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 i16FteI25649; Fri, 6 Feb 2004 10:55:40 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 6 Feb 2004 10:55:40 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <001501c3ecc8$8ea3a710$32881a0a@famlit.net> 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: "Noemi Aguilar" <naguilar@famlit.org> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-FAMILY:1783] Clipa&Crossposts X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook, Build 10.0.4510 Content-Type: text/plain; Status: RO Content-Length: 7039 Lines: 127 Colleagues, Included below are many thought provoking ideas from: Public Education Network Weekly NewsBlast PARTNERSHIP FOR READING The Partnership for Reading is offering free literacy resources for educators, teacher educators, administrators, policymakers, support agencies and families. Partnership materials focus on the contributions of scientifically based research to improving the quality of reading instruction for children, adolescents, and adults. Among the resources now available are: a new booklet for parents to help their children in grades K-3 become successful readers; a book geared to parents of children from birth through preschool; and a guide to help teachers become discerning consumers of education programs and materials. All of these documents and more can be downloaded for free at: http://www.nifl.gov/partnershipforreading. THE VOICE OF THE NEW TEACHER New teachers are vital members of the teaching workforce. The demand for new teachers has been climbing steadily since the 1990s and is expected to continue in the foreseeable future given the increases in teacher retirement and student enrollment, lower pupil/teacher ratios, and rising teacher attrition rates. A new report from Public Education Network shares the opinions and perspectives of beginning teachers on their first years in the profession. This publication is an excellent tool for developing authentic and targeted teacher mentoring and professional development programs and effective teacher recruitment efforts. http://www.publiceducation.org/PENreports.asp LATINOS GIVE HIGH MARKS TO PUBLIC EDUCATION Latinos are generally more positive about public education and school improvement than African Americans and whites, according to a new survey of Latino attitudes toward education from the Pew Hispanic Center and the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. More than half of Latino respondents say they would give U.S. public schools a grade of A or B, and 45 percent believe schools have improved in the last five years, compared with 31 percent of African Americans and 25 percent of whites. At the local level, more than three-quarters of Latinos say teachers have a good understanding of their child's academic strengths and overall development, and nearly all Latino parents (95 percent) say it is important that their children go to college. However, Hispanic students are still not performing as well as their white peers. Survey respondents cited several reasons: Latino parents do not push their kids to work hard (53 percent); schools are too quick to label Latino students with behavior or learning problems (51 percent); and white teachers are unable to bridge cultural divides (47 percent). When asked about education reform, 67 percent of Latinos agree that states should set performance standards for schools, and 75 percent support the use of standardized tests. http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/pomr012604nr.cfm STUDENTS DRAW UP SCHOOL OF DREAMS Six-year-old Jessica Oliphant wants a Burger King in her new school. LaTroy Lewis, 10, would like two swimming pools -- one indoors and one outside. And Dominic Woods, a fourth-grader, thinks the new elementary school should go through eighth grade rather than just fifth. "If we make a school like this, I don't want to leave," the 9-year-old said. These are a few of the ideas that students have come up with for a new building that will replace their Ohio school. First-, third- and fourth-graders wrote letters and drew pictures illustrating their vision for the school. Their work will be shared with school and city leaders in an upcoming public meeting. Principal Carolyn Brown said there initially was some resistance to the idea of a new school from people in the community -- many of whom have had generations educated there. But she said the excitement of the students helped to overcome any misgivings. Brown said she has been impressed with the students' ideas, which are on display throughout the school. "For me, the whole idea is to produce better learners,'' she said. "Their needs have to be met. The best way to find their needs is to ask them." http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/7848517.htm NEW GUIDE TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS PUTS PARENTS IN THE KNOW A new trilingual parent guide to Miami-Dade County Public Schools, which includes a wide range of program information and more than 100 phone numbers and Internet sites for additional help, will be delivered Friday to nearly every home in the county. The booklet covers everything from pre-kindergarten registration to high school graduation, reports Matthew Pinzur. It explains the many standardized tests given in public school, provides enrollment information for college-scholarship plans and details how to address problems in the classroom. It also answers questions about remedial programs, special education, gifted classes and magnet school applications. "We all know parents want to be armed with the best tools to help their children's future," said Linda Lecht of The Education Fund, a local education fund, which raised more than $170,000 to print 500,000 copies. http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/7860058.htm THE TROUBLE WITH TEACHER COLLABORATION A growing body of research points to the critical importance of teacher collaboration if schools hope to achieve and sustain improvements in student performance. But institutionalizing collaborative working environments requires teachers to function as teams and abandon their traditional norms of isolationism and individualism. This interpretative study, published in the on-line research journal "Current Issues in Education," involved teachers in 45 North Louisiana schools. It suggests that while some schools and school districts are characterized by elements of the "learning community," others remain "largely mired in customary practices that are counterproductive to realizing the newer collaborative standards." Participating teachers report that, despite the rhetoric, major impediments to joint professional work remain and they make suggestions for better meeting the continuing collaborative challenge. http://cie.ed.asu.edu/volume6/number15/ "BellSouth Foundation" The BellSouth Foundation is now accepting concept papers for its 2004 Opportunity Grants. Opportunity Grants are available for unsolicited proposals that compliment Special Initiatives or issues where the BellSouth Foundation is currently focusing its work. Focus areas for this year include: college-going minorities; leadership and education policy; teaching quality; technology & learning; No Child Left Behind; and business/education partnerships. Initial concept papers are due March 1, 2004 and grants will be awarded in May. For complete grant guidelines and more information, visit: http://www.bellsouthfoundation.org/grants/og/index.html Noemi Aguilar National Center for Family Literacy 325 West Main Street, Suite 300 Louisville, KY 40202-4237 Phone: 502/584-1133 ext 168 Fax: 502/584-0172 E-mail: naguilar@famlit.org
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