What Would You Fund?

The Washington State Legislature is just two weeks away from concluding its regular 60-day session on March 13. But they won't adjourn sine die until both chambers (and the governor) agree on a budget. Given where the two sides are -- and despite a Democratic majority in both houses -- this could take some negotiating.

Case in point: The House has included a 1 percent COLA increase for educators in its budget, though to the detriment of all-day kindergarten. The Senate, conversely, funds all-day K but makes no provisions for the 1 percent increase.

The League of Education Voters just released this handy comparison of the two budget proposals as they relate to early learning, K-12 and higher ed. Take a look and then tell us what you would fund. Or not.

The Smarter Generation?

Yesterday, we shared news of a national survey suggesting that today's 17-year-olds lacked common historical or literary references. Today, we offer another view on the topics, this column, "Why Teens are Smarter," from the Seattle P-I.

Apparently a New York Times story this week found that fewer 16-year-olds are in possession of drivers' licenses. In the article, the Federal Highway Administration noted that over the decade the proportion of 16-year-olds with driver's licenses has fallen from about half to less than one-third. Some of this could be connected to the introduction of graduated licenses. Fewer driving schools and increase costs of insurance and gas may also have something to do with it, too.

But Dale McFeatters, the columnist for the Scripps Howard News Service who wrote today's piece, suggests the decline it may be blamed on something else altogether:

One factor in the Times story was particularly eye-catching: The greater willingness of parents to drive their children around, that is, act as their chauffeurs.

Now who's the smarter generation.

I'll Take History for $500, Alex

We all laughed when Animal House's John Belushi accused the Germans of bombing Pearl Harbor ("Forget it. He's rolling.") But a new poll out about high school students' knowledge of history and literature suggests Bluto is alive and well.

According to a new study, "Still at Risk: What Students Don't Know, Even Now," today's high school students lack basic historical and literary facts and references. The research was compiled by Common Core, a non-partisan research group dedicated to "strengthening liberal learning in K-12 education."

Overall, the 1,200 high school students surveyed earned a "D." Among the findings:

• Nearly a quarter cannot identify Adolf Hitler, with ten percent thinking Hitler was a munitions manufacturer.
• More than a quarter think Christopher Columbus sailed after 1750.
• Fewer than half can place the Civil War in the correct half-century.
• A third do not know that the Bill of Rights guarantees the freedom of speech and religion.
• Half have no idea what the Renaissance was.
• Nearly half think that The Scarlet Letter was either about a witch trial or a piece of correspondence.

Thankfully, the survey did have a few bright spots. Of those surveyed, 97 percent knew the "I have a dream" speech was given by Martin Luther King Jr. And, 88 percent knew the bombing of Pearl Harbor led the USA into World War II.

(Take that, Bluto.)

On the serious: Is a study like this fair -- to students, to the K-12 system, to teachers? Or should we expect all students to have a common familiarity with this knowledge?

Public School Insights

There's a new education Web site you might want to check out. The national Learning First Alliance just launched "Public School Insights," an online education community that includes a blog, a toolkit section (with free downloads like their communications toolkit) and a success stories section where you can share your school or district's achievements.

In case you're not familiar with them, the Learning First Alliance is a non-profit partnership of 18 major national education associations that collectively represent more than 10 million teachers, parents, principals, superintendents, teacher educators, school board members, school counselors and other school and district staff. Washington is one of several states that has developed its own chapter of the LFA.

The Magic Number

And no, it's not 3.

Last Friday, I mentioned an NASSP report about a slight increase in middle and high school principal salaries. I was also curious to know the average principal salary here in Washington state.

It took a little digging on the OSPI Web site, but in the school finance section, you can find it (see table 2). So according to the state, the average principal salary is $92,103. Unfortunately, the salaries are not broken out by component levels.

Principal Salaries

Good news to end the week: Secondary school principals nationwide saw a little more green this [school] year thanks to salary indexes equal to or better than the Consumer Price Index.

That's the good word out today from the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP). The average salary reported by school districts for junior high and middle school principals in 2007-08 is $91,486; for high school principals the average is $97,496. According to NASSP:

The 2007-08 average salary for senior high school principals is 4.9% higher than that for 2006–07. This compares to an increase of 2.8% for the Consumer Price Index, thus resulting in a slight gain in purchasing power—on average—for these principals. The CPI is the Department of Labor’s measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services and is often used to estimate increases in cost of living.

The Educational Research Service compiled the report, Salaries & Wages Paid Professional and Support Personnel in Public Schools. Salary tables for middle and high school principals and middle and high school assistant principals are also available on the NASSP Web site.

Time to hit the data files on the OSPI Web site to find the average principal salary here in Washington state... We'll report back when we find it!

You Better Think (Think, Think)

Developing "critical thinking skills" are all the rage in K-12 education these days. We often hear the phrase bandied about in debates about the need for higher standards and a push to provide students with skills that will meet the demands of the new economy.

But what does that phrase really mean?

An article in Monday's Washington Post explores this very question with some who think they know, others who think it means nothing and still more folks who think you should just challenge everything anyway ("Question Authority.").

How has an emphasis on "critical thinking skills" played out in your school? Are students better prepared now than they were five, 10 even 20 years ago?

When Kids Vote

According to Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed's office, more than 4,800 students participated in this year's Mock Presidential Primary. The Secretary of State's office has worked diligently in recent years to develop grade-appropriate curricula aligned with state and federal standards to teach civics and voting; the mock primary is just one piece of this effort.

