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--- Wednesday --- January 14, 1998 --- Vol. 3 --- No. 29 ---
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THE NATIONAL UPDATE ON AMERICA'S NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS
www.negp.gov
FREEDOM FIGHTER __________ __________
President Clinton awarded | SPOTLIGHT |
posthumously the Presidential | |
Medal of Freedom to Albert | THE BLAHS |
Shanker, leader of the American | |
Federation of Teachers for 23 | School is boring and |
years until his death last | politics and social |
year. "Al always felt that | activism are not on the |
education is a freeing and | radar screen of this year's |
liberating force for all people | college freshmen, according |
and societies," said Shanker's | to a survey released by |
widow, Eadie Shanker. | UCLA researchers. |
Clinton: "... Al Shanker was | Findings: 35% say they |
a teacher -- one of the most | are bored in class, a 10 |
important teachers of the 20th | point increase from 1985. |
Century. He thought this whole | |
standards movement was essen- | 35% say oversleeping |
tial for democracy to work, | caused them to miss |
that it was the only way to | classes. In 1968, only 19% |
ever get every child, | of those surveyed said they |
regardless of their background, | overslept and missed class. |
to live up to his or her God- | |
given capacity." | 75% say their college |
| goal is "to be very well |
A STAR FOR HIS NEIGHBORHOOD | off financially," while |
Mr. Roger's neighborhood now | only 40% said they were in |
includes a star on the | school "to develop a |
Hollywood Walk of Fame. Fred | meaningful philosophy of |
Rogers was honored for his 30- | life," a change in attitude |
year-old children's show, the | sine 1968. |
longest running on public TV. | |
From the L.A. TIMES: "Who else | Why the elevation of |
would feel at home reciting | materialism? T.V. is the |
'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star' | culprit, says one UCLA |
near the corner of Hollywood | researcher. (#4) |
and Vine?" (Glionna, 1/9). |_____________________________|
============== QUOTE OF THE DAY ==============
"The children who watched the program for 30 years will be
represented by this star, and they are far, far greater than any
star in the sky."
Fred Rogers, on receiving his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
_______________________________________________________________
| (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 ONE: READY TO LEARN
CHILD CARE: On the president's plate. (#1)
GOAL THREE: STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND CITIZENSHIP
MAKING THE GRADE?: School report cards in Va. (#2)
GOAL FIVE: MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE
WHERE WE STAND IN MATH AND SCIENCE: CCSSO issues report. (#3)
GOAL SIX: ADULT LITERACY AND LIFELONG LEARNING
THE BIG YAWN: College freshmen survey. (#4)
IN THE NEWS
NEWS BRIEFS: Textbooks, class size, school funding lawsuit.(#5)
Reader's Note
The DAILY REPORT CARD will publish Wednesday only for the
next month, as we work out details for sponsorship and a possible
Web site.
===== GOAL ONE: READY TO LEARN =====
*1 CHILD CARE: ON THE PRESIDENT'S PLATE
Last week, President Clinton unveiled his new child-care
initiative, which will be part of his 1999 budget proposal
(Mathis, HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 1/8). The program would eliminate
federal income taxes on a family of four earning $35,000 annually
with two children in day care. It would bring tax relief of as
much as $358 a year to about 3 million families, reports the
paper.
Clinton: "We know that the government cannot raise or love
a child, but that is not what we are supposed to do. What the
government is supposed to do is to help to create the conditions
and give people the tools that will enable them to raise and love
their children, while successfully participating in the American
workplace."
Other provisions of the child-care initiative:
create a new tax credit to businesses that offer child-care
services to their employees, which would cost a loss of tax
revenue of $5.7B over five years;
increase by $7.5B over five years the amount of block grants
to states and double the number of children benefiting from
child-care subsidies to 2 million by 2003;
expand after-school care to an additional 500,000 students a
year;
establish a $3B Early Learning Fund to provide community
grants to better train child-care providers and help centers
meet standards, reports the paper.
Clinton also called for an increase in Head Start funds by
$3B over five years, creation of a $250M scholarship fund for
child-care providers' education, $500M for standards enforcement
and $150 million for research and consumer education.
However, some GOP members of Congress are not impressed with
Clinton's initiative. "The president seems to be proposing a new
program almost every day now," said Rep. Bill Archer (R-Houston,
chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
Senator John Ashcroft (R-Mo) said the proposal fails to give
families what they most need: "more time for parents to be with
their children," writes the paper. Instead, Ashcroft called on
Clinton to endorse pending legislation that would allow companies
to allocate days off as compensation for overtime, rather than
paying overtime wages.
Clinton stands by his plan: "Today, I am proud to propose
the single largest national commitment to child care in the
history of the United States. It is a comprehensive and fiscally
responsible plan to make child care more affordable and
accessible, to raise the quality of child care, to assure the
safety of care for millions of American children."
