Parents Group Stymied in Push for School Turnaround

July 01, 2011 by Andrew Atwal

Parents trying to force establishment of a charter school in lieu of a failing elementary school using California’s so-called “parent trigger” law have been rebuffed by a judge who ruled that the petitions for the change could not be validated.

The setback for the parents of students at Compton’s McKinley Elementary School comes as other states are considering similar laws and New York is enmeshed in a legal battle over plans to create charter schools in place of failing schools there. Also, there are continuing attempts to weaken the California law.

In May, Judge Anthony Mohr of a Los Angeles Superior Court tentatively ruled in favor of the Compton School Board after its decision to reject the petitions was challenged by the parents.  The judge said the parents’ petition could not be considered “official” because the signatures did not include dates indicating what years their children attended the school.

On June 9, Judge Mohr heard additional arguments from McKinley parents and asked that the Compton School District respond within the next several weeks. McKinley parents argued that the judge ruled incorrectly in the case and on rejecting the parents’ petition.

Without dates with the signatures, the school board argued, it could not confirm that the parents actually had children enrolled in the school at the time they signed the petitions.

The California parent trigger law allows parents to demand the school’s principal and half of the staff be replaced, for the school to be turned into a charter school, or for the school to be shut down altogether, if the parents of at least 50 percent of the school’s students sign a petition. The Compton parents have been the only ones in the state to try to use the law for a school turnaround and wanted Celebrity Charter Schools to take over McKinley.

The law caps the number of schools that could change as a result of the trigger at 75 statewide, even though there are a total of 1,300 public schools in California that would qualify. In order to qualify, a school must have missed federally required Average Yearly Progress Goals for four consecutive years as laid out by No Child Left Behind.

The Compton School Board also rejected the parents’ petitions because they referenced an incorrect state law, and indicated additional documents were being attached, but they weren’t.

Meantime, the California State Board of Education is considering a proposal that would require a majority of teachers to support any parent-sought changeover – a move that supporters of the law say would strip parents of the power to force changes because the California Teachers Union adamantly opposes the trigger law. The state board could consider permanent regulations for the parent trigger law at a July 5 meeting.

Thwarted from turning McKinley into a charter school, Celerity Charter Schools will open a facility this fall within the boundaries of the Compton Unified School District and just a few blocks from McKinley Elementary. Charter School advocates say they still hope to take over McKinley.

Celerity’s program is built around research practices and project-based learning that has been a successful approach across the country. Their schools offer extra-curricular activities such as yoga and dance classes and technology programs.

New York’s battles

In New York City, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has joined with the City Teachers Union in a lawsuit that would block the opening of 20 charter schools in public school buildings this fall.

At a recent event in New York, 2,500 people voiced their opposition to the NAACP’s efforts.

The NAACP and its supporters say that the Chief Executive of the Success Charter Network (Eva S. Moskowitz) singled out the NAACP and challenged its commitment to African-Americans. However, the NAACP says it isn’t fighting against charters, but for the need for all children to receive a quality education.

A similar lawsuit in New York last year stopped the closure of 19 public schools, 15 of which New York id trying to close this year.

This particular lawsuit accuses the New York City Education Department of failing to abide by the law when it proposed to close the schools and co-locate the charter schools in public school buildings. The Department states that the city failed to allow court-mandated plans to help failing schools improve.

At the same time, a group in Buffalo, N.Y. is trying to getparent trigger legislation, similar to that in California, through the New York legislature.

Buffalo ReformED, a parent-driven education reform advocacy organization, led parents from across the state to Albany on June 15 for a meeting with state legislatures to push the Parent Trigger law.

Hope for underperforming schools

Katie Campos, founder of Buffalo ReformED, and Hannah Boulos, executive director, believe that public education should be what is in the best interest of the students. However, they say, school systems often have competing interests that come in the way of what is best for students.

The group chose to start their efforts in Buffalo because the Buffalo Public School District is one of the most underperforming public districts in New York. Only 25 percent of all African-American students in Buffalo Public Schools graduate, and less than 50 percent of all of the students in the same schools graduate—and for those fortunate enough to graduate, just 15 percent are deemed college-ready.

 

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Transforming Education Across the Pre-K to Grade Three Years

June 30, 2011 by Andrew Atwal

National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP)

In the fall of 2010, the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) convened a task force to examine strategies for building an aligned system for early learning programs.

Research shows that high-quality early learning can significantly increase the likelihood of academic success, NAESP said in a report that describes its proposed alignment. Children who attend high quality pre-kindergarten programs are “less likely to be held back a grade, less likely to need special education and more likely to graduate high school.”

This report describes a vision to align early childhood education with elementary school education. In order to achieve this vision, the Task Force recommended 10 action steps for policymakers and other crucial stakeholders.

