The NEGP Weekly for August 10, 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 - August 10, 2001 -- Vol. 2 -- No. 112
*************************************************

CONTENTS

**STATE POLICY 
1.) COLLEGE:  NOT A CHOICE FOR FAR TOO MANY COLORADO STUDENTS (Goal 6)
2.) VOC ED STUDENTS:  LOUISIANA MAKES SCHOLARSHIP ELIGIBILITY EASIER (Goal
6)

**COMMUNITY AND LOCAL NEWS 
3.) TEACHING FELLOWS PROGRAM:  D.C.'S EFFORT TO RECRUIT NEW TEACHERS (Goal
4)
4.) TEACHER TRAINING:  NEW SCHOOL OPENS IN CHICAGO (Goals 3 and 4)

**FEDERAL POLICY NEWS 
5.) HOME SCHOOLING:  NEARING THE MILLION MARK (Goal 3)
6.) SCHOOL CHOICE IN MAGNET SCHOOLS:  NEW GRANTS (Goals 3 and 8)
 
**RESEARCH AND EDUCATION PRACTICE 
7.) GED TAKERS:  DOWN IN 2000 (Goal 2)
8.) UNIVERSAL PRESCHOOL:  AN AFT PRIORITY (Goal 1)

**FEATURE STORY
9.) NAEP MATH:  A MIXED REPORT (Goal 5)
 

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


1.) ******** COLLEGE:  NOT A CHOICE FOR FAR TOO MANY COLORADO STUDENTS
(Goal Six:  Adult Literacy and Lifelong Learning)

Colorado Governor Bill Owens recently appointed a panel to discover why
Colorado ranks 30th in the nation in the number of high school graduates
entering college (Curtin, DENVER POST, 8/3). Only 38 percent of the state's
43,000 high school students attend college immediately after graduation,
according to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.  

"When you have a state growing like ours we need to look carefully at why
people aren't going on to college.  It's a major economic driver," said
Owens, when he announced the 18-month study.

The panel also will examine the constitutional roles and missions of the
state's 28 colleges and universities.

For more information, visit the National Center for Public Policy and Higher
Education at <http://www.highereducation.org>.


2.) ******** VOC ED STUDENTS:  LOUISIANA MAKES SCHOLARSHIP ELIGIBILITY
EASIER
(Goal Six:  Adult Literacy and Lifelong Learning)

A bill passed by Louisiana lawmakers drops the minimum American College Test
(ACT) score requirement for students seeking nonacademic degrees at
technical schools or community colleges in the state who want to qualify for
the Tuition Opportunity Program for Students scholarship program (Learner,
EDUCATION DAILY, 6/26).  The current ACT requirement of 19 was dropped to
17.

However, the ACT requirement was not dropped for students seeking a two-year
associate degree.  The legislation also "eases some of the course
requirements" for nonacademic vocational education students.  For example,
these students could substitute applied math for higher-level courses.

For more information, visit the Louisiana Legislature at
http://www.legis.state.la.us


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


3.) ******** TEACHING FELLOWS PROGRAM:  D.C.'S EFFORT TO RECRUIT NEW
TEACHERS
(Goal Four:  Teacher Education and Professional Development)

In February, Washington D.C. School Superintendent Paul Vance and first lady
Laura Bush created the District's Teaching Fellows Program, a project
designed to help non-educators move to the head of the class (Honawar,
WASHINGTON TIMES, 8/3).  Fellows are federal workers, physicists,
journalists and administrators.  They earn between $31,000 and $37,000.

According to the paper, fellows participate in a seven-week program, "during
which they are teamed with experienced teachers and prepared by professors
from local universities."  All teachers have a minimum bachelor's degree,
although most have advanced training in other fields.

Fellows make a two-year commitment to the program and agree to work toward
earning teacher certification during that time.  They receive a $5,000
stipend for summer training and $7,000 toward tuition for a master's degree
or to complete certification programs.

