When "Free" Means the Opposite
Lessons to be learned from British Christian schools
In 2010 Great Britain was shocked when a Muslim minority took over a public school and transformed it via hiring and curricular changes into an Islamic-oriented school. It was called the Trojan horse scandal.
The Department of Education embarked on a plan to prevent this from happening again. They developed a system of government subsidized "Free Schools" patterned after the American charter school system. Religious and independent schools were encouraged to participate.
The goal was to make the religious and independent schools, which enjoyed excellent reputations, available to all families, and at the same time assisting them to remain "open" in their programs so as to reflect the tolerance and open-discussion values of the broader British nation.
Many schools jumped at the proposal. They were assured that they could participate in the new program and still retain their religious foundations--or so they thought!
However, the October 14, 2014 issue of
The Telegraph
reported that
"a successful Christian school in Great Britain has been warned it is to be downgraded by inspectors and could even face closure after failing to invite a leader from another religion, such as an imam, to lead assemblies, it is claimed." In other word, the DOE had its own Trojan horse!
The article went on to say that this incident "follows complaints from orthodox Jewish schools about recent inspections in which girls from strict traditional backgrounds were allegedly asked whether they were being taught enough about lesbianism, whether they had boyfriends and if they knew where babies came from."
The government inspectors, attorneys representing the Christian school said, warned the head that the school, which was previously rated as 'good' would be downgraded to 'adequate' "for failing to meet standards requiring it to 'actively promote' harmony between different faiths because it had failed to bring in representatives from other religions."
The British DOE defended these actions as necessary to ensure that the "British values" including tolerance, free exchange of ideas, and interaction between different ideologies takes place in all the schools in Great Britain.
The school in question was warned by inspectors
that "even taking children on trips to different places of worship would not be enough to be judged compliant."
And then in February 2015 The Telegraph reported events at another Christian "free" school, where
inspectors reportedly asked 10-year-old children "about lesbian s
ex and transsexuality to test whether it was complying with new requirements to promote 'British values.'"
"They are said to have pressed primary aged girls at Grindon Hall Christian School, in Sunderland, on whether they knew what lesbians 'did' and if any of their friends felt trapped in the 'wrong body'".
"They also allegedly questioned children as young as six about their knowledge of Hindu festivals and the Jewish Torah as part of a special inspection in the wake of the Trojan Horse scandal, involving infiltration by hard-line Muslim groups into schools in Birmingham."
What can we learn from the events in Great Britain? First, central government solutions rarely work. Second, we can be thankful that we have a state legislature that supports our freedoms. Third, Christian schools should resist government subsidies. (Note: All Federal Title programs are federal subsidy programs. However, e-Rate, McKay, Tax Credit, and VPK are not considered federal or state subsidy programs because of the sources of their funding.)
Many formerly religious independent schools in Great Britain joined the "Free School Program."
Now the British department of education is exercising control. SURPRISE!
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October 29, 2015
School Leadership Workshop
1:00-4:00 p.m.
Orangewood Christian
Is Your School Led by a Technician, Manager, or Entrepreneur? And What's the Difference?
- Explore how good leadership practices can positively impact the health of a school. The discussion will center around the ideas presented by Michael Gerber in his book The E-Myth.
- Learn how Service-Oriented Thinking can take your school to new levels
- Workshop led by Tim Euler and Dana James
By following Gerber's principles one CSF school increased enrollment 300+ students within four years.
Gerber Gems:
"Don't work in your school, work on it."
"Every staff person operates as a franchise-maker."
"Raise customers' perceptions higher than expectations."
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SAT Loosing Steam Among Admissions Officers
In the October 15, 2015 issue of
THEJournal, Lisa Schaffhauser reports, "University admissions officers are ho-hum about the essay question. According to a survey of 300 colleges and universities, only a handful of them will expect applicants to submit their score from the new SAT's essay section. . . .
"According to the survey, two-thirds of schools will remain neutral, neither requiring nor recommending it. Nineteen percent will recommend but not require it. Another 13 percent will require it; and 2 percent will only require it for specific programs."
Replacing the former ad lib persuasive essay will be a 650-700 word reading selection, requiring a facts-based essay.
Read the full article
here.
Best STEM Apps for iPhone, iPad
- The Robot Factory K-8 $3.99
- Pixel Press Floors Grades 3-8 Free
- TinkerBox Grades 6-12 Free
- Codecademy: Hour of Code Grades 7-12 Free
All of these apps rated by Graphite.org are available at Apple's App Store
Developing Students as Critical Thinkers
Everyone seems to agree that critical thinking skills are foundational to every student's education, but the pathway toward implementing that goal is a bit murkier. How do we define critical thinking, and how can we assess it? How does critical thinking interface with standards? How can we practically implement critical thinking in classrooms?
Download white paper
here.
