I’ve always been cautious about using the term in my articles because, to be honest, I’ve never fully understood what it means. What are they at risk of, exactly? When I do use it, as I did in today’s story about a review of the Phoenix Program, I make sure to put it in quotes because it is a term the school district uses.

On the Web site of the Phoenix Program, it defines its mission as striving “to enrich the lives of Nashua’s ‘at-risk’ students.” Notice how the school district even puts the term in quotes.

In 2006, I asked people who work with these so-called “at-risk” students what they thought the term means. Patti Place, principal of the Academy of Learning and Technology (now the Phoenix Program), said she didn’t think using the term could have a negative effect on the students.

“Some people say we shouldn’t use that term, but you’ve got to be straight up with these kids,” she said. “These are your obstacles. Now how are we going to help you overcome these hurdles?”

It is those reforms which have drawn criticism from some, including an emphasis on merit pay. To be eligible, states “must have no legal barriers to linking student growth and achievement data to teachers and principals for the purposes of evaluation.”

Here is the full text of the USDOE press release:

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today released the final application for more than $4 billion from the Race to the Top Fund, which will reward states that have raised student performance in the past and have the capacity to accelerate achievement gains with innovative reforms.

“The president said last week that Race to the Top will require states to take an all-hands-on-deck approach,” Duncan said. “We will award grants to the states that have led the way in reform and will show the way for the rest of the country to follow.”

The U.S. Department of Education is asking states to build comprehensive and coherent plans built around the four areas of reform outlined in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The application requires states to document their past success and outline their plans to extend their reforms by using college- and career-ready standards and assessments, building a workforce of highly effective educators, creating educational data systems to support student achievement, and turning around their lowest-performing schools.

The $4.35 billion for the Race to the Top Fund is an unprecedented federal investment in reform. Duncan will reserve up to $350 million to help states create assessments aligned to common sets of standards. The remaining $4 billion will be awarded in a national competition.

To qualify, states must have no legal barriers to linking student growth and achievement data to teachers and principals for the purposes of evaluation. They also must have the department’s approval for their plans for both phases of the Recovery Act’s State Fiscal Stabilization Fund prior to being awarded a grant.

The final application released today includes significant changes to the proposal released by the U.S. Department of Education in July. After reviewing responses to the draft proposals from 1,161 people, who submitted thousands of unique comments, ranging from one paragraph to 67 pages, the U.S. Department of Education restructured the application and changed it to reflect the ideas of the public.

“The public’s input on this application was invaluable to us,” Duncan said. “The comments helped us clarify that we want states to think through how they will create a comprehensive agenda to drive reform forward.”

The final application also clarifies that states should use multiple measures to evaluate teachers and principals, including a strong emphasis on the growth in achievement of their students. But it also reinforces that successful applicants will need to have rigorous teacher and principal evaluation programs and use the results of teacher evaluations to inform what happens in the schools.

In Race to the Top, the department will hold two rounds of competition for the grants. For the first round, it will accept states’ applications until the middle of January, 2010. Peer reviewers will evaluate the applications and the department will announce the winners of the first round of funding next spring.

Applications for the second round will be due June 1, 2010, with the announcement of all the winners by Sept. 30, 2010.

Here is the press release:

NASHUA, N.H.—Rivier College has signed a dual enrollment agreement allowing students at Nashua North and South high schools to earn college credit for courses they take at their own schools, taught by approved faculty members. Students benefit from reduced tuition—three-credit courses taken at the high school cost only $75 each.

The agreement currently includes two courses offered through the Division of Business Administration: Principles of Management and Principles of Marketing. Chair of the Division of Business Administration Maria Matarazzo, who coordinated the agreement, says the schools plan to add an additional course, Financial Accounting, next year. Students who successfully complete the course requirements will receive college credit, transferrable to Rivier as well as other colleges and universities.

“With today’s escalating costs of higher education, participating in dual enrollment is one small way our institution can give back to the community—we offer a way for students to realize substantial savings when they enter college,” says David Boisvert, Vice President for Enrollment Management.

In response to a request from The Telegraph, the school district provided a list of all of the positions currently being funded through funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Here is what the school district provided. The positions are followed by the number created and the cost.

Nashua School District

Positions on ARRA Funds ‐ Year 1

November 2009

ARRA‐IDEA

Paraprofessionals 38.0 382,200.00
School Psychologist 0.5 22,800.00
Speech/Language Pathologist 0.5 22,800.00
CPI Trainer 0.5 22,800.00
Spec Ed Teacher Elm Street 1.0 45,600.00
Data Analyst 1.0 35,000.00
SLP‐Spec Ed Preschool 0.5 22,800.00
Preschool Peer Coach 0.5 21,885.00
Literacy Coach 3.0 136,800.00
Instructional AYP Facilitators 3.0 136,800.00
ARRA‐Preschool
Preschool Peer Coach 0.5 21,885.00
Pyschologist for PK Students 0.5 22,800.00
ARRA‐Title I
Amherst Street
(1) Data/IC Facilitator 1.0 1.0 56,214.00
(1) Math Intervenitonist .765 0.8 50,223.00
(1) Math Intervenitonist .765 0.7 38,000.00

Dr. Crisp
(5) Paraprofessional 5.0 73,939.00
1.0

Fairgrounds Elementary
(3) Math Interventionists .85 2.6 158,207.00

Ledge Street
(3) Math Interventionist .765 2.3 120,841.00
Refugee Coordinator 1.0 27,000.00
IC Interventionist 0.4 24,612.00

Mt. Pleasant
(3) Math/Literacy Interventionist .68 2.0 112,455.00
Parent Involvement
Attendance Liasion 1.0 45,000.00

Last night, the Nashua Board of Education approved a new course called robotics technology. The unleveled course will be for a quarter credit and begin being offered next fall. There will be four sections with 18 students per section. Sophomores, juniors and seniors can take it. There was a cost of $1,550 to develop the course. It will replace plastics, a course currently being offered.

