Changing the Puerto Rico Public Education System from the Ground Up

First Edition

Changing the Puerto Rico Public Education System from the Ground Up

By Dr. Edgar León

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Transforming the Schools in Puerto Rico - A National Emergency

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1. The students are the reason for being of the educational system and the teacher their main resource.

Constitution of Puerto Rico -OrganicAct of the Department of Education of Puerto Rico” Act No. 149 of July 15, 1999, as amended) http://www2.pr.gov/presupuestos/Budget_2012_2013/Aprobado201 3Ingles/suppdocs/baselegal_ingles/081/081.pdf

If children are all different from each other, why do we force them to learn the same way, the same material, from book far from their culture, all at the same time without any motivating or interesting ways of teaching? Dr. Edgar León The role of teaching is to facilitate learning. Ken Robinson

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The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.

William Arthur Ward

The Condition of Public Schools in Puerto Rico The overall poorer quality of education in Puerto Rico public schools when compared with their private counterparts has become increasingly evident, as more schools have entered an improvement program because a large proportion of their students failed the Puerto Rican tests on academic performance.

Currently, 85% of the 1,473 public schools are in improvement programs. This year, 60% of students failed the Spanish tests in their respective grades, 61% failed the English tests and 75% failed the mathematics tests. To be in accordance with the federal No Child Left Behind Act, all students in the Puerto Rico public school system must pass the tests by 2014. The system’s reported dropout rate, meanwhile, is about 12%. In general, urban schools, especially those located in poorer neighborhoods, tend to do worse than their counterparts located in more suburban or middle-class areas or in smaller towns.

The Department of Education has a consolidated budget of $3.8 billion, much more than any other government agency, including the Health and the Police departments.

But the Education Department has had three different secretaries over a 22-month period starting in January 2009, and seems most focused on meeting the requirements to qualify for federal funds. Meanwhile, the two main teachers’ unions—The Teachers Federation of Puerto Rico (FMPR by its Spanish acronym) and the Puerto Rico Teachers Association (AMPR by its Spanish acronym) have either expressed reservations, or opposed (in the case of the FMPR) the most recent appointee to head the Education Department.

As of August 2010, public schools had 436,741 students from kindergarten through to the high-school level, roughly twice the number of students attending private schools. In October 2010, more than 200,000 students were enrolled in 1,078 licensed pri-

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vate schools ranging from preschools to those that offer classes at the high-school level.

Ref. Caribbean Business Magazine, Sunday, September 21st, 2014 We will attempt to present a snapshot at what has been observed and documented during two years of work and consulting with many schools around the Island. Having the inside look at what really goes on in public schools and the day to day environment, the teacher interaction, student and parent reality, the influence of central administration, the lack of data organization and security at all levels was an amazing experience. By interacting with teachers, students parents and administrators, we have witnessed some barbaric bureaucratic practices and student abandonment that is definitely criminal. Every problem has a solution if we are all willing to make it happen. Leaders like Ghandi, Luther King and Cesar Chaves had the drive to make these changes during their time. Do people from Puerto Rico have the duty to make things change regardless of political and private interests? We must have all readers answer that question.

Puerto Rico is considered the Grece of the Caribbean because of its horrible economic status and huge government debt. Multifactorial issues have negatively impacted public schools over a period of more than forty years. Result of the tug of war between the two main political parties have also torn the fiber of

what was left of a country focus to improve. Some people believe that The US Congress will bail out the Island. This is far from the truth because other mainland states like Louisiana and California are also hurting for money. In other words, other states must come first because they have congressmen who can vote and Puerto Rico does not.

North American public schools are not doing that great either.

“America’s universities have been taken over by a burgeoning class of administrators and staffers determined to transform colleges into top-heavy organizations run by inept bureaucrats,” wrote Benjamin Ginsberg, professor of political science at John Hopkins University and author of the book “The Fall of the Faculty: The Rise of the All-Administrative University and Why It 3

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Matters.” is the time to uncover all the real situations and conditions of our educational system. Now is the time to recommend positive changes.

The author seems to agree that the same destructive approach has been applied to public school systems. Millions of dollars have been spent to develop hundreds of plans. These plans have been written and submitted but very few implemented at the school level. The reason being is that every four years there is a change in government administration that puts everything in hold and also shifts the priorities in all agencies.

There has been an attempt by past government administrations to build new schools and computer laboratories. But, they forgot about increasing the per pupil amount for learning services to children. They also forgot that students are dropping out like flies. Now there are new school buildings that are half empty. Just by having new buildings is not a warranty that students will start learning. The money had to be placed directly for quality teaching regardless of the building.

Finland, the best education system in the world, went over a huge transformation in their educational system. This was more a national effort in which all citizens understood that education was the only way the country could get out of economic depression. They also changed their mentality by recognizing the teaching profession as one of major importance. In Finland, the transformation included selecting only the top 10% of

their college entry exam to the teaching programs at the university level. Teachers have a rigid curriculum closely compared to the medical students in which their teaching are or content is the most important part of their curriculum. In the US and Puerto Rico those who enter the teacher education programs generally are from the bottom 40% that are accepted and usually the profession is chosen because of failing in another degree. It is also known that the courses are highly geared to education courses.

Puerto Rican youth face numerous social and economic barriers and have been concentrated in high schools where students have less than a 50/50 chance of graduating on time.

These schools also spent less-per-pupil, were more segregated, and more overcrowded when compared with their affluent, private school counterparts.

Kids are disengaged from public education, they don’t enjoy it, they feel they don’t get any benefit from it and more that 80 percent of those who come to first grade drop out before they graduate from senior year in high school.

Kids that are sitting day after day in a classroom trying to learn a very limited curriculum based on limited standards are prone to not pay attention. Many of them are being diagnosed attention deficit disorder. They are suffering from childhood. Kids need to move, need to draw, need to sing, need to perform. All these Physical Education, Arts and Music learning activities 4

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have been taken away. It also creates a discipline problem among the most creative children who want to lead learn on their own but are put a straight jacket as soon as the arrive.

Economic Factor Promotes Immigration

Teaching is a creators profession and not a follow a recipe written by others. Students are naturally curious, but if the system comes with boring sets of tasks that are not engaging for the student and also does not make them curious, it is prone to fail as a system.

Teachers are not in the building just to pass information. This is not teaching. Teaching has to have learning as a end result.

Learning happens when the teacher mentors, provokes and spark curiosity.

The whole point about education is learning. If there is no learning, there is no education. If kids do not pass the achievement tests, they have not learned. If they get an F in the class, they have not learned. Maybe the teachers are told to just pass the information but they were not interested because it was not relevant to them.

Teachers must awake the powers of creativity in all children.

School must be a place to think, use our imagination and problem solve.

Puerto Ricans have left the financially troubled island for the U.S. mainland this decade in their largest numbers since the Great Migration after World War II, citing job-related reasons above all others.

U.S. Census Bureau data show that 144,000 more people left the island for the mainland than the other way around from mid2010 to 2013, a larger gap between emigrants and migrants than during the entire decades of the 1970s, 1980s or 1990s.

This escalated loss of migrants fueled the island’s first sustained population decline in its history as a U.S. territory, even as the stateside Puerto Rican population grew briskly.

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The search for economic opportunity is the most commonly given explanation for moving by island-born Puerto Ricans who relocated to the mainland from 2006 to 2013, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data.1 A plurality (42%) gave job-related reasons for moving stateside, compared with 38% who gave family-related reasons. Among all immigrants from foreign countries who migrated over the same time period, a similar share gave job-related reasons (41%), while 29% said they migrated for family reasons.

Mexican-b0rn immigrants were even more likely to cite job-

related reasons (62%), while 25% cited family reasons.

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According to a 2012 report on the Puerto Rican economy by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, “Puerto Rico’s economic progress has stalled: the Island has been operating below its potential for some time and the competitiveness of the economy continues to deteriorate.” The report cited persistently high unemployment and a low labor force participation rate, as well as heavy reliance on transfer payments such as food stamps (Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 2012)

This must not be the only way schools work. They must just be diagnostic tests to help teachers fine tune students learning.

http://www.pewhispanic.org/2014/08/11/puerto-rican-populationdeclines-on-island-grows-on-u-s-mainland/ The state of emergency and urgency is real. The immediate transformation is needed now. Our children need the change now, need the teachers every day starting now, need a new substitute teacher system now, need all the resources shifted to the schools directly for student learning.

Standardized Testing Must Not be the Motive for Schools Many people talk about teaching but not about learning. Teachers teach but they must also be aware if students are learning.

If they are not, thats when the teacher uses her skills to use a different way or method to teach those students. Standardized test must support learning and not be the motive for teaching.

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Section 1

Transforming Puerto Rico Schools Eight Steps For Transforming The Schools 1. Close the central office and start from scratch!

Close the central office and start from scratch!

If we look at other countries like South Korea, Singapore, Finland, China, Germany, Japan, UK, Canada, Ireland and Poland we may notice that these countries have been making fast radical changes to their educational systems no matter what.

2. Rethink the delivery system focusing on the student and clear learning outcomes.

3. Cut all duplication of effort immediately.

4. Eliminate politics from the education system 5. Bullying and Cyber Crime in the schools.

6. Secure High Quality Teachers 7. Improve College Education 8. Establish Lifelong Education Programs The more government bureaucrats get involved in education, the worse it gets. Education needs to be left to teachers and learners. They must focus on learning and help children.

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For every educational problem, a committee is assigned, a report is written and nothing is done. This approach to problem solving is proven to be a failure.

You cannot have a great system without braking it to pieces and transforming it using the future global economy as a focus.

cation regional offices around the Island that only exist to spend lots of educational money, delay or prevent the delivery of educational services for students. It requires new realistic and cero base budget for all units. Transformation requires a new teacher contract with an absenteeism clause. You are absent, you are at risk of losing your job!

There must be a swift change to run education as a business.

You have to provide a product that is education. You have to deliver education as a quality product for children. You need highly qualified managers who make sure that quality is there and if not they have to act quickly. This author observed when stu-

United States is number 14 in its international achievement tests after a whole bunch of countries. All efficient systems require rapid change. According to people the author interviewed over several years, it requires doing away with highly paid politically tied bureaucrats, inept administrators, secretaries with repetitious meaningless jobs, paper pushers, technician, facilitators, family of politicians, and family entitlements to the jobs of mom and dad have had in the past are hand me down to their siblings. Transformation requires closing down hundreds of edu9

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dents were promoted with two F’s at the end of the year. The system needs to immediately stop the illegal practice of promoting students who do not have the skills for promotion to the next grade.