For more information, visit the District of Columbia public schools at
http://www.k12.dc.us


4.) ******** TEACHER TRAINING:  NEW SCHOOL OPENS IN CHICAGO
(Goal Three: Student Achievement and Goal Four: Teacher Education and
Professional Development)

The Chicago Academy is billed as being the "first public laboratory school
in the country," where it is expected to become a model for teacher training
(Breslin, CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 8/7).  The school was conceived by Chicago
venture capitalist Martin "Mike" Koldyke.  

Koldyke and others have hired some of the city's top teachers who will work
with "two sets of students": youngsters and a group of about 40 resident
teachers.  Two interns will be assigned to each class, giving each class an
8-1 student/teacher ratio.

"Some educators around the nation consider the academy a bold model to
address a pressing issue in education: the training and retention of
teachers, especially in large urban school districts," writes the paper.

For more information, visit the CHICAGO TRIBUNE at
http://www.chicagotribune.com and search for The Chicago Academy in the
August 7, 2001, edition.


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


5.) ******** HOME SCHOOLING:  NEARING THE MILLION MARK
(Goal Three: Student Achievement)

The number of students schooled at home stands at 850,000 nationwide,
according to a new study released by the U.S. Department of Education's
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).  Homeschooling in the
United States: 1999 reports that about 1.7 percent of children ages five
through 17 were homeschooled.

"The number of parents taking direct responsibility for teaching their
children through homeschooling is approaching a million," said U.S.
Secretary of Education Rod Paige, "and we expect the next report on
homeschooling will reflect growth in the population and new homeschooling
opportunities."

Reasons parents gave for homeschooling their children are: they could give
their child a better education at home, religious reasons, or a poor
learning environment at school.

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


6.) ******** SCHOOL CHOICE IN MAGNET SCHOOLS:  NEW GRANTS
(Goal Three: Student Achievement and Goal Eight: Parent Participation)

U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige has announced 14 new grants totaling
$20.4 million in federal support for magnet school programs that bring
diverse groups of children together, offer public school choice and create
innovative educational programs for students.   

The grants, under the federal Magnet Schools Assistance Program, will help
school districts set up or strengthen school-choice programs in:  Cerritos,
La Quinta, Moreno Valley, Pasadena and San Francisco, California; Boston;
St. Paul, Minnesota; Freeport and Greenburgh, New York; Winston-Salem, North
Carolina; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Midland and Victoria, Texas and Yakima,
Washington.

Several requirements for receiving the grant are:
>  foster interaction among students of different social, economic, ethnic
and racial backgrounds in classroom activities and extracurricular
activities;
>  encourage greater parental decision-making and involvement; and
>  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.

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


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


7.) ******** GED TAKERS:  DOWN IN 2000
(Goal Two:  School Completion)

Although the number of American school dropouts who earned a GED high school
diploma dropped by 3.1 percent last year, Susan Porter Robinson, who
oversees the GED Testing Service for the American Council of Education,
predicts an increase this year.  "For sure, we'll see a jump," she said.  

An update of the test, which was introduced in 1942 for returning World War
II veterans who did not complete high school, is expected in January.  The
new test will "reflect the move toward higher standards in public
education," reports the NEW YORK TIMES (AP, 7/30).  The new GED will feature
the application of knowledge in the workplace or in real-life situations,
like personal budgeting.

For more information, visit the GED Testing Service at
http://www.gedtest.org.


8.) ******** UNIVERSAL PRESCHOOL:  AN AFT PRIORITY
(Goal One:  Ready To Learn)

The American Federation of Teachers is calling for universal preschool and
full-day kindergarten.  "It's time that we get it right from the start,"
said AFT President Sandra Feldman.

