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--- Thursday --- May 6, 1999 --- Vol. 2 --- No. 15 ---
NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS PANEL
NEGP Weekly
THE UPDATE ON AMERICA'S NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS
in cooperation with the DAILY REPORT CARD
SCHOOL SAFETY: PARANOIA AND PREVENTION
Bomb threats are paralyzing many schools across the nation, as educators,
parents and students continue to absorb the aftershock of Littleton.
Today's issue provides a summary of some of the major news that continues to
emerge since the Littleton tragedy. (#2)
Other stories in the news, besides school safety issues:
algebra courses in middle schools; (#1)
passage of the Education Flexibility Partnership Act of 1999, which gives
local school districts more control in deciding how to spend education
dollars; and (#3)
a school voucher program in Florida. (3#)
SPOTLIGHT
Keep Cool
Littleton continues to dominate the media, and probably will for some
time. Tighter gun control policies, more metal detectors, partnerships
between schools and law enforcement, less violence on TV, the movies and
video games are some of the solutions to school violence bandied about in
the public arena.
Some experts call for the integration of conflict-resolution programs into
schools nationwide. They could use Daniel Webster's advice as a motto:
"Keep cool; anger is not an argument."
============== QUOTE OF THE DAY ==============
"The society outside our schools today means the unbelievable availability
of the weapons and the reinforcement of the violence culture by the media.
No principal can shut that out of a school. Nobody can."
Jose Garcia, a Florida middle school principal. (#2)
(c) by the DAILY REPORT CARD
1255 22nd Street NW; Washington, D.C. 20010; 202/724-0124
The DRC hereby authorizes further reproduction and distribution with proper
acknowledgment.
Publisher: Barbara A. Pape
===== GOAL FIVE: MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE =====
*1 EARLY ALGEBRA: DOES IT ADD UP FOR ALL STUDENTS?
Many educators and parents nationwide are jumping aboard the algebra
bandwagon, advocating algebraic concepts to be introduced in elementary
school and algebra courses to be offered to all middle school students. The
WASH POST reports that such interest in algebra has been ignited after the
release of several studies that deemed algebra the gateway to "more rigorous
math and science courses in high school and college." (Mathews, 4/19).
Some fear that if children do not learn the basics of algebra by middle
school, careers in medicine, engineering, computer programs and science will
be lost to them.
Much of the push for early algebra stems from the release of the
Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), an exam given to
students in different countries, including the U.S. The 1994 TIMSS exam
found that American eighth-graders scored below the world average, with a
later test of 12th-graders finding the U.S. scored even more miserably.
TIMSS researchers also reported that American schools covered math
topics "too lightly and too repetitively compared with European and Asian
schools," writes the paper. According to the POST, TIMSS researchers also
urged U.S. middle schools to teach algebra or "students would not have
enough time in high school to advance to calculus, which is taken by about
only 5 percent of American high school students but is common in secondary
schools overseas."
Currently, about 25% of students nationwide take algebra before high
school, notes the paper. The paper reports that many school districts are
"rapidly expanding" algebra options to middle school students. For example,
Arlington, Virginia, school officials this past year reconfigured their math
program to introduce algebraic concepts in elementary school to better
prepare students for eighth-grade algebra.
In Loudon County, Virginia, eighth-graders who are not ready for
full-blown algebra are offered a two-year, as opposed to a one-year, course
they complete in the ninth-grade. This course presents the same material,
but students move slower through the material.
The California state school board recently set a goal for all
eighth-graders to learn algebra, and other states have required students to
take statewide tests in algebra during their middle school or high school
years.
Despite the recent surge in algebra classes and exams, the subject
remains controversial. Last October, the National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics (NCTM) issued a report that said algebra classes in middle
school is a bad idea because students would miss out on other types of math.
>From the report: "Students are likely to have less opportunity to learn the
full range of mathematics content, especially topics in geometry and data
analysis, that are expected in the middle grades."
