True American Values

I don't agree with a lot of what Peggy Noonen (of the Wall Street Journal) says, but this time she gets it right:

Americans should not fear talking--and listening--to those whose views we loathe.

You don't want to judge Christ by Christians, someone once said. He is perfect, they are not.

In a similar way you don't want to judge capitalism by capitalists, or the legitimacy of democracy by the Democrats, or the vitality of our republic by the Republicans. You have to take the thing pure and in itself, while allowing for the flaws and waywardness of its practitioners.

I say this because here in America we have reached a funny pass. People are doing and saying odd things as if they don't know the meaning of the thing they say they stand for. In particular I mean we used to be proud of whom we allowed to speak, and now are leaning toward defining ourselves by whom we don't speak to and will not allow to speak. This is not progress.

Conservatives on campus are shouted down. A crusader against illegal immigration is rushed off the stage at Columbia University. Great newspapers give ad breaks to groups with which they feel an ideological affinity, but turn away ads from those they do not, such as antiabortion groups. And they call this a business.

So much silencing. It seems so weak, so out of keeping with who we are. We love the tradition of free speech in America, but you don't want to judge its health by what we've done with it lately, or to it.

Consider reading the whole thing.

The Watcher's Council Has Spoken!

Each and every week, Watcher of Weasels sponsors a contest among posts from the Conservative side of the 'Sphere. The winning entries are determined by a jury of 12 writers (and The Watcher) known as "The Watchers Council."

The Council has met and cast their ballots for last week's submitted posts.

Council Member Entries: Bookworm Room took first place with Cosmic Ironies.

Non-Council Entries: History News Network earned the most votes with Rafael Medoff: Columbia "Invites Hitler to Campus" -- As it Did in 1933.
----------------------------See our latest EduPosts.

Let's Carnival!

The 138th midway of The Carnival of Education (hosted this week by Global Citizenship in a Virtual World) has opened-up the midway with a roundup of EduExhibits for your EduEnjoyment.

And if you're in the mood for a little extra credit, check out this week's edition of the Carnival of Homechooling. --------------------------See our latest entries.

The Free-Radical Approach To EduReform

The editorial board of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is saying that what's needed in order to overhaul public education is to actually go ahead and really overhaul public education:

End high school at age 16. Take schools away from school districts and school boards and give them to hired private contractors, most likely liability corporations owned and run by teachers. Fund schools from the state rather locally. Pay teachers $95,000 a year, but demand quality.

Those and other recommendations — contained in a report titled "Tough Choices or Tough Times" — amount to a radical redesign of public education. The goal is to revitalize and reform schools so that American workers can compete in the new global economy.

The report was drafted over two years by the nonpartisan New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, chaired by economist and former University of Georgia President Charles Knapp. Knapp and former Cabinet secretaries, governors, mayors, business executives and state and local superintendents were charged with finding the best ways to re-invent k-12 education.

Now Knapp is shopping for a progressive state willing to adopt the reforms. He made a pitch last week to the Georgia House and Senate Education Committees, where legislators appeared more willing to embrace one or two ideas but not the whole package.

That's too bad, because Georgia's education system needs some kind of top-to-bottom transformation such as Knapp suggests. While schools are working harder than ever, students still don't fare well by many key measures, including national standardized testing, graduation rates and college attendance.

But no one in leadership is willing to rankle the established bureaucracies that would be affected by real change, and former Gov. Roy Barnes, defeated in his bid for re-election in part by opposition from teachers, takes the blame for that.

"I wanted to push education reform to the point where it was bipartisan and accepted," Barnes says. "My defeat led future leaders to take the safe route and leave education alone. I can't believe that has happened, but someone will arise. I just hope I live to see it."

At the current pace of education reform in the state — take a tiny step forward and then look around nervously, to make sure no major voting blocs are offended —Barnes isn't likely to see that change. Nor are his grandchildren. Georgia lawmakers refuse to even initiate a serious discussion about teacher quality, preferring to pretend that the answer to better teaching is a better crop of students.

That political rhetoric ignores the fact that Georgia recruits more teachers from the bottom third of high school students going to college than from the top third.

"It's time for truth-telling on this issue," Knapp told legislators. "Education is not a train wreck about to occur; it's a train wreck that has already occurred."

In 1971, the per capita cost of educating a child in this country was $3,400 in inflation-adjusted dollars. By 2002, that cost had risen by roughly two-and-a-half fold to $8,977. Yet fourth-grading reading scores over that time remained essentially flat, evidence that the higher investment is not yielding higher returns.

America's education system is not addressing the needs of students or the country, which, having already lost many low-skilled jobs to China and India, is now witnessing an exodus of high-skilled jobs to foreign shores.