Alignment starts, the report says, with a coordination of federal policy and funding that enable states and communities to build a more coherent system of early learning from Pre-K through third grade. There is also a need to expand funding for pre-kindergarten through third grade learning to ensure that all children have access to high-quality, full-day learning experiences.

 

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The Economic Imperative for More Adults to Complete Community College in D.C.

June 29, 2011 by Andrew Atwal

Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) and National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS)

 Although the number of high school graduates in the United States is expected to remain largely unchanged between 2010 and 2020, something very different is happening in our nation’s capital.

Washington, D.C.’s projected high school graduation rate is expected to decline by 24 percent from its 2010 level during the same time period, according to a new report from the Center for Law and Social Policy and the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems. This is worse than the trend in any other state. The report states that ensuring that more adults have access to, and complete college, is critical for the United States’ economic competitiveness.

The report doesn’t cite the reason for the drop in high school graduates specifically, but alludes to the aging population in the District of Columbia.

In Washington specifically, adults without a high school diploma are almost twice as likely to be without a job compared to those with at least some college education. Those with a bachelor’s degree have an unemployment rate just over 3 percent in Washington, while those with only a high school diploma face an unemployment rate of slightly over 13 percent.

 

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An Evaluation of the After School Matters Program

June 28, 2011 by Andrew Atwal

Northwestern University

Although many policy makers and those in academia concur that after-school programs are important for students, participation in these programs among high school students remains at a very low level. This study notes the need to develop more attractive after-school programs for students in high school, which makes the After School Matters (ASM) program, one of the largest among high school students, an important program to study.

ASM offers paid apprentice-type opportunities for students in many different areas including sports, technology and the arts. Each specific apprenticeship involves work that helps them learn and make use of relevant skills to accomplish a given task. There are instructors present who provide students with information, feedback and guidance and also introduce the students to the standards, culture and language of that line of work. Apprentices are paid a stipend of $5 an hour during the study.

This report presents results from a three-year, random-assignment evaluation of the ASM program. The study assessed 13 apprenticeships and their respective control groups for a total of 535 youth. The study selected apprenticeships focusing on those instructors who have a history of implementing the ASM model well. Researchers were able to identify such instructors by using ASM nominations and prior evaluation data.

ASM advocates had led researchers to believe that few alternative after-school programs were available to youth in schools and communities around the research area that encompassed 10 public schools in Chicago. However, researchers discovered that 91 percent of the control groups were involved in an organized after-school activity or paid work. According to the study, the majority of participants involved in ASM were African-American (77 percent) and low-income (92 percent received free, or reduced-price lunch).

There were no statistically significant differences between the groups for marketable job skills or academic outcomes and there were no differences that favored the control group over ASM.

The study found that youth in the treatment group reported significantly higher self-regulation than youth in the control group. In addition, youth in the treatment group reported significantly fewer problem behaviors than youth in the control group.

 

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Achievement Gap Between Caucasians and Hispanic Students in Grades Four and Eight

June 24, 2011 by Andrew Atwal

 

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)

There were no significant changes in the differences in math and reading for white and Hispanic fourth and eighth graders between 2007 and 2009, according to new figures released by the National Assessment of Education Progress.

Specifically, the new report looks at how achievement gaps between Caucasians and Hispanics have changed over time by analyzing NAEP math and reading exam results from 1990 to 2009.

Between 2007 and 2009, math and reading scores improved for both white and Hispanic students, with the gap between the two groups remaining at about 20 points in math based on the 500-point based NAEP scoring scale.

Several states had smaller-than-average achievement gaps in both subjects—among those states were Florida, Wyoming, Missouri and Kentucky. On the other hand, two states – California and Connecticut – had a larger than the national average achievement gap for both fourth grade math and reading.

 

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Rising Enrollments of Students with Disabilities at Higher Education Institutions

June 24, 2011 by Andrew Atwal

Institute of Education Sciences

College and other post-secondary enrollments of students with disabilities continue to rise in the United States – with 88 percent of the institutions reporting enrolling students with disabilities in the 2008-2009 school years.

This, coupled with recent legislation including the Americans with Disabilities Act, has generated significant interest in research on how accessible higher education opportunities are for those students with disabilities.

Researchers defined a disability as a mental or physical condition that causes functional limitations which affect major life activities, such as communication, mobility and learning.

This report represents only students who identified themselves as having a disability to their institution; those are the only students with disabilities that a higher education institution can report on.

The study found that, for the 2008-09 academic year, 88 percent of two-year and four-year Title IV Federal Student Aid granting programs reported enrolling students with disabilities. Additionally, 99 percent of all public two-year and four-year institutions reported enrolling students with disabilities.

Institutions reported enrolling about 707,000 students with disabilities in the 2008-09 academic year, with about half of those students enrolling in public two-year institutions.

