Local School Topics

Detroit Public Schools tend to get a pretty bad rap regarding performance and education quality. However, many of the evaluations that contribute to this view do not consider the specific challenges teachers in these schools face daily. Many of the schools in Detroit face extremely high percentages of students living in poverty – a factor that can directly impact their ability to learn. In a recently released report that weighed this factor in comparing schools in Michigan, some Detroit schools fared much better than expected.

Elementary and Middle School Context Report Card

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy recently released its “Elementary and Middle School Context and Performance Report Card,” which offers a unique comparison formula that considers income level and location. The result is an “apples-to-apples” comparison that does not penalize schools with high poverty levels, according to the website for the Mackinac Center. The recent report card ranked 2,362 elementary and middle schools in the state.

The report card takes several factors into account as it calculates school scores and poverty levels. The report includes data on the school’s location, whether it is a city, suburb, town, or rural area. It labels the school type, distinguishing between conventional, selective, and charter schools.

The report card also lists the total enrollment at the school and the percentage of children that qualify for the free lunch program. Finally, the report calculates the CAP (Context and Performance) score, grade, and the school’s state rank. The

Even after the churn of closing nearly 50 schools across the city, one of the largest school districts in the country is continuing to struggle with a $1 billion budget shortfall. Chicago Public Schools continues to make painful cuts to the schools slated to remain open this fall, prompting some principals to accuse the district of forcing them to choose between teachers and essentials like toilet paper, according to the Huffington Post. The new cuts were unveiled weeks after the initial school closings, provoking a whole new series of protests against the school system and the Chicago lawmakers that oversee it.

This video reports on a CPS budget shortfall.

Bad News Travels Slowly but Surely

The Chicago Tribune reports that news began trickling out about the impact of the budget cuts as principals received their preliminary budgets from the city two weeks ago. The good news is those principals have been given much more power to set priorities for their school – the bad news is there is much less money to go around, forcing principals to make tough decisions about what stays and what must go. As school leaders are beginning to look at the difficult budgeting that lies ahead, staff, parents, and students are beginning to worry about what schools will look like when they re-open in the fall.

Speculation and worry have been fueled by the

For those who relied on Schoolhouse Rock to memorize important facts like the Preamble to the Constitution and the meaning of conjunction, there’s a new kid in town. Rap meets rock in Science Genius, a new way to help kids get excited about subjects like atoms and DNA. The program has recently been tested out in schools in New York City – with great enthusiasm and success. Read on to discover how hip hop and science facts collide to create a whole new generation of science-mania.

Music Meets Academics

Science Genius is a collaboration between rapper GZA from Wu-Tang Clan and Columbia University Teachers College professor Christopher Emdin. The unlikely pair teamed up to use hip hop music to teach a wide range of science subjects to students. According to a report at PBS, the effort began as GZA’s attempt to “bring order to the chaos.”

Emdin explains that the new curriculum is designed to address achievement gaps in science and mathematics that are particularly prevalent in areas like New York City. More importantly, the program was created to inspire an interest in science that has been lacking, using a culturally relevant form of music many students in the New York district can relate to.

“The people who most embrace hip-hop culture are the same populations who are most disinterested in school and disinterested in science,” Emdin told the Huffington Post.

This video illustrates the creativity behind Science Genius.

In neighborhoods across the country, students spend a significant portion of their waking hours in their public schools. Most of these students worry about how they will do on their next math test or whether their parents will let them go to the upcoming school dances. Few fret about whether they will get physically harmed by simply walking through their school hallways. However, in one of the most dangerous schools in Philadelphia, physical safety is a top concern for the students who attend that institution daily.

Introducing Strawberry Mansion

Strawberry Mansion, a public high school in North Philadelphia, consistently makes the list of the most dangerous schools in Pennsylvania. According to Philly.com, the school has reported 10 violent incidents for every 100 students every year for the past five years. In this school year alone, 49 reports of everything from fires to teacher attacks have been documented inside or outside the school building.

Strawberry Mansion has a student population of 435 students at the beginning of this past school year, located in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Philadelphia. The community also has a high crime rate, an influx of illegal guns, and frequent property damage. Amid this environment, high school students head to school each morning, unsure of what the day will hold for them.

This video from Nightline reports on Strawberry Mansion high school.

A High School

Technology is coming to the Los Angeles Unified School District in a very widespread way this fall, as district officials have unveiled a plan to put an Apple iPad in the hands of every student in the district. The ambitious endeavor could eventually encompass more than 900 school campuses and 640,000 students between kindergarten and 12^th grade.

Coming Soon to a Los Angeles School Near You

MacWorld reports that the deal between Apple and one of the largest school districts in the country will total more than $30 million when all is said and done. More than the money, a distribution this widespread positions Apple as the technology leader in education, at least on the West Coast where students will now be using their device in mass. The partnership will begin with the distribution of 31,000 iPads, which will be distributed at 47 campuses throughout the district this fall.

According to TelecomTiger, the Apple iPad was chosen by the school district because it has been rated the highest in quality and will be one of the most cost-effective means for bringing technology into the district on such a grand scale. The review panel that chose the iPad over other devices included both teachers and students in the district. By 2014, the district plans to ensure every student has one of these devices in their possession. Apple executives believe that the distribution to the school district with match their corporate philosophy as