outlook-12 magazine 05/04/2015

Experts Weigh In On Cultural Impact of Disney's Latina Princess

TEACHER'S LOUNGE20,000 teachers surveyed about Common Core issues

LESSON PLANSStory Pirates use children's stories to encourage learning

MAY 04, 2015 VOL.1 NUMBER 2

from the publisher of The Hispanic

Outlook in Higher Education Magazine

WWW.K12HISPANICOUTLOOK.COM

PUBLISHER

PRESIDENT AND CEO

VICE PRESIDENT

EDITOR IN CHIEF

EDITORIAL & MARKETING DIRECTOR

ART & PRODUCTION DIRECTOR

ACCOUNTING & FINANCE DIRECTOR

MEDIA RELATIONS DIRECTOR

JOSÉ LÓPEZ ISA

TOMÁS CASTELLANOS NUÑEZ

NICOLE LÓPEZ ISA

MARY ANN COOPER

MEREDITH COOPER

RICARDO CASTILLO

JAVIER SALAZAR CARRIÓN

MARILYN ROCA ENRÍQUEZ

CONTENTVOLUME 01, ISSUE 02

K www.k12hispanicoutlook.com

Editorial PolicyThe Hispanic OutlooK-12 Magazine Inc.® is a national magazine. Dedicated to exploring issues related to Hispanics in K-12,

The Hispanic Outlook in K-12 Magazine Inc.® is published for the members of the K-12 education community. Editorialdecisions are based on the editors’ judgment of the quality of the writing, the timeliness of the article, and the potential interest to the readers of

The Hispanic OutlooK-12 Magazine Inc.®. From time to time, The Hispanic OutlooK-12 Magazine Inc® will publish articles dealing withcontroversial issues. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and/or those interviewed and might not reflect the official policy of the

magazine. The Hispanic OutlooK-12 Magazine® neither agrees nor disagrees with those ideas expressed, and no endorsement ofthose views should be inferred unless specifically identified as officially endorsed by The Hispanic OutlooK-12 Magazine®.

Letters to the EditorThe Hispanic OutlooK-12 Inc. ®

E-MAIL: [email protected]

Advertising SalesTEL (201) 587-8800FAX (201) 587-9105

E-MAIL: [email protected]

Editorial Office299 Market St, Ste. 145

Saddle Brook, N.J. 07663TEL (201) 587-8800

Disney's new Latina Princess Image Courtesy of Disney Studios

HISPANIC CULTURES INSPIRE NEWEST DISNEY PRINCESSPrincess Elena of Avalor to premiere on Disney Junior in 2016

CLASSROOM LIBRARY FOUNDATION FOR LEARNINGTeacher's investments has positive academic and behavioral impact

STORY PIRATES Shanghai Children’s Story Ideas—And Help Them with Their Education

SIZZLING SELECTIONS FOR SUMMER READINGK-12 selects its Top 10 books from large, small and independent publishers

20,000 TEACHERSSURVEYED ABOUT TEACHING IN AN ERA OF CHANGESurvey findings support Common Core Standards

NEWS AND TRENDSThe latest in national education-related news and trends

CONTENTVOLUME 01, ISSUE 02

04

08

12

18

22

26

HONOR ROLL

Lesson Plans

SCHOOLIBRARY

SCHOOL NEWS-PAPER

LANGUAGEARTS

L

Teacher'sLounge

From Jasmine to Tiana the Disney princess-es have become a diverse group of royal leading ladies, repre-senting cultures from around the world.

Ever expanding, the popular entertainment and merchandising line’s newest member, Princess Elena of Avalor, is a confident and compassionate teenager in an enchanted fairytale kingdom inspired by diverse Latin cultures and folklore. Having a Disney character that young Latinas can relate to and look to as a role model could add to their cultural pride and self-esteem.

Compiled by Meredith Cooper

Voiced by Aimee Carrero (ABC Family’s “Young & Hun-gry”), Princess Elena will be introduced in a special episode of Disney Junior’s hit series “Sofia the First” beginning production now for a 2016 premiere. That exciting story arc will usher in the 2016 launch of the animat-ed series “Elena of Avalor,” a production of Disney Television Animation. The announcement was made by Nancy Kanter, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Disney Junior Worldwide.

“Our creative team has delivered a universal story with themes that authentically re-

flect the hopes and dreams of our diverse audience,” Kanter said. “What excites us most is the chance to use distinctive animation and visual design to tell wonderful stories influenced by culture and traditions that are familiar to the worldwide pop-ulation of Hispanic and Latino families and reflect the interests and aspirations of all children as told through a classic fairy tale.”

“The underrepresentation and pervasive stereotyping of people of color in the media can negatively affect children of color,” Nancy Yuen, professor of sociology at Biola University and author of forthcoming book

Hispanic CulturesInspire Newest

DisneyPrincess

HONOR ROLL

4 · May 04, 2015

“ I think the challenge for

Disney will be which

characteristics they choose to

reflect the diverse Hispanic culture.”Dr. Yolanda Romero, professor of history

at North Lake College in Irving, Texas

“Reel Inequality: Hollywood Actors and Racism” said when OutlooK-12 asked her about Ele-na. “Although the creation of a Disney Latina princess is neces-sary, it is not sufficient to assure positive development among Latina/o youth. One study of me-dia influences on youth of color found lower self-esteem among black youth when exposed to television images. Consequently, a Latina princess can help chil-dren see representations of them-selves in a positive light, thereby increasing their self-esteem. However, in the classic black doll/white doll study, even black children preferred white dolls

over black dolls. As a result, the overall representation of Latina/os (including their invisibility and the over-sexualization of Latinas in film) need to improve as well.”

As with all Disney Junior programming, “Elena of Avalor” stories will be guided by an es-tablished curriculum that nurtures multiple areas of child develop-ment: physical, emotional, social and cognitive; thinking and cre-ative skills, as well as moral and ethical development. Created for kids age 2-7 and their families, the stories are designed to com-municate positive messages and life lessons that are applicable to

Disney's new Latina Princess

Image Courtesy of Disney Studios

Aimee Carrero is the voice of Princess Elena of AvalorPhoto Courtesy of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation

www.k12hispanicoutlook.com K

for young Hispanic girls to dream and see themselves as royalty.”

Despite being a princess, 16-year-old Elena’s fairy tale is more of a hero’s journey that began long ago when the evil sorceress, Shuriki, took her parents and kingdom from her. Elena bravely faced the sorceress to protect her little sister, Prin-cess Isabel, and her grandparents, but in the process, her magical amulet pulled her inside its en-chanted jewel, saving her life but imprisoning her at the same time. Decades later, Princess Sofia of Enchancia discovers the truth about the amulet that she has worn since joining her royal fam-ily and sets out to restore Elena to her human form and help her return to the kingdom of Avalor.

