PATHS

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act has proven to be less than satisfactory in measuring school quality in Florida schools. Florida’s own accountability system, however, which uses a more sophisticated A to F grading scale, is both more accurate and more successful at identifying the schools most in need of improvement, according to a new study published in the fall issue of Hoover Institution’s journal Education Next.

The problem, according to the study’s authors, Paul E. Peterson of Harvard University and Martin R. West of Brown University, is that NCLB makes only crude distinctions between schools achieving performance benchmarks and schools not doing so. Currently, NCLB divides schools into two categories: those that are making adequate yearly progress (AYP) and those that aren’t.

“While the term ‘progress’ would seem to imply that the law considers how much students are learning over time, the federal system, in fact, is based on a series of snapshots that fail to track individual students from one year to the next,” explain Peterson and West.

Florida’s grading system, on the other hand, divides schools into five different categories, using a scale from A to F. And, although NCLB pays only a passing nod to the improvement made by individual students, Florida’s A+ Plan for Education takes into account how much specific students have learned in a given year, using a data warehouse that tracks individual student academic performance. As long as students remain within the state, one can track how well they are doing from one year to the next on the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (FCAT), the exam the state uses to comply with NCLB requirements.

The A+ Plan is especially good at distinguishing success and failure when schools are assigned significantly different grades. In 2004, the math learning gap between A and C schools was 11 percent of a standard deviation; between A and D schools, 19 percent; and between A and F schools, 30 percent. In reading, the differences were almost as large. To put it more simply: the one-year difference between A and D schools amounted to more than a full year’s worth of learning — exactly what a parent needs to know.

In contrast, the learning gap between schools making AYP under NCLB and schools that failed to make AYP was just 9 percent of a standard deviation in math and 7 percent of a standard deviation in reading.

The Florida system also does a better job of isolating the seriously defective schools, thereby helping state and local officials identify where attention is needed. In 2004, only 47 of the state’s 2,649 schools were given an F, whereas 184 were given a D. By comparison, 75 percent of schools did not make AYP under NCLB, including more than half of the schools Florida had given an A.

The shortcomings of the federal law’s yardstick have a ready explanation, Peterson and West note. Because NCLB schools are evaluated primarily on the basis of achievement levels, the evaluation cannot readily detect how much growth is taking place within a school.

“Most states could not have used growth scores when NCLB was enacted, simply because they had not constructed the tracking system Florida has put together,” the authors explain. “Since other states are now beginning to build their own warehouses of data that follow the progress of individual students over time, the time has arrived when a legislative fix for NCLB should be feasible.”

Read “Is Your Child’s School Effective?” in the new issue of Education Next, now online at www.EducationNext.org.

Paul E. Peterson is professor of government at Harvard University and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. Martin R. West is an assistant professor at Brown University. Both serve as editors of Education Next.

Education Next is a scholarly journal published by the Hoover Institution that is committed to looking at hard facts about school reform. Other sponsoring institutions are the Harvard Program on Education Policy and Governance and the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation.

It took parents 17 years to overturn the tragic 1989 curriculum mistake made by so-called education experts who demanded that schools abandon traditional mathematics in favor of unproven approaches. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics finally reversed course on Sept. 12 and admitted that elementary schools really should teach arithmetic, after all.

The new report called "Curriculum Focal Points for Pre-kindergarten Through Grade 8 Mathematics" is a back-to-basics victory that rejects the type of math curricula that parents had derided as "fuzzy math" or "rain forest math." Experts preferred such hoity-toity titles as "New New Math," "Connected Math," "Chicago Math," "Core-Plus Math," "Whole Math," "Interactive Math" or "Integrated Math."

Whatever the title, these curricula imbedded the notion that estimates are acceptable in lieu of accurate answers to math problems so long as students feel good about what they are doing and can think up a reason for doing it. Fuzzy curricula were big on discussion, coloring, playing games, and early use of calculators.

The 1989 report, which gives the word "standards" a bad name, flatly opposed drilling students in basic math facts, taught that memorization of math facts was bad, and failed to systematically build from one math concept to another. Children were encouraged to "discover" math on their own, construct their own math language, and flounder with their own approaches to solving problems.

This silliness is based on the false notion that children can develop a deeper understanding of mathematics when they invent their own methods for performing basic calculations.

Despite widespread parental opposition, in October 1999 Bill Clinton's Department of Education officially endorsed 10 new math courses, based on the 1989 "standards," for grades K-12, calling them "exemplary" or "promising." Local school districts were urged to adopt one of them, and were baited with federal money inducements.

One department-approved "exemplary" course, "MathLand," directed children to meet in small groups and invent their own ways to add, subtract, multiply and divide. It's too bad the kids weren't told that wiser adults have already discovered how to do all those basic computations rapidly and accurately.

It wasn't only parents who quickly sized up fuzzy math curricula as subtracting rather than adding to the skills of schoolchildren. On Nov. 18, 1999, more than 200 prestigious mathematicians and scholars, including four Nobel laureates and two winners of the Fields Medal, the highest math honor, published a full-page ad in the Washington Post criticizing the "exemplary" curricula.

But Clinton's Education Secretary Richard Riley refused to back away from the department's endorsements and the 1989 "standards" adopted by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

With such vague parameters for courses in math, trendy instructors began advancing their political agenda by injecting ethnic studies into math textbooks. Some taught what Diane Ravitch calls "ethnomathematics," the far out notion that traditional math is too Western and therefore students should be taught in ways that relate to their ancestral culture.

The diversion of math into the teaching of political correctness was illustrated by the "anti-racist multicultural math" curriculum adopted by Newton, Mass. It's no wonder that test scores dropped after this "math" curriculum's top priority became "Respect for Human Differences."

Fortunately, during the fuzzy math era, a few students were fortunate enough to have teachers who dared to be heretical. Some 300 public schools adopted Singapore Math and those students are turning in good scores. Home-schoolers are very successful with Singapore Math, too.

The new National Council report tries to finesse its dramatic switch back to memorization by recommending that the curriculum focus on "quick recall" of multiplication and division, the area of two-dimensional shapes, and an understanding of decimals. It takes a pompous expert to avoid admitting that memorization of multiplication tables is the best way to have "quick recall."

Before the 1989 mistake, U.S. students ranked No. 1 in international mathematics tests. Since then, U.S. students have dropped to 15th, far behind the consistently high performance of Singapore and Japan and behind most industrialized countries.

Added to the humiliation of international tests is the appalling percentage of college students who must take remedial math before they can enroll in college courses. That means the taxpayers have been paying twice to teach students the same material.

Another dirty little secret that has emerged as Page One news is the small number of college students who graduate even after six years. Graduation rates at 50 four-year public universities are below 20 percent, and below 50 percent at many more universities.

Because it is likely that nearly all these students attended college using financial aid, the obvious conclusion is that the taxpayers are being ripped off by the racket of colleges pretending to teach and students pretending to learn.

I recently experienced yet another example of how our public school system is ill-equipped to deliver an appropriate education to all students.  I have two children, my daughter, a senior in high school and a special education student, and my son, an honors student also in high school.

Over the years I have advocated on behalf of my daughter far more than I have for my son in securing an appropriate education for her.  In doing so, the law has always been on my side as disabled children are entitled to receive a “free and appropriate public education,” key word being “appropriate.”  This legal protection afforded my daughter the opportunity to receive an education that met her academic needs.

Recently, however, in trying to secure a “free and appropriate public education” for my son, we were met with resistance from district administration.  While I am grateful for the legal protections afforded to my daughter and other special education students, I cannot understand why the brightest of students in our public schools do not experience the same rights. All children should receive a “free and appropriate public education,” regardless of mental capabilities. 

Back-to-School Issue
Dear Readers,  

On July 6, 2006, I was appointed as the assistant deputy secretary for the Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII) at the U.S. Department of Education. Since I recently completed my first month on the job, I thought this would be a good opportunity to introduce myself.  

