The NEGP Weekly for May 4, 2001

[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

Friday - May 4, 2001 -- Vol. 2 -- No. 99
*************************************************

CONTENTS

**STATE POLICY 
1.) GEORGIA:  A CALL FOR HIGHER TEACHER STANDARDS (Goal 4) 
2.) SCHOOL READINESS: NORTH CAROLINA'S PROGRESS (Goal 1) 

**COMMUNITY AND LOCAL NEWS 
3.) CLASS SIZE: IT MATTERS IN L.A. (Goal 3)

**FEDERAL POLICY NEWS 
4.) A CIVIC LESSON: AMERICA'S STUDENTS DO WELL (Goal 3) 
5.) EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS: HARD TO EVALUATE IMPACT (Goal 1)

**RESEARCH AND EDUCATION PRACTICE 
6.) ALL TOGETHER NOW: A CALL FOR ECONOMIC INTEGRATION OF SCHOOLS (Goals 2
and 3) 
7.) ENLACE: LINKING HISPANICS TO COLLEGE (Goals 3 and Goal 6)

**FEATURE STORY
8.) TEACHER AS LEADER: REDEFINING A PROFESSION (Goal 4) 
 

***FACT OF THE WEEK***
Between 1992 and 1996, 39 states (out of 51) significantly increased the
percentages of high school graduates who immediately enrolled in 2-year or
4-year colleges in any state.

--Promising Practices: Progress Toward the Goals, 2000
http://www.negp.gov/promprac/promprac00/promprac00.pdf


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


1.) ******** GEORGIA:  A CALL FOR HIGHER TEACHER STANDARDS
(Goal Four: Teacher Education and Professional Development)

Georgia's Board of Regents, the group that governs higher education policy,
has called on the state's 15 public universities that offer
teacher-education programs to set uniform, high passing rates on mandatory
statewide teacher tests (Blair, EDUCATION WEEK, 4/25).  However, the board
does not have the authority to enforce the policy; that is up to the state's
commission that establishes and implements certification policies.

The recommendation would require that the universities and colleges report
an 80 percent passing rate for students of every racial, ethnic and gender
group taking the Praxis II test by 2006.

The proposal met with controversy.  "I had two black graduates last year
that did not pass Praxis II on the first attempt, and this year they were
named teachers of the year by their respective school districts," Wilburn
Campbell, interim dean of the college of education at Albany State
University, a historically black institution, told ED WEEK.

For more information, visit the Board of Regents, University System of
Georgia at http://www.usg.edu/


2.) ******** SCHOOL READINESS: NORTH CAROLINA'S PROGRESS
(Goal One: Ready To Learn)

In September 1999, the North Carolina School Improvement Panel established
the Ready for School Goal Team.  The team's mission was twofold: define
school readiness for the state of North Carolina and develop a plan to
assess school readiness statewide.  

A definition of school readiness was established:  "the condition of
children as they enter school and the capacity of schools to educate all
kindergartners effectively."  The team also recommended an ongoing,
statewide assessment to describe over time both aspects of school readiness
- children and schools.

For more information and a copy of the North Carolina School Readiness
Assessment or Ready for School Goal Team report visit the North Carolina
School Readiness Website at http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~SchoolReadiness


*************************
COMMUNITY AND LOCAL NEWS
*************************


3.) ******** CLASS SIZE: IT MATTERS IN L.A.
(Goal Three: Student Achievement)

A study from Vital Search found that class size boosts student learning in
Los Angeles classrooms.  Researchers from the Los Angeles-based firm
presented their preliminary findings at an April meeting of the American
Educational Research Association.

They examined test scores of 20,000 students who were enrolled in third
grade in the 1998-1999 school year, two years after the state set policy to
reduce class size in kindergarten through third grade to about 20 students.
They then compared the test scores with the scores of students in third
grade during the 1996-1997 school year, which was the last year before the
small-class-size mandate.

Scores were higher for the students in the smaller classes, especially in
math and language arts classes.

