Return-Path: <nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id g68CijX14787; Mon, 8 Jul 2002 08:44:45 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 8 Jul 2002 08:44:45 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <NCBBKFFJMKFIFAGAFGNEAELIDCAA.jlee@famlit.org> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Jon Lee" <jlee@famlit.org> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-FAMILY:1219] PEN Weekly NewsBlast for July 5, 2002 X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2911.0) Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 16971 Lines: 321 I am forwarding the PEN Weekly NewsBlast for this week as all of the contents are valuable to family literacy and I found myself cutting and pasting all of it into a brief for you...so here it is! Jon Public Education Network Weekly NewsBlast "America’s Favorite Free Newsletter on Improving Public Education" *************************************************************************** A NEW KIND OF PATRIOTISM A study of the word patriotism reveals an eloquent simplicity at its roots: To hold a love and devotion for one's country. Devotion knows no boundaries of skin color or religion, of economic class or geographic lines. In a much needed rethinking of patriotism, Rich Harwood suggests that people must bring their whole selves to public life -- as devotion cannot be fulfilled simply by going through the motions of rituals or halfway actions. Genuine patriotism flows from a love of nation so deep that one is willing to search for what is good and right, especially when the path is hard, and when issues get confusing or tough or feel downright uncomfortable. Blind acceptance, falling in line, resignation, avoiding differences -- these are the enemies of patriotism. There is much unfinished work to do in our nation and communities: ensuring that all children receive a good education, tackling racism, learning to live with increasing diversity, making sure all people and all perspectives have a place at the public table. We need strong and healthy politics and public life to determine how we will do this work. http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0703/p11s01-coop.html OVERCOMING OUR "COMFORTABLE INDIFFERENCE" Those who exercise power in this pluralistic society sometimes "lack a sense of their role as leaders, a sense of the obligations which they have incurred as a result of the eminence they have achieved. ...Or may well recognize their own leadership role with respect to their own special segment of the community but be unaware of their responsibility to the larger community." In this challenge to citizens and communities, David Broder reminds us of our individual and collective democratic responsibilities by invoking the ideas of the late John Gardner who wrote, "Most Americans welcome the voice that lifts them out of themselves. They want to be better people. They want to help make this a better country. When the American spirit awakens, it transforms worlds. But it does not awaken without a challenge." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16620-2002Jul2.html VOUCHERS STILL FACE LONG ROAD Lawmakers in eight states are poised to push school voucher legislation, now that the Supreme Court has ruled that these programs do not violate the Constitution's requirement of separation of church and state. But parents should not expect their local parochial school to begin offering taxpayer-subsidized slots in the first grade this fall. States first would have to devise such programs and the political process to put them in place inevitably will be slow. California, Texas, Colorado, Minnesota, Arizona, Indiana, Virginia and Utah are ready to move. And on Capitol Hill, House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, plans to introduce a voucher program for students in the District of Columbia. Even supporters of vouchers -- or school-choice programs, as they call them -- say it could take months or even a year or two for state legislatures to develop similar programs. Further complicating matters is the question of whether religious and private schools that take government money must comply with laws on disability and civil rights." The real debate now rests with the American people, state by state," said Wendy Puriefoy, president of the Public Education Network. http://news.findlaw.com/ap_stories/a/w/1152/6-27-2002/20020627153003_09.html PUTTING IT IN PERSPECTIVE: THE PHONY WAR OVER VOUCHERS Andrew J. Rotherham explains how the Zelman decision will undoubtedly draw new attention to the "phony war" over small, marginal voucher programs already underway around the country. It's a phony war for three reasons: First, most voucher proposals are little more than publicly financed private-school scholarship programs for low-income students; they will not drive large-scale change in urban school districts, and are thus -- at best -- short-term fixes for a small number of students. Second, the disproportionate amount of energy and attention devoted to choice -- by both sides -- distracts from other important reform issues, such as the need to change how we recruit, train, and compensate teachers; the need to improve school finance systems; and the need to expand access and quality in pre-K education. Finally, both sides in many debates