The Ads on the Bus Go, "Buy! Buy! Buy!"

“This Yellow Space for Rent” by Catherine Rampell
New York Times, April 15, 2011

Topic: Advertising in Government owned space

Summary: Schools and other Government property are being used as advertising space as a source of revenue. Some states have been selling ads on school busses, in cafeterias, on school websites, and in holding areas at jails.

Intended audience: General Public

Key Points:

• Schools, jails, and other government entities are strapped for cash
• They can earn money by selling advertisements that are placed in cafeterias, on websites, in jails, and on the sides of school busses.
• Do we want our kids exposed to even more advertising, especially when it gives the impression that the school is endorsing the products?
• There are some bans on advertising for sexual content, alcohol, and tobacco on school busses, but not necessarily for junk food – just as we are taking those items physically out of schools, we are putting them back in the form of advertisements.

Relevance: I have mixed feelings about this. I think it is a very innovative way for the schools to earn a little extra money in times when every penny really counts; however, I don’t like the idea of advertisements in a school cafeteria for kids as young as kindergarten. It really sends the message to young kids that these items are OK because you saw about them

School = Bottomless Abyss.....

“6-Year-Old Stares Down Bottomless Abyss Of Formal Schooling”
The Onion, August 15, 2008, Issue 44-33, Accessed: April 15, 2011

Topic: Compulsory Education

Summary: In a light (it’s from The Onion) article, the idea of compulsory education as a type of jail sentence for children is poked at. Poor first grade Connor just wants to play outside with his friends but hasn’t yet realized that he is doomed to a “dire and hopeless” situation.

Intended audience: General Public

Key Points:

• “Basic math – which the child has blissfully yet to learn – clearly demonstrates that the number of years before he will be released from the horrifying prison of formal schooling, is more than twice the length of time he has yet existed.”
• Estimated 14,400 hours of his life will be spent in a classroom (not including college)
• “It’s difficult to know the effect on his psychological well-being when he grasps the full truth: that his education will be followed by approximately four decades of work, bills, and taxes, during which he will also rear his own children to face the same fate, all of which will, of course, be followed by a brief, and almost inconsequential retirement, and his inevitable death.”

Relevance: The article pokes fun at a 6-year old who doesn’t want to go to school and would rather play with his friends. What it really gets at is the theme that we see in most of Gatto’s writing referring to school as a prison sentence and painting a dismal picture of the compulsory education system in the United States. I feel like this article is a funnier version of Gatto’s “Dumbing Us Down”. The article may be intended as a spoof, but it touches on issues that people say seriously…

Finland's Educational Success? The Anti-Tiger Mother Approach

Joshua Levine
"Finland's Education Success?  The Anti-Tiger Mother Approach"
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2062419-1,00.html
TIME
April 14, 2011

I loved this article!  In the last four global PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) surveys, Finland has usually finished in the top three in reading, math and science.  They have achieved such great success with shorter school hours, no national testing ("They just don't believe it does much good.") and a very short stated Math curriculum (only ten pages, up from 3 1/2 a few years ago).  Their secret for their success: their teachers.  "The U.S. has an industrial model where teachers are the means for conveying a prefabricated product. In Finland, the teachers are the standard."


Finland's teachers must have Master's Degrees to teach and many people compete for a few highly coveted positions each year.  In 2008, there were 1,258 undergrads who applied for the 5 year program to become elementary school teachers.  Of that number only 123 (9.8%) were accepted.  What is interesting to note is the word for teacher in Finnish (kasvatus) is the same word used for a mother bringing up a child.


Finland did not always have the best program and it took them fifty years to reform their school system.  What is interesting to note is their society is not known for its competitiveness so when they looked at how to make their school's better the Finns decided to make their worst students better.  So now there is little divide between the best and worst students.

What is heartening to read in this article is the focus of any education reform has to be the teacher and without a great teacher training program, schools cannot succeed.  It is also heartening to know that education reform can take place in a country and it can be successful!

Can Sal Khan Reform Education in America?