For more information, visit the Los Angeles Unified School District at
http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us


*********************
FEDERAL POLICY NEWS
*********************


4.) ******** A CIVIC LESSON: AMERICA'S STUDENTS DO WELL
(Goal Three: Student Achievement and Citizenship)

America's ninth-grade students outscored their counterparts in 27 countries
in their use of civic-related skills and scored above the international
average in total civics knowledge, according to a new report released by the
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).  The report, What Democracy
Means to Ninth Graders: U.S. Results From the International Civic Education
Study (CivEd), measures key civic principles that are universal across
democracies.

The International Association for the Evaluation of Education Achievement
conducted the Civic Education Study assessment.  In the U.S., the assessment
was administered to a nationally representative sample of ninth-grade
students in October 1999.  

Besides comparing the achievement of U.S. to other countries, the assessment
focused on: the school and classroom context of civic knowledge; the
demographic, socio-economic and out-of-school context of civic knowledge;
the students' concepts of democracy, citizenship and government; their
attitudes toward civic issues; and their current and expected political
activities.

For more information and a copy of the report, visit NCES at
http://www.nces.ed.gov/pubsearchy/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2001096.


5.) ******** EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS: HARD TO EVALUATE IMPACT
(Goal One: Ready To Learn)

A General Accounting Office (GAO) report revealed the difficulties
researchers confront when trying to conduct impact evaluations of most early
childhood programs (Cardman, EDUCATIONDAILY, 4/19).  Impact evaluations are
studies that compare participants in any given program with
non-participants.  

According to the GAO report, only 11 federal early childhood programs that
serve more than 25,000 children are currently engaged in impact evaluations:
Head Start and Even Start.  The report concludes that "for many of these
programs, providing early childhood education and care is one of many
allowable services, rather than the program focus," which makes designing
impact evaluations difficult.

The researchers list other reasons impact evaluations are hard to conduct:
high costs and time constraints, and ethical issues that arise when the
children are divided into two groups for study purposes and one group is
intentionally denied services in order to make comparisons.

For more information and a copy of the report, Early Childhood Programs: The
Use of Impact Evaluations to Assess Program Effects, visit the GAO at
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?gao-01-542.


*********************************
RESEARCH AND EDUCATION PRACTICES
*********************************


6.) ******** ALL TOGETHER NOW: A CALL FOR ECONOMIC INTEGRATION OF SCHOOLS
(Goal Two: School Completion and Goal Three: Student Achievement)

Public schools should be what Horace Mann called the "great equalizer,"
writes Richard Kahlenberg in his book All Together Now, where the author
champions economic desegregation as the key to school reform.  Kahlenberg
argues that current school reform models - from higher standards to charter
schools - aim at "making 'separate but equal' schooling work better."
Kahlenberg's approach to providing equal education opportunity centers on
teaching disadvantaged and advantaged children together in one school.

He cites several examples where economic integration is working.  For
example, La Crosse, Wisconsin,school Superintendent Richard Swantz committed
himself to equalizing opportunities offered at the city's two high schools -
Logan High School, which served disadvantaged students and offered mainly
shop courses and Central, the college preparatory high school.  Amid much
controversy, Swantz moved the boundary line to both relieve overcrowding at
Central and create economic balance between the two schools.

The change did not effect Central's high standards, but it did cause Logan
to significantly improve.  While La Crosse continues to have a relatively
high rate of poverty, it also boasts a low high-school dropout rate, writes
Kahlenberg.  

All Together Now: Creating Middle Class Schools Through Public School Choice
by Richard Kahlenberg is a Century Foundation Book published by Brookings
Institution Press, Washington, D.C.  It is available for $29.95.


7.) ******** ENLACE: LINKING HISPANICS TO COLLEGE
(Goal Three: Student Achievement and Goal Six: Adult Literacy And Lifelong
Learning)

Enlace, which means "link" in Spanish, is a nationwide initiative that links
Latino/Hispanic students to colleges, schools and communities to ensure
academic success.  The overall goal of Enlace is to boost Hispanic
enrollment in and completion of college.

