Public Education Network Weekly NewsBlast

PEN Weekly NewsBlast for July 13, 2007

******************************************************************

SCHOOLS TURN TO PRIVATE DONORS
Once limited to colleges and private schools, reliance on private donations has become part of the public K-12 experience, complete with gala fundraisers and old fashioned merchandise peddling. According to the National School Foundation Association's most recent data, $31.5 billion was donated to education nationwide to fund everything from playground overhauls to scholarship endowments. Linda and Jon Walton recently donated more than $1,000 to the Grosse Pointe Foundation for Public Education, reports Zlati Meyer in the Detroit Free Press. The Waltons, the parents of three whose youngest graduated from the district last month, see the donation as a way to give back. "My kids have gotten a great education from the public schools; they've gotten as much as they would've gotten if they'd gone to private school," said Linda Walton, a 50-year-old attorney who attended a cocktail party fund-raiser in the spring. "It's the wild frontier for K-12," said Jim Collogan, project director of the 200-member National School Foundation Association in Des Moines, Iowa. "In some districts, you're getting new air conditioning and velvet curtains and leather chairs. In other districts, the kids are sitting on milk buckets." Collogan said he considers California the breeding ground for school foundations, after a 1979 state proposition limiting the amount of property taxes, the primary funder of public education, forced districts to look for other financial sources. Public education has long received aid from parents' groups, such as Parent Teacher Associations. But foundations are not a threat to local parent groups, according to Michigan PTSA executive director Donna Oser. "Especially now when school district budgets have been decimated, parents groups of all sizes feel pressure to offset some of those losses," she said. "Any funds parents raise are going to be a Band-Aid. The greatest thing they can do is call their legislator."

PUBLIC SCHOOLS GRAPPLE WITH MUSLIM SCHOOL PRAYER
When afternoon recess comes at an elementary school on the outskirts of San Diego, some students rush out for a quick game of hopscotch, while others gather in a room for Muslim worship. Like a growing number of school districts around the country, San Diego's is changing its ways to meet the needs of its Islamic students. Here, a controversy with constitutional overtones erupted: In accommodating Muslim students, is the school unfairly promoting religion? The school's policy "presumes that Christians are less religious and less inspired to worship and praise the Lord and come together," says Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute. He is asking the school district to set up special rooms where Christians can pray too. This outcry, and others like it from conservative commentators and attorneys, suggest that the whole matter may land in court. Potentially at issue is to what extent actions taken by a public school to accommodate special religious needs of some students might require similar allowances for other students. For now, reports Randy Dotinga in The Christian Science Monitor, about 100 students in the Arabic language program at Carver Elementary School are finishing their first year under a daily schedule that gives them a 15-minute recess period in the afternoon, about an hour after lunch. Many of the students are Muslim and transferred from an Arabic-language charter school that folded. Carver Elementary revised its schedule so the students would have the option to pray at the specific times ordained by their religion, says attorney Brent North, who represents the school district. A teacher is present to watch the praying children but cannot lead or take part in the observance.

THE FINE ART OF CHOOSING A SCHOOL ARCHITECT
Architects always have to understand their clients, but those hired to design and build schools must be especially sensitive to unique client problems and needs. Building a private residence, or even a corporate facility, typically involves considering the needs of a few -- either the prospective homeowners or top management. But public schools bring many voices to the table: teachers who have a wide spectrum of needs, from rooms large enough and properly designed to conduct a variety of learning activities to handy storage spaces for educational supplies; parents who have kids for whom the building will be a launch pad for the future; administrators who need efficient spaces in close contact with the school's functional areas; and, even the custodians who will maintain the building. Schools also differ from other public buildings with regard to public focus. "People will be interested in the design of a city hall," says Harriman Associates's Daniel Cecil. "But they'll be far more interested in where their kids will be spending their time. A big difference between schools and other public buildings is the level of familial involvement." This degree of emotional interest is a prime reason for hiring architects who work well with a diverse array of stakeholders, writes Evantheia Schibsted in Edutopia.

IMPROVING READING & WRITING IN AMERICA'S MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLS
According to the Alliance for Excellent Education, research on the importance of, and strategies for, improving literacy among the nation's secondary school students has reached a level of compelling consensus that confidently justifies changes in federal policy. The Alliance's new policy brief, "Federal Support for Adolescent Literacy: A Solid Investment," notes that the federal investment in developing high-level reading and writing skills in younger students has diminishing returns unless literacy instruction is continued throughout the K-12 educational continuum. The brief argues for support and expansion of federal programs such as the Striving Readers Act, which could provide high-quality reading and writing instruction for millions of students in grades 4-12, but which currently operates in only eight districts across the nation. The Alliance's new brief lays out a set of strategic policy recommendations that include:

RECRUITING & USING VOLUNTEERS IN K-12 SCHOOLS
Research and common sense both show that parent participation at school can have a significant influence on student achievement. The level of parent involvement in middle schools and high schools typically declines as students obtain greater autonomy and more responsibilities. Suggestions are offered as to how middle and high school principals can recruit and actively involve parent and community volunteers at school sites to nurture the academic success of culturally and economically diverse community groups.