Most of the countries who have increased their educational system efficiency is because they have increased the state allocation of money to the schools and not to the administration of programs and external evaluation programs. Student learning time on task has increased, teachers are only doing academics and not administrative or discipline duties, teachers are constantly trained and coached in the classroom by content experts and teaching methods. Students are having fun with new material and applying blended learning. Teachers are not pushed every year form their jobs position like they do in Puerto Rico. Teachers in Finland stay put in their schools for 5 to 10 years.

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This will for sure force continuity of services and keep students on task. Student and teacher absenteeism must be dealt with swiftly in their new contract. Qualified substitute teachers are brought in quickly and given the absent teachers pay for that specific day. Substitute teacher systems are not part of the Department of Education bureaucratic system. They are managed locally and controlled by local school directors.

The

Puerto Rico needs to quickly change its straight jacket laws and department of education letters to create a new flexible and workable substitute teacher pool to cover up for all absent teachers. Laws in Puerto Rico have to be changed quickly to help our children so that they can change the country! That is what lawmakers are supposed to do. They have to study The Organic Department of Education Law 1990 and change the content which prevent students from learning. The law includes a long bureaucratic process used for teacher approval that must be changed to help students. Ref: Ley Núm. 68 del 28 de agosto de 1990, Efectiva el 28 de agosto de 1990, según enmendada (3 L.P.R.A. sec. 391 y ss).

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Puerto Rico Secretary of Education in his goodwill effort for making swift changes sometimes writes a letter “Carta Circular” on the attempt of making it similar to a state law. This futile effort just doesn’t have the same punitive effects for non compliance because the law requires approval from both chambers and the governor.

Other states like Michigan have had substitute teacher programs endorsed and managed by their state teachers association. This completely automated system has worked very well in coordination with all school districts. Students have the benefit of teacher continuity and their academic scores are either maintained or increased. Ref: http://www.inghamisd.org/district-support-services/hr/substitutet eaching

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According to PEARSON - The Learning Curve 2014 - The New Skills The World is Looking For Are The Following:

East Asian nations continue to outperform others. South Korea tops the rankings, followed by Japan (2nd), Singapore (3rd) and Hong Kong (4th). All these countries' education systems prize effort above inherited 'smartness', have clear learning outcomes and goalposts, and have a strong culture of accountability and engagement among a broad community of stakeholders.

We must start changing our way of educating our children. Under developed countries have had rapid success in a short period of time. Puerto Rico needs the change now in order to compete now and in the future. Transformation must happen quickly and without hesitation. In the past, we have listened to teachers unions, private consultants representing different companies

with fingers tied to book sales, equipment corporations and other materials. Ref. (http://english.mest.go.kr/web/1701/site/contents/en/en_0213.js p) It is suggested that the Department of Education start publishing our own electronic books in Puerto Rico so that all material include the cultural aspects that our students are lacking. Universities in Puerto Rico, college professors, and teachers can serve as experts and authors for these new less expensive and more attractive to students books and multimedia. This will reduce the high cost of purchasing books from private companies that are not necessarily updated every year. it will also give electronic books access to every child 24 hours a day 7 days a week in English and Spanish.

STEM - Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics skills can be improved quickly by using a new school model where children are motivated to learn, publicity at all levels (television, radio, movies, videos) to promote country pride and ownership in the new countries education focus.

Eliminate Politics from the Education System For half a Century politics have infected the Department of Education. This department has been the local employment agency 13

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for all people who worked on the political campaign regardless of their academic background.

According to several interviews done by the author, the Puerto Rico department of education suffers from political job placements. Both parties have their internal representatives that not only find jobs for them but also create a thick layer of bureaucracy for the system.

In other countries, real transformation is done by closing the system and looking at student needs before creating a new central system. It also looks for automation of all repetitive menial paper pushing jobs. Most of the time, the only way to increase efficiency is to send all services and money to the schools.

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Section 2

Things to do

Digitize all student and teacher records All paper must go!!!!

Transformation Steps 1. Digitize all records, get a scanner save a school.

2. Create a new friendly service system.

3. Downsize the district structure to 5 districts.

4. Downsize administration to 10% of the budget.

5. 90% of the budget must go to student academics.

6. Teach online courses, eliminate remedial classes.

7. Use blended learning for content delivery.

8. Write grants to improve schools.

One of the factors things are not done on time is because of all paperwork that needs to identified, changed, saved, printed and filed!

9. Teach how read, speak, write and compute.

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By observing and serving as a consultant for schools for a year we are aware that education is a paper producer because all education plans, exams, quizzes, papers, reports, and general administrative requirements from the Department of Education from all government agents such as Department of Social Services, Food Services, Court Systems, Health Department, and many more. All this paper adds up to waste of resources and time for educating our students. Support services are needed but they must not hinder the time used for educating our students. These exterior agencies must not hinder the educational time needed by the students. That work must be done after students leave the building.

trying learning how to use the latest technology, plugging their computers, using the digital projector and preparing their powerpoint presentations during class time.

Create a new and friendly data management and service system.

According to all teachers interviewed, quality Internet service in Puerto Rico classrooms is not existent. Most of the schools do not have internet in the classroom nor computers in every classroom. The amount of wifi or cable internet signal is so low that students can barely send an email. The system also has a security system that prevents students and teachers from using any exterior online resource. What it does’nt do is prevent hackers around the world from stealing all student academic and health information that could later be used for committing fraud.

I have witnessed hundreds of cases in which technology hinders education. Teachers spend important class time

Teachers are forced to save their educational resources and files on DVD’s and sometimes use that as their multi-

Principals must responsible for school management and paperwork, teacher supervision, school bus drivers, and maintaining school facilities; the vice principal may assist the principal with these duties.

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media option. They are also forced to take their computer equipment home because it could be stolen or damaged in school during night time or weekends.

Downsize the 100 plus school districts to 5 districts

tially in manpower and administration but also rent, electrical bills, water, equipment, utilities and maintenance becomes a huge and increasing expense that takes from academic moneys for students. There must be a streamline low cost unique transformed computer management system to take back the control of orders, contracts, other expenditures.

For the federal government, Puerto Rico is just one school district. Locally, the Department of Education created over 100 school districts. The Puerto Rico school system has over a hundred school districts and regional offices around the Island. They practically have administration offices in each of the 78 cities. Some cities may have five centers duplicating the work and increasing State paperwork flow to the cenDept. tral office.

It could be compared as a giant octopus with tentacles all over the island. This old model of hundreds of Central, Regional and Local Offices doing business not only increases costs substan17

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Every year these expensive old convoluted over 100 school district systems increase while the per student allocation decreases. Schools do not have updated and uniform computer software, operational systems or network protection.

By transforming the model to just five (5) school districts - one district in San Juan, Mayaguez, Arecibo, Caguas, Ponce and will substantially reduce administrative costs, increase speed of service delivery, eliminate duplication

of effort, extra slow decision making and confusion.

tance. TODAYS MODEL IS TOP HEAVY, GROWING EVERY YEAR AND VERY EXPENSIVE TO MAINTAIN.

Redistribution of staff is possible by moving people to school buildings to help our students with tutoring, special programs, social services, food, and parent assis-

If the decision is made to close, downsize and transform the San Juan Central Department of Education Offices, all schools and the 40,887 teachers and 437,807 stu18

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dents will not even notice it or be affected directly. By making this simple change, hundreds of millions of dollars will be saved and be available for teaching students the basic skills. The Department of Education flowchart may have hundreds of hidden paper pushing job positions that drain academic services to children. These paper pushing politically tied jobs are not directly related to educating students in the school. Parents have said that public education must not be a job creation heaven for political parties in the Island. Every dollar must be used directly for teaching and learning.

Downsize administration to 10% of the total budget We searched close to ten hours on the internet looking for the amount of money spent on administration of the Puerto Rico State Department of Education Central Office. This information was never found. The information found was broken by bits a pieces in a manner that we could not make any sense out of it.

At the college level, most of the school administration courses affirm that an efficient school system uses only

about ten percent (10%) of the budget or less for administration. It is also noticed that efficient school districts around the world are highly automated, do not depend on paper and are fast delivering educational services to children.

It is highly anticipated that Puerto Rico is spending close to 45% percent or more in administration and none educational activities. In other words, funds earmarked for education and learning are not going directly to schools around the Island. A hefty chunk is staying in San Juan’s Central Office. It is also noticed that there are over 100 school districts around the Island where top heavy staff systems, duplication of paperwork and lack of building maintenance is happening right now.

The other challenge we have encountered is that Puerto Rico is not keeping or reporting their per pupil expenditure to any sources like the World Bank or the US Department of Education. When the author checked, the per pupil amount spent had not been reported for 2013 or 2014. Meanwhile, California reported close to $11,755 per student while states from the south are close to $9,000 per student. The sad part of all this is that the Is19

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land of Puerto Rico is not reporting their per student allocation statistics. The author suspects that it is a lot lower than $5,000.00 per student.

Some teachers have recommended that after reporting the per pupil amount, when it happens, the Inspector Generals federal government officials must hire an independent federal contractor to confirm and certify their expenditure findings.

As an alternative to this method the Schools in Puerto Rico may quickly provide online courses 24/7 for all students who need to upgrade their skills. They may also use the services of Michigan State University which has the best online education program in the nation. http://education.msu.edu/academics/online

Teach online courses, eliminate remedial summer easy fix exams The author observed that a large group of high school students fail mathematics and science classes during the school year. This may be due to highly absenteeism and lack of student motivation. As a rule, these students who have flunked their classes wait for summer to take high school equivalency exams in one day and they are given their course grades. Most of them get an A after they take their easy exams.

Every state has several sources that are accredited. For example, Florida Virtual School offers this service at a very low cost to other states. This could be an extra in20

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come for the state because courses could be sold to their states or countries around the world.

ware and software that may make it very difficult to standardize these factors.

The local Department of Education must create the New Puerto Rico Virtual School K-12 in coordination with the University of Puerto Rico to make sure all standards are met. The platform could be a free source like WizIQ to deliver content and teacher instructions. The state may identify the best teachers around the Island and transmit or record each class to be aired at a specific time after class or be available in youtube during the day once it is recorded. The use of cell phones and mobile devices need to be explored also in this effort to help students improve their academic skills.

Use blended learning for content delivery There are 10 instructional strategies which have been effectively used in the traditional classroom an can likewise be used in the online classroom environment.

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We have observed that teachers and staff are afraid and also frustrated with school technology devices. Internet availability is also a crucial factor that hinders the use of technology in the classroom. At this moment, schools do not have any or it is very limited and content is blocked by the state. Computers may be available for student and teacher use on a limited basis in those schools with a library o computer center. There is a mixture of hard21

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Learning Contracts Learning contracts connect educational needs to individual student needs and are useful when there is diversity in learner needs and interests in a class. A learning contract is a formal agreement written by a learner which details what will be learned, how the learning will be accomplished, the period of time involved, and the specific evaluation criteria to be used in judging the completion of the learning. Learning contracts help the educator and learner share the responsibility for learning.

