The NEGP Weekly for June 22, 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 - June 22, 2001 -- Vol. 2 -- No. 106
*************************************************

CONTENTS

**STATE POLICY 
1.) CALIFORNIA:  REVIEWING THE STATE EXAM (Goal 3)
2.) KENTUCKY'S NEW STANDARDS:  GOALS FOR RANKING SCHOOLS (Goal 3)

**COMMUNITY AND LOCAL NEWS 
3.) OAKLAND SCHOOLS:  POLICE ON CAMPUS (Goal 7)
4.) TOUGHER STANDARDS:  PHILADELPHIA'S STORY (Goal 3)

**FEDERAL POLICY NEWS 
5.) MAGNET SCHOOLS:  GRANT PROGRAM (Goals 3 and 8) 
6.) SENATE PASSES ESEA OVERHAUL (All Goals)

**RESEARCH AND EDUCATION PRACTICE 
7.) READING AND LITERACY:  A NEW "CIVIL RIGHT" (Goals 3 and 4)
8.) DELTA STATE:  PRINCIPAL PROGRAM (Goal 4)

**FEATURE STORY
9.) EDUCATION AT A GLANCE:  A WORLD VIEW (All Goals)
 

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


1.) ******** CALIFORNIA:  REVIEWING THE STATE EXAM
(Goal Three:  Student Achievement)

California Senators passed a bill last week that increases the number of
exams aligned with the state's academic standards, while curtailing the use
of the Stanford Achievement Test-9th Edition (Hoff, EDUCATION EEK, 6/13).  

Currently, the state uses the Stanford-9 as the "core" of its Standardized
Testing and Reporting Program (STAR).  The state also uses a series of exams
called the STAR California Standards Tests to compliment the nationally
normed STAR.  The state-developed tests are "designed to assess progress
toward meeting elements of the state's standards that the Stanford-9 doesn't
measure," writes the paper.

The nationally normed Stanford-9 takes more student time and weighs more
heavily than the state-developed exams in the state's ranking of schools.
However, if the Senate bill becomes law, a shorter form of the Stanford-9
would be used, while the scope of the standards-based tests would be
increased.

For more information, visit the California Department of Education at
http://www.cde.ca.gov.


2.) ******** KENTUCKY'S NEW STANDARDS:  GOALS FOR RANKING SCHOOLS
(Goal Three:  Student Achievement)

The Kentucky state Board of Education adopted standards earlier this month
that details what students must do to be ranked in each of the four levels
of performance on the state test.  These performance standards form the
basis for ranking schools statewide.

According to Lisa Gross, spokeswoman for the state education department, by
2014 every school will be expected to have its students scoring at the
standards' "proficient" level in every subject.

For more information, visit the Kentucky Department of Education at
http://www.k12.ky.us.


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


3.) ******** OAKLAND SCHOOLS:  POLICE ON CAMPUS
(Goal Seven:  School Safety)

The Oakland school board last week in a 6-4 vote passed a security plan that
replaces school officers with city police (SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, 6/15).
Under the plan, the city will assign six officers to the high schools and
four to after-school activities, reports the paper.  Two investigators, two
sergeants and one lieutenant also will be assigned to the schools.

Some students called the plan "oppressive" and some city leaders decried its
expense, but still agreed to pay $4 million over the next two years for the
police force.

For more information, visit the Oakland Unified School District at
http://www.ousd.k12.ca.us


4.) ******** TOUGHER STANDARDS:  PHILADELPHIA'S STORY
(Goal Three:  Student Achievement)

Promotion and graduation requirements for fourth-, eighth- and 12th-grade
students in Philadelphia have been made more difficult, under a plan put
forth by the Philadelphia Board of Education (Dean, DAILY NEWS, 6/12).

The resolution, unanimously approved, calls for fourth-graders to be
promoted only if they pass language, arts, math, science and social studies;
complete a multi-disciplinary project and one involving service learning;
and in third grade score at "basic" level or above on the SAT-9 standardized
test.  If a student fails, he or she will have a second-chance test issued
in fourth grade.  

Eighth-grade students will be promoted if they pass all four major subjects
and complete a multi-disciplinary project and one involving service
learning, while twelfth-graders will graduate only if they complete the
project requirement and earn 23.5 credit in core subjects.  

Summer school and other programs are being designed to help students pass
the more rigorous requirements.

For more information, visit the Philadelphia public schools at
http://www.philsch.k12.pa.us


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


5.) ******** MAGNET SCHOOLS:  GRANT PROGRAM
(Goal Three: Student Achievement And Goal Eight: Parent Involvement)

U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige recently announced 21 new grants
totaling $36 million in federal funds for magnet school programs that unite
diverse groups of children, offer public school choice and create innovative
educational programs.  

To qualify for the grants, the projects must:
>  foster interaction among students of different social, economic, ethnic
and racial backgrounds in classroom activities and extracurricular
activities;
>  carry out a high-quality educational program that will substantially
strengthen students' reading skills or knowledge of math, science, history,
geography, English, foreign languages, art, music or vocational skills;
>  reduce, eliminate or prevent minority group isolation;
>  address the educational needs of students enrolled in the magnet schools;
and
>  encourage greater parental decision-making and involvement.

