TN2 Classroom

Lipscomb University in Nashville has the only Institute for Conflict Management of its kind in the Southeast. Now the university is reaching out to Metro Schools, working with students from Maplewood Comprehensive High School.

Some of the ideas these students are learning are: try to see the situation from the other person’s point of view, stop assuming the other person has evil motives, quit blaming others for your own problems, and see that you have choices in how you react.

They are learning that there is a way to reach an agreement when you disagree, that it doesn’t have to be a won/lose proposition. It can be win/win.

The Institute is in its second year of existance. Already it has worked with people in the community from police and judges, to those in the health care industry.

Now Lipscomb is venturing into Metro schools. Actually, it was Maplewood that approached Lipscomb. And officials at the Institute agreed wholeheartedly, seeing this as a chance to not only help the community, but build a pilot program for handling conflict which can be adapted to schools grades K through 12.

The teenagers have homework; try to operate under the different mindset for 30 days, and pass on what they’re learning to their peers.

Maplewood officials say this partnership could not only bring change to the school environment, but give each individual student tools with which to build a successful life.

Counting down the hours to the Super Bowl Sunday? How about the College Goal Sunday?

What?

One week after the big game, comes the big game plan. On Sunday, February 10th, colleges and universities across the nation will be participating in the Sunday College Goal.

It’s a chance for students and their parents to go directly to the source for advice about financial aid. Not all institutions in Tennessee are participating. But many are. The link above will give you all the information you need about who, what, when and where. Sorry, no super duper commercials though.

P.S. Many thanks to the folks at Vol State for getting the word out.

Governor Phil Bredesen Monday gave his annual State of the State address. While we are all honing in on various aspects of the speech, one that might not receive that much attention is his call for full funding of the B.E.P.

That’s the funding formula the state uses to hand out dollars to local education districts.

Last year, the “B.E.P” got an overhaul. The governor calls it “B.E.P. 2.0.” It’s still quite confusing to the lay person, which might be one reason it does not get as much attention in news coverage as stories that seem to hit closer to the classroom.

However, the prospect of fully funding the B.E.P. should be of great interest to every person connected to public school education in Tennessee, according to state officials.

Why? Well, the more money the state hands out to local districts, the more local money may be freed up to fund the unfunded…in theory at least.

Hundreds of Metro students are about to find their voice…their anonymous voice, that is. The school system is trying out a new computer program in six schools called “Talk About It.” It’s already used in schools in 18 states.

The idea is to give kids a chance to voice any concerns they have anonymously. They can direct their comments to a specific adult in their school. They also have the option of signing their name. The adults can reply to either signed or unsigned notes.

It’s viewed by school officials as another tool to 1) help children who may be troubled in some way and 2) keep schools safe.

If the test run is a success, Metro will roll it out for more students to use.

You can find out more about the program on the company website

I’m back!

I know it’s been a long time since I wrote on the blog. I hope in the time that has passed you have still been coming here to view education stories, and access the resources page. I must confess, I use it to get to education websites quickly.

So much has happened on the education front during my absence. Metro has been dealing with being under corrrective action status by the state according to No Child Left Behind standards, the schools director Dr Pedro Garcia put in his notice 24 hours before the school board was about to discusss his evaluation, Rutherford County continues to look for revenue outlets to fund its growth, Wilson County wants to build a new high school in Lebanon, the Commissioner of Education Lana Seivers plans to leave for a job in another state, and Belmont University won the honor of hosting the town hall version of the presidential debates….just to name a few.

I hope in this new year to do a better job of addressing education topics here. And giving you an outlet for response and discussion.

Let the typing begin!…Melissa

The Metro School Board now has before it a 67 page plan to rezone the city’s schools.

This comes, in part, from the construction of the new Cane Ridge High School in Antioch. That will also free up the new Marshall Middle School to have its own student body. Currently, Marshall is home to the Kennedy Middle School students, who were moved when the ninth grade at Antioch High took over their building.

