--- Monday --- January 22, 1996 --- Vol. 6 --- No. 5 ---
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THE NATIONAL UPDATE ON AMERICA'S EDUCATION REFORM EFFORTS
A service of the National Education Goals Panel
__________ __________
MARK YOUR CALENDAR | SPOTLIGHT |
U.S. Ed Sec Richard Riley | |
will give his State of | THE WEB OF INCLUSION |
Education address on 7 Feb., at | |
the Maplewood-Richmond Heights | Public education is like |
High School in Maplewood, Mo., | a spider web, concludes |
a suburb of St. Louis. Riley's | Dianne Ferguson, a U of |
speech comes on the heels of | Oregon professor. A web |
President Clinton's State of | where "each strand touches |
the Union Address, scheduled | many others, depending upon |
for 23 Jan. | as well as providing |
| support for the entire |
IT'S EDUCATION, STUPID | structure," she elaborates. |
Last presidential campaign | Any change, even a small |
season, a prominent sign in the | one, ripples through the |
Clinton campaign was "It's the | web, sometimes strengthen- |
budget, stupid." Campaign | ing, sometimes weakening |
aides may want to strike the | the whole." (#5) |
word budget and substitute | |
education. According to the | For Ferguson, the inclu- |
WASH POST, education dominates | sion of special-needs |
the discussions in "America's | children in mainstream |
living rooms, offices and | classes will strengthen the |
supermarkets ... [where] voters | web only when schools are |
are focusing on the quality of | redesigned to accommodate |
the nation's schooling." | the diverse needs of their |
(Merida, 1/22). The POST | student body. Specifical- |
predicts that as voters link | ly, she calls on schools to |
education to economic concerns, | abandon ability grouping |
more candidate time will be | and on teachers to forsake |
devoted to discussing ways to | their role as disseminators |
improve education. (See DRC | of knowledge and, instead, |
1/12, on a USA Today/CNN/Gallop | encourage students to |
poll that found education rank- | become active learners. |
ed tops with American voters.) |_____________________________|
============== QUOTE OF THE DAY ==============
"It kind of tames people's attitudes ... so everybody's equal and
behaves better." -- Long Beach, Calif., eighth-grader Lisa
Schuetz, on the school district's mandatory
school uniform policy. (#1)
_______________________________________________________________
| A service of the National Education Goals Panel |
| Published by the Education Policy Network |
| 1255 22nd Street NW; Wash, D.C.; 20037; 202/632-0952 |
| The DRC hereby authorizes further reproduction and |
| distribution with proper acknowledgement. |
| Publisher: Barbara A. Pape |
| |
|_______________________________________________________________|
============== TABLE OF CONTENTS ==============
GOAL SEVEN: SAFE SCHOOLS
UNIFORMITY: School uniforms work in Long Beach. (#1)
GOAL EIGHT: PARENTAL PARTICIPATION
OPTIONS: Opt-out still allowed in Virginia. (#2)
RESEARCH NOTES
BOOK LEARNING: DoEd publishes series on achievement. (#3)
INCLUSION
THE GREAT DIVIDE: Regular and special education. (#4)
CHALLENGES: Old and new for inclusion. (#5)
VERMONT: A national model for inclusion. (#6)
WHO'S WRITING WHAT
REACT: New magazine targets young teen crowd. (#7)
TAKING OVER
ON THE BRINK OF PARTNERSHIP: A Maryland/Baltimore deal. (#8)
===== GOAL SEVEN: SAFE SCHOOLS =====
*1 UNIFORMITY: SCHOOL UNIFORMS WORK IN LONG BEACH
Long Beach, Calif., has become a nationwide model for school
uniforms. The Southern Calif. public school district is the
first in the nation to mandate systemwide student uniforms
(Pertman, BOSTON GLOBE, 1/13). According to the paper, Calif. is
one of seven states that have passed laws permitting public
school districts to mandate uniforms. The other states are:
Fla., Ga., La., Md., N.Y. and Va. Only Oakland, Calif., has
jumped on the mandatory uniform bandwagon.
However, several pilot programs have sprung up across the
country. For example, 32 schools in Dallas have begun a
voluntary uniform policy and one school initiated a mandatory
policy this year. Seventeen schools in Dayton, Ohio, implemented
a school uniform policy. In Boston, 24 public schools plan to
adopt or have adopted an optional uniform policy (Avenoso, BOSTON
GLOBE, 1/13) And a Phoenix, Arz., elementary school boasts the
most strict uniform policy: Students must wear the school
uniform or transfer elsewhere, reports the paper.
