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--- Wednesday --- May 15, 1996 --- Vol. 6 --- No. 46 ---
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THE NATIONAL UPDATE ON AMERICA'S EDUCATION REFORM EFFORTS
A service of the National Education Goals Panel
__________ __________
BAD BUILDINGS | SPOTLIGHT |
A USA TODAY survey of parents | |
and students revealed | PARENTS KNOW BEST? |
"widespread dissatisfaction" | |
with school buildings, athletic | Parent involvement is the |
facilities and equipment | new panacea for what ails |
(Stone, 6/14). | schools and youth, accord- |
Some findings: one-third of | ing to some observers. |
parents and secondary students | Others fear that parents |
and one quarter of elementary | are beginning to overstep |
students found school too | their boundaries when they |
crowded; half of secondary | venture into the world of |
students and a third of | curriculum development and |
elementary students said their | school management. (#2) |
school restrooms are dirty; | |
more than half of secondary | A bill in Congress, the |
school parents and about 40% of | "Parental Rights and |
elementary school parents said | Responsibilities Act, |
computer training does not meet | states that "governments |
student needs; and a quarter of | should not interfere in the |
parents found science labs | decisions ... of parents |
inadequate. | without ... justification." |
Some educators blame | Supporters say the law |
taxpayers who are unwilling to | would end the treatment of |
foot the bill for the state of | parents as second-class |
disrepair among the nation's | citizens. Critics fear it |
school buildings. "People have | would give free license to |
to invest in schools in the | parents who want to design |
same ways they invest in their | a curriculum that suits |
own retirements," said Michael | their beliefs. Others are |
Casserly, of the Council of | searching for a middle |
Great City Schools. "Schools | ground for parents -- |
are like anything else; people | somewhere between bake sale |
get what they pay for," he | chef and school czar. |
said. |_____________________________|
============== QUOTE OF THE DAY ==============
"Nobody is stupid enough to confuse an affinity card program with
adequate funding for the school system." -- Prince George's (Md.)
County school board Chairwoman March Canavan. (#4)
_______________________________________________________________
| 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 |
Staff Writer: Elizabeth Gage |
|_______________________________________________________________|
============== TABLE OF CONTENTS =============
GOAL THREE: STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND CITIZENSHIP
NEED MORE TIME FOR ACADEMICS?: Bag gym . (#1)
GOAL EIGHT: PARENTAL PARTICIPATION
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT: A panacea or a pain?. (#2)
CHILDREN IN CRISIS
BEATING THE ODDS: Title 1 winners. (#3)
MONEY MATTERS
CHARGE IT: Using credit to pay for education. (#4)
WHO'S WRITING WHAT
PREVENTING LIFELONG DAMAGE: An essay by hamburg. (#5)
===== GOAL THREE: STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND CITIZENSHIP =====
*1 NEED MORE TIME FOR ACADEMICS?: BAG GYM
Mass. Commissioner of Education Robert Antonucci has
declared war on a 34-year-old requirement that public school
students take gym class (Zernike, BOSTON GLOBE, 5/13). According
to the paper, Mass. law requires only two courses for students --
13 years of gym and U.S. history in high school.
Antonucci wants to eliminate the gym requirement to allow
schools to have more time to prepare students to pass a new
graduation exam that goes into effect in 2000. But he faces an
uphill battle against a "strong lobby" of physical education
teachers, writes the paper.
Many physical education teachers point out that today's
youth are unfit and lead unhealthy lives. Gym class is a time to
encourage physical activity and good eating habits, according to
the gym teachers. However, others counter that gym class,
especially at the high school level, is merely a "holding pen and
a waste of time," reports the GLOBE.
The state Board of Education recently approved a plan
effective this fall that mandates 990 hours a year of core
academic time for secondary students, and 900 for elementary
school students. Local school committees will decide which
courses to consider "core," writes the paper. Physical education
teachers fear that if the gym requirement is eliminated, local
officials will cut gym because it often is viewed as a frill.
