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 Preshow Return to index of stories... |
Next on New Hampshire Outlook.Legislators and lawyers testify in Concord regarding judicial reform. We'll have a full report. Also, active learning - we'll see how it's working at one New Hampshire school. And, taking care of bullying behavior. What can be done at school and home. |
| Headlines Return to index of stories... |
Good Evening. I'm Allison McNair. Welcome to New Hampshire Outlook. |
| Judical Reform Return to index of stories... |
One of the lasting results of last year's Supreme Court impeachment trial has been the desire by the legislature to bring about judicial reform. So far this year, the legislature has debated dozens of proposals to change how the courts in New Hampshire operate. But as producer Richard Ager reports, time is beginning to run short for taking action this session. |
| Judical Reform Pkg Return to index of stories... |
Track: The judicial committees of both the House and Senate are faced with a common task: They must examine the proposals before them, identify their best features, and define what they wish to accomplish. And they must do it quickly. This morning, the Senate committee examined three bills and a constitutional amendment proposed by Senator Mark Fernald. The amendment would establish a review for judges every 8 years. Bite: Hearing tape 1 10:43:17 The idea here is that everybody gets reviewed. It becomes ordinary that judges get reviewed. And it's my expectation that the vast majority of judges will go through this process and get some kind of favorable review. They - and I think that process will be good for the ones that pass, because there will be certain things that I'm certain the commission would say that aren't 100% - that aren't all favorable with this judge. 'You need to work on your demeanor, you need to work on this or whatever - and that is going to have some positive benefits - because as I've said before, I think judges are completely isolated now and they don't get feedback." Track: Senator Debra Pignatelli detailed her bill which would establish a commission on judicial reform. Bite: Tape 1 10:53:17 I think when we look at changing the judiciary, a coequal branch of government, I think we ought to do it with as wide a consensus and as wide a field of people as we can. I don't think we ought to do it on the basis of an 11-13 vote or a 14-10 vote. I think there has to be a large consensus when we do this as our body. If you have a commission process and they take as long as they need to do it, and they are independent and come up with some recommendations to us, I think I'd feel more confident in doing that. We're a political body and we're given to make decisions based on politics sometimes - not the best way to deal with the judiciary and changes that might needed. Track: The proposed commission drew support, and a warning, from the state bar. Bite: Tape 1 11:37:33 You have to study this stuff - you've got to understand it. You've got to try to figure out what's going on nationwide and it's going to be a lot of work too how this various bills inter-relate. Everything is inter-related here, so that's why I think it's hard to pass one or two bills this year but study others. For example: terms, pension, retention criteria. Who sits on renewal or retention commissions versus selection commissions. All of these things are related - and that's why I think studying them and coming up with a comprehensive reasonable package that protects judicial independence in this state that we must have is the best way to go. Track: If the senate committee has its hands full, the house committee has all limbs occupied. It met this afternoon to sort out the proliferation of bills facing it. Soundup: Tape 2 13:11:09 I think the important thing to recognize is that all of these bills that we have in these subcommittees - and there's 18 of them, they all have something to do with judicial reform. And that's why they ended up there. Standup: Tape 2 13:31:33 All bills must be out of the Judiciary committee and onto the House calendar by April 11th and be heard by the full House by April 18th. That has meant a crowded work schedule for legislators. Bite: Tape 2 13:10:54 We may find ourselves having to come in here on a Friday or a Monday in order to exec some bills out. Or your subcommittees my need to meet on a Friday or a Monday to get your work done. Track: For NH Outlook, I'm Richard Ager. |
| Federal Dollars Return to index of stories... |
There has been a shift in where federal monies are being spent in New Hampshire. According to a new report federal dollars which were once earmarked for defense highways and education research have instead gone to retirement benefits, Social Security and health care for the poor. The New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies says the state received five-point-three--billion dollars in federal money in 1999, which is less than most other states. |
| Main Street Repub Return to index of stories... |
A group of Republicans wants New Hampshire House leaders to address state budget needs before making any decisions on education funding proposals. Known as The Main Street Republicans, the representatives held a press conference today. The fifty members say they're not united behind any one solution to pay for schools - |
| Republican SOT Return to index of stories... |
