Tag Archives: education

Northwestern University study: Young adolescent use of marijuana results in changes to the brain structure

23 Dec

Often children who evidence signs of a substance abuse problem come from homes where there is a substance abuse problem. That problem may be generational. eMedicineHealth lists some of the causes of substance abuse:

Substance Abuse Causes
Use and abuse of substances such as cigarettes, alcohol, and illegal drugs may begin in childhood or the teen years. Certain risk factors may increase someone’s likelihood to abuse substances.
Factors within a family that influence a child’s early development have been shown to be related to increased risk of drug abuse.
o Chaotic home environment
o Ineffective parenting
o Lack of nurturing and parental attachment
Factors related to a child’s socialization outside the family may also increase risk of drug abuse.
o Inappropriately aggressive or shy behavior in the classroom
o Poor social coping skills
o Poor school performance
o Association with a deviant peer group
o Perception of approval of drug use behavior
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/substance_abuse/article_em.htm

Substance abuse is often a manifestation of other problems that child has either at home or poor social relations including low self-esteem. Dr. Alan Leshner summarizes the reasons children use drugs in why do Sally and Johnny use drugs? http://archives.drugabuse.gov/Published_Articles/Sally.html

Anahad O’Connor reported in the New York Times article, Increasing Marijuana Use in High School Is Reported:

A new federal report shows that the percentage of American high school students who smoke marijuana is slowly rising, while the use of alcohol and almost every other drug is falling.
The report raises concerns that the relaxation of restrictions on marijuana, which can now be sold legally in 20 states and the District of Columbia, has been influencing use of the drug among teenagers. Health officials are concerned by the steady increase and point to what they say is a growing body of evidence that adolescent brains, which are still developing, are susceptible to subtle changes caused by marijuana.
“The acceptance of medical marijuana in multiple states leads to the sense that if it’s used for medicinal purposes, then it can’t be harmful,” said Dr. Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which issued the report. “This survey has shown very consistently that the greater the number of kids that perceive marijuana as risky, the less that smoke it.” Starting early next year, recreational marijuana use will also be legal in Colorado and Washington.
Experts debate the extent to which heavy marijuana use may cause lasting detriment to the brain. But Dr. Volkow said that one way marijuana might affect cognitive function in adolescents was by disrupting the normal development of white matter through which cells in the brain communicate.
According to the latest federal figures, which were part of an annual survey, Monitoring the Future, more than 12 percent of eighth graders and 36 percent of seniors at public and private schools around the country said they had smoked marijuana in the past year. About 60 percent of high school seniors said they did not view regular marijuana use as harmful, up from about 55 percent last year.
The report looked at a wide variety of drugs and substances. It found, for example, that drinking was steadily declining, with roughly 40 percent of high school seniors reporting having used alcohol in the past month, down from a peak of 53 percent in 1997. Abuse of the prescription painkiller Vicodin is half what it was a decade ago among seniors; cocaine and heroin use are at historic lows in almost every grade.
Cigarette smoking has also fallen precipitously in recent years. For the first time since the survey began, the percentage of students who smoked a cigarette in the past month dropped below 10 percent. Roughly 8.5 percent of seniors smoke cigarettes on a daily basis, compared with 6.5 percent who smoke marijuana daily, a slight increase from 2010.
Studies show that the concentration of THC in marijuana, its psychoactive ingredient, has tripled since the early 1990s, and Dr. Volkow said there was concern that the rising use and increased potency could affect the likelihood of car accidents and could lower school performance.
“What is most worrisome is that we’re seeing high levels of everyday use of marijuana among teenagers,” Dr. Volkow said. “That is the type that’s most likely to have negative effects on brain function and performance.”

Northwestern University researchers studied the effect of early marijuana use on adolescent brains.

Citation:

Cannabis-Related Working Memory Deficits and Associated Subcortical Morphological Differences in Healthy Individuals and Schizophrenia Subjects
Matthew J. Smith*,1,
Derin J. Cobia1,
Lei Wang1,2,
Kathryn I. Alpert1,
Will J. Cronenwett1,
Morris B. Goldman1,
Daniel Mamah3,
Deanna M. Barch3–5,7,
Hans C. Breiter1,6,7 and
John G. Csernansky1,7
+
Author Affiliations
1 Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL;
2 Department of Radiology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL;
3 Department of Psychiatry, Washington University, St Louis, MO;
4 Department of Psychology, Washington University, St Louis, MO;
5 Department of Radiology, Washington University, St Louis, MO;
6 Warren Wright Adolescent Center, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL
7Denotes shared senior authorship on this article.
↵*To whom correspondence should be addressed; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, 710 N. Lake Shore Drive, 13th Floor, Abbott Hall, Chicago, IL 60611, US; tel: 1-312-503-2542, fax: 1-312-503-0527, e-mail: matthewsmith@northwestern.edu
Abstract
Cannabis use is associated with working memory (WM) impairments; however, the relationship between cannabis use and WM neural circuitry is unclear. We examined whether a cannabis use disorder (CUD) was associated with differences in brain morphology between control subjects with and without a CUD and between schizophrenia subjects with and without a CUD, and whether these differences related to WM and CUD history. Subjects group-matched on demographics included 44 healthy controls, 10 subjects with a CUD history, 28 schizophrenia subjects with no history of substance use disorders, and 15 schizophrenia subjects with a CUD history. Large-deformation high-dimensional brain mapping with magnetic resonance imaging was used to obtain surface-based representations of the striatum, globus pallidus, and thalamus, compared across groups, and correlated with WM and CUD history. Surface maps were generated to visualize morphological differences. There were significant cannabis-related parametric decreases in WM across groups. Similar cannabis-related shape differences were observed in the striatum, globus pallidus, and thalamus in controls and schizophrenia subjects. Cannabis-related striatal and thalamic shape differences correlated with poorer WM and younger age of CUD onset in both groups. Schizophrenia subjects demonstrated cannabis-related neuroanatomical differences that were consistent and exaggerated compared with cannabis-related differences found in controls. The cross-sectional results suggest that both CUD groups were characterized by WM deficits and subcortical neuroanatomical differences. Future longitudinal studies could help determine whether cannabis use contributes to these observed shape differences or whether they are biomarkers of a vulnerability to the effects of cannabis that predate its misuse.
http://schizophreniabulletin.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/12/10/schbul.sbt176.abstract

Here is the press release from Northwestern University:

Marijuana Users Have Abnormal Brain Structure and Poor Memory
Drug abuse appears to foster brain changes that resemble schizophrenia
December 16, 2013 | by Marla Paul
• The younger drug abuse starts, the more abnormal the brain
CHICAGO — Teens who were heavy marijuana users — smoking it daily for about three years — had abnormal changes in their brain structures related to working memory and performed poorly on memory tasks, reports a new Northwestern Medicine® study.
A poor working memory predicts poor academic performance and everyday functioning.
The brain abnormalities and memory problems were observed during the individuals’ early twenties, two years after they stopped smoking marijuana, which could indicate the long-term effects of chronic use. Memory-related structures in their brains appeared to shrink and collapse inward, possibly reflecting a decrease in neurons.
The study also shows the marijuana-related brain abnormalities are correlated with a poor working memory performance and look similar to schizophrenia-related brain abnormalities. Over the past decade, Northwestern scientists, along with scientists at other institutions, have shown that changes in brain structure may lead to changes in the way the brain functions.
This is the first study to target key brain regions in the deep subcortical gray matter of chronic marijuana users with structural MRI and to correlate abnormalities in these regions with an impaired working memory. Working memory is the ability to remember and process information in the moment and — if needed — transfer it to long-term memory. Previous studies have evaluated the effects of marijuana on the cortex, and few have directly compared chronic marijuana use in otherwise healthy individuals and individuals with schizophrenia.
The younger the individuals were when they started chronically using marijuana, the more abnormally their brain regions were shaped, the study reports. The findings suggest that these regions related to memory may be more susceptible to the effects of the drug if abuse starts at an earlier age.
“The study links the chronic use of marijuana to these concerning brain abnormalities that appear to last for at least a few years after people stop using it,” said lead study author Matthew Smith, an assistant research professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “With the movement to decriminalize marijuana, we need more research to understand its effect on the brain.”
The paper was published Dec. 16 in the journal Schizophrenia Bulletin.
In the U.S., marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug and young adults have the highest — and growing — prevalence of use. Decriminalization of the drug may lead to greater use.
Because the study results examined one point in time, a longitudinal study is needed to definitively show if marijuana is responsible for the brain changes and memory impairment. It is possible that the abnormal brain structures reveal a pre-existing vulnerability to marijuana abuse. But evidence that the younger a subject started using the drug the greater his brain abnormality indicates marijuana may be the cause, Smith said.
The groups in the study started using marijuana daily between 16 to 17 years of age for about three years. At the time of the study, they had been marijuana free for about two years. A total of 97 subjects participated, including matched groups of healthy controls, subjects with a marijuana use disorder, schizophrenia subjects with no history of substance use disorders, and schizophrenia subjects with a marijuana use disorder. The subjects who used marijuana did not abuse any other drugs.
Few studies have examined marijuana’s effect on the deep regions in the brain — the ‘subcortical gray matter’ below the noodle-shaped cortex. The study also is unique in that it looked at the shapes of the striatum, globus pallidus and thalamus, structures in the subcortex that are critical for motivation and working memory.
The Marijuana and Schizophrenia Connection
Chronic use of marijuana may contribute to changes in brain structure that are associated with having schizophrenia, the Northwestern research shows. Of the 15 marijuana smokers who had schizophrenia in the study, 90 percent started heavily using the drug before they developed the mental disorder. Marijuana abuse has been linked to developing schizophrenia in prior research.
“The abuse of popular street drugs, such as marijuana, may have dangerous implications for young people who are developing or have developed mental disorders,” said co-senior study author John Csernansky, M.D., chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Northwestern Memorial Hospital. “This paper is among the first to reveal that the use of marijuana may contribute to the changes in brain structure that have been associated with having schizophrenia.”
Chronic marijuana use could augment the underlying disease process associated with schizophrenia, Smith noted. “If someone has a family history of schizophrenia, they are increasing their risk of developing schizophrenia if they abuse marijuana,” he said.
While chronic marijuana smokers and chronic marijuana smokers with schizophrenia both had brain changes related to the drug, subjects with the mental disorder had greater deterioration in the thalamus. That structure is the communication hub of the brain and is critical for learning, memory and communications between brain regions. The brain regions examined in this study also affect motivation, which is already notably impaired in people with schizophrenia.
“A tremendous amount of addiction research has focused on brain regions traditionally connected with reward/aversion function, and thus motivation,” noted co-senior study author Hans Breiter, M.D., professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and director of the Warren Wright Adolescent Center at Feinberg and Northwestern Memorial. “This study very nicely extends the set of regions of concern to include those involved with working memory and higher level cognitive functions necessary for how well you organize your life and can work in society.”
“If you have schizophrenia and you frequently smoke marijuana, you may be at an increased risk for poor working memory, which predicts your everyday functioning,” Smith said.
The research was supported by grants R01 MH056584 and P50 MH071616 from the National Institute of Mental Health and grants P20 DA026002 and RO1 DA027804 from National Institute of Drug Abuse, all of the National Institutes of Health.
– See more at: http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2013/12/marijuana-users-have-abnormal-brain-structure–poor-memory.html#sthash.coRZr6cm.dpuf

What Steps Should a Parent Take?