2. Small Group Work

they can be exposed to a variety of viewpoints on a given subject.

There are many small group formats that encourage and provide opportunities for interaction.

3. Discussion Project Discussion is the instructional strategy most favored by adult learners because it is interactive and encourages active, participatory learning. The discussion format encourages learners to analyze alternative ways of thinking and acting and assists learners in exploring their own experiences so they can become better critical thinkers. The discussion is often the heart of an online course 4. Lecture

In small groups learners can discuss content, share ideas, and solve problems. They present their own ideas as well as consider ideas put forth by others. In this way,

The lecture is one of the most frequently used instructional methods in adult education. It assumes the educator to be the expert and is an efficient way of disseminat22

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ing information. Most educators agree that the purpose of lectures is to lay foundations as the student works through the subject, and good lecturers know their students and develop their lectures according to the students' needs. Most importantly, lectures are most effective when used in combination with other instructional strategies.

5. Collaborative Learning Collaborative Learning is the process of getting two or more students to work together to learn. Students often work in small groups composed of participants with differing ability levels and using a variety of learning activities to master material initially developed by an instructor, or construct knowledge on substantive issues. Each member of the team is responsible for learning what is taught and for helping teammates learn.

6. Self-Directed Learning Self-directed learning is learning initiated and directed by the learner and can include self-paced, independent,

and individualized learning as well as self-instruction.Whatever terminology is used, selfdirected learning places the responsibility for learning directly on the learner. Learners who take the initiative in learning and are proactive learners learn more and better than passive learners (reactive learners). Proactive learners enter into learning more purposefully and with greater motivation. They also tend to retain and make use of what they learn better and longer than reactive learners. The independent learner is one who is more involved and active within the learning process 7. Case Study The case study is a teaching strategy which requires learners to draw upon their past experiences, is participatory and has action components which are links to future experience. The key to a successful case study is the selection of an appropriate problem situation which is relevant both to the interests and experience level of learners and to the con23

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cepts being taught. The case report should include facts regarding the problem, the environmental context, and the characters of the people involved in the case. It should be factual, but also contain the opinions and views of the people involved. Learners should have access to the problem solution, but not until they have reached their own conclusions and can then compare their results with the actual decision taken to resolve the problem.

8. Mentorship The aim of mentorship is to promote learner development drawing out and giving form to what the student already knows. A mentor serves as a guide rather than a provider of knowledge and serves the function of introducing students to the new world, interpreting it for them, and helping them to learn what they need to know to function in it. Mentors in education teach by interpreting the environment and modeling expected behaviors.

They also support, challenge, and provide vision for their students 9. Forum

The forum is an open discussion carried on by one or more resource people and an entire group. The moderator guides the discussion and the audience raises and discusses issues, make comments, offers information, or asks questions of the resource person(s) and each other. There are two variations of the forum: the panel and the symposium.

10. Write grants to improve schools Every teacher must have the skills to write small or large educational grants. Colleges and universities must teach this skill to their teachers. This must be paired up with school research projects.

There are local clubs, agencies, foundations, and private businesses that provide funding for the community development. school districts must have regular staff development workshops to identify resources and grant RFP’s 24

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for teachers to request extra funds. Some of the grant sources are http://www.gatesfoundation.org/es http://www.neafoundation.org/pages/grants-to-educators http://www.publicschoolfoundation.org/grantsandscholar ships http://prfaa.pr.gov/pr_e_grantsnd2.asp http://www.fundsnetservices.com/searchresult/6/Educati on-&-Literacy-Grants.html

11.Teach how to read, write, speak and compute

The United States Department of Education gave Puerto Rico $153.6 million dollars to turn around its persistently Lowest-Achieving Schools. This was on top of the billions received each year. The schools are listed as at risk schools in the following address. http://www2.ed.gov/programs/sif/summary2010/prapp10 .pdf State exams reflect that public school students are not proficient on all basics skills. We must go back to teaching the basic skills from K to 12th grade. For years, teachers are passing students from grade to grade without having the skills. This not only hinders the school system but also the entire country. Inflating grades and passing students is the comfortable way to get rid of the problem child who does not behave in class.

It is also a compounding effect the inclusion of special education students in the regular classroom. For decades, The Puerto Rico Department of Education has been under investigation for several non compliance issues and also for misidentification of students into the special education program. Close to 40% of Puerto Rico 25

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public school students have been identified to receive some sort of special education services. This not only hinders the funds available for those who really need the staff, transportation and equipment.

The best solution with immediate results will be to identify a reputable university like Michigan State University, Berkeley, MIT, Harvard, Penn State and others in the US mainland and privatize all administrative and educational staff monitoring duties. School directors must deal with academic implementation of the program and not 100 percent with discipline and central office reports issues.

For more than 50 years, Puerto Rico has failed its own people by not providing quality educating and administrative services.

Local politics has poisoned the mammoth educational system and it keeps losing ground. By firing staff and administrative personnel and putting someone new every 4 years only damages the continuity and quality of all programs.

Teachers need to be kept in the same school for at least 10 years so that the educational program will have continuity. Every year there is a game of musical chairs where thousands of teachers move from one school to another. This is due to a lottery system and hundreds of itinerant teachers in the system.

Once again, technology can help students learn and practice the basic skills, read, write, speak and compute.

It is time to help all children and families of the poor families so that they can have a fair chance to succeed. It s time to stop passing students who do not have the skills to be promoted, stop the drug selling in front of secondary schools without any positive results, overloading school directors with administrative meaningless paperwork and wasting millions of dollars in private companies for one day workshops.

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Centralized Systems Don’t Work

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Section 1

PR Must Decentralize Education!

teachers.7 Deliberate decentralization of education in Finland has produced one of the foremost systems in the world.

Ref: http://www.hslda.org/commoncore/topic6.aspx

Sir Ken Robinson addresses the fundamental economic, cultural, social and personal purposes of education. He argues that education should be personalized to every student's talent, passion, and learning styles, and that creativity should be embedded in the culture of every single school. Centralizing education belongs to the past industrial model. Now it is very different and it must change.

Countries that are doing better are doing away with models of the past. They are thinking about moving children forward fast to help the country. Funding is placed in schools and given directly to children services and learning. Schools are also requiring more from teachers but also paying more once the classroom improves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEsZOnyQzxQ Finland’s students topped the PISA charts in 2000 and 2006, and ranked in the top echelon in 2003 and 2009.6 Finland has rejected heavy standardized testing since the national assessment movement swept through the world in the 1990s. It refuses to rank its teachers according to the test results of their students; its National Board of Education even closed its inspectorate in 1991. Finnish teachers design their own courses and spend about 80% more time teaching classes than American

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The success of homeschooling in America offers further domestic proof of the benefits of decentralized education. In 2013, Robert Kunzman of Indiana University and Milton Gaither of Messiah College evaluated multiple studies and showed that homeschool students score above average in reading and English Arts. They noted that homeschool students transition into postsecondary life much more successfully than public school students.The evidence of one size fits, centralized system directed by bureaucrats and politicians is not the antidote for Puerto Rico Education. Only the individuality and efficient innovation found in a decentralized approach can help revive our failing system.

Decentralization approaches taken by countries may indicate some useful lessons, especially in relation to staff professionalization, authority structures and responsibilities, accountability system, and capacity development. For instance, experiences of Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia point out that schoollevel recruitment enhances teacher professionalism.

As part of the education sector reform, decentralization of education systems has potential to improve education outcomes for students if it is designed appropriately for the specific country context and according to key successful principles. Three key areas for successful decentralization are (1) ensuring equity, (2) building accountability, and (3) developing local capacity across the system at all levels, especially at lower level.

Ref:http://www.unescobkk.org/education/news/article/decentrali zation-as-an-education-system-reform Some citizens and politicians believe that by changing the state secretary of education, the system will improve somehow. It is a fact that one person at the top have never been able to improve student scores in a local school. The work and responsibility is by dedicated teachers, motivated students and parents that are involved everyday in school activities and learning.

Department of Education causes Payment to outside contractors are delayed as a norm.

After studying the issues, the writer has noticed that there has been a pattern of paying for services with 3 to 4 months delay.

It is imperative to notice that the electronic transfer for funds come from state and federal agencies. These are always paid on time.

The only reason that payments are delayed are multifactorial.

The lack of an efficient cloud based comprehensive accounting system, heavy paperwork between multiple office officials before payment puts a heavy burden on the process. Signatures of bureaucrats, retyping orders, dealing with back orders, heavy backlog are several we may mention.

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Decentralizing Trends For the Future Site-based management has been adopted by many school systems to increase school autonomy and to share decisionmaking with teachers and sometimes parents, students, and community members. Spurred by a growing body of research from the private sector on the benefits of participatory decisionmaking, school leaders believe that SBM is a promising strategy for improving the quality of educational decision-making because it engages those closest to the action (Cohen, 1989).

Site-based management typically involves the formation of a school-based committee or council that, through legislative or board action, is empowered to make decisions. These decisions usually fall within three areas: budget, personnel and staffing, and curriculum/programs (Clune & White, 1988).

The scope of local empowerment varies greatly across school districts. For example, in Chicago, all schools are governed by Local School Councils (LSCs), each comprising two teachers, four parents, two community representatives, and a principal.

The LSCs have broad authority over budgeting, principal selection, and curriculum and program selection. Detroit's Empowered Schools employ School Empowerment Councils/Teams. In these schools, students, parents, administrators, and staff control the use of allocated funds, exercise initiative and independence in determining and executing instructional improvements, expand student selection, define the types of support services

needed, and choose the providers of those services. In Des Moines, school-based management through shared decisionmaking is evolving through a plan that establishes schoolbased councils empowered to develop a school improvement plan and make decisions about curriculum, scheduling, and staff development.

Under site-based management, teachers are asked to assume leadership roles in staff development, mentoring, and curriculum development, and become key partners in school and staff supervision and evaluation. Such programs are designed to elevate the professionalism of teachers, increase morale, add prestige and recognition, and provide ongoing opportunities for professional development. Teacher collaboration is a major theme in the implementation of site-based management.

One characteristic that sharply distinguishes one district's implementation of site-based management from that of another is the extent to which parents and community are involved as true partners in school decision-making. In Rochester, NY, schoolbased planning committees give teachers a dominant voice in decision-making. By contrast, in Chicago, decentralization aims to engage parents and community members, along with teachers and principals, as major decision-makers in school change.

Building on school restructuring models pioneered in Dade County, FL, and Hammond, IN, school reform in Chicago is the

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most comprehensive version of community involvement in critical school-based decision-making.