My road to the federal government began in the 1990s when I worked in both the U.S. House and Senate. Now, nearly ten years later, I'm pleased to find myself back in the nation's capital working to oversee the diverse portfolio of grants and projects that OII is responsible for under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).    

Coming from a family of educators, I have always had a passionate interest in education policy, a respect for the honorable profession of teaching, and an appreciation for the life-changing impact of an excellent school on an individual child. For six of the last nine years, I worked at several non-profit organizations promoting education reform and providing outreach to families regarding educational options. These included the Center of the American Experiment, the Partnership for Choice in Education, and the Twin Cities Financial Foundation.    

Following that, I served as the director of the Division of School Choice and Innovation at the Minnesota Department of Education while managing the administration of 25 programs in the areas of school choice, nonpublic school options, supplemental educational services (SES), American Indian education, voluntary integration, and postsecondary scholarships. Not only was this state office partially modeled on OII, but we were privileged to have been featured in a 2004 edition of The Education Innovator .  

I hope these experiences will assist me in leading OII in its unique role as the “entrepreneurial arm” of the Department, and I look forward to sharing with you the interesting developments that occur in this office and in the Department as a whole. As President Bush has noted, education is the “great civil rights issue of our time,” and as the proud father of three young sons, I can think of no greater honor than working to ensure that all children in this country receive a high-quality education.  

Please enjoy the 2006 “Back-to-School” edition of The Education Innovator , and I wish the best of luck to all the education leaders, teachers, students, and families returning to schools across the country this fall.

  Morgan Brown

Making Connections and Learning Lessons: The Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative Prepares Teachers for a New Academic Year

The pencils are sharpened. The desks are organized in neat rows. The computers whirr. Standing ready at the classroom door, the teacher knows that she is more prepared than ever before to engage her new students with innovative, research-based instructional strategies. Across the country, thousands of similar teachers are feeling confident about the start of the 2006-2007 school year because of the way they spent their summer.

The U.S. Department of Education offered 14 free professional development workshops for elementary and secondary teachers from early June through the middle of August this year. These workshops were part of the Department's Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative, which helps teachers to improve student achievement by supporting their professional development. Through face-to-face sessions and online learning opportunities, the Initiative reaches out to states and school districts so that teachers may receive credit toward professional development requirements and glean promising practices and useful classroom materials, including strategies, handouts, and tips for engaging hard-to-reach students, from their peers. Through its programs, the Initiative also aims to keep teachers informed of the latest research on educational practices that have proven success in the classroom. Formed in 2004, the Initiative is an outgrowth of the Teacher Assistance Corps (TAC), which the Department assembled in 2003 to support state efforts to implement the highly qualified teacher requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).

Since 2004, almost 10,000 teachers attended Teacher-to-Teacher sessions in regional and district workshops. All workshops are free. To attend these sessions, many teachers seek support from their districts and schools, which can use Title II funds as well as other federal professional development funds to finance teachers' travel expenses. The content of the workshops are designed for kindergarten through twelfth grade teachers and principals in public, private, and charter schools. Workshop sessions feature teachers and administrators who explain the research-based techniques they use in their classrooms and schools. This summer, general workshops covered the content areas of literacy/reading, mathematics, science, the arts, and history. For the history workshops, the U.S. Department of Education collaborated with the National Park Service to offer hands-on sessions at the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historic Park (OH), the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Celebration (MT), and the Edison National Historic Park (NJ). At these workshops, participants took free tours of the parks and learned how to use historic primary source documents in their classrooms. Additional workshop sessions dealt with early childhood education, technology in the classroom, NCLB, effective use of data, and differentiated instruction.

The Initiative also offered two workshops in California and Washington, DC that focused on foreign language instruction, with a special emphasis on Mandarin Chinese. This year, Chinese was recognized as a “critical foreign language” under the National Security Language Initiative, and with one quarter of the world's population speaking Chinese and approximately 30 million non-Chinese citizens studying the language worldwide, many schools across the United States have begun to take notice of the language's critical importance for competitiveness in the 21st century. As a result, the Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative offered summer workshops that included Chinese for the first time this year.

During the workshop in Washington, DC, for example, participating teachers could choose to attend sessions covering topics such as Building Competency in Foreign Language Instruction, Improving Visual and Verbal Literacy, and Planning Standards-Based Curriculum in Mandarin Chinese. One special session highlighted the new Mandarin Chinese program in the Glastonbury Public Schools (CT). The district has mandated that all students study at least one foreign language beginning in elementary school since the 1950s. Now the Chinese program quickly is gaining popularity next to other course offerings in Spanish, French, Russian, Latin, and Ancient Greek. Rita Oleksak, the foreign language/English Language Learner (ELL) director for the Glastonbury Public Schools, gave Teacher-to-Teacher participants a glimpse into the Mandarin Chinese program, which is offered to students in ninth grade as an additional foreign language. Ms. Oleksak explained how teachers use the Internet and international satellite television broadcasts to give their students a deeper understanding of Chinese culture in a “Mandarin I” course. Then she showed Teacher-to-Teacher participants how teachers in a “Mandarin II” course help students develop more complex skills in Chinese written and oral expression through the use of texts and thematic units.   

Another session showcased Jie Gao, who teaches at Bigelow Middle School in the Newton Public Schools (MA). Ms. Gao uses technology in her classroom both to instruct and assess her students by creating games, quizzes, and tests on her computer. Ms. Gao then posts these activities online. By using an online format, she is able to give her students more immediate feedback on their progress. Her students also “chat” online in Chinese, which has proven to be an interesting way for them to practice their writing and reading skills. Before closing her presentation, Ms. Gao shared one of her most successful instructional strategies with Teacher-to-Teacher participants: making mini-movies. Ms. Gao frequently asks her students to write scripts in either English or Chinese and then act out the scripts in front of a digital movie camera. Using special software, the students then write subtitles in the opposite language in which the movies were filmed. According to Ms. Gao, her students feel especially accomplished after completing an activity of this type because they have created something that is both tangible and entertaining and have used their foreign language skills in a meaningful way.

In her address to the Teacher-to-Teacher workshop on mathematics and science in Hopkinton (MA), U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings stressed the importance of teachers providing their students with rigorous and engaging learning opportunities like the ones demonstrated in Ms. Gao's Chinese class and in other classrooms lead by Teacher-to-Teacher presenters. Referencing a recent study of high school dropouts by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Secretary Spellings noted that 50 percent of the students surveyed cited a lack of challenging coursework as one of the top reasons they dropped out of school. She added, “That's why [the U.S. Department of Education] is holding [Teacher-to-Teacher] workshops. We want to give the chance to share best practices and learn from teachers who are getting great results in the classroom and inspiring students.”

Back to School/Raising Student Achievement 
   For young students in Gulf Coast areas hard-hit by Hurricane Katrina, telling their stories and sharing their emotions is a valuable step in the recovery process. This summer, many of these students healed by participating in weeklong technology workshops in which they scripted, filmed, and edited their own digital movies. Approximately 500 middle school students from Bay St. Louis (MS), New Orleans (LA), and Plaquemines Parish (LA) learned valuable technology skills while channeling their creativity. The “Digital Arts Summer Camps” were organized by the Pearson Foundation and Nokia, Inc. All 150-plus mini-movies were presented to libraries throughout the Gulf Coast, and the National Geographic Channel and the Smithsonian Network announced plans to share the movies with a national audience. This fall, the digital arts program will be extended to other schools in Louisiana (New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Plaquemines Parish, and Algiers Parish) and Mississippi (Bay St. Louis and Waveland). [More-eSchool News] (Aug. 31)

One year after Hurricane Katrina blasted New Orleans (LA), the state of Louisiana finds itself in a unique position: drawing up a brand new plan for directly operating a group of public schools in the city. The state is expected to manage at least 17 schools this fall, far more than originally predicted. For the new Recovery School District, the state is selecting curricula and textbooks, hiring principals and teachers, ordering furniture and computers, and setting up a dress code. As of the week of August 21, the state is anticipating to operate about one-third of the 53 New Orleans public schools expected to open in September. These schools will serve nearly one-third of an estimated 22,000 public school students. The state expects to open more schools later in the fall. [More-Education Week] (Aug. 30) (paid subscription required)

