Click here to return to OFCN's Main Index Page.
--- Wednesday --- August 21, 1996 --- Vol. 6 --- No. 63 ---
D #### ##### #### ### #### #### ##### ### #### ####
A ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ##
I #### #### #### ## ## #### ## ## ##### #### ## ##
L ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ##
Y ## ## ##### ## ### ## ## ## ##### ## ## ## ## ####
THE NATIONAL UPDATE ON AMERICA'S EDUCATION REFORM EFFORTS
A service of the National Education Goals Panel
__________ __________
HAIL TO THE CHIEF | SPOTLIGHT |
The waiting is over in | |
Dallas. The newly appointed | MISSED OPPORTUNITIES |
acting Superintendent of | |
Schools is Yvonne Gonzalez, who | Parents and teachers are |
was twice named "Outstanding | either saints or sinners in |
Administrator of the Year" by | the educational and social |
the district's Association of | development of very young |
Hispanic School Administrators | children, according to most |
(Binette, HOUSTON CHRONICLE, | literature. However, a |
8/14). Gonzalez was Dallas' | Commonwealth Fund report |
deputy superintendent since | addresses the influence of |
April after working as | physicians in the growth of |
superintendent of schools in | children during the first |
Santa Fe, N.M. She is not sure | three years of life. (#1) |
whether she will apply for the | |
permanent position. | The survey of parents |
| reveals that most are open |
HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS | to guidance from their |
Teaching Detroit students how | child's health care pro- |
to succeed in business is the | fessional -- not simply |
goal of a new partnership | medical advice, but advice |
between the Detroit public | relating to emotional and |
schools and the Detroit College | cognitive development. For |
of Business. The college will | example, parents who |
establish a campus at the | discuss with a physician |
Randolph Vocational and | the importance of reading |
Technical Center for H.S. grads | are more likely to read to |
and other adult learners | their child daily. |
(DETROIT FREE PRESS, 8/7). The | |
program will provide two-, | But does managed care and |
four-and advanced degrees. | other health care cutbacks |
Students will learn a trade, | bode well for an expanded |
enroll in business classes and | medical role? |
become entrepreneurs. |_____________________________|
============== QUOTE OF THE DAY ==============
"This is exactly the kind of federal support for schools that
states expect." -- Jennifer Davis, special assistant to Ed Sec
Richard Riley, on Goals 2000. (#9)
_______________________________________________________________
| 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 ONE: SCHOOL READINESS
PARENTHOOD: Missed opportunities. (#1)
GOAL TWO: SCHOOL COMPLETION
GOOD NEWS: High school completion rates on the rise. (#2)
GOAL THREE: STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND CITIZENSHIP
PHONICS VS. WHOLE LANGUAGE: How about doing both?. (#3)
IT TAKES TWO: The marriage of phonics & whole language. (#4)
THE PRIVATE EYE
"SCHOOL DAZE:" Another reason to privatize public schools. (#5)
TAKING STOCK
REPUBLICANS: What's on their minds. (#6)
FROM COURTHOUSE TO SCHOOLHOUSE
JUDGE RULES: Missouri must continue to fund busing. (#7)
GENDER GAP
CLOSING THE DIVIDE: Girls ACT scores inch closer to boys. (#8)
ON THE HILL
FOILED AGAIN?: Well, maybe not. (#9)
===== GOAL ONE: SCHOOL READINESS =====
*1 PARENTHOOD: MISSED OPPORTUNITIES
The American health care system is missing opportunities to
help parents get their children off to a good start, according to
a recent survey conducted by The Commonwealth Fund. The survey
of more than 2,000 mothers and fathers with children under the
age of three reveals that while parents look to doctors for
advice on providing for their youngsters, few doctors meet the
challenge to "encourage healthy practices, detect and treat
maternal depression, and provide information and services to help
parents navigate the stages of development in early childhood,"
writes the report.
Key findings from the survey: early hospital discharge
leaves parents vulnerable to becoming discouraged in taking care
of their baby; health professionals miss opportunities to
encourage breast-feeding; parents child rearing practices
"reflect strains on families;" and government programs, including
Medicaid, lend a "vital" helping hand.
Many parents also are missing opportunities to stimulate
their child's brain development, notes the report. For example,
only 39% of parents read or look at a picture book with their
child at least once a day. Sixteen percent of parents do not
read or look at a picture book with their child. The study also
found that working outside the home does not "interfere" with
parents' reading to their child. From the report: "Reading
patterns are similar by work status."
