The NEGP Weekly for May 11, 2001

[Negpweek <NEGPWEEK@WESTAT.com>]

> Due to technical difficulties, some readers of the NEGP Weekly did not
> receive their edition of the publication last week.  If you would like to
> read last week's NEGP Weekly, please visit the NEGP web site at
> <http://www.negp.gov/issues/issu/weekly/050401.pdf>.  
> 
> 
> *****************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 11, 2001 -- Vol. 2 -- No. 100
> *************************************************
> 
> CONTENTS
> 
> **STATE POLICY 
> 1.) LOSING DATA:  A BY-PRODUCT OF IMPROVED TESTING (Goal 3)
> 2.) TESTING:  NASBE'S PRICE TAG (Goal 3)
> 
> **COMMUNITY AND LOCAL NEWS 
> 3.) PARENT OUTREACH:  SURVEYING NEW YORK CITY (Goal 8) 
> 4.) SCARSDALE'S MOTHERS AND TESTING (Goals 3 and 8) 
> 
> **FEDERAL POLICY NEWS 
> 5.) EXEMPLARY:  95 TITLE 1 PROGRAMS (Goal 3) 
> 6.) INTERNET ACCESS:  WHERE SCHOOLS STAND (Goal 3)
> 
> **RESEARCH AND EDUCATION PRACTICE 
> 7.) PRESCHOOL:  LASTING BENEFITS FOR POOR CHILDREN (Goal 1)
> 8.) SPEAKING AND LISTENING:  NEW STANDARDS (Goal 3)
> 
> **FEATURE STORY
> 9.) CHILD CARE AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR:  MORE NEWS
> 
> 
> ***FACT OF THE WEEK***
> Between 1992 and 1997, 13 states (out of 27) significantly reduced the
> percentages of students in Grades 9-12 who left school without completing
> a recognized secondary program.
> 
> --Promising Practices: Progress Toward the Goals, 2000
> http://www.negp.gov/promprac/promprac00/promprac00.pdf
>  
> 
> ********************
> STATE POLICY NEWS
> ********************
> 
> 1.) LOOSING DATA:  A BY-PRODUCT OF IMPROVED TESTING
> (Goal Three:  Student Achievement)
> 
> States beginning to revamp their testing programs are loosing trend lines
> established when statewide testing began and the ability to make direct
> comparisons with student achievement over time, reports EDUCATION WEEK
> (Hoff, 5/2).  The article highlights the efforts of Kentucky, Indiana, New
> York and Ohio as they change their testing systems to better reflect
> curriculum and standards.
> 
> According to the paper, "the only way to preserve the historical data . .
> . is to ignore the evolving improvements in the world of assessment."  But
> testing experts say it's better to sacrifice longitudinal data to improve
> advances in testing methods and to "update performance standards to meet
> changing expectations," notes ED WEEK.  
> 
> Advocates for testing and accountability argue for states to do what they
> can to save data that compares achievement across time.  
> 
> For more information, visit EDUCATION WEEK at http://www.edweek.com.
> Click on EDUCATION WEEK and search for the 5/2/01 issue.  Or, read a
> policy brief by Achieve, called Testing:  Setting the Record Straight by
> visiting http://www.achieve.org.
> 
> 
> 2.) ******** TESTING:  NASBE'S PRICE TAG
> (Goal Three:  Student Achievement)
> 
> Testing every third- through eighth-grade student could cost states from
> $2.7 billion to $7 billion over the next seven years, according to the
> National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE).  David
> Griffith, a spokesman for the group, said some education officials hold
> that President Bush's testing plan "asks states to test students more than
> necessary . . . without adequate funding." (AP/USA TODAY, 4/27).
> 
> Griffith said that 15 states currently test students in reading and math
> in grades three through eight and most rely on "off-the-shelf tests" that
> are not linked to the curriculum.  The Bush proposal requires tests to be
> linked to curriculum.
> 
> "The costs are staggering, but not surprising to states who have put in
> place comprehensive assessment systems over the past 10 years," said
> Brenda Welburn, NASBE's executive director.
> 
> For more information visit the National Association of State Board of
> Education at http://www.nasbe.org.