 

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Youth Cybercrime Influenced by Peers

June 24, 2011 by Andrew Atwal

Having friends who engage in cybercrimes is one of the greatest determinants in whether juveniles commit cybercrimes, according to a new study by researchers at Michigan State University, Georgia Southern University and Eastern Kentucky University.

The study, Low Self-Control, Deviant Peer Associations, and Juvenile Cybercrime, published online in the American Journal of Criminal Justice, is one of the first to analyze the motives behind cybercrimes committed by juveniles in middle and high schools.

Authors of the study administered a scientific survey to 435 students in a Kentucky school district. Study results showed that the biggest predictor that juveniles might engage in cybercrime is peer influence – meaning kids with friends who had committed cybercrimes were more likely also to engage in such activities. Results also showed that low self-control was a major factor in juveniles committing cybercrimes.

Examples of cybercrimes include digital piracy (including stealing music), online bullying and harassment (including threatening or sexually explicit messages delivered through text messages or e-mails), viewing online pornography (if under age 18), and cyber-trespassing (which most times involves computer hacking).

Other reasons that juveniles commit cybercrimes, according to the research, include spending more time online for non-academic reasons, being highly skilled with computers and having a computer in a personal setting.

Age also positively correlated with cybercrime, while having higher grades was one of the least correlated factors relating to committing cybercrimes.

Females were also very unlikely to commit cybercrimes.

Research also showed that low self-control seems to have both a direct and indirect effect, through other peers offending, on youth cybercrime.

 

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House Subcommittee Questions CNCS Head about Work with Planned Parenthood

June 23, 2011 by Andrew Atwal

The acting CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) was called before a House subcommittee today to explain why AmeriCorps volunteers in New York City and Tacoma, Wash., potentially were engaging in advocacy in their work for Planned Parenthood. Political advocacy by AmeriCorps members is not permitted.

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), head of the subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training, asked Robert Velasco II, the acting head of CNCS, why the agency itself hadn’t detected the “illegal activity” and why it took a third-party to report the activities.

Velasco reviewed steps the agency has taken in recent weeks to ensure that all volunteers are engaged in permitted activities including a new action plan that will require AmeriCorps grantees to ensure annually that they are complying with regulations on prohibited activities.

Some Democratic members of the committee questioned the need of calling Velasco to the Hill to answer question from Republicans who are intent on killing the service agency.

“I don’t know what we’re doing here (this morning),” said Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) ranking Democrat on the Education and the Workforce committee.

Rep. Rubén Hinojosa (D-Texas) wanted to praise the work of AmeriCorps members in responding quickly to disasters – particularly their swift arrival and role in helping residents of Joplin, Mo., deal with the deadly tornado there.

Another subcommittee member, Rep. David Roe (R-Tenn.) used the hearing to suggest that the $29 million that supports the 1,000-member National Civilian Community Corps – which works with local and state groups and responds to disasters – might be too expensive and suggested its members should be more integrated into other AmeriCorps projects.

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Three-Year Results of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Evaluation

June 21, 2011 by Andrew Atwal

MDRC

This report analyzes the results of the National Guard’s Youth ChalleNGe program, which targets high school dropouts between ages 16 and 19 who are unemployed, drug-free and are not currently on parole or probation for anything other than juvenile offenses.

The program requirements also state that applicants must not be serving time or awaiting sentencing during the application or participation process, and that they have never been convicted of a felony or capital offense.

The program features a 22-week residential phase, followed up by a one-year mentoring relationship with a trained member from each youth’s respective community. Core elements of the Youth ChalleNGe include academic excellence, responsible citizenship, serving the community, job skills training, and leadership, among others.

The federal government funds 75 percent of the operational costs of ChalleNGe sites; states are responsible for funding the rest. There are currently 34 programs operated in 28 states and Puerto Rico, and Idaho is set to open an academy in 2012.

MDRC administered a comprehensive survey to 1,200 former participants and to a control group of youth who applied to the programs and were qualified to attend but were not invited because of capacity issues.

 

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Foster Care Agency, Florida DCF Make Changes after Girl’s Death

Twins should never have been placed with adoptive family

By Andrew Atwal

 

The Florida agency responsible for supervising the foster care of 10-year-old brother-and-sister twins – one of whom was found dead in February, the other badly burned – says it is making numerous changes in its operations in an attempt to prevent anything similar happening again.

Our Kids of Miami-Dade/Monroe, a contract agency in charge of monitoring the care of Victor and Nubia Barahona as foster children, has come under intense scrutiny for not recognizing warning signs that the twins were not being cared for adequately by the couple who would become their adoptive parents.

