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--- Friday --- March 7, 1997 --- Vol. 7 --- No. 22 ---
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THE NATIONAL UPDATE ON AMERICA'S EDUCATION REFORM EFFORTS
A service of the National Education Goals Panel
__________ __________
A RURAL RESOURCE | SPOTLIGHT |
The "1996 Rural Education | |
Directory: Organizations and | HARD WORK AND |
Resources" gives rural | PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT |
educators information on the | |
"wide array of services" | ... that's what Michael |
provided by numerous agencies, | Farris, president of the |
associations, centers | Home School Legal Defense |
clearinghouses, federal | Association, says are all |
programs and others. | that's needed for educa- |
For example, the directory | tional success. A review |
includes groups: offering adult | of home-schooled children |
and family education classes, | found that these children |
teacher workshops and training | out-perform their public |
programs and technical | school counterparts. |
assistance, including courses | |
via satellite; and advocating | According to the review, |
on behalf of rural schools by | even children home-schooled |
"establishing and nurturing | by parents lacking a teach- |
cooperative relationships with | ing credential performed |
local, state and federal | well on tests. (#6) |
governmental bodies," writes | |
WestEd. | The Indiana Education |
Each entry includes address, | Policy Center found that |
phone, fax, e-mail and contact | hard work learning tough |
name, plus a brief abstract of | material is another way to |
programs and publications. | help students achieve |
The directory is available | higher on tests, |
for $12 prepaid from ERIC | particularly the SAT. The |
Clearinghouse on Rural | Center found a strong |
Education and Small Schools; | connection between the |
Appalachia Educational | state's academic honors |
Laboratory; P.O. Box 1348; | diploma track and high SAT |
Charleston, W.V. 25325; | scores. (#1) |
304/347-0400. |_____________________________|
============== QUOTE OF THE DAY ==============
It's really as simple as: You've got the best schools, you win."
Mich. Gov John Engler (R). (#3)
_______________________________________________________________
| 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 THREE: STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND CITIZENSHIP
COURSE TAKING AND SAT SCORES: One serves the other. (#1)
STATESIDE
BETTING ON EDUCATION: A Texas lottery bill. (#2)
FIRST IN LINE: Engler offers Mich. as testing ground. (#3)
CITY HALL
CLOSED FOR BUSINESS: D.C. may close up to 40 schools. (#4)
FROM COURTHOUSE TO SCHOOLHOUSE
HOME RULE: Court must decide where child lives. (#5)
HOME SWEET HOME
STATE OF HOME SCHOOL EDUCATION: Report sings high praises. (#6)
===== GOAL THREE: STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND CITIZENSHIP =====
*1 COURSE TAKING AND SAT SCORES: ONE SERVES THE OTHER
Ind. high school students who aim to achieve an academic
honors diploma are better positioned to post a higher score on
the SAT, regardless of family income or prior academic
preparation, according to a recent study by the Indiana Education
Policy Center at Indiana U (POLICY NEWS & NOTES, Winter 1996-
1997).
The Center published their work in a paper called "Working
Smarter: A Study of SAT Scores and Course Taking in Indiana."
The Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents
commissioned the Center to exam the relationship between SAT
scores and course taking.
According to Barry Bull, one of the researchers, the study
"demonstrates that there is at least one practical way to help
... students [earn higher SAT scores] -- by making it possible
for more of them to seek an academic honors diploma."
Bull explains that the State Board of Education in 1980
created the academic honors diploma, which is a highly rigorous
academic track. Ind. schools began to offer the diploma
beginning in 1988. Bull's data shows that 8% of the state's high
school students earned the academic honors diploma in 1990,
rising to 14% last year.
He also notes that Ind. students who take the SAT tend to
"complete less academic course work than their peers across the
country." Yet, the College Board, and Ind.'s own data, finds
that students who complete more academic courses score higher on
the SAT. In Ind., students taking more rigorous course work
score more than 240 points higher on the SAT than their
counterparts who earn a regular diploma, said Bull.
However, Bull realized that other variables, including
family income and prior academic preparation, could diminish, if
not eradicate, the role of the honors track in producing higher
SAT scores. To exam this possibility, Bull and his colleagues
divided the state's high schools into two groups -- those above
the state average of honors diploma graduates and those at or
below the average. Bull found that SAT scores in the first group
of schools were 32 points higher than those in the second group.
Bull: "Then we adjusted the scores for the academic
preparation of entering students and the economic status of their
parents." He discovered that the SAT gap between the two groups
of schools was narrower when scores were adjusted, "but it did
not disappear." The researchers concluded that the remainder of
the gap could be explained by the higher number of students
enrolled in academic courses.
From Bull's statement: "Thus, we conclude that pursuing an
academic honors diploma is one way for students to improve their
SAT scores, no matter what their prior level of achievement or
their families' circumstances may be."
