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Posts by Paul Costello1

How to raise superpowered tweens in turbulent times

September 6, 2023 Paul Costello1 Uncategorized
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By Phyllis Fagell

In the movie “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” Miles Morales is 13 when he gets bitten by a radioactive spider. Overnight, his pants are too short, he sweats profusely when he talks to a girl at school, and he’s acutely aware that people are whispering about him in the hallway. As he tries to make sense of his disconcerting new reality, he concludes that “it must be puberty.”

Who could blame the kid for mistaking supernatural superpowers for puberty? In fact, superheroes and tweens have a lot in common. Both begin their journeys feeling like strangers to themselves, and both must learn – through trial and error – how to activate their superpowers.

Combine the turbulence of middle school with the turbulence in the outside world, and it’s no wonder that tweens need superhuman strength to navigate the tougher moments. Here are ways caregivers can help their kids acquire four superpowers that they need to embrace their transformation and recover from any setback.

Super Belonging: The power to find your place and make strong connections

When a well-liked seventh-grade girl told me that she felt too awkward to talk to anyone during recess, I wasn’t surprised. While it may be counterintuitive to kids, even the most popular middle-schooler experiences insecurity. To the girl’s relief, an extroverted classmate offered to act as her “wing girl” and find ways to pull her into conversations.

Research shows that friendships play a powerful role in decreasing middle-schoolers’ stress and improving their health, but connecting with peers is easier for some than for others. To help all kids feel more comfortable in social situations, arm them with concrete strategies.

“Some kids think joining a conversation is just being present, standing next to someone, rather than actually contributing to the conversation, even if it’s only three words,” said psychologist Mary Alvord, author of “The Action Mindset Workbook for Teens.” “Or they may not know what to say.”

Explain that if a peer is talking about sports, for instance, they can ask them about their favorite sport. Alvord teaches kids the “one-minute rule” to help them understand pacing. “You watch and listen to what someone is saying for a minute, then interject with a comment on the same topic,” she explained. Boost their sense of belonging by sharing other practical tips, too, such as making eye contact and listening without interrupting.

If your child tells you they’re lonely, try to determine the root cause. Do they have friends but feel like they’re on the edge of a group — the proverbial third wheel? Are they only lonely at travel baseball practices because they have little in common with teammates who attend a different school? Do they have no one to eat with at lunch? Once you pinpoint the problem, you can help them come up with potential solutions.

Super Security: The power to take pride in your identity

Developmentally, middle-schoolers are tasked with figuring out who they are and whether they’re good enough. That’s exponentially more difficult for today’s tweens, who not only are getting pummeled with unrealistic images and messages, but also growing up in a time of deep division when differences can be dangerous.

To increase the odds that your child will talk to you about their fears and insecurities, be clear that you don’t expect perfection and convey your openness to discussing sensitive topics. “If they don’t want to disappoint you, or they sense that you’re not comfortable having the conversation, they won’t bring it up and may make assumptions about your expectations,” said Erlanger Turner, associate professor of psychology at Pepperdine University in Los Angeles.

You might ask, “What are these expectations you have of yourself, or expectations others have that shape the way you feel about yourself?” Turner said, adding that he sometimes has kids write down the negative thoughts they’re having about themselves. “Then we can challenge them and ask questions like, ‘Has this happened before? What evidence supports these views you have of yourself?’”

Some middle-schoolers are more vulnerable than others, including those who are part of a marginalized group. Research shows that LGBTQ+ teens, for instance, are more than four times as likely as their peers to attempt suicide — not because of their sexual orientation or gender identity but because of how they’re treated and stigmatized in society.

Parents can be a protective buffer. According to the Trevor Project, kids who had “high social support” from their families reported attempting suicide at less than half the rate of those who felt low or moderate social support.

As Turner pointed out, “respecting the individuality of your child is always important for the development of their self-esteem, and acceptance is especially important for [LGBTQ+] teens because they may not be getting that from other places.”Share this articleShare

Super Bounce: The power to learn and recover from missteps

A small setback can stop even the most confident tween in their tracks. To help them work through self-doubt and persist toward a personal goal, teach them to speak to themselves in the second- or third-person, said Jason Moser, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Michigan State University who studies how distance self-talk facilitates emotion regulation.

You also can help them gain psychological distance by seeking inspiration from a personal hero. Say, “Can you turn to another individual you look up to who acts in a way that’s brave and could make you feel like you can do something?” Moser said.

For instance, a child might ask themselves, “What would LeBron James do if he failed once and had a terrible game and was worried what other people think of him?” Moser said, adding that parents can show kids video clips of athletes talking about what they do when they get stuck in negativity. As he noted, “the athletes talk about banking the past; about putting that thing behind them and focusing on preparing for the next thing.”

Super Balance: The power to set a reasonable pace

In middle school, the pressure ratchets up. Some kids react by being hard on themselves and exhibiting perfectionist tendencies, while others feel weighed down by external expectations.

“Parents, teachers and schools can put pressure on kids to be as perfect as possible academically and athletically, and maybe act in ways that are counter to who they are,” said Robyn Silverman, a child and teen development specialist and author of “How to Talk to Kids About Anything.”

As a result, a middle-schooler might devote so much time to schoolwork and extracurricular activities that they sacrifice sleep. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children ages 6 to 12 should sleep 9 to 12 hours a night, and children ages 13 to 18 should sleep 8 to 10 hours a night. Yet, in middle schools in every state, the majority of students reported getting less than the recommended amount of sleep.

Why teens need more sleep and how we can help them get it

Despite the fact that friendship is everything to kids in this age group, they also might sacrifice spending time with peers. In a 2018 Pew Research Center Survey of 13- to 17-year-olds, roughly 40 percent of teens cited “too many obligations” as a reason that they don’t spend time with friends.

Parents can help create healthy boundaries, said Jennifer Breheny Wallace, author of the book “Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic — and What We Can Do About It.” In her home, the internet goes off at 11 p.m. “If my kids are not done with the assignment, they know it goes back on at 6:30 a.m.,” she said, adding that she wants her kids to understand that “they’re human, they have limits, and they’re worthy of protection and rest.”

