US
Education Update
Issue
5, January 2001
Contents
Election
News
Following the election
in early November, we had been hoping to include information on its impact
on education but this is currently not possible. It is also not possible
to include information about the education budget at present which continues
to be the subject of discussions during the current lame duck session
of Congress. We will plan to report on this in the next issue of the Update.
Vote on School
Vouchers
Voters in California and Michigan overwhelmingly rejected the proposals
to introduce school voucher programmes in their states. (The school voucher
initiative would have provided public funding to send a child to private
school - see Education Update 3, item 5, for more information on school
vouchers.) The rejection was in keeping with other education-related ballot
results across the nation where voters supported more money going into
public education rather than tax cuts, or a perceived draining of the
public school system. (Source: Education Week)
Arizona Votes on
Bilingual Education
Arizona's ballot papers included a referendum on whether to continue or
end bilingual education. Approximately 63% of voters voted in favour of
Proposition 203 which will curtail bilingual education by replacing it
with a one-year immersion course in English. This makes Arizona the second
state, after California, to end bilingual education (see Education Update
3, item 3: Bilingual Education Debate)
Further reading
www.sosaz.com/election/2000/info/pubpamphlet/prop1-I-2000.htm
- Proposition 203, "English Language Education for Children in Public
Schools" on Arizona Secretary of State's website
www.ncbe.gwu.edu/ -
National Clearinghouse on Bilingual Education (funded by US Department
of Education)
High
Tech High Schools: training the future workforce
The USA is facing
a serious shortage of highly-skilled technology workers, especially in
urban areas with growing technology-based economies. In an effort to address
this issue, industry representatives are joining forces with school districts
and local community colleges to attempt to ensure a pool of trained potential
employees:
- A charter school,
actually called High Tech High, has been established in San Diego with
additional funding from local technology companies. (Charter schools
are public schools which receive public funding but are not held to
many of the regulations of other schools.) Opened in September, the
school has 200 students with plans to increase to 400. The students
are ninth and tenth graders (15/16 year olds) who follow a curriculum
of computer, mathematics, science and engineering (technology is not
taught as a stand-alone subject). No traditional subjects are taught
and the students follow a theme throughout the year working both individually
and as teams. The school, which is not housed in a traditional school,
is part of a building used by the Navy as a technology training centre.
Students have their own workstations in an environment not unlike the
workplace.
- A project to establish
a nationwide network of Academies of Information Technology within public
high schools is being piloted this year. At the request of Lucent Technologies,
the National Academy Foundation (which partners private industry and
public sector to create career academies for high school students) in
partnership with CORD (the Center for Occupational Research and Development,
a non-profit which trains students and teachers in technology) has developed
a curriculum model, for ninth to twelfth graders, to be piloted in 12
public high schools across the country. If successful, it is estimated
that 40-50 high schools will be added to the network each year (depending
on industry funding). The training combines traditional public school
education with intensive college-level training in the use of the latest
technologies. The schools work closely with local technology firms which
provide equipment, mentoring and, ultimately, job offers. Local community
colleges are also heavily involved in curriculum design. In contrast
to the High Tech High, the Academy of Information Technology incorporates
technology into a broader education eg an art project may focus of computer
graphics, research on humanities subjects is carried out on the Internet.
Further reading:
www.hightechhigh.org
- High Tech High's website, includes list of industry partners
www.naf-education.org/academies.html
- National Academy Foundation Academies
www.cord.org
- CORD's information on Academy of Information Technology
Increasing Use of Wireless Networks on Campuses
In the first issue
of the Update we reported on a small-liberal arts college in New York
state which had introduced a campus-wide wireless network. The trend is
increasing with big names such as Carnegie Mellon, Dartmouth and Wake
Forest universities offering a wireless network to their students. Smaller
colleges, however, have led the way in the technology trend: Buena Vista
University, Iowa, boasts the first totally "anytime, anywhere"
Internet access for its 1250 full-time students.
Paying for the
Wireless Network
The trend has been fuelled by a drop in costs which occurred following
the adoption by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers,
in September 1999, of technical standards for establishing wireless networks.
