Chairman suggests changes be made in No Child Left Behind

Those of us who think the federal No Child Left Behind law leaves a lot to be desired were heartened Monday when Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., said changes need to be made in order for the law to continue:

But Miller said yesterday that schools should be able to include measures besides the reading and math tests in determining progress, such as graduation rates or the number of students passing Advanced Placement exams. "Many Americans do not believe that the success of our students or of our schools can be measured by one test administered on one day, and I agree with them," he said.

Jefferson City students to wear uniforms

Students at a Jefferson City High School
will wear uniforms for the first time when the 2007-2008 school year begins:

The uniform - developed by a committee of three students, three parents, three faculty members and the dean of students, Stan Ochsner - is extremely versatile.

Male students will stick with the traditional khaki dress pants. Female students can wear khaki slacks or plaid skorts. All students will wear either polo shirts or button-down collar dress shirts embroidered with the Crusaders logo.

The polo shirts come in navy, white or sunflower, both in long and short sleeves; the dress shirts in white or light blue only in long sleeves. They may also wear navy sweaters or sweater vests along with navy or gold crew neck sweatshirts, all embroidered with the Helias logo.

All shirts, sweaters, sweatshirts and skorts are purchased directly from Helias. Pants can be purchased by the students from an approved list which Helias keeps updated on its Web site. Students will also wear sturdy, leather dress shoes (closed heel and toe).

The concept of moving to a uniform came when Ochsner and other administrators had to re-define the dress code every year.

"With changing styles and students seeking loopholes, it was becoming more and more difficult to make the dress code professional," said Ochsner. "The decision was easy because we knew a fool-proof dress code was a battle we couldn't win."

Carthage student receives one-year suspension for shooting air soft gun

The parents of Carthage High School student Stefan Hukill, suspended for one year for shooting an airsoft gun at school are protesting the suspension:

In a letter to Hukill's mother, Superintendent Gary Reed said the student had violated school policy by possessing and firing an airsoft gun at another student on or adjacent to school property. He said district policy called for a 10-day suspension, with a recommendation for long-term suspension or expulsion. He said Kandy Frazier, then assistant principal, had suspended the student for 10 days, starting May 10, and would recommend an additional suspension.

"Based on the serious nature of Stefan's misconduct, the potential danger to himself and other students, and the possession and use of a weapon," Reed said he had affirmed the 10-day suspension and extended the suspension to one year. In addition, he said he had determined that Stefan "poses a continuing danger" and barred him from school pending the outcome of a disciplinary hearing.

In information prepared for the appeal hearing, Lasley said the decision meant that Hukill missed final examinations his junior year. He said the yearlong suspension was unreasonable and, if upheld, would mean that his client would be prevented from attending his senior year and graduating with his classmates.

Lasley said the incident was "a prank," and that Stefan shot a friend one time with a plastic, spring-operated airsoft gun that shoots round, plastic or rubber balls about the size of a pencil eraser. He said the incident happened on Main Street near the high school during the open lunch period. He said the friend was not hurt and lodged no complaint, and that no report on the incident was made by Sgt. Vann Bennett, school resource officer with the Carthage Police Department.

Lasley said the incident "is not on a par with a firearms violation,"
and that an airsoft gun is not listed among the weapons cited in school policies and regulations. He said the gun is see-through plastic, and the barrel is tipped in orange to distinguish it from a real weapon. He said the gun "obviously is not a firearm as described in school regulations and by the gun-free requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act."

School time down for everything except math, reading

One consequence of No Child Left Behind has been the decrease of time allotted to all subjects besides math and reading, according to an article in today's Washington Post:

The report by the District-based Center on Education Policy, which focuses on a representative sample of 349 school districts, found recess and physical education the only parts of the elementary school day holding relatively steady since enactment of the No Child Left Behind measure in 2002.

The survey provides grist for critics who say the federal testing mandate has led educators to a radical restructuring of the public school curriculum in a quest to teach to new state tests. But backers of the law, which is up for renewal this year, say that without mastery of reading and math, students will be hampered in other areas.

