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--- Wednesday --- February 10, 1999 --- Vol. 2 --- No. 5 ---
NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS PANEL
NEGP Weekly
THE UPDATE ON AMERICA'S NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS
in cooperation with the DAILY REPORT CARD
HIS AIRNESS FLIES FOR SCHOOLS
Michael Jordan, basketball
superstar extrodinaire,
recently launched the "Jordan
Fundamentals," an initiative
that will provide grants for
public, secondary school
teachers who serve
disadvantaged students.
The grants will be funded by
a portion of the proceeds from
the JORDAN brand, a sub-brand
of NIKE, with a minimum
donation of $1 million a year
for the next five years.
"Jordan Fundamentals" grants
will recognize and support
lesson plans written by
teachers that demonstrate
instructional creativity and
exemplify high learning
expectations.
Michael Jordan: "My own
desire and ability to succeed
are the result of many
blessings, none greater than
those of the excellent role
models I had. ... I hope that
these grants empower more
teachers to do what they do
best: find creative ways to
give kids the means and the
inspiration to succeed -- in
academics, sports, family and
in their life." .
__________ __________
| SPOTLIGHT |
| |
| RESISTANCE IS FUTILE |
| |
| Schools that resist the |
| dawn of the "global |
| knowledge/information age" |
| may tumble into extinction. |
| The American Association of |
| School Administrators has |
| prepared a guidebook for |
| educators intent on |
| surviving in the next |
| century. (#4) |
| "Preparing Schools and |
| School Systems for the 21st |
| Century" provides 16 |
| characteristics of what |
| schools, students and |
| teachers need to flourish |
| in the future. |
| The usual suspects --high |
| standards, equal opportuni- |
| ty, safe environment, |
| technology -- made the |
| list. So did an updated |
| description of a "learner," |
| in which teaching to |
| individual needs reigns |
| supreme. Does this mean |
| more teachers? Today's |
| schools already are engaged |
| in a struggle to find enough|
| competent teachers. (#1) |
|_____________________________|
============== QUOTE OF THE DAY ==============
"We waste a lot of money and time and effort with the revolving
door, trying to recruit people, then treating them badly and
watching them leave."
Linda Darling Hammond, director of the National Commission on
Teaching and America's Future, on beginning teachers. (#1)
_______________________________________________________________
| (c) by the Education Policy Network, Inc. |
| 1255 22nd Street NW; Washington, D.C. 202/724-0124 |
| The DRC hereby authorizes further reproduction and |
| distribution with proper acknowledgement. |
| Publisher: Barbara A. Pape |
|
|_______________________________________________________________|
============== TABLE OF CONTENTS ==============
GOAL FOUR: TEACHER ED/PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
IMPOSSIBLE DREAM?: Small class size and quality teaching. (#1)
GOAL FIVE: MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE
LEARNING FIRST: Action plan for math. (#2)
GOAL SIX: ADULT LITERACY AND LIFELONG LEARNING
CLOSING THE SKILLS GAP: Clinton's plan. (#3)
IN THE NEW
21st CENTURY SCHOOLS: What we need. (#4)
===== GOAL FOUR: TEACHER ED/PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT =====
*1 IMPOSSIBLE DREAM?: SMALL CLASS SIZE AND QUALITY TEACHING
Today's hot education issues pose a troubling dilemma for
many school leaders. How can they meet federal, state and
parental demands for small class size, plus the competing call
for top-notch teachers in every classroom in a recruiting
environment plagued by a shortage of teacher candidates? In
order to accommodate class-size mandates, school administrators
in states like California and Maryland are hiring more teachers
with "emergency" credentials.
Ten percent of California teachers are working with
"emergency" certification as education leaders scramble to meet
the state's class-size reduction law (Argetsinger, WASH POST,
2/7). In Baltimore, more than half of the city's public school
teachers hired since new school reform efforts began in 1997 do
not have the basic teaching credential needed for state
certification, writes the Baltimore SUN (Bowie, 2/4).
Competition over teacher candidates is fierce, with some
districts promising signing bonuses, health club memberships and
beginning teacher mentoring programs, write the papers. Another
solution offered by Linda Darling Hammond, director of the
National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, is for
states to offer more reciprocity in teacher licensing, reports
the POST. According to Hammond, high attrition rates are the
real teacher-shortage culprits. "We waste a lot of money and
time and effort with the revolving door, trying to recruit
people, then treating them badly and watching them leave," she
said.
Marietta English, president of the Baltimore Teachers Union,
echoes Hammond's call for better and more professional treatment
for beginning teachers. Beginning teachers receive little, if
any support once they enter their new classrooms. Typically,
beginning teachers receive limited training in the curriculum
they will be using at their school. Often they are hired at the
last minute, and must struggle to find housing near their school.
"I hear it all the time," said English. "Support is the biggest
problem. Salary is not always the issue. If I come into a
building that is dirty or dingy or I come to a school with no
heat, I may decide to go to Howard County."
