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NCLB RE-AUTHORIZATION, WHERE’S IT GOING? NOWHERE! |
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U.S. Senators Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), the top lawmakers on the Senate Education Committee, are putting off re-authorization of the No Child Left Behind Act, according to Time Magazine. The two ranking senators cited lack of time left this year to complete the work needed for the legislation. Kennedy’s spokeswoman said the aim is to bring a bill to the floor early next year. However, this may be wishful thinking because it is typically more difficult to pass a bill during a presidential election year as it is significantly harder to obtain the bipartisan consensus required to pass major legislation. The House of Representatives is similarly stalled on re-authorization, yet House lawmakers have not officially decided to quit trying to bring a bill to the floor in what little time is left. The difficulties in re-authorization seem to stem from lawmakers in both parties, including Bush administration officials, who are pushing for major revisions to the law. The rule is that when a law fails to be Congressionally revised on schedule, the law in its existing form stands. To recap: there is consensus that the law needs to be dramatically changed and the ranking lawmakers want to ensure they get re-authorization right. In the meantime, the country and its children are left with an admittedly failing law. So everyone has agreed to get it wrong for the time being in the hopes of getting it right sometime early next year, time permitting. |
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ARTS EDUCATION, THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED |
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One damaging blow levied at the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is that the law has caused the narrowing of the curriculum or has prescribed double-doses of math and reading at the expense of subjects like art, physical education and others not measured by high stakes tests. Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, believes that if you increase instruction time, by adding hours to the day and days to the school year, schools will be able to expand arts education. In speaking at the Arts in Education Symposium in Washington, sponsored by Walnut Hill School, the nation’s oldest secondary school for the arts, Kennedy said that "a student whose life is enriched by the arts has a better chance of staying in school, achieving in school and succeeding...after school." Consequently, when looking to re-authorize NCLB, he wants to "include a new program to provide funding for states, districts and schools...to provide more time for arts and music education and experimental learning." The senator’s remarks serve to punctuate recent research and news articles calling for increased instruction time. In quoting former President John F. Kennedy, Kennedy said "a nation which disdains the mission of the arts invites the fate of Robert Frost’s hired man...of having nothing to look backward with pride, and nothing to look forward to with hope." |
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READING FIRST: NOT GOOD NATIONALLY BUT GREAT LOCALLY |
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Apparently, even gross federal misconduct cannot stop a good program from succeeding. According to a new report from the Center on Education Policy, Reading First, the billion-dollar initiative designed to improve reading skills for impoverished students, has astonishingly been implemented as intended. In fact, state and local education officials credit the program for raising the achievement of students who participate in the program. More than three-fourths of states and two-thirds of districts that received grants to run Reading First reported that the assessment and instruction programs were key to improving student achievement, while at the same time, only seven percent of districts gave credit to supplemental education services for improvement gains. Reading First affects 13 percent of all U.S. school districts officially, although more than half of Reading First districts reported using elements of the program in non-Reading First schools. States shared this approach, as they reported that 3,000 non-Reading First districts participated in state-led Reading First professional development. It is the odd program that is horribly run nationally, but has a great effect at the local level -- imagine the gains (or losses) if the program had competent federal leadership. |
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EDUCATION: A GOOD-GUY ISSUE THAT FINISHES LAST |
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Voters rate education, along with Iraq, the economy and health care, as one of the top four presidential campaign concerns, according to a recent poll conducted by the Pew Center. The poll also shows that education outranked jobs, Social Security and even terrorism. Education has always been a good applause line in a campaign speech, as one cannot argue with putting "children first." Yet this supposedly "key" concern will not become a top-tier issue this campaign season, reports Larry Abramson for National Public Radio. |
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EDUCATION SECRETARY: DON'T GO BACK TO THE OSTRICH APPROACH! |
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U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings recently sat down with Eddy Ramirez of U.S. News & World Report to discuss the often controversial No Child Left Behind Act, the implementation of which she oversees. In the interview, Spellings renewed her belief that what gets measured gets done, and added that schools can bring all students up to grade-level by 2014, while admitting that progress is not being made fast enough. In describing the major successes of the law, Spellings said "we're getting better results for minority and poor kids. That’s obviously number one." As the ebb and flow of national standards has reached a peak, Spellings doesn't believe a one-size-fits-all national standard "that morphs into a national curriculum" is the right way to go. One major criticism levied at NCLB is the way it tests limited English proficient and English language learners, yet Spellings doesn't think it is unreasonable for a third grader, who is a citizen of the United States, to "read on grade level in English." When asked to handicap the re-authorization process, Spellings indicated that "we sure could pick up the pace." This, in one form, went from the secretary’s mouth to Senator Lamar Alexander’s (R-Tenn.) ears (see second link). |
