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RETURNS TO THE PUBLIC FROM INVESTING IN
EXCELLENT EDUCATION
Is excellent education for all America’s children a good investment?
We know that quality education is expensive, but poor and inadequate
education for substantial numbers of our young may have public and
social consequences that are even more costly. Do the benefits to
society of investing in improved outcomes for the most disadvantaged
students outweigh the costs? Often this debate is framed along
moral, altruistic lines. However, a new study has undertaken a
cost-benefit analysis of five leading interventions that have been
shown to significantly boost the high school graduation rates for
young black males, who are educationally and economically the
nation’s most at-risk population. The authors find that if the black
and white high school graduation rates were equalized through
interventions such as these -- an increase of 24,000 new high school
graduates each year -- society could save from $3.3 to $4.7 billion
for each annual cohort of 20-year-old black males in costs from
crime, health care, personal income and state and federal tax
revenue. More specifically, the net public benefit at age 20 for
each additional black male high school graduate is between $136,000
and $198,000, meaning that for every dollar invested in raising high
school completion among this group, there are two to four dollars in
public benefits. Ultimately, according to the study by Henry Levin,
Clive Belfield, Peter Muennig, and Cecilia Rouse, this is a case in
which greater equity produces greater efficiency in the use of
public resources. If there is any bias to the calculations, it has
been to keep estimates of the benefits conservative so as not to
overstate them. Even, so they show that the costs to the nation of
failing to ensure high school graduation for black males are
substantial.
"EDUCATION IS FREEDOM" OKLAHOMA FIRST LADY
TELLS SCHOOL FOUNDATION
Confidently standing at the podium of the Norman Public School
Foundation’s (NPSF) major gifts luncheon, Oklahoma First Lady Kim
Henry relied on her 10 years as an educator to describe the
important roles teachers and communities play in the development of
a child. "The power of a teacher is incredible and at times
overwhelming," Henry explained. "We all know the importance of a
good teacher. Outside of parents, the classroom teacher is the
number one factor of a child’s success … or failure. Teachers have a
real impact on children. Children look up to them, admire them, want
to be them." Teachers often need assistance to continue building
those positive relationships and rewards that encourage students to
maximize their potential and achieve their goals. That help,
according to Henry, can be found within the community. "And I can
tell you first-hand the importance of what you do as a foundation
and as a community can and will impact the life of a child," she
said. "What you do and the funds you raise enables teachers to
excel, it gives them tools and materials to foster creativity and
learning in a child that might not happen otherwise." The NPSF has
provided those opportunities for Norman’s children for more than 20
years, reports Tony Pennington in The Norman Transcript. Since 1984,
NPSF has issued more than 1,900 grants totaling $851,076 to
teachers. "Let’s be clear," Henry said. "Active minds and new ideas
are the real brick and mortar of a society, the classroom being the
quarry where these raw materials are honed and sharpened. There are
so many things we want for ourselves and, especially, for our
children -- opportunity and fulfillment, prosperity and security --
and yet, all too often, people think these goals can be achieved
through shortcuts that bypass our public schools."
A NEW COMPACT FOR DEVELOPING THE WHOLE CHILD
When we commit to educating whole children within the context of
whole communities and whole schools, we commit to designing learning
environments that weave together the threads that connect not only
math, science, the arts, and humanities, but also mind, heart, body,
and spirit --connections that tend to be fragmented in our current
approach. A new report, "The Learning Compact Redefined: A Call to
Action" provides the impetus for educators, policymakers, parents,
community leaders, and other stakeholders to change the conversation
about learning and schooling from reforming its structures to
transforming its conditions so that each child can develop his
strengths and restore his unique capacities for intellectual,
social, emotional, physical, and spiritual learning. ASCD convened
the Commission on the Whole Child -- a group of leaders from diverse
sectors co-chaired by Hugh Price and Stephanie Pace Marshall -- to
create a broader definition of achievement and accountability that
promotes the development of children who are healthy, safe, engaged,
supported, and challenged. The Commission recommends a new compact
with our young people. The Compact asks local, state, and national
policymakers to ensure conditions that support comprehensive
approaches to learning -- to engaging the whole child. ASCD has also
launched a public engagement campaign to encourage schools and
communities to work together to ensure that each student has access
to a challenging curriculum in a healthy and supportive climate.
