From Sichuan to Oregon: Schools at Risk

From Sichuan to Oregon: Schools at Risk

A 2007 survey reveal the vulnerability of schools and emergency-services buildings in Oregon that provides a chilling hint of the dangers. The bottom line? More than a thousand schools in Oregon are ready to fall in a quake that could be 32 times more powerful than the one that shattered eastern Sichuan province. The retrofitting and replacement of vulnerable schools and other critical infrastructure will take decades, she added. Her rough best-case deadline for fixing buildings needed in emergencies in Oregon is 2022; for schools, 2032.

4 AP Classes cut

Back in April, the College Board decided to cut 4 AP classes off of their list. 3 of them, I can understand because they are not highly valuable anymore, which are talian, Latin literature, French literature. The fourth class that was cut bugs me, which is Computer Science AB class.

Apparently this is one of the least popular AP classes that are offered by College Board. Italian, introduced three years ago, has attracted 1,642 students and 305 teachers nationwide, one-fifth the number who expressed interest before it was created, AP officials said. Courses in French and Latin literature serve 2,068 and 3,771 students, respectively. The most popular AP subjects, including U.S. history and English literature, reach hundreds of thousands of students each year.

The elimination of courses comes on the heels of the College Board's first quality-control audit of the AP program, which asked teachers nationwide to prove that they were teaching a class worthy of the AP label. As a result, the organization has direct e-mail contact with every AP teacher. Other AP courses have been eliminated in past years -- music listening and literature was cut in 1991. But never have multiple classes been deleted at the same time.

Apparently, there are no plans to cut any other AP class within the next 5 years.

AP Language, Computer Courses Cut article

Tougher programs for gifted students

Tougher programs for gifted students

Right now, the identification for gifted students is that they score at least 130 on an IQ test and perform at least one grade level above their peers in one or more subjects. The proposed change would classify students as gifted if they meet the IQ threshold or meet multiple other criteria. Advocates said the change is needed because IQ tests don't always flag gifted students, particularly those from disadvantaged homes, children with disabilities and deep-thinkers who don't do well on timed tests. However, there are school districts believe that if the student does not meet the magic number, they cannot get into the school's district gifted program no matter what the recommendations say. This is truly a shame because each student is an individual that has his/her own strengths and weaknesses.

Anti-bully act passes in Florida's Senate

Anti-bully act in Florida's Senate

Last year, this act was blocked in Florida's state Senate, which is a shame. The reasoning behind blocking the act in the first place was that the government felt that things would taken care of themselves without legislation. However, that is not the case...I feel that states and local governments need to get tougher about bullying issues that are occurring in the schools on a daily basis. To prove that this is a serious issue, the bill was named after a teenager that was bullied on a daily basis...so much that he committed suicide in 2005.

doing away from Science curriculum over a state test

This is insane for both the teacher and students. Several high schools in Florida did away with science curriculum for 7 weeks in order to prepare for the state science test. The principals felt that the scores on the state science test was lacked luster so they felt that the students need to review the content. It would be extremely tough and boring to review 4 to 8 years of science material within a 7 week period. The students already have a low motivation about the state test so they will probably not have much of a motivation to go their science class if that is all that they would be doing in class...reviewing for the test. There must be some other way of preparing for the test than to drill and drill for 7 weeks in science class.

Online textbooks

Online textbooks

To me, this is a mixed bag feeling. On the positive side, I am always up on trying new ways of presenting information to students instead of totalling relaying on the traditional textbooks. There is so much information out there on a specific topic plus the information is always changing, particularly in the sciences. However, on the uncertainty/negative side of this issue, printing out the pdf files from a textbook can be quite expensive. This would cost the student tons of money. For instance, the printing could cost anywhere between $0.05 to $0.20 per page depending on if the page is printed in black and white or in color. Also, it would be a huge paper usage. A high school science textbook usually has about 500-600 pages. So, if the student printed out every page...the total cost for one textbook could range between $25/$100 to 30/120 (depending on if the pages are printed in black & white or in color). After the term or school year is over, what happens to all of the pages used? Thrown in the trash or recycled?

tutoring in the mornings at schools

Tutoring in the mornings at schools

As of right now, there are only four states (Alaska, North Carolina, Indiana, and Virginia) that allow low-income students early access to schools for tutoring. It can do one or two things, either help these students to catch up with their peers or help them on their homework. When these two students go home in the evenings, they rarely get a chance to complete their homework assignments. Tutoring services are provided by private companies approved by the state Department of Education. Tutoring can take place before or after school. Some tutors meet with small groups of students; others work with individual students in their homes. Some providers even offer online tutoring. The online tutoring may be difficult for these students to obtain due to their limited living income.