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National Education WEEKLY - October 11, 2002

Title: National Education WEEKLY - October 11, 2002
 
October 11, 2002 Vol. 1 No. 1
National Education WEEKLY
Greetings:
Your education news WEEKLY is back -- with a new look and a new "Feature" section with guest columnists and in-depth reports on key issues and successes in public education. National Education WEEKLY (NEW) promises the same timely and succinct look at education's latest found in the NEGP Weekly and the DAILY REPORT CARD.

So sit back and enjoy the NEW!
CONTENTS
COMMUNITIES
  1. KINDER CARE: Good Results in Montgomery County, Maryland
  2. GROWING TEACHERS: In Philadelphia, Middle-School Recruits
    3.
STATES
  1. GOOD NEWS FOR ALL: Washington Scores Rise
  2. STARTING ANEW: Maryland Unveils Test
    3.
THE NATION
  1. LOAN FORGIVENESS: House Votes to Erase Teachers' Debt
  2. EAST PLUS WEST: Singapore and U.S. Trade Ideas on Math, Science
RESEARCH AND EDUCATION PRACTICE
  1. TEACHER EDUCATION: Use Medical Schools Model, Carnegie Says
  2. TO CERTIFY OR NOT TO CERTIFY: Studies Say Certified Teachers More Effective
    3.
WEEKLY FEATURE
  1. REG WEAVER: NEA's New President
    2.

  1. KINDER CARE: An intensive all-day kindergarten program is paying off in a big way in Montgomery County, Maryland: Poor children are making significant gains that are helping them catch up with their higher-performing peers. The report found that not only did achievement rise for all students in full-day kindergarten in high-poverty schools, but low-income students showed the greatest gains. 
    (Washington Post, 10/9)

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63324-2002Oct8.html

  2. GROWING TEACHERS: The Philadelphia school system is starting to recruit teachers in middle school. A new program is giving students a first look at the teaching profession, including allowing them to design lessons for younger students. Known as teaching academy, the program is among about 50 in the nation. The academies are expected to boost interest in a career in education at a time when the nation is faced with persistent teacher shortages.
    (Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/8)

    http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/living/education/4234292.htm
STATES
  1. GOOD NEWS FOR ALL: Test scores on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) have gone up for students in both wealthy and disadvantaged communities "Kids" are not slipping through the cracks," said Medina Elementary School Principal Betsy Hill. Educators from all schools are pointing to similar keys to success: small class sizes, early intervention, "close analysis of the data provided by the state" and a curriculum focused on meeting the standards."

    http://www.k12.wa.us/Press/pressreleases/WASL2002results.asp

  2. STARTING ANEW: Maryland officials gave the pink slip to the state's 10-year-old exam. The Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP) has been replaced with the Maryland School Assessment of reading and mathematics. The new tests will be given annually to third-, fifth- and eighth-graders, making Maryland the first state to design a test under the new Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) requirements, according to Nancy Grasmick, Maryland's superintendent of schools.

    http://www.msde.state.md.us./pressreleases/2002/september/2002_0918.htm
THE NATION
  1. LOAN FORGIVENESS: Teach the nation's poor and you will be rewarded with college-loan forgiveness, if the House of Representatives gets its way. The House approved Oct. 1 a bill offering up to $17,500 in college loan forgiveness to teachers who work in predominantly low-income schools. Teachers would be required honor a five-year commitment. The National Education Association (NEA) hopes the measure would be changed to cover all teachers. The bill has been referred to the Senate for action.

    http://thomas.loc.gov/r107/r107d01oc2.html

  2. EAST PLUS WEST: Education leaders in Singapore and the United States have signed a memorandum of understanding agreeing to improve math and science education in both nations. Singapore students are at the top of the world in math achievement as demonstrated through the Third International Mathematics and Science Study. And U.S. emphasis on hands-on science activities and experiments has, in turn, intrigued Singapore educators. Cooperation would include working jointly on curricula and developing a teacher exchange.

    http://www.singaporemath.com
    3.
RESEARCH AND EDUCATION PRACTICES
  1. TEACHER EDUCATION: Colleges of Education should take note of medical school training, says a report by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Teaching and medicine are "clinical professions," and educators should complete a residency requirement similar to a hospital residency for doctors, researchers said. Carnegie officials have selected four schools to pilot a model program: California State University at Northridge, Michigan State University, Bank Street College of Education in New York and the University of Virginia.

    Under this model, education school graduates would receive a teaching license but be required to complete a two-year, supervised induction period before becoming fully accredited.

    http://www.carnegie.org/sub/news/teachers.html

  2. TO CERTIFY OR NOT TO CERTIFY: Researchers argued plain and simple that students learn more when their teachers are licensed. In one, Arizona State University researchers David Berliner and Ildiko Laczko-Kerr concluded in their study of 293 Arizona teachers of grades 3-8 that students with certified teachers performed about 20 percent higher on tests than students with non-certified teachers. Non-certified teachers had emergency or provisional licenses or were part of the Teach for America program.

    http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v10n37/

    3. http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/vol10.html
WEEKLY FEATURE
  1. REG WEAVER: NEA's New President
    New National Education Association President Reg Weaver does not shrink from advocacy. "Our special interest happens to be children and public education," said Weaver, a 35-year veteran of middle-school science classrooms in suburban Chicago.

    In his latest opinion column for The Washington Post, Weaver calls for identifying and electing public servants who are committed to funding excellence in all public schools.
     
    Many thousands of well-funded suburban public schools range in quality from good to world-class," he said in the Oct. 6 column. "These public schools have facilities that are modern and well-equipped. They have highly qualified teachers and support professionals. And their students achieve at high levels."

    http://www.nea.org/columns/index.html
    2.
-- Barbara Pape, Editor

***FACT OF THE WEEK***


Alabama: Eighth-graders conquering math
The proportion of Alabama's 8th graders who scored at the highest two levels in mathematics increased by 78% between 1990 and 2000. *NCES, Nation's Report Card: Mathematics 2000. August 2001.
http://www.nea.org/goodnews/al01.html

 

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