ED Review (03/25/05)
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Subject: ED Review (03/25/05)
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2005 09:52:08 -0500
ED REVIEW
March 25, 2005
...a bi-weekly update on U.S. Department of Education activities relevant to
the Intergovernmental and Corporate community and other stakeholders
________________________________________________________
NCLB UPDATE (http://www.ed.gov/nclb/)
According to the first-ever report to Congress on the English language
acquisition and academic achievement of limited English proficient (LEP)
students, all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have
developed and implemented English language proficiency standards and
annually assessed English language learners. (Before No Child Left Behind,
only seven states had such standards, and they were not connected with
academic content.) Moreover, under the revamped Title III program, states
served more than four million LEP students in Fiscal Year 2003,
approximately 80 percent of the LEP students nationwide. (Before No Child
Left Behind, when Title III was changed from competitive grants to formula
grants, only 15 percent of these students were being served through federal
LEP programs.) As for the overriding goal of Title III -- ensuring that LEP
students attain proficiency in English -- of the 45 states that provided
proficiency goals and performance data (2002-03 to 2003-04), 41 met at least
some of their targets for English language proficiency, and 447,905 students
transitioned out of language instruction programs into mainstream
classrooms. "NCLB reflects a fundamental transformation in the relationship
between the federal government and the states with regard to the education
of LEP students," said Kathleen Leos, a top official in the Department's
Office of English Language Acquisition. "As a result, we are no longer
funding programs, we are funding children." FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE GO
TO http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/oela/biennial05/. (A nine-element profile is
available for each state at the bottom of the page.)
Building on the enormous success of last year's Teacher-to-Teacher
Initiative workshops, the Department is planning six 2005 summer workshops
for teachers and principals: Cincinnati, OH (6/20-22), Phoenix, AZ
(6/27-29), Minneapolis, MN (7/11-13), Tampa, FL (7/18-20), Bethesda, MD
(7/25-27), and San Jose, CA (8/1-3). Some of the nation's best teachers and
researchers will share their strategies for raising student achievement and
educate teachers of the latest, most effective research-based practices.
Breakout sessions will cover the content areas of reading/literacy, math,
science, and history. Other sessions will discuss the No Child Left Behind
Act, English language learners, special education, and school leadership.
Registration is free; participants are responsible for their own lodging and
transportation. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE GO TO
http://www.ed.gov/teachers/how/tools/initiative/. (An application for
presenters is available on the same page.)
Also, in case you missed it, Dr. Arthur Levine, president of Columbia
University's Teachers College, released the first in a four-part series of
studies on schools of education. This study found the quality of school
leadership programs ranges from "inadequate to appalling." FOR MORE
INFORMATION, PLEASE GO TO http://www.edschools.org/.
________________________________________________________
APPROPRIATIONS TESTIMONY
This month, Secretary Spellings has testified before both House (March 10 --
http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/2005/03/03102005.html) and Senate (March 2
-- http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/2005/03/03022005.html) education
appropriations subcommittees on the President Bush's Fiscal Year 2006 budget
proposal. "The President's budget accomplishes several important goals,"
she said in her opening remarks. "The first is fiscal discipline. In his
February 2 State of the Union Address, the President underscored the need to
restrain spending in order to sustain our economic growth and prosperity....
[The FY 2006 budget's] savings and reforms will help us achieve the
President's goal of cutting the budget deficit in half by 2009." "Second,"
she continued, "the budget would expand the promise of the No Child Left
Behind Act to our nation's high schools," including $1.24 billion for a new
High School Intervention initiative and $250 million for high school
assessments. Third, the Secretary noted that "the budget continues the
solid progress begun under the No Child Left Behind Act," with increases for
Title I and special education grants. "Finally," she concluded, "the
President's budget makes college affordability a high priority," with $19
billion over 10 years in mandatory funding for Pell Grants, resulting from
student loan reforms.
Note: What does the President's budget proposal mean for your state?
One-pagers are posted at
http://www.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/statefactsheets/.
