ASCD Inservice

ASCD Author Is Montana Teacher of the Year

Congratulations to Steve Gardiner, ASCD author and recently announced 2007 Montana Teacher of the Year!

Gardiner teaches English, newspaper, and yearbook and coaches cross-country at Senior High in Billings, Montana. According to the Billings Gazette, the 29-year veteran teacher "never intended to teach English. It was his least favorite subject until college, when four literature professors passed on a love of reading, writing, and publishing that has now become his life." Gardiner shares his passion for adventure and reading on his Web site, www.readandrun.com.

Browse Steve's ASCD book, Building Student Literacy Through Sustained Silent Reading.

Most-Clicked: Parents Say Stay the Course

Last week's most-clicked SmartBrief news story:

Most parents don't see need to advance math, science curricula (EdWeek, free to SmartBrief subscribers)

According to a new report from Public Agenda, while education experts and business leaders clamor for more rigor in math and science courses, most parents and students are content with the current level of instruction in these subjects. The study raises concerns, particularly among industry leaders, that schools will graduate students underprepared for work in emerging technologies.

Is this study cause for alarm? Do math and science courses need an upgrade?

EdBlog Watch: Common Ground

As a program director for Teach for America in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, Jessica Shyu supports and trains new teachers. She can relate, having just finished teaching for two years herself in the Navajo Nation in New Mexico. Shyu brings these multiple perspectives to her blog New Terrain, featured on the Web site of Teacher Magazine.

Shyu recently surveyed colleagues on the questions "why do teachers stay . . . and what can schools do to encourage teachers to stay?" Reading the many replies will be enlightening for all educators, regardless of their role. Another interesting post discusses education issues raised during the recent Democratic CNN/YouTube debate, in particular the question of whether the candidates' children attended public or private schools.

Submitted by David Snyder, a reference librarian in ASCD's Information Resource Center. EdBlog Watch also appears in the ASCD Express newsletter.

My Back Pages: Principals Face Historic Challenges

In October 1955, principals in U.S. schools were preparing to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, which held that segregated schools were unconstitutional. In the pages of Educational Leadership, Galen N. Drewry offered advice to leaders facing this challenge.

Read the article: The Principal Faces Desegregation (PDF)

Teachers as Leaders

The Perspectives column for the September EL on Teachers as Leaders asks,

What is standing in the way of training and acknowledging more teacher leaders?

The September issue discusses how to engage teachers by playing to the strength of their classroom expertise and addresses the benefits of teacher leadership, necessary conditions for success, and obstacles to achieving the goal.

We want to know what’s happening with teacher leadership in your school. What do you believe is standing in the way of more teachers assuming leadership at school?

LEAP Calls on Whole Communities

“We need to want for all children what we want for our own children,” stated Hugh Price, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute and co-chair of the Whole Child compact, as the first general session speaker at ASCD's 2007 LEAP conference in Washington, D.C. Addressing the subject of too many children being turned off by what today’s schools are offering, Price suggested looking at other successful educators of young people to see how they're accomplishing their goals.

“Communities have to step up,” asserts Price, “if church leaders, for example, were to champion literacy the way they tackled civil rights issues, we could solve our literacy problems.” Citing that the Pentagon and the U.S. military spend more money on human training and professional development than any other organization, Price indicated that perhaps we, as educators, can learn from them.

What do you think?  What groups make good models for whole child education?

Submitted by Newsletters & Special Publications Director Carole Hayward.

Most-Clicked: Teachers Are It in Pitt

Last week's most-clicked story from ASCD's SmartBrief:

Teachers key in affecting pupils' success (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

A recent study reports that, in Pittsburgh, students with good teachers are more likely to succeed. "In Pittsburgh, the teachers who are successful are successful with black kids and white kids," said study leader Robert P. Strauss, a professor of economics and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University.

While a huge achievement gap persists, in light of this study, what are the next steps for Pittsburgh schools?

Title IX at 35

1972: Laura Blears Ching is the first woman to compete against men in a surfing meet; the Boston Marathon changes its rules to allow female racers and Nina Kuscik finishes ahead of all women and 800 men; Billie Jean King is the first recipient of Sports Illustrated's Sportswoman of the Year award; and the Mighty Macs of Immaculata College win the first of three straight national titles in the first-ever women's college basketball season to culminate with an official national championship.

It was also the year that Title IX was signed into law.

2007 marks the 35th anniversary of Title IX. If you have a story about how Title IX affected your education experience or your experience as an education professional--either through academics or athletics--please leave a comment. In December, ASCD's Education Update newsletter will weigh the ongoing challenges and achievements of maintaining gender equity in school programs.

Photo Source: SI.com

Most-Clicked: Teachers Criticize AP Audit

Last week's most-clicked ASCD SmartBrief news item:

Auditors Rejecting AP Course Syllabuses (Washington Post, free registration)

This year, the College Board is conducting its first quality-control audit of high school AP programs. According to the Post, many AP teachers are frustrated with the process so far. The Post cites a potential conflict of interests between AP teachers and auditors--typically introductory-course college professors who stand to lose students to the AP courses they're auditing and who can be skeptical of AP teachers' abilities to meet college coursework standards. College Board officials maintain that the audit is beneficial, both for AP teachers and their auditors. Some teachers agree but add that past student achievement on the AP exam and in college should be considered in course evaluations.

What's your stance? Is the AP audit helpful or hamstrung by inconsistencies and red tape?

EdBlog Watch: Learning Incentives

Education Week has built an impressive stable of blogs that cover education from a variety of angles. A veteran member of the group is Motivation Matters, written by assistant managing editor Kevin Bushweller. As the title suggests, Bushweller covers the issue of motivation in a way that's compelling and informative, drawing on a broad range of news and online discussion as well as personal experience.