CB Education Blog

Online nursing schools are available to all nurses who are looking to expand their academic horizons. These programs offer degree programs in LPN, RN, bachelor of nursing, master of nursing, and also a PhD program in nursing. Choosing a program depends on several factors. If a person wants to become a nurse, they will have to see if the program accepts those with no prior nursing experience. For those who are returning to school, they have to decide which direction they want to take their career. A nurse can obtain their RN license after going to school for two years, or they can stay and earn an RN with a four-year degree. The more education a nurse has, the more they could earn.

Online nursing schools offer many programs to those who would like to specialize in a certain area of nursing. For those who want to work in burn units, child wards, elderly care facilities, or the forensic science field, continuing one’s education will help them get the jobs they are the most interested in having. Enrolling in one of these programs is similar to enrolling at a college or technical school. A nurse will have to provide transcripts from other institutions they attended and then supply a work history if applying for programs that require prior work experience. Many programs do require this, especially higher level education such as a master’s degree. One or two personal references may be needed depending on the program.

Once accepted, the school will send the computer requirements needed to receive all class requirements, online videos and other correspondence an instructor might send. Online nursing schools are primarily work at one’s own pace but time management is up to the student and all assignments must be completed in the time allotted. There is more time given than in a traditional class room setting, but it is still expected that people put in the work needed to complete the degree. An online nursing degree can be a wonderful asset to anyone’s career.

Heading Toward a Long-term, Systemic Solution

A Boston Globe editorial stated that for “40 years, study after study on grade retention has reached the same conclusion: Failing a student, particularly in the critical ninth grade year, is the single largest predictor of whether he or she drops out” (Edley, 2002). The editorial goes on to state that “widespread retention further exacerbates the achievement gap: In Massachusetts, for example, across all grades, African-American and Hispanics are retained at over three times the rate of whites” (Edley, 2002).

According to research (Anderson, Jimerson and Whipple, 2002; NASP, 2003; Jimerson, Anderson and Whipple, 2002; Stenovich, 1994), some of the devastating effects of retention are:

- Most children do not “catch up” when held back.

- Although some retained students do better at first, these children often fall behind again in later grades.

- Retention is one of the most powerful predictors of high school dropout; holding a child back twice makes dropping out of school 90% certain.

- In 2001, 6th grade students ranked grade retention as the most stressful life event, followed by losing a parent and going blind.

- Students who are held back tend to get into trouble, dislike school, and feel badly about themselves more often than children who go on to the next grade.

- The weakened self-esteem that usually accompanies retention plays a role in how well the child may cope in the future.

Far too many students simply give up on school, largely because they feel that their schools have already given up on them. Even our special education services are failure-based. “The current system uses an antiquated model that waits for a child to fail, instead of a model based on prevention and intervention ” (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, 2002).

IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY.

So What Can We Do?

Many advocate for early identification of student needs in order to apply appropriate instructional strategies (Anderson, Whipple and Jimerson, 2002; U. S. Department of Education, 2002; Lyon and Fletcher, 2001; Lyon, 2002). That is clearly a step in the right direction.

But not all teachers are effective at identifying student needs and applying instructional strategies that are the most appropriate for student needs. A study conducted by Sanders and Rivers (1996) examined the cumulative and residual effects of teachers on student achievement and found a wide chasm between the impact on student achievement by effective teachers and ineffective teachers. Equally performing second graders were separated by as many as 50 percentile points on standardized tests by the time they reached fifth grade solely as a result of being taught by teachers whose effectiveness varied greatly.

The study was based on Tennessee’s “value-added” testing system that maintained year-to-year test records on every student in the public school system and matched students to their teachers. Teachers were divided into three groups &ndash low, average, and high &ndash based on their students’ performance. The results showed the dramatic effect of good teaching on student achievement in two urban districts. There was a sharp difference in performance between students who had three teachers rated “low” and three teachers who were rated “high” during a three-year period. Although students in one of the urban systems performed at a higher level than the other, the pattern of “teacher-added value” was evident in both systems. The study also found that African American students were about twice as likely to be assigned ineffective teachers.

What We Now Know

What action can we take to ensure that all teachers are functioning at a level that optimizes the highest levels of student learning?

Scientific research from multiple fields is allowing us to understand how learning takes place, what it looks like when it isn’t, and which interventions or instructional strategies will result in the greatest impact on student learning. Evidence-based research, for example, has found new ways to help young children become proficient readers. Over the last ten years, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has conducted extensive scientific reading research studies. To date, 42,062 children have been included in these studies at 44 sites across the United States. The reading research sites are classrooms in public schools, including inner city, high poverty, high-risk schools. In even the most difficult inner city, high-risk schools in cities such as Washington D.C., Houston, Los Angeles and Seattle, at the end of five years of intensive teacher training on how to deliver scientific evidence-based reading instruction, 94 to 96% of all third graders were reading on grade level. Prior to this intervention, approximately 70% of the third graders the Washington D.C. schools were reading below grade level. The research studies include a strong emphasis on teacher coursework, observation, consultation, and collaboration. (Thomas, 2002)

Yet this new knowledge is not being utilized by every district, every school, and every teacher in every classroom. Thus, it is critical to promote these new methods throughout the education system.

Transferring and translating the knowledge gained in studies into scientifically based classroom practices is a complex undertaking. Effective teaching that leaves no child behind requires teachers to have a skill set that is tremendously intricate, sophisticated and based upon converging scientific evidence. Highly effective teachers continually monitor pupil progress and then design (and re-design) lessons that meet the specific, individualized needs of each student (Lyon and Thomas, 2003; Bennett and Rolheiser, 2001). Teachers, therefore, must be provided with state-of-the-art ongoing, continuous professional development delivered by experts. Teacher learning at the school level must be carefully supported by a consistent and systematic flow of correct information and instruction from experts, especially in low performing schools, in order to prevent the dissemination of misinformation in these groups.

