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--- Wednesday --- February 18, 1999 --- Vol. 2 --- No. 6 ---
NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS PANEL
NEGP Weekly
THE UPDATE ON AMERICA'S NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS
in cooperation with the DAILY REPORT CARD
TEACHERS' BOOK CLUB
The NEA surveyed its members
to find teachers' favorite
children's books. The survey
is part of the NEA's "Read
Across America" initiative,
scheduled for 2 March 1999.
And the top ten winners are:
"Charlotte's Web"/E.B. White
"The Polar Express:/
Chris Van Allsburg
"Green Eggs and Ham"/
Dr. Seuss
"The Cat in the Hat"/Seuss
"Where the Wild Things Are"/
Maurice Sendak
"Love You Forever"/
Robert Munsch
"The Giving Tree"/
Shel Silverstein
"The Very Hungry Caterpillar"/
Eric Carle
"The Mitten"/Jan Brett
"Goodnight Moon"/
Margaret Wise Brown
__________ __________
| SPOTLIGHT |
| |
| "THE VICTORY IS IN |
| THE CLASSROOM" |
| |
| Standards, smaller class |
| size, parent involvement |
| are for naught if America's |
| classrooms are not headed |
| by well-prepared |
| professionals. One way to |
| produce high quality, |
| learned teachers is to |
| reform the teacher |
| licensing process, which is |
| the crux of a proposal |
| unveiled this week by |
| Richard Riley, U.S. |
| Secretary of Education. |
| |
| Riley urges states to |
| create a three-tiered |
| licensing process: "trial" |
| license for new teachers; |
| "professional" license for |
| teachers who meet tougher |
| standards; and an |
| "advanced" license, an even |
| more rigorous process tied |
| to higher earnings. He |
| might be on to something. |
| Both GOP leaders and the |
| NEA express willingness to |
| consider Riley's plan.(#3) |
|_____________________________|
============== QUOTE OF THE DAY ==============
"A growing number of school districts are throwing a warm body
into a classroom, closing the door, and hoping for the best.
This is not the way to reach high standards."
Richard Riley, U.S. Secretary of Education.
_______________________________________________________________
| (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 GAINS: NAEP SCORES IMPROVE. (#1)
GOAL FOUR: TEACHER ED/PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
LESS TRUTH THAN ERROR?: MASS. TEACHER TEST FAILS. (#2)
IN THE NEWS
REALISM MIXED WITH HOPE: RILEY'S STATE OF AMERICAN ED. (#3)
===== GOAL THREE: STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND CITIZENSHIP =====
*1 READING GAINS: NAEP SCORES IMPROVE
Students in grades 4, 8 and 12 taking the National Assessment of
Education
Progress (NAEP) exams posted modest gains, according to data from the
national 1998 "Reading Report Card." Average reading scores increased for
students in all grades tested. At the fourth and twelfth grades, the
national
average score was higher in 1998 than in 1994. At eighth grade, the
national
average was higher in 1998 than in 1994 and in 1992.
Although the national average reading score increased at all grade levels
in
1998, increased scores were not observed by all students, notes the report.
For
example, grade four score increases were posted only among lower performing
students. At grade 8, score increases were observed among lower and middle
performing students. For grade 12 students, score increases were observed
among middle and upper performing students; however, the score for lower
performing twelfth graders was not as high in 1998 as it had been in 1992,
writes
the report.
Other findings:
At all grade levels in 1998, female students had higher average reading
scale
scores than their male counterparts.
At all three grade levels in 1998, the average reading score for white
students
was higher than that for black, Hispanic, and American Indian students.
Students attending nonpublic schools had higher average scale scores in
1998
than their counterparts attending public schools.
The report also measured several home factors that relate to reading
performance. For example, the percentage of students who said they watched
six
or more hours of television each day decreased since 1994. Conversely, the
percentage of students who reported watching one hour or less of television
increased. Students in grades 8 and 12 also indicated an increase from
1994 to
1998 in the frequency of being asked by their teachers to explain their
understanding of what they have read. At grade 8, there also was an
increase in
students being asked to discuss interpretations of their reading.
Congress mandates NAEP exams and results are compiled by the National
Center for Education Statistics. Student reading performance is reported
according to three levels established by the National Assessment Governing
Board (NAGB): basic, proficient and advanced.
Marc Musick, chairman of the NAGB, said he was "encouraged by the
direction of the reading results and perhaps the unprecedented emphasis on
reading."
A report published at MSNBC's site (www.msnbc.com/news) reported that the
National Education Association (NEA) called the test "our best yardstick to
measure students performance in reading, our most precious resource." The
NEA added that, "while we as a nation can take pride [in the scores] we must
not lose sight that many students still have some distance to travel in
improving
their reading skills."
The "1998 Reading Report Card for the Nation" is free from the National
Center for Education Statistics, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Washington, D.C.