While the bold, caring, funny and clever Elena is the rightful heir to the throne, she is only age 16, so she will rule Avalor with the help of a Grand Council comprised of her Grandfather Tito, Grandmother Cici and Roy-al Advisor, Duke Esteban. With some magical friends by her side – Mateo, a wizard-in-training, and Skylar, a magical flying crea-ture – Princess Elena’s further adventures will lead her to under-stand that her new role requires

young children about leadership, resilience, diversity, compassion and the importance of family and family traditions.

The series will be presented in 25 languages on Disney Junior channels and daily programming blocks for kids age 2-7 on Disney Channels, among other plat-forms, in 154 countries around the world. On television alone, its estimated daily reach will be over 207-million households.

“It is fitting that finally, in the 21st century, young Hispanics will have their own princess join the ranks of Disney’s royalty,” Dr. Yolanda Romero, professor of history at North Lake College in Irving, Texas said on Prof-net, regarding Elena. “I think the challenge for Disney will be which characteristics they choose to reflect the diverse Hispanic culture. Will the princess call herself a Latina or Hispanic; will she speak Spanish? Will the Princess have an accent when speaking English? Was she brought to the U.S. illegally when she was young and may be in danger of being sent back to her parents’ homeland? All girls are princesses, no matter what ethnic or racial group. It is time that Disney provides the model

“ It is fitting that finally, in

the 21st century, young Hispanics will

have their own princess join

the ranks of Disney's royalty.”Dr. Yolanda Romero, professor of history at North Lake College in

Irving, Texas.

HONOR ROLL

6 · May 04, 2015

thoughtfulness, resilience and compassion, the traits of all truly great leaders.

“[I] just wanted to tell you how happy I am to hear the news about Disney’s Latina princess,” Cooper Smith Koch, Principal of Cooper Smith Agency said. Koch’s agency was approached by OutlooK-12 for his reaction to Disney’s new character. He had a personal positive reaction to the introduction of Princess Elena. “My six-year-old daughter (ad-opted) is Latina, and it’s always bothered me that she never sees someone who looks like her in fairy tales. It’s less about ‘ra-cial pride’ to me and more about making sure she knows that any-thing is possible...and that even people who look like her are the heroes and heroines in stories sometimes.”

“Elena of Avalor” is execu-tive-produced by Craig Gerber (of the Emmy Award-nominated “Sofia the First”). Silvia Carde-nas Olivas (“Moesha,” “The Brothers Garcia”), an alumna of the National Hispanic Media Coalition’s Television Writers Program, is the story editor, and Elliot M. Bour (“The Little Engine That Could”) is the super-vising director. The series’ cul-tural advisors are Doris Sommer, Harvard University professor and Director of Graduate Studies in Spanish; and Marcela Davison Aviles, Managing Director and Executive Producer, El Camino Project, an international Latino arts initiative. •

ABC Family Star Adds a Royal Title to her Resume

She’s fought video game monsters, shared the silver screen with singing chipmunks and is currently playing the supportive, career-driven Sofia Rodri-guez on ABC Family’s sitcom “Young and Hungry.” Although only 27 years old Aimee Carrero already can boast an eclectic filmography, and soon she will be able to add princess to her resume. Her latest project is the voice of Disney’s first Hispanic princess, Elena of Avalor. Recently, Carrero publically ad-dressed some of the controversy surrounding Elena, including that she is not from one specific country. Carrero pointed out that if Disney had focused on one country for Elena, then that would mean ex-cluding other places that also reflect Hispanic di-versity. Elena (according to Carrero) will have tastes and interests that reflect multiple Latin cultures.

Carrera acknowledged to Latina.com that it is not possible to make everyone happy when trying to break new ground. “The impossible task that Dis-ney has is making a story that it will touch as many people as possible, whether they are Latin or not. She'll [Elena] talk about loving a food, that is partic-ular to a South American country but then loving a music style that maybe comes from a Caribbe-an-Latin country,” adding that it is a very difficult to find a way to successfully embody all the countries that are part of Latin ethnicity in one character.

Growing up, Carrero said she had a hard time finding Hispanics to identify with in the media. Now she said she hopes her work as Princess Elena will have a positive impact on an international level.

“If those little girls or little boys have to work a little bit less to find themselves represented in mainstream culture, then I think that's sort of the victory for me,” she told Latina.com. “I don't know how it's going to affect everybody, but my hope is that it'll make it a little bit easier for people to find themselves represented in mainstream media and culture.”


LANGUAGEARTS

L

Early each school year my primary goal as a teach-er was to improve the reading and writing skills of my new students. In

addition, I wanted to create a re-laxed atmosphere but still have a very well behaved class. A path to these two goals was paved by having an extensive and well-di-versified classroom library. The components of this library con-sisted of books, magazines and when available daily newspapers.

In an austerity move within the school system where I once taught, the superintendent dis-missed most school librarians and all but ended the utilization of school libraries. The facul-

ties were instructed to purchase books for their personal class-room libraries. That summer I sought out used bookstores, flea markets and yard sales in an attempt to acquire suitable books for my students to read. In September my classroom library “boasted” fifty-seven books. Within a few weeks I became aware that my collection was av-erage for my school as compared to other teachers. Their numbers ranged from zero to slightly more than 100 books in their class-room libraries. Five years later a new, more enlightened super-intendent hired more librarians and restored the schools’ libraries to full use. However, I saw how

Classroom Library Foundation for LearningStory by Gary Cooper

LANGUAGEARTS

L

8 · May 04, 2015

useful a classroom library could be and continued to increase my little class library. Over the de-cades that I served as a teacher my little library reached a zenith of 389 books.

The very first task I assigned each year was to have each stu-dent select a book from the class library. I informed them that in a month’s time they would submit their first book report. Before any other assignments and distri-bution of supplies and class rules, the very first experience of my class was spent reading. Every day when daily assignments were completed the students were encouraged to read their books. Everyday upon entering the class

my students began their day by reading their individually select-ed books. Eventually, I included D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything And Read) time, lasting about 10 to 15 minutes in duration. At the conclusion of each afternoon, my students spent the final ten min-utes either getting a head start on their homework or reading their book.

