Meg's Notebook | Digital learning and Education Blog

Ontario's Bill 14 - Anti-Bullying Act, 2012

2012-05-15T21:46:00.001-04:00

Today's Toronto Star published an article on Bill 14, Anti-Bullying Act, 2012, now sitting in Committee after second reading. Submissions are being presented to Committee and the Ontario Principals’ Council (OPC) put forth a submission questioning the definition of bullying behaviour as "aggressive". The OPC is concerned that such a restrictive lens on the act of bullying will handcuff them from "addressing the passive, subtle and insidious bullying that can be just as debilitating".

For more detail read the full OPC submission.

UBC Cyberbullying Study

2012-04-30T22:47:00.000-04:00

A graph showing where electronic aggression occurs. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A new cyberbullying study out of the University of British Columbia (UBC) suggests that the three characteristics of traditional "schoolyard" bullying (power differential between bully and victim, a proactive targeting of a victim, and ongoing aggression) aren't always present in the increasingly more common cyberbullying.

...research is beginning to show that cyberbullying does not necessarily involve these three characteristics. Traditional power differentials – size and popularity – do not necessarily apply online. There also seems to be more fluid delineation between the roles youth play; it is not unusual for an individual to act in all capacities – bullies, victims, and witnesses – online.

Previous work...has shown that in contrast to traditional bullying, cyberbullying is rarely associated with planned targeting of a victim.

And while cyberbullying is now becoming the main avenue of experience for bullies and their victims - "Results of the studies show that about 25-30 per cent of youth report that they have experienced or taken part in cyberbullying, compared to 12 per cent of youth who say they’ve experienced or taken part in schoolyard bullying" - most youth consider what happens online was intended as a joke.

The study (which involved 17,000 Vancouver, B.C. students in Grades 8 to 12 and a follow-up study involving 733 Vancouver, B.C. youth aged 10-18) suggests that anti-bullying programs need specific interventions to target online aggression if the current attitude toward cyberbullying is to change.

Facebook Guide for Schools

2012-04-29T00:16:00.000-04:00

The American School Counselor Association has combined with iKeepSafe, an Internet safety advocacy group, to publish a guide to help schools and their counselors make sense of the platform and its impact on student-life. The guide offers tips on:

Developing school policies.
Responding to online incidents that impact the school climate.
Helping the community define dangerous behavior on Facebook.
Educating students and staff about digital literacy.

You may also want to look at Facebook for Educators, which also contains a guide.

Three Ring...a very impressive app for teachers

2012-04-28T23:51:00.000-04:00

Just came across an article on Mashable about Three Ring, a smartphone app which allows teachers to take a photo or video recording of student work, store, view and / or share online. The app allows teachers to assign the photo / video of students work with a student (you can upload class lists), create a metadata list to tag work, and use this digital repository as a searchable record of a students work.

Of course, this digital filing cabinet of the work done in your class can also help you manage and maintain a refreshed document library for your portfolio: something which has always been a chore for teachers.

And if you maintain a classroom wiki / site, as I do, Three Ring becomes a great way to connect students to a record of their work or share student work within or beyond the classroom.

Noteworthy research and studies for this week

2012-04-22T01:15:00.000-04:00

Well, it looks like Toronto's real estate industry's constant need to reference "good schools" and their relationship to specific areas is in no way unique to certain markets. The Brookings Institution has just released a report which explores the link and relationship between housing prices and zoning practices, and argues that "public policies should address housing market regulations that prohibit all but the very affluent from enrolling their children in high-scoring public schools in order to promote individual social mobility and broader economic security."

Principals are second only to teachers in their impact on student achievement, according to a report by the Center for Public Education that compiles recent research on principal effectiveness.

A Psychological Science study, The Neurodevelopmental Basis of Math Anxiety, has identified the neural correlates of math anxiety. In other words, while not to dismiss the cultural or social conditioning issues connected to math anxiety, it's not simply a question of nurture.

Focus on Education: A Weekly Ontario News Update - January 8, 2012

2012-01-06T16:29:00.000-05:00

A review of the last few week's of education news in Ontario.