However, the initial set-up costs are still high. Some of the larger research
universities have bartered for the donation of equipment and services
to set up their network by offering research assistance to manufacturers.
Smaller universities have had to be creative in finding ways to pay for
the installation: The University of Akron developed a partnership with
Aironet Wireless Communications/Cisco Systems for a 50% discount on access
points (boxes attached to the wall or ceiling) and wireless cards for
the computer. (Some institutions charge the student $100 for a wireless
card for their laptop in addition to an annual technology fee.) In return,
University of Akron will develop a Cisco-certified training programme
linked to its electrical engineering degree, test new products for Cisco,
and be a showroom for new Cisco technology. Institutions, like Buena Vista
University, have raised their tuition by $1000 to cover the cost of giving
each student a laptop (which they have the option to buy on graduating
- the University also says it has raised its financial aid package accordingly).
Less well-off institutions may prefer to use a service provider which
offers a complete package: Internet access, wireless installation and
maintenance, for a monthly fee. Other urban universities may benefit from
commercial communication companies building nationwide wireless networks
from which the institution can buy services thus eliminating the need
to build their own.
Advantages of wireless
networks:
- Cost - generally
a fraction of the cost of traditional re-wiring, especially in older
buildings
- Creates "nomadic"
learning environments
- No need for computer
labs
- No need for fixed
multi-media classrooms
Disadvantages of wireless
networks:
- Slower connections
- Higher security
risks - due to shared radio frequencies information can extend beyond
campus to adjacent areas risking unauthorised access
- Need for new administration
policies: restriction or ban on use of equipment such as cell phones
which can disrupt network
- Requires complex
design which takes into account type of materials in a building, thickness
of concrete floors, number of metal desks and filing cabinet per room,
estimate of number of people in room (actual bodies can affect the network's
transmission)
Buena Vista University cites advantages such as keeping its graduates
one-step ahead thus preparing them for mainstream technology once they
enter the workplace, and facilitating more interaction and collaboration
between students who can work together on-line anywhere on campus. Critics
of the rush to install wireless networks in higher education, and even
K-12, institutions point to a lack of research showing that this level
of Internet access leads to increased learning.
For further information:
www.ini.cmu.edu/WIRELESS
- Carnegie Mellon's Wireless Research publication includes information
on its wireless network (Wireless Andrew)
www.bvu.edu - Buena
Vista University
www.wfu.edu/Computer-information/help/wireless
- Wake Forest University
New
Study of the HOPE Scholarship and College Admission
A new study examines
the relationship between Georgia's HOPE scholarship and college attendance
in the state. The HOPE (Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally) scholarship
was introduced in Georgia in 1993 and is funded by a state lottery. It
offers any pupil who maintains a B grade average in high school, regardless
of income, the opportunity to study free at any Georgia state college
(or offers $3,000 per year towards the cost of private college tuition).
Approximately 440,000 Georgia residents have received over $940 million
in tuition for college tuition in the state since the programme began.
New research suggests
that the HOPE scholarship benefits students from middle and upper-income
families more than those from low-income families. Evidence points to
a 7-8% increase in overall college admission of 18-19 year olds per $1000
of financial aid with the increase predominantly in white middle and upper-income
students. The result is an increasing gap in college attendance between
white and black students and students from lower and higher financial
backgrounds.
The results of the
study mirrors criticism of the HOPE scholarship suggesting the aid goes
to families who do not need it. Critics also point to the high drop-out
rate of scholarship recipients: the latest figures show only 37% of first
year students returning for their second year with the scholarship (students
must maintain a B average at college in order to retain the scholarship).
However, supporters of the scholarship point to the many examples of communities
where the aid has made a significant difference in low-income families.
They also show that a high number of students who lose the scholarship
manage to remain in college by other means such as loans (compared to
those who never received the scholarship). A lack of proper preparation
for college is blamed for the high drop-out rate and the state is looking
at ways to address this issue.
Georgia's HOPE scholarship
is the largest and best known of its kind, although similar programmes
now exist in many other states. The scholarship was the inspiration for
the federal tax incentives known as the Hope Scholarship and Lifelong
Learning Credits, although analysts are watching for whether these will
also result in a widening gap in college attendance between white and
minority students and low and higher-income families.