I tried to have books in my li-brary that were not only on grade level but two or more years both above and below grade norms. I found that books that had a com-bination of one page of written text followed by one page with a picture or illustration with a caption were most popular. My

weaker readers or bi-lingual stu-dents could read literature above their level if they were able to follow storylines with the help of the diagrams. Students who claimed to “hate” reading almost always became avid readers ex-pressing that this school years was their best ever. An unfore-seen benefit of my classroom library with students engaged in a robust reading routine was that it all but eliminated any problem maintaining proper de-corum. Every year standardized test scores in my class improved well over a year in both reading and language arts skills. Parents often inquired why their child’s language arts skills had improved


LANGUAGEARTS

L

A classroom library is an excellent addition to enhance learning for all students. The empowerment gained by developing an appreciation of read-ing, however, is only one of the benefits that can be derived from exposure to a varied collection of books on classroom shelves. A report by the Pew Re-search Center gives indications that immigrant Hispanic students reap added rewards when given a chance to sample books in a classroom library setting. They narrow the gap between those who frequent public libraries and those who don’t, opening up a whole range of benefits for them from applying for jobs to learning more about government programs and community resourc-es.

These are some of the findings of this latest installment of the Pew Re-search Center’s reporting on the Center’s landmark 2013 Library Services Survey authored by Pew’s Anna Brown and Mark Hugo. “When it comes to public libraries, immigrant Hispanics pose both a challenge and an opportu-nity to the library community. On the one hand, this group, which makes up half of the adult U.S. Hispanic population, is less likely than other Americans to have ever visited a U.S. public library and is much less likely to say that they see it as ‘very easy’ to do so,” the survey reveals. “At the same time, Hispanic immigrants who have made their way to a public library stand out as the most appreciative of what libraries have to offer, from free books to research resources to the fact that libraries tend to offer a quiet, safe space. And they are more likely than other groups to say that closing their commu-nity library would have a major impact on their family.”

Statistically, here is what the Pew report reveals about the library habits of Hispanics compared to other racial and ethnic groups:

• Seven-in-10 (72 percent) Hispanics ages 16 and older say they have visited a public library or bookmobile in person at one point or another in their lives, a share below that of whites (83 percent) and blacks (80 percent).

• A total of 83 percent of U.S.-born Latinos say they have visited a pub-lic library at some point in their lives—a share similar to that of whites and blacks. However, among immigrant Latinos, a smaller share—60 percent—say they have visited a public library or bookmobile in person.

As public libraries have seen their role shift to become a community cen-ter and hub for technology, familiarity with libraries and the development of reading habits gives users a range of services beyond lending privileges. According to the Pew survey:

• The Pew Research library survey finds that among library users, that is, those who have ever used a public library, Hispanics are less likely than whites or blacks to know about the services offered by their local library.

• Six-in-10 (62 percent) Hispanic library users say they know about at least some of the library services their local public library offers. By compar-ison, 71 percent of white and 74 percent of black library users say the same about their public libraries.

• The gap between immigrant Latinos and whites is largest on services such as help finding and applying for a job and help applying for government programs, permits or licenses.

Imagine how those numbers could improve if students were consistently exposed to classroom libraries from the time they become part of the school system – private or public.

Public Libraries and HispanicsImmigrant Hispanics Use Libraries Less,

but Those Who Do Appreciate Them the Mostso dramatically and in many cas-es why their child was no longer getting in trouble. My simple response was my students took advantage of the class’ library.

At the end of my teaching career I became a guidance coun-selor. My little office contained many of my books from my classroom. Students frequent-ly sought to borrow my books in spite of having access to an excellent school library run by a wonderful school librarian. These books often served as an icebreaker with my counselees.

Most teachers use their own monies to purchase items for their students. Although most schools have fine libraries and provide access to computers for their young scholars, I strongly encourage teachers to create and build their own classroom librar-ies. The library’s books, mag-azines and newspapers created a residual effect on my students and helped me accomplish the majority of my goals as an edu-cator. The teachers I know that have created and used a class-room library have never regretted this personal investment. •

Gary Cooper has been an educator for more than 45 years and has taught students from nursery school to college. He is also a guidance counselor and has a bachelor’s and master’s degree. Cooper is a recipient of a Teacher of the Year Award and has also been cited twice in Who's Who Among American Teachers.

10 · May 04, 2015

Top 100 Colleges for HispanicsMAY 18, 2015

WWW.HISPANICOUTLOOK.COM

top 100

Issue

Story Pirates Shanghai Children’s

Story Ideas—And Help Them with

Their EducationStory by Meredith Cooper

Pirates have always been a part of the educa-tion experience. In kindergarten we hear the story of Peter Pan winning against Captain Hook. In middle school we read about Jim Hawkins’ adventure with the devious Long John Silver. Pirates, however, have come to mean something else at schools across the country thanks to a certain band of 21st cen-tury buccaneers who have created an interac-

tive, innovative approach to learning.Founded in 2003, the Story Pirates is an education and

media organization that has two permanent branches one in Los Angeles and one in New York City. Working in coop-eration with schools, these pirates “steal” story ideas from students, which are incorporated into their live performances as well as their weekly radio program, podcasts and writing workshops.

“We believe that kids have the best ideas, so we turn their original stories into wild sketch comedy musicals featuring professional actors to show those kids just how amazing their

ideas are. We believe that desire drives learning,” the Story Pi-rates’ website states.

Crewmates and allies for the Story Pirates have included famous comedians like Com-edy Central’s Jon Stewart and late-night talk show host Conan O’Brien (pictured) as well as talents from well-known comedy hubs such as the Groundlings, Upright Citizens Brigade and

Lesson Plans

12 · May 04, 2015

Second City. A typical performance may incorporate previously sub-mitted story ideas or can be pure improv, and according to the Story Pirates’ website, can feature heroic hot dogs, flying cats and imagina-tive characters like Captain Waffles or Moneyhead Alan.

“The cornerstone of the Story Pirates educational philosophy is that great teaching goes hand in hand with great storytelling,” the Sto-ry Pirates’ website states. “We believe that there is a powerful link be-tween literacy and confident self-expression.”

This confidence, however, goes beyond academics. Colleen, a par-ent of one of the children whose story was used for the Story Pirates’ weekly radio program, said her story being performed gave her a sense of validation that she never had before.

Photo Courtesy of The Story Pirates

Images Courtesy of The Story Pirates


“She’s a crazy creative kid,” Colleen said. “She hears that she’s weird all the time—in the not nice way. To be chosen to collaborate with your crazy team was a huge compliment to her. We love that you give kids’ voices such an amazing outlet.”

Beyond performances the Story Pirates also run writing workshops designed to help reinforce not only the basics of writing but also topics and information di-rectly related to a particular school’s curriculum. These workshops include schools where Spanish is widely spoken.

“We do a good deal of programming in predomi-nantly Spanish-speaking schools,” Amanda Borson, a producer for the story Pirates, said in an email. “For instance, over the February recess, two of our Span-ish-speaking teaching artists spent a week at an elemen-tary school in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, a community with a large Hispanic immigrant population, doing a comedy writing workshop.”