Other educators claim that the introduction of algebra during middle
school could inadvertently dissuade some students, who are not yet ready to
learn such concepts, from pursuing algebra and other high-level math courses
when they are older. "We have this philosophy that we have algebra for
everyone, but I am concerned about it being for everyone before they get to
the ninth grade," said Pat Robertson, math coordinator for Arlington,
Virginia public schools. "How many kids are we going to lose because it is
so over their heads?
Some high school science teachers, while preferring students to come to them
with algebra under their belt, express concern over the quality of algebra
instruction in the middle grades. "I've been dismayed at the algebra of
many of my students, even many taking calculus," said Jim Jarvis, chairman
of the Science Department at Fairfax's Chantilly High School. "It is as if
the system is more interested in getting the right word on the transcript
rather than ensuring that the students know anything well."
=== GOAL SEVEN: SAFE, DISCIPLINED AND DRUG-FREE SCHOOLS ===
*2 Littleton: The Aftermath
The news - electronic and print - has shifted focus from the shock
of Littleton to what is being done to prevent an incident like this from
happening again. One point underscored in many news reports is that, despite
the horror of Littleton, school violence is not going up. The WALL STREET
JOURNAL, TIME Magazine and others noted the National School Safety Center's
Report on School Associated Violent Death, which found that, outside of
Littleton, nine students were murdered in U.S. schools this school year.
Last school year, there were 42 killings, down from 54 in the 1992-1993
school year. Only 10 of every 1,000 students were the victims of serious
violent crime at school in 1996, albeit 10 too many.
Yet, real and imagined violence is spreading through schools
nationwide in the wake of Littleton. The NEW YORK TIMES reports on a series
of bomb threats that have frightened teachers, students and parents from New
Jersey to California (McFadden, 4/30). Threats have been posted on the
Internet, or called into the school. School officials are not dismissing
the possibility that any of these threats may be real. In some cases,
schools have closed and police officers are roving school corridors.
"Before Littleton, less than 1 percent of the schools across the country
have experienced a violent death on campus in the last seven years," said
June Arnette, associate director of the National School Safety Center, in
Westlake Village, California. "But since Littleton, there has been a ripple
effect. Schools everywhere are in a panic mode, receiving bomb threats,
threats of terrorist attacks. Nobody can ignore those things. Whether or
not schools are safe is not the issue. It's the perception of safety at
this point that matters."
Following are brief summaries of reports that sum up the news on the
aftermath of Littleton, which falls into several categories: school security
measures, need for counseling and conflict-resolution and surveys of
students and parents.
School Security: Safety experts anticipate intensified efforts to heighten
security at schools, even schools in the "leafy suburbs," according to the
WALL STREET JOURNAL (Bulkeley and Pereira, 4/23). "The suburbs have slept
on the issue of youth violence, because the dominant number of students
there aren't as needy," said Steven Leonard, headmaster of Boston's Jeremiah
Burke High School.
While some schools rely on conflict-resolution strategies and
funding of counselors to handle troubled students, others resort to a strong
law enforcement presence on school campuses. Mandatory metal detectors,
clothing restrictions and stronger relations with local police are several
strategies in use in schools nationwide. However, some resentment over the
need to travel this route has risen among educators. One principal, Jim
Ratledge, of Montvale School in Maryville, Tennessee, who was held hostage
by a 14-year-olds with a gun, protests the need to install metal detectors.
"We're a school, not a prison," he said. "My goodness, we've got children
in here, not convicts."
TIME Magazine cites a study published in the journal "Urban
Education" that found the most commonly reported prevention plan noted by
school administrators is to place teachers in the hallway, followed by
alternative schools for troubled students. (Cloud, 5/3) Since the outbreak
of violence in Jonesboro through Littleton, school officials have added
"paranoia to their prevention plans," writes TIME. Unmanned metal detectors
are out and hand-held wand detectors are in, according to TIME. The
adoption of school uniforms, or at least clothing restrictions, also has
become popular in schools nationwide. Surveillance cameras and "fancy fire
alarms that guard against pranks" also are sprouting up in American schools,
writes the magazine.
