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November 11, 2008

CharterED Notepad

In This Issue:
--U.S. Department of Education News
--Research and Evaluation
--Resources
--State Education News
--Grants and Funding

U.S. Department of Education News

New Charter School Publication
A new charter school publication that outlines steps to create and maintain more successful charter schools is available from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Innovation and Improvement.  A Commitment to Quality: National Charter School Policy Forum Report draws from discussions with about 100 charter school leaders who gathered last May at the Department’s headquarters in Washington, DC.  The report also pulls from 15 years of research and experience with charter schools.

The report summarizes a vision for the future of American charter schools and outlines six principles required to produce and maintain high-quality charter schools. 

For a copy of the full report, visit: http://www.ed.gov/admins/comm/choice/csforum/report.html

New No Child Left Behind Regulations
The U.S. Department of Education has issued final No Child Left Behind regulations, which among other things require consistency in how states calculate their high school graduation rates and report them to the public.

More information is available at: http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2008/10/10282008.html

Student Loans in a Turbulent Economy
The Administration is taking steps to support the student loan market with hopes of easing constraints in capital markets that pose economic challenges for students and student lenders.

Further announcements about access to student loans will be made in the coming weeks.  Visit:

http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2008/10/10102008.html.

Performance Pay for Teachers
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings recently hosted a roundtable discussion on performance pay for educators as part of the Department’s efforts to learn how the federal government can further support this movement.  Spellings also released Lessons Learned About Implementing Performance-Based Pay, which outlines best practices in implementing performance pay systems.

To view Lessons Learned About Implementing Performance-Based Pay, visit http://www.ed.gov/admins/tchrqual/performance/pay-performance.html. More information on the Teacher Incentive Fund is available at http://www.ed.gov/programs/teacherincentive/faq.html. For more information on the Center for Educator Compensation Reform, visit http://www.cecr.ed.gov.

National Math Forum
Producing an action plan to improve American mathematics education was the task when more than 300 educators and policymakers gathered recently in Washington, DC for the first National Math Panel Forum.  The conversation focused on four key areas:

• Teachers and teacher education;
• Learning processes;
• Instructional materials; and
• Standards of evidence—research policies and mechanisms.

Action plans from the Forum can be found at: http://www.cbmsweb.org/NMP_Forum/NMP_Intro.htm

A copy of the National Math Panel report can be found at: http://www.ed.gov.about/bdscomm/list/mathpanel/index.html.

Paying for College--Education News Parents Can Use
Resources available to help pay for college is the focus of the Tuesday, November 18 broadcast of Education News Parents Can Use, the Department’s monthly television program that spotlights timely education topics.

USDOE Web BroadcastPublic School Choice: From Research to Practice
Wednesday, November 19, 2008, 3pm - 4:30pm EST

On behalf of the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Innovation and Improvement, Nova Southeastern University’s Fischler School of Education and Human Services, the Florida Public School Choice Consortium and WestEd would like to invite you to attend the upcoming Public School Choice: From Research to Practice web broadcast.

Please join us for a conversation on the conditions that research has shown are needed to make school choice successful and the ways in which state and district practitioners are implementing replicable practices to improve their school choice programs based on this research and the four tenets of the Voluntary Public School Choice Program.

Speakers

• Dr. Mark Berends, Director of the USDOE/Institute for Education Sciences-funded National Center on School Choice
• Dr. Judith Stein, Executive Director of the National Institute for Educational Options at NSU-FSEHS
• Superintendent Maryellen Elia and Dr. Pansy Houghton, Director of Student Planning and Placement, Hillsborough County Public Schools
• Robert Canelli, Supervisor of Magnet Schools, New Haven Public Schools
• David Kikoler, Evaluator for New Haven Public Schools VPSC grant, American Education Solutions, Inc.

Registration
This event is a live web broadcast from the Florida Public School Choice Consortium's 4th Annual Conference. Please register for this event by clicking here or go to BuildingChoice.org and click on the event in the "What's New" box.

Sponsors
This event is sponsored by The Office of Innovation and Improvement's Voluntary Public School Choice Program, in collaboration with Nova Southeastern University’s Fischler School of Education and Human Services.

For more information please contact:
Natasha Lavine
WestEd, Innovation Studies
415-615-3371
nlavine@wested.org  

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings Announces Final Regulations to Strengthen No Child Left Behind
Encourages Use of New Tools to Build Upon the Successes of NCLB

FOR RELEASE:
October 28, 2008

Contact: Samara Yudof or Elissa Leonard
(202) 401-1576

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today announced final regulations to strengthen and clarify No Child Left Behind (NCLB), focusing on improved accountability and transparency, uniform and disaggregated graduation rates and improved parental notification for Supplemental Education Services and public school choice. The Secretary made the announcement while speaking to educators, state and local policymakers and business leaders at South Carolina Educational Television in Columbia, S.C.

"NCLB has shined a spotlight on schools," said Secretary Spellings. "It is compelling grown ups to do the right thing by kids. And it's working. According to the Nation's Report Card, since 2000, more kids are learning reading and math. Since this law was passed, nearly one million more students have learned basic math skills. Children once left behind are making some of the greatest gains, but more work needs to be done. That's why I've taken a responsive, common sense approach to implementing the law with today's announcement."

The Secretary noted that these new regulations reflect lessons learned over the past six years since NCLB was enacted and builds on work that states have made with their assessment and accountability systems. One area that there is broad public consensus around is the need for a uniform graduation rate.

Recognizing that the nation can no longer tolerate - much less prosper - with its abysmal graduation rate, particularly among minority students, the final regulations establish a uniform graduation rate that shows how many incoming freshman in a given high school graduate within four years.

"As far back as 2005, governors from all 50 states agreed to adopt a uniform, more accurate graduation rate. But so far, only 16 states have done so," said Secretary Spellings. "Parents know that a high school diploma is the least their children need to succeed in today's economy."

