NCTAF News Digest:

A Weekly Digest of News Articles & Reports

Thursday May 8, 2008

In this Issue:

--NCLB Watch

--Column: U.S. Kids Losing Education Race to Peers in China, India

--Texas Monthly's Interview: Margaret Spellings

--An Initiative on Reading is Rated Ineffective

--Math Group Tries to Help Young Teachers Stay the Course

--Rhee Moves to Dismiss Up to 30 Principals

--California Senate Approves Bonus Plan to Draw Experienced Teachers to Struggling Schools

--Search is on for Schoolteachers in Southeast Missouri

Greetings,

This is the NCTAF News Digest, a timely news service provided to our partner states, commissioners, and the education policy community. This Digest is for the personal educational use of the recipient. At publication time, all links were active. Some publications may require free registration. You may wish to bookmark links for future reference.

Column: U.S. Kids Losing Education Race to Peers in China, India

-Dallas Morning News; May 6, 2008

WASHINGTON – "Scared straight," an old tactic of the war on drugs, is making an appearance in the war on ignorance in a new film called 2 Million Minutes. Math, science and engineering educators have been warning for years that American failings are pushing jobs and investment to better-trained foreign workers. The issue hasn't caught fire in the presidential campaign. And the public doesn't seem to share the urgency, either. Maybe the kids will listen. 2 Million Minutes argues that "the battle for America's economic future isn't being fought by our government. It's being fought by our kids." And in a series of international comparisons, the U.S. kids are not doing so well. The one area where they score better than the rest is self-confidence.Once they leave the eighth grade, students have a little more than 2 million minutes to get ready for work or college and the transition to being an adult. This documentary, made by high-tech entrepreneur Robert Compton, follows two high school seniors in Carmel, Ind., two in Bangalore, India, and two in Shanghai, China, to see how they use their time. All six are bright, accomplished, college-bound individuals. Our students spend a lot of time watching TV, working part-time jobs, playing sports and video games, but not so much on homework. The Chinese kids spend an extra month in school each year, more hours at school each day and more hours doing homework. By the time they graduate, Chinese students have spent more than twice as much time studying as their U.S. counterparts.

The determined studying of the Chinese and Indian kids in this film is awesome and sad. They envy their American counterparts. But it's clear to them – and to their parents – that the way to get ahead is through diligence, fueled by a determination not only to succeed but also to rise above their countries' past failings. India still has great problems to overcome in educating the majority of its students. The elites number in the millions, however, and they are formidable global competitors who have been highly visible as students at America's top universities. It's remarkable to see how far China has come when you remember that higher education was ravaged 35 years ago in the mass hysteria of the Cultural Revolution. Dallas lawyer and education advocate Tom Luce thinks there's still time to turn things around here. "We're living on the years when we led the world in educational attainment," he said.We're not facing Noah's flood yet." More than ten other countries, however, now graduate a higher percentage of their young people from college. Two years ago, the National Academy of Sciences published a report, "Rising Above the Gathering Storm," that talked about the deficient education in science and math that American children are getting in primary and secondary school.

To view the full article, click here.

Texas Monthly Talks; Margaret Spellings
-Texas Monthly; May 2008

So here we are in the middle of a presidential campaign, and the Democratic and Republican candidates have been talking about health care and the economy and Iraq. They’ve been talking about everything in the world, it seems, except education. Is the problem solved? Did you fix the schools and I’m just not aware?

Sadly, no. As you know, I worked for George W. Bush during the 2000 campaign, and he talked a lot about education. He talked about the achievement gap, about things Republicans didn’t usually talk about. The standard shtick had been “abolish the Department of Education,” “no federal intervention”—that sort of thing. And that changed with Bush. This primary season looks to me more like business as usual. The Democrats are playing to the teachers’ unions, and the Republicans are talking about states’ rights, no intervention, cutting spending, et cetera. So we’re not talking about those things in the middle.

Education has been such a constant in the conversation largely because of you and largely because of the law you’re most closely associated with, No Child Left Behind, which has been controversial in some quarters. Then again, how many education initiatives at the national level could people talk about by brand name until now?

Zero. I think there’s a sense that, you know, love it or hate it, somebody’s been working the problem, that it hasn’t suffered from a lack of attention. And maybe that’s why it’s not a focal point in this campaign. Health care, I would say, is the opposite. There hasn’t been as much discussion or as much policy-making around health care, with the exception of the prescription drug benefit.

Let me ask you the Ronald Reagan question: As far as public education goes, are we better off now than we were seven years ago?

