Mehlville Students are “respectful, compassionate, self-sacrificing, and charitable.” – By Tom Diehl

As seen in the upcoming January edition of the Mehlville Messenger…

I write this as the Christmas holiday approaches. At some point
during the holiday season, you always hear about how it is more
important to give than to receive. This is a principle that is central to all
faiths and to who we are as Americans. Beyond any other trait which
typifies our society, I believe generosity is a remarkable American quality.
As I read about our students in the Messenger, the Journal and the Call,
I am impressed with just how much our students give back to our
community. Beyond raising money for equipment and supplies for their
own schools and activities, our students demonstrate a generous spirit
that we should all emulate.

For example, this past year, our students raised money for a variety of projects and charities. Oakville
Middle School children raised $1,700 for Saint Louis Children’s Hospital. Hagemann students raised more
than $1,500 for the American Cancer Society, and Wohlwend students and Bernard Middle School students
raised almost $3,300 each for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Washington Middle School
students raised more than $3,500 for Basket of Hope, an organization that works with children diagnosed
with cancer or other serious illnesses. SCOPE students organized “Share Your Soles” to collect shoes for
the needy.

Our students also gave their time and talent in many charitable endeavors. Mehlville High students
annually host (10 years and counting) the Special Olympics in which more than 200 athletes are paired
with Mehlville student “buddies.” Wohlwend students prepared care packages for our military men and
women serving in Iraq and Buerkle Middle students made holiday cards for American soldiers. Point
students went to the Veterans Hospital and visited veterans with spinal injuries and served them root beer
floats. Washington Middle School students travelled to Mississippi to help Hurricane Katrina survivors.
This is just a small sampling of what our students do to make our community and world a better place.
They participate in walk-a-thons, create and perform art, visit the elderly, mentor to younger children and
more. Beyond their required academic work and extracurricular and social activities, they are active giving
members of our community.

If you ever need to have your faith restored in our youth, visit one of our Mehlville schools. Yes, our
kids are exuberant, energetic and competitive. But they are also respectful, compassionate, self-sacrificing
and charitable. Our kids believe they have a value and purpose in this world. Time and again, they will
surprise you with the ethical convictions they hold. I’ve said it before — the Mehlville School District is
the heart and soul of South County. In our children you will see the future and you will see that soul is
passionate, caring and generous.

May the New Year bring you peace and joy.

St. Louis ranks Number 6 among the Top Ten Most Literate Cities – STLtoday.com

STLtoday – News – St. Louis City / County
St. Louis ranks No. 6 among the Top Ten Most Literate Cities
By Jane Henderson
POST-DISPATCH BOOK EDITOR
12/29/2007

Steadier newspaper readership, more local periodicals and great library resources helped propel St. Louis into the Top 10 most literate cities in the nation, according to an annual study conducted by Central Connecticut State University. With improvements in several areas used to measure a city’s literacy, St. Louis landed at No. 6 this year compared to No. 12 last year, ahead of Boston and San Francisco.

Click here to read the rest… 

On the lighter side – The secret to winning at rock, paper, scissors – Telegraph

The secret to winning at rock, paper, scissors – Telegraph

The secret to winning at rock, paper, scissors

By Gary Cleland
Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 19/12/2007

Scientists believe they have worked out the secret to winning at paper, scissors, stone.
# Ancient trees found using 200 year old maps
# Time is running out – literally, says scientist
# Scientists invent colour Sudoku

While most people are aware that stone blunts scissors, scissors cut paper and paper covers stone, there is a psychological element to the game which many players may have missed.

Rock, scissors, paper

According to New Scientist magazine, the way to win is to start with scissors.

Research shows that stone, also called rock, is the most popular of the three possible moves in the game.

That means that your opponent is likely to choose paper, because they will expect to you to start the game with stone.

By going with scissors, you achieve an early victory.

Standardized Testing Part II – No Child Left Behind – NCLB

The following is the excerpt from the posted earlier on Standardized Testing and No Child Left Behind – NCLB – that most closely aligns with my sentiments on the issue…

Monty Neill, executive director of FairTest:

The No Child Left Behind law has had one clear accomplishment: it has given a black eye to education policies based on the overuse of standardized testing.

NCLB’s testing mandates have flooded American classrooms with millions of additional tests. At the same time, the rate of learning improvement has actually slowed, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

A mounting pile of surveys and reports document the negative consequences of testing overuse and abuse, as well as growing public opposition to the test-and-punish approach. For more evidence, just listen to the roars of approval when any of the presidential candidates criticizes the law. No wonder more than 140 national education, civil rights, religious, disability, parenting, and civic groups have called for its comprehensive overhaul.

Having long tracked the misuse and abuse of such tests, FairTest predicted a range of negative consequences from NCLB. Most have now been documented by independent researchers. The problems are compounded by high school graduation tests, and by pressure to score high on college admissions exams.

High-stakes testing has narrowed and dumbed down curricula; eliminated time spent on untested subjects like social studies, art, and even recess; turned classrooms into little more than test preparation centers; reduced high school graduation rates; and driven good teachers from the profession. Those are all reasons why FairTest and other experts advocate a sharp reduction in public school standardized testing and a halt to exit exams.

One-size-fits-all testing schemes make even less sense for colleges and universities. How could one exam ever accurately assess the learning of students majoring in subjects as diverse as art history, biomedical engineering, and political science?

As such, the politicians blindly mandating such exams are the ones outside the mainstream, not assessment reformers like us. Indeed, the testing industry’s own standards state that no single exam should be used as the sole or primary criterion to make high-stakes educational decisions such as promotion, retention, graduation, college admission, or scholarship awards.

There are better ways to assess student learning. Classroom-based information, such as grades, provides richer evidence of performance. High school grade point average is a better predictor of college success than either the SAT or the ACT.

The nation does need better assessments and more training for educators to get the most out of them. FairTest has long promoted high-quality, classroom-based assessments that can be used to improve student learning and teaching. We also support the more than 760 colleges that do not require admissions test scores for many or all of their applicants.