Innovative ideas to confront the class size-teacher quality-
teacher shortage problem are noted in both papers. For example,
Gary Thrift, a Baltimore school administrator, suggests offering
new teachers jobs earlier in the spring so they can have more
time to prepare for their teaching assignment. He also would
like to give them more staff training and assistance to find
housing.
Other educators suggest the development of an apartment
building, or wing of a college dormitory, to house young teachers
new to city schools. Thrift said such an arrangement could lead
to heightened collegiality and a sharing of teaching strategies
for teachers new to the classroom.
David Haselkorn, president of Recruiting New Teachers Inc.,
stresses the need for mentoring programs for "struggling new
teachers," writes the POST. He also hopes the "crunch" will
cause local officials to raise salaries and improve teachers'
working conditions.
Haselkorn: "The opportunity is to use this moment in time
when we are going to be doing a substantial amount of hiring --
to rethink significantly how we prepare and support teachers for
the 21st century."
===== GOAL FIVE: MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE =====
*2 LEARNING FIRST: ACTION PLAN FOR MATH
U.S. student scores in the math section of the National
Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) have increased since
1990, but American students continue to be outperformed by their
counterparts from other countries. The Learning First Alliance,
a consortium of 12 national education association, uses this
information as a platform to design an action plan for improving
the math skills of all U.S. students.
"Every Child Mathematically Proficient: An Action Plan"
summarizes the need for change in K-12 math instruction and
provides recommendations for reforming math programs in key
areas, including curriculum, professional development, parent
involvement and tapping research-based reforms.
A key goal for the Alliance is "for virtually all students
to successfully complete a challenging K-12 mathematics
curriculum that includes mastery of the content included in the
two one-year Algebra I and Geometry courses by the end of grade
nine." The Alliance decided to focus on algebra and geometry
because these courses are "powerful gatekeepers" for entry to
post-secondary education studies and key jobs.
"Every Child Mathematically Proficient" argues that
upgrading middle school math is not "simply to require students
to take a standard high school algebra course in seventh or
eighth grade." Instead, the entire K-9 curriculum must be
revamped to allow for a coherent transition from grade-school
math to upper level math.
Professional development opportunities must be aligned with
curriculum changes and new assessments, according to the report.
The report argues that current in-service professional
development programs in math fall far short of addressing
inadequacies in the math training of pre-service teacher
candidates. Appropriate professional development should occur
over time, with teachers able to view effective teaching
strategies, have time to practice these strategies and learn new
mathematics "that will support their teaching practice," writes
the report. Other recommendations regarding professional
development include:
Create a closer link between professional development
programs and research in the teaching and learning of math
in the middle grades;
Enforce teacher licensure and certification requirements in
school setting to recognize specialist teachers and to
ensure that students have access to fully qualified teachers
of math at all levels;
Explore incentives to attract qualified individuals to math
teaching.
The report also calls for continuing research in the field
of teaching math and the application of solid research in the
classroom. To make this happen, teachers should be included in
all facets of research and the research should be translated into
"strategies to improve the effectiveness of various instructional
approaches, commercial and project materials, and the use of
technology to foster student achievement and increase rates of
student retention in school math programs."
"Every Child Mathematically Proficient" underscores the need
for parental and public awareness and support for a challenging
math program to benefit all children.
The report is available at www.learningfirst.org, or from the
National Education Association Professional Library at 800/229-
4299 for a cost of $3.00.
===== GOAL SIX: ADULT LITERACY AND LIFELONG LEARNING =====
*3 CLOSING THE SKILLS GAP: CLINTON'S PLAN
President Clinton and Vice President Gore late last month
announced plans to fund initiatives to help educate and train
American workers for 21st century jobs (White House press
release, January 1999). In his fiscal year 2000 budget proposal,
Clinton outlines a three-part program to guarantee lifelong
learning opportunities for American workers. The $965M
initiative to address a national skills gap includes:
A $190M increase for Adult Education and Family Literacy;
A $368M increase for Universal Re-Employment; and
A $405M increase for Youth Employment
According to the White House, the goal of the Adult Literacy
initiative is to "bring Presidential leadership and focus to a
pressing national problem by demanding improvement in the qualify
of adult basic education programs and increasing funding to help
state both meet the new quality goals and serve more people."
The initiative calls for:
$95M for adult education grants and challenges states and
local governments to raise program quality;
$70M for an English literacy/civics initiative;
$23M for "America Learns Technology," an initiative designed
to help develop technology skills for adult learners;
A new 10% tax credit to employers who establish certain
workplace literacy programs; and
A new initiative to mobilize state and local communities to
implement strategies to promote adult education and lifelong
learning.
The second prong, the "Universal Re-employment Initiative,"
makes a five-year commitment to the nation's reformed job
training system. Clinton's plan ensures that within five years:
All displaced workers will receive the job training they
want and need, with a first-year commitment of an additional
$190M;
All people who lose their jobs due to no fault of their own
will get the re-employment services, such as job search
assistance, they need. All Americans will have access to
One-Stop Career Centers and other services.
