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• Principal Resigns Over Pregnancy Pact Controversy

  The so-called teen pregnancy pact may have fallen off the radar screen of mainstream news, but the saga continues for the city of Gloucester. In case you living under a rock during the last two weeks of June, here's the background: Principal Joseph Sullivan drew worldwide attention when he told Time that he believed the spike in teen pregnancy at his high school was an intentional choice by girls who had entered a pact to get knocked up before graduating. Read More... Posted Aug 14 2008, 06:00 PM by Hannah Tennant-Moore with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: teenagers, high school, Massachusetts, teen pregnancy, principal, mayor, Gloucester, joseph sullivan, resign, pact, pregnany pact

• How to Fire Bad Teachers

  When Anthony Lombardi took over as the principal of a below-average public school in Queens, New York, he began a controversial practice to improve student performance: he fired bad teachers. Within a few years, the percentage of fourth graders in Lombardi’s school who could read at grade level went from 37 to 90. According to Slate, studies show that predicting whether a teacher will be effective in the classroom based on his or her résumé is nearly impossible. And once teachers are hired, teachers unions essentially ensure them a job for life. Read More... Posted Jul 29 2008, 05:03 PM by Hannah Tennant-Moore with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: principal, classroom, New York, bad teachers, public schools, test scores, queens, student performance, fire bad teachers, good teachers, tenure, teacher evaluations, school performance, anthony lombardi, teachers unions

• School T-Shirt Controversy: "N the 'N' Word"

  Eight-year-old Jaiden Haber was sent to the principal's office for wearing a shirt that said, "N the 'N' Word" and below that, "It's time!" The principal of the Amityville school told Jaden to change the shirt. The executive director of the Nassau chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union says that violated Jaiden's First Amendment rights. The district superintendent says, "To send a little white girl wearing this shirt into a very diverse district that is almost 90 percent nonwhite was not the way to address this word. It's a lightning rod." Jaiden's mom says the school should have used this as a teaching moment, and that Jaiden innocently made history. But you know what really bothers me about this story?  What Jaiden says. "My mom picked it out. She thought it would look nice on me. I don't know why they made me take it off...   Read More... Posted Jun 30 2008, 06:38 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 11 comment(s) Filed under: education, racism, mom, school, clothes, principal, New York, first amendment, daughter, t-shirt, political, civil rights, n word, jaiden haber

• Facebook Fighting: Kids and Online Bullying

  In general, I'm suspicious of hysteria surrounding how kids use the latest technology--nine times out of ten, they just do the same things kids have always done, but in a more high tech way. However, I'm a little torn as to whether social networking sites are bringing changes to interactions on middle and high school campuses. The Washington Post had one piece on a few fights that started on Facebook, and later became physical confrontations, prompting the principal to ask parents to monitor their kids online.  Frankly, that doesn't seem much different than an argument starting in any off-campus physical space. But Facebook and MySpace have brought some changes to bullying. See... Read More... Posted May 02 2008, 04:32 PM by Kelly Mills with | with no comments Filed under: school, teens, computers, bullying, internet, middle school, Facebook, MySpace, high school, principal, fights, campus

• Update: School Reinstates Tag After "Reorientation"

  The Virginia elementary school that banned tag may again allow kids to be "it". A few weeks ago, principal Robyn Hooker outlawed the game, saying it had gotten out of hand, with students being tackled and piled on and dragged into games unwillingly. Some outcry among parents ensued, and so school administrators instituted a week of "reorientation lessons on playground safety" (sounds so ominous, like "reprogramming") in P.E. classes, and should be allowing the game to begin again today.   Now clearly we are a blog divided on this issue, and I have the feeling...   Read More... Posted Apr 25 2008, 12:32 PM by Kelly Mills with | with no comments Filed under: games, education, discipline, strollerderby, Virginia, schools, violence, principal, Washington Post, rules, recess, ban, Tag, libertarian, elementary

• Happy Birthday kids. Have some carrots.

  Megan Bowden of the Oteha Valley primary school has issued a decree: no more cake. With a large number of kids having birthdays in September and October, every day was a birthday cake day, and that's just too damn much cake! Read More... Posted Apr 07 2008, 01:00 PM by Brett Singer with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: school, birthdays, principal, new zealand, cake, elementary school, snacks, rules, birthday cake, treats, ministry of education

• Vice Principal Makes Kids Eat Off the Floor

  Sometimes I feel like a bit of a tool for reporting on all these wretched teachers and school administrators when there's plenty of decent ones who don't make the news, but I find these stories strangely compelling. Maybe it's the sense of anxiety I have as a parent, sending off my kid and telling her to listen to other adults who I may or may not always agree with. And I can guarantee you I would not agree with anyone making my child eat off the floor as punishment, as one vice principal at a Philadelphia elementary school did. Part of what makes this story particularly wretched is that it sounds like these kids were particularly vulnerable...  Read More... Posted Mar 07 2008, 06:28 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: education, parents, discipline, teachers, punishment, abuse, principal, fifth grade, elementary school, school administration, immigrant, ESL

• Principal Pulls Awesome Stunt To Boost Grades

  What can I say? I'm a sucker for serious dedication to kids and a flair for showmanship. In an effort to boost grades and win better behavior from students, Principal Bob Vicari has basically made students offers they couldn't refuse: Improve, and I'll take one for the team. In his six years as a middle school principal, he's rewarded students for meeting his challenges by lettting them peg him with water balloons and smash pies in his face, and he's moved his office to the roof--twice.  So how do you top that? Well... Read More... Posted Feb 07 2008, 03:33 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: education, school, middle school, principal, bugs, preteens, school administration, stunt, bob vicari

• Irate Italian Parents Beat Up Principal Over Bad Grades

  So...maybe it's something of a free-for-all in Italy's education system?  First teachers go postal, now it's parents.  A family of a middle-school student, including the father and the gradnfather of the student, beat up the school's principal in protest of recent low grades and a ban imposed on cell phones.  Yeah, those are a good reasons to send a guy to the hospital with contusions, isn't?  Principal Ugo Castorina has been running the school for 22 years; you think he's jonesing for early retirement about now? Posted Mar 05 2007, 07:07 AM by Karen Murphy with | with no comments Filed under: education, going postal, Italy, hitting, principal, bad grades