DOZENS OF REPUBLICANS TURN AGAINST BUSH’S NCLB
ACT
More than 50 GOP members of the House and Senate -- including the
House's second-ranking Republican -- will introduce legislation
today that could severely undercut President Bush's signature
domestic achievement, the No Child Left Behind Act, by allowing
states to opt out of its testing mandates. One high-ranking
Republican lawmaker is convinced that the burdens and red tape of
the No Child Left Behind Act are unacceptably onerous. For a White
House fighting off attacks on its war policy and dealing with a
burgeoning scandal at the Justice Department, the GOP dissidents'
move is a fresh blow on a new front, reports Jonathan Weisman and
Amit R. Paley in the Washington Post. Some Republicans said
yesterday that a backlash against the law was inevitable. Many
voters in affluent suburban and exurban districts -- GOP strongholds
-- think their schools have been adversely affected by the law.
Once-innovative public schools have increasingly become captive to
federal testing mandates, jettisoning education programs not covered
by those tests, siphoning funds from programs for the talented and
gifted, and discouraging creativity, critics say. "Republicans voted
for No Child Left Behind holding their noses," said Michael J.
Petrilli, an Education Department official during Bush's first term
who is now a critic of the law. "But now with the president so
politically weak, conservatives can vote their conscience."
TAKE TEST: DO YOU KNOW WHAT A FIFTH GRADER
KNOWS?
Can you name the colors of a rainbow, the five Great Lakes, the
location of Mount Rushmore? Any fifth-grader would know - but would
you? This is the premise of the popular new Fox show, "Are You
Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" If you watch "Fifth Grader," you know
the drill: Each week, grown-ups who ought to know a few things
square off with fifth-graders, who smile sweetly and answer
questions and, frequently, help the adults reveal themselves as less
knowledgeable. It's made stars of fifth-graders, and the people who
teach them, reports Jan Uebelherr in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
"People call me when the show is on and say, 'Did you get that
one?'" says Kaela Zielinski, who teaches fifth grade. And, yup, she
usually knows the answers. The next day at school, her kids want to
know the answers to the questions they didn't know, and they want to
know if she got those right. "Some kids think it's great that they
know more than some adults," she adds. Are you smarter than a
fifth-grader? Take this online quiz and find out. (Full disclosure:
the NewsBlast editor barely passed the quiz, getting 12 of 20
questions correct!)
NO QUICK, CHEAP FIX FOR STATE'S SCHOOLS
California's immense public school system is plagued by gross
inefficiencies and inequalities that will require fundamental
reforms and much more money, according to a series of studies
released this week. Suggested reforms included making it easier to
fire bad teachers, providing massive infusions of resources to
schools that serve the poor, delivering more accurate student data
and eliminating excessive paperwork and conflicting rules and
directives. More than a year in the making, the 22 independent
reports taken together paint a picture of an education system beyond
tinkering, in need of major overhaul. While changes must include a
huge, but unspecified, infusion of money, any increase in funding
would be squandered without a total rethinking of how education
dollars are spent, the authors concluded. The most eye-catching
detail in these reports was the calculation that $1.5 trillion more
each year would be needed to make all students academically
proficient under the current system. That's about 25 times more than
present spending for the K-12 and community college systems, which
consumes about half of the state budget. That trillion-dollar figure
"assumes nothing in the system will change," explained researcher
Jennifer Imazek. Still, reports Joel Rubin and Howard Blume in the
Los Angeles Times, researchers said that no amount of money would
help absent dramatic reform.
BEHIND BURQA, STUDENT GETS AN EDUCATION IN
BIGOTRY
Caitlin Dean was raised not to discriminate against others because
of their race or religion. But as a white suburban teen of Italian
and Irish descent, she often wondered what it would be like to be
the target of such abuse. The 15-year-old freshman volunteered with
a few other students to wear traditional Muslim clothing to school
for an entire day in February after a Middle Eastern Studies teacher
announced that she was looking for students to promote her class by
wearing the garb. Caitlin covered her slender frame and short brown
hair with a periwinkle burqa, which concealed her face. The hateful
and abusive comments she endured that day horrified teachers, the
teen and many of her classmates. The remarks underscored a
persistent animosity toward American Muslims that is driven largely
by the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and the wars in Afghanistan and
Iraq. But they also opened up an important dialogue that could help
teenagers in Colchester and across Connecticut view the Muslim
culture differently, reports Tracy Gordon Fox in the Hartford
Courant. "My fear of this hatred of Islam is that it will become
synonymous with patriotism," teacher Angie Parkinson said. "We are a
nation of immigrants. Some of the most disturbing comments were,
`This is America. Go home.'"