===== GOAL THREE: STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND CITIZENSHIP =====
*2 MAKING THE GRADE?: SCHOOL REPORT CARDS IN VA.
Va. parents wanting to know if their school scores well in
academic achievement, student attendance rates and low crime
rates this fall will be able to refer to report cards about
schools mandated by the state (Mathews, WASH POST, 1/9). The
Virginia Board of Education unanimously approved the annual
report to parents on schools.
Va. joins a small group of states, including Ill., N.J. and
Texas, that require each school to send annual reports to
parents. However, Va. may be the first state to require schools
to include information on drug and violence activity, reports the
paper.
While Va. Gov George Allen (R), praised the report cards,
some groups remained skeptical. "There is a concern that people
will take these numbers and create a scorecard mentality," said
Ronald Areglado, associate executive director of the National
Association of Elementary School Principals.
Loudoun County School Board member D. Kim Price-Munoz
questions the board's motive for requiring the reports cards.
Price-Munoz notes that board members also support tuition tax
credits for private schools, and the report cards are "designed
to reduce confidence in the public schools," she said. She added
that state board members "are always looking for a way to expose
the evils of public education."
Information to be described in the report card include:
percentage of licensed teachers;
percentage of students passing the state's new Standards
of Learning tests in English, math, science and history;
percentage of students who missed 10 or fewer days of
school; and
a "safety index," in which each school will "report the
number of incidents of physical violence, weapon possession
and drug possession on its campus," explains the paper.
===== GOAL FIVE: MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE =====
*3 WHERE WE STAND IN MATH AND SCIENCE: CCSSO ISSUES REPORT
State, local and national policymakers and educators engaged
in reforming math and science education are encouraged by the
Council of Chief State School Officers to take note of their
latest report on state science and mathematics indicators.
"State Indicators of Science and Mathematics Education 1997"
provides data on state-by state trends in areas including student
achievement, curriculum and instructional practices, teacher
preparation and supply, conditions for teaching and state
policies and equity.
The report, fourth in a series, was supported by the
National Science Foundation. Four primary sources of data were
used to complete the 1997 report: National Assessment of
Education Progress (NAEP) assessments in math and science;
results from the Advanced Placement exams, issued by the College
Board; The Schools and Staffing Survey, conducted by NCES; and
data collected from state DoEds by the CCSSO.
Each chapter examines key policy issues. For example,
"Chapter One: Indicators of Student Achievement in Mathematics
and Science" looks at several policy issues, including:
Is student achievement in mathematics and science improving,
and how does achievement compare state to state?
Are students learning challenging content in science and
math?
Are schools improving the performance of all students?
Copies of the report are available for $18.00 through the
Council of Chief State School Officers; Publications; One
Massachusetts Avenue NW; Suite 700; Washington, D.C. 20001-1431.
State Profiles of Education Indicators, a four-page summary per
state, and the complete report are available on the CCSSO Web
site at www.ccsso.org.
===== GOAL SIX: ADULT LITERACY AND LIFELONG LEARNING =====
*4 THE BIG YAWN: COLLEGE FRESHMEN SURVEY
This year's crop of college freshmen find school boring.
And don't expect them to get involved in politics or become
social activists, according to a survey released by researchers
at the U of California at Los Angeles.
The annual nationwide survey of more than 250,000 freshmen
also found that two suggested goals of education -- "to be very
well off financially" and "to develop a meaningful philosophy of
life" -- "have switched places in the past three decades,"
reports the N.Y. TIMES (Bronner, 1/12). Nearly 75% of freshman
surveyed this year placed being well off as a top goal, while
40.8% said developing a philosophy. The numbers were reversed in
1968, with 40.8% citing financial security and 82.5% noting the
importance of developing a philosophy.
Contemporary students use education as a means to an end,
rather than a value in itself, commented Linda Sax, director of
their survey, which was first conducted 32 years ago at the
Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA. The TIMES reports
that students' strong interest in the income-related value of a
college degree reached a plateau in the mid-1980s, dropping
through the 1990's, but rising again in this latest survey.
Alexander Astin, director of the Higher Education Research
Institute and founder fo the survey, said any growth in students
materialism, boredom and disengagement could be traced to an
increase in television watching. "Kids who started college in
the late 60s had much less television," he commented. "Today's
kids never didn't have it. We tracked freshmen of 1985 for four
years to see how much TV they watched during college. The more
TV they watched, the more their materialistic tendencies were
strengthened."
Daniel Cheever, president of Simmons College in Boston,
points to another reason for student materialism: the
skyrocketing cost of college tuition. What my education is going
to do for me in getting a job becomes more important," he
explained.