"Even when you offer a really strong physical education program,
people are going to question whether you need it," said Brookline
Superintendent James Walsh. "Especially in a highly academic
school where kids are trying to squeeze in the academic
requirements that will get them into college," he added.
Marblehead Superintendent Philip Devaux said doing away with
a gym requirement gives local districts more options to fulfill
the new academic requirements. "There's no question we should be
including physical education, but we shouldn't have to worry
about counting the minutes," he noted. Current law mandates 45
minutes of gym a week for kindergartners, one and one-half hours
a week for the rest of the grades, reports the paper.
Antonucci petitioned the Board of Education last week to
eliminate the gym requirement. The board will vote on repeal of
the regulation after a 60-day comment period, reports the paper.
==== GOAL EIGHT: PARENTAL PARTICIPATION ====
*2 PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT: A PANACEA OR A PAIN?
The notion that parental involvement in a child's education
is critical is widely accepted. However, differences arise over
the type of involvement expected of parents. Some demand
parental control over what their children learn or how the school
is managed. Critics of this approach complain that too much
parental involvement can become parent interference (Barlow, THE
DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 5/7).
A bill in Congress, the Parental Rights and Responsibilities
Act, is known to some as the "Parents Know Best" bill, according
to the paper. The legislation states that "governments should
not interfere in the decisions and actions of parents without
compelling justification." Supporters of the bill say it would
bolster the arguments of parents who "object to government
regulations in schools and social services," writes the paper.
But detractors charge that the bill would force educators to
attempt to please every parent all the time.
Michael Simpson, legal counsel for the National Education
Association, said the bill would cause schools to provide a
"designer curriculum" for each child. Officials from the
National Parent-Teacher Association also have testified against
the bill. "This will cause a litigious morass and it will take
money from school funding," said Arnold Fege, director of
government relations for the National PTA.
Dr. Ora Lee Watson, executive for magnet curriculum
development in the Dallas school district, said she agrees with
increased parental involvement, but within certain parameters.
"We have not established any parameters for involvement," she
said. According to Watson, "giving parents responsibility for
schoolwide decisions without specifying who is accountable can be
dangerous," writes the paper. Few think they can manage IBM, but
"Everyone thinks they can teach or run a public school," she
said.
Dr. Joyce Epstein, a researcher at Johns Hopkins U's Center
on Families, Communities, Schools and Children's Learning, favors
school-community partnerships that "channel involvement into
specific goals for the school," reports the paper. She claims
schools have been burdened by parents with single-issue agendas
who influence key decisions.
However, Chris Clicka, legal counsel with the Home School
Legal Defense Association, said parents alone should determine
what influences their child is exposed to. "Parents have been
second-class citizens," he said. Clicka helped draft the parent
responsibility legislation now before Congress, reports the
paper.
===== CHILDREN IN CRISIS =====
*3 BEATING THE ODDS: TITLE 1 WINNERS
U.S. Ed Sec Richard Riley recently identified 56 elementary
and secondary schools in disadvantaged communities that are
showing "marked success" in improving student achievement using
Title 1 funds (U.S. DoEd press release, 5/30). "These schools
exemplify the kind of partnership it takes to help every child
get on the right track to solid learning," said Riley. "They
reflect a commitment to helping disadvantaged students build a
strong foundation to help them meet challenging academic
standards."
According to the release, many of the Title 1 National
Recognition Programs winners instituted schoolwide programs to
"ensure that all children in the school have access to effective
instruction and challenging academic content." Title 1 funds
were used to "upgrade the school's entire instructional program
and raise achievement of all students," explains the release.
The honored schools all met the award criteria by offering:
opportunities for all children to meet proficient and advanced
levels of performance; partnership among schools, parents and
communities; continuous professional development of teachers'
skills and knowledge; curriculum and instruction to enable
student to meet high academic standards; and consistent
improvement in student achievement, reports the release.
