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--- Wednesday --- August 14, 1996 --- Vol. 6 --- --- No. 62
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THE NATIONAL UPDATE ON AMERICA'S EDUCATION REFORM EFFORTS
A service of the National Education Goals Panel
__________ __________
EDUCATING AMERICA | SPOTLIGHT |
Fla. has become the 21st | |
state this year to receive its | TOO MANY COOKS |
third year of funding under the | |
Goals 2000: Educate America ct | ... are trying to stir |
(DoEd press release, 8/8). | the ed reform pot in |
Under Goals 2000, states that | Cleveland's kitchen. So |
have education improvement | many committees have formed |
plans in place automatically | to meet the challenge of |
receive third-, fourth- and | saving the schools that few |
fifth-year funding if | are confident the job will |
appropriations are available. | get done. |
The state's fist- and second- | |
year Goals 2000 grants totaled | Cleveland's reform saga |
$20,465,616. The latest award | began in March 1995 when a |
is for $14,713,635. | federal judge ordered the |
| state to takeover the |
LEADING PRINCIPALS | district, six strategic |
The Council for Basic | councils were formed to |
Education in collaboration with | overhaul the schools. |
the National Association of | Since then, numerous |
Secondary School Principals | committees were created by |
this summer launched the | the school board, the |
Principals Leadership Academy, | state, the courts and the |
a pilot program for the Dallas | Legislature and charged |
public schools (CBE press | with often overlapping |
release, 7/15). In one | tasks. The result: utter |
session, principals, deans of | confusion. "I've lost |
instruction and science and | track of all of these |
math teachers met to "explore" | committees, and I doubt |
content standards and "the | that any one committee ... |
importance of making changes in | knows what the other is |
the way teachers thing about | doing ...," sighed one |
teaching science and math, | teacher union leader.(#3) |
writes the release. |_____________________________|
============== QUOTE OF THE DAY ==============
"Science is 'aha, that's what it is.' It's guessing and
answering your own questions." -- Ryda Rose, a U of Pennsylvania
professor, who teaches graduate students how to teach science to
elementary school students. (#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 FIVE: MATH AND SCIENCE
MAD ABOUT SCIENCE: Ryda Rose's science lessons. (#1)
TESTING
SHELL SHOCK: Ark. officials dismayed with test results. (#2)
TAKING OVER
BALL OF CONFUSION: Cleveland school reform committees. (#3)
A FEDERAL REPORT
LESS PAPERWORK: New way for states to get federal funds. (#4)
MONEY MATTERS
TEXAS TAX ABATEMENTS: Business gain, school district pain.(#5)
THE PRIVATE EYE
VOUCHERS WORK: Milwaukee students show performance gain. (#6)
==== GOAL FIVE: MATH AND SCIENCE ====
*1 MAD ABOUT SCIENCE: RYDA ROSE'S SCIENCE LESSONS
Ryda Rose, a U of Pennsylvania professor, addressed her
class in the garb of the Cat in the Hat. Her goal: to spur
excitement over science lessons to a group of 6 to 9 year old
Philadelphia school children (Milewski, PHILA INQUIRER/PITTSBURGH
POST-GAZETTE, 8/4).
Rose's other students were graduate students from Penn's
School of Education who were taking a six-week intensive course.
Each of the graduate students is required to develop lesson plans
and teach a group of Philadelphia students, reports the paper.
Rose: "I train them to teach a concept 10 different ways so the
five-year-old learning can understand. You also have to let the
kids know early that science isn't reading textbooks and
memorizing. Science is 'aha, that's what it is.' It's guessing
and answering your own questions."
Some experiments the children participated in included one
on volume, mass and density. According to the paper, the
children were asked to tape a pencil onto the table and balance a
ruler across it. They then were told to place plastic cups of
water on each side. They discovered that the cup that tipped the
ruler had the most mass.
