Monday, May 28, 2012

Petrosino Course Instructor Survey (CIS) Report: SPG 2012

I'm often asked about how college professors are evaluated and what these evaluations look like. As a faculty member I'm evaluated by peers and by a committee for merit evaluations each academic year. In addition to the peer and merit reviews, my teaching is surveyed each semester by the students I teach. Some semester I teach undergraduates, other semesters graduate students and some semesters I teach both undergraduate and graduate courses.

I have included the "CIS" student surveys that I received for the SPG 2012 semester here for general examination. The survey includes fill in the blank choices using the common Likert Scale as well as an opportunity for extended comments. The range of scores is from 0-5 with "5" being the highest score.
The course I was teaching for this survey was a course in Elementary Science Methods and it met for 3 weeks on roughly a daily basis. The course was done in coordination with efforts in the Manor School District to train teachers in Project based Instruction (PBI) at the elementary level. the Manor Independent School District (M.I.S.D.) is unique in its emphasis on project based instruction throughout the district. All University of Texas students in this particular cohort were taught project based instruction in EVERY content area (science, mathematics, english, history, etc...). It is a very exciting program.

Instructor surveys are often not shared in public and are somewhat of a "blackbox" to people outside the University community. I offer this insight for the many who have sent me requests asking for me to post something about the topic. Hopefully, this will address some questions. -Dr. Petrosino



Petrosino_spg 2012 Cis Results


Picture: Grand Bakery, Hoboken NJ (circa 1989)

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Hola Dual Language Charter School on CNN-Espanol : Lo mejor de los dos mundos


The following interview took place recently on CNN-Espanol and centers on the first dual language charter school in the State of New Jersey- Hola- Dual Language Charter School located in Hoboken, NJ. The segment includes interviews with founder and Board President Jennifer Sargent as well as the Interim Director Ms. Elizabeth Willaum. You will also see a number of students interviewed and great shots of the school itself. As regular readers of this blog know, I have been very involved with Hola on a number of different levels over the years. It is wonderful to see the work of my colleagues recognized nationally. -Dr. Petrosino

Here is the transcript of the interview, in Spanish of course ;-)

TRACK

Nacieron y viven en Estados Unidos. El inglés es su primer idioma, pero Jude Sargent y Charlotte Leitner van camino a ser totalmente bilingues.

SOT

CHARLOTTE LEITNER 2ND GRADE

11.29.51 ME GUSTA LA MATEMATICA PORQUE ES MUY DIVERTIDO Y ME GUSTA HABLAR Y YO ME COMUNIQUE CON OTRAS PERSONAS.

TRACK

Para sus padres que aprendan español es una prioridad.

SOT

JENNIFER SARGENT

11.38.33 PARA MI ES MUY IMPORTANTE QUE MIS HIJOS SEPAN MAS DE UN IDIOMA Q ENTIENDAN QUE EL INGLES NO ES EL UNICO IDIOMA DEL MUNDO Y QUE APRECIEN OTRAS CULTURAS Y PUEDAN COMUNICARSE CON MAS GENTE.

TRACK

Y esa inquietud inspiró la fundación de "HoLa", una nueva escuelita ubicada en Hoboken, Nueva Jersey que ofrece 90% de la instrucción en español y 10% en inglés. Los padres de estos estudiantes esperan que sus hijos se beneficien de una educaciónbilingue.

SOT

JENNIFER SARGENT

11.39.36 EL BENEFICIO MAS OBVIO ES QUE SE PUEDEN COMUNICAR CON MAS GENTE EN MAS PARTES DEL MUNDO PERO TAMBIEN HAY BENEFICIOS COGNITIVOS Y TAMBIEN HAY BENEFICIOS ACADEMICOS.

SOT

ELIZABETH WILLAUM, DIRECTORA INTERINA HOLA

11.57.15 EL IMPACTO AL CEREBRO DE APRENDER EN DOS IDIOMAS SIMULTANEAMENTE ES TREMENDO. EL CEREBRO FUNCIONA A UNA CAPACIDAD Y CON MUCHA MAS FACILIDAD ESO ESTA EN TODOS LOS ESTUDIOS QUE SE ESTAN HACIENDO.

TRACK

De acuerdo con el útimo censo, 20% de los niños mayores de 5 años en Estados Unidos habla en sus casas un idioma distinto al inglés. Y dice esta madre y fundadora de la escuela que HoLa elijió el español como segundo idioma por tratarse del idioma nativo de la principal minoría en Estados Unidos. La escuela es independiente pero financiada con fondos públicos. En este momento llega hasta 3er grado pero la idea es continuar ampliando.