20202, (877)433-7827, or from www.nces.ed.gov.
===== GOAL FOUR: TEACHER ED/PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT =====
*2 LESS TRUTH THAN ERROR?: MASS. TEACHER TEST FAILS
An ad hoc committee assembled to examine the controversial Massachusetts'
teacher exam concluded that the new tests are "unreliable and of poor
validity."
The report, "Less Truth than Error?," recommends suspending the exams
pending
a public audit.
"The hallmarks of quality assessment are reliability þ the technical
consistency
of scores þ and validity þ the relationship between scores and the
characteristics
they claim to measure," explained Professor Walter Haney of Boston College,
a
measurement expert. "Based on the data we have reviewed, the Massachusetts
Teacher Tests fall far short of the minimum standards of the assessment
profession. We have calculated that these exams have up to two times the
degree of error as well-developed tests, and there is no evidence that
scores from
them predict initial teacher competence."
The Ad Hoc Committee to Test the Teacher Test presented their findings at
a news conference at the Massachusetts State House last week. The committee
found "huge score swings, sometimes more than 50 points," after examining
test
scores of teachers who took the test both in April and July 1998. "This
huge
measurement error alone makes the test unacceptable," Haney said. "Remember
that people only found out they had to retake the test a few days before the
second exam. There was no chance for them to boost their score by cramming.
If a test does not assess candidates consistently, it cannot be an accurate
measure
of anything meaningful," he added.
Professor Clarke Fowler, from Salem State College, noted that other tests
produced by the manufacturer of the Massachusetts exam, National Evaluation
Systems (NES) of Amherst, Massachusetts, previously had been found
defective.
A current case in New York is challenging another NES exam for being
"racially
biased and not job-related," writes the Committee's press release.
For more information on the Ad Hoc Committee to Test the Teacher Test
report, visit www.epaa.asu.edu.
==== IN THE NEWS ===
*3 REALISM MIXED WITH HOPE: RILEY'S STATE OF AMERICAN ED
U.S. Education Secretary Richard Riley yesterday gave his annual state of
the
nation's schools address before an audience gathered at California State
University in Long Beach. His remarks mixed "realism with hope," by
providing
both an honest account of where America stands on sundry education issues
and
steps the nation is taking or plans to take to bolster weaknesses in the
American
education system.
Riley praised the nation's educators, policymakers and citizens for their
"willingness to take an honest accounting of the changes we are experiencing
and
the challenges ahead; and a new resolve to overcome these challenges to give
all
of our children real hope for the coming times."
Riley posed the question: "So where are we today in American
education,?"
and responded with a litany of effective education policies and programs
already
in place, peppered with examples of ways to improve the system. For
example,
Riley noted that 48 states have standards in place, but the goal now is to
"introduce the standards to the classroom." He lauds the emergence of
"powerful
brain research" that shows how young children learn, but expresses
disapproval
in the "patchwork" of early childhood programs that exist nationwide.
Riley devotes a significant portion of his remarks to teacher quality
issues.
He quotes the late General John Stanford, former school superintendent for
Seattle public schools, who said: "The victory is in the classroom."
Teaching
must become a "first-class profession," according to Riley. He takes to
task
colleges of education for not adequately preparing the next generation of
America's teachers. He also assails the standards used by many states to
hire,
train, certify and pay teachers. "A growing number of school districts are
throwing a warm body into a classroom, closing the door, and hoping for the
best," said Riley. "This is not the way to reach high standards."
Instead, Riley proposes a plan designed to increase teacher quality and
create
a more uniform licensing process that would make it easier for teachers to
be
qualified to work in different states. His proposal, which is voluntary and
does
not involve new legislation, urges states to grant new teachers a "trial"
license for
three years. In order to earn the license, a teacher candidate must pass a
written
exam on the subject they will teach and their teaching style and strategies
must
be evaluated. Before receiving a "professional" license, a teacher must
meet a
tougher set of standards, accompanied by occasional performance reviews
attached to higher wages.
Another assessment phase would be available to teachers who want to earn
an "advanced" license that would lead to even higher salaries. Riley notes
that
some states already have adopted the "advanced" license step through joint
efforts with the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
Riley's voluntary teacher proposal has met with "cautious support" from
the
GOP, reports the WASH POST (Sanchez, 2/17). "In principle, a new, uniform
system of teacher licensing has merit," said Representative William F.
Goodling
(R-Pa.), chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Work force,
"but anything the federal government does in the area of teacher training,
standards and testing must respect the work of the states."
Bob Chase, president of the National Education Association, also
expressed
support for Riley's plan. "This dialogue is sorely needed and couldn't come
at a
better time."
_______________________________________________________________
| National Education Goals Panel |
| 1255 22nd Street NW; Suite 502; Washington, D.C. 20037 |
| 202/632-0957 (Fax); e-mail: negp@ed.gov |
| Web site: www.negp.gov |
|_______________________________________________________________|
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