The administration in it’s development of a new zoning plan, also looked at capacity and use of existing schools.

The result is a sweeping plan which will impact about 70 schools, some in a very minor way, and others more dramatically.

Here is a link to the entire plan. As you study it, note there are two categories for each high school cluster.The first is recommended changes for 2008-09 school year. The second is recommended changes for further study.

The final decision on all the recommendations rests with the board. However, the administration has indicated that any changes for the coming year need to be voted on by December in order for them to be implemented.

The board will hold a study session on the plan beginning at four on Friday, October 19th. The public is welcome to sit in on this, however, I imagine there will be no comments taken from the audience.

Several board members have meetings planned within their clusters. You can check with your school, or your board representative to see if there is one scheduled.

Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell may be counting down the days to his last dance as the city’s leader. But his dance card for the future is already full. Purcell is going from a public advocate for education, to a public educator.

The outgoing mayor will become the Dean of Tennessee State University’s College of Public Service and Urban Affairs. The new program will be housed in the university’s downtown campus.

But the move will not be immediate. Harvard has first dibs on His Honor. That institution has already tapped the mayor for seminars this Fall on cities.

Who though we would one day be celebrating temperatures in the 90s?

After a somewhat overheated beginning of school this year, football coaches, band directors, cheerleading sponsors, bus drivers and, oh yes, teachers and students can now take a collective deep breath. Those days of classes and extra-curricular activites in the scorching heat appear to be over. (At least that’s what my connection tell me.)

Maintenance crews are probably relieved as well. The 100 degree plus weather taxed air conditioners across the area, some beyond repair.

The extra-ordinary heat wave prompted discussions of a return to post-Labor Day start times for schools. The last time that happened in Metro, according to school officials, was in the late 1970s. While the heat wave may be over, the debate may continue, should school systems in Tennessee go back to the future?

Under No Child Left Behind, the magic number is 45. If a subgroup of students fail an area, it only counts against the school they attend if they number more than 45. For instance, suppose half of ten third graders with disabilities, ELL learners, take your pick on the subgroup classification, don’t make the achievement test benchmark in math. The school is not put on a priority NCLB list because there are fewer than ten children in that group in that school.

I have always wondered about those “less than 45″ subgroups. Tonight, I learned that they are not invisible. All those children are factored in to the standards set for the school system as a whole.

Metro Nashville is one of two school systems in the state considered by the Tennessee Department of Education to be under “corrective action” as a high priority system. The school board invited Dr. Connie Smith to meet with it to help explain what this means. Dr Smith, the keeper of accountability with the state (actually her real title is quite long), told board members that there are 72 ways a system can fail to meet a benchmark.

Metro had issues with some subgroups primarily in reading last year, and primarily in math in the most recent testing period.

The repercussions include working with a staff of state advisors on how to address the troublesome areas, turning in a plan of action to the state, reporting how federal funds are spent toward improvement, and more.

Actually, they don’t seem like repercussions when you hear Dr. Smith talk. She is incredibly positive, and speaks of the opportunity to work in partnership with Metro to help the children. And the board and school staff both seem to welcome the state assistance she offers.

But it may be a steep climb. The standards for achievement on the state tests go up this year. So the bar Metro, and every other district for that matter, must clear is higher. In the 2009-2010 school year, the state will be switching its standards for testing to be more in line with the national achievement tests. But one hurdle at a time…..

The new rankings of colleges and universities by U. S. New and World Reports were released this week. I think most of the area colleges are on the list somewhere. Vanderbilt is in the top 20 on the big list.

The magazine has it broken down into categories, so finding an institution which may interest you could take some time. I have discovered that the category you think an institution should be in, may not be the place it appears, so keep hunting.

Officials at some institutions have been critical of the annual list. I can think of one off hand without doing research. But I did find it interesting to see that, although they have been critical, they still participated in the magazine’s survey. Also interesting is to see which bastions of higher education made it on the list without filling out the survey. Those are denoted with a little “1″ by their name.