In addition to comedy writing, the workshops also cover character creating, writing a hero’s story and oth-er forms of literary expression (see sidebar for specific workshop offerings). The persuasive writing workshop, for example, is aimed at grades 3 – 5 and involves an “expert” visiting the class to talk about a topic that the students are learning about in school or a topic chosen by their teacher such as protecting the environment. The expert, however, will give the wrong information about the topic (in this case he might suggest not recycling, polluting rivers, etc.), leaving the class to write essays to persuade him that his ideas are incorrect. In the process the students not only learn about persuasive writing but also more about the topic that they are studying.

“Struggling students began to use writing as a means to express their thoughts and feelings for perhaps the first time in their lives,” Dennis Hagen-Smith, 5th grade Teacher at Toluca Lake Elementary, said. “They began to write because they wanted to, not just because they had to do so.” Hagen-Smith also said that the Story Pi-rates helped him learn how to be a more effective writ-ing teacher.

“I have been teaching writing for 13 years, but writ-ing is my big instructional weakness,” he Hagen-Smith said. “I learned how to stir up my students’ creativity, structure their writing and make writing fun. I will take what I learned about writing from the Story Pirates for the rest of my teaching career.” • Photos Courtesy of The Story Pirates

Lesson Plans

14 · May 04, 2015

Standard Residencies (5-7 Class Sessions)

Story Writing Building BlocksGrades K-1The class will work together on creating a group story with a clear beginning, middle and end, containing a character, a problem and a solution. This group story then becomes the reference point for a series of lessons in which students design their own stories each containing the same set of story building blocks.

Character Workshop Grades 1-2Students will create detailed characters and develop problems for those characters to solve by drawing them on our specialized graphic organizers. Students will use their pictures as the first step in a scaffolded series of lesson plans that culminate in writing detailed, well-organized stories with a clear beginning, middle and end. Students will also return to the pictures later as the first step in doing some simple revision of the stories.

Hero Story Writing, with Heroic DialogueGrades 2-5We tap into the deep love for hero stories that so many students have but then ask students to look at the idea of a hero in ways they may not have considered before. As we emphasize creating well-rounded, surprising characters that go beyond the stereo-types of what traditional heroes might be, each student creates a hero character and plans out creative, nonviolent solutions, which this character might use to solve a problem.

Informational Essay Writing: The Solar SystemGrades 3-4Compiling scientific information from NASA into an entertaining and readable research packet for 3rd-4th graders, we created a document, which will serve as a primary source for students as they research a planet in the solar system. In order to arm the students for further research online or in a library, we have also included certain pages in this packet that come from unreliable sources or contain opinions instead of facts. The first day is cen-tered around a treasure hunt in the packet to find which pages are unreliable (and should be crossed out), leading into a lesson about how to find good sources in general when doing research. From there the students will spend the residency creating well-organized essays that are not only informative but hold the reader’s attention with precise and vivid vocabulary and imagery.

Narrative Writing EssentialsGrades 3-5This workshop is designed to support a variety of essential narra-tive writing skills that are studied in upper elementary grades. The first day begins with a dramatic explanation of the importance of “showing, not telling,” which is a concept students will come back to again and again throughout the residency. From there students will create characters and study how to effectively use a variety of sequencing words to precisely manage the events of the story as their characters try multiple solutions to solve a problem. Using all of these techniques together, students will then plan out an increasingly exciting flow of rising action followed by a satisfying conclusion.

Persuasive EssaysGrades 3-5We collaborate with teachers and administrators to choose a per-suasive writing topic in which students will take sides on issues they have been studying or that the teachers think students would most benefit from writing about. We provide scaffolding to students for writing a very traditional five paragraph persuasive essay, including writing a strong introduction, selecting good arguments, using transition words and finishing with a strong conclusion.

Comedy Story WritingGrades 4-5In this unique, signature workshop, we pair up an experienced teaching artist with a hilarious improv comedian and teach the students the principles of writing a good comedy story. Creating a strong comedy story requires crafting detailed characters and set-tings, choosing vocabulary precisely, writing in a strong comedic “voice” and following a highly organized story structure.

Mystery Stories and the Art of InferenceGrades 4-5Students create detectives, explore how to set up a mystery and learn the subtle art of backward planning to plant clues in a nar-rative that point towards a particular culprit. Since a mystery story requires readers to make inferences about the solution to the mys-tery, students will also need to practice using their own inference skills in a variety of warm-up activities and short readings designed to prepare them to plan out clues effectively in their own stories.

Story Pirates' workshop curriculum focuses on core elements of national standards for Arts Education and English Language Arts while providing rich cultural experi-ences that push the boundaries of traditional enrichment to tackle substantive ed-ucational goals like vocabulary development, story structure, revision and confident self-expression.

Photos Courtesy of The Story Pirates


Short Term Residencies (1-2 Class Sessions)

Group Story Writing Grades Pre-K-3Theater, visual arts and writing come together in this lively, fun, interactive workshop. Students will work as a class to create a simple narrative story, which will be dictated to and guided by our teaching artists. The primary focus will be on reinforcing the basic building blocks of a story, including creating a detailed, original character; introducing a problem and finding exciting, creative solutions to the problem. Group Genre Story Writing Grades 3-5Designed to provide older elementary students with the basic building blocks for writing in a particular genre, this theatrical,

interactive workshop will involve the whole class writing a genre story together and reflecting on the main elements that make the genre unique. The teaching artists will provide memorable theatrical demonstrations of key points and leave the students with materials to begin working on individual stories after we have left the room.

Test Taking Techniques Grades 3-4This workshop offers a mix of strategies to pump students up for taking big tests, help them find ways to calm down when nervous during a test and techniques for taking tests that will allow students to approach them logically and--incredible as it sounds--even have fun with them!

Long Term Residencies (Semester or Year Long Programs, in Classrooms or After School)

Poetry Writing and Performance Grades K-5Poetry writing is flexible, fun and can be a vehicle for lots of differ-ent learning outcomes, depending on the goals of the program. For one thing, poetry writing can be a great place to explore certain lit-erary techniques in a focused and creative manner: whether writing poems featuring simile, metaphor, rhyming, hyperbole, onomato-poeia, etc. students can learn and remember important techniques while making the process feel like a game.

Persuasive Techniques and Commercial Writing Grades 3-5Many of the techniques used in writing persuasive essays can also be used to create effective commercials. Often we do these work-shops shortly after the students have already done a persuasive writing unit or shortly before they are about to begin one so that we can reinforce persuasive writing techniques that teachers and administrators most want the students to work on.

Comedy Writing and Performance Grades 3-8Through a combination of dramatic demonstrations in the class-room, listening to comedy skits created by Story Pirates specifically

to model certain comedic concepts and the use of highly structured graphic organizers, students will learn about several different ap-proaches to comedy writing. In addition, students will learn comedic performance techniques, which may include improvisation, theatri-cal skit performance or the production of audio skits or “podcasts” to take home.

