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NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS PANEL
NEGP Weekly
THE UPDATE ON AMERICA'S EDUCATION REFORM EFFORTS
A service of the National Education Goals Panel
MONTH OF THE YOUNG ADOLESCENT
October is the Month of the
Young Adolescent, says the
National Middle School
Association. Ideas for
celebrating the lives of young
adolescents are provided to
NMSA members through the
"Middle Ground, Middle School
Journal" and at NMSA's Web
site: www.nmsa.org/moya.htm.
For more information, contact
NMSA at 2600 Corporate Exchange
Drive; Suite 370; Columbus,
Ohio 43231; 614/895-4730.
GROUP HUG
... is harder than you think
when it involves interagency
collaboration. The Institute
for Educational Leadership
evaluated the effectiveness of
one pilot project to test joint
administration of two federal
programs. While neither
program related to education,
many lessons can be derived
from the study. Copies of
"Mixed Results;" Lessons
Learned from a Case Study of
Interagency Collaboration" are
available for $5.00: IEL; 1001
Connecticut Avenue NW: Suite
310; Washington, D.C. 20036;
202/822-8405; www.iel.org.
__________ __________
| SPOTLIGHT |
| |
| THE ORACLE |
| |
| It doesn't take a great |
| seer to predict the future |
| job market. A safe bet for |
| many students is to pursue |
| a high-tech career. Clear- |
| ly, it is a seller's mar- |
| ket, with major companies |
| scrambling to hire computer |
| experts. |
| |
| Montgomery (Md.) College, |
| in a sage move, joined |
| forces with Montgomery |
| County and Oracle Corp. to |
| form the Information |
| Technology Institute. The |
| institute is located in the |
| state's high-tech corridor, |
| which is home to nearly 500 |
| high-tech firms. |
| |
| The institute is a win- |
| win-win situation. Mont- |
| gomery College gains new |
| students, the county |
| attracts more businesses |
| due to a highly trained |
| workforce, and Oracle |
| attains top-notch |
| employees. (#3) |
|_____________________________|
============== QUOTE OF THE DAY ==============
"One of the unexpected and pleasant benefits of all this is that
it gives a lot of students an argument against the peer pressure
they face." -- Rodney Taylor, a Rushville, Ind., school board
lawyer, on the Supreme Court's decision to let stand a lower
court's ruling to allow random drug testing of students. (#4)
_______________________________________________________________
| (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
NEITHER HERE NOR THERE: Making middle schools matter. (#1)
GOAL FIVE: MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE
HANDS-ON SCIENCE: A new approach in Boston. (#2)
GOAL SIX: ADULT LITERACY AND LIFELONG LEARNING
HIGH-TECH PARTNERSHIP BORN: Training for computer jobs. (#3)
GOAL SEVEN: SAFE, DISCIPLINED AND DRUG-FREE SCHOOLS
DRUG TESTS AND STUDENTS: High Court declines to hear case. (#4)
IN THE NEWS
NEWS BRIEFS: Choice, charters, "not home alone". (#5)
===== GOAL THREE: STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND CITIZENSHIP =====
*1 NEITHER HERE NOR THERE: MAKING MIDDLE SCHOOLS MATTER
Although the need for separate middle schools remains under
question, many of those that exist are feeling the heat to change
in ways that make learning more accessible for students age 10 to
14. White Pine Middle School, in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan,
underwent a total reconfiguration under the guidance of Principal
David Nizinski (Henry, USA TODAY, 10/16).
Nizinski, with help from the Michigan Schools in the Middle
program at Central Michigan U, moved the school from a typical
schedule of 45 minutes for each class, where nearly 1,200 sixth-
through eighth-graders scuttled to and from classrooms located in
six separate buildings, to a more calm pace of longer class
times. White Pine teachers and students are grouped into small
teams, called learning communities, that remain together
throughout the school year. Class time is longer and flexible,
allowing each community to delve more deeply into subject matter.
