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 g6CBSvX02342; Fri, 12 Jul 2002 07:28:57 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 12 Jul 2002 07:28:57 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <NEBBKBCHKLLBJPDLNKHFAECPCBAA.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:1226] Clips and Cross Posts 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: 7332 Lines: 131 Good Morning! From: Public Education Network Weekly NewsBlast "America’s Favorite Free Newsletter on Improving Public Education" SHOCK THERAPY FOR A DYSFUNCTIONAL SCHOOL SYSTEM Three of Pittsburgh’s premier foundations recently announced that they have lost all faith in the leadership of the Pittsburgh Public Schools. Bottom line: The Grable Foundation, Heinz Endowments and Pittsburgh Foundation are suspending all funding to the district effective immediately. We're not talking about a few thousand bucks here. This is millions of dollars providing dozens of crucial programs that the district cannot finance on its own. Cutting off funding is a very concrete act on the part of the foundations, but it also carries a larger message. School board members are not just accountable to the few thousand people in their districts who voted for them. They are accountable to a vast support network upon which the schools rely -- a network that cares deeply about improving the quality of public education in the city, that is willing to invest millions of dollars toward that end, but that will not sit idly by while the people in charge trash the place. http://www.post-gazette.com/columnists/20020710sallycol2p2.asp THE VOUCHER EXPERIMENT The expansion of voucher programs will require action by federal, state, and local governments. Some may move in this direction, others will not. Public opinion is far from clear on vouchers. The public mood tends to favor choice on all sorts of issues, education included, yet the public's attitude toward vouchers is ambivalent at best. And while some opinion polls indicate strong interest, recent voucher initiatives in Michigan and California were overwhelmingly defeated. Paul Reville, of the Pew Forum at Harvard University and a Public Education Network board member, writes about how the voucher movement is sometimes presented as an alternative to standards-based reform, the predominant strategy for school reform both locally and nationally. He concludes that any future experiments with vouchers will make standards more important than ever before as standards become the instrument for measuring the success of students in voucher schools. He also writes about the need for voucher schools to become thoroughly accountable for the appropriate stewardship and expenditure of public money, responsible for ensuring equal access and nondiscriminatory admissions policies, and accountable for student learning in the same way that mainstream public schools are held accountable: periodic testing of students. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/184/oped/The_voucher_experiment+.shtml DO PRIVATE SCHOOLS WANT TO TEACH DISADVANTAGED KIDS? This article by education pundit and voucher supporter Chester E. Finn wonders why private schools haven't cheered the recent U.S. Supreme Court's voucher decision. Finn tacitly confirms voucher critics' observation that private schools can't handle and don't want the disadvantaged students whom vouchers are supposed to benefit. He adds that the private school community apparently fears the regulation and accountability requirements that would probably accompany government funds. http://www.edexcellence.net/gadfly/v02/gadfly25.html#checker1 I think the author has left out the critical role that parents play... THE REAL CAUSES OF HIGHER ACHIEVEMENT Too many educators suffer from the assumption that student achievement is largely a function of factors over which we have little or no control. The logic of this assumption is compelling: well-situated schools perform well; poor and minority schools don't -- and can't. It is time to dump this assumption. It should be replaced by a new one: Achievement is primarily a function of two things: (1) What we teach and (2) how we teach. How strong is the evidence for this assumption? Mike Schmoker examines strategies for bringing higher achievement within reach for most schools. http://www.sedl.org/pubs/sedletter/v14n02/1.html RAISING SCHOOL STANDARDS & CUTTING BUDGETS: HUH? Congress and the president have demanded that states raise academic standards, and every state has now complied. Yet state leaders have also recognized that disadvantaged students need extra help to achieve these higher standards. Now almost every state has a budget crisis. Programs that were added in recent years are either being cut or likely to be cut soon. As reductions occur, most state and federal officials have ducked an obvious challenge: if programs like summer school and preschool and class size reduction were needed to reach higher standards, does cutting these programs call the standards into question? Richard Rothstein concludes that higher standards and adequate finances cannot be separated. State budget crises are testing this relationship and, sooner or later, something will have to give. Without more money or lower standards, student failures are bound to increase. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/10/education/10LESS.html THE MESSAGE OF MIDDLE SCHOOL REFORM "Shooting for the Sun," a new collection of Hayes Mizell's speeches and essays on improving student success in the middle grades, is now available online for free. Mizell is director of the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation's Program for Student Achievement. He discusses the challenges that teachers and principals face in their work to improve student achievement in grades six, seven and eight and offers suggestions on how schools can more effectively educate our nation's youth. Download this insightful book or order a free copy. http://www.emcf.org/programs/student/shootingforthesun.htm RATE YOUR SCHOOL’S PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development provides a 20-minute online survey to assist visitors in planning a comprehensive professional development program for their school or district. The survey automatically tabulates the participant's results and makes recommendations on areas of strength and areas that might be worked into a professional development plan. http://www.ascd.org/trainingopportunities/ossd/planning.html TECHNOLOGY BRIEFS FOR "NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND" The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation emphasizes the importance of leveraging the power of technology in all areas of K-12 education, from reading to science to special education. As a result, education leaders at the state and local levels are expected to develop plans that effectively employ technology to enhance learning and increase student achievement. Accurate, up-to-date information about using technology to improve curriculum, assessment, and teaching is vital to inform educational leaders as they plan their NCLB programs. In response, the Northeast and Islands Regional Technology Consortium (NEIRTEC) has created a series of "Technology Briefs for NCLB planners." The topics were selected to reflect the U.S. Department of Education requirements for state and local applications, and they provide NCLB planners with effective strategies, key questions to consider, and selected resources that will inform the application and planning process. http://www.neirtec.org/products/techbriefs/default.asp Have a good day! Jon Lee Training Specialist National Center for Family Literacy 325 West Main St. Suite 200 Louisville, KY 40202 502-584-1133 Ext. 175 mailto:jlee@famlit.org
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