The Art of Adaptation for PerformanceGrades 5-12Sometimes referred to as “Story Pirates Jr.,” these workshops for middle to high school teach students about the Story Pirates style and method of performance, including reading stories by ele-mentary school students, analyzing the text closely to decide how to perform it, building stories together under the guidance of a Story Pirates director and then putting on a show at an elementary school featuring these stories.

Other Arts Enrichment Topics Grades K-5We have taught a wide range of other fun, arts enrichment after school residencies on a variety of different topics. More information is available upon request.

Specialized Topics

We have also taught workshops on a variety of other academic topics, including science, social studies and a variety of specialized topics related to reading, writing and language standards. If there is a subject area you are interested in Story Pirates working on, there is no sub-ject we won't design lessons for given enough funding for curriculum planning and ideally given collaboration with school staff. These workshops may require additional funding for planning time and curriculum writing for our teaching artists as we tailor these workshops closely to the needs and requests of school administrators and teachers.

Lesson Plans

16 · May 04, 2015

Image by © Depositphotos.com/ TopVectors

GO UPDATED!VISIT

www.K12HISPANICOUTLOOK.com

Sizzling Selections for Summer Reading

The world of publishing is expanding every day. If you are looking for something different and fresh to enjoy or give your favorite young scholar during the lazy hazy days of summer, consider these offerings from publishers large or small, independent. Most are available in both print and digital editions. Let us know if you agree with our choices.

Jordy the Jaguar by Meryl Day 2015. 32 pp. ISBN: 9781634171816. $14.95 paper. Page Publishing, New York, NY. www.pagepublishing.com.Meryl Day, an attorney, child and animal lover, wife and writer, has completed her first book, "Jordy the Jaguar": a work that depicts the beauty of wild animals and the love of family. Published by New York City-based Page Publishing, Day’s book is about an extraordinary feline, Jordy the Jaguar, who joins Fred and Mary’s family. With his brother dog, Ollie, and sister cat, Tallie, Jordy tries to get along with his new family. But Tallie doesn’t seem very welcoming to Jordy. Will Jordy finally claim his place in his new home? The rest of the story is how Jordy and Tallie learn to live harmoniously together.

The Wizard and the Quient By T.J. Lemmer 2014. 292 pp. ISBN: 978-1-4120-5686-1. $21.48. Trafford Publishing, Bloomington, IN, www.trafford.com."The Wizard and the Quient" follows 15 year-old Thomas Wisby as he is transported into a world of wizards, dinosaurs and much more. While the book is geared towards grade-school students, Lemmer has written in an adult enough fashion for parents to en-joy diving in with their kids. Lemmer has turned his ever-active imagination into a new fantasy-adventure novel. “I’ve always found myself creating my own versions of movies and books when I hear the storyline,” Lemmer said. “I thought I would create an open-ended adventure that young stu-dents could picture themselves being a part of.” The Wizard and the Quient is the first installment in a series that will see Wisby get into a number of different adventures as he grows up.

A Puppy's Special DayBy Frances J. Smith2014. 32 pp. ISBN: 978-1634174589. $16.95 paper. Page Publishing New York, NY. www.pagepublishing.com."A Puppy's Special Day" is a story about a very lonely puppy and his wishes of finding a friend. The book takes the reader on an adventure into a dark and dismal toy factory where a poor puppy sits all alone. Though his situation is disheartening, the puppy never abandons his optimism. He finds that by believing his wish-es will come true, they are fulfilled. Although things turn out differently than the puppy expects, his faith pays off. The puppy’s story illustrates the power of hope. Published by Page Publishing, Smith’s poignant tale re-minds the reader never to give up on their dreams. Even when life seems dim, holding on to hope can change everything.

18 · May 04, 2015

SCHOOLIBRARY

Nickerbacher, The Funniest Dragon By Terry John Barto 2015. 34 pp. ISBN:9781496954541. $15.15 paper. AuthorHouse, Blooming-ton, IN. www.authorhouse.com. Nickerbacher is a very special dragon. He doesn’t want to be like all the other dragons who guard princesses. More than anything in the world, Nickerbach-er wants to be a comedian who makes people laugh. Princess Gwendolyn, the princess Nickerbacher’s father expects him to guard, and Prince Happenstance, the prince who comes for the princess, encourage Nickerbacher to pursue his goal. But Nickerbacher’s father is appalled and commands him to guard the princess anyway. Nickerbacher must decide whether he will abide by his dragonly duty or follow his dream even if it means displeasing his papa. "I wanted to write about following your passion in life," Barto says. "I'm trying to convey to be true to yourself and follow your heart."

THE ONE AND ONLY ONE IVAN by Katherine Applegate (Author), Patricia Castelao (Illustrator)2015. 336 pp. ISBN: 978-0061992278. $7.99 paper. HarperCol-lins; Reprint edition, www.harpercol-lins.com.Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all. Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he's seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a man-go or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line. Then he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from her family, and she makes Ivan see their home—and his own art—through new eyes. When Ruby arrives, change comes with her, and it's up to Ivan to make it a change for the better.

Pay It Forward: Young Readers Editionby Catherine Ryan Hyde 2014. 288 pp. ISBN: 978-1481409407. $6.99 paper. Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books, New York, NY. http://imprints.simonand-schuster.biz/paula-wiseman-books. The internationally bestselling book that inspired the Pay It Forward movement is now available in a mid-dle grade edition. "Pay It Forward" is about Trevor McKinney, a 12 year-old boy in a small California town who accepts his teacher’s challenge to earn extra credit by coming up with a plan to change the world. Trevor’s idea is simple: do a good deed for three people and instead of asking them to return the favor, ask them to “pay it forward” to three others who need help. He envisions a vast movement of kindness and goodwill spreading across the world, and Trev-or’s actions change his community forever. This middle grade edition of "Pay It Forward" is extensively revised, making it an appropriate and invaluable complement to lesson plans and an ideal pick for book clubs, classroom use and summer reading.

Ilustr

atio

n by

© D

epos

itpho

tos.c

om/ j

ohny

007p

andp


Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein 2014. 336 pp. ISBN: 978-0307931474. $16.99 cloth. Yearling; Reprint edition, Random House LLC , New York, NY. www.random-housekids.comIn this cross between "Char-lie and the Chocolate Fac-tory" and "A Night in the Museum," Agatha Award winner Chris Grabenstein uses humor to create this tale for his quirky char-acters. Kyle Keeley is the class clown and a huge fan of all games—board games, word games and particular-ly video games. His hero, Luigi Lemoncello, the most notorious and creative gam-emaker in the world, just so happens to be the genius behind the construction of the new town library. Lucky Kyle wins a coveted spot as one of twelve kids invited for an overnight sleepover in the library hosted by Mr. Lemoncello. But when morning comes, the doors stay locked. Kyle and the other kids must solve every clue and figure out every secret puzzle to find the hidden escape route!