Knapp's commission envisions an education process that would begin at age 3 and continue through 10th grade, when students would take European-style content exams to demonstrate they are college-ready. Upon passage — the commission expects a pass rate of 95 percent — students would be guaranteed the right to attend community colleges to obtain technical degrees or to complete two-year programs and then transfer into a four-year state college. They would also have the option of staying in high school to take advanced coursework in preparation for winning admission to private select four-year institutions. Students would not be locked into any single path; they could retake the qualifying exams again and again.

The commission predicts a $60 billion savings from the elimination of the traditional 11th and 12th grades. The savings would be invested into three crucial initiatives: Recruit a teaching force from the highest academic tiers; offer a pay scale that goes from $45,000 for novices to $95,000 for experienced teachers and give those teachers great autonomy; build an early childhood education system for every 4-year-old student and low-income 3-year-olds and provide at-risk students intense help to catch up with more affluent peers.

In exchange for the higher salaries, teachers would give up pensions in favor of 401(k) retirement plans. Teachers would no longer be financially rewarded for longevity, and they wouldn't have to enter the profession through colleges of education. The commission concludes that those schools, which now hold a virtual monopoly, don't do a good job preparing teachers.

Instead, applicants with a college degree would have to pass a teaching performance assessment.

"If colleges of education can't produce the best teachers, then get rid of them," said Knapp.

Under the commission's plan, school districts would not own or operate schools but rather oversee a field of entrepreneurs — often times teachers — who contractually agree to run schools and would have to meet performance standards, much as charter schools do now. Funds would come from the state, and schools would have full discretion over spending, staffing, scheduling and programs. But they would have to meet accountability standards imposed by the state.

This is no quick fix; the commission says it would take 15 years to put all the reforms in place. And the success of the reforms hinges on top-notch standards, assessments and curriculum, all of which take time to develop.

Daunting as such changes may be, they're vital if American students are to compete in the new global economy.

As the commission states, "It is a world in which comfort with ideas and abstractions is the passport to a good job, in which creativity and innovation are the keys to the good life, in which high levels of education — a very different kind of education that most of us have had — are going to be the only security there is."

Agree or disagree, (and we don't agree with much of this) there's plenty of food for thought here.

If one takes a cursory look at the Journal-Constitution's graphic, it's clear to see that what we're doing now isn't working.

And something has to be done.

Our EduTax Dollars At Work

Is this the boondoggle that one might very well suspect it to be?

More about these federal grants here.

Carnival Entries Are Due!

Entries for the 138th edition of The Carnival Of Education (hosted this week by Global Citizenship in a Virtual World) are due. Please email them to: gxeremio [at] gmail [dot] com . (Or, easier yet, use this handy submission form.) Submissions should be received no later than 9:00 PM (Eastern) 6:00 PM (Pacific) today. Contributions should include your site's name, the title of the post, and the post's URL if possible.

Visit last week's midway, hosted by us here at the 'Wonks, right here.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, the exhibits should open Tomorrow.
------------------------------See our latest EduPosts.

The Watcher's Council Has Spoken!

Each and every week, Watcher of Weasels sponsors a contest among posts from the Conservative side of the 'Sphere. The winning entries are determined by a jury of 12 writers (and The Watcher) known as "The Watchers Council."

The Council has met and cast their ballots for last week's submitted posts.

Council Member Entries: Right Wing Nut House received the most votes with Is War With Iran Now Just a Matter of Time?

Non-Council Entries: Acute Politics finished first with Dead Eyes. ----------------------------See our latest EduPosts.

The Carnival Of Education: Week 137

Welcome to the midway of the 137th Carnival of Education!

Here's the very latest roundup of entries from around the EduSphere. Unless clearly labeled otherwise, all entries this week were submitted by the writers themselves.

Folks interested in hosting an edition of the C.O.E. should please let us know via this email address: owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net.

Thanks to everyone who helped spread the word about last week's midway, which was hosted over at History is Elementary. Visit the C.O.E.'s early archives here, later archives there, and see our latest entries here.

Next Week's Carnival will be hosted by Global Citizenship in a Virtual World. Contributors are invited to send their submissions to: gxeremio [at] gmail [dot] com , or use this handy submission form. Entries should be received no later than 9:00 PM (Eastern) 6:00 PM (Pacific) Tuesday, September 25, 2007. Please include the title of your post, and its URL, if possible. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the midway should open next Wednesday morning.

Let the free exchange of thoughts and ideas begin!

EduPolicy And EduPolicy Makers:

When it comes to EduResearch, Hube at The Colossus of Rhodey reminds us that what one sees (or wants to see) isn't necessarily what one gets.

Bill Ferriter of The Tempered Radical has sent us this piece about a first year teacher working in a high needs school that illustrates the challenge of recruiting and retaining teachers to those schools that need them the most. (With ever-high performance expectations, is it really so surprising that so many young and talented educators move-on after only a few years in the classroom?)

See what happened when one North Carolina (!) public school banned the wearing of the American Flag on students' clothing.