SOT

JENNIFER SARGENT

11.43.57 ... TENEMOS UNA LISTA DE ESPERA DE MAS DE 100 PERSONAS PARA KINDERGARDEN Y YA TENEMOS UNA REPUTACION MUY BUENA Y PADRES MUY SATISFECHOS.

TRACK

Padres satisfechos y niños que comienzan a entender el beneficio de un segundo idioma como el español.

SOT

JUDE SARGENT 1ST GRADE (IF ENDING IN A SOT DOES NOT WORK, PLS FEEL FREE TO KILL IT AND GO STRAIGH FROM TRACK TO SIGOUT)

11.23.53 ME GUSTA HABLAR ESPANOL PORQUE ME PUEDO COMUNICAR CON MAS OTRAS PERSONAS EN EL MUNDO

AH CNN NJ

Monday, May 14, 2012

Results Show Dual Language Programs Lead to Greater Success

The following article appeared in the Austin-Statesman on May 13, 2012.

Throughout the United States, dual-language programs are expanding as communities embrace the successful educational model that prepares students to become truly bilingual, bicultural and biliterate. The Austin school district is a leader in this important educational movement, offering dual-language programs at almost 70 elementary schools. During the next two years, the district will add Chinese to its portfolio of programs, which already include Spanish and Vietnamese. This expansion is exciting news because dual-language programs work. The debate is over. El debate ha finalized.


For more than 40 years, researchers have examined bilingual education programs to definitively conclude bilingual education is effective based on real-world results. Among the different types of bilingual education, dual-language programs are among the most academically and linguistically successful. On average, students participating in dual-language programs — from English-language learners, to native English speakers, including members of under-represented communities — score higher on English assessments across the curriculum than their native, English-only peers. In addition to scoring higher on English assessments, dual-language graduates are equally strong academically and linguistically in a second language.

The number of dual-language schools continues to increase rapidly across Texas and the United States. Almost every large school district in the state, including Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth and Austin — where the immigrant and refugee communities continue to grow and at least 28 percent of students speak Spanish at home — are implementing dual-language programs. And many medium and small schools districts such as Grand Prairie, Round Rock and Schertz are offering dual-language programs to families interested in the curriculum.

For the almost 831,000 English-language learners in Texas, there is no more effective instructional model than dual-language to achieve a strong command of the English language, according to the Texas Education Agency. On average, English-language learners in dual-language programs achieve a higher mastery of English than English-only children, who do not participate in dual-language.

Research confirms time and time again that the key to strong academic English is a strong academic first language. Linguistic benefits aside, English-language learners in dual-language programs academically achieve up to approximately two grade levels above their English-only peers, according to researchers.

Without programs such as dual-language, an English-language learner's experience in a classroom where he does not know what the teacher is saying leads too often to poor academic learning, frustration and failure. Richard Levien captured the real-world challenges of students in his award-winning docudrama on immersion, available on the Media That Matters film festival website, in which Moises, a 10-year-old student, struggles to communicate in his new school because of limited access to his native language.

In addition to English-language learners, native English-speaking children benefit from participating in dual-language programs, achieving true biliteracy. This is realized by a small fraction of monolingual students who successfully navigate two or more years of foreign language instruction during high school. Many of these students' parents recognize that their children remain monolingual and seek a new vehicle that will deliver on the promise of biliteracy. Dual-language is that program.

Although it is possible for an individual child who is learning English to succeed in an English-only setting, the odds are not favorable. Forty to 50 percent of English-language learners drop out of English-only programs. Yet, dual-language programs such as the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo district have been able to boast 100 percent graduation rates. The price of adding a second language is not — and should not be — the loss of the first language. Students can —and should — have both.

Students in English-only programs sacrifice much of their native language when there is no need to do so. For most of these students, the gap widens as they begin to face the challenges of the middle and high school years.

Copious evidence exists from educational researchers, the Center for Applied Linguistics and the Texas Education Agency, which confirms that dual-language is the most effective instructional model for English-language learners.

Dual-language enrichment programs focus on offering students full academic and linguistic literacy in both their first and second languages at least through the end of fifth grade. However, more and more of these programs are continuing into secondary education. Dual-language enrichment programs are now part of the mainstream, creating a results-based instructional system that for more than 40 years has ensured students' long-term academic success at the middle and high school levels — and beyond.

