Saturday, June 25, 2005

WACKY STEINER/WALDORF SCHOOL COMES UNDER SCRUTINY

The theories underlying the school's methods are pretty wacky and mystical but that ensures heavy committment to the process by both parents and teachers. And teacher enthusiasm and committment will make almost any system work. So such schools are probably a good thing on balance. But it should be parents deciding that -- not the government

The Sacramento County Office of Education has challenged the "unique" approach to teaching by a Sacramento City Unified school, raising questions about whether unconventional educational methods can fit into a public school system increasingly shaped by state and federal testing programs. The Sacramento City Unified School District put Waldorf teaching methods in place at John Morse school in south Sacramento in 1998, and the district now has before it a plan to create a small high school dedicated to that same educational philosophy. Waldorf's approach is built on theories that say students should begin their education with play and imagination, and build into academic training in later grades. Waldorf schools incorporate music, art and movement into teaching. Students begin learning to read by listening to stories and acting them out - and don't actually start working with letters and sounds until the middle of first grade.

But in a scathing three-page letter to the Sacramento City Unified School District, county education officials say the "unique curriculum and educational philosophy" at John Morse have put it in direct conflict with state laws that dictate how, when and what public-school children learn. John Morse school "provides limited access to textbooks in the early grades and does not use the instructional materials otherwise adopted by the local governing board," county Superintendent David Gordon wrote after a team from his office audited the school. Textbooks required by law were lacking in almost every grade and almost every subject, Gordon said.

And the school teaches California's academic standards at a different pace than the state requires - more than half the state's English standards for kindergarten are not addressed at John Morse until first or second grade, Gordon found. Several standards for fourth grade are not taught until seventh grade. The pattern is evident at each grade.....

The school's principal argues that making John Morse more like most public schools - with a heavy focus on math and reading - would take away the reason parents choose it. "Nobody has ever questioned the issue of whether textbooks are the most effective method of instruction," Principal Cheryl Eining said. "Having spent 30 years in public education, I've seen a lot of children who had textbooks and were still not learning." ....

John Morse is not a charter school. But most public Waldorf schools in California are - about 17 Waldorf charters operate around the state. Maria Lopez, Sacramento City spokeswoman, said the district has not considered transforming John Morse into a charter because parents have not requested it. The district first embraced Waldorf 10 years ago by creating a program at Oak Ridge Elementary School. Some parents objected, saying it was too unorthodox and focused too much on myths and spirituality. It was moved to John Morse in 1998.

The question of whether Waldorf education contains a religious element has not gone away. Sacramento City Unified faces a September trial in federal court defending public funding of Waldorf schools against allegations that the program is religious.

Central to the educational approach formed in 1919 by Rudolf Steiner is the idea that students should not learn academic skills before they are neurologically ready, said Betty Staley, who taught in Waldorf schools for 25 years and now instructs teachers in the method at Rudolf Steiner College in Fair Oaks. "We're interested in children being healthy and loving learning," she said. "How we determine which skills should be taught at which age is based on developmental psychology."

Staley said Waldorf students ease into academics in the early grades but face a rigorous program by the time they reach middle and high school. That pattern is clear in test scores at John Morse. In math and English, Morse students score below their peers in Sacramento City Unified and statewide in second and third grade. But by fifth grade, they outperform them in reading and by sixth grade are ahead of other students in math.

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Almost 10,000 pupils expelled as violence against teachers escalates in dysfunctional British schools

Expulsions from schools are running at their highest for five years, government figures showed yesterday. Violence and threats against pupils and teachers accounted for almost half of the 9,880 expulsions last year, the Department for Education and Skills reported. Assaults also resulted in 85,000 suspensions from school in 2003-04. In all, 200,000 pupils were issued with 344,510 suspensions, with a hard core of 1,500 youngsters receiving at least eight each.

Ministers asked schools for the first time this year to say why they had excluded children. Persistent disruptive behaviour was given as the biggest single reason, leading to 3,040 expulsions and almost 91,000 suspensions. Attacks on pupils led to 1,720 expulsions and 69,020 suspensions. Assaults on adults also caused heads to exclude pupils in 17,000 cases. Verbal abuse and threatening behaviour by pupils resulted in 1,500 expulsions and 89,000 suspensions. Bullying led to 150 children being expelled and 6,750 suspended. Drug and alcohol-related incidents led to 610 expulsions, 6 per cent of the total, and 12,250 suspensions. Schools expelled 140 children for sexual misconduct and issued 3,080 suspensions.

The 6 per cent increase in overall expulsions comes at a time of heightened concern among parents and teachers about unruly behaviour. A government task force set up by Ruth Kelly, the Education Secretary, to recommend ways of strengthening discipline met for the first time this week. Jacqui Smith, the School Standards Minister, said that there was no doubt that behaviour was causing concern in some schools. The Government was committed to a “zero-tolerance approach . . . on everything from backchat to bullying or violence”.

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EVEN THE UC CAN'T MAKE A SILK PURSE OUT OF A SOW'S EAR

The nation needs to "move toward another kind of affirmative action, one in which the emphasis is on opportunity and the goal is educational equity in the broadest possible sense," said Richard Atkinson, president emeritus of the University of California (UC) system, as he delivered the third annual Nancy Cantor Lecture on Intellectual Diversity May 18 in Rackham Auditorium...

Atkinson described ways in which UC responded to both the resolution by its board of regents in 1995 banning affirmative action in admissions, and Proposition 209 that outlawed its use in employment.

In its effort to maintain a diverse student community, UC reoriented outreach programs once targeted for underrepresented minorities to focus on low-performing high schools in order to qualify more African American, Latino and Native American students who are disproportionately represented in those schools; changed standardized admission test requirements to shift emphasis from aptitude tests to achievement tests; instituted comprehensive review of admissions applications; created a new path to admissions called Eligibility in Local Context, which made the top-performing 4 percent of each high school eligible for UC; and expanded transfer programs from community colleges.

There have been some positive results from these efforts, Atkinson reported. For instance, the percentage of underrepresented minorities in the UC system has begun to recover from a low point after the passage of Proposition 209.

"We have also increased the number and proportion of students from low-performing high schools, and the use of comprehensive review has created an admissions process that is fairer to students. Yet, if we look at enrollment overall, racial and ethnic diversity at the University of California is in great trouble," Atkinson said. "In 1995, UC Berkeley and UCLA enrolled 469 African Americans in a combined freshman class of 7,100. In 2004, the number was 218 out of 7,350.

"Despite enormous efforts, we have failed badly to achieve the goal of a student body that encompasses California's diverse population."

More here

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL schools should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the poor and minimal regulation.

The NEA and similar unions worldwide believe that children should be thoroughly indoctrinated with Green/Left, feminist/homosexual ideology but the "3 R's" are something that kids should just be allowed to "discover"


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