BEYOND THE BASICS: ACHIEVING A LIBERAL EDUCATION FOR ALL CHILDREN
America's true competitive edge in a globalizing economy is not its technical prowess but its creativity, its imagination, its inventiveness. And those attributes are best inculcated not by skill-drill or STEM-centered curricula but through liberal arts and sciences, liberally defined. Thus argues a new Thomas B. Fordham Foundation volume, edited by Chester E. Finn, Jr. and Diane Ravitch, which also explores what policymakers and educators can to do sustain liberal learning and sketches an unlovely future if we fail.

EVALUATION OF THE D.C. OPPORTUNITY SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
The D.C. School Choice Incentive Act of 2003 established the first federally funded private school voucher program in the United States, providing scholarships of up to $7,500 for low-income residents of the District of Columbia to send their children to local participating private schools. The law also mandated that the U.S. Department of Education conduct an independent, rigorous impact evaluation of what is now called the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. The study's latest report, Evaluation of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program: Impacts After One Year, found no significant differences in student achievement between those who were offered scholarships to attend a participating private school and those who were eligible for, but were not offered (as assigned by a lottery) a scholarship. Students in the program did not report being more satisfied or feeling safer than those who were not in the program. However, the program did have a positive impact on parent satisfaction and perceptions of school safety.

CIRCUS SCHOOL HELPS KIDS FLY HIGH
Zach Morgan sits on the edge of a plank nearly 40 feet in the air, terrified by what he's about to do. He has no safety net, just a specially rigged bungee rope looped around one wrist. But when he gets his cue, he'll count to three and step into space -- free-falling more than 20 feet until the rope catches, leaving him hanging by one hand. Morgan is among the advanced students at Circus Juventas, a performing arts circus school that teaches young people how to tumble and twist through the air, while also learning the self-confidence, discipline and teamwork required to do amazing high-flying tricks. Circus Juventas, named for the Roman goddess of youth and rebirth, is a nonprofit organization founded in 1994 by Betty Butler, the circus' artistic director and co-founder, and her husband, Dan, the circus' executive director. The circus school began as Circus of the Star, an after-school program for 30 children in a neighborhood recreation center. The Big Top was built in 2001, after a major fundraising campaign, reports Amy Forliti for the Associated Press. Now, Circus Juventas offers camps and classes year-round for students ages 3 to 21. Adult classes are also offered for the young at heart.

PROMOTING CHILD DEVELOPMENT FROM BIRTH IN STATE EARLY CARE & EDUCATION INITIATIVES
A powerful report describes a menu of strategies some states are using to improve early care and education for infants and toddlers, and supports to their families. In the period from birth to age three, early experiences shape the architecture of the brain -- including cognitive, linguistic, social, and emotional capacities -- at a phenomenal rate. Early care and education is a key strategy states can use to promote positive development for very young children, including those in low-income families, according to research by Rachel Schumacher and Katie Hamm with Anne Goldstein and Joan Lombardi. And since a growing proportion of very young children spend extensive time in the care of someone other than a parent, state policies to promote the quality and continuity of those settings and relationships should be part of a strategy to assure children are ready for school. Despite compelling evidence of the importance of child development from birth, a clear early care and education state policy agenda that addresses infants and toddlers is still emerging. This paper provides illustrative state examples of specific policies to promote child development birth to three, as well as ideas for state funding and governance structures that provide attention and resources for all children birth to age five.

WHAT IS PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT?
Public engagement is a two-way communication between a school district and the community it serves. Although the most visible form of that communication may occur in meetings, public engagement is not about a single meeting or even a series of meetings. Nor is it about public relations, defending or seeking ratification for existing programs, or other strategies primarily aimed at shaping public opinion. Instead, according to the National School Boards Association, public engagement is an ongoing, collaborative process during which the school district works with the public to build understanding, guidance, and active support for the education of the children in its community. Public engagement also recognizes that society has changed in the way it does business and that school districts, as well as other governmental agencies, must change with it. The public wants high academic quality and accountability. Especially among parents and the business community, these factors translate into an active public voice in the goals, standards, and program choices that define the services that school systems provide. The need for that voice is usually strongest when the public believes the current product is not producing the academic results it wants.