“We sometimes think our job as a parent is to support our kids’ ambition, to be there and drive them to all the places,” Wallace added, “but in a hypercompetitive culture sometimes our kids need the opposite — for us to limit them, even hold them back, to prevent them burning out.”

Every middle-schooler is going to struggle at times to find their place, cope with insecurity, bounce back from disappointment and maintain balance, but that’s what makes it the perfect time to help them hone their superpowers and learn to leverage any setback — from the personal to the global — into resilience.

Phyllis L. Fagell is a school counselor, a clinical professional counselor at the Chrysalis Group, and the author of “Middle School Superpowers: Raising Resilient Tweens in Turbulent Times” and “Middle School Matters.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/parenting/2023/08/14/how-raise-superpowered-tweens-turbulent-times/

Teens are crumbling under extreme pressure. Parents need to change.

September 6, 2023 Paul Costello1 Uncategorized
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By Amy Joyce  WP August 28th 2023

Several years ago, Jennifer Breheny Wallace noticed research was emerging that showed children who attended “high-achieving schools” were experiencing higher rates of behavioral and mental health challenges. It was so stark that youths in these schools were added to a list of “at-risk” groups, right along with kids living in poverty and foster care, recent immigrants and those with incarcerated parents.

Wallace wrote about this for The Washington Post. But the findings continued to vex her and coincided with the “Varsity Blues” scandal. Parents, she realized, were putting an inordinate amount of pressure on their children to achieve, to take all the AP classes, join all the activities, essentially do whatever it took to get ahead. The results of this are devastating. “How did we get to the point where parents were going to jail?” she wondered, because they were so desperate to get their children into high-end colleges.

At the same time, Wallace’s oldest of three was about to go to high school. “I came to the realization that I had four more years with him at home,” she said. “I wanted to know what I could do … to buffer against it.”

Her new book, “Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic — and What We Can Do About It,” is the result of Wallace’s reporting on the topic. She talks to The Post about what she discovered and how she is trying to fight against the dangers of pushing our children to achieve.

The following answers have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Q: Along with the research you were seeing, the scandal, and your own family, what did you do to determine this warranted delving deeper?

A: I wanted to make sure this wasn’t just an East Coast-West Coast problem. I worked with a researcher at the Harvard School of Education and developed a survey because I wanted to know if it was everywhere, and what was the hidden landscape parents were feeling, and I was certainly feeling it in my own home. Over 6,500 parents filled it out. I asked parents if they’d be willing to be interviewed, and hundreds reached out.

Q: So you were feeling the toxic achievement culture creeping into your own home?

A: Over the years, I had been noticing and so curious as to why my children’s childhood was so different than my own. Our lives felt so much busier. The weekends felt so much more fractured. Homework was much more intense. The pressure I felt for their success, it felt like it was my responsibility to help them be successful. While my parents encouraged my achievement, it wasn’t front and center in the house. So I interviewed historians, economists, sociologists. Parents are parenting today in a very different economic climate than I grew up in, being raised in the late ’70s and early ’80s. Life was generally more affordable then. Over the past decades, we have seen this ushering in of extreme inequality, a crush of the middle class. It’s been the job of the parent to help our kids thrive when we’re not around, and it’s so much more fraught now. Those pressures we’re feeling, we’re absorbing those fears.

We feel caught. We want to set our children up for success. But parents feel their communities are judging them. But they also just want to be parents and enjoy their kids and enjoy that connection. It’s hard.

Q: Is it impossible for parents to step back and step away from adding to the pressure?

A: Not at all. I wanted to find “healthy achievers,” and I wanted to know if they had anything in common. I found these healthy strivers had a lot in common: It all boils down to this idea psychologists call “mattering.” It’s a psychological construct that’s been around since the 1980s. Kids who felt a healthy level of self-esteem felt like they mattered to their parents, that they felt important and significant. Over the past few decades, researchers have found kids who felt valued for who they were at their core, by their family and friends and communities. These kids were relied on to add meaningful value back; those kids had a high level of mattering that acted like a protective shield. It worked like a buoy that lifted them up and helped them be resilient. Mattering has really changed my parenting and my life.Share this articleShare

Q: How?

A: I used to solve for happiness. I now solve for mattering. If one of my children is acting “off,” I wonder if they’re not feeling valued by me, by friends, by the school community. Or am I not relying or depending on them at home? My son, coming out of covid, wasn’t feeling as connected to his friends as before covid. He was just a little lonelier. Then a few of his friends asked him to join the baseball team. They were short one player, and if he didn’t play, they wouldn’t have a team. The cons were it’s two hours after school every day. He said it would take away from his schoolwork. But he said if he didn’t do it, his friends wouldn’t be able to play. So he did it. Before mattering, I would have maybe said school is the most important thing; baseball would interfere with grades. Instead, I realized we needed to bolster his mattering with friends. Not only did it make him feel valued by his friends, but it also started an upward spiral. He had a deep sense of belonging, and he really mattered.

Q: What other ways has the reporting on the book changed the way you parent?

A: His junior year — he’s now a senior — I made our home a haven from pressure. It was the place to recover. We made a pact that we’d only talk about college stuff once a week on the weekend at a time when he wanted to do it. We’d block out an hour, but we’d usually be done in 15 minutes. So I could just enjoy him in the last two years of him being home. I also prioritized affection. Our teenagers don’t necessarily want us hugging them all the time, but I’d find times when I’d massage his back or just pat his arm.

Q: How are parents doing today?

A: Parents are really anxious. Research tells you that a child’s resilience rests fundamentally in their caregiver’s resilience. That primary caregiver, well-being has to be intact. And adult well-being isn’t what’s being marketed to us. It won’t give us the resilience we need to be first responders to our children. What will is our relationships. The communities I visited, they didn’t have the time and bandwidth to develop friends to be true sources of support, people they could be vulnerable with. We’re told as parents to put our oxygen masks on first. Really what these relationships are is having someone in your life who sees you struggling for breath, and puts that mask on for you.

Q: What can we do?