If we know that teacher quality makes a decided difference in the quality of student learning, it seems both logical and ethical to focus investments in improving teacher quality across the board. State-, district- and school-wide intense professional development for current teachers and ongoing comprehensive redesign of university teacher preparation for aspiring teachers should become our strategic priorities.

The National Staff Development Council (NSDC) has developed and revised a set of standards for staff development that is directly linked to increased student achievement (NSDC, 2001). The standards provide a framework for ensuring that staff development is responsive to the needs of educators and their students. NSDC groups the standards around context, process and content.

The NSDC standards move away from workshop “sit and get” staff development models and into serious learning. The reason is straightforward: workshops by themselves do not get the results we desire (Joyce and Showers, 2002). To reach maximum effectiveness, a staff development model must include both presentation and follow-up support in order to ensure improvement. Follow-up must be planned and adequately funded. According to NSDC, some experts believe that 50% of the resources set aside for staff development initiatives should be directed to follow-up.

Options for follow-up support include coaching, modeling and demonstration lessons, peer visits, collegial support groups, mentoring study groups, and audio taping or video taping learners. Follow up strategies enable teachers to focus on the new skills and their impact on students, and move from skill attainment on an imitative or re-synthesizing level to extendible, manipulable, and innovative levels that allow them to problem-solve real time, real world, unpredictable problems that occur in classrooms filled with diverse learners (Joyce and Showers, 2002.)

The differences in the three levels of impact in the chart below, as they apply to a training model, are thus: Level I - Understanding Concepts; Level II - Skill Attainment (can follow a recipe); and Level III &ndash Application of Innovative Problem Solving (able to change the recipe like a master chef to fit the needs of diverse students).

Paul Pastorek, former president of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, sums it up: “Research says the most important link to student success is having highly knowledgeable and skilled teachers in the classroom. We have not provided our teachers with enough information on how children learn and what it takes to learn to read. Equipping teachers with that new knowledge will allow them to reap the rewards they want for the children they teach.” (Thomas, 2002).

Dennis Sparks, NSDC’s executive director, issued a challenge in 2002: Within five years, all teachers will have access to high quality professional development. If it is to be met, the challenge will require active commitment and support from educators, policy makers, parents, and community members alike.

But we cannot stop there. In order to be successful, and in order to sustain and institutionalize our efforts, leadership that understands and provides the context and infrastructure necessary for teacher and student success must be developed at the university, district, school and classroom levels. If leaders are to cultivate a deep understanding of the complex conditions that must be in place to develop such a model, they must also be involved in learning the complexities of what teachers must master.

Michael Fullan argues that this will require that school principals reach beyond instructional leadership. “Some school districts have embraced the development and support of the school principal as instructional leader (Fink & Resnick, 2001), but despite these good beginnings, the principal as instructional leader is too narrow a concept to carry the weight of the reforms that we need for the future. We need, instead, leaders who can create a fundamental transformation in the learning cultures of schools and the teaching profession itself” (Fullan, 2002a).

Fullan (2002b) also cautions that school leadership must become change leaders, and clarifies that being a change leader is very different from being a content expert: “There is a difference between being an expert in the content of an innovation vs. being an expert in the change process. In other words, it is possible to be a leading expert in literacy for example, while being a disaster as a change agent in getting it implemented. In our training we teach people about the process of change &ndash how to understand and work with ‘the implementation dip’, the importance of developing relationships with others not so committed to the idea, how not to get frustrated by overload and the pace of change, etc. Understanding the vicissitudes of the change process is a key to working on large scale change.”

It seems, then, that in order to dramatically reduce grade retention, remedial services, referrals to special education and school dropout rates, we must build the both the teacher and leadership capacity that is necessary for widespread implementation of scientific, research-based instruction that we know works in the classroom. Thus, the objectives:

- Identify and put into place all critical contextual conditions necessary to implement research-based instruction that we know works in the classroom.

- Develop, implement, test and refine models that will guide both preservice education and training for teachers as well as continuing education for teachers currently serving students in the classroom.

- Develop, implement, test and refine models for building educational leaders at the university/college level, the district level, the school level and the classroom level.

Time is ticking. With children’s lives at stake, and especially our most vulnerable children, we cannot afford to keep doing business as usual. We know too much to leave even one child behind.

Teachers and school leaders need, want and deserve to have the support and tools they need to produce optimum success in their classrooms. With serious focus and resolve, we must pick up the gauntlet and accept Dennis Sparks’ challenge to ensure that all educators in all schools will experience high quality professional development by 2007. Highly effective, highly equipped teachers in every classroom can fundamentally wipe away the need for even a discussion on grade retention and special education services based on failure.

References are available at .cdl.org/resource-library/articles/retention_solution.php?type=subject&id=17.

Teachers and Counselors: Does it seem to you that you are seeing more and more seriously emotionally disturbed kids than ever before? The problem may not be with your perceptions. The problem may be that in fact, you are seeing more disturbed children and youth than at any time before.

This article covers some of the updated mental health information we give out in our popular Problem-Kid Problem-Solver Workshop (.youthchg.com). It’s data that all teachers and counselors can use.

There are a few explanations for what you may already have noticed. First, many settings such as schools and Job Corps, are accepting youth with increasingly serious emotional problems. Second, mainstreaming has shifted many kids from sheltered or specialized settings, into mainstream classrooms, sports teams and scouting troops. Third, and perhaps most important, there may be, in fact, more and earlier serious emotional disturbances developing in children. Or, perhaps we are just getting better at identifying these problems.

