Educators

It wasn't just Roger Plunkett's unexpected $25,000 prize that had his wife and his staff members giddy.It was also the satisfaction that, just this once, they had finally gotten something past the man who is always on top of things.Plunkett, in his third year as principal of Wilde Lake High School in Columbia, cried yesterday when state Schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick presented him with the coveted Milken National Educator Award in front of a cheering student body."Did you all know about this?"

AT NOON TODAY, people anywhere on the planet with access to the Internet will be able to look at the 1999 results of the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP) in more depth than would have been dreamed possible only a few years ago.They can learn all the major demographic and educational data for any public school in Maryland: enrollment, MSPAP test scores for seven years running, number of children receiving free lunches (a measure of poverty), student mobility rates, dropout rates, number of boys and number of girls, racial statistics, test results by race and gender -- and that's only a part of it.Thanks to computers and the Internet, interested parties can do some sophisticated comparisons.

IF HOWARD COUNTY educators decided to put off redrawing school district boundaries to avoid controversy, it didn't succeed. A chorus of criticism met school authorities' decision to delay drawing new district lines until 2003.County Council President C. Vernon Gray, for one, accused educators of ducking a difficult task. Superintendent Michael E. Hickey said the school planners changed course when they realized they could not simultaneously rezone schools and reduce elementary-school class size, a priority locally and of Gov. Parris N. Glendening.

MARYLAND HAS a new state reading chief.Michele Goady, section chief and specialist in reading and communications skills, is fourth on the bureaucratic ladder of the state Department of Education, behind a branch chief in language development and early learning, an assistant state superintendent for instruction and, of course, Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick.Goady, 44, is bright, energetic and full of ideas for helping to improve reading instruction. But you're not likely to see much of her. Hers is an inside job, focused on Maryland educators.

Putting an end to "social promotion," the state school board would require low-performing Maryland eighth-graders to attend summer school or be barred from entering high school under a sweeping plan proposed yesterday.State educators said perhaps half of the 62,000 students entering seventh grade this fall could end up in mandatory summer school in two years."The rite of passage to go to high school without showing some basic skills and effort is coming to an end in Maryland," said Richard J. Steinke, deputy state superintendent for school improvement.

BOWIE -- Facing its most severe teacher shortage in decades, Maryland must do everything from increasing salaries to boosting respect for the profession, top educators and politicians said yesterday.Other ideas proposed to attract more qualified teachers into Maryland's classrooms include paying teachers to work year-round, expanding support programs for new teachers, and recruiting more middle and high school students to consider teaching as a career."This is not about stuffing a body into a classroom and saying we have met our goal," said Gov. Parris N. Glendening.

THE MORE progress you make, the more you want. Perhaps that's why it is difficult to celebrate advancement. The perpetual nature of progress means that you can't rest on your laurels. As soon as you do, progress slows.That's why educators in Anne Arundel welcome the county's rising scores on the national SATs, but cautiously. Combined math and verbal scores on the college preparatory exams rose an average of five points among graduates in the 1998-1999 school year over the previous year. The seniors averaged 1,061 out of a possible 1,600 total score.

THE MARYLAND State Department of Education sponsored a conference to which it invited 1,200 educators, parents, students and others to discuss "the schools we want" and "to set in motion the wheels of reform."At the gathering in Baltimore, Dan Cheney, a student at North Hagerstown High School, advised that schools should emphasize "constructive and creative thinking rather than memorization."Schools aren't preparing Baltimore pupils "for what business institutions and colleges are wanting," said Derek B. Steward, a student at Forest Park High School, adding that many books are outdated and some films are 10 years old.Participants called for improved teacher-parent relations, more staff development to help teachers understand children, better evaluation of teachers' performance, a change in the way the state counts high school credits, and an extended school year with longer class periods and more audiovisual aids (including up-to-date film strips)

Carroll County's Office of the Maryland Cooperative Extension named Judy Stuart, a financial management specialist, its acting director yesterday.Stuart, 51, has been interim director since David L. Greene retired July 1.She is required to serve at least a year as acting director before the position becomes permanent.It marks the first time the office will be led by someone without expertise in agriculture.Stuart has spent 15 years as the office's family and consumer sciences educator, helping families manage their finances and working in nutrition education and leadership development.