over vouchers erroneously assume that you cannot have school choice without sacrificing the equal access and accountability for results that accompany public schools. http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?knlgAreaID=110&subsecid=181&contentid=25 0627 TEACHERS & PARENT GROUPS CRITICIZE VOUCHER RULING Critics, including teachers unions, say vouchers drain money from public schools and too often end up supporting religious schools. Both the NEA and the smaller American Federation of Teachers have vowed to defeat voucher proposals nationwide. National PTA President Shirley Igo said her organization would join "in strong opposition" to vouchers. NEA President Bob Chase called the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling "dubious," also invoking Supreme Court rulings on segregation. "Because the Court can say that vouchers are constitutional -- just as the Court for 60 years said that segregated schools were constitutional -- that does not make it right," he said. "And it certainly does not make it wise public policy." http://fyi.cnn.com/2002/fyi/teachers.ednews/07/03/vouchers.teachers.ap/index .html VOUCHERS ARE CONSTITUTIONAL & INEVITABLE As we look to the future, we learn little by knowing that vouchers are constitutional. Can vouchers ever succeed in the face of such powerful opposition from teacher unions? The answer has its roots in the inner city -- where schools are often abysmally bad, and where disadvantaged children are systematically denied the education they need to have productive lives. This is the great tragedy of American education, and everyone agrees major reforms are called for. Terry Moe argues that eventually the teachers' unions will be isolated in their opposition -- powerful, but not powerful enough to stop vouchers from taking root. This process will take many years to work itself out, but it will gradually transform American education. The result will not be a full-blown voucher system. It will simply be an evolutionary -- and better -- version of what we have today: a system that retains a strong role for government, but that uses choice and competition to empower the powerless, to breathe new life into moribund schools, and to bring quality education to everyone regardless of status or class. http://www.christiansciencemonitor.com/cgi-bin/aol/2002/0702/p09s03-coop.htm l WHY AMERICA HATES VOUCHERS Democrats are in a highly compromised position on education. If the voucher fight forces Democrats into a full embrace of teacher union goals, they will suffer in the long run. That’s because the union agenda is not the reform agenda, and while Americans don't want to voucherize education, they do want to reform it. According Jonathan Alter, the best way to do that is through charter schools (public schools set up independent of local school boards), which introduce some competition into the system without vouchers, "Without admitting it, the teachers’ unions are trying to undercut charter schools in state legislatures across the country. They fear losing their stranglehold. Democrats need to fight their long-standing allies on this, or lose any credibility on school reform." http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_email.asp?/news/773724.asp TESTING ACCOUNTABILITY & INDEPENDENCE The standards, assessment, and accountability movement runs counter to our country's strongly held preference throughout its history for the local control of schools, writes Patrick Bassett. Throughout the United States, people who work in the media and the government are calling for rigorous, mandatory, and universal testing to counter what is perceived as the failure of the American education system. President Bush's campaign to "leave no child behind" is a vehicle by which the federal government intends to drive schools forward. What worries many who work in education, however, is that high-stakes testing may be driving good schools backward rather than forward with a one-size-fits-all approach to student assessment and school accountability. Those who understand curriculum and instruction, and who are rightfully skeptical about the value of standardized tests in general, also worry very much about the deleterious impact of the movement on children. With all the memorization and test preparation, will students still be taught to think critically? Will they learn to love learning? http://www.edweek.com/ew/newstory.cfm?slug=41bassett.h21 AWESOME LEARNING? While some adults may shake their heads at the changing lexicon of students, Sara Matthews noticed much the same phenomenon in the language of educators. The current word of fashionable choice is "rigorous." All schools proudly claim to be "rigorous," and all teachers within schools are eager to have their classes and curricula be rigorous. Indeed, rigorous schools, rigorous classrooms, and a rigorous curriculum are all in keeping with current recommendations. "When you don't know a word, look it up," Ms. Matthews tells her students. So, taking her own advice, she went to the dictionary and found these definitions of rigorous: 1. very strict or harsh, 2. very severe or sharp. How did the word "rigorous" came to be the mantra of modern-day education -- and what does it say about us? http://m1e.net/c?5168660-7i6KuGSwXOkBc%4039360-zWNjPOOaQd4mo THE QUESTION OF THE