Date: Fri, 31 May 2002 13:07:03 -0700 Subject: PEN Weekly NewsBlast for May 31, 2002 To: "PEN Weekly NewsBlast" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> From: "Public Education Network" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Public Education Network Weekly NewsBlast "America's Favorite Free Newsletter on Improving Public Education" *************************************************************************** MALIGN NEGLECT Advocates for children in the New York City public schools were cheering sixteen months ago when lawyers won a landmark ruling from a State Supreme Court justice who determined that New York had failed to meet its obligation to provide a sound and basic education to all children and who ordered that the state's unequal system of school finance be dramatically transformed. But even the most cynical observers could not easily have looked ahead one year and have prefigured a scenario by which conditions in the district that had won this legal victory would actually get worse. With recession or without recession, according to Jonathan Kozol, in lean years or in fat, with victories in court or without victories in court, children of color in New York remain the losers in a game whose rules are set almost entirely by white people. http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020610&s=kozol PUBLIC EDUCATION FOR PROFIT The for-profit education movement got under way a decade ago when ambitious entrepreneurs became convinced that they could succeed where public educators had failed and make money in the bargain. Ten years later, Edison Schools Inc., the largest for-profit company in the business, has yet to find its way into the black. After a bruising battle to get control of schools in Philadelphia, Edison is struggling financially and besieged by critics who argue that the company has overstated its academic performance. The decline in Edison's fortunes is attributable in part to questionable management and overly rapid expansion. But the broader message may be that there is no quick, profitable way to turn around schools. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/26/opinion/26SUN2.html EVERY STUDENT DESERVES SAFE SCHOOLS & FAIR TESTING In recent years, the state of California has assessed students with the SAT-9, a federal test that the state uses to determine where a child stands relative to other children. Often, the state uses the scores from these tests to reward or sanction schools, teachers, and even individual students. Sonia Hernández, president and CEO of the Los Angeles County Alliance for Student Achievement, a local education fund, discusses what the SAT-9 actually tells us about student performance. http://tcla.gseis.ucla.edu/rights/features/5/hernandez.html CULTIVATING DIALOGUE BEFORE BUILDING School construction, renovation and design projects can pose a dual challenge to district administrators and consultants who must meet the often-immediate demands for space while undertaking the sometimes time-consuming process of achieving community support. Input and buy-in from the diverse constituencies such as parents, senior citizens, teachers and administrators are vital to the success of a school construction or renovation project, as is community involvement. But if not carefully managed, community involvement can also easily cause delays and budget overruns. What is the best way to include the community in your district's construction and renovation projects? Two districts with very different needs discovered that the key is open communication and early involvement. http://www.aasa.org/publications/sa/2002_06/kosar.htm POOR PUPILS DO BETTER IN CLASSES WITH AFFLUENT KIDS Integrating low-income Denver schoolchildren with affluent suburban children would boost the poor kids' performance without harming the affluent kids, an education foundation says. In a study commissioned by the Piton Foundation, Denver Public Schools researcher Dianne Lefly found that scores are weak in schools with large concentrations of children from low-income families. But when placed in schools where most of their classmates come from higher-income families, poor children do better. Ideally, all children would be in schools where no more than half the children are low-income. Denver can't do that because it doesn't have enough affluent kids to go around: Two-thirds of Denver Public Schools students qualify for subsidized lunches. http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E53%257E632171,00.html?search=fil ter MIXING STUDENTS BY WEALTH UNDER FIRE Spreading out poor children for whom learning can be more challenging and placing them with more affluent peers is justified by Wake County's results, school officials say. More than eight in 10 students perform at grade level or higher, as measured by state tests -- and those numbers are up in almost every grade and subject up over the last three years. It's a level of achievement and rate of improvement that few urban school systems can match. But as a recent protest outside the Wake County school headquarters shows, the political realities of making this type of integration work are daunting. The voices of parents in Raleigh's booming suburbs are growing louder, calling for their schools to take a different approach. Suburban parents argue