Return-Path: <nifl-assessment@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id gAC5B6X18171; Tue, 12 Nov 2002 00:11:06 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 12 Nov 2002 00:11:06 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <1F077517.29D161EC.00169211@aol.com> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-assessment@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-assessment@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-assessment@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: Dirose7@aol.com To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-assessment@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-ASSESSMENT:224] PEN Weekly News X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 X-Mailer: Atlas Mailer 2.0 Status: O Content-Length: 18527 Lines: 336 Hi, I am sorry that I have been away for a while. Thanks for the really good discussion on the BEST. Let me know what other topics are of importance. Thanks. PUBLIC EDUCATION: AN AMERICAN IDEA & IDEAL The greatest single innovation of this democratic republic has been the idea of the public school, writes Hodding Carter III. The notion that the average citizen could or should be educated was anathema to governments and the upper classes around the world far less than 200 years ago. It became the American idea -- and the American ideal -- at the nation's centennial. By the end of the 19th Century, it was embedded in the "warp and woof" of the Republic. Education ultimately is and must be about more than the accumulation of knowledge. It is a community enterprise, grounded in community and strengthening the community in the here and now. The idea of democracy, of maintaining civic participation by fully functioning citizens -- that is an absolute responsibility of the public schools system, if for no other reason than its own security. Only a healthy democracy can and will cherish and support a healthy school system. It is a responsibility that is not being met by the schools today. We have to change it. http://www.publiceducation.org/news/demobedrock.asp EDUCATION GRANTS REMAIN A PRIORITY WHILE ENDOWMENTS SHRINK Just as many Americans have watched their retirement accounts dwindle because of the vertiginous swoon in stock values, many education grantmakers have seen dramatic decreases in their endowments. As a result, some have had to cut back operating budgets, or refrain from giving the sorts of sizable grants foundations were able to distribute in the late 1990s through 2000. Nonprofit organizations seeking that grant money have found that while the foundation well has certainly not run dry, and education retains a special allure for givers, the flow of dollars has noticeably ebbed. http://www.edweek.com/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=10endow.h22 CAN PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT REVOLUTIONIZE PUBLIC SCHOOLS? Public Education Network's 2002 annual conference, "Standards-Based Reform: A Civic Imperative," November 10-12 in Washington, DC, features Harvard professor and author Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot speaking on "Building Respect & Reverence for Public Education"; Award-winning author Taylor Branch discussing, "Connecting School Reform and Social Justice"; Boston schools chief Tom Payzant; Maryland state school superintendent, Nancy Grasmick: and NAACP Legal Defense Fund president, Elaine Jones. http://www.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/d?asid=20021107.074821 EDUCATION REFORM: THE WAR WE HAVE CHOSEN TO LOSE Do you agree that the U.S. does not care about urban schools and the children who attend them? That is the conclusion of Arthur Levine, who writes that the nation's urban public schools will not substantially improve without a sufficient investment. The improvement with the greatest effect on student learning is a well-prepared and experienced teacher. These teachers will not work in inner cities until salaries and incentives are higher than in suburbs, which offer easier working conditions. States, but also Washington, have to invest more heavily in cities than in suburbs if they expect to see real changes. Putting businessmen in charge and installing standards and tests won't win the war either. Urban public schools need teachers, facilities and curriculum materials. The argument that there is no money doesn't make sense. There is money for tax cuts, money for war, money to bail out faltering industries. How can there be no money for children and schools? http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-levine4nov04,0,3783078.story?coll=la%2Dnews%2Dcomment%2Dopinions ACTION GUIDE FOR COMMUNITY & PARENT LEADERS Public Education Network has developed an indispensable guide for community leaders, parents and educators on how to use the No Child Left Behind law to advocate for improved public education. The guide cuts through education jargon and explains the law's new requirements for states, districts, and schools in clear terms. It prioritizes 10 major areas in the law where the public should concentrate its action. The guide is organized as an easy-to-use professional development tool for administrators and teachers committed to improving student achievement. The guide will be available for free download in two weeks. Single hard copies are FREE. However, PEN is currently accepting pre-orders of hard copies of the guide at: http://www.publiceducation.org/pubs/pubpreorder/preorderform.asp OPENING MINDS: WHY I TEACH For some, teaching is torture. But for those who truly love teaching, the classroom is a place like no other, a place whose magic is deeply felt but hard to articulate. Patrick Welsh writes about the challenges of teaching in a school populated by students from 87 different countries. His uplifting essay recounts his numerous victories in the classroom, of getting students to open up and fall in love with