Long Beach school officials herald their uniform policy.
They claim students are rarely "hassled by gang members because
they inadvertently put on clothes with rival colors or
insignias," writes the GLOBE. School officials and others
interviewed by the paper also maintain that uniforms create a
more "work-like" environment because students are less prone to
discuss fashion.
The GLOBE points to startling statistics. Since the uniform
policy went into effect, the number of suspensions dropped 32%
and "every category of infraction -- from assaults to drug use to
sex offenses -- has fallen as well, sometimes precipitously."
However, mandatory uniforms ignite several controversies:
some students hold the policy infringes on their freedom of
expression; civil liberty groups say the policy is a hardship for
disadvantaged students who cannot afford to pay for uniforms; and
these same groups claim that teachers and administrators "harass"
students who do not comply," notes the paper.
An exemption to the uniform policy exists, but is viewed by
some as overly cumbersome, writes the paper. The Legal Aid
Foundation of Long Beach and the American Civil Liberties Union
have filed suit against the district arguing that the policy
violates state law because the exemption process is too difficult
for parents to negotiate. The suit also claims that state law is
violated because the district does not provide financial aid to
those who cannot afford the uniforms.
Eighth-grader Lisa Schuetz: "It [uniforms] kind of tames
people's attitudes ... so everybody's equal and behaves better."
==== GOAL EIGHT: PARENTAL PARTICIPATION ====
*2 OPTIONS: OPT-OUT STILL ALLOWED IN VIRGINIA
In a 5-to-4 vote, the Virginia Board of Education last week
agreed that school boards could require parental permission
before their children participate in school counseling programs
(Nakashima, WASH POST, 1/19). The vote was a compromise between
conservatives who wanted to end the "opt-out" policies that
"gives school systems wide latitude unless a parent steps forward
and asks in writing that a child not see a counselor," and
proponents of the "opt-out" policy, reports the POST.
"The very kid whose parents would refuse to give permission
for counseling is probably the one who is most likely to need
it," said Loudoun County School Board member D. Kim Price-Munoz,
an advocate of the current "opt-out" system. Joe Guarino,
president of the Virginia Citizens for Excellence in Education,
disagrees. "We truly believe that parents know what's best for
the children, not the state," he said.
The outcome of the vote came as a surprise to some who
expected the five members appointed by Gov. George Allen (R) to
support an end to "opting-out." However, Rayford Harris, the
board's only minority member, broke ranks with his Republican
colleagues to support the compromise measure. "I have a
conviction that it would wreak havoc on a school system,
[especially in urban areas], said Harris.
Specifically, the vote calls on local school officials to
adopt a guidance policy by 1 July. The policy cannot require
students to participate in any counseling program to which their
parents object and counselors are not permitted to go "beyond the
scope of the professional certification" of counselor by using
"psychotherapeutic techniques," according to the policy, writes
the paper.
===== RESEARCH NOTES ====
*3 BOOK LEARNING: DoEd PUBLISHES SERIES TO BOOST ACHIEVEMENT
The U.S. DoEd has released a two-volume set of books that
give schools and communitites research-based ideas of how to
improve learning in and out of school (DoEd press release, 1/18).
The books are being distributed to state education agencies and
national education organizations.
"Extending Learning Time for Disadvantaged Students"
provides illustrations of school-community collaborations
organized to find more time for students to learn. Volume 1 is a
"resource for policy makers and administrators who plan extended
learning opportunities," and Volume II describes promising
practices that can "help children reach high academic and
behavioral standards and link children educationally to the world
beyond the classroom," reports the release.
According to the book, programs that extend learning time
typically include: links between the regular academic classroom
and extended time activities such as tutoring and homework
sessions; a well-defined organization and management structure
that includes staff development; and parent and community
involvement in designing and directing learning opportunities.
The second book, "Raising the Educational Achievement of
Secondary Students," offers suggestions to schools and
communities on how to better use available federal assistance to
strengthen teaching and learning for all secondary school
students, notes the release. Volume 1 provides research-based
practices and principles to improve learning; Volume II gives
examples of successful school-based programs.
Several principles that schools and communitites may adopt
to improve academic performance, according to the book, are:
organize the school into smaller units to engage all students;
create student support networks, such as advisors, mentors and
community partnerships; and link student learning to the future
through youth apprenticeships, career academies, tech prep and
college prep curricula.
The publications are available on the Internet under the
department's gopher site (gopher.ed.gov), or on the World Wide
Web at http:\\www.ed.gov\. Single copies also are available by
calling 202/401-3132.