Alex Wagner
"Can Sal Khan Reform Education in America?"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/04/the-khan-academy-and-educ_n_844390.html
The Huffington Post
April 11, 2011

Sal Khan has created an website (http://www.khanacademy.org/) with extensive videos (2,100 to be exact) and 100 self-paced exercises translated in many languages to assist children with mathematics.  This website was recommended to me by a co-worker at Bank of America whose kids were having trouble with math.  Once they started using Mr. Khan's website their math problems went away.  I was a little skeptical about it, but once I started seeing him appear on TED videos and being promoted by Bill Gates (which may or may not be a good thing) I started to pay attention to Khan's Academy.

As the article points out what Mr. Khan is doing (assisting with math) is not new, but he has found a way to make learning math easy to do, easy to access and something that will benefit both the student and the teacher.  And Mr. Khan points out people cannot just rely on his videos, but capable teachers are needed to provide one-on-one time with their students and to be technically savvy so to effectively use the program.

As we talked about on Saturday this website is not intended to replace teachers or to be used for technology's sake, but is a useful tool to assist and engage kids that either do poorly and/or are not engaged in math.  And if there are no computers in school the videos can be handed out on memory sticks so the videos can be used at home.  This is a very useful program and who do we have to thank for it?  As Captain Kirk once famously shouted, "Khan!!!!"

We Can Haz GOOD NEWS!?! (Jeff, Topic Nineteen)

First of all: http://www.lolcats.com/

Less importantly:

Howard Blume
Local Schools Honored for Education of Students from Low-Income Families (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/03/local-schools-honored-for-education-students-from-low-income-families.html#more)
LA Times
March 31, 2011

Summary: A short report on an award given to a group of schools in California for improving the education of students from low-income families.

Audience: General Public

Key Points: 1) Not all news on education is bad, 2) Schools who are performing well are being rewarded (or at least awarded).

Relevance: As we discussed last Saturday, education can be a real downer right now.This is especially true in the state of California. It was nice to run across a little bit of good information, recharge my "yeah, I can make a difference" batteries, and I wanted to share it with y'all.

Are Magnet Schools the Answer to Test Score Woes? (Jeff, Topic Eighteen)

Howard Blume
Westchester High to Become Magnet School Amid Cost, Ethnicity Concerns (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/04/westchester-high-to-become-a-magnet-school-raising-concerns-about-cost-and-ethnic-make-up.html#more)
LA Times
April 13, 2011

Summary: One of the predominantly black schools in Los Angeles has proposed a move away from traditional education. The proposal would turn the school into a magnet school with a focus on science. The article is a brief discussion of the implications of such a move.

Intended Audience: General Public

Key Points: 1) The school, while improving, is still struggling to break out of the bottom %20 of schools--in terms of test scores, 2) The new principle believes that a focus on math and science creates the best opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the students, 3) Opposition comes from those scared of both the budget situation and a possible shift in the school's demographics.

Relevance: Perhaps magnet schools, like trade schools, can be one answer to providing students with diverse educations. Maybe we do not all need to know the same things, and maybe providing more freedom of choice as to is available will lead to better education in general.

Education Battle at Compton Unified Schools (Jeff, Topic Seventeen)

Jim Newton
Education Battle at Compton Unified School (http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-newton-compton-20110418,0,5430463.column)
LA Times
April 18th 2011

Summary: "The struggle for equal educational opportunity is the great civil rights imperative of our time. It pits those who demand a decent education against an educational establishment that often blithely ignores them." This quote from the article should give you a pretty good idea of what to expect from it. The article talks about a group of parents who are attempting to advocate for their children's educations, but are being opposed by the local school board.

Audience: Clear bias for the side of the parents

Key Points: 1) Education is a civil rights issue, 2) Minority schools are often ignored, 3) Even when parents in minority schools try to use the law to their advantage, it is an up hill battle.

Relevance: This hearkens back to our discussions about race a few months back. I have had a couple of discussions with one of my mentor teachers about parent advocacy and how it is generally lacking in struggling schools--especially in PPS. It is interesting to see an example of a group of parents attempting to advocate but being stonewalled in return.