Teachers’ disciplinary decisions now online
For the first time, disciplinary decisions involving hundreds of the province’s rogue teachers are now easily accessible online.

Hamilton Spectator, January 5, 2012

Students in poorer neighbourhoods exposed to more pollution: study
Students attending schools in low-income neighbourhoods are more likely to be exposed to air and noise pollution because of the proximity of major roads, says a Simon Fraser University study published Wednesday.

Ottawa Citizen, January 4, 2012

Want your kids to do better in school? Try exercise
Children who get more exercise also tend to do better in school, whether the exercise comes as recess, physical education classes or getting exercise on the way to school, according to an international study.

Ottawa Citizen, January 4, 2012

For students, a dog day afternoon with a school’s blessing
The name of the game is First Poochie Sniffer. When it is ready to be tested, it will offer the students who try it out the chance to experience life as a dog. “We want to know whether we can show a different kind of sense, like smell, and have someone experience a dog’s perspective that is completely smell-driven,” says York University’s Jennifer Jenson, one of a growing number of researchers who are exploring the instructional power of computer and video games designed specifically for the classroom.

Globe and Mail, January 3, 2012

Wilson after answers for rural schools
Simcoe-Grey MPP Jim Wilson has tabled three questions in the Ontario Legislature for Minister of Education Laurel Broten regarding the closure of Duntroon Central Public School and rural school closures in general.

Simcoe.com, December 21, 2011

Education Minister consults on new act with local students
No student in any of Ontario’s schools should be the victim of discrimination, hatred or bullying, Minister of Education Laurel Broten told a select group of students at John F. Ross CVI Monday.

Guelph Mercury, December 19, 2011

Guelph woman to be on provincial bullying task force
A Guelph mother of a child who has been bullied hopes to serve on a task force with the Minister of Education that’s examining bullying and ways to eliminate it.

Guelph Mercury, December 19, 2011

Focus on Education: A Weekly Ontario News Update - December 10, 2011

2011-12-10T21:54:00.001-05:00

A review of the week's education news in Ontario, including some noteworthy items from other provinces or the US.

Provincial Politicians Standing Up Against Religious Leaders
The province's education minister says she doesn't want a school system that discriminates.

News Talk 1010, December 10, 2011

Identity of rogue teachers to be made public
The identity and actions of many rogue teachers will no longer be kept secret from the public, the Ontario government has decided.

Toronto Star, December 10, 2011

Student audience hears first-hand account of violent school bullying
Mere hours after the second reading of the province's new anti-bullying bill Wednesday, a group of south Etobicoke youth sat riveted by the stories of a young man who could have been saved years of torment had the legislation been around when he was in high school. When Jeremy Dias, now 27, was in Grade 10 his family moved from Edmonton, Alberta to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, where he was the only visible minority in his new high school.

InsideToronto.com, December 10, 2011

Fringes don't speak for majority
Having spent eight years working for what is often called a "mainstream" church, I still tend to cringe whenever I see the media proclaiming "religious" groups have taken a position on something. The most recent incident dates back to Tuesday, when ctv.ca announced, "Religious groups cry foul over Ontario anti-bullying bill."

Belleville Intelligencer, December 10, 2011

H-SCDSB, student welcomes bullying legislation
While some religious groups are criticizing proposed legislation that would require schools to allow gay-straight alliances, Superior Heights Collegiate and Vocational School student Cameron Aitken says it's about time the province paved the way for the clubs.

Sault Star, December 10, 2011

PCVS makes some (really loud) noise at Queen's Park
They wanted the minister of education. She didn't show. They were willing to settle for Premier Dalton McGuinty – no sign of him, either, even after hundreds of teenagers called his name for half an hour.

Peterborough Examiner, December 8, 2011

Risky move pays off
Chelsea Felker stopped worrying about what other’s thought long ago. The Grimsby Secondary School senior is carefree. She doesn’t fit the mould of most teenagers portrayed in magazines or in movies. She lives life by her own rules and dresses by her own rules. And so, when she heard that other students were being teased and bullies for doing the same, she knew she needed to help.