High quality assessment is an educational necessity. But high-stakes standardized tests harm educational quality and promote inequity.

What Should Be Done About Standardized Tests? A Freakonomics Quorum – Freakonomics – Opinion – New York Times Blog

This is a great discussion of standardized testing by some of the leading minds in education.  No matter what you think of high-stakes standardized testing and No Child Left Behind (NCLB,) this is a must read.

What Should Be Done About Standardized Tests? A Freakonomics Quorum – Freakonomics – Opinion – New York Times Blog
Personally, I used to love taking standardized tests. To me, they represented the big ballgame that you spent all season preparing for, practicing for; they were easily my strongest incentive for paying attention during the school year. I realize, however, that this may not be a common view. Tests have increasingly come to be seen as a ritualized burden that encourages rote learning at the expense of good thinking.

So what should be done? We gathered a group of testing afficionados — W. James Popham, Robert Zemsky, Thomas Toch, Monty Neill, and Gaston Caperton — and put to them the following questions:

Should there be less standardized testing in the current school system, or more? Should all schools, including colleges, institute exit exams?

Click here to read the discussion… 

The Problem with Merit Pay for Classroom Teachers – The Real Truth, The Whole Truth

Ah.  The cons of merit pay for classroom teachers.  I have posted a link to this article before, but I thought that a complete posting might help people who like to make informed decisions, as opposed to those who like to oversimplify issues for their gimmicky platforms.  For anyone interested in a discussion of Merit Pay, please read on below, pick out a specific you disagree with, and let us go from there.

By Dave Riegel

The Problem with Merit Pay

Posted August 31, 2007 | 01:14 PM (EST)

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I was surprised to hear that Barack Obama was sticking his big toe into the merit pay waters at the NEA convention and again at the most recent Democratic presidential debate. While Obama has not to my knowledge advocated “merit pay” by name or outlined a specific proposal, his apparent openness to the concept has excited advocates of pay for perfomance who are anxious to see a major figure on the left like Obama defy the prevailing Democratic wisdom and counter the NEA’s opposition to the concept.

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Marc Lampkin of the Strong American Schools campaign, nobly promoting the idea that education should be at the heart of the presidential discussion, took the NEA to task for suggesting that none of the Democratic candidates in Iowa for ABC’s debate supported the concept of pay for performance. However, the candidate Lampkin points to — Obama — was rather circumspect in his support. In saying that pay shouldn’t be tied to “standardized tests that don’t take into account whether children are prepared before they get to school or not,” Obama is trying to have it both ways, giving the appearance of supporting some vague pay for performance standard, but also insisting it not be tied to test scores. There’s the rub: a pay system not tied to test scores isn’t really a merit pay system at all.

Other kinds of financial incentives, such as paying teachers extra to work in high poverty districts or scarce fields like math or science, can’t really be considered “merit pay” systems in the common parlance. Those are incentives to attract people to certain districts or fields. Pay for performance means an adherence to some type of evaluative standard, whether it be test scores or supervisors’ evaluations (which are bound to be tied to test scores). And that’s the problem.

The use of test scores for evaluation of teachers is fraught with difficulties that should be obvious to any outside observer. First among them, you can’t pick your students upon whom your salary might depend. Those in favor of merit pay often use the private sector as a comparison point, saying essentially that most people are paid by how hard they work or how many cases they win or how much they sell. And all that’s true. But a salesman isn’t forced to spend his time on customers who clearly don’t want to buy his products. Lawyers don’t typically take cases they can’t win. But the logic of paying teachers based on performance is similar to saying to a car salesman, “here are 30 adults chosen at random. Your salary depends on being able to sell all of them cars — a standard car, at that — regardless of their needs, desires, or ability to pay.” Or to tell a lawyer, “you must win the next 30 cases that walk through your door, using limited resources, regardless of the merit of their suits, or the expense required to prosecute their cases.”

Teachers don’t get to choose who walks in their doors, like the hapless lawyer or car salesman in the examples above. It’s the luck of the draw. Teachers (good ones) certainly believe all children can learn, and want them to. But success in terms of test scores depends on many factors, mostly too obvious to mention, outside the teachers’ control. Not the least among these, and perhaps less obvious to outside observers, is the support of fellow practitioners. In many cases, a child’s learning requires the support of others besides just the classroom teacher. It depends on an administrator who can effectively create an climate for learning in the school. It may depend on reading specialists who can help students comprehend their textbooks. It may depend on intervention specialists who help devise strategies for learning disabled students to make more effective gains. It even depends on successful foundations provided by teachers in previous grade levels. How do merit pay advocates propose to disaggregate the work of a classroom teacher from the support staff around her? For that matter, how would art, music, physical education or special education teachers be judged under a pay for performance system? Would we need to implement standardized tests in those areas?

I could go on and on about practical and logistical difficulties associated with merit pay. But the strongest arguments against it are philosophical. At a time when many progressives are questioning the effectiveness of high stakes testing mandated by NCLB, should we really be talking about entrenching that drill and test regime taking over education today by connecting it to teacher compensation? The real debate today should be about whether the schools created under they tyranny of NCLB are the kinds of schools we want to have. Do we really want high stakes tests driving our definition of education? And driving our definition of quality teaching?

I am always suspicious of merit pay arguments because they seem to insinuate that a teacher’s effort is dependent upon his or her level of compensation. Instead of rewarding teachers for maximizing student achievement — as most would insist they are trying to do anyway — the right approach would be to reward activities that help teachers become better trained and more competent. For example, most local salary structures reward teachers for attaining a higher level of education — teachers who earn a Master’s degree earn more than teachers with similar experience who do not. Likewise many states offer annual stipends to teachers who achieve National Board Certification, a rigorous process which requires teachers to demonstrate and reflect upon their classroom practices. These sorts of rewards make sense to teachers: they understand the connection between professional development and effective instruction.