The study also makes four recommendations to increase the
number of Ind. students who seek the academic honors diploma:
middle and elementary school curriculum should prepare all
students to eventually pursue an academic honors diploma; high
schools must be prepared to handle a growing number of students
enrolled in the honors program, including an increase in the
number of teachers prepared to teach to a higher level; middle
and high schools should better inform parents about the
requirements for the honors diploma and for college admission;
and the state should encourage schools to increase the number of
honors students, including "an increase in the percentage of
honors diploma recipients as one of the criteria for the School
Incentives Award program," writes Bull.
The Indiana Education Policy Center is located at Smith
Center for Research in Education; Suite 170; Indiana U;
Bloomington, Ind. 47408-2698; 812/855-1240.
===== STATESIDE =====
*2 BETTING ON EDUCATION: A TEXAS LOTTERY BILL
The Texas Senate late last month passed legislation that
would dedicate lottery funds to education, but the bill included
a " long list of 'ifs'" (Gonzalez, HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 2/27).
Texas' current state lottery law calls for depositing revenues
and unspent operating funds into the state's general fund, "which
distributes half of the monies to schools and the remaining to
other government operations.
Nixon's bill would target 95% of savings resulting from
competitive bidding contracts to the School Foundation Fund,
which aids public schools, and the remaining 5% dedicated to the
Texas Workforce Commission's literacy programs, reports the
paper.
However, Sen. Jane Nelson (R) also has filed a lottery-
education bill that would send lottery proceeds directly to
benefit the schools. While Nixon supports Nelson's efforts, he
fears her bill has little chance for passage. "Early on, I had
looked at bills that were going to dedicate the whole lottery,
but then I switched over to this cost-savings method because it
does start to make good on the promise legislators made four or
five years ago when we passed the lottery," explained Nixon. "At
the same time, it's hopeful that it will encourage the lottery
commission to be a little bit mindful that if we can save some
costs, maybe that can be passed on to education," he added.
Some legislative leaders cautioned that Nixon's bill could
deceive the public into thinking that their call for having
lottery funds directly benefit schools was being heeded by state
lawmakers. "I don't want to play a shell game with the people of
Texas," said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Bill Ratliff (R).
"I fear that in this case, as well as the other legislation that
is being discussed, that somehow this is going to be interpreted
by the people to mean there's going to be more money going to
education. And that is simply not true unless this body
appropriates more money to education."
*3 FIRST IN LINE: ENGLER OFFERS MICH. AS TESTING GROUND
Mich. Gov John Engler (R), in an interview with the DETROIT
FREE PRESS, said he wants his state to become a testing ground
for a national student achievement exam (Kresnak, 3/4). "I
believe deeply that our success will be on benchmarking how we're
doing against the rest fo the world. It's really as simple as:
You've got the best schools, you win," he said.
The FREE PRESS reports that Engler's remarks came just a few
days before President Clinton addresses the Mich. Legislature,
and Clinton has called for voluntary, national exams in reading
and math.
Engler added that Clinton probably is intrigued by the
governor's interest in having Mich. test a new National
Assessment of Educational Progress exam. NAEP exams currently
are given to students in several MIch. school districts, and
Engler's goal is to have all students statewide participate in
the exam, writes the paper. "What I've been arguing is that
there has to be a way ... to take the NAEP test and imbed that in
our state test," said Engler. "Then I could compare and every
parent could compare, their students' performance to the rest of
the country. ... We'd like to be the pilot in the 1998-1999
school year," he added.
In the interview, Engler said he expects childhood
immunization rates to surpass 90% in a few years and he sung the
praises of charter schools. Engler said charter schools already
have had a positive impact on public education in the stat
because "more competition for the privilege of teaching children
inevitably will lead to better education," reports the paper. "I
think you're going to see alternative public schools being
developed; I think some may be developed by the Detroit public
school system itself, I hope," he said.
Engler also repeated his call for a state takeover of
schools that "consistently fail to educate children," according
to the FREE PRESS. Engler: "It's local control with public
accountability to the local community and to the state."
==== CITY HALL ====
*4 CLOSED FOR BUSINESS: D.C. MAY CLOSE UP TO 40 SCHOOLS
The WASH TIMES received a draft report stating that schools
chief Julius Becton Jr. has the "sole discretion" to recommend to
the school system's board of trustees a list of schools to be
closed down due to disrepair (Spellman, 3/6). However, Bruce
MacLaury, chairman of the board of trustees, denies that the
board already has decided on the number of schools that should be
closed.
School Board President Don Reeves said the trustees, who
were put in place by the city's Control Board to overhaul the
school system and usurp much of the school board's power, said
that the trustees have discussed closing about 40 of the city's
157 schools as soon as possible. "There's no effort to get the
community involved," complained Reeves, one of the nine trustees
and the only school board representative on the panel. "It's
still uncertain right now if there will be public input on the
closings."
According to the paper, Gen Charles Williams, the school
system's chief operating officer, has visited many schools,
"evaluating the buildings' conditions, including which ones
should be repaired or closed." The school district is operating
under a mandate issued by the control board to close at least six
schools by the next school year, reports the paper.
