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US Education UpdateIssue 14, June 2002 Contents
Private Foundations Sponsor Smaller Schools Public schools in the city of Baltimore will benefit from a grant of $20 million from nine philanthropic organisations including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which is donating $12 million.(1) The five year project is aimed, primarily, at reducing the size of nine Baltimore schools. Students will be offered places at 6-8 smaller schools to be known as "innovation high schools". The funding will not cover new school buildings or hiring teachers - this will be financed by the state of Maryland - but it will cover improving curriculum, technology and teacher training within the smaller schools. New York City has been experimenting with smaller schools for almost a decade. It broke up many of its large, under-performing high schools and introduced a programme called "College Now" designed to introduce college-level courses to students in grades 9-12 (ages 15-18) and stimulate interest in school work. NYC schools were recently awarded a $30 million grant from three private foundations (2) to expand the College Now programme and reduce school size in the South Bronx which is home to many of the city's worst schools. The funding will be overseen by New Visions for Public Schools which will open schools with a theme (specialising in a particular area) and teaching non-traditional curricula. Since it began the experiment with small schools and innovative curricula, the city can point to success stories with new schools outperforming their traditional neighbours, but some schools have shown an equal, if not higher, rate of failure and drop-out as their larger counterparts. More information Sources: Education
Week, 13/3/02 (1) The other contributors
are George Soros's Open Society Institute-Baltimore, the Blaustein Foundations,
the Aaron Straus and Lillie Straus Foundation, the Abell Foundation, the
Baltimore Community Foundation, the Clayton Baker Trust, the Lockhart
Vaughan Foundation, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation
Alternative to Violence in Washington, DC, Public Schools Public schools in Washington, DC, have adopted the Peaceable Schools model in an effort to create safe learning environments. The model was created by the National Center for Conflict Resolution Education based in Illinois (see below). Peaceable Schools promote a climate where violence and substance abuse are unacceptable. In becoming a Peaceable School, absolutely everyone in the school (student, teacher, administrator or janitor) must commit to working out an alternative to violence. All areas of the school's activities are involved: - Curriculum (schools are provided the booklet "Linking Literacy with Character Development" which has suggested, grade-appropriate, reading lists; students take part in community volunteering) - Staff Development (teachers are trained in areas such as conflict resolution; mediation; anger management, substance abuse prevention) - Student Training (students of all ages learn about conflict resolution, substance abuse prevention, and some are trained as "peer mediators") The DC schools participate in RAVES (Real Alternatives to Violence for Every Student) which use actor/educators in workshops and plays as a creative way to involve children in learning about anger control. In a Peaceable School, emphasis is placed on conflict resolution and children are taught problem-solving skills with the option of using a peer mediator. Truancy is not acceptable and parents may be held accountable. More Information
Resource Guide to Preventing Violence in Children The National Parent
Information Network has published a violence prevention resource guide
for parents, teachers and social service professionals. The publication
looks at the three main stages in childhood, discusses the complex issues
surrounding violence in children and gives practical suggestions for parents. Source: PEN Weekly Newsblast, April 02
Implementing Accountability: State Jitters/Reality Check 2002 States are gradually coming to terms with the implications of President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act. In the area of testing, there is some concern over the cost of the new accountability measures, and the how the new guidelines for annual testing will fit with existing state tests. One state, Vermont, is considering refusing federal education funds as it claims it could cost more to implement the new federal guidelines on testing than to accept federal money. Vermont already has its own battery of state tests. Although it ranks sixth in state test scores nationally, it says that 30% of public schools in Vermont would be considered "failing" under the new accountability measures. Once a school is deemed "failing" a set of mandatory requirements is set in motion, some of which the federal government will pay for - but not all. Many other states, such as Louisiana and North Carolina, have similar concerns. State education commissioners are looking to the federal government for flexibility. Meanwhile, the US Education Department says it will work closely with states during this transition period and that it has a much increased budget to cover the cost. The perceived public backlash over standards, testing and accountability is refuted in a recent annual survey on the standards-based reform movement: Reality Check 2002. This is the fifth annual report from the perspective of the reform movement's key stakeholders: students, teachers, parents, employers, and college professors. The survey was carried out as a joint project of the newspaper Education Week, and the non-partisan, non-profit research organisation, Public Agenda. Key points from the survey reveal that:
Sources: Christian
Science Monitor, 15/5/02
"Pass It On" Youth Mentoring Programme in Houston The William A Lawson Institute for Peace and Prosperity will open a preparatory school for boys in August (to be known as the WALIPP Prep Academy). The charter school is the first new public single-sex school since the recent passage of legislation on single sex education in American public schools (see below for more). WALIPP, working with the Houston Independent School District (HISD) and the Texas Southern University, hopes to expand its successful youth-mentoring and tutoring programme called "Pass It On". The programme works on a domino effect involving boys and young men at crucial stages of their education: elementary boys are tutored by middle school boys who are mentored by high schools boys who, in turn, are supervised by college men. The idea is that the boy is influenced at each stage by a positive role model, and can also see a future path, which will help to combat negative peer pressure. The charter school will follow HISD mandated curriculum but, with charter school status, will be free to experiment with innovative teaching methods and career preparation aimed at engaging its students. If the Academy is successful, WALIPP plans to open a similar school for girls. Source: Houston Chronicle, 6/5/02
A decade after the first charter school opened, the media have been looking at where the movement stands. Charter school growth has been rapid: 38 states now have charter school legislation and there are approximately 2,500 charter schools (educating 1% of the nation's 48 million public school children). To recap, charter schools are nonsectarian public schools operated under a contract (i.e. charter) which allows them freedom from many of the regulations that apply to traditional public schools (teachers are usually non-unionised, schools can experiment with innovative teaching methods). In the beginning, it was thought that charter schools would be filled by affluent white students. In fact, charter schools cater predominantly to minority children previously enrolled in a "failing" public school. Charter school supporters can point to numerous success stories where schools are making a difference. Just as many critics can also find the failures. Texas, California and Arizona, where 40% of charter schools are located, are tightening up their legislation to prevent abuse of the system (eg schools receiving funding for students who existed only on paper). Although 4.5% of charter schools have folded or had their charters revoked, new charter schools continue to open, and they enjoy generally bipartisan support. The Bush administration committed $200 million in federal funding to charter schools in its No Child Left Behind Education Act. For more information
Sources: New York
Times, 5/4/02
Single-Sex Public Schools Are Legal The No Child Left Behind Act, signed in January, clarified the legal status of single-sex public schooling in the USA: they are legal, provided that comparable schooling is afforded to both boys and girls. The new law aims to clear up any misinterpretation of previous legislation (3) that single-sex programmes were not eligible for federal funding. Supporters of single-sex schools, however, say that the issue has not been federal funding but the threat of lawsuits over accusations of discrimination. Needless to say, they welcome the new law which will protect schools and encourage the establishment of new same-sex public schools. It is too early to say how many new single-sex public schools will open - at present, there are only eleven nationwide. A decade after the American Association of University Women's influential report on how schools were shortchanging girls (4), focus is shifting to boys who are trailing girls academically, more likely to be in special education, and are disciplined more. Attention is being paid to the progress of students in experimental single-sex classes. For many, the possibility of an increase in single-sex public schools is viewed as another school choice, like charter schools which enjoy broadly bipartisan support. For more information
Source: New York Times, May 9, 02 (3) Title IX of the
Education Amendments of 1972
Performance Pay for Cincinnati Teachers: Update Teachers in Cincinnati, Ohio, have voted overwhelmingly to reject the plan to base their pay on classroom performance. As reported in previous Updates (5) the plan was viewed as groundbreaking as it involved, for the first time, an entire school district. The plan would move teachers off the traditional pay scale which depends on years of experience and academic qualifications to one involving a comprehensive evaluation of classroom skills (established by consultants at the University of Wisconsin-Madison). The plan collapsed amid acrimony between teachers and school administrators. Teachers complain that they have not been given enough time to prepare for the new standards expected of them. Administrators blame the teachers' union for not doing enough to allay the fears of teachers. However, the plan may not be dead yet as the issue could be raised again at the end of the calendar year when contracts come up for renewal. Source: Education Week, 29/5/02 (5) Update 4, item 1; Update 11, item 4