New York City teacher Jose Vilson lets us know in no uncertain terms that classroom teaching would be much more satisfying if everyone did their jobs. Meanwhile, NYC-based Education Notes Online awards the "Broad Prize" for destroying public education to ______.

While unpacking an editorial that appeared in the Tulsa World, Ken DeRosa of D-Ed Reckoning makes the case that poverty is no reason for poor performance. On the other side of the coin, Uncle Charley of Headfirstcolorado urges us to remember that the parents also must play their part in order to promote successful student outcomes.

Should highly-effective teachers receive higher compensation than their co-workers? Going to the Mat brings to our attention an idea that's once-again gaining strength in the mainstream media: teacher bonuses.

Would you believe rapper Kanye West as a spokesperson for Strong American Schools? Matthew K. Tabor makes us into believers!

Fourth-grade teacher La Maestra will soon be leaving the classroom to pursue a Ph.D. So she's been thinking about ways to improve the teaching craft. One idea that is out there is to fire many, if not most, public school teachers. Certification requirements would then be relaxed for those who would seek to enter the classroom. But Maestra wonders if that's really in the Craft's best interest...

Media Matters:

We predict that the upcoming CBS "reality" show Kid Nation is going to cause quite a stir out in the EduSphere. The Tiffany network is already calling it "the most talked-about show of the season." Best Practices in Education takes a hard look at what this show's impact is likely to be.

Teaching And Learning:

Should money management be taught in American high schools? Moolanomy says that it should.

Here's how to make virtual baseball-type trading cards.

Check out this fun game that helps students memorize vocabulary words. (We think that it would be best used for small-group instruction.)

The Science Goddess effectively reminds us about a most vital aspect of the grading process.

So You Want to Teach offers us 5 surefire tips for handling counterproductive student behaviors.

We find that there is just something about Ms. Teacher's place. Maybe it's that graphic or her "books I'm reading" list that has caught our eye... Anyway, Ms. Teacher has some good common-sense advice: Don't forget to forge positive relationships with students and their parents.

From The Classroom:

Isn't it funny that certain kids are always "forgetting" to bring their school books? One young football player has learned a valuable lesson: lockers aren't forever.

Measurable growth isn't just a risqué expression anymore. Mister Teacher has set himself a lofty goal indeed.

Sometimes, the desire to learn does come from the beat.

What makes for an accurate and fair teacher-generated test? Should partial credit be given? We think that The Rightwing Prof makes some good points.

What to do about students who keep trying to "borrow" the teacher's pencils? Miss! has a surefire method that's as humorous as it is practical.

Testing And Technology:

LeaderTalk asks a thought-provoking question: with all this time-saving technology at our fingertips, do we risk losing "the human touch" that is so necessary for educators? On the other hand, The Fischbowl wonders if it would be OK for a teacher to be technologically illiterate?

Here's a roundup of the 10 best Facebook applications to use and 3 that should be avoided. (Find out for yourself what "Roshambull" is...)

We agree with AlexLandis: the two-tier internet is indeed a threat.

What will they think od next? How about an accurate self-assessment of one's own learning style?

Inside This Teaching Life:

Speaking from experience, Darren of Right on the Left Coast has some definite ideas about cheaters and cheating, while Minnesota's IB a Math Teacher is about to expose a cheater that she has caught.

A question that cuts to the soul of just about every public school teacher out there: why is staff development so bad?

Mamacita shares some not-so-fond memories of those intoxicating horribly-smelling purple mimeograph machines. (One needs to be of a certain age to have truly understood that quintessentially 20th-century EduExperience.)

Parent And Student Survival Guide:

Could the high college dropout rate be due to less-than-effective high school guidance counsellors? Some food for thought...

When is young too young for somebody's daughter to be a runway model? Humbly submitted for your consideration is our entry about a young Australian girl who has entered jumped into the very grown-up world of high fashion.

Homeschoolers And Homeschooling:

Kate shares with us her reasons for homeschooling three and pre-homeschooling 3 more.

First: there was homeschooling. Then: there was unschooling. And now, we have been introduced to Radical Unschooling.

Cindy has a brief comparison of "child-led" and "interest-based" approaches to the teaching of children.

Higher Education:

Consider taking a look at 10 common-sense suggestions for getting free (or nearly free) college textbooks. (I must draw the line, however, at number #5-- "dorm dumpster diving.)

An interesting concept: college credit for life experiences.

What are the top-10 college majors? Go here and find out!

International Perspectives:

Montreal EduBlogger Siobhan Curious lets us know that late adolescents aren't just making career choices but life choices as well.

British-based Scenes From the Battleground continues to dispel the myth that state-run English schools are somehow better than their American counterparts with their latest entry.

Now here's an idea whose time has come: getting European and American schools to coordinate class credit, curricula, and calendars by 2010.

Inside The Blogs:

Who would have ever thought that the National PTA could be a shill for some giant eastern syndicate corporation? Guilty or innocent? You make the call!

Secondhand Thoughts has a great first hand idea: the presentation of an award each Wednesday.

