Shut the door, lock and latch it

 Shut the door, lock and latch it!

 

Quickly- lock the doors to the schools, here comes COVID with a brand new hachet.  Keep all the kids out!  Keep the teachers home!  Damn the lack of learning, damn the mental health issues, damn the social/emotional damage.  The virus is coming, the virus is coming AGAIN

The news is full of worry about the positivity rate of the newest variant of the Covid 19 virus.  Yes it is bad, and could be better if everyone would get vaccinated but they won’t and some kids can’t.  So the solution of some schools and school systems seems to be to go back to virtual learning- which could be the world’s greatest oxymoron since “common sense”. The Maryland State Board of Education is STRONGLY opposing whole school systems moving to virtual learning. In spite of that,  Prince George’s County schools made the decision to make the move to total virtual learning  before the winter break until mid-January.  The Maryland State Superintendent of Schools reminded school systems of the huge loss to kids when they are not in school. Maryland state-wide tests scores absolutely crashed this past fall in spite of local superintendents telling us how wonderful kids were doing on virtual learning.  The Baltimore County superintendent told staff and students to take home portable devices “just in case” the county schools go to virtual learning after the winter break.  Baltimore City schools have delayed coming back from the break for two days to give them a chance to test all students and staff.

So why shouldn’t we be safe and send the kids home again.  Well I guess that depends on how you define safe.

Let’s start with the most obvious.  Safe from illness.  With teachers being vaccinated or required to be tested negative before being in school, their chances of serious illness are low.  Every winter schools are hit with a bad batch of flu cases and life goes on.  What about the students who aren’t vaccinated?  First of all, if they are over five, they should be.  Let’s do clinics in schools and get the kids vaccinated.  Oh wait I forgot, that is government overreach?  Are the kids vaccinated against smallpox, measles, mumps, polio and other childhood diseases?  Yep they are but that was when we protected kids with science not politics.  If kids and staff stay in school, some will get sick.  And if kids and staff stay out of school, some will get sick because they will not be locked in their homes.

What about the other definitions of safe?   Is it safe for kids to lose another partial or whole year of learning?  How long will it take them to catch up with that?  Is it safe for more high school kids to drop out lured by the hot $15 an hour jobs currently available for people with or without a high school diploma?  What will happen to those kids next year or the year after that?

And then there is mental health.  We already know from last year’s “virtual learning”, that students suffered serious mental health depression ranging from anger to suicidal thoughts.   Schools are struggling to manage this new found aggression that is showing up not only in schools but on airplanes when people are asked to mask up.   People, including children, are feeling impotent and angry.  Another virtual school situation will not make that better.

The winter flu has been with us for multiple years.   Might just happen that some variation on the theme of flu/COVID virus might be around for a long time as well.  We can run but we can’t hide, and it will be a lot better for kids if we stop doing both

Where Have all the Children gone?

 Where Have all the Children Gone?

 

All across Maryland school districts are reporting a big drop in school enrollment.  The deficits are most notable in the lower grades where the thought it that kids are in private schools or being home schooled.   It is the upper high school grades that are most concerning.

When the pandemic hit most public school systems went virtual. Private schools were not so quick to follow.   Some children and their families immediately saw that virtual schooling would not work for their children.  Public schools are learning that now as fall state testing scores have plummeted beyond that seen in 2019 when the scores were already pretty bad.  

Families who place their children in private schools are finding that their budgets can sustain that enrollment and that they are happy with the safety of the environment and more attention to their children.  At the same time, public schools are experiencing a huge uptick in physical aggression and even violence that would not exactly draw families back to them.   These children and their families care about education and the loss of their advocacy is another loss for public schools.

The decrease in high school students is more troublesome.  Many of those kids may never return to school.  The data seem to be that they are not in private schools nor are they being home-schooled.  Too many of these kids are out of the system for good.  The lack of entry level staff in retail and food service has proved to be fertile ground for these young people to snare those $15 an hour jobs that seem like a big deal to them.   They do not have the perception to understand that a job that seems great at 17 may not be so hot at 27 or even 37, and without a high school diploma, let alone college, their future is not very bright.

Then there is the rise of home-schooling to consider.   It appears that there are two large demographics that are very much into home schooling.  One is families on the religious right and/or very conservative politically.  They do not want their children influenced by what they see as a radical liberal agenda that is taking over the curriculum in public schools.   Well educated families of Black children are also flocking to the home-schooling movement.   They are working to protect their children from the implied or explicit racism they see in the public schools where it is not uncommon for administrators to tell parents that bullying is a part of life- adjust!

The movement away from public schools is unfortunate on multiple levels.   One of the great benefits of a universal public school system is the opportunity to get to know other kids who live outside of our own bubble.  So conservative thinking students get to hear their views challenged rather than live in an echo chamber.  The same if true for students growing up in very left wing thinking families.  People (and students ARE people) need to have their views challenged and changed or not.