Late last year, you may have read in your local newspaper a summary of the US Surgeon General’s report that noted that an amazing 1 in 10 children may have a serious mental health disorder. This report noted that the typical wait for troubled children to gain an appointment with a mental health professional was 3 to 4 months. Some communities lack children’s mental health services entirely, the report also noted. This report quotes a study that indicated that many children with severe emotional problems don’t gain proper school services until age 10. The report emphasizes that many of these troubled children will wind up in jail, in part because their problems went unnoticed, or were addressed way too late. The report advocates for more mental health resources for children, and better training in children’s mental health for everyone who works with youth.

The Bottom Line: If you are not a mental health professional, but you work with kids, you may need to acquire a basic mental health background in order to fully understand your changing population, and to best serve their changing needs.

This background will also help you know when to access help from a mental health professional. There is no substitute for the expertise of a mental health worker, and if budget cuts have reduced this option at your site, that is quite serious. A class like our Breakthrough Strategies Workshop (.youthchg.com/live.html) can help you get the basics, but with the incidence of severe childhood emotional problems apparently on the rise, it makes relying on that counselor, social worker, or psychologist perhaps more important than ever before.

If you are a mental health professional you may also want to check your skills too. We are always surprised at our workshop how many mental health professionals confuse conduct disorders and thought disorders, for example, two basic and essential mental health concepts.

We also need more groups like IYI in Indiana, and the Family Resource Centers in Kentucky IYI, the Indiana Youth Institute, brings hands- on training to everyone involved with youth including scout troop leaders, faith-based professionals, after school workers and everyone else involved with kids. Kentucky’s Family Resource Centers are in just about every school in the state, ready to assist the student, family, teacher, counselor or anyone involved in the child’s life to help that child succeed in school, community, family and life.

Sadly, most of us lack a Family Resource Center worker or an IYI to turn to. Your challenge becomes, how do I provide my service to a child with serious emotional problems? Here are a few key do’s and don’t’s, but be sure to also upgrade your basic mental health skills if needed.

** Strike the Balance

Especially in this age of widespread, mandated education performance testing, teachers can feel pressured to get students to perform and produce. But tests don’t “understand” that a child has a serious emotional disturbance and make allowances, but you can. Strive to balance your school or agency’s mission with the child’s special needs. Keep the goals, but don’t accomplish them at any cost.

** When I’m Not Sure What to Do

A good general guideline for anytime that you just don’t know for sure how to work with a child, is ro ask the child. That child is the expert on that child. If you get no useful response, a fall-back plan is to consider what would work or not work with you if you were in that situation.

** But I Have to Be Fair

You may worry that if you give a troubled child extra time to complete a task, for example, that the other kids will complain that it is unfair. In the work world, bosses are required to accommodate employees’ special needs from providing a ramp for a wheel chair to a sign language interpreter. The ultimate mission of most youth-serving sites is to prepare the child for the real world. In the real world, providing some accommodation is either legally mandated or a common courtesy. Most schools even attempt to give a bigger desk to a bigger student. Simple human courtesy and common sense should never be viewed as unfair.

** They Can Take It

Some youth professionals will tell you that the child can “take it.” The truth is that you have no way of looking into a child and accurately gauging their resilience. Since kids do not generally announce that they were beaten last night, or that they haven’t eaten for two days, you don’t know how fragile or strong a child actually is. You don’t know whether or not a child can “take it.” There is a risk that a harsh, embarrassing, aggressive act could harm or undermine a child. While it is never okay to yell, demean or humiliate any child for any reason, it is especially true with children who are severely troubled.

** These Children Are Manipulating the Adults

While some emotionally disturbed children are very adept at manipulation, many emotionally disturbed children do not manipulate at all. There are many types of emotional disturbances, and each has its own unique dynamics. Because an adult works differently with different types of students, tailoring their methods to fit each child and that child’s unique circumstances, does not mean the adult has been manipulated. It means that the adult has a sophisticated understanding of different types of youth and they choose the correct tools for each type.

For more specific techniques to use with troubled youth, consider our “Child’s Guide to Surviving in a Troubled Family.” Find out more about it via our web site (link below).

So many youth believe that they are already prepared to live independently, and don’t need anymore training or education before embarking on life on their own. Here are some very creative ways to show youth that education will be essential to their future. All these interventions focus on common adult transportation problems. If your youngsters don’t readily have the answers to these adult situations, perhaps they also don’t “know it all” about other key adult independent living issues too.

** Off the Road Again

Explain what happens when you hydroplane, and when you hit black ice; how do you try to still stay on the road?

Answer: When you hydroplane, your car floats on a sheet of water caused by rain on the road. Black ice is ice on the road that you may not be able to see. Black ice can be present before any evidence of icy or dangerous driving conditions is obvious and can send you flying. Slow down and avoid turning your wheels abruptly. Perhaps people think about all those science classes that they skipped as they hydroplane off the road or fly through the air on black ice…

** Say Good Bye to a Good Buy You’re buying a car.

The dealer says that they will add the option you want to your car on Thursday. What is an option, and what do you say?

Answer: An option is a feature that can be added to a car, such as a cassette player. You say “I must see the option on the car before I pay.” Once you have paid for the car, the dealer has no incentive to follow though, and you lack any clout to gain compliance once you pay.

** Do You Know the Way to San Jose– Today?

Name a good site on the internet to get free directions to anywhere in the US then show how to use it by finding the way from where you are right now to San Jose.

Answer: Some great, free map sites include mapquest.com, mapblast.com, travelocity.com, anywho.com and charlotte.com.

