Articles of Interest
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State & Local Policy
STEM academy prepares Va. students for future
The Washington Post, May 7, 2014
Tyler Sutton enrolled in the Governor’s STEM Academy at Harrisonburg High School to feed his interest in engineering.
The freshman wants to attend Virginia Tech after he graduates, and if he sticks with the academy, he should have a solid foundation to build upon as he seeks a bachelor’s degree.
Virginia Union graduates largest class in 10 years
Richmond Times-Dispatch
May 10, 2014
The largest graduating class in a decade at Virginia Union University got one more history lesson and one more pep rally before leaving campus.
During the graduation ceremony Saturday at the school’s football stadium, speaker after speaker reminded the 220 undergraduate and 135 graduate students of the school’s origin in the old Lumpkin’s slave jail in downtown Richmond.
But it wasn’t a somber affair by any means.
“It’s not for us to argue with the past,” said former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, a VUU alum and the featured speaker during the 2½-hour ceremony. “It’s our job to improve upon it."
Federal investigators determined that “female cadets were exposed to a sexually hostile environment” at VMI and that the institute did not promptly and equitably resolve cadet complaints about sexual harassment and sexual assault, as it is required to do under the federal anti-discrimination law known as Title IX. The institute’s policies also illegally required that pregnant and parenting cadets resign or face separation from VMI, the department said in a statement, adding that the OCR has already negotiated changes to those policies.
Federal Policy
Federal Test Shows U.S. 12th-Graders Aren't Improving in Reading or Math The Wall Street Journal, May 7, 2014
Despite years of efforts to lift U.S. academic performance, 12th-graders showed no improvement in math or reading in federal test scores released Wednesday, underscoring concerns that the country isn't generating career- and college-ready graduates.
Students' 2013 performance in the National Assessment of Educational Progress didn't budge since the prior one in 2009. About 38% of students scored proficient or higher in reading, while about 26% did so in math—matching the 2009 results. A majority of students received marks of below basic or basic for both subjects in both years.
The Learning Curve - 2014 Report Pearson & The Economist Intelligence Unit, May, 2014
PISA results show the value of engaging all of society in education
Schools in which principals work with teachers on school management, and thus can function autonomously, tend to produce better results; parental expectations have a measurable impact on student motivation; and student interest has an effect on outcomes in a variety of ways. Effective education requires a broad range of actors, which points to the benefit of having a broadly supportive culture.
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VCU celebrated its spring Commencement ceremony this past weekend - one of the proudest moments for many students and their families. In addition to serving as executive director of CEPI, Dr. Bosher also advised several of the new PhD graduates who were awarded their diplomas and their doctoral hoods. Here, Dr. Bosher does the honors of "hooding" Kendall Tyree.
This week in Compass Point we're glad to share with you Dr. Bosher's thoughts on declining drop-out rates across the U.S. Here also is a direct link to the report he cites.
This week's poll snapshot looks at which programs folks in Virginia would be willing to pay higher taxes for to maintain current funding.
Finally, Dr. Vacca's May Ed Law newsletter - see excerpt below - looks at standards of the duty of care and policy implications for special education providers.
Sincerely,
CEPI |
Poll Snapshot: Funding for Schools and Willingness to pay more in taxes
As both the state and localities continue to wrestle with approving final budgets for the coming fiscal year, it's interesting to look at another aspect of school funding support - where it falls relative to other state spending priorities.
The recent CEPI Commonwealth Education Poll asked Virginians whether they would be willing or not willing to pay more in taxes in order to keep funding for a range of programs at the current level. The programs asked about included "public schools" and "public universities and higher education" but also "mental health services," "prisons," "programs for aid to low-income families," and "transportation." The trend lines of the overall results are below.
Public school funding (ranging from 66% to 79%) consistently draws one of the highest levels of support among state funding priorities that are asked about. Support to maintaining mental health services has increased in the last several years while support for aid to low-income families has consistent support of just above 60% of the respondents. Public universities and transportation are a second tier priority based on responses, with support for prisons trailing significantly (21% in 2014).
With respect to funding for public schools, one of the interesting demographic differences in support is based on age. Fully 81% of respondents in the 18-34 and 35-44 brackets would be willing to pay more in taxes to keep school funding levels the same. But only 66% of 45-64 year olds and a bare majority (52%) of those 65 and older would be willing to pay more in taxes to maintain public school funding.
Though the spread between groups is greatest in regards to public school funding, the same age-group trend exists with regard to four of the other five programs (prisons are the exception) - younger persons tend to be more willing to pay more in taxes for maintaining current programs than older persons. In the case of education, the willingness to pay may be related to a greater expected return on investment as younger families tend to have more school-age children. However the trend across programs also potentially indicates that a broader pattern is also in force - potentially that older age groups facing retirement and more fixed incomes are less willing or able to pay more in taxes.
To read the full results of our poll, visit our website.
The questions pertaining to relative spending priorities are #8a-f (topline on page 29, crosstab on pages 43-48).
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The Duty of Care and Deliberate Indifference: Policy Implications for Special Education
At times it is necessary for local school boards and administrators to make decisions mandated by federal and/or state law where the law itself is not clear—thus increasing the likelihood of future legal action being taken. One such body of law is special education, especially involving the mandates of both IDEA 2004 (20 U.S.C., 1400, et seq.) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794). However, as case law demonstrates, courts have consistently held that the official acts of public school boards and administrators are initially presumed lawful—i.e., are initiated and carried out in good faith. The burden of proof rests on the “party seeking relief” to prove otherwise. Schaffer v. Weast (2005)
Clear Mandates. As special education law moved into the late-1990s and early-2000s some mandates became clear. For example, but not limited to: (1) no disability is so severe as to keep any student from accessing a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE), (2) no student covered by special education law shall be either denied, or excluded from, or completely cut off from necessary related services, (3) procedural safeguards must be strictly followed when a change in program and/or placement (as included in a stay put IEP) is being considered, (4) students with disabilities must be integrated not separated from their general education student peers in the “mainstream of the school” to the maximum extent possible, and (5) substantive and procedural safeguards must be followed (e.g., parental involvement, behavioral manifestation determination review conducted, behavioral improvement plan [BIP] developed) in non-emergency situations where a student’s behavior and safety to himself/herself or to others surfaces as a major concern.
Deliberate Indifference: What is it? There are three main areas of concern when providing for the safety and security of mainstreamed (integrated) students with disabilities with their age appropriate peers in general education settings. These areas of concern are: (1) placement in high risk classes (e.g., physical education, vocational shops, and science laboratories), (2) participation in extracurricular activities and interscholastic athletics, and (3) placement in situations where bullying and/or taunting, or physical abuse by other students might occur (e.g., playground, cafeteria, bus loading areas, and the gymnasium)."
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