The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has a series of questions parents should ask http://www.getsmartaboutdrugs.com/content/default.aspx?pud=a8bcb6ee-523a-4909-9d76-928d956f3f91
If you suspect that your child has a substance abuse problem, you will have to seek help of some type. You will need a plan of action. The Partnership for a Drug Free America lists 7 Steps to Take and each step is explained at the site. http://www.drugfree.org/intervene
If your child has a substance abuse problem, both you and your child will need help. “One day at a time” is a famous recovery affirmation which you and your child will live the meaning. The road to recovery may be long or short, it will have twists and turns with one step forward and two steps back. In order to reach the goal of recovery, both parent and child must persevere.

Questions to Ask a Treatment Facility

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (Center), lists the questions that should be asked of a treatment center. http://findtreatment.samhsa.gov/faq.htm Assuming you are not one of those ill-advised parents who supply their child with alcohol or drugs like marijuana in an attempt to be hip or cool, suspicions that your child may have a substance abuse problem are a concern. Confirmation that your child has a substance abuse problem can be heartbreaking. Even children whose parents have seemingly done everything right can become involved with drugs. The best defense is knowledge about your child, your child’s friends, and your child’s activities

Related:

University of Washington study: Heroin use among young suburban and rural non-traditional users on the increase https://drwilda.com/2013/10/13/university-of-washington-study-heroin-use-among-young-suburban-and-rural-non-traditional-users-on-the-increase/

Resources

Adolescent Substance Abuse Knowledge Base
http://www.crchealth.com/troubled-teenagers/teenage-substance-abuse/adolescent-substance-abuse/signs-drug-use/

Warning Signs of Teen Drug Abuse http://parentingteens.about.com/cs/drugsofabuse/a/driug_abuse20.htm?r=et

Is Your Teen Using?
http://www.drugfree.org/intervene

Al-Anon and Alateen
http://www.al-anon.alateen.org/

WEBMD: Parenting and Teen Substance Abuse http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/tc/teen-substance-abuse-choosing-a-treatment-program-topic-overview

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has a very good booklet for families What is Substance Abuse Treatment? http://store.samhsa.gov/home

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has a web site for teens and parents that teaches about drug abuse NIDA for Teens: The Science Behind Drug Abuse http://teens.drugabuse.gov/

Where information leads to Hope. © Dr. Wilda.com

Dr. Wilda says this about that ©

Blogs by Dr. Wilda:

COMMENTS FROM AN OLD FART©
http://drwildaoldfart.wordpress.com/

Dr. Wilda Reviews ©
http://drwildareviews.wordpress.com/

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https://drwilda.com/

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Brigham Young University study: Paying kids gets them to eat vegetables

21 Dec

Moi wrote in School lunches: The political hot potato:
There are some very good reasons why meals are provided at schools. Education Bug has a history of the school lunch program http://www.educationbug.org/a/the-history-of-the-school-lunch-program.html

President Harry S. Truman began the national school lunch program in 1946 as a measure of national security. He did so after reading a study that revealed many young men had been rejected from the World War II draft due to medical conditions caused by childhood malnutrition. Since that time more than 180 million lunches have been served to American children who attend either a public school or a non-profit private school.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (Agriculture Department) has a School Lunch Program Fact Sheet http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/lunch/aboutlunch/NSLPFactSheet.pdf

According to the fact sheet, more than 30 million children are fed by the program. Physicians for Responsible Medicine criticize the content of school lunch programs
In Healthy School Lunches the physicians group says:

Menus in most school lunch programs are too high in saturated fat and cholesterol and too low in fiber- and nutrient-rich fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes (see PCRM’s 2008 School Lunch Report Card). Major changes are needed to encourage the health of the nation’s youth and to reverse the growing trends of obesity, early-onset diabetes, and hypertension, among other chronic diseases, in children and teens. http://www.pcrm.org/health/healthy-school-lunches/changes/key-changes-recommended-for-the-national-school

A 2003 General Accounting Office (GAO) reached the same conclusion. See, School Lunch Program: Efforts Needed to Improve Nutrition and Encourage and Healthy Eating http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-03-506 https://drwilda.com/2011/11/03/school-lunches-the-political-hot-potato/

Science Daily reported in the article, Study: Pay Kids to Eat Fruits, Vegetables:

The good news: Research suggests that a new federal rule has prompted the nation’s schools to serve an extra $5.4 million worth of fruits and vegetables each day.
The bad news: The nation’s children throw about $3.8 million of that in the garbage each day.
Researchers from Brigham Young University and Cornell observed three schools adjust to new school lunch standards that require a serving of fruits or vegetables on every student’s tray — whether the child intends to eat it or not. As they report in the December issue of Public Health Nutrition, students discarded 70 percent of the extra fruits and vegetables.
“We saw a minor increase in kids eating the items, but there are other ways to achieve the same goal that are much, much cheaper,” said BYU economics professor Joe Price.
Strange as it sounds, directly paying students to eat a fruit or vegetable is less expensive and gets better results.
With Cornell’s David Just, Price conducted a second study to measure the effect of small rewards in the lunchroom. The week-long experiments took on different twists in the 15 different schools — some could earn a nickel, others a quarter, and others a raffle ticket for a larger prize. But the results were generally the same. As the scholars report in The Journal of Human Resources, offering small rewards increased the fruit and vegetable consumption by 80 percent. And the amount of wasted food declined by 33 percent.
Which begs the question: Is benevolent bribery a better way?
“Parents are often misguided about incentives,” Price said. “We feel a sense of dirtiness about a bribe. But rewards can be really powerful if the activity creates a new skill or changes preferences.”
The case against using bribes in parenting is perhaps best articulated in Alfie Kohn’s 1999 book “Punished by Rewards.” In many scenarios, the use of rewards can crush internal motivation. With healthy eating, for example, some fear that prizes will prevent children from developing their own motivation to eat things that are good for them. Another danger, known as a boomerang effect, is the possibility that some children would eat less fruits and vegetables when the rewards disappeared.
That’s why Price and Just measured fruit and vegetable consumption before and after the week-long experiments. When the week of prizes ended, students went back to the same level of fruit and vegetable consumption as before — no lasting improvement, but no boomerang effect either.
Now the researchers are studying whether extending the experiments over three to five weeks might yield lasting change. So far things look promising….
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131217104601.htm#.UrPzdFGb0KY.email

Citation:

Journal References:
1.David Just, Joseph Price. Using Incentives to Encourage Healthy Eating in Children. The Journal of Human Resources, December 2013
2.David Just, Joseph Price. Default options, incentives and food choices: evidence from elementary-school children. Public Health Nutrition, 2013; 16 (12): 2281 DOI: 10.1017/S1368980013001468
Brigham Young University (2013, December 17). Study: Pay kids to eat fruits, vegetables. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 21, 2013,

Here is the press release from Brigham Young University:

News Release
Study: Pay kids to eat fruits & veggies with school lunch
Small rewards bring less waste, better results than new school lunch rule
The Washington Post
Slate
The Salt Lake Tribune
Fox News
Yahoo News
Huffington Post
The good news: Research suggests that a new federal rule has prompted the nation’s schools to serve an extra $5.4 million worth of fruits and vegetables each day.
The bad news: The nation’s children throw about $3.8 million of that in the garbage each day.
Researchers from Brigham Young University and Cornell observed three schools adjust to new school lunch standards that require a serving of fruits or vegetables on every student’s tray – whether the child intends to eat it or not. As they report in the December issue of Public Health Nutrition, students discarded 70 percent of the extra fruits and vegetables.
“We saw a minor increase in kids eating the items, but there are other ways to achieve the same goal that are much, much cheaper,” said BYU economics professor Joe Price.
Strange as it sounds, directly paying students to eat a fruit or vegetable is less expensive and gets better results.
With Cornell’s David Just, Price conducted a second study to measure the effect of small rewards in the lunchroom. The week-long experiments took on different twists in the 15 different schools – some could earn a nickel, others a quarter, and others a raffle ticket for a larger prize. But the results were generally the same. As the scholars report in The Journal of Human Resources, offering small rewards increased the fruit and vegetable consumption by 80 percent. And the amount of wasted food declined by 33 percent.
Which begs the question: Is benevolent bribery a better way?
“Parents are often misguided about incentives,” Price said. “We feel a sense of dirtiness about a bribe. But rewards can be really powerful if the activity creates a new skill or changes preferences.”
The case against using bribes in parenting is perhaps best articulated in Alfie Kohn’s 1999 book “Punished by Rewards.” In many scenarios, the use of rewards can crush internal motivation. With healthy eating, for example, some fear that prizes will prevent children from developing their own motivation to eat things that are good for them. Another danger, known as a boomerang effect, is the possibility that some children would eat less fruits and vegetables when the rewards disappeared.
That’s why Price and Just measured fruit and vegetable consumption before and after the week-long experiments. When the week of prizes ended, students went back to the same level of fruit and vegetable consumption as before – no lasting improvement, but no boomerang effect either.
Now the researchers are studying whether extending the experiments over three to five weeks might yield lasting change. So far things look promising.
“I don’t think we should give incentives such a bad rap,” Price said. “They should be considered part of a set of tools we can use.”
The first study documenting the impact of the new rule appears in the December 2013 issue of Public Health Nutrition. The second study is titled “Using Incentives to Encourage Healthy Eating in Children” and is available to subscribers of The Journal of Human Resources. An earlier version of the paper is available at Price’s website.
Related Stories
Birth order study: It’s about time
BYU study says exercise may reduce motivation for food
Story Highlights
•A new federal rule requires a serving of fruits or vegetables on every tray
•70 percent is thrown away, wasting an estimated $3.8 million daily
•Offering a small reward doubles fruit and vegetable consumption without the waste
http://news.byu.edu/archive13-dec-veggies.aspx