BUSH CLAIMS ABOUT NCLB QUESTIONED
Is the No Child Left Behind Act working? President Bush says it is,
pointing to student-achievement results from a single subsection of
the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and tentative
Reading First data. But the evidence available to support his claim
is questionable. "Fourth graders are reading better," the president
said during a March 2 visit to a school in New Albany, Ind. "They've
made more progress in five years than the previous 28 years
combined." In mathematics, he said, elementary and middle school
students "earned the highest scores in the history of the test." The
data Mr. Bush cited at that event are from just the "long-term
trend" NAEP in reading and math, researchers say. All available
data, they add, show modest improvements that can't be attributed to
the 5-year-old law. Instead, progress in achievement is more likely
a continuation of trends that predate the law. "There’s not any
evidence that shows anything has changed," said Daniel M. Koretz, a
professor of education at Harvard University’s graduate school of
education. Other researchers suggest that the standards and
accountability system of the NCLB law is drawing attention to
achievement gaps and other inequalities and is causing educators to
change their practice. But it’s too early to say whether the federal
law will result in achievement gains, they contend. The
administration appears to ignore other data that suggest the law has
had little or no positive effect on achievement, report David J.
Hoff and Kathleen Kennedy Manzo in Education Week.
THE TROUBLE WITH TEACHERS' UNIONS
Across America, there are more than three million public-school
teachers. Organized through the National Education Association and
the American Federation of Teachers -- the nation's two largest
labor unions -- they wield enormous political influence and aren't
afraid to use it. Much of this power comes through the dues that
union leaders deduct from teachers' paychecks, supposedly to improve
the working conditions of the teachers they represent. In
California, for example, the state teachers' association represents
340,000 workers and collects more than $150 million each year in
mandatory dues. But in reality, the unions often promote an agenda
that doesn't reflect the interests of their members, writes David
White of the Lexington Institute. Performance-based pay for teachers
is a prime example of how the unions work directly against their
members' own best interests. In inner-city schools, the best
teachers often leave after just a year or two for better salaries,
nicer neighborhoods and less stressful work. Merit pay, however,
makes it possible for these schools to retain effective teachers by
paying them more. But the unions usually fight tooth and nail
against such measures. By standing against proven reform, the union
agenda also harms the nation's schoolchildren, says White.
BUSINESS LEADERS WILLING TO RAISE TAXES FOR
BETTER SCHOOLS
California's business leaders say they're willing to spend more
money on public schools and even raise taxes to pay for them as long
as the increased spending is tied to major reforms and holding
schools accountable, reports Juliet Williams for the Associated
Press. Three-quarters of the 1,342 chief executives surveyed said
they either support or strongly support the idea of raising taxes to
boost public school spending if the increase were tied to a specific
reform they support. They listed the most crucial reforms as
teaching essential basic skills such as reading, writing and math in
combination with communication skills, responsibility and work
ethic. Those were followed by work force skills and boosting the
number of technical and vocational schools in the state. Business
leaders are frustrated by a pool of workers who come out of school
ill-equipped to handle basic job tasks, said Loren Kaye, president
of the California Foundation for Commerce & Education.
NCLB TARGET OF 100 PERCENT PROFICIENCY IS
CALLED "OUT OF REACH"
No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the landmark federal education law,
sets a lofty standard: that all students tested in reading and math
will reach grade level by 2014. Even when the law was enacted five
years ago, almost no one believed that standard was realistic. But
now, as Congress begins to debate renewing the law, lawmakers and
education officials are confronting the reality of the approaching
deadline and the difficult political choice between sticking with
the vision of universal proficiency or backing away from it. "There
is a zero percent chance that we will ever reach a 100 percent
target," said Robert L. Linn, co-director of the National Center for
Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing at UCLA. "But
because the title of the law is so rhetorically brilliant,
politicians are afraid to change this completely unrealistic
standard. They don't want to be accused of leaving some children
behind." The debate over the perfection standard encapsulates the
key arguments for and against No Child Left Behind. Critics,
including some teachers unions and many testing experts, view the
law as a forced march toward an impossible education nirvana,
reports Amit R. Paley in the Washington Post. Anything less than a
universal proficiency target and a deadline, advocates say, will
hurt children, especially society's most vulnerable: poor and
minority students.
