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--- Wednesday --- January 27, 1999 --- Vol. 2 --- No. 3 ---
NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS PANEL
NEGP Weekly
THE UPDATE ON AMERICA'S NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS
in cooperation with the DAILY REPORT CARD
"LEADERS FOR CHANGE"
IBM and Merrill Lynch are the
1998 winners of the Council for
Aid to Education's (CAE)
Leaders for Change Award. IBM
is being honored for its
"Reinventing Education"
program, which seeks to raise
student achievement and enhance
academic productivity through
fundamental school restructur-
ing and broad-based systemic
change driven by technological
innovations. The program began
in 1994, and today is a $35M
project, encompassing 15 school
districts in six states.
Merrill Lynch's "Scholarship
Builder" program, an initiative
that has helped urban youth
from ten U.S. cities stay and
succeed in school, is the
recipient of the Leaders for
Change award.
Founded in 1952, CAE is a
leading source of data on
private giving to education.
It is an independent subsidiary
of RAND, noted for a ground-
breaking report, "Breaking the
Social Contract: The Fiscal
Crisis in Higher Education."
For more info: CAE; 342
Madison Avenue, Suite 1532; New
York, NY 10173; 212/661-5800.
__________ __________
| SPOTLIGHT |
| |
| DOES HOMEWORK MATTER? |
| |
| A N.Y. TIMES MAGAZINE |
| article chronicles the rise |
| and fall of homework's |
| popularity -- beginning in |
| the early 1800s, when |
| homework was in its |
| "heyday," through its |
| lowpoint in the 1900s (when |
| The LADIES' HOME JOURNAL |
| published an article |
| damning homework as a |
| "national crime"), to its |
| current ascendancy as a |
| necessity for student |
| achievement. (#2) |
| |
| While experts debate the |
| academic benefits of |
| homework, particularly of |
| the youngest students, some |
| point to key values |
| homework helps instill -- |
| responsibility, persever- |
| ance. Case-in-point: When |
| asked if homework should be |
| interesting, my own first- |
| grader responded "I like it |
| to be interesting. But I |
| can do it when its not. I |
| just have to work harder." |
|_____________________________|
============== QUOTE OF THE DAY ==============
"Its is all about learning responsibility."
Janine Bempechat, assistant professor at Harvard's Graduate
School of Education, on homework. (#2)
_______________________________________________________________
| (c) by the Education Policy Network, Inc. |
| 1255 22nd Street NW; Washington, D.C. 20010; 202/724-0124 |
| EPN, Inc. hereby authorizes further reproduction and |
| distribution with proper acknowledgement. |
| Publisher: Barbara A. Pape |
|_______________________________________________________________|
============== TABLE OF CONTENTS ==============
GOAL THREE: STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND CITIZENSHIP
READING RESULTS: Small classes/more time for Howard County.(#1)
HOMEWORK HELPERS: What's a parent to do?. (#2)
HIGH COURT DECLINES TO REVIEW: Ky. test constitutional. (#3)
GOAL EIGHT: PARENTAL PARTICIPATION
GETTING TOUGH ON TRUANTS: And their parents. (#4)
===== GOAL THREE: STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND CITIZENSHIP =====
*1 READING RESULTS: SMALL CLASSES, MORE TIME FOR HOWARD COUNTY
Howard County posted some of the highest results in
Maryland's state reading exam, with about 60% of third- and
fifth-grade students scoring satisfactorily on the test
(Peterman, BALTIMORE SUN, 1/17). Yet, school officials express
concern about the 40% of students who fail to meet state
standards.
According to the paper, district officials note that
elementary schools with lower class sizes for reading instruction
and more time devoted to reading tend to have the highest
achieving students. Ann Mintz, county language arts facilitator
points out that while few changes have been made to the county's
core reading program, "Integrated Language Arts," which balances
phonics with whole language, some school leaders rework class
schedules to allow more time for reaching in smaller groups.
Several schools highlighted in the paper are:
Deep Run Elementary (Elkridge), where 10 reading teams were
created for second-grade students, who receive an hour of
instruction every school day -- previously, students were
engaged in reading instruction for only 20 to 30 minutes.
Running Brook Elementary (Columbia), which offers small
reading groups and a "Reading Recovery" program for one-on-
one, daily tutoring for struggling first-grade readers.