Rose said she often comes to class in costume to make
science more fun and tap into childhood cultures, writes the
paper. "You have to be theatrical while giving enrichment," she
said. "With the kids in the time of television, you have to
compete to show them science is life. It's a hands-on subject."
Rose continues to teach science after 30 years because she
sees herself as "a constant learner." Rose: "Every situation is
unique, and I become a better teacher when I hear what the kids
have to say."
==== TESTING ====
*2 SHELL SHOCK: ARKANSAS OFFICIALS DISMAYED WITH TEST RESULTS
Ark. students taking a pilot high school graduation exam
failed in shockingly high numbers (Howell, Arkansas DEMOCRAT-
GAZETTE, 7/13). According to the paper, 98% of students failed
the math portion and 89% did not pass the reading section. A
majority of the 11th-graders taking the test -- 67% -- passed the
writing test.
"We were somewhat shocked," said Steve Hall, a member of a
citizens committee formed to develop test standards. Hall added
that test scores may have been lower because students realized it
was a pilot exam and did not take it seriously. The state Board
of Education agreed to phase in the test score standards over
five years; a direct result of the dismal pass rate of students,
reports the paper.
The exams included both open-response and multiple-choice
questions. Committee members developed minimum standards and
applied those standards to the scores of about 20,000 high school
juniors who took the exam last spring, writes the paper.
In the wake of the low student pass rate, committee members
re-grouped and decided to phase in the test standards. For
example, the passing score will be lowered the first year by five
points on the math and reading sections. The passing scores will
be raised one point each year, beginning in 1997-1998, until the
2001-2002 school year, notes the paper. However, the higher
writing standard will be immediately implemented.
==== TAKING OVER ====
*3 BALL OF CONFUSION: CLEVELAND SCHOOL REFORM COMMITTEES
A "strange" problem has raised its head in Cleveland,
according to Superintendent Richard Boyd (Jones, Cleveland PLAIN
DEALER, 7/14). A plethora of committees charged with fixing the
schools is causing parents and others to question if anyone is
really in charge of reform. "I've lost track of all of these
committees, and I doubt that any one committee at this point
knows what the other is doing or what they are supposed to be
accomplishing," said Richard DeColibus, Cleveland Teachers Union
president.
According to Boyd, an "unusual set of circumstance" led to
the creation of numerous, sometimes overlapping, committees,
writes the paper. A federal judge in March 1995 ruled that the
state must take control of the Cleveland school system due to
management and fiscal irresponsibility. Six strategic panels
composed of business leaders, parents and educators were formed
by the new state leaders in charge of the schools. An 80-page
document that lists recommendations for change was their major
accomplishment.
However, four new panels sprouted up since the first six
were created. They were created by either the state, the courts,
school board members or the Legislature. The most powerful of
these new committees is the Strategy Council, which was formed by
Boyd and Cleveland Mayor Michael White. Some of the council's
responsibilities overlap with previously formed groups; and many
leaders who are members of the various groups complain that they
cannot attend all meetings.
New panels continue to emerge, including a Citizens Advisory
Commission established by U.S. District Judge George White and
one set up by the school board since its voting power was usurped
when the state took over the district, writes the paper.
"I know the process of forming these panels has been
confusing," conceded Boyd. "We are going to have to publicize
this process more so that people can understand." However, he
added that the creation of the sundry committees means "a lot of
people will be involved in the process ... We believe it's a
formula for success."
Former State Treasurer Aldridge also claims that the process
will lead to success. Aldridge: "I think the district has
turned the corner financially and a lot of the positive things
that have occurred in the past few months can be attributed to
these groups."
School Board member Gerald Henley disagrees. "It's too many
hands trying to stir the pot," he said. "You got too many
different groups and too many different people. It's all a
mess."
==== A FEDERAL REPORT ====
*4 LESS PAPERWORK: NEW WAY FOR STATES TO GET FEDERAL ED FUNDS
Forty-nine states agreed to a new option for receiving
federal K-12 education funds, notes a U.S. DoEd press release
(8/8). State officials will be able to submit one consolidated
plan for federal elementary and secondary education programs.