"Kids are connected now," said Nizinski. "And those people
in the learning communities know them."
Team teaching is a key component to any middle school
program, according to Kenneth McEwin of Appalachian State U.
"The research is showing us clearly that where teachers teach on
teams, adolescents make higher scores," he said.
Middle school curricula should be rigorous, although far
too many schools offer easier courses for the students in the
"raging hormone" years. "The curriculum of young adolescents has
been sort of dumbed down on the theory that raging hormones and
other dramatic changes that they are undergoing make it for them
to concentrate," explained Avery Russell, of the Carnegie
Corporation. "In fact, what we discover is the opposite effect,
that we are losing a lot of kids because we don't have the right
kind of curriculum for them that's both challenging and
supportive."
The Third International Mathematics and Science Study
(TIMSS) bears out Russell's views. Last year's TIMSS study
revealed a major decline in U.S. student performance beginning at
the middle-school level, notes the paper.
USA TODAY notes an upward trend in the number of states that
offer teacher certification or licenses specifically for middle
school. The paper reports that Ga. leads the other states in
this area by having middle-level licenses on the books since the
1970s. Other states with similar requirements are NC., Va.,
Ohio, Neb., Ind., Wis., and Wy.
Courses connected with middle school certification focus on
young adolescent development and how to "create supportive
environments so that adolescents are willing to learn," writes
the paper. "The bottom line being that preparing someone to
teach young children is not the same as preparing someone to
teach adolescents because of their different needs," said McEwin
However, some educators disagree that young adolescents need
a separate school. In their book, "Standards for Our Schools,"
Marc Tucker and Judy Codding, argue that the advantage for young
adolescents lies in maintaining a K-8 system. According to
Tucker, the worldwide standard is a K-8 school, rather than
separate middle schools for this age group.
Tucker: "Middle schools are the wasteland of our primary
and secondary landscape. Caught between the warmth of a good
elementary school and the academic seriousness of a good high
school, middle-school students often get the least of both and
the best of neither."
===== GOAL FIVE: MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE =====
*2 HANDS-ON SCIENCE: A NEW APPROACH IN BOSTON
Kindergarten through ninth-grade students in Boston are
getting their hands dirty exploring scientific concepts. The
hands-on approach to science is new to most city school students
this year, although some advanced students have benefited from
hands-on experiments in the past (Daley, Boston GLOBE, 10/6/98).
"It's hands-on with a purpose ... the idea is not exactly
new, but what is different now, it's for all kids, not just the
brightest," explained John Sheridan, a Boston public school
teacher who trains science teachers. "It's thought-provoking
science for every students," he added.
Classroom science kits "that give students the materials
needed to conduct experiments" have been purchased by the school
system at a cost of more than $3M, writes the paper. The
curriculum associated with the kits is dictated districtwide.
For example, all eighth-grade students will spend the year
studying cell structure, notes the paper.
"I like it," said one 13-year-old students, of his new
science program. "Last year, science was boring. Now, it's
not."
===== GOAL SIX: ADULT LITERACY AND LIFELONG LEARNING =====
*3 HIGH-TECH PARTNERSHIP BORN: TRAINING FOR COMPUTER JOBS
Montgomery (Md.) College, Montgomery County and Oracle
Corporation have teamed up to create the Information Technology
Institute with the intention of training students for technology
jobs that are in high demand (Ruane, WASH POST, 9/24).
The institute is based at one of the community college's
campuses, with credit and noncredit courses offered at its other
facilities. Oracle's decision to provide a new academic
initiative that provides "deeply discounted software," allows the
institute to offer a wider range of courses -- from the basics to
network engineering, notes Stephen Cain, the institute's interim
director.