Clarksville Elementary, where students spend about 45
minutes, four days a week, in a small reading group run by
teachers, reading specialists and aides. Fourth- and fifth-
grade students also participate in a "Reading Pal" program,
in which they tutor younger students in reading for 15
minutes three times a week.
The SUN reports that Clarksville teachers and administrators
hold that small-group instruction has "made a difference in the
school's test scores." Nearly 80% of third-graders and nearly
70% of fifth-graders scored satisfactorily on the Maryland state
exam. In 1997, only 65% of third-graders and 46% of fifth-
graders scored satisfactorily. "We feel really confident that
this [small reading groups] is a big part of [the improvement],"
explained Assistant Principal Peggy Dumler.
However, Howard County middle school students are not faring
as well as their younger counterparts in reading. Only 34% of
middle school students scored satisfactorily on the state exam.
Chris Paulis, a reading instruction facilitator for Howard
middle schools, argues that a "disconnect" occurs when students
encounter subject specialists. "Reading seems very different to
them in middle school," he said. "In a lot of cases, kids are
not even being asked to read in those subject area classes.
Teachers ... find kids reluctant to read. It's easier to give
them the content in different ways than reading."
Middle school officials anticipate a grant to fund
technology for targeted middle schools to help poor readers,
notes the paper.
*2 HOMEWORK HELPERS: WHAT'S A PARENT TO DO?
Students -- from the youngest to the oldest -- find homework
piling up on them every night, often leading to stressful family
evenings, according to articles in the N.Y. TIMES MAGAZINE
(Winerip, 1/3) and TIME Magazine (Ratnesar, 1/25). Both articles
note the pendulum swing of homework. A national crisis like
Sputnik, typically finds schools sending students home with
bookbags packed with homework that is expected to help students
achieve at higher levels in school.
The N.Y. TIMES writes that the popularity of homework today
stems from America's recession in the 1980s, coupled with the
ascent of Japan in world markets. During that time, "A Nation at
Risk" was released, which also helped homework catch on in
schools nationwide.
While the amount of homework has remained relatively the
same at the high school level, elementary school children are
leaving school with a record amount of homework. Psychologists
and educators differ over the effect of homework on younger
children. "For elementary school students, the effect of
homework on achievement is trivial, it if exists at all," said
Dr. Harris Cooper of the University of Missouri, and a leading
homework scholar. Cooper conducted a "landmark" study of more
than 100 homework studies and, in 1989, concluded that, "while
children who do substantial amounts of homework perform better on
standardized tests at the junior high and high school level, it
does not seem to make a difference for elementary-age students,"
writes the N.Y. TIMES.
However, studies conducted by Joyce Epstein, professor of
education at Johns Hopkins University and another leading expert
on homework, reveal a link between elementary school homework and
school performance. Research headed by Dr. Carol Huntsinger, an
education professor at the College of Lake County, outside of
Chicago, concurs with conclusions made by Epstein. Huntsinger
compared homework habits of well-educated Chinese-American
families with those of "similarly prosperous" European-American
families. All families were living in the suburbs of Chicago.
The TIMES reports Huntsinger's results: "Before first
grade, the Chinese-American children were spending an average of
54 minutes a day in formal home study, while Euro-Americans spent
6 minutes. The difference continued as the children got older
and the homework was provided by schools. ... The result was a
substantial difference in standardized test results."
Some pro-homework experts claim that parents who complain
about homework often are those too busy to monitor their child's
homework assignments. Others express concern over equity issues.
Students who have no support from home are more likely to fall
behind classmates who do get homework guidance from parents.
The TIMES reports that some schools offer after-school
homework clubs to help disadvantaged children keep up with
homework. For example, middle school students in Quincy,
Massachusetts, a working-class suburb of Boston, can sign-up for
before- and after-school programs where they get homework help
from local college students who volunteer their services.
Both articles discuss the lack of a coherent homework policy
in schools and school districts -- in terms of amount and content
of assignments. TIME writes that "the need for a more rational
approach to homework may be one argument for establishing
national standards for what all U.S. students should know. If
such standards existed, teachers might assign homework with a
more precise goal in mind, and parents might spend fewer nights
agonizing about whether their children were overburdened or
understimulated by homework."