An 18 March meeting is scheduled for parents to have their
say in the school-closing process. But Delabian Rice-Thurston,
head of Parents United, fears that decisions already will be made
prior to the meeting. She also complained of the criteria for
closing a school. "We've seen the criteria, They're not
helpful," she said. "There's nothing in there that says, if it
ain't broke, don't fix it, or if it's working academically, we're
going to leave it alone."
The paper reports on several factors Becton can consider
before deciding to close a school, including: is the school
underutilized; what is the cost of repairing the building; it's
proximity to other schools; accessibility to public
transportation; and education programs.
===== FROM COURTHOUSE TO SCHOOLHOUSE =====
*5 HOME RULE: COURT MUST DECIDE WHERE CHILD LIVES
Parents of a second-grade boy are appealing a state ruling
that allowed Woodbridge school officials to remove the child from
school because the family, who own property in Woodbridge and
Ansonia, pay more taxes in Ansonia, and thus should send their
child to Ansonia schools (Williams, Hartford COURANT, 2/27). The
boy has attended the Beecher Road School for three years, but was
barred from school last month because of the state Board of
Education's January ruling.
The parents, Allyson and Thomas Noble, are asking the state
Superior Court for a stay of the order that is keeping their son
from school. However, the court is not expected to hear the case
until later this month, writes the paper. Allyson Noble also
contends that the real reason Woodbridge school officials want to
remove her son "stems from official concerns about his 2 1/2-
year-old brother," who has Down Syndrome and is "set to register
in the Woodbridge school for prekindergarten next month,"
explains the paper.
Pamela Brucker, director of special services for the school,
denies the Noble's concern. "We welcome all residents of
Woodbridge, regardless of their handicap," she said. Allyson
Noble counters that the school does not want to pay the high
costs of educating a Down Syndrome child. "It costs them about
triple what it would cost for a normal student," said Noble.
"Sometimes they have to send the student to a special facility.
It could get expensive or really expensive for them." But
Brucker said the school has been able to keep special education
costs down to about 14% of the school's budget through efficient
management.
According to the paper, the Nobles also filed a separate
complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice, claiming that the
school system was in violation of the Americans With Disabilities
Act. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alteha E. Seaborn last month
notified the Nobles that Woodbridge Schools Superintendent Peter
Madonia had "ignored her request to keep the second-grader in
school while the U.S. Department of Education decides whether the
school system's ruling violates the law," writes the paper.
==== HOME SWEET HOME ====
*6 STATE OF HOME SCHOOL EDUCATION: A REPORT SINGS HIGH PRAISES
Home-schooled children out-perform their public school
counterparts by 30 to 37 percentile points across all subjects,
according to a study conducted by Dr. Brian Ray, president of the
National Home Education Research Institute. The study also found
that the longer a child is taught at home, the better the test
score.
An executive summary of the report noted an oft-mentioned
critique of home schooling: only parents with teaching
credentials can successfully home school their child. The report
counters the criticism by pointing to home-schooled student test
scores that show even when "segmented by whether their parents
have ever held a teaching certificate reveal a differential of
only three percentile points (88 v. 85)."
Other findings: home-schooled parents' educational levels
have no "significant effect on their children's academic
performance, while the educational level of parents of public
school students does have an impact on test performance; math and
reading scores for minority home schoolers showed "no significant
difference" compared to scores by white students, while a
"similar comparison for public school students demonstrates a
substantial disparity," writes the summary.
Another concern about home-schooled children is that they
have few socialization experiences. The study disputes this
claim by pointing out that home-schooled students engage in an
average of 5.2 activities outside the home with 98% involved in
two or more. These activities include volunteer work, music
classes, Sunday school, group sports and classes outside the
home.
The study titled "Strengths of Their Own: Home Schoolers
Across America," is built on data collected from 5,402 home
schooled students from 1,657 families for the 1994-1995 and 1995-
1996 school years. According to the study, there are about 1.23
million American children being taught at home.
Michael Farris, president of the Home School Legal Defense
Association: "The overall success of home schoolers as a group
fails to reveal the truly phenomenal story. The story is this:
Home schooling works for everybody. It works for the rich, the
poor, the middle class. It works for racial minorities, as well
as the white majority. It works for families with well educated
parents and for those who are not so well educated."
"There are two -- and only two -- keys to educational
success: hard work and parental involvement," said Farris.
Copies of "Strengths of Their Own -- Home Schoolers Across
America: Academic Achievement, Family Characteristics, and
Longitudinal Traits," is available for $19.95, plus $2 shipping
from the National Home Education Research Institute; P.O. Box
13939; Salem, Ore. 97309; 503/364-1490; e-mail: mail@nheri.org.
The Home School Legal Defense Association is located at P.O.
Box 159; Paeonian Springs, Va. 20129; 540/338-5600.
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