Final Joplin signing set for Devil's Messenger

What is expected to be the final Joplin signing for South Middle School eighth grade communication arts teacher Randy Turner's second novel, Devil's Messenger, will be held 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, July 28, at Hastings Books, Music and Video in Joplin.

Mr. Turner's first novel, Small Town News, was published in 2005. He is working on a third book, this one non-fiction, this summer.

New study indicates misinformation has been given about Internet dangers

A new study indicates sharing personal information does not increase the chances of teen internet users becoming victims:

victimization is more likely to result from other online behavior, such as talking about sex with people met online and intentionally embarrassing someone else on the Internet.

"For a long time, we really didn't know," said Michele Ybarra, one of the study's authors. "It made sense if you post or send information you increase your risk. It's also a very easy message: Don't post personal information and you'll be safe."

But Ybarra, who is president of the nonprofit Internet Solutions for Kids, warned that parents and educators must now reassess the lessons, saying resources may be wasted on tips that do not address the underlying problem.

Instead of discouraging children from communicating, she said, the better approach is to teach them about what at-risk behaviors to avoid and warning signs to spot.

"We now need to be a lot more specific and accurate in our message," she said.

The research, published in February, was based on telephone surveys of 1,500 Internet users ages 10 to 17.

In a separate study of 2,574 law-enforcement agencies, researchers found that online sex crimes rarely involve offenders lying about their ages or sexual motives. The 2004 study, published in Journal of Adolescent Health, said offenders generally aren't strangers, and pedophiles aren't luring unsuspecting children by pretending to be a peer.

"Most of these sexual-victimization (cases) happen at the hands of people they know, and a lot happen at the hands of peers," said Janis Wolak, co-author of both studies and a researcher with the University of New Hampshire's Crimes Against Children Research Center.

Study: 60 percent of young people don't follow the news

A Harvard study indicates 60 percent of young people do not follow the daily news:

Researchers interviewed 1,800 people between January and March and found that 28 percent of Americans between the ages of 12 and 17 said they pay almost no attention to news every day. Another 32 percent said they pay only casual attention to one news source a day.

"News is not something that gets a lot of time or attention or interest from teens," said Thomas Patterson, a professor of government and the press at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Among people aged 18 to 30, the poll found 48 percent said they are inattentive to daily news. Only 23 percent of older Americans said they largely ignore news.

In general, soft stories about celebrities interest young people more than hard news stories like congressional votes or developments in Iraq.

One reason teenagers may pay less attention to news than older Americans is only one in 20 young people rely heavily on a daily newspaper, according to the survey, which had a margin of error of 2 percent to 3 percent.

The poll was released amid tough times for many American newspapers, with falling readership and advertising revenue.

Even the Internet, the preferred way for teenagers and young adults to get news, is not stimulating interest in current affairs, Patterson said. Internet-based news, receives about the same attention from older adults as it does from younger ones, the survey found.

Unsuccessful cheerleader candidate sues school

A Victoria, Texas, teenager who failed to make the junior varsity high school cheerleading squad is suing the school:

Incoming freshman Wycoda Fischer was cut after tryouts were held for six positions on the squad. Seven girls tried out. The family contends that because an exception was made for the varsity cheer squad, nine girls were allowed on instead of the eight called for in the high school's cheerleader constitution, that an exception should also be made for allowing Wycoda on the squad. The high school principal and cheerleading sponsor approved the expanded JV squad, but superintendent Deborah Kneese ordered tryouts.

The Fischers, Billy and Wysenda, took their grievance to the school board on Monday, but the board upheld the superintendent's decision with a 5-1-1 vote.

According to testimony during the grievance hearing, the varsity was expanded to nine members because the sponsor made a mistake and told eight of the cheer candidates they had made the squad and there would be no tryouts, because it was believed the ninth candidate had withdrawn. She had not, and was allowed on the squad.

Kneese told the school board, "There was an error with regard to the varsity cheerleading tryouts. The decision was made to allow nine cheerleaders on the squad despite the provision in the constitution. The district was not going to penalize the student for its own error. No such mistake was made during the JV

tryouts. The mistake concerning the varsity squad has no bearing on the JV squad."