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--- Friday --- May 9, 1997 --- Vol. 7 --- No. 41 ---
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THE NATIONAL UPDATE ON AMERICA'S EDUCATION REFORM EFFORTS
A service of the National Education Goals Panel
__________ __________
WHERE THEY STAND | SPOTLIGHT |
... right behind New York | |
City's United Federation of | FIRST, THE GOOD NEWS |
Teachers President Sandra | |
Feldman, whom the AFT just | Test scores of boys and |
voted to replace the late | girls are more evenly |
Albert Shanker. The vote | matched than conventional |
marked the first change in AFT | wisdom allows, according to |
leadership in more than two | a new report issued by the |
decades, notes the WASH POST | Education Testing Service. |
(Sanchez, 5/7). | |
Feldman promised to carry on | The broad-based study |
Shanker's agenda of promoting | examined the scores of 15 |
rigorous, academic standards. | million students in grades |
She also said she would | 4, 8 and 12 on 400 |
continue discussions that | different tests -- and |
Shanker began on merging the | therein lies the problem. |
AFT with the NEA. | |
| While the study found |
ANOTHER NEW HEAD | that the gap between girls |
Amy Gerstein, formerly of the | and boys in science and |
Bay Area School Reform | math have closed over the |
Collaborative, is the new | years on most exams, it |
executive director of the | also revealed that boys do |
Coalition of Essential Schools. | outperform girls in the |
Ted Sizer, founder of CES, will | "most difficult subject |
serve as chairman of the | areas that prepare students |
Coalition. | for college," particularly |
Gerstein, a graduate of Brown | on the PSAT and SAT. And |
U, was a secondary school | that spells trouble for |
teacher in N.H. She also | girls seeking college |
conducted research on school | admission at top schools or |
reform while at Stanford | pursuing a career in |
University Teacher Education | science or math. (#2) |
Program. |_____________________________|
============== QUOTE OF THE DAY ==============
"I am not willing to let these kids sit like mushrooms in a
classroom for another 10 years."
Texas Rep. Ron Wilson (D), sponsor of a defeated voucher bill.
(#4) _______________________________________________________________
| (c) by the Education Policy Network, Inc. |
| 1255 22nd Street NW; Washington, D.C. 20010; 202/632-0952 |
| EPN, Inc. hereby authorizes further reproduction and |
| distribution with proper acknowledgement. |
| Publisher: Barbara A. Pape |
|_______________________________________________________________|
============== TABLE OF CONTENTS ==============
CITY HALL
ON THE "OUT" LIST: Ebonics in Oakland. (#1)
RESEARCH NOTES
GENDER DIFFERENCES: ETS study points to narrowing of gap. (#2)
BYTES AND PIECES
DISCOUNT FAIRS: FCC helps schools go online. (#3)
CHOOSING SCHOOLS
PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE, YES: Vouchers, no. (#4)
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==== CITY HALL ====
*1 ON THE "OUT" LIST: EBONICS IN OAKLAND
It is unclear whether the Oakland (Calif.) school's new
proposal to spend $2M to improve the English skills of black
students is a more "politic wording" of the original plan or a
rejection of it, but the latest document makes no mention of
Ebonics (Applebome, N.Y. TIMES, 5/6).
Last year, Oakland school board members were ravaged by
educators nationwide for describing black English as a separate
language and requiring teachers in the school system to be
trained to respect Ebonics. Some observers charged that Oakland
school officials were trying to use bilingual funds to teach
language arts to black students.
"I think they're trying to be very careful," said Jean Quan,
the Oakland School Board president. "They're probably trying to
clear things up and stay away form any indication that they're
going for bilingual funds." She added: "And it may have also
been an emotional decision: I think they took so much ribbing
for this they may have just backed down."
According to the TIMES, Ebonics is not mentioned in the 17-
page report. However, it is discussed in a cover letter from
Carolyn Getridge, Oakland superintendent of schools. Getridge:
"The resolution sought to establish a policy that would link
learning success with the students' mastery of standard English.
But in stating this linkage, the intent of the resolution and
policy became lost in controversy over terms such as 'genetically
based' and references to Ebonics as a primary language of
African-American students."
The new proposal, similar to the first plan, calls for
"better language and reading programs, aggressive recruitment of
black teachers, additional tests to measure the language skills
of black students and expand their proficiency with standard
English," writes the paper.
===== RESEARCH NOTES ====
*2 GENDER DIFFERENCES: ETS STUDY POINTS TO NARROWING OF GAP
Countering conventional wisdom, a new report found that boys
and girls are evenly matched on standardized tests. However,
boys continue to outscore girls on "crucial college entrance
tests," according to the study, writes the L.A. TIMES (Woo, 5/8).