The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer 2013. 464 pp. ISBN: 978-0316201568. $8.00 paper. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (Hachette Books) New York, NY. www.hachettebookgroup.com/Alex and Conner Bailey's world is about to change in this fast-paced adventure that uniquely combines our modern day world with the enchanting realm of classic fairy tales. The Land of Stories tells the tale of twins Alex and Conner. Through the mysterious powers of a cherished book of stories, they leave their world be-hind and find themselves in a foreign land full of wonder and magic where they come face-to-face with the fairy tale characters they grew up reading about. But after a series of encounters with witches, wolves, goblins and trolls alike, getting back home is going to be harder than they thought.

When You Reach Meby Rebecca Stead2010. 208 pp. ISBN: 978-0375850868. $6.99 paper. Yearling; Reprint edition (Random House Kids) New York, NY, www.random-housekids.com By sixth grade, Miranda and her best friend, Sal, know how to navigate their New York City neighborhood. They know where it's safe to go, and they know who to avoid like the crazy guy on the corner. But things start to unravel. Sal gets punched by a kid on the street for what seems like no reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life. The apartment key that Miranda's mom keeps hidden for emergencies is stolen. And then a mysteri-ous note arrives, scrawled on a tiny slip of paper. The notes keep coming, and Miranda slowly realizes that whoever is leaving them knows things no one should know. Each message brings her closer to believing that only she can prevent a tragic death. Until the final note makes her think she's too late.

Inside Out and Back Againby Thanhha Lai 2013. 288 pp. ISBN: 978-0061962790 $7.99 paper. HarperCollins; Reprint edition. www.harpercollins.com."Inside Out and Back Again" is a New York Times bestseller, a Newbery Honor Book and a winner of the National Book Award! Inspired by the author's childhood experience of fleeing Vietnam after the Fall of Saigon and immi-grating to Alabama, this coming-of-age debut novel told in verse is a child's-eye view of family and immi-gration. For all the ten years of her life, Hà has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions and the warmth of her friends close by. But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. Hà and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, Hà dis-covers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers and the strength of her very own family.

20 · May 04, 2015

SCHOOLIBRARY

BECAUSE YOU WANT TO

KNOWSubscribe for FREE to our Digital Magazine!

P h o n e : ( 2 0 1 ) 5 8 7 - 8 8 0 0 w w w . h i s p a n i c o u t l o o k . c o m E m a i l : i n f o @ h i s p a n i c o u t l o o k . c o m

Visit our website, click on the digital magazine to view our current issue, including all archived issues.Download it to your PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, tablet, smartphone or Android to have Hispanic Outlook how you want it when you want it.

22 · May 04, 2015

Teacher'sLounge

TThe debate surrounding the introduction of Com-mon Core Standards into school systems across America has been fierce and has become a po-litical hot potato destined to work its way into next year’s presidential contest. After two years

of theorizing Common Core’s impact on education, the first empirical evidence of its effectiveness and popularity is beginning to come to light.

Scholastic and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have released results from the comprehensive survey Pri-mary Sources: America’s Teachers on Teaching in an Era of Change. More than 20,000 teachers in all 50 states par-ticipated in this research, revealing teachers’ views on the rewards and challenges of teaching, the implementation of the Common Core State Standards, how teacher evalu-ation systems are working and how parents can best sup-port their children’s success in school and more.

20,000 Teachers Surveyed

about Teaching in an Era of Change


“Primary Sources is a reflec-tion of the most pressing issues we are facing as teachers today,” Naima Lilly, a math educator in New York City said. “We need to include teachers in the ongo-ing conversations surrounding education, particularly on the tough topics, to determine what is actually happening, how it is working and how we can focus on solutions. The teacher’s voice is imperative, and I hope this re-port provides insight to leaders at all levels.”

The Primary Sources study seeks to raise awareness of teachers’ views on current issues affecting PreK–12 education. Reflecting this goal, Primary Sources data show that teachers are most satisfied in their jobs

when their voices are heard in their school, district, state and nationally.

“Throughout Primary Sourc-es, we see that many of the anx-ieties teachers have today come from a place of concern for the diverse students who populate their classrooms and how best to provide a quality education for each one,” noted Margery Mayer, President, Scholastic Education. “We must listen to our teachers and provide them with the quality resources and professional devel-opment they need to raise the bar for their students and, at the same time, raise the floor for their stu-dents who are struggling.”

This survey comes at a criti-cal time for educators across the country.

“Teachers are leading this work, but they feel their voic-es are absent in national and state-level discussions about changes in American education,” Vicki Phillips, Director of Educa-tion, College Ready, at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said. “This came through very clearly. Teachers’ thoughts provide criti-cal insights for policymakers and administrators, and their voices must guide action on the imple-mentation of new state standards, teacher evaluations and the use of technology for collaborating with other teachers.”

The views and opinions of-fered in Primary Sources: Amer-ica’s Teachers on Teaching in an Era of Change include:

Q. Earlier we asked your thoughts on some of the potential impacts of the CCSS. Please tell us your opinion on how each of the following has changed, if at all, as a result of implementing the CCSS in your school.

Students’ ability to effectively present their ideas based on evidence

Students’ ability to think critically and use reasoning skills

Students’ ability to read and compre-hend information-al texts

Students’ ability to work collabora-tively with peers

Students’ ability to use real-words, tools and re-sources (like the Internet, digital technology, etc.)

֎ELEMENTARY SCHOOL֎MIDDLE SCHOOL֎HIGH SCHOOL

59%55%

39%

62% 59%52% 55%

47% 46% 45% 43%37% 35% 33% 31%

24 · May 04, 2015

Teacher'sLounge

THE REWARDS AND CHALLENGES OF TEACHING

Overwhelmingly passionate and committed to their profession as a means to make a real difference, teachers nearly unanimously see their roles as extending beyond aca-demic instruction to include reinforc-ing good citizenship, resilience and social skills.

Still, 82 percent of teachers report that constantly changing demands is a significant challenge facing them. Additionally, 73 percent of teachers say they teach students whose reading levels span four or more grade levels, increasing the need for differentiated instruction. But nine out of 10 teachers (88%) agree that the rewards of teaching outweigh its challenges, and 89 per-cent say they are satisfied (51%) or very satisfied (38%) in their jobs.

COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS IMPLEMENTATION

While the percentage of teachers in Common Core State Standards adoption states who feel prepared to teach to the standards has grown by 16 points since 2011 to 75 percent, nearly the same percentage (76%) of teachers surveyed say they need more time to find materials and pre-pare lessons to implement the Com-mon Core successfully. Additionally, 71 percent of teachers desire more quality professional development.

To help the students in their classrooms meet the Common Core, teachers feel that instructional ma-terials that are age-appropriate, lev-eled and high-interest are the most important resources. After materials, teachers point to their colleagues— both teachers and administrators.

17%

10%14%

35%

68%

37%

11%24% 32%

51%

9%

62%

9%

1%

4% 3% 5%3% 2% 3%

Q. How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements about the CCSS (results combined across “CCSS in ELA,” “CCSS in math,” and “CCSS in general”)?

Q. How far along is your school in implementing the CCSS (results com-bined across “CCSS in ELA,” “CCSS in math,” and “CCSS in general”) for the students you teach in your (GRADE) class(es)?

Implementation is in its early stages

Implementation is underway and is mostly complete

Implementation was fully com-plete in 2013-14 school year

Implementation was fully com-plete in 2012-13 school year or earlier

֎AGREE STRONGLY֎AGREE SOMEWHAT֎DISAGREE SOMEWHAT

֎DISAGREE STRONGLY֎DON'T KNOW ENOUGH TO SAY

֎IS FULLY COMPLETE ֎IS UNDERWAY AND IS MOSTLY COMPLETE

֎IS IN ITS EARLY STAGES֎HAS NOT STARTED

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CCSS IS GOING WELL IN MY SCHOOL

CLASSROOM IMPLEMENTATION OF CCSS...

46%

65%32%

3%

25%

39%

7%13%

33%47%

2013 2014

{

{


TEACHER EVALUATIONSDuring an era where most states

will implement or have already im-plemented new systems of evaluation and accountability, most teachers (78%) say they find their profession-al evaluations somewhat, very or extremely helpful. Eight in 10 (79%) say they receive a formal evaluation at least once a year, and a majority (59%) of teachers are satisfied with the frequency of their evaluations.

Of the teachers who don’t find evaluations very or extremely help-ful, 42 percent say they want more feedback, 30 percent want increased fairness in the evaluation process and 23 percent want better-qualified eval-uators and observers.

COLLABORATION WITH PEERS AND STUDENTS' FAMILIES

Teachers are enthusiastic users of technology to collaborate and find re-sources with 91 percent saying they use websites to find or share lesson plans or other classroom content.

Regarding collaboration with parents, almost all teachers (98%) believe the best thing parents can do to help their child succeed in school is to avoid absences followed closely by setting high expectations for their child (97%) and working in partner-ship with teachers when their child has challenges (97%).

METHODOLOGY, IN BRIEFThe findings of the third wave of Primary Sources are based on a national online

survey conducted by Harrison Group, a YouGov company, among 20,157 PreK–12th grade public school classroom teachers. The survey was conducted between July 1 and July 22, 2013. The data were weighted to ensure alignment with their actual proportions in the population according to grade(s) taught, teacher gender, years of teaching experience and geography. •Source: Charts and story courtesy of Scholastic Education and The Gates Foundation.

Q. Do you think the CCSS will be positive for most students, will they not make much of a difference for most students or will they be negative for most students?

Q. How prepared do you feel you are to teach the CCSS in your classroom?

֎IS IN ITS EARLY STAGES֎HAS NOT STARTED

֎VERY PREPARED֎SOMEWHAT PREPARED

֎SOMEWHAT UNPREPARED֎VERY UNPREPARED

֎POSITIVE FOR MOST STUDENTS֎NOT MUCH OF A DIFFERENCE FOR MOST STUDENTS֎NEGATIVE FOR MOST STUDENTS

71%

79%

19%20% 31%

48%

14%

7%

51%

35%

57% 35%

48%

17%8%

10%

2013

2013

2014

2014

{

{

SCHOOL NEWS-PAPER

Science Channel and Discovery Education to Launch K-12 Sci-ence Initiative

In an announcement made today by the White House, Science

Channel, the network that dares to question everything, and Discovery Education, the lead-ing provider of digital content and professional development for K-12 classrooms, announce the launch of SUPPORT OUR SCIENCE (S.O.S.). Through a unique combination of digital content, customized educator support and professional devel-opment, student engagement ac-tivities, Science Channel content and hands-on digital tools and resources, this on-going effort is designed to ignite students' curi-osity while providing educators with the means to build skills and knowledge in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

In partnership with The Planetary Society, Girls Inc., and Maker Ed, SUPPORT OUR SCIENCE's first initiative will offer two deserving elementary or middle schools in Houston, Texas, and Atlanta, Ga., areas the opportunity of a lifetime with a comprehensive STEM program for their school communities. Additionally, a third school will be awarded a high-octane STEM assembly through a nationwide sweepstakes that kicks off May 1. Parents, teachers, and com-munity members have an oppor-tunity to enter a school of their choice by submitting an entry via www.ScienceChannel.com/Sup-portOurScience.

"Children possess a natural curiosity about the world around them--how things work and why things happen. Science Chan-nel is excited to help students ignite that natural curiosity into a passion for science and tech-

nology for the future," says Rita Mullin, general manager of Sci-ence Channel.

"Discovery Education is pleased to collaborate with Science Channel and our other partners on this very import-ant effort," said Bill Goodwyn, President and CEO of Discov-ery Education. "Initiatives like SUPPORT OUR SCIENCE help educators engage students in STEM subjects, accelerate stu-dent achievement, and build the problem solving, critical thinking and collaboration skills needed for success in the workplace of tomorrow." •

News and Trends in K-12 Education from Across America

26 · May 04, 2015

parents have participated in this program in nine states, and the results have been overwhelming-ly positive. 95 percent of teach-ers have stated they were “highly satisfied” with the workshop content, and learning assessments show marked gains in student achievement. In California near-ly 1,000 students participated in knowledge assessments, and student scores doubled on aver-age from pre-test to post-test. 100 percent of parents surveyed said they were very or extremely like-ly to do the following as a result

of participating in the workshop:• Use material provided to

discuss financial concepts with children at home

• Set up a bank account in which to save money

• Develop and keep a family budget

In the words of one parent participant, “Es muy importante, porque tomando conceincia de como aprender ahorrar para el mañana.” (This is very important, because we are making a con-scious effort to learn how to save for tomorrow.) •

Financial Literacy Education for Hispanic Families

The Council for Economic Ed-ucation’s program for Hispan-

ic Students and Their Families provides a platform for increas-ing financial literacy in Hispanic communities. Using content from the Council for Economic Education’s Financial Fitness for Life series, the program involves both professional development for teachers and training and in-formation in Spanish for parents so that they can work with their children. By connecting directly with the parents, the program ex-tends learning to the entire fami-ly. It also works to engage com-munity leaders and volunteers to help with these efforts so that it provides a cultural perspective to financial decision-making.