NiagaraThisWeek.com, December 7, 2011

Broten says trustees should listen to critics
Education Minister Laurel Broten is encouraging Hamilton school board trustees to heed concerns about holding private pre-meetings before they hold open sessions on public business.

Hamilton Spectator, December 6, 2011

22 years later, women are still a target
Twenty-two years after Marc Lepine walked into l’Ecole Polytechnique with a rifle and murdered 14 young female engineering students, Canada still has a long way to go to stop gender-based violence...MPP Laurel Broten, minister of education and women’s issues, hopes the new anti-bullying legislation will help do just that.

Toronto Star, December 6, 2011

Ontario minister of education vows GSAs will be mandated in all schools
Ontario Catholic schools will not allow student groups to be called gay-straight alliances, the president of the Ontario Catholic School Trustees Association (OCSTA) pledges.

Xtra, December 1, 2011

Expelling bullies a last resort, McGuinty says
Students in Ontario who engage in homophobic smears or beat up their classmates would be given every opportunity to rehabilitate themselves under proposed legislation that also contains tougher consequences for schoolyard bullies.

Globe and Mail, December 1, 2011

Tailoring schools for students
For all the controversy surrounding the Toronto District School Board’s decision to add a high school to its existing Africentric program, it’s easy to forget Toronto has a history of ethnocentric schooling dating 30 years.

Toronto Sun, November 27, 2011

Focus on Education: A Weekly Ontario News Update - November 26, 2011

2011-11-25T16:43:00.001-05:00

A review of the week's education news in Ontario, including some noteworthy items from other provinces or the US.

Education Quality and Accountability Office to Release Ontario Student Results on National Reading, Math and Science Test
At 10:00 a.m. on Monday, November 28, 2011, the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) will release Ontario student results from the 2010 Pan-Canadian Assessment Program (PCAP) test.

Canada Newswire, November 25, 2011

York Region parents pull students from school in classroom Wi-Fi protest
A group of parents in a school district north of Toronto kept their children out of school Wednesday to protest the use of Wi-Fi in classrooms.

Globe and Mail, November 23, 2011

No recess from French as Montreal schools move to scan playground chatter
The playgrounds, hallways and cafeterias of Quebec's largest school board will soon be French-only zones as authorities move to silence other languages — even during recess.

Ottawa Citizen, November 26, 2011

Start school at 2, study urges
Every Canadian child should have access to publicly funded early childhood education starting at age 2 in their local school, says a new report based on an “avalanche of evidence” that shows how such programming can transform kids' lives.

Toronto Star, November 22, 2011

Get kids into school at age 2; study says children and the economy would benefit
An early childhood education study is recommending publicly funded preschool education for all Canadian kids beginning at age two.

Winnipeg Free Press, November 22, 2011

Quebec, PEI, Manitoba surge ahead on early childhood education
Over the course of his career, Fraser Mustard became known for big ideas that linked diverse fields, from medicine to psychology, and later, to education. He devoted his final major report, released less than a week after his death, to early childhood learning, leaving the provinces with a way to measure and compare their preschool systems.

Globe and Mail, November 22, 2011

Report suggests Canadian kids enter school earlier
Canadian toddlers — not five-year-olds — may be the ones posing for "first-day-of-school" snapshots taken by proud parents, if provincial governments adopt recommendations from the latest report on early-childhood education.

Ottawa Citizen, November 22, 2011

First Nations sue Ottawa over right to education
More than two dozen aboriginal communities have filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit accusing the federal government of violating a promise made more than 130 years ago.

CBC, November 23, 2011

School boards want to make mental health a priority
Schools need to make children’s mental health a priority, says the president of the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association.

The Record, November 22, 2011

McGuinty vows to improve First Nations schools
Premier Dalton McGuinty made a surprise commitment in Tuesday’s throne speech to improve standards in First Nations schools.

Toronto Star, November 22, 2011

The face of education: is it too white?
Malton math teacher Krishna Nankissoor says he was twice denied a promotion to be head of his department and blames it on the fact he was South Asian.

Toronto Star, November 18, 2011

Africentric school against everything city stands for
The Toronto District School Board made a terrible mistake when it approved an Africentric high school this week. Public schools based on racial background are an affront to everything Toronto stands for.