Nubia was found dead in the back of her adoptive father’s pickup truck, and Victor was found in the front seat of the truck, suffering from severe chemical burns, days after reports to a child abuse hotline indicated the twins might be being abused by their adoptive parents.

The adoptive parents, Jorge and Carmen Barahona, are charged with first-degree murder and child abuse in the death of Nubia and the injuries to Victor.

Changes planned by Our Kids focus on better, more organized documentation of foster children’s lives, including documenting medical, school, Guardian ad Litem and abuse reports made between and during home visits.

A report prepared for the state after the death of Nubia Barahona stated explicitly that if better documentation of all case files had taken place, it could have helped the courts, caseworker, supervisor and Our Kids to identify the problems occurring with the foster family and could have prompted immediate action to rectify the situation. For example, there was no documentation that the Barahonas had failed to tend to the children’s routine medical and dental needs. And there was no documentation of a psychologist’s discussion of a possible second evaluation of Nubia. State officials would not comment on any recommendation of another evaluation for Nubia.

 

Questionable behavior

More than 900 pages of court documents involving the two children were released after Nubia’s death. They contain reports of repeated questionable behavior by the Barahonas, both when they were the foster parents and as the adoptive parents, that should have prevented them from having custody of the children. In the months before Nubia’s death, there also were repeated abuse reports from neighbors and parents of children in the same school the two children attended.

“One hopes that all the facts, and as close to the truth as possible, emerge in the court case,” said Dave Lawrence, a former Miami Herald publisher and one of three panelists who investigated the case.

He went on to say that he was convinced that there is real evil in this case, and that many missed signals in the case never were connected.

“Nubia’s death is simply tragic – and was preventable,” Lawrence said. “May we all learn something from this so there is a meaningful legacy to her life.”

According to court documents released in late May, Jorge Barahona told police he thought the twins were trying to harm him and their siblings with rat poison. He also said he was worried that Nubia and Victor were sexually abusing the other children in the family, an 11-year-old autistic boy and a 7-year-old girl, both of whom also were adopted. The other two adopted children are no longer in the Barahonas’ custody.

An older girl, the couple’s biological daughter, also lived with the couple and the four adopted children in a three-bedroom, one-bathroom suburban Miami home. Dense shrubs and palm trees obscured the home’s windows; there were numerous security cameras and a four-foot-tall entry gate.

Jorge Barahona also reportedly told police he believed Nubia was attempting to harm him by putting baby oil in his drinks.

 

 

Brother heard fatal beating

According to the arrest affidavit for Carmen Barahona, Nubia was beaten to death by her adoptive father on Feb. 10, the same day a therapist called the DCF Hotline to advise them that she and her twin brother Victor were being tied up and locked in a room on a regular basis. The warrant states that Nubia was repeatedly punched and beaten while she cried and screamed, until she was dead.

In addition to Nubia’s injuries, Victor, who was treated for a cleft palate when he was born, did not receive the necessary medical care while with the Barahonas, and as a result, he incurred additional injury and disfigurement to his face.

Victor told police that, days before his sister’s body was found, he heard his adoptive father punching Nubia and Nubia screaming for “a long time.” He also said both his adoptive parents told him that Nubia had gone to California to visit her grandmother.

Nubia died on Feb. 10, and her body was discovered in Jorge Barahona’s pickup truck on Feb. 14. In that same truck, which Jorge Barahona used for his pest extermination business, Victor was found soaked in chemicals used for extermination. He is recovering from severe burns in another foster home, officials have said.

The Barahonas’ 11-year-old autistic son told police that Carmen Barahona “is a nice woman but deep in the dark side, she’s mean.”

Officials of Our Kids said in a statement: “We take [the Department of Children and Families’] comments very seriously and are using the suggestions to drive improvement.”

Our Kids is a Miami-based nonprofit created in response to the privatization of foster care in Florida. Its sole function is to lead and oversee a coordinated care system for abused, neglected, and abandoned children and their families in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties in Florida.

Our Kids monitored the welfare of Victor and Nubia Barahona before their adoption in 2009. It received the case from the Department of Children and Families (DCF) in 2005 – after the children had been placed in the Barahona home. The agency’s supervision ended when the children were adopted.

Our Kids’ new plan of action, which was approved by DCF after Nubia’s death, also involves the guardian ad litem office in Miami, DCF, Children’s Legal Services, police departments, and judges, among others. It primarily emphasizes the need to integrate services among all of the groups.

 

Planned changes

The Our Kids plan relies largely on new training procedures, including comprehensive training for both case managers and private investigators, with new training on how to interview children and families.

The twins were placed in foster care with the Barahona family by the Department of Children and Families and were transferred later to the supervision of Our Kids. Our Kids’ officials said that because the agency did not place the children with the Barahona family, they were unable to scrutinize the initial placement.

 

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