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Subject: [NIFL-FAMILY:1259] xpost EDINFO Nov. 7
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The following is crossposted from the Nov. 7 EDINFO.
Robin Jurczyk
NIFL-Family list moderator
rjurczyk@aol.com
*****************
**************
ED Initiatives...
*************************************************************
A biweekly look at progress on the Secretary's priorities
*********************************************************
November 7, 1997
> Helping All Children Read Well by the End of 3rd Grade
> Helping All Children Master the Foundations of
Mathematics by the End of 8th Grade
> Two Years of College & Lifelong Learning for All Students
> A Talented, Dedicated, Well-Prepared Teacher in
Every Classroom
> All Classrooms Connected to the Internet;
All Students Technologically Literate
> High Standards for All Students
> Budget
> New Online
------------------------------------------------------
HELPING ALL CHILDREN READ WELL BY THE END OF 3rd GRADE
------------------------------------------------------ More
than 800 colleges & universities have signed up to support
the America Reads Challenge by dedicating federal work-study
students to help children read well & independently by the
end of 3rd grade. One signatory, the University of
Minnesota, has arranged for federal work-study students to
tutor at 13 libraries, 14 recreation centers, elementary
schools & other after-school community organizations. Also,
the university alumni association is recruiting its members
for training & placement as tutors, or to work with parents
of students. The Minnesota Literacy Council is developing a
corps of adults who will be trained through the university
to help parents of children in the program support literacy
at home. VISTA, Retired & Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) &
AmeriCorps members will provide additional supportive
services. For more information on the America Reads
Challenge, please see:
http://www.ed.gov/inits/americareads/
-------------------------------------------
HELPING ALL CHILDREN MASTER THE FOUNDATIONS
OF MATHEMATICS BY THE END OF 8th GRADE
------------------------------------------- Too few students
in Dallas, the nation's 8th largest urban school district,
were attending college. And too few of those who *did*
attend were adequately prepared for college-level work. To
help turn this around, the O'Donnell Foundation developed
the Advanced Placement (AP) Incentives program. Under the
program, teachers are given financial incentives for
attending AP summer training & for teaching AP courses.
Students who complete an AP course take the AP exam at
half-cost (AP exams cost about $73). Those who earn a 3 or
better (on a 5-point scale) receive financial incentives &
are reimbursed for the cost of the exam.
In May 1995, the year before the program began, students
took 312 AP exams in mathematics, science & English. In May
1997, the 2nd year of the Dallas program, this number grew
to 1,750. The number of students scoring 3 or higher
(during that time period) rose from 139 to 559. For
information about additional promising efforts to help all
students master challenging mathematics, please see
"Mathematics Equals Opportunity":
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/math/
A RESOURCE KIT is now available to help schools & districts
benchmark their own mathematics achievement, teaching &
curriculum against what has been learned about international
standards from the most comprehensive international study of
education, the Third International Mathematics & Science
Study (TIMSS). The kit, "Attaining Excellence," offers
complete information about TIMSS, including a video of
representative teaching in the U.S., Japan & Germany; and it
focuses on practical decisions that superintendents,
administrators, teachers & curriculum specialists must make
about setting high standards & expectations, selecting
challenging curricula & materials, and encouraging best
teaching practices. It also suggests ways educators can
convey to parents, business & communities the importance of
mathematics achievement to students' future success. To
order the kit ($94.00) or for more information about TIMSS,
including the complete 8th-grade and 4th-grade reports,
please see the TIMSS web site: http://www.ed.gov/NCES/timss
or call (202) 219-1333. The kit may also be ordered from
the Government Printing Office (202) 512-1800 (stock number
065-000-01013-5).
---------------------------------------------------------
TWO YEARS OF COLLEGE & LIFELONG LEARNING FOR ALL STUDENTS
---------------------------------------------------------
The HOPE Scholarship will be discussed by Secretary Riley
during a November 10 teleconference (8:00 - 8:45 p.m. ET) on
"everything you need to know about federal financial aid
programs." These programs will include Pell Grants,
Stafford Loans, PLUS loans, consolidation loans, Federal
Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants, work-study
programs & Perkins loans. For more information on the
"Financial Aid Night" teleconference, please call 1-800-USA-
LEARN or see:
http://www.ed.gov/inits/stm/finaid.html
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently published a
notice (#97-60) providing taxpayers with guidance on the
HOPE Scholarship tax credit & other higher education-related
tax benefits provided by the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997. A
copy is at:
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/PPI/tra_qa.html
------------------------------------
A TALENTED, DEDICATED, WELL-PREPARED
TEACHER IN EVERY CLASSROOM
------------------------------------ The application packet
for the new National Awards Program for Model Professional
Development is now available. Schools & school districts
(pre-K-12, public or private) may apply for the program,
which is designed to identify & disseminate information
about outstanding professional development efforts that
provide evidence of improved student learning & increased
teacher effectiveness. Ten awards are expected to be made.