When it comes to safeguarding the lives of students, this is what happens when a school is too slow in making a life-or-death decision.

And now the time has come for a little brain food. Or would that be food for the brain?

Is online learning right for you? The title says it all...

Here's a BIG list of online resources for self-directed learners. Enjoy.

And finally: This, like nearly all of our journeys around the EduSphere, has been both enjoyable and informative. We continue to thank all the contributors whose submissions make the midway's continuing success possible, the folks who give of their time to help spread the word, and the readers who continue to make it A Free Exchange of Thoughts and Ideas
----------------------------This week's midway is registered at TTLB's carnival roundup. See our latest EduPosts here, and the (somewhat) complete Carnival archives over there.

Exploitation?

When it comes to being fashionable, it is said that one can't be "too tall, too thin, too rich, or too young."

Until now:

A 12-year-old has caused a media frenzy after she was chosen to front one of the world's largest fashion shows.

Blonde-haired, blue-eyed Maddison Gabriel was picked as the official ambassador of Gold Coast Fashion Week in Australia and has also worn a number of revealing outfits for the Queensland event.

The country's Prime Minister John Howard strongly criticised the decision saying it was unacceptable.

He said: "Catapulting girls as young as 12 into something like that is outrageous."

Mr Howard wants Australia to follow the example of Europe and ban models younger than 16 appearing on catwalks.

"There should be age limits, I mean there has to be, we do have to preserve some notion of innocence in our society," he said.

But the 5ft 7ins youngster, who turned 13 yesterday, believed she deserved to win the modelling competition to become the 'face' of the show.


"I believe that I can fit into women's clothes. I can model women's clothes, so I should be able to do it," she said.

"It doesn't matter about age, it matters that you can do the job. Modelling is all I've wanted to do since I was six - I don't think I'm too young."

Maddison has signed an exclusive media deal and contracted an experienced celebrity agent since the furore broke.

Her mother Michelle Gabriel has defended her child's right to model and demanded an apology from the Prime Minister.

"I believe the Prime Minister is getting very doddery," she said.

"He does not know exactly what 13 and 14-year-old girls are like. I used to vote for him. We're trying to get our teenage daughters to act older. I am so happy that I've got a daughter who has got a good head on her shoulders."

And Fashion Week spokesman Kelly Wieler said Maddison was not too young.

"Maddy got in because she was the best contestant - the judges saw that she was fit to do the job."

She added that the schoolgirl would not be modelling swimwear or lingerie.

I guess that the mother's not allowing her now-13-year-old daughter to publicly display herself model swimwear or lingerie is something. It's just too bad that she doesn't seem to see a problem with the fact that her child is about to spend a significant amount of her young life in close proximity to a crowd of diet-crazed, dope-using-fast-living less-than-desirable role-models.

Worse, I think it sad that the overall trend to have our young people "grow up" ever-faster will only accelerate in this media-driven world.

Kids should be allowed to be kids.

Carnival Call!

Entries for the 137th edition of The Carnival Of Education (hosted this week by us here at the 'Wonks) are due. Please email them to: owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net . (Or, easier yet, use this handy submission form.) Submissions should be received no later than 11:00 PM (Eastern) 8:00 PM (Pacific) today. Contributions should include your site's name, the title of the post, and the post's URL if possible.

Visit last week's midway, hosted by History is Elementary, right here.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, the exhibits should open Tomorrow.
------------------------------See our latest EduPosts.

The Watcher's Council Has Spoken!

Each and every week, Watcher of Weasels sponsors a contest among posts from the Conservative side of the 'Sphere. The winning entries are determined by a jury of 12 writers (and The Watcher) known as "The Watchers Council."

The Council has met and cast their ballots for last week's submitted posts.

Council Member Entries: ‘Okie’ on the Lam received the most votes with 2001 -- Our Own Odyssey Began On 9/11.

Non-Council Entries: American Thinker finished first with Anatomy of a Tribal Revolt. ----------------------------See our latest EduPosts.

Carnival Time!

The 136th midway of The Carnival of Education (hosted this week by History is Elementary) has opened-up the midway with a roundup of EduExhibits for your EduEnjoyment.

And if you're in the mood for a little extra credit, check out the soccer edition of the Carnival of Homechooling. --------------------------See our latest entries.

Wonkitorial Comment: Six Years After 9-11

With the United States now embroiled in the quagmire of the Iraq War, let's not forget that the real mastermind behind the crimes of September 11, 2001 remains at large and is still unpunished.

Lest we forget, here's a whole set of articles devoted to tracking the movements of the porcine creature demon who's name is Legion Osama bin Laden.

EdWonk's notes to certain members of the Washington Government: Saying that the War on Terror isn't about Bin Laden is like saying that the European Theater of World War II wasn't about Adolf Hitler.