** Filling Up Can Drain You

You fill up your gas tank at a gas station. Later, you write a check for another purchase; the check bounces. You know you had over $100 in your account. What happened?

Answer: You used your debit card to buy gas and gave your card prior to the gas being pumped. The gas station put a “hold” on $100 of your checking account funds. Next time, don’t use a debit card, or wait to use the card until the amount of gas purchased is known. Then you’ll only be debited for the amount you bought, not the amount you might have bought.

** Insure It You total your car.

You and the insurance company finalize the amount that you’ll be paid for your car. Their check arrives but it’s missing $250. What happened?

Answer: The $250 was your deductible.

** It’s Classified You need to buy a car.

Ads refer to “OAC,” “AC,” “4D” and “4WD.” Translate.

Answer: OAC means “on approved credit,” that if you are deemed worthy of credit, they will loan you money to buy a car. AC is air conditioning. 4D means four doors, but 4WD means four wheel drive; got all that?!

** Did You Know That Cars Can Swim?

You’re about to get a good deal on a used car. How can you tell if the car has been for a swim?

Answer: Sometimes that good deal means that the car has a soggy past. For example, after a flood, cars can be restored to look and smell okay, but may have hidden problems from time underwater. Use the internet to search a car’s past and discover past collisions and even undersea adventures.

Want more strategies like these? These strategies are taken from our Maximum-Strength Motivation-Makers book. We have many more lively, compelling strategies just like the ones here. (.youthchg.com/guide.html).

Online nursing schools are available to all nurses who are looking to expand their academic horizons. These programs offer degree programs in LPN, RN, bachelor of nursing, master of nursing, and also a PhD program in nursing. Choosing a program depends on several factors. If a person wants to become a nurse, they will have to see if the program accepts those with no prior nursing experience. For those who are returning to school, they have to decide which direction they want to take their career. A nurse can obtain their RN license after going to school for two years, or they can stay and earn an RN with a four-year degree. The more education a nurse has, the more they could earn.

Online nursing schools offer many programs to those who would like to specialize in a certain area of nursing. For those who want to work in burn units, child wards, elderly care facilities, or the forensic science field, continuing one’s education will help them get the jobs they are the most interested in having. Enrolling in one of these programs is similar to enrolling at a college or technical school. A nurse will have to provide transcripts from other institutions they attended and then supply a work history if applying for programs that require prior work experience. Many programs do require this, especially higher level education such as a master’s degree. One or two personal references may be needed depending on the program.

Once accepted, the school will send the computer requirements needed to receive all class requirements, online videos and other correspondence an instructor might send. Online nursing schools are primarily work at one’s own pace but time management is up to the student and all assignments must be completed in the time allotted. There is more time given than in a traditional class room setting, but it is still expected that people put in the work needed to complete the degree. An online nursing degree can be a wonderful asset to anyone’s career.

Heading Toward a Long-term, Systemic Solution

A Boston Globe editorial stated that for “40 years, study after study on grade retention has reached the same conclusion: Failing a student, particularly in the critical ninth grade year, is the single largest predictor of whether he or she drops out” (Edley, 2002). The editorial goes on to state that “widespread retention further exacerbates the achievement gap: In Massachusetts, for example, across all grades, African-American and Hispanics are retained at over three times the rate of whites” (Edley, 2002).

According to research (Anderson, Jimerson and Whipple, 2002; NASP, 2003; Jimerson, Anderson and Whipple, 2002; Stenovich, 1994), some of the devastating effects of retention are:

- Most children do not “catch up” when held back.

- Although some retained students do better at first, these children often fall behind again in later grades.

- Retention is one of the most powerful predictors of high school dropout; holding a child back twice makes dropping out of school 90% certain.

- In 2001, 6th grade students ranked grade retention as the most stressful life event, followed by losing a parent and going blind.

- Students who are held back tend to get into trouble, dislike school, and feel badly about themselves more often than children who go on to the next grade.

- The weakened self-esteem that usually accompanies retention plays a role in how well the child may cope in the future.

Far too many students simply give up on school, largely because they feel that their schools have already given up on them. Even our special education services are failure-based. “The current system uses an antiquated model that waits for a child to fail, instead of a model based on prevention and intervention ” (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, 2002).

IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY.

So What Can We Do?

Many advocate for early identification of student needs in order to apply appropriate instructional strategies (Anderson, Whipple and Jimerson, 2002; U. S. Department of Education, 2002; Lyon and Fletcher, 2001; Lyon, 2002). That is clearly a step in the right direction.

But not all teachers are effective at identifying student needs and applying instructional strategies that are the most appropriate for student needs. A study conducted by Sanders and Rivers (1996) examined the cumulative and residual effects of teachers on student achievement and found a wide chasm between the impact on student achievement by effective teachers and ineffective teachers. Equally performing second graders were separated by as many as 50 percentile points on standardized tests by the time they reached fifth grade solely as a result of being taught by teachers whose effectiveness varied greatly.

The study was based on Tennessee’s “value-added” testing system that maintained year-to-year test records on every student in the public school system and matched students to their teachers. Teachers were divided into three groups &ndash low, average, and high &ndash based on their students’ performance. The results showed the dramatic effect of good teaching on student achievement in two urban districts. There was a sharp difference in performance between students who had three teachers rated “low” and three teachers who were rated “high” during a three-year period. Although students in one of the urban systems performed at a higher level than the other, the pattern of “teacher-added value” was evident in both systems. The study also found that African American students were about twice as likely to be assigned ineffective teachers.

What We Now Know

What action can we take to ensure that all teachers are functioning at a level that optimizes the highest levels of student learning?