Counseling and Conflict-Resolution: After listing a series of
security measures some school have adopted nationwide, TIME Magazine writes
that "real prevention is much harder; it means addressing the underlying
causes of violence." (Cloud, 5/3) The magazine notes that the boys arrested
last year's school atrocities shared three traits: they were estranged from
family and friends, they had immersed themselves in a violent subculture,
and they had access to guns.
One group attempting to bring about social change is Fight Crime:
Invest in Kids, notes TIME. Based in Washington, D.C., the group espouses a
four-point plan: give kids something to do after school, make sure young
children have access to quality child care, help schools identify troubled
kids early and provide counseling for them, and prevent child abuse. TIME
also reports that dedicated mentors and programs that "help bullies deal
with frustration have been shown to reduce school violence."
From the magazine: "All are things that should be done in any case.
But they are just the sort of pricey domestic programs we reward politicians
for flaying." TIME notes the "harried" schedule most school psychologists
face. In many schools, they must see 10 students every day just to see each
student once during the year. Some schools do not even have a psychologist
on staff.
In an editorial for TIME, Tipper Gore, the Vice President's wife and
a long-time advocate of mental-health reform, writes of the need to drop the
stigma still associated with seeking psychological help that deters many
families with children in need of guidance and counseling from seeking help.
"If we are serious about stopping the violence and helping our children, we
as adults need to erase the stigma that prevents our kids from getting the
help they need for their mental health," she advises. "If we know a child
had a broken arm, we would take that child to an emergency room. And if we
know a child is depressed or alienated, we need to take emergency action and
stay involved with the problem."
She goes on to encourage adults to help children "pick their way
through minefields in today's society." Gore: "It is better to give
children a rule to break than to give them no rules at all."
Parents need the support of the community - "from theaters turning
away kids from adult-rated movies to networks promoting the V chip. Parents
need the community to come up with new protections, especially on the
Internet," she writes.
(TIME Magazine's 5/10 cover issue features a story titled "Growing
Up Online," which offers tips to parents).
Jose Garcia, principal of a Florida middle school, expresses the
frustration faced by school staff across the country. "The society outside
our schools today means the unbelievable availability of weapons and the
reinforcement of the violence culture by the media," he said. "No principal
can shut that out of a school. Nobody can."
Surveys and Summits: Americans, including parents and teens, remain
pessimistic about the next generation, according to a tracking study by the
nonpartisan, nonprofit Public Agenda. Only 37% of the general public in
1997 and 38% in 1999 said today's children will grow up to make America a
better place.
The survey, "Kids These Days 99: What Americans really Think About
the Next Generation," finds that the public continues to be disturbed by the
lack of values such as honesty, civility and responsibility in America's
youth. Findings from the poll include:
53% of those surveyed in 1997 and 1999 characterize children with words such
as "lazy," "spoiled" and "rude." About seven out of ten call teens
"irresponsible" and "wild," 67% in 1997, up to 71% in 1999;
almost half of the respondents blame "irresponsible parents," compared to
those who say problems stem from social and economic pressures on families
(37%);
81% of families in 1997 and 78% in 1999 say it is much harder to be a parent
these days;
nearly seven in ten say kids abusing drugs or alcohol, or kids seeing too
much violence or sex in the media are "very serious" problems;
"very effective" solutions noted by the respondents include: improving
public schools (68%); more after-school activities for kids (60%); employs
offering parents more flexible work schedules so they can spend more time
with their children (59%); and greater involvement by volunteer
organizations dedicated to kids (52%).
For more information on the survey, contact The Public Agenda; 6
East 39th Street, New York, New York 10016-0112; 212/686-6610;
www.publicagenda.org.
