The NEGP WEEKLY for May 18, 2001
From: Negpweek (NEGPWEEK@WESTAT.com)
Date: Thu May 17 2001 - 14:21:35 PDT
*****************THE NEGP WEEKLY*****************
A weekly news update on America's Education Goals
and school improvement efforts across America from the
NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS PANEL
Friday - May 18, 2001 -- Vol. 2 -- No. 101
*************************************************
CONTENTS
**STATE POLICY
1.) EARLY CHILDHOOD: NEW JERESY'S STANDARDS (Goal 1)
2.) MATH SCORES AND TEACHER TESTING: JUDGE RULES IN MASSACHUSETTS
(Goals 4
and 5)
**COMMUNITY AND LOCAL NEWS
3.) FLEXIBLE SCHEDULING: KEY TO SUCCESS (Goal 3)
4.) SCHOOLS REACH FOR THE TOP (Goal 3)
**FEDERAL POLICY NEWS
5.) VOCATIONAL EDUCATION BILL: THE "GO GIRL" ACT (Goals 3 and 6)
6.) TECHNOLOGY: HOW TO CLOSE THE GAP (Goal 3)
**RESEARCH AND EDUCATION PRACTICE
7.) TEACHER PREPARATION: IMPACT ON READING INSTRUCTION (Goals 3 and 4)
8.) CHEATING: TEACHERS LOOK THE OTHER WAY? (Goal 3)
**FEATURE STORY
9.) TECHNOLOY COUNTS 2001: ED WEEK'S LATEST (Goal 3)
***FACT OF THE WEEK***
Between 1991 and 2000, the U.S. and 51 states (out of 51) significantly
increased the numbers of Advanced Placement examinations receiving a
grade
of 3 or higher (per 1,000 11th and 12th graders.)
--Promising Practices: Progress Toward the Goals, 2000
http://www.negp.gov/promprac/promprac00/promprac00.pdf
********************
STATE POLICY NEWS
********************
1.) ******** EARLY CHILDHOOD: NEW JERESY'S STANDARDS
(Goal One: Ready To Learn)
Last year, the New Jersey Commissioner of Education David Hespe
appointed a
task force of superintendents, principals, teachers, Head Start
directors as
well as parents, business and community leaders to develop standards for
early childhood education programs. The National Association of State
Boards of Education's (NASBE) State Improvement Initiatives newsletter
describes New Jersey's standards development and implementation process
(vol.6, no. 3, April 2001).
The newsletter notes that the state is making a "significant effort" to
expand the availability of preschool programs for disadvantaged
families.
State officials also are in the midst of creating an early childhood
education curriculum framework.
The full text of Early Childhood Education Program Expectations:
Standards
of Quality is available at the New Jersey Department of Education's
website
at www.state.nj.us/njded/ece/expectations/index.html. Or visit the
National
Association of State Boards of Education at www.nasbe.org.
2.) ******** MATH SCORES AND TEACHER TESTING: JUDGE RULES IN
MASSACHUSETTS
(Goal Four: Teacher Education and Professional Development and Goal
Five:
Math And Science)
Suffolk County Judge Patrick King recently rejected the cases of two
teacher
unions that the state Board of Education's math teacher testing plan
"overstepped its authority and violated the constitutional rights of the
state's 120,000 teachers," reports the Boston HERALD (Hayward, 5/8).
The
plan would require giving competency tests to veteran teachers in
districts
where student math scores are low.
According to the paper, math instruction was declared to be in crisis
after
the 1999 statewide math test scores became public. On the 2000 MCAS, 45
percent of 10th-grade students failed the math exam, "a startling
number"
since high-schoolers will need to pass both the math and English
portions of
the exam in order to graduate beginning in 2003."