Some 55 million students are enrolling in the nation's schools this fall, making this the largest group of students in America's history and, in ethnic terms, the most diverse in a century. Millions of baby boomers and foreign-born parents are enrolling their children, sending a demographic bulge through the schools that is driving a surge in classroom construction and a rush to hire additional highly qualified teachers. Many school systems have begun recruiting overseas for instructors in hard-to-staff subjects such as special education and mathematics. According to projections published last year by the U.S. Department of Education, the nation's elementary and secondary school enrollments would grow, on average, by about 200,000 students each year. The enrollment trends would be uneven, regionally, with schools in the Northeast and Midwest losing students, on average, and those in the South and West gaining students. [More-The New York Times] (Aug. 28) (paid subscription required)

“The range of the strange” is the term that Stacey Rather, a social studies teacher at Woodlawn Middle School (MD), uses to describe the social/emotional differences in students between the ages of ten to fifteen. According to these students' performance on standardized tests, middle-schoolers not only have difficulty negotiating the onset of puberty, they also struggle with academics. One-third of Maryland's middle schools are on a list of troubled institutions. To boost the achievement of middle-schoolers, the state has appointed a task force to recommend middle school reforms and has begun training teachers and administrators for those grades. A separate certification for middle school teachers, who are currently certified along with secondary school teachers, also may be instituted soon. Additionally, state officials are looking at the potential benefits of combining elementary and middle schools. [More-The Baltimore Sun] (Aug. 28)

Last year, students learned the order of the planets using handy mnemonic devices such as “ M y V ery E ducated M other J ust S erved U s N ine P ancakes.” With this new school year comes a new mnemonic device. Perhaps “ M y V ery E ducated M other J ust S erved U s N uts?” With Pluto's demotion from planetary status in August, teachers across the country will have to adjust their lesson plans. Many teachers also look at the recent change as a great opportunity for discussion and scientific inquiry in their classrooms. [More-USA Today] (Aug. 27)

More teachers across the country may be greeting their students at the classroom door this school year with “ni hao” and expressing their appreciation with “xie xie.” The U.S. government recently flew ten teachers to Washington, DC from China and gave them a five-day crash course in teaching before dispatching them to schools in different states. In January, President Bush unveiled an initiative designed to increase the number of critical foreign languages taught in U.S. schools. The ten Chinese teachers represent the first recruits in a program that aims to expand to include teachers of Russian, Korean, Farsi, and other critical languages. There is no official tracking of Chinese programs in the country, but the interest in them is growing. This interest no longer is coming from Asian parents trying to preserve their culture, but from non-Asian parents who want their children to learn Chinese to become competitive for the best jobs. [More-The Washington Post] (Aug. 26)

Creating carnival games, blueprints for complex “Bug Smashers,” and emergency plans for volcanic eruptions were the activities du jour at Camp Invention at the Alden School in Duxbury (MA) this summer. Worried about the “summer slide,” the attrition of academic gains in the absence of daily homework and exams, families across the country are enrolling their children in summer enrichment programs like Camp Invention. In a study released in June, the Center for Summer Learning at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore (MD) found that students typically lose about one or two months of reading and mathematics skills during the long summer vacation (see Innovator, What's New, August 2006). Over the last three years, enrollment at Camp Invention has tripled to nearly 100 students, who spend part of their summer working their brains to develop projects that are aligned with national science standards. Many teachers report that at the beginning of the school year, they can tell which students have read and engaged in intellectual activities during the summer and which have not. [More-The Boston Globe] (Aug. 24)

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Charter Schools/Magnet Schools 
   The Algiers Charter School Association (ACSA) (LA) has seen a surge in students in the last month, with enrollment rising 32 percent from 3,138 students on the first day of school to more than 4,000 students currently in classes. ACSA spokesman David Grubb said that the schools collectively are at 90 percent capacity. Mr. Grubb stated that ACSA schools might be a more stable option for parents because ACSA has been operating schools since December of last year. The other major public school option in the New Orleans area is the state-run Recovery School District. [More-The Times-Picayune] (Sept. 3)

On August 28, the same day that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, a charter school bearing his name celebrated its opening in Springfield (MA). The school's curriculum is based on Dr. King's teachings and philosophy of peace, citizenship, and community. This year, the Martin Luther King, Jr., Charter School of Excellence will serve 180 students in kindergarten through second grade. Eventually, the school will grow to serve 360 students through fifth grade. [More-The Republican] (Aug. 29)

A new charter elementary school based in the Ravenswood City School District (CA) opens this year to 150 kindergarten, first, and sixth grade students. By 2010, the East Palo Alto Academy: Elementary School plans to expand to a full kindergarten through eighth grade model. Sponsored by the Ravenswood district, the school was founded by Stanford University's School of Education. The new charter school is intended to be a training site for individuals going through Stanford's teaching program. [More-Palo Alto Online] (Aug. 29)

Among the amenities at the new Western Connecticut Academy of International Studies in Danbury (CT) are an ampitheater, individual art and music rooms, a large gymnasium with a rubber mat floor, outdoor classrooms, and a planetarium. Danbury High School senior Christopher Ziegler, who volunteered to give tours of the school to newly enrolled students and their families, marveled, “[There are] themed hallways. All seven continents are represented, and the United Nations has a corridor!” The regional magnet school, housed on the campus of Western Connecticut State University, opens for the first time this year, serving 267 kindergarten through fourth grade students. A fifth grade will be added next year. [More-The Redding Pilot] (Aug. 24)

Tangipahoa Parish is one of several southeastern Louisiana parishes that have seen residential and student population growth since the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina last year. Tangipahoa recently opened a pilot magnet school at Hammond Eastside Primary School. Students must pass tests to gain entrance into the 100-slot program. The curriculum offers visual and performing arts, music, science, and foreign language programming. Hammond Eastside is one of 36 other sites that are opening for the upcoming school year. [More-The Advocate] (Aug. 16)

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Teacher Quality and Development 
   Many school districts require summer courses to ensure that all teachers are reaching the No Child Left Behind Act's (NCLB) highly qualified teacher (HQT) status. These days, teachers also are studying sea turtle habitats in Costa Rica, evolution in the Galapagos, and the history of the Wright Brothers in Dayton (OH). The federal Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative (See Feature) was established to ensure that all students receive instruction from well-trained teachers. This summer, teachers have traveled to Ohio, Wyoming, and New Jersey, among other states. Though no reliable data exist on how many teachers train or work during the summer, national data show the percentage of teachers earning a master's degree more than doubled from 1961 to 2001, from 23 percent to 56 percent. [More-USA Today] (Aug. 30)

Brandy Bailey had no idea when she lead her class of fourth grade students into a special assembly at Oak Grove Central Elementary School (MS) that she was going to be honored as one of “America's Stars of Teaching.” The American Stars of Teaching program is part of the Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative (see Feature) at the U.S. Department of Education and annually honors 51 exemplary teachers from each state and Washington, DC. Teachers are recognized for their effectiveness in helping students meet and exceed the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Ms. Bailey was chosen as the 2006 Mississippi recipient. At the assembly, U.S. Representative Roger Wicker (R-MS) praised Ms. Bailey and her work in the classroom, calling her “a real American hero.”   [More-The Memphis Commercial Appeal] (Aug. 28)

Winthrop University (SC) professors are traveling to the I-95 corridor to help successful teachers with roots in the community earn master's degrees in educational leadership and become principals in high-poverty schools. Winthrop was granted a $776,036 Improving Teacher Quality grant from the U.S. Department of Education for the four-year program. The program targets future education leaders in rural communities. [More-The Rock Hill Herald] (Aug. 28)  
 

In a major shift from its influential recommendations 17 years ago, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics yesterday issued a report urging that math teaching in kindergarten through eighth grade focus on a few basic skills.