For more information and a list of grantees, visit the Department of
Education at http://www.ed.gov.


6.) ******** SENATE PASSES ESEA OVERHAUL
(All Goals)

Annual state tests in reading and math would be required in grades three
through eight and once in high school, under an education package passed
last week by the U.S. Senate (Dewar, WASHINGTON POST, 6/15).  The vote, a
victory for President Bush, means the bill now goes to a House-Senate
conference to hash out differences.  Passage is "virtually assured," writes
the POST, because the House passed a similar measure last month.

"With this vote we take the next step toward changing the culture of
education from compliance to performance," said Secretary of Education Rod
Paige.

For more information, visit the Department of Education at
http://www.ed.gov. The Senate bill is S1.


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


7.) ******** READING AND LITERACY:  A NEW "CIVIL RIGHT"
(Goal Three:  Student Achievement and Goal Four:  Teacher Education and
Professional Development)

In a lengthy article, USA TODAY discusses the nation's struggle to improve
literacy rates (Henry, 6/11).  According to the paper, only 32 percent of
the nation's fourth-graders read at grade level.  Ironically, the paper
points out, reading experts know more about how children learn to read than
ever before.

USA TODAY notes that the National Institutes of Health, Harvard's School of
Education, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and other
groups agree:  "There is a definite process for teaching students to read,
but those procedures are not reaching all classroom teachers."

A key challenge, noted by the paper, is preparing teachers to teach reading.
"There are still students using ditto sheets," said Marilyn Whirry, a high
school English teacher in Manhattan Beach, California, who was named Teacher
of the Year 2000 by the Council of Chief State School Officers.

For more information, visit USA TODAY online at
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/2001611/3389356s.htm.  Or, visit the
Learning First Alliance at http://www.learningfirst.org.  Click on
publications and find Every Child Reading a Development Guide, which offers
a framework for teaching teachers how to help children learn to read.


8.) ******** DELTA STATE:  PRINCIPAL PROGRAM
(Goal Four:  Teacher Education and Professional Development)

Mississippi's Delta State University offers a model graduate program for
principal leadership, according to EDUCATION WEEK (Richard, 6/13).  In 1997,
the state board of education passed new standards for graduate-level
programs to prepare principals, with Delta State "avidly" pursuing the new
challenge.

Delta State established a full-time, year-long program that focused on
on-the-job work experience.  The college also encouraged team-teaching by
faculty members and a "strong emphasis on internships in schools," notes the
paper.  ED WEEK also points out an "unusual" state law that provides a
year's salary during the program.

For more information, visit the Mississippi Department of Education at
http://www.mde.k12.ms.us


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


9.) ******** EDUCATION AT A GLANCE:  A WORLD VIEW
(All Goals)

Teachers in the U.S. spend far more hours in front of the classroom than
their counterparts in many industrialized nations, yet they earn less
relative to their international peers, according to the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a Paris-based group.  

OECD's Education at a Glance, also found that the salary of a U.S. high
school teacher with 15 years of experience is $36,219, above the
international average of $31,887.  However, because U.S. teachers teach
almost one-third more hours than their foreign counterpart, their salary per
hour of teaching is $35, below the international average of $41.

Overall, public spending in the U.S. on educational institutions as a
percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) has dropped below the OECD
average of 5 percent since 1997.  According to the report, it is the U.S.'s
above-average level of private spending that keeps the total share of
national income invested in education above the OECD average.  Total
government spending on educational institutions in the U.S. dropped to 4.8
percent of GDP in 1998, under 5 percent for the first time.

"The whole economy has grown faster than the education system," said Andreas
Schleicher, one of the report's authors.  "The economy has done very well,
but teachers have not fully benefited."  (SAN FRANCISCO CHORNICLE, 6/13).

Other findings from the report:
>  College enrollment has grown by 20 percent since 1995 across all OECD
nations.
>  For the first time, the U.S. college graduation rate of 33 percent is not
the world's highest.  Finland, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Britain have
surpassed it.
>  The U.S. produces fewer math and science graduates than most other OECD
nations.  
>  U.S. middle school students spend more time reading, writing and studying
math and science than students in most other developed countries, but less
time on foreign languages and religion.  
>  U.S. students spend 16 percent of class time on math, compared to 13
percent average of other nations.  
>  Student-teacher ratios for U.S. public and private schools are comparable
to most other nations, with between 15 and 20 students per teacher in
elementary through secondary school.

OECD is comprised of 30 free-market, democratic member nations.    This is
the sixth Education at a Glance report produced by the OECD.  The group was
founded in 1960 by the "world's wealthiest nations," writes the CHRONICLE.
It now includes most of Europe, North America, Japan, South Korea, Australia
and New Zealand.

For more information and to order a copy of the report, visit OECD at
http://www.oecd.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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