School Controversies

Climate change has never been a consistent part of school science curriculum. Some teachers have touched on the subject, but few have delved into the matter with the depth it requires for thorough understanding. Sometimes it is presented as a controversial theory, and at other times it is taught as irrefutable fact. Now, new national science standards are due out that could streamline the educational approach to the subject of climatic shift.

About the New Standards

The new science standards were created as a result of a partnership between the National Research Council and the National Science Foundation, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and National Science Teachers Association. The non-profit group Achieve was also a part of the collaboration. Standards introduce the concept of climate change at a much younger grade and continue to expand on the subject throughout middle and high school. Mark McCaffrey, programs and policy director for the National Science Foundation called the new standards “revolutionary.”

This video from Teacher TV offers an overview of climate change.

Until now, the only effort to establish national science standards was in 1996, when the National Science Education Standards were published by the National Research Council. However, few states did much to bring those standards into the classroom. In 2010, a new effort was launched to produce standards in science, and the National Research Council recruited the other entities

As Common Core Standards take their place in public schools across the country, some are left wondering how these new standards will impact the education students have received in the past. Of particular concern is the shift the Common Core Standards seems to promote from the reading of classic fiction to nonfiction within the classroom. The worries over how the standards will change the standard English class have accelerated and snowballed into some wringing their hands over the disappearance of Shakespeare and other classic literary writers from the classroom. However, proponents of the new national education standards are adding their two cents to the discussion, saying the worries are unfounded and simply untrue in some cases.

This video explains the relevance of studying Shakespeare.

What are the Common Core Standards?

The Common Core Standards were developed by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, as an effort to find a viable alternative to the failed policies of No Child Left Behind. The first draft of the standards was released in 2009, according to the website for the ASCD. According to Education Secretary Arne Duncan, the purpose of the Common Core Standards was to raise the bar on the education standards across the country, in order to prepare students for the rigors of higher education or the workforce after graduation.

The standards were created with input

A controversy in a Michigan middle school has been resolved, but questions still remain over why a performing arts teacher was severely disciplined after allowing a student to play a marriage equality song in her classroom. The teacher, Susan Johnson, from Centennial Middle School, allowed the song after checking with the student to be sure it fit within the guidelines of the school district. However, the song offended at least one classmate, whose complaint eventually led to the teacher’s disciplinary action. Was the teacher merely defending a student’s freedom of speech, or was she in violation of district policy? The answer to that question appears to depend on who you ask.

The video offers an overview of freedom of speech in public schools.

“Same Love” Subject of Controversy

According to CBS Detroit, Johnson allowed a student in one of her eighth-grade performing arts classes to play the song “Same Love” by rapper Macklemore during class. Prior to granting permission, Johnson asked the student if the song contained any inappropriate language or references to violence. The student responded that it did not. In fact, “Same Love” is a song about marriage equality, depicting the life of a gay man from beginning to end. Some of the lyrics in the song include:

“Can’t change, even if I tried…”

“No freedom ‘til we’re equal…”

“We become so numb to what we’re saying…”

“If I

A question over equality at a top-rated high school in the Fairfax School District in Virginia has once again raised the question of the equality of public education overall in the United States. Thomas Jefferson High School, frequently ranked as one of the top public schools in the country, has recently come under fire by the Coalition of the Silence and the NAACP. The organizations have raised concerns about the low enrollment of minority students into the school, particularly in light of the much higher rate of diversity in schools just a few miles away. However, as one digs into the question of racial inequality at Thomas Jefferson High School, concerns extend into whether minority students in Fairfax County are given the same academic opportunities as their caucasian counterparts.

This TEDTalk discuss racial discrimination in public schools.

Federal Civil Rights Complaint Filed

A federal civil rights lawsuit has been filed with the U.S. Department of Education regarding Thomas Jefferson High School’s admission policies. The complaint alleges that Fairfax County “…essentially operates a network of separate and unequal schools,” which leaves out Latinos, blacks, and disabled students. The complaint further alleges that “for decades, these students have been grossly and disproportionately underrepresented in admission to the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.”

The civil rights complaint was filed by the Coalition of Silence, an advocacy group formed by

Prompting an investigation into an extensive cheating scandal rocked Atlanta schools, public schools in the nation’s capital first came under fire for allegedly cheating on standardized tests. However, a comprehensive investigation into the Washington D.C. cheating issue has revealed that while cheating did occur in some classrooms, the issue was centralized to a small number of classes, rather than hundreds of schools, as previously thought. Still, evidence of any cheating raises questions about the validity of standardized testing and how those scores are used to determine funding, teacher raises and performance evaluations.

Three District of Columbia Schools Cited in Investigation

A report at USA Today states that just three D.C. schools have been found guilty of cheating on standardized tests known as the DC-CAS in April 2011. The reports were limited to three classrooms within these three schools, which represents a very small number of the 5,089 classrooms that actually took the tests. The findings were announced by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education.

“The confirmed cases of impropriety represent a very small percentage of public schools and classrooms in D.C.,” Hosanna Mahaley, superintendent of D.C. schools, told USA Today.

This video reports on cheating on standardized tests in the D.C. public schools.

The three schools were classified as “critical” as a result of the investigation, which meant there was solid evidence found of fraud or test tampering in