Under the new regulations, all states will use the same formula to calculate how many students graduate from high school on time and how many drop out. The final regulations define the "four year adjusted cohort graduation rate" as the number of students who graduate in four years with a regular high school diploma divided by the number of students who entered high school four years earlier, adjusted for transfers, students who emigrate and deceased students. The data will be made public so that educators and parents can compare how students of every race, background and income level are performing.

The final rules announced by the Secretary today also require that parents must be notified in a clear and timely way about their public school choice and supplemental education service options. The regulations seek to ensure that states make more information available to the public about what tutoring providers are available, how these providers are approved and monitored, and most importantly, how effective they are in helping students improve.

"These services can't make a difference if parents don't know they're available," said Secretary Spellings.

Several of the regulations seek to clarify elements of the law that require school systems to be accountable for results and transparent in their reporting to parents and the public. States and districts must now publish reading and mathematics results from the Nation's Report Card alongside data from their own tests for students and include participation rates for students with disabilities and those who are limited English proficient. The regulations also state that measures of student academic achievement may include multiple question formats and multiple assessments within a subject area. In addition, in order to ensure the inclusion of all sub-groups of students, states will be required to explain how its minimum group size, or "N-size" and other components of its AYP definition, interact to provide statistically reliable information and at the same time ensure the maximum inclusion of all students and subgroups.

Building on the Department's growth model pilot program, the regulations outline the criteria that States must meet in order to incorporate individual student progress into the State's definition of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). Recognizing schools in restructuring need the most significant intervention, the regulations seek to ensure that the interventions are more rigorous and that they specifically address the reasons for the school being in restructuring.

Under the new regulations, the Secretary of Education will be required to continue the dialogue and address some of the more technical needs of the states through the National Technical Advisory Council. The council is comprised of experts in the fields of education standards, accountability systems, statistics and psychometrics and it is advising the Department on complex and technical issues and ensure state standards and assessments are of the highest technical quality.

For addition information, please go to:  http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2008/10/10282008.html

October 22, 2008

CharterED Notepad

DEPARTMENT RELEASES NEW POLICY DOCUMENT ON CHARTER SCHOOLS

A Commitment to Quality:  National Charter School Policy Forum Report

The U.S. Department of Education has released a new publication on creating and maintaining successful charter schools, summarizing its vision for the future of the charter school sector in the U.S. and outlining steps to happen to achieve that vision.

Produced by the Department’s Office of Innovation and Improvement, A Commitment to Quality:  National Charter School Policy Forum Report draws from discussions with charter school leaders at the Department’s forum on charter schools in May 2008, as well as 15 years of research and experience with charter schools.  The forum, which shared lessons and outlined future directions for the charter sector, featured nearly 100 of the foremost leaders on charter schools from across the nation.

“We believe the charter sector can do more to fulfill its promise as an engine of educational innovation and quality for students across the country,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings.  “This publication further outlines our shared vision for achieving a vibrant and successful charter school community throughout the nation and we hope it will serve as an informative and useful tool for education leaders.”

Since charter schooling began in Minnesota in 1991, the movement has expanded to more than 4,300 schools in 40 states and the District of Columbia, serving more than 1.2 million students.  The report indicates that in several states - including Tennessee, Massachusetts, Alaska, Idaho, Rhode Island, and Utah - more than 70 percent of charter schools had reading proficiency rates for their low-income students that exceeded statewide rates for low-income students in 2006-07.  These schools demonstrate that high standards and a strong commitment to accountability can get results for those students traditionally most underserved by the public school system.         

In addition, the report outlines the following six principles to produce and maintain quality charter schools:

• Charter schools achieve excellence early in their operations;
• Charter schools improve their performance year in and year out;
• Charter schools that achieve consistently strong results can expand and replicate;
• Charter schools have access to a robust infrastructure to help students and teachers succeed;
• Authorizers address chronic underperformance by closing the school and opening superior options swiftly; and
• Charter schools strengthen all corners of public education by sharing successful practices and fostering choice and competition among schools.

“Living up to these principles calls for a renewed commitment to excellence, accountability and innovation,” said Secretary Spellings.  “By working together, I’m confident we’ll continue to see more quality charter schools created for our students.”          

The new publication reflects the latest thinking on charter schools from renowned practitioners and policymakers, including charter school operators, leaders of charter school support organizations, researchers, policy experts, philanthropists and other funders. 

To view A Commitment to Quality:  National Charter School Policy Forum Report, visit http://www.ed.gov/admins/comm/choice/csforum/report.html

October 21, 2008

Subject: [EDInfo] Teaching Resources: Earth Science, Algebra, Elections, Einstein and More

Earth science, elections, U.S. founding documents, paleontology, Einstein's equation (E = mc2), Leonard Bernstein, preparing students to learn algebra, and how to organize teaching are among the topics of new resources at FREE, the website that makes teaching resources from federal agencies easier to find:           http://www.free.ed.gov/

Fifteen Charters Win Blue Ribbon Awards
Fifteen public charter schools in nine states have been honored as No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education.  The annual federal award recognizes public and private schools that either make significant gains in student achievement or demonstrate academic superiority...For more information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2008/09/09092008.html

Motivating Students to Apply for Post-Secondary Studies
The U.S. Department of Education has announced two plans to make it easier and simpler for students to apply for postsecondary studies:

First, the Department has announced plans to streamline the federal student aid application process by making it easier for students seeking financial assistance for postsecondary studies.  Under the plan, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) would be reduced from 100 questions to 26, and students would learn how much aid they might qualify for before their senior year of high school.

This change followed a finding of the Commission on the Future of Higher Education, launched by Secretary Spellings in 2006, which found that the current federal financial aid system is not serving the needs of students and families.  The system “is "confusing, complex, inefficient, duplicative, and frequently does not direct aid to students who truly need it," the Commission noted.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, has been characterized as more perplexing than the IRS 1040-tax form.  The current form is six pages long with four additional pages of instructions.   For more information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/students/college/aid/fafsa.html

Second, the Department has unveiled a new website, http://www.college.gov, with information about preparing for college.  This site aims to motivate students with inspirational stories and information about planning, preparing and paying for college.  The website, designed with students’ input and participation, includes:

• Videos of college students sharing their stories about overcoming obstacles to achieve college dreams;
• An interactive tool for students to create an “I’m going” personalized roadmap detailing the steps to take to get to college; and
• Information that answers students’ key questions, such as Why Go?  What to Do?  And How to Pay.