I find that merit pay advocates also hope that a compensation structure will do that job of evaluating teachers that should properly be done by effective building administrators. We shouldn’t simply withhold monetary rewards from teachers who are ineffective: we should help them improve or evaluate them out of the profession. The canard that teachers’ unions protect bad teachers from dismissal is not true: bad administrators protect bad teachers from dismissal or non-renewal. But teacher evaluation is more complicated than simply looking at test scores. It requires careful examination of specific teacher behaviors in the classroom, of how a teacher relates to students, and his or her command of the subject matter they are teaching. This cannot be judged simply by looking at test scores, which may be high in some cases in spite of uninspiring instruction: it requires an effective and highly skilled administrator who knows what she is looking for when she observes a teacher interacting with her students, and who is skilled at helping teachers improve. In short, pay for performance provides an easy way out when quality supervision of instruction is what should really be taking place.

Finally, the discussion of merit pay in the context of a presidential campaign continues a disturbing trend of increasing federal involvement in local decision making. Teacher salary structures and evaluation practices are negotiated locally between a board of education and a bargaining unit under the broad general guidelines of state law. If Denver teachers agree to a merit-based system, then good for them. They’ve decided in agreement with their board on a system that makes sense for them and their community. These kinds of contractual decisions are and should remain local, not the subject of federal intervention. An important reason why the NEA objects to merit pay proposals is precisely this — that it takes away control from a local bargaining unit to decide their own fate. If Barack Obama truly believes that education proposals need the support of teachers, then those proposals should continue to be locally decided, not a subject of debate in a national election, unless it is clear that the debate is purely philosophical, and not bearing on any public policy he would enact as president. The federal government certainly has in important role in education. It establishes policies and guidelines that protect the education of handicapped children, for example, and provides funding to support that education. The federal government supports research in education and provides grants to support high poverty schools. But dictating the terms of local teaching contracts should not be a function of federal policy.

The debate about merit pay isn’t the debate we need to be having right now. With the demands for charters and vouchers from the right, and the ongoing problems facing education in high poverty districts, the very existence of public education is being threatened. We need to be talking about why public education still matters, and what it should look like in the 21st century. Gimmicks like pay for performance are only getting us off track.

Zero’s Aren’t Permitted (ZAP Program)

Our very own Dr. Christa Warner of Wohlwend Elementary was published recently in the professional journal ASQ – American Society for Quality.  I have pasted what I believe to be the best part of the article below, in bold, followed by the entire article:

The ZAP Method

            At our school, we developed a program that resulted in 94% fewer failing grades. The program was called “Zeros aren’t permitted” (ZAP). This program was difficult for some teachers to accept at first, because they had been practicing a “no late work” policy for a long time. But some teachers believed the policy  was not teaching the students the meaning of responsibility.

            As we held discussions, teachers began to understand that the ZAP program was teaching responsibility more than their previous method had. We discussed the fact that in real life, teachers aren’t able to choose whether to do certain tasks, such as report cards or evaluations. We simply cannot call the superintendent and inform him or her that we will take a zero on our evaluations that were to be turned in on a specific date. We also discussed the amount of time we spent in grade level meetings talking about the same concern day after day, year after year, and how the old way didn’t seem to be working.

            Under ZAP, when students didn’t turn their homework in, the teacher would send their names and the assignment to the cafeteria. When the students came to lunch, we would have them work on the assignments while they ate. The student could leave the cafeteria when the assignment was finished. Faculty would check it to make sure it was of quality. If the student didn’t finish during the lunch period, we called the student’s parents, and the student stayed after school to complete it. We explained to the parent and the student that the skill was so crucial for them to learn, we simply couldn’t allow them to fail.

 

Visible Results

            When we first initiated the ZAP program, about 30 students per grade level were involved. However, once the students understood the program wasn’t going away, the number of students who were “zapped” dropped to about eight per grade level. Not only did the students became more responsible, their grades and achievement levels increased as well.

            Classrooms throughout the United States are changing, and educators must be prepared. Students who are considered at-risk for factors such as socioeconomic status, limited English speaking ability, race or geographic location deserve a quality education.

            Students who do not complete high school are at a disadvantage and will, over their lifetime, earn an average of $200,000 less than students who graduate high school and, $800,000 less than those who graduated college.¹⁰ With 50% of the prison population consisting of individuals who didn’t complete high school, it is no longer just a school issue, but also a societal one.

Effective Schools Can Overcome At-Risk Factors

By Christa Warner, principal, Wohlwend Elementary School

Many schools across the nation have mission and vision statements displayed in their buildings. The majority of these include a belief that all students can be academically successful and productive members of society. However, it is imperative for each teacher to truly believe this philosophy and for the school culture to support it.
It is easy for teachers to believe that only the students who pay for lunch, speak fluent English and live in a home with two parents can make academic gains. However, schools must believe that every one of their students is a worthy human being and able to learn, regardless of any at-risk factors that could potentially cause him or her to drop out of school.

Reaching the Students
With half of prison populations consisting of individuals who did not complete high school, we must do everything we can to reach and teach all students. Many students who are considered at-risk are academically successful. However, some students are not, and they are considered a contributing factor to 50% of beginning teachers leaving the profession within five years.1
Until the late 1990s, it was believed that economic status and innate ability determined a student’s achievement. After 35 years of research was compiled and studied, we know this is not true. Three main factors affect student achievement: school, teacher and home.
The decisions made by teachers have a greater impact on student achievement than decisions made at the school level.2 Effective teachers are responsive to students’ needs in the classroom. They clearly understand what the students must learn, how the students should be assessed and which instructional strategies they should implement.3
Effective schools provide interventions and programs for at-risk students so they have an opportunity to experience the same academic success as students without at-risk factors.4 The staff share a common vision and belief that all of their students can achieve. Therefore, the staff collaboratively works toward this goal and does whatever it takes to ensure academic success. Effective teachers implement a variety of instructional strategies to meet the different needs of their students. They need to know the content material and instructional strategies to be confident in their ability to teach.5

