SCHOOL REFORM: DIFFERENT WAVELENGTHS
The good news is that the American public values education so highly that it is prepared to support almost any sensible reform that promises to improve the quality of grade schools and high schools. The bad news is that the people teaching in those schools are deeply opposed to current reform efforts and skeptical of the basic premise that all students should be measured by the same high standards, writes David Broder. When asked to identify from a list of five alternatives the single greatest source of America's success in the world, the public education system edged out our democratic system of government for first place. A plurality of parents gives a B grade to their own children's school and a C to the country's schools. Also evident is the gap between teachers and the public on the question of performance standards for students. Those polled were asked to choose between the view that all students, teachers and schools should be held to the same standard of performance because it is wrong to have lower expectations for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and the contrary view that they should not be held to the same standard because we should not expect teachers working with disadvantaged students to have them reach the same level of performance on standardized tests as teachers in a more affluent school. More than half the parents favored the single standard, but only one-quarter of the high-school teachers agreed. The implications for the effort to improve the schools are pretty negative, according to Broder. Realistically, change in the classroom depends first and foremost on what teachers are willing and able to do. Read article on seattletimes.com
ONE DAY AS A SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKER
The title of social worker often conjures up images of child protection and social welfare, but school social workers are Masters-level therapists who evaluate students and make educational recommendations. School social workers are an integral part of the evaluation team when considering emotional and autistic impairments. They provide individual and small group therapeutic services as well as crisis intervention. School social workers also provide the link between the school and outside mental health services to meet the complex needs of struggling children and families. Ann Barlock, a school social worker, offers a perspective on one day in her shoes. Read article on bbc.co.uk
THOUSANDS RALLY AGAINST EDUCATION CUTS
A record throng of 11,000 chanting, sign-toting public school supporters invaded the Michigan Capitol lawn for an education funding rally recently, ignoring the oppressive heat and predictions that their cause is futile. Teachers, students, parents, school administrators and others from hundreds of local school districts showed up to protest education cuts and to back a pair of bills that guarantee yearly state school aid increases of 5 percent or inflation, whichever is less. The state has not increased the minimum $6,700-per-pupil school aid grant in three years and has made mid-year cuts averaging $75 a student the last couple years. Educators contend the state needs to do something dramatic to overhaul education funding because the current system has led to program cuts, teacher layoffs, rainy day-fund raids and school closings. Even after the budget cuts, reports Mark Hornbeck, many districts are slipping into deficits. Read article on detnews.com
ACHIEVING SUCCESS AT SCALE IN HIGH SCHOOLS
Tom Vander Ark, executive director of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's education initiatives explains what the foundation has learned about high school reform: (1) Public education should have a clear focus on the goal: helping all students graduate ready for college, work, and citizenship; (2) New-school development is a promising strategy. Well-defined school models and strong support lead to success at scale;
(3) High school improvement remains a difficult challenge. Improvement strategies should include a focus on curriculum, instruction, and structure; (4) School districts should incorporate the promising elements of managed instruction and school choice; and (5) Leadership matters. The problem is not going to go away by itself. If we continue to allow or even encourage low-income and minority students to take disconnected, poorly taught, dead-end courses with no guidance and limited support, the problem will not go away. If we want students to work twice as hard, especially those below grade level, we need secondary schools that are more challenging, more interesting, and more supportive. Read article on edweek.org
REINVENTING THE ROUTE TO THE DIPLOMA
Starting in fall 2006, the Washington DC Public Schools plan to offer the option of a fifth year at its high schools -- with smaller classes, tutoring and other support services -- for students who need more time to complete their requirements. The goal is to provide flexibility to teenagers who might be juggling school with job and parenting responsibilities -- and to retain students who, after falling behind, might otherwise drop out well before 12th grade. The district also plans to establish a three-year track for students who want to graduate early, reports V. Dion Haynes. School officials said those moves are part of an effort to reinvent high schools. Other measures, they said, might include staggering class schedules so some students can start and end their school day later; expanding apprenticeship programs in various trades; and allowing students to enroll in community college while in high school. Read article on washingtonpost.com
TAUGHT AT HOME, BUT SEEKING TO JOIN ACTIVITIES AT PUBLIC SCHOOLS
An increasing number of parents across the country who are pushing more public schools to open their sports teams, clubs, music groups and other extracurricular organizations to the nation's more than 1 million home-educated students. But many districts strongly resist the idea, citing inadequate resources, liability issues, questions about whether students would be displaced from teams and clubs, and concerns about whether home-schooled children could be held to the same academic and attendance standards. In some states, districts also lose state aid when children leave to be home schooled, reports James Dao. The push for access is in many ways a new chapter for the home-schooling movement, which for years viewed public education as a hostile, overly regulated system that should be avoided at all costs. But as the movement has gained more acceptance and grown in size and diversity, more parents want their children to be involved in school activities like chess, basketball or Advanced Placement courses, say home-schooling advocates and educators. Even people who do not want the services argue that other families should not be denied them, seeing access as a civil rights issue for people who pay school taxes. Read article on nytimes.com
