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--- Wednesday --- June 17, 1998 --- Vol. 1 --- No. 46 ---
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THE UPDATE ON AMERICA'S EDUCATION REFORM EFFORTS
www.negp.gov
PROGRESS AND MOMENTUM
Two Southern governors
presented U.S. Ed Sec Richard
Riley with a sunny forecast of
the South's progress, calling
it a "place of remarkable
progress and momentum."
"Education and Progress in
the South," a report issued by
the Southern Regional Education
Board, was released almost 60
years to the day after Presi-
dent Franklin Roosevelt called
for the National Emergency
Council to report on conditions
in the South, which he labeled
"the nation's No.1 economic
problem."
Ky. Gov. Paul Patton, SREB
chairman, and former Va. Gov.
Gerald Baliles contrasted the
1938 South with today's South.
For example, the percentage of
adults in the South who have
attended college is higher than
the percentage who had
completed high school in 1938.
The report cautions that the
South faces formidable obsta-
cles and must continue to work
together for progress to
continue. For more info:
SREB; 592 Tenth Street NW;
Atlanta, Ga. 30318-5790;
404/875-9211; www.sreb.org.
__________ __________
| SPOTLIGHT |
| |
| SUMMER READING LIST |
| |
| Teachers in the Balti- |
| more-metro area are jumping |
| at the chance to attend |
| summer workshops designed |
| to provide strategies for |
| teaching reading. National |
| and state efforts to boost |
| the reading achievement of |
| children in early |
| elementary grades has made |
| a mark on teachers who want |
| more training in reading. |
| |
| Besides enhanced |
| opportunities for |
| professional development, |
| Baltimore-area schools also |
| have developed strong |
| tutoring programs that |
| provide more small-group |
| and one-on-one instruction |
| for students struggling to |
| break the code. |
| |
| Early screening of |
| children to detect reading |
| difficulties and an |
| elevation of phonics are |
| other efforts underway in |
| Md. schools. (#1) |
|_____________________________|
============== QUOTE OF THE DAY ==============
"Everything starts with schoolhouse leadership."
Carl Stokes, Baltimore School Board member, commenting on the
board's decision to remove low-achieving principals. (#2)
_______________________________________________________________
| (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 FOUR: TEACHER ED/PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
SUMMERTIME: Md. teachers seek training to teach reading. (#1)
PRINCIPALS GET PINK SLIP: Baltimore gets tough. (#2)
GOAL FIVE: MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE
PUTTING A TIGER IN YOUR MATH PROGRAM: Exxon grants. (#3)
CHOOSING SCHOOLS
A "PSYCHIC BOOST:" Vouchers win in Wisconsin. (#4)
===== GOAL FOUR: TEACHER ED/PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT =====
*1 SUMMERTIME: MD. TEACHERS SEEK TRAINING TO TEACH READING
Teachers in Baltimore County and other Md. school districts
are signing up in record numbers for summer workshops that teach
strategies to teach reading (Libit, Baltimore SUN, 6/11). The
SUN reports that interest has skyrocketed since educators
nationwide have "step[ped] up efforts to boost the proportion of
third-grades reading at grade level on state exams."
Baltimore-area suburban school districts have engaged in
other efforts to increase the reading skills of their young
students, including:
recruiting teachers with more experience in reading
instruction;
purchasing textbooks that research has found to be
effective, particularly with disadvantaged children;
developing or expanding tutoring programs for young students
struggling to break the code and also for older students who
were not "properly" taught in the lower grades;
developing a consistent approach among schools, reports the
paper.
Phonics is making a comeback in many Md. school districts,
notes the paper. Anthony Marchione, Baltimore County school
superintendent, introduced the word-identification program to
"bring a uniform, phonics-intensive approach to all schools,"
when he came on board three years ago, according to the SUN.
In Carroll County, school officials have tapped a $250,000
federal grant to screen kindergartners and first-graders to
identify those with the lowest 25% of reading skills. The school
system then provides these children with tutors who help build
fundamental skills.
"When you work one on one you can asses where ... this
child's barriers to become a successful reader are," explained
Dorothy Mangle, director of Carroll's elementary schools. "Do
they need more language experience? Do they need more phonics
skills?"
Baltimore County schools also began a tutoring program this
year for struggling readers in low-income schools.
Howard County developed special reading programs that used
technology for kindergartners, tutors for first-graders, more
phonics-intensive materials throughout elementary schools and
additional teacher training, reports the paper. The district
also purchased the Open Court reading series, which stresses
phonics.
While most efforts target the primary grades, some Md.
districts also are focusing on middle and high school students
who have deficient reading skills. High school reading
specialists and high school reading software have been introduced
in Howard County. A new districtwide requirement will mandate
reading courses for all middle school students; currently,
reading instruction ends at sixth grade.
Baltimore, Anne Arundel and Harford counties also are
introducing reading programs to middle school students.
*2 PRINCIPALS GET PINK SLIP: BALTIMORE GETS TOUGH
Five Baltimore school principals already have lost their
jobs, with educators expecting at least 15 more to go, as part of
the city's plan to breathe new life into some of its most ailing
schools (Henderson and Bowie, Baltimore SUN, 6/9). According to
the paper, more than 40 school principals were placed on
professional "improvement plans" last year, which is a "first
step toward possible removal."