Changes in Student Population
In an ABC News recently report, “One in 10 Schools Are ‘Dropout Factories,’” the author describes demographic changes throughout the country and the impact it has on the dropout rate. The report explains that high schools with high dropout rates have a large percentage of minority students, and their challenges go beyond academics. Many of these students live in poverty and are in need of additional aid, such as social services.6
Schools all over the United States have changed dramatically over the past three decades. Thirty years ago, students of color made up 22% of the school population. In 2002, the number increased to 39%. Demographers project students who were once the minority will become the majority in the next 30 years. By mid-century, no single race or ethnic group is expected to make up a significant majority of the U.S. population. In 1985, there were 1.5 million students who spoke English as another language. In 1995, this increased to 3.2 million, and the number continues to grow.
As schools’ demographics have changed, the range of students’ abilities has increased.7 These demographic changes, which are also described in the ABC News report, are at-risk factors for dropping out of school. However, this doesn’t mean more students will drop out of school in the future. Research indicates that effective schools can overcome at-risk factors and produce students with high academic achievement.
One reason students drop out of school is their lack of success, both academically and behaviorally. When they are able to connect with their teacher or another adult in the school, students are more likely to succeed academically and behaviorally by accepting the rules, procedures and disciplinary actions.8
Student motivation has also been linked to academic achievement. Students who seek success and enjoy challenges and new tasks are motivated to do well in school. However, the student who typically experiences failure is less likely to try new things and will give up easily if a task becomes difficult.
Effective teachers are supposed to set high expectations in their classrooms and have challenging curriculums. This can become a difficult task with students who are at-risk and have experienced failure frequently. The teacher must challenge these students while not setting unattainable goals that give them excuses to procrastinate or fail.9
To support students who are at-risk, teachers must frequently provide them feedback on their academic progress and engaging tasks that are perceived by the students as skills related to their lives. Students must be taught how to set attainable goals, the dynamics of motivation and skills to develop their self-worth.
We need to teach students to develop a high level of motivation. Students need to understand what the essential outcomes are for the class and have opportunities to monitor their own progress.
As the students take tests, they need to meet with their teacher and set goals for specific time periods. The goals should focus on specific skills and be attainable. A graphic organizer, such as a chart, allows students to visually understand their progress. As the students reach their goals and move forward, it is important for the teacher, student and parent to recognize the achievement and celebrate.
We also need to educate our teachers and have them analyze practices. There must be a climate and belief that failure is not an option. If a student doesn’t complete his or her homework, he or she cannot simply take a zero. This strategy is easy for an at-risk student to use because failure is not new to them.
The ZAP Method
At our school, we developed a program that resulted in 94% fewer failing grades. The program was called “Zeros aren’t permitted” (ZAP). This program was difficult for some teachers to accept at first, because they had been practicing a “no late work” policy for a long time. But some teachers believed the policy  was not teaching the students the meaning of responsibility.
As we held discussions, teachers began to understand that the ZAP program was teaching responsibility more than their previous method had. We discussed the fact that in real life, teachers aren’t able to choose whether to do certain tasks, such as report cards or evaluations. We simply cannot call the superintendent and inform him or her that we will take a zero on our evaluations that were to be turned in on a specific date. We also discussed the amount of time we spent in grade level meetings talking about the same concern day after day, year after year, and how the old way didn’t seem to be working.
Under ZAP, when students didn’t turn their homework in, the teacher would send their names and the assignment to the cafeteria. When the students came to lunch, we would have them work on the assignments while they ate. The student could leave the cafeteria when the assignment was finished. Faculty would check it to make sure it was of quality. If the student didn’t finish during the lunch period, we called the student’s parents, and the student stayed after school to complete it. We explained to the parent and the student that the skill was so crucial for them to learn, we simply couldn’t allow them to fail.

Visible Results
When we first initiated the ZAP program, about 30 students per grade level were involved. However, once the students understood the program wasn’t going away, the number of students who were “zapped” dropped to about eight per grade level. Not only did the students became more responsible, their grades and achievement levels increased as well.
Classrooms throughout the United States are changing, and educators must be prepared. Students who are considered at-risk for factors such as socioeconomic status, limited English speaking ability, race or geographic location deserve a quality education.
Students who do not complete high school are at a disadvantage and will, over their lifetime, earn an average of $200,000 less than students who graduate high school and, $800,000 less than those who graduated college.10 With 50% of the prison population consisting of individuals who didn’t complete high school, it is no longer just a school issue, but also a societal one.
References
1. Joel A. Colbert and Diana E. Wolf, “Surviving in Urban Schools,” Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 43(b), 1992, pp. 193-99.
2. Robert J. Marzano, What Works in Schools: Translating Research into Action, Assn. for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), 2003.
3. Carol Ann Tomlinson and Jay McTighe, Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design, ASCD, 2006.
4. Robert J. Marzano, What Works in Schools: Translating Research into Action, ASCD, 2003.
5. Linda Darling-Hammond and John Bransford, Preparing Teachers for a Changing World: What Teachers Should Learn and Be Able to Do, Jossey-Bass, 2005.
6. Nancy Zuckerbrod, ”One  in 10 Schools are ‘Dropout Factories.’’“ www.abcnews.go.com, Nov. 1, 2007.
7. Linda Darling-Hammond and John Bransford, Preparing Teachers for a Changing World: What Teachers Should Learn and Be Able to Do, Jossey-Bass, 2005.
8. Robert J. Marzano, What Works in Schools: Translating Research into Action, ASCD, 2003.
9. Ibid.
10. Paul E. Bartman, “One-third of a Nation: Rising Dropout Rates and Declining Opportunities,” Educational Testing Services policy information report, 2005.

Christa Warner, is principal of Wohlwend Elementary School, St. Louis. Visit the school’s website for more information.

Geek the Vote ‘08: PM’s Science and Technology Election Guide – Popular Mechanics

If you are interested in Science and Technology education, you will be interested in the Popular Mechanics resource guide.

