March 26, 2008
Ed Week releases Technology Counts report
Technology Counts report finds that STEM expectations are increasing in response to loud calls from basically everybody. Most states require at least three years of math and science (or at least have imminent plans to do so). Mentions that 12th grade NAEP scores aren't great, and that the US is middling on TIMSS. Will read more when I have time.
March 21, 2008
Ed week: Poor Math Scores Posted on Unusual 3-State Exams
Apparently NH, RI, and VT teamed up to write a common assessment called the New England Common Assessment Program, on which their students' didn't do great. Just an interesting thing to know is on the radar; Ed Week has more. I know Achieve and NGA have been recommending things like this, but this is the first time I've heard of states creating and using assessments together.
March 12, 2008
Ed Week - "NCLB Act III: Given Choice, Virginia Board Unlikely to Pull Out of NCLB"
Given Choice, Virginia Board Unlikely to Pull Out of NCLB
David Hoff
The Virginia General Assembly has passed a bill that would give the state's board of education the option of leaving NCLB behind.
Virginia's been down this road before. In 2004, it passed a Republican-backed resolution saying it didn't have the money to comply with the law, prompting this statement from then-Secretary of Education Rod Paige. Virginia stuck with the law.
This year, Republicans raised the issue again. Throughout the legislative session, the House pushed a bill that would have required the state board to create a plan to withdraw from NCLB by 2009. Gov. Tim Kaine, a Democrat, opposed it, according to this news story, and the Senate never went along.
The compromise was to let the board of education members decide. They have 416 million reasons to stick with NCLB. That's the number of dollars the state would receive from NCLB programs under President Bush's proposed fiscal 2009 budget proposal. Gov. Kaine probably wouldn't want to forfeit that money because he has plans for universal preK and other programs, as eduflak points out. Board members know that—and that the legislature wouldn't replace lost federal money with state funds.
All Virginia lawmakers are doing is making a political statement that reinforces the assertion by Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., that NCLB is "the most negative brand in America."
David Hoff
The Virginia General Assembly has passed a bill that would give the state's board of education the option of leaving NCLB behind.
Virginia's been down this road before. In 2004, it passed a Republican-backed resolution saying it didn't have the money to comply with the law, prompting this statement from then-Secretary of Education Rod Paige. Virginia stuck with the law.
This year, Republicans raised the issue again. Throughout the legislative session, the House pushed a bill that would have required the state board to create a plan to withdraw from NCLB by 2009. Gov. Tim Kaine, a Democrat, opposed it, according to this news story, and the Senate never went along.
The compromise was to let the board of education members decide. They have 416 million reasons to stick with NCLB. That's the number of dollars the state would receive from NCLB programs under President Bush's proposed fiscal 2009 budget proposal. Gov. Kaine probably wouldn't want to forfeit that money because he has plans for universal preK and other programs, as eduflak points out. Board members know that—and that the legislature wouldn't replace lost federal money with state funds.
All Virginia lawmakers are doing is making a political statement that reinforces the assertion by Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., that NCLB is "the most negative brand in America."
Ed Week - "11 States Poised to Pilot National Test for Seniors"
11 States Poised to Pilot National Test for Seniors
By Sean Cavanagh
For the first time, a select group of states is expected to take part in a 12th grade version of the National Assessment of Educational Progress in reading and mathematics, a move that could lay the foundation for even greater state participation at that grade level on the heavily scrutinized test.
The board that sets policy for NAEP, known as “the nation’s report card,” has approved tentative plans to have 11 states voluntarily participate in the exam.
Each of those states would have a representative sample of its high school seniors take part in a reading and math NAEP beginning in 2009, a process that would eventually allow for state-by-state comparisons of high school seniors’ scores.
The National Assessment Governing Board approved the 12th grade proposal at its quarterly meeting, held March 6-8 in Albuquerque, N.M.
The board also set in motion plans to add seven big-city districts to the special NAEP edition for urban school systems. Eleven districts took part in the most recent version of the Trial Urban District Assessment, which was given in reading and math in grades 4 and 8.
Currently, states are required to participate in NAEP reading and math every two years at the 4th and 8th grade levels in order to remain eligible for federal funding under the No Child Left Behind Act.
