McRel Rural E-News, July 2007

1. Focus on 2 R’s Cuts Time for the Rest, Report Says The New York Times
Under pressure to increase student achievement in reading and math, many schools are cutting class time for other subjects, according to this report from the Center on Education Policy. The study found that 44 percent of districts have decreased the time allocated to science, social studies, history, and even recess to extend daily reading and math instruction.

2. City Schools Hire Teachers With Stronger Credentials Education Week
Several new reports suggest that city schools are hiring more qualified teachers. Under pressure to provide "highly qualified teachers," many districts have raised their standards. Teachers who do not hold a standard teaching license are also more likely to be enrolled in a program to upgrade their licenses. For "popular" teaching positions in schools with acceptable standardized test scores, the number of applicants has increased significantly, which allows administrators to hire only the most qualified teachers.

3. Study: Federal tutoring helping students Boston.com News
A new study conducted by independent investigators for the Department of Education finds that students who receive tutoring under NCLB were able to improve their reading and math test scores. Although students in chronically failing schools are given the option to move to a different school, the study found that few students chose this option.

4. Teacher-Quality Groups Lay Out Compensation 'Essentials' Education Week
A new report from the Working Group on Teacher Quality suggests that poorly-designed performance-pay systems can be worse for teachers than not having any merit-based payment system. To be successful, merit-pay systems must take into consideration not only student achievement, but also observations, professional development, and teacher advancement opportunities.

5. Power Walkthrough™ software and training
McREL
Principals know that to serve as instructional leaders, they should conduct regular classroom observations. How can they make the most of these important but brief encounters? McREL’s Power Walkthrough™ software and training allows school leaders to turn brief observations into “power walkthroughs” by using palm-held devices loaded with software based on our popular title, Classroom Instruction that Works. For schools, districts or intermediate agencies that purchase the software for their administrators, McREL provides a two-day training session to ensure school leaders understand and identify the strategies, know how to upload and analyze the data they collect on desktop computers, and can use this information to coach teachers to higher levels of performance.

6. McREL pre-conference sessions at T+L
National School Board Association
McREL staff members will present pre-conference sessions at the T+L conference in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 17–19. Presented by the National School Boards Association (NSBA), T+L provides a truly unique learning experience for teams of technology directors, superintendents, school board members, district administrators, principals, and lead teachers. This year, McREL will be presenting two pre-conference sessions on our new ASCD publication, Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works.

7. Teacher Leadership Certificate Program
Front Range BOCES
The Front Range Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) for Teacher Leadership in Denver, Colo., offers teachers an opportunity to extend their learning beyond the classroom in order to improve student learning. The Teacher Leadership Certificate Program prepares holders to succeed in leadership roles that assist colleagues in applying the knowledge and skills needed to improve student learning. The certificate program can be taken over two or more semesters and credit applies to select masters programs at the School of Education at the University of Colorado in Denver. For more details and a schedule of offerings, or to register for a class, please visit their website: www.frontrangeboces.org.

8. Professional Learning Communities Institute
Front Range BOCES
The Front Range Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) for Teacher Leadership in Denver, Colo., and the Colorado Consortium for Data-Driven Decisions (C2D3) are offering a three-day “Getting Started” Institute to help school teams and leaders in implementing Professional Learning Communities that help improve student learning. The full Institute will address such issues as building a learning team, creating a vision and goals, leading a culture of high performance and trust, and creating structures to support your goals. Participants can sign up for the full institute, the first day (Opening Session) or third day (Facilitating Professional Learning Communities for Leaders) only. For more details or to register for this event, please visit www.frontrangeboces.org or www.c2d3.org.

NEW FROM McREL

9. Webinar on district and principal leadership
McREL
Join school leaders across the country in a live, interactive Webinar series, District & Principal Leadership to Raise Student Achievement: What the Research Says, presented by Tim Waters, McREL president and CEO, and Jim Eck, senior director of the leadership services team. The four, 90-minute sessions—which take place on Aug. 28, Sept. 18, Sept. 25 and Oct. 9 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern standard time—focus on our research on highly effective superintendents and principals and offer an opportunity to ask questions and interact with other participants, all from the convenience of your own computer.

10. Webinar on Classroom Instruction that Works with English Language Learners
McREL
This Webinar brings to life the popular ASCD book, Classroom Instruction that Works with English Language Learners. Presented by one of its co-authors, Jane Hill, you’ll learn about McREL’s research-based instructional strategies and ways to adapt them for English language learners, the stages of language acquisition and their importance, ways to engage ELLs, how to set language objectives, and new ways to provide feedback. The two 2-hour sessions will take place on October 1 and 15 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern standard time. From the convenience of your own computer, you’ll see the PowerPoint presentation and be able to ask the speaker questions and interact with a nationwide audience.

11. Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works
McREL
Written by McREL’s educational technology experts and available through ASCD, this new companion book shows how technology can maximize the effectiveness of the proven, research-based instruction strategies found in Classroom Instruction that Works. This book guides readers in the use of a variety of technologies—such as word processing and spreadsheet applications, multimedia, data collection tools, communication software, and the Internet—with any grade level and subject. Choose from hundreds of lesson-planning ideas as you learn when to use technologies, which ones are
best for any given learning task, and how they help students use new learning strategies.

12. What Works for English Language Learners: A McREL Program for Instructional Leaders
McREL
Are your English language learners still struggling to reach proficiency? This is the professional development program that you—and they—have been waiting for! What Works for English Language Learners shows school leaders how to use research-based, innovative strategies and practices to focus their entire buildings on improving ELL achievement. Over 18 months, in five, 2-day sessions, you will learn about both the powerful instructional strategies of McREL’s ASCD publication Classroom Instruction that Works with English Language Learners and our ground-breaking research on effective principals, as reported in School Leadership that Works—a unique two-fold focus that will improve the achievement of every ELL in your school.

REPORT ROUNDUP

13. State Teacher Policy Yearbook 2007
National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ)
While the impact of NCLB is frequently evaluated, NCTQ researchers set out to study individual states' teacher policies, which have a significantly larger impact on teacher quality than any federal regulations do. This 5,600-page report is an encyclopedia for all 50 states, providing a 360-degree analysis of every state policy that impacts teacher quality.

14. Status of Education in Rural America
National Center for Education Statistics
This report outlines the status of rural education in America based on geographic location and distance to nearby urban areas. The report found that, for the 2003-04 school year, more than 50 percent of districts and 33 percent of schools were located in rural areas, although this represents only 20 percent of the total student population. In addition, the report found that more rural school students scored at or above at or above the Proficient level on the NAEP reading, math, and science assessments than their urban counterparts, although their scores were not as high as those of suburban students.

15. Design-Based Learning and Student Achievement
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
In a new study published in the Journal of the Learning Sciences, researchers sought to answer the question, "Does a project- or design-based approach to teaching about complex systems result in greater student learning than traditional instructional methods?" The study found that, when implemented properly, project- and design-based approaches lead to greater student learning than more traditional approaches.

16. The Cost of Teacher Turnover in Five School Districts
National Commission on Teaching and America's Future
Based on results from an 18-month study of teacher turnover costs in five states, the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future estimates that the national cost incurred from teacher turnover is as high as $7.3 billion. In addition to the lost money, teacher turnover diminishes teaching quality and impacts student achievement.