Geek the Vote ‘08: PM’s Science and Technology Election Guide – Popular Mechanics
Popular Mechanics compiled these links to make it easier to compare leading presidential candidates on several issues of interest to our readers, primarily in areas of science and technology. We did not analyze any of the proposals, and we do not necessarily endorse them.

Here was the methodology: We thoroughly reviewed the campaign Web sites of leading candidates from each party for position papers and press releases that spelled out policy proposals. (This involved judgment calls; campaigns don’t all group their proposals using the same language. In particular, automotive, environmental and energy policies tend to cross category boundaries.) We did not examine speeches, debate transcripts or interviews with journalists. We called or emailed each campaign at least twice to invite staff members to provide documentation on subjects that weren’t addressed on a candidate’s site. In many instances, we quoted campaign literature directly. In others, we paraphrased proposals. In all cases, we link to where we found the information.

PsyBlog: Why We do Dumb or Irrational Things: 10 Brilliant Social Psychology Studies

PsyBlog: Why We do Dumb or Irrational Things: 10 Brilliant Social Psychology Studies

“I have been primarily interested in how and why ordinary people do unusual things, things that seem alien to their natures. Why do good people sometimes act evil? Why do smart people sometimes do dumb or irrational things?” –Philip Zimbardo

Like eminent social psychologist Professor Philip Zimbardo, Im also obsessed with why we do dumb or irrational things. The answer quite often is because of other people – something social psychologists have comprehensively shown.

Over the past few months Ive been describing 10 of the most influential social psychology studies. Each one tells a unique, insightful story relevant to all our lives, every day.

But, the question is which one has the most to teach us about human nature? Which one gives us the most piercing insight into how our thoughts and actions are affected by other people?

Click here to read the rest of this article!!!

If the School Board Election Were today…

The four people running for the three available slots are as follows:

1. Karl Frank Jr.
2. Chris Brown
3. David Bertleson
4. Linda Moy

6 Things That Are Right with (Public) Schools – MSN Encarta

6 Things That Are Right with Schools – MSN Encarta
Man, I must be the luckiest guy ever! I have two daughters, and they both go to wonderful schools. Somehow I ended up living a stone’s throw from the only two good public schools in America, I thought. What are the odds of that?

Then it struck me: Maybe the buzz is a little skewed. Maybe lots of people live a stone’s throw from a good school or two. Maybe the success stories don’t get full publicity here in the Culture of Complaint.

So I did some research, and I found some good news out there. What’s right with America’s schools? Well, let’s see, we have:

1. inspiring teachers
2. inspired students
3. a commitment to educate everyone
4. fine facilities and equipment
5. caring, sensitive administrators
6. plenty of choices

Click here to read this excellent article now!!! 

The December 13th Board Meeting Was Incredibly Rewarding

As most readers of this blog know, school board members do not get paid to serve on the board. However, that does not mean serving on the Mehlville Board of education is not rewarding. This has never been truer for me than it was last night. It was a long meeting, and it was probably a boring meeting for those who were not participating, but the actions that we took have far-reaching, positive implications.

According to school board policy BBA, “It is the purpose and the role of the Board of Education to exercise general supervision over the schools of the district, and to ensure that the schools are maintained as provided by the state statutes, the rules and regulations of the Missouri State Board of Education and/or the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and the policies, rules and regulations of the school district. In addition, the Board is accountable to the electorate, and shall be responsive to the educational needs and the imposed financial constraints of the district.”

The reason that I point this out is because the board of education fulfilled every one of those duties last night. In particular, we took many actions that will directly influence the classroom in a positive and progressive manner. As I have said many times in the past, what makes the American public education so grand is that it takes all comers, and by nature, truly strives not to leave a single child behind.

The meeting started with the recognition of a wide range of student successes from academics to sports by inviting the students to the meeting for acknowledgement from the board. We then implemented another option for children struggling in school with discipline matters, providing them an option to maintain the possibility of receiving credit without having to attend SCOPE. We implemented a weighted grades system to help more of our students achieve academic greatness with their Advanced Placement and Dual-Credit courses. We also implemented a new, out-of-the-box counseling system called the Teachers Assistance Program, which will help every student at Mehlville High School with career and college planning throughout his or her four years at Mehlville while also receiving a full elective credit for his or her work. We discussed a possible virtual learning system for students that would benefit from that, further upgrading the St. John’s building with air conditioning in the gym, and a re-working of the Comprehensive School Improvement Program, as required by the State of Missouri.

The entire range of students was touched in one way or another. Many unique students’ needs were addressed.

Then, to top it all off, the state mandated, required, external audit came before the board of education for approval. Once again, as has been the case in the past, Mehlville has proven its fiduciary prowess as it comes to internal accounting procedures and financial oversight of taxpayer dollars.

So, to sum it up, Mehlville only continues to get better. Not only are we tight, but fiscally sound as a school district, we are also doing more and more with the limited funds that we do have. The only way all of this is even possible is because we have an amazing staff who are motivated to work extra hard. I believe they are extra motivated to work extra hard because the administration and the school board and the staff have all worked together to create an environment/culture to operate in that naturally breeds creativity and effort.

Public education in South County is alive and well.

Nobel Winners Call for ‘Science Debate’, Candidates Spar Over Jesus-Lucifer Link

The Presidential race will most certainly have an effect on the American public education system…

Nobel Winners Call for ‘Science Debate’, Candidates Spar Over Jesus-Lucifer Link
Photo: AP / Charlie Neibergall

A Who’s Who of America’s top scientists are launching a quixotic last-minute effort this week to force presidential candidates to detail the role science would play in their administrations — a question they say is key to the future of the country, if not the world.

“Right now we have a confluence of issues facing candidates: embryonic stem cell research, global warming, science and technology education, biotechnology and energy policy — it’s just becoming an avalanche,” says Lawrence Krauss, a physics professor at Case Western University, and author of the bestselling The Physics of Star Trek. “I think at some level, you have to get some insight into what the candidates know, or what they’re willing to learn.”

Click here to read on… 

The Adult brain cells stop growing myth | ZME Science

Who says we know all there is to know?  Another myth busted?