The report stresses that health professionals can make a
difference. Parents who discuss with health professionals the
importance of reading are more likely to read on a daily basis
(47%) than do parents who do not discuss learning (37%).
However, parents rate physicians low on actually helping families
understand their child's growth and development, compared to the
doctors' ability to discuss health related issues.
The survey over-sampled black and Hispanic parents to better
analyze their responses, notes the report.
For more information, contact The Commonwealth Fund; One
East 75th Street; New York, N.Y. 10021-2692; 212/535-0400; e-
mail: cmwf@cmwf.org; http://www.cmwf.org
===== GOAL TWO: SCHOOL COMPLETION =====
*2 GOOD NEWS: HIGH SCHOOL COMPLETION RATES ON THE RISE
A new report issued by the National School Boards
Association reveals that high school completion rates are one of
the "untold successes of our public education system." "School
Completion Rates" notes that claims of higher drop out rates are
myth; the truth is that "our schools are graduating more students
than ever before, and at a time when demographic shifts indicate
that our schools are serving an increasingly diverse population."
According to the report, nearly 86% of the population of 25-
to 29-year-olds had completed at least 4 years of high schools.
Dropout rates have declined "steadily" over the past several
decades, particularly for black students, which have declined
from nearly 29% in 1967 to 13% in 1991. The report also found
that college completion rates are much higher in the U.S. than in
other industrialized nations.
Conventional wisdom holds that more disadvantaged students
drop out of school, according to the report. Hispanic drop out
rates note the only rise, from 29% in 1975 to 35% in 1991. The
report attributes the rise primarily to increased in poverty and
immigration.
The report includes sections on why students drop out of
school and the connection between public education and
employability. The report also contains a section on how school
board members can use the information. For example, members are
urged to "develop outreach strategies that include social service
agencies and other community groups to help serve those students
with needs that present barriers to school success and learning
and increase the risk of dropping out."
For more information contact the National School Boards
Association; 1680 Duke Street; Alexandria, Va. 22314-3493;
703/838-6722.
===== GOAL THREE: STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND CITIZENSHIP =====
*3 PHONICS VS. WHOLE LANGUAGE: HOW ABOUT DOING BOTH?
U of Oregon researchers have announced an end to the war
over phonics vs. whole language reading instruction (AP/CHICAGO
TRIBUNE, 7/10). They suggest combining the two approaches to
achieve the best results for all learners.
"For years, there have been many questions about how to
approach reading instruction," said Edward Kameenui, a U of
Oregon education professor who directed the study. "Now, the
evidence is undeniable that a strategic approach -- one that
begins at an early age, teaches kids that language is made up of
sounds, syllables and words, and is combined with literature --
is essential."
According to the paper, researchers from the National Center
to Improve the Tools of Educators, based at the U of Oregon,
examined more than a decade's worth of reading research to
produce a list of "most effective strategies" for reading
instruction. They announced a campaign, "Learning to Read,
Reading to Learn," that emphasizes several key principles. For
example, young children should learn the alphabet, letter sounds
and the relationship between letters and words, and understand
that language is made of words and syllables. Children also
should be able to recognize spelling patterns, be able to
identify words quickly, develop an "appreciation" of the written
language and be able to read reflectively.
"Too often we allow children to go through their first three
years of schooling and then we refer them to special education in
the fourth- or fifth-grade," said Tom Hehir, who directs the
special education programs office at the U.S. DoEd. Several of
the researchers also complained that the vociferous debate over
phonics and whole language has obstructed their ability to "tell
teachers and parents about new ways to pinpoint a specific
roadblock a child might face and the best strategy for overcoming
that problem at an early age," explains the paper.
The DoEd is funding the "Learning to Read, Reading to Learn"
program.
*4 IT TAKES TWO: THE MARRIAGE OF PHONICS & WHOLE LANGUAGE
The fury over how to teach reading has reached a boiling
point in Minn. since 37% of eighth-grade students failed the
first basic-skills reading test last spring (Smith, Minn. STAR
TRIBUNE, 7/22). "If there are reading problems at eighth grade,
it isn't because the eighth-grade kids are just suddenly behind
out of the blue," said Lisa Bartels-Rabb, a Minneapolis parent.
"It started back in first grade."
According to the paper, most educators claim that reading
instruction that includes both phonics and whole language
provides the best results. "The phonics enables the students to
read more quickly," explained Judy Birmingham, associate
superintendent for instruction at Anoka-Hennepin schools. "Once
they can identify the sounds and recognize some of the phonetic
patterns, they can read a piece of literature at their level."