75 PERCENT OF EDUCATION SCHOOL GRADS CAN'T GET
JOBS IN MICHIGAN
Michigan universities continue to graduate large numbers of new
teachers -- an estimated 7,000 will be certified this year -- but
three-fourths won't land jobs in the state because there aren't
enough teaching positions to go around. That hastens the brain drain
of young professionals who abandon Michigan to find jobs elsewhere,
and it's a burden to taxpayers who help pay for college degrees that
benefit other states, some say. Despite the glut of elementary
teachers in particular, teaching remains among Michigan's most
popular college majors. Yet the numbers of engineering and
biomedical/health graduates have dropped since 2000 -- even though
some experts believe those fields are critical to turning around
Michigan's bleak economy. On average, reports Marisa Schultz in The
Detroit News, Michigan taxpayers spend $5,800 to support each
student for one year's study at a public university. "Education
schools … are farming out education grads at a rate much higher than
Michigan can employ. In effect, we are exporting teachers at the
taxpayers' expense," said John Bebow, executive director of the
Center for Michigan, a public policy think tank. Competition is
fierce for the few teacher openings in Michigan. In Rochester, for
example, 1,000 people applied for 54 teaching positions -- some of
them part-time jobs at the start of this school year. Growth in
teaching jobs doesn't seem likely soon. The state anticipates a loss
of 15,000 public school students next year and the census predicts a
steady drop in Michigan's school age population until 2015.
KATRINA COTTAGES: SCHOOLHOUSES OF THE FUTURE?
According to the Smart Schools Initiative, one of the greatest
practical accomplishments of new urban architecture advocates has
been the design, development and implementation of the Katrina
Cottage in the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast region. Now, the design
has been expanded to possibly take the place of the unsightly mobile
classrooms that schools use as overflow space. One school district
in Charlotte, North Carolina has contracted to build a prototype
"Learning Cottage" in an effort to explore a new solution to
overcrowding.
EQUAL EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR GAY,
LESBIAN & BISEXUAL STUDENTS
Concern about the impact of discrimination on the well-being of gay,
lesbian, and bisexual youth has been hotly contested in the ongoing
struggle to achieve equal educational opportunities for all
students. Advocates for GLB youth have drawn on the legacy of Brown
v. Board of Education (1954) in their use of social science research
and in the legal and political efforts that have emphasized the harm
done to these young people, particularly at the hands of other
members of school communities. As a result of these efforts, after
years in which few even recognized the existence of GLB youth,
recently, laws, policies, and educational practices have been
implemented to provide support and protection for these young people
in various locales. In spite of these advances, those seeking to
help GLB youth must heed the warning issued by Patterson (1998), who
observed the problematic consequences of the emphasis on
victimization in the struggle to ensure equality in education and
beyond. In this article in Teachers College Record, Sarah A. Strauss
provides a brief review of the way Brown moved the issues of
discrimination and its relationship to schooling and the well-being
of students to center stage with regard to the struggle for equal
educational opportunities for African Americans. She advocates for a
new approach that moves beyond the victimization model. She
concludes that because research efforts, laws, and policies have
tended to focus on the role played by victimization in the lives of
these young people within school settings, social scientists must
strive to develop a more balanced picture of GLB youth experiences.
K-12 ONLINE LEARNING: A SURVEY OF U.S. SCHOOL
DISTRICT ADMINISTRATORS
A new report from the Sloan Consortium predicts rapid growth in
online education. The nationwide survey, conducted during the
2005-2006 academic year, finds that almost two out of three (63
percent) school districts had one or more students enrolled in
either a fully online or a blended course, which combines online
learning with traditional face-to-face instruction. The new study
estimates that 700,000 K-12 students were engaged in online courses
in the 2005-2006 academic year.
