NEGP Weekly for March 16, 2000

[NEGPWEEK@westat.com (NEGPWEEK)]

****April  13, 2000 1 PM EST - National Education Goals Panel's national
teleconference on using business principles, Total Quality Management and
the Baldrige criteria in education. Visit the NEGP's Web site at
http://www.negp.gov/teleconf/index.htm
<http://www.negp.gov/teleconf/index.htm>  or call the Goals Panel at (202)
724-0078 to find out how you can get involved.****

*******************THE NEGP WEEKLY****************
A weekly news update on America's Education Goals 
and school improvement efforts across America from the 
NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS PANEL

Thursday - March 16, 2000 -- Vol. 2 -- No. 47
***************************************************

CONTENTS
**STATE POLICY 
1.) TENNESSEE:  MODEL STATE FOR TEACHER RATING SYSTEM (Goals 3 and 4)
2.) TEACHER TENURE: A THING OF THE PAST IN GEORGIA? (Goal 4)

**COMMUNITY AND LOCAL NEWS 
3.) READ ACROSS AMERICAN: PROMOTES LITERACY (Goal 3) 
4.) THE PRINCIPAL: A CHANGING ROLE FEW ARE WILLING TO ACCEPT (Goal 4) 

**FEDERAL POLICY NEWS 
5.) RECOGNITION AND REWARD: TRYING TO IMPROVE NAEP SCORES (Goal 3)
6.) TEACHER NEXT DOOR: HUD HELPS FIND HOMES (Goal 4)

**RESEARCH AND EDUCATION PRACTICE 
7.) COLLEGE IS POSSIBLE: AN ACE CAMPAIGN (Goal 6)
8.) TEACHING TOLERANCE: A SPIELBERG PRODUCTION (Goal 3)

**FEATURE STORY
9.) GOVERNER TOMMY THOMPSON: NEW GOALS PANEL CHAIR (All Goals)
 
***FACT OF THE WEEK***
Between 1991 and 1996, 39 states significantly increased the percentage of high
school graduates who immediately enrolled in college.

--The National Education Goals Report: Building a nation of learners, 1999


********************
STATE POLICY NEWS
********************


1.) ********TENNESSEE:  MODEL STATE FOR TEACHER RATING SYSTEM
(Goal Three: Student Achievement and Citizenship and Goal Four: Teacher
Education and Professional Development)

A system for rating teachers and schools developed by University of
Tennessee Professor William Sanders is being showcased throughout Tennessee
(Mathews, WASH POST, 3/14).  Beginning in 1992, Tennessee ranks teachers and
schools based on students' test-score gains over the years rather than on
how a student does on one, single test.  Students in grades three through
eight take a statewide, standardized test, which show each teacher and each
school how much their students have improved.  

Schoolwide data is released to the public, but only school officials are
privy to the teacher figures.  The law stipulates that no teacher can be
fired solely based on standardized test results.  Sanders does not advocate
attaching consequences to his system.  He is "cool to proposals for teacher
merit pay," for example, writes the paper.

Sanders' system is based on the premise that "an effective teacher can
produce improvement in any student, low-income or affluent," reports the
paper.  California's new school rankings system also is based on "growth
targets" not just raw scores.  Colorado and Florida are experimenting with
the Sanders' model, as are Montgomery County, Maryland, and Fairfax County,
Virginia.  

Visit the state of Tennessee at:  www.state.tn.us\.



2.) ********TEACHER TENURE: A THING OF THE PAST IN GEORGIA?
(Goal Four: Teacher Education and Professional Development)

Georgia Governor Roy Barnes' education bill, passed by both the House and
Senate and now in conference committee, would eliminate tenure for teachers
hired after 1 July 2000.  Supporters argue that the elimination of tenure
would move teachers into the "real world with an emphasis on performance
over seniority," writes EDUCATION DAILY (Learner, 2/28).  Nina Shokraii
Rees, a policy analyst with the conservative Heritage Foundation, applauds
the teacher-tenure provision and adds that it's progress will be "closely
watched" by other states.

If passed, Georgia law would become the first in the nation to end
seniority-based pay scales, according to Rees.  ED DAILY reports that
Georgia would become "one of only a few states in the country without a
formal hearing procedure set in place for teachers to argue their case when
facing dismissal."

While applauding Governor Barnes' leadership on education reform, Essie
Stewart Johnson, president of the Georgia Association of Educators (GAE),
opposes the elimination of fair dismissal.  In a press release, Johnson
points to two polls, one a statewide poll of 500 registered voters
commissioned by the GAE, and the other, an ATLANTA JOURNAL AND CONSTITUTION
web site poll, found that 65% of respondents in both surveys rejected
Barnes' plan to eliminate teacher tenure.  "GAE has never stood in the way
of dismissing poorly performing teachers," said Johnson.  "We simply want
the process to be fair in order to protect good teachers from unfair
dismissal."