Globe and Mail, November 18, 2011

Investing in Early Childhood Education - Early Years Report Released

2011-11-22T17:52:00.001-05:00

To truly transform kids' lives and give them the best possible start publicly funded education should start at the age of 2 -

We need to think of building education downward, but at the same time not ‘schoolifying' kids but stimulating kids” through optional, play-based programs...

This is the main message delivered by the newly released Early Years Study 3: Making Decisions Taking Action, the last report by the late J. Fraser Mustard and funded by the Margaret & Wallace McCain Family Foundation. It's all over the Canadian news, and rightfully so, it took the bold step of introducing an Early Childhood Education Index: based on five categories (governance, funding, access, learning environment, and accountability) it provides a snapshot of provincial early childhood education services.

To access the previous two reports:

Early years study 2: Putting science into action (2007) focused on the policy framework necessary to improve conditions in early childhood, with a view of improving the health of the population.
The seminal Early years study: Reversing the real brain drain (1999) describes the critical importance of children's early interactions in shaping their development.

Focus on Education: A Weekly Ontario News Update - November 11, 2011

2011-11-11T21:45:00.001-05:00

Focus on Education: A Weekly Ontario News Update - November 4, 2011 has 22 articles from the past week. Here are some of the news items covered:

Racist graffiti shocks U of W
Mutant worms and banana DNA – program gets kids into weird science
Teens think they'll earn $90,000 a year by age 30
Dropout rates rise with immigrant child’s age of arrival
Publishers Turn to Cloud Computing to Offer Digital Content

and more, see http://bitly.com/tvOGa2

Focus on Education: A Weekly Ontario News Update - November 4, 2011

2011-11-04T21:24:00.001-04:00

Focus on Education: A Weekly Ontario News Update - November 4, 2011 has 22 articles from the past week. Here are some of the news items covered:

Racist graffiti shocks U of W
Mutant worms and banana DNA – program gets kids into weird science
Teens think they'll earn $90,000 a year by age 30
Dropout rates rise with immigrant child’s age of arrival
Publishers Turn to Cloud Computing to Offer Digital Content

and more, see http://bitly.com/vZPXPf

Financial Literacy in Canada Report Released

2011-11-02T22:03:00.007-04:00

November is Financial Literacy Month - who knew, and the BC Securities Commission has just released The National Report Card on Youth Financial Literacy - a survey of over 3,000 recent Canadian high school graduates, most of whom went on to a post-secondary program, found they are highly optimistic about their financial futures, e.g.:

The average survey respondent expects to earn $90,735 in 10 years; roughly three times the average income of 25 to 29 year-olds with post-secondary degrees ($31,648) according to Statistics Canada’s 2006 Census data
Nearly 3-in-4 (73%) expect to own a home within the next 10 years; according to estimates by Statistics Canada, only 42% of 25 to 29 year-olds are homeowners
A large majority of respondents (81%) believe they will be financially better off in life than their parents
Among those with a student loan, almost half (49%) say they will definitely or very likely pay it off in 5 years. However the real numbers tell us a different story. Student debt has nearly reached a record high at $15 billion according to the 2010-11 actuarial report released by the Federal Government.

Amazing.

This is the first comprehensive Canadian benchmark study on youth financial life skills, and what it's really telling us is

a) classroom-based Financial Literacy curriculum is not working...a position shared by the National Report Card, and

b) we suspect many of these kids have been coddled and sheltered from experiencing the crappy summer / school year jobs many of us had when we grew up. (Many of the recent graduates or university students we get seem to be walking into their first, second job, and from discussions many appear to have gone their teen summers without getting a job?!?!)

Below are links to the Ontario Minsitry of Education's guides to integrating Financial Literacy into the curriculum...also a mystery to many teachers:

Financial Literacy in the Ontario Curriculum
A Sound Investment: Financial Literacy Education in Ontario Schools. Report of the Working Group on Financial Literacy, 2010.

Today's Toronto Star (Moneyville, a Star finance blog) also had an article on the report, and also worth reading is a previous article on Moneyville, Debt-free by 44? Many young Canadians think so...what a hilarious bunch.

