The NEGP WEEKLY for June 15, 2001...
From: Negpweek (NEGPWEEK@WESTAT.com)
Date: Fri Jun 15 2001 - 09:01:46 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 - June 15, 2001 -- Vol. 2 -- No. 105
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CONTENTS
**STATE POLICY
1.) STATE SPENDING ON EDUCATION: MINNESOTA MAY TAKE FULL SHARE (All Goals)
2.) PRESCHOOL TEACHERS: NEW JERSEY MAY OFFER INCENTIVES (Goals 1 and 4)
**COMMUNITY AND LOCAL NEWS
3.) BUFFALO'S ED REFORM PLAN: PRESENTED AT PUBLIC MEETING (All Goals)
4.) HOUSTON'S GOOD NEWS: TAAS SCORES UP, ESPECIALLY FOR
HISPANIC STUDENTS (Goal 3)
**FEDERAL POLICY NEWS
5.) SCHOOL QUALITY: INDICATORS FOR SUCCESS (Goals 3 and 4)
6.) GATEWAY: A GEM FOR TEACHERS (Goal 4)
**RESEARCH AND EDUCATION PRACTICE
7.) LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOD BOOKS: THE IRA HAS SOME IDEAS (Goal 4)
8.) SUMMER CAMP: FOR PROSPECTIVE TEACHERS (Goal 4)
**FEATURE STORY
9.) AIMING FOR SCHOOL SAFETY: RESEARCH NOTES (Goal 7)
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STATE POLICY NEWS
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1.) ******** STATE SPENDING ON EDUCATION: MINNESOTA MAY TAKE FULL SHARE
(All Goals)
Minnesota Governor Jessie Ventura plans to shift education financing from
the local property-tax base to the state (Bowman, EDUCAITON WEEK, 6/6).
Currently, the state picks up about 70 percent of the cost of running
schools, which includes teacher salaries, books and fuel bills. According
to the paper, the rest is covered by local property taxes.
In a speech before the state legislature, Governor Ventura explained key
elements of his proposal, which include:
> Eliminate the state-mandated general education property tax levy and
other property tax levies that fund statewide or regional, rather than local
needs.
> Make the school funding system more uniform across school districts by
increasing the general education per-pupil amount by $310 per student by
replacing that same amount of referendum revenue with state funding.
Senator Sandra Pappas, chairwoman of the senate education committee, said
that while it is possible to shift education funding to the state, she does
not believe a "total takeover is that wise." Pappas: "It means we're
moving away from funding education with a fairly stable source of revenue -
property tax - to less reliable income and sales taxes, . . . "
For more information, visit Governor Ventura's web site at
http://www.mainserver.state.mn.us/governor. Click on "Current News" and
scroll down to May 25, 2001.
2.) ******** PRESCHOOL TEACHERS: NEW JERSEY MAY OFFER INCENTIVES
(Goal One: Ready To Learn and Goal Four: Teacher Education and Professional
Development)
New Jersey's acting Governor Donald DiFrancesco is planning to offer
incentives to entice college graduates to teach in preschools (Johnston,
EDUCATION WEEK, 6/13). His plan would give potential teachers a first-year
"cash-recruitment bonus" of $3,500 and $6,000 for high-achieving college
graduates with a grade point average of 3.0 or above. All new preschool
teachers would receive laptop computers to keep.
Other financial incentives to be paid out over four years "could be used to
repay college loans or pay for graduate school," notes the paper.
New Jersey is facing a shortage of preschool teachers and is under a 1998
state Supreme Court order to provide preschool programs in 30 high-needs
school districts.
For more information on New Jersey education, visit the state of New Jersey
at http://www.state.nj.us.
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COMMUNITY AND LOCAL NEWS
*************************
3.) ******** BUFFALO'S ED REFORM PLAN: PRESENTED AT PUBLIC MEETING
(All Goals)
A plan to divide Buffalo into three districts, each with its own
neighborhood schools, early childhood centers and choice schools with
special themes received a "supportive but often skeptical response" during a
public hearing held last week (Simon, BUFFALO NEWS, 6/6). Parents would be
able to choose any one of their neighborhood schools.
Under the plan, most high schools would have a "broad array of programs."
Students from throughout the city could attend any of the high schools, with
preference given to local residents.
Some parents questioned whether the neighborhood schools would become as
"superior" as the magnet schools, which are reputed to be better than the
current neighborhood schools.
For more information, visit the Buffalo school district at
http://www.buffalo.k12.ny.us.
4.) ******** HOUSTON'S GOOD NEWS: TAAS SCORES UP, ESPECIALLY FOR HISPANIC
STUDENTS
(Goal Three: Student Achievement)
Test scores of Spanish-speaking students in Houston on the Texas statewide
exam are on the rise, with Hispanic students leading an overall surge in
test scores citywide (Markley, HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 6/70.) School district
data show that four percent more students passed the English version of the
Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS). Students taking the Spanish
version showed a remarkable 13.5 percent increase.
A survey of principals found that the district's promotion standards are a
significant reason for the increases. "I think the promotion standards
really drive the expectation level," said Interim Superintendent Kaye
Stripling. "Give us the standards, the resources and a little time, and
we'll get there," she added. "And I think that is what these scores have
proven."
According to the paper, the higher scores for Spanish-speaking students
comes two years after the state began to hold schools accountable for those
students' TAAS scores in grades five and six. Before, student scores on the
Spanish version were not counted toward a school's rating.
For more information, visit the Houston Independent School District at
http://www.houston.isd.tenet.edu
*********************
FEDERAL POLICY NEWS
*********************
5.) ******** SCHOOL QUALITY: INDICATORS FOR SUCCESS
(Goal Three: Student Achievement and Goal Four: Teacher Education and
Professional Development)
The spring issue of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
journal Education Statistics Quarterly reports on indicators used to monitor
school quality. The article, "Monitoring School Quality: An Indicators
Report," examines why some schools are better at helping students learn than
other schools.