The six-year $28 million effort is funded by the W.K .Kellogg Foundation and
Houston Endowment Inc.  Enlace will create 13 partnerships in communities
nationwide, including projects in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois,
New Mexico, New York, and Texas. Hispanic-serving universities and colleges
are leading four-year plans that target urban, suburban, and rural
populations. These higher education institutions belong to a network of 300
Hispanic colleges nationwide that serve 50 percent of all Latino students
attending college, according to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation web site.

For more information, visit the W.K. Kellogg Foundation web site at
http://www.kkfeb.org and click on "News and Trends."


*****************
FEATURE STORY
*****************


8.) ******** TEACHER AS LEADER: REDEFINING A PROFESSION
(Goal Four: Teacher Education and Professional Development)

School systems must be reorganized to treat teachers as leaders, concludes a
new report issued by the Institute for Educational Leadership's (IEL)Task
Force on Teacher Leadership.  The task force, co-chaired by Mary Hatwood
Futrell, dean of the Graduate School of Education and Human Development at
The George Washington University, and James Kelly, founding president of the
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, addressed obstacles
schools face to ensure that more teachers have a voice in decision-making
that focuses on student learning and the classroom.

"Teacher quality and student achievement are concerns in every community, as
well as hot political issues just about everywhere," said Michael Usdan,
IEL's president and director of the two-year Teacher Leadership initiative.
"So, we went directly to the teachers as well as experienced leaders from a
variety of sectors to address the issue of teacher leadership."

The Task Force found that schools typically tap teachers for leadership
positions in limited ways.  Teachers' best route to leadership exists in
becoming leaders in their union, moving into school administration jobs or
becoming activist teachers.  Yet, there is little impact teachers have on
school policy.

The report, Leadership for Student Learning:  Redefining the Teacher as
Leader, highlights several promising practices underway across the country.
For example:
>  The Milken Family Foundation's TAP (Teacher Advancement Program) is
piloting an effort in five Arizona schools to provide opportunities for
professional growth and career advancement along with salaries competitive
with those in other fields.
>  TURN (Teacher Union Reform Network) was launched by locals of the
American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association to
promote new forms of union/management collaboration and recast unions to
focus more of their work on student achievement and related instructional
issues.
>  A growing number of teacher education programs that have developed
alternative routes to teaching, such as: The Navaho Teacher Education
Program; the California Math/Science Teacher Corps Project; and The Delta
Effective Leaders in teaching at Arlington program of the George Washington
University.

The report also includes a series of questions devised to drive local
discussions.  It calls on communities to examine teacher leadership issues
by involving a broad spectrum of community participants in collecting data,
gaining consensus and planning specific actions designed to strengthen the
concept of teachers as leaders.  

"Despite many impediments, the existing system is ripe for teacher-driven
change from within - that is for 'teacher leadership' intrinsic to the role
of teachers in the classroom, school and larger policy environment," writes
the report.

Leadership for Student Learning: Redefining the Teacher as Leader is the
third in a series of reports.  The others are: Leadership for Student
Learning;  Reinventing the Principalship and Leadership for Student
Learning; and Restructuring School District Leadership.  

For more information on all the reports, visit the Institute for Educational
Leadership at http://www.iel.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 Acting Executive Director: John Barth 
Publisher: Barbara A. Pape 
http://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 Frank O'Bannon, IN (Chair,
2001); Jim Geringer, WY (Chair-elect); John Engler, MI; Jim Hodges, SC;
Frank	Keating, OK; Paul E. Patton, KY; Jeanne Shaheen, NH; Tom Vilsack,
IA;
U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman, NM; U.S. Senator Jim Jeffords, VT; U.S.
Representative George Miller, 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
http://www.negp.gov. Requests can be made by mail, fax, e-mail, or Internet.


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