Thursday, March 23, 2006
Blogging About Small Schools and Rural Education
From Mr. Rural ED...
A Perfect Storm on the Great Plains
By Michael Arnold
A March 16 report in the Denver Post describes a perfect storm of factors creating population declines in the Great Plains. Author Robert Sanchez (Plains Grow More Lonesome) cites minimal economic development in Colorado's agriculture-based counties coupled with drought and stagnate crop price as contributing to the problem. Adding to the problem are farm consolidations and the closing of manufacturing businesses.
For years economic development in many rural communities was built on attracting businesses that brought lower skilled and lower paying jobs. As a result, there were few if any jobs available for college graduates in rural communities. The current situation on the plains is evidence that the focus on lower skilled jobs is no longer a viable option for the long-term sustainability of rural communities. [continued]
Senator Salazar on Rural America
By Michael Arnold
On March 3, 2006, Senator Ken Salazar (D-Colorado) gave the Keynote Address at the National Farmers Union Convention in Colorado. It was a good speech in that the Senator talked candidly about the challenges facing rural America, the obstacles to addressing them, and how the federal government should respond.
In the interest of full disclosure, I worked as a canvasser on Senator Salazar's campaign. I also tend to like him since he attended The University of Michigan Law School.
The full text of Senator Salazar’s speech is available at http://salazar.senate.gov/news/speeches/060303farmunion.html Here are some excerpts. [continued]
Education Service Agencies Supporting Rural Schools
By Michael Arnold
An article in the March 2006 issue of "The School Administrator" describes the ways intermediate school districts are providing support to rural districts. Author Hobart Harmon uses examples from across the country to the value of educational service units. Some examples:
"Heywood Cordy, superintendent in Jenkins County, Ga., relies on the Teacher Alternative Preparation program offered by the Central Savannah River Area Regional Educational Service Agency. His district hired seven teachers who completed the RESA program in the past year. 'The bottom line is without the RESA pool of teaching candidates our students would have a sub in the classroom, rather than a high-quality, full-time teacher,' Cordy says." [continued]
From Online Learning Update...
Rural Georgia college pushes for iPod ingenuity - Greg Bluestein, Associated Press
By Ray
Nestled in the antebellum capital of Georgia, the campus of Georgia College & State University boasts traditional college fare: spacious greens, historic architecture and a steady stream of students scurrying about with familiar white headphones dangling from their ears. But here, the students listening to their Apple iPods while walking between classes or glancing at them before catching a bus might just as well be studying for calculus as listening to the latest from Coldplay.
From BionicTeacher...
Rural college pushes iPod use for lectures - Mar 20, 2006
I’m sure this’ll be put up by many but . . .
CNN.com - Rural college pushes iPod use for lectures - Mar 20, 2006
Key quotes show that despite the article title it’s not really about recording lectures- [continued]
From Stephen's Web ~ by Stephen Downes ~ Edu_RSS Most Recent - RSS old...
An excellent small school facing fallout from NCLB
Telpochcalli kids Like nuclear radiation, the fallout from NCLB is contaminating schools and communities alike. A case in point is a wonderful Chicago small elementary school in the predominantly Mexican community of Little Village. Telpochcalli (Nahuatl word for House of Youth ) and its outstanding principal, Tamara Witzl, have come under fire from a faction within the community which apparently wants to turn this dual-language, arts-focused school into a traditional test-prep factory. They charge that since Telpochcalli is on "academic probation," the school's progressive, child-centered philosophy needs to be replaced with a more "rigorous," "disciplined" approach. In fact, the school has never been on probation, a measure which was once used by the Chicago School Board as a lead-up to reconstitution. After research showed that probation and reconstitution failed to improve schools in Chicago, probation was dropped as a reform strategy. [continued]
Tags: blog, blogging, blogs, AERA, small schools, rural, education
A Perfect Storm on the Great Plains
By Michael Arnold
A March 16 report in the Denver Post describes a perfect storm of factors creating population declines in the Great Plains. Author Robert Sanchez (Plains Grow More Lonesome) cites minimal economic development in Colorado's agriculture-based counties coupled with drought and stagnate crop price as contributing to the problem. Adding to the problem are farm consolidations and the closing of manufacturing businesses.
For years economic development in many rural communities was built on attracting businesses that brought lower skilled and lower paying jobs. As a result, there were few if any jobs available for college graduates in rural communities. The current situation on the plains is evidence that the focus on lower skilled jobs is no longer a viable option for the long-term sustainability of rural communities. [continued]
Senator Salazar on Rural America
By Michael Arnold
On March 3, 2006, Senator Ken Salazar (D-Colorado) gave the Keynote Address at the National Farmers Union Convention in Colorado. It was a good speech in that the Senator talked candidly about the challenges facing rural America, the obstacles to addressing them, and how the federal government should respond.
In the interest of full disclosure, I worked as a canvasser on Senator Salazar's campaign. I also tend to like him since he attended The University of Michigan Law School.
The full text of Senator Salazar’s speech is available at http://salazar.senate.gov/news/speeches/060303farmunion.html Here are some excerpts. [continued]
Education Service Agencies Supporting Rural Schools
By Michael Arnold
An article in the March 2006 issue of "The School Administrator" describes the ways intermediate school districts are providing support to rural districts. Author Hobart Harmon uses examples from across the country to the value of educational service units. Some examples:
"Heywood Cordy, superintendent in Jenkins County, Ga., relies on the Teacher Alternative Preparation program offered by the Central Savannah River Area Regional Educational Service Agency. His district hired seven teachers who completed the RESA program in the past year. 'The bottom line is without the RESA pool of teaching candidates our students would have a sub in the classroom, rather than a high-quality, full-time teacher,' Cordy says." [continued]
From Online Learning Update...
Rural Georgia college pushes for iPod ingenuity - Greg Bluestein, Associated Press
By Ray
Nestled in the antebellum capital of Georgia, the campus of Georgia College & State University boasts traditional college fare: spacious greens, historic architecture and a steady stream of students scurrying about with familiar white headphones dangling from their ears. But here, the students listening to their Apple iPods while walking between classes or glancing at them before catching a bus might just as well be studying for calculus as listening to the latest from Coldplay.
From BionicTeacher...
Rural college pushes iPod use for lectures - Mar 20, 2006
I’m sure this’ll be put up by many but . . .
CNN.com - Rural college pushes iPod use for lectures - Mar 20, 2006
Key quotes show that despite the article title it’s not really about recording lectures- [continued]
From Stephen's Web ~ by Stephen Downes ~ Edu_RSS Most Recent - RSS old...
An excellent small school facing fallout from NCLB
Telpochcalli kids Like nuclear radiation, the fallout from NCLB is contaminating schools and communities alike. A case in point is a wonderful Chicago small elementary school in the predominantly Mexican community of Little Village. Telpochcalli (Nahuatl word for House of Youth ) and its outstanding principal, Tamara Witzl, have come under fire from a faction within the community which apparently wants to turn this dual-language, arts-focused school into a traditional test-prep factory. They charge that since Telpochcalli is on "academic probation," the school's progressive, child-centered philosophy needs to be replaced with a more "rigorous," "disciplined" approach. In fact, the school has never been on probation, a measure which was once used by the Chicago School Board as a lead-up to reconstitution. After research showed that probation and reconstitution failed to improve schools in Chicago, probation was dropped as a reform strategy. [continued]
Tags: blog, blogging, blogs, AERA, small schools, rural, education