The study, conducted by the Educational Testing Service, examined
the scores of 15 million students in grades four, eight and 12 on
more than 400 different tests.
"The similarities are much stronger than what you would
expect from the studies that have focused on differences," said
Nancy Cole, president of ETS. "This is really a story about
similarities."
From the report: "There is not a dominant picture of one
gender excelling over the other and, in fact, the average
performance difference across all subjects is essentially zero."
Findings from the report: girls had a slight edge over boys
in short-term memory and perceptual speed; girls scored better in
language skills, especially writing -- a trend which has held up
over 30 years; boys' expected superiority in math and science was
slight, "significantly smaller than 30 years ago; boys out-
performed girls only in mechanical and electronic ability and
knowledge of subjects such as economics and history.
According to the report, gender differences can cut both
ways. For example, 12th-grade girls score better in computation;
boys demonstrate a stronger grasp of mathematical concepts.
However, the gap was slight in both areas. Cole: "To say that
girls are better in some subjects or boys are better in some
subjects does not show the whole picture." Cole conceded that
boys do outscore girls in the "most difficult subject areas that
prepare students for college," writes the TIMES. "It's troubling
in the sense of the options it opens and closes. That's the
issue," said Cole.
Cole responded to criticism that the tests, particularly the
PSAT and SAT, are biased against girls. She argued that the
differences are legitimate and would be apparent in any well-
designed standardized test. "Bias refers to a systematic
errors," explained Cole. "If gender differences are real, then a
test reflecting those real differences shouldn't be labeled as
biased."
Bob Schaeffer, a spokesman for FairTest, challenged the ETS
study, calling it a "smoke screen" that deflects attention from
flaws in ETS's own tests, reports the paper. FairTest has
charged that the PSAT and SAT are heavily biased in favor of
boys, which results in "huge inequities in scholarship awards and
college admissions," writes the TIMES.
The American Association of University Women added that the
ETS study is a decoy, distracting debate over the fairness of
using the SAT and other tests as "gatekeepers." Janice Weinman,
executive director of the AAUW: "Unfortunately, there is a big
difference in demographics and rewards between the SAT, a key
gatekeeper to college admissions and the Iowa Tests of Basic
SKills." She added that the inclusion of so many tests in the
study was a "missed opportunity," which "obscured" the issue of
test bias in college admission tests (Applebome, N.Y. TIMES,
5/8).
===== BYTES AND PIECES =====
*3 DISCOUNT FAIRS: FCC HELPS SCHOOLS GO ONLINE
The Federal Communications Commission this week agreed to a
"landmark" subsidy for schools to go online (Sanchez, WASH POST,
5/8). Under their plan, the FCC will create the Universal
Service Fund of $4.65B, reports the N.Y. TIMES (Landler, 5/8).
Schools will be able to tap a portion of the funds to install
high-speed connections to the Internet.
Discount rates ranging from 20% to 90% for connections to
the Internet and service charges will be available, writes the
POST. According tot he paper, economically disadvantaged schools
will receive a greater discount in services.
U.S. Ed Sec Richard Riley called the proposal a "giant step"
into the next century. However, the paper notes several studies
that found the total cost of new technology for schools far
exceeds the FCC plan.
==== CHOOSING SCHOOLS ====
*4 PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE, YES: VOUCHERS, NO
The Texas House approved a bill that expands public school
choice, but deadlocked over an amendment to the bill that would
have allowed students turned down by public schools to attend
private ones (Stutz, DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 5/7). The amendment
was withdrawn by Rep. Ron Wilson (D).
Two years ago, lawmakers approved the Public Education Grant
program, a public school choice plan. However, most school
districts refused to accept students form other districts. The
paper also notes that many parents were not aware of PEG.
Under the House bill, school districts for the first time
would be required to accept transfer students unless they could
demonstrate that their classes were filled to 95% capacity. The
bill also provides financial incentives to districts that accept
students.
Other provisions: new notification rules that require the
commissioner of education to list the low-performing schools by 1
July and require school districts to notify parents of their
ability to transfer to another school by 15 July; an expansion of
the program by making all students eligible at any school where a
majority has failed the state's basic skills test, the Texas
Assessment of Academic Skills, in any of the last three years,
reports the paper.
Wilson argued on behalf of his amendment to use tax dollars
to send students to private schools. "I am not willing to let
these kids sit like mushrooms in a classroom for another 10
years," he said. "This proposal is about educating kids that
nobody cares about. This would give those kids a ray of hope."
The House will conduct a final vote on the bill this week,
before it goes to the Senate. Voucher proponents are prepared to
fight for vouchers in the Senate.
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John Kurilecjmk@ofcn.org