Positive Parenting Impacts Children's Learning

http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/resources/multimedia/lectures_and_presentations/fisher_education_nation/

In my current social work field placement as a Family Advocate in an early childhood center, I am searching for resources that will help parents engage and interact with their children more effectively. In this video, "Parenting for Brain Development and Prosperity", Dr. Paul Fisher, Professor of Psychology at the University of Oregon, emphasizes ways in which caregivers and their children can experience "positive, reciprocal interactions" in their homes. The child's early development, 0-3 yrs. is foundational to what follows in the school settings. Parents are open to professionals who come along side of them to offer support.

As a social worker, what effective referrals and resources have you offered to parents, families who have infants, preschoolers? As Social Workers, how can we improve the level of support to these parents?

Michigan’s Special Education Proposals Alarm Teachers, Parents

http://www.educationnews.org/education-policy-and-politics/michigans-special-education-proposals-alarm-teachers-parents/

This article is about a 19 page proposal about changing policies concerning children in special education classes in Michigan.  The basic purpose of the proposal to change ways that children with special needs are identified and taught in the classroom.  Some of the changes from this proposal include: evaluations in order to determine who is eligible for special education programs, an outline of the eligibility professionals qualified to perform the evaluations and determine eligibility, and the fact that a student designated as special needs retains that designation until graduation.  One of the biggest issues with this is the fact that some parents say they didn't know the hearing was happening; others weren't given time to read and understand the proposal.  Lori Lofton-Doniver, secretary and treasurer for the American Federation of Teachers said the changes would affect the power parents have in speaking for their children.  She also stated that special education teachers would not need a Master's degree and would be categorized as a teaching consultant (TC), thus not requiring the 3 years of classroom experience currently needed.

Michigan's Department of Education responded by saying many parents and teachers are making judgments based on erroneous interpretations and mistaken information.  They also stated that this is Michigan's effort to conform with special education rulings on a federal level.  A lot of contention surrounds the language of one of the proposed changes.  This change requires the administrators to review caseloads at the end of the year.  Some fear that this will allow the classrooms to exceed the standard teacher-student ratio in struggling districts. The Michigan Department of Education claims that the language is the way it is to help determine necessary staff for the following year.


Mark McWilliams of the Michigan Protection and Advocacy Service stated "Any time you make a change of this scale in the rules-and these are fairly major changes-you're going to have confusion"

I think there are several important points from this article.  First, if you were the parent of one of these students, how would you feel knowing that these changes are going to impact the daily life of your child?  How about as a teacher for these students?  Finally, what are the good/bad parts of these changes that you can see?

9 yr old boy bullied over "my little pony" lunchbox

This story discussed how a 9 year old boy was being bullied for taking a “my little pony” lunchbox to school. His mom reports that he loves the show and she doesn’t see the harm in him having the backpack because the show promotes friendship, even though the show is geared more towards girls. The problem that this article identifies is the schools response to the situation. The school stated that they take bullying very seriously and they will continue to take steps to resolve the issue. They did ask that the boy leave the lunchbox at home since it seems to be a “trigger” for bullying. Mom’s response back was “ saying a lunchbox is a trigger for bullying is like saying a short skirt is a trigger for rape”. 

I find this to be an interesting debate that brings up a lot of questions. Did the school have the right to request that he leave the lunchbox at home? Do you think the boy should leave the lunchbox at home? Would leaving the lunchbox at home really stop the bullying for this boy? 

As a mother of a two year old son I struggled with what would I do if my son wanted to take a “girl” item to school. I love and accept my son no matter what but I also know that not everyone will see it the same way. Do I try to protect my son from the cruelty the world can offer or do I stand up against it with him to try to change it? What role does or should the school play? I strongly feel that schools need to step up and aide this change by allowing more evidence based programs in to help teach social skills to kids in schools. But change is a slow process and is not going to happen over night and it is painful to see kids get bullied and even in some cases lead to suicide because of the rejection society can offer. So should we teach victims how to not be “victims” or is that just giving more power to bullies? 

http://www.wric.com/story/24951935/school-wont-let-bullied-boy-bring-my-little-pony-bag-to-class 

Technology in Schools

There were several articles pertaining to current events in education that I considered positing about, and most of which addressed the integration of technology in the classroom. One discussed how a physical education teacher was incorporating iPads and the Nintendo Wii into his gym class, while another discussed how one school took a decidedly different approach and has their students gardening and embracing nature in hopes of teaching teamwork, respect for the community and education, and humanitarianism. I recently had a discussion with a family member who was outraged that his son had to do a report without using the internet. Aside from making me feel old, this encouraged me to think about the future of education.

This article that I stumbled across is about a local school district that just announced that they will be providing tablets for students and staff in grades K-12. This major integration of technology has presented differences of opinion within the community. One advantage to a technological approach to education is the fact that we live in a world of technological advancements, so learning how to utilize these devices is almost a necessity. Another advantage is that this will centralize assignments and allow students to access more current information. Also, this opens the door for a different type of interactive learning.

