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--- Monday --- December 8, 1997 --- Vol. 7 --- No. 78 ---
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THE NATIONAL UPDATE ON AMERICA'S EDUCATION REFORM EFFORTS
(www.negp.gov -- on Wednesdays)
__________ __________
SEVEN DAYS A YEAR | SPOTLIGHT |
Calif. state Senator Jim | |
Bruilte (R) has proposed | BOLTING FROM BOALT |
legislation that would add 7 | |
days to the school year in | Calif.'s statewide ban on |
Calif. (Colvin, L.A. TIMES, | affirmative action was |
11/25). "While the length of | blamed for an embarrassing |
time spent learning a task is | headline-grabbing predica- |
not a guarantee of success, | ment for Berkeley's Boalt |
insufficient time spent on a | Hall School of Law -- only |
task is almost certainly a | one black student entered |
guarantor of failure," wrote | its class this fall. (#9) |
Bruilte, in a letter seeking | |
support for his plan. | Students blamed Boalt for |
According to Brulte, there is | failing to aggressively |
enough money in the state | recruit minorities, while |
budget to pay for the cost of | others, particularly John |
adding the extra days, which | Morris, an editor of "The |
amounts to $350M. | American Lawyer," claims |
Last year, a proposal | that other deleterious |
sponsored by state | factors caused the paucity |
Superintendent of Public | of qualified minority |
Instruction Delaine Eastin to | candidates. (Nov. 1997 |
provide 190 days of instruction | issue of "American Lawyer") |
each year, with teachers | |
attending training sessions of | In an effort to create a |
eight days beyond that, was | minority-friendly applica- |
rejected by the Legislature. | tion process, a faculty |
Instead, lawmakers added only a | committee agreed to end |
single day to the school year | Boalt's grade-weighting |
that was optional for | system that favors candi- |
districts. | dates from Ivy League |
Currently, students attend | schools, where fewer |
class an average of just under | minority students attend. |
176 days, writes the paper. |_____________________________|
============== QUOTE OF THE DAY ==============
"Let's be honest -- a 3.5 from MIT in math doesn't mean the same
thing as a 3.5 from another school because of the level of
competition in the student body."
Michael Rappaport, dean of admissions at UCLA's Law School.
_______________________________________________________________
| (c) by the Education Policy Network, Inc. |
| 1255 22nd Street NW; Washington, D.C. 20010; 202/724-0124 |
| EPN, Inc. hereby authorizes further reproduction and |
| distribution with proper acknowledgement. |
| Publisher: Barbara A. Pape |
|_______________________________________________________________|
============== TABLE OF CONTENTS ==============
GOAL THREE: STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND CITIZENSHIP
STUDENT ATHLETES: An easier time to qualify in Arkansas. (#1)
HIGHER EDUCATION
ADVANTAGE IVY LEAGUE?: No longer for Boalt law admissions. (#2)
CHARTING A NEW COURSE
ALLEGHENY COUNTY'S 1st CHARTER: Thrugood Marshall Academy.(#3)
MAKING CONNECTIONS: Firm wants charter in Pa. town. (#4)
FROM COURTHOUSE TO SCHOOLHOUSE
A SLOW, STEADY PACE: Prince George's County deseg case. (#5)
SPONSOR SEARCH
The DAILY REPORT CARD is looking for a sponsor for Monday's
document. Benefits of sponsorship include: group's or
business's name/message on every Monday document; updated and
customized content for group's Web site on a weekly basis;
distribution to the DAILY REPORT CARD'S listserve; special
content focus in each issue (ie technology, teacher training,
standards). Sponsorship could come from one group or a
consortium.
The National Education Goals Panel sponsors the Wednesday
document. See their Web site (www.negp.gov) for a look at the
Wednesday DRC, which publishes as the "NEGP Weekly."
For more information, call Barbara Pape at 202/724-0124.
===== GOAL THREE: STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND CITIZENSHIP =====
*1 STUDENT ATHLETES: AN EASIER TIME TO QUALIFY IN ARKANSAS
Since 1993, Ark. high school students who wanted to
participate in competitive extracurricular activities, including
athletics, were required to maintain at least a 2.0 grade-point-
average. Recent state Board of Education action has made it
easier for some students to qualify for participation in
extracurricular activities (Howell, Arkansas DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE,
11/11).
