried over YouTube for Schools, there will be no advertising imposed by YouTube.

For example one video has neuroscientist and engineer Greg Gage showing high school students how the electric functions of the brain work by connecting metal wires to a cockroach wire and having it move to music from his iPhone. Other videos have animated videos discussing subjects like symbiosis, quantum theory, and spreading pandemics.

“TED-Ed has the potential to take a lesson that might normally reach just 20 students and extend it to the world,” Smalley said in a statement. “The topics we can cover are endless, and the more teachers and animators who contribute their lessons and talents, the more impactful this resource becomes. This is an exciting first step for TED-Ed, with more ideas, tools, and announcements to come in the months ahead.”

While TED-Ed is open to many different subjects, the hope is to build a solid base of videos that apply directly to standard high school subjects like math, science, social studies and English.

The first batch of videos, around a dozen, has already debuted. It is estimated that there will be at least 300 more added to the channel by the end of the year. Additionally, TED-Ed is inviting teachers and animators to voluntarily submit ideas for lessons to be produced as well.

In the next few months they will also launch a website to be used as a supplement to the videos. Teachers will be able to download and view assignments and lesson plans, as well as insert questions into the video and then send links to the annotated video to their students.

“We want to show that learning can be thrilling,” said TED curator Chris Anderson said to The Washington Post.

Tags: technology for schools, resource tools, lesson plans

In 2010, TFA received a three-year contract from the Seattle School District allowing them to teach in Seattle schools. However, some board members feel that they no longer need the TFA teachers as there is no longer a shortage of fully certified teachers.

“We have many really good teacher training programs in our city that are providing us with a pool of very qualified teachers. We do not need teachers who have only had five weeks of training,” Sharon Peaslee of the Seattle School Board said to KUOW News.

Functioning much like a Peace Corps for teaching, college graduates who enter the Teach for America (TFA) program are sent to work as teachers in underserved areas around the country. Many of these teachers end up in rural and urban communities where there is a shortage of teachers.

These TFA teachers are only given five weeks training before they start teaching which has drawn criticism around the country and is one of the criticisms in Seattle. In spite of this, some research has shown that they can sometimes be more effective than regularly trained teachers.

“They don’t go through the same training,” Lisa Macfarlane with Democrats for Education Reform said to Q13 Fox News. “But they are getting better results.”

Created in 1989 as a senior thesis project for Princeton alumni, Wendy Kopp, as a way to help eliminate education inequality, the program has become very popular with education reform organizations. Often praised for innovation, the program has continually received a large amount of funding and support from these organizations and the federal government in spite of criticisms.

For example the program recently received $8.3 million from the Department of Education and earlier received $49.5 million to double its teacher corps over the next five years.

But critics in Seattle don’t see that innovation.

“There is nothing innovative about TFA,” said Peaslee. “It’s a shortcut, and that’s not the same as innovation.”

Additionally, other critics in Seattle are worried about whether the two-year tenure a TFA teacher has as a teacher is enough to make a difference.

“They can be the greatest people in the world, but how long are they gonna be there?” Seattle School Board member Betty Patu, one of those seeking to end the TFA contract, said to The Seattle Times. “That’s almost as important as being a great teacher.”

While it is expected that Teach for America will remain in Seattle due to a lack of majority vote, their place in the Northwest, which has been slow going, may still be on shaky ground.

However, a recent study out of the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, shows that school choice programs could potentially help public schools depending on how these schools handle the drop in enrollment.

Currently there are 34 school choice programs in 19 states, with other states examining similar programs. These programs allow parents to choose whether to keep their children in public school systems, or move them to alternative education paths such as charter schools or private schools through vouchers and tax credit programs.

According to the study, many schools have fixed costs that remain the same regardless of school enrollment along with varied costs that depend on enrollment. The researchers estimate that on average in the U.S. 36 percent of a schools budget is fixed and 64 percent is varied.

“This means when public schools lose students to a school that better meets their needs, there is no fiscal harm,” Ben Scafidi, a senior fellow with the Friedman Foundation and author of the report said in a statement. “They actually have more money when students leave because there are fewer to educate, and they get to keep some of the allotted funds to educate them.”

The researchers explain that if public schools make strategic decisions in how they distribute fixed cost funds—which they describe as costs concerning expenditures on capital, interest, general administration, school administration, operations and maintenance, transportation, and “other” support services—certain costs could be reduced immediately.

For example they explain that if a school were to lose a significant number of students they could immediately, cut back on assistant principals, reduce transportation costs, or even merge with another school.

“It’s like when children go off to college; families usually reduce household spending,” Scafidi said. “So too is it possible for public schools to reduce spending.”

At the same time, the study shows that public schools can often benefit academically. The researchers give two reasons for this. First, teacher effectiveness improves as schools are able to lay off less effective teachers and move students into more effective classrooms. Second, they explain that Rajashri Chakrabarti, an economist who focuses on education, has shown that public schools are more likely to improve when money follows the student through education vouchers.