The challenge is getting kids to eat the food mandated by the rules and for school districts to find “kid tasty” foods which are affordable. A Child’s health is too important to be the subject of tawdry political wrangling and high pressure tactics from big money interests. Our goal as a society should be:

A healthy child in a healthy family who attends a healthy school in a healthy neighborhood ©

Resources:

USDA changes school lunch requirements http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/271813-usda-changes-school-lunch-requirements

USDA backpedals on healthy school-lunch rules http://grist.org/news/usda-backpedals-on-healthy-school-lunch-rules/

National School Lunch Program Fact Sheet

Click to access NSLPFactSheet.pdf

Related:

School dinner programs: Trying to reduce the number of hungry children https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2012/01/28/school-dinner-programs-trying-to-reduce-the-number-of-hungry-children/

School lunches: The political hot potato https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2011/11/03/school-lunches-the-political-hot-potato/

The government that money buys: School lunch cave in by Congress https://drwilda.wordpress.com/2011/11/16/the-government-that-money-buys-school-lunch-cave-in-by-congress/

Do kids get enough time to eat lunch? https://drwilda.com/2012/08/28/do-kids-get-enough-time-to-eat-lunch/

Where information leads to Hope. © Dr. Wilda.com

Dr. Wilda says this about that ©

Blogs by Dr. Wilda:

COMMENTS FROM AN OLD FART© http://drwildaoldfart.wordpress.com/

Dr. Wilda Reviews ©
http://drwildareviews.wordpress.com/

Dr. Wilda © https://drwilda.com/

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Fordham Center on Law and Information Policy study: Cloud computing poses privacy risks for school information

15 Dec

Many schools and districts are using cloud computing. Judith Hurwitz, Robin Bloor, Marcia Kaufman, and Fern Halper from Cloud Computing For Dummies wrote about cloud computing in What Is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing is the next stage in the Internet’s evolution, providing the means through which everything — from computing power to computing infrastructure, applications, business processes to personal collaboration — can be delivered to you as a service wherever and whenever you need.
The “cloud” in cloud computing can be defined as the set of hardware, networks, storage, services, and interfaces that combine to deliver aspects of computing as a service. Cloud services include the delivery of software, infrastructure, and storage over the Internet (either as separate components or a complete platform) based on user demand. (See Cloud Computing Models for the lowdown on the way clouds are used.)
Cloud computing has four essential characteristics: elasticity and the ability to scale up and down, self-service provisioning and automatic deprovisioning, application programming interfaces (APIs), billing and metering of service usage in a pay-as-you-go model. (Cloud Computing Characteristics discusses these elements in detail.) This flexibility is what is attracting individuals and businesses to move to the cloud.
The world of the cloud has lots of participants:
•The end user who doesn’t have to know anything about the underlying technology.
•Business management who needs to take responsibility for the governance of data or services living in a cloud. Cloud service providers must provide a predictable and guaranteed service level and security to all their constituents. (Find out what providers have to consider in Cloud Computing Issues.)
•The cloud service provider who is responsible for IT assets and maintenance.
Cloud computing is offered in different forms: public clouds, private clouds, and hybrid clouds, which combine both public and private. (You can get a sense of the differences among these kinds of clouds in Deploying Public, Private, or Hybrids Clouds.)
Cloud computing can completely change the way companies use technology to service customers, partners, and suppliers…. http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/what-is-cloud-computing.html

Moi wrote about cloud privacy concerns in Does ‘cloud storage’ affect student privacy rights?

Mike Bock wrote the intriguing Education Week article, Districts Move to the Cloud to Power Up, Save Money:

There are serious questions and concerns, however, about moving computer operations to the cloud. Chief among those worries is the security of sensitive data, such as student records. That concern alone has led some district information-technology leaders to remain hesitant about moving in that direction….
Bandwidth Needs Grow
But for districts with the bandwidth infrastructure in place, experts say cloud approaches offer lower costs and less time spent on maintenance. Since many cloud-based applications are offered either for free or for a monthly subscription rate, upfront costs for software are typically lower than the standard model of purchasing software and installing it across the district….
Privacy Concerns
But there is a trade-off. If a district puts its student-information system in a cloud environment, the cloud provider has access to information about all students.
Districts need to be protective and aware of that reality and must follow requirements outlined in state and federal policy, including the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, a federal law that requires that websites obtain parents’ consent before collecting personal details about users, such as home addresses or email addresses, from children younger than 13…. http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2013/02/06/02cloud.h06.html?tkn=PYMF4hhA6EcyMvzcq4T6AaBDFNeT6fynaPVn&cmp=clp-edweek&intc=es
School districts have to balance the rights of students to an education with the need to know of other parties. https://drwilda.com/2013/02/19/does-cloud-storage-affect-student-privacy-rights/

Kalyani M. posted Privacy Issues For Schools Using The Cloud at Spideroak blog:

While use of cloud services help schools to save thousands of dollars, the data security and privacy risks presented by these services cannot be ignored. The survey report by SafeGov.org says “there are a number of areas where advertising-oriented cloud services may jeopardize the privacy of data subjects in schools, even when ad-serving is nominally disabled. Threats to student online privacy occasioned by the use of such services in the school environment include the following:
•Lack of privacy policies suitable for schools: By failing to adopt privacy policies specifically crafted to the needs of schools, cloud providers may deliberately or inadvertently force schools to accept policies or terms of service that authorise user profiling and online behavioural advertising.
•Blurred mechanisms for user consent: Some cloud privacy policies, even though based on contractual relationships between cloud providers and schools, stipulate that individual data subjects (students) are also bound by these policies, even when these subjects have not had the opportunity to grant or withhold their consent.
• Potential for commercial data mining: When school cloud services derive from ad-supported consumer services that rely on powerful user profiling and tracking algorithms, it may be technically difficult for the cloud provider to turn off these functions even when ads are not being served.
•User interfaces that don’t separate ad-free and ad-based services: By failing to create interfaces that distinguish clearly between ad-based and ad-free services, cloud providers may lure school children into moving unwittingly from ad-free services intended for school use (such as email or online collaboration) to consumer ad-driven services that engage in highly intrusive processing of personal information (such as online video, social networking or even basic search).
•Contracts that don’t guarantee ad-free services: By using ambiguously worded contracts and including the option to serve ads in their services, some cloud providers leave the door open to future imposition of online advertising as a condition for allowing schools to continue receiving cloud services for free.”
SafeGov has also sought support from European Data Protection Authorities to implement rules for both cloud service providers and schools. As per these rules or codes of conduct-targeted advertising in schools and processing or secondary use of data for advertising purposes should be banned. In the privacy policy agreement contract between the schools and service providers it should be clearly stated that student data would not be used for data mining and advertisement purposes.
Keeping all these things in mind, the schools should make sure the data would be stored and managed by the service providers before moving to cloud services. They should demand assurance from the service providers that the information collected by them will not be used for data mining, targeted advertising or sold to third parties… https://spideroak.com/privacypost/cloud-security/privacy-issues-when-schools-use-cloud-services/

See, Testing the Waters of Cloud Computing http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3753288

Sean Cavanaugh reported in the Education Week article, Districts’ Use of Cloud Computing Brings Privacy Risks, Study Says:

School districts have become increasingly reliant on cloud-based technologies despite “substantial deficiencies” in policies governing those Web-based systems and their protection of private student data, a new study finds.
The study, released today by the Fordham Law School’s Center on Law and Information Policy, seeks to provide the first national examination of privacy and cloud computing in public schools. The study authors also put forward a series of recommendations to policymakers for ramping up safeguards on students’ private information.
Fordham researchers based their study on a national sample of public school districts, asking for detailed information from 54 urban, suburban, and rural systems around the country.
Among the information they sought: contracts between districts and technology vendors; policies governing privacy and computer use; and notices sent to parents about student privacy and districts’ use of free or paid, third-party consulting services.
The study concludes that privacy implications for districts’ use of cloud services are “poorly understood, non-transparent, and weakly governed.”
Only 25 percent of the districts examined made parents aware of the use of cloud services, according to the study. Twenty percent do not have policies governing the use of those services, and a large plurality of districts have “rampant gaps” in their documentation of privacy policies in contracts and other forms.
To make matters worse, districts often relinquish control of student information when using cloud services, and do not have contracts or agreements setting clear limits on the disclosure, sale, and marketing of that data, the Fordham researchers say.
The Fordham study concludes that districts, policymakers, and vendors should consider taking a number of steps to increase privacy protections, including:
• Providing parents with sufficient notice of the transfer of student information to cloud-service providers, and assuring that parental consent is sought when required by federal law;
• Improving contracts between private vendors and districts to remove ambiguity and provide much more specific information on the disclosure and marketing of student data;
• Setting clearer policies on data governance within districts, which includes establishing rules barring employees from using cloud services not approved by districts. States and large districts should also hire “chief privacy officers” responsible for maintaining data protections;
• Establishing a national research center and clearinghouse to study privacy issues, and draft and store model contracts on privacy issues. The center should be “independent of commercial interests to assure objectivity,” the study authors said.
“School districts throughout the country are embracing the use of cloud computing services for important educational goals, but have not kept pace with appropriate safeguards for the personal data of school children,” said Joel Reidenberg, a professor at Fordham’s law school who worked on the study, in a statement accompanying its release. “There are critical actions that school districts and vendors must take to address the serious deficiences in privacy protection….” http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/DigitalEducation/2013/12/fewer.html?intc=es