________________________________________________________
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
More money? A sundry mix of grant competitions are in progress. The Jacob
K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Program assists students
traditionally under-represented in gifted and talented programs,
particularly economically disadvantaged, limited English proficient, and
disabled students, to help diminish the achievement gap at the highest
levels of performance. Either states or school districts may apply (closes
4/22). The Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative supports efforts by
communities to implement comprehensive education, juvenile justice, law
enforcement, mental health, and social services for youth. However, this
year, only districts or consortia of districts that have not previously
received such funds or services are eligible (closes 4/29). Teacher
Recruitment Grants allow states and partnerships to address the challenge of
America's teacher shortage by making significant systemic changes in the way
teachers are recruited, prepared, and supported to teach in high-need
schools. Partnerships must comprise of an institution of higher education
with an eligible teacher preparation program, a school of arts and sciences,
and a high-need school district (closes 5/2). http://www.ed.gov/GrantApps/
lists all the competitions that are currently underway and provides links to
electronic application packages, forms, and other basic information.
________________________________________________________
PROFILE: SOPHOMORES
The National Center for Education Statistics' "A Profile of the American
High School Sophomore in 2002" examines the alignment of tenth-graders lofty
expectations for their future education and their actual secondary school
preparation. Indeed, in 2002, 72 percent of the nation's sophomores planned
to get a bachelor's degree or higher and 83 percent rated getting a good
education as "very important." But, just under two-thirds of whites who
planned to complete a four-year degree were proficient in reading, while 31
percent of blacks and 35 percent of Hispanics were reading at level two
(simple inference). And, only 33 percent of whites, six percent of blacks,
and 12 percent of Hispanics were proficient in math. "This report shows
that we as a society have done an excellent job selling the dream of
attending college," Secretary Spelling said about the profile. "But we have
to make sure that we are preparing high school students to succeed once they
get in the door." Interestingly, twice as many females (20 percent) as
males (12 percent) expected to complete a doctoral or professional degree
and blacks (62 percent) and Hispanics (53 percent) were much more likely
than whites (47 percent) to affirm getting good grades as something very
important to them. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE GO TO
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2005338.
Also: NCES has also been busy on the higher education front. FOR A FULL
LIST OF RECENT PRODUCTS, PLEASE GO TO
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/search.asp?searchcat=pubslast90.
________________________________________________________
MUSEUM AND LIBRARY AWARDS
Last week, First Lady Laura Bush presented the 2004 National Awards for
Museum and Library Service to three museums and three libraries. The
winners are very different, (large and small, urban and rural), but they
have one thing in common: each have found innovative ways of using their
collections and programs to provide lifelong learning and tackle critical
community concerns. For example, the Zoological Society of San Diego's
mentorship programs for middle school, high school, and college students
offer engaging and rigorous conservation studies that can lead to career
opportunities. Also, through the InternQuest Program, pre-collegiate
candidates can explore careers in a variety of science disciplines, such as
animal behavior, genetics, and pathology. The Zoo Society's assemblies and
outreach programs served 57,257 school children in 2003. FOR MORE
INFORMATION, PLEASE GO TO
http://www.imls.gov/whatsnew/current/031505.htm.
________________________________________________________
NEW LISTSERV
The Public School Choice and Supplemental Educational Services Listserv is a
free service offered by the Department's Office of Innovation and
Improvement. Subscribers interested in issues related to the school choice
and supplemental service provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act
automatically receive periodic notification of information posted on the
Department's web site relevant to those issues. FOR MORE INFORMATION,
PLEASE GO TO http://www.ed.gov/nclb/choice/help/signupform.html.
________________________________________________________
QUOTE TO NOTE
"I like to remind my colleagues...that the hard work of closing the
achievement gap and providing every child with a quality education still
belongs to state and local governments -- just as the Founding Fathers
wanted when they designed the Constitution.... No Child Left Behind
preserves this balance of power. It encourages states to seek innovative
solutions because we know the best new ideas come from states and not from
Washington. At the federal level, our job is to simply provide the broad
strategic goals and record levels of funding to help states get the job
done. We want to be as flexible as the law permits. At the same time,
there are some bright lines.... Without assessment, there will be no way of
measuring the effectiveness of our reforms. Without measurement, there can
be no accountability for results. And without accountability, children will
continue to fall behind."
-- Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings (3/14/05)
________________________________________________________
UPCOMING EVENTS
The next "Innovations in Education Exchange," on choosing a school, is
scheduled for April 12 (10:00 a.m.-12:00 noon) in the Department's
auditorium (400 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C.). To RSVP, send
your name, title, organization address, and telephone number to
mailto:oii.rsvp@xxxxxx by April 5.
The next "Education News Parents Can Use" broadcast, on early childhood
development, is scheduled for April 19 (8:00 p.m. ET). FOR MORE
INFORMATION, PLEASE GO TO http://www.ed.gov/news/av/video/edtv/.
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