According to the report, school quality affects student learning in these
areas: through the training and talent of the teaching force, what goes on
in the classroom and the overall school environment. Researchers developed
13 indicators of school quality within the above areas and reviewed national
data that shows the status of America's schools. For example, indicators
under "classroom" are class size, technology, pedagogy and course content.
For more information, visit NCES at http://www.nces.ed.gov. Click on
"What's New." Then hit "What's New Archive" for May 2001.
6.) ******** GATEWAY: A GEM FOR TEACHERS
(Goal Four: Teacher Education and Professional Development)
The Gateway to Educational Materials (GEM) provides educators with "quick
and easy access to thousands of educational resources" found online at
sundry federal, state, university, and non-profit and commercial Internet
sites. Lesson plans, activities and projects are available on over 200 GEM
Consortium member sites.
GEM is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education and is a project of the
ERIC Clearinghouse on Information & Technology.
For more information, visit GEM at http://www.thegateway.org.
*********************************
RESEARCH AND EDUCATION PRACTICES
*********************************
7.) ******** LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOD BOOKS: THE IRA HAS SOME IDEAS
(Goal Four: Teacher Education and Professional Development)
The International Reading Association (IRA) recommends several of its books
for teachers, parents and others interested in summer reading about
education:
> Collaboration for Diverse Learners: Viewpoints and Practices discusses
collaboration efforts that involve teachers, specialists, administrators and
families who come together in pairs, teams and large groups to accelerate
the literacy development of diverse learners.
> Kids InSight: Reconsidering How to Meet the Literacy Needs of All
Students challenges teachers to focus on students as individual learners.
The authors call on teachers to reflect and reconsider their instruction.
> Ideas Without Boundaries: International Education Reform Through Reading
and Writing for Critical Thinking presents first-hand lessons learned by
those involved in the Reading and Writing Critical Thinking Project (RWCT).
The RWCT program began in 1997 when educators from nine former socialist
countries joined forces with educators from the U.S. and Canada to launch
RWCT, an international school-improvement project. Today, RWCT is in
operation in 24 countries.
> Reading Researchers in Search of Common Ground covers a 10-year period,
while Rona Flippo, the author, conducted her groundbreaking study of eminent
literacy scholars in search of common ground among experts with widely
differing philosophies and perspectives on reading research.
For more information, visit the International Reading Association at
http://www.reading.org.
8.) ******** SUMMER CAMP: FOR PROSPECTIVE TEACHERS
(Goal Four: Teacher Education and Professional Development)
The Texas A&M University System will sponsor the 2001 Future Teacher Summer
Camps in June and July at each of it's nine university campuses. The camps
provide high school students with an opportunity to learn more about the
profession and courses of study at the college.
Students will live on campus, visit area public schools and design and
present a classroom lesson.
The Texas A&M University System is committed to increasing the number of
teachers its universities graduate and certify by 33 percent by 2004 as part
of the Regents' Initiative for Excellence in Education. The universities
also are focusing on recruiting potential teachers in high-need areas,
including special education, math, science, technology, foreign language and
bilingual/English as a Second Language.
For more information on programs for future teachers, visit the Future Urban
Teachers of America, located at Rutgers University, at
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Bookstore/5772. For information on the
Texas A&M future teachers summer camp, visit
http://www.partnerships.tamu.edu.
*****************
FEATURE STORY
*****************
9.) ******** AIMING FOR SCHOOL SAFETY: RESEARCH NOTES
(Goal Seven: Safe Schools)
The Hamilton Fish National Institute on School and Community Violence is
funding an interdisciplinary research consortium dedicated to examining
violence-prevention programs for students (Viadero, EDUCATION WEEK, 5/30).
The Institute was created in 1997 and is reviewing seven experimental,
violence-prevention projects.
The goal is to target programs that have reported success, develop them
further and "rigorously" evaluate the programs using common measurement
tools, writes the paper. "There are lots of programs out there, and lots of
people who think they're effective, but they're working from impressions or
anecdotal evidence," said Rickie Ovell, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
researcher. "The number of programs that have had rigorous evaluations is
very small," added Ovell, whose research is supported by the institute.
According to the paper, the Hamilton Fish consortium's interest in
violence-prevention programs predated the nation's tragic school shootings.
The consortium consists of the following universities: Eastern Kentucky
University in Richmond, Kentucky; Florida State University, in Tallahassee;
Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta; Syracuse university in New York;
the University of Oregon in Eugene; and the university of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The research project is funded by a $3.6 million grant
from the U.S. Department of Justice's office of juvenile justice and
delinquency prevention.
Projects under review include an alternative school in Fredericksburg,
Virginia, a career-internship program for at-risk middle school students in
Florida, schoolwide violence-prevention programs in Atlanta and rural
eastern Kentucky and a school-within-a-school in suburban Springfield,
Oregon.
"My optimistic belief is that we'll be able to have several viable models
that will be used in other places," said Stephen Rollin, a Florida State
university researcher involved in the project. "And these will be models
that will be supported empirically and not just by good feelings."
EDUCATION WEEK notes that the Hamilton Fish consortium is not the only group
devoted to a research study of school violence. The paper cites the Center
for the Study of Prevention of Violence located at the University of
Colorado in Boulder that examines the research supporting
school-violence-prevention programs. However, what makes the Hamilton Fish
consortium unique, writes the paper, is that "all seven projects are using
the same survey to gauge the effectiveness of the projects they test." The
goal is to 'build a sort of meta-analysis, a study that analyzes the
accumulated effects of many other studies, form the ground up," writes the
paper.
For more information, visit http://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 and
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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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