If the report, “Curriculum Focal Points,” has anywhere near the impact of the council’s 1989 report, it could signal a profound change in the teaching of math in American schools. It could also help end the math curriculum struggles that for the last two decades have set progressive educators and their liberal supporters against conservatives and many mathematicians.

At a time when most states call for dozens of math topics to be addressed in each grade, the new report sets forth just three basic skills for each level. In fourth grade, for example, the report recommends that the curriculum should center on the “quick recall” of multiplication and division, the area of two-dimensional shapes and an understanding of decimals. It stopped short of a call for memorization of basic math facts.

The 1989 report is widely seen as an important factor nudging the nation away from rote learning and toward a constructivist approach playing down memorization in favor of having children find their own approaches to problems, and write about their reasoning.

“It was incredibly influential,” said Chester E. Finn Jr., a Department of Education official in the Reagan administration. “More than half the states explicitly acknowledged it in devising their own standards. This report is a major turnaround.”

Dr. Finn added, “This is definitely a back-to-basics victory, emphasizing the building blocks children have always learned that a large part of the country believes are important, and moving away from the constructivist approach some educators prefer, in which children learn what they want to learn when they’re ready to learn it.”

The president of the council, Francis Fennell, a professor at McDaniel College in Maryland, played down the degree of change the new report represented, adding that he did not like talk of “math wars.”

Dr. Fennell pointed out that the report did not take a stand on instructional methods, allowing teachers to use whatever works: worksheets, calculators or materials like rods that children can manipulate to try out different numeric relationships.

In a way, the new report stands as a plea for consensus. “Take this opportunity to share the best that we know as we work together to produce improved tools that support our shared goal of a high-quality mathematics education for every student,” the introduction says.

And consensus may be at hand. Some of the same math professors who last year released a chart — aimed directly at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics — detailing the “10 myths” of “N.C.T.M. (Fuzzy)” math now find themselves generally in line with the new report.

“It represents an enormous evolution from the 1989 standards, from the perspectives and attitudes that were present in both camps then,” said R. James Milgram of Stanford, one of the “10 Myths” signers. “The fact that we are now collaborating is incredibly important.”

Math skills have taken center stage in the national debate over education since the 2003 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study found that Asian students outperformed American students. Almost a quarter of American college freshmen take a remedial math course, according to the National Science Board.

Most states now have math curriculum standards setting forth dozens of topics, or “learning expectations,” to be covered in each grade — so many that it is difficult to ensure that students will learn the most important math skills.

The report notes great inconsistencies in which math topics are covered in which grades, how they are defined and what students are expected to learn.

It stops short of recommending a national math curriculum but does try to outline a curriculum narrowed to the most important skills in each grade.

“We tried to identify the really key things, the things a student has to focus on to progress,” said Sybilla Beckmann, a University of Georgia professor who helped write the report. “People like to paint this in terms of black and white, back-to-basics and constructivism, but I think there’s a lot of agreement about what students need to know.”

Parents tout cost, curriculum and socialization as positives in homeschool setting

Last week, the Macomb Eagle discussed the who, what and why of homeschooling in “Lessons from Home.” This week we explore “how.”

Kathy Saxby was an elementary education major at Trinity College in Deerfield when a writing assignment changed her life.

It was 1983, and she was writing a paper for an education class. The subject she chose was homeschooling.

At the time, Kathy knew only one family that homeschooled their children, but she liked what she saw. She read what books were available on the subject, and in time, became convinced it was something she wanted to try for herself.

“I wanted kids, and I wanted to teach, and I just thought it was a logical mix,” Kathy said, adding, “I thought, ‘It seems a little bit silly to me for me to go to work and teach someone else’s children ... when I could teach mine.’ “

Not long after she graduated, Kathy married Dominick Ascone, who shared her views on education. Today the Ascones have five children, ranging in age from 19 years to 7 months, and every one — with the obvious exception of 7-month-old Jordan–has been or is being educated at home.

Kathy Ascone went to Trinity to be a teacher, but when she became a homeschool mom, she also became a principal, superintendent, coach, guidance counselor and a curriculum director.

That meant she had a lot of important decisions to make. First, she had to choose a curriculum.

When Kathy went to her first home school convention and saw all of the different curriculum options, she was “overwhelmed.”

Home schooling also meant Kathy wasn’t earning a paycheck.

Andrea Molina knows what it’s like to choose kids over cash. Molina has a master’s degree in music performance and accompanying, and serves as the opera coach and staff pianist at WIU. She could do much more than that, but she has put her personal ambitions on the backburner to home school her two oldest children, 6-year-old Ian and 5-year-old Eva.

Besides the lost income, Molina and her husband, Moises, spent $1,600 on home school curriculum last year. This year they switched materials and will only spend about $800.

The Molinas do save money in one area, though.

“My kids don’t know all about Nike and Ralph Lauren - the stuff you have to buy to keep up so that they’re not made fun of,” Andrea Molina said.

Home school children may be spared schoolyard ridicule, but critics, including the National Education Association, say keeping kids at home also cheats them out of a chance to develop important social skills.

Home school mom Jennifer Eckman, a mother of five, has heard that before, and said the notion that home schooling retards children’s social growth is ridiculous.

“They actually learn better socialization skills because they’re around people of all different ages all the time,” Eckman said. “I don’t feel that school’s are a real representation of what life is like. We don’t all go around in little clusters with only people (our own age.)”

Kathy Ascone echoed Eckman’s sentiments, and said home schooling has benefited her family in innumerable ways.

Teaching your kids at home is not as difficult as it might seem, she added.

“I think anyone can do it,” Kathy said. “Not necessarily that anyone should do it, but anyone can do it.”

Mix and match

When a family decides to home school, perhaps the biggest question that must be answered is, “What do we teach?”

As Kathy Ascone discovered, the possibilities are nearly endless.

“I liked the idea of being able to choose my curriculum, and choose it to match the child,” she explained. “Some people choose a curriculum and stick with that curriculum and use that for all their subjects. I’ve always been kind of a ‘Well, try this for history and try this for science ...”

Ascone has used a variety of curricula over the years, including McGuffey Readers - the same books used by Laura Ingalls Wilder. One of her favorites, however, is A Beka, a popular Christian education company that provides materials for home schools and private Christian schools including Macomb’s Calvary Baptist Christian Academy.

Other Macomb area home school families, including the Eckmans, also use A Beka. Jennifer Eckman said she likes the company’s products because they approach education from a Christian perspective, and because it is easy to use.

“They pretty much have everything all spelled out for you,” she said, pulling out a lesson plan.

Since A Beka maps out each lesson of each subject, all the home educator has to do is follow the plan and the child will receive a complete education in every subject that is taught in a traditional classroom setting.

Bushnell resident Beth Rock uses materials from Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) for the same reason. ACE students study each subject from PACES (Parent and Child Education Services). Each PACE contains all the information a student needs to complete the assigned work and a final test. The student must complete 12 PACES in each subject every year in order to move to the next grade level.

Rock said she likes ACE materials because each PACE is written from a Christian worldview, and because students must score at least 80 percent or above on the final test in order to move to the next PACE.

Rock has taken a step that is unusual among local home school families - once their children reached high school, she enrolled them in the Florida-based Lighthouse Christian Academy, a fully accredited Christian school that also uses ACE materials. They complete their work at home, but receive credit as though they were actually sitting in a Florida classroom.

When Rock’s oldest daughter, 17-year-old Alissa, graduated this spring, she received a diploma from the academy. Bryan, a 16-year-old senior, will graduate next spring.

Not all home school curricula are Christian-based, however. Many local families, including the Ascones, use materials from Saxon Publishers - specifically Saxon Math.

Dennis and Cindy Williamson use a variety of Christian-based materials, including A Beka, for other subjects, but chose Saxon Math because it builds on principles the students have previously learned, Cindy Williamson said. “Every day you’re learning a little bit something more, and then you’re reviewing that every day.”

The Williamsons have a friend who teaches in the Rushville school district, and she has even used Saxon math in her classroom.