The paper reports that Calif. recently returned to using
phonics when reading test scores "plummeted" after a whole-
language method was employed statewide. Ala. and several other
states currently mandate phonics instruction in schools, and
Maine, which boasts some of the nation's highest reading scores,
uses a "balanced, literature-based approach that teaches children
about words and sounds as they read real literature and
nonfiction appropriate for their age and ability," writes the
paper.
Parent Bartels-Rabbs, who moved her son from one school
where he did not learn to read, said that "whole language is fine
if it's teaching a love of literature, but kids who can't read
will never enjoy literature." Her seven-year-old son now attends
the Seward Montessori School, which teaches phonics and stresses
reading literature. Students take weekly quizzes and spelling
tests and have half-hour reading assignments daily, reports the
paper.
The STAR TRIBUNE notes several supplemental reading
programs: Reading Recovery, in which teachers provide intensive
one-on-one tutoring; the Early Intervention in Reading program,
developed by Barbara Taylor, a U of Minnesota education
professor; and the Learning Disability Association's Learning
Center, which the public school district pays for about 30
students to participate in the summer program.
===== THE PRIVATE EYE =====
*5 "SCHOOL DAZE:" ANOTHER REASON TO PRIVATIZE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Public schools cost much more than private schools, yet they
deliver far less for the dollar, according to a new study
released by the Center for the Study of American Business at
Washington U in St. Louis. Economist and CSAB visiting professor
Richard Vedder writes in "School Daze: Productivity Decline and
Lackluster Performance in U.S. Education," that the cost of
public education has soared in recent years, but there has been
little or no improvement in student outcome.
Vedder: "It takes more real dollars to teach Johnny to
read. The modern American public-education experience of falling
productivity and mediocre student outcomes makes it doubtful that
meaningful improvements in learning at affordable costs are
attainable. By contrast, private schools, faced with less
regulation and the efficiency-inducing constraints imposed by
competition, tend to do more with less."
Privatizing public education is Vedder's solution to failing
public schools. He notes the following: on average it costs 50%
more to educate a student in pubic schools than in private
schools, yet private school student performance is higher; it
takes more than three times as many non-teaching staff to educate
students in public schools than it did in 1950; private schools
are more responsive to parental needs because they are forced to
compete for students; and private education enrollments are
growing faster than public schools in recent years, despite
massive subsidies of public schools.
Vedder also contends that the piecemeal approach to
education reform has not succeeded because of the lack of
incentives to respond to consumer needs.
Private solutions to public education are gaining headway in
American education, but are stymied by "powerful forces,"
particularly public-school teacher unions, notes Vedder.
For more information contact the Center for the Study of
American Business; Washington U, St. Louis; Campus Box 1208; One
Brookings Drive; St. Louis, Mo. 63130-4899; 314/935-5676.
===== TAKING STOCK =====
*6 REPUBLICANS: WHAT'S ON THEIR MINDS
Almost 80% of 1,000 registered Republican voters said
federal funding for public schools should be increased or
maintained, according to a national survey commissioned by the
National Education Association. The survey was conducted by GOP
pollsters Linda DiVall and Gary Ferguson of American Viewpoint,
Inc. Fifty-three percent of those surveyed described themselves
as "conservative" when asked to rate their views on political
issues, notes an NEA press release (8/13).
"The survey is a first for the National Education
Association," said NEA President-elect Bob Chase. "Never before
have we conducted a national survey focusing on the education
views of rank-and-file members of a political party."
According to the poll, younger Republicans are the driving
force behind calls for an increase or maintenance of federal
education spending -- 55% of men and 59% of women age 18-34
favored federal education spending at the same or higher levels.
Other findings: 92% favored setting higher goals and
standards; 82% favor federal funding for vocational programs; 80%
favored federal funding for Title I basic skills programs; 69%
favored federal funding for school meal programs; and 48% favored
connecting all classrooms to the Internet.
The NEA poll also found that 61% of respondents said tax
dollars should be used to improve public schools, while 30% favor
private school assistance. And 54% of respondents are opposed to
the elimination of the U.S. DoEd
"Clearly there is strong support for federal education
funding even in light of the need to reduce the deficit as
Republicans support goals such as maintaining or increasing
federal funding for safe schools and school meal programs," said
DiVall.
NEA officials intend to use the poll as a basis for building
a consensus with Republican voters in this election year and to
develop partnerships with Republican candidates who have
demonstrated support for children and education, writes the
release.
