NEGP WEEKLY for October 26, 2000

[Negpweek <NEGPWEEK@WESTAT.com>]

*****************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 - October 26, 2000 -- Vol. 2 -- No. 77
*************************************************

CONTENTS
**STATE POLICY 
1.) YEARLY EXAMS: ILLINOIS' SWEEPING REFORM PACKAGE (Goal 3)
2.) MINNESOTA'S CHARTER SCHOOL LAW: A WINNER (Goal 3)

**COMMUNITY AND LOCAL NEWS 
3.) HE KNOWS WHO YOU ARE: SCHOOL CHIEF GETS LIST OF KIDS WHO HAVE FALLEN
BEHIND (Goal 3)
4.) BUFFALO SCHOOLS: PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS (All Goals)

**FEDERAL POLICY NEWS 
5.) COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOLS: HOW EFFECITVE ARE THEY? (All Goals)
6.) RURAL SCHOOLS: NEW ON-LINE RESOURCE (All Goals) 

**RESEARCH AND EDUCATION PRACTICE 
7.) OH BOY: MAKING SCHOOLS WORK FOR BOYS (Goal 3)
8.) WISE:  TEACHERS' HELPER IN SCIENCE (Goal 5)

**FEATURE STORY
9.) NATIONAL BOARD CERTIFICATION: IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE (Goal 4) 


***FACT OF THE WEEK***

Between 1991 and 1998, 49 states (out of 51) significantly increased the
numbers of children with disabilities enrolled in preschool.

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


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

1.) ******** YEARLY EXAMS: ILLINOIS' SWEEPING REFORM PACKAGE
(Goal Three: Student Achievement)
	
Illinois public school students in grades 3 through 11 may be required to
take standardized tests every year if a plan proposed by the Illinois State
Board of Education wins approval (Banchero and Martinez, Chicago TRIBUNE,
10/19).  The yearly testing proposal was one of many recommendations made in
a "sweeping package of testing reforms," reports the paper.

Under the plan, the bar is significantly lowered for designating a school to
be failing.  The paper notes that in past years schools were placed on an
academic warning list if more than half of their students failed state tests
two years in a row.  Schools would be given an academic warning if 67
percent of students did not pass the exams, under the new plan.

Some parents and educators protested that the call for yearly testing means
more time spent in the classroom studying and taking tests.  

If the Board of Education passes the proposals, it still will need
legislative approval to become law.

For more information, visit the Chicago TRIBUNE at www.chicago.tribune.com.

 
2.) ******** MINNESOTA'S CHARTER SCHOOL LAW: A WINNER
(Goal Three: Student Achievement)

Minnesota's charter school law recently was honored as an innovation in
American government.  The state's law was one of ten winners of the 2000
Innovations in American Government Award and recipient of a $100,000 grant
from the Ford Foundation.

"This is a tribute to the Minnesota legislature for its collective vision
and political will to take risks and create new opportunities for children,"
said State Senator Ember Reichgott Junge.  "Even more, it celebrates the
energy and commitment of the thousands of charter school parents, teachers
and students who made this happen."  Junge was the author of the charter
school law.

For more information, visit the Minnesota Legislature at www.leg.state.mn.us


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

3.) ******** HE KNOWS WHO YOU ARE: SCHOOL CHIEF GETS LIST OF KIDS WHO HAVE
FALLEN BEHIND
(Goal Three: Student Achievement)

Every third grader who has fallen behind in math or reading will be on a
list given to Howard County, Maryland, School Superintendent John O'Rourke.
The "bold" policy, the first of its kind in Maryland, was praised by state
Superintendent of Schools Nancy Grasmick.  "This is exactly what we want our
local school systems to begin doing," she said.  
	
O'Rourke said he will "accept personal responsibility" for these students.
His call to all 37 elementary school principals to prepare the list of names
also comes with the demand that each student receives a personalized
one-year plan for improvement.

Principals and administrators in Howard County applauded O'Rourke's
innovative plan, writes the Baltimore SUN (White, 10/22).  "He's bringing
focus and accountability to all of us," said Sandra J. Erickson, the
county's associate superintendent for curriculum and instruction.  "He is
personalizing the support he wants to give every child's family in the
county."

For more information, visit the Baltimore SUN at www.sunspot.net.


4.) ******** BUFFALO SCHOOLS: PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
(All Goals)

Buffalo public schools are in a state of organizational disarray.
Expectations for students are low and an atmosphere of distrust and
disrespect among administration and staff engulfs the entire system,
according to a report issued by the Council of Great City Schools.  The
report was commissioned by Buffalo school Superintendent Marion Canedo and
School Board President Paul G. Buchanan.

>From the report:  "The end result is a system that is heavily focused on
procedural compliance and centralized control, but that lacks the
flexibility, creativity and incentives necessary to adapt to a changing
world, encourage major strides in teaching and learning, or support the
city's revitalization."

Recommendations include:

>Parents be allowed to send their children to the school nearest their home,
and that students be bused only to magnet schools and special-education
programs.
>The district place greater emphasis on students performance, invest more in
preschool education, provide proportionately more money for the neediest
schools, realign grade structures and make better use of test score data to
guide instruction and to help individual students.
>Both decision-making and personnel be shifted from City Hall to individual
schools.

For more information, visit the Buffalo NEWS at www.buffalonews.com or the
Council of Great City Schools at www.cogcs.org.


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

5.) ********COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOLS: HOW EFFECITVE ARE THEY?
(All Goals)

The U.S. Department of Education last week awarded $21 million in grants to
six research organizations to study the success of comprehensive school
reform models.  The studies are designed to provide a better understanding
of school reform by examining the large-scale implementation of
research-based comprehensive school reform models.