A: Make home a mattering haven. Let our children know their worth is not contingent on performance. Be careful about criticism; be careful about praise. Get a PhD in your child: What is it uniquely that makes your child tick? Their humor? How collaborative they are? Make that be what you talk about at home.

Parents need to prioritize relationships outside of the home for the benefit of people inside the home. You only need an hour a week of intentional connection with a friend or two for you to get that resilience you need. You need people to see you and love you unconditionally, like you do with your own kids.

Q: What can communities do?

A: Communities can really try to focus on helping kids know they’re needed, that the community depends on them. Ask them to pitch in. Thank them. If you have a neighbor whose son is great with tech, ask them for help. Give kids in your community opportunities to be depended on and relied on.

Q: How can parents ratchet it down if they feel as if they are the only ones in their cohort not pushing for high achievement?

A: There is a silent majority; don’t feel like you’re the only one. Find one or two friends who share your values. That’s all you need. Then you can turn to them when you’re feeling the contagion of stress all around you. Parents see this isn’t working. They want solutions, and I found them in the families I visited around the country.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/parenting/2023/08/28/teens-achievement-pressure-parents/

Where Are the Students?

September 5, 2023 Paul Costello1 Uncategorized
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A school classroom with empty desks. In the background educational poster line the wall.

By David Leonhardt

If you’re a child — or a former child — you know how hard it can be to summon the energy to leave the house each day for school. It’s early in the morning, and you are tired. Maybe you have a test or a social situation that’s making you anxious. Staying in bed often seems easier.

For as long as schools have existed, so have these morning struggles. Nonetheless, children overcame them almost every day, sometimes with a strong nudge from parents. Going to school was the normal thing to do.

Then, suddenly, it wasn’t.

The long school closures during the Covid pandemic were the biggest disruption in the history of modern American education. And those closures changed the way many students and parents think about school. Attendance, in short, has come to feel more optional than it once did, and absenteeism has soared, remaining high even as Covid has stopped dominating everyday life.

On an average day last year — the 2022-23 school year — close to 10 percent of K-12 students were not there, preliminary state data suggests. About one quarter of U.S. students qualified as chronically absent, meaning that they missed at least 10 percent of school days (or about three and a half weeks). That’s a vastly higher share than before Covid.

Credit…Thomas Dee

“I’m just stunned by the magnitude,” said Thomas Dee, a Stanford economist who has conducted the most comprehensive study on the issue.

This surge of absenteeism is one more problem confronting schools as they reopen for a new academic year. Students still have not made up the ground they lost during the pandemic, and it’s much harder for them to do so if they are missing from the classroom.

In Dee’s study, he looked for explanations for the trend, and the obvious suspects didn’t explain it. Places with a greater Covid spread did not have higher lingering levels of absenteeism, for instance. The biggest reason for the rise seems to be simply that students have fallen out of the habit of going to school every day.

Consistent with this theory is the fact that absenteeism has risen more in states where schools remained closed for longer during the pandemic, like California and New Mexico (and in Washington, D.C.). The chart below shows the correlation between Dee’s state data on chronic absenteeism and data from Thomas Kane, a Harvard economist, on the share of students in each state who in 2020-21 were enrolled in districts where most students were remote:

Credit…Thomas Dee (absenteeism); Thomas Kane (virtual schooling)

“For almost two years, we told families that school can look different and that schoolwork could be accomplished in times outside of the traditional 8-to-3 day,” Elmer Roldan, who runs a dropout prevention group, told The Los Angeles Times. “Families got used to that.”

Lisa Damour, a psychologist and the author of “The Emotional Lives of Teenagers,” points out that parents think they are doing the right thing when they allow an anxious child to skip a day of school. She has deep empathy for these parents, she said. Doing so often makes the child feel better in the moment. But there are costs.

“The most fundamental thing for adults to understand is that avoidance feeds anxiety,” Damour told me. “When any of us are fearful, our instinct is to avoid. But the problem with giving in to that anxiety is that avoidance is highly reinforcing.” The more often students skip school, the harder it becomes to get back in the habit of going.

I know that some readers will wonder whether families are making a rational choice by keeping their children home, given all the problems with schools today: the unhealthily early start times for many high schools; the political fights over curriculum; the bullying and the vaping; the inequalities that afflict so many areas of American life.

And the rise in chronic absenteeism is indeed a sign that schools need help. One promising step would be to make teaching a more appealing job, Damour notes, in order to attract more great teachers.

Still, it’s worth remembering that the rise of absenteeism isn’t solving these larger problems. It is adding to those problems.

Classrooms are more chaotic places when many students are there one day and missing the next. Educational inequality increases too, because absenteeism has risen more among disadvantaged students, including students with disabilities and those from lower-income households. “Studies show that even after adjusting for poverty levels and race, children who skip more school get significantly worse grades,” The Economist explained recently.

As Hedy Chang, who runs Attendance Works, a nonprofit group focused on the problem, told The Associated Press, “The long-term consequences of disengaging from school are devastating.”

Many schools are now trying to reduce absenteeism by reaching out to families. Some school officials are visiting homes in person, while others are sending texts to parents. (This Times story goes into more detail.)

It will be a hard problem to solve. Dee’s study focused on 2021-22 — which was two years ago, and the first year after the extended Covid closures — but he notes that absenteeism appears to have fallen only slightly last year. In Connecticut, which has some of the best data (and lower absentee rates than most states), 7.8 percent of students missed school on an average day two years ago, a far higher level than before the pandemic. Last year, the rate dipped only to 7.6 percent.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/05/briefing/covid-school-absence.html

Team Documentaries 2022-23

August 24, 2023 Paul Costello1 Uncategorized
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Documentary Now! - Rotten Tomatoes
Member Documentaries “Advocating for Others” Salena Geahwie
Member Documentaries- “Change is an opportunity to grow’ Michelle Haughton
Member Documentaries “Grateful to God” Marinobi Medrano
Member Documentaries “From Struggling to Thriving” Lucresse Gouayou
Member Documentaries -“Giving Back to MCPS” Liam Jaehnigen
Member Documentaries – “Native Washingtonian” Kelly Palmer
Member Documentaries- “I am many things.” Jakobe Cotton
Member Documentaries – “Seeing a Different View- Hannah Norman
Member Documentaries “Beyond Beautiful” Lalebela Moore