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NCLB: YOUR SCHOOL IS FAILING. SCHOOL BOARD VOTERS: WHO CARES! |
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It appears that voters are failing to hold school board members accountable for student performance on NCLB-mandated tests, as an increase in test scores has little bearing on re-election rates of incumbents. According to research conducted by the University of Chicago’s Christopher Berry and William Howell, in the 2000 school board elections, members received more votes in areas where test scores improved, and incumbents who oversaw test score increases were more likely to run again and less likely to be opposed. However, in the following two election years (2002 and 2004), any relationship between student test performance and a board member’s chance for reelection vanished. This signals a major problem as Berry notes, "if voters do not cast out incumbents when local school performance is poor, then politicians have less incentive to make the hard choices necessary to improve education." |
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LISTEN TO YOUR PARENTS KIDS, YOU'LL ENJOY COLLEGE MORE! WHAT? |
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Taking part in learning communities, undergraduate research, study abroad, internships and other college activities boost student performance, according to the 2007 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). In addition, the study finds that students whose parents are increasingly involved in their college life are generally more satisfied with their collegiate experience, and somewhat surprisingly, this finding holds true for parents who intervene on campus to solve administrative problems. Perhaps it shouldn't be so antithetical to think that talking with, and following the advice of, one’s elders would lead to an enriched experience. Among the other more interesting findings of the study is that 10 percent of students never meet with an advisor. It appears ignoring parents and advisors is not the best way to go through the best years of your life. Who would have thought it? |
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MATH HANDS: BE A MORE EFFECTIVE PROBLEM-SOLVER BY GESTURING |
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Don't just talk with your hands. Solve math problems with them as well. Go figure. University of Chicago psychologists have found that gesturing can help kids accumulate new problem-solving strategies that can be applied to mathematics and kids that gesture are more likely to succeed on future problems. In the study, children who were told to move their hands when explaining how they would solve a problem were four times as likely as kids given no gesturing instructions to express correct new problem-solving methods. A follow-up study also found that gesturing pupils learned more effectively in subsequent instructions. After the test, when children were given an additional math lesson, gesturing children were able to solve 1.5 times more math problems than children who were told not to gesture during the test. The researchers hypothesize that gesturing helps children produce new problem-solving strategies that go beyond simply writing things down. |
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CLOSE EARLY CHILDHOOD ACHIEVEMENT GAPS BY READING, STORY-TELLING |
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Currently, Latino children represent 21.4 percent of the early childhood population and that figure is supposed to grow by 146 percent by 2050. However, relative to the size of this population, little research exists that is focused on Latino infant and child development. One such study recently released by the Harvard Family Research Project involved an examination of the characteristics and early predictors of infant development and parenting. The study’s researchers found that family engagement for all children is vital, regardless of social, cultural or ethnic group. The study also notes that there is no difference in cognitive or motor competencies between Latino children and their white peers at nine months of age. According to results from other studies, school readiness differences are found as early as at kindergarten age between Latino and white children. This finding might help point to the period in development when the divide occurs between the two groups. While few differences in parenting behaviors exist across ethnic groups, Latino families are less likely to read books and share stories with their children than parents from other ethnic backgrounds. |
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YOUR CHILD ISN'T ADEQUATELY ACHIEVING, SO SUE THE EDUCATORS! |
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Colorado educators feel teaching and learning is being drastically hampered by the many and often counterproductive laws put in place to help stave off legal action in this increasingly litigious society. According to a report from Common Good Colorado, educators spend 20 to 30 percent of their time on mandated activities that make little sense. In addition, 77 percent of survey participants rated the extent of legal and regulatory burdens as a ‘5’ or higher on 10-point scale. The threat of a lawsuit has permeated all aspects of society, as 60 percent of teachers and administrators said they experienced a high to moderate fear of litigation, and roughly half of the participants had been threatened with a lawsuit. Unfortunately, educators performing basic job functions, such as assigning grades, breaking up fights and evaluating other teachers, continually feel that being sued is a possible outcome. There is a real cultural problem within schools when teachers have their hands tied by pervasive threats of litigation. |
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WATERING DOWN THE CURRICULUM ACROSS THE POND |