12:33:36 We have to take a close look at all the broad based proposals for revenue, including sales consumption and income taxes. We can't just say let's just cut the budget in one breath then pass expenses down to counties and towns with the other breath. 12:33:47 |
| Intro Mt. Washington Return to index of stories... |
Well -you probably know by know, we've got a storm headed our way. We checked in with Julia Heemstra a few minutes ago to find out what's in store for us and what it's like from on top of Mount Washington. |
| Mt. Washington Return to index of stories... |
CG:WEATHER\Tonight \North\Winter Storm Warning\Snow.developing late this evening\Accumulation 1-2" \Low in the upper 20s CG:WEATHER\Tonight \South\Winter Storm Warning\Snow developing late. \Accumulation 1-2"\Low in the upper 20s to lower 30s CG:WEATHER\Tomorrow \North\Snow.heavy at times\Total accumulation 6-12"\High in the lower 30s\Windy - north wind 15 to 25 mph CG:WEATHER\Tomorrow\South\Snow.heavy at times. \Total accumulations 8 to 14"\High in the lower to mid 30s\Windy - NE wind 15 to 25 mph |
| Intro Souhegan Return to index of stories... |
In 1992 Producer Chip Neal profiled a brand new high school that was also embarking on a new style of teaching. Souhegan High School in Amherst, was based on an educational philosophy called "active learning". Now,8 years later, we've returned to Amherst to see how their program is doing. |
| Souhegan H.S. Return to index of stories... |
clip from old story in tv screen with date 1992 It's very exciting, I think that I speak for a lot of us here that this is the kind of situation we have all wanted to be in for a lot of years. :22 Chip VO Sougegan HS has embarked on a very ambitious adventure. In the midst of breaking in a brand new state of the art school with a brand new staff and student body all trying to get to know each other, And trying to create new school traditions, and new athletic teams, and bands and all the other things that make a school a school. They are also pioneering a new way of learning. It's called active learning and it's modeled after the principles subscribed to by the "Coalition of Essential Schools", a group of 125 high schools around the country founded by author and Brown University Professor Ted Sizer. He and his colleagues around the country are very interested in Souhengan's progress. 1:15 Sizer - all kinds of things one can say about american schools but if you got to have only one, that's one, the kids are not in the habit of thinking hard. The product of going to high school was a number of credits not the demonstration that you knew something. That was 8 years ago and as you might expect some things have changed and some things haven't. Some of the teachers now are gone. And also their original principal, Bob Mackin, has moved on. And now Ted Hall is the principal. Ted Hall and Chip - he gives an overview of the progression of the school since the beginning. - he explains the 10 principals of a coalition school. We're always trying to get them to think hard and develope habits of mind. Ted Sizer also says that a real test of a school will not be in how kids graduate but what are their habits five years later. If you see them on the street and you talk to them and say what are you doing if there's evidence that they are still practicing the strong habits of mind then you can measure a certain level of success in that. clip from old story in tv screen with date 1992 Sizer- One of the changes that's going on is to bring back the notion, the early 19th century notion, they use the word exhibition, we here at Souhegan talk about exhabitions, is that you have to show off that you can do something in order to get your deploma instead of just serving time. boy student--My topic for senior project is sailboat design. I'm trying to learn a little bit about how people design boats and how the each different piece of the design works to make the whole boat move. girl student--My senior project is about acting and how it effects the childs development. And basically i'm saying that it raises their self esteem. And that through acting they become more comfortable with their body and voices because you become more aware of your surroundings and yourself. boy student-- I did my senior project on education and schooling i worked with the principal and Bob Mackin was here then. Um and i've continued that right now in college that's what i'm studying to a broader extent. 1992 Carol Sheild teacher--We're doing a stream profile across the river and the students are measuring depth and sediment type all the way across at every meter. kids in river Sizer VO-- In the late 19th century for all kinds of reasons, um figured out that the way to produce kids was to treat them like other products and run them like factories. Sizer--and there would be experts the french expert the math expert the history expert and they would sort of put on the french weld on the math you know put the rivits on the physics and everything was work was broken up in seperate little pieces and the kids move through on the basis on their ages. And the basic metaphor was that learning was the result of donation. I know something you don't and i'll tell ya. Which is neat but it flys in the face of what we know about learning is profoundly different from socratic dialogue. Sizer VO--But we thought that you know henry ford was right so lets apply henry ford to schools. kids in river Teacher --Where you're going to place those feeders is out in here try to hang them up as high as you possible can and you know just take your pick. This course that i teach is conservation biology and the course itself is kind of ready made and set up for these kinds of experiences. i think most of all what i try to do with kids is first try to get them out into the field and get them mucking around. Get them exploring, get them thinking about why we are seeing some of the things that we do. Because once that happens the content they need behind that has a place to go. it has some meaning. and they ask the questions they need to fill in with some of the content and background they have about the information. What we've been doing and working on these past couple of months is a unit on winter wild life and NH wild life species. and we're just wraping up at this point in the year by doing some winter bird monitoring. 1992 clip 2:34 Math class rocket Chris Balch What their really learning here is they have designed and built their own rockets from scratch. And they have learned how many newtons of force are lifting the rockets up How high they can predict them to fly and they actually check to see if they were right. So they're actually going through a number of Newtons laws of phycisc and a number of other physcial sciences types of quantities to come up with their results and they find that their quite close Chip asking Here it is ten years later, what's changed and what's stayed the same? A lot of things have changed schools gotten alot bigger and i think at the result of that a lot of whats happened is that we've tried to personalize the program even more. I don't teach really regular math courses as much as i used to and i went through a long spell of teaching science courses. but now i work individually with kids in designing self learning programs in a new program here at the school called Leap. kids in hall with VO Ted we've grown a lot the school opened with a little under six hundred students back in 1992 and we'll have over a thousand in the fall. So that's a challenge for us because if you try to maintain a personalized environment in a shcool of 1000 students i think you're being pushed. clip from old story in tv screen with date 1992 Barry - there are no levels. So what you're seeing out here. You've got students that would be in everything from a honors level done to a basic level all working together. There is no tracking. So what I'm finding is that the students who would tend to have normally disruptive. Or gotten some strokes from entertaining to be disruptive are not getting that kind of feedb ack from the other students who are more traditonally on track. In the same respect the kids who would normally not think that those lower quote unquote students had anything to offer are really realizing how much they do have to offer So you're breaking down a lot of walls, social walls, and enhancing the education of all the kids. Female teacher--We are maintaining heterogeneous grouping in an inclusive setting despite the fact that our numbers are getting bigger. um and as our numbers get bigger it is more difficult to make sure we're meeting the needs of the diverse population of the heterogeneous classroom. Male teacher---It's more creative and it takes time, but it's good and it's positive time, it's something you want to be doing anyway. Even if it were a tracked classrooms you'd want to be asking the same questions. - every student in the school has an adult advisor. Each adult in the school is responsible for about 10 or 12 kids. And in these advisory groups they get to know the kids well, they meet everyday for 1/2 hour and they become of the kids, they become the support person for the kids. they're the first line of communication beyond the classroom if there are any discipline issues that arise. We found that this is really the centerpiece of hunanizing the school. 1992 teacher-- One of the kids in my advisory said i think i can get through this Mrs. Silva. You're basically mom at school. What ever you'd go to mom for at home if it happens at school you're mom. Chip VO--Souhegan High School still have advisory groups although the groups have grown from eight or nine students to 12 or 13. In order to accomadate the larger numbers and Peggy Silva is still school mom to a group of freshman. Peggy-- but as we grow it's essential that we remain small. that we find places in our day to become a very very small group. An advisory is a great leveler. Every single student in this school has one adult whose job it is to give a little extra time to them. femal teacher or counselor--- Our numbers are up in the 85-86 percent that went on to some level of post secondary education. Um when you look at the comparison over 9 years we're looking at some very similary levels of college participation in those three categories that i mentioned where probably these percents now giving the percentages of last year. Talk to Ted Hall We've recently passed a bond issue to build an edition to the school and what i've just written infact to a news letter to the parents is that now that we've got the edition past it's time to look at what the future is in programing. We've got a group of staff that we've already started with the staff and school board asking what do we need to do to restructure the school to best serve the kids over the next five to ten years. We're talking about breaking up the school into different houses and smaller houses. making them interrelated but making them some what autonomous too. And I think that's what's going to help a lot to create the smaller communities within the larger community and that's a good thing. female environmental teacher--- We've gotten better at it is what we've done. We're getting better at it. Chip--Souhegan HS feels much the same as it did 9 years ago. It still has that energy and sense of adventure. It is infact living proof that there are alternatives to the traditional forms of education philosophy. But it's hard work. it takes a lot of determination and cooperation amoung the students the community and the educators. 