==== INCLUSION ====
*4 THE GREAT DIVIDE: REGULAR AND SPECIAL EDUCATION
Murray Shulman, director of pupil services for the Bangor
School Department (Maine), and James Doughty, superintendent of
schools in Bangor, describe the split between regular and special
education in their community (PHI DELTA KAPPA, Dec. 1995). They
claim that inclusion policies have effectively excluded
nonhandicapped students from receiving special education
services, creating a "nonspherical relationship between regular
and special education."
Shulman and Doughty explain that fiscal considerations in
Bangor encouraged the exclusion of nonhandicapped students from
special education services prior to 1988. This was an
unfortunate situation, because many students with mild
impairments benefit greatly from more specialized instruction,
they write. The school district responded to the split by
relaxing teacher requirements for resource rooms, established
"blended funding" of the positions between special and regular
education and legitimized resource room services for mildly
impaired students, writes PHI DELTA KAPPAN.
Shulman's doctoral thesis at the U of Maine examined the
impact of nonhandicapped students in Bangor's K-8 resource rooms.
He reached five general conclusions: special education teachers
felt less pressure to identify borderline students as handicapped
in order to secure special services for them; special education
teachers perceived increased benefit to both disabled and
nondisabled students; special education teachers were more
satisfied with their positions; the number of students identified
with educational disabilities decreased, while the number of
nonidentified students increased; and resource room use
increased.
Shulman and Doughty conclude that Bangor's experience with
inclusion of nonhandicapped students supports the unification of
programs validated by previous research.
*5 CHALLENGES: OLD AND NEW FOR INCLUSION
In "The Real Challenge of Inclusion," Dianne Ferguson,
associate professor of education at the U of Oregon, describes
her views on inclusion, based on her personal experiences and
recent research (PHI DELTA KAPPAN, Dec. 1995). "The new
challenge of inclusion is to create schools in which our day-to-
day efforts no longer assume that a particular text, activity or
teaching mode will 'work' to support any particular student's
learning," writes Ferguson.
Despite provision in the landmark Education for All
Handicapped Children Act (1974), fundamental assumptions about
students and learning have changed very little, concludes
Ferguson. These assumptions include: students are responsible
for their own learning; when student do not learn, there is
something wrong with them; and schools must identify students'
weaknesses so they can be tracked or grouped accordingly.
Efforts to include special education students in regular
classrooms failed to challenge these assumptions, notes Ferguson.
Historically, the inclusion movement has been based on
social and political discourse, continues the author. The
application of a civil rights framework for disabled students
grants them the same status as any minority group. As a result,
the focus on right to access neglected to provide clear direction
for achieving learning outcomes in inclusion settings, claims
Ferguson.
Based on her son's experiences, Ferguson concludes that
membership is the most critical aspect of inclusion. However,
she discovered through her research that mainstreamed students
have a difficult time reaping "the promised rewards of full
membership in general education classrooms. With special
teachers assigned to the included child and other indications of
a student's special status, the included students appear to be
"in" the class, but not "of" it, she claims. "It seemed to us
that these students were caught inside a bubble that teachers
didn't seem to notice but that nonetheless succeeded in keeping
other students and teahers at a distance," explains Ferguson.
These observations led Ferguson to consider whether
inclusion was fundamentally about place and time. "In trying to
change everything, inclusion all too often seems to be leaving
everything the same. But in a new place," she writes.
In order for inclusion to mean more than "pretty good
integration," Ferguson claims that educators must redesign their
approach around the majority perspective -- building the tools
and strategies for achieving inclusion from the center out than
from the most exceptional student in." She calls for a more
systemic inclusion that "will require nothing less than a joint
effort to reinvent schools to be more accommodating to all
dimensions of human diversity."
Specifically Ferguson recommends three shifts in thinking.
First, schools must move away from grouping students according to
ability and toward accommodating a diversity of students.
Second, teachers must move away from their role as disseminators
of knowledge and information and, instead, encourage students to
view themselves as true learners. Third, schools should be
viewed as providers of supports for learning, rather than
providers of educational services.
Ferguson likens public education to a web, where "each
strand touches many others, depending upon as well as providing
support for the entire structure. Any change, even a small one,
ripples through the web, sometimes strengthening, sometimes
weakening the whole."
*6 VERMONT: A NATIONAL MODEL FOR INCLUSION
Traditional means of developing public policy (town
meetings) have not prevented Ver. from taking progressive
positions on the inclusion of disabled students in general
education classrooms, writes Jacqueline Thousand, a professor of
education at the U of Vermont, and Richard Villa, president of
Bayridge Educational Consortium (PHI DELTA KAPPA, Dec. 1995).
