“For Superintendent Arlene Ackerman, it’s not enough that the Philadelphia School District offers free breakfast to every single child in every single city school. Now, principals must coax the students into eating it.
Under a new district policy, principals will be held accountable for the number of student breakfasts eaten in each school. District officials reason [...]
Entries Tagged as ‘Parental Involvement’
October 13, 2009
Breakfast shouldn’t be on the principals
May 7, 2009
New report links nine parental factors to achievement gap
by Christopher Paslay
In a newly released report titled Parsing the Achievement Gap II, the Educational Testing Service tracked national trends between students of different racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. The report listed 16 factors that have been linked to student achievement.
Of the 16 factors, nine were directly related to a child’s parents and home environment. [...]
March 16, 2009
Inquirer editorial bashes Philadelphia public school teachers
by Christopher Paslay
Leave it to newspapers and politicians to oversimplify the problem with public education in America. The root causes of failing schools are much more complex than bad teachers and a lack of charters, as the Inquirer states in their recent editorial.
For starters, cell phones are destroying attention spans and producing a generation of [...]
March 12, 2009
The Notebook responds to Chalk and Talk article
by Christopher Paslay
On March 3rd, I posted an article here on Chalk and Talk headlined Do Phila. teachers really view minority children as criminals? In the article I criticized the Philadelphia Public School Notebook for running an objectionable editorial (Changing the odds) that suggested Philadelphia public school teachers were racist and afraid of the communities [...]
February 21, 2009
To Mayor Nutter: What happened to stopping contracts with outside managers?
by Christopher Paslay
“As Mayor, I will call for a reduction in contracts with outside contractors unless there is a compelling educational purpose for renewing the contract.”
–Mayor Michael Nutter, Putting Children First
In an educational reform plan dubbed Imagine 2014, Philadelphia schools’ chief Arlene Ackerman announced her intention to shut-down 35 of the [...]
February 19, 2009
Imagine 2014
by Christopher Paslay
(Re: Imagine 2014)
Imagine there’s no insults
It’s easy if you try
No blaming just the teachers
No waving 30 schools goodbye
Imagine the SRC
Giving us what we need
Imagine no outside managers
It isn’t hard to do
No wasting millions of dollars
And no consultants too
Imagine all the parents
Pulling their own weight
You may say I’m a dreamer
But [...]
February 17, 2009
Eye on the Notebook: Parental involvement must start in the home
by Christopher Paslay
To help The Philadelphia Public School Notebook bring quality and equality to all public schools, I am posting a regular forum here on Chalk and Talk called Eye on The Notebook. Its purpose is to provide The Notebook with constructive feedback from teachers who work day-to-day in real classrooms and experience the district’s [...]
November 13, 2008
10 Reasons Why Philadelphia Parents Don’t Attend Teacher Conferences
by Christopher Paslay
Parental involvement in Philadelphia public schools is notoriously low. Over the past decade, less than 10% of my students’ mothers and fathers have shown up for school functions such as Back to School Night and Report Card Night.
Colleagues of mine from other parts of the city report the same problem: The [...]
October 28, 2008
Schools Reflect Communities
“If parents and students don’t get actively involved, how will extending the school day improve academic achievement? If education isn’t made a priority in children’s homes, what will requiring more professional development for teachers accomplish?”
To respond to today’s Inquirer commentary, “Schools reflect communities,” click the comment button below.
Thanks for visiting.