Tracking Educational Progress
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings has unveiled five education indicators intended to provide a snapshot of national trends.  These indicators provide answers to many of parents’ most fundamental questions in education:

·         Achievement.  Do children have reading and math skills, as measured by the Nation’s Report Card (NAEP)?

·         Achievement gap.  Are African American and Hispanic students lagging behind their classmates?

·         High school graduation.  Are students graduating from high school on time, as measured by the Averaged Freshman Graduation Rate released every year by the National Center for Education Statistics?

·         College readiness.  When students graduate from high school, are they prepared for college-level work, as defined by college entrance exams?

·         College completion.  Are students obtaining college degrees, as reported by the U.S. Census bureau’s figures on the proportion of those between the ages of 25 and 34 who have attained at least a bachelor’s degree?

For more information on the education indicators, please visit: http://www.ed.gov/nclb/accountability/results/trends/index.html. More information on the Aspen Institute National Education summit is available at: http://www.aspeninstitute.org/site/c.huLWJeMRKpH/b.4442375/k.60E8/National_Education_Summit.htm.

Education News Parents Can Use
The October 21 edition of Education News Parents Can Use is “Safeguarding America’s Colleges: Crisis Planning and Emergency Response.”  It will be broadcast from 8 to 9 p.m.  More information will be posted on the website as it becomes available.  More details will soon be available at: www.ed.gov/edtv.

Supplemental Educational Services Guidance
The Department has issued guidance to provide states with information regarding two sections of the supplemental educational services (SES) provisions of Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act off 1965, as reauthorized by the No Child Left Behind Act.  ...For more information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/stateletters/ses/080820.html

 Research and Evaluation

Children in Poverty
The latest children-in-poverty figure (for 2007) shows that 18 percent of those under 18 years old—or 13.3 million children—now live in poverty, about half a million more than in the previous year...The full Census Bureau report can be found at www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/p60-235.pdf.

High School Dropout and Completion Rates
Recently released figures from the National Center for Education Statistics show that an estimated 74.7 percent of public high school students in the class of 2005 graduated with a regular diploma four years after starting 9^th grade.For more information, please visit: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2008053.

Resources

U.S. Supreme Court, Choice and Race
Letters providing guidance under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 regarding the use of race in the context of K-12 student assignments to schools and higher education student admissions went out August 28 from Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Stephanie Monroe.For more information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/whatsnew.html.

What Works Clearinghouse Publications
From practice guides to intervention reports and quick reviews, the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance’s What Works Clearinghouse continues to release publications to provide guidance in a range of educational areas.  The Clearinghouse was established in 2002 by the Department’s Institute of Education Sciences to provide educators, policymakers, researchers and the public with reliable information about what works in education.

Recent publications include:

• Reducing Behavior Problems in the Elementary School Classroom.  This guide aims to help elementary school educators and administrators promote positive student behavior.  The guide recommends that teachers and educators:
  1.       Identify the specifics of the behavior problem and the conditions that prompt and reinforce it;
  2.       Modify the classroom environment to decrease the problem;
  3.       Teach and reinforce new skills to increase appropriate behavior and preserve a positive classroom climate;
  4.       Draw on relationships with professional colleagues and students’ families for continued guidance and support; and
  5.       Assess whether school-wide behavior problems warrant adopting school-wide strategies or programs, and, if so, implement ones shown to reduce negative and foster positive interactions.  Visit: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/pdf/practiceguides/behavior_pg_092308.pdf
• Dropout Prevention Intervention Reports.  This report presents findings of its analysis of 84 studies of 22 high school dropout prevention programs. The interventions reviewed provide a mix of services to mitigate factors impeding academic success, such as: counseling, monitoring, school restructuring, curriculum redesign, financial incentives, and community services.

Altogether, the report found 23 studies of 16 interventions that met the evidence standards of the What Works Clearinghouse.  Eleven of the studies met the standards of effectiveness without reservations and an additional 12 that met the standards with reservations.  Sixty-one studies did not meet eligibility screens.  Visit:  http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/dropout/topic/

• Dropout Prevention Practice Guide.  Geared toward educators, administrators, and policymakers, this guide provides strategies for identifying at-risk students, implementing programs to improve behavior and social skills, and keeping students engaged in the school environment.  It  recommends the following ways to reduce the high school dropout rates:

1.       Use data systems to provide realistic drop-out figures as well as to help identify individual students at risk of dropping out;
2.       Assign adult advocates to students at risk of dropping out;
3.       Provide academic support and enrichment to improve academic performance;
4.       Implement programs to improve students’ classroom behavior and social skills;
5.       Personalize the learning environment and instructional process; and
6.       Provide rigorous and relevant instruction to better engage students in learning and provide the skills needed to graduate and serve them after they leave school.         Visit: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/pdf/practiceguides/dp_pg_090308.pdf.

• Tools of the Mind Intervention Report.  This report looks an early childhood curriculum for children in preschool and kindergarten, which is designed to foster self-regulation and cognitive skills.  Visit:  http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/early_ed/tools/  
• Houghton Mifflin Reading Intervention Report.  This report describes the Clearinghouse’s examination of studies of the Houghton Mifflin Reading system.  The report indicates that the research currently available on the system does not meet standards that enable WWC to draw any conclusions about the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of Houghton Mifflin Reading.  For more information, visit: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/beginning_reading/houghton/index.asp  
• Accelerated Math.  This intervention report examines a software tool used to customize assignments and monitor progress in math for students in grades 1-12. The report reviewed 38 studies investigating the effects of "Accelerated Math" on the performance of middle school students. To view the report, go to:  http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/middle_math/accel_math/
• Improving Adolescent Literacy: Effective Classroom and Intervention Practices.  This guide presents strategies that classroom teachers and specialists can use to increase the reading ability of adolescent students. The recommendations aim to help students gain more from their reading, improve their motivation for and engagement in learning, and assist struggling readers who may need intensive and individualized attention.  The guide makes these recommendations:

1.       Provide explicit vocabulary instruction;
2.       Provide direct and explicit comprehension strategy instruction;
3.       Provide opportunities for extended discussion of text meaning and interpretation;
4.       Increase student motivation and engagement in literacy learning; and
5.       Make intensive and individualized interventions available for struggling readers that trained specialists can provide.