Applications must be received by January 15, 1998. For
complete information, including the application packet,
please see:
http://www.ed.gov/inits/TeachersWeb/
THIS MONTH'S SATELLITE TOWN MEETING, on November 18 (8:00-
9:00 p.m. ET), focuses on "Supporting Quality Teachers: A
Talented Teacher in Every Classroom." For satellite
coordinates, the registration form & other information,
please see http://www.ed.gov/inits/stm or call 1-800-USA-
LEARN. NASA Quest will redistribute the broadcast via the
Internet. For details, see:
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/stm
-----------------------------------------
ALL CLASSROOMS CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET;
ALL STUDENTS TECHNOLOGICALLY LITERATE
----------------------------------------- An effort to move
more than 70,000 surplussed federal computers into America's
neediest classrooms this year was announced last month by
the Vice President. A number of transportation systems &
movers are partnering with the Department of Defense to
transport donated computers, free of charge, from federal
agencies to classrooms under the "Computers for Learning"
effort. Schools & educational non-profit organizations can
sign up for the program at http://www.computers.fed.gov
This website also suggests how to find assistance if
computers require upgrading & how to contact volunteers with
technical computer knowledge. Schools & non-profits without
access to the Internet may register by calling
1-888-362-7870.
-------------------------------
HIGH STANDARDS FOR ALL STUDENTS
------------------------------- The Department invites
comments on proposed regulations for implementing the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
Amendments of 1997, passed with bipartisan support in
Congress & signed by President Clinton on June 4. The
proposed regulations, which were published in the October 22
Federal Register, aim to help improve results for America's
5.8 million children with disabilities by promoting early
identification, early provision of services & ensuring
access to general education curriculum & reforms. Comments
may be provided in writing via email (comments@ed.gov) or
regular mail (Thomas Irvin, Office of Special Education &
Rehabilitative Services, U.S. Department of Education, Room
3090, Mary E. Switzer Building 330 C Street, SW, Washington,
D.C. 20202). Also, 3 of 7 public meetings for oral comment
(noted in the October 17 "ED Initiatives" update) remain:
November 18 in Denver, November 21 in San Francisco &
November 24 in suburban Chicago (Northbrook, IL). After
reviewing comments, the Department will publish final
regulations to carry out IDEA.
For a copy of the Federal Register notice, please see:
http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg/proprule.htm (or call
1-800-USA-LEARN). The IDEA homepage is at:
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/IDEA/index.html
STW GRANTS TOTALLING $15.9 million were awarded last month
by the Departments of Labor & Education to school-to-work
(STW) partnerships serving urban & rural areas,
out-of-school youth & Indian communities. The 32
Urban/Rural Opportunity Grants (UROGs) went to STW
partnerships in high-poverty communities, which often face
particular challenges in creating STW programs -- few large
employers, students who may be unaware of postsecondary
opportunities & who may be struggling against negative peer
pressure, and dropout rates sometimes exceeding 50%. The 11
Out-of-School Youth Grants were awarded to STW partnerships
to "reconnect" students no longer in school, as well as high
school graduates who are inadequately prepared, with
opportunities to reach high standards of academic
achievement & to receive employment training. The 6 STW
Indian Grants were awarded to combat particular problems
within Indian communities: high unemployment, few
high-skill & high-wage jobs, unequal access to education,
and remote locales that can limit career awareness.
Partnerships funded by all 3 of these STW programs aim to
provide every young person in their communities with the
academic skills, work-based learning opportunities &
exposure to career possibilities s/he will need to pursue
the high-skill, high-wage jobs of the future. For more
information, please see:
http://www.stw.ed.gov/pr/grant97.htm
------
BUDGET
------ The Department continues to operate at 1997 spending
levels, as required by the current continuing resolution
(CR). Congress is expected to work through the weekend &
possibly next week to pass the Labor-HHS-Education
appropriations bill, which will establish fiscal year 1998
funding levels for the Department. It is expected that this
bill will be signed into law before Congress ends this
legislative session & goes home until January 1998.
Meanwhile, Congress & the White House continue to work out
an agreement on voluntary national testing. We hope to be
able to report details on both the budget & voluntary
national testing next week.
----------
NEW ONLINE
----------
Try our new search engine! One of many improvements being
made in response to your comments on the "Internet Customer
Survey" (http://www.ed.gov/Survey/cust.html), this new
search engine is based on state-of-the art information
retrieval technology & provides faster, more accurate search
results.
http://www.ed.gov/search.html#full
The Department's strategic plan, submitted to Congress in
September 1997 in response to the Government Performance &
Results Act, is now available. "The U.S. Department of
Education Strategic Plan, 1998-2002" describes our goals,
objectives & strategies, and it includes performance
indicators for measuring progress.
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/StratPln/
"1996 Science Performance Standards Achievement Results for
the Nation & the States" and "What Do Students Know? 1996
NAEP Science Results for 4th, 8th & 12th Graders."
http://www.nagb.org/pub.html
----------------------------------------------------------
ED Initiatives is made possible by many contributors,
including Patricia Adelstein, Julie Anderson, Cindy Balmuth,
Jim Bradshaw, Anna Bryan-Borja, Melissa Chabran, Terry
Dozier, David Frank, Susan Frost, Sharon Horn, Diane B.
Jones, Peter Kickbush, Andrew Lauland, John Luczak, Andrea
McCurdy, Melinda Kitchell Malico, Dan Madzelan, Nancy Rhett,
Narric Rome, Keith Stubbs, David Thomas, Maureen Treacy,
Judy Wurtzel, Lina Younes, Sarah Zak & others. Please send
any comments to Kirk Winters in the Office of the Under
Secretary, U.S. Department of Education
(kirk_winters@ed.gov).
-----------------------------------------------------------
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