Redwood Shores, Calif.-based Oracle, a database software
company, has offered almost $1M in software and a 50% discount on
all Oracle training courses for college staff members. "Oracle
is a global company, and we need a diverse work force for the
customers that we service," said Wanda Miles, senior manager of
the Oracle Academic Initiative. Miles admits that the company is
acting in part out of self interest. "We've got growth
constraints," she explained. "If you can't find enough
programmers or technical workers, it's difficult to get all your
products out."
Montgomery County also benefits from the institute. Miles:
"It's a great way to attract more businesses to your area if you
can prove that you can supply them with a steady stream of
qualified employees." The County has spent $2M on the institute.
According to the paper, college officials note that the
institute will become a critical part of the Interstate 270
technology corridor, which houses nearly 500 biomedical,
communication and other high-tech firms.
One challenge faced by colleges attempting to train students
for high-tech employment: "[With the fast-changing development
in infotech], you have to respond to moving targets," said Cain,
writes the paper. Cain added: "You have to be flexible. It's a
little bit different than a new edition of a textbook in a
history class."
===== GOAL SEVEN: SAFE, DISCIPLINED AND DRUG-FREE SCHOOLS =====
*4 DRUG TESTS AND STUDENTS: HIGH COURT DECLINES TO HEAR CASE
On the first day of the U.S. Supreme Court's session this
year, the justices let stand a lower ruling that allows for broad
use of student drug tests. Among the nearly 1,800 appeals
disposed of yesterday at the high court was Todd vs. Rush County,
in which plaintiffs and the American Civil Liberties Union argued
that Rushville, Ind., school district's policy of "random and
unannounced drug tests for students who participated in all
extracurricular activities" violates the Fourth Amendment's
prohibition on unreasonable searchers (Savage, L.A. TIMES, 10/6).
The forbearer of the current drug-testing controversy is a
1995 court decision that permits Vernonia, Ore., to test athletes
only for drug abuse. According to the TIMES, the court ruled
that a student's rights under the Fourth Amendment is not
violated because of the special issues surrounding sports:
Playing sports while on drugs is an unsafe practice that could
bring harm to the student.
Rushville, Ind., school leaders broadened the Vernonia
decision to include drug testing for students in all
extracurricular activities -- from the debate team to Future
Farmers of America. Under district policy, students who tested
positive are not arrested or prosecuted, but banned from the
after-school activities until they tested negative. Their
parents are notified of the positive drug-test results.
In January, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that
drug testing does not violate a student's privacy rights when it
is a "condition of joining extracurricular activities." (Murray,
WASH TIMES, 10/6)
"One of the unexpected and pleasant benefits of all this is
that it gives a lot of students an argument against the peer
pressure they face," said Rodney Taylor, a Rushville school board
lawyer.
==== IN THE NEWS ====
*5 NEWS BRIEFS: CHOICE, CHARTERS, "NOT HOME ALONE"
COLORADO'S CHOICE: On 3 November, Colo. citizens will vote
on the nation's only school-choice ballot initiative (Richardson,
WASH TIME, 10/5). Amendment 17 is supported by a coalition of
low-income parents and "conservative intellectuals" led by Steve
Schuck, a Colorado Springs developer, notes the paper.
Although Colo. voters rejected a similar initiative in 1992,
Schuck remains optimistic. He claims that public support for
public schools is waning, particularly due to the poor showing of
students statewide on the first-ever Colorado Assessment Test.
Results showed that about 40% of the state's fourth-grade
students scored below the proficiency level in reading.
Under the initiative, $5,000 in state per-pupil funding
would follow students who leave the public school system. The
students' funds would be directed to a state-run Educational
Opportunity Fund, distributed to parents according to a priority
system, notes the paper. Parents who remove their children from
low-performing public schools are the top priority for receiving
funds. Next are all parents who leave public schools, followed
by low-income parents already enrolled in private schools.
Finally, all parents of private-school children would be
allocated funds for students to attend the private school of
their choice. Religious schools are included in the initiative.