Scientific research from multiple fields is allowing us to understand how learning takes place, what it looks like when it isn’t, and which interventions or instructional strategies will result in the greatest impact on student learning. Evidence-based research, for example, has found new ways to help young children become proficient readers. Over the last ten years, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has conducted extensive scientific reading research studies. To date, 42,062 children have been included in these studies at 44 sites across the United States. The reading research sites are classrooms in public schools, including inner city, high poverty, high-risk schools. In even the most difficult inner city, high-risk schools in cities such as Washington D.C., Houston, Los Angeles and Seattle, at the end of five years of intensive teacher training on how to deliver scientific evidence-based reading instruction, 94 to 96% of all third graders were reading on grade level. Prior to this intervention, approximately 70% of the third graders the Washington D.C. schools were reading below grade level. The research studies include a strong emphasis on teacher coursework, observation, consultation, and collaboration. (Thomas, 2002)

Yet this new knowledge is not being utilized by every district, every school, and every teacher in every classroom. Thus, it is critical to promote these new methods throughout the education system.

Transferring and translating the knowledge gained in studies into scientifically based classroom practices is a complex undertaking. Effective teaching that leaves no child behind requires teachers to have a skill set that is tremendously intricate, sophisticated and based upon converging scientific evidence. Highly effective teachers continually monitor pupil progress and then design (and re-design) lessons that meet the specific, individualized needs of each student (Lyon and Thomas, 2003; Bennett and Rolheiser, 2001). Teachers, therefore, must be provided with state-of-the-art ongoing, continuous professional development delivered by experts. Teacher learning at the school level must be carefully supported by a consistent and systematic flow of correct information and instruction from experts, especially in low performing schools, in order to prevent the dissemination of misinformation in these groups.

If we know that teacher quality makes a decided difference in the quality of student learning, it seems both logical and ethical to focus investments in improving teacher quality across the board. State-, district- and school-wide intense professional development for current teachers and ongoing comprehensive redesign of university teacher preparation for aspiring teachers should become our strategic priorities.

The National Staff Development Council (NSDC) has developed and revised a set of standards for staff development that is directly linked to increased student achievement (NSDC, 2001). The standards provide a framework for ensuring that staff development is responsive to the needs of educators and their students. NSDC groups the standards around context, process and content.

The NSDC standards move away from workshop “sit and get” staff development models and into serious learning. The reason is straightforward: workshops by themselves do not get the results we desire (Joyce and Showers, 2002). To reach maximum effectiveness, a staff development model must include both presentation and follow-up support in order to ensure improvement. Follow-up must be planned and adequately funded. According to NSDC, some experts believe that 50% of the resources set aside for staff development initiatives should be directed to follow-up.

Options for follow-up support include coaching, modeling and demonstration lessons, peer visits, collegial support groups, mentoring study groups, and audio taping or video taping learners. Follow up strategies enable teachers to focus on the new skills and their impact on students, and move from skill attainment on an imitative or re-synthesizing level to extendible, manipulable, and innovative levels that allow them to problem-solve real time, real world, unpredictable problems that occur in classrooms filled with diverse learners (Joyce and Showers, 2002.)

The differences in the three levels of impact in the chart below, as they apply to a training model, are thus: Level I - Understanding Concepts; Level II - Skill Attainment (can follow a recipe); and Level III &ndash Application of Innovative Problem Solving (able to change the recipe like a master chef to fit the needs of diverse students).

Paul Pastorek, former president of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, sums it up: “Research says the most important link to student success is having highly knowledgeable and skilled teachers in the classroom. We have not provided our teachers with enough information on how children learn and what it takes to learn to read. Equipping teachers with that new knowledge will allow them to reap the rewards they want for the children they teach.” (Thomas, 2002).

Dennis Sparks, NSDC’s executive director, issued a challenge in 2002: Within five years, all teachers will have access to high quality professional development. If it is to be met, the challenge will require active commitment and support from educators, policy makers, parents, and community members alike.

But we cannot stop there. In order to be successful, and in order to sustain and institutionalize our efforts, leadership that understands and provides the context and infrastructure necessary for teacher and student success must be developed at the university, district, school and classroom levels. If leaders are to cultivate a deep understanding of the complex conditions that must be in place to develop such a model, they must also be involved in learning the complexities of what teachers must master.

Michael Fullan argues that this will require that school principals reach beyond instructional leadership. “Some school districts have embraced the development and support of the school principal as instructional leader (Fink & Resnick, 2001), but despite these good beginnings, the principal as instructional leader is too narrow a concept to carry the weight of the reforms that we need for the future. We need, instead, leaders who can create a fundamental transformation in the learning cultures of schools and the teaching profession itself” (Fullan, 2002a).

Fullan (2002b) also cautions that school leadership must become change leaders, and clarifies that being a change leader is very different from being a content expert: “There is a difference between being an expert in the content of an innovation vs. being an expert in the change process. In other words, it is possible to be a leading expert in literacy for example, while being a disaster as a change agent in getting it implemented. In our training we teach people about the process of change &ndash how to understand and work with ‘the implementation dip’, the importance of developing relationships with others not so committed to the idea, how not to get frustrated by overload and the pace of change, etc. Understanding the vicissitudes of the change process is a key to working on large scale change.”

It seems, then, that in order to dramatically reduce grade retention, remedial services, referrals to special education and school dropout rates, we must build the both the teacher and leadership capacity that is necessary for widespread implementation of scientific, research-based instruction that we know works in the classroom. Thus, the objectives:

- Identify and put into place all critical contextual conditions necessary to implement research-based instruction that we know works in the classroom.

- Develop, implement, test and refine models that will guide both preservice education and training for teachers as well as continuing education for teachers currently serving students in the classroom.