Conference on Validity and Value in Education Research The annual conference of the American Education Research Association (AERA) was held in New Orleans in early April. It focused on validity and value in education research and was attended by 11,800 participants. The AERA aims to improve the educational process by encouraging scholarly inquiry related to education and by promoting the dissemination and practical application of research results. AERA is the most prominent international professional organization with the primary goal of advancing educational research and its practical application. AERA has more than 22,000 members: educators; administrators; teachers, directors of research, testing or evaluation in federal, state and local agencies; counselors; evaluators; graduate students; and behavioural scientists. The broad range of disciplines represented by the membership includes education, psychology, statistics, sociology, history, economics, philosophy, anthropology, and political science. For more information about the above conference, please email: edward.burke@us.britishcouncil.org or contact Gerry Sroufe
- Director
National Dialogue on Volunteering in the Community In March, President Bush conducted a national dialogue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the importance of volunteering in the community. Against the backdrop of the war on terrorism, President Bush is urging Americans to demonstrate their spirit of compassion and caring by committing to 4,000 hours of public service (about two years of their lives). President Bush created the USA Freedom Corps to foster a culture of citizenship and public service. It coordinates agencies such as: Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, Citizen Corps, and Senior Corps. The President announced that application numbers to volunteer through such agencies have risen sharply. The President listened to examples from individuals of the types of volunteering taking place. Notably, there was a representative from the Center of Community Partnerships at the University of Pennsylvania. He described a project between the ivy league university and its less fortunate West Philadelphia neighbourhood. Students are involved in solving nutritional problems in the community, growing fruits and vegetables to sell; they tackle the digital divide by refurbishing and distributing computers, and providing training; they organise literacy programmes. By making service learning (volunteering for credit) connected to the academic core at the University, the representative claimed the project was mutually beneficial: they helped improve the lives of community members, and in so doing he felt the University achieved its mission of educating students to be better citizens. For more information:
Technology Counts 2002 - Report The fifth edition of Education Week's annual 50-state report on educational technology focuses on how state and district e-learning initiatives are changing the education landscape. This report separates the proven programmes and policy changes that are opening the doors of online education to students nationwide from the exaggerated claims of the e-learning bandwaggoneers. In addition, the report investigates how some e-learning arrangements are transforming the professional lives -- and in some ways, the personal lives -- of teachers. To read the report in full, please go to: www.edweek.com/tc02/ Source: PEN Weekly Newsblast May 10, 2002
American Association of Community Colleges Annual Conference: Report The British Council USA attended the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) Annual Conference in Seattle from April 20-23. Key points from the conference:
While the primary
focus of this conference is on domestic issues, there were several international
sessions on topics including: international development partnerships;
intercultural education; and recruiting international students. One of
the most popular international sessions was on International Opportunities
from US Federal Agencies. There are many colleges interested in pursuing
international projects, but they are very dependent on additional state
or government funding for these activities. One of the areas the British Council USA has been promoting among US community colleges is articulation agreements with UK institutions in which graduates of US community colleges enter the second year of a UK university undergraduate degree program to complete a Bachelors degree. Over the past 2-3 years, we have found minimal interest in this particular area, most likely because of the life and/or financial circumstances of US community college students which would make it difficult to move overseas. Many begin their study after years in the workforce and thus are older and more likely to have family responsibilities. Many study part-time and hold full-time jobs to support their families. The more popular option is for short-term study overseas ranging from a few weeks to a semester. For more information on this conference, please email: LauraLee.Ketcham@us.britishcouncil.org
National Forum
on Education Policy The forum is a gathering of state higher education executives, governors, legislators, chief state school officers, local school leaders and other education policy-makers. This year's forum will explore areas such as financing postsecondary education in tough economic times; the barriers and opportunities in using postsecondary institutions to provide lifelong learning and skills enhancement for U.S. workers; the role of community colleges in teacher preparation. For more information and to register, visit www.ecs.org/ecs/NationalForum2002
Previous issues of the Education Update are available on the British Council's USA website.
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