"We're cutting burdensome paperwork, setting an example for
states to look at education with a comprehensive approach, and
helping states to use federal support to advance local efforts to
improve teaching and learning," said Assistant Secretary of
Elementary and Secondary Education Gerald Tirozzi.
Tirozzi explained the consolidated plans are designed to
help states "consider how federal programs can work together and
in tandem with states and local education improvement
activities," writes the release. States may include any federal
program that can be integrated with state and local activities.
However, the release cautions that only state formula grant
programs authorized under the Improving America's Schools Act and
the Education for Homeless Children and Youth program and certain
programs under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied
Technology Act may be funded on the basis of the consolidated
plans.
S.C.'s state consolidation plan is cited as an example of
how the program works. The state plan calls for a "regulation
rollback" to "eliminate unnecessary state regulations that can
tie the hands of local communities that seek to reorganize
schools to raise student achievement," writes the release.
Utah is the only state that decided not to use the
consolidation option offered as part of the Improving America's
Schools Act, which reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act.
According to the release, the DoEd will issue nearly $8B in
FY 1996 elementary and secondary grant awards for the 1996-1997
school year in response to the new plans.
==== MONEY MATTERS ====
*5 TEXAS TAX ABATEMENTS: BUSINESS GAIN, SCHOOL DISTRICT PAIN
Texas lawmakers should consider alternatives to school
property tax abatements to attract business, according to a new
report issued by the Senate Economic Development Committee
(Brown, AP/HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 7/10). Wealthy and disadvantaged
school districts operating under the state's new school finance
plan suffer financially from the abatements granted to business,
notes the report.
"We are going to do something about this," said state
Senator David Sibley (R), chairman of the committee. "While we
want to be friendly to businesses, we need to come up with other
types of incentives to replace school property tax abatements,"
he said.
According to the paper, an amendment to the state's 1993
school finance law eliminates a provision that allowed school
districts to "exempt property that was subject to a tax abatement
from their lists of taxable properties and the state would make
up the local revenue loss with additional aid." The school
finance law mandates that districts count the abated property as
part of their taxable value "even though no taxes are being
collected," reports the paper. The CHRONICLE explains that
without the exemption "poor districts look richer than they are
and receive less in state aid." Wealthy districts face "sending
more money into the state for redistribution to poor districts,"
notes the paper.
Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock is expected to "warmly receive the
committee's recommendations," said a Bullock aide, Tony Proffitt.
"He doesn't consider [school tax abatements] fair and equitable,
especially when the state is pouring money into the schools. He
believes that if they continue, they need fixing," added
Proffitt.
*6 VOUCHERS WORK: MILWAUKEE STUDENTS SHOW PERFORMANCE GAIN
Milwaukee students who attend private schools as part of the
city's school choice program have posted higher test scores in
reading and math after four years than their public school
counterparts (AP/PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 8/13). The latest
findings run counter to an earlier report that found the voucher
students in private schools performed no better than public
school students.
In 1994, U of Wisconsin professor John Witte found that
although parental support of the voucher program was high, school
choice had not improved student performance. (See DRC 1-11-94)
More recently, researchers from Harvard U and the U of
Houston recently compared about 1,000 mostly minority students in
private schools with approximately 400 disadvantaged students who
applied for vouchers but were not enrolled in the program due to
lack of space, writes the paper. An examination of test scores
revealed that voucher students in their third year scored an
average of 3 percentage points higher on standardized reading
tests and 5 points higher on math tests than the public school
cohort. At the fourth-year mark, voucher students scored 11
percentage points higher on math and nearly 5 points higher in
reading than the public school students.
George Mitchell, a Milwaukee education consultant, commented
that the study is "significant given that for the last five years
all that we have heard is that the program has had no impact."
He added that "this is going to redefine the debate."
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