African-American kids should not be bullied in school.  Nor should they be exposed to racism.  But like all kids, it is good for them to know and maybe even be friends with kids who are different from them.  And the white kids in those public schools need to know Black kids who are much more like them than different.  

In the end, the loss of enrollment in public schools is bad in lots of ways.  Last year, Maryland did not punish public schools by reducing funding for decreased enrollment.  That won’t happen this year, so schools will lose money.

The children are losing enriching experiences.

Where have all the children gone?  Gone to safer spaces almost everyone, there’s lots of work to be done if public schools want them back.

Tell me again why we do these tests?

 Tell Me Again Why We do These Tests?

 

Every year the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) requires that all students are tested annually for proficiency in English Language Arts (ELA) and math. These latest tests are called MCAP.  It is not altogether clear what the point of these tests is since the results that are shared are summative and don’t provide any diagnostic data for teachers.  Even in previous better years, the scores were nothing to brag about.

This past fall, more than 92% of Maryland’s public school students took the tests.  The preliminary results are in and only 35% of test takers met or exceeded expectations in ELA.  The situation was worse in math where only 15% met or exceeded expectations.  There is no question but that the extended “online not much instruction going on” contributed to these very disappointing outcomes.  But let’s be honest here, before the pandemic, we were looking at 43.7% for ELA and 33% for math.  Hardly stellar when more than half of the students taking the test fell significantly below grade level.

As usual the dismal results yielded wonderful political talk about we were going to use these data to “seize the moment” to improve education in Maryland.  Everyone reiterated our commitment to bright futures and better results.  We will continue to throw billions- yes, billions- of dollars toward public education without a plan or process for better results other than increasing teachers’ salaries.  Oh yes, I forgot, we are going to implement “evidence based strategies” as well.   What exactly have we been doing the last 150 years if not implementing “evidence based strategies”.  The problem is that the evidence keeps shifting and changing and so do our instructional methods.  This time we are going to add the “fierce dedication of our State’s talented and skilled teachers and school leaders”.   So up until now we haven’t done that?

We really haven’t learned much from these tests that we didn’t already know.  Kids lost a tremendous amount of learning during the online non-learning experiences. 

Why haven’t we implemented differentiated instruction that teaches children differently based on how they learn rather than the way we want to teach advocated by the latest and greatest research?   Why haven’t we thrown out the pacing guides and moved at the pace of learning for each child?   Why haven’t we stopped wasting teaching and learning time by giving these tests?

These are preliminary results.  Final results will be released at the end of January.  Final results won’t be much different.  There will be more fine words thrown at the issue.  We will call on all teachers to become even MORE fiercely dedicated as if the issue were dedication rather than instructional skill.  And we will throw more money at the problem and be here again next year.  

Tell me again why we give these tests?

Are schools becoming more violent ?

 Are Schools Becoming More Violent?

 

On the one hand, there have been 24 incidents of violence involving a weapon in public schools as of the beginning of December resulting in 40 deaths or injuries.   These data roughly parallel the number of incidents in 2018 and 2019.   They also seem to be reflective of national homicide rates in the general community for 2020, at a time when other types of crimes are going down.  Americans also are buying more guns and guns enable people to kill people.  More people are carrying weapons and using them when they get angry.

The global pandemic has exacerbated the risk factors for violence in general.  Loneliness, isolation, and economic instability all contribute to violence.

There are two arguments on how to manage school violence.   One is to institute more counseling.  Making sure that kids connect with at least one faculty member in a meaningful way so the child feels “seen” by staff.  Take police out of school buildings.

The other argument is to add fences, metal detectors, arm teachers and bring in more school security officers.

In the most recent tragedy, there was a school resource officer (SRO) in the building.  He just didn’t happen to be in the part of the building where the shooter was.   Everyone seems to be in agreement that first responders responded quickly and took control.  Still four people are dead and multiple others are wounded.  The student shooter was aided and abetted by his parents and school personnel who didn’t take needed action.

The two polar points of how to address this situation are not mutually exclusive.  Children need to feel seen in a school.  There needs to be at least one person in every child’s school life who really knows and cares about the child.

However, that does not mean school rules are not enforced.  Little misbehaviors and other warning signs need to address promptly and not ignored because they won’t go away.  Instead, they will go to big problems.

The police refer to “hygiene” crimes like public urination, breaking a window, or being drunk on the street.  Some jurisdictions do not want to “give someone a criminal record” for these minor offenses.  In a school, a student might bully other students or “accidently” bump into someone.  A student might use profanity in class.   Or perhaps makes comments or drawings depicting violence.   When these instances happen, they should NOT be ignored.  If they are ignored, they will rapidly grow from little nuisances to seriously large problems.  Teachers and administrators are tired.  So are parents.  Kids probably are too.  But if the people in charge do not find the energy to put out the brush fires, don’t be surprised when there is a forest fire and people are dead.