To date, more than 1,000 K-12 teachers and nearly 3,000


SCHOOL NEWS-PAPER

Conversations with counsel-ors also increase the likelihood that students will search for college options and visit college campuses by the spring of their junior year, data show.

The study —“A National Look at the High School Coun-seling Office: What Is It Doing and What Role Can It Play in Facilitating Students’ Paths to College?” — draws on recently released, nationally representa-tive data.

Its findings underscore the critical role counselors play in helping high school students plan for the transition to college, not-ed Jeff Fuller, NACAC president and director of student recruit-ment at the University of Hous-ton (TX). Overall, 63 percent of students in the study reported speaking to a school counselor about postsecondary plans.

“NACAC continues to invest a great deal — including re-search, training and advocacy — into the development and support of college-readiness counseling,” Fuller said. “Our objectives are to ensure that counselors receive the recognition they deserve, and that policymakers and adminis-trators understand the scope of work that is needed to adequately support students for equitable ac-cess to postsecondary education.”

The study is the second in a series of reports examining fac-tors that influence college enroll-ment. The first segment analyzed the effects of early college coun-seling. NACAC will begin work in 2016 on the third installment, which will explore data on stu-dents who have gone through the college application process. •

News and Trends

Conversations with Counselors Prompt Students to Plan for CollegeStudents who speak with a

counselor about life after high school are more likely to say they will attend college and that they plan to apply for federal financial aid, according to a new study from the National Asso-ciation for College Admission Counseling (NACAC).

28 · May 04, 2015

NCLR Report Highlights Factors for Latino Youth Success

At a recent forum on Latino youth, Dr. Patricia Foxen,

Deputy Director of Research at NCLR (National Council of La Raza), introduced her new study, "Resilient Latino Youth: In Their Own Words," on young, sec-ond-generation American Lati-nos who struggled to cope with poverty, discrimination or dis-engagement but overcame these obstacles to become productive members of society.

"The guidance and support that adults can provide to young people at risk is literally lifesav-ing in helping them overcome challenges. We must make sure that youth today have an af-ter-school program or mentor looking out for them," Foxen said.

NCLR experts emphasized policies that can concentrate re-sources and improve opportuni-ties for this vital segment of our population.

Tap into the natural resiliency of Latino youth. These qualities

include optimism, perseverance, social skills, empathy, a strong willingness to give back to their communities and family and cul-tural traits such as responsibility and family solidarity.

Help their families escape poverty through living wages and affordable housing. One-third of Latino children are in poverty today, which extends for gener-ations and is the basis of many other problems.

Implement policies such the "REDEEM Act," reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Edu-cation Act and support Common Core State Standards so schools will better meet the needs of Latino students and improve their graduation rate. More Latinos are graduating high school than ever before, yet only 51 percent of Latino college students will earn a bachelor's degree within six years. •


SCHOOL NEWS-PAPER

"In a national sample of 3rd-8th graders, about 17 percent of students say they bully other kids on a regular basis," said Dorothy L. Espelage, Ph.D. Professor, Child Development Division; Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois, Urba-na-Champaign, and a renowned expert on bullying prevention. •

Bridg-it Launches Anti-Bullying Solution for K-12 Schools

Bridg-it, a provider of solutions that cultivate safe, positive

schools and communities, has launched Bridg-it School, the first online school safety solution that addresses the full lifecycle of an incident, from reporting through resolution.

Available via computer, tablet or smartphone, Bridg-it School allows students, teachers, parents and administrators to securely file a confidential report in less than one minute, from anywhere at anytime. The robust, easy-to-use solution immediately alerts the appropriate stakeholders

when a report is filed, and also provides to educators valuable aggregated data about a school's behavioral climate and trends in real time. In addition, Bridg-it School allows for easy compli-ance with state-mandated report-ing, saving significant adminis-trative time.

"The proliferation of smart-phones and the use of social media has dramatically changed the face of bullying and how we need to address it," said Dom-inick D'Angelo, Principal of I.S. 228 David A. Boody Junior High School in Brooklyn, N.Y. Reporting and tracking incidents is just the first step in addressing bullying. Bridg-it School goes beyond reporting to tackle bul-lying and harassment through its Resource Center. This digital library contains more than 150 pieces of expert-curated content that can positively impact student behavior.

News and Trends

30 · May 04, 2015

Students Who Need the Most Continue to Get the Least

Districts serving low-income students and students of col-

or receive far less funding than those serving white and more affluent students. And despite widespread attention to inequi-table funding formulas — and courts that have declared them unlawful for shortchanging school districts serving large per-centages of low-income students — too many states continue this unfair practice, according to a new state-by-state report and online data tool released by The Education Trust.

The report, Funding Gaps 2015, finds that U.S. school districts serving the largest pop-ulations of low-income students receive roughly $1,200, or 10 percent, less per student in state and local funding than the low-est poverty districts. These gaps add up. For a middle school with 500 students, a gap of $1,200 per student means a shortage

of $600,000 per year. For a 1,000-student high school, it means a whopping $1.2 million per year in missing resources.

"Our data show that the stu-dents needing the most supports are given the least," said Natasha Ushomirsky, K-12 senior data and policy analyst and co-author of the report. "As conversations on how to improve achievement for our nation's youth, partic-ularly those who start school academically behind, are hotly debated in statehouses across the nation, closing long-standing funding gaps must be addressed. While money isn't the only thing that matters for student success, it most certainly matters. Dis-tricts with more resources can, for example, use those funds to attract stronger teachers and prin-cipals and to offer students more academic support."

Ed Trust analyzed the most up-to-date national data sources available to examine the state of funding equity across the U.S. and within each state. The report looks at revenues from state and local sources only, excluding fed-eral funds since those dollars are

intended — and targeted — to provide supplemental services to traditionally underserved groups. This report focuses on how states allocate the resources that origi-nate from their coffers.

The analysis shows great variation among states in terms of their funding patterns. Illinois, with the largest funding gap in the nation, stands out for its unfairness. The highest poverty districts in the state get nearly 20 percent less per student than the lowest poverty districts. Fol-lowing Illinois with the largest funding gaps are New York (with a 10 percent gap), Pennsylvania (8 percent), Texas (7 percent), Maryland (7 percent) and Michi-gan (6 percent). •


SUMMER SPECIALS

WWW.HISPANICOUTLOOK.COMPH. (201) 587 [email protected]

Photo by © Depositphotos.com/ paultarasenko (Pavel Tarasenkа)

outlook-12 magazine 05/04/2015

Documents