           Visit:  http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/pdf/practiceguides/adlit_pg_082608.pdf

• Breakthrough to Literacy.  This curriculum for students in preschool through third grade introduces them to a book a week throughout the year.  Each book serves as a focus point for classroom activities with whole group and small group instruction.  The full report is available at http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/early_ed/btl/
• Mathematics in Context.  This is a middle school mathematics curriculum for grades 5 through 8, which teaches students to explore the relationships among different domains of math (such as algebra and geometry) and to develop ways to reason through problems, encouraging them to collaborate on problem-solving.  Visit: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/middle_math/math_context/
• New Century High Schools Initiative is a program designed to improve large, underperforming high schools by transforming them into small schools with links to community organizations.  The schools choose a curriculum that has a theme or career focus.  Each school partners with a community organization that can participate in curriculum development, school management, after-school activities, or other aspect of the school.  Go to: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/dropout/new_century/

Doing What Works Guidance on Effective Teaching
What is "spacing" learning and how does it benefit teachers and students? Do students learn more when solved problems are alternated with problems to be solved? And how do "higher order" questions enhance student learning and help students articulate their answers?
Visitors to the U.S. Department of Education’s “Doing What Works" Web site can find answers to these questions and much more in Psychology of Learning: How to Organize Your Teaching.  Click on http://dww.ed.gov  to find a publication that provides educators and administrators with research-based strategies to help instructors organize their teaching and improve student learning.

Back-to-School Federal Web Information
The government website www.USA.gov provides many resources that can help educators, parents, and students. At a second website, teachers can find more than 1,500 teaching and learning resources contributed by dozens of federal agencies.  A few examples of the subjects covered are: art and music; health and physical education; language arts, math; science, world studies, and U.S. history topics.  Visit: http://www.free.ed.gov/template.cfm?template=About%20FREE

Volunteering Website
A website that describes American volunteering trends and provides data and information on volunteering opportunities is available from the USA Freedom Corps.  President Bush created the Corps (USAFC) following September 11 in an effort to encourage volunteering and provide more information about volunteer opportunities and activities.Visit: http://www.usafreedomcorps.gov/.  A special site is also available for elementary and middle school students interesting in volunteering.  The site, www.usafreedomcorpskids.gov, includes resources, ideas, and information to help parents and teachers engage American youth in their communities.

Information from Center on Reinventing Public Education
A redesigned website for the Center on Reinventing Public Education at the University of Washington provides easy access to a range of projects of interest to charter school providers.  Visit www.crpe.org  for an update on the organization’s projects and initiatives, publications, and news, and events.

Information found there includes “The High-Wire Job of Charter School Leadership,” an essay published recently in Education Week in which a new national data survey is presented about who charter school leaders are, why they take the jobs, where they struggle most, and what can help.  The essay was published as part of a special report in Education Week examining leadership challenges facing charter school principals, which drew heavily on research and analysis from NCSRP researchers.

Free Resource from National Endowment for the Humanities
Charter school providers are encouraged to apply for “Picturing America,” a resource from the National Endowment for the Humanities that allows K-12 students to explore the history and character of America through great works of art.  Picturing America provides 40 high-quality reproductions of a diverse portfolio of art, as well as an extensive Teachers Resource Book with scholarly essays and access to additional lesson plans online at an NEH website. More information is available at http://www.picturingamerica.neh.gov/.  The second application period will be open until October 31, 2008.

Book Donation Campaign
Free new children’s books are available to registered groups through the 2008 Back-to-School Book Donation.  To be eligible to register, an entity must (1) serve children at least 50 percent of whom are from low-income households; (2) be a Title 1 or a Title 1-eligible school; or (3) provide military family support. For more information, go to: http://www.ed.gov/about/inits/ed/bookcampaign/.

News from the Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative
The Department’s Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative has the following back-to-school announcements on its website:

·         The Initiative is spending the back-to-school season announcing and visiting the 2008 American Stars of Teaching from each state.  ED received more than 5,000 nominations of exemplary teachers for the 2008 school year.  For specifics, visit: http://www.ed.gov/teacherinitiative.

·         The Initiative has developed resources for parents and teachers to use in implementing the findings of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel.  The panel has highlighted interventions to improve the math knowledge of young children before they enter kindergarten.  Teacher-to-Teacher has created a short film for schools and teachers to share with parents about what they can do to support their children’s math knowledge and skills, which can be shared with parents during open house, conferences, or parent math night.

·         A new digital workshop is available to teach reading to English language learners in the elementary grades.  “Doing What Works: Teaching Reading to English Language Learners” is designed as a visual complement to the more extensive materials presented in the subject’s Practice Guide.  The Doing What Works website sponsored by the Department is dedicated to helping educators identify and make use of effective teaching practices.  The link for information about the digital workshop is www.t2tweb.us/doingwhatworks.

The Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative was designed by teachers for teachers in order to provide technical support, professional development opportunities, and recognition for teachers of all

State Education News

U.S. Dept Of Education Offical Leaves for Texas Charter
David Dunn has left his post as chief of staff to U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings to lead the newly formed Texas Charter Schools Association (TCSA).  More than 100 public charter school leaders across Texas have been involved in the creation of the Austin-based TCSA.  In the 2007-08 school year, more than 113,000 students were enrolled in public charter schools in the state.  For more information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2008/09/09232008.html

Websites with Grant and Scholoarship Information
Many websites are available to provide educators, students, and parents with information on grants, scholarships, and other types of financial support.  Here are some of them:

• ESchool News online.  This online version of a monthly magazine contains a grants section with regularly updated grant, scholarship, professional development, and other funding opportunities for both educators and students.  Go to: http://www.eschoolnews.com/funding/
• FastWEB.  This describes itself as the largest online scholarship search available, with 400,000 scholarships representing over one billion in scholarship dollars.  The site provides students with accurate, regularly updated information on scholarships, grants, and fellowships suited to their goals and qualifications at no cost.  Visit: http://www.FastWeb.com.
• The Foundation Center.  This is an independent nonprofit information clearinghouse on grants available throughout the U.S.  The center offers publications, including directories of foundation and corporate grant-makers, research advice, custom research, and database searching.  The site includes online training in grant-seeking, proposal writing, and funding research, as well as an online librarian.  Visit:  http://foundationcenter.org/findfunders/
• GrantsAlert.com.  This site’s goals is to “make life a little easier for those who devote their time to searching for education grants and identifying new funding opportunities for their organizations, schools, districts, consortia, and state education agencies.”  Visit: http://www.grantsalert.com/
• Grants.gov.  This site allows organizations to electronically find and apply for competitive grants from all federal grant-making agencies.  It encompasses over 900 grant programs offered by the 26 Federal grant-making agencies.  It streamlines the process of awarding over $350 billion annually to state and local governments, academia, not-for-profits, and other organizations.  Visit:  http://www.grants.gov/
• Grantsandfunding.com.  This site offers a complete listing of all Thompson Publishing Group publications that focus on grant and funding issues.  Subscribers to the group’s publications have access to a special section that provides resources such as grant deadlines, highlights of funding issues, and links to related Web sites.  Visit: http://www.grantsandfunding.com.
• SchoolGrants.  This is a collection of resources and tips to help K-12 educators apply for and obtain special grants.  The site offers fundraising ideas, sample proposals, grant writing tips, and scholarship information.  Visit: http://www.schoolgrants.com

$7.5 Million in Grants to Develop More Innovative, Effective Tests
The U.S. Department of Education has awarded $7.5 million in Enhanced Assessment Instruments grants to help develop more innovative and effective tests for students with disabilities and those with limited English skills. For more information on the grants, visit: http://www.ed.gov/programs/eag/applicant.html.

Calendars
November 3-4 The Michigan Association of Public School Academies is hosting the 11th annual Michigan Charter Public Schools Conference at Cobo Hall in Detroit.  The conference theme is “The Call for Greatness,” and the event is open to educators, board members, parents, and potential public charter school founds.  Speakers will cover topics through seminars, breakout sessions and table talks.  Visit: http://www.uscharterschools.org/cs/r/view/uscs_rs/2422

Thursday, September 18, 2008

The Education Innovator #9

In this issue of The Education Innovator we feature a broad overview of some educational entrepreneurs and their organizations that are transforming the education landscape by finding ways to think outside the box about key areas of K-12 education. Some of these innovators engage in the work directly, while others support the work of fellow entrepreneurs, helping to leverage reform and test new ideas.

If you would like to subscribe to or unsubscribe from The Education Innovator, please use the registration form.

For users with Assistive Technology devices, please visit our newsletter at: The Education Innovator

The purpose of the U.S. Department of Education's online newsletter The Education Innovator is to promote innovative practices in education; to offer features on promising programs and practices; to provide information on innovative research, schools, policies, and trends; and to keep readers informed of key Department priorities and activities. The Department's Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII) and the Office of Communications and Outreach (OCO) share the responsibility for the newsletter's research, writing, and production.

Select this link for this month's Innovator.

March 25, 2008

subject: Recently redesigned ED Pubs site

Friday, February 08, 2008 3:25 PM

Subject: Update to Title I Fiscal Guidance (Addressing Consolidation of Funds in Schoolwide Programs)

From: Zollie Stevenson, Jr., Ph.D.


Dear Title I State Directors:

It was great seeing you at NASTID!  I look forward to working with you as the official director of the Student Achievement and School Accountability Program (Title I).  At the State director's meeting we promised to provide the link to the updated fiscal guidance which contains the q's and a's on consolidating funds in schoolwide programs and on the inclusion of parental involvement in our expanded monitoring.  Today I provide you with the link to the updated fiscal guidance.  We are putting the final touches on the expanded monitoring protocol and will have that to you soon.
                 

The Department has issued non-regulatory guidance revising the Title I Fiscal Issues guidance that was released in May 2006.  This guidance can be accessed at <http://www.ed.gov/programs/titleiparta/legislation.html#policy>

The URLs for the word and pdf documents are: <http://www.ed.gov/programs/titleiparta/fiscalguid.doc>
and <http://www.ed.gov/programs/titleiparta/fiscalguid.pdf>

The guidance document updates section E of the Title I Fiscal Issues guidance, which addresses consolidating funds in schoolwide programs.  In addition to revising the introduction to section E, the guidance adds several new questions that clarify the purpose for consolidating funds in a schoolwide program, provides more detail on what it means to consolidate funds in a schoolwide setting, and describes, with examples, how an LEA might account for State, local, and Federal funds that are consolidated in a schoolwide program.

Please note that comments on this guidance document may be submitted to oese@ed.gov.  Please contact Sandy Brown (paul.brown@ed.gov) or Susan Wilhelm (susan.wilhelm@ed.gov) if you have questions regarding the updated guidance.

January 10, 2008

U.S. SECRETARY OF EDUCATION MARGARET SPELLINGS DISCUSSES NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND, PRIORITIES FOR 2008 DURING REMARKS AT NATIONAL PRESS CLUB IN WASHINGTON, DC

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today delivered remarks on No Child Left Behind and the Administration's K-12 priorities for 2008 at the National Press Club Newsmaker Luncheon in Washington, D.C.  Following are some of her prepared remarks:

The Effect of Charter Schools on Non-Charter Students: An Instrumental Variables Approach
By Scott Imberman Occasional Paper No. 149

Can Research Provide More Accurate Measures of the Impact of Charter Schools on Student Achievement in Traditional Public Schools?