EFFECTIVE EARLY LEARNING: WHAT EVERY POLICYMAKER & EDUCATOR SHOULD
KNOW
Language and literacy skills are critical to success in school. For
low-income preschoolers, increasing early literacy and math skills
is vital to closing the achievement gap between them and their more
advantaged peers. New research shows that an intentional curriculum
and professional development and supports for teachers are important
components of effective preschool classrooms and programs. A special
focus on these strategies is important because many low-income
children in early learning settings fall behind early and remain
very much behind their peers in reading and math. A new publication
from the National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia
University helps policymakers and educators understand two important
elements: use of an intentional curriculum and professional
development and teacher supports. To request paper copies contact
Telly Valdellon at
valdellon@nccp.org. For questions about these materials, please
contact Lisa Klein at klein@nccp.org. |
"Borders
Books & Music: Educators Savings Week from March 22-27, 2007"
Educators can realize 25 Percent Savings on books, CDs, DVDs & more
at Borders and Waldenbooks from March 22-27, 2007.
"Fundraising’s
Four Magic Questions"
Make the ask, and for a precise amount. Don't fill in the silence.
No matter how long it may seem, wait. Follow the dictum: The first
one who speaks is dead! Do you know the answers to four immutable
fundraising questions?
"Recognizing
Exemplary Service to the Community"
The Yoshiyama Award for Exemplary Service to the Community is now
accepting nominations. Sponsored by The Hitachi Foundation, the
Award recognizes high school seniors from around the United States
for their community service activities and social change efforts.
Activities must foster longer term community change and be focused
in socially and/or economically isolated areas. The Award is
accompanied by a gift of $5,000, dispensed over two years.
Recipients may use the Award at their discretion. The Award is not a
scholarship and is not based on financial need or academic
achievement. Deadline for submissions: April 2, 2007.
"New
Leaders for New Schools"
New Leaders for New Schools promotes high academic achievement for
every child by attracting, preparing, and supporting the next
generation of outstanding leaders for our nation’s urban public
schools. This year we are seeking highly motivated individuals
nationwide to become New Leaders in Baltimore, California’s Bay
Area, Chicago, Memphis, Milwaukee, New Orleans, New York City,
Prince George’s County, MD, and Washington, D.C. Candidates should
have a history of success in leading adults, a relentless drive to
lead an excellent urban school, and an unyielding belief in the
potential of all children to achieve academically at high levels.
Eligibility: K-12 instruction experience. Deadline: March 20, 2007
(April 4, 2007 for New Orleans).
"Getting
Youth Involved in Community Volunteerism"
"The Power of One," the latest campaign by Country Music
Television’s (CMT) pro-social initiative, CMT One Country, urges CMT
viewers to get involved in their community through civic
participation and volunteerism. CMT One Country is reaching out to
CMT fans to let them know about the opportunity to get involved with
National & Global Youth Service Day (April 20-22, 2007) events all
over the country. CMT One Country also rewards volunteers for making
a difference in their communities by giving them the opportunity to
win rewards from CMT. If you want to learn more about CMT One
Country and how you can win rewards for the good work you already
do, go to the above link.
"Supporting
Environmental Community Action & Service-Learning Projects"
Project Learning Tree GreenWorks! offers grants to implement
community action and service-learning projects. GreenWorks! projects
should address an environmental issue and involve students from
pre-school to high school in hands-on community action. Maximum
Award: $5,000. Eligibility: applicant must have received training in
PLT; youth must implement the project; project must integrate
student learning and community service; project must include at
least one community partner, such as a local organization or
business; project must acquire 50% matching funds. Deadline: April
30, 2007.
"Honoring
Teachers Who Change Outcomes in Students’ Lives"
The Turnaround Management Association is now accepting nominations
for the 2007 Butler-Cooley Excellence in Teaching Awards. The award
honors classroom teachers who have changed the outcome of students’
lives and the communities in which they live. Maximum Award: $5,000.
Eligibility: primary or secondary school teachers employed by
accredited schools for at least five years. Deadline: May 1, 2007.
"Grants
to Fund Participation in High-Quality Professional Development"
NEA Foundation Learning & Leadership Grants support public school
teachers, public education support professionals, and/or faculty and
staff in public institutions of higher education for one of two
purposes: grants to individuals fund participation in high-quality
professional development experiences, such as summer institutes or
action research; grants to groups fund collegial study, including
study groups, action research, lesson study, or mentoring
experiences for faculty or staff new to an assignment. Maximum
Award: $5,000. Eligibility: public school teachers grades K–12;
public school education support professionals; or faculty and staff
at public higher education institutions. Deadline: June 1, 2007. |
