Closing the Racial Gap in Education?

Another story that could have extended fallout... With the recalibration of test scores, the (surprising?) news that the achievement gap has not been closing as reported...

Triumph Fades on Racial Gap in City Schools (NYTimes)

By SHARON OTTERMAN and ROBERT GEBELOFF

The results of 2010 tests presented a blow to one of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s signature accomplishments.

NY Schools flunk at teaching black male pupils: report (Daily News)
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/index.html#ixzz0ws12AmPr

New, harder state exams show wider achievement gap between rich and poor students (Daily News)
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/index.html#ixzz0ws1DH9CZ

Ideas and Examples from the NYTimes for Sparking Ideas in the Writer's Notebook

More great stuff from The Learning Network, these ideas can help students find something to write about in their notebooks. You can also use some of the suggestions to model how it sparks your own thinking...

Ideas and Examples from the NYTimes for Teaching Nonfiction Writing

TONS of ideas and examples in here of different structures of nonfiction writing, examples of different ledes (did you know it was spelled this way? I didn't), conclusions, etc... Definitely a bookmarker.

Types of News Articles from the NYTimes

This is a cool resource from the Times, which describes the different types of news articles presented in the paper. It is a "customer service guide" for Times readers. Helpful for defining and finding exemplars for model writing in our workshop and SS blocks.

NYT Upfront - "Should cell phones be banned in school?"

Should cell phones be banned in school?

As schools across the country grapple with cell-phone policies, New York City's strict ban has everyone talking 

YES
As a former New York City public-school teacher, I can tell you that cell phones don't belong in the classroom. A student with a cell phone is an uninterested student, one with a short attention span who cares more about socializing than education.

When I was teaching, all too often I turned around from writing something on the blackboard to find students text-messaging or otherwise playing with their phones...

—Jesse Scaccia

Former English teacher, Franklin D. Roosevelt High School, Brooklyn, N.Y.

NO
Schools make rules to facilitate a quality education in a respectful and safe environment. Cell phones are a distraction in classrooms and have no place there. I support rules banning their use—by students and staff—in the classroom.

But cell phones should not be banned from students' possession entirely, because that is, in effect, not allowing students to have cell phones while traveling to and from school...

.

—Elizabeth Lorris Ritter
Parent, Bronx High School of Science, New York 

NYT Upfront - "Should public schools offer single-sex education?"

The number of single-sex classrooms in public schools is growing; there are now more than 400

YES
For more than 100 years, some of the nation's finest private schools have experienced the benefits of single-sex education. It's time to make this choice broadly available in our public schools...

—Kathy Piechura-Couture 

Prof. of Education, Stetson University, Deland, Fla.

NO
Single-sex education is not the answer to the challenges facing public schools.

First and foremost, we believe that creating separate classes for girls and boys violates the Constitution as well as federal and state laws designed to guarantee that all public-school students are offered equal opportunities...

—Kim Gandy
President, National Organization for Women

NYT Upfront - "Should Candy and Soda Be Banned from Schools?"

President Obama has proposed removing high-calorie drinks and snacks from school vending machines

YES
Removing unhealthy high-calorie snacks and drinks from schools is an important step toward tackling the nation's childhood obesity epidemic.

About a third of American children are overweight or obese. Addressing that problem requires changing what kids eat in school, where many kids consume half of their daily calories.

Reforming our school meals program will ensure that all foods served in schools are healthy and nutritious. By setting standards for the food that is served and sold in cafeterias, we can make sure our children have the opportunity for a healthy start in life...

Tom Vilsack
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture

NO
It's not the government's job to make decisions about what we eat and where we eat it. That's why it's a bad idea to ban soda and candy from schools...

J. Justin Wilson
Center for Consumer Freedom

(The New York Times Upfront, Vol. 142, May 10, 2010)

NYT Upfront - "1920 - Women Get the Vote"

September, 2010

After decades of effort by the suffrage movement, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified 90 years ago this summer

By Sam Roberts

Back in July 1776, the Declaration of Independence proclaimed that all men are created equal, but it didn't say anything about women.

That omission was surely not lost on Abigail Adams. A few months earlier, she had written her husband, John, who was debating independence from England in the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, and urged him to "remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors." Otherwise, she warned from their home outside Boston, "we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation."

NYTimes - Obama and the Islam Center

Obama Strongly Backs Islam Center Near 9/11 Site

BY SHERYL GAY STOLBERG

After weeks of avoiding the high-profile battle, President Obama stepped into the thorny debate, leaving little doubt about how he feels.

NYTimes - Bloomberg and the Muslim Center

Mayor’s Stance on Muslim Center Has Deep Roots

BY MICHAEL BARBARO

For reasons both civic and personal, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has defied public opinion on the project.