Downsizing central administration seeks to eliminate unnecessary layers of bureaucracy, untangle chains of command, and link greater percentages of fiscal and human resources directly with children at the school-site level. In Cincinnati, the superintendent, with recommendations from the business community, has reduced the number of central administrators from 127 to 62 (Shanker, 1992). Teachers' union officials hope that some of the money saved will go to school programs designed to address discipline problems, such as in-school suspension centers. However, for a scaled-down central administration to become an accountable service center, it must redefine its roles and align its functions with the needs of local schools and communities. Too often, districts adopt the "service center" rhetoric without building the capacities and creating the structures needed to transform the central administration into a responsive team that provides timely, appropriate support to local schools and communities.

Curriculum innovation responds to the diversity and complexity of urban areas and gives local schools the flexibility to customize their educational programs to meet the unique needs of their students. The ultimate goal of curriculum innovation is to promote quality and equality for all students through curriculum, instruction, and assessment initiatives that are based on re-

search and proven practice. Several examples of curriculum innovation include mathematics/science academies, Comer schools, foreign language academies, Afrocentric schools, Paideia (collaborative) schools, dual-language programs, and schools that emphasize home-school partnerships and integrated services.

In some districts, the emergence of curriculum innovation is linked to magnet schools as part of a district wide desegregation and equity plan. In other districts, curriculum innovation is linked to a choice plan wherein schools are encouraged to develop a specialized focus and compete for students in an open market system. For example, in Indianapolis, the superintendent has launched the Select Schools Plan. Under this controlled choice plan, each school develops a particular focus; parents then are able to shop around the district and enroll their children in the school most suited to their needs. It is believed that the Select Schools Plan will reconnect the community and the schools and give parents a say in what programs are provided for their children. Yet another version of curriculum innovation, Charter Schools, is emerging in several cities and states (e.g., Philadelphia, Minnesota, and California) as an outgrowth of school choice. (For a discussion of Charter Schools, see the Policy Briefs on Charter Schools available from NCREL.) http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/envrnmnt/go/go0dcent.ht m 32

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Section 2

The Common Core, What for?

The Common Core - College Career Ready Standards We imagine that this move will automatically change anything in our educational system. At least it is putting a focus on why we are teaching the new content.

Puerto Rico is pushing our high school students to go on to a 2 year career instead of offering and expanding their opportunities. Students need to be taught how to manage a business, be thier own boss, think new ideas to improve old products, develop new products to help peole, create new alternatives for the aging population.

2 year college shops are popping up to take student college fund federal money and leave them with an incomplete college degree with little value. and low paying jobs.

The Common Core State Standards call for students to develop digital media and technology skills. One way to help them reach that goal: incorporate gadgets they’re already familiar with — cell phones, tablets, and smartphones — into their learning environment. Teachers must start integrating these tools in the classroom.

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Special Education Brutal Experience

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The crisis echoes the marathon class-action case filed by in 1980 by Rosa Lydia VĂŠlez, the parent of a special needs daughter who filed suit against the commonwealth government in federal court because of the lack of services. But things are even worse now!

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Section 2 There Are No Special Education Services!!

What is IDEA?#

The Need For Fast Quality Service 1. The urgent need for quality identification and compliance.

2. Implementing technology for special education.

3. Revamping the ordering of equipment process.

4. Transportation needs to be immediately privatized from the US mainland.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the nation’s federal special education law that ensures public schools serve the educational needs of students with disabilities. IDEA requires that schools provide special education services to eligible students as outlined in a student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP). IDEA also provides very specific requirements to guarantee a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) for students with disabilities in the least restrictive environment (LRE). FAPE and LRE are the protected rights of every eligible child, in all fifty states and U.S. Territories.

IDEA requires every state to issue regulations that guide the implementation of the federal law within the state. At a minimum, state regulations must provide all of the protections contained in IDEA. Some states may have additional requirements that go beyond the federal law. Many states offer handbooks or guides to help parents understand these state-specific policies and procedures.(ref:http://ncld.org/disability-advocacy/learn-ld-laws/i dea/what-is-idea)

5. The need to transform special education

The urgent need for quality identification and compliance Puerto Rico seems to have a special education student misidentification problem. Recently, U.S. District Judge José A. Fusté has lashed out at the Puerto Rico Education Department, 36

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saying it isn’t a “secret” that the island’s public school system is “deficient, incomplete, shameful, negligent, regrettable and dishonorable.”.

Ref:http://www.caribbeanbusiness.pr/news/fuste-pr-public-scho ols-shameful-100873.html Puerto Rico is the state champion of special education non compliance. The amount of discrimination, abandonment, abuse, lack of attention, ignorance, ineptitude, disorganized, top heavy administration, lack of reasonable accommodations, ramps, special equipment and a mile more gives Puerto Rico Department of Education this shameful prize.

Recently,the federal agency flagged delays in the delivery of learning technology such as computers and microphones to assist students with special needs. Ref: http://www.caribbeanbusinesspr.com/news/federal-govt-faults-p r-special-education-100197.html The crisis echoes the marathon class-action case filed by in 1980 by Rosa Lydia Vélez, the parent of a special education recipient daughter who filed suit against the commonwealth government in federal court because of the lack of services. That case led to hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines for the Education Department for non-compliance with improvements stipulated in court-brokered accords.

Public and private college and universities can take a lead on this crusade to help parents of special education students get trained periodically and also monitor and deliver special services. The law does not force services to be given only in schools. Services can be conducted in the least restrictive environment.

The non compliance and law violations continue due to the lack of information, convoluted top heavy administration and the practically non service delivery to all students.

For example, the deaf people in Puerto Rico are supposed to have by law interpreters available in all government agencies, hospitals, banks, parks, and many others. As a result, deaf students are that last ones to find out whats going on, they usually are late for any services available to them.

It is extremely urgent that the US Department of Education stop funding to the Puerto Rico State Department of Education until immediate takeover happens. They must reassign on a emergency basis all Special Education Services in Puerto Rico. The US Department of Education must hire an outside non political agency to deliver services without the top heavy central administration and corrupt system it is faced with at this time. It is not believed that the state at this time can run a special education program.

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If funds are or have been misused, then the state must be held accountable in federal court so that they return each dollar to the federal government to mitigate these damages to all students.

other benefits. Staff that is involved in the certification of special education students must be investigated and monitored.

Psychologists, therapists, social workers and medical professionals must be monitored for a sudden high increase in special

Revamping The Equipment Ordering Process Since the equipment needs are needed for children to learn in the classroom, it is required by law that such equipment is ordered and delivered quickly directly to the students classroom.

Our experience has been that this process usually takes months and sometimes years.

As a result, students cannot learn and are punished because of the extremely slow and inefficient system that is in place.

When a critical problem like this exists and its identified, usually the central office administrators order an internal audit. Then, after several months of investigative paperwork, nothing happens and the same discriminatory practice continues.

Transportation of Special Education Students Needs to be Transformed and Monitored 24/7 The need for recruitment of special education students by a trusted source is imperative. We believe that Special Education students have been mis identified for the sole purpose of the schools districts to receive more funding. Other are identified so that they can get free transportation, payments to parents and

education student identification areas in the Island.

At this moment, this issue is debatable since, the majority of the special education student data is on paper and it is just starting 38

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to be included in an electronic form. We invite the federal monitors to cross reference the increase in identification and study the patterns of this huge sudden funding increase for services at the school level but that is not being done. The percentage of students is more than double of any state of the union. Its was 26.7% of all students in the year 2011 as compared to 13.1% in the rest of the nation . http://febp.newamerica.net/k12/PR

It is interesting to note that the special education student population shift has decreased overall in the United States mainland.

This is also a statistic that is at odds with the Puerto Rico Department of Education system. http://www.edexcellencemedia.net/publications/2011/20110525 _ShiftingTrendsinSpecialEducation/ShiftingTrendsinSpecialEdu cation.pdf

This chart shows which special education disability categories have the largest and smallest percentages of students. The data is from the 2011-2012 school year, and it covers children ages 3-21. The categories deaf-blindness, traumatic brain injury, and visual impairments are removed from the chart because they cover less than 1 percent of students. Image from 39

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the National Center for Education Statistics.The Special Education Student Types reported are also interesting factors to be seen. The following brake down is also very different from what we see in the Island of Puerto Rico.

We need more accurate accounting 24/7 because of all the medical risks students take by participating in the public schools system. Accurate accounting of state, district, and local school-level spending on special education simply does not exist.

Second, we need more rigorous studies of special-education spending and services and their relationship to student achievement.

Third, we need better understanding of what’s driving the recent decrease in the number of students identified for services in the US but in Puerto Rico they have increased 100%.

Special education, like general education, needs a makeover for the twenty-first century. Its service models, instructionalstrategies, funding, identification methods, disability definitions, IEP protocols, and so on, no longer serve the needs of truly disabled youngsters. But we can’t get there until we peel back the layers of financial and operational opacity that currently shroud the field and hinder our efforts to make it more transparent, efficient, and effective in the future.

Ref:http://www.edexcellencemedia.net/publications/2011/20110 525_ShiftingTrendsinSpecialEducation/ShiftingTrendsinSpecial Education.pdf

Special Education Due Process is Brutal It is incredibly difficult to comprehend why people are not protesting and suing in federal court about the lack of fast and fair special education services in the Puerto Rico public school system. The author has observed that all the situations and problems have been documented. Then, there is an investigation conducted by the state central office that may take more time to solve the the original problem.

The request for services are so confusing that many parents are discouraged from requesting them. Many times they decide to move to another school district area or to the US mainland trying to find a better and faster system. The lack of urgency is intensified by the lack of information parents receive about their child’s condition and how it could improve.

It has been noticed that many special education children are placed in the classroom without any assistance or helper for the regular classroom teacher. This leaves the already overworked teacher with another student who needs individualized attention

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but he most wait in line with other 30 students for the teachers help.

nial jobs for the school director is not going to increase the academic capacity of special education children.

If there are students with severe conditions, teachers are forced to provide a day care environment instead of an educational environment. Teachers have testified to the author that equipment is not provided on time, training for all special education teachers is very scarce and teacher morale is extremely low.

Assisted technology must be put in place to bring new ideas and content to the special education classroom. Special education teachers must be trained not only on what to use in the classroom but how to use technology to provide a rich education environment other than a DVD player and a powerpoint presentation. Be aware of spending large amounts for money on electronic boards that are later used as bulletin boards because nobody knows how to use it.

The special education services in school seem to be more of a paper and records referral service than a real educational environment where children go to learn. It appears that the state is receiving the Special Education funding for identification but no student services are given.

Special Education Student 2009-2010 dropout rates in high schools reported a 41.59%.This is extremely high as compared with the rest of the states of the union. The lack of followup programs to help reduce this percentage of dropouts and other services may be the reason why dropout rates continue to increase.