Feldman's proposals includes:
>  Creating a universal pre-school initiative for 3- and 4-year-olds, with
Head Start as the foundation. 
>  Implementing a cost-sharing funding mechanism combining federal, state
and local funding with additional fees for those families who can afford to
pay, according to a sliding scale. 
>  Providing full-day kindergarten for youngsters across America who only
have half-days or no kindergarten at all. Currently, 15 states offer
full-day programs, with six requiring attendance. Twenty-six states offer
half-day programs, with nine requiring attendance.
>  Establishing early childhood centers in hard-to-staff schools and
allowing teachers to enroll their own young children along with neighborhood
children. 
>  Using federal education funds (Title I) to extend both the school day and
school year for pre-K through 12th grade in low-performing schools located
in districts that have high concentrations of poor children. 
>  Creating culturally rich summer school programs for poor students in
pre-K through 12th grade that would offer rich academic activities that also
involve the kinds of cultural, athletic, and other stimulating activities
that advantaged children routinely receive in their communities. 

For more information, visit the AFT at http://www.aft.org.


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


9.) ******** NAEP MATH:  A MIXED REPORT
(Goal Five:  Math and Science)

The Nation's Report Card:  Mathematics 2000 finds that American fourth and
eighth graders continue to make gains in math achievement.  However, the gap
between the achievement of white students and their black and Hispanic
classmates remains open, and twelfth-grade students' scores show a slight
drop.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in math was given to
about 43,000 students randomly selected in 41 states last year.  The test
ranks students in four categories:  below basic, basic, proficient and
advanced.

According to this latest NAEP math exam, average scores rose for students in
the fourth and eighth grade since 1990.  Twelfth-grade students' scores
increased until 1996, but dropped in 2000.  

Other results from the report card:
>  The sample of 14,000 fourth graders scored an average 228 on a 500-point
scale, a 4-point jump since the test was last given in 1996.  It also is a
15-point increase since the test was first administered in 1990.
>  The average score for eighth-grade students increased by 3 points since
1996, to 275.  It is a gain of 12 points since 1990.
>  About 70 percent of fourth-grade students and two-thirds of the 16,000
eighth-grade students scored at the basic level or higher, both grade levels
showing increases over earlier tests.
>  The 13,000 twelfth-grade students who took the test scored an average 301
points, a three-point drop since 1996.  The group averaged 294 points in
1990 and 299 points in 1992.
>  Fewer than 5 percent of students in each grade showed "advanced"
knowledge and skill in math.
>  African-American and Hispanic student scores showed significant gains,
but not enough to catch up with their white classmates.  For example, the
average score for black fourth graders is 205, a 16-point jump over the past
decade and five points better than 1996.  Hispanic fourth graders showed an
average of 212 points, which is six points better in 1996 and 14 points more
than 1990.  Yet, white fourth graders hold a lead of 30 points or more over
their minority classmates throughout the decade.
>  Fewer than 40 percent of black students and fewer than half of Hispanic
students scored at least at the basic level, while 80 percent of white
fourth graders and about three-fourths of white eighth and twelfth graders
scored at least at that level.
>  Eighth-grade students of teachers who reported having a certification or
extensive experience teaching math performed better on the test than their
counterparts.
>  Most states showed at least small gains in student results. 
>  At the state level, a group of nine states clustered at the top for
highest average scores for fourth graders:  Minnesota, Massachusetts,
Indiana, Connecticut, Iowa, Texas, North Carolina, Kansas and Vermont.
>  At the eighth-grade level, students from three states tied for the lead
in 2000:  Minnesota, Montana and Kansas.

This year's report is the first time The Nation's Report Card's math exam
reported scores for an assessment sample that allowed accommodations for
students with disabilities and limited-English-proficiency students.  In
2000, two different samples were used, one that permitted accommodations and
one that did not.  In each grade, no significant differences were noted in
the scale scores of the students who received accommodations and those who
did not.

The National Center for Education Statistics plans to issue a science report
card in the fall of 2001.

For more information, visit the National Center for Education Statistics at
http://www.nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/mathematics/results.


************************************
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. 

To subscribe to (or unsubscribe from) the NEGP Weekly, respond to this email
or address an email message to: NEGPWEEK@westat.com and put subscribe or
unsubscribe in the message portion of the e-mail.



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 --