The third aspect of Clinton's program focuses on the needs
of disadvantaged youth. The goal of the youth employment
initiative is to fund promising approaches to increase the
educational attainment and employment rats of disadvantaged
youth. In addition to an increase in JobCorps and the $250M for
the new youth opportunity Areas, the initiative induces;
75% increase in YouthBuild;
A new $100M "Right-Track" Partnership initiative to help
lower drop-out rates;
A doubling of the funding for GEAR UP, which helps mentor
children and prepare them for college;
A new $50M initiative to help link Empowerment Zones and
Enterprise Communities to their broader metropolitan
regional economies in order to increase employment of
disadvantaged youth; and
$65M more to prepare disadvantaged youth for success in
college.
The White House notes the pervasiveness of America's skills
gap as the impetus for Clinton's proposal. On average, employers
report that one out of every five of their workers is not fully
proficient in his or her job, according to the press release. In
manufacturing, 88% of companies have difficulty finding qualified
applicants for at least one job function. Clinton's budget
requests were developed to confront these and other workforce
problems, making it easier for workers to "choose advanced skills
training, earn a high school diploma, or ... [discover] the
opportunity to learn to read."
==== IN THE NEWS ====
*4 21st CENTURY SCHOOLS: WHAT WE NEED
Much is expected of our nation's schools as we approach the
close of one millennium, poised at the dawn of a new one. But
what are the characteristics of a 21st Century school that
actually are needed to create productive and content citizens of
the future? A new report issued by the American Association of
School Administrators, with Senator John Glenn serving as
honorary chair, declares 16 major characteristics as essential
for schools and school systems charged with preparing students
for a global knowledge/information age.
"While our nation's schools have done a masterful job of
preparing students for an industrial age, we are moving at warp
speed into a whole new era," said Paul Houston, executive
director of the AASA. Houston's comments are directed at the
results of the yearlong AASA study that culminated in the
publication of "Preparing Schools and School Systems for the 21st
Century."
Houston elaborated on the "uniqueness" of the study. "We've
seen dozens of studies telling us how our present system of
education should change," he said. "This study is unique. It
takes a hard look at the system we actually need."
The 16 characteristics of schools for the future as
described in the AASA report are:
The definitions of "school", "teacher" and "learner" are
reshaped by the digital world.
All students have equal opportunity for an n outstanding
education, with adequate funding, no matter where they live.
Educators are driven by high expectations and clear,
challenging standards that are widely understood by
students, families and communities.
A project-based "curriculum for life" engages students in
addressing real-world problems, issues important to humanity
and questions that mater.
Teachers and administrators are effectively prepared for the
global knowledge/information age.
Students, schools, school systems and communities are
connected around-the-clock with each other and with the
world through information-rich, interactive technology.
School systems conduct, consider and apply significant
research in designing programs that lead to constantly
improving student achievement.
Students learn to think, reason and make sound decisions and
demonstrate values inherent in a democracy.
School facilities provide a safe, secure, stimulating,
joyous learning environment that contributes to a lifelong
passion for learning and high student achievement.
Leadership is collaborative, and governance is focused on
broad issues that affect student learning.
Students learn about other cultures, respect and honor
diversity and see the world as an extended neighborhood.
Schools promote creativity and teamwork at all levels, and
teachers help students turn information into knowledge and
knowledge into wisdom.
Assessment of student progress is more performance based,
taking into account students' individual talents, abilities
and aspirations.
A student-centered, collaboratively developed vision
provides power and focus for education communitywide.
Continuous improvement is a driving force in every school
and school system.
Schools are the crossroads and central convening point of
the community.
The explosion of computer and other technologies undergirds
many of the characteristics, with the study's goal to capture the
technology for the benefit of student, teacher and school
community. The study predicts that simulations and other
technologically driven learning tools soon will become
commonplace in schools. "It's mindboggling to think about what it
means that elementary students can now graph complex equations
and observe graphically the interrelationships of variables in
the equation," writes the study, adding that research suggests
that "very young students with these tools can perform at high
school or even college levels."
A Council of 21 leaders in business, education, government
and other fields led the study. At one meeting, Council members
identified more than 250 characteristics of schools and school
systems capable of preparing students for a global
knowledge/information age. A follow-up survey required the
Council to place the items in priority order and gauge potential
impact on student learning. While not a scientific undertaking,
the study is intended to "reflect the views of thoughtful leaders
in several walks of life and to stimulate discussion and debate
about the shape of schools and school systems that will be needed
in a new century and a new millennium," writes an AASA press
release.
Copies of "Preparing Schools and School Systems for the 21st
Century"(stock #234-002) are available for $23.95, or $19.95 for
AASA members. To order or to request information about quantity
discounts, call 888/782-2272 or 301/617-7802.
"Preparing Schools and School Systems for the 21st Century"
is a follow-up to an AASA study released in 1996, called
"Preparing Students for the 21st Century." That study examined
the academic knowledge, skills and behaviors students would need
to thrive in the future.
_______________________________________________________________
| National Education Goals Panel |
| 1255 22nd Street NW; Suite 502; Washington, D.C. 20037 |
| 202/632-0957 (Fax); e-mail: negp@goalline.org |
| Web site: www.negp.gov |
|_______________________________________________________________|
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