Ref: http://www.de.gobierno.pr/files/PRDE_FFY_2011_APR-1de2.pd f To reach the PEI rules manual please follow this address: http://tecnovirtualpr.com/educacion/index.php/repositorio/finish/ 102-recursos/666-manual-pei-2-17-2014

Once again, the need for transforming and monitoring the Special education budget allocations and expenditures is urgent. A significant increase from the same funding received for Special Education must be given directly to help the students and the classroom. Quickly hiring extra help as a caregiver or to be in charge of purchasing materials with a credit card and doing me41

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Politics - The Virus of Public Education

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Musical Chairs Game Every 4 Years Puerto Rico is a very small Island with a very large and extremely slow government. According to some teachers interviewed, the state public education central system is the refugee camp for inept politicians and their followers. Because, jobs are used as a consolation prizes for working during the latest political campaign.

Puerto Rico state secretaries of public education have changed over 10 times in six years. This alone has a lot to say about continuity of programs and effective policy making. One of the state secretaries is still in jail because of illegal misuse of funds.

Ref: http://www.puertorico.com/forums/politics/11544-lying-estadistagoes-jail.html As a recipient and product of public education the author has been a witness of the recent changes and debacle of the system. Many blame each other for the service and administrative deficiencies at different levels of this huge dumping ground.

For decades politics have become the Ebola virus of local public education. It is a fact that some teachers are moved in the middle of a semester because of a political move or influence in the school. To immunize schools from such virus the author recommends banning any political influence that has to do with teacher hiring, placement or promotion.

As part of the new restructuring, directors and superintendents must immunize the systems from any political virus. This may be done by training staff on how to handle such ingrained situations. Hiring of school teachers must come from the local school staff, parents and community. Long term contracts must be in place to prevent politicians from pushing good teachers from their jobs and negatively affecting the students.

Politics are great if we start using them to help the children.

Many politicians are working hard to crack the marble wall at their own expense and results.

Every four years all central office staff changes from top to bottom. Directors, teachers, staff and all employees are affected by the earthquake of changes. Some are even fired for being in the wrong political party.

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Great Teachers with Straight Jackets

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No Teacher Left Behind Abraham Lincoln once remarked, The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew.

days - frequently absent - and 16%, nearly 1 in 6, were gone 18 days or more, called chronically absent in this report. Nine districts had more than half of their teachers absent for more than two weeks of the school year. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/06/03/teacher s-attendance-study/9889949 Indeed more research on the effects of teacher absenteeism is needed. This factor is one that has been given great attention in other states and countries. To mitigate the negative effects, the move for teacher substitutes has been suggested.

Ref: A. Lincoln, Second annual message to Congress, December 1, 1862, <http:// www.topicsites.com/abraham-lincoln/

Government Policies Called 'Obsolete and Restrictive'--A 'Straight-Jacket' for Teacher Education

quotes.htm> (retrieved August 16, 2005)

Teacher education in Puerto Rico is in dire need of reform, according to a major report released September 29 by Teachers College, Columbia University.

http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2010/2010028.pdf

According to the three-year study, financed by the General Council of Education in Puerto Rico, the curriculum and teaching strategies of education schools on the Island require major changes. The study blames obsolete and restrictive government policies towards teacher education for a large share of the problems confronting teacher-education institutions.

Teachers are Absent too Many Times!

The US is the country were teachers are absent the most of times. The USA Today reports that and average of 11 times.

In many districts, a significant percentage of teachers exceeded that number: 28% of teachers overall were absent 11 to 17

According to Francisco L. Rivera-Batiz, director of the study and professor at Teachers College, "the rigid structure of the 46

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teacher certification requirements in Puerto Rico constitutes a straightjacket for the teacher education programs."

Certification requirements include long lists of credits, courses and topics that the prospective teacher must fulfill. As a result, Rivera-Batiz said, "schools of education are left with very little flexibility to innovate. A major reform of public policies towards teacher education is required."

In addition to a reform of teacher certification requirements, the study also proposes that the Island introduce a system of internships for teachers. "The idea of an internship is to counter the isolation teachers encounter when they start their first year in the classroom," said Rivera-Batiz, who was born in Puerto Rico.

"Such isolation is the key force in teacher attrition and burnout during their early years in schools." The number of teacher education programs in Puerto Rico has increased rapidly over the last 20 years. http://www.tc.columbia.edu/news.htm?articleId=2650 http://www.uv.es/unipsico/pdf/CESQT/Externos/2011_Mercado_ y_Noyola.pdf

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Section 1

The Issues

Low Expectations Recently, while providing a school teacher training, the author has been a direct witness to the low expectations climate experienced by public school teachers. The systems that keep pushing low performing students from one grade to another grade without having the skills only frustrates and morally destroys teachers fiber to continue working. It is amassing that every teacher knows that there is a rule that prohibits students from passing from one grade to another if they have 2 Fâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in their report card. This Department of Education letters or school rule is not being followed according to local school teachers.

Urgent Factors That Hinder Transformation 1. Low Expectations 2. Standardized Tests and the Misuse of Data

For a public school teacher to bring up the issues of student abandonment is considered a motive to either transfer the teacher of cancel their contract. So, the only option teachers have is to stay silent in the system and be part of the sad student rip off center. Teachers have also mentioned that they can write a student behavior report or high absenteeism referral to the school social worker but it only becomes part of the huge packet with 1300 hundred more cases. This is because there may be only one social worker for the entire school district. To expect immediate action and follow up is just not real. To call the state department of social services may be also very slow with very little results.

3. Teacher Involvement 4. Teachers Unions

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In todays Puerto Rico some parents are less involved in their students education because they believe that teachers and schools have to teach regardless of how the student arrives to the classroom. But when the same student is absent for 20 days in a row, is tardy 50 days and also has behavior problems, it makes it almost impossible to have a proper learning environment for all children.

The governor’s of Puerto Rico recently ordered the Education Department and Family Department to jointly design and implement a protocol aimed at compelling parents to share educational responsibilities with their children’s schools. Otherwise, they will lose or stop their food stamps and free health care assistance all together.

Ref: http://www.caribbeanbusinesspr.com/news/order-aims-to-involv e-parents-in-school-87116.html

State Standardized Tests - A Waste of Time and Money

The impact of Puerto Rico local economic conditions may have hindered or augmented the desperate condition of poor parents who may not have completed high school.These are hidden statistics that need to surface and be taken immediate action.

To give a State Standardized test to all public schools students has been an extremely high cost burden on all public school personnel. Student negative test taking culture is a great hindering factor that negatively affects test student standardized test scores. Heavily needed school instructional time and weeks of educational motivation are lost in preparing and taking standardized tests.

Public schools parental participation is at a record low. The data showing that just 30 percent of parents of public school students picked up their children’s grades while just only 10 percent attend school meetings is a horrible statistic with hidden cultural messages.

State Standardized Test cost millions of dollars because they are purchased from private corporations from the USA. Year after year kids keep flunking and doing worse. It is suspected that factors such as lack of time to learn, teacher pressure to cover material, student motivation to take and pass the test, student 49

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reading comprehension problems, high numbers of special education children not served and others are factors that directly affect and provoke low test scores.

achievement. Many school systems around the word use this approach and are getting better scores that the schools in the United States mainland.

Every year students do worse in the academic subjects of Mathematics, Science, English and Spanish.

Some of the effects that hinder student performance are the following: 1. Large number of school holidays.

2. Teacher absenteeism without substitutes to cover the slack.

3. Lack of student monitoring.

4. Passing students without having the proper skills.

5. Lack of parental involvement.

6. Teacher burnout.

7. Student absenteeism without consequences.

8. A rigid core curriculum without teacher input.

The author recommends that local standardized state tests are developed locally by only working school teachers at a fraction of a cost and the same be aligned with all material covered by state goals and objectives. It is also recommended that multiple ways of assessment be used as a way to measure student 50

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Section 2

New Flexibility Plan What is the Flexibility Plan for Schools?

The Obama administration recently approved the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico for a waiver from No Child Left Behind (NCLB), in exchange for locally-developed plans to prepare all students for college and career, focus aid on the neediest students, and support effective teaching and leadership.

"Forty two states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia can't wait any longer for education reformâ&#x20AC;? said U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan. "A strong, bipartisan reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act remains the best path forward in education reform, but as these states have demonstrated, our kids can't wait any longer for Congress to act."

In order to obtain the flexibility plan, the Department of Education of Puerto Rico has committed to institute locally-developed strategies to prepare students for their academic and professional careers, help students in need, and support effective teaching and leadership.

This means that the government of Puerto Rico has promised to have a local plan to serve as a quick and more flexible solution for students that are being left behind. So far, the state department of education has prepared a new curriculum, new monthly plans models, new academic unit objectives for Math, Science, English and Spanish based on a soup of sources that are supposed to help Puerto Rico students improve and learn the required skills. It is also tailor made with the local state tests that will be given in the future.

Ref:http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/obama-administrati on-approves-nclb-flexibility-request-puerto-rico 51

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Ref: http://www.de.gobierno.pr/files/ResumenFlexibility.pdf How did Puerto Rico get the No Child Left Behind Flexibility Waiver?

To get flexibility from NCLB, Puerto Rico must adopt and have a plan to implement college and career-ready standards. They must also create comprehensive systems of teacher and principal development, evaluation and support that include factors beyond test scores, such as principal observation, peer review, student work, or parent and student feedback.

The questions are many when it comes to who will be in charge of monitoring immediately change, and corrective action for those who take the money simply won’t do anything States receiving waivers no longer have to meet 2014 targets set by NCLB but they must set new performance targets for improving student achievement and closing achievement gaps.

They also must have accountability systems that recognize and reward high-performing schools and those that are making significant gains, while targeting rigorous and comprehensive interventions for the lowest-performing schools. Under the statedeveloped plans, all schools will develop and implement plans for improving educational outcomes for underperforming subgroups of students. State plans will require continued transparency around achievement gaps, but will provide schools and districts greater flexibility in how they spend Title I federal dollars.

Flexibility does not mean to supplant funding. Flexibility does not mean that all funding will be used to create new administrative positions and leave students with no direct learning services. The author worries that all the monitoring for compliance, training teachers, directors, and staff for this flexibility plan will consume millions of significant federal and state dollars that are for teaching public school students.

This flexibility plan will only extend the time local school systems have to improve student achievement scores and hopefully close the gap of poor family student performance. Most of the issues that have been factors that hinder a child's education do not require extra money. It just requires applying all rules and regulations that are in place.

Just start by keeping back the student and don’t pass the students who receive an F in their mathematics and science classes. Teachers have confessed to be afraid of parents and directors who will somehow retaliate violently and also complain to the school administration who will pass the child eventually, because they have the authority to change the final grade andpass the child.