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The British House Commons education committee issued a report warning that creativity in curriculum has become a second-order priority in England’s schools. According to some Members of Parliament (MPs), funding structures suggest that other subjects have been given increased prominence by the Department for Children, Schools and Families. The MPs believe that creativity should be a fundamental part of learning and should be funded accordingly, reports the British Broadcasting Corporation. The British version of watering down the curriculum is the result of schools being pressured to focus on academic standards. Labour MP Barry Sheerman said schools were enthusiastic about the benefits of creativity, but the government needed to acknowledge its importance and change the curriculum to make space for it. British and American children are both experiencing narrowed curriculum in which creativity has been squeezed out because of increased governmental focus on "core" subjects. |
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FREE YOUR YOUNG MIND AND THE REST WILL FOLLOW |
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Children have increasingly become overburdened and overscheduled, which has hamstrung their freedom to be carefree kids, writes Mary Anne Abramowitz in Greater Good Magazine. In reviewing four recent books, Abramowitz finds that the calls for reducing homework and increasing playtime are swelling in the hopes of giving kids less regimented lives. According to Alfie Kohn, author of "The Homework Myth," the percentage of six- to eight-year-olds who reported being assigned homework on any given day has climbed from 34 percent in 1981 to 58 percent in 1997. Weekly time spent doing homework has more than doubled, and one can certainly see the trend continuing through 2007. The increase in home study seems to mirror a society where there is not enough time in the week for work yet BlackBerrys seem to trump everything. Further, as the perceived price of failing to achieve scholastically is poverty and marginalization, it is hard to reject the hours of homework and the assigned values that work represents. However, Kohn argues that the benefits of homework, i.e., higher achievement and the creation of a "good work ethic" are simply not substantiated by available research, and in so doing he reflects the consensus of a large number of child development and learning experts. To counter this culture, University of Texas sociologists Ben Agger and Beth Ann Shelton contend that there needs to be a renewed commitment to let children be their unencumbered selves. Agger and Shelton envision families and schools to be intimate, communal and mutualistic institutions modeled on a decent society, not on factories which shape children to be prisoners by enforcing strict codes. In this utopian world, schools would reflect the American democratic roots of freedom and self-development and provide a meeting ground between work and family and a refuge from the overload. |
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ZOOM ALONG ‘ROUTE 21’ FOR TOOLS TO IMPLEMENT 21ST CENTURY SKILLS |
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Everyone has grown accustomed to business leaders and other stakeholders clamoring for increased attention paid to 21st century skills (global literacy, problem solving, innovation and creativity), as they have become stock skills in an increasingly interconnected global workforce. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has tried to satiate these calls by launching "Route 21," the first ever online conglomeration of 21st century skills-related tools and resources. The website provides information on standards, assessments, curriculum and instruction and opportunities for professional development. Route 21 also allows users to mark, organize, collect and share content based on their personal/professional needs. The site is intended to be a living entity by being continuously updated and providing an online forum where users can share their experiences on implementing 21st century skills. It’s not quite the Jetsons or hover cars, but it does serve as a great tool for educators. |
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BUILD YOUR OWN MODEL CITIZEN: BEGIN WITH QUALITY YOUTH PROGRAMS |
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No one is likely to doubt that if children spend time in development programs like 4-H and Boy and Girl Scouts, they are more likely to become contributing members of their community. The national longitudinal study released by the National 4-H Council finds that when communities, families and schools provide youths access to development programs and opportunities for adult interaction and mentoring, youths succeed. Further, involvement in youth development programs reduces the likelihood that young people will engage in risk behaviors, and the more that youths are involved in high-quality programs, the more they and their communities benefit. Here’s a formula for growing model citizens: establish good public schools and add quality youth development programs. |
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TO EDUCATE IN RURAL AMERICAN, YOU MUST EXPERIENCE RURAL AMERICA |
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Rural and urban life throughout the United States is often as different as apples and cucumbers, and the contrast holds true for the 49th state. To understand the stark disparities, a University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) program is helping future teachers understand how to approach students with dissimilar backgrounds. Through the rural experience, 20 students from the early childhood education and elementary education departments at UAA spend two weeks in a rural village in the hope of learning how students are taught in their native environments. In addition, the program provides great learning opportunities for what happens across the expansive state of Alaska and how that impacts the classroom. |
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NEWS FLASH: REMOVING A PARENT CAUSES MENTAL STRESS FOR CHILDREN |
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When parents are arrested in immigration raids, their children suffer, reports Oskar Garcia for the Associated Press. In fact, children who have lost a parent due to raids face a variety of mental health problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder, separation anxiety and depression, according to findings from a study commissioned by The National Council of La Raza. In arresting allegedly illegal parents, children who were born in America are left with a combination of unstable supervision, stress and living without other material necessities, all of which can lead to mental health disorders. The study said that Congress should take more control over how raids are handled and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency should have a consistent policy about releasing arrested parents to minimize harm done to children. However, Tim Counts, ICE spokesman, doesn't think his agency is responsible for the family disruption caused by parents who make poor decisions, as "law enforcement agencies across the nation arrest”"parents and "everybody understands that parents are responsible for...the resulting impact on their families." The American government should be in the business of protecting its citizens, meaning procedures must be in place when raids occur to ensure the well being of children is the utmost priority. |