Training Calendar 2023-4

August 24, 2023 Paul Costello1 Uncategorized
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Calendar 2023-2024 DRAFT August  24th    2023  

All members MUST attend 90% of skills trainings to fulfil their contract

Friday programs usually go from 9-30am to 2pm

Mondy-Friday August 28-September 2nd   MyScore Immersion Training
Friday Sep 8th Member Orientation-the Story Begins
Friday, September 15th Professionalism – Funa
Friday, September 22nd Storytelling through the Camera -Ahmed
Friday, September 29th   Observation of Learning-
Friday, September 29th Peer to Peer Coaching – Lynne Feingold
Friday, October 6th   No Meeting today
Friday, October 13th Grant Writing- Alanna Taylor
Friday, October 20th to Sunday  22nd Retreat at Sandy Cove  MD
Friday October 27th Financial Literacy- Maria McIlhenny
Friday November 3rd Improv in Class- Jean Freedman
Friday, November 10th Supervisors Meeting
Friday, November 17th MyScore Review Scores  (Skills Success)
Friday, December 1st MD Programs Meet Up – Storytelling Festival
Friday, December 8th Mary Fowler- Developing Compassion
Friday December 15th Harriet Tubman Tour – All Day
Friday, January 5th MyScore Intervention Training
Monday, January 15th MLK Birthday Day of Service
Friday, January 19th One on One Member Check-Ins with Director
Friday, January 26th Mapping the Half Way Mark
Friday, February 2nd Snow Tubing Excursion at Liberty
Friday February 16th Supervisors Meeting 10am- Mediation Workshop
Friday, March 1st “MyScore Data Review-Strategies 4 Intervention” C&K

I have read the dates and commit to my attendance at all trainings

Name ………………………………………………..Date…………………………………………

Friday, March 15th Financial Literacy Day with Sligo School Students
Friday March 22nd Meet our Congress Members-Capitol Hill
Friday, April 12th Civil Rights Tour Silver Spring
Friday, April 26th Getting ready for the final MYSCORE
Friday, May 3rd   Life after AmeriCorps – Judy Lapping & Alumni
Monday, May 6th GBTLA Golf Tournament- Volunteers
Friday May 18-19th Overnight Trip to Balimore and Tour
Friday, May 24th Recruiting & SEGAL award- Kiersten- Alanna Digital Toolkit
Friday, May 31st How a successful Non-Profit operates- Jan Peters
Friday June 7th Summing up Service in a story- jean Freedman
Sunday, June 9th Graduation Event – AFI
Friday July 19th    Reunion Luncheon

I have read the dates and commit to my attendance at all trainings

Name ………………………………………………..Date…………………………………………

New to Baltimore? Check out these books.

August 24, 2023 Paul Costello1 Uncategorized
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Illustration of a woman standing in front of rowhouses that look like books.

Krishna Sharma

Every newcomer to Baltimore hears these five words before they arrive: “Have you watched ‘The Wire’?”

Even two decades later, the city’s reputation is inextricably linked to the HBO show. But one soon-to-be Baltimorean was looking for more and reached out to ask which books we would recommend to someone who’s about to move here — books that go beyond the version of Baltimore “The Wire” presents.

So we turned to the experts: Readers!

  • An intern’s favorite bookstores of the summer

We posted the question and 63 responded, recommending 55 books and three sweeping suggestions: Anything by Anne Tyler, Anything by Laura Lippman and Anything by Lawrence T. Brown.

Top picks:

‘Not in My Neighborhood: How Bigotry Shaped a Great American City’

By Antero Pietila

Charm City was unfortunately one of the first in the country to use private covenants to bar people from housing based on their ethnicity. Antero Pietila, a former Baltimore Sun reporter, takes a deep dive into this history of redlining and racial segregation.

No fewer than 16 readers recommended it. Here are a couple of reviews:

“Not in my Neighborhood by Antero Pietila does a really great job of giving you a sense of where you are and how where you are got to be how it is. Spoilers: it’s racism.” — Daniel Shiffner

“This book helped me understand how housing discrimination has shaped and continues to shape Baltimore. Pietila does a great job explaining how societal beliefs, like eugenics, influenced the laws around housing.” — Julie Spokus

‘The Black Butterfly: The Harmful Politics of Race and Space in America’

Lawrence T. BrownSign Up for AlertsGet notified of need-to-know
info from The Banner

The second-most-recommended book shows how the roots of redlining encase modern Baltimore, quietly reinforcing the racial and economic trenches separating our neighborhoods.

Reader reviews: “I moved to Baltimore two years ago, and reading about the history of red lining and discrimination against the Black community has been really helpful to understand dynamics at play in the city and in the country.” — Guillaume Foutry

“An analysis of the structural issues and policy-level decisions at the root of racialized inequality in the city, with some radical ideas on how to how to address it.” — Linda Shopes

‘Baltimore Blues’ ; ‘Charm City’ ; ‘What The Dead Know’

Laura Lippman

(HarperCollins)

At least four different people submitted the exact same response: “Anything by Laura Lippman”, the prolific Baltimore author who is still publishing new works.

One reader recommends starting with her 1997 classic “Baltimore Blues.”

Reader review: “Laura Lippman’s book gives a great feel for the city as her characters go up and down the streets of downtown, Federal Hill and more as she weaves a fine crime novel.” — Jack Amdryszak

Any book by Anne Tyler

Anne Tyler has been rooted in Baltimore while writing prolifically for over half a century, and her novels show it. She’s won numerous accolades, including the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and three readers recommend her works.

Reader Review: “The majority of her books are set in Baltimore and she beautifully captures the quirkiness of this city and its residents.” — Lucy Strausbaugh

Diving Deeper

‘The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America’ by Richard Rothstein

Reader review: “You will have countless recommendations for Lippman, Tyler, Waters, Poe (rightfully). Actually wanna know “why Bmore has this rep”? You must understand racial housing laws & how that meant American cities could develop. Don’t wanna know? Then don’t live here.” – Chrissy Kidd (This reader also recommended “Not in My Neighborhood” by Antero Pietila.)