Citation:

Center on Law and Information Policy
Privacy and Cloud Computing in Public Schools
Joel R. Reidenberg, Fordham University School of Law
N. Cameron Russell, Fordham University School of Law
Jordan Kovnot, Fordham University School of Law
Thomas B. Norton, Fordham University School of Law
Ryan Cloutier, Fordham University School of Law
Daniela Alvarado, Fordham University School of Law
Download Full Text (760 KB)
http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=clip
Description
Today, data driven decision-making is at the center of educational policy debates in the United States. School districts are increasingly turning to rapidly evolving technologies and cloud computing to satisfy their educational objectives and take advantage of new opportunities for cost savings, flexibility, and always-available service among others. As public schools in the United States rapidly adopt cloud-computing services, and consequently transfer increasing quantities of student information to third-party providers, privacy issues become more salient and contentious. The protection of student privacy in the context of cloud computing is generally unknown both to the public and to policy-makers. This study thus focuses on K-12 public education and examines how school districts address privacy when they transfer student information to cloud computing service providers. The goals of the study are threefold: first, to provide a national picture of cloud computing in public schools; second, to assess how public schools address their statutory obligations as well as generally accepted privacy principles in their cloud service agreements; and, third, to make recommendations based on the findings to improve the protection of student privacy in the context of cloud computing. Fordham CLIP selected a national sample of school districts including large, medium and small school systems from every geographic region of the country. Using state open public record laws, Fordham CLIP requested from each selected district all of the district’s cloud service agreements, notices to parents, and computer use policies for teachers. All of the materials were then coded against a checklist of legal obligations and privacy norms. The purpose for this coding was to enable a general assessment and was not designed to provide a compliance audit of any school district nor of any particular vendor.
Publication Date
12-13-2013
Rights
© 2013. Fordham Center on Law and Information Policy. This study may be reproduced, in whole or in part, for educational and non-commercial purposes provided that attribution to Fordham CLIP is included.
Publisher
Fordham Center on Law and Information Policy
City
New York
Keywords
children, education, cloud computing, school, FERPA, PPRA, COPPA, privacy, Joel Reidenberg, Cameron Russell, Fordham, CLIP
Privacy and Cloud Computing in Public Schools
Included in Communications Law Commons

There is a complex intertwining of laws which often prevent school officials from disclosing much about students.

According to Fact Sheet 29: Privacy in Education: Guide for Parents and Adult-Age Students,Revised September 2010 the major laws governing disclosure about student records are:

What are the major federal laws that govern the privacy of education records?
◦Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) 20 USC 1232g (1974)
◦Protection of Pupil’s Rights Amendments (PPRA) 20 USC 1232h (1978)
◦No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, Pub. L. 107-110, 115 STAT. 1425 (January 2002)
◦USA Patriot Act, P.L. 107-56 (October 26, 2001)
◦Privacy Act of 1974, 5 USC Part I, Ch. 5, Subch. 11, Sec. 552
◦Campus Sex Crimes Prevention Act (Pub. L. 106-386)
FERPA is the best known and most influential of the laws governing student privacy. Oversight and enforcement of FERPA rests with the U.S. Department of Education. FERPA has recently undergone some changes since the enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act and the USA Patriot Act…. https://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs29-education.htm

The Fordham study indicates that many schools and districts have not fully analyzed student privacy concerns in their rush to the cloud.

Resources:
What cloud computing really means http://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/what-cloud-computing-really-means-031

What Is Cloud Computing? http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2372163,00.asp

FERPA General Guidance for Students http://ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/students.html

No Child Left Behind A Parents Guide http://ed.gov/parents/academic/involve/nclbguide/parentsguide.pdf

Related:
Data mining in education https://drwilda.com/2012/07/19/data-mining-in-education/

Who has access to student records? https://drwilda.com/2012/06/11/who-has-access-to-student-records/

Where information leads to Hope. © Dr. Wilda.com

Dr. Wilda says this about that ©

Blogs by Dr. Wilda:

COMMENTS FROM AN OLD FART©
http://drwildaoldfart.wordpress.com/

Dr. Wilda Reviews © http://drwildareviews.wordpress.com/

Dr. Wilda © https://drwilda.com/

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Cambridge International Exams trying to make inroads into AP and International Baccalaureate turf

11 Dec

Moi wrote about “advanced placement” or AP courses in Who should take AP classes?
AP courses tend to attract students who are preparing for college and are very goal oriented. So, what if a student either doesn’t want to go to college or may want a career, should they take AP courses? Since the average person, according to Career Information Online will have three to five careers over the course of a life time, the best advice to everyone is prepare for any eventuality. Even if students don’t attend college after high school, they may attend later as part of a career change. Many former automobile workers are now getting college degrees in nursing and other fields, for example.
Huffington Post is reported in the article, AP Exams: Most Students Who Should Be Taking The Tests Aren’t:

More than 60 percent of students considered to have AP potential didn’t take the exam last year, even though their PSAT scores showed they could perform well on one, according to a College Board report released last week. Overall, black, Latino and Native American students were less likely to take AP exams than their white and Asian counterparts….
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/13/ap-exams-most-students-wh_n_1273980.html?ref=email_share

The question is not only should a particular student should take AP courses, but whether the choice should be between AP courses or an International Baccalaureate. https://drwilda.com/2012/02/14/who-should-take-ap-classes/

Caralee Adams reported in the Education Week article, Racial and Income Gaps Persist in AP and IB Enrollment:

Each year, about 640,000 low-income students and students of color are “missing” from AP and IB participation—students who could benefit if they merely enrolled at the same rate as other students in their schools, the report says.
It is not just a matter access. About 1 million students do not attend schools that offer AP, and the authors note that only a small percentage of the gaps by race or family income can be accounted for by which schools do and do not offer the classes.
In many cases, students from disadvantaged backgrounds are not enrolling in existing programs…
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/college_bound/2013/06/racial_and_income_gaps_persist_in_ap_and_ib_enrollment.html

Education Trust released this information about Finding America’s Missing AP and IB Students. http://www.edtrust.org/sites/edtrust.org/files/Missing_Students.pdf

Caralee J. Adams wrote in the Education Week article, Cambridge Academic Program Makes Inroads in U.S.: Critical thinking, writing are central:

For more than 800 years, the University of Cambridge has been educating students on its stately and historic campus in the heart of England. But the esteemed British institution’s reach goes much farther, and it’s now working aggressively to expand a menu of precollegiate offerings in U.S. schools.
The university owns and operates the Cambridge International Exams, part of a nonprofit division that provides academic courses of study in various subjects with a focus on promoting critical thinking, in-depth analysis, and strong writing skills. It currently serves more than 9,000 schools in 160 countries and students ages 5 to 19.
Cambridge is still a relatively small player in the United States, especially in comparison with the ubiquitous Advanced Placement program. But it has seen rapid growth in recent years. It now provides college-preparatory curricula for about 230 U.S. schools at the elementary and secondary levels in 27 states, up from 80 schools in 2009. This year, 50,000 Cambridge exams were taken by high school students here, a 50 percent increase from 2012…
Analyzing and Synthesizing
While most programs are in public high schools, Cambridge offers curricula for elementary and middle schools, too. At all levels, students are assessed on their progress at year’s end, with high school courses culminating in extensive exams that can translate into college credit.
Michael J. O’Sullivan, who joined Cambridge International Exams last spring as the new chief executive officer, has high hopes for its foray into the U.S. market. He notes that the nation’s decentralized education system and emphasis on school choice make it attractive. And he’s also making the case that the Cambridge program dovetails closely with the Common Core State Standards adopted by all but four states….
The Cambridge approach is designed to be rigorous and deep. In history courses, for example, rather than memorize dates and take multiple-choice tests, students dig into research through primary sources, develop arguments, and present their findings. End-of-course exams require analyzing and synthesizing information in a writing-intensive format.
Math and science instruction is often integrated to allow students to apply what they’ve learned across courses. A math course might include various topics, and, in some courses, teachers can customize the syllabus to choose a combination of pure math, statistics, and mechanics to build a path to the exam, based on the needs and interests of students.
At the elementary and middle school levels, the Cambridge program is focused on English/language arts, math, and science. At high school, however, it offers some 70 courses, including biology, economics, and world literature.
For high school students, the Cambridge exams last six to eight hours over a few days. Multiple-choice questions are limited, with a focus instead on essays, analysis, and even hands-on science labs included in assessments.
Despite the increased Cambridge presence in U.S. schools, it is dwarfed by the AP program, which gave 3.4 million exams to U.S. public high school students last year. And while Cambridge operates in more schools globally than the International Baccalaureate program—which is seen as another competitor—Cambridge falls well short of the nearly 1,500 U.S. high schools now served by the IB. Still, the United States is the fastest-growing market for Cambridge, according to Mr. O’Sullivan, the CEO….
Examine the Claims
To become a Cambridge school, schools must pay a registration fee and annual membership dues to have access to online materials and training. There’s also a charge for each exam. The high-school-level exams typically run between $78 and $86 per student, per subject. The norm is for students to take three or four.
But before outsourcing curriculum, Jack Schneider, an assistant professor of education at the College of the Holy Cross in Worchester, Mass., cautions that school officials closely examine the claims of programs. Cambridge, in particular, has a prestige factor that needs to align with the merits of the program, notes Mr. Schneider, who has researched college-prep curricula.
“It might look better than it really is. What are people really excited about? Are students actually learning more, or are parents excited to have a branded program?” he said.
A 2011 study of the Cambridge program in the United States, published in the College & University Journal, said students generally described the program as motivating and stimulating, and more challenging than other curricula. Teachers said the courses prompted students to form their own opinions and gain real-world application of subject knowledge.
Meanwhile, a 2011 case study focused on the academic achievement of freshmen at Florida State University who had successfully earned a Cambridge diploma credential. The research, published in the Journal of College Admissions, suggests the program may offer some academic benefits later on, but it was not an experimental study.
How schools choose to offer the Cambridge program varies. Some high schools have students take a full schedule of Cambridge courses, while others give students the choice to take a class or two in their areas of strength. If students take a certain number of exams in various subjects, they can earn a Cambridge diploma credential.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/12/04/13cambridge.h33.html?
tkn=ZUVFTvbUkj5IKSx4wQqAO7aagFJga1D9PsNC&cmp=clp-edweek