A question: why, after 6 years of so-called "war" on terror, has not one of the terrorists who were involved in the 9/11 attacks been tried, proven guilty, sentenced to death, and given the "dance party with a rope" that they have so richly deserved?

Another question for Washington's "Warriors"-on-the-Potomac: have we now reached a point where we, as a people, cannot even put proven terrorist killers to death before they end-up dying in prison of old age?

Unlike today, back in 1942, we knew exactly what to do with those who would infiltrate our country in order to commit acts of terror.

The victims of 9/11, their surviving loved ones, and every single American citizen deserve to see that justice is swiftly and sternly done to those who participated in the planning and execution of those infamous attacks.

It's high time for officials of the Washington Government to stop dilly-dallying around and get on with the job of administering it.

Carnival Entries Are Due!

Entries for the 136th edition of The Carnival Of Education (hosted this week by History is Elementary) are due. Please email them to: historyiselementary [at] mail [dot] com . (Or, easier yet, use this handy submission form.) Submissions should be received no later than 8:00 PM (Eastern) 5:00 PM (Pacific) today. Contributions should include your site's name, the title of the post, and the post's URL if possible.

Visit last week's midway, hosted by us here at the 'Wonks, right here.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, the exhibits should open Tomorrow.
------------------------------See our latest EduPosts.

The Watcher's Council Has Spoken!

Each and every week, Watcher of Weasels sponsors a contest among posts from the Conservative side of the 'Sphere. The winning entries are determined by a jury of 12 writers (and The Watcher) known as "The Watchers Council."

The Council has met and cast their ballots for last week's submitted posts.

Council Member Entries: Done With Mirrors received the most votes with Contemptible.

Non-Council Entries: Small Wars Journal took first place honors with Anatomy of a Tribal Revolt. ----------------------------See our latest EduPosts.

Our Troubled High Schools: Gang-Banging The Indy Way

The plague of student juvenile gangs continues to infest many of our public schools, with the latest incident occurring in, of all places, an Indianapolis high school:

Seven North Central High School students face gang-related charges after a fight in the school cafeteria resulted in their arrests Thursday.

According to police reports, Special Deputy Thaddeus Jones of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department noticed two large groups of males yelling "north side" and "east side" and throwing gang signs near the school cafeteria at 7:20 a.m.

Jones and Assistant Principal Will Tyler attempted to separate the students when a 16-year-old student tackled a 17-year-old student, igniting a brawl that spilled into the cafeteria.

During the fight, science teacher Martin Keltey attempted to restrain student Devin Finney, 18, and was struck by a knee from one of the fight participants, a report said. North Central Principal CE Quandt said Keltey might have suffered a scrape during the incident but was otherwise fine.

The two who started the fight stopped only after Jones threatened them with pepper spray.

Quandt said no students were injured during the fight.

He was reluctant to call the incident a gang fight but said the police told him that some of the students had gang affiliations.

"Those allegations are being made by the police, not the high school," he said. "We're not prosecutors; we're educators."

Quandt said he had spoken to the parents of some of the arrested students and said they were disappointed in their children's actions but didn't believe they were involved in gangs.

Quandt said he doesn't believe North Central has a gang problem but said the school knows that some students are purported to be members of gangs.

"When you walk around school, you don't see kids throwing gang signs or wearing the clothes. . . . We don't allow it," he said.

IMPD Sgt. Paul Thompson said Jones' report was vague regarding the possible gang affiliations, and the Metro Gang Task Force hadn't been notified of the incident. Thompson said the task force hoped to talk to Jones on Monday.

Raphael Alberto, 19, Finney and four juvenile students were charged with criminal gang activity, battery with injury and disorderly conduct. Another student was charged with criminal gang activity, battery on a school official, battery and disorderly conduct.

All seven were taken to the Arrestee Processing Center. Because the juveniles were charged with criminal gang activity, they were held at the Marion County Jail with the two adults. They have since been released.

At least three others were involved in the fight, authorities said, but managed to leave the scene before they were identified or arrested.
Quandt said a video camera in the cafeteria was not working when the altercation took place.

Michal Sunderman, whose granddaughter attends North Central, said she was concerned about the incident and has seen what she believes to be gang activity near the school. But she said she doesn't fear for her granddaughter's safety.

"It's not surprising that there are gangs here," she said outside the school Friday. "It's sad, really."

Indeed, it is sad "that there are gangs here" in our nation's public schools.

Sadder still, Principal Quandt seems to be "in denial" about the problem within his school's student population.

One gang fight is one too many.

In order to maximize their learning potential, students must feel safe.

Therefore, schools must be the one place in our students' lives where they do feel absolutely safe and protected.

Any students individuals who engage in violence (or even threats of violence) towards other students (or school employees) need to be removed from the general school population.

Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire: A "Gotta Have?"

A book with a title like that is just begging to be bought.

Australian educator Murray Bourne liked it while Teacher Magazine's Howard Good didn't.

Heh. Maybe some kind-hearted soul will buy a couple of copies and leave them in our teacher's lounge.