‘We Speak for Ourselves’ and ‘The Cook Up’ by D. Watkins

D. Watkins is an East Baltimore-born author, editor, professor and writer for HBO’s “We Own This City” who depicts an honest image of what it’s like to live in East Baltimore.

‘The Tell Tale Heart’ by Edgar Allan Poe

Didn’t realize Poe has history in Baltimore? Check out the Poe Museum — and his grave — after reading!

‘Homicide: A Year on the Killing streets’ by David Simon

As the creator of HBO’s “The Wire,” David Simon is a well-known name in Baltimore. His novel “Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets” was adapted into an NBC show, “Homicide: Life on the Street” in the ‘90s.

Reader review: “I moved here in 1991. I hunted high and low for books about Baltimore. They were mostly tangential to understanding the city. A friend gave me David Simon’s ‘Homicide.’ It was eye opening and mesmerizing. A seminal work for understanding Baltimore in the 1990s. I still think about it today.” — Mary Roberts

‘If You Love Baltimore, It Will Love You Back: 171 Short, But True Stories’ by Ron Cassie

This collection of vignettes by nationally acclaimed Baltimore magazine editor Ron Cassie uses the everyday experiences of residents to paint an intricate mosaic of Charm City.

Reader review: “It’s 171 short but true stories that shows the quirkiness and flavor of Baltimore, and its inhabitants. It also showcases the neighborhoods we were famous for & the diversity of them. — Jacqueline Victoria Capel

‘Chesapeake’ by James Michener

This sprawling novel depicts coastal Maryland’s history by following several generations of three different families, all the way from the late 1500s to the Watergate Scandal of the 1970s.

Reader review: “James Michener’s ‘Chesapeake’ is still one of the most revealing and informative narratives for any one new to this region. As a very well regarded historical fiction novel, it provides a very colorful and for the most part, accurate accounting of the basis for the cultural of our community.” — Jim Burdick

‘111 Places in Baltimore That You Must Not Miss’ by Allison Robicelli

Want to visit a fudge shop with ties to four legendary R&B artists, drink in Edgar Allan Poe’s memory or visit one of the oldest blacksmith shops in the country that’s still operating? This book is full of quirky, fascinating and thoroughly explained recommendations for eating, drinking, visiting historic spots and much more.

Reader review: “I have visited almost every location listed in this book — I love it. I have found everything from my favorite chocolates to talented Greektown glassblowers. Even ‘Baltimore Licks!’ ” — Yvette Wheeler

‘Baltimore: A Political History’ by Matthew Crenson

Written by a professor emeritus at the Johns Hopkins University, this book explores how Baltimore became Baltimore. Starting with the city’s founding in 1729, Crenson navigates the politics of the region and how issues such as the Revolutionary War, slavery and industrialization molded Charm City.

Reader reviews: “This book explains how Baltimore was created; the factors that accounted for its growth; the development of its major industries, such as the railroads; its long history of governmental dysfunctionality and civil disorder (e.g., riots); and the factors that led to its decline after World War II.” — Jefferson M. Gray

“Provides a really interesting historical perspective on how Baltimore has been intentionally shut out of state power from its founding, among other things.” — Mobtowne

‘The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass’ by Frederick Douglass

This memoir recounts Frederick Douglass’ life, including his experiences while enslaved in Baltimore and Maryland. After escaping slavery, he fled north and became one of the most influential abolitionist movement leaders of the 19th century.

Reader review: “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass should be a must read for Baltimoreans and Marylanders. An icon of American history, telling a vital story of our past, the story of slavery in Baltimore and on the Eastern Shore. It should be part of the DNA of everyone in Baltimore.” — Amanda McGuire

‘Shelter: A Black Tale of Homeland, Baltimore’ by Lawrence Jackson

Lawrence Jackson, who grew up in West Baltimore, is now a professor at Johns Hopkins, an institution that has a complex and often tense relationship with many of the city’s neighborhoods. In this memoir, the author uses his own life as lens to understand the many nuances of the city.

Reader review: “Read this wonderful work with a map of Baltimore neighborhoods in hand or, better yet, on a walking tour of the city.” — Clarissa Howison

‘The Amiable Baltimoreans’ by Francis F. Beirne

Legend has it that the first umbrella in America was opened in Baltimore. This book explores the history of Baltimore with many such anecdotes and fun facts — though they might be somewhat dated for the modern reader.

Reader review: “ ‘The Amiable Baltimoreans’ was written in the early 1950s by Francis Beirne — a former editor at the Sunpapers. It is a bit of a throwback, but a solid read for those looking to learn about our city’s unique people, history, and culture.” — Tyler Crowe

‘What’s Not to Like?: Words and Pictures of a Charmed Life’ by Jim Burger

A former photographer at The Baltimore Sun recounts his life through words and images. “I was walking around the building one day and I was just taking pictures just to show what it looked like and how a newspaper was made. And now it’s a historical document. Nothing, literally nothing in those photos exists!” the author told WYPR.

Reader review: “He’s lived in Baltimore a long time, worked for The Baltimore Sun, and has some great stories to tell. — Kristen Held

‘We Are Satellites’ by Sarah Pinsker

A story about how technology can divide families, written by an award-winning science fiction author based in Baltimore.

Reader review: “I recommend We are Satellites by local Sarah Pinsker. The book is set in the near future, but interwoven in the story are the locations like the aquarium.” — Emanuel

‘Crowning the Gravelly Hill: A History of the Roland Park-Guilford-Homeland District’ by James Waesche

A look into the neighborhoods infamously built on private racial covenants.

Reader review: “It’s a fascinating look at the Roland Park Company’s development of Roland Park, Guilford, Homeland, and Northwood, still popular neighborhoods, more than 100 years on.” — Kathleen Truelove

‘Beautiful Swimmers’ by William W. Warner

You can’t talk about Baltimore without blue crabs being part of the conversation. Their genus, Callinectes, is Greek for “beautiful swimmer,” hence the name of this 1977 Pulitzer Prize-winning nonfiction book.