No doubt about it. I don’t have to make a case with anything other than data. The student achievement gap is closing—not everywhere, not always, but the trend line has reversed. We had a flat trend line for years, and all of a sudden it has started to tick upward, especially in states like Texas that more quickly adopted and adapted No Child Left Behind—like policies—annual measurement, holding yourselves accountable. Obviously it took us a long time. This law could not have passed through many state legislatures. It came as a shock to the system in some places, and it took them a while to get it fully implemented

To view the full article, click here.

An Initiative on Reading Is Rated Ineffective

-The New York Times; May 2, 2008

President Bush’s $1 billion a year initiative to teach reading to low-income children has not helped improve their reading comprehension, according to a Department of Education report released on Thursday.The program, known as Reading First, drew on some of Mr. Bush’s educational experiences as Texas governor, and at his insistence Congress included it in the federal No Child Left Behind legislation that passed by bipartisan majorities in 2001. It has been a subject of dispute almost ever since, however, with the Bush administration and some state officials characterizing the program as beneficial for young students, and Congressional Democrats and federal investigators criticizing conflict of interest among its top advisers. “Reading First did not improve students’ reading comprehension,” concluded the report, which was mandated by Congress and carried out by the Department of Education’s research arm, the Institute of Education Sciences. “The program did not increase the percentages of students in grades one, two or three whose reading comprehension scores were at or above grade level.”The study, “Reading First Impact Study: Interim Report,” analyzes the performance of students in 12 states who were in grades one to three during the 2004-5 and 2005-6 school years. It is to be followed early in 2009 with a final report that will analyze additional follow-up data, the institute’s director, Grover J. Whitehurst said.

Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings and President Bush have consistently extolled Reading First as a highly effective program. But last year, Congressional Democrats reduced financing for the program for this year by about 60 percent, to about $400 million from the $1 billion it had received in several previous years.On Thursday, Ms. Spellings had no comment on the study. Amanda Farris, a deputy assistant secretary of education, said in a statement that Ms. Spellings planned to look at the study “to inform our efforts,” and would “look forward to reviewing the final report.” Ms. Farris said that one of the consistent messages Ms. Spellings has heard from educators, principals and state administrators “is about the effectiveness of the Reading First program in their schools and their disappointment with Congress” for cutting its financing. Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat who is chairman of the education committee, and who has long criticized the program, said, “The Bush administration has put cronyism first and the reading skills of our children last, and this report shows the disturbing consequences.”

To view the full article, click here.

Math Group Tries to Help Young Teachers Stay the Course

-Education Week; May 6, 2008

Worried about the annual exodus of young teachers from the profession, a major association of math educators is making a fresh effort to help a new crop cope with the common frustrations of the job and make a long-term career of it. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics cannot directly influence some of the factors that steer young educators out of the classroom, such as low pay, poor working conditions, or lack of planning time. But leaders of the 100,000-member association are trying to ease new teachers’ transition in other ways—particularly by helping them master new or difficult math content, manage their classrooms effectively, and know where to go for resources. For the first time, the NCTM organized an entire schedule of seminars at its annual meeting, held here last month, specifically to provide preservice and new teachers with counsel in those areas. Those sessions, aimed at teachers at all grade levels, focused on content-heavy topics, such as teaching ratio and proportions, as well as broader issues, such as motivating students in math.NCTM officials had noticed that more inexperienced math teachers attending the organization’s meetings were requesting that sort of help, said James M. Rubillo, the group’s executive director. The organization surveyed aspiring and new educators and organized professional-development sessions around those needs.The message is that “in spite of what they hear in the press, people can be in this profession for years and be energized,” Mr. Rubillo said. “The main challenge in the field is to make the early-career period positive.

"We’re trying to [foster] an injection of positive.”NCTM officials and others see major challenges to maintaining a well-qualified workforce in math and science teaching in the years ahead.The Business-Higher Education Forum, a Washington-based coalition of corporate, collegiate, and philanthropic leaders, has estimated that 280,000 new math and science teachers would be needed between the time the group issued its report in 2005 and the 2014-15 academic year. That figure was based on projected increases in student enrollment, as well as requirements for decreasing student- to-teacher ratios. It did not take into account the burden of new state math and course requirements. Mr. Rubillo, like many professionals familiar with teaching trends, believes retaining existing teachers is the key to maintaining and strengthening the math workforce.

To view the full article, click here.