According to the authors, Ver. leads the nation in inclusion
rates, with 83% of disabled children being educated in regular
classrooms, compared to 36% nationwide.
Ver.'s success with inclusion illustrates the importance of
continual interaction between the "micro" (demonstration of
inclusion at local schools) and "macro" (statewide policies)
levels to influence beliefs and practices, they write. Thousand
and Villa also attribute Ver.'s success to its historical
dedication to professional development, efforts to maintain
students in local education settings, and legislation that
created a funding formula assigned to students, not schools,
among other things, write the authors.
According to Thousand and Villa, the number of students
identified in Ver. for special education decreased by more than
18.5% between 1990 and 1994, while student performance, behavior
and social engagement have not diminished. Many schools have
restructured to integrate special education and other remedial
services into the regular classroom, they note. And every school
has used state funds to expand professional development for all
staff members.
"Inclusion is alive and well in the Green Mountain State
because of the thoughtful and sustained efforts of many people
and because of the passion and compassion that inspired others to
listen and to take a chance on the unknown," pen Thousand and
Villa. "But continuing commitment will be required if inclusion
is to survive and to be implemented with integrity in Vermont and
other states," they conclude.
===== WHO'S WRITING WHAT =====
*7 REACT: NEW MAGAZINE TARGETS YOUNG TEEN CROWD
"React" magazine was launched last September to provide
"quality information that meets the needs of boys and girls [aged
12 to 15] and helps them to become active participants in the
world in which they live," writes a "react" press release. The
magazine was created by the publishers of PARADE and is available
to schools through participation in the Newspaper in Education
partnerships of local newspaper publishers and educators,
explains the release.
According to the release, "react" is the first national
magazine to simultaneously activate a site on the World Wide Web.
From the release: "By bridging traditional print media with
cyberspace, react is helping to create a new generation of
newspaper readers that also recognizes the power and potential of
new media." Currently, 65 newspapers distribute "react" to
schools. Teachers also receive a guide to help them use "react"
in the classroom.
Regular features include a weekly story on "everyday
heroes," which depicts "ordinary kids doing extraordinary
things;" a missing persons column that is linked to the National
Center for Missing & Exploited Children; and a weekly poll.
The release notes that "react" has an overall circulation of
more than four million in 81 newspapers nationwide.
For more information, contact "react" at 711 Third Avenue;
New York, N.Y. 10017; 800/58-REACT; e-mail: voices@react.com; or
http:\\www.react.com.
==== TAKING OVER ====
*8 ON THE BRINK OF PARTNERSHIP: A MARYLAND/BALTIMORE DEAL
Md. Gov Parris Glendening (D) and Baltimore Mayor Kurt
Schmoke (D) last week acknowledged a report by the BALTO SUN that
they are negotiating with State Superintendent of Schools Nancy
Grasmick over a plan for the state to play a stronger role in the
city's school system (Shen and Babington, WASH POST, 1/22). Md.
and Baltimore officials call their arrangement a "partnership"
rather than a takeover. From the POST: "Whatever it's called,
the idea of boosting state influence in urban education is being
tried in a small but growing number of cities desperate to save
schools mired in poverty and low performance."
Specifically, the proposal-in-progress would remove
Baltimore's superintendent and school board and replace them with
a board of executives appointed by the state and city, reports
the paper. The quid-pro-quo: Baltimore would receive more state
funds and, in return, would terminate a lawsuit city officials
filed last year against the state. The lawsuit claims Md.
underfunds city schools, notes the paper.
Already, word of the plan has "triggered indignant
responses" from city denizens. "If we're going to do this, why
have a mayor and City Council? Why don't we all resign? Why
have a City of Baltimore if the state's going to run everything?"
exclaimed Baltimore City Council member Kiefer Mitchel Jr.
Blair Lee IV, an activist from wealthy Montgomery County,
Md., is concerned the state will give Baltimore too much money.
Lee said without "radical surgery," including breaking up the
Baltimore Teacher Union, the partnership would be meaningless.
"We've got to go in with shock troops and grab that system and
shake it by the neck," said Lee.
Grasmick was reluctant to discuss the plan in detail. But
she noted that "it isn't just changing things at the top. It is
identifying a viable and respected entity [the executive board]
that can change things from top to bottom." Without providing
details, Grasmick added that "nothing is off the table."
All parties involved in the negotiations are quick to note
that the plan drastically differs from takeovers in Chicago and
Jersey City. Schmoke called the plan a "bold innovation," and
emphasized the city's strong involvement, writes the POST.
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