“If districts have school choice programs and lose a few hundred children, they really are benefiting financially because they keep many of the dollars spent on each child,” Robert Enlow, President and CEO of the Friedman Foundation said in a statement. “In no other business in America do you still get paid for not having a customer to serve.”

“The undeniable truth is that the everyday educational experience for too many students of color violates the principle of equity at the heart of the American promise,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a briefing with reporters. “It is our collective duty to change that.”

According to a release from the Department of Education some of the key findings show that African American males are far more likely to be suspended or expelled from school than other students. They found that while Black students made up 18 percent of the students in the sample, they made up 35 percent of the total students that have been suspended from school at least once and 39 percent of those expelled.

While these disciplinary practices change from place to place, they still show the same trend of minorities facing harsher punishment. For example, in Los Angeles black students made up 9 percent of enrolled students, but 26 percent of those suspended. And in Chicago, black students make up 45 percent of the schools and 76 percent of those suspended.

Many activists and experts attribute these suspension rates to schools increasingly adopting ‘zero-tolerance’ policies in dealing with school violence. They feel that, more often than not, these policies apply more to minority students than white students.

“Those are extremely dramatic numbers, and show the importance of reinstating the civil rights data collection and expanding the categories of information collected,” Deborah J. Vagins, senior legislative counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union’s Washington legislative office said to The New York Times. “The harsh punishments, especially expulsion under zero tolerance and referrals to law enforcement, show that students of color and students with disabilities are increasingly being pushed out of schools, oftentimes into the criminal justice system.”

One problem that could be contributing to this disparity, could be attributed to the quality of teachers teaching in schools with a high concentration of minorities. The study also showed that teachers in these areas received $2,251 less than other teachers, and tended to be younger and less-experienced.

Kwame Morton, a black principal at Joyce Kilmer Elementary School in Cherry Hill, N.J., explained that in order for this to change the first step taken will have to be to increase communication and understanding of the cultural background of the students.

“Unless people in the school have the mindset where they are going to love the students and be willing to work with the kids and nurture them and guide them and rehabilitate them and when they mess up continue to teach them …I think it’s going to be a continual cycle of just coming in, kids will do things, there will be harsh consequences and penalties, they’ll be gone for a while, come back and do the same thing,” Morton said to CBS News.

“It will never stop unless somebody breaks that cycle,” he added.

Tags: School District, Department of Education, School violence, Quality of teachers

$3000 (1 Award) – June 1, 2012 (11:59pm ET)

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The Big Dig Scholarship is available to high school seniors who will be entering their first year of college and students who are currently in their first or second year of college. You must submit an essay between 500 and 1000 words that answers the following issue: “In 200 years, one of your relatives is going to be digging in what is now your backyard. They are going to find something that you buried in 2010 and it is going to put any financial worries they have to rest. Your job today is to decide what to bury. Your goal is to find something that will have immense value in the future.” In addition, you must be a resident of the United States to qualify for this award.

Please visit the sponsor’s Web site (http://www.antiquetrader.tv/studentscholarship.php) for additional information and to apply.

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Tags: scholarships, financial aid, grants

This new program comes in response to recommendations by college admissions officers stating that high school students are often missing key skills as they move on to university life.

“They said U.S. students are not coming to college having developed research skills and the ability to integrate knowledge across a variety of academic disciplines,” Trevor Packer, senior vice president of Advanced Placement and College Readiness for the College Board said to Education Week.

Two specific courses are going to be introduced in 15 to 18 schools this fall in addition to existing advanced placement courses: the AP/Cambridge Interdisciplinary Investigations and Critical Reasoning Seminar to 11th graders, and the AP/Cambridge Capstone Research Project taken in the 12th grade.

The interdisciplinary investigations and critical reasoning seminar is designed to help students work in groups and explore topics of discussion and research. They will be required to choose their own topics and pair them with multiple disciplines.

The capstone research project has 12th graders taking those topics and designing their own research project and completing a 4,500 to 5,000 word paper. The paper will be evaluated on the student’s ability to design, plan, and manage a research project, analyze information and data, and present their results.

Four schools in Miami-Dade School District in Florida have been chosen to help pilot the program in the United States. Goleman High, Southridge Senior High, North Miami Beach Senior High and Miami Palmetto High will introduce the program into their curriculum next year.

Packer explained that these schools have been chosen due to their high academic achievement.

”There’s no district in the world that has achieved a higher number of Hispanic students earning AP exam scores of three or higher,” Packer said at an event announcing the schools’ participation in the program.

In order for students to receive the Capstone Credential certification they must pass at least three AP classes with a score of at least a three out of five or higher as well as passing the two new courses.

“The Recession has been a man-made disaster for vulnerable children,” Ellen L. Bassuk, MD, President and Founder of The National Center on Family Homelessness and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School said in a press statement. “There are more homeless children today than after the natural disasters of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which caused historic levels of homelessness in 2006. The Recession’s economic devastation has left one in 45 children homeless in a year—an increase of 38% from 2007 to 2010.”