reading, language, and poetry. http://www.aft.org/american_educator/fall2002/Welsh.html GRANTS FILL IN GAPS AT STATE’S SCHOOLS Grants sought by classroom teachers can be a sign of enthusiasm and inventiveness. They can also be a sign of underfunded schools. Nationally, private grants to public schools were unheard of before the 1980s but have become commonplace as state tax revenues have dropped. A recent survey in West Virginia found that teachers in almost every country receive grants to supplement state and county expenditures by funding purchases of computers and technology, playground equipment, anti-drug programs, reading programs, science projects, tutoring, teachers training and basic classroom materials. http://www.publiceducation.org/news/100702.asp INTROVERTED CHILDREN IN EXTROVERTED SCHOOLS Entering into the swing of a new school year overwhelms one in three children who are introverted. Schools are designed to educate the extroverted majority. They are fast paced, demanding quick thinking and snappy answers, group brainstorming, adapting to constant change and the ability to compete. Extroverts succeed in this environment while introverts thrive in just the opposite atmosphere. A thoughtful, individual and reflective approach to learning brings out the best in introverts. This is why there are more significant negative consequences for introverted school children than parents typically think. According to researcher Marti Olsen Laney, introverted children are trying to gear up to match a pace that is draining and overwhelming for them. This book review contains a few tips for teachers and parents to use in communicating with introverted children and strategies to use in helping students to manage the pressure and build confidence. http://teachers.net/gazette/NOV02/laney.html WALTER ANNENBERG'S DREAM Ambassador Annenberg offered his historic gift to America because he believed in public schools and in our shared responsibility to educate the next generation of Americans. This combination of faith in both public institutions and in individual action marked Walter Annenberg as unusual. He was not a man who worried about being "politically correct." He was not afraid to start something that was manifestly too big to finish. And he was willing to trust others. The most fitting legacy to education's great benefactor is the continued effort of the many thousands of teachers, administrators, parents, students, and citizens who are still working hard to preserve a public school system -- a system that for many remains the cornerstone of democracy. http://www.edweek.com/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=10vargo.h22 SCHOOL TEACHING IN CHINESE IS LURE FOR BLACK STUDENTS Many African-American students are part of an unexpected phenomenon at a four-year-old school in New York City. While most children attending Shuang Wen Academy are children of Chinese immigrants, almost 10 percent of the students are black, and many of them come from the outer reaches of the city, enduring long trips for the chance to attend a school that has developed a reputation for excellence. "When I tell my friends that my children are in a bilingual school learning Mandarin, some are shocked," reports Denise Gamble. "Some think I'm crazy. Some ask, `Why would you do that?' Well, I just want my children to have a good education." Shuang Wen is one of more than 150 small public schools established in the late 1990's as an alternative to larger, impersonal public schools. New Visions for Public Schools, a local education fund, helped financed some of the city's alternative schools, including Shuang Wen. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/02/education/02CHIN.html KNOW THY SUBJECT The acquisition and distribution of knowledge is what teaching is about, writes Ron Wolk in the current issue of Teacher Magazine. How strange and ironic it is that teachers, who disseminate knowledge, have so little time and opportunity to acquire it. Because of the lack of academic content and rigor in undergraduate teacher preparation, the knowledge deficit that many teachers take to their first jobs is difficult to overcome. Once they begin their careers, they rarely have an opportunity to engage in the kind of professional development that will increase knowledge of their discipline and improve their practice. Traditionally, professional development is comprised of college courses taken in the evenings or during the summer to move up the salary scale and the hit-and-run workshops schools hold once or twice a year, in which outside experts lecture to teachers. But these kinds of approaches do little, if anything, to improve teaching and, thus, student learning. In this article, Mr. Wolk outlines proven strategies for improving the quality of teacher professional development. http://www.teachermagazine.org/tmstory.cfm?slug=03persp.h14 A MODEST PROPOSAL FOR FAMILY CHOICE With pundits citing family composition as the most significant factor affecting student learning, why fuss over the need for more testing, the lack of school and classroom accountability, the accusation of shoddy teaching and the need to overhaul our purportedly failing public schools? "Shouldn't we be working on the families instead of schools?" asks Randall Zitterkopf in this essay from School Administrator magazine. "If student achievement is determined primarily by the family from which the child comes, we shouldn't be discussing school choice per se, but rather the merits of family choice. My modest proposal is that all kids, even those unborn, should be entitled to choose their families." http://www.aasa.org/publications/sa/2002_11/colZitterkopf.htm GET PARENTS, TEACHERS ON SAME PAGE Complex and massive, North Carolina's school accountability program has always relied on a simple premise: To improve test results, apply pressure. That means publishing the test scores of every school in the