Ensuring the Value of University Degrees in Ontario - A COU Report

2011-11-01T21:27:00.008-04:00

The Council of Ontario Universities has just release a report, Ensuring the Value of University Degrees in Ontario, explores "how universities define degree level expectations – the intellectual and creative development that students will acquire from a particular degree, and how these expectations are integrated into curriculum and the learning outcomes of specific courses".

The whole concept of defining degree level expectations and learning outcomes in a quality assurance context is a rather brave one. It's all very high-level, and is packaged more like a communications piece than an actual report. But this is surely meant as a piece to initiate thinking and dialogue about the university experience as process and investment. For example, the identified categories of knowledge and skills that students must demonstrate in order to be awarded a degree are:

Depth and breadth of knowledge
Knowledge of methodologies
Research and scholarship
Application of knowledge
Communications skills
Awareness of the limits of knowledge
Autonomy and professional capacity

And for each category they associate specific expectations per degree level, e.g. for Autonomy and professional capacity at the Master's dgree level, students must demonstrate:

The qualities and transferable skills necessary for employment
requiring the exercise of initiative, personal responsibility and
accountability; decision-making in complex situations; the
intellectual independence required for continuing professional
development; the ethical behavior consistent with academic
integrity and the use of appropriate guidelines and procedures for
responsible conduct of research; and the ability to appreciate the
broader implications of applying knowledge to particular contexts.

Yup, very broad and almost a generic résumé fee; to it.

UN's Global Education Digest 2011

2011-10-30T21:28:00.010-04:00

Global Education Digest 2011: Comparing Education Statistics Across the World

The UN has just released its annual education digest. This document contains a wealth of international statistical data on the state of education across the various continents and socio-political landscapes.

Here are some of the highlights:

The number of students attending secondary school around the world is increasing dramatically and governments are struggling to meet the rising demand, especially in sub-Saharan Africa where there are enough school places for just 36% of children of age to enrol
Globally, secondary schools have been accommodating almost one hundred million more students each decade, with the total number growing by 60% between 1990 and 2009. But the supply is dwarfed by demand as more countries approach universal primary education
Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region in which the gender gap is getting worse at the upper secondary level, with 8 million boys enrolled compared to 6 million girls; and girls also face significant barriers in South and West Asia

And for data geeks, the report contains a wealth of data on enrolment and teaching staff, measures of progression and completion, youth literacy, international flow of mobile students, etc.

Ontario School Board Cutbacks and School Libraries

2011-10-29T22:36:00.003-04:00

Image via WikipediaOntario school libraries appear to be an easy target for school board cutbacks; unfortunate in many ways, but especially in lower-income areas where access to computers and the Internet at home is not a given. And the decision to target school libraries becomes even more bizarre in light of the provinces EQAO testing...so how are these grade 3 and 6 students to get the supplementary readings, books, etc to help with their classroom work?!

Things are getting drastic in some boards. Last spring the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board laid off all but four of its library technicians and dismantled all its libraries. It's goal was to divvy up the library books in its elementary schools and distribute them to individual classrooms instead. Of course, teachers have plenty of time on their hands to pursue collection development and management to ensure their collections remain fresh and relevant...

A recent study by the parent-led non-profit group People for Education found that 56 per cent of elementary schools in the province have a teacher-librarian, down from about 80 per cent 10 years ago. And to make matters worse for students, hundreds of municipal libraries across the province are also facing some major cutbacks.

The above study seems to contradict the government's position on school libraries. A 2008 news release, More Library Staff For Ontario Students, stated that "Ontario will provide school boards across the province with an additional $40 million over the next four years to hire about 160 more library staff." 4 years, eh, that means the 160 extra library staff hiring proposal will be complete come 2012...so, what happened in Windsor-Essex? Is the People for Education report working with very incorrect data?

It's all a little confusing, but one thing is sure, school libraries are not doing well.

Focus on Education: A Weekly Ontario News Update - October 28, 2011

2011-10-29T21:37:00.005-04:00

I've decided to post news items again because I find myself bundling weekly collections for my own interest...so why not share them.