OPPORTUNITY IN AMERICA: THE ROLE OF EDUCATION
Stagnating incomes for the middle class together with rising income inequality have raised questions about whether the United States remains the land of opportunity celebrated in the nation's history and public philosophy. This brief, written by Isabel Sawhill, reviews the evidence on intergenerational mobility and the role of education in enabling less advantaged children to move up the economic ladder. It concludes that, in many respects, the U.S. education system tends to reinforce rather than compensate for differences in family background. Strengthening opportunity requires greater, and more effective, investments in education, especially for America's youngest children.

MEDIA LITERACY & INTERNET SAFETY EDUCATION
Media literacy is a key 21st century skill because it provides a framework and method to think critically about the media and technologies students and adults use for information and entertainment. Media literacy means knowing how to access, understand, analyze, evaluate and create media messages on television, the Internet and other outlets. It also means knowing how to use these and other technologies safely, productively and ethically. A new survey conducted by the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) in cooperation with Cable in the Classroom asked states to rank their needs and areas of interest regarding media literacy issues. The strongest need was in the area of safety. Sixty-nine percent of states report that protecting children from predators and other online dangers is one of their strongest needs, followed by security (protecting personal information) and online ethics (preventing cyberbullying, plagiarism and hacking). Click below to explore a toolkit that provides strategies and free materials that stakeholders can use to promote a systemic approach to developing fluency for all students in all aspects of media including traditional literacy, technology, and media literacy education.

THE CRITICAL YEARS: SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL LEARNING
The New York Times has wrapped up its series on the nation's middle school "crisis" -- titled "The Critical Years" -- with a profile of Briarcliff Middle School in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y. The grades 6-8 school, according to Winnie Hu, "has emerged as a nationally recognized model of a middle school that gets things right, a place that goes beyond textbooks to focus on social and emotional development." The school relies heavily on the "Habits of Mind" program, developed by Arthur L. Costa, to "develop critical thinking, teach organizational skills, and instill social and moral values." As the story notes, the school also is very middle class, very white, and enjoys tax support of $24,738 per student, about 150 percent of the N.Y. state average. The story highlights several other widely used programs that help middle schools integrate social and emotional learning into their programs.

AAA SCHOOL SAFETY PATROL PROGRAM STILL GOING STRONG
In 1920, AAA clubs started a program in which older students helped younger students cross the street to and from school to reduce deaths and injury among students. That program -- now known as the AAA School Safety Patrol -- is going strong today in schools and communities in every state in the nation. AAA provides training, equipment (such as belts and badges), and sponsors student recognition programs. To become a safety patroller, students must have excellent attendance, show good academic effort, have the ability to lead, and respect fellow students and school staff.

SCHOOL STAFF DESERVE A LIVING WAGE
Education support professionals keep school buildings and equipment functioning and students safe and healthy. As committed and caring members of a school community, they impact the lives of students every day. Yet support professionals are woefully underpaid, often barely able to afford to live in the communities they serve. In many parts of the country, school support professionals work two or even three jobs to feed and shelter their families, or earn so little that they qualify for government assistance. Through its nationwide salary initiative, the National Education Association is pushing for an appropriate living wage as starting pay for all education support professionals.

ADVOCATING ADEQUACY
The way California funds and runs its public schools could be in for major changes in the wake of "Getting Down to Facts," a 1,700-page set of reports commissioned by the governor and legislative leaders, funded by education foundations and released by Stanford University researchers earlier this year. California Schools magazine staff writer Carol Brydolf delves into the reports and updates the status of state's long-running wrangles over adequate funding, academic standards and administrative flexibility; she also reports on preliminary findings from the California School Boards Association's continuing efforts to survey local business, community and education leaders in search of a consensus on how to meet the state's need for educated workers and residents.

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION POLICY BRIEFS AVAILABLE
The latest in a series of reports on programs in other countries is now available from UNESCO: "Jordan's Strategies for Early Childhood Education in a Lifelong Learning Framework." One of the four goals of Jordan's strategy is to provide education to increase parents' understanding of the importance of quality early childhood experiences and awareness of their role as children's first educators. Copies of the entire series are available by contacting UNESCO at: earlychildhood@unesco.org. This note was contributed by PARENTS FORUM www.parentsforum.org.
Click here to view the above link in Spanish.  Click here to view the above link in French.

|---------------GRANT AND FUNDING INFORMATION--------------|

QUOTES OF THE WEEK
"America's greatest natural resource is the mind of our youth."

 - Walt Disney (artist/business leader & innovator)

|---------------PEN NewsBlast--------------|

The PEN Weekly NewsBlast is a free e-mail newsletter featuring school reform and school fundraising resources. The PEN NewsBlast is the property of the Public Education Network, a national association of 86 local education funds working to improve public school quality in low-income communities nationwide.

There are currently 45,095 subscribers to the PEN Weekly NewsBlast. Please forward this e-mail to anyone who enjoys free updates on education news and grant alerts. Some links in the PEN Weekly NewsBlast change or expire on a daily or weekly basis. Some links may also require local website registration.