ONLINE AUCTIONS PROVE A BOON FOR SCHOOL FUNDRAISERS
Tighter state and district education budgets have spurred schools, parent-student groups, and education foundations to use online auctions to raise money, say school fund-raising experts such as Michael W. Cathey, of the National PTA. The auctions have enabled some schools to keep academic and sports programs -- even teachers -- that would otherwise be cut. Of course, how much a school or school-related organization makes varies widely, reports Rhea Borja. Some have earned very little, while others have made tens of thousands of dollars. It all depends on how organized, aggressive, and savvy the school or parent-student group is in reaching its constituencies, say officials of some online-auction sites. Read article on edweek.org
DEBATE GROWS OVER TEACHING OF ABSTINENCE
In public schools and after-school programs across the country, some children are being taught that saving sex until marriage can prevent emotional and health problems as well as poverty, substance abuse and suicide. In addition to learning that romantic relationships can be sensitive and complicated, girls are told that they can lose a boy by offering too much advice, and that they can hang on to him by regarding him with amazement and "wonder." Supporters say abstinence-only education
-- for which federal funding could see a dramatic increase under President Bush -- is the most wholesome and effective way to teach kids about sex. To critics, such programs sometimes go too far by exaggerating the consequences of sex before marriage and by advocating gender stereotypes that suggest girls be subservient to boys. Eleven of 13 federally funded abstinence programs commonly used by schools and community groups were found to have several errors, according to a survey by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, reports Dana Wilkie. Read article on signonsandiego.com
LOTTERY FOR EDUCATION: WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OUR SCHOOLS WIN?
Presently North Carolina has a crippling budget crisis and is finding it very difficult to provide all public services, including education, by relying exclusively on broad-based taxes. This comes at a time when the courts are mandating that the State provide a basic education to all. Many states have turned to lotteries to help increase their coffers. As a result, there have been renewed discussions about bringing a lottery to North Carolina to help fund public education. Before deciding whether a North Carolina lottery for education would benefit students, Charlotte Advocates for Education, a local education fund, sought to answer whether a lottery is an effective alternative way to fund education by looking at the experiences of states with a lottery. This research paper seeks to
examine: (1) The impact of lotteries on funding for education, both negative and positive impact; (2) Whether lotteries are a reliable, sustainable source of annual income for education; and (3) Methods that could be used to ensure lottery funding supplements education funding and does not merely supplant existing funding. Read article on advocatesfored.org
PROMOTING POSITIVITY, CHOICE & REFLECTION
No student comes to school with the deliberate intention of failing or getting into trouble. Similarly, no adult enters the teaching profession with the intention of not being successful or not enjoying it. Yet, the profession loses fifty percent of its new teachers within five years and a rapidly growing number of students are demonstrating irresponsible behavior. Cognition prompts emotion. Someone compliments us and we feel good; someone criticizes us and we feel bad. First comes the cognition; the emotion follows. A key competency for educators to learn is understanding the importance of how critical positive emotions are in facilitating learning. Marvin Marshall describes three simple practices that foster positive school climates: (1) Practice positive self-talk; (2) Encourage staff to reframe experiences positively. For example, rather than telling a student, "No running in the hallway," instead say, "We walk in the hallway;" and (3) Encourage students to communicate in positive terms. Read article on marvinmarshall.com
TOBACCO ADS TO BE KEPT FROM SOME SCHOOL LIBRARY MAGAZINES
Tobacco ads in school library editions of Time, Newsweek, People and Sports Illustrated magazines will be eliminated under a nationwide agreement. "About 2,000 kids become new smokers every day, and about a third of them will eventually die prematurely from smoking-related disease," said Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller. "Every step we take is important to reduce this terrible death toll." Cigarette ads have been banned from television and radio under federal law since 1971, reports Michael Gormley. Read article on boston.com
ONE HIGH SCHOOL YIELDS 44 VALEDICTORIANS
This year's 406-member graduating class at Seattle’s Garfield High School features 44 valedictorians. Forty-four students with perfect 4.0 grade-point averages who, over seven semesters of mostly honors and Advanced Placement classes, have never earned less than an A. Even for a school with a reputation as an academic powerhouse, it's a record number: Last year Garfield had 30 valedictorians; the year before, 27. Skeptics say that so many students with perfect 4.0 GPAs is evidence of grade inflation; admirers say it's the product of smart, hard-working students at a school that encourages academic success. Either way, reports Lynn Thompson, the multiple valedictorians at Garfield are reflective of a national trend of rewarding a number of high-achieving students at graduation rather than singling out one. Read article on seattletimes.com
INSIDE CHOICE SCHOOLS: 15 YEARS OF VOUCHERS
