Best way to contact me: email (mspinrad@nusd.org), phone (898-2121),
voice mail, or come by (after making an appointment). Whatever works for you.
My 2008-2009 schedule includes AP US History, AP Micro Economics, Honors World
History, and Psychology.
Email me if you are unaware of what summer reading to do for Honors World or
AP US History. I read too: The Miracle of Midway by Gordon Prange, The Long
Tail by Chris Anderson, The Four-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss, Influencer:
The Power to Change Anything by Patterson et al.,GI Jews: How World War II
Changed a Generation by Deborah Dash Moore, and about 15
politics, history and financial journals. I'm teaching myself guitar, too.
For the second summer in a row, San Marin English teachers, the Clark
Kentfields, and I played pop music on the Gary Gates field fundraiser--lots of
fun and they had soy burgers for hippies like me!
I just got back from reading and scoring AP US History exams, June 4-12, 2008.
It was exhausting but valuable work. I will now be able to better calibrate
students' essays. Louisville, Kentucky is an interesting place, too.
I was awarded the Golden Bell award in May, 2008.
In December, 2007, San Marin music students raised $4,000, benefiting San
Diego fire victims. The event was emceed by Spinrad. I also acted as
auctioneer.
I received a Certificate of Recognition at a May 11th, 2007 lunch hosted by
the Novato Rotary Club. The luncheon honored a teacher from each of Novato's
schools.
I was nominated by two class of 2006 students and recognized by UC San Diego's
Teacher Recognition Program. I received an Award of Excellence certificate
from UCSD for academic year 2006-2007.
Dave Fichman and I were selected to present at the California Conference
for the Social Studies conference March 3rd, 2007 in Oakland. Our
presentation was titled Roosevelt and the Holocaust. Dave and I recently
finished our third year of the Teaching American History program, sponsored by
Sonoma State University and Napa Unified School District.
I am on the High School Reform committee. Faculty and I attended a school
reform conference in January, 2008 and in September, 2007 on Professional
Learning Communities.
Talk to me about high school reform.
By the way, in 1964, when this picture was taken, the AP program was part of
our Cold War catch up to Soviet technology.
Why AP? Review the following editorial--
Commentary > The Monitor's View
from the June 19, 2007 edition
'R' is for rigor in US high schools
Spreading college-level classes to low-income high schools can better prepare
kids for college.
Parents of high-schoolers may think AP courses are only for driven, well-off,
and mostly white students. Same for advanced placement's obscure cousin, the
IB, or international baccalaureate. Encouragingly, educators are working to
spread the reach of these college-level programs.
That's because the US is not doing so well at high school and higher
education. Bite down on these sour facts: Only 18 percent of high school
seniors performed at or above proficiency in science in 2005. Forty percent of
college students have to take at least one remedial course – and only half of
those who set out to earn a bachelor's degree do so.
If the US wants to be globally competitive, high schools have to do a much
better job at preparing kids for college.
Increasingly, educators, policymakers, and even those in the private sector
think college-level courses can be used as an education reform tool to boost
poor performance in public high schools. An effort is being made to bring AP
and IB to more schools with low-income and minority students and to allow
general enrollment.
A word about AP and IB: Both are rigorous programs that can earn a student
college credit. Both cultivate critical thinking. Tests are written and graded
by outsiders.
Both are growing. AP is run by the nonprofit College Board, and is now in
about 60 percent of US high schools. The much smaller IB started as a way to
provide an internationally recognized diploma for children of expatriates, and
is in only about 2 percent of US high schools. It's run by the nonprofit
International Baccalaureate Organization in Geneva.
As with AP, students can take individual IB classes, but if they go for the
diploma, it's a more strenuous regime requiring foreign language fluency, a
4,000-word research paper, and a lengthy final exam.
Because students who take AP tests have a higher college graduation rate than
those who don't, it makes sense to increase the number of high-schoolers
taking college-level courses.
Those concerned that low-income students lack the training to perform in such
classes should look at Mount Vernon High School in Alexandria, Va. Just over a
decade ago, the school was inundated with low-income, low-performing black and
Hispanic students, and middle class families were moving out. It adopted IB
and has turned around. About half the juniors and seniors are taking IB
classes, a third of them are minorities. IB scores have improved.
"Teachers were convinced that kids at low income can learn at this level if
you give them extra time and encouragement," says Jay Mathews, who devised the
Newsweek magazine index that rates the top 100 US high schools. Meanwhile, IB
at Mount Vernon has energized middle school teachers to better prepare their
kids for a more demanding high school curriculum.
The greatest obstacles to spreading AP and IB are probably commitment and cost
for teacher training, materials, and testing. (Mount Vernon spends about
$55,000 a year on IB). But the US Department of Education, the National
Governors Association, and major private players such as Exxon Mobile Corp.
are willing to spend for these courses.
They recognize that raising the ceiling of expectation will raise the floor of
achievement.
