Sunday, September 23, 2012

Education Ride 365: Red, Swollen Heinies In The Schools And The News!

Back on May 11th, I wrote a blog post about the near elimination of corporal punishment in public schools and some of the practical considerations contributing to this decline.  Alas, I discover that quite a few districts across America still exercise this discipline option today.

 

News from Texas this week (as reported in the two videos below) illustrates practical concerns I wrote about in my first post on this topic.

 

What do you think? 

Does this form of punishment have a place
in our schools today?

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Discipline

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Education Ride 365: Another Tool In An Education Discipline Toolbox Desperately In Need

Once students log in, they are asked to respond to a collection of questions targeted to their particular offense. These are called "Incident Evaluations."  These question sets are presented in "accordion" style, organized into three main sections: Past & Perspective, Present & Aftermath, Future & Resolution. Each of these main sections include a number of questions, most of which are open-ended and probing.  Furthermore, a more lengthy "Discipline Evaluation" can be used for more serious offenses or persistent misbehavior.

Advantages to using these questionnaires are many, for the school and the child.  They are more diagnostic than many traditional consequences.  They are written to encourage introspection by the young person, as well as to encourage them to look at the matter from perspectives beyond their own.  They can be completed in the comfort and privacy of the student's home, as their schedule permits.  In cases where the student can't access a computer at home, DQs can be completed on any computer with internet access or even printed off to be completed with pencil and paper.  

From my perspective as an administrator, one very compelling advantage to this discipline alternative beyond that I've previously introduced is the ability to sift out the less frequent offenders without overburdening the overall discipline system of the school so I could then really identify and hone in on those students I refer to as "frequent flyers," my more persistent behavior cases.  This is a huge step towards establishing a healthier discipline climate in any school with a significant discipline case load.

These question sets were written by a professional educator and are powered by computer programming designed by Edclick.  The question sets are customizable by any school for their use.  Questions can be edited and new questionnaires can be easily developed and implemented.  

In an upcoming post I'll introduce "Character Building Questionnaires."  Each of these two types of question sets offer yet another tool in an education discipline toolbox desperately in need of expansion and specialization.

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Discipline

Monday, September 17, 2012

Education Ride 365: From Mere Inconvenience & Discomfort To Opportunity

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Discipline

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Education Ride 365: The Challenge Of Building A Key Pillar Of Success For Continued Evolution

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Discipline

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Education Ride 365: The Challenge Of Scaling Up Student Discipline Towards A More Constructive Outcome

Many students get in trouble only once or twice a semester, if that. Only a relatively small percentage of students tend to be persistent misbehavior problems. Yet, seats and supervision for discipline settings can be hard to come by, difficult to manage, and simply not very productive...much less constructive. 

As a school administrator, the importance of clear consequences for student misbehavior---applied consistently and with 100% follow-through---seem fundamental to establishing an exceptionally healthy school climate.  Young people need to know their boundaries and, as often as necessary, must have them reinforced.

Depending upon the level of student accountability in a school---both existing and envisioned---discipline is often a numbers game almost to a fault.  While it would be productive and perhaps ideal to have an in-depth discussion leading to a personalized consequence for each child referred to the office, this is rarely a luxury administrators have.  Particularly so if administration has raised the level of student expectations beyond merely addressing the most egregious infractions as matters the office is willing to tackle.  An assertive discipline initiative by administration can benefit teachers and overall instruction greatly, but it can also produce a volume of "cases" large enough to threaten its effectiveness.

Furthermore, absent the opportunity to discuss violations in depth with each student, administrators are missing what could be pivotal teachable moments in those young people's lives.  Beyond that, the young person is denied the opportunity to express themselves regarding the matter and possibly introspect in a manner that will forever embed a lesson otherwise lost.  In turn, the administrator is missing an opportunity to better understand this "discipline case" as an individual person who might be better reached and influenced given the context gained through a more personalized approach.

This background and thought process led to what I will further introduce in my next post on this blog.

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Discipline

Monday, September 10, 2012

Education Ride 365: Green Teachers More Visible In Our Schools

Here are some interesting numbers reported in a September 5th USA Today article entitled "More Teachers Green In The Classroom."

• "...teacher attrition rates have risen, from about 10% to 13% for first-year teachers..."
  

• "Between 40% to 50% of those entering the profession now leave within five years..."

• "In the 1987-88 school year...there were about 65,000 first-year teachers; by 2007-08, the number had grown to more than 200,000."
  

• "In the 1987-88 school year...the biggest group of teachers had 15 years of experience. By the 2007-08 school year...the biggest group of teachers had one year experience."

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Teacher Experience

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Education Ride 365: Stop This Meeting, I Want To Get Off!

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Meetings

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Education Ride 365: Do You Rock The Boat...Or Are You A Rock In The Boat?

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Change, Continuous Improvement

Monday, September 3, 2012

Education Ride 365: The 'Feds' In Public Schools

Districts must also address how they will improve teaching and learning using personalized "strategies, tools, and supports."

In fact, this personalized learning component makes up 40 points on the 200-point grading scale. The rest of the grading scale is:

• Prior academic track record and how transparent the district is (such as if it makes school-level expenditures readily available to the public), 45 points;
• "Vision" for reform, 40 points;
• Continuous improvement (having a strategy and performance measures for long-term improvement), 30 points;
• District policy and infrastructure (such as giving building leaders more autonomy), 25 points;
• Budget and sustainability, 20 points.

Ten bonus points are available for districts that collaborate with public and private partners to help improve the social, emotional and behavioral needs of students.

source: Education Week, $400 Million Race to Top Contest for Districts Starts Now

• U.S. Department of Education: Race To The Top District
• Education Week (Aug 12, 2012)
• Education Week (Aug 31, 2012)

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Race To The Top