- Getting the year off to a good start with new students
- Helping young students get better at text-based conversations
- Are school book fairs a "necessary evil"?
- Thoughtful secondary-school scheduling
- Hidden expectations for college application essays
- Adam Grant on women taming their language in the workplace
- Can a math software program help below-level students catch up?
- Fun math activities
- The Teaching Books website
- Hitting the ground running in a leadership position
- What should your ideal graduate know and be able to do?
- Psychological safety 101
- College admissions essays in a “colorblind” world
- A novel approach to the college selection process
- Putting the Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision in perspective
- Broadening the literary canon on the Jewish experience
- Counter-stereotypical books about African-American kids
- To quit or not to quit, that is the question
- Helping students, but not too much
- Teach me to fish: teacher feedback that empowers students
- Timothy Shanahan on building students' reading stamina
- A novel approach to grading and responding to students' writing
- High schools' impact on students' short- and long-term outcomes
- Award-winning children's books on social justice and women in history
- Overcoming our resistance to asking for help
- How is correcting math mistakes like making a good apology?
- What happens when a teacher starts every class with a poem?
- Timothy Shanahan on prosody
- The evolution of culturally responsive teaching
- Going deeper with ChatGPT
- Skillfully framing questions when using large language models
- Picture books: an unconventional resource for high-school history classes
- Advice for new leaders
- Intellectual humility as an antidote to the "certainty trap"
- New York City teachers' everyday perceptions of social class
- Real-time instructional coaching: can it work?
- Effectively handling children's errors in early childhood classes
- Picture books for reading aloud in math classes
- The most popular high-school plays and musicals for 2022-23
- Frederick Douglass's July 4th speech read by his direct descendants
- Movie clips for classroom use
In This Issue:
A Special Issue on the Early-Literacy Debate
The Long-Running “Reading Wars”
1. Four waves of debate on phonics
2. Phonics first?
3. Concerns about “three-cueing”
4. Can’t we all just get along?
Research on Early Reading
5. Ten keys to effective primary-grade teaching
6. It’s not either/or, it’s both/and
7. The link between content knowledge and reading
8. Scarborough’s rope
Phonics Nuts and Bolts
9. Principles for teaching phonics
10. Why phonics is more challenging in English than Italian
11. Effective early literacy instruction for African-American students
Pulling the Strands Together
12. The reading brain
13. Differentiating through four stages of students’ reading development
14. Toward an integrated approach
15. Finding common ground
In This Issue:
One month ago the 2023 legislative session ended. This legislative session will go down in history for the sheer volume and scope of new legislation passed. Social policy, school governance, major funding, free college, gun regulation, marijuana, women’s’ rights, transgender rights, paid family leave, unemployment expansion are among the highlights.
Schools will be “digging out” from this session for months to come. Passing legislation with one party control of the House, Senate and Executive branch was relatively easy, at least on the surface. Small majorities in the House and Senate complicated the process, but impressive leadership from the House Speaker and Senate Majority Leader effectively completed the planned agendas. Senator Dziedzic and Representative Hortman have much to be proud of.
Passing legislation will prove to be much easier than implementing many of the mandates. For principals (and schools in general) the list is longer than many imagined. Click here to view the Principal’s Cheat Sheet. This is a limited list of items of interest to principals.
Now the hard part starts.
(And of course they are back on February 12, 2024.)
In This Issue:
In This Issue:
In This Issue:
It’s over. The legislature adjourned at 10:00 PM last night after a modestly busy weekend. Meetings took place on Bonding and health and Human Services. The Tax bill was wrapped up Saturday. The tax bill contains the pension provision moving the age of retirement for teachers to age 65 (from 66).
Rumors on the pension provision started circulating Thursday night. The dollar amount in the spreadsheet didn’t make sense, but by Friday afternoon it was clear. Rather than moving to 64, the behind the scenes agreement was 65. This cut the cost in half. The language goes into effect July 1, 2025.
The close of the session was orderly without the usual rush to beat the clock. The real test will come in the future as the massive amount of legislation passed goes into effect. Paid family and medical leave will be a huge undertaking for the state and businesses. New legislation on guns, women’s health care, workplace protections, transgender right and cannabis will change daily life in Minnesota. Many of these issues passed with the narrowest of margins, 1 vote, in the Senate and 2-4 votes in the house.
Tax cuts and increases were passed over the weekend, with the majority of the increases going to business. Social security taxes were reduced, but not eliminated. Over 2.7 million people will receive tax rebate checks.
In education we received significant funding together with a new list of mandates.
I will prepare a detailed report of the education bill in the next few days.
Everyone is glad this session is over. It was truly exhausting.
The Education Conference Committee reports have been adopted. The House concluded its work on the bill at 6 PM last night with long speeches from both Democrats and Republicans. The Senate took the bill up in the middle of the night. The Early Ed bill was finished at 3 AM and the Senate immediately proceeded to the K12 conference committee report. As would be expected, the discussion was pretty muted given the hour. The Senate bill passed 35-32 with one republican (Senator Nelson) joining the democrats.