Those 4th and 8th grade scores, called state NAEP, typically receive widespread attention because they allow the public to judge individual states’ academic progress over time—and compare states against one another. There is no such mandate for 12th grade, though some elected officials, including President Bush, have advocated expanding the state-by-state tests to high school seniors.
Federal officials will not release the names of the states and urban districts that have voiced an interest in joining in the expanded NAEP until they go back to policymakers from those jurisdictions and make certain they want to go forward, said Charles E. Smith, the executive director of the governing board. Those agreements could become final in the next few weeks, he said.
‘The Real Meaning’
While federal officials believe the first 12th grade state NAEP will occur next year, it has yet to be determined whether those exams will take place every two years or less regularly, Mr. Smith said.
A separate NAEP, the long-term trend, is given to 17-year-old students, as well as children ages 9 and 13. It provides a nationwide snapshot of trends in reading and math performance. But policymakers in the 11 volunteer states have told federal officials they want more detailed, state-specific information about high school students’ performance than the national trend tests can provide, Mr. Smith said.
State officials have said “the real meaning comes from the state-level [exam], and what it can tell them,” said Mr. Smith, who noted that he was “very encouraged” by the state interest in 12th grade NAEP so far.
The expansion of the urban-district NAEP and the creation of new 12th grade state reading and math tests became possible with President Bush’s approval of the fiscal 2008 federal budget in December. It provides an $11 million increase for NAEP and the governing board, to $104 million, from the previous year.
In a statement explaining the 2008 budget for NAEP, members of Congress said the new money should be devoted in part to an expansion of the urban test and the addition of reading and math exams for seniors.
And if the Bush administration has its way, more 12th graders will be taking part in NAEP in the future. In his fiscal 2009 budget proposal, the president called for a 33 percent increase in spending for the assessment and the governing board, to $139 million. That spending boost would allow the “12th grade state NAEP to include all states in 2011,” according to the administration’s budget summary.
Vol. 27
By Sean Cavanagh
For the first time, a select group of states is expected to take part in a 12th grade version of the National Assessment of Educational Progress in reading and mathematics, a move that could lay the foundation for even greater state participation at that grade level on the heavily scrutinized test.
The board that sets policy for NAEP, known as “the nation’s report card,” has approved tentative plans to have 11 states voluntarily participate in the exam.
Each of those states would have a representative sample of its high school seniors take part in a reading and math NAEP beginning in 2009, a process that would eventually allow for state-by-state comparisons of high school seniors’ scores.
The National Assessment Governing Board approved the 12th grade proposal at its quarterly meeting, held March 6-8 in Albuquerque, N.M.
The board also set in motion plans to add seven big-city districts to the special NAEP edition for urban school systems. Eleven districts took part in the most recent version of the Trial Urban District Assessment, which was given in reading and math in grades 4 and 8.
Currently, states are required to participate in NAEP reading and math every two years at the 4th and 8th grade levels in order to remain eligible for federal funding under the No Child Left Behind Act.
Those 4th and 8th grade scores, called state NAEP, typically receive widespread attention because they allow the public to judge individual states’ academic progress over time—and compare states against one another. There is no such mandate for 12th grade, though some elected officials, including President Bush, have advocated expanding the state-by-state tests to high school seniors.
Federal officials will not release the names of the states and urban districts that have voiced an interest in joining in the expanded NAEP until they go back to policymakers from those jurisdictions and make certain they want to go forward, said Charles E. Smith, the executive director of the governing board. Those agreements could become final in the next few weeks, he said.
‘The Real Meaning’
While federal officials believe the first 12th grade state NAEP will occur next year, it has yet to be determined whether those exams will take place every two years or less regularly, Mr. Smith said.
A separate NAEP, the long-term trend, is given to 17-year-old students, as well as children ages 9 and 13. It provides a nationwide snapshot of trends in reading and math performance. But policymakers in the 11 volunteer states have told federal officials they want more detailed, state-specific information about high school students’ performance than the national trend tests can provide, Mr. Smith said.
State officials have said “the real meaning comes from the state-level [exam], and what it can tell them,” said Mr. Smith, who noted that he was “very encouraged” by the state interest in 12th grade NAEP so far.
The expansion of the urban-district NAEP and the creation of new 12th grade state reading and math tests became possible with President Bush’s approval of the fiscal 2008 federal budget in December. It provides an $11 million increase for NAEP and the governing board, to $104 million, from the previous year.