Reader review: “A book about crabs from start to finish. Great read.” — Dave Majchrzak

https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/culture/books/baltimore-reading-list-books-GCEKS72ZKZFMLBNWNLACSJYKBA/?schk=&rchk=&utm_source=The+Baltimore+Banner&utm_campaign=5f3f093b34-NL_BKRM_20230824_1400&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-5f3f093b34-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=5f3f093b34&mc_eid=fe12c291d2

Maryland students fall short of pre-pandemic levels in math

August 24, 2023 Paul Costello1 Uncategorized
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By Nicole AsburyAugust 22, 2023 at 6:20 p.m. EDT Washington Post

A majority of Maryland students’ test scores improved for the second yearin English language arts, but students are still academically behind in mathematics because of the impact of the pandemic, according to results from state assessments released Tuesday.F

Students showed some gains in mathematics compared with 2022, but the number who tested as proficient fell short of 2019 levels — before schools closed to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. Overall, a majority of students improved from a shortened assessment taken in the fall of 2021 that showed test scores plummeted. The fall 2021 assessment was taken just as schools were reopening for in-person instruction.

For example, 30 percent of sixth-graders scored as proficient in math in 2019, but results from the 2023 assessment show that only 19 percent of students received the same score. Twenty-seven percent of students tested proficient in Algebra I in 2019, but only 17 percent met the standard last school year.

The state defines proficient learners as students who are “prepared for the next grade level or course and are on track for college and career readiness.”

Maryland test results show ‘widened’ achievement gaps, especially in math

The results mirror national trends showing that students have regained traction in English but are struggling in math. On the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) that was released in October, the portion of eighth-graders rated proficient or better in math fell to 27 percent, from 34 percent in 2019. Average math scoresfor the eighth grade fell by eight points, from 282 in 2019 to 274, on a 500-point scale, and in fourth grade by five points — the steepest declines recorded in more than a half-century of testing. Reading scores also fell, dropping among both fourth- and eighth-graders, but the declines were not as steep as they were in math.

Last year, Maryland State Superintendent of Schools Mohammed Choudhury warned state board members that virtual learning took a large toll on mathematics and that the state’s students would have “a long load of recovery.” His agency is investing up to $10 million to establish a permanent statewide tutoring corps that will target students who are not proficient in mathematics. The state is also focusing on improvements to math instruction through the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, a landmark statewide education plan that invests billions in public schools over a 10-year span.

Choudhury said during a state board meeting Tuesday that “the money needs to land in the right places” to see statewide assessment improvements, especially for students who are underserved. “We need the boats that have historic inequities and other challenges to rise faster,” Choudhury said.

In English language arts, most students showed improvement compared with 2019. Forty-eight percent of third-graders scored proficient last school year; that was more than the 41 percent who hit the mark in 2019, as well as a small increase from 2022, when 46 percent of third-graders scored proficient. Also in 2023, 54 percent of 10th-graders scored proficient, compared with 43 percent in 2019.

All Maryland student demographic groups showed improvements, but there were still achievement gaps. A majority of low-income students and students of color were behind their wealthier and White peers. Roughly 11 percent of students who are “economically disadvantaged” in grades three through eight received a proficient score in mathematics. (The state considers a student to be economically disadvantaged if they meet one of several criteria, including participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and foster status.) Meanwhile, about 34 percent of students in grades three through eight whom the state did not designate as economically disadvantaged obtained a proficient result.

Maryland assessments show students are falling behind in mathematics

Most Maryland state board members celebrated the improvements in English language arts, though some were concerned about the minimal progress among English learners and students with disabilities. Twelve percent of students with disabilities in grades three through eight were proficient in English language arts on the 2023 assessment, an increase of one percentage point compared with last year. Twelve percent of English learners in grades three through eight were proficient in English language arts in 2023, down one percentage point from last year.

“We need to do something different,” said Joan Mele-McCarthy, a state board member who represents Calvert County and who emphasized that she was not celebrating the results. “I hate to sound this way, but I’m a little frustrated.”Share this articleNo subscription required to readShare

“You’re not going to hear any debate on that,” Choudhury replied at the board meeting. “You’re only as strong as your most struggling student. We need to up our game.”

He added that he believes that for students who are English learners and who have disabilities, there are “low expectations” that are “playing out every day in the classroom.”

“We need to challenge that premise,” he said.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/08/22/maryland-test-assessment-scores/

Virginia students kick off back-to-school in the region

August 24, 2023 Paul Costello1 Uncategorized
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By Karina Elwood  WashingtonPost August 22nd

Nell O’Brien, 5, walked up to George Mason Elementary School in Alexandria, with her blond hair neatly clipped to the side with a bow. She stood quietly by her mother in a collared dress, meeting teachers and administrators along the path leading to the front doors of the new school.F

It was the first day of kindergarten for Nell, and she was ready to take on the day in the same dress her mother wore for her first day of school.Susana O’Brien, Nell’s mother, said she held on to the dress — which she first wore in 1987 — in case she had a daughter who could repurpose it.

“It’s a little nostalgic. It’s a bittersweet moment. I have a fifth-grader here, and a third-grader here as well, and it’s my last baby going into kindergarten,” O’Brien said. “It’s exciting. It’s an exciting day.”

Alexandria City and Fairfax County public schools kicked off the return to school Monday by welcoming nearly 200,000 students across the two districts. Fairfax, Virginia’s largest public school system, serves more than 181,000 students at nearly 200 schools.

Other state school systems — including Prince William County Public Schools, the state’s second-largest school system with more than 89,000 students, andManassas Park City Schools — also started the school year Monday. Students enrolled in Loudoun County Public Schools return to the classroom Thursday, and students in the rest of the region — Arlington Public Schools, District of Columbia Public Schools, Montgomery County Public Schools, Prince George’s County Public Schools — start Aug. 28.