There are also some disadvantages to a completely technological education. While the internet does contain some useful information, how will educators ensure that students learn to differentiate between reliable and unreliable sources? Will this decrease face-to-face communication between teachers, students, and their families? Will social skills and public speaking no longer be a major focus of schools? Will this put students who attend schools that cannot afford these devices at a disadvantage?

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/03/11/hilliard-schools-to-provide-tablets-for-all.html

Teaching Students to Advocate for Themselves

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/13/to-keep-teenagers-alert-schools-let-them-sleep-in/

This article discusses an adolescent student in Columbia, Missouri who successfully advocated to have her high school's start time pushed back to 8:30 am instead of moved forward to 7:25 am.  The student first got the idea to take action from her AP History class, and she was able to collect research and advocate to the school board for this change.  Later start times for high school students have been studied extensively, and this article highlights some of the benefits (fewer athletic injuries and traffic accidents, fewer tardies and absences).  Though the research has been substantiated time and time again, few school districts have actually changed their start times.  More often than not, high schools start first and elementary and middle schools start one-two hours later.  As a school social worker advocating for the best interest of all students, it is important to examine the physical and emotional health benefits of allowing teenagers to get the recommended 8-9 hours of sleep while also connecting increased sleep to better academic outcomes.  It is also important that we empower our students to advocate for themselves, not only at the micro level (for themselves), but also at the mezzo and macro levels (to create community and systemic change).  How can social workers who work with children and teens teach our young clients to advocate for themselves at these levels?

Unions on edge as Arizona lawmakers weigh major expansion of education overhaul

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/03/13/all-eyes-on-arizona-lawmakers-looking-to-expand-controversial-education-program/

Unions on edge as Arizona lawmakers weigh major expansion of education overhaul

Lawmakers in Arizona could decide this week if they are going to increase the state’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program to 28,000 students in the next five years, with the goal of eventually having 1 million students being able to make the decision about how and where they receive their education. The Empowerment Scholarship Account is different than the traditional school voucher. The Empowerment Scholarship Account program transfers money the state would normally pay for a child to attend public school to a bank account. The students that qualify for this program are given a debit card and have the choice to use the money on educational expenses from books to home-schooling. Arizona is the first state in the country to implement a program like this. Arizona has implemented this program for 761 special needs students. Currently six other states are trying to implement the same type of program. Several bills in the Arizona legislation would provide this program to low-income children, which would take a considerable amount of money from the state’s education fund. This amount would be potentially $374 million a year. Students that are participating in this program receive at least $2,900 a year and depending on their need this amount can rise to $31,000. Students are given a certain amount of money to use for their high school education and if these students have money left over they are able to use it for higher education. If they don’t pursue higher education the money will be sent back to the state.

Clint Bolick, vice president for litigation at the Goldwater Institute stated that “The idea was to create a school-choice system for the 21^st century” and that “Our public schools are based on a 19^th century model.” Bolick believes that this type of education promotes the different types of school systems to compete for students. Arizona’s Democratic Senate Minority Leader Anna Tovar stated that this set up an unfair competition between schools that were poor and private institutions. She also stated that she thinks the Empowerment Scholarship Account will be discriminating public education.

The Empowerment Scholarship Account plan was first approved in 2011. Several states are waiting to see how this works for Arizona, with the intent of implementing the program in their state if Arizona is successful.

I think this program is interesting because it will allow students to make the choice about their education. I believe that students that are truly determined to have an education would be able to make good decisions about the type of education they would pursue. I believe that students that aren't in control of their education would not be able to use the money wisely to get the appropriate education. Students at high school age most of the time aren't prepared to make the type of decisions about their education that these students would have to make with the money that they would be given. I am interested to see how this program works for Arizona. 

student threatens over facebook

http://www.lancastereaglegazette.com/article/20140226/NEWS01/302260010/Student-accused-sending-racial-threats-classmate


The above link is to an article from Lancaster Eagle Gazette from a situation that occurred in Lancaster Ohio in late February. 
There are two Junior High Schools in Lancaster City Schools. One of them is Thomas Ewing Junior High. 

A Thomas Ewing Junior High School student was suspended and could be expelled and charged with a crime after police were told he made racially charged threats on Facebook.
The Student, who is black, along with their family is upset and disturbed by the posting. The posting was from a white student and included pictures of lynchings and swastikas. (The white student is accused of sending them to the black student.)

The mother of the accused has also been very active in the situation saying this is not the first time postings have been racially motivated. The article reported, "She also told school authorities that her son “is out of control and she is unable to control his behavior at this point,” according to the report."

Please feel free to read peoples comments at the bottom of the article. 

I have posted this article to start up a discussion on whether items posted on social media should have school punishments, such as being expelled, or if they should be handled by the authorities. 
In addition, how should social workers in the schools handle the racially motivated comments made from one student to the other? Do you think race is still an issue today that doesn't receive enough attention?