===== FROM COURTHOUSE TO SCHOOLHOUSE =====
*7 JUDGE RULES: MISSOURI MUST CONTINUE TO FUND BUSING
U.S. District Judge George Gunn Jr. rejected Mo. Attorney
General Jay Nixon's plea to halt state funding of any new busing
requirements for the district this school year (Bryant, St. Louis
POST-DISPATCH, 8/15). "The equities weigh in favor of denying
the stay," said Gunn. Nixon plans to appeal to the 8th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals.
Gunn wrote that the district must continue with the status
quo while settlement negotiations for the 24-year-old
desegregation case are underway, reports the paper. Nixon had
requested an end to state funding for busing students new to the
school transfer program, "as well as any transfer students
entering a new school level," such as an elementary school child
who is entering a middle school, writes the paper.
According to Nixon, the state pays $439,000 a day to help
fund desegregation efforts.
==== GENDER GAP ====
*8 CLOSING THE DIVIDE: GIRLS A.C.T. SCORES INCH CLOSER TO BOYS
For the fourth time in the last six years, the scores of
female students taking the ACT college placement test have risen,
closing a gender gap (multi cites). Female students in 1996
scored an average of 20.8 on the test, compared to 21 for males.
The BOSTON HERALD writes that conventional wisdom among
social scientists is that gender gaps existed due to bias among
teachers and female students' low self-esteem (8/15). But ACT
officials claim that the reason for the rise in female student
test scores is due to more girls taking more academically
challenging, core curriculum classes than before.
U.S. Ed Sec Richard Riley commented that the "unmistakable
message of these ACT scores: students who accept the challenge
of taking the core academic courses and hold themselves to higher
standards of learning do better and are better prepared for
entering and succeeding in college."
Mo. Education Commissioner Robert Bartman also acknowledged
that test scores improved in his state due to an increased number
of students taking four years of English and three or more years
of social sciences, natural sciences and math.
Christopher Cross, president of the Council of Basic
Education, raised concern over the discrepancy between the
"increasing achievement of students intending to attend college
and the large number of students who fail to graduate from high
school." Cross holds that "standards will provide a measure of
accountability so that schools will no longer be able to offer an
inferior product to some students while offering an enriched
program to others."
The ACT report also revealed that boys' scores have remained
stable over the years. "For a long time the boys have had that
level of preparation there," said Kelly Hayden, director of
communications for the ACT. "You can't get that many more boys
to take science and math because those who need to are doing it.
Among girls, that's not true. It's also not true among
minorities," he added.
==== ON THE HILL ====
*9 FOILED AGAIN?: WELL, MAYBE NOT
Once again House Republicans won a vote to eliminate funding
for the federal Goals 2000 program (Sanchez, WASH POST, 8/15).
The House did the same thing last year, only to see the Senate
breathe new life into the legislation.
"A loss of money is not going directly to educate children,
it's planning money, for education bureaucracies," complained
Rep. John Edward Porter (R-Ill.), who does not support Goals 2000
efforts. "I'm not saying it's a terrible idea. It's just a
question of priorities, and this should be a low one right now
because states are already doing many of these things," he added.
The paper reports that other Republicans charge Goals 2000
illustrates federal intrusion in state and local matters.
DoEd officials deny the allegations. Forty-eight states
participate in the program, including some that initially were
opposed to accepting federal funds, note the DoEd officials. And
the National Governors' Association recently endorsed Goals 2000
at their summer meeting.
The POST notes that no state plan has been rejected or
significantly altered by the DoEd. Only two states -- Va. and
Ala. -- have rejected Goals 2000 funds. Three other states --
Mont., N.H., and Okla. -- decided not to seek federal assistance,
but have permitted local school districts to apply for the funds,
writes the paper.
"Every state has a different strategy and focus on how to
improve their schools with this money, and they're doing it,"
said Jennifer Davis, special assistant to Ed Sec Richard Riley.
"Trust in Goals 2000 has been built over time." Davis is
optimistic that the Senate, which bailed out the program last
year, will meet the challenge again this year.
However, some House Republican charge that federal funds
would be better spent on more targeted programs such as computer
technology in the classroom. "I think we could be helping
schools in a different, and better, way," said Porter. But the
DoEd counters that Goals 2000 is the vehicle to help states in a
"comprehensive approach to school reform," writes the POST.
Davis: "This is exactly the kind of federal support for
schools that states expect."
Click here to return to OFCN's
Academy Program
Click here to return to OFCN's Main Index Page.
John Kurilecjmk@ofcn.org