For more information, visit the Massachusetts Department of Education at
www.doe.mass.edu/
*************************
COMMUNITY AND LOCAL NEWS
*************************
3.) ******** FLEXIBLE SCHEDULING: KEY TO SUCCESS
(Goal Three: Student Achievement)
Already distinguished twice as a Blue Ribbon School, Upper St. Clair
High
School education leaders decided against complacency by developing
several
new schoolwide reforms with the goal of further improving student
achievement (EDUCATION DAILY, 4/26). "When you have 97 percent of your
students going on to college, the bar is always being raised," said
Terrence
Kushner, Upper St. Clair principal.
The school's decision to allow every student in grades 9-12 unscheduled
time
within the school to pursue individual academic or career interests led
to a
third Blue Ribbon Award, as well as recognition as one of the U.S.
Department of Education's New American High Schools.
Rather than be assigned to the typical study hall, students may select
from
a wide array of options that include "attending the centralized academic
resource center, interning at a local business, or pursuing a host of
volunteer opportunities on or off campus," reports EDUCATION DAILY. The
resource center meets students' individualized needs through customizing
instruction provided by teachers of social studies, math, science,
foreign
language and English. It also offers online tutoring from community
members.
For more information, visit Upper St. Clair High School, located in a
suburb
of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at www.uscsd.k12.pa.us.
4.) ******** SCHOOLS REACH FOR THE TOP
(Goal Three: Student Achievement)
Two Miami, Florida, school principals attribute their schools' previous
low
ranking on the state's high-stakes school report card to each schools'
current success (Stepp and Yanez, the MIAMI HERALD, 5/10). "Failing
meant
that we finally got the resources we needed all along to help our kids
improve," explained Brenda Dawson, principal of Shadowlawn Elementary
School.
Additional resources granted the schools after they earned failing
grades on
the state report card include more teachers, education specialists,
tutoring
and mentoring programs and new textbooks. Both schools "posted some of
the
district's biggest gains" on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.
For
example, average math scores from the schools' fifth-graders increased
by
more than 30 points.
Little River Elementary and Shadowlawn are nearly 100 percent minority
and
about the same percentage of students are from disadvantaged homes.
For more information, visit the Florida Department of Education at
www.firn.edu/doe.
*********************
FEDERAL POLICY NEWS
*********************
5.) ******** VOCATIONAL EDUCATION BILL: THE "GO GIRL" ACT
(Goal Three: Student Achievement And Goal Six: Adult Literacy And
Lifelong
Learning)
Representative Lynn Woolsey (D-California) introduced a bill this month
that
would provide $50 million in local grants during fiscal 2002 for
elementary
and secondary education programs that help girls succeed in courses that
lead to nontraditional jobs for females.
Dubbed the "Getting Our Girls Ready for the 21st Century Act, or "Go
Girl!",
the bill would fund programs that encourage girls to pursue courses in
math,
science, engineering and technology. It also would introduce girls to
these
careers and educate parents about the obstacles girls may face in
pursuing
these nontraditional careers.
For more information and a copy of the text of HR 1536, visit
http://thomas.loc.gov and type in the bill number HR 1536.
6.) ******** TECHNOLOGY: HOW TO CLOSE THE GAP
(Goal Three: Student Achievement)
U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige this week hosted a Satellite Town
Meeting that focused on ways to close the achievement gap through
technology. The town meeting explored questions such as:
> How can today's education technologies help all students, including
low-income students, meet high academic standards?
> How can teachers be well prepared to learn and use new education
technologies?
> How can schools and communities create comprehensive technology plans
to
improve student achievement?
> What resources are available to schools and communities to support
their
education technology needs?
To view live or archived webcasts of Satellite Town Meetings please
visit
Apple Computer's Apple Learning Interchange at
www.ali.apple.com/events/aliqttv/. For more information on Satellite
Town
Meetings, visit the Department of Education at www.ed.gov.