According to The National Center on Family Homelessness over 1.6 million children are homeless, often leaving them without strong family support after school lets out.

However, many times this displacement from the home is temporary, but the effects can be long lasting as homeless children often suffer from hunger, poor physical and emotional health, and missed educational opportunities.

School on Wheels, founded in 1993, provides volunteers that go out to homeless shelters, motels and other places that homeless children live to provide services to children. Volunteers, who are matched up with students for an entire school year, will help children with their homework, and then provide activities to help keep the kid engaged in productive, educational activities.

One thing the school makes sure to do as well, is also help those children who are not in school get enrolled in the public school system.

In California, the organization provides tutoring services to over 2,000 children from the ages 8 to 15 years old in 150 locations.

“They need people who want to make a difference. An hour a week may seem like [a] small amount of time but it is a lot of time for a child in need. We are giving them bigger horizons beyond what is their world and peers, and establishing some goals,” Steve Hagberg, a School on Wheels volunteer said to The Ventura County Reporter.

Steve and his wife Laurie began volunteering with School on Wheels, after going through a similar situation that many of the families they help face. They now help two different families, tutoring their children and helping with after school activities.

“Just because we’re homeless doesn’t mean they don’t deserve a good education. They [Steve and Laurie] helped my boys with things I couldn’t help them with,” Jocelyn, the mother of one of the children Steve helps, said to The Ventura County Reporter, explaining that she accepted the opportunity immediately to give her children any advantage she could. “Sometimes a parent alone isn’t enough.”

The Hagbergs are just one example of volunteers that help with School on Wheels. For those that want to volunteer, there are three chapters of the organization based in Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Brockton, Mass.

Tags: public school system, tutoring children

These apps are designed to not only make it easier for teachers to use the site, but to also speed up the digital shift that is occurring in schools right now.

“We really see this as a catalyst for far more rapid innovation,” Nic Borg, CEO and cofounder of Edmodo, said to Forbes Magazine.

However, Borg explains that they have sometimes had problems with getting teachers to use their platform.

“It’s been difficult to build an app and reach a wide audience and have a direct connection with end users,” Borg continued. “There’s a disconnect between who purchases an application and who uses it in the classroom. That feedback loop is broken, so we want to reestablish that connection.”

A variety of apps will be available that will allow teachers to provide materials for different subjects. Some of the applications include BrainNook, SchoolTube, StudyEgg, Third World Farmer and GradeCam.

BrainNook, for example, is designed to help young students with their math and English skills. Whereas SchoolTube is a video sharing service that allows teachers to post and share videos related to a large variety of subjects that could include math and English, but also has many science and history subjects as well.

Additionally, textbook publishers have the option to have their own learning apps on the new platform as well. These are not the full textbook, but modular content that supplements the texts with interactive material, quizzes and assignments.

“What’s happening here is the API is going to enable a more personalized, richer and deeper experience for teachers and students,” Matt Cohler, a partner at Edmodo investor Benchmark Capital, who previously was an executive at Facebook and LinkedIn, said to Forbes Magazine. “In order to make something like this work you have to have a large, active user base in place. What developers care about is getting distribution for their applications. In order to get distribution you have to have the base and the mechanism for them to build. Edmodo is the best place to do that.”

Edmodo was founded by Nic Borg and Jeff O’Hara as a secure way for teachers to connect with students. Functions much like Facebook, Edmodo allows teachers to join the network, create classrooms and then add their students. This allows the teacher to create an online learning environment in which students can connect with each other and with the teacher as they work on assignments.

The new platform will launch with 35 companies launching applications. Most apps will start out with a free base application, and charge for premium content. These apps will connect with existing Edmodo functions like badges, quizzes and assignments.

“We’re hoping to generate a situation where [publishers] have access to classrooms and teachers can instantly implement new technologies,” Borg said to Mashable Business.

Tags: Learning Apps, Math and English skills, online learning

The Education Department said on Wednesday that over half of all states in the country have submitted an application to apply for a waiver by this week’s new deadline to be unchained from the demanding requirements of the Bush-era No Child Left Behind law.

The Obama administration is allowing states that pledge to progress how they teach and evaluate students along with other various changes to receive a waiver around the NCLB law. The waivers are considered a temporary solution until Congress acts to revise the law that has been around for over a decade. NCLB has been up for renewal since 2007. Previously this month, 11 states applied for a waiver under an earlier deadline were granted them.

Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia applied for the latest round of the waivers. They include Arkansas, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

On Tuesday, a House committee approved a pair of Republican-backed bills that would modify the law by changing a considerable amount of control over schools, out of the federal government’s hands. None of the Democrats supported the measures, and it appears doubtful that Congress will pass a renovation of the law in a divided Congress during an election year.

Additional states can apply for a waiver in a third application round by Sept. 6, the Education Department said.