Last week, the board approved a policy that will allow
students to participate in activities if he or she has passed
four academic courses the previous semester and meet one of the
following standards:
hold a minimum grade-point-average of 2.0;
pass the state's high school proficiency exam in both
literacy and math to be eligible for activities in the 12th
grade;
earn a basic battery score at or above the 50th percentile
on a national standardized test administered by the state to
be eligible to participate in activities in the 10th and
11th grades, reports the paper.
"I believe this will open the door a little wider, and some
students will try to participate who have not been able to," said
state Senator John Brown (R), who had petitioned the board to
consider "alternative qualifications for participation in
activities," writes the paper.
Under the new regulations, school boards are permitted to
request a state waiver that would allow underachieving students
to enroll in activities. However, those districts must require
the underachieving student to participate in a supplemental
instructional program that is directed by a state-certified
teacher. Students in a supplemental program must have no
unexcused absences and no suspensions for misbehavior during the
current semester.
While schools may adopt rules that are stricter than the
state ones, districts that violate state regulations "will be
placed on probation," which could cause the state to eventually
lose its state accreditation, writes the paper.
===== HIGHER EDUCATION =====
*2 ADVANTAGE IVY LEAGUE?: NO LONGER FOR BOALT LAW ADMISSIONS
In a 23 to 11 vote last month, a faculty committee at U of
California at Berkeley's "highly ranked" Boalt Hall School of Law
has ended a "controversial" admission policy that favored
students from elite colleges (Woo, L.A. TIMES, 12/1). The
original grade-weighting system was established 15 years ago. It
assigned undergraduate colleges a "rank number" based on how its
students performed on the LSAT.
For example, schools such as Yale, Brandeis, Stanford and
Harvard, were top-ranked at 79 points or above, and students from
those schools were assigned extra points in the admissions
process. Students from schools that were ranked 71.9 and below
had their GPAs lowered, reports the paper. Schools with ranks in
between were not effected. Under the new system, the grade-
weighting system will be abolished.
"The adjustment of GPAs was not supported by a sound
educational purpose," said Joseph Jaramillo, an attorney for the
Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, which filed a
federal complaint against Boalt this year. "It had the effect of
disadvantaging minority students who attended many of the schools
that were adjusted downward." The TIMES notes that students from
the California State University system had their GPAs lowered
under the old system.
Others were skeptical of the impact of Boalt's new policy.
"We think if you didn't consider the quality fo the undergraduate
school, it would be a travesty," said Michael Rappaport, dean of
admissions at UCLA's Law School. "Let's be honest -- a 3.5 from
MIT in math doesn't mean the same thing as a 3.5 from another
school because of the level of competition in the student body."
===== CHARTING A NEW COURSE =====
*3 ALLEGHENY COUNTY'S FIRST CHARTER: THRUGOOD MARSHALL ACADEMY
In an 8-1 vote, the Wilkinsburg (Pa.) School Board approved
Allegheny County's first charter school (Chute, Pittsburgh POST-
GAZETTE, 11/25). The Thurgood Marshall Academy Charter School,
located in a suburb of Pittsburgh, will open next fall with up to
340 children in grades K-9.
The charter school has sent requests for proposals to
private companies who might be interested in operating the
school, according to Patsy Austin, a board member of the charter
school. One request was sent to Beacon Education Management,
formerly called Alternative Public Schools. The Nashville,
Tenn.-based firm has been managing Wilkensburg's Turner
Elementary School since 1995; but a judge recently ruled that the
arrangement is illegal and the contract will be terminated at the
end of this year.
Critics of the Thurgood Marshall charter already have
threatened a lawsuit to stop the school from opening, reports the
paper. The board's vote in favor of the school came before new
board members took their posts. Three new board members oppose
the district's privately run Turner School and have challenged
plans to create Thurgood Marshall. The current board members
defeated by the newcomers all favor the charter school.
Plans for Thurgood Marshall feature a "child-focused"
school, high standards, small class size and strong parental and
community involvement, writes the paper. The school would
operate 212 days-a-year, with doors open from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00
p.m. The school also plans to incorporate the Comer Model,
pioneered by Yale U professor James COmer.
*4 MAKING CONNECTIONS: PRIVATE FIRM WANTS CHARTER IN Pa. TOWN
The for-profit Mosaica Education Inc. is seeking to manage a
charter school in Upper St. Clair and Woodland Hills, two
Pittsburgh, Pa., suburbs (Chute, Pittsburgh POST-GAZETTE, 11/29).
Dawn Eidelman, Mosaica's president and former assistant professor
at the U of Texas in Arlington, along with a group of education
experts, designed the Paragon Curriculum, which combines a
classical education with technology, writes the paper.