*********************************
RESEARCH AND EDUCATION PRACTICES
*********************************
7.) ******** TEACHER PREPARATION: IMPACT ON READING INSTRUCTION
(Goal Three: Student Achievement and Goal Four: Teacher Education and
Professional Development)
Beginning teachers whose teacher-preparation courses featured quality
reading instruction typically provide their students with a "richer
literacy
experience" than teachers who attended an institution that did not
stress
reading, according to a new study issued by the International Reading
Association (IRA).
The IRA's National Commission on Excellence in Elementary Teacher
Preparation for Reading Instruction identified the following
universities as
excellent: Florida International University in Miami; Hunter College,
New
York City; Indiana University Bloomington; Norfolk State University,
Virginia; the University of Nevada-Reno; the University of Texas at
Austin;
the University of Texas at San Antonio; and the University of Sioux
Falls,
South Dakota.
According to EDUCATION WEEK, the IRA's study may stir up criticism due
to
the study's lack of emphasis on pedagogy (Manzo, 5/9).
For more information on the IRA's Commission, visit the IRA at
www.reading.org. The Commission can be found at
www.reading.org/advocacy/commission.html.
8.) ******** CHEATING: TEACHERS LOOK THE OTHER WAY?
(Goal Three: Student Achievement and Citizenship)
A survey of 4,500 high school students nationwide found that nearly half
believe their teachers sometimes choose to ignore students who are
cheating
in class. The survey, conducted by Donald McCabe, professor of
management
at Rutgers University, also found that more than half of the students
surveyed said they had used the Internet to commit plagiarism.
McCabe has been researching college cheating for decades and now has
turned
his sights to high school students. As to why teachers may be looking
the
other way, McCabe says teachers are "afraid of retaliation by the
parents."
Michael Josephson, founder and president of the Josephson Institute of
Ethics, told EDUCATION WEEK that he concurred with McCabe. "[Teachers]
are
afraid they'll be sued by parents, and that schools don't have the
resources
to back them up [in court,] said Josephson (Stricherz, 5/9).
For more information, visit the Josephson Institute of Ethics at
www.josephsoninstitute.org.
*****************
FEATURE STORY
*****************
9.) ******** TECHNOLOY COUNTS 2001: ED WEEK'S LATEST
(Goal Three: Student Achievement)
Disparities in not only access to educational technology but also the
way
computers are used to educate children continue to divide advantaged and
disadvantaged schools, despite the "rapid infusion of computers in
American
schools," reports EDUCATION WEEK in its fourth edition of the paper's
Technology Counts series. Technology Counts 2001: The New Divides notes
that the nation's digital divide no longer can be described as "one,
single,
gaping divide" - those who have and those who do not have computers and
computer access. Rather, today's divide flows "in different
directions:" a
series of divides.
"Everybody is still struggling" with the complexity of the issue," said
Christopher Dede, co-director of the Technology in Education Program at
Harvard University. "You're not going to find any district that says,
we've
solved this.'"
The good news is that the student-to-computer ratio in the nation's
poorest
communities is not far from the national average. Digital-divide
services,
organizations that provide special computer training for school-age
children
to low-interest loans to help disadvantaged families purchase home
computers
for their children, has burgeoned to more than 20,000 such services.
Some policymakers look at the good news and question whether there still
is
a digital divide. EDUCATION WEEK reports that Michael Powell, the new
chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, suggested that the
digital divide is more of a "Mercedes divide," meaning that "everyone
would
like to have one, but you can still get to where you need to go with a
less
expensive machine."
However, technology advocates argue that "the problems of the digital
divide
are far from solved," writes EDUCATION WEEK. For example: "How often
are
students using the Internet and other computer resources to learn, and
for
what purposes? Are youngsters using school computers that can handle
large
amounts of data and employ sophisticated communication tools? Or are
they
working with obsolete machines that belong in a junkyard rather than a
21st-century classroom? Do some schools have the technical support
necessary to keep machines running while others do not?"