The course will be separate from the already-established FIRST program, which also has students building robots. Althea Sheaff, executive director of curriculum, said the course will only be available for North students the first year. It could be expanded the following year, with the course being offered to students at both high schools, she said.

Superintendent Mark Conrad said the course will use a robotics curriculum model from MIT called Sea Perch. Students will be charged with not only building robots, but having them work under water, Conrad said.

Here is a description of the course, presented to Board of Education members:

This course will introduce students to the world of robotics. Students will engage in hands-on, problem-solving activities with a team approach to develop a working robot. The objective of this course is to introduce the basic concepts in robotics, focusing on design, build and test mobile robots applying current state of the art research and applications. Course information will be tried to lab experiments as students work in teams to build and test underwater robots, culminating in an end-of-course robot contest.

So what does a teacher do with such a windfall? A new car? A trip to the Bahamas? I e-mailed Souhegan High School math teacher Marina Capen, who received the award in 2007, to ask what she ended up using the money for. Basically, Capen said the money hasmade life a little easier and allowed her to give to those need a little help.

Here was her response:

I have not ’spent’ the money…so to speak…at least not on anything tangible. I have been very aware of the people who have always supported me when I was in need and so I have been giving bits and pieces of money to others in need whenever I can. I find it more rewarding to be able to ‘give back’ and support others rather than spending it on ‘items.’ It felt a lot easier to get through the summer without getting small jobs as well. I was able to spend lots of quality time with my daughter as a result of winning that money (in the past I got tutoring jobs throughout the summer). I am trying to make it last. It’s not the money that makes you happy…it’s the time with family you get from not worring about it so much.

Open houses give parents an opportunity to meet their child’s teacher face to face and ask questions.

According to a column in today’s Boston Herald by Darren Garnick (also a correspondent for The Telegraph), the Philadelphia school board is set to vote tonight on a proposal to allow for an A&E reality show called “Teach” to be filmed in one of the city’s schools.

OK, a reality show about life in the classroom. I’m intrigued. The premise? Tony Danza, everyone’s favorite ballplayer-turned-male-maid from the 1980’s sitcom “Who’s The Boss?”, would be teamed with a veteran 10th grade English teacher. 

Hilarity will no doubt ensue.

The short answer? No.

“It doesn’t seem applicable to our situation here,” Town Manager Mark Rees told the Eagle-Tribune. “I’ve had conversations with (Christopher Hottel). I think whatever occurred in Nashua will not reoccur here.”

Hottel, Nashua’s former superintendent, and Jim Mealey, the district’s former chief operating officer, both left for similar jobs in North Andover this summer. It was shortly after they left that school officials in Nashua discovered that the district had overspent its budget by $3.3 million last year.

There is also a projected $3 million shortfall for this year.

In a written statement to the Eagle-Tribune, Hottel again pointed to the “antiquated” accounting system used by the city. Hottel told the paper it would not happen in North Andover since the town’s budgeting software is much more advanced and “state-of-the-art.”

“There are protocols and procedures in place to prevent reporting errors of the type Nashua has experienced,” Hottel said in his statement. “All users of the financial and accounting software … are thoroughly trained in the use of the system.”

School Committee Chairman Stanley Limpert told the Eagle-Tribune that the committee was not alarmed by the news since Hottel’s explanation seemed logical.

“It seemed all pretty straightforward,” Limpert said. “We have a brand new accounting system, only a couple years old. It seems like a different situation than here.”

“There is all kinds of new transparency of where the money is going that wasn’t there before,” Limpert said of the town’s new accounting system. “We’re doing very well.”

Hallowell appeared to become emotional several times as he read from the statement. Here is the full text:

“The shortage uncovered by the school district is clearly a serious concern for the entire city and in terms of ideas, oversight and patience it will require the cooperation of the entire city in order to address that shortfall and help guide us out of this crisis. But, let me be clear, the funding of the FY09 shortfall and any budget restrictions in FY10 should be borne, to the largest extent possible, by school district funds. We cannot expect, nor should we ask, for any other city department to be hurt because of overspending that occurred completely within the school district.

In looking at solutions to fill the deficit in FY09, we must ask for the help of our staff, unions, the Mayor, the Board of Aldermen and the public and be open to constructive criticism and innovative ideas to address not only the fiscal crisis but the very way we do business. In addition, we should pursue the use of stimulus funds for special education as those mandated costs continue to rise well above expectations, we must resolve the issue of catastrophic aid funding which is clearly responsible for $1.3 million of the deficit totals, and we must look to other school district related funds that might be tapped. Moving forward in FY10, we must investigate ways to efficiently control and monitor costs within the district. And that fiscal oversight should include a component from the city financial services division in addition to more frequent and clear updates to the BOE, BOA and the public on current budget status. The Enterprise Resource Planning program proposed by the mayor will be a critical tool in making the fiscal oversight possible; the school district should be aggressive in providing input into what the system needs to be able to handle and lead in the effort to adopt the technology when it becomes available.

Finally, the school district administration and the Board of Education failed in our duty to both monitor and anticipate fiscal conditions - there is no way around that. Now that these inadequacies have come to light, I know that we have the capacity to learn from them, correct them, and find ways to restore confidence in the district’s fiscal abilities. I will do everything that I can to see that we successfully meet that challenge.”