Five things we’re watching as kids return to school

The first day brings excitement and nerves for students and educators as they start the new year. This school year also marks more than three years since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic closed classrooms across the United States. Although they are back in full swing, schools around the region are still trying to recover from a number of lingering effects, including lagging enrollment numbers, staffing shortages, falling test scores and significant learning loss.

O’Brien said she’s mostly optimistic heading into the school year, but worries about growing class sizes and student-to-teacher ratios if the school district can’t retain or hire enough teachers.Advertisement

“We’re hoping that ACPS hears parents’ concerns about that and will work to improve teacher retention in the coming year,” she said. “I think it’s an excellent school district, obviously, I’m sending all my children here. So, I’m really excited about the new school year and I think that we have a lot to do.”Share this articleNo subscription required to readShare

Staffing in schools has been a concern for parents and educators around the country as schools have faced teacher shortages nationwide. In most D.C.-area districts, more teachers resigned during the 2022-23 school year than in the term prior, data shows. Alexandria saw 325 teachers leave last year, compared with 212 in 2021-22.

Melanie Kay-Wyatt, who is starting her first school year as Alexandria City Public Schools superintendent after leading the division on an interim basis, said priorities for this yearare improving school culture, academic achievement and closing gaps around absenteeism — another key concern for school leaders in the region.Advertisement

“It’s really around supporting and making sure that our students are coming to school, and putting in programs and initiatives to support families so that our students can come to school each and every day and want to be engaged in the work and the programs that we have to offer them,” Kay-Wyatt said.P

Students and educators headed back to classrooms will also have to manage a spike in school violence and rising issues surrounding mental health, particularly among teens. Students in Alexandria City and Prince William County will have weapons detectors in their middle and high schools in an effort to prohibit guns in schools. Prince George’s County Public Schools, Maryland’s second-largest school system, will also install weapons detectors at every high school and some middle schools, and it will require clear backpacks for every high-schooler.

Educators are also still working to recover academic progress lost during the pandemic. National test scores in reading and math plunged during the pandemic, with the most recent data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress showing the single largest drop in math scores among 13-year-olds in 50 years. And according to federal survey data collected by the National Center for Education Statistics, about half of public school students across the country started last school year below grade level in at least one subject.

One school’s solution to the mental health crisis: Try everything

Renae Graves needed a bit more convincing before heading into her first day of kindergarten. The girl sat on a bench outside the school with Kay-Wyatt talking her up for the day.

Her dad, Kelvin Graves, had hoped Renae’s older brother would guide his little sister into the school. But he was too eager to reconnect with friends.

With one last pep talk from dad, Renae mustered up the courage and headed inside with a teacher, her Princess Ariel backpack waving behind her with the tag still attached.

https://www.projectchangemaryland.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=8546&action=edit

Five things we’re watching as kids return to school

August 24, 2023 Paul Costello1 Uncategorized
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By Lauren Lumpkin, Karina Elwood, Donna St. George and Nicole Asbury August 20, 2023 at 6:00 a.m. EDT Washington Post

The autumnal return to school brings children and parents a mix of emotions: excitement, joy, anxiety, the bittersweet realization that kids are growing up.

But lurking in the background of all the first-day preparations — the new shoes and clothes, the rush to finish summer reading assignments, the acquisition of school supplies — are some major challenges facing American schools. These include the pandemic, poverty and violence.F

Here are five important topics The Washington Post’s education team will be watching as schools reopen.

Test scores

National test scores in reading and math plunged during the pandemic, most recently with record drops for 13-year-olds on the well-regarded National Assessment for Education Progress. The backsliding followed other stark results. Experts say that students as a whole have not made up for the ground they lost during covid-19.

Students’ understanding of history and civics is worsening

In the D.C. region, academic recovery has a long way to go. In the District’s public schools, for example, the passing rate in math on standardized tests taken in spring 2022 plummeted 12 percentage points, from 31 percent before the pandemic to 19 percent — the lowest ever recorded in the city, according to results released last year. The share of students reaching the reading benchmark dipped six percentage points, to 31 percent. Maryland state assessment scores released in January showed that students were reaching pre-pandemic levels in English, but falling behind in math. New scores will be released later this week.

School systems across the country have experimented with an array of strategies to help students catch up academically — including high-dosage tutoring — but researchers say many programs don’t last long enough or reach a sufficient number of students. Some areas have struggled to hire tutors.

While test scores are telltale, other academic measures are revealing, too. In fall of 2022, half of students across the country started the academic year below grade level in at least one subject, according to federal survey data collected by the National Center for Education Statistics. This year may not be vastly different.

School security

School systems are rolling out additional security measures in response to youth violence.

Prince George’s County Public Schools is installing weapons detectors at every high school and some middle schools to reduce the amount of gun incidents reported on school campuses. The school system — which is Maryland’s second largest with about 131,000 students — is also requiring clear backpacks for every high-schooler.

In Northern Virginia, both Alexandria City Public Schools and Prince William County Public Schools will have weapons detectors in their middle and high schools. Alexandria began its pilot program in the spring, and Prince William will begin using the scanners for the first time in a phased rollout starting the third week of school.Share this articleNo subscription required to readShare

Shortages

While teacher resignations in some D.C. area districts fell last year compared to the term prior, the region’s seven major systems reported at least 2,300 vacancies just weeks before the start of the school year.

In Fairfax County, the largest public school system in Virginia, 726 teachers quit their jobs during the 2022-2023 school year — a decline from 896 in 2021-2022. Fewer teachers also left Arlington’s public schools, from 284 during the 2021-2022 school year to 164 last school year.

Meanwhile in Prince George’s County, officials counted 1,126 resignations between July 2022 and this July. Last year, they said 989 teachers quit between June 2021 and July 2022. The district has hosted hiring fairs in recent months to connect anxious school leaders with new teachers and staff.

D.C.’s public school system reported 360 resignations last school year — an average of roughly 37 resignations per month, district officials said. Between January and June 2022, 372 teachers quit their jobs, The Post previously reported, about 62 departures per month.