Other findings from the survey:
27% said "keeping up to date with political affairs" is
important, compared to 40% at the beginning of the decade;
73% said they volunteered in a community-service activity
this past year, although the high percentage may be due more
to new requirements in high schools to participate in
community service;
19% said there is a "very good chance" they will continue
their volunteer efforts during college;
35% said they are bored in class, which is 10 points higher
than in 1985;
35% said that oversleeping caused them to miss classes or
appointments -- only 19% of freshmen noted this phenomenon
in 1968;
32% identified "promoting racial understanding" as an
important life goal, down from 42% in 1992;
support for abortion has dropped for the fifth consecutive
year, from 65% in 1990 to 54% this year;
only 17% of those surveyed expressed interest in
"influencing the political structure;" and
a record 26% have parents who are divorced.
===== IN THE NEWS =====
*5 NEWS BRIEFS: TEXTBOOKS, CLASS SIZE, SCHOOL FUNDING LAWSUIT
CALIFORNIA
Several education policies and proposals have been unveiled
in Calif. in recent days. Lt. Gov Gray Davis last week released
his plan to spend $3B in state funds over the next five years to
guarantee that every schoolchild has "the most basic of
educational tools -- a handful of books," writes the L.A. TIMES
(Decker, 1/9). Davis' plan, which would cost $600M a year for
five years, is a key part of his campaign for governor.
The TIMES also reports on a survey conducted by the
Association of American Publishers and the National Education
Association, which found that 54% of Calif. teachers did not have
enough books to send home with their students. Nationally, the
figure was 39%, writes the paper.
Davis: "[The state] is enjoying a good measure of
prosperity. The only threat to that prosperity is our K-12
system."
Other Calif. happenings:
Last, week Gov Pete Wilson (R) proposed lengthening the
school year, expanding reading and mentoring programs, and
raising $16B for school construction, writes the paper
Wilson also released a $125M plan to expand nontraditional
paths into the teaching profession, "sharpen the skills of
veterans and increase the Beginning Teachers Support and
Assessment program (Colvin, L.A. TIMES, 1/9).
Los Angeles Unified School District is expected to reach the
state's goal for class-size reduction soon (Pyle, L.A.
TIMES, 1/13). Wilson proposed the class-size reduction plan
1 1/2 years ago, and L.A. was thought to be a "straggler,"
writes the paper. However, the TIMES notes that reaching
the goal may come at a cost for L.A. schools -- significant
local funds are being used to meet the goal and there has
been a drop in the teacher experience level, as more
uncredentialed teacher have been brought on board. For
example, 62% of the 2,700 new elementary teachers hired had
no formal teaching permit.
ARKANSAS
Attorneys for the Ark. DoEd and the Lake View School
District are attempting to negotiate an out-of-court settlement
in a class-action suit on the school funding formula (Howell,
Arkansas DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE, 1/8).
Lake View school officials in 1991 sued the state, claiming
that the funding formula allowed for large discrepancies in the
amount of money school districts had to educate children, writes
the paper. The formula was ruled unconstitutional in 1994 by
Pulaski County Chancellor Annabelle Clinton.
A new formula was devised by lawmakers in 1995, but Lake
View leaders charge that the new formula also is
unconstitutional.
State attorneys are seeking a delay in the upcoming hearing
to give them time to reach an out-of-court agreement.
THE NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS
* GOAL 1: READY TO LEARN
All children in America will start school ready to learn.
* GOAL 2: SCHOOL COMPLETION
The high school graduation rate will increase to at least
90 percent.
* GOAL 3: STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND CITIZENSHIP
All students will leave grades 4, 8, and 12 having
demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter including
English, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and
government, economics, arts, history, and geography, and every
school in America will ensure that all students learn to use
their minds well, so they may be prepared for responsible
citizenship, further learning, and productive employment in our
Nation's modern economy.
* GOAL 4: TEACHER EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The Nation's teaching force will have access to programs for
the continued improvement of their professional skills and the
opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to
instruct and prepare all American students for the next century.
* GOAL 5: MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE
United States students will be first in the world in
mathematics and science achievement.
* GOAL 6: ADULT LITERACY AND LIFELONG LEARNING
Every adult American will be literate and will possess the
knowledge and skills necessary to compete in a global economy and
exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
* GOAL 7: SAFE, DISCIPLINED, & ALCOHOL- AND DRUG-FREE SCHOOLS
Every school in the United States will be free of drugs,
violence, and the unauthorized presence of firearms and alcohol
and will offer a disciplined environment conducive to learning.
* GOAL 8: PARENTAL PARTICIPATION
Every school will promote partnerships that will increase
parental involvement and participation in promoting the social,
emotional, and academic growth of children.
_______________________________________________________________
| National Education Goals Panel |
| 1255 22nd Street NW; Suite 502; Washington, D.C. 20037 |
| 202/632-0957 (Fax); e-mail: negp@goalline.org |
| Web site: www.negp.gov |
|_______________________________________________________________|
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