Saxon math is one of the few curricula that Noel Jr. and Jamie Lane have used for teaching their two sons, Stephen, 11, and John, 17. (John entered Knox College this fall.)

“Our curriculum, if it was based on anything, it was based on E.D. Hirsch,” Noel Lane Jr., a retired teacher, explained.

Hirsch, an English professor at the University of Virginia, wrote a book titled “Cultural Literacy” and founded the Core Knowledge Foundation, an organization to propagate his educational ideas.

“His basic idea is that there is a core of knowledge that everyone ... needs in order to participate in the political and social life of the country,” he said.”

The Lanes’ other educational resource was the Parlin-Ingersol Library in Canton, which Noel Lane Jr. described as “one of the best in the country.”

“Both boys spent at least four hours a day all through their early childhoods’ reading,” he said. “I feel like that’s where they really got educated.”

Choices

When choosing a curriculum, the family must also factor in the cost. Home school materials are not cheap, but they probably won’t break the bank, either.

Jennifer Eckman estimates it costs approximately $1,500 to home school three of their children. At the moment, that number is inflated by the cost of 12-year-old Abbey’s math video program, she added.

“And we definitely spend more than most people would,” she noted.

Dominic and Kathy Ascone get by for much less. This year, Kathy estimates they have spent approximately $100 on each of the three children who are currently in school.

Kathy has compared notes with many other area home school families through the Macomb Area Christian Home Educators Society (MACHES), and she estimates that, on average, most spend about $200 per student.

When the Williamsons first began home schooling in the early 1990s, Cindy estimates they spent roughly $200-$400 per child.

As time passed, however, those costs dropped because they were able to reuse some materials. Today, Cindy estimates they spend around $200 per child on actual materials.

The Williamsons do spend more on education overall, though, primarily because they are building a library of hardcover books.

ACE materials are also relatively inexpensive, said Beth Rock. She spends just $300 to educate her youngest child, 12-year-old Kristi. Since Bryan is enrolled in Lighthouse Christian Academy, his education costs $700.

By comparison, Calvary Baptist Christian Academy costs between $1,575 and $2,050 per year.

As Cindy Williamson noted, all of these costs are considerably less than the cost of educating a child through the public school system.

Macomb area parents pay a minimal fee to enroll their child in the public school system - from $35 for a MacArthur’s pre-kindergarten student up to $70 for a Macomb High student, not including activity fees.

The taxpayer picks up the rest of the tab, which comes to a total of $8,660 per pupil in overall operating expenses.

There is one other expense to consider when figuring up the cost of home schooling. One parent must sacrifice his or her career in order to be home.

That sacrifice is not as great as one might think, said Andrea Molina.

“If I worked full-time, and I probably would put (my children) in private school,” she said. “By the time we paid tuition and then sitting in the afternoons so I can be gone - plus no one’s going to cook as much, so we’re going to eat out more - I only probably contribute 25 to 30 percent of my income to the household.

“Everyone makes choices of what they do with their money,” Andrea Molina continued. “This is what we have chosen for our family that seems to work best for our children.”

Socially stunted?

The National Education Association (NEA), the nation’s largest teacher’s union, said there is another hidden cost to home education. Home-educated students miss out on opportunities to build socials skills by not studying with their peers.

In a Feb. 26, 2002 letter to the National Home Education Network, former NEA president Bob Chase wrote his organization was “concerned that homeschooled students were not provided a comprehensive education experience because they did not have an opportunity to interact with students of different cultures, economic status or learning styles. They felt homeschooled students learned in a setting primarily made up (of) family members and friends.”

Precisely, said Kathy Ascone. Family and friends aren’t the problem - they are the solution.

“You don’t want an 8-year-old teaching an 8-year-old how to behave,” she said. “You want them to learn how to behave from someone who hopefully knows how, and then practice it on the other 8-year-olds.”

Noel Lane Jr. agrees forced socialization with misbehaving, misguided peers is something to be avoided, not embraced.

“Once I left high school - aside from maybe basic training in the army - I didn’t have to deal with knuckleheads,” he said. “Once you’re not forced to socialize with those people, they’re no longer a problem.”

Locally, it does not appear that home-educated students are missing out on many opportunities to build relationships with other youth. Almost every family has their children involved in a variety of activities.

Jennifer Eckman has her three daughters are involved in Macomb Park District programs, the YMCA swim team, piano lessons and violin lessons.

The Ascone children have a similar schedule, with park district programs, YMCA soccer and youth group activities through Argyle Bible Church.

Beth Rock’s oldest daughter, Alissa, acquired enough social dexterity that Farmer’s and Merchant’s Bank, Bushnell, hired her as a teller just a few months after graduation. It did not hurt that Alissa already had worked for a year and half for Ludlum’s grocery store.

Then there are more extreme forms of social interaction, like John Lane’s bicycle ride across the United States last summer as part of DeCycles, a youth development biking program for teenagers and young adults.

Local home school families also seem to enjoy getting together to build friendships and share learning experiences. Several families, including the Eckmans, Ascones and Wiliamsons, regularly network for field trips or other educational opportunities.

Once a month, MACHES also sponsors a Monday afternoon skating social at Skateland in Macomb.

Reviewing her own children’s packed schedule, Kathy Ascone said, “Our kids probably get plenty (of social interaction) - sometimes we feel like they’re getting too much.”

ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 12, 2006--After undertaking a rigorous assessment of Florida's education policies and programs, the Hoover Institution's Koret Task Force on K-12 Education presents its findings and recommendations to Governor Jeb Bush on Tuesday, September 12.

The eleven-member task force will join Governor Bush in a press conference in Orlando highlighting the group's report: Reforming Education in Florida (Hoover Press, 2006). Earlier in the year, Governor Bush and Board of Education Chairman Philip Handy invited the expert group to examine the state's PreK-12 education system and offer suggestions for strengthening it.

The task force assessed current polices and offered recommendations for building upon the reforms Florida has already implemented. In its appraisal, the Task Force focused on some of the most pressing issues on the state's education agenda -- accountability, curriculum reform, effective teaching, school choice, pre-school education, class size reduction and effective resource management.

The findings from the Koret Task Force's report show that, in many areas, Florida has become a national leader in education reform that has worked to the clear benefit of many students. Yet crucial tasks remain to be done and the Task Force's report provides important guidance to help inform future decision making by educators, citizens and state leaders.

"Florida's manifold accomplishments, while remarkable, only reveal just how much more needs to be done, if the nation's schools are to become the world-class institutions the country needs," said Koret Task Force member and Hoover Institution senior fellow Paul E. Peterson, who served as editor for the report.

The Koret Task Force members are among America's foremost education scholars, brought together by the Hoover Institution with the support of the Koret Foundation. All eleven Task Force members participated in the Florida review: John E. Chubb, Williamson M. Evers, Chester E. Finn Jr., Eric A. Hanushek, Paul T. Hill, E. D. Hirsch, Caroline M. Hoxby, Terry M. Moe, Paul E. Peterson, Diane Ravitch, and Herbert J. Walberg. Additional contributors include Paul Clopton, Elena Llaudet, Sonali Murarka, and Marguerite Roza.

The Hoover Institution, founded at Stanford University in 1919, is an interdisciplinary research center for advanced study on domestic public policy and international affairs, with an internationally renowned archive. For more information on the Hoover Institution, visit www.Hoover.org.

Highlights from the Koret Task Force's recommendations follow; the complete report, Reforming Education in Florida (Hoover Press, 2006), can be found at www.KoretTaskForce.org

-- Highlights from Reforming Education in Florida: Recommendations from the Koret Task Force on K-12 Education --

Overall Performance

-- Since 1998, students have made impressive gains in reading and math on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). Confirming these FCAT gains are striking gains on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), gains that exceed the national trend, especially in fourth grade.

-- Florida has been out-pacing the nation in the rate at which it is closing the ethnic achievement gap, particularly in the elementary school years.