- Develop, implement, test and refine models for building educational leaders at the university/college level, the district level, the school level and the classroom level.

Time is ticking. With children’s lives at stake, and especially our most vulnerable children, we cannot afford to keep doing business as usual. We know too much to leave even one child behind.

Teachers and school leaders need, want and deserve to have the support and tools they need to produce optimum success in their classrooms. With serious focus and resolve, we must pick up the gauntlet and accept Dennis Sparks’ challenge to ensure that all educators in all schools will experience high quality professional development by 2007. Highly effective, highly equipped teachers in every classroom can fundamentally wipe away the need for even a discussion on grade retention and special education services based on failure.

References are available at .cdl.org/resource-library/articles/retention_solution.php?type=subject&id=17.

Teachers and Counselors: Does it seem to you that you are seeing more and more seriously emotionally disturbed kids than ever before? The problem may not be with your perceptions. The problem may be that in fact, you are seeing more disturbed children and youth than at any time before.

This article covers some of the updated mental health information we give out in our popular Problem-Kid Problem-Solver Workshop (.youthchg.com). It’s data that all teachers and counselors can use.

There are a few explanations for what you may already have noticed. First, many settings such as schools and Job Corps, are accepting youth with increasingly serious emotional problems. Second, mainstreaming has shifted many kids from sheltered or specialized settings, into mainstream classrooms, sports teams and scouting troops. Third, and perhaps most important, there may be, in fact, more and earlier serious emotional disturbances developing in children. Or, perhaps we are just getting better at identifying these problems.

Late last year, you may have read in your local newspaper a summary of the US Surgeon General’s report that noted that an amazing 1 in 10 children may have a serious mental health disorder. This report noted that the typical wait for troubled children to gain an appointment with a mental health professional was 3 to 4 months. Some communities lack children’s mental health services entirely, the report also noted. This report quotes a study that indicated that many children with severe emotional problems don’t gain proper school services until age 10. The report emphasizes that many of these troubled children will wind up in jail, in part because their problems went unnoticed, or were addressed way too late. The report advocates for more mental health resources for children, and better training in children’s mental health for everyone who works with youth.

The Bottom Line: If you are not a mental health professional, but you work with kids, you may need to acquire a basic mental health background in order to fully understand your changing population, and to best serve their changing needs.

This background will also help you know when to access help from a mental health professional. There is no substitute for the expertise of a mental health worker, and if budget cuts have reduced this option at your site, that is quite serious. A class like our Breakthrough Strategies Workshop (.youthchg.com/live.html) can help you get the basics, but with the incidence of severe childhood emotional problems apparently on the rise, it makes relying on that counselor, social worker, or psychologist perhaps more important than ever before.

If you are a mental health professional you may also want to check your skills too. We are always surprised at our workshop how many mental health professionals confuse conduct disorders and thought disorders, for example, two basic and essential mental health concepts.

We also need more groups like IYI in Indiana, and the Family Resource Centers in Kentucky IYI, the Indiana Youth Institute, brings hands- on training to everyone involved with youth including scout troop leaders, faith-based professionals, after school workers and everyone else involved with kids. Kentucky’s Family Resource Centers are in just about every school in the state, ready to assist the student, family, teacher, counselor or anyone involved in the child’s life to help that child succeed in school, community, family and life.

Sadly, most of us lack a Family Resource Center worker or an IYI to turn to. Your challenge becomes, how do I provide my service to a child with serious emotional problems? Here are a few key do’s and don’t’s, but be sure to also upgrade your basic mental health skills if needed.

** Strike the Balance

Especially in this age of widespread, mandated education performance testing, teachers can feel pressured to get students to perform and produce. But tests don’t “understand” that a child has a serious emotional disturbance and make allowances, but you can. Strive to balance your school or agency’s mission with the child’s special needs. Keep the goals, but don’t accomplish them at any cost.

** When I’m Not Sure What to Do

A good general guideline for anytime that you just don’t know for sure how to work with a child, is ro ask the child. That child is the expert on that child. If you get no useful response, a fall-back plan is to consider what would work or not work with you if you were in that situation.

** But I Have to Be Fair

You may worry that if you give a troubled child extra time to complete a task, for example, that the other kids will complain that it is unfair. In the work world, bosses are required to accommodate employees’ special needs from providing a ramp for a wheel chair to a sign language interpreter. The ultimate mission of most youth-serving sites is to prepare the child for the real world. In the real world, providing some accommodation is either legally mandated or a common courtesy. Most schools even attempt to give a bigger desk to a bigger student. Simple human courtesy and common sense should never be viewed as unfair.

** They Can Take It

Some youth professionals will tell you that the child can “take it.” The truth is that you have no way of looking into a child and accurately gauging their resilience. Since kids do not generally announce that they were beaten last night, or that they haven’t eaten for two days, you don’t know how fragile or strong a child actually is. You don’t know whether or not a child can “take it.” There is a risk that a harsh, embarrassing, aggressive act could harm or undermine a child. While it is never okay to yell, demean or humiliate any child for any reason, it is especially true with children who are severely troubled.

** These Children Are Manipulating the Adults

While some emotionally disturbed children are very adept at manipulation, many emotionally disturbed children do not manipulate at all. There are many types of emotional disturbances, and each has its own unique dynamics. Because an adult works differently with different types of students, tailoring their methods to fit each child and that child’s unique circumstances, does not mean the adult has been manipulated. It means that the adult has a sophisticated understanding of different types of youth and they choose the correct tools for each type.

For more specific techniques to use with troubled youth, consider our “Child’s Guide to Surviving in a Troubled Family.” Find out more about it via our web site (link below).