Minority residents and Carroll County educators discussed last night issues affecting diversity in the school system.Sponsored by the Carroll County Branch of the NAACP, "A Partnership in Our Future" is "one step among many that we are taking to improve communication between members of the minority communities and the schools," said Leon B. Dorsey Jr., local chapter president.In Carroll County public schools, slightly more than 2 percent of county teachers and three of the 125 supervisors are African-American.

Hundreds of Maryland educators gathered at a Baltimore County high school Monday with a singular focus: examining what drives students out of school - and what it will take to get them to stay. Even though the state has been recognized nationally for its improvements in student performance, officials said Monday that there is still work to do to lower the dropout rate. "We've reduced the performance gap, but not by nearly enough. We're sending more children of color to college, but not nearly enough," Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown told the crowd attending the dropout prevention leadership summit at Randallstown High School.

Two city educators whose endorsements appear on the back of what federal authorities describe as a gang handbook recommended the leader's teachings to Mayor Sheila Dixon's education liaison. The mayor's office refused to elaborate on the meeting, saying it did not pursue the suggestion and has no knowledge of the book or Eric Brown, 40, the man authorities say is the leader of the Black Guerrilla Family. But the disclosure sheds light on how Brown's efforts might have been disseminated from behind prison walls.

Board certifies 36 county educators The National Board of Professional Teaching Standards has certified 36 Anne Arundel County Public Schools educators, giving them the highest teaching credential in the nation. Educators must complete a rigorous professional development assessment to achieve certification. With these 36 newly certified teachers, the county now has 160 certified educators, or 3.2 percent of its teaching staff, the highest in the state. michaelm_aacps@hotmail.com. Information: 410-643-5666.

Samina and Rashid Chotani's Ellicott City home will be relatively silent in the coming weeks, compared with the past month and a half. That's when up to 42 children gathered each Sunday to prepare for their performance during the third Howard County Public School System Teachers Appreciation Dinner. The event, held Monday at Toby's Dinner Theatre in Columbia, was sponsored by the Howard County Muslim Council. The program, "Islamic Holidays," was an opportunity for educators in the county to learn more about the Muslim faith.

There are halls of fame for everything, from professional sports to fine arts and organizations. So why not a hall of fame for educators? Don Morrison, director of public information for Harford County's public school system, came up with the idea to pay tribute to longtime county educators. "I thought it would be a great way to recognize people who have done great things for the school system," Morrison said. "I also thought it would allow current educators to see what the people before them have done.

Carroll County school officials told a grandmother to stop coming to her grandchild's class after she spent two weeks studying the teacher. A Baltimore County teacher recalls being threatened physically by a parent who happened to be a boxer. And in Howard County, overbearing parents are becoming such a concern that more than half the teachers surveyed say they have experienced "harassing behavior." For the past two years, 60 percent of the teachers responding to a job satisfaction survey conducted by the Howard County Education Association reported that they have been subjected to harassment.

Amy Milauskas and Carol Tortella want to do more for the environment than hang up public-service announcements and oversee traditional recycling campaigns. The two Wilde Lake Middle School teachers were among nearly 40 Howard County educators who attended a training session offered this week by the Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education on how schools can join its Green School Recognition program. Ten Howard County schools are members of the program, which encourages schools to adopt more environmentally friendly practices and infuse environmental content into the curriculum.

Harford Community College is offering the Certified Information Systems Security Professional Certification from 6 p.m. to 10:10 p.m. Mondays Oct. 15 to Dec. 17 at the Higher Education Center @ HEAT in Aberdeen. The test-preparation class will teach students what they need to know to succeed on the CISSP Certification Examination. It is intended for current information security professionals. The certification is managed by the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium/(ISC)

After spending a year immersed in the lives of a group of middle school students and writing a book about that experience, Linda Perlstein had some advice for an audience of Howard County educators. "It is important to understand what it is like to be 12 or 13 now, not what it was like for us to be 12 and 13," she said. While all middle school students face a time of physical, mental and emotional changes, she said, the culture they face today is different from a few decades ago. "The line between child and adult has really blurred," she said, noting how much commercialism is aimed at children today, the intensity of competition they feel and the culture's pervasive sexuality.

Life moved on quickly for one-time Howard County schools Superintendent Michael E. Hickey. He retired from his county position June 30, 2000, and joined the faculty of Towson University the next day. After 16 years at school headquarters in Ellicott City, he is now teaching and advising about 120 educators -- administrators and classroom teachers -- in the advanced courses he leads. Hickey, who started teaching in 1964, says the past 15 years have been his most exciting time in the profession.