For more information, visit the Georgia Association of Educators at
www.gae.org.


*************************
Community and Local News
*************************


3.) ********READ ACROSS AMERICAN: PROMOTES LITERACY     
(Goal Three: Student Achievement and Citizenship)

Read Across America, a literacy campaign launched by the National Education
Association (NEA) in 1998, took place on 2 March nationwide.  The annual
celebration is held every year on 2 March, the birthday of children's author
Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss.  Community activities took place
across the country:
>  In Hays, Kansas, a reading relay took place, where The Cat in the Hat was
read and relayed to every school in town before winding up on the mayor's
desk;
>  A Compton, California, elementary school principal dyed her hair green
when students kept their promise and read 600,000 pages in six months (the
students actually read almost 800,000 pages in less than five months);
>  In New York City, the Empire State Building was lit with the Cat in the
Hat's red and white stripes, and James Earl Jones read with a group of
school children at the Children's Museum.  
>  At the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., Justice Stephen Breyer
read with children and then administered a "reading oath."

More than 30 of the nation's governors and state legislators issued
proclamations heralding 2 March as Read Across American Day in their states.

Read Across America is part of the NEA's broader literacy initiative -
Reading Matters - which focuses on the teaching and learning of reading and
ways to help parents, teachers and communities raise successful readers.

For more information, visit the National Education Association at
www.nea.org/readacross.


4.) ********THE PRINCIPAL: A CHANGING ROLE FEW ARE WILLING TO ACCEPT
(Goal Four: Teacher Education and Professional Development)

The role of the principal has changed dramatically and the stress of the job
today discourages applicants for seeking a school's top position, according
to a new study conducted by Educational Research Service (ERS), a
Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization.  "The demands that are being
placed on the individual are such that very few people are willing to step
up to the plate any longer and take on those responsibilities," said Vincent
Ferrandino, executive director of the National Association of Elementary
School Principals (NAESP).  The NAESP and the National Association of
Secondary School Principals (NASSP) requested the study be conducted by ERS.

According to the report, the top three factors that discourage people from
seeking the job of principal are: compensation that does not match the
responsibilities; too much stress; and too much time required to do the job.


The report, The Principal, Keystone of a High-Achieving School: Attracting
and Keeping the Leaders We Need, is available for $15.50 from ERS by calling
(800)791-9308.  Visit the National Association of Elementary School
Principals at www.naesp.org and the National Association of Secondary School
Principals at www.nassp.org.


*********************
Federal Policy News
*********************


5.) ********RECOGNITION AND REWARD: TRYING TO IMPROVE NAEP SCORES
(Goal Three: Student Achievement and Citizenship) 

President Clinton in his 2001 federal budget proposed a $50 million
Recognition and Reward program that would give state financial incentives to
improve their scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress
(NAEP).  The plan also would reward states that close gaps between high- and
low-performing students in math, writes EDUCATION DAILY Gladfleter, 3/1).  

Supporters claim that financial rewards are the best incentive for states to
participate in NAEP, writes the newsletter.  However, skeptics argue that
tying funds to NAEP is inching too close to "turning NAEP into a national
test aligned with a national curriculum."

Visit the White House at www.whitehouse.gov. Information on NAEP can be
found at the National Center for Education Statistics web site at
www.nces.ed.gov


6.) ********TEACHER NEXT DOOR: HUD HELPS FIND HOMES
(Goal Four: Teacher Education and Professional Development)

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) this week announced a
program that will enable teachers to purchase HUD-owned homes for half price
in economically distressed neighborhoods in the school districts where they
work.  The Teacher Next Door initiative will offer about 8,000 to 10,000
single family houses, townhouses and condominiums for sale to teachers at 50
percent discounts every year in HUD-designated revitalization areas.  In
addition to the 50 percent discount, teachers buying homes with mortgages
insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) can make the purchase
with payments as low as $100.  

According to a HUD press release, the Teacher Next Door initiative does not
cost taxpayers any money, because FHA is funded by mortgage insurance
premiums rather than tax revenue. 

For more information, visit HUD at www.hud.gov.


*********************************
Research and Education Practices
*********************************


7.) ********COLLEGE IS POSSIBLE: AN ACE CAMPAIGN
(Goal Six: Adult Literacy and Lifelong Learning)

The College Is Possible Campaign, a program of the American Council on
Education, recently added a new resource section to its web site that
provides adults with key resources and information on how they can both
afford and achieve a college degree while managing the challenges of family
and career.  The new resource section for adults is aimed at meeting the
needs of the growing population of adult learners who are pursuing a college
education in record numbers.  An ACE press release notes that currently two
out of five college students are over the age of 24.

