PublicEdTN

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Safe Schools Index

Each year, each school district in TN reports violent incidents to the State Department of Education. The State produces an annual Safe Schools Report based on that data. Based on the most recent report available, here are the schools with the most incidents reported.

District	School	# of Incidents	% of Enrollment
Memphis	East High	25	2.37%
Madison	Liberty Technology Magnet High	26	3.20%
Hamilton	Orchard Knob Middle	26	6.47%
Memphis	Treadwell Middle	26	8.28%
Coffee	Coffee County Central High	27	1.75%
Memphis	Trezevant High	27	3.08%
Memphis	Hillcrest High	27	3.54%
Montgomery	Northeast Middle	27	3.59%
Memphis	Craigmont Middle	28	3.31%
Memphis	Humes Middle	28	7.04%
Davidson	JFK Middle	29	3.27%
Robertson	Springfield Middle	29	4.77%
Memphis	Cordova High School	30	1.52%
Memphis	MLK Transition Center	30	5.95%
Memphis	Wooddale Middle	31	3.53%
Memphis	Wooddale High	32	2.32%
Hamilton	Hardy Elementary	32	5.34%
Memphis	Raleigh Egypt High	33	2.75%
Montgomery	New Providence Middle	34	3.56%
Memphis	Raleigh Egypt Middle	34	4.13%
Montgomery	West Creek Middle	35	3.49%
Hamilton	Brainerd High	36	4.36%
Memphis	Grandview Heights Elementary	36	6.94%
Davidson	Hunters Lane High	37	2.18%
Memphis	Georgia Ave Elementary	37	7.44%
Davidson	John Early Magnet Middle	37	10.45%
Montgomery	Montgomery Central Middle	38	5.18%
Davidson	Dupont Tyler Middle	39	5.72%
Hamilton	Red Bank Middle	39	6.70%
Sumner	Rucker Stewart Middle	40	6.29%
Montgomery	Kenwood Middle	41	4.88%
Memphis	Hamilton High	42	3.59%
Memphis	Whitehaven High	43	2.11%
Memphis	Frayser High	50	5.72%
Memphis	Kirby High	55	3.02%

*Source: TN Department of Education Safe Schools Report 2009-2010 (Latest data available)

Incident Types

• Possession, Use or Distribution of Illegal Drugs
• Possession of Handgun
• Possession of Rifle or Shotgun
• Possession of Explosive or Incendiary Device
• Non-Lethal Firearm
• Possession of a Weapon Other than Firearm
• Possession, Use or Distribution of Alcohol
• Violation of School Rules
• Theft of Property
• Vandalism/ Damage of Property
• Bomb Threat
• Other Type of Threat
• Bullying
• Fighting
• Sexual Harassment
• Assault of Teacher or Staff
• Assault of Student
• Sexual Assault
• Aggravated Assault of Teacher or Staff
• Aggravated Assault of Student
• Attempted Homicide
• Homicide

*Source: TN Department of Education Safe Schools Report 2009-2010 (Latest data available)

The entire report can be found at http://www.tn.gov/education/safe_schls/reports.shtml

Saturday, February 23, 2013

TeachersPayTeachers.com is the world’s first open marketplace for lesson plans and other teacher-created materials. A sort of online auction, just for teachers where teachers who create curriculum can sell their work to others looking to save time or discover fresh ideas. Reportedly, over 1,100,000 teachers are registered users and a great number of them are earning significant supplemental income from the site.

This newfound revenue generating source for educators, Sheds light on the fact that one Maryland School Board wanted to lockdown the rights to all material created by any teacher, student or employee in or out of school hours.

Read Jess Collen's of Forbes Magazine hilarious take on the matter. http://www.forbes.com/sites/jesscollen/2013/02/22/maryland-school-board-wants-copying-homework-to-be-a-federal-offense/2/

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Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Capitol Hill Conversation – State Charter Authorizer vs Local Control - Nashville Public Radio

Monday, February 11, 2013

The Economics of Quality Education

The economic future of the United States depends largely on the success of public education. What we know

Tennesse has a 22% drop out rate
Currently the education cost per student is $9,000 per child
A report by the organization, "The Price of Prisons," states that the cost of incarcerating one inmate in Fiscal 2010 was $31,307 per year.
High school dropouts are 72 percent more likely to be unemployed as compared to high school graduates (U.S. Department of Labor, 2003).
Nearly 80 percent of individuals in prison do not have a high school diploma.
According to the National Longitudinal Transition Study of special education students, the arrest rates of youth with disabilities who dropped out were significantly higher than those who had graduated.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

College Prep

Side Note:
Does your teen have a hard time waking up in the morning? Would a wake up call from their favorite celebrity help? http://getschooled.com/wakeup. Get schooled is a great organization. Its mission is to increase graduation rates across the Nation. They partner with a variety of celebreties to include Nicki Minaj, One Direction, Tyra Banks, Victoria Justice, Wiz Khalifa, Trey Songz, Dwight Howard, Dwyane Wade, Keri Hilson, Mindless Behavior, Alec Baldwin, Chris Pine, Hugh Jackman and Jennifer Hudson.

Explore Your Options

Check out the College Affordability and Transparency Center. It is a great tool for college-planning. Parents, get your child to sit down with you and explore college options by afforability, location, degree and major, campus setting and more. Make a listof your top three and start planning your college tours!

http://collegecost.ed.gov/catc/

Starting Highschool

So it's that time.Your child is entering High School and you need to make sure they are on the right track for college. Where do you start? The answer used to be simple, your child's guidance counselor. Although they are still invaluable with their knowledge and experience, the days of waiting to be fed what another person thinks is best for child are over. The resources available to parents via the internet are endless! You now have the opportunity to explore ALL available educational options for your child and approach the guidance counselor with "how can we make this happen." Information is power yet can be overwhelming, organizing your efforts over the next few years is key.

9th Graders

It is important to explain to your ninth grader the importance of the next 4 years. Don't pressure them, (even though this information is intrinsically scary!), just reiterate the importance of the years to come and that you are behind them 100% on whatever path they have chosen.

Get good grades - Do as well as you can as early as you can. 9th grade is a great time to slightly scale back that hecitc social/extraciricular schedule you all have been dredging through since elementary school. Focusing on grades this year may be helpful to your child for several reasons

Your child needs to attempt to take as many advanced mathematics courses as they can in their sophomore through senior years. Studies show that "exposure" to advanced mathematics, Physics, Triginometry and Calculus garnered higher marks in College, overall, than that of children not exposed. These studies show this is true even with children who only made C's in these advanced mathematics courses in highschool. The theory is, expose them, yet give them some wiggle room with their GPA by setting a solid foundation with their grades in 9th grade.

Volunteering is also an important addition to college applications. Although you do not want this to interfere with their school work, in some cases it could. Again, a good GPA going into10th grade will help shield them from any unforseen volunteer/work intereferences that may arise.

Building confidence. High School is daunting, ensuring your child is successful the first year could give them the confidence they need to become independently successful in the later years in High School.

It is always a good idea to have a positive relationship with school teachers and staff. Encourage your child to participate in class and parents should pursue an positive teacher parent relationship.

Make sure your child is enrolled in all the necessary college prepatory track courses. The Tennessee Scholars program is a great point of reference. The Scholars program endows students from all over the state with an additional honor on their High School diploma, as well as eligibility for additional scholarships at Tennessee Universities.