Coronavirus relief money

This is the last year for schools across the country to spend roughly $122 billion in pandemic relief aid, the final round of more than $190 billion in federal funds intended to help schools navigate the pandemic. Schools — in the D.C. area and beyond — have so far have reported using the cash to support efforts such as virtual learning, reopening schools and launching tutoring programs.

The money came with few guidelines, which allowed schools to spend it on almost anything related to education. But as the funding runs out, education advocates have warned of a fiscal cliff that could drop school systems into financial disarray as they try to readjust to their smaller, pre-pandemic budgets.

Most education agencies maintain online databases to track their spending. Here they are for D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

Schools brace for challenges as once-in-a-lifetime cash runs out

Enrollment

Two years after the pandemic, enrollment numbers in K-12 public schools were still lagging pre-pandemic levels. A report from the Education Department’s National Center for Education Statistics released earlier this year showed enrollment was down 3 percent in 2021, with 49.4 million students compared with 50.8 million before the pandemic, in 2019.

In the Washington region, preliminary enrollment data from last school year showed that school systems were beginning to recover from coronavirus enrollment drops, but still struggling to make a full recovery.

In Montgomery County and Prince George’s County public schools show that enrollment was up but hadn’t reached pre-pandemic levels. Similarly in Northern Virginia, enrollment was on the rise, but no system had fully rebounded. In the District, before school closures, 51,037 students were enrolled in the city’s traditional public schools. Enrollment fell to 49,035 during the 2021-2022 school year, but surpassed 50,000 students for the first time since the pandemic last school year.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/08/20/back-to-school-key-issues/

A high school senior wants to drop out. How can a parent make him stay?

August 24, 2023 Paul Costello1 Uncategorized
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Q: How do I get my 17-year-old son to stay in school for his senior year? He hates school, the homework and getting up early and he wants to drop out and just work.

He struggles with the homework. His school uses Google Chromebooks for all homework, quizzes and tests. He gets frustrated and refuses to do the work. I’ve encouraged him to ask his teachers for help, and that gets eyerolls.

I can’t get him to see the benefits of getting the high school diploma and that then he can work, or travel or even go to a trade or community college.

What can I do?

A: Thank you for writing in; this must feel like a scary time. When your child is so close to closing an important chapter (finishing high school) and there is nothing we can do to force them to want it or actually do it, it’s easy to feel out of control. And when we feel out of control, we can start to panic and act from that panic. We can begin to beg our kids, offer rewards we may not be able to make good on, try to convince them with logic or make threats that don’t even make sense. As the parents, we can see around the curve and we know how many doors are closed without a high school diploma — why wouldn’t you feel panicked? Ironically, the way forward is to do the opposite of what our panicked brain is telling us.ADVERTISING

The first step in reaching your son is to be on his side. No human likes to feel dumb, left out or frustrated. I doubt he wakes up and chooses to feel this way, and whether it is an undiagnosed learning disorder or just stuck-ness that has lasted years, your son feels like he doesn’t have options. “To be on his side” is less of an action (although action is involved) and more of the feeling you want to create with your son. Contrary to what many parents think, listening to his feelings and making room for them will not make them worse. He will not become more frustrated if he talks about how much he hates school — the opposite is usually true. If he can let out his frustration about the homework and early mornings without you commenting, he may get to a place where he does not fight you so much. If he feels like you are listening without judgment and you maintain curiosity, compassion and empathy, there is a greater chance that he will begin to relax.Share this articleNo subscription required to readShare

It is so countercultural to fully listen to our children without commentary, logic, problem-solving, critique or worry, that you may not even know how to do this. Adopting some of the techniques from psychologist Ross Greene’s “collaborative and proactive solutions” empathy step, you can simply find a quiet, calm moment and say: “I’ve noticed you are dreading this school year, from the wake-up time to the homework. Tell me more about that.” And then just sit there. Maybe your son will shrug, unwilling to share, and the trick here (and trust me, it is hard) is just to wait. Silently. People need time to process their thoughts, and if they are accustomed to you jumping in with your critiques and thoughts, they don’t feel safe sharing with you. Sitting silently and compassionately is one of the most powerful things you can do.

If your son begins to complain, awesome. Listen carefully and repeat back to him what he is saying to you. This communicates that you are actually listening (not simply saying what you think) and if you need to, take notes. What is your son really worried about? Maybe the early mornings aren’t that big of a deal, but the homework is a real problem. Maybe he hates certain classes, but the rest are okay. By listening without jumping to conclusions or solutions, you stand a good chance of getting at your son’s real worries and issues, and when he feels like you are on his side, he is more likely to open up to solutions, ideas, and yes, hope.

Once you have a clearer picture of what worries your son, you can begin to create mini-solutions. Maybe you only work on mornings and waking up. Maybe you begin to problem solve around homework (finding a teacher in school, a tutor, a friend). Maybe you build in mini-rewards to keep motivation high. Maybe he can get a job in a field he is interested in, while learning how the high school diploma will benefit him. Maybe you work with him and the school counselor closely to create a schedule that your son finds interesting. The counselor could also work with you and your son about the ramifications of dropping out as well as what would be required to obtain a GED down the road. This wouldn’t be done as a threat, rather is gathering information and treating your son like a young adult, not a child to be controlled and manipulated.

In either case, I strongly recommend finding small wins and truly celebrating them. My spidey sense is telling me your son has some low self-esteem when it comes to learning (remember, people like to feel capable, smart and needed), so continuously meet with him to listen to him. Find ways to have fun and laugh, and yes, he may still want to drop out, but focus on one day or week at a time. Find as many loving adults as you can to support you and your son, and have faith that it will work out. And, for you, find good friends and loved ones to support you as you navigate this with your son. It is painful to watch someone you love so much not see the future as clearly as you do, so you deserve all the love and support, too. Good luck.P

By Meghan LeahyMeghan is the mother of three daughters and the author of “Parenting Outside the Lines.” She holds a bachelor’s degree in English and secondary education and a master’s degree in school counseling and is a certified parent coach. Send a question about parenting to onparenting@washpost.com, and it may show up in a future column. Twitter