that the policy trumps their ability to decide where their children should attend school. They want their children in schools closer to home, and they've only begun to fight. http://www.edweek.com/ew/newstory.cfm?slug=37wake.h21 TRACKING IS ALIVE AND WELL IN NEW ORLEANS Job training is offered in lieu of a diploma in a local effort to reduce dropout rates. A new program offers students extra tutoring in key concepts that they're struggling with, helps prepare them to take the general equivalency diploma test and trains them in one of several marketable skills. What the program does not offer is a chance to earn a regular high school diploma. Administrators say they know that not all students are going to complete a regular high school curriculum, especially once they realize they've fallen too far behind to get a diploma. The Option III program, they say, gives students an alternative to dropping out. Keeping dropout rates down is important not only for students but also for high schools, which are now judged by the state in part on their ability to stop students from giving up on school. http://www.nola.com/education/t-p/index.ssf?/newsstory/t_option324.html ARTS ARE CRITICAL LINK TO STUDENT DEVELOPMENT A new report provides significant evidence that cutting back on school arts programs may prove counterproductive to raising student achievement. The Arts Education Partnership (AEP) finds that the arts provide critical links for students to develop crucial thinking skills and motivations they need to achieve at higher levels. The research studies in this report further suggest that for certain populations -- students from economically disadvantaged circumstances, students needing remedial instruction, and young children -- the effects of learning in the arts may be especially robust and able to boost learning and achievement. "Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Academic and Social Development," details the relationship between learning in dance, drama, music, multiple arts, and visual arts, and the development of fundamental academic and social skills. http://www.aep-arts.org/cllinkspage.htm FOUR IMPORTANT LESSONS ABOUT TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT At the center of any successful school improvement plan or reform initiative are the people who transform goals into reality. In a school, teachers are the key people who implement new programs and practices that impact student learning. We cannot assume that teachers will be prepared to naturally acclimate themselves to a new set of goals and expectations either with their skills or motivation. Nor should we simply leave teachers to "get up to speed" on their own. Both scenarios are unrealistic, counterproductive, and set schools up for failure. Read four strategies for helping schools take a proactive approach to teacher professional development that involves a careful examination of current skills and interests as well as an assessment of what needs to be developed through professional development and training. http://www.cprd.uiuc.edu/chest.asp#School%20Reform%20and%20Innovation SCHOOLS THAT CONTROL THEIR BUDGETS HAVE BETTER ACADEMIC OUTCOMES A study by the New York University Institute for Education & Social Policy concluded that Performance Driven Budgeting, which gives individual schools more control over their own budgets, has a direct and positive impact on student performance. Since 1997 the New York City school system has been quietly but radically overhauling its financial system -- half the city's schools are already preparing their own budgets, with the rest to follow within two years. Schools Chancellor Harold O. Levy said: "This report shows unequivocally that crucial, school-level budgetary decisions are best left to those who know the schools the best -- the administrators and staff. In a system that encompasses such a vast array of diverse communities, each school can set its own priorities - within budgetary parameters -- and then properly allocate funds in a more timely and efficient manner." http://www.nyu.edu/iesp/ THE BUSINESS MODEL According to Jay Greene, unless classroom productivity is measured, however imperfectly, it is not possible to reward teachers, administrators, and schools that contribute most to student learning. Despite his unfortunate analogies comparing educators to hot dog makers and his defense of unfair testing schemes, Greene's point that, "Testing may be imperfect, but the alternative -- the old system, which allowed us to know very little about the performance of educators -- is far, far worse," is hard to dismiss outright. http://www.educationnext.org/20022/20.html DECODING EDU-SPEAK In the constantly shifting, highly verbal world of public education, parents are at a distinct disadvantage. As soon as your child enters kindergarten, you recognize that the people in the school buildings speak a different language. By your first teacher's conference, you may recognize that they're talking about your child, but, between the abbreviations (CAT tests) and the technical terms ("decoding skills"), you begin to doubt your ... well, your own decoding skills. Daniel Wolff provides a brief overview of some common edu-speak phrases: what they mean and when you'll hear them. http://www.edweek.org/ew/newstory.cfm?slug=33wolff.h21 |---------------GRANT AND FUNDING INFORMATION--------------| "Youth Action Awards" Youth Action Awards are presented by Youth Service America and the Nike Foundation to help young people see and act on the connection between their community service and the larger public policy implications and solutions. Ten Youth Action Awards of $500 each will be awarded in June 2002 to youth or youth organizations to implement continuing advocacy and action plans based on their National Youth Service Day 2002 project. Application deadline: June 7, 2002. http://www.ysa.org/nysd/nike_award_main.cfm "National Schools of Character Program" The National Schools of Character Program seeks 2003 applicants for its annual awards program recognizing K-12 schools and districts demonstrating outstanding character education initiatives that yield positive results in student behavior, school climate and academic performance. Although winners may differ in method, content, and scope, all emphasize core ethical values such as honesty, respect, responsibility and caring. Selected schools and districts receive a cash award of $2,000, national recognition, and a featured position in Character Education Partnership's (CEP) National Schools of Character publication. Application deadline: December 9, 2002. http://www.character.org/eventsawards/nsoc/index.cgi?file=2003app "School Leadership Program" The U.S. Department of Education is pleased to announce a $10 million grant opportunity that focuses on recruiting, mentoring, and training principals and assistant principals to serve in high-need schools. Eligible applicants include high-need Local Education Agencies (LEAs), consortia of high-need LEAs, or partnerships that include at least one high-need LEA and at least one institution of higher education or nonprofit organization. Grantees can use the program funds to provide financial incentives to aspiring new principals, provide stipends to principals who mentor new principals, carry out professional development programs in instructional leadership and management, and provide incentives that are appropriate for teachers or individuals from other fields who want to become principals. Application deadline: July 8, 2002. For more information, contact Susan Toy at (202) 260-0995 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] "The Laws of Life Essay Contest" The Laws of Life Essay Contest encourages students to think about the people and experiences that have helped to shape their values and challenges them to take a stand for what they believe in. Unlike most essay contests, this contest doesn't tell young people what to write about. There is no prescribed topic students have to address. The Contest is conducted locally in communities around the world. Each community sponsors and organizes its own contest using a free Contest Information Kit and every contest is unique because local organizers make all of the decisions for the program such as the prizes and who will judge the essays. http://www.lawsoflife.org/index.html "The Little Debbie Award" The makers of Little Debbie snacks support education by awarding the Little Debbie Award. The award will be presented to four individuals: two from the business sector and two from the education sector for their leadership role in developing partnerships that help students reach local, state and/or national standards through systemic change. Nominees must have at least two years of experience in the partnership movement and nominations must be postmarked by September 15, 2002. http://www.partnersineducation.org/McKee2002.pdf "Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE)" More than 30 Federal agencies formed a working group in 1997 to make hundreds of Federally supported teaching and learning resources easier to find. The result of that work is the FREE website. http://www.ed.gov/free/ "Fundsnet Online Services" A comprehensive website dedicated to providing nonprofit organizations, colleges, and Universities with information on financial resources available on the Internet. http://www.fundsnetservices.com/ "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 2002 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 include programs and competitions the Department has previously announced, as well as those it plans to announce at a later date. Note: This document is advisory only and is not an official application notice of the Department of Education. http://www.ed.gov/offices/OCFO/grants/forecast.html "eSchool News School Funding Center" Information on up-to-the-minute grant programs, funding sources, and technology funding. http://www.eschoolnews.com/resources/funding/ "Philanthropy News Digest-K-12 Funding Opportunities" K-12 Funding opportunities with links to grantseeking for teachers, learning technology, and more. http://fdncenter.org/funders/ "School Grants" A collection of resources and tips to help K-12 educators apply for and obtain special grants for a variety of projects. http://www.schoolgrants.org QUOTE OF THE WEEK "Education is the anvil upon which democracy is forged." -Thomas Jefferson (US president) ===========PEN NewsBlast========== The PEN Weekly NewsBlast is a free e-mail newsletter featuring school reform and school fundraising resources. 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