State education departments were asked to submit schools for
the honor. For the first time since the award was granted 12
years ago, states ran the competition; oversaw a state panel that
evaluated the applications; and conducted site visits to verify
program quality. Test scores, grade promotions and courses
completed, student self-assessments, teacher and parent ratings,
as well as discipline and attendance, were reviewed to measure
gains, writes the release.
A sourcebook describing winning projects will be available
later this year.
===== MONEY MATTERS =====
*4 CHARGE IT: USING CREDIT TO PAY FOR EDUCATION
Prince George's (Md.) County residents soon will be able to
"turn some of their credit card purchases into dollars for the
county's schools," writes the WASH POST (Frazier, 5/10). The
county's Board of Education last week approved a plan that allows
school officials to create a private education foundation. The
foundation would enter into a contract with a bank to create a
special credit card for Prince George's shoppers. A small
percentage of the customer's monthly charges would be returned to
the schools, explains the paper.
While the program has been lauded as a good opportunity to
raise extra dollars, school board members are not deluding
themselves that the program will solve their financial woes.
"Nobody is stupid enough to confuse an affinity card program with
adequate funding for the school system," said board Chairwoman
March Canavan.
Fairfax County (Va.) schools raise $100,000 a year from a
similar program, according to school officials. Chevy Chase Bank
manages its bank affinity card program in Fairfax, Loudoun and
Prince William counties in Va., "returning about 1 percent of the
monthly charges made on the special Visas and Mastercards to the
schools," reports the paper.
According to the paper, the cost to a school system is
minimal because the bank handles the marketing of the program.
===== WHO'S WRITING WHAT =====
*5 PREVENTING LIFELONG DAMAGE: AN ESSAY BY HAMBURG
"A good start marks the beginning of hope," writes David
Hamburg, president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, in
his foundation's 1995 annual report essay. However, due to
changes in family structure and function, far too many American
children are placed in jeopardy, according to Hamburg. And the
entire society may pay the price for the poor treatment of
children, he writes.
"It is a disturbing fact that about one quarter of our youth
are at high risk for rotten futures from educational failure,
serious injury, disease, and economic incompetence," writes
Hamburg. "Some of the risks, like the crashes of drunken
driving, are rapidly translated into damage. Other risks are
like a time bomb set in youth that explodes later, as in cancer
and heart disease."
In his essay, "A Developmental Strategy to Prevent Lifelong
Damage," Hamburg urges the family and other institutions that
deal with children to forge partnerships to nurture the health
and well-being of children. "Evidence is accumulating that a
range of preventive interventions involving these frontline
institutions can set a young person onto the path toward healthy,
constructive adulthood," he notes.
Hamburg's developmental strategy for children and youth
includes: early and comprehensive prenatal care; well-baby
medical care; home visits by human service professionals; parent
education to help build close parent-chid relationships; parent
support networks; and enhanced elementary and middle grades
education to foster critical habits of mind, coping skills, a
life sciences curriculum and good health practices.
Hamburg also calls on families, schools and community
organizations to help children become media literate and to use
the media more effectively. Appropriate organizations could work
with the media to develop "health-promoting programming and media
campaigns for youth," he writes.
Communities are encouraged to provide "attractive, safe,
growth-promoting settings for young adolescents during the out-
of-school hours." While more than 17,000 national and local
youth organizations operate in the U.S., few adequately serve the
needs of this age group, he contends.
Hamburg warns: "Government, business, universities, and
scientific and professional organizations will in the end have to
offer substantial, sustained help to the frontline institutions,
or the casualties will keep increasing and the nation will suffer
altogether."
For more information on Hamburg's essay, "A Developmental
Strategy to Prevent Lifelong Damage," contact the Carnegie
Corporation of New York; 437 Madison Avenue; New York, N.Y.
10022; 212/371-3200.
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