A legislative day is not what you think it is. By law the legislature is limited to the number of days it can meet in regular session. That number is 120 per biennium. Tuesday was the 71st legislative day. Legislative days do not end at midnight however, they end at 7 AM after the session begins. So yesterday the Senate convened at 11:00 AM and the legislative day concluded at 5:52 AM. Now that’s a day!
The 120-day limit extends through the second year of the biennium. So 40 plus days will be banked for next year’s session which begins on February 12.
The money in the K12 bill is significant. Formula increases of 4% and 2% combined with the special ed cross subsidy funding will be a big push for school budgets. The special education cross subsidy funding will be substantial funding for many districts. It will be the equivalent of 4% on the formula for some districts and even higher in other places.
Everyone is interested in Pensions providing initiatives to lower the retirement age to 64. These proposals are alive and well in the last days of the session. These provisions were not added to the K12 bill but could easily find a home in other bills as the session moves to adjournment. If the language is simply passed without funding, school districts would have to fund the payments out of the K12 increases. Behind the scenes we are working to get the $67 million added to a line item called “pension adjustment aid”. A large rally for pensions took place on the capitol steps last night. The addition of a bullhorn insured those legislators inside the capitol heard the chants.
Assuming the age 64 retirement passes, the retirement initiatives cannot end there. The most successful plan will be to lower the age over time with ongoing initiatives in the future. Reduction to age 64 is a positive, but it is still short of the ultimate goal.
Several stars emerged in this legislative session. Representative Ben Bakeberg was an ongoing positive voice for not only principals, but for education as a whole. Despite being a first term member in the minority, he became a recognized voice on education issues. The two finance chairs also deserve the thanks of educators throughout Minnesota. Rep. Cheryl Youakim and Senator Mary Kunesh both chaired education finance for the first time. Elbows can get pretty sharp at the capitol and the invitation to criticize is always present. These two chairs were always welcoming and accommodating in addition to being highly skilled legislators. Of course we don’t always agree, but these folks always treat us with respect.
The final bill represents a significant increase in the size of the Department of Education. The estimates are somewhere between 40 and 90 new positions. Overall, state government is growing significantly as well. One estimate is that approximately 1,000 new state positions will be created as the result of several new legislative proposals. These numbers will become more well defined in the weeks to come.
The K12 bill is not the only bill affecting school districts. An omnibus bill on Jobs, Labor and Industry adds several new requirements to the list for school districts. Passed yesterday in the senate and sent on to the governor, SF 3505 adds the following provisions:
School Districts are required to negotiate e-learning day plans with teachers.
The teacher probationary year is reduced from 120 days to 90 days.
Unions must be allowed a 30-minute meeting with new hires within 30 days of hire.
Districts must provide unions with information on new employees with 20 days of hire including job title, home address, home phone, and email address for both work and home.
Staffing ratios and class size were added to bargaining topics for teachers, being removed from “inherent managerial” and inserted into “terms and conditions of employment.”
We will provide additional summaries in the upcoming days.
Yesterday the House and Senate conferees signed the conference committee report on the Education Policy bill. The conference committee report was taken up on Tuesday afternoon. The bill is over 300 pages long and summaries will start to filter out. The key provisions include 4% and 2% on the formula, 50% funding of the special education cross subsidy and a host of other matters.
For starters, here are the new disciplinary provisions:
Article 2, § 26 Nonexclusionary Discipline Definition
This provision contains the definition of nonexclusionary discipline. The language was initially created by the Department and demonstrates that almost any intervention will fit as “nonexclusionary discipline.” Several of the “examples” identified in the provision would not typically be characterized as discipline which will undoubtedly lead to confusion as districts attempt to comply with new provisions. No testimony was ever provided on the subject other than to suggest that “suspension” is not nonexclusionary discipline. This section is effective for the 2023-24 school year.
Article 2, § 27 Pupil Withdrawal Agreements
This provision defines withdrawal agreements, a device typically used to avoid going through an expulsion process. The agreements can be verbal or in writing. Districts have largely stopped going through expulsion proceedings since the obligation to provide services continues after expulsion. These provisions are designed more for tracking data than providing any new protections or services to students. The provisions will raise issues in some cases as to whether students have just disenrolled or left under a verbal agreement. A negative impact may be more individuals going through the expulsion process.
Article 2, § 28 K-3 Suspensions
This section prohibits the suspension of K-3 students for any reason. The legislature rejected efforts to allow suspensions in cases where the student posed a safety threat. One compromise is that students may be “dismissed” for a period of less than one school day. These are “dismissals” and not suspensions. (Previously the language had been “a day or less” but the Department had this amended to less than a day.) This strict prohibition may leave expulsion as the only remedy for significant misbehavior. This is not without limitation though. Students may only be expelled if nonexclusionary discipline has been used and the student poses an ongoing serious safety threat to themselves or others.