A major argument for the expansion of charter schools is that charter school competition will force traditional public schools to improve or risk losing their students and funding. Skeptics contend that charter schools will undermine quality of traditional public schools by drawing away their most talented students and their financial resources. Empirical studies on this topic have not produced consistent results, in part, because they do not address two formidable methodological challenges.. A new paper by Scott Imberman is the first to confront these two challenges - non-random student selection into charter schools and the impact of locational selection by charter schools - improving the identification of the causal effects of charter school competition on traditional public schools. Using student-level data from an anonymous urban school district, the author conducts a series of econometric analyses to control for such biases. These analyses suggest three important conclusions. First, the analytical strategy employed by many previous researchers appears to erroneously identify positive competitive effects on achievement in traditional public schools. Second, employing a more sophisticated statistical approach that better controls for the potential biases finds a negative effect of charter school competition on achievement in traditional public schools. Despite the negative effect of competition on student achievement, the paper finds a positive effect of competition on student discipline in traditional public schools.

Click here to view new occasional papers from the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education.

Center on Educational Governance at USC - Charter School Indicators

This new report from the Center on Educational Governance at USC draws on a quantitative database of multiple measures of California charter school, staff, and performance. It examines both financial resources and academic achievement as overall measures of progress. The data show that while California charter schools may rank lower on the API and AYP, their rates of improvement (as measured by the Academic Momentum Index) are more rapid than non-charter public schools. In measuring productivity, the researchers find that the state's charter schools typically have smaller per-student allocations than non-charters in their districts, yet charter schools have roughly equivalent levels of productivity: in essence, they get "more bang for their buck." The study also finds that charter schools are financially challenged; they are unable to build up large reserves and spend a significant portion of their budget on rent for facilities.

For a copy of this report, go to www.usc.edu/dept/education/cegov/CSI_USC.pdf

Report to the Legislature on Michigan's Public School Academies

A new study finds that public charter schools are helping close the achievement gap in Michigan. Recent state data reveals that economically disadvantaged, African-American, and Hispanic/Latino charter students exceeded their host district peers by 4-5 percentage points in both math and English Language Arts. African-American students outperformed their peers statewide by one point in math and nearly 1.5 points in English Language Arts. Charter students with disabilities exceeded their host district peers by 9 points in math and 11 points in English Language Arts. Charter schools open seven or more years were 8 percentage points higher than schools open three or fewer years in both ELA and math (grades 3-8 combined). Seventy-four percent of charters made adequate yearly progress, compared to 68 percent of host district schools. The study also found that charters achieved impressive academic gains with less resources. During the 2005-06 school year, total charter school revenues lagged their host district revenues by an average of $2,289 per pupil.

For a copy of this study, go to www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/Item_I1_217074_7.pdf

Hopes, Fears, & Reality: A Balanced Look at American Charter Schools in 2007
Robin J. Lake, Editor

Our third annual report focuses on what is going on inside charter schools themselves.

Topics include organization and leadership, differences in teaching and teacher compensation between charter and traditional public schools, whether student experiences are different between the two school types and, finally, whether charters are meeting their original promises.

The report indicates that charters are showing some progress: continued growth, improved governance and safety, and more experimentation when authorized by agencies other than school districts. The report makes specific recommendations for improved policy, including the idea of "smart caps" to encourage the growth of effective charter schools.

This year's essays include: 

• The National Charter School Landscape in 2007
  John Christensen and Robin J. Lake
• Under New Management: Are Charter Schools Making the Most of New Governance Options? 
  Joanna Smith, Priscilla Wohlstetter, and Dominic J. Brewer 
• Building a Pipeline of New School Leaders 
  Christine Campbell
• Look Familiar? Charters and Teachers
  Michael DeArmond, Betheny Gross, and Dan Goldhaber 
• Safety and Order in Charter and Traditional Public Schools
  Paul T. Hill and Jon Christensen
• Smart Charter School Caps: A Third Way on Charter School Growth
  Andrew J. Rotherham

Hopes, Fears, & Reality 2007 can be downloaded at ncsrp.org. For print copies, email crpe@u.washington.edu or call 206.685.2214.

Also on our website you can find:

• A recently updated database of national charter school statistics
• A library of national charter school research
• Other reports from NCSRP, including previous editions of Hopes, Fears, & Reality

New IDEA 2004 PowerPoint Presentations Now Available Online
The U.S. Department of Education has 8 PowerPoint presentations on their website pertaining to IDEA '04. The topics include:
(1) Discipline,
(2) Highly Qualified Teacher (HQT),
(3) IDEA Part B Regulations Overview,
(4) IEP Team Changes/ Evaluation and Re-evaluation,
(5) Monitoring, TA and Enforcement,
(6) NIMAS,
(7) Procedural Safeguards,
(8) RTI/EIS.
These documents can be viewed by clicking here.

Charter School Achievement: What We Know (4^th Edition)

This report provides an update of the literature on charter school achievement.  Of the 39 studies that used longitudinal data to measure progress over time, 20 show that charters made greater gains overall than traditional public schools, four find that charters made smaller gains overall, and 15 fall somewhere in between.

The authors note that while the record is skewed toward charters, it is still mixed.  As the authors report, "Asking about the quality of charter schools as a group is a bit like asking about the quality of new restaurants&any overall generalization will mask the great diversity within."

Visit: http://www.publiccharters.org/content/article/detail/3064/

Charter Schools and Special Education

Information about how charter schools are educating students with disabilities is available online at: http://www.education.umd.edu/EDSP/ProjectIntersect/presentations.html.

This is the seventh and final report produced by the Project Intersect team at the University of Maryland.  The report indicates that charter schools are enrolling children with disabilities, and a support network is emerging to help the schools provide needed services.

However, the report also raises questions about whether some charter schools are fulfilling their responsibilities in educating special education students.  The report says that the strategies that authorizers and operators of charter schools are developing to provide special education services have implications for practitioners and future research.