I won't hold my breath.

World's Dumbest College Students?

Not everyone who goes to college is smart: (emphasis ours)

A pair of freshmen at Northeastern University learned a tough lesson before classes even started this semester, when one of them allegedly leaned out the window of his dormitory and yelled something regrettable in earshot of plainclothes police officers.

"If you're looking for weed, my roommate Ferrante has some for sale," Michael R. Emery yelled, according to Jake Wark, a spokesman for the Suffolk district attorney's office.

The sales pitch, allegedly made Sunday to a fellow student shouting from a second-floor window at the Hemenway Street residence hall, landed Emery, 18, and his roommate, Matthew J. Ferrante, 18, in a lot of trouble. After their room was searched and officers allegedly found marijuana, smoking accessories and liquor, the pair was arrested, arraigned, and apparently thrown out of school.

"I can tell you that they are no longer students here at Northeastern," said Laura Shea, a school spokeswoman, who declined to comment further.

According to a statement from prosecutors, police went to the second floor of the dormitory after hearing Emery yell and found the door open. In plain view was a bottle of Grey Goose vodka, a shot glass, and a plastic baggie of marijuana, officials said. The officers knocked and identified themselves to Emery, of Haverhill, and Ferrante, of North Andover.

As they spoke to the teens, police spotted another bag of marijuana and a glass pipe, the district attorney's office said.

The officers read the students their rights and received permission to search the room, according to the release. The search yielded eight small bags of marijuana, a larger bag containing three to four ounces of marijuana, hundreds of clear plastic baggies, and a digital scale, the DA's statement said.

The officers also found a grinder, a bong, $1,045 in cash, bottles of of liquor, and a vaporizer, a device that uses heat to release marijuana's intoxicating chemicals but does not burn the plant, officials said.

Outside the window of their room, the students had rigged a pulley system that had been designed to raise and lower items from the room directly overhead. It was not immediately known how the students were using the pulley system, prosecutors said.

Emery and Ferrante were arraigned Tuesday in Roxbury District Court and charged with possession of a class D substance with intent to distribute in a school zone, possession of alcohol by a minor, and conspiracy to violate the state's drug laws. The teens were released without bail and are to return to court Oct. 24.

"It is dispiriting that these young men would take so cavalierly an education that so many young people across the state that play by the rules can't afford," Wark said.

A message left at Emery's parents' home was not returned. Reached by phone yesterday at his parents' home in North Andover, Ferrante said: "I do not want to talk about it."

I feel sorry for the parents of these two dumbasses youngsters.

Alive Day

According to NBC news, if one survives being "blown-up" in Iraq, that day forever becomes one's "Alive Day."

This Sunday evening, HBO is set to broadcast a documentary called Alive Day Memories: Home From Iraq hosted by James Gandolfini. (Yes, that James Gandolfini) Read more about it here and there.

I think that some of this might be good to share with students, (especially at the high school level) but it might be best to edit the material for content and language.

The Carnival Of Education: Week 135

Welcome to the midway of the 135th Carnival of Education!

Here's the very latest roundup of entries from around the EduSphere. Unless clearly labeled otherwise, all entries this week were submitted by the writers themselves.

Folks interested in hosting an edition of the C.O.E. should please let us know via this email address: owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net.

Thanks to everyone who helped spread the word about last week's midway, which was hosted over at Matthew K. Tabor's place. Visit the C.O.E.'s archives here and see our latest entries there.

Next Week's Carnival will be hosted by History Is Elementary. Contributors are invited to send their submissions to: historyiselementary [at] mail [dot] com, or use this handy submission form. Entries should be received no later than 8:00 PM (Eastern) 5:00 PM (Pacific) Tuesday, September 11, 2007. Please include the title of your post, and its URL, if possible. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the midway should open next Wednesday morning.

Let the free exchange of thoughts and ideas begin!

Edupolicy and EduPolicy Makers:

Joanne Jacobs has the news that Maryland is moving to an "all day" kindergarten program while over at the Nerd Family, the NerdMom is considering the possibility that the state of Maryland may be playing the "low expectations" game.

Here's one entry whose very title (yet alone content) will provoke thought: "Everything We Know Is Wrong - Part One: Education Is Fatal." Agree or disagree, you make the call!

Who is responsible for pupil progress? Is it teachers, parents, or students? Teacher Bill Ferriter over at TLN takes on this most central of issues to the education profession.

What limits, if any, should students have on their 1st amendment right to free speech when not on school grounds? Greg over at Rhymes With Right has the shocking details of a federal court ruling that curtails what students can and cannot say about their teachers and fellow pupils even when not on campus.

After pointing-out that in California, some teachers may be considered to be "highly qualified" even if they are interns and have not yet earned their teaching credential, math teacher Darren wants to know who is behind a lawsuit that accuses the state of mis-representing what "highly qualified" means.