Focus on Education: A Weekly Ontario News Update - October 28, 2011 has 20 articles from the past week. Here are some of the news items covered:

Cheaters prosper because of school boards' zero intolerance
Time to bring controversy, politics into classroom, experts say
iPad helps Toronto special needs kids learn
Kindergartners Blend E-Learning, Face-to-Face Instruction

and more, see http://bitly.com/v8fROc

Information and Communications Accessibility Standards - What this new regulation means to schools and school libraries

2011-10-21T23:10:00.022-04:00

This past summer the Ontario Government filed regulation 119/11, the Integrated Accessibility Standards. O. Reg. 191/11 establishes the accessibility standards for each of the three following areas:

Information and Communications
Employment
Transportation

The following post is a review of the Information and Communications Standards (Part II of the regulation), and how they apply to libraries.

The new Information and Communications Standards sets out the regulatory framework for the provision of accessible formats and communications supports, and accessible web sites and web content: the Ontario Government must ensure the standards encompass both Internets and Intranets / Extranets, while the Broader Public Sector (e.g. schools) will will need to ensure that their Internet sites are standards compliant. The standards which web sites and web content must comply with now are the WCAG 2.0 Level AA standards, and compliance dates vary by institution and site.

Section 14(2) of the regulation states:
Designated public sector organizations and large organizations shall make their internet websites and web content conform with the World Wide Web Consortium Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, initially at Level A and increasing to Level AA, and shall do so in accordance with the schedule set out in this section. O. Reg. 191/11, s. 14 (2).

However, sections 15 through 18 deal specifically with educational and training resources and materials, educators, and libraries of educational and training institutions, and introduce some provisions which may be of interest.

Section 15(1) states the following:

Every obligated organization that is an educational or training institution shall do the following, if notification of need is given:
1. Provide educational or training resources or materials in an accessible format that takes into account the accessibility needs due to a disability of the person with a disability to whom the material is to be provided by,
i. procuring through purchase or obtaining by other means an accessible or conversion ready electronic format of educational or training resources or materials, where available, or
ii. arranging for the provision of a comparable resource in an accessible or conversion ready electronic format, if educational or training resources or materials cannot be procured, obtained by other means or converted into an accessible format.
2. Provide student records and information on program requirements, availability and descriptions in an accessible format to persons with disabilities.

School boards must provide educators with accessibility awareness training.

Section 18(1) focuses on the libraries if educational and training institutions, and compliance is also outlined:

...the libraries of educational or training institutions that are obligated organizations shall provide, procure or acquire by other means an accessible or conversion ready format of print, digital or multimedia resources or materials for a person with a disability, upon request...

Official copies of the full text of O. Reg. 191/11 can be viewed and downloaded at the following locations:

e-Learning Updates

2011-09-15T22:52:00.005-04:00

Image via CrunchBaseTextbook publisher Pearson announced today that it has acquired Connections Education, which operates virtual schools or academies in 21 US states, serves about 40,000 students, and has developed a broad array of educational technology tools. This marks the first time that one of the "big three" textbook publishers (Houghton Mifflin, Pearson Education, and McGraw-Hill) has stepped so deeply into the virtual education world.

McGraw-Hill Cos. will split up into two public companies with one focused on education and the other centered on markets. McGraw-Hill Education will be the new company focused on education services and digital learning. The education segment of McGraw-Hill is forecasting revenue of about $2.4 billion for the year, and an increasing percentage of this coming from digital textbook initiatives: sure to be a big money maker for publishers, and not surprising that the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board increased their collective stake in McGraw-Hill to 5.2 percent.

Then there's Apple's connection to education. Apple officials say they know of more than 600 districts that have launched what are called "one-to-one" programs, in which at least one classroom of students is getting iPads for each student to use throughout the school day. For example, Kentucky's education commissioner and the superintendent of schools in Woodford County, Ky., stated that Woodford County High will become the state's first public high school to give each of its 1,250 students an iPad: perhaps Kentucky isn't the "hick" state we all think it is. There are a number of schools and school boards across the states which appear to be taking the dive an investing heavily in iPads.