Here is what Cambridge says about their programs:

About Cambridge
•Cambridge International Examinations is the world’s largest provider of international education programmes and qualifications for 5 to 19 year olds.
•Over 9000 schools in more than 160 countries offer Cambridge programmes and qualifications.
•We are a division of Cambridge Assessment, a not-for-profit organisation and part of the world-renowned University of Cambridge.
•In 2008, we celebrated the 150th anniversary of the formation of our parent organisation Cambridge Assessment, and in 2009 we celebrated the 800th anniversary of the University of Cambridge.
Our programmes and qualifications
•Cambridge Primary is taught in over 650 schools worldwide.
•Every year we receive more than 54000 entries for Cambridge Checkpoint, our tests for 11 to 14 year olds.
•Cambridge IGCSE is the world’s most popular international qualification for 14 to 16 year olds. It is taken in over 140 countries and in more than 3700 schools.
•2013 marks the 25th anniversary of the first Cambridge IGCSE exam.
•Every year we have more than 650 000 subject entries for Cambridge O Level from 80 countries.
•Cambridge International AS and A Levels are taken in more than 125 countries with 350 000 entries each year.
•We developed Cambridge Pre-U, an alternative to A Level for UK schools. It prepares students for university and was first examined in June 2010.
•Cambridge Pre-U is taught in over 150 UK state and independent schools.
•We hold more than 16 000 training days a year providing 6500 teachers from across the globe with the skills and knowledge they need to help their students succeed.
Examinations
•Cambridge examinations are marked by around 9000 highly skilled examiners.
•We produce around 5.7 million question papers each year.
About us http://www.cie.org.uk/about-us/
Who we are http://www.cie.org.uk/about-us/who-we-are/
What we do http://www.cie.org.uk/about-us/what-we-do/
Our regional teams http://www.cie.org.uk/about-us/our-regional-teams/
Our standards http://www.cie.org.uk/about-us/our-standards/
Facts and figures
http://www.cie.org.uk/about-us/facts-and-figures/
http://www.cie.org.uk/

Moi wrote in Race, class, and education in America:
Many educators have long recognized that the impact of social class affects both education achievement and life chances after completion of education. There are two impacts from diversity; one is to broaden the life experience of the privileged and to raise the expectations of the disadvantaged. Social class matters in not only other societies, but this one as well.
A few years back, the New York Times did a series about social class in America. That series is still relevant. Janny Scott and David Leonhardt’s overview, Shadowy Lines That Still Divide http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/15/national/class/OVERVIEW-FINAL.html?pagewanted=all describes the challenges faced by schools trying to overcome the disparity in education. The complete series can be found at Social Class http://www.nytimes.com/pages/national/class/

Race, class, and education in America

The role economic class plays in college success

Related:

Stanford University report: Advanced placement may not be the cure for education ills https://drwilda.com/2013/04/30/stanford-university-report-advanced-placement-may-not-be-the-cure-for-education-ills/

An interesting critique of the College Board’s AP test report https://drwilda.com/2013/03/10/an-interesting-critique-of-the-college-boards-ap-test-report/

The International Baccalaureate program as a way to save struggling schools https://drwilda.com/2012/04/30/international-baccalaureate/

Where information leads to Hope. © Dr. Wilda.com

Dr. Wilda says this about that ©

Blogs by Dr. Wilda:

COMMENTS FROM AN OLD FART© http://drwildaoldfart.wordpress.com/

Dr. Wilda Reviews © http://drwildareviews.wordpress.com/

Dr. Wilda © https://drwilda.com/

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Native American education is devastated by sequester cuts

8 Dec

The University of Minnesota posted Brief History of American Indian Education:

There are many research studies that support the need for transition strategies for American Indian students. In 1990, among those in the population 25 years and older, 66% of American Indians had completed high school, compared to 75% of the total U.S. population; 9% had attained a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with 20% of the total U.S. population; and 3% held graduate or professional degrees, compared to 7% of the total U. S. population (Pavel, et al., 1993). In 1992, the dropout rate for American Indians was 56% and 46% for Alaskan Natives (Cahape & Howley, 1992). In 2000, in the state of Minnesota, where this curriculum was developed and piloted, the statewide high school graduation rate for American Indians was 42.6% compared with 82.8% for Caucasian students; the high school dropout rate for American Indian students in Minnesota in that same year was 34.4% compared to 9.2% for Caucasian students.
There are a multitude of reasons for these statistics. The status of American Indian student achievement has its roots in history. Trainers and students must be aware of the historical impact on the state of American Indian education today. While there may have been collaboration in some communities, federal policies did not support cooperation on a national level. Federal policies for American Indian cultural assimilation were implemented after policies of extermination and removal were set aside. Indeed, an industry of assimilation was supported with federal and faith-based resources, targeting the children of American Indian nations in particular.
One historical occurrence that has had long lasting and far-reaching impact on the education of American Indian people was the formation of the American Indian boarding school. The American Indian boarding school, as an institution of assimilation, was designed to suppress the culture, language, and spirituality of American Indian nations throughout the United States. Such institutions were built and operated throughout the country, controlled by non-American Indian government agents and churches. During the late 1800’s and into the mid-1900’s, boarding school attendance was mandated. Thus, from the age of 5 through 18, American Indian children were removed from their families, for month or years at a time, and placed in the boarding school where a harsh indoctrination occurred. A systematic suppression of American Indian culture occurred during this era, which included the banning of American Indian spiritual practices and the speaking of native language, all of which held severe punitive repercussions.
The Indian boarding school served as a means to assimilate American Indian children and to train American Indian students as laborers. For the most part, the level of education and training afforded American Indian students prepared them for menial vocations. As a result, most American Indian students today do not have several generations of professionals, such as doctors, lawyers, or bankers to emulate. Today, it is often the first or second generation of the American Indian professional that is being encountered, not because of cultural inferiority or academic indifference, but because of the lack of a dignified, humane system of education. Indeed, many of the psycho-social ills that persist in American Indian communities today can be traced to the boarding school era and the systematic enforcement of child maltreatment. While not as prevalent, the American Indian boarding school still exists, although attendance is voluntary. Most schools now work closely with surrounding American Indian tribes, employing tribal members as staff and reflecting the culture of American Indian students as part of its educational programming.
A summary of additional key events in the history of American Indian contact with the U.S. systems of government and education can by found on page 9 of the Expanding the Circle curriculum for review and reference. Despite these historical factors, American Indian tribes throughout the United States have maintained their culture, language, and spirituality. This chapter in American history is seldom discussed or presented.
Cahape, P. & Howley, C.B. (Eds.). (1992). Indian Nations at risk: Listening to the people. (Contract No. RI-88-062016). Charleston, WV. ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools.
Pavel, D.M. & Padilla, R.V. (1993). American Indian & Alaska Native postsecondary departure: An example of assessing a mainstream model using national longitudinal data. Journal of American Indian Education, 32, (2), 1-19.
Curriculum Survey http://etc.umn.edu/resources/index.htm
ETC Bibliography http://etc.umn.edu/resources/etc_bibliography.htm
Web Resources http://etc.umn.edu/resources/web_resources.htm
Brief History of American Indian Education http://etc.umn.edu/resources/briefhistory.htm
http://etc.umn.edu/resources/briefhistory.htm

Native education is being held hostage by the budget deadlock in Congress.

Alyson Klein and Lesli A. Maxwell reported in the Education Week article, Federal Cuts Take a Toll on Native Americans’ Schools: Sequestration’s impact is disproportionate:

Perhaps no other single group of students has been as walloped by sequestration—the biggest cuts to federal education spending in history—as Native American children.
While the impact of the 5 percent across-the-board cuts has been almost invisible in many of the nation’s school districts, it’s hard to miss at schools that serve a high percentage of American Indian students, such as Loneman School on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
The K-8 school laid off 12 staff members, about 20 percent of its workforce, before the current academic year began in August. Those cuts included three of six middle school teachers, says Principal Charles Cuny Jr.
And 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students, who would usually move from classroom to classroom and have more than one teacher, are staying in one room all day with the same teacher for all subjects.
“It’s hard for the older kids to be stuck in one classroom all day,” says Melissa Blacksmith, Loneman’s director of gifted and talented education. “They don’t like being like the younger students. We’ve told them that we had no choice. This is strictly a budget decision.”
Of 161 Indian-lands districts that receive federal Impact Aid, 144 cut spending for the 2013-14 school year, according to a survey by the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools. The most common reductions were in noninstructional staff, maintenance and new purchases, and teachers’ professional development.
Overall, more than 90 percent of Native American children and youths attend regular public schools, on and off reservations, while most of the rest are enrolled in schools that are either operated by the federal Bureau of Indian Education or by tribes under contracts with the agency. And the schools that serve Native students tend to be among the most dependent on federal funding—and, therefore, most vulnerable to the sequestration cuts, which affect only federal aid.
Typically, the federal government kicks in less than 10 percent of the cost of educating K-12 students. But in some districts that serve a large Native American population, that share can be as high as 80 percent
Seventy-six of the top 100 districts that rely most heavily on federal funding are districts that receive Impact Aid to help make up for tax revenue lost because of a nearby Indian reservation or lands, according to an analysis of 2010 data from the National Center for Education Statistics by the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools, or NAFIS.
In addition, 90 percent of Native American students go to schools that get federal Title I funds, according to the National Indian Education Association, an advocacy group in Washington. The Title I program—a roughly $14.5 billion pot of money designed to help educate the nation’s poorest children—lost $727 million this school year because of sequestration.
“These are the students that face the most challenges” nationwide, says Larry Ouimette, the superintendent of the Lac du Flambeau district in northern Wisconsin, which enrolls 525 children, more than 95 percent of whom are Native American.
“We’re taking money away from kids who have experienced generational poverty. … We can make a difference,” Mr. Ouimette says, “and just as we’re starting to take the right steps, we’re getting the rug pulled out from under us….”
The local tribe—the Lac du Flambeau Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa—has helped make up for the loss by sending elders and other volunteers to instruct students in language and culture. (Chippewa is another word for Ojibwe.)
There have been other reductions, too. The district, which gets roughly 40 percent of its $10 million budget from the federal government, cut two teaching positions, including the language teacher, from a teaching staff of 60 and asked employees to pick up a greater share of their health-care costs. It also put off plans to upgrade its computers, meaning some students must work with 7-year-old machines….
Those kinds of tough decisions are typical, says Jocelyn Bissonnette, the director of government relations for NAFIS. The Washington-based organization surveyed 161 Indian-lands districts that receive Impact Aid. Of that number, 144, or nearly 90 percent, had made cuts in the 2013-14 school year. More than half—78—put off maintenance and purchases and 56 slashed instructional positions.
Sequestration has also squeezed the Bureau of Indian Education, housed in the U.S. Department of the Interior. The BIE, which operates 183 schools, lost $48 million to sequestration out of a budget of some $380 million, says Charles M. Roessel, the bureau’s acting director.
He says the sequester cuts have led to reductions in the teaching force and have caused some schools to shrink programs, including tutoring. But he was unable to list specific cuts, including the number of teaching jobs eliminated, and could only give one example of a cut: a reduction to a tutoring program for Navajo students.
The BIE has been repeatedly chided by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, Congress’ investigative arm, for its poor fiscal and academic management of schools, most recently in a report released in September.
It remains unclear whether Congress will halt—or make changes to—sequestration, which is slated to stay in place for a decade unless lawmakers act. A joint House-Senate panel charged with making long-range budget decisions is expected to release its recommendations on a course of action in mid-December. Education advocates aren’t optimistic the committee will call for getting rid of the cuts altogether.
Some districts that serve a large numbers of American Indian students aren’t sure they’ll be able to cope with another year of cuts….
Where the Cuts Are
Of 161 Indian-lands districts that receive federal Impact Aid, 144 cut spending for the 2013-14 school year, according to a survey by the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools. The most common reductions were in noninstructional staff, maintenance and new purchases, and teachers’ professional development.

SOURCE: National Association of Federally Impacted Schools
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/12/04/13sequestration_ep.h33.html?tkn=QUUFDd40Tae7mnyfEudKc%2FXiNgKm24Ee%2B6fU&cmp=clp-edweek
See, Education in Indian Country: Obstacles and Opportunities http://www.edweek.org/ew/projects/2013/native-american-education/running-in-place.html

Dr. Ruey-Lin Lin, Associate Professor of Sociology, Eastern Montana College wrote the 1985 article, THE PROMISE AND PROBLEMS OF THE NATIVE AMERICAN STUDENT: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ON THE RESERVATION AND SURROUNDING AREAS:

ONE OF the most serious problems confronting Native American leaders is that Native Americans as a whole have achieved one of the lowest educational levels among all ethnic groups and are not doing well while attending school. For example, it is reported that,
New Mexico can serve as a microcosm of the condition of Native Americans in the United States as a whole . . . Thirty-two percent of young Native Americans aged 16 to 19 were neither working nor attending school. Less than half of Native Americans older than 25, in fact, had completed high school, compared to more than three-fifths of New Mexico’s Blacks and almost three-fourths of whites. Native Americans, indeed, were the only racial/ethnic group in the state whose median level of education was below high school graduation. (Currie & Skolnick, 1984:187)
This poverty of educational achievement within the Native American sector might very well be the root of their over-all social problems in a modem industrial society.

Citation:

Journal of American Indian Education
Volume 25 Number 1
October 1985
THE PROMISE AND PROBLEMS OF THE NATIVE AMERICAN STUDENT: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ON THE RESERVATION AND SURROUNDING AREAS
Dr. Ruey-Lin Lin, Associate Professor of Sociology, Eastern Montana College
http://jaie.asu.edu/v25/V25S1pro.html

Not much has changed since 1985 and the Sequester made things worse.

Kelsey Sheehey reported in the U.S. News article, Graduation Rates Dropping Among Native American Students: Latino and black students are gaining ground, but American Indians are slipping, a new report shows:

Major gains among black and Latino students pushed the nation’s high school graduation rates to near record levels. Native American students, however, are not enjoying the same boom.
Instead, graduation rates for Native American students are sliding backwards, according to “Diplomas Count 2013,” an annual report released today by Education Week.
Roughly 51 percent of Native American students in the class of 2010 earned a high school diploma. That’s down from 54 percent in 2008, when graduation rates for the group reached its peak.
“What we’re dealing with here is a tremendous issue,” says RiShawn Biddle, director of communications for the National Indian Education Association. “Native education is in crisis.”
Part of the issue stems from American Indian students winding up in schools that are already “dropout factories,” Biddle says. Lack of recognition is also a key concern.
“In many ways, our students are invisible,” Biddle says. “We’re not the largest percentage of the population, so people forget for a moment that we’re at the table.”
Native American students comprise less than 1 percent of students in the U.S. public school system, but higher concentrations exist in states such as Alaska, South Dakota, New Mexico, Montana and Oklahoma, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
In Alaska, where about 20 percent of the total student body is American Indian, the graduation rate for the demographic group was only 42.5 percent in 2010, according to the report.
Performance in South Dakota is even worse. In 2010, less than one-third of Native American students earned a diploma, the report notes. This student group accounts for about 15 percent of the state’s students, according to NCES.
While those figures paint a bleak picture, there are some bright spots. Oklahoma boasts a graduation rate of 63 percent for Native American students – one of the highest in the country – and an overall rate of nearly 74 percent. The Sooner State is home to more tribes than any other state, and about 9 percent of its students are Native American.
“The reason why Oklahoma stands out in many cases is because there is a closer working relationship between the state and tribes,” says Biddle. “It’s not a perfect relationship, there are issues, but … tribes such as Cherokee Nation, Osage Nation, Chickasaw Nation [are] all really doing interesting work pulling together academics and culture.”
Alabama, Florida, Kansas, Hawaii and Massachusetts achieved the highest graduation rates for American Indian students in 2010. Those rates range from close to 69 percent in Florida to 64 percent in Kansas. The overall graduation rate in Florida was 72.9 percent, the report states.
“When a state is doing well by Native children, they’re also, more than likely, going to work to do well by everyone,” Biddel says.
But the declining graduation rates among Native American students are in sharp contrast to the improvement among other minority groups….
http://www.usnews.com/education/high-schools/articles/2013/06/06/graduation-rates-dropping-among-native-american-students

Americans of all hues are struggling in the current environment.

‘Indian policy’ has now been brought down upon the American people, and the American people are the new Indians of the 21st Century.
Russell Means

ALL children have a right to a good basic education.

Resources:

National Indian Education Association http://www.niea.org/

Journal of American Indian Education http://jaie.asu.edu/

Where information leads to Hope. © Dr. Wilda.com

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Improper teacher and student contact often begins with improper social media contact

3 Dec

Right Said Fred, the English trio had a hit with the danceable little ditty, I’m Too Sexy:

I’m too sexy for my love too sexy for my love Love’s going to leave me I’m too sexy for my shirt too sexy for my shirt So sexy it hurts And I’m too sexy for Milan too sexy for Milan New York and Japan And I’m too sexy for your party Too sexy for your party No way I’m disco dancing http://www.elyrics.net/read/r/right-said-fred-lyrics/i_m-too-sexy-lyrics.html

Too sexy might be OK for a dance club, but it shouldn’t describe the relationship between a teacher and their students. Teachers must be professional and authoritative in the classroom.
Children are not mature and adults cannot expect the same level of maturity that most adults are presumed to have. Immature people, like kids, will take even harmless interactions and embellish and broadcast them to the world at large. The safest course of action for teachers who want to be viewed as teacher professionals is to use common sense when using all social media and never put yourself in a situation with a student which can be viewed as compromising.

Tony Semerad of the Salt Lake Tribune wrote in the article, Technology’s role increasing in Utah teacher misconduct:

Sexual activity involving students now accounts for about 22 percent of pending teacher licensing investigations, leading all other types of misbehavior, with financial improprieties a close second. Officials note, though, that sex cases tend to remain open longer while police and school authorities investigate the details.
The latest data show the state hit a 10-year high in 2012 for internal state Office of Education investigations of licensing complaints of all types against teachers. The 67 cases last year ranged from sexual transgressions to fiscal mismanagement, inappropriate computer use including accessing porn, violent behavior and use of drugs or alcohol.
While Weber’s case did not directly involve technology, a Salt Lake Tribune analysis shows tools such as cellphones, texting and social media are increasingly a factor in teacher misconduct cases. Experts say digital exchanges allow problem teachers to breach appropriate boundaries with students outside of parental view.
As a new generation grows up online, clear rules are becoming more difficult to nail down. The trend is forcing hard questions on how to retain the value of devices such as smartphones as teaching tools while preventing their misuse.
“We’re all running to create guidelines to keep up with this rapidly moving field,” said Leslie Castle, a Utah Board of Education member pressing for tougher punishment of errant educators.
Teachers who officially run afoul of professional standards for a range of bad behaviors represent a tiny slice — approximately two-tenths of 1 percent — of roughly 31,600 licensed educators in Utah schools.
Yet even a single instance of sexual violation by an authority figure can alter a child’s life irrevocably.
“The fundamental betrayal of trust … can cause significant emotional harm to a victim, even if the abuse only occurred one time,” said Chris Anderson, executive director of MaleSurvivor, a group focused on preventing and healing sexual victimization of boys and men.
“Sadly,” Anderson said, “it can often take decades for us to know the true scale of the harm done to a survivor….”
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/57147045-78/utah-teacher-teachers-misconduct.html.csp

Janet R. Decker posted at Education Nation the article, ‘Like’ It or Not, Facebook Can Get Teachers Fired:

School employees have constitutional rights that must be protected, but it is also important to protect students and safeguard the image of teachers as role models. Yet, teachers and administrators may be unsure of their legal responsibilities surrounding social networking. Part of the difficulty is that technology advances at a quicker pace than legal precedent. Because of this reality, schools are encouraged to implement policies and consider the following recommendations regarding employees’ online behavior.
1. EDUCATE! It’s not enough to have policies, schools should also have professional development about these issues. By doing so, staff are notified about the expectations and have a chance to digest and ask questions about the policies.
2. Be empathetic in policies and actions. Administrators may wish that a school’s computers only be used for educational purposes, but this is an unrealistic expectation.
3. Create separate student and staff policies, because the laws pertaining to these two groups differ greatly.
4. Involve staff in policy creation. This process will help employees comprehend the policies and will likely foster staff buy-in.
5. Be clear and specific. Policies should include rationales, legal support, and commentary with examples.
6. Ensure your policies conform to state and federal law.
7. Include consequences for violations in your policies and implement the consequences.
8. Provide an avenue for appeal and attend to employees’ due process rights.
9. Implement policies in an effective and non-discriminatory manner.
10. Evaluate and amend policies as the law evolves. Much of the law related to technology is in flux. What is legal today may not be tomorrow.
In sum, it is important that school employees understand that they are expected to be role models both inside and outside of the school – even while on Facebook. http://www.educationnation.com/index.cfm?objectid=72C543DE-4EA0-11E1-B607000C296BA163

Because information posted on social media can go viral, it is important to use common sense in dealing with both parents and students. https://drwilda.com/2012/09/23/managing-school-facebook-relationships-can-be-challenging/

Teachers and others in responsible positions who deal with children must exercise common sense and not put themselves in situations which at the minimum will be awkward and which will lead to activity which is inappropriate.

Boundaries people. Boundaries.

If you are too stupid to use caution or you can’t exercise caution, society will begin to impose sanctions against those engaged in inappropriate activity with children. Engaging in inappropriate activity with children does not make you too sexy, it makes you too stupid!

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The 12/03/13 Joy Jar

2 Dec

The Buddha is not of moi’s faith tradition, but she recognizes him as a great and very wise man.

Education is the best friend. An educated person is respected everywhere. Education beats the beauty and the youth.
Chanakya

Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is a continuing education which comes from observing the world around one.

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.
Buddha

An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind.
Buddha

Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.
Buddha

The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart.
Buddha

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.
Buddha

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.
Buddha

The tongue like a sharp knife… Kills without drawing blood.
Buddha

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.
Buddha

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.
Buddha

To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one’s family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one’s own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him.
Buddha

You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.
Buddha

However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act on upon them?
Buddha

No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.
Buddha

Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind.
Buddha

There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.
Buddha

The mind is everything. What you think you become.
Buddha

To keep the body in good health is a duty… otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.
Buddha

There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills.
Buddha

In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true.
Buddha

It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.
Buddha

Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.
Buddha

Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.
Buddha

To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent.
Buddha

Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.
Buddha

In a controversy the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves.
Buddha

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School districts looking at ‘zero tolerance’ policies

2 Dec

In 2010 Council of State Governments Justice Center wrote a policy brief, Zero Tolerance Policies:
What are zero tolerance policies?

• Zero tolerance policies, which began as a way to approach drug enforcement, were widely adopted by schools in the 1990s. They mandate certain punishments for infractions regardless of the circumstances.1
• The most common reason for suspensions are fights, yet the majority of infractions are nonviolent, including:
•• Abusive language;
•• Attendance issues, such as tardiness;
•• Disobedience or disrespect; and
•• General classroom disruptions.2
Research is beginning to show there may be disparities in how zero tolerance policies are applied.
• Suspensions for students in kindergarten through the 12th grade have at least doubled since the 1970s for minority students.3
• Black students are more than three times more likely to be suspended than white students.4
• Looking at suspension data from 18 of the largest urban middle schools in 2002 and 2006, the greatest increase was among black females, which increased by more than 5 percent.
•• Black male suspensions increased by 1.7 percent.
•• Suspensions among white and Hispanic males and females either increased by less than half a percent or decreased.5
• In one study, 47 percent of elementary and middle school students, and 73 percent of high school students with emotional disabilities were suspended or expelled from school.6
• A Kansas study found that students with emotional disabilities were 12 times more likely to be suspended or expelled than all other students, including those
with and without disabilities.7
Whether zero tolerance policies improve the school environment and allow increased academic achievement is debatable.
• Studies show there is no evidence that connects student suspensions, which are perceived to improve the learning environment for other students by removing troublemakers, to improved academic outcomes for the school as a whole.8
• Students suspended in the sixth grade are more likely to receive suspensions in the eighth grade, indicating that suspensions are not a deterrent for future behavioral problems.
• A suspension is one of four indicators that point to an increased likelihood a student will not graduate from high school.9 The Council of State governments 1
1Rausch, M. Karega, and Skiba, Russell J. “Discipline, Disability, and Race: Disproportionality in Indiana Schools.” Center for Evaluation & Education Policy. Volume 4, Number 10, Fall 2006.
2Losen, Daniel J. and Skiba, Russell. “Suspended Education: Urban Middle Schools in Crisis.” http://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/downloads/publication/Suspended_Education.pdf
3Ibid.
4Ibid.
5Ibid.
6 Center for Evaluation & Education Policy.
7Ibid.
8Rausch, M. Karega, and Skiba, Russell J. “The Academic Cost of Discipline: The Relationship Between Suspension/Expulsion and School Achievement.” Center for Evaluation & Education Policy.
9 American Youth Policy Forum. “Improving the Transition from Middle Grades to High Schools: The Role of Early Warning Indicators.” Jan. 25, 2008. http://www.aypf.org/forumbriefs/2008/fb012508.htm
http://knowledgecenter.csg.org/kc/system/files/CR_FF_Zero_Tolerance_0.pdf

Moi wrote in Inappropriate discipline: The first step on the road to education failure:

Joan Gausted of the University of Oregon has an excellent article in Eric Digest 78, School Discipline:

School discipline has two main goals: (1) ensure the safety of staff and students, and (2) create an environment conducive to learning. Serious student misconduct involving violent or criminal behavior defeats these goals and often makes headlines in the process. However, the commonest discipline problems involve noncriminal student behavior (Moles 1989).

The issue for schools is how to maintain order, yet deal with noncriminal student behavior and keep children in school.

Alan Schwartz wrote a provocative article in the New York Times about a longitudinal study of discipline conducted in Texas. In School Discipline Study Raises Fresh Questions Schwartz reports:

Raising new questions about the effectiveness of school discipline, a report scheduled for release on Tuesday found that 31 percent of Texas students were suspended off campus or expelled at least once during their years in middle and high school — at an average of almost four times apiece. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/19/education/19discipline.html?_r=1&hpw

Donna St. George wrote a Washington Post article which elaborates on the Texas study.

In the article, Study shows wide varieties in discipline methods among very similar schools, St. George reports:

The report, released Tuesday, challenges a common misperception that the only way schools can manage behavior is through suspension, said Michael D. Thompson, a co-author of the report, done by the Council of State Governments Justice Center and Texas A&M University’s Public Policy Research Institute. “The bottom line is that schools can get different outcomes with very similar student bodies,” he said. “School administrators and school superintendents and teachers can have a dramatic impact….”
The results showed that suspension or expulsion greatly increased a student’s risk of being held back a grade, dropping out or landing in the juvenile justice system. Such ideas have been probed in other research, but not with such a large population and across a lengthy period, experts said. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/study-exposes-some-some-myths-about-school-discipline/2011/07/18/gIQAV0sZMI_story.html?wpisrc=emailtoafriend

Family First Aid has a good discussion about the types of behavior problems that result in suspension or expulsion. Dore Francis has a guide, which lists what parents should do if their child is suspended. The guide gives detailed instructions to these steps and other steps. Francis also lists what questions to ask after meeting with school officials. https://drwilda.com/2011/12/13/inappropriate-discipline-the-first-step-on-the-road-to-education-failure/

Lizette Alvarez reported in the New York Times article, Seeing the Toll, Schools Revise Zero Tolerance:

Rather than push children out of school, districts like Broward are now doing the opposite: choosing to keep lawbreaking students in school, away from trouble on the streets, and offering them counseling and other assistance aimed at changing behavior.
These alternative efforts are increasingly supported, sometimes even led, by state juvenile justice directors, judges and police officers.
In Broward, which had more than 1,000 arrests in the 2011 school year, the school district entered into a wide-ranging agreement last month with local law enforcement, the juvenile justice department and civil rights groups like the N.A.A.C.P. to overhaul its disciplinary policies and de-emphasize punishment.
Some states, prodded by parents and student groups, are similarly moving to change the laws; in 2009, Florida amended its laws to allow school administrators greater discretion in disciplining students.
“A knee-jerk reaction for minor offenses, suspending and expelling students, this is not the business we should be in,” said Robert W. Runcie, the Broward County Schools superintendent, who took the job in late 2011. “We are not accepting that we need to have hundreds of students getting arrested and getting records that impact their lifelong chances to get a job, go into the military, get financial aid.”
Nationwide, more than 70 percent of students involved in arrests or referrals to court are black or Hispanic, according to federal data.
“What you see is the beginning of a national trend here,” said Michael Thompson, the director of the Council of State Governments Justice Center. “Everybody recognizes right now that if we want to really find ways to close the achievement gap, we are really going to need to look at the huge number of kids being removed from school campuses who are not receiving any classroom time.”
Pressure to change has come from the Obama administration, too. Beginning in 2009, the Department of Justice and the Department of Education aggressively began to encourage schools to think twice before arresting and pushing children out of school. In some cases, as in Meridian, Miss., the federal government has sued to force change in schools.
Some view the shift as politically driven and worry that the pendulum may swing too far in the other direction. Ken Trump, a school security consultant, said that while existing policies are at times misused by school staffs and officers, the policies mostly work well, offering schools the right amount of discretion.
“It’s a political movement by civil rights organizations that have targeted school police,” Mr. Trump said. “If you politicize this on either side, it’s not going to help on the front lines.”
Supporters, though, emphasize the flexibility in these new policies and stress that they do not apply to students who commit felonies or pose a danger….
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/03/education/seeing-the-toll-schools-revisit-zero-tolerance.html?ref=education&_r=0

The whole child approach is useful in keeping many children in school.