The Adult brain cells stop growing myth | ZME Science
This could just be the case here. The fact that after a man has reached adulthood his brain cells stop growing is just not true. Researchers at MIT led by Wei-Chung Allen Lee have showed this. In fact the busting of this myth means proving that adult brain cells, or neurons, are not largely static and that they are able to change their structures in response to new experiences. The study they made showed that the branch-like projections on some neurons, caled “dendrites,” were still physically malleable.

Click here to read on… 

Financial Audit Results for Mehlville School District

We are required by state law to have the financial operations of the Mehlville School District audited every other year.  The Mehlville School District chooses to have it’s books audited every year.

The full report is actually 54 pages long, but the paragraph that most of you will be interested is as follows from Daniel Jones & Associates (Our external auditor for this year):

“In our opinion, the District’s budgetary and disbursements procedures were in compliance, in all material respects, with the budgetary statute (Chapter 67 RSMo) for the year ended June 30, 2007.  It is further our opinion that the pupil attendance and pupil transportation records are so maintained as to accurately disclose, in all material respects, the average daily attendance; resident membership on the last Wednesday of September; average number of students transported on a regular basis; and mileage and allowable cost for pupil transportation in compliance with state law and administrative rules for the year ended June 30, 2007.”

If you would like to hear the report on the financial audit, attend tonights board meeting at 7:00PM in the Mehlville library, or stop by Central Office to pick up a copy.

Karl Frank, Jr.
Vice President
Mehlville Board of Education

How Times Have Changed – ‘The Frank Plan’ Continues…

How times have changed…

I sat in this same office in December of 2004. My goal, at the time, was to be first on the ballot for the April 2005 school board elections for the Mehlville School District. What a different time that was. Even this room was different. As I sit here, I can’t help but think how nothing represents that change more than this very room. At that time, this was the room that the board of education would have their closed meetings in. I came up a couple of days early, put my name on the sign-in sheet, and just sat here, in this room, for three days. It was my second attempt at the board of education in as many years, and I was not about to rest until this district was guided onto a better, more respectable path.

However, just as I am doing now, I was making a post to my blog about how Mehlville had abandoned the idea of Open Government and Consent of the People. Because of this abandonment, Mehlville had waterboarded itself into an abominable position of terrible public relations, and poor public policy. Dr. Tim Ricker was appalled at me sitting in this room, in “his” building, making these accusations…rallying the community. It was a foreshadowing of things to come.

For the people who cared on the outside, it truly was a form of torture. At the time, I had pinpointed it as a perfect example of Orwellian doublespeak, evolved into a real world representation of Janis’s coined term, groupthink, “The act or practice of reasoning or decision-making by a group, especially when characterized by uncritical acceptance or conformity to prevailing points of view.”

So here I sit again, three years later, waiting in line to continue the change, to remain the catalyst for all that is different in the Mehlville School District, yet still respecting and strengthening all that has always been right about Mehlville.

The room now is inhabited, part time, by a major part of that change. A change agent name Dr. Jerry Chambers. This room is no longer inhabited for conferences, and today, past Superintendent Dr. Tim Ricker will not be around to tell me that he doesn’t appreciate the posts I make on my web site. As a matter of fact, I was welcomed with open arms. You would never believe the difference.

An example of this difference is something someone, a very respectable source, informed me about.  They let me know that when I first ran, as many people will attest, I was considered the devil. The board of education, and the administration at the time had every single principal at all 18 (at the time) of their buildings, shaking in their boots at the possibility of my election.

I was just told, by that same respectable source, that they could not have been more wrong.

That means a lot to me. As this person said, “you know, the truth almost always resides in the middle.” Of course, in this case, I think the truth resided solely with me, but I will give them the benefit of the doubt…lol. I have always been a champion of public education. I will continue to be a champion of public education. I will also continue to fight for openness in government, adherence to the sunshine law, fiscal accountability, and of course, consent of the people.

So here I sit, in a new office, with a new board of education, and a new administration, ready to continue the fight, to continue the change, and to continue the work with our classroom teachers, building administration, Superintendent Terry Noble and his central office team, and the people of this community to make the Mehlville School District the best school district in the State of Missouri.

The Frank Plan Continues. I hereby announce my candidacy for the April 2008 election to the Mehlville Board of Education.

Stay tuned…

7 Stupid Thinking Errors You Probably Make – lifehack.org

I don’t know if stupid is the right word for it, but it is an interesting read, nonetheless.

7 Stupid Thinking Errors You Probably Make – lifehack.org
The brain isn’t a flawless piece of machinery. Although it is powerful and comes in an easy to carry container, it has it’s weaknesses. A field in psychology which studies these errors, known as biases. Although you can’t upgrade your mental hardware, noticing these biases can clue you into possible mistakes.

Click here to find out what these biases/mistake in thinking are…

KSDK NewsChannel 5 – Illinois Giving Schools Help To Fight Cyberbullying

KSDK NewsChannel 5 – Illinois Giving Schools Help To Fight Cyberbullying

Illinois Giving Schools Help To Fight Cyberbullying
created: 12/10/2007 12:50:53 PM
updated: 12/10/2007 12:54:57 PM
CHICAGO AP — Beginning in January, the state will give schools extra help dealing with cyberbullying.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan says her office will help train workers at Illinois middle, junior and high schools about the bonline bullies.

The training programs will begin in January and was announced at Mondays Illinois Internet Crimes Against Children task force meeting.

Surveys show more than 40 percent of children report being bullied online.

Open Letter to the Mehlville Board of Education on the Misnomers of Professionalism

Occasionally, on the board of education, and in other areas of life as well, people bring up the idea of “qualifications,” “experience,” “professionalism,” and “education” as a means to withhold certain opportunities and responsibilities from the people that they do not want to have the particular responsibility in question.  This happens in the face of what is often proven to be otherwise.  In the case of Mehlville, it was that line of thought, and reasoning that prevented our school district from running like the well-oiled machine that it could have been in the past, and is fast becoming.