The study, entitled
"Hope for Whom? Financial Aid for the Middle Class and Its Impact
on College Attendance" can be downloaded in .pdf format from:
www.nber.org/books/poterbataxation/index.html
Additional sources:
The State; The Atlanta Journal Constitution
Further Reading:
www.hope.gsfc.org/
- Georgia's HOPE scholarship, administered by the Georgia Student Finance
Commission
www.aascu.org/analysis/
- Study from the American Association of State Colleges and Universities
entitled "State Student Financial Aid; Tough Choices and Trade-Offs
for a New Generation"
www.ed.gov/inits/HOPE/
- Department of Education's information on the Hope Scholarship and Lifelong
Learning Credits
Report:
Workforce Development
A report is attached
from a recent visit to Washington, DC, by Linda Ammon and Nicholas Fox
of the Department for Education and Employment. The purpose of the visit
was to learn about the impact of the US 1998 Workforce Investment Act,
which includes provision for the creation of Individual Training Accounts,
and the Individual Learning Account pilots being organised by the US Office
for Personnel Management. The issues have particular relevance to the
UK's Learning and Skills Council. To read the report in full, please see
the attached Word document "WashingtonReport.doc".
Recent Event: US
International Education Week
The USA's first International
Education Week was held during the week of November 13-17. The initiative
arose from President Clinton's Memorandum on a US International Education
Policy on April 19 (see Education Update 2, item 9 for more details).
International education is broadly defined as:
- Study abroad -
both to and from the USA
- Learning about
world cultures in the classroom and sharing US culture with the world
- Foreign language
teaching and teaching English to oversees students
- Sharing education
policies
International Education Week was one of many initiatives launched by a
partnership of the Departments of Education and State. The goal of this
project was to raise awareness across the USA of the benefits of international
education. The number of US students who study abroad, although growing,
is still very small1 relative to the student population as a whole. The
current administration is sensitive to the importance of enhancing global
links to maintain its role as a world leader. In President Clinton's words,
international education is important to "promote peace and prosperity
and to resolve international problems".
A list of events which
were scheduled to take place during the week can be found at: exchanges.state.gov/iep/events.htm.
One project, entitled
Classroom-to-Classroom Diplomacy had US Ambassadors oversees visiting
schools while foreign Ambassadors in the US visited schools in their areas.
In some cases, students in each country were linked via the Internet to
an "e-pal" and live on-line conversations took place.
1. The latest figures from the Institute of International Education's
annual Open Doors survey shows a total of 129,770 students studying abroad
in 1998/99. This represents an increase of 45% over the last four years,
although shorter study abroad programmes are the most popular. The UK
is still the most favoured destination with over 20% market share, although
it is facing increasing competition from other countries, such as Australia.
For more details, please see: www.iie.org
For further information:
www.ed.gov/offices/OUS/PES/int_ed.html
- highlights international activities within Department of Education and
provides sources of information on international education
exchanges.state.gov/iep/infokit.htm
- shows the information kit provided by the Departments of State and Education
for those interested in participating in the project
exchanges.state.gov/iep/events.htm
- list of events scheduled for International Education Week
exchanges.state.gov/iep/classroom.htm
- information on the Classroom-to-Classroom Diplomacy project. Includes
a link to the "Teacher's Guide to International Collaboration on
the Internet"
www.ed.gov/technology,
a web-based resource for teachers to use in making classroom-to-classroom
connections
www.whitehouse.gov/library/hot_releases/November_13_2000_2.html
- full text of the Presidential proclamation of International Education
Week
Back
Issues
Previous issues of
the Education Update are available on the British Council's USA website.
For More Information
If there are any topics you would like to see covered in future editions
of the Update, please contact: alison.corbett@us.britishcouncil.org
Education Research Officer
Additional contacts
jenny.scott@us.britishcouncil.org
Director Education, British Council USA
judith.grant@worldnet.att.net
Consultant to the British Embassy
andy.mackay@us.britishcouncil.org
Director, British Council USA
sue.owen@fco.gov.uk Counsellor
Economic, British Embassy
john.russell@fco.gov.uk Labour
Officer, British Embassy
British Embassy website; www.britainUSA.com
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