See you on September 22nd

“Classroom Management” presented by Dr. Anna Sanford,
will be the topic for our September 22nd LRE seminar.
As in years past, we’ll be at Gibson’s Steakhouse, 1028 N. Rush
in downtown Chicago.
Register now! while seats are still available.

Research & Results ….Violence, Drop-Out and Gang Recruitment / A Review and Discussion

Research and Results

David Kinney / CEO Kinney & Associates

Kinney & Associates are school improvement specialists utilizing a data-driven approach that has sustained and grown our company for over 15 years. As CEO, David Kinney has been a special education teacher, director, state consultant and owner of Kinney & Associates combining for 36 years of experience. Kinney & Associates is one of the most successful educational consulting companies in the nation with over 15 years of experience. And, we are always learning so please share with us and join this conversation.

A New Informational Blog and Educational Network Site

Google "student violence" and "drop-out" and be prepared for hundreds of "links" to dozens of studies that frankly are very discouraging, particularly for our inner city youth. One of the most compelling articles is from Chicago's own Phillip Jackson, who writes, "We are not losing them, we have lost them." This is in reference to today's young black boys who begin the drop-out process in elementary school and formally announce in ninth grade.

What the majority* of articles do not address is the active recruitment of boys and girls into gangs that begins in early elementary school. The greatest candidates for these gangs are academically challenged boys who come from single family homes. Translated, there has been no male figure to offer positive influence and little support at home to build the academic skills necessary for success.

Compound this problem with boredom at school and we have a perfect scenario for gang recruitment. On a recent CNN broadcast addressing violence and gang activity, a former police chief states, " We will never have an impact on gang violence as long as students do not see other alternatives that are equally as exciting."

Reading between the lines here, this means at-risk boys and girls have to be excited about school and feel some sense of accomplishment. Research consistently states that starting early and offering preventative, not punitive programs, is essential as well. Family, community centered initiatives are the focus of reports from the National Drop-Out Prevention Center at Clemson University.

However, the bottom line as that finger pointing must stop. Schools say, "We do the best with what they bring us and we have to focus on test scores." Parents and even media look right back at the schools and say, "What are you doing to help?" The mayor of Chicago, Richard Daley, recently called for a war on "Urban Terrorism", gang wars in the city neighborhoods as a record number of Chicago children die in the streets.

What is producing results and what holds promise for reducing drop-out rate, suspensions, violent incidences and gang recruitment of our inner city boys and girls? We will post some studies that are offer hope and hopefully provide a summary of information for you and your staff tomorrow.

When one discusses "results" in with this topic, little success are certainly worth reporting because our national trend is heading in the wrong direction. However, there is a thread in the positive research that emphasizes the importance of engaging and motivating students. A quote:

" The best anti-violence, drop-out prevention program we can offer our students is to keep them excited about learning and in school. If our students fall behind and are bored, they become at-risk for violence, suspensions and gang recruitment."

Teaching students to make good decisions early in life, keeping them engaged in school AND involving parents and community in programs that are prescriptive hits the bulls eye.

Is anyone doing this or are we all still lining up in rows, giving lectures, putting up posters and sending behavior problems to the office or discipline room? And, what does a mentor do to support a student who is academically challenged to move back to grade level? If achievement is an important component of this formula, how are mentors who are often community members prepared to offer this support? How do we keep this generation of text messaging, video game playing, downloading students remotely interested in school when most teachers are digitally challenged?

There are some very positive and encouraging pilot projects in place and we will review those Friday, September, 4.

In the meantime, let us hear from you .

LRE Seminars about to begin

See you on 9/22 at Gibson’s for our first LRE
seminar of the 2009-2010 school year.

Want the details?  Keep watching...

Two New Seminars!

Keep watching our website for 2 SPECIAL seminars this fall: " Data & Decisions" is for EVERY CPS adminstrator and "How to Write for ISAT" is for EVERY classroom teacher! Check out our other events: click here.

September 16 at Gibson's!

Please come to the September 16 session at Gibson's to learn about your data and the decisions to be made based upon the data.

Kid's College 2009-2010 Enhancements

Look for these and other exciting enhancements coming soon in the 2009-2010 school year!

New Interface to Boost StudentExperience

A new and visually improved user interface will transform Kid’s College into an indoor sports arena. Animated loudspeakers and rotating graphic displays transport students into the center of the action, upping their excitement to compete. The new look and feel provides a more engaging Kid’s College experience than ever before.

New Skateboarding and Hockey Games

Two New Games! Skateboarding and HockeyKid’s College is adding two increasingly popular sports. And, teachersnow have the ability to customize the time allowed for each sport turn by individual student. Select ”Edit Student lnfo” on the Class Roster tab in the Classroom Management System. skateboarding hockey

Server Upgrades to Ensure High Responsiveness
New Server Upgrades Ensure High System Responsiveness Kid’s College servers continue to support multiple simultaneous users in your classroom.
PLUS!

• Faster Report Generation
• New Interface to Boost Student Experience

New for Kid’s College Available Now…

Browsealoud
The new BrowsealoudReader (included with Kid’s College at no additional cost) reads aloud Math & Reading questions and answer options as they display.A great tool for assisting new readers,LEP students and readers who have difficulty seeing text on a webpage.
For more information, visit http://www.ltskc.com!browsealoud/.

New Reporting and Curriculum Optimizations…

The Executive Reporting Warehouse for conveniently viewing all your Executive Reports stored in one place, online. To access, click the new "Get Executive Reports” button on the Reports tab in the Classroom Management System.

Easily Set Curriculum for an Entire Class.
Select the new ”Set All Students to Class Default” button on the Curriculum tab in the Classroom Management System.

New, new and NEW!

Lots of new and exciting things happening at K&A this school year....including this new blog, which is coming soon!