> 
> 
> *************************
> COMMUNITY AND LOCAL NEWS
> *************************
> 
> 
> 3.) ******** PARENT OUTREACH:  SURVEYING NEW YORK CITY
> (Goal Eight:  Parent Participation)
> 
> New York City Schools Chancellor Harold Levy made parent outreach a key to
> his mission for guiding the city's public schools.  Earlier this month, he
> mailed 125,000 parents a two-page survey that asks parents to grade the
> tone and climate of their children's schools, comment on the
> responsiveness of the staff at the district and central school boards and
> grade their child's school.
> 
> The surveys went out in four languages, besides English.  The Board of
> Education also approved a $7 million contract for a telephone and mailing
> system that can deliver 100,000 voice mail messages and letters to parents
> in five hours and a $4.6 million contract for a translation service to
> help school leaders communicate with parents who do not speak English.
> 
> For more information on New York City Board of Education at
> http://www.nycenet.edu.
> 
> 
> 4.) ******** SCARSDALE'S MOTHERS AND TESTING 
> (Goal Three: Student Achievement And Goal Eight: Parent Participation)
> 
> A group of mothers from affluent Scarsdale, New York, celebrated a
> successful boycott of tests that was carried out with the "precision and
> organization of a military exercise," reports the N.Y. TIMES (Zernike,
> 5/4).  Earlier this month, only 95 of the 290 eighth graders scheduled to
> take the state standardized test did so, with 67 percent of the class
> participating in the boycott.
> 
> The paper reports that while Scarsdale schools were required to administer
> the tests, the superintendent and other officials "made it clear" in
> letters to the parents that they did not support the tests.
> 
> The parents stated that they do not object to tests, but the philosophy
> behind them:  "that all children can be assessed using the same test."
> They advocate that the state should set high standards, but each district
> should be allowed to determine how to assess whether its students are
> meeting standards.
> 
> The Business Roundtable recently released a report that provides current
> public opinion research regarding the issue of public response to testing.
> The report can be found on the Business Roundtables Web site at
> http://www.brtable.org/pdf/525.pdf.
> 
> 
> *********************
> FEDERAL POLICY NEWS
> *********************
> 
> 
> 5.) ******** EXEMPLARY:  95 TITLE 1 PROGRAMS
> (Goal Three:  Student Achievement)
> 
> The U.S. Department of Education this month recognized 95 elementary and
> secondary schools for their outstanding Title 1 programs to help
> disadvantaged students reach high academic standards.
> 
> "These 95 schools have demonstrated that all children can learn and their
> success can be an example to other schools that are looking to improve,"
> said U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige.
> 
> The 95 schools were recognized for offering the following:
> >  opportunities for all children to meet proficient and advanced levels
> of performance;
> >  curriculum and instruction to support achievement of high standards;
> >  three years of achievement data that shows improvement;
> >  professional development for educators;
> >  coordination with other programs; and
> >  partnership among schools, parents and communities.
> 
> For more information and a list of the winners, visit the Department of
> Education at http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/05-2001/title1.html.
> 		
> 
> 6.) ******** INTERNET ACCESS:  WHERE SCHOOLS STAND
> (Goal Three:  Student Achievement)
> 
> The National Center for Education Statistics released a new publication
> that presents data on Internet access in public schools from 1994 to 2000.
> Internet Access in U.S. Public Schools and Classrooms:  1994-2000 provides
> trend analysis on the progress of public schools in connecting to the
> Internet, the ratio of students to instructional computers and to
> instructional computers with Internet access.  
> 
> The report also examines the types of Internet connections used and, for
> the year 2000, information on student access to the Internet outside of
> regular school hours and on schools' acceptable-use policies.
> 
> For more information and a copy of the report, visit the National Center
> for Education Statistics at
> http://www.nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2001071.
> 
> 
> *********************************
> RESEARCH AND EDUCATION PRACTICES
> *********************************
> 
> 
> 7.) ******** PRESCHOOL:  LASTING BENEFITS FOR POOR CHILDREN
> (Goal One:  Ready To Learn)
> 
> Disadvantaged students who participate in intensive preschool classes are
> more likely to graduate from high school and less likely to be arrested
> than poor children who did not attend such programs, according to a
> University of Wisconsin study (Steinberg, N.Y. TIMES, 5/9).  
> 
> Researchers followed 1,500 children from Chicago beginning in 1985, who at
> the time were five-years-old.  The children were tracked until they turned
> 20.  The study concluded that programs like Head Start "can pay dividends
> long after children have learned to read, provided the programs are highly
> structured," reports the paper.
