Subject: FW: NASSMC BRIEFS #326-330
From: nsattler@terra.cc.oh.us
Date: Tue Aug 01 2000 - 09:10:57 EDT
Thought some of you might be interested in the first article.
Nancy
TITLE: NBS#326:Weekly wrap-up of editorials/opinion
CATEGORY: Opinion/Editorials
1)"The Coming Backlash Against 'the Big Test'"
Columnist Brent Staples predicts that other colleges will follow the lead of
Mount Holyoke and other liberal-arts institutions in doing away with the
sacred
SAT requirement.
SOURCE: New York Times, 10 July 2000
WEBSITE: http://www.nytimes.com/00/07/10/editorial/10mon4.html
2) "One Education Does Not Fit All"
Former labor secretary Robert Reich laments the ongoing educational shift
toward
a "one-size-fits-all system that needlessly brands many young people as
failures, when they might thrive if offered a different education whose
progress
was measured differently."
SOURCE: New York Times, 11 July 2000 (p. A25)_
WEBSITE: http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/oped/11reic.html
3)"Merit Pay Gets a Demerit From Mrs. Oldson"
Columnist Eric Zorn chats with his favorite childhood teacher, Veltajean
Olson,
now 79, about why merit pay for teachers is a bad idea. "Teaching is all
about
character, personality and energy...How can you measure that?" Olson says.
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune, 11 July 2000
WEBSITE:
http://chicagotribune.com/news/metro/chicago/printedition/article/0,2669,SAV
-0007110087,FF.html
-------------------------------------------
TITLE: NBS#327: "Television ads slam public education"
CATEGORY: Public Understanding & Engagement
Wall Street billionaire Ted Forstmann is financing a $20 million television
ad
campaign that denounces America's "government-run public-school monopoly."
Though the ads will air during election season, Forstmann insists that the
intent is not to get voters to pressure lawmakers to back school vouchers,
one
of his pet causes. Other backers behind the ad campaign are Atlanta Mayor
Andrew
Young, Martin Luther King III, and Senator John McCain (R-Arizona).
Public education supporters were immediately critical of the ads, one of
which
features a classroom with children throwing paper airplanes and ignoring a
teacher's pleas for order. "I don't think it's positive to systematically
downgrade and demonize public schools; a person who has a public voice ought
to
be using that voice to improve public education," said Education Secretary
Richard Riley.
SOURCE: Seattle Times (Associated Press), 12 July 2000
WEBSITE:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/news/nation-world/html98/altskul12_20000712
.html
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-- TITLE: NBS#328: "National Study Examines Reasons Why Pupils Excel" CATEGORY: Education PolicyA state-by-state analysis of standardized test results concludes that teacher education and experience have less of an impact on achievement than smaller elementary class size and access to preschool. The report also found that states' efforts to boost student achievement are working: nationally, math scores rose at an average rate of one percentile per year from 1990 to 1996.
"Five years ago we were unsure whether reform in the states was working and if spending more money would make any difference in educational outcomes," said David Grissmer, the principal author of the study published by the Rand Corporation. "We see gains in some states from reform efforts and we see that resources, if they're properly targeted, can be very effective at raising achievement."
The study analyzed seven math and reading tests administered in 44 states through the National Assessment of Educational Progress. States that showed the highest levels of improvement among all socioeconomic groups tended to spend more money per student, have lower student-teacher ratios, and provide more public preschool classes. The across-the-board increases in math scores showed a considerable range, with the highest gains reported in North Carolina, Texas and Michigan.
Finding little evidence to support the theory that teacher salaries and experience help boost achievement, the report concluded that education dollars would be better spent on classroom-based resources and reducing class size.
SOURCE: New York Times, 26 July 2000 WEBSITE:http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/072600educ-reforms-edu.html
------------------------------------------- TITLE: NBS#329: "Virginia Easing Rules on Testing" CATEGORY: Assessment & Accountability
The Virginia Board of Education has agreed to ease new graduation rules that are among the toughest in the country. The rules, announced three years ago, required students to pass six of the state's 11 high school Standards of Learning (SOL) exams, beginning in 2004. The board has now come up with a list of tests that students may take instead of the SOL exams. These include Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and SAT-II exams.
Another proposal to allow local school boards to grant waivers to good students who stumbled over the SOL exams was rejected by the board, prompting criticism from many local school officials. "I think it's misguided, wrong-headed, unfair and sad," said Arlington School Superintendent Robert Smith. "I thought it was the best proposal going forward in terms of modification, since it removed there being a single measure of students' achievement. To allow a single measure is just invalid."
SOURCE: Washington Post, 28 July 2000 (p. A01) WEBSITE:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57872-2000Jul22.html
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TITLE: NBS#330: "New York City to Privatize Worst Schools" CATEGORY: School Staffing & Governance
New York City Schools Chancellor Harold O. Levy has issued a request for proposals to convert some of the city's failing schools into charter schools largely free of state and local regulations. The conversion, which would begin in the fall of 2001, will initially focus on 5 to 7 schools. As many as 20 of the city's 50 poorly performing schools could eventually be converted, however.
The plan "should give the parents whose children have been trapped in failing schools some real hope," said Anthony Coles, deputy mayor for planning, education and cultural affairs. But Randi Weingarten, president of the United Federation of Teachers, cautioned that there is no evidence so far that privatization of public schools actually works. Privatization experiments have failed miserably in Baltimore and Hartford, Connecticut.
Nevertheless, Levy said he was "cautiously optimistic that this effort will yield positive results for some of our poorest-performing schools."
SOURCE: New York Times, 27 July 2000 WEBSITE:http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/regional/072700ny-levy-edu.h tml
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