Margaret Spellings, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, recently sent out an annual notice to all school superintendents about the responsibilities of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). FERPA information can be found under Hot Topics at this web address: <http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/hottopics/index.html>

Secretary Spellings provided additional guidance on FERPA to enable schools to better balance parents' and students' privacy rights with school and safety concerns.

The FERPA guides are also available online at: <http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/safeschools/index.html>.

The Secretary's letter and handout on emergency management resources are available online at <http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/secletter/071030.html>.

Youth with Disabilities

A report from the National Center for Special Education Research provides longitudinal information about the perceptions and expectations people have of youth with disabilities.

The report provides a picture of how youth with disabilities differ across disability categories and demographic groups and how they compare with youth in the general population.  The report addresses questions such as how youth with disabilities describe their feelings about themselves and their lives, their secondary school experience, their personal relationships, and their expectations for the future.

For information, visit: http://ies.ed.gov/ncser/pubs/20073006/chap1.asp.

Website on Charter School Finance

The National Resource Center on Charter School Finance and Governance has launched a new website designed to disseminate information and technical assistance to charter leaders.

Site highlights, some of which will soon be added to the site, include:

• A clearinghouse searchable by finance or governance topic;
• An open discussion board for information exchange among leaders in the field;
• Guides to state policy in charter school finance and governance; and
• A catalog of federal funding sources for charter school operations and facilities.

The project is a collaboration of the Center of Educational Governance, the Finance Project, and WestEd.  The National Resource Center on Charter School Finance and Governance received a National Leadership grant from the Department's Charter Schools Program.

Visit the new website at http://www.charterresource.org/index.asp.

NEW NCES REPORT - Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Minorities

This report from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) profiles current conditions and recent trends in the education of minority students. It presents a selection of indicators that illustrate the educational achievement and attainment of Hispanic, Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander students compared with each other and with White students. In addition, it uses data from the 2005 American Community Survey to detail specific educational differences among Hispanic ancestry subgroups (such as Mexican, Puerto Rican, or Cuban) and Asian ancestry subgroups (such as Asian Indian, Chinese, or Filipino). This report presents 28 indicators that provide demographic information and examine (1) patterns of preprimary, elementary, and secondary school enrollment; (2) student achievement and persistence; (3) student behaviors that can affect their education; (4) participation in postsecondary education; and (5) outcomes of education.

* The report finds that over the past quarter century, minority students have made gains in key education areas, such as completing high school and earning a college degree. However, gaps in academic performance persist between students of most minority groups and White students.

* In 2004, minorities represented 42 percent of the public prekindergarten through secondary school enrollment; however, this percentage ranged widely by state, from 80 percent in Hawaii to 4 percent in Vermont.

* On the 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) mathematics assessment, higher percentages of Asian/Pacific Islander 4th-graders and 8th-graders scored at or above Proficient than did American Indian/Alaska Native, Black, Hispanic, and White students at the same grade levels.

* In 2005, the percentage of 16- to 24-year-olds who were high school status dropouts (the percentage who had not completed high school and were not currently enrolled) was higher among Hispanics than among Blacks, Whites, and Asian/Pacific Islanders.

* Among Hispanic 16- to 24-year-olds, the percentage of status dropouts among those who were foreign born (38 percent) was more than twice that of their native counterparts (13 percent).

* Between 1976 and 2004, the percentage of total undergraduate enrollment who were minority students increased from 17 to 32 percent. In 2004, more postsecondary degrees were awarded to Blacks than Hispanics, despite the fact that Hispanics represented a larger percentage of the total population.

* From 1990 to 2005, all racial/ethnic groups experienced an increase in the percentage of adults age 25 and over who had completed high school, and the percentages of White, Black, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native adults with bachelor's degrees also increased.

To browse this report, please visit: http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2007/minoritytrends/

To download, view and print the publication as a PDF file, please visit: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2007039

Assistant Deputy Secretary of Education Announces New Guide for Engaging Parents in Education

Contact: Elaine Quesinberry or Jo Ann Webb
(202) 401-1576

U.S. Assistant Deputy Secretary Morgan Brown today announced the release of a new publication, Engaging Parents in Education, at the 2007 National Parental Information and Resource Center Conference in Baltimore, Md. Brown discussed the importance of informing parents and students of their education options under No Child Left Behind and engaging parents in decisions about their children's education.

"Thanks to No Child Left Behind, schools are now required to provide parents with the information and options they need to ensure their children receive the high-quality education they deserve," Secretary Spellings said. "Resources like this show how increasing parental involvement is key to improving student achievement."

The guide profiles five Parental Information and Resource Centers (PIRCs) that are representative of how PIRCs and their partnering organizations can successfully increase parental involvement in education. The centers emphasize the power of strong parent-educator partnerships to improve schools and raise students' academic achievement.

This guide is part of the Department's Innovations in Education series. Other publications in this series will be released later this fall and cover topics such as online courses, charter school authorizing and K-8 charter schools.

To view and download Engaging Parents in Education please visit http://www.ed.gov/admins/comm/parents/parentinvolve/index.html

Measuring the Achievement of Students with Disabilities

The U.S. Department of Education has released final regulations under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) providing additional flexibility to states to more appropriately measure the achievement of certain students with disabilities. These regulations allow states to develop modified academic achievement standards that are challenging for eligible students and measure a student's mastery of grade-level content, but are less difficult than grade-level achievement standards. The new regulations are part of an ongoing effort to ensure that all students, including those with disabilities, fully participate in a state's accountability system and are assessed in an appropriate and accurate manner.

For more information, go to:  www.ed.gov/parents/needs/speced/twopercent.html

Guide to Identifying Good Educational Research Practices

The field of K-12 education contains a vast array of educational interventions intended to improve student achievement.  To provide educators and policymakers with the tools needed to distinguish the educational practices supported by rigorous evidence, the U.S. Department of Education has a publication entitled Identifying and Implementing Educational Practices Supported by Rigorous Evidence: A User Friendly Guide.

