Education
Controversy over lesson plan on slavery raises concerns in Houston Independent School District –
After presenting three bullet points containing very short and oversimplified points of context, seventh-grade students were asked to come to a decision whether Texas should allow slavery to appease slave-owning Texans, whether Texas should follow Mexico’s lead in banning slavery despite feelings of enslavement, or Texas must also delay introducing a selection on this issue for 20 years, thus leaving the system of slavery unchallenged
The already wildly unpopular state takeover of the Houston Independent School District has turn out to be one other source of hate for fogeys after a lesson distributed through HISD’s central curriculum asked students to place themselves in the shoes of Texans wondering how implement his government in 1836 under the Texas Constitutional Convention. The problem was that through the lesson, students had to decide on whether slavery was improper using three multiple-selection answers. After presenting three bullet points containing very short and oversimplified context points, seventh-grade students were asked to come to a decision whether Texas should allow slavery to appease slave-owning Texans, whether Texas should follow Mexico’s lead in banning slavery despite enslaving feelings, or Texas should delay making a selection on this issue for 20 years, thus leaving the system of slavery unchallenged.
The lesson was reported to have drawn the ire of former HISD school board superintendent Kathy Blueford-Daniels, who immediately questioned what message it might send to HISD’s majority black students, saying, “What it means to these black kids is that you’re not worth anything.” she said. “The fact that these children have to see their peers make a decision based on one of these answers is ridiculous.” After being contacted for comment, an HISD spokesperson issued an announcement saying: “This seventh-grade social studies lesson does not meet our standards for curriculum quality. We will immediately stop using it and replace it with a more appropriate lesson to teach students about the 1836 Convention.”
Houston Federation of Teachers President Jackie Anderson also questioned the district’s takeover policies, resembling banning full-length books from teachers’ lesson plans. Anderson said: “Again, look at the schools where this is happening – black schools and brown schools,” Anderson said. – They have books on the west side. They have books at River Oaks. They have books at Pen Oak. Why does this only occur to black and brown students?” Anderson also called for a halt to the takeover plans, saying the state board must “bind all the garbage Miles throws.” Superintendent Miles, who’s overseeing reform changes implemented by the state of Texas, plans to have a minimum of half of the varsity district using the New Education System by the 2026-2027 school 12 months.
His NES program was marked by parent protests, massive teacher turnover, and student protests, often run by the Houston teachers union, Houston Federation of Teachers. The crux of the union’s dissatisfaction with the NES system is: a radical change in the best way teachers are paid and eliminating libraries and turning them into disciplinary centers. The payment system Miles desires to implement is just like the one he installed in Dallas ISDwhich led to a 22% increase in teacher turnover, in addition to a moderate increase in state education standards and more scandals than positive advantages for teachers, though other districts eventually adopted the Dallas ISD plan.
In addition to the problems surrounding Miles’ creation, the state’s Republican-led Texas Legislature passed a bill in 2021 sponsored by a bunch openly supported by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, the 1836 Project, in accordance with Chloe Latham Sikes, deputy director of policy on the Research Association Cross-culturally, the aim of the laws was: limit any discussion of race, gender identity or sexism in Texas classrooms, saying, “It’s not just about what a teacher can or can’t say,” Sikes said. “It’s also how they teach classes, how they design them—how they can address really sensitive issues of race, gender, identity and sexism in their classrooms. “What this all is really about is excluding any recognition of the importance of sex, race, gender, and silencing these conversations that ultimately ultimately hurt students of color and students from the LGBTQ community.”
Education
Literacy materials being withdrawn from many schools are facing new pressure from parents of children with reading difficulties
A lawsuit filed by two Massachusetts families deepens opposition to an approach to teaching reading that some schools proceed to make use of despite evidence that it will not be probably the most effective.
States across the country were modernization of reading programs for research-based strategies, generally known as “learning to read”, including an emphasis on sounding out words.
This week’s lawsuit takes aim at an approach that does not try this emphasize phonics. These include the time-tested “three clues” strategy, which inspires students to make use of images and context to predict words by asking questions comparable to: “What happens next?”, “What is the first letter of the word? ” or “What clues do the photos give?”
The families of the Massachusetts students who did this it was hard to read filed a lawsuit against authors and publishers who supported this approach, including Lucy Calkins, a lecturer at Teachers College at Columbia University. He is demanding compensation for the families allegedly harmed by the fabric.
Thousands of schools once used the three-signal approach as part of the “balanced literacy” approach advocated by Calkins and others, which focused, for instance, on having children read books they liked independently and spend less time on phonics or letter relationships and sounds. Over the past few years, greater than 40 states have passed laws emphasizing evidence-based and research-based materials, in keeping with the nonprofit Albert Shanker Institute.
It’s unknown how many school districts still use the programs at issue since the numbers aren’t monitored — but there are many, in keeping with Timothy Shanahan, professor emeritus of education on the University of Illinois at Chicago. Many teachers have been trained to show the three-pointer, so it could actually be used even in classrooms where it will not be part of the curriculum, he said.
He said research does show the advantages of teaching phonics, but there may be less information in regards to the three-cue method.
“There is no research that isolates the practice of teaching three-pointers – so we don’t know if it helps, hurts, or is just a waste of time (although logically it would seem to conflict with phonics, which may or may not be the case when teaching children),” he wrote in an email.