> 
> The study is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association
> (5/9 issue).  Visit the journal at http://jama.ama-assn.org.  
> 
> 
> 8.) ******** SPEAKING AND LISTENING:  NEW STANDARDS
> (Goal Three:  Student Achievement)
> 
> Oral language development - speaking and listening - is an "overlooked"
> part of literacy instruction, according to the group New Standards.  The
> organization has developed speaking and listening standards for grades
> pre-K to 3.  
> 
> In the book Speaking and Listening, a panel of experts led by Harvard
> University education professor Catherine Snow, offers a description of the
> oral language children should demonstrate at each major stage of
> development.   Four CD-ROMs accompany the publication and they provide
> videotaped examples of children from preschool and primary-grade
> classrooms demonstrating the standards.
> 
> New Standards is a joint program of the National Center on Education and
> the Economy in Washington, D.C. and the Learning Research and Development
> Center of the University of Pittsburgh.
> 
> Copies of Speaking and Listening are available by calling (888)361-6233,
> or visit the National Center for Education and the Economy at
> http://www.ncee.org.
> 
> 
> *****************
> FEATURE STORY
> *****************
> 
> 9.) ******** CHILD CARE AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR:  MORE NEWS
> (Recently the NEGP Weekly reported on the release of a study by the
> National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) regarding
> child care.  Due to overwhelming inquiries from our readership, we have
> decided to focus this week's feature on this issue.)
> 
> A recent study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human
> Development (NICHD) found that toddlers who spend many hours in child care
> are more likely to turn out aggressive, disobedient and defiant by the
> time they are in kindergarten (Vedantam, WASHINGTON POST, 4/19).  
> 
> Controversy surrounded the initial findings of this study as they were
> presented at a recent meeting of the American Educational Research
> Association.  According to the Washington Post, the study was less certain
> whether child-care actually causes the problem or "whether children likely
> to turn out aggressive happen to be those who spend more hours in child
> care."   The paper also notes that it is unclear whether reducing the
> amount of time in child-care will reduce the risk that a child will "turn
> into a mean-spirited bully."
> 
> Differences of opinion appear among even authors of the study.  EDUCATION
> WEEK reports that, in a telephone news briefing, Sarah Friedman, the
> scientific coordinator for the NICHD study, "described the children with
> more behavior difficulties as 'demanding.'" (Jacobson, 4/25).  Another
> researcher, Jay Belsky, principal investigator for the study, said the
> behavior was more than demanding.  Yet he added that although the children
> demonstrated more behavior problems, "it doesn't mean they are out of
> control," reports ED WEEK.   
> 
> ED WEEK also writes that many on the research team agree that they do not
> have a full explanation for the children's aggressive behavior.  Belsky
> said the behavior may have less to do with child-care and more with the
> way children relate to parents after hours of separation.
> 
> Kathleen McCartney, a principal investigator for the study, said another
> interpretation could be that parents with difficult children choose to
> leave them in child-care for longer periods of time.  McCartney also noted
> that most of the children who spent long hours in child-care situations
> did not demonstrate any behavior problems.  "Hopefully our data can be
> used to improve child-care quality in this country," she said.
> 
> Marilou Hyson, associate executive director for the National Association
> for the Education of Young Children, told EDUCATION WEEK that "the
> findings suggest that training teachers to focus on intellectual and
> language development is not enough."  According to Hyson, teachers also
> should learn how to provide children with activities that "support
> positive peer interaction."
> 
> In an interview after the release of the report, Friedman said that asking
> disadvantaged parents to work fewer hours to spend more time with their
> children "usually meant a loss of family income, which adversely affects
> children," reports the WASHINGTON POST.
> 
> For additional information on this issue, please visit Education Week at
> www.edweek; The National Governors' Association at
> http://www.nga.org/center/divisions/1,1188,C_ISSUE_BRIEF^D_1988,00.html;
> National Association for the Education of Young Children www.naeyc.org;
> Children's Defense Fund at http://www.childrensdefense.org/cc_facts.html;
> and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at
> http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/early_child_care.htm.  
> 
> 
> ************************************
> 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 
> ************************************
> 
> 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 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. 
> 
> -- 30 --
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