STUDENT IN EDUCATIONAL REFORM In pursuing the goals of educational reform over the past several decades, educational policy makers have focused on teachers, administrators, and school structures as keys to higher educational achievement. As the would-be beneficiaries of reform, students, and their interaction with the educational system, have been almost entirely overlooked in the pursuit of educational excellence. Yet, as David Ericson and Frederick Ellett, Jr. argue, students are as important as educators in bringing about higher educational achievement. In this interesting analysis, the authors argue that it is students -- their goals, motivations, and conceptions of the good life -- that may well prove to be the undoing of the educational reform movement http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v10n31/ HIGHER PAY IN HARD-TO-STAFF SCHOOLS: THE CASE FOR FINANCIAL INCENTIVES Increasing numbers of states and school districts are turning to financial incentives as a strategy to attract and retain good teachers. What do we know about the effectiveness of using financial incentives as a policy remedy? Can more money overcome teacher reluctance to work in hard-to-staff schools? Can we afford to pay the price? More importantly, can we afford not to? http://www.aasa.org/issues_and_insights/issues_dept/index.htm LEADERSHIP FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT What kinds of leadership strategies bring about meaningful and long-lasting school reform? Leadership for School Improvement probes this question and challenges educators to expand conventional notions of leadership. The report synthesizes some of the most current literature on leadership and offers ideas and suggestions that may serve as the basis of further study of effective leadership strategies. While many leadership organizations have identified standards for leaders, few have addressed the characteristics leaders need in order to guide organizations through fundamental change -- the type that typically involves altering the very essence or identity of a system. Fundamental change, according to the report, often requires leaders to question deeply held assumptions and long-term practices. This comprehensive report concludes that educators must reconceptualize leadership as something larger than one person with a specific set of traits or skills; it also involves building the leadership capacity of the community of teachers, students, parents, and administrators. http://www.mcrel.org/products/school-improve/leadership.asp |---------------GRANT AND FUNDING INFORMATION--------------| "Teaching Tolerance" Grants of up to $2,000 are available to K-12 teachers from the Teaching Tolerance project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit group that fights discrimination. The grants are awarded for activities promoting diversity, peacemaking, community service, or other aspects of tolerance education. Requests should include a typed, 500-word description of the activity and the proposed budget. Application deadline: ongoing. http://www.teachingtolerance.org "Democracy.org" The Democracy.org mission statement is to promote education for democratic citizenship, create and strengthen learning organizations, assist organizations and individuals to make and act on decisions based on ethical principals, and promote character education and service learning. The website provides hundreds of links for grantseekers and resources for nonprofit organizations. http://www.democracy.org "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 "When I came to understand that there are mythic patterns in all our lives, I knew that all of us, often unbeknownst to ourselves, are engaged in a drama of soul which we were told was reserved for gods, heroes, and saints." -Deena Metzger (author), "Miracle at Canyon de Chelly" ===========PEN NewsBlast========== The PEN Weekly NewsBlast is a free e-mail newsletter featuring school reform and school fundraising resources. The PEN NewsBlast is the property of Public Education Network, a national association of 70 local education funds working to improve public school quality in low-income communities nationwide. There are currently 44,505 subscribers to the PEN Weekly NewsBlast. Please forward this e-mail to anyone who enjoys free updates on education news and grant alerts. Some links in the PEN Weekly NewsBlast change or expire on a daily or weekly basis. Some links may also require local Web site registration. To view past issues of the PEN Weekly NewsBlast, visit: http://www.publiceducation.org/news/signup.htm To subscribe or unsubscribe, visit: http://www.publiceducation.org/news/signup.htm If you would like an article or news about your local education fund, public school, or school reform organization featured a future issue of PEN Weekly NewsBlast, send a note to HSchaffer@PublicEducation.org Andrew Smith is a regular contributor to the PEN Weekly NewsBlast. ---------- Howie Schaffer Managing Editor Public Education Network 601 Thirteenth Street, NW #900N Washington, DC 20005 202-628-7460 202-628-1893 fax www.PublicEducation.org --- You are currently subscribed to newsblast as: jlee@famlit.org For subscription changes please visit: http://www.PublicEducation.org/news/signup.htm
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