state to shine a spotlight on teachers. It means tying student promotions to end-of-grade test results to keep children focused. And it means state officials have a problem as they struggle to get parents more involved in their children's schooling. Parental involvement is essential to closing the racial achievement gap, but schools, led mostly by whites, have a hard time overcoming distrust. http://newsobserver.com/news/story/1848339p-1845219c.html TEACHING PARENTS & CHILDREN ABOUT THE DANGERS OF GUNS Advocacy groups on both sides of the guns issue frequently point to changing personal behavior -- of both parents and children -- as a key element in reducing gun violence among youth. Efforts to bring about these changes range from community-based campaigns, to laws and programs that encourage parents to store their guns safely, to educational initiatives that focus on keeping young children away from guns and encouraging youth to resolve disputes without violence. Unfortunately, these behavior-oriented programs have not shown great success in reducing youth gun violence. This article reviews the research surrounding behavioral approaches to gun violence prevention and highlights obstacles that hamper the effectiveness of these programs. http://www.futureofchildren.org/information2826/information_show.htm?doc_id=116083 FROM LARGE TO SMALL: STRATEGIES FOR PERSONALIZING THE HIGH SCHOOL In communities across the United States, the conversion of large high schools into small, focused learning environments is gaining currency as an education reform strategy. This opens up a crucial moment of opportunity for making progress on the seemingly intractable problems of high school design, practice, and policy. A new report offers concrete guideposts for teachers and school leaders by outlining practices and routines for providing young people with the range of supports and opportunities needed to succeed in school and beyond. http://www.jff.org/jff/newsroom/PR/2002/PR_11_4_2002.html CELEBRATE NATIONAL INCLUSIVE SCHOOLS WEEK National Inclusive Schools Week, December 2-6, highlights our nation's progress in providing a supportive and quality education to an increasingly diverse student population. It also offers educators, students, and parents an opportunity to discuss what else needs to be done to ensure that their schools successfully educate ALL children, particularly those with disabilities. Educators, families, and community leaders are encouraged to organize celebratory events and activities in your communities. The National Institute has created a Celebration Kit to help you get started. The kit includes everything you need to participate -- publications that speak to the benefits of inclusive schools, suggested readings for children and adults, a lengthy list of celebration ideas and lesson plans, and materials to use in promoting inclusive practices in your community. http://www.edc.org/urban/ |---------------GRANT AND FUNDING INFORMATION--------------| "Dell Computer's TechKnow Program" If your district has an urban population of students who are at risk of missing classes and not graduating, and is willing to establish and support the comprehensive training program and develop local community partnerships, it could become one of the 15 Dell TechKnow districts. Targeting at-risk middle school-aged students, TechKnow represents a multi-million dollar commitment from Dell, including equipment, program development, management, and other support. This program is a partnership with school districts and will require additional commitment and resources at the local level. Second-year applications will be online in January 2003. http://www.dell.com/us/en/k12/topics/segtopic_seg_nav_001_techknow.htm "Toshiba's Grade 7-12 Grant Program" The Toshiba America Foundation encourages programs with the potential to improve classroom teaching and learning of science, mathematics, and the science and mathematics of technology. Projects and proposals from individual or groups of classroom teachers in grade schools (7-12) will be considered for funding. The Foundation is most interested in teacher-planned and -led projects that take place in the classroom. Grant proposals (under $5,000) are accepted throughout the year. Decisions about small grants are made monthly, except March and September. http://www.toshiba.com/about/taf/grant.html "UCLA School Mental Health Project" The UCLA’s School Mental Health Project website has developed a list of financing and funding resources in response to recent requests for technical assistance. To access the list, click on ‘Quick Find’, scroll down the ‘Center Responses to Specific Requests’ until you find the Financing and Funding section. http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/ "FastWEB" FastWEB is the largest online scholarship search available, with 600,000 scholarships representing over one billion in scholarship dollars. It provides students with accurate, regularly updated information on scholarships, grants, and fellowships suited to their goals and qualifications, all at no cost to the student. Students should be advised that FastWEB collects and sells student information (such as name, address, e-mail address, date of birth, gender, and country of citizenship) collected through their site. http://www.fastweb.com/ "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 "One finds repeated demands for proficiency in the three Rs, for clear, logical thinking, and for higher standards of achievement in science, mathematics, history, literature, and the like. One searches in vain for discussions of love or calls for mastery of the three Cs of care, concern, and connection." -Jane Roland Martin (author/educator), "The Schoolhome: Rethinking Schools for Changing Families" Diane Rosenthal NIFL Assessment List moderator LVA-SG Executive Director dianerlva@aol.com
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