 One of my favorite authors is a writer and teacher named Parker J. Palmer.  He is a senior associate of the American Association for Higher Education and senior adviser to the Fetzer Institute.  In 1998, according to his book cover titled “The Active Life,” he was named as one of the thirty most influential leaders in American higher education.  Palmer owns a Ph.D. from the University of California.  (Yes, I realize the irony of citing this man’s qualifications in a letter about the fallacy of using so called “qualifications” as a disqualifier.  However, the point of this letter is to say that this highly educated man of influence effectively debunks this “qualifications and professionalism” notion as a fault in human reasoning.)

This is a letter on the relationship between faith and professionalism.

Parker starts this section of his book with this short poem by Chuang Tzu, translated by 20^th century Roman Catholic writer and Trappist Monk, Thomas Merton:

“Active Life”

If an expert does not have some problem to vex him, he is unhappy!

If a philosopher’s teaching is never attacked, he pines away!

If critics have no one on whom to exercise their spite, they are unhappy.

All such people are prisoners in the world of objects.

 

He who wants followers, seeks political power.

He who wants reputation, holds an office.

The strong man looks for weights to lift.

The brave man looks for an emergency in which he can show bravery.

The swordsman wants a battle in which he can swing his sword.

People past their prime prefer a dignified retirement, in which they may seem profound.

People experienced in law seek difficult cases to extend the application of laws.

Liturgists and musicians like festivals in which they parade their ceremonious talents.

The benevolent, the dutiful, are always looking for chances to display virtue.

 

Where would the gardener be if there were no more weeds?

What would become of business without a market of fools?

Where would the masses be if there were no pretext for getting jammed together and making noise?

What would become of labor if there were no superfluous objects to be made?

 

Produce! Get results! Make Friends! Make Changes!
Or, you will die of despair!

Those who are caught in the machinery of power take no joy except in activity and change – the whirring of the machine!  Whenever an occasion for action presents itself, they are compelled to act; they cannot help themselves.  They are inexorably moved, like the machine of which they have a part.  Prisoners in the world of objects, they have no choice but to submit to the demands of matter!  They are pressed down and crushed by external forces, fashion, the market, events, public opinion.  Never in a whole life do they recover their right mind!  The active life!  What a pity!

It is easy to interpret this poem as a total denunciation of action, but considering this book was written in support of leading a simultaneously contemplative and active life, it is not the case.  Parker goes on to say that this is more of a denunciation of reaction, more than action, the idea that most of us do not act freely and independently, but more under the influence of external provocation.  While that is very good, it still does not fit the purpose of this letter.

Parker goes on to comment on this idea of what a professional is:

The people in Chuang Tzu’s poem have no self-sustaining identity.  They are wholly defined by the settings and relationships of the world of action.  They equate selfhood with particular activities, and their vitality depends on being in places where they can play those roles.  Put them in places where their competencies are not required, and they find themselves on the thin edge of nonbeing.

Though this kind of role-playing is widespread among us, I think Chuang Tzu is especially concerned with a class of people that we would call professionals – experts, philosophers, critics, politicians, lawyers, liturgists, business executives, and the like.  If it was important in his time to diagnose the pathologies of professionalism, it is even more important in ours.  Not only do we have more professionals who may do themselves damage, but any pathologies they may have are multiplied many times over in a  society that has become so dependent on their skills.

As professionals, we like to define ourselves in ways that stress competence, high standards, an ethic of service, personal sacrifice, and so on.  But in “Active Life” Chuang Tzu is examining the shadow side of professional activity, and he would probably propose a different definition: A professional is a person who has invested long hours and much money to develop an allegedly rare ability that others can be convinced to need and to purchase at a high price.  Admittedly partial, such a definition points to the ways that we professionals get caught in the “world of objects” that Chuang Tzu describes, in the spinning of those interlocked illusions that too often trap the professional and the society in vicious circle of nonsense…

…In fact, the full-fledged professional has the power and sometimes the necessity to extend the world of objects even further, to make objects of other people.  As John McKnight has so persuasively argued, the professions too often promote themselves by creating clients who have problems that only the professionals can solve.  As Chuang Tzu might have put it, what would become of professionals if their clients disappeared…

Throughout this section, Parker also talks about specific examples of “professionals” creating “clients.”  One example is a 50-bed psychiatric hospital in a small town that had no documented need for such a hospital.  Within months of its completion, the hospital was suddenly full of psychiatric patients.

…Of course, the “client population” is often in on the conspiracy to keep the professionals in business.  There would be less pathology among mental health professionals if we did not turn to them for so many needs, if we did not yield to them so many of our powers of self-healing.  There was a time when some mental health crises (grieving, for example) were cared for by the lay community rather than by trained therapists.  But as we have abandoned the responsibilities of community, we have lost its benefits as well, and the only friend some people can find is one they pay by the hour.

And now, to tie this all together so that it makes sense for this situation…

The irony of the pathology of professionalism is that the word professional originally had a very different meaning.  At root, a professional is one who makes a profession of faith – faith in something larger and wiser than his or her own powers.  The true professional is a person whose action points beyond his or her self to that underlying reality, that hidden wholeness, on which we all can rely…The true professional is one who does not obscure that grace with illusions of technical prowess, but one who strips away all illusions to reveal a reliable truth in which the human heart can rest.

Therefore, Parker Palmer has brought all of this in to context for us.  A true professional is one who professes faith in something “larger and wiser than his or her own powers…on who strips away all illusions to reveal a reliable truth.”

To me, the ideal of public education is something larger and wiser than any one of us, and it is the people that realize this that end up making the best decisions for public education, and in our case, the Mehlville School District.  Sure, as it relates to serving on the meet and confer committee, some amount of technical knowledge is necessary, which is why we have paid professionals to help guide us, but as board members, we are and extension of the hearts and minds of our community.  If we take this aspect of faith in what it is that we are doing as board members, out of the picture, then we will fall to the same failures of years past.  I, for one, advocate for continued peace and cooperation within the boundaries given to us by the State of Missouri, Federal Government, and our local constituency.  When we start preaching “qualifications, professionalism, experience, and education” as prerequisites to do jobs that have already been entrusted to us by our community, then we start to fall in to the same divisiveness that has held back the Mehlville School District in the past.