E-Learning and Gifted Students

2011-09-08T22:00:00.015-04:00

Image via WikipediaA recent article, E-Learning Opens Doors for Gifted Students, in Education Week looks at e-learning programs for the gifted in the US, with a focus on the increase and growing demand for these programs.

As funding cuts loom and the present climate of fiscal constraint around government services threaten to drain monies from programs for the gifted (in both Canada and the US), more schools, and parents / students may be looking to online education as a way to fill the gap in offerings.

Here's a list of some of the e-learning programs for the gifted offered in the US:

The Center for Talent Development at Northwestern University operates an independent supplementary online program for gifted K-12 students called Gifted LearningLinks

The Virtual Learning Academy Charter School in Exeter, N.H., launched in January 2008 and is the state's first statewide online public high school. Since 2008 it has grown to 11,500 course enrollments. Many of the students served by the school are high-achieving learners.

The Virtual High School Global Consortium, a nonprofit organization based in Maynard, Mass., that provides online high school courses to more than 15,000 students around the globe. The organization's enrollment has more than doubled since the 2005-06 school year.

The Education Program for Gifted Youth at Stanford University has grown from 30 to 360 students in the past six years, employs a synchronous learning model, so all the students have the opportunity to communicate with their peers, as well as their teacher, in real time.
The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics Online program. This tuition-free program builds off NCSSM's residential program for gifted North Carolina juniors and seniors with a high aptitude in science and math.

Browsing and Content Discovery...

2011-09-07T21:30:00.005-04:00

Image via WikipediaTo my surprise there was decent article about web content and information seeking behaviour and resource discovery in this week's run of Mashable articles: Why Browsing Is So Important to Content Discovery. Highlighting the failings of the search-based or social methods of information discovery that dominate the web today, the author - a librarian...oh how we've grown, provides a nice overview of what we librarians all know, most users are really not quite sure what they're looking for when they sit down to do a web search.

the real problem for undirected and overwhelmed information seekers (and I argue we are in the majority) is that the structure of a social network is shaped by social rules, and not by the beautiful subject hierarchies or systems of classification that, while painstakingly and artificially constructed, can allow for effortless and organic navigation.

Worth a read.

The Toll of Rising Tuition Fees in Ontario

2011-08-31T21:36:00.004-04:00

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has just released a report on the increasing difficulty of meeting the skyrocketing costs of a university education for lower-to-middle class income families in Ontario - Under Pressure: The Impact of Rising Tuition Fees on Ontario Families.

Here's an excerpt from the articles abstract

"Over the past two decades, Ontario's system of financing higher education has become more regressive, exploiting already over-stretched families who want to help their children pursue their educational aspirations. In 1990, a middle-income family in Ontario could earn the equivalent of four years of tuition fees in 87 days; it will take 195 days in 2011. The situation is even more dire for low-income families who are looking at the equivalent of two years of income for four years of tuition fees in 2011.

By forcing all but the wealthiest families to play priority roulette, assume still more debt, or make the difficult decision that higher education is too great a financial burden to bear, Ontario is hampering its economic and educational potential, and we are all paying the price." (CCPA)

New "Bullying" Reports, School Uniforms, and More...

2011-08-30T21:23:00.004-04:00

Some new research and reports released this week.

Bullying can affect a student's academic performance, but as an American Psychological Association conference paper finds, a school's bullying climate may be linked with lower overall test scores.

While bullying is known to leave physical and emotional scars, a new study presented at the American Sociological Association's annual conference finds that victims may suffer long-lasting academic effects, and high-achieving black and Latino students are especially vulnerable.

A report - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Among Children Aged 5–17 Years in the United States, 1998–2009 - from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that the percentage of U.S. children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, increased from about 7 percent in 1998 to 9 percent by 2009.

A report released this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research, finds that school uniforms are correlated with improved attendance rates for middle and high school students and lower teacher-attrition rates at the elementary school level, but appear to have little effect otherwise on student behavior and achievement.

For those of us who live in Ontario, Canada (like us), the 2011 EQAO results have just been released

Finally, in 2004, Boston public schools banned the on-campus sale of sugar-sweetened beverages, such as soda, sports drinks and fruit drinks, and a new study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation shows that these kids are now drinking less of these beverages even when they're not at school.