-- Yet FCAT gains among high school students have not kept pace with those in the lower grades and NAEP scores for 17-year-olds remain low.

Accountability

-- Florida's A+ Plan has many features that make it a noteworthy model for accountability policies in other states and for the federal government.

        --  Schools are graded on an intuitive, five-level "A" to "F"
            scale that parents and taxpayers can readily comprehend.

        --  Schools are given a balance of positive and negative
            incentives.

        --  The state's comprehensive warehouse of data enables
            educators to track individual students' progress from one
            year to the next, enabling schools to be evaluated both on
            the basis of overall student accomplishment and on the
            amount of individual student growth over the previous
            year.

        --  A+ also holds students accountable with its graduation
            exam and its retention policy for low-scoring third grade
            students.

-- While this accountability system is superior to the one established by the federal No Child Left Behind act, it could be further enhanced by giving greater weight to students' growth.

-- Florida should consider extending its retention policy beyond 3rd grade.

-- Florida's current proficiency standards in reading and math need to be strengthened.

Curriculum

-- Based upon Florida's test-score gains at the elementary-school level, it appears that the undertaking known as "Just Read, Florida!" has enhanced reading instruction in the state.

-- Florida should thoroughly implement its current plans to revise state standards and grade level expectations through eighth grade to better align them with high school achievement goals. In all subjects, these guidelines need greater grade-by-grade content specificity.

-- In mathematics, the state should boost the rigor of its standards and expectations from fifth grade on and should develop end-of-course examinations for algebra and beyond to match the new standards.

Teachers

-- Florida has developed imaginative programs to enhance the recruitment and retention of high-quality teachers. Especially noteworthy are its alternative teacher certification program and its recent efforts to reward teachers who are particularly effective in the classroom.

-- As Florida's STAR program on performance pay is implemented, it should be carefully monitored so as to ensure that pay differentials are sufficient to retain high quality teachers in the classroom.

-- Building on its alternative teacher certification programs, Florida should move toward a more streamlined approach to certification, allowing principals to hire any candidate who possesses a bachelor's degree, demonstrates substantive competence, and passes a background check.

-- Veteran teachers should be required to demonstrate their competence by possessing a college (or graduate) degree in the relevant subject, passing a rigorous subject test, or showing that their students are making satisfactory achievement gains on the FCAT.

School Choice

-- Florida's array of school choice programs, including the McKay, Corporate Tax Credit, and, until recently, Opportunity Scholarship, as well as its charter and virtual school programs, has made the state a national pace-setter by creating a complimentary set of education options that benefit a variety of students.

-- The state should continue widening its school choice options and the legislature should make every effort to restore the Opportunity Scholarship Program.

Pre-K

-- Florida is making good progress in implementation of its new statewide pre-school program. Going forward, the state should, within constitutional parameters, concentrate its pre-school resources on segments of the population in most need of such services.

-- VPK program operators should be monitored for quality, integrity, and impact on student readiness for school. In this regard, Florida should develop a data system for Pre-K comparable to the one it currently has in place for K-20 education.

Class Size and Resource Utilization

-- Florida has done well at achieving fiscal equity among school districts and is well positioned, because of the quality of its data on school finance and student performance, to work on within-district equity and efficiency issues.

-- Florida should consider experimenting with pupil-based funding programs. Such experiments should be closely monitored to test whether schools with greater control of funds become more productive and to identify spending patterns that prove especially productive.

-- In place of the current class-size amendment, the legislature should devise and seek voter approval of an alternative approach that grants flexibility in the use of scarce financial resources to state and local education authorities.

Before she took her current job, Virginia Harper sold law books. The more law books she sold, the bigger her bonus-and at the end of the year, the company would throw in a set of fine Irish Waterford crystal, too. Harper, who likes Waterford crystal, sold a lot of books. Then, six years ago, she left sales to teach reading at South Fort Myers High School. Things were different there: Your salary was your salary-no matter how many books you taught.

Now, however, the Florida Legislature has put $147.5 million into making book-teaching a little more like book-selling. This year, if Virginia Harper does a better job than 75 percent of her colleagues, she could get a bonus of up to $2,000. It's not Waterford crystal, but state legislators hope their new program called STAR (Special Teachers Are Rewarded) will do the same trick: make teachers perform better.

Florida is not alone. Texas and the Denver school district also launched "pay for performance" programs this school year. Arizona, Minnesota, and North Carolina have incentive programs in place, and at least nine governors of other states have voiced interest. The federal government is lending a hand, too. The Teacher Incentive Fund, conceived by President Bush and approved by Congress last December, will award $95 million to states and school districts that want to create incentive pay programs. "If you want good teachers and you want to keep good teachers," explains Chester Finn, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, "it's insane not to pay them more than you pay bad teachers."

Buckled. Pay for teacher performance is not a new idea-and its history has been checkered. Programs tried in Tennessee, California, and elsewhere all eventually buckled when budget crises dried up funding and complaints about unfairness piled up. But in the past few years, educators have learned from the failures, creating innovative new programs that seem to blow away the objections of the past. Denver, for instance, has designed a flexible finance system to reward all teachers who meet their improvement goals-not just an arbitrary percentage. And instead of using peer evaluations or a single test score, teachers work with the school staff to craft individualized ways to measure each teacher's performance.

The result: Students and teachers appear to be learning more, and interest has swelled, most notably in Florida and Texas, where a pilot program became a $100 million statewide effort this year.

But whether the new plans will incorporate the new lessons is not clear. Both Florida and Texas, for instance, want districts to consult standardized test scores when they dole out performance pay. Yet, says Texas State Rep. Mark Strama, when he asked the Texas Education Agency whether the state's test provides a good measure of the "value added" by a teacher, "the answer from TEA was unequivocally it does not." He sat in on talks about the plan, but he is not happy with the outcome. Both plans also set aside a fixed sum of money, making it difficult for all teachers who meet their objectives to get rewarded. In Florida, only the top 25 percent of teachers will receive rewards.

Another concern is overall compensation. Teachers in both Florida and Texas already receive salaries more than $5,000 below the national average, according to National Education Association statistics. "If we were on a level playing field with everyone else, then we could play with money like this," says Michelle Dennard, president of Florida's Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association and a teacher. "But until Florida does what it needs to do with teacher salaries, it's an insult."

Other critics say the money would have been better spent on resources like mentoring and training. The Denver plan builds in those supports, but it's not clear whether Florida and Texas districts will follow. Right now, some Florida districts are considering not applying for the money at all.

If Virginia Harper's district chooses to opt out, she would understand. "I still think it's a good idea but almost impossible to implement," she says. "I don't walk into my room and look at my students with a dollar sign on their faces-'bonus pay, bonus pay.'"

New Legislation Promises More Choices for Low-income Families
Proposed Act Would Afford Private School Transfer, Intensive Tutoring

On July 18, a bill was introduced in Congress that would help economically disadvantaged students in under-performing schools transfer to the private school of their choice or sign up for intensive afterschool or summer tutoring.

If enacted into law, the America's Opportunity Scholarships for Kids Act would authorize the U.S. Department of Education to award $100 million in fiscal year 2007 for competitive grants to states, school districts and nonprofit organizations to provide scholarships of up to $4,000 to children from low-income families in persistently low-performing schools to attend the private school of their choice.

Grant recipients would also be authorized to provide up to $3,000 for tutoring services to lowincome students if they choose not to attend a different school. This would include tutoring through after-school or summer school programs designed to help improve students' academic achievement.

Under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, schools failing to meet their Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) goals for five years are identified as needing restructuring. According to the Department's records, 1,065 schools were identified as needing restructuring in the 2004–05 school year. Preliminary estimates suggest that an additional 1,000 schools from the 2005–06 school year will be identified as needing restructuring.

"We are one step closer to ensuring that parents can make choices that strengthen their children's futures and give them a great start in life, regardless of their resources or the communities in which they live," said U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings.