The Meet and Confer committee is a committee and a process of which I have faith in and knowledge of.  Therefore, I request that Tom appoint me to this committee.  Two board members?  Three board members?  It makes no difference to me, as long as every participant comes in to this process with the willingness to work together to have the best possible outcome for our children, and our community.  Not to mention, the art negation is not rocket science, and, as I have clearly presented here, the definition of a good negotiator cannot be pinned down by some ineffectual list of qualifications.

Karl Frank, Jr.
Vice President
Mehlville Board of Education

Mehlville’s finances topic of Dec. 10 COMPASS session – Call Newspapers

I’ll be there.  You?

i.call
Mehlville’s finances topic of Dec. 10 COMPASS session
It’s ‘imperative’ for community to attend session, Fowler says
BURKE WASSON
Staff Reporter
December 05, 2007 – A recent study shows that the Mehlville School District’s revenues and expenditures both are less than most comparable area school districts.

A complete picture of the district’s finances will be presented at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 10, during a community-engagement session at Bernard Middle School, 1054 Forder Road.

St. Louis University College of Public Service Associate Dean Bill Rebore is scheduled to discuss the district’s financial condition at the session, which is is part of Mehlville’s public-engagement program, COMPASS — Charting the Oakville-Mehlville Path to Advance Successful Schools.

Click here to read the rest… 

Weekly Mehlville Update – December 7, 2007

Friend,

It’s time once again for your weekly Mehlville update.  Attached are the five news releases I sent to the media, plus Dr. Knost’s Character Plus Word of the Month for December – Caring.

Before I forget to mention it, I want to congratulate the 12 Oakville High Band Members on their selection to the Missouri All-State Band.  I’ll send out a news release next week with all of the details, but I wanted to make sure to share the news with you via this email.  Just another great example of our talented students.

Next week is a busy one in the District.  I hope you will consider joining us for the COMPASS presentation on Finances this coming Monday, December 10 at 7pm at Bernard Middle School.

Also next week, the Board of Education will have a meeting on Thursday evening at 7pm in the Mehlville High Library.  The agenda for this meeting is available by calling 467-MEHL.  I’ll have it posted on the website next week.  I can tell you that weighted grades will be discussed, as well as recognition by the Board for the Mehlville High Football team and Soccer team.

That’s about it for now.  Only 2 weeks until Winter Break.  I’m heading to the SCOPE Winter Graduation event and will issue a news release about it next week.

Regards,

Patrick W. Wallace, APR
Director – School/Community Relations
Mehlville School District
Phone: (314) 467-5152
Fax: (314) 467-5198

Parents can get too wrapped up in the lives of their kids – Bill McClellan – StlToday.com

In my opinion, there is nothing more important to the success of a child, than an active, concerned and loving set of parents.  However, that doesn’t mean they have to be involved in every bit of minutia.  Freedom and unstructured play has been shown to be incredibly important in the ultimate success of a child later in life.  This is an excellent article from columnist Bill McClellan from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on that very topic…

Parents can get too wrapped up in the lives of their kids-Bill McClellan
There was a time when parents didn’t much know what went on in their children’s
lives. Friends and I sometimes marvel at the freedom we enjoyed as kids. On a
Saturday morning, we would get on our bikes and take off. If you would have
asked our mothers sometime in mid-morning, “Where are your kids?” our mothers
would have shrugged and said, “They’ll come back when they get hungry.”

These days, a responsible parent wants to know where his or her child is at all
times. Along with this knowledge comes involvement.

Click here to read the rest… 

Sykes Original 11 Rules of Life for Teenagers

This is a little harsh, but based on experience, it is probably true…for the most part. 

Sykes’ Original 11 Rules
1. Life is not fair. Get used to it.

2. The real world won’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself.

3. Sorry, you won’t make $40,000 a year right out of high school.

4. If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss.

5. Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger-flipping; they called it opportunity.

6. If you screw up, you are responsible. It’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes. Learn from them.

7. Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way paying your bills, cleaning your room and listening to you tell them how idealistic you are.

8. Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not.

9. Life is not divided into semesters, and you don’t get summers off.

10. Television is not real life. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

11. Be nice to nerds. You may end up working for them.

Girls Make History by Sweeping Top Honors at a Science Contest – New York Times

Girls Make History by Sweeping Top Honors at a Science Contest – New York Times
Girls Make History by Sweeping Top Honors at a Science Contest
By AMANDA MILLNER-FAIRBANKS

Girls won top honors for the first time in the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology, one of the nation’s most coveted student science awards, which were announced yesterday at New York University.

Janelle Schlossberger and Amanda Marinoff, both 17 and seniors at Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School on Long Island, split the first prize — a $100,000 scholarship — in the team category for creating a molecule that helps block the reproduction of drug-resistant tuberculosis bacteria.

Isha Himani Jain, 16, a senior at Freedom High School in Bethlehem, Pa., placed first in the individual category for her studies of bone growth in zebra fish, whose tail fins grow in spurts, similar to the way children’s bones do. She will get a $100,000 scholarship.

Click here to read the rest of this article… 

Critically important for community to attend next COMPASS meeting – Call Newspapers

i.call
Critically important for community to attend next COMPASS meeting

Karl Frank Jr.

December 05, 2007 – From a board member’s point of view, I have been thrilled and inspired by how our community has begun to rally around the many recent successes of the Mehlville School District.

One of those important successes has been the COMPASS process, in which hundreds of you have participated and provided feedback about how we can improve education in the Mehlville School District. As a result, we have received many exciting ideas that will make our schools even better for our students and our community as a whole. But as exciting as these ideas are — we still have many hurdles in front of us.

Click here to read the rest of the letter…