The initiative is under attack by the National Education
Association, the nation's largest teachers' union. According to
the TIMES, the NEA has defeated "every school-choice measure to
appear on a state ballot."
"There are people who want to use poor families to provide
tax benefits to wealthier families," said Deb Fallin, spokeswoman
for Coloradans for Public Schools. She also criticizes Amendment
17 proponents who argue that choice will force public schools to
improve because of competition. "Competition isn't a part of the
education culture in public or private schools," said Fallin,
arguing that the proposal is harmful to public education in the
state.
Other critics cite flaws in the administrative detail of the
proposal, which must be hashed out in the state legislature.
Schuck "concedes" the imperfection of the amendment. "Will there
be mistakes? Will there be abuses? Of course there will," he
said. "But will it be better than what we have today? By a long
shot."
TOUGH TIMES IN COMPTON: Since the state of Calif. took over
the Compton school district five years ago, tension and
dissension have filled nearly every meeting and conversation
about school improvement. While attempts have been made to
smooth out relations between city and state officials, agreement
remains out of reach over even basic items, such as when the
state might withdraw from the district (Leonard, L.A. TIMES,
10/6).
One city negotiator told the TIMES that Compton leaders hope
the state will leave the district by the end of next year.
However, state legislation "requires the district to meet certain
criteria before that can happen," including improving test scores
and the district's finances. The TIMES reports that test results
rose last year "but remain low." School officials also have made
payments toward the state's $20-million loan on time.
Plans are underway to form a commission of city, state and
community representatives to discuss school issues, writes the
paper. Officials from the district and city also may be sent to
joint professional training sessions "in the hopes of bolstering
ties between the two," notes the TIMES.
However, some school board members are outraged that they
will not be included in the commission. The board was stripped
of power when the state took over the district, although it
continues to act as an advisory council.
LIFE AND TIMES OF HOME SCHOOLING: From the hundred families
who signed up in 1983 for the Home School Legal Defense
Association (HSLDA) in Virginia to the over 55,000 members today,
home schooling is beginning to make its mark on American
education (Lyman, NATIONAL REVIEW, 9/14). "Fifteen years ago,
homeschooling was a criminal act in a majority of the states,"
said Scott Somerville, one of six attorneys at HSLDA. "Now it's
legal in all fifty states."
The NATIONAL REVIEW cites the work of the Richmond Regional
Home Educators group, which "draws homeschoolers of all stripes."
The group organizes sundry activities for the students, from band
and gymnastics to yearbook and graduation ceremonies.
According to the article, the primary reason parents opt to
home school their children is dissatisfaction with the school
environment. A 1996 Florida DoEd survey of homeschoolers found
that 42% of those surveyed named "dissatisfaction with the
public-school environment (violence, drugs, adverse peer
pressure) [as] their reason for establishing a home education
program."
Two home-schooling factions exist, writes the article.
First, are the "unschoolers," who "prefer a relaxed, ,child-
directed approach to learning." The other group is the more
traditional "school-at-home" crowd, who set a daily schedule for
instruction and use pre-packaged curriculum.
Often the groups bicker, sometimes over "heavenly" matters,
notes the article. For example, the Christian Home Educators of
Colorado posted on its Web site the statements that the Bible is
the "inspired and infallible world of God" and that "salvation is
offered as a free gift to the sinner;" statements that could
distance non-believers.
Patrick Farenga, publisher of the magazine "Growing Without
Schooling," argues against combining home-schooling with matters
of faith. "We believe religion and politics are your business,
not ours," he said.
Traditional homeschoolers also view with disdain the
unschoolers' "laissez-faire attitude" about education. They
worry that such a child-centered approach weakens the home-
schooling model.
From NATIONAL REVIEW: "But such disagreements are natural
in a movement that has taken its place in the mainstream and now
includes parents with diverse motivations and methods. Such are
the hazards of growing up."
_______________________________________________________________
| 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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