For example, the studies will address one or more of the following
questions:

>How effective are specific externally developed, research-based
comprehensive school reform models in improving the achievement of all
students?
>How are model characteristics related to the success of model
implementation and improvement in teaching and learning in specific types of
settings and with specific types of students?
>What supporting conditions and strategies are necessary to effectively
implement and sustain comprehensive school reform models in schools and
school districts?

The awardees are: American Institutes for Research/Pelavin Research Center;
Brown University; Policy Studies Associates, Inc.; RAND; Success for All
Foundation and the University of Arizona.
	
For more information, visit the Department of Education at www.ed.gov.


6.) ******** RURAL SCHOOLS: NEW ON-LINE RESOURCE
(All Goals)

U.S. Education Secretary Richard Riley, along with several senators and the
Congressional Rural Caucus recently announced the launch of a new web site
designed to focus on developments in rural schools.  Known as Navigating
Resources for Rural Schools, the site will provide links to data and
information on current and changing conditions in education in rural
America.

The web site also has links to other information resources, including
relevant Department of Education programs, research and promising practices
related to rural education.  

For more information, visit Navigating Resources for Rural Schools at
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ruraled or the Department of Education at
www.ed.gov.

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

7.) ********OH BOY: MAKING SCHOOLS WORK FOR BOYS
(Goal Three: Student Achievement)

Many schools nationwide are trying to better serve boys, who some argue are
"in crisis in America's classrooms," reports the Chicago TRIBUNE (Breslin,
10/20).  Boys, notes the paper, account for the "overwhelming majority of
behavior problems and dominate special-education services."  They also fall
behind girls in reading and writing and the gap between boys and girls in
math, which in the past has heavily favored boys, is narrowing.  The TRIBUNE
also notes that significantly more boys than girls are medicated to behave
or perform better in school.

Schools and teachers in some classrooms have restructured their learning
environments to better suit boys' needs by, for example, incorporating more
physical activities and hands-on learning, reports the paper.  Others have
added more class projects or more playground time.

"You just have to do things differently with boys," said Jackie Smizer,
director of the Community Mennonite Early Learning Center in Markham,
Illinois.  "I tell my teachers now that when you have a classroom that's
predominately boys, you better look at your situation or your behavior
problems are going to skyrocket."

For more information, visit the Chicago TRIBUNE at www.chicagotribune.com.


8.) ******** WISE:  TEACHERS' HELPER IN SCIENCE
(Goal Five: Math and Science)

A partnership of classroom teachers, researchers, scientists and technology
experts has joined forces to produce WISE, the Web-based Integrated Science
Environment project.  Schools and individual teachers can join WISE by
visiting the web site and selecting activities for their classes from the
project library.  A video of teachers using WISE and a companion book called
Computers, Teachers, Peers also is available.

WISE is built around four design strategies:  

>Make science accessible.
>Make thinking visible.
>Help students learn from one another.
>Foster lifelong learning.

For more information, visit WISE at http://wise.berkeley.edu.


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

9.) ******** NATIONAL BOARD CERTIFICATION: IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE
(Goal Four: Teacher Education and Professional Development)

Teachers who have earned certification through the National Board for
Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) significantly outperform their
non-certified peers on 11 of 13 indicators of teaching expertise, according
to a new study released by the NBPTS.  Researchers from the University of
North Carolina at Greensboro also found that nearly three-fourths of the
work samples collected from students taught by Board certified teachers
reflected a high level of comprehension of the concepts being taught,
compared to 29 percent of the work samples of students taught by non-Board
certified teachers.

"All of the teachers that we studied demonstrated laudable teaching skills,
but the National Board Certified teachers demonstrated to a much greater
degree those qualities of expert teaching that we know from years of
research are so important to student achievement," said Lloyd Bond, a
researcher at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, who also
co-directed the study.

The indicators of teaching expertise used by the researchers include
attributes such as; having an extensive knowledge of subject matter; the
ability to adapt and improvise instruction; formulating lessons that are
challenging and engaging; and promoting academic achievement by emphasizing
both personal accomplishment and intellectual engagement."

Student work examined by the researchers was related to a single unit of
instruction made up of multiple lessons over a period of weeks that was
centered on a specific academic goal.  Student work samples were collected
randomly and were evaluated by a separate team of teachers who had no
knowledge of the classrooms in which the work was produced nor the
certification status of the students' teachers.

Based on the work samples, the researchers wrote that National Board
Certification "is identifying and certifying teachers who are producing
students who differ in profound and important ways from those taught by
[non-Board Certified] teachers."

Researchers examined a sample of 65 teachers from two certificate areas for
the study:  Early Adolescence/English Language Arts and Middle
School/Generalist.  The teachers were from the states of Ohio, North
Carolina, Virginia, Delaware and the District of Columbia.  All of the
teachers had sought Board Certification, but only 31 of the 65 had achieved
certification.  

"This is the first wave of a series of studies that we're supporting because
we believe they will provide the education community with valuable
information about the link between accomplished teaching and student
learning," said Betty Castor, president of the NBPTS.  "New studies in new
states will help to give the National Board, teachers, parents and school
leaders an even better understanding of how critical a role teacher quality
plays."

One upcoming study that will examine the link between National Board
Certification and student learning will be conducted in collaboration with
Dr. William Sanders of the University of Tennessee, who developed the
statistical models used for the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System.
Topics of future studies include: what type of teacher seeks National Board
Certification; what knowledge do parents have about National Board
Certification; and what impact do National Board Certified teachers have on
student learning as measured by achievement tests.

For more information, visit the National Board for Professional Teaching
Standards at www.nbpts.org.



************************************
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 
************************************

The NEGP/ Daily Report Card (DRC) hereby authorizes further reproduction and
distribution with proper acknowledgment. 

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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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