"Everything starts with schoolhouse leadership," said Carl
Stokes, a school board member. Last June, a new school board was
put in place to take over the city schools. Accountability
measures and a zero-tolerance for poor performance marks the
board's first year term.
The board's new master plan stresses the need for
development, recruitment and retention of strong leadership,
notes the paper. A more rigorous yearly evaluation system for
principals was agreed upon by the board and the principals union.
Evaluations will begin next school year.
However, principal union President Shelia Kolman has waged
war against the current removal of principals. Unlike years gone
by, the principals are not simply reassigned to head other
schools. Instead, they are assigned other duties, "in many cases
with lesser prestige and lower salaries," writes the paper.
Kolman claims the reassignments are "arbitrary and
capricious." "We have a grievance process, and our members have
a right to choose that route," she said. None of the five
principals reassigned had received an unsatisfactory evaluation,
although one was on an improvement plan.
"The belief of the school system is that a new principal can
immediately turn around a difficult school," she said. "But in
other districts, this has been done and the result hasn't been
instant." She said other factors, such as teacher quality,
parental involvement, support from district administrators, and
society-at-large, weigh heavily on the success of a school and
the achievement of its students.
===== GOAL FIVE: MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE =====
*3 PUTTING A TIGER IN YOUR MATH PROGRAM: EXXON GRANTS
The Exxon Corporation has committed $1.5M to enhance K-12
math and science programs. Their goal is to encourage more
students to enter engineering professions.
The funds will be split between two groups: SECME, a
collaboration of engineering schools and K-12 school systems that
focus on teacher development; and the Society of Women Engineers
(SWE). SECME is awarded $900,000 and SWE, $600,000, over the
next three years to expand their existing science and math
precollege education programs for young students. Girls and
minorities are emphasized, under both programs.
Teachers and community leaders in groups such as the Girl
Scouts, are eligible to submit proposals for projects. However,
before submitting a proposal, an organization must win the
support of SWE.
There is no deadline for grants, which will range from $200
to $200,000.
For more information, contact Pattie Hallock, Exxon
Corporation; 202/261-2870; or Exxon Education Foundation,
214/444-1104;
www.exxon.com/exxoncorp/world/dimensions96/dimensions96.html.
===== CHOOSING SCHOOLS =====
*4 A "PSYCHIC BOOST:" VOUCHERS WIN IN WISCONSIN
In a 4-2 decision, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled last
week that children from low-income families can attend religious
schools at taxpayer expense (multi cites). The ruling is
expected to expand Milwaukee's current voucher program to include
as many as 15,000 students, about 10 times the current number
(LaPolt, AP/Arkansas DEMOCRAT GAZETTE, 6/11).
Milwaukee's voucher program offers low-income families about
$5,000 a year for each child to attend either a religious or
other private school. The state cuts the city's school budget by
the same amount for every child who leaves for a private
education.
From the court opinion: "A student qualifies for benefits
[in Milwaukee's voucher program] ... not because he or she is a
Catholic, a Jew, a Moslem, or an atheist; it is because he or she
is from a poor family and is a student in the embattled Milwaukee
public schools."
"All eyes have been on Milwaukee," said Clint Bolick, a
lawyer with the Institute for Justice, a proponent for vouchers.
"[The ruling] is a major psychic boost to the school choice
movement."
School choice lawsuits are pending in Ohio, Ariz., Vt., and
Maine, notes the DEMOCRAT GAZETTE. Cleveland has the nation's
only other voucher program that permits taxpayer funds to be
applied to religious schools. However, the WASH POST points out
that a state appeals court "blocked the program from expanding
beyond its current level of 2,000 on the grounds that it is
unconstitutional (Biskupic, 6/11).
Voucher opponents, including Milwaukee's teacher unions and
the American Civil Liberties Union, guarantee they will appeal
the court ruling.
American Federation of Teachers President Sandra Feldman:
"It's unconscionable to give public funds to private religious
schools for just a few students, when those same tax dollars
could be put into proven, public-school programs that would
benefit every child in Milwaukee. For the same amount of money
that Milwaukee has spent to send fewer than 2,000 kids to private
school, you could put a program like Success for All -- with its
long track record of success, especially with disadvantaged
youngsters -- in every public elementary school in Milwaukee.
You'd be helping nearly 60,000 students, and still have $1
million left over."
The POST notes that it has been 25 years since the U.S.
Supreme Court has examined tuition reimbursement for religious
schools, "striking down a New York policy that reimbursed low-
income parents." However, the court has grown more conservative
and recently has permitted some state involvement with religious
schools.
Bolick and other voucher proponents say they eagerly await a
Supreme Court appeal because "the constitutional cloud will not
be ultimately removed until there is a Supreme Court decision."
Milwaukee's voucher program, adopted in 1989, initially did
not allow public funds to be used at religious schools. However,
the program was extended to parochial schools in 1995. The
Baltimore SUN reports that of the 122 Milwaukee private schools
that currently qualify for taxpayer-financed tuition, 89 are
parochial schools (Denniston, 6/11).
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