Are you looking for ways to enhance your English skills online, but feel overwhelmed by the amount of information available? Are you on a limited budget? Do you need to improve your skills quickly?

If so, then read every word of this article. It will help you immensely. I will reveal several, powerful, online resources to help you quickly get your skills up to speed.

See, most people who want to learn English, do not realize the wealth of information that is already freely available on the Internet.

For example…here are just a few of the many resources that are freely available online. You can use them to practice and develop your English skills:

*ESL Web Sites

*Radio

*TV

*Movies

*Music

*Friends

Many of these resources have already been bundled together for you in really neat ways. Let’s look at a news web site like the ‘Voice of America’ at .voanews.com

If you have visited their web site before, you have most likely seen their ‘Special English’ section. It was created specifically for people just like you who want to improve their English skills.

You will find daily news reports broadcast over the radio with a complete transcript of each report. You can use these transcripts to follow along with the anchorperson and better understand what is being said. This exercise alone will greatly enhance your reading and listening skills.

You will also find weekly video broadcasts that you can watch as well. Each one comes complete with subtitles which really helps new English students understand what is being said.

The really great thing about this section of the web site is that these reporters use only the 1500 most commonly used words in the English language. On top of that, the reporters speak at a slower rate than a native speaker normally would.

And if that isn’t enough…you can even download a free dictionary from their web site with the 1500 most commonly used words for you to study as well.

And that is only one of many other web sites like this online. You can find tons of great stuff at web sites like CNN (.cnn.com/videoselect/), BBC (.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/index.shtml), and NPR (.npr.org/) just to name a few.

So, why are you waiting? Stop sitting around hoping you will someday speak English well! Get to work, and make things happen now. Start by visiting these web sites. Then do more research and find other good web sites you can learn from as well.

During the 1970’s, many colleges and universities in the United States were actually encouraging people to go into a different field other than nursing in that there were no jobs. Today, that is hard to believe as we see the number of nurses needed to fill all the open positions staggering. Nursing jobs are now in abundance with a huge shortage of qualified nurses. The good news is that nursing is one of the strongest career choices a person could make, for both men and women, offering an exciting, self-gratifying, and diverse career.

If you are interested in obtaining your nursing degree but work full-time, have small children at home, or simply feel there is no time to attend school, you might consider earning an online nursing degree. With many excellent programs now available, you could choose the field of interest, along with the level of certification for what you want to achieve. The following are some options when it comes to an online nursing degree that you might consider.

Certified Nursing Assistant (CAN)

This nursing certificate is actually a pre-entry level where you would work for a licensed or registered nurse, or in some cases, a doctor.

Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN)

This entry-level position performs routine care under the supervision of a registered nurse of doctor.

Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN)

This nurse has just enough training to be state licensed and is qualified to provide routine care to patients.

Registered Nurse (RN)

For this nursing position, formal education is required with an Associate’s Degree or Bachelor’s Degree.

Advanced Practice Nurse

Again, formal education in the form of a Master’s Degree is required with a specialty certification such as Nurse Practitioner (NP), Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS), Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA), Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP), or Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM).

Master’s Prepared Nurse (MSN)

For this nursing degree, you would need one or more years of education through a state or private university. As imagined, this degree provides skill in advanced care and qualification to teach.

Doctoral Prepared Nurse (PhD or DNS)

Finally, a nursing degree of this caliber requires three plus years at a doctoral granting institution. In addition to patient care, this nursing program teaches research, theory, and practicing education skills.

The possibilities for online nursing are incredible. With this, you can take classes at home and at the pace which you are comfortable. Just imagine being able to complete your nursing degree via computer while still being able to work and/or care for smaller children. Just remember to take classes through an accredited college or university, one with great teacher-student communication, and a school that focuses on the area of medicine you are most interested.

“A Headteacher’s Safety Management Toolkit Article”

The Health and Safety Executive(HSE) as the body responsible for enforcing safety laws in our schools believes that up to 80% of accidents and incidents can be attributed to what they are calling now “Human Factors”. An indication of how Human Factors integrate with the HSE’s Regulatory function can be seen in the where they emphasise such as contributory factors. The list below shows where HSE have identified Human Factors as problems in priority areas for their action.This list is extracted from the HSC’s Strategic Plan to 2010 and beyond andappears on HSE’s Human Factors website.

* Prevention of musculoskeletal disorders and manual handling injuries

* Management of work-related stress

* Preventing falls from height

* Preventing slips and trips

* Preventing workplace transport accidents

* Human factors in design (e.g. alarm handling in control rooms, vehicle cab design etc)

* The design and effectiveness of procedures

* Human reliability &ndash human error and systems failures e.g. maintenance error

* Assessing organisational change and its implications

* Effects of organisational culture

* Communications and their effects on health and safety

* Staffing levels and workload

* Fatigue from working patterns - shiftwork and overtime

* Training and competence

You may wonder why I’ve started off with Human Factors but just look at this list again.

HSE never rush into enforcement and making prosecutions without informing and reinforming the public.

Now add up all the functions where management can make improvements on what HSE say is 80% of

accidents and where their priority areas are.

Got it?

What this tells us is where HSE will be focusing over the next period of time - managing safety.

This is confirmed by work which I have done on Head teacher’s Safety Management Toolkit user’s behalf by revisiting HSE’s Database of Enforcement and this and a subsequent article gives information and analyses the information.

You can see information on this Toolkit and get access to the Analysis at .swaneducation.worksites.com

This article looks at the raw data and makes some comments and observations on Enforcing School Safety.To be able to do this I have gone through HSE databases for the last 5 years and extracted all the Education related Enforcement actions.