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Section 3

Textbooks and Instructional Start Using Locally Produced Less Expensive Electronic Textbooks Teachers can develop their own electronic books for a fraction of what it costs to purchase outside private corporation produced books.

Every child gets their own book (free) to keep and write in.

There are extra extension and support pages - there is homework - and it's so good. Why can't we have something like this?

Oh yes, and Finnish children do FAR better than English children at maths in international league tables. Oh yes, and teachers are highly respected and well-paid. Sigh.Countries like Mexico, Argentina and Finland produce their own locally produced text books.

For example, in Finland, some teachers decided to produce something a little sooner: A group of Finnish mathematics researchers, teachers and students write an upper secondary mathematics textbook in a booksprint. The event started on Friday 28th September at 9:00 (GMT+3) and the book will be (hopefully) ready on Sunday evening.

Ref: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121003/07482720580/califo rnia-to-commission-50-open-textbooks-2013-finnish-teachers-w rite-one-weekend.shtml 53

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Native students rarely find local scenes or examples of any kind. The Island has caves, rain forests, native indian parks, plants and wild life, and exotic places that could be integrated in the new teacher developed books. Plus, the content could be updated quickly without having to purchase new paper books every year.

Start Using Cellphones in the Classroom Ken Halla knows a thing or two about using technology in the classroom.

All student could have their local teachers electronic text books free of charge and have access to them 24/7. Almost every student has a cellphone making reading materials instantly available without being restricted by school building lack of internet signal. http://www.filmsandphotos.net/galleries/virtual_tour_galleries/po nce_inlet_lighthouse360 It is necessary that Puerto Rico take ownership for its education and start thinking and working out of the box. Public school systems have terrific teachers ready to write more efficient, culturally relevant and motivating books for the public school system.

Not only will this change in education produce millions in savings but also will boost teachers morale knowing that books are developed by their colleagues.

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For the past 5 years, the 22-year teaching veteran has worked to transition his ninth-grade World History and AP Government classrooms into a mobile device-friendly environment where students can incorporate the latest technology into the learning process. Ref: http://www.nea.org/tools/56274.htm Students and teachers must start using their cellphones for instruction. Since the wifi signal is absent from public schools and those that are available are blocked, students must start using their own cellphone to access data, readings and educational material. It may also be used to send questions to the teacher.

Ref: http://www.ernweb.com/educational-research-articles/high_sch ool_integrating_cell_phones_in_classroom_math_class One of the key decisions for teachers who want to use cell phones is to select a few roles for the cell phone from the dizzying array of possibilities, write George Engle, a teacher at Clarkstown High School South in West Nyack, NY, and co-author, Tim Green, professor of educational technology at California State University at Fullerton, CA, in TechTrends.

In this pilot program, cell phones were used in the classroom in 3 major ways: "

•"

As an audience response system (polling)

"

•"

as a research tool

" •" as a tool for collecting evidence of student work through photographs and video recordings. Polling responses were collected at both www.wiffiti.com and www.polleverywhere.com. Both these sites allow for the collection of anonymous responses from students.

Seven tips for using mobile technology with success Integrating technology into the classroom is a long-term strategy. If it’s to be sustainable, the following points should be considered. " 1." As a teacher, you need to engage with mobile technology yourself, before you can start to implement it into classroom practice. " 2." To make sure students don’t get distracted by social media, set clear learning objectives. Find creative ways to use social media within lesson plans. Consider how mobile technology can be used for extension activities. ‘Why don’t you post an image of your work on your Facebook page?’, is more engaging than ‘We don’t use Facebook in this class’. " 3." If your school does not have a mobile learning policy, you need one for your class before you begin.

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" 4." Do some research. It takes a lot of time to find relevant, suitable apps. There is no moderation process in place, so even with paid apps, it is difficult to know whether or not they are suitable. " 5." Don’t overwhelm your class with technology. Learners often fail to recognize the benefits of technology for language learning. So it helps to introduce apps and mobile learning activities one at a time. Then, as a group, you can reflect on whether they are useful. " 6." If you do not have enough time to use mobile devices in class, think how they could be used for informal learning outside the classroom. Your students will benefit from the results of this extra practice when they’re back in the formal classroom.

7.

be free to connect to this universe of knowledge 24/7. In the past libraries would close and students could not access knowledge or complete their assignments. Student and teachers may access content using new ways of learning with video, audio, demonstration lessons coming from any country around the world. This could be shared with other students. For example, students can access a virtual tour of an art museum in Europe thousands of miles away. They could also virtually dissect a frog and learn biology without having to kill an animal. Many high schools are now using virtual chemistry labs to learn about the elements and their properties. They can mix substances virtually and see the reaction, change in color and temperature without any cost to schools or any danger to the student.

Read point number 1 again.

Ref: http://www.karenwalstraconsulting.com/home/index.php?ipkArti cleID=37

Free Access to Educational Material at Any Time Internet technology provides access to millions of resources that are produced and edited every day. Resources are produced by people around the world and shared for free.School teachers can produce educational video lessons and upload them to youtube for all students to use and learn. Schools must 56

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totally free. Our schools can wake up and do the same if teachers are given the freedom to do so.

The local state government is asking for flexibility from the US government officials are getting more conservative and restrictive with the teachers who deliver content. This troglodyte approach to education will be forced to change if it wants to compete in a world market.

Incredible Applications for Mobile Devices

To teach out of just one textbook is to rip off the students and keep them from interesting and exciting ways of learning. Many third world countries are already using the internet to have teachers come in live virtually for free from other countries by using applications such as Ustream or Livestream. Materials and reading coming from mulltiple updated sources content is

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The program Amazing Earth is one of the best for children of all ages. It provides the student with a 3D picture of the earth that can be zoomed in and clicked for specific information about any place on earth. The potential for programs like these is enormous. It is also a great way of motivatiing students to search and participate in class. Ref: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ru.gonorovsky.kv.l ivewall.earthhd http://www.3planesoft.com/mac/earth-3d-amazing-atlas

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Substitute

6

"We ought to be looking at professionalizing substitute teachers to make sure kids are experiencing high-quality instruction throughout their time in school," said Linda Davin, a senior policy analyst at the National Education Association, which has been studying efforts around the country to professionalize, support, and better compensate substitute teachers for a forthcoming brief.http:// www.edweek.org/ew/articles/ 2012/07/18/36substitutes_ep.h31.ht ml

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Section 1

P. of C.260 Create a Substitute

http://www2.pr.gov/presupuestos/Budget_2012_2013/Aprobado 2013Ingles/suppdocs/baselegal_ingles/081/081.pdf http://www.lexjuris.com/leyorg/lexeduca.htm

The Law is in place Since 2009 it has ben proposed to amend the original Organic Law of Education to allow a pool of substitute teachers with the purpose of mitigating the increase in teacher absenteeism. This behavior not only keeps students from receiving instruction, it also helps the system with the growing number of dropout rates due to lack of attention. http://senado.pr.gov/Proyectos%20del%20Senado/pc0260-ta.p df http://www.google.com.pr/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=w eb&cd=2&ved=0CCcQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.oslpr.or g%2Ffiles%2Fdocs%2F%257B6F08FAF1-9127-45EA-AEC5-45 3B604C8111%257D.doc&ei=7B4zVL-pJeOHsQS9p4HYAg&us g=AFQjCNF-_FU57uViu6V6vtWn7tcZj4Jivg&bvm=bv.76802529 ,d.cWc

Every day hundreds of students are left without no teacher and without a substitute to keep up with the learning pace they need for graduation.

A Quick Solution Develop and pass a new law that favors student learning. This must be done before all students drop out of school.

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Section 2

Teachers are Burned

of how back logged is the group. Students must follow or leave.

Most of them decide to leave after 5th grade.

Teacher salaries are very low for all the work they have to do during the week and after school. This may include home visits to the students in need of extra attention.

Teachers are Burned After frustration and day to day frustration teachers have become burned. Teachers do not have any autonomy to decide what to teach or provide individualized attention to 30 students who may need extra help.

Teachers in Puerto Rico have to continue teaching regardless

Teachers are sick, the stress levels are getting worse everyday.

Most teachers have said that they have no control over what happens in school and that politics drive all decision making.

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Bullying and Sexting

7

PULLING SOMEONE DOWN WILL NEVER HELP YOU REACH THE TOP. Kushandwizdom

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time. Both kids who are bullied and who bully others may have serious, lasting problems.

School Bullies are not allowed

In order to be considered bullying, the behavior must be aggressive and include: " •" An Imbalance of Power: Kids who bully use their power—such as physical strength, access to embarrassing information, or popularity—to control or harm others. Power imbalances can change over time and in different situations, even if they involve the same people. " •" Repetition: Bullying behaviors happen more than once or have the potential to happen more than once.

Introduction There has been an increase of events of school violence in Puerto Rican schools which have generated an interest in understanding factors contributing to aggressive behaviors. The number of threats, minor assaults, and aggravated assaults incidents in schools has risen in the last three years as reported by the Puerto Rico Police Department (www.tendenciaspr.com) What is Bullying?

Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over

Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose.

What is Cyber Bullying?

According to the most recent definitions, Cyber Bullying is using the Internet, cell phones, video game systems, or other technology to send or post text or images intended to hurt or embarrass another person. It is also defined as acts of aggression through computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices” (Jackson & Cohen, 2012).

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It has been reported that Puerto Rico is on the top of Cyber Bullying search results according to this source:

states that Morales may be the author of previous hate messages as well.

http://www.google.com.eg/trends/explore?q=cyberbullying#q=c yberbullying&cmpt=geo&geo=PR

Cyber Bullying can happen across several mediums such as

For the past year, there were around 240,000 Cyber Bullying related searches stemming from Puerto Rico. Meaning, more people from that region are looking for definitions and help related to Cyber Bullying.

According to StopBullying.gov, Puerto Rico already released a law against Bullying and harassment but without mention of cyber bullying. As for school bullying, Schools that receive federal funding are required by federal law to address discrimination on a number of different personal characteristics. Puerto Rico’s public schools are contained in a single district that publishes a Student Code of Conduct that doesn’t focus much on Cyber Bullying.

In a more recent piece of news on Cyber Bullying in 2013, a local man was arrested for allegedly sending a threatening tweet from Puerto Rico. According to news sites, Joseph Morales was taken into custody by the FBI on a charge of cyberbullying. He threatened a gay activist through a post on Twitter and made a reference to the Boston Marathon bombing. The man threatened, Pedro Julio Serrano, claimed to not know Morales, but

Online Social Networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, MySpace and various other networks Instant Messaging (IMs) and Text messaging Email Chat rooms/ forums/blogs Online Games The spectrum of Cyber Bullying actions is very wide. Famous examples related to cyber bullying statistics 2014 are: Harassment Stalking Rumor Spreading Disclosure/sharing of personal information of others without their consent Exclusion/ Ostracism Heated Exchanges 65

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Defaming, Belittling, or Mocking

Check the Cyberbullying and bullying statistics 2014 we have gathered for you.