Now 15 years old, Milwaukee's school choice program is very much like a teenager -- heartwarmingly good at times, disturbingly bad at others, and the subject of myths, misunderstandings and ignorance, even by the adults entrusted with its welfare. Over the past five months, Journal Sentinel reporters visited 106 schools and have produced an insightful seven-part series. Read article on jsonline.com
HELPING YOUNG PEOPLE GET A HEAD START ON CAREERS
Three hundred middle school students from around the country worked on a new website created to link their interests and hobbies to future careers. The new site is offering online resources that cater to ages 11-15, seeking information about careers in science, technology, engineering, and math. Designed and developed with recommendations from teams of middle-schoolers, Funworks is not only for young people, but also for guidance counselors, teachers, media specialists & parents. Because existing career-related websites are often dense, full of statistics, and created for adults, Funworks stands out with its vibrant colors, graphics and photos, interactive games, quizzes, and more. Funworks was created by the Gender, Diversity, and Technology Institute at Education Development Center. Read article on thefunworks.org
GRANTS AND FUNDING INFORMATION |
"Toyota Family Literacy Program"
This program provides Hispanic and other immigrant families with quality family literacy programming designed to increase basic language and literacy skills, as well as provide parents with the specific skills they need to help their children succeed. The program specifically serves children in kindergarten through third grade and their parents. Maximum
Award: varies. Eligibility: Communities across the nation. Deadline: Capability Survey by July 15, 2005. Go to site
"Middle Level Dissertation Contest"
The Middle Level Dissertation Award program is an annual event sponsored by the National Association of Secondary School Principals and open to doctoral students who have completed and successfully defended their dissertation before June 30 each year. The winner will receive a plaque (and be honored) at the next NASSP national convention. And they'll pay your way! Go to site
"Mini-Grant Program for Service-Learning"
Constitutional Rights Foundation's Robinson Mini-Grant Program for service-learning projects designed to address serious community issues. Maximum Award: $500. Eligibility: K-12. Deadline: October 14, 2005. Go to site
"American Honda Foundation Grants Program"
American Honda Foundation Grants Program for organizations working in the areas of youth and scientific education. Maximum Award: $40,000 to $80,000. Eligibility: K-12. Deadline: August 1, 2005. Go to site
"Rural Teacher Grants"
National Geographic Society Grable-Curtis Rural Teacher Grants for teachers or school administrators in a rural area. The Society has a special interest in supporting teachers in Idaho and Maine. Maximum Award: $500. Eligibility: K-12. Deadline: August 15, 2005. Go to site
"Nominate a Teacher to be an ‘American Star in Teaching’"
The U.S. Department of Education again plans to honor classroom teachers by recognizing the 2005 American Stars of Teaching. The Department's Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative is seeking nominations and information about teachers who are improving student achievement, using innovative strategies, and making a difference in the lives of their students. Teachers across all grade levels and disciplines will be honored this fall. One teacher or team of teachers from each state will be recognized. To learn more or nominate a teacher to become an American Star of Teaching. Go to site
"Captain Planet Foundation"
The Captain Planet Foundation funds hands-on environmental projects to encourage youth around the world to work individually and collectively to solve environmental problems in their neighborhoods and communities. Maximum Award: $2500. Eligibility: Schools and non-profits. Deadlines: June 30, September 30, and December 31. Go to site
"Presidential Freedom Scholarships"
The Presidential Freedom Scholarships are designed to promote student service and civic engagement and honor outstanding service to the community. Maximum Award: $1000. Eligibility: High School Students.
Deadline: July 1, 2005. Go to site
"Toshiba America Foundation Grants"
The Toshiba America Foundation seeks to support projects designed by classroom teachers to improve K-12 science and mathematics education. Maximum Award: $1,000 K-6, $25,000, grades 7-12. Deadlines: Oct. 1 for K-6 programs; year-round for 7-12 projects under $5,000; and Feb. 1 and Aug. 1 for 7-12 projects over $5,000. Go to site
"Kids In Need Foundation Teacher Grants"
The 2005-06 Kids In Need Teacher Grant applications will become available July 15. This year more than $105,000 is being offered in grants to certified K-12 teachers at any public, private, or parochial school in the U.S. The grants are from $100 to $500 for innovative classroom projects.
National sponsors of the program are Jo-Ann Stores, Inc. and Office Depot. Regional sponsors include Fred Meyer, Publix, and Price Less Drug Stores. The website currently has the guidelines posted, which teachers can use to prepare to apply. The deadline to submit applications, which can be completed and submitted online, is September 30, 2005. Applications will be available after July 15 at the sponsors’ locations. Go to site
"Show Me the Money: Tips & Resources for Successful Grant Writing"
Many educators have found that outside funding, in the form of grants, allows them to provide their students with educational experiences and materials their own districts can't afford. Learn how they get those grants -- and how you can get one too. Included: Practical tips to help first-time grant writers get the grants they need. Go to site
"Department of Education Forecast of Funding"
This document lists virtually all programs and competitions under which the Department of Education has invited or expects to invite applications for new awards for FY 2005 and provides actual or estimated deadline dates for the transmittal of applications under these programs. The lists are in the form of charts -- organized according to the Department's principal program offices -- and includes previously announced programs and competitions, as well as those planned for announcement at a later date.
Note: This document is advisory only and is not an official application notice of the Department of Education. They expect to provide regular updates to this document. Go to site