In a statement explaining the 2008 budget for NAEP, members of Congress said the new money should be devoted in part to an expansion of the urban test and the addition of reading and math exams for seniors.
And if the Bush administration has its way, more 12th graders will be taking part in NAEP in the future. In his fiscal 2009 budget proposal, the president called for a 33 percent increase in spending for the assessment and the governing board, to $139 million. That spending boost would allow the “12th grade state NAEP to include all states in 2011,” according to the administration’s budget summary.
Vol. 27
March 11, 2008
VA Assembly passes NCLB opt-out, goes to Gov. Kaine
The VA General Assembly passed the NCLB opt-out bill. At first I was surprised that this didn't get more coverage, but if passed, the Board of Education has a year to create the plan, so there won't be an immediate effect. By then we may have serious talks about a reiteration of 2.0 under whoever the new president will be.
March 7, 2008
EdWeek: Study Finds Lower Math Scores in Catholic Schools
Children in Roman Catholic schools make no more progress in reading in the early grades than similar students in public schools, and make even less progress in math, a new study finds.
“I was actually surprised to find the results that Catholic schools are worse in mathematics,” said Sean F. Reardon, the study’s lead author and an associate professor of education and sociology at Stanford University. “But, if Catholic schools aren’t subject to the same accountability requirements as public schools are, then they may not spend as much time on mathematics and literacy.”
He presented the study findings March 3 during the annual conference of the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness, a professional society that focuses on “cause and effect” research and other kinds of rigorous studies. The March 2-4 event in Arlington, Va., attracted more than 250 conference-goers and featured presentations by more than 80 researchers.
Full story: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/03/12/27sree.h27.html?print=1
March 5, 2008
Report urges greater federal role in education
Local control of education has produced financial inequality in schools, inconsistent standards, no way of knowing how children are truly doing and an atmosphere dominated by unions, according to a new report yesterday that calls for national standards and a greater federal role in schools.
"It is only by transcending traditional local control, and by getting serious about a new national role in standards and finance, that we can at last create genuine autonomy for local schools," Matt Miller, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, wrote in his report, "Nationalize The Schools ( ... A Little)."
"It is only by transcending traditional local control, and by getting serious about a new national role in standards and finance, that we can at last create genuine autonomy for local schools," Matt Miller, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, wrote in his report, "Nationalize The Schools ( ... A Little)."
NYT: Next Question: Can Students Be Paid to Excel?
Front page NYT story on paying students for test scores. Focuses on the Bloomberg initiative thought up by Chief Equality Officer and Harvard economist Roland Fryer of paying students $50 for good test scores.
The fourth graders squirmed in their seats, waiting for their prizes. In a few minutes, they would learn how much money they had earned for their scores on recent reading and math exams. Some would receive nearly $50 for acing the standardized tests, a small fortune for many at this school, P.S. 188 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
When the rewards were handed out, Jazmin Roman was eager to celebrate her $39.72. She whispered to her friend Abigail Ortega, “How much did you get?” Abigail mouthed a barely audible answer: $36.87. Edgar Berlanga pumped his fist in the air to celebrate his $34.50.
March 4, 2008
Catholic leaders assured of help on schools
A Department of Education official yesterday said the Bush administration is working to help Catholic schools by pushing for renewal of the D.C. voucher program and holding a summit to discuss ways to retain religiously affiliated schools in inner cities.
"We in the administration are proud of a lot of initiatives we've been working on ... but we know there's a lot of more work to do," Holly Kuzmich, deputy chief of staff at the Department of Education, told members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
The White House Summit on Inner-City Children and Faith-Based Schools, announced by President Bush in his State of the Union address and scheduled for later this spring, will bring together private-school leaders, educators and researchers to "discuss creative solutions to this problem" of losing faith-based inner-city schools, she said.
"We in the administration are proud of a lot of initiatives we've been working on ... but we know there's a lot of more work to do," Holly Kuzmich, deputy chief of staff at the Department of Education, told members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
The White House Summit on Inner-City Children and Faith-Based Schools, announced by President Bush in his State of the Union address and scheduled for later this spring, will bring together private-school leaders, educators and researchers to "discuss creative solutions to this problem" of losing faith-based inner-city schools, she said.
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