Other questions posed by EDUCATION WEEK are: Are teachers in one
district
getting better training to understand how to use technology to enhance
learning, while teachers in another district are left to themselves to
figure it out? Do all students - low achievers and high achievers,
minority
and non-minority children, girls and boys, rich and poor benefit equally
from the technology available in schools?
Technology Counts 2001 helps readers understand the new divides and
establish programs to close the gaps that do exist in its first section
titled "Dividing Lines." This chapter identifies the types of students
who
are not fully benefiting from the available technology.
A second chapter, "Beyond Machines," presents the Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania,
public schools' understanding that the "human factor," as much as the
hardware and software improvements, will close divides and help all
children
learn via technology.
Technology Counts 2001 also provides the results of a survey of 500
middle
and high school students. The results suggest that "schools may not be
harnessing the powers of technology as effectively as they could,"
writes ED
WEEK. For example, 92 percent of the students surveyed said they
believed
that having good computer skills improves the quality of a person's life
"a
great deal" or "somewhat," but only 40 percent said they believed that
knowing about computers is "extremely" or "very" important to how well
they
perform in school.
Other chapters focus on statistics that paint a picture of school-based
computer use nationwide and a state-by-state look at what each state has
done, or has not done, to close the digital divide.
For more information on Technology Counts 2001: The New Divides, visit
EDUCATION WEEK at www.edweek.org.
************************************
The NEGP WEEKLY is a publication of:
The National Education Goals Panel
1255 22nd Street NW, Suite 502
Washington, DC 20037;
202-724-0015
NEGP Acting Executive Director: John Barth
Publisher: Barbara A. Pape
http://www.negp.gov
************************************
The NEGP/ Daily Report Card (DRC) hereby authorizes further reproduction
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WHAT IS THE NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS PANEL?
The National Education Goals Panel is a unique bipartisan body of state
and
federal officials created in 1990 by President Bush and the nation's
Governors to report state and national progress and urge education
improvement efforts to reach the National Education Goals.
WHAT DOES THE GOALS PANEL DO?
The Goals Panel has been charged to:
* Report state and national progress toward the National Education
Goals.
* Work to establish a system of high academic standards and assessments.
* Identify promising and effective reform strategies.
* Recommend actions for state, federal, and local governments to take.
* Build a nationwide, bipartisan consensus to achieve the Goals.
WHAT ARE THE NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS?
There are eight National Education Goals set for the year 2000. They
are:
1) All children will start school ready to learn.
2) The high school graduation rate will increase to at least 90%.
3) All students will become competent in challenging subject matter.
4) Teachers will have the knowledge and skills they need.
5) U.S. students will be first in the world in math and science
achievement.
6) Every adult American will be literate.
7) Schools will be safe, disciplined, and free of drugs, guns and
alcohol.
8) Schools will promote parental involvement and participation.
WHO SERVES ON THE GOALS PANEL AND HOW ARE THEY CHOSEN?
Eight governors, four state legislators, four members of the U.S.
Congress,
and two members appointed by the President serve on the Goals Panel.
Members
are appointed by the leadership of the National Governors' Association,
the
National Conference of State Legislatures, the U.S. Senate and House,
and
the President. The number of Republicans and Democrats are made even by
appointing five governors from the party that does not control the White
House.
The current Panel Members are Governors Frank O'Bannon, IN (Chair,
2001); Jim Geringer, WY (Chair-elect); John Engler, MI; Jim Hodges, SC;
Frank Keating, OK; Paul E. Patton, KY; Jeanne Shaheen, NH; Tom
Vilsack,
IA;
U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman, NM; U.S. Senator Jim Jeffords, VT; U.S.
Representative George Miller, CA; Representative G. Spencer Coggs,
WI; Representative Mary Lou Cowlishaw, IL; Representative Douglas R.
Jones, ID; Senator Stephen Stoll, MO.
The annual Goals Report and other publications of the Panel are
available
without charge upon request from the Goals Panel or at its web site
http://www.negp.gov. Requests can be made by mail, fax, e-mail, or
Internet.
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