In this post-NCLB world, California's public schools must satisfy two different measurements of student progress: state and federal. Friends of Dave posits that state superintendent Jack O'Connell should rethink the state standard in favor of an altogether different method of measuring schools' effectiveness.

Not all EduPolitics is local, but most is and Education Notes Online is calling out the New York Times on its coverage of New York City's school chancellor, Joel Klein.

Teaching and Learning:

Tom Kim passes on to us some thoughts by Parker Palmer about what makes for good teaching.

It's comforting to learn that even though our brains' processing speeds may slow down with age, the ole 'thinking machine develops a very effective work around to compensate.

Inside This Teaching Life:

See Mamacita-the-21-year-old teacher. See Mamacita on her first day in the classroom. See what happened when Mamacita-the-teacher went into the wrong restroom by mistake.

Ms. Cornelius of A Shrewdness of Apes sent some chills down my spine with this timely entry about common teacher nightmares. (We heartily recommend that all teachers read this book by Sigmund Freud.)

Just when we thought that the buzz over female teachers who have sexual relationships with their male students was about to die down a bit, a well-known hamburger chain (who should have known better) has embarked on a national ad-campaign that might have been better left on the shelf. (Be sure to follow the link to the ad at the end of the post.)

New York City teacher Jose Vilson takes issue with a recent Village Voice article that equated the first year's service of many City teachers with those from the classic movie "Blackboard Jungle."

California middle school history teacher Polski3 is looking for some advice: how can he coordinate his teaching with other members of his department without the use of restrictive pacing guides and "scripted" lessons?

New York math teacher JD2718 takes us back into time with the first instance that JD was mandated to use calculators in the classroom. (Sometimes, resistance is not futile!)

While responding to one EduBlogger's "wish list" of much-needed hypothetical high school classes, the "30plusteacher" adds some thoughts of her own but from a very different viewpoint.

Oh no! The helicopter mother has landed! (Let's keep our heads down lest they get taken-off by the rotors...)

The first day of school is like major-league baseball's spring training: all things seem possible. IB a Math Teacher let's us take a peek at his students' first-day antics.

Classroom Follies:

Ms. Teacher reminds us that when it comes to kids, they still say the darndest things. (With apologies to Art Linkletter.)

The Science Goddess gives us the skinny on the advice that some first graders have for incoming kindergartners while reminding us to not forget the grown-ups.

Lesson Ideas:

Rightwing Prof has an irresistible "real-life" math problem for his college students: construct a cost/benefit simulation based upon the fines imposed on students for parking violations.

Now here's an novel take on an old classroom concern: Chewing bubble gum as a science experiment.

Remember taking a caterpillar into the classroom and watching it metamorphize into a butterfly?

Terrell of Alone on a Limb lets us see how powerful guest speakers can be when they come into our classrooms by taking us on a trip down memory lane. (I would like to read more about Mr. Barton and see more about the injured heron.)

Home school blogger Jocelyn is inviting readers to participate in an online States/Country Exploration each Thursday by becoming part of a "State Education School."

John Park is electronically building Leonardo de Vinci's machines and automata. You can see one right here.

Parent and Student Survival Guide:

Just when I thought that I had seen it all, I get something like this: Now students are being told to intentionally make typographical errrors errors on their college applications.

Home schooler Henry Cate reinforces the importance of educating our children.

Humbly submitted for your consideration is our entry about the Arizona school that suspended an eighth-grader for drawing a picture of a gun.

Higher Education:

When it comes to choosing a college or university, Mark Montgomery reminds us that the content of the book doesn't necessarily match the presentation that one may find on its E-cover.

Meanwhile, Alan Gottlieb speculates about a relatively new sub-species of caring adults that may be found on high school and college campuses all over the country: helicopter parents.

Even though this list of "top ranking" colleges and universities held few surprises, the accompanying list of least student debt did have some most interesting surprises.

The Collegiate Way considers the 10th anniversary of Diana Spencer-Windsor's untimely death and how some in the academic world responded to the tragedy.

International Perspectives:

The British edubloggers over at Scenes From The Battlefield don't think that the formulation public education policy should be in the hands of bean counters bankers but in those of politicians who should be given more power instead!

Even though school has just started, Israeli teacher Muse already has a pile of papers to grade... (Some things are common to teachers the world over!)

Resources:

Larry Ferlazzo has a mission: he works to find web sites that are useful in the teaching of English as a second language. In a recent post, he praises the efforts of "Awesome Stories."

Inside The EduBlogs:

Last week's C.O.E. host, Matthew K. Tabor, has some very readable thoughts on the nature of edublogging and those who are critical of the same.

And now some states are randomly testing their school athletes for steroid use. Sad.

If you were young and suddenly found yourself in possession of a large sum of money, would spending it on a college education necessarily be the best use of the windfall? The Dough Roller was presented with just such a choice.

Here's a review of A Class Apart by Alec Klein.