Impersonating The New Year has arrived and here at NoBullying.com, that means one essential thing. It is time for Cyberbullying and Bullying Statistics 2014.

When gathering bullying statistics 2014, we always look at major polls published worldwide and covering a big number of participants, we always look at the major trends and shifts in cyberbullying and bullying worldwide.

Some of the key things we noticed when searching for bullying statistics 2014 are the following: " 1." Most Children showed more worry about Pornography and Violence shared on all social networks as well as popup ads and phishing. " 2." More children are showing knowledge and understanding of what cyberbullying and bullying entails, although a big percentage still expressed not knowing enough on how to fight it or prevent it. " 3." Less children are expressing feelings of low self esteem and bigger percentage of them are expressing the desire to remain survivors and winners in the battle against bullying and cyberbullying.

According to EU Kids Online, a poll conducted in February 2013 shows the following: Pornographic content tops the ranking of risks named by children in relation to the internet (22% of risks mentioned first by children).

Violent and aggressive content is the second most common concern identified by children (18% of first mentioned risks).

Also, Ditch the Label, released its annual cyberbullying report and here are some of the key bullying statistics 2014 covered.

Note: more than 10,000 youths were surveyed. "

▪"

7 in 10 young people are victims of cyberbullying.

" ▪" 37% of them are experiencing cyberbullying on a highly frequent basis. " ▪" 20% of young people are experiencing extreme cyberbullying on a daily basis. " ▪" New research suggests that young males and females are equally at risk of cyberbullying.

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" ▪" Young people found to be twice as likely to be cyber bullied on Facebook as on any other social network. " ▪" 54% of young people using Facebook reported that they have experienced cyberbullying on the social network. " ▪" Facebook, Ask.FM and Twitter found to be the most likely sources of cyberbullying, being the highest in traffic of all social networks. " ▪" Cyberbullying found to have catastrophic effects upon the self-esteem and social lives of up to 70% of young people. " ▪" An estimated 5.43 million young people in the UK have experienced cyberbullying, with 1.26 million subjected to extreme cyberbullying on a daily basis.

Ref: http://nobullying.com/cyberbullying-bullying-statistics-2014-finall y Types of Bullying There are three types of bullying: " •" Verbal bullying is saying or writing mean things. Verbal bullying includes: "

◦"

Teasing

"

◦"

Name-calling

"

◦"

Inappropriate sexual comments

"

◦"

Taunting

"

◦"

Threatening to cause harm

" •" Social bullying, sometimes referred to as relational bullying, involves hurting someone’s reputation or relationships.

Social bullying includes: "

◦"

Leaving someone out on purpose

"

◦"

Telling other children not to be friends with someone

"

◦"

Spreading rumors about someone

"

◦"

Embarrassing someone in public

" •" Physical bullying involves hurting a person’s body or possessions. Physical bullying includes: "

◦"

Hitting/kicking/pinching

"

◦"

Spitting

"

◦"

Tripping/pushing

"

◦"

Taking or breaking someone’s things

"

◦"

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suspect your teen is sexting, you should talk to them about the dangers of sending out pictures.

Sexting is the new thing

In most states, teens caught with "sexting pictures" on their phones can actually be charged with possession of child porn even if they themselves are under 18, and sometimes even if the images are of themselves.

What is sexting?

The word is a mix of ‘sex and ‘texting’. ‘Sexting’ is sending ‘sexy’ texts. The texts may be words or images. Sexting with pictures has probably been around as long as mobile phones have had the ability to take photos and send and receive images.

Sexting occurs not only on mobile phones, but on Skype and social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Flickr, Tumblr and Snapchat etc. Ref: http://www.kidshelp.com.au/teens/get-info/hot-topics/sexting.ph p Sexting is defined by www.noslang.com as the act of sending sexually explicit messages or images between cell phones. It's the modern equivalent of what we older people used to call phone sex. Sexting is a combination of the words "sex" and "texting" and originated in the early 200's as teens became equipped with camera phones. Unlike phone sex however, sexting leaves very little to the imagination.

Sexting is a natural progression among teens who are curious about sex and sexuality - but it can have consequences. If you

It's also a good idea to remind your teen that those images can be permanent. It may seem fun and risky to send sexy pictures to a current boyfriend, but what happens if the relationship ends? Can that person really be trusted not to do anything with those images? It's not a chance your teen should take.

Some Sexting Slang Terms are the following 143 I love you GYPO Get your pants off GNOC Get Naked on Cam PIR Parent in Room The rest are too graphic to mention in this publication.

Sexting Statistics The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, The Pew Internet & American Life Project and the Cox Communications 68

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Teen Online & Wireless Safety Survey have reported some interesting statistics.

tures and explicit messages you send could become grounds for a criminal record and prison time.

Percent of teens who have sent or posted nude or semi-nude photos or videos of themselves: • 20% of teens overall • 22% of teen girls • 18% of teen boys • 11% of young teen girls between the ages 13-16 Percent of teens that sent sexually suggestive messages via text, email or instant messaging: • 39% of all teens • 37% of teen girls • 40% of teen boys • 48% of teens say they have received such messages - See more at: http://www.guardchild.com/teenage-sexting-statistics/#sthash.6 bE3WB4A.dpuf

For teens, the consequences of sexting are the same for adults in most states, but could also prevent students from receiving college scholarships, job offers, in addition to the embarrassment of having your nude photographs floating around the Internet.

Know the laws in your state and protect yourself from serious prosecution for sexting: Advice for Young People Think about the consequences of taking, sending, or forwarding a sexual picture of yourself or someone else underage. You could get kicked off of sports teams, face humiliation, lose educational opportunities, and even get in trouble with the law.

Never take images of yourself that you wouldn’t want everyone—your classmates, your teachers, your family, or your employers—to see.

While sexting might seem like innocent flirtation, the nude pic-

Before hitting send, remember that you cannot control where this image may travel. What you send to a boyfriend or girlfriend easily could end up with their friends, and their friends, and their friends.

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If you forward a sexual picture of someone underage, you are as responsible for this image as the original sender. You could face child pornography charges, go to jail, and have to register as a sex offender.

face harassment because of her inappropriate behavior? Who is harassing her, and are charges warranted against them? The answers to these questions can help indicate if the subject of the image is a true victim in every sense of the word.

Report any nude pictures you receive on your cell phone to an adult you trust. Do not delete the message. Instead, get your parents or guardians, teachers, and school counselors involved immediately.

Although, perhaps, not in the image, the youth offender somehow took part in the juvenile sexting. His actions could include soliciting the picture or actively participating in creating, possessing, receiving, or distributing the image. Did he request the picture, or did someone just send it to him? Did he keep it or forward it on? Why? To embarrass or harass the victim? What is or was the relationship between the youth offender and victim?

How old are they, and what is the age difference between them? It may be a mitigating factor where there is little or no disparity in age. However, if the offender is significantly older (e.g., a 15-year-old with pictures of an 8-year-old), authorities have serious misconduct issues to address. Has the perpetrator participated in similar misconduct in the past? Consideration of these factors can help investigators and prosecutors decide the proper course of action, such as no charges, diversion, or formal charges (sex or nonsex offense).

Source: National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Tips to Prevent Sexting; http://ncmec.vo.llnwd.net/o15/downloads/special/Sexting_Preve ntion.pdf (accessed July 6, 2009).

Offenders While an adult’s active involvement in juvenile sexting always should result in the strong consideration of charges, cases involving only youths may call for a different, more fluid approach.

To this end, investigators should analyze the subject of the images, the victim. How old is the victim? Did she know about the photograph? Did the victim take it herself without the encouragement or direct participation of any other person? Did she forward the picture to anyone? What is the age difference between the victim and the recipient of the image? Does she now

Prevention As the first line of defense against this problem, law enforcement personnel and educators should provide regular presentations—and numerous excellent information sources exist to draw from—to young people on Internet safety and the reper70

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cussions of inappropriate online behavior. Digital images do not deteriorate over time and easily can spread worldwide. Youths need to understand that what they do online may have a very long existence. Such presentations can help minimize or prevent future occurrences of juvenile sexting. They also can be used as a component in developing diversion programs.

For Additional Information U.S. Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood, http://www.projectsafechildhood.gov/ National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, http://www.ncmec.org/ High Technology Crime Investigation Association Internet Safety for Children Campaign, http://www.htcia.org/isfc/

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Drugs and Violence in Schools

8

“Drugs are a waste of time.

They destroy your memory and your self-respect and everything that goes along with your self esteem.” ― Kurt Cobain

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Section 1

Drugs Come in But Don’t Go Out

up everyday to the reality of having to maintain an addiction, to some of the most dangerous substances.

One of the island’s most common drugs, mainly for being cheaper than others and producing a strong high effect, is Xylazine, better known as horse tranquilizer. This new medication, introduced in the early 2000 is primarily produced to be used by veterinarians as an anesthetic for dental work or castration in horses.

Zombie Island On an island where the economy is manipulated by drugs, and hundreds of thousands of residents have consumed or are currently consuming addictive substances, it might not come as a surprise that Puerto Rico has been described as “the new front door of the war on drugs”, or “the backdoor to America.”

The island's strategic localization, its multiple rich ports, in addition to its commonwealth political status and relationship to the United States, serve drug cartels from South America and the Caribbean, as the perfect trampoline to the mainland. Since the Island is an easy place for boats, planes and other small means of transportation sometimes people and drugs are smuggled from Dominican Republic or Haiti.Ref: http://www.justice.gov/archive/ndic/dmas/PR-VI_DMA-2011(U). pdf But the drug doesn’t just travel out of the island; it also stays inside affecting residents every year. Thousands of people wake

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On a recent episode of National Geographic Channel's "Drugs Inc." these Xylazine drug addicts were labeled as sleep walking zombies, living on a zombie island. Ref: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/04/puerto-rico-drug-addi ction_n_2411317.html Elementary, middle and High Schools may be part of the distribution chain for all drug lords. Outside parks, bathrooms, corner street cars, and even bikeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s are means of transportation for drugs that get in school. School directors have to be on the watch for any suspects selling of coming in school to purchase drugs.

In humans, the powerful substance causes the mind to fade in and out of conscience and the body to bend to the ground even while standing on its feet. The effects last for a little less than six hours, leaving the addict with the need to roam the streets in a search for the next fix, many resorting to theft and panhandling in and effort to stay awake, and alive.