A key part of the sport is the tricue Reading the recovery programwhich was utilized in over 2,400 US elementary schools. In 2023, the Reading Recovery Council of North America filed a lawsuit alleging that Ohio lawmakers violated the authority of state and native boards of education through the use of a budget bill banning the three-pointer.
The new lawsuit accuses Calkins and other outstanding figures in the sphere of childhood literacy of using fraud to trick schools into purchasing and using flawed methods. The parents who sued alleged that their children had difficulty reading after studying in public schools in Massachusetts, where a 2023 Boston Globe study found that almost half of schools used materials that the state Department of Education deemed to be of low quality.
The lawsuit asks the court to order authors, their corporations and publishers to supply an early literacy program that features reading instruction for gratis.
One plaintiff, Michele Hudak of Ashland, said she thought her son was reading at an elementary level until fourth grade, when he had difficulty reading his assigned textbooks. By then, tests showed he was reading at an elementary level, the lawsuit said, “solely because he could successfully guess the words from the pictures.”
Calkins didn’t reply to an email looking for comment. It has maintained its approach, even adding more phonics to its literacy curricula, called units of study.
But last 12 months Teachers College announced it was closing the Reading and Writing Project, which Calkins founded, saying it desired to foster more conversation and collaboration between different approaches to literacy. Calkins has since founded the Reading and Writing Project in Mossflower to proceed her work.
“Teachers must use the best approach and differentiate their instruction depending on the specific child they are working with,” Calkins said in a video posted on the new project’s website.
Michael Kamil, professor emeritus of education at Stanford University, said that although Calkins dropped phonics, it is just one component of teaching children to read.
“There are lots of reasons why students don’t learn to read, and the reading program is very rarely the main reason,” Kamil said.
Education
Actor Michael Rainey Jr. donates $2.4 million to improve financial literacy in Staten Island schools
“Power Book II: Ghost” star Michael Rainey Jr. just made a significant move into power — starting this 12 months’s holidays early.
The 24-year-old actor has partnered with the Restoring America Through Recovery Education (RARE) Foundation to donate $2.4 million in financial literacy tools and support to three high schools in Staten Island, New York.
“A huge THANK YOU to (Michael Rainey Jr.) for sponsoring Port Richmond High School and providing each student and their parents with the necessary education in financial literacy and Equifax identity theft protection! Your commitment to empowering the next generation is truly inspiring,” RARE officials captioned the post on the web site Instagram.
The post included a video from the day Rainey visited Port Richmond High School to present the organization with an enormous check. There, he spoke candidly about his financial literacy journey and posed for photos with students. School officials and community organizers were also available to talk to students about financial literacy.
“Together with the support of the RARE Foundation Board of Directors, this is the first step in our mission to ensure that every student in New York is financially prepared for adulthood,” the post continued. “This is just the beginning – there are many more schools to come! Let’s make financial literacy a priority for every student!”
According to the organization’s website, the RARE Foundation strives to provide disadvantaged communities with “essential financial recovery education and training.” By partnering with RARE, Rainey hopes to further empower disadvantaged and at-risk youth with sage advice in order that they can confidently navigate their financial future, local radio station HOT 97 reported.
Rainey is from Louisville, Kentucky, and “Power Book II: Ghost,” a derivative of fifty Cent’s “Power” TV series, is ready in the five boroughs of New York City. In the spirit of the season, this wasn’t the one charity event Rainey took part in on Staten Island in recent days. According to videos uploaded to his Instagram Storiesthe actor also appeared on the Staten Island Turkey Drive, where he greeted guests and handed out T-shirts.
Education
VSU is the first HBCU with an accredited social work program
Virginia State University (VSU) is making HBCU history with a brand new accredited program.
Virginia State University distinguishes itself from other Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) by adding a Master of Social Work degree program. The advanced degree program will likely be the first of its kind accredited by the Council on Social Work (CWSE) to be offered at an HBCU.
The university announced the accreditation of the program on November 21 on the university’s official website. The program has been operating since 2022, but only now has it received full accreditation. CWSE grants accreditation retroactively, covering previous semesters through fall 2022.
With the addition of the program, VSU’s mission is to teach culturally and socially competent mental health experts to assist support and lift up your communities.
“Preparing graduates to systematically and strategically address the well-being of people who have experienced trauma. It is also committed to promoting human rights and social and economic justice through community engagement, advocacy and collaborative research that influences professional practice at the local, national and global levels,” the press release reads.
VSU is not the only HBCU that has found success in academia. BLACK ENTERPRISES it was recently reported that Jackson State University is the first HBCU to win the Founder’s Award from the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).
NAI was founded in 2011 and has welcomed over 700 fellows. The organization promotes and honors creativity, diversity and invention. To join this prestigious organization, a scientist must hold no less than one U.S. patent.
JSU is a founding member of the organization and boasts many successful innovators who’ve change into NAI scholarship recipients.
Introduced in 2012, Ernest Izevbigie obtained two patents that led to the creation of EdoBotanics. The dietary complement helps cancer patients cope with the unwanted effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Other inductees included Kamal Ali ’17 and Danuta Leszczyńska ’18.
JSU President Marcus Thompson accepted the honor: “This distinction further underscores our commitment to academic excellence, economic development and social progress. This is a significant milestone not only for JSU, but for all HBCUs and the state of Mississippi.”
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