Quote of the Month

Rick Perry, Governor of Texas

TEXAS GOING DIGITAL?

Texas Governor Rick Perry has proposed that the state abandon using traditional textbooks in public schools and replace them with technology-based instructional materials. Perry argues that printed textbooks are outdated quickly—whereas computer software allows a curriculum to be updated almost instantly.

He also believes that children of today learn better through technology than through printed books. Perry will explore this initiative when the state legislature meets in 2011.

Losing its number one customer would have a devastating effect on the print textbook industry.

AND THE WINNERS ARE . . .

Delaware and Tennessee beat out 38 other states and the District of Columbia to win a share in the first phase of the $4 billion Race to the Top competition. Delaware will be awarded about $100 million and Tennessee about $500 million. The states were rewarded for their proposals that showed highly innovative approaches to educational reform. One highlight of Delaware’s proposal is a new state law that allows teachers who are rated as “ineffective” for three years to be removed from the classroom even if they have tenure. Tennessee passed a law that allows the state to intervene in failing schools and permits student academic growth to be used in educational evaluations. The competition’s second round of applications is due on June 1, with winners announced in September.

NATIONAL EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY PLAN

Guided by an overarching goal set by President Obama to raise national college-completion rates from 40% to 60% by 2020, the first National Education Technology Plan outlines the big-picture approaches it says U.S. schools need to meet that goal, specifically in the areas of classroom learning, assessment, teaching, and infrastructure. It emphasizes the importance of leveraging technology to customize learning for every student, citing tactics such as mobile computing and taking courses online.

It recommends enabling every student to learn through digital technology in school and at home—a one-to-one computing approach using cell phones, laptops, and other mobile-learning devices.

ANOTHER LOOK AT CHARTER SCHOOLS

Despite the financial backing of philanthropists such as Bill and Melinda Gates and the support of the Obama administration and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, the majority of the nation’s 5,000 or so charter schools appear to be no better than local public schools—and in many cases were worse—when measured by achievement on standardized tests. Last year, one of the most comprehensive studies by researchers at the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University, found that less than one-fifth of charter schools offered a better education than comparable local schools. Almost one-half offered the same education, and more than one-third (37%) were “significantly worse.” So why are charter schools still so popular? Is it due to the lack of confidence in tests results? Is it the seduction of being liberated from the “home office”? It will be interesting to track whether charter schools will continue to proliferate despite disappointing student progress.

VIRTUAL SCHOOL TO OPEN IN MASSACHSETTS

No more pencils, no more books, no more classrooms, no more schools! This fall, students in grades K–8 in Greenville, Mass, and anywhere else in the state, will be able to take virtual classes online, at home or at a neighborhood coffeehouse. The school committee has set an enrollment of up to 600 students. Leaders expect the school will appeal to students who are bored or unchallenged by the curriculum in traditional schools as well as students who can’t attend regular school because of a medical condition, expulsion, or incarceration (!).

BIAS ALERT: Is anybody else concerned about the diminishing face-to-face encounters young people have with their peers and adults, etc., and the increasing virtual encounters they have via social networking and other digital media?

THE RUBBER (ROOM) HITS THE ROAD

Hundreds of New York City teachers have been paid full salaries to do nothing but spend time in the so-called “rubber rooms” playing Scrabble, surfing the Internet, reading, etc. while awaiting discipline hearings. (See related item in President’s Blog for September 2009.) Well, that expensive practice—literally costing tens of millions of dollars a year—is coming to an end this fall. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the teacher’s union announced a deal to reassign most of the teachers to administrative or non-classroom work while their cases are pending. Enough said.