The Ultimate Goal
A Look at Three Schools Reaching for No Child Left Behind's Full Proficiency Target

  
  
 No Child Left Behind Act 
 
 
 
 
 Enacted: Jan. 8, 2002
Goal: To have every child reading and doing math at grade level by 2014.
Major Principles: 1) Stronger accountability for results; 2) greater flexibility for states and communities; 3) proven education methods; and 4) more choices for parents.
Affects: K-12 public schools, particularly those receiving Title I funds because of high-poverty populations
Interesting Fact: The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 passed both houses of Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support: in the House of Representatives, 381 to 41, and in the Senate, 87 to 10.
Glossary of Popular Terms:

Adequate Yearly Progress: the annual goal of student proficiency, as set by each state and measured on state assessments, that a school must reach.

Highly qualified teacher: a teacher who has a bachelor's degree, full state certification and content knowledge in each core academic subject taught.

Supplemental educational services: additional enrichment activities, such as tutoring, provided free-of-charge to students from low-income families in schools identified as in need of improvement for two years.

Disaggregated data: test results sorted by student classifications: poverty level, race/ethnicity, disability, and limited English proficiency.

 
 
 
 
  
  
 
When President George W. Bush took office in January 2001, first among his domestic priorities was improving education. Lagging student performance on both national and state assessments had been revealing for some time that America's public schools needed sweeping reform. By the start of the following year, the president's education bill had passed both houses of Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was signed into law on Jan. 8, 2002.

NCLB dramatically restructured the Elementary and Secondary Education Act—the main federal law affecting education from kindergarten through high school—by raising the achievement bar for America's children. It represented a formidable front against what President Bush termed the "soft bigotry of low expectations" that had been hindering a staggering number of students, particularly minorities and those from low-income families, with disabilities or with limited English proficiency. The law was based on four principles: 1) stronger accountability for results, by requiring annual testing in grades 3-8 and at least once in high school to track student progress, and by holding schools and districts accountable for making that progress; 2) greater flexibility for states and communities, by allowing school districts to redirect certain federal funds toward financing much needed programs; 3) proven education methods, by focusing on teaching strategies that research has shown to be effective; and 4) more choices for parents, by affording options such as school transfers or free tutoring for children in low-performing schools. Ultimately, NCLB set a historic goal for the country: every child reading and doing math at grade level by 2014.

In just a few short years since its enactment, the landmark legislation has proven that raising academic standards leads to a rise in achievement. According to the 2004 Nation's Report Card, America's nine-year-olds posted the best scores in reading (since 1971) and math (since 1973) in the report card's history, while the country's 13-year-olds earned the highest math scores the test ever recorded. With such success at the primary levels, the president is looking to expand NCLB's provisions at the high school level, beginning with his American Competitiveness Initiative to better prepare the nation's youths for the global marketplace.

Following are a few schools that are well on their way to meeting NCLB's 2014 target, proving that, despite the challenges communities may face, achieving full proficiency in reading and math is possible.

Smith Street Elementary School

A 2005 No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools Award winner, Smith Street Elementary School in Uniondale, N.Y., is a dramatic example of high expectations driving success at a high-needs school. Last year, every fourth-grader achieved proficiency on the state's math exam and almost all (98 percent) did as well in reading. The multicultural, suburban school—with significant black, Hispanic and low-income populations, as well as a relatively large number of English language learners and special education students—ranks high on New York's inaugural list of high-performing schools that closed achievement gaps among multiple groups of students and met Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) goals for two consecutive years.

Smith Street has made great gains since the state assessment was first given in 1999, when just 31 percent and 65 percent scored proficient in reading and math, respectively. At the time, Principal Lynnda Nadien was the district's reading specialist and part of a team of administrators and teachers collaborating across school lines to improve achievement. In response to the students' low scores, the staff began to make changes by analyzing test score data, scheduling students for extra academic help, and integrating the curriculum. "Our goal was ... to have a strong balance between reading, writing, listening and speaking in order for the students to be proficient enough to pass any exam put in front of them," said Nadien, who joined Smith Street last year. She said that this "balanced approach" to learning helps students make connections between concepts, so that the skills used in language arts also apply to math. As practice, students are challenged to write their own math word problems and explain their solutions. "It's a real-life, problem-solving approach," she added.

Focusing on potential student achievement rather than on failing to meet academic expectations, said Nadien, led to a leap in scores, not just overall, but exponentially: from proficient to advanced levels. For instance, to prepare students for the state exam this past school year (the first year New York began testing all grades 3-8), the teachers assembled practice questions that were considerably challenging. "Being successful leads to higher levels of success," Nadien explained. "[Our] mentality ... is that everyone would aspire to get a 'four' [the advanced category on the state exam]. And we believe strongly that through hard work and perseverance we will be able to get to that point."

Peabody eMints Academy

Another struggle-to-success story, Peabody eMints Academy, a predominantly black school in St. Louis where 100 percent of the children qualify for federally subsidized meals, is part of a major revitalization spreading throughout the urban neighborhood. Just five years ago, not one fourth-grader passed the math exam, and only 7 percent of third-graders could read at grade level. Today, however, approximately 87 percent exceed the state standards in both subjects and nearly 96 percent in science, according to 2005 data. Peabody's progress over the years has earned it a "Top 10 Schools" recognition from Missouri and a Title I Distinguished Schools honor.

For Principal Chereyl Spann, the 2001 scores were a wake-up call. Spann, who was Peabody's instructional coordinator that year, thought that the school's strong leadership and remarkable student attendance and behavior would have promised better outcomes. "But I saw a need in the testing," she realized. "In order for students to do well, they at least need to know what is expected of them." She said that the expectations needed to be relayed to the teachers as well, which translated into greater professional development, collaboration and opportunities for expert educators. "You might think you're doing a wonderful job teaching, but if none of your students mastered the test, you haven't taught," Spann said.

For the students, Spann and former principal Myrtle Reed set up an after-school program to provide additional instruction in reading, math and science, which required the attendance of every child in grades 2-7, Monday through Thursday. (This fall, Peabody is adding the eighth grade as part of a district effort to address middle school issues.) The program is led by half of the teaching staff, whose commitment Spann also credits for the school's academic breakthrough.

Another critical factor in the school's success was a partnership Reed initiated with the business community that culminated to the Peabody Education Task Force. This consortium of businesses, which is helping to direct the community's economic revival, provided the funds for jumpstarting the school's eMints (enhancing Missouri's Instructional Networked Teaching Strategies) program, a state initiative that allows students to take regular online assessments of their progress and teachers to customize instruction accordingly. In addition, the task force has sent volunteers for building improvement projects and tutoring opportunities. "We are all working for the students," said Spann. "We are in the service business. We are to serve the students and serve them well."

New Plymouth Elementary School

At New Plymouth Elementary School, the key to student achievement is reading—the gateway skill to lifelong learning. Having strong literacy skills is critical to the high-poverty, rural district of New Plymouth, Idaho, where nearly 1 in 5 students (primarily of Latino descent) are English language learners and 11 percent require special education. So to help put its children on the right path, New Plymouth was awarded, in spring 2003, a grant from Reading First, a program established by NCLB to ensure children read at or above grade level by the end of the third grade. By the second year of the program's implementation, the school found that reading performance had increased by one-third in kindergarten (from 58 percent to 90 percent) and nearly doubled in first grade (from 47 percent to 82 percent) on Idaho's early reading test. On the state's 2005 accountability exam, New Plymouth's third-graders proved just as strong as the younger students, with nearly every child (98 percent) testing proficient, while 100 percent of Hispanic students scored at grade level.

Principal Carrie Aguas believes the Reading First program provided the catalyst for change. Before the grant, New Plymouth could not meet its AYP goals. Teachers were using three different reading series and were not always able to fully cover the assigned texts. But "with Reading First, we learned fidelity to the core program," said Aguas. Recognizing that the NCLB initiative requires comprehensive reading instruction based on scientific research, vast improvements were made to the schedule to extend blocks of time for academics and teacher preparation, and to the curriculum, which involved pacing calendars that guaranteed everyone taught the same lesson at the same time.