Thinking to Learn the Socratic Way
Not all students come to school equally prepared to learn, so a culture of thinking rather than a culture of working must be nurtured. One method for promoting an academic environment of thinking and learning is through Socratic conversation, which encourages curiosity and collaboration rather than judgment and the "right" answer.
Download the white paper
here
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4 Cs
With unlimited access to information, it's more important than ever for teachers to learn how to think critically about the information they encounter. To be fully prepared for college, career, and beyond, students must master critical thinking, creative thinking, collaboration, and communication-collectively known as the 4 Cs.
Download white paper
here.
New rules would eliminate eRate discounts on eMail, voice mail, and website hosting beginning next year
See excellent resource page
here.
Two articles concerning the future of the K-12 library
8 Ways to Keep the K-12 library from becoming obsolete
There is really no reason why school libraries should fear competing sources of information. With the right adjustments, K-12 libraries can work alongside the rest of the data that students access on a daily basis. Remaining relevant is simply a matter of carrying foundational ideals forward and adapting to an ever-changing information culture.
Four Future Trends You Are Bound to See in K-12 Libraries
Modern K-12 public libraries will offer intensely engaging learning environments to all students. How they will go about doing this is less certain, but the principal trends are readily identified in various research efforts.
Connecting the Purpose to the Process of Assessment
When educators have a clear understanding of the purpose and application of each assessment used, they can more effectively connect data to instruction while reducing the time and aggravation associated with testing.
In this white paper, Elizabeth Brooke, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, examines the four main goals of assessment, reviews the purpose and application of most common types of assessments used in instructional settings, and outlines the structure of a data-driven assessment plan.
Complete the form to access the free white paper
here.
National Blue Ribbon Schools
Westminster Academy's Lower School was named a 2014 Blue Ribbon School. No Florida schools were named in 2015. Apply now.
Application Information for 2016
The Council for American Private Education (CAPE) nominates nonpublic schools, including parochial and independent schools. CAPE may nominate up to 50 nonpublic schools. Private schools should visit the CAPE's website for current application requirements.
Timeline: October 30, 2015: School officials must register for the program using the online registration form. Schools not registered by October 30 are not eligible to apply.
Sign up for a free PD Online® Course on formative assessment
With ASCD's PD Online course, "Formative Assessment: Deepening Understanding," available free in October for Connected Educator Month, you'll move beyond the basics of formative assessment to get to the heart of the topic. You'll delve into the kinds of activities that allow students to apply what they've learned, review the variety of formative assessments that enable you to evaluate whether, how much, and what students are learning, and discover how to put student learning data to work.
Register here.
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Fall CSF Meeting
October 29
Orangewood Christian School
9;00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
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Intro of new member schools
Intro of new school heads
Latest legislative updates
Auditor's Report CSF finances
Reports from recent FAANS and NCPSA meetings
Recent updates from collaborative agencies SACS and Middle States
Intro to new School Community Survey developed by SurveyMonkey and Harvard Univ.
So what's new with license exemption and fingerprinting?
Teacher certification & PD updates
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October 29
TWO WORKSHOPS
1:00-4:00 p.m.
For Schools Hosting
PRT Visits
2016-2017
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Susan Taylor will assist schools preparing for their PRT visits so that this summer and next fall will be "polish it up time" and not "hurry, hurry the PRT is coming!!"
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For Early
Childhood Directors
* Annual application process for license exemption
* New DCF accreditation standards, checklists, inspections for Gold Seal
* New CSF checklists for VPK and non VPK inspections
* New CSF requirements for EC directors and teachers for each of the following: (1) CSF accredited and VPK but not Gold Seal; (2) CSF accredited but not VPK; (3) not CSF accredited but license exempt; (4) Gold Seal
* New fingerprint processes for EC * Inspection calendar 2015-2016
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October 30, 2015
Suzanne Bogdan
presenting
Obergefel v Hodges and Your School
9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Orangewood Christian
Maitland
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The recent ruling on same-gender marriage by the Supreme Court presents challenges for our schools in admission, retention, and employment.
As with the regulations that OCR announced in the 1980s, so, too, now with the recent SCOTUS Obergefel v. Hodges,
you cannot depend on an attorney on your Board or other pro-bono legal counsel or free templates found on the web to chart your way through this morass.
Given these challenges, CSF has invited
Suzanne Bogdan a Regional Managing Partner with the national law firm of Fisher & Phillips, to speak to our schools on Friday, October 30th. Suzanne has a long history with CSF and understands the challenges we face.
This is a must see presentation.
Suzanne specializes in private school law.
To cover the cost of inviting Suzanne, we are asking each attending school to pay $75. Feel free to invite non-CSF schools, but our attendance will be limited to the first 100 participants.
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2015-2016 Peer Review Visits
Covenant Christian Palm Bay
CSF/MSA
ProvidenceChristian CapeCoral
CSF
IBCK
Educational Center Kissimmee
CSF/SACS
(Initial)
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