Moi wrote in The ‘whole child’ approach to education: Many children do not have a positive education experience in the education system for a variety of reasons. Many educators are advocating for the “whole child” approach to increase the number of children who have a positive experience in the education process. https://drwilda.com/2012/02/10/the-whole-child-approach-to-education/

In order to ensure that ALL children have a basic education, we must take a comprehensive approach to learning.

A healthy child in a healthy family who attends a healthy school in a healthy neighborhood ©

See:

Education Law Center http://www.edlawcenter.org/ELCPublic/StudentRights/StudentDiscipline.htm

Discipline In Schools: What Works and What Doesn’t? http://www.eduguide.org/article/discipline-in-school-what-works-and-what-doesnt

Justice for Children and Youth has a pamphlet -I’m being expelled from school – what are my rights? http://www.jfcy.org/pamphlets.html

Related:

Report: Black students more likely to be suspended https://drwilda.com/2012/08/07/report-black-students-more-likely-to-be-suspended/

Johns Hopkins study finds ‘Positive Behavior Intervention’ improves student behavior https://drwilda.com/2012/10/22/johns-hopkins-study-finds-positive-behavior-intervention-improves-student-behavior/

Pre-kindergarten programs help at-risk students prepare for school https://drwilda.com/2012/07/16/pre-kindergarten-programs-help-at-risk-students-prepare-for-school/

A strategy to reduce school suspensions: ‘School Wide Positive Behavior Support’ https://drwilda.com/2012/07/01/a-strategy-to-reduce-school-suspensions-school-wide-positive-behavior-support/

Where information leads to Hope. © Dr. Wilda.com

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Blogs by Dr. Wilda:

COMMENTS FROM AN OLD FART©
http://drwildaoldfart.wordpress.com

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http://drwildareviews.wordpress.com/

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https://drwilda.com/

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Report: STEM attrition in college often occurs because students not prepared for the challenge

28 Nov

Moi wrote in The role economic class plays in college success: Moi wrote in Race, class, and education in America:
Many educators have long recognized that the impact of social class affects both education achievement and life chances after completion of education. There are two impacts from diversity, one is to broaden the life experience of the privileged and to raise the expectations of the disadvantaged. Social class matters in not only other societies, but this one as well.
A few years back, the New York Times did a series about social class in America. That series is still relevant. Janny Scott and David Leonhardt’s overview, Shadowy Lines That Still Divide describes the challenges faced by schools trying to overcome the disparity in education. The complete series can be found at Social Class https://drwilda.com/2011/11/07/race-class-and-education-in-america/

Jason DeParle reported in the New York Times article, For Poor Strivers, Leap to College Often Ends in a Hard Fall:

“Everyone wants to think of education as an equalizer — the place where upward mobility gets started,” said Greg J. Duncan, an economist at the University of California, Irvine. “But on virtually every measure we have, the gaps between high- and low-income kids are widening. It’s very disheartening.”
The growing role of class in academic success has taken experts by surprise since it follows decades of equal opportunity efforts and counters racial trends, where differences have narrowed. It adds to fears over recent evidence suggesting that low-income Americans have lower chances of upward mobility than counterparts in Canada and Western Europe.
Thirty years ago, there was a 31 percentage point difference between the share of prosperous and poor Americans who earned bachelor’s degrees, according to Martha J. Bailey and Susan M. Dynarski of the University of Michigan. Now the gap is 45 points.
While both groups improved their odds of finishing college, the affluent improved much more, widening their sizable lead.
Likely reasons include soaring incomes at the top and changes in family structure, which have left fewer low-income students with the support of two-parent homes. Neighborhoods have grown more segregated by class, leaving lower-income students increasingly concentrated in lower-quality schools. And even after accounting for financial aid, the costs of attending a public university have risen 60 percent in the past two decades. Many low-income students, feeling the need to help out at home, are deterred by the thought of years of lost wages and piles of debt….
Income has always shaped academic success, but its importance is growing. Professor Reardon, the Stanford sociologist, examined a dozen reading and math tests dating back 25 years and found that the gap in scores of high- and low-income students has grown by 40 percent, even as the difference between blacks and whites has narrowed.
While race once predicted scores more than class, the opposite now holds. By eighth grade, white students surpass blacks by an average of three grade levels, while upper-income students are four grades ahead of low-income counterparts. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/education/poor-students-struggle-as-class-plays-a-greater-role-in-success.html?hpw&_r=0

Social class and background may not only affect an individual student’s choice of major, but their completion of college in that major.

Nick De Santis reported in the Chronicle of Higher Education article, Report Examines College Students’ Attrition From STEM Majors:

Twenty-eight percent of bachelor’s-degree students who began their postsecondary education in the 2003-4 academic year chose a major in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics at some point within six years, but 48 percent of students who entered those fields during that period had left them by the spring of 2009, according to a report released on Tuesday by the National Center for Education Statistics, the U.S. Education Department’s statistical arm.
The report, which addresses attrition from the so-called STEM fields, also includes information on students pursuing associate degrees. It says that 20 percent of such students had chosen a STEM major within that six-year period and notes that 69 percent of them had left the STEM fields by the spring of 2009.
Of the students who left STEM fields, the report says, roughly half switched their major to a non-STEM field, and the rest left college without earning a degree or certificate. The report notes that fields such as the humanities and education experienced higher levels of attrition than did the STEM disciplines.
The report identifies several factors associated with a higher probability of switching out of STEM majors, such as taking lighter STEM course loads or less-challenging math classes in the first year, and earning lower grades in STEM courses than in others….
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/report-examines-college-students-attrition-from-stem-majors/69705?cid=pm&utm_source=pm&utm_medium=en

Citation:

Title: STEM Attrition: College Students’ Paths Into and Out of STEM Fields
Description: This Statistical Analysis Report presents the most recent national statistics on beginning bachelor’s and associate’s degree students’ entrance into, and attrition from, STEM fields. Using recent transcript data, it provides a first look at STEM coursetaking and examines how participation and performance in undergraduate STEM coursework, along with other factors, are associated with STEM attrition. The study is based on data from the 2004/09 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:04/09) and the associated 2009 Postsecondary Education Transcript Study (PETS:09).

ERRATA: A typographical error has been found on page vi of the report’s Executive Summary. The affected line should read:

“Bachelor’s degree STEM entrants who were male or who came from low-income backgrounds had a higher probability of leaving STEM by dropping out of college than their peers who were female or came from high-income backgrounds, net of other factors.”

A revised version of the report will be posted when available under the publication number 2014001rev.
Online Availability: • Download, view and print the report as a pdf file. (1527KB) http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2014/2014001rev.pdf
Need Help Viewing PDF files?

Cover Date: November 2013
Web Release: November 26, 2013
Publication #: NCES 2014001REV
Center/Program: NCES

Authors: Xianglei Chen
Type of Product: Statistical Analysis Report

Survey/Program Areas: Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS)

Keywords: Beginning students in postsecondary education
Postsecondary education
• field of study
• outcomes
• persistence and attainment
Science
STEM (Science, Engineering, Technology, Mathematics)

Questions: For questions about the content of this Statistical Analysis Report, please contact:
Aurora M. D’Amico.

Megan Rogers wrote in the Inside Higher Ed article, STEM-ming the Tide:

About 28 percent of bachelor’s degree candidates and 20 percent of associate degree candidates had declared a STEM major. Of those who had entered a STEM program, 48 percent of bachelor’s degree candidates had left the STEM field by spring 2009. The attrition rate was greater for associate degree candidates — 69 percent of STEM entrants had left the STEM field during the course of the study. An October 2012 report tracking students who had entered postsecondary education in the 2003-2004 academic year found the same attrition rate for STEM entrants.
The attrition rate was highest for bachelor’s degree candidates who declared a major in computer/information sciences and for associate degree candidates who declared a major in mathematics.
About half of those who left had switched into a non-STEM degree program and the other half had left college without earning any degree or certificate. The study found that 22 percent of bachelor’s degree candidates and 16 percent of associate’s degree students chose to pursue business majors.
Low-performing students (those with an overall grade point average below 2.5) were more likely to exit the STEM field by dropping out of college than were high-performing students (those with an overall GPA of 3.5 or higher). The high-performing students were more likely to switch to a non-STEM major than their low-performing peers.
The study found some differences in how men and women exited the STEM fields. More men than women left STEM disciplines by dropping out of college and more women than men left STEM by switching majors. According to the study, 32 percent of women who left STEM fields switched to a different major, compared with 26 percent of men. And 24 percent of men left the STEM field by dropping out of college, compared with 14 percent of women.
Taking lighter credits loads in STEM courses in the first year, taking less challenging math courses in the first year and performing poorly in STEM classes relative to non-STEM classes were associated with an increased probability of switching majors for STEM entrants, according to the study…. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/11/27/study-tracks-attrition-rates-stem-majors#ixzz2lyY9tKKy

K-12 education must not only prepare students by teaching basic skills, but they must prepare students for training after high school, either college or vocational. There should not only be a solid education foundation established in K-12, but there must be more accurate evaluation of whether individual students are “college ready.”

Related:

Helping community college students to graduate https://drwilda.com/2012/02/08/helping-community-college-students-to-graduate/

The digital divide affects the college application process https://drwilda.com/2012/12/08/the-digital-divide-affects-the-college-application-process/

College readiness: What are ‘soft skills’ https://drwilda.com/2012/11/14/college-readiness-what-are-soft-skills/

Colleges rethinking who may need remedial education https://drwilda.com/2012/10/24/colleges-rethinking-who-may-need-remedial-education/

Where information leads to Hope. © Dr. Wilda.com

Dr. Wilda says this about that ©

Blogs by Dr. Wilda:

COMMENTS FROM AN OLD FART© http://drwildaoldfart.wordpress.com/

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