Rhee Moves to Dismiss Up to 30 Principals

-The Washington Post; May 6, 2008

D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, continuing a series of aggressive personnel moves, has started notifying principals -- possibly as many as 30 -- that they will not be reappointed for the 2008-09 academic year, officials said yesterday. Turnover among principals, who work under one-year appointments, typically occurs near the end of the school term. About 15 to 20 are usually dismissed, according to the Council of School Officers, which represents principals. This year's changes are the subject of heightened interest, however, because Rhee is required to overhaul 27 city schools that have failed to make adequate progress under the federal No Child Left Behind law. Ten high schools, including Anacostia, Eastern and Wilson, 11 middle schools and six elementary schools are subject to sweeping changes in management and curriculum under the measure. A form letter over Rhee's signature went out to the principals identified for firing yesterday afternoon. It was to be followed by a series of one-on-one meetings between the principals and instructional superintendents, their immediate supervisors, said Rhee's spokeswoman, Mafara Hobson.

"I am writing to provide you with notice of my decision not to reappoint you to the position of principal with the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) for the 2008-2009 school year," the letter began. The dismissals are effective June 30. In e-mails to The Washington Post, Rhee declined to name the principals she is dismissing, calling it "an ongoing process." "Parents will learn this directly from the District, which is appropriate, AFTER we tell the individuals who are impacted," she wrote. Rhee's letter said that before leaving the school system, the departing principals would be expected to work closely with their school communities on budgeting, staffing and other issues "to successfully close out the current school year and position your school for a smooth school opening in August."

To view the full article, click here.

California Senate Approves Bonus Plan to Draw Experienced Teachers to Struggling Schools

-Los Angeles Times, May 2, 2008

SACRAMENTO -- -- Legislators on Thursday advanced proposals to help poor-performing schools attract experienced teachers and to make it easier for prosecutors to seize gang members' assets.Despite opposition from teachers unions, the state Senate voted to allow additional bonuses to be negotiated for experienced and credentialed science and math teachers who take assignments at 2,509 poor-performing schools, including 307 campuses in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The proposal, which will now go to the Assembly, addresses concerns that students at the worst-performing schools are more likely to have science and math teachers who are on emergency credentials or who lack the training, experience and specialization to teach the subjects effectively, according to state Sen. Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles), author of the measure. She said students at such schools are disproportionately Latino and African American. "If we ignore the shortage of math and science teachers in these schools, where they are needed the most, we are essentially telling these young people that they cannot be engineers, scientists, nurses and doctors," Romero said. "This is just simply wrong."

The legislation would let school districts negotiate with the teachers' bargaining units to provide additional compensation to math and science teachers who take assignments in schools ranked lowest in the Academic Performance Index. L.A. Unified began providing incentive pay in 2006 with $11 million in state grants, but the proposal the Senate approved Thursday would allow the district to tap an additional $34 million in special funds and use it for incentives. The measure was opposed by the California Teachers Assn., which has concerns about using special funds that were allocated for other purposes. Also Thursday, the Senate passed legislation sought by the Los Angeles city attorney and opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union that would expand the ability of prosecutors to seize the houses, businesses, cash and other property of gang members by filing lawsuits for civil damages when gang members create nuisances. Sen. Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles) cited the problem of gang violence in Los Angeles, including the recent killing of high school football star Jamiel Shaw Jr., allegedly by a gang member. Cedillo's bill would expand prosecutors' ability to seek civil damages against gang members in court and then seek possession of their assets to satisfy judgments against the gangs. "Gang members should not be able to profit from their activity," Cedillo told his colleagues. "We should take their assets and return them back to the community that they attempt to terrorize."

To view the full article, click here.

Search Is on for Schoolteachers in Southeast Missouri

-Southeast Missourian; May 4, 2008

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — Kelly High School in Benton, Mo., has been advertising for a high school math teacher for months. Despite ads being placed in the newspaper, on college websites and through the job search engine SuccessLink, they have seen few takers. So far, Superintendent Don Moore has received one application.
In the Meadow Heights School District, several people have interviewed for a junior high science position. None were fully certified. And in the Woodland School District, problems finding secondary teachers have spilled over into the liberal arts field, an area in the past where Superintendent Dennis Parham said teachers were easy to find. "I knew it was bad when I couldn't find a social studies teacher," Parham said. "I think across the board, schools are having trouble finding teachers. There's not as many candidates, and sometimes they're not the quality you'd like to have." Teacher shortages are certainly not a new problem. But it is a problem that appears to be acute this year, causing districts to look into hiring teachers with alternative certification, bringing back retired teachers, combining classes or resorting to employing a permanent substitute. "It may be typical, but this is the hardest time we've had," Moore said.

The state's education department does not release data on the number of teaching vacancies in Missouri. On a countrywide level, the National Education Association estimates more than 2 million teachers will be needed in the next decade.  Areas of need include math, science, special education, foreign language, speech/language and counseling. In Southeast Missouri, most districts are only looking for between one to five teachers, mostly in the fields of math and science. Missouri lawmakers have once again taken notice of the persistent shortage, proposing bills to help recruit and retain teachers or make it easier for people to become teachers.

To view the full article, click here.