And finally: This, like nearly all of our journeys around the EduSphere, has been both enjoyable and informative. We continue to thank all the contributors whose submissions make the midway's continuing success possible, the folks who give of their time to help spread the word, and the readers who continue to make it A Free Exchange of Thoughts and Ideas.
----------------------------This midway is registered at TTLB's carnival roundup. See our latest EduPosts here, and the (somewhat) complete Carnival archives over there.

More Zero-Tolerance Lunacy?

When I was a boy, many of us would draw pictures featuring soldiers, cowboys, Indians, and even cops and robbers.

Many of these sketches featured characters using weapons ranging from pistols and sub-machine guns to aircraft dropping atomic bombs on a well-deserving enemy.

To us, it was normal.

But things have changed.

Apparently, boys drawing guns are no longer considered "normal" behavior in Arizona's Chandler Junior High School:

After an eighth-grader was suspended for drawing a picture of a gun on an assignment paper, angry parents are questioning whether the Chandler Unified School District went too far with its zero-tolerance policy.

The Payne Junior High eighth-grader, along with another student, was suspended Monday for five days for the drawing. Parents Paula and Ben Mosteller were able to get the suspension reduced to three days after meeting with school officials.

The uproar over the drawing, which the student turned in with a school assignment and contended was just a doodle, cuts to the question of what constitutes a "threat."

Craig Gilbert, Chandler director of secondary education, said there is a range of punishment that administrators can hand down for "implied threats," ranging from a parent conference to suspension and expulsion.

"(School administrators) would determine what the situation is and the consequence," Gilbert said.

He confirmed that a second student also was suspended in connection with the incident but would not go into detail because of student-privacy laws.

Paula Mosteller told the Associated Press she could not believe her son received a suspension for a drawing: "I just can't believe that there wasn't another way to resolve this."

Several parents at the school, which includes students from Chandler, Gilbert and Queen Creek, were surprised to hear about the suspension Tuesday.

"I understand the zero-tolerance policy, but this is taking it a little too far. It's just a drawing. My daughter draws," Rob DeMarco of Gilbert said about his seventh-grader.

Susan Rethoret of Queen Creek agreed: "They overreacted."

But Tom Hendrickson of Chandler said the suspension was warranted because of increased concern these days over school security.

Parents can appeal a suspension of 10 days or more to a district hearing officer, said district spokesman Terry Locke, but for anything less, the school principal has the final word.

Payne Principal Karen Martin did not return a phone call seeking comment.

The public often does not have access to the full story when it comes to student discipline because of privacy laws. School officials have put the sketch in question into the student's file, which is not open to the public. And because school officials did not call the police, there is no public police record.

The Payne Junior High Student Handbook states that "possession or threatening use of any weapon, real or simulated, is strictly prohibited." Punishment includes "conference, expulsion, mandatory police report."

The district would not elaborate on how the policy was applied in this case.

"Federal privacy laws forbid discussing student discipline," Locke said.

The Mostellers, however, said they plan to take the issue before the Chandler governing board, which has a public meeting Aug. 29.

In the past, board members have overruled disciplinary decisions that involved suspensions of more than 10 days, board member Annette Auxier said.

"We're more than glad to listen to them," Auxier said. "It has happened in past, three or four incidents when parents were displeased. It wouldn't be the first."

There are 985 students in Grades 6-8 at Payne Junior High, a Chandler Unified school in Queen Creek. Earlier this month, Martin sent a letter home to parents about an unrelated incident involving a student having a gun, which police investigated and found to be false.

As of this writing, there's been no further news as to whether or not the board has reversed the suspension.

Hammering Around

Who would have thought that, of all people, MC Hammer would be hanging around on Blogspot?

Guess there must be some truth to all that stuff I've been hearing in the MSM about "Citizen Journalism."

And isn't that as it should be?

Carnival Entries Are Due!

Entries for the 135th edition of The Carnival Of Education (hosted this week by us here at the 'Wonks) are due. Please email them to: owlshome [at] gmail [dot] com . (Or, easier yet, use this handy submission form.) Submissions should be received no later than 11:00 PM (Eastern) 8:00 PM (Pacific) today. Contributions should include your site's name, the title of the post, and the post's URL if possible.

Visit last week's midway, hosted by Matthew K. Tabor, right here.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, the exhibits should open Tomorrow.
------------------------------See our latest EduPosts.

The Watcher's Council Has Spoken!

Each and every week, Watcher of Weasels sponsors a contest among posts from the Conservative side of the 'Sphere. The winning entries are determined by a jury of 12 writers (and The Watcher) known as "The Watchers Council."

The Council has met and cast their ballots for last week's submitted posts.

Council Member Entries: Big Lizards received the most votes with NYT: Analogies Are Meaningless (Unless They Favor the Left).

Non-Council Entries: The Dissident Frogman took first place honors with Like a Suppository, Only a Bit Stronger.
----------------------------See our latest EduPosts.