This guide summarizes the process the Department recommends for evaluating whether an educational intervention is supported by rigorous evidence.  The guide:

• Gives a description of a "randomized controlled trial" and why it is a critical factor in establishing "strong" evidence of an intervention's effectiveness;
• Discusses how to evaluate whether an intervention is backed by "strong" evidence of effectiveness;
• Discusses how to evaluate whether an intervention is backed by "possible" evidence of effectiveness; and
• Discusses important factors to consider when implementing an evidence-based intervention in your schools or classrooms.

The guide includes examples of good randomized controlled trials and explains how the conclusions of the studies would have been skewed with less rigorous evaluation standards.  The guide's appendix lists web sites that can be used to find evidence-based education interventions.

The guide was prepared for the Institute of Education Sciences by the Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy.  Visit:  http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pubs/evidence_based/evidence_based.asp. or http://www.whatworkshelpdesk.ed.gov/.

Project Intersect: How Special Education and Charter Schools Coexist

Two more reports from a federally funded study of how special education and charter schools intersect are now available.  These are the 5^th and 6^th reports being done as part of a three-year study from the Institute for the Study of Exceptional Children and Youth at the University of Maryland in collaboration with the National Association of State Directors of Special Education and Lange Consultants.

The overall study, Project Intersect: How Special Education and Charter Schools Coexist, updates and expands the information available on how we access and deliver special education and related services to children in charter schools who have disabilities.  It builds on the findings from Project SEARCH (for more information, visit www.NASDSE.org.)

The 5^th report is Access and Accountability for Students With Disabilities in California, and the 6^th is Survey of Charter School Authorizers.  The 7^th and final report from the study is expected in mid-June.

For a copy of the two most recent reports and more information about the entire research project, visit: http://www.education.umd.edu/EDSP/ProjectIntersect/index.html.

USDOE Equal Treatment Regulations

The following two PowerPoint presentations are follow-up information to the Supplemental Educational Services Non-Regulatory Guidance from the U.S. Department of Education dated June 13, 2005 regarding Regulations on Participation in Education Department Programs by Religious Organizations, and Providing for Equal Treatment of All Education Program Participants (Equal Treatment Regulations).

Regulatory Reform: Understanding the Impact of the Equal Treatment Amendments to EDGAR

FYI, the "Assessment and Accountability for Recently Arrived and Former Limited English Proficient (LEP) Students" non-regulatory guidance is available at http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/lepguidance.doc.

Please share this document with others in your state, including charter schools, that are working with LEP students.

Free reproducible language and early literacy activities in English and Spanish

The development of these materials was supported by Grant H324M020084 from the U.S. Department of Education , Office of Special Education Programs

To download materials go to www.walearning.com and click on the purple button that says "Free Parent Education Handouts" on the home page.

These materials include forty-six home and community activities for adults and preschool children that encourage early language and literacy development in young children.  They are appropriate for children with disabilities as well as children who are developing typically.

Each of the forty-six activities includes
1)  An activity description,
2)  Hints for making the activity fun and developmentally appropriate, and
3)  A brief self-evaluation form that cues parents and other caregivers to notice their children's skills, and also cue adults to examine and grow their own interactions with their children.

The materials are specifically designed to address the three key skills of
1) language development,
2) phonological awareness, and
3) general print awareness.

The files are in PDF format to allow easy and secure downloading.  Five files for each language (Spanish and English) include:

• Table of contents listing the 46 activities
• Level 1 activities (activities designed for developmentally younger children)
• Level 2 activities (activities that include a stronger focus on print)
• Level 3 activities (activities that focus on more complex language use)
• A brief activity self-evaluation form

The materials are made available by Angela Notari-Syverson and colleagues, and may be copied and distributed as long as they are not sold.

Education News Parents Can Use: "Charters and School Choice"

Web Casts
To view live web casts of Education News or archived web casts of past programs please visit www.connectlive.com/events/ednews/

NOTE: If you registered last season - you will need to register for this program or re-register for the entire 2006-2007 season.  Visit www.ed.gov/news/av/video/edtv/index.html for more information.

Just select the "FAQ's" if you need assistance on: 
* How to Register
* Technical Assistance for Satellite Downlink Sites
* Viewing Options, including Webcast
* And, much more...  

Contact Information:
Please contact Education.TV@ed.gov or 800-USA-LEARN for any questions.

 ADA Best Practices Tool Kit for State and Local Governments


On December 5, 2006, the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice issued the first installment of a new technical assistance document designed to assist state and local officials to improve compliance with Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in their programs, services, activities, and facilities. The new technical assistance document, which will be released in several installments over the next ten months, is entitled "The ADA Best Practices Tool Kit for State and Local Governments."

The Tool Kit is designed to teach state and local government officials how to identify and fix problems that prevent people with disabilities from gaining equal access to state and local government programs, services, and activities. It will also teach state and local officials how to conduct accessibility surveys of their buildings and facilities to identify and remove architectural barriers to access.


The first installment of the ADA Tool Kit includes:

http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/pcatoolkit/abouttoolkit.htm   About This Tool Kit (HTML)
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/pcatoolkit/abouttoolkit.pdf   (PDF) 48KB

http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/pcatoolkit/chap1toolkit.htm   Chapter 1, ADA Basics: Statutes and Regulations (HTML)
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/pcatoolkit/chap1toolkit.pdf   (PDF) 112KB

http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/pcatoolkit/chap2toolkit.htm   Chapter 2, ADA Coordinator: Notice and Grievance Procedure (HTML)
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/pcatoolkit/chap2toolkit.pdf   (PDF) 352KB

http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/pcatoolkit/noticetoolkit.htm   Chapter 2, Addendum: Title II Checklist (HTML)
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/pcatoolkit/noticetoolkit.pdf   (PDF) 64KB


While state and local governments are not required to use the ADA Best Practices Tool Kit, the Department encourages its use as one effective means of complying with the requirements of Title II of the ADA.