The roles of supporting staff members also were affected. Instructional assistants were now in the classrooms learning how to apply the supplemental materials. Cafeteria workers had to learn to serve students within a shorter lunch period. Even the custodian helped in the library during busy checkout times. Said Aguas, "Without everyone on board and rowing in the same direction, we could not have made improvements in student learning."

Furthermore, according to Aguas, the gains made through Reading First transferred to other subjects, such as science, social studies and especially math, where the average score is 96 percent for grades 3-5. "We used to look at test scores and go, 'Oh, great, this is where we are,'" said Aguas. "But now we look at them and say, 'Uh-oh, what can we do next?' So it's just brought [the analysis of test] scores down to individual student learning."

Note: The 2006 test results for these schools were not all publicly available at the time of publication.

— By Nicole Ashby

Spellings Speaks at Teacher Workshop

In July, Secretary Spellings spoke at the Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative Workshop in Boston, as part of a summer series of training opportunities sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. Following is an excerpt of her remarks.

... Last month, I had a meeting with Tom Friedman, the New York Times columnist and author of the bestseller The World Is Flat. He told me the number one skill our children will need to survive in this new flat world is learning to learn. And to learn how to learn, you've got to love to learn and that's triggered by a great teacher. He said to ask your friends what classes they love, and regardless of the subject—physics, astronomy, art history—take that class, because chances are it's being taught by a great teacher....

It's no secret that teaching is one of the hardest jobs out there.... Everywhere I go, I'm inspired by hard-working teachers who believe every child deserves a quality education. Earlier this year, I met a local Teacher of the Year in Spokane, Wash. She earned that honor after 17 years of teaching elementary school. And she told me she was a better teacher today than she was five years ago because of No Child Left Behind.

That's probably the best compliment this law could get. Because at its heart, it's all about giving teachers the tools to help students achieve their potential....

And we must start rewarding teachers who get great results, especially in low-income schools, which often have the hardest time getting and keeping experienced and knowledgeable teachers. The president and Congress recently created a new $100 million Teacher Incentive Fund to encourage more experienced teachers to take jobs in high-poverty schools, where a high-quality teacher makes all the difference. So far, 16 states ... and about 60 districts have already expressed interest in applying, and we plan to make those awards by October.

We know nothing helps a child learn as much as a great teacher. Great teachers are helping us reach our goal under No Child Left Behind of having every child doing grade-level work by 2014, and great teachers are the key to equipping every child to compete and thrive in the 21st century....

Visit http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2006/07/07122006.html for the complete July 12, 2006, remarks.

Around the Country

Iowa — Thousands of Iowa students will benefit this school year from a new school tuition tax credit bill signed by Gov. Tom Vilsack in June. The Educational Opportunities Act establishes a 65-percent tax credit for individuals who make contributions to approved school tuition organizations, which distribute scholarships to families for the school of their choice. To qualify, a family's annual income must not exceed 300 percent of the federal poverty level. School tuition organizations must spend 90 percent of funds raised on scholarships, and the scholarships may not exceed the tuition at the private school.

Maryland — This fall, Anne Arundel County will introduce 623 newly hired teachers to its public school system through its teacher support program for newcomers. Designed to ease their transition into the school system, The Right Start New Teacher Support program offers mentoring services for educators new to the profession as well as a series of seminars on topics ranging from student discipline to data-driven instruction. Approximately 250 of the program's participants are new to teaching, while the others are new to the county. According to district officials, 90 percent of those mentored by veteran teachers continue to teach in Anne Arundel five years later.

Calendar

September 17
Constitution and Citizenship Day, an annual observance designated by Congress in 2005 that requires any educational institution receiving federal funds to hold an education program to commemorate the day the U.S. Constitution was adopted in 1787. This year, because the 17th falls on a Sunday, schools will participate in the observance during the preceding or following week. Among resources, the Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE) Web site—www.ed.gov/free—offers teaching and learning materials about the historical document that shaped America's democratic government.

September 30
National Book Festival, sponsored by the Library of Congress and hosted by Laura Bush on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. It will feature more than 70 award-winning authors, illustrators and poets in such genres as fiction and fantasy, mysteries and thrillers, and history and biography. For details, visit www.loc.gov and click on "National Book Festival," or call 1-888-714-4696.

October 12
Lights On Afterschool, a nationwide event saluting after-school programs. For information on hosting a local event or obtaining supporting materials, visit www.afterschoolalliance.org or call 202-347-1002.

Q & A

With the school year beginning, what can I do to ensure my child is successful?

Every stakeholder, from policymakers to parents, is responsible for student achievement. As their children's first teachers, parents in particular play a critical role in children's learning. According to a U.S. Department of Education study, when teachers reported high levels of outreach to parents of low-achieving third-graders, two-year growth rates for student test scores were much higher (reading: 50 percent; math: 40 percent) than when teachers reported low levels of outreach. Here are some tips to help you support your child.

Speak with your child about school. Talk to your child about the importance of school. Ask him or her about teachers, assignments, friends and activities.
Establish a line of communication with school staff. Keep in touch with teachers and guidance counselors by scheduling periodic meetings or corresponding regularly to discuss academic expectations and your child's progress in meeting those expectations.
Examine the school's report card. The No Child Left Behind Act requires that schools and districts provide "report cards" or ongoing information on student progress. These report cards also show how your child's school is doing compared to others in the district.
Help with homework. Review assignments so that you will know in which subjects your child is excelling, needs help or lacks enthusiasm for what is being taught. Ask your child's teachers if classroom and homework assignments are posted on the school's Web site.
Attend school functions. Participate in events such as open houses and parent-teacher conferences. Find out about volunteer opportunities and how you can become involved in school improvement efforts. Join or start a parent support network.
For more information and resources to help your child succeed in school, visit www.ed.gov/parents/.

News Show Explores American Competitiveness

  
  
 Next Broadcast 
 
 
 
 
 "Back to School"
September 19
8-9 p.m. EDT

 
 
 
  
  
 
American competitiveness—and the ways in which schools and families can equip children with the skills to compete in a changing world—will be the focus of the September edition of Education News Parents Can Use, the U.S. Department of Education's monthly television program.

The show, which will also highlight back-to-school activities around the nation, will: discuss how the American Competitiveness Initiative is ensuring that students graduate with the skills they need to be successful in college or in the workforce; spotlight innovative local and national programs that strengthen learning in math, science and engineering; and provide tips for parents on what they can do to ensure that their children are ready to meet the demands of an increasingly technological and competitive global economy.

Each month, Education News Parents Can Use showcases: schools and school districts from across the country; conversations with school officials, parents and education experts; and advice and free resources for parents and educators.

To learn about viewing options, including webcasts, visit http://www.ed.gov/news/av/video/edtv/index.html or call toll-free 1-800-USA-LEARN.

Tool Kit for Hispanic Families

To close the achievement gap for Hispanic children, the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans has recommended setting new and high expectations by: helping parents navigate the education system; creating partnerships to provide expanded options for children; and implementing a public awareness campaign aimed at achieving higher education.

To help fulfill this purpose, the U.S. Department of Education, in collaboration with the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, will release an updated version of the Tool Kit for Hispanic Families during this back-to-school season.

A colorful, illustrated resource, the tool kit was developed with guidance from over 1,800 Hispanic parents at Parent Information and Resource Centers across the country. It includes six topical brochures, each containing additional references.

You and Your Preschool Child looks at factors such as diet, exercise and medical care that affect how well children perform in school.
You and Your Elementary School-Aged Child suggests important questions to ask educators, such as how much time is spent teaching children English, reading and math.
Tips for Helping Children Learn to Read offers literacy techniques for the early stages of learning how to read.
A Challenging High School Education for All looks at how completing advanced course work can help students to succeed in college and perhaps graduate early.
School Success for Your Child offers homework tips for parents and suggestions for helping students with disabilities.
No Child Left Behind: Help for Students and Their Families provides an overview of the options and benefits of the law.
To place an advance order for a free copy of the tool kit, call 1-877-4ED-PUBS.