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VOLUME 51 ISSUE 15 1015 Division St. Cedar Falls, Iowa 50613
Teachers survey classroom involvement Sandra Omari-Boateng Staff Writer
On Monday, Jan. 31, the first walk-through of the Instructional Practice Inventory took place at Cedar Falls High School. The Instructional Practice Inventory is a program where trained teachers go into classrooms and observe what is going on. They walk in on a class at any given moment to see how the students are learning and then record the data to be viewed later. The observations were made by teachers specifically trained for the inventory: English teacher Courtney Lubs, social studies teacher Chad VanCleve, resource teacher Dan Hensing and math teacher Kristine Urbanek. Created by Jerry Valentine, the purpose of this inventory is to observe what students are doing in the classroom and measure the level of engagement with which students participate in class.
CFHS staff recently surveyed teacher effectiveness for student engagement. To compile more results, some staff will be visiting classes, like Spanish teacher Patricia Black’s, throughout the spring. These observations will be made a total of three times this year. The teachers walk into a classroom and stay for anywhere between 30 seconds to three minutes to observe and talk to teachers and students This time two
teachers will be doing the observations, and then they will switch so that even the teachers who are doing the observations will be observed. “I would like the outcome of this to be that the school has an overall
awareness of what’s going on,” Urbanek said. Observers will also note the students’ levels of thinking by seeing if the teacher is giving a lecture or if students are working in groups or taking tests. These observations are then plotted as data points on charts. A rating of one shows that the majority of students are not engaged, a two to three shows that students are engaged passively, a four shows that the class is teacher-led, and a five or six shows that the teacher and students are involved. “This is a good idea and gives teachers a chance to see how involved their students are from an objective point of view,” English teacher Diane Flaherty said. The rest of the faculty is plugged into this also. After the data charts have been made from the observations collected, the staff will talk as a whole and make collective conclusions and see what will be done after that.
New anti-tobacco club pledges to persist, complement other anti-drug efforts despite potential state budget cuts Kaylee Micu Opinion Editor
Last fall, a number of students opened a new front on preventing drug abuse at Cedar Falls High School: J.E.L., which stands for Just Eliminate Lies. The organization has a central purpose of educating students about the dangers of tobacco products and the consequences that can ensue from their use. The group currently has 18 members and is led by counselor Josh Carnelley, group President Alex Stewart, Vice President Daniel Yehieli and Secretary Christie Teague. Under their leadership, the group formulates various methods to promote healthier lifestyles. At the moment, J.E.L. receives state funds and is also partly sponsored by Pathways Behavioral Services, a local organization that focuses on substance abuse and mental health issues. Unfortunately, due to new state budgets, J.E.L. may soon vanish from high
schools all across Iowa because newly elected Governor Terry Branstad and the Republican-dominated legislature have placed the organization on the cutting block while trimming this year’s state budget. Despite these potential threats, Carnelley and the CFHS J.E.L.chapter pledge to persist regardless of the state funding. “The funding is not so much the worry, just because a lot of the cost stems from getting information out to students,” Carnelley said. The bigger concern, he feels, is whether or not the group could still use the J.E.L logo if the organization fades out throughout the state. In changing the name, the group would lose the automatic recognition it receives with the existing logo and would have to work even harder to promote awareness about what the group is about. “When we all arrived for the first J.E.L. chapter meeting, we went around the room and said if we knew anyone who had lost their lives
harmed from the usage of tobacco. Every single one of us knew at least one person who was harmed by tobacco. At that point, I knew that we had to raise awareness about the negative effects of tobacco, so we could save a life from the destructive path of tobacco usage.” Yehieli said. Although it is the primary leader in tobacco prevention, J.E.L is not the only chess piece Cedar Falls High School uses to combat drugs. Principal Dr. Richard Powers believes that education is the biggest asset to prevent drug abuse at the high school. “Our primary role is education of students. Their mental health and wellbeing is also a part of that. We have programs in guidance and support services when students are identified that do have problems or issues, so those support services kick into place if there is an issue or if there is reason to believe that there is an issue,” Powers said. Students who are caught with drugs
are often suspended, though more often than not, students are sent to Pathways. Pathways is an organization that works with Cedar Falls High School in order to help students who may be suffering from drug addictions. Pathways is not meant to be a punishment to those students who are caught with drugs; it is simply a way to help students learn how to drop an addiction and do something more positive and productive with their lives. CFHS resource officer Katie Burhardt, one of the biggest assets to prevent drug use at the high school, also helps students with drug use issues by educating them. However, she strongly feels that the school should be doing more to keep students away from drugs. “I’d really like to see the school bring in the drug dogs some time soon in order to help keep the drugs out of the building.” Burhardt said. She believes that if the dogs are brought in, students will be less inclined to bring the drugs into school.