Google Plus and Schools

2011-07-05T22:37:00.004-04:00

Last week Audrey Waters of ReadWriteWeb released an article on Google Plus and it's possible success in the education realm - Google Plus: Is This the Social Tool Schools Have Been Waiting For?. Worthwhile read, and it nicely captures the forces at play when it comes to social media in education:

There seem to be three forces at play when it comes to education and social media. The first is a lack of force, quite frankly - the inertia that makes many educators unwilling and uninterested in integrating the technology into their classrooms. The second is the force of fear - the pressures on the part of administrators, district officials, and politicians to curtail and ban teacher and students' interactions online. (See Rhode Island's recently passed legislation that outlaws all social media on school grounds as a case in point.) And finally, the third force is that of more and more educators who are embracing social media and advocating its use on- and off-campus - for student learning and for teacher professional development alike.

Impacts of a Violence Prevention Program for Middle Schools - A US Gov Study

2011-06-09T22:20:00.004-04:00

The U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences just released a study on school violence programs in middle schools.

The report, Impacts of a Violence Prevention Program for Middle Schools: Findings After 3 Years of Implementation, presents findings from an IES-sponsored study of a violence prevention strategy - implemented at middle schools over the course of three years, and found there wasn't a significantly different effect on the rates of violence or victimization reported by students.

The strategy focuses on a violence-prevention effort combining two programs:

Classroom curriculum-based approach (Responding in Peaceful and Positive Ways, RiPP) and
Whole-school approach (BEST Behavior).

Here are some of the highlighted findings taken from the IES abstract:

There were no statistically significant differences between intervention and control schools on self-reported student violence or victimization measures. On average, 8th-graders in the intervention and control schools reported engaging in 2.8 and 2.7 violent acts at school in the past 30 days, respectively; and, on average, 8th-graders in both the intervention and control schools reported being victimized 4 times in the past 30 days.

There were no statistically significant impacts on violence or victimization for students who were at risk for engaging in violence but who either had or had not previously engaged in violence. For example, 8th-graders in both the intervention and control schools who were categorized as being at a high risk for violence but who had not self-reported any of eight serious acts of violence ever at baseline (nonperpetrators) reported that, on average, they had engaged in just over 3 violent acts at school in the past 30 days. For the victimization measure, high-risk, nonperpetrator 8th-graders in the intervention and control schools reported being victimized an average of 4 times at school in the past 30 days.

In a majority of intervention schools, students were exposed to the full set of 16 RiPP lessons in each of the 3 years of implementation although the curriculum was not fully delivered with fidelity. Between 61 percent and 72 percent of schools delivered all 16 lessons to all classrooms in each year of program implementation. However, 88 percent of teachers interviewed in year three mentioned difficulties with implementing at least one of five RiPP techniques or approaches.

By the end of the third year, 83 percent of intervention schools instituted behavioral rules and 78 percent instituted a reward system. In addition, 87 percent of teachers agreed that the rules were well defined and 64 percent agreed that the consequences of breaking school rules were clear.

National survey on homophobia in Canadian schools

2011-05-13T22:23:00.003-04:00

Egale Canada Human Rights Trust, a national [Canada] organization that conducts research and delivers educational programming on LGBT human rights in Canada, has just released the first ever survey exploring homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia in Canadian schools: Every Class in Every School: The first national climate survey on homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia in Canadian schools. Final Report - May 2011.

The survey found (taken from a Toronto Star article on the survey):

64 per cent of queer students and 61 per cent with queer parents feel unsafe at school;

21 per cent of queer students report physical harassment/assault;

27 per cent of queer students report physical harassment about their parents’ sexual orientation and 37 per cent report verbal harassment;

Transgender youth “are highly visible targets of harassment” who “may report experiencing particularly high levels of harassment on the basis of perceived sexual orientation” the report says;

About 10 per cent of heterosexual teens report being physically harassed or assaulted for their “perceived” sexual orientation;

58 per cent of heterosexual teens “find homophobic comments upsetting.” Researchers said that suggests there is a lot of common ground to help push for an improved school climate.