9:10 Barry - It not necessarily the easiest way to do this job but it's the most fullfilling it's exciting. You talk about what's good for the kids, not what's good for the college transcripts, not what's good for teachers or parents necessarily, but what's good for kids. I think this is what's good for kids. this school makes you have fun 9:30 kids in class. |
| tag Souhegan Return to index of stories... |
According to the Coalition of Essential Schools says there are over 1000 elementary, middle and high schools in 39 states using its methods to promote higher student achievment and to develop more nurturing school communities. If you want more information you can visit their web sites. CG:BUMP\For More Information\Coalition of Essential Schools www.essentialschools.org Souhegan High School www.sprise.com/shs\ |
| Intro Bullying Return to index of stories... |
In recent weeks, bullying has been sited as a catalyst in incidents of school violence around the country, While New Hampshire fortunately, has not experienced the tradegy of school violence to that magnitude precautions are being taken to ensure students' safety. Joining me this evening tot talk about what's being done - John Pennington a national association trainer on bullying. |
| Thank guests Return to index of stories... |
Thanks Jon for joining me. |
| BP Bump Return to index of stories... |
CG:BUMP\For More Information\www.bullying.org\ |
| Business Outlook Return to index of stories... |
Concerns about corporate profitability in a slowing economy took a toll on the blue chip's today. |
| Wall Street Stocks Return to index of stories... |
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 234 points to 94-hundred-87, for a two-point-four percent slide. The Nasdaq stumbled 27 points, or one-and-a-half percent, to 18-hundred-30. The S-and-P 500 was down 20 points, or almost two percent, to eleven-hundred-22. CG:STOCKS\Dow Jones\ 9487.00\-233.76 \NYSE\575.14\-11.40 \American Stock Exchange\861.11\-15.11\Nasdaq\1830.16\-27.28\S&P 500\ 1122.13\-20.49 |
| NH Stocks Return to index of stories... |
Here's a look at some stocks of interest to New Hampshire. Autodesk was down one and three quarters, Fisher Scientific dropped 1-point 6, G-E closed down one point-oh 5 and State Street fell six - point oh- seven. CG:STOCKS\Autodesk\30.81\-1.75\Chubb\65.95\-1.57\Fisher Scientific\32.40\-1.60\General Electric\39.00\-1.05\State Street \80.83\-6.07 |
| Teradyne Layoffs Return to index of stories... |
650 employees will be laid of from Teredyne, including about 300 in New England. The company employs about ten-thousand people worldwide, including about 45-hundred in Boston and Nashua. The Boston-based company -- which makes semiconductor testing equipment -- blames cutbacks on slowing worldwide demand. In addition to the layoffs, Teradyne says it will institute a hiring freeze, employee furloughs and ten percent salary cuts for senior managers. |
| website Return to index of stories... |
For information on tonight's program, and links to our guests and interviews, visit our web site at nhptv.o-r-g. You can see and hear streaming video of our broadcasts and participate in our daily poll. If you've got a story idea or comment on our program you can call us at 800-639-2721. |
| Tomorrow Return to index of stories... |
Tomorrow on New Hampshire Outlook - We'll put a face on venture capitalism in New Hampshire, as we profile Schoolmusic -dot-com. |
| Goodnight Return to index of stories... |
That's it for this edition of New Hampshire Outlook. For all of us here at New Hampshire Public Television, thanks for joining us. Stay tuned for NOVA. We'll be back tomorrow at 7:30. Good night. |
| founders Return to index of stories... |
Thanks to our founding sponsors who have provided major funding for the production of New Hampshire Outlook: New Hampshire Charitable Foundadtion Public Service of New Hampshire Alice J. Reen Charitable Trust Putnam Foundation Stratford Foundation |
| web videos Return to index of stories... |
Some New Hampshire Companies are getting videotaped for University of New Hampshire business students. Soon, students at the UNH Whittemore School of Business will be able to go online and view video clips of companies, narrated by the workers. The goal - to help students learn from people in real working situations - from the C-E-O's to the mailroom clerks.One of the first companies to join the project was Sanmina Corporation in Derry. Those tapes are expected to be on the Web in the next few months. |
| PROMO Return to index of stories... |
Tonight on New Hampshire Outlook. We'll give a face to venture capitalism in New Hampshire, as we profile Schoolmusic -dot-com. Join us tonight at 7:30 only on New Hampshire Outlook. |