These include :

Enforcement Orders

These are orders issued by Inspectors to:

Prohibit an unsafe action or activity either immediately or within a specified time frame,(Prohibition Notice)

Or,

Improve an unsafe activity or condition again within a time frame.(Improvement Notice)

These orders are the major part of HSE’s enforcement activity;for example there were 214 Orders made against schools and employers over the time period of the Database,(approx. 5 years) whilst there were only 34 prosecutions.

Enforcement Notices are Orders and need to be taken very seriously by anyone who gets one as HSE will prosecute if a Notice is ignored.

Ignoring an Enforcement Notice is actually given as a criterion for prosecution in their Enforcement Policy document.

Let us just look at what the situation actually is in schools as regards numbers of prosecutions and notices.

Prosecutions

In 2004/5 there were 712 prosecutions in total made by HSE in which they secured about 95% success of conviction.

The total number of prosecutions over the time frame for the HSE Database is just over 4000, which shows that schools and education with 34 prosecutions account for less than 1% of all prosecutions.

However, some extremely high profile cases from the education sector do not appear on HSE’s database.

This is always the case for any work related death which would be prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution(England and Wales) or the Procurator Fiscal(Scotland).

Thus, a teacher prosecuted for a death occurring on a school trip falls outside HSE’s database. However,they have reported two prosecutions where children have been injured on trips and HSE has followed the incident up with a prosecution. One of these was a prosecution of both the Employer(Council) and the Head teacher.

Looking at the actual figures of breaches involved in prosecutions gives us some indication of where actions are occurring now and later we shall look at the breaches involved in enforcement orders which may give us a clue to future actions.

HSE reports Breaches against each prosecution or notice. A Breach indicates the specific law(s) or regulation(s) which is cited in relation to the offence.

I have indicated the singular and plural above because one offence can breach several laws and regulations and HSE will report all the breaches against the offence.

Prosecutions

Primary Schools - Total 16

Secondary Schools - Total 18

Breaches in Primary Schools

HASAW Act Sect 2 - 3

HASAW Act Sect 3 - 6

Management of H&S Regs 4

Electricity at Work 1

Construction Design & Maint Regs 1

Construction H&S Regs 1

Gas Safety Inst &Use Regs

Workplace (H&S) regs

Control of Asbestos Regs

Breaches in Secondary Schools

HASAW Act Sect 2 - 3

HASAW Act Sect 3 - 10

Management of H&S Regs 4

Electricity at Work

Construction Design & Maint Regs

Construction H&S Regs 1

Gas Safety Inst &Use Regs 1

Workplace (H&S) regs 1

Control of Asbestos Regs 6

If you check the figures above the secondary figures do not add up to 18. This is because, as I explained above, often more than one breach is involved in an offence or a enforcement notice.

All Enforcement Notices in Schools

Primary Schools Total 77

Secondary Schools Total 137

Improvement Notices

Primary School Total 63

Secondary School Total 102

Prohibition Notices

Primary Schools Total 14

Secondary Schools Total 35

Made up of Breaches(Primary Schools)

HASAW Act Sect 2 38

HASAW Act Sect 3 41

Management of H&S Regs 42

Electricity at Work 6

Construction Design & Maint 1

COSHH 4

Prov&Use of Work Equipment 4

Manual Handling 3

Workplace (H&S) regs 26

Control of Asbestos Regs 7

This may not mean a lot to a non- safety professional but we can look at this another way.

What breaches occur in small numbers?

Well it appears to me that emphasis on CDM, COSHH and Manual Handling must have been dealt with fairly well by schools.

Alternatively relatively few accidents may have happened to be reported under the RIDDORs Regulations i.e there may have been accidents or incidents but not frequent or serious enough to appear on the HSE radar.

What isn’t there at all?

There are absolutely no Display Screen Equipment Regulations notices let alone any prosecutions. I think most of us would not be too surprised not to see any references to the Personal Protective Equipment Regulations or those covering Noise. However, since there has been so much emphasis on DSE Regs and schools are now crammed with PCs and ICT it seems that DSE Regs are not high on HSE’s priorities.

NB this does not mean there will never be enforcement and there is a requirement for a Risk Assessment to be carried out against these Regulations even if the RA says minimal or no significant risk and Action: No action!

What is there a lot of notices issued for?

Health and Safety at Work Act Sections 2 & 3 are “catch all” breaches and essentially Section 2 says “not ensuring employees safety” and Section 3 “not ensuring the safety of others(non employeesi.e pupils and visitors/contractors)”.

The largest number of notices arise around the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations. This is relatively new and the focus is to make sure that dutyholders manage safety.This is where there is likely to be increasing emphasis for the future.

There are also 26 notices around breaches of the Workplace(H&S) Regulations. This can be partly explained by a HSE initiative started in Kent to ensure regulation of site traffic and that pedestrians were separated from it.

So, quite a few of these Workplace Regs breaches are about site traffic, school buses whilst others are about unsafe structures in the school.

Comments on Enforcement

As I indicated above we can get inside the mind of HSE by looking at their Plans and Policies.

They quite openly tell us that:

a) Enforcement will be used to drive Plans and Policy.

b) Enforcement will be targeted at the most serious risks.

c) Enforcement will be targeted to improve standards.

d) Their evidence shows and confirms that enforcement is an effective motivator and deterrent.

e) They believe that enforcement plays an important role in securing compliance.

f) That enforcement in the form of prosecutions comes about mainly from investigations into reports received on serious incidents.(about 90 -95%)

We’ll look at actual examples of all these in another article and see what specific offences are most and least common and what other lessons we can learned to maintain schools as safe learning environments and to ensure the health and safety of our children and staff.