Here's how things shaped up in the Democratic Presidential Primary (3,519 students voted):

• Joe Biden - 1%
• Hillary Clinton - 23%
• Chris Dodd - 0%
• John Edwards - 1%
• Mike Gravel - 1%
• Dennis Kucinich - 1%
• Barack Obama - 73%

Some observations on these results: First, Mike Gravel is not exactly a household name, so I had to Google him and apparently there is a man by this name running for president. (I guess I'm not smarter than a fifth-grader!) Second, John Edwards only garnered 1%?

Here's the results from the Republican primary, where 1,300 students cast votes:

• Rudy Guiliani - 3%
• Mike Huckabee- 25%
• Duncan Hunter - 2%
• Alan Keyes - 2%
• John McCain - 51%
• Ron Paul - 7%
• Mitt Romney - 8%
• Fred Thompson - 2%
  

Again, I flew to Google to find out more about this Duncan Hunter person and yup, he's got a hat in the ring, too. Guess I need to read that issue of Newsweek on my nightstand more carefully...

You can learn more about the Mock Primary on the Secretary of State's Web site.

Did your school participate in this year's Mock Election? If so, how did things go? What did your students learn as a result of this process? What did you or your staff learn?

Roses are... oh forget it.

Today is Valentine's Day, which, if memory serves, was a frenzied day for schools. Nutrition and obesity concerns have stripped many schools of any presence of sugary items, and the idea of being "sweet" on someone at school can quickly run afoul.

So how do you set the tone at school when it comes to days like today? Did your students get involved in a community project (Valentines for Vets)?

Or, was it business as usual?

Caucuses

There were an awful lot of people who had the chance to visit public schools in Washington state this weekend as a Democrats and Republicans converged on their respective caucuses. This was a great opportunity to showcase student artwork or other school projects to the public.

Did your school host a caucus event? If so, did you do anything special to showcase your school for these guests?

2008 Assistant Principals' Leadership Conference

Washington is one of the few states that offers its own conference designed just for assistant principals.

This year's event is being held at the beautiful Hilton Vancouver Washington, and about 160 APs, deans of students, principal interns and associate principals made the trip down, despite some nasty winter weather. For two days, conference-goers will participate in large and small group sessions around issues like dealing with gangs and gang-related issues; student management; discipline; school law; and interviewing for APs going into the principalship and interns going into assistant principalships.

This morning, attendees were treated to a keynote update on the revised math standards (think deeper, not broader). Bergeson said the urgency over math in this state and country is "like Sputnik times 10" and that we all owe it to students to develop new attitudes about the importance and value of mathematics.

Today's portion of the conference is also a time to honor the state Assistant Principal of the Year. This year, the award went to Granite Falls Middle School Assistant Principal David Bianchini, who, it was announced today, will be moving up in the ranks next year to assume the principalship at the same school. (Dr. Richard Panagos is retiring at the end of the 2008 school year.) Bianchini (at left, with AP Conference Chair Mary Lou Bissett) is credited with increasing the personalization at his school -- helping teachers zero in on 127 students who were just drifitng through the educational process Bianchini's honor is one of several garnered by the district, which also includes the 2007 National Teacher of the Year (music teacher Andrea Peterson) and the 2007 National Science to Service Award. Good things are happening in Granite Falls!

After two more rounds of breakout sessions and a fun dessert social with exhibitors, the day ended with relaxed social where attendees could chat with one another in a cabaret-style atmosphere, enjoying music from the Portland-area group Tall Jazz.

Tomorrow: more breakout sessions and a special presentation at lunch by 2007 Assistant Principal of the Year James Hester from Washington High in the Franklin Pierce School District.

What You Don't Know About Poverty...

Could dramatically affect the teaching and learning in your classrooms. That was just one of many powerful messages presented today by Dr. Donna Beegle at AWSP's 2008 Assistant Principals' Leadership Conference in Vancouver. Beegle's personal history (she's one of five children, and the only member of her family who has not been incarcerated) makes her analysis of poverty and its affects on students and educators so compelling.

In her remarks, Beegle emphasized the importance of understanding basic facts about poverty and the value in educators really knowing their students--that element of personalization. She shared traits of the various kinds of poverty -- generational, immigrant, working class--that all bring different language, culture and values to the table. And she underscored the critical importance of helping all students in poverty understand the language of school, to help them understand why what they do in class is of value to them as individuals, as citizens.

"If I don't know why I'm in school, how can it be important?" Beegle said. "Imagine how the world of poverty affects what you pay attention to...Tell your students why education matters and show them that people who do jobs [that require education] are like them."

Beegle's presentation provided an eye-opening glimpse at a world many teachers or school staff neither know nor understand, and provided many practical tips on how schools with high poverty populations can engage students, parents and families. Examples:

• Hold focus groups with parents to find out the best ways to communicate with them or engage them in school conferences and events.
• When conferences are held, offer meals and/or child care to entice family participation
  
• Work with community service groups and local stores to donate money, services or vouchers to offset these costs

"If we don't know the situation [students come from], we tend to exacerbate the problem. you have to know your communities," said Beegle. "Solutions have to come from within your building."

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Some random facts about poverty Beegle dropped into her presentation:

• 350 households are disconnected from water service for payment failures every day in Portland (where Beegle calls home). What's the number for your community?
  
• About two-thirds of people in poverty work 1.7 jobs, per the U.S. Census (per Beegle) How many jobs are your parents working to make ends meet?
  
• The average reading level of today's prison inmate? 8th grade.
  
• There is a five-year wait for housing in the U.S.
• It costs about $30,000/year to house one inmate in prison
• Do you know the minimum wage in Washington state? $8.07/hour