Martin Burne, principal of Deerfield Elementary School in
Milburn, New Jersey, washes his hands of the homework dilemma.
He has no choice but to assign significant amounts of homework,
he says, because "this is what's demanded to stay competitive in
a global market." He adds: "There's a feeling that somehow all
of this extra work and early discipline builds up to give us an
edge in standardized testing." But, he concedes that there are
tradeoffs. "To do this, we are taking away some of the years of
adolescence and childhood."
Besides higher test scores, homework also can instill in
children certain values that will have pay offs down the road.
"It is all about learning responsibility," states Janine
Bempechat, an assistant professor at Harvard's Graduate School of
Education. "When you have homework on a regular basis, you learn
persistence, diligence and delayed gratification."
TIME Magazine includes an article by Howard Gardner,
professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, who
advanced the notion of multiple intelligences. In his article,
Gardner offers insights into how he worked with his own children
on homework assignments. He encourages parents to view homework
as another way to "amplify what one already values as a parent or
child." He writes: "Homework seems less problematic in Asian
societies because families and schools are already in accord on
the need for home study."
Parents should take extra care with children who do not
learn in traditional ways, according to Gardner. For example,
"suppose that the assignment is to learn about evolution by
reading a chapter and answering some factual questions. The
parent of a youngster with strong 'naturalistic' intelligence
might accompany the child to a natural-history museum and trace
the antecedents of Homo sapiens," he suggests.
Gardner's next book, "The Disciplined Mind," will be
published in May by Simon & Schuster.
*3 HIGH COURT DECLINES TO REVIEW: KY TEST CONSTITUTIONAL
Livingston County, Kentucky, parents of two children who
refused to take a mandatory test lost a chance to have their case
heard by the nation's highest court. The U.S. Supreme Court
earlier this month refused to review Triplett v. Livingston
County Board of Education. The decision lets stand a lower
court's ruling that the school district's mandatory testing
policy passes constitutional muster (Barnes, ED DAILY, 1/26).
In their suit, the Tripletts claim the Kentucky
Instructional Results Information System tests violate their
constitutional right to privacy, the free exercise of religion
and parental rights "to direct the education and upbringing of
their children." The tests are part of a statewide education
reform effort to demonstrate accountability in the schools, notes
the newsletter.
Part of the test includes a series of personal questions,
such as whether the student attended kindergarten. However, the
instructions clearly state that a student can decline to answer
any of the personal questions. A Kentucky appeals court ruled
that the caveat "protects student privacy, consistent with the
Hatch Amendment to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy
Act," writes the newsletter. From the appeals ruling: "We fail
to see how [the tests] could be interpreted as attempting to
promote or influence religious beliefs ..."
The state court also reversed a decision made by a lower
court that had directed the district to open the text of the exam
to the public. Judge Wilfrid Schroder, a member of the three-
judge panel who reviewed the Triplett case, said "we believe the
lower court abused its discretion ... when it ordered the exams
open for public viewing."
==== GOAL EIGHT: PARENTAL PARTICIPATION ====
*4 GETTING TOUGH ON TRUANTS: AND THEIR PARENTS
Baltimore parents of chronically truant children may face
mandatory community service hours at their child's school, if a
City Council amendment is passed (Shields, Baltimore SUN, 1/26).
Current law allows the court to fine parents $50 for each truant
offense of a child.
The new amendment to the city's truancy law would allow a
judge to sentence parents to community service at the school for
up to 60 days. "We live in a city where parents may not be able
to pay a fine," said City Councilman Keiffer Mitchell Jr.,
sponsor of the bill Mandatory community service provides an
alternative for these parents. Mitchell added: "This is an
effort to get parents involved in the school system."
According to the paper, recent truancy cases reveal that in
one case a boy missed 100 of 180 days of school in a year. The
parents of the child, and eight other parents of chronically late
students, are involved in Baltimore's first truancy trial in
years (Henderson, Baltimore SUN, 1/25). All parents are from
Canton Middle School, where Principal Craig Spillman tried
numerous times over the course of a year to warn the parents and
encourage them to get their children to attend school.
Spillman: "These nine parents have gone through the whole
process with us about trying to get their children back into
school regularly. There's nothing left to do for them but this.
They don't get their children to school, and that's against the
law."
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