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IN RESPONDING TO RACISM, AFRICAN AMERICANS CAN MANIFEST DEPRESSION |
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Some behavioral problems in African American youths can be attributed to their effort to protect themselves from racism, which can manifest itself as depression, according to Dr. Anderson J. Franklin, an education professor at Boston College. In addition, dysfunctional housing, such as group or foster homes, and poor schooling can put children at risk of developing mental disorders, reports Margaret Kamara in Diverse Issues in Higher Education. Consequently, anti-social acts cannot be treated with simple diagnostics as the issues are deeply rooted in society and institutions. The solution is to "treat the illness of institutional racism...a disease that has legal consequences as well as mental consequences." This issue is undeniably important as 20 percent of children and adolescents have diagnosable mental disorders and many lack access to health insurance and consequently don't receive proper care. |
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PROLIFIC SCORER HELPS SCHOOLS ONE BASKET AT A TIME |
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There was a packed house to watch Gilbert Arenas, the Washington Wizards star basketball player, reports Darragh Johnson in the Washington Post. However, the screaming fans were students, teachers and principals from 240 schools all over the Washington metro area who weren't there to watch him play basketball. Instead, they were looking to be part of the Scores for Schools program, which last year donated $215,000 to 82 local schools or $100 per Arenas’ point. This money is a godsend to schools like Simon Elementary, a school desperate for "computers...resource books for teachers...a lab for computers...[and] to go on more field trips," according to math teacher Jennifer Johnson. To choose the school participants of the program, Arenas draws school names out of a gold basket. Unfortunately, as more schools were picked, Johnson and Simon Elementary were still waiting to hear good news. When Arenas pulled out the last name of a different school, Johnson and her five pupils were left silent as if Lebron James had just hit a game winner in the playoffs or something. But, in true Arenas’ fashion, he unexpectedly declared that he would give a $1,000 consolation prize to those schools not picked, adding an additional $62,000 to the program. Everyone has heard that Christmas comes earlier and earlier each year, but for these schools, it came in October. |
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*******SUPPORT PUBLIC EDUCATION WITH A GIFT TO THE NEWSBLAST******* |
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Each week our staff works lovingly and diligently to bring you the latest information from around the nation and world as it affects public education. We decided many years ago to provide the NewsBlast to anyone interested free-of-charge. However, each year we ask for your support and thankfully, many of you respond with a donation. Please help us keep the NewsBlast available to all with your donation of $25 or more. Click below to make your gift today! |
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NEW GRANT AND FUNDING INFORMATION |
"Education Fellowships and Alternative Expedition Funding"
The Earthwatch Institute offers educators fully-funded fellowships for hands-on learning with leading scientists doing field research and conservation on one of 130 projects around the world. Maximum Award: fully-funded fellowship. Eligibility: Elementary, middle, and high school educators and administrators of any discipline. Deadline: Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
"Bob Costas Grants for the Teaching of Writing"
The College Board Bob Costas Grants for the Teaching of Writing recognize exceptional teachers for innovative methods used to develop students' writing skills. Maximum Award: $3,000. Eligibility: teachers of grades 6 through 12. Deadline: November 16, 2007.
"Inspiration Awards"
The College Board Inspiration Awards recognize schools for their outstanding college preparation programs and partnerships among teachers, parents and community organizations. Maximum Award: $25,000. Eligibility: secondary schools in which a minimum of 40 percent of the school's student population qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch. Schools must also demonstrate consistent growth in college preparation across the entire student population. However, schools with an academic admissions policy are not eligible. Deadline: November 16, 2007.
"Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program"
The Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program supports efforts to recruit and educate the next generation of librarians and the faculty who will prepare them. It also supports grants for research related to library education and library staffing needs, curriculum development and continuing education and training. Maximum Award: $1,000,000. Eligibility: All libraries, except federal and for-profit libraries. Eligible libraries include public, school, academic, special, private (not-for-profit), archives, library agencies, library consortia and library associations. Institutions of higher education, including public and not-for-profit universities and colleges, also are eligible. Deadline: December 17, 2007.
"International Young Eco-Hero Awards"
The Action for Nature International Young Eco-Hero Awards recognize the individual accomplishments of young people whose personal actions significantly improve the environment. Maximum Award: $500. Eligibility: youths aged 8-16. Deadline: February 28, 2008.
For a detailed listing of numerous EXISTING GRANT OPPORTUNITIES (updated each week), visit: http://www.publiceducation.org/newsblast_grants.asp
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