A NEWSWEEK poll found that most Americans believe that parents today
do not spend as much time with their teenagers as they should, including 90%
of both the general population and of parents with tens. Over four in ten
of the overall sample (43%) also say that baby boomers are worse parents
because the experiences they had in the 1960s and 1970s now make them less
able to provide firm guidance to give teens a strong moral base.
Other findings:
53% acknowledge that it is more difficult to raise kids today because of
what they are exposed to on the Internet, television and in movies and
videos;
60% approve of the government putting major new restrictions on the Internet
to limit access to pornography, hate speech and information about
bomb-making or other crimes;
61% say the best way for parents to prevent their teens from getting into
trouble because of Internet content is not to monitor more closely but to
make stronger efforts to teach their kids the right values so that what they
see online won't affect them.
The survey is part of NEWSWEEK's 10 May 1999 issue, which includes a
feature on "The Secret Life Of Teens."
A TIME/CNN survey found that 83% of teens put a great deal of trust
in the information they get from their parents, far more than they place in
information on the Internet. Of the teens who have been to the Internet
(82% of those surveyed), few have been to a site that instructs on how to
build a bomb (14%); where to buy a gun (12%); or has information about hate
groups (25%). However, 44% have been to a site that features sexual or
X-rated content.
Most teens surveyed say they feel totally safe in school (74%). But
nearly 70% say there is too much violence on television.
Other findings:
45% report that their parents know a little about the websites they visit,
38% say their parents know a lot, and 17% say their parents know nothing;
57% say their parents have rules about the Internet, such as what sites to
visit.
Survey results are published in TIME's 10 May 1999 edition.
The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) held a
Presidential Summit on Youth Violence and School Safety earlier this week in
Jackson, Mississippi. The Summit has been under development for over a
year.
The aim of the NAAG Presidential Summit include, to:
Provide a forum for perspectives on the Littleton tragedy and the other
school violence incidents that have occurred in the last two years;
Examine the child development factors that can contribute to violence from
birth to 18 years of age.
Focus on ways of dealing with the problems associated with youth violence
and school safety.
NAAG also has joined with the National School Boards Association to
launch the "Keep Schools Safe" Web site at www.keepschoolssafe.org, which
has timely information for parents, educators and young people.
For more information, contact the National Association of Attorneys
General: 750 First Street NE; Suite 1100; Washington, D.C. 20002;
202/326-6000; www.naag.org
==== IN THE NEWS ====
*3 ED FLEX AND FLORIDA VOUCHERS: MORE LOCAL CONTROL
Ed Flex: On 29 April, President Clinton signed into law the
Education Flexibility Partnership Act, better known as Ed Flex. The bill
will allow local school districts to have more say in how they spend up to
$11 billion a year in federal funds, primarily from the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act. A pilot Ed-Flex project began in 1994, with 12
states currently participating in the program. Clinton: "This new law will
allow states and school districts not just to save administrative dollars,
with less headache and red tape, but actually to pool different funds from
different sources in the federal government. But by demanding
accountability in return, it will make sure states and school districts
focus on results."
Florida School Vouchers: Florida Governor Jeb Bush's campaign
promise to institute school vouchers became a reality earlier this month
when he signed into law a bill to provide students attending the state's
lowest-rated schools with state funds to choose the private school of their
choice. Tuition vouchers will be granted to students wanting to attend
private or religious schools.
Milwaukee and Cleveland already are experimenting with voucher
programs, as well as programs in rural Maine and Vermont that allow students
in rural areas to attend private schools, writs EDUCATION DAILY (Fox, 4/29).
Eligibility for vouchers in Florida will be based on a new state ranking
system that will give each public school a letter grade. Schools given an
"F" will get additional funds and other state resources to improve, but
their students also will be given the option of moving either to a higher
ranked public school or to a private school. Opportunity scholarship for
private schools will amount to about $$4,000 a year.
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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