Plans for the site emerged from a set of recommendations issued last year by
the 21st Century Skills Leadership Group, a panel of key leaders from
business, unions, education and government.  In response to the
recommendations, ACE in collaboration with the AFL-CIO, the Center for
Workforce Success of the National Association of Manufacturers, the National
Institute for Literacy and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce expanded the College
is Possible web site to include information for working adults on how to
prepare, choose and pay for college.

The web site can be found at www.collegeispossible.org.


8.) ********TEACHING TOLERANCE: A SPIELBERG PRODUCTION
(Goal Three: Student Achievement and Citizenship and Goal Seven: Safe
Schools)

Award-winning director Steven Spielberg recently launched a tolerance
education initiative in collaboration with the American Association of
School Administrators (AASA).  The initiative will first operate as a pilot
in five school districts: Chicago, Illinois; Portland, Oregon; Fairfax,
Virginia; Long Beach, California; and Sarasota, Florida.  

EDUCATION DAILY reports that the three-year pilot program's aim is to create
promising practices for using Spielberg's foundation, Shoah Visual History
Foundation, archive and materials to teach tolerance to children. Spielberg
created the foundation in 1991 to videotape and preserve testimonies of
Holocaust survivors and witnesses.  The tolerance initiative first will use
the curricular materials available through the Shoah Foundation.
Professional development opportunities will be made available to teachers.
The goal is to "promote dialogue in schools about controversial issues and
provide students with the skills to help them deal constructively with
prejudice and hatred," writes the newsletter.

The Shoah Visual History Foundation can be found at www.vhf.org. Visit the
American Association of School Administrators at www.aasa.org.


*****************
Feature Story
*****************


9.) ********GOVERNER TOMMY THOMPSON: NEW GOALS PANEL CHAIR
(All Goals)     

Governor Tommy Thompson (R-Wisconsin) was elected late last month by Goals
Panel members to serve as the new chairman of the National Education Goals
Panel.  Governor Thompson will lead the bipartisan Goals Panel in a yearlong
initiative titled "High-Achieving Schools: The Promise, The Practice, The
Results."       

The new initiative consists of four parts:
>  A National Teleconference on April 13 that will focus on how states,
districts and schools can embrace and implement Total Quality Management
(TQM) and Baldridge criteria in education.
>  Four regional hearings in Los Angeles, Vermont, Atlanta and Chicago that
will examine issues key to achieving high standards for all students;
>  The formation of the "Measuring Success Task Force," to be led by former
Maine Governor John McKernan that will make recommendations on data and
reporting issues; and
>  A final national teleconference that will summarize what has been learned
and assist educators to build consensus around promising practices.

"The promise of education reform in the 1990s began with the creation of
eight National Education Goals," said Thompson.  "Ten years later, we know
much about what works in practice - how educators and students can thrive
and succeed in a standards-based school environment."  He added:  "During my
tenure as chair, the National Education Goals Panel will lead an examination
and discussion of results; what works and why, and how we can harness the
best practices in education so that all students can succeed."

The "Measuring Success Task Force" will advise the Panel on:
>   the content and format of its regular data progress reports over the
next decade;
>  the content and format of its End-of-Decade report in 2001; 
>  a plan to dramatically increase the speed by which needed data are
provided to the goals panel; and 
>  strategies for effectively securing such data.

The Task Force is charged with preparing a report and advising the Goals
panel on future regular data reports of the Goals Panel, including:
>  Are there new sources of data that the Panel should consider using (such
as the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study for Goal 1?)
>  Are there new ways to report existing data (such as selecting new
indicators, showing new information in a different way than older data, or
routinely reporting new data compared to both the baseline year and the
prior time reported?)
>  In the absence of a target date like "the year 2000," should the Goals
Panel report progress against interim state and national performance goals,
and if so, how should the interim goals be set?
>  Is it feasible and desirable, in addition to the Panel's "regular" data
reports that use state-comparable data, to issue "special" reports on
student achievement that combine NAEP and state assessment results?
* Are there new ways the Panel's data reports can be distributed (including
electronic dissemination) and made more useful to state and national
policymakers, parents and the general public?
* 
For more information on the National Education Goals Panel, visit
www.negp.gov.


************************************
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 Executive Director: Ken Nelson 
Publisher: Barbara A. Pape 
www.negp.gov 
************************************

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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 Tommy G. Thompson, WI (Chair, 2000);
John Engler, MI; Jim Geringer, WY; James B. Hunt, Jr., NC; Frank Keating,
OK; Frank O'Bannon, IN; Paul E. Patton, KY; Cecil H. Underwood, WV;
Secretary of Education Richard Riley; Michael Cohen, U.S. Assistant
Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education; U.S. Senator Jeff
Bingaman, NM; U.S. Senator Jim Jeffords, VT; U.S. Representative William F.
Goodling, PA; U.S. Representative Matthew G. Martinez, 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
www.negp.gov. Requests can be made by mail, fax, e-mail, or Internet. 

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