The authors are dual-language experts and former university professors who work with more than 600 dual-language schools that implement the Gómez & Gómez Dual-Language Enrichment Model, the most widely implemented dual-language model in the country. They are working with the district to develop and implement a districtwide dual-language enrichment program.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Published Agenda: May 8, 2012 Hoboken Board of Education Meeting: Including 2012-13 Calendar, Fees, HS Graduation Rates, and a Proposed STEM Charter School

The following is the published agenda for the May 8, 2012 Hoboken Board of Education Meeting. The meeting is scheduled for 7pm at the Board offices located at 1115 Clinton St.




Some anticipated items:


The 2012-2013 school district calendar- one agenda item will the approval of the district calendar for the 2012-2013 school year. It will be interesting to see how the first full week of November is addressed. For many years, this was traditionally a week school was not in session owing in large part to the teacher convention in Atlantic City. Preliminary reports on the 2012-2013 calendar indicate school will not be in session on Monday, November 5th, Thursday, November 8th, and Friday, November 9th but will be in session for Election Day, Tuesday November 6th and 1/2 day on Wednesday November 7th. As many people know, the Hoboken Board of Education decided to move Board elections from the spring to November during a very contentious Board meeting on February 18, 2012 in a 5-4 vote .


Legal fees- There have been a number of requests for articulation of legal fees over the past few meetings. One request that has been made a number of times by some Board members has been the fees association with the consulting agreement for assisting the Board in the negotiation of recent contracts (see Resolution No. F1-0007-11-12 August, 2011 Agenda).


High School graduation rates - On May 1, 2012 the Christie Administration released NJ District and School Graduation Rates (Click HERE for Official Press Release).
Here are the graduation percentages for Hudson County school districts:


Alphabetical order:
Bayonne 78.53%
Harrison 92.44%
Hoboken 81.99%
Hudson County Vocational 98.48%
Jersey City 69.92%
Kearny 88.45%
North Bergen 86.17%
Secaucus 93.37%
Union City 89.46%
Weehawken 85.37%


Fourth Charter School?- There is currently a proposal for a fourth Charter School for the City of Hoboken. The theme of this proposed school is STEM Education (Science, Technology, Education, and Mathematics) and is currently known as DaVinci. There will be some discussion at this Board meeting concerning the implications of another charter school in the city. Currently, there are at least two petitions circulating online. One in favor of the proposed charter and one opposed to the proposed charter. Click here for full story on Hoboken Patch. (See also: Superintendent: New Charter School Will Cost District $1.1 Million)


05-08-12 Agenda for Public Meeting



Picture: Neumann Leathers in Hoboken,NJ. by lennyd120 / © All rights reserved

Notice of May 8, 2012 Hoboken Board of Education Meeting

05-08-12 Public Notice of Meeting

Saturday, May 5, 2012

"Buddy" Matthews Day- Sunday May 6 1:20pm at JFK Stadium


Coach Buddy Matthews (upper left) with team
The Hoboken Baseball Program cordially invites you to "Buddy Matthews Day" this Sunday, May 6, 2012 at JFK Stadium in Hoboken, NJ.
The team is honoring the former head coach (for 26 years) and the ceremony will begin at approximately 1:20 p.m. The game will beging at 2pm against Pope John High School.
The Art Department has designed a special present for Coach Matthews which will be presented to him before the game.
Coach Matthews will throw out the first pitch in honor of his legendary career.
As many know, Buddy Matthews was also a longtime coach of the Red Wing basketball team and a valued faculty member as well as administrator of the Hoboken Public Schools for decades. He has impacted the lives of many young people in our community for the better part of two generations. 

Thursday, May 3, 2012

The State of Preschool Education Nationwide (April, 2012)

Pre-Kindergarten funding is in a precarious position. Over the last two years, more than $90 million has been trimmed from pre-K programs. And, as ARRA wells run dry, more cuts to this $5.5 billion enterprise are on the way. This while enrollment continues to creep up. That’s the news from this tenth yearbook by the National Institute for Early Education Research which, despite its name, must be counted as an advocacy outfit. The briefing is chockablock with statistics on enrollment, length of school day, class-size requirements, and more. But it tells us little about quality or efficiency, such as just how much bang are we getting for our preschool buck? (While the report does comment on pre-K quality, the metrics it uses are wholly input based; states that spend more on pre-K programming rank higher in quality.) As resources become ever scarcer throughout our education system, a rethink of how we fund preschool—and how we measure its quality and gauge its efficacy—is long past due. -By John Horton

Please review this report released in April 2012 that summarizes the state of preschool education by every state in the union.

Reference: W. Steven Barnett, Megan E. Carolan, Jen Fitzgerald, and James H. Squires, The State of Preschool 2011 (Newark, NJ: National Institute of Early Education Research, April 2012).



The State of Preschool 2011

Picture: Our Lady of Grace Kindergarten 1958-59