Mosaica currently operates only one charter school in
Saginaw City, Mich., but plans to open 45 other charter schools
in five years. Eidelman's husband Gene, a Soviet defector and
chief executive officer for Mosaica, said he does not expect the
schools to earn a profit until there are least 20 of them, but
added that Mosaica is prepared to commit financial resources to
buy, renovate or build school facilities. He explained that
Dawn's decision to sell her firm called Prodigy, which operated
child-care centers for corporations, has given the couple enough
money to invest.
The Mosaica model features a 200-day school year, with
classes running 7 1/2 hours a day. Class size is limited to 25
students. In Upper St. Clair, the firm's charter school
application is for a K-6th-grade school for 250 students.
Charter schools in that district would receive $7,399 per student
with an additional $3,212 for each special education student.
Mosaica's Woodland Hills application calls for a school for
450 students in K-6th grade. Charter schools in Woodland Hills
receive $6,618 per student, with an additional $7,150 for each
special education pupil, reports the paper.
In the morning, students would study math and reading.
Afternoon class time would be devoted to the Paragon Curriculum.
During this time, students would study a "set topic, such as
prehistoric man or Greek and Roman civilization, for a month from
a variety of angles," writes the paper.
At a public hearing sponsored by the Woodland Hills School
Board, Gene Eidelman explained that his firm's program "is not a
cookie cutter where it's the same program everywhere." For
example, he added, "people in Upper St. Clair are looking for an
International Baccalaureate program, more foreign language. ...
We can enrich the Upper St. Clair program with a total foreign
language immersion if that's what the parents will want."
Eidelman also guaranteed that the school would have 150
computers on the first day of school, all networked and with a
high-speed Internet connection. Eidelman: "The technology is
used as a tool, so when they study about ancient Greece, they may
go live to Greece and talk to other students in Greece, or
somebody can give them a live tour of modern Greece." He added:
"It's all about making connections. They can make a connection
to what [they are learning] means in today's world."
Eidelamn said his firm made charter-school connections in
the Pittsburgh area at a charter school informational meeting
sponsored by Duquesne U's Charter Schools Project.
Wayne Vasher, director of school/university partnerships at
Saginaw Valley, monitors charter schools, including Mosaica, and
is pleased with the firm's progress. "The kids are turned on by
[the Paragon Curriculum.] It really motivates them. I see
enthusiastic teachers. It's very early. I'm not going to hang
my professional judgment that this is going to be the best way in
the world to teach social studies, but for now, it's very
exciting," he said.
===== FROM COURTHOUSE TO SCHOOLHOUSE =====
*5 A SLOW, STEADY PACE: PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY DESEG CASE
Parties in the 1972 school desegregation suit filed against
the Prince George's County, Md., school board were urged by U.S.
District Judge Peter Messitte to begin work on a plan that would
phase out court-ordered race-based busing (Barrett, Prince
George's JOURNAL, 12/4). "It seems like a good idea right now,"
said Messitte. "There ought to be talks going on."
At a hearing last week, Board of Education Chairman Alvin
Thornton testified that school officials would be willing to work
with both county and the NAACP to develop a transition plan,
writes the paper. He also told the court that the schools needed
the assurance that resources would be provided to guarantee
"quality schools for children," reports the paper.
Thornton is a lead player in a plan called "The Community
School Education Plan," which stresses the need for construction
of 15 new schools to return 11,400 involuntarily bused students
to their neighborhood schools, according to the JOURNAL. The
plan also "phases out mandatory student assignments under current
court orders, maintains magnet schools and provides to schools
without racially diverse student bodies Miliken II resources,
such as full-day kindergarten, a student-to-staff ratio of 20-to-
1 and a full time guidance counselor, reading teacher and media
specialist," notes the paper.
Under questioning by NAACP lawyer Patricia Brannan, Thornton
conceded that there would be no assurance that the $14.1M granted
by the state to the county this year for magnet schools would be
maintained should the court order be lifted. Susan Miller,
director of magnet schools, testified earlier that the magnet
program would not be able to function as it does now without the
$14M. Efforts to recruit non-black students would be in
jeopardy, she added.
Judge Messitte asked whether school officials would consider
race as an admission factor for the magnet schools if court
oversight ended. Thornton responded that race would "be a
consideration and admissions would not be simply first-come,
first-served," reports the paper. "Magnets are desegregation
magnets," said Thornton. "I don't see any intention on the part
of the board to give up on them as desegregating magnets."
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