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Section 2

Drug Prevalence Among Drug Prevalence Survey “Student Survey of Risk and Protective Factors and Prevalence of Alcohol, Tobacco & Other Drug” Spanish version questionnaire that was adapted and administered to a representative island wide sample during 2010-2012. A total of 10,134 10th12the grade students in public and private schools in PR participated. The substance most used by adolescents was alcohol (48.6%), followed by tobacco (14.3%). Other drugs used by 15.1% of students included marijuana, inhalants, heroin, cocaine, crack, design drugs, and non-prescription pills. Of these, the most commonly reported substances were marijuana (12.4%), non-prescription pills (6.1%), and inhalants (6.1%).

Ref: https://apha.confex.com/apha/141am/webprogramadapt/Paper 291227.html

”In 2013, an estimated 24.6 million Americans aged 12 or older were current (past month) illicit drug users. This represents 9.4 percent of the population aged 12 or older (Table 1). Marijuana was the most commonly used illicit drug, with 19.8 million current users aged 12 or older (7.5 percent). - See more at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Drug_Usage#sthash.uw1yhpE w.dpuf This behavior could easily be increased when we see the prevalence of drug use and crime experienced due to drug wars among pushers in the Island.

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The Population Aging Factor

9

Population changes due to aging with force the Island to make immediate changes in the education of children. By the year 2020 the Island will lose over 200 thousand people. http://es.slideshare.net/ etorruella/resultados-delcenso-del-2010-puertoricoo-poblacin-total-pormunicipio-mapa?related=1

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ents have decided to stay home and collect food stamps. This is a sad reality that is seen at many school levels.

Puerto Rico has more than 900 thousand 60 years old and older

Some grand parents are going back as tutors and teachers to help in school. many of them are getting a new degree in order to find work.

Grandparents in the United States & Puerto Rico There were 65 million grandparents in 2010, projected to be 80 million by 2020 (MetLife).

75% of those age 65+ reports being a grandparent (Census Bureau).

62% of grandparents have provided financial support or monetary gifts within the past five years (MetLife).

26% of grandparents use email, Skype and text to communicate with their grandchildren (AARP).

More grandparents are taking care of school children. Parents may be working for long hours or may not be at home at all.

This means that students may not have all the support from parents. This negative factor hinders student learning and increases the at risk levels of all children.

We can deduct that the same patterns apply to the Island at this time.

More babyboomers are still active and are going back to teaching, the work force and regular job positions. Teachers have said that, young non educated and drop out from school par78

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Section 1

The Baby Boomers !!!!

This age group grew at a faster rate than the total population between 2000 and 2010, according to a 2010 Census brief. " " More people were 65 years and over in 2010 than in any previous census. Between 2000 and 2010, the population 65 years and over increased at a faster rate (15.1%) than the total U.S population (9.7%).

Services Needed

" " By 2015, those aged 50 and older will represent 45% of the U.S. population (AARP).

Education Services for the Elderly Elderly taking Care of School Grand Children

" " Baby Boomers make up 35% of the American adult population (Scarborough).

http://www.census.gov/prod/2014pubs/p25-1141.pdf

" " By 2030, the 65-plus population will double to about 71.5 million, and by 2050 will grow to 86.7 million people (U.S. Census).

Size of the Boomer and Senior Markets: " " 77 million people were born between 1946 and 1964, which is defined as the baby boomer era (U.S. Census).

The first baby boomer turned 65 on January 1, 2011.

" " In 2050, the number of Americans aged 65 and older is projected to be 88.5 million, more than double its projected population of 40.2 million in 2010.

" " An American turns 50 every 7 secondsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;that's more than 12,500 people every day (U.S. Census).

http://www.immersionactive.com/resources/50-plus-facts-and-fi ction

"

"

" " The senior age group is now, for the first time, the largest in terms of size and percent of the population in the U.S.

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reaching-todays-boomers-and-seniors-online_researchstudies1. Google LPSOS If we could just help our seniors do more school work with their children, we can change the actual situation of students lack of interest in learning and doing better in school.

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The Challenges

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What can we do?

What questions can we ask ourselves about the condition of the educational system?

Challenges for Technology in Education 1. Low digital fluency among faculty

“Urgent challenge” that we both understand and know how to solve “Despite the widespread agreement on the importance of digital media literacy,” the Horizon report says, “training in the supporting skills and techniques is rare in teacher education and non-existent in the preparation of faculty.”

Academics are beginning to realize that they are “limiting their students” by not helping them to develop and use digital media literacy skills across the curriculum, a problem that is exacerbated by a lack of formal training for teaching staff.

Because digital literacy “is less about tools and more about thinking”, the report continues, “skills and standards based on tools and platforms have proven to be somewhat ephemeral”.

The report identifies the Developing Digital Literacy Programme, run by UK higher education technology consortium Jisc, as an initiative that promotes the development of “coherent, inclusive, and holistic institutional strategies for developing digital literacies for all staff and students”.

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A Jisc-funded project at Cardiff University, known as Digidol, which aimed to “embed digital literacy” across staff at all levels, is also praised in the report.

2. Relative lack of rewards for teaching “Urgent challenge” that we both understand and know how to solve “In the global education marketplace, a university’s status is largely determined by the quantity and quality of its research,” the Horizon report says. “There is an overarching sense in the academic world that research is first, while teaching is an obligation that must be performed.”

This way of thinking, the report argues, is stymieing efforts to implement effective pedagogies. Because teaching-only contracts are seen as lower status and unpopular, students are forced to accept “outdated teaching styles” from researchers, rather than benefiting from more forward-thinking, potentially technologically enabled pedagogy.

The report says that although there is a body of work indicating that professors “acknowledge that teaching is

not a priority”, some institutions have made conscious efforts to improve their teaching methods.

“There is a need for governments to develop strategies…with the ultimate goal of fostering an academic culture that financially rewards the quality of interaction in its classrooms,” it concludes.

University leaders, meanwhile, could begin by requiring doctoral and graduate students to train before getting work as teaching assistants. Currently, such training is “optional, intermittent, and superficial in nature”, the report says.

“As online learning plays a bigger part in higher education, this training will become essential because professors will be expected to be familiar with teaching techniques that address technology-facilitated learning,” the report says.

3. Competition from new models of education “Difficult challenge” that we understand, but for which solutions are elusive New approaches have brought “unprecedented competition” for traditional models of higher education, according to the Horizon report.

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Institutions are looking for ways to provide a high quality of service and more technologically-enhanced learning opportunities, with massive open online courses (Moocs) at the forefront of these discussions, “enabling students to supplement their education and experiences at brick-and-mortar institutions with increasingly rich, and often free, online offerings”.

However, simply capitalizing on new technology is not enough, the report continues. “The new models must use these tools and services to engage students on a deeper level,” it says.

While acknowledging growing skepticism about MOOC completion rates, the report points out that as the cost of university rises, along with the costs of student housing and travel to and from physical campuses, “Moocs present an appealing alternative, especially for graduates who are already in the workforce and looking for fasttrack professional development opportunities”.

One of the biggest challenges for institutions is to find a way to design Moocs for academic credit that are “both cost-effective for students and transcend traditional teaching practices”, the report concludes.

4. Scaling teaching innovations

“Difficult challenge” that we understand but for which solutions are elusive Universities are not adept at moving teaching innovations into mainstream practice, and current promotion structures rarely reward innovation and improvements in teaching and learning, the report says. “A pervasive aversion to change limits the diffusion of new ideas, and too often discourages experimentation.”

Although universities are being “increasingly pressured to closely examine cutting-edge technological solutions and teaching practices”, there are many barriers preventing institutions from implementing new strategies. However, there is a movement in the US to smooth the path to accreditation, the report says, with advocates proposing more opportunities to experiment with new teaching models that lower prices and bolster student learning.

“Supporters of this reform argue that the potential of technology to improve learning and scale quality instruction for large audiences has already been realised, yet the red tape surrounding the process of accreditation is an impediment for universities to expand their institutions into unexplored territory.”

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Despite this, some universities “face capacity issues that limit the depth and speed of integration” of new approaches, even when more innovative curricula have been developed. The report quotes Adrianna Kezar, codirector of the Pullias Center for Higher Education at the University of Southern California, who argues that there is “no core of faculty to do the work that is needed for meaningful implementation”, because often the number of non-tenure track faculty and part-time adjunct professors outnumber those on tenure tracks.

“This disparity contributes to the lack of impact part-time faculty have in the integration of teaching innovation,” the report continues.

5. Expanding access “Wicked challenge” that is too complex to even define, much less address A “global drive” to increase the number of students progressing to higher education is placing pressure across the system, the Horizon report says.

“The relationship between earning potential and educational attainment, the clear impact of an educated society on the growth of the middle class is pushing many

countries to encourage more and more students to enter universities and colleges.”

However, in some countries, expanding access would mean extending it to students who “may not have the academic background to be successful without additional support”, and institutions might struggle to find the time and resources to assist this particular group.

The construction of more college campuses, bolstering online learning, and removing barriers to learning are “only working the edges of this challenge”, the report continues, and given the current shift “from labororiented economies towards knowledge-based economies”, the pressure to expand is growing.

“In Africa alone, the continent would need to build four universities with capacities of 30,000 people every week just to accommodate the students reaching enrollment age by 2025,” the report says, referencing data from the World bank.

The challenge is exacerbated by the “digital divide”, with access to education increasingly reliant on access to technology.

“In both the developed and developing world, this gap continues to widen, and the technology based solutions 85

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for providing greater access to knowledge, such as Moocs, have little effectiveness if the proper infrastructure or connectivity are not readily available,” the report concludes.

6. Keeping education relevant “Wicked challenge” that is too complex to even define, much less address “Many pundits worry that if higher education does not adapt to the times, other models (especially other business models) will take its place,” the report claims in the last of its six challenges.

“While this concern has some merits, it is unlikely that universities as we know them will go away. There are parts of the university enterprise, however, that are at risk, such as continuing and advanced education in highly technical, fast-moving fields.”

According to the report, the proliferation of online learning and free educational content, particularly Moocs, means that universities need to address the question of what they can provide that other approaches cannot, and “rethink the value of higher education from a student’s perspective”.

Horizon quotes a survey by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, showing that total US student debt is over $1.2 trillion (£720 million).

“With mounting fears of debt and an unfavourable job market ahead, some high school graduates are reconsidering the value of a traditional college degree,” it says, adding that university leaders need to rethink what the experience of learning at the institution through a formal education provider is worth.

“Higher education stakeholders are facing a reality that is difficult to digest; the paradigm that has worked for over a century is gradually becoming obsolete, and universities must renovate - or in some cases rebuild their foundations - if they want to stay relevant.”

Only those institutions that seriously consider take how online learning will “redefine the value of a degree, and are open to exploring alternative means of proving skill acquisition through certificates, badges, and e-portfolios” will remain relevant, the report warns.

View the full NMC Horizon Report: 2014 Higher Education Edition

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Section 1

Protect The Valuable Resource Our Children - Precious Resource

Teach them now using technology

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