Article 2, § 29 Nonexclusionary Discipline
This section requires schools to “attempt” nonexclusionary discipline before dismissal proceedings. The requirement is general and may not result in a change in practices in many schools. Schools can generally define what constitutes an “attempt” at nonexclusionary discipline. This is the core section of the new discipline mandate. The effective date is the 2023-24 school year despite our request to delay implementation.
Article 2, § 30 Alternative Education during suspensions over 5 days
Students suspended over 5 days must be provided alternative education services. (Doubtful that this is much of a change from current practice.)
Article 2, § 31 Make Up Work
This provision requires that students be allowed the opportunity to complete all assigned work during suspensions. Interestingly the provision puts that responsibility on school administration and not on teachers. The teachers have no responsibility for the providing make up work, reviewing or providing feedback. The section suggests that school administration “designate” a liaison to work with teachers to help with getting the materials and getting feedback from the teachers. This will provide some logistical problems in particular classes where it is not possible to duplicate the course requirements.
Article 2, § 32 Expulsion Notices
Districts will have to identify in writing the nonexclusionary disciplinary practices used prior to expulsion. Also, districts must post the availability of low-cost legal services. This formerly was on the Department’s website, but someone determined this wasn’t enough.
Article 2, § 33 Readmission Plans
This section adds new mandates to readmission plans. Previously the statute listed items that “may” be included in a readmission plan. This was changed to “must include” measures to improve behavior and includes the typical long list of social and emotional learning, counseling, social work services, mental health services, 504 referrals and so one. Typically readmission plans were designed to include restitution, apologies and make up work. This approach differs and appears to be a year long list of interventions rather than the typical steps to bring a student back.
Article 2, § 34 Reporting of Pupil Withdrawal Agreements
Again, all withdrawal agreements must be reported to the department and must include a statement of what nonexclusionary discipline was provided.
Article 2, § 35 Commissioner Guidelines
The Commissioner will create guidelines for nonexclusionary discipline, but school boards will remain the ultimate authority for the adoption of disciplinary policies. The policies must include nonexclusionary discipline practices. MSBA will undoubtedly draft a new policy
This provision requires school districts to review students schoolwork and grades on a quarterly basis if the student is “awaiting enrollment in a new district”. This provision lacks much connection to the actual practice engaged in when a student leaves one district and transfers to another. If the student is no longer enrolled, it would not be possible for the district to assign, review and grade work. If the student is enrolled and is in an alternative education program the district would already be reviewing the work.
Article 2, § 36 Corporal Punishment, Prone Restraint, Physical Holds
This section contains significant new law that prohibits holds on students. It is particularly directed at school resource officers but does include other school employees. This will require specific training for compliance for anyone using a hold.
Article 2, § 37, 38 & 39 Complaint Procedure on Discipline
School districts must include a complaint procedure regarding the application of a school discipline policy. This language allows any member of the “school community” to file the complaint. The complaint procedure is involved, requires a local investigation and the issuance of findings and conclusions. It also requires the use of corrective action plans if the discipline policy has not been implemented appropriately together with training and coaching.
This procedure has the potential to become a new area of practice for school lawyers. This provision will be expensive for school districts to administer and has no guardrails for the filing of frivolous complaints. Significant other complaint procedures are already in existence, (Department of Human Rights; Title IX; harassment; bullying) but the Department thought it was appropriate to add this new section.
The Department brought this provision forward asserting that it received complaints about school discipline.
This provision also prohibits the use of “exclusionary practices” to address attendance and truancy issues. In other words, students cannot be suspended for skipping school.
Article 2, § 40 School Supports—not a mandate… yet
The language of this section speaks for itself. Again, origin unknown, probably Department.
Subd. 5. School supports.
(a) A school board is strongly encouraged to adopt a policy that promotes the understanding in school staff that when a student is unable to meet adult expectations it is often because the student lacks the skills to respond to a situation appropriately. A school district must support school staff in using tiered interventions that teach students skills and prioritize relationships between students and teachers.
(b) A school board is strongly encouraged to adopt a policy that discourages teachers and staff from reacting to unwanted student behavior with approaches that take away the student's opportunity to build skills for responding more appropriately.
Article 2, § 41 Recess
This section prohibits “recess detention” unless the student is “likely to cause serious physical harm to students or staff; the parent agrees; or an IEP team determines that withholding recess is appropriate.
The statute specifically mentions that districts cannot withhold recess because a student has incomplete schoolwork.
The provision has significant data reporting provisions. Districts must compile information “on each recess detention at the end of the school year. This information must include each students age, grade, gender, race or ethnicity or special education status. The provision does not require the data be reported to the Department, only that it is “available to the public upon request.”
In addition, a district cannot withhold or excessively delay a student’s participation in scheduled mealtimes.
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