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Georgia Among Leaders in Longitudinal Analysis The Data Quality Campaign and the National Center for Educational Accountability (NCEA) conducted a survey in September 2007, with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, about state data systems to determine the number of states that have built the infrastructure to tap into the power of longitudinal data. Similar surveys were conducted by NCEA in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. This website provides an overview of the findings of the survey in addition to a state-by-state analysis of the policy implications of each state's data system. Longitudinal data matches individual student records over time, from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade and into post secondary education. States are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to improve student achievement. But without quality data, they are essentially flying blind. Policymakers need to act now to put in place the policies and resources to ensure that each state has a longitudinal data system and the culture and capacity to translate the information into specific action steps to improve student achievement. When states collect the most relevant data and are able to match individual student records over time, they can answer the questions that are at the core of educational effectiveness.The Data Quality Campaign believes that there is a set of 10 essential elements that are critical to a longitudinal data system. Currently, only 4 states' data system includes all 10 essential elements. 12 states, including Georgia, have 8-9 of the elements. See complete article: http://www.dataqualitycampaign.org/survey_results/ The Georgia Schools of Excellence are honored in two categories. One school from each Congressional District is chosen in each of the following categories (see the full criteria):
The Georgia Schools of Excellence will be honored at a banquet in February at the Georgia World Congress Center. The 2007 Georgia Schools of Excellence in Student Achievement are: GREATEST GAINS TOP 10% MORE INFORMATION: Georgia Schools of Excellence Criteria Anti-smoking Strategy Targets Fourth-graders A smoking-prevention strategy that targets black fourth-graders and their parents is under study in urban and rural Georgia. Researchers want to know if they can keep these children from smoking and help smoking parents quit, according to Dr. Martha S. Tingen, nurse researcher at the Medical College of Georgia’s Georgia Prevention Institute, and Interim Program Leader for Cancer Prevention and Control, MCG Cancer Center. Dr. Tingen is principal investigator on a $2.5 million National Cancer Institute grant to determine if this novel strategy of concurrent intervention in the classroom and at home reduces smoking and related disability and death in blacks. Blacks tend to have higher rates of second-hand smoke exposure and more adverse health effects than whites. “Every day in Georgia, 84 kids between 10 to 13 years of age start smoking cigarettes,” says Dr. Tingen. “Ninety percent of all smokers start before they are out of high school. If we can help keep kids from smoking before they get out of high school, they probably won’t ever start. I am hoping the fourth graders haven’t started smoking, but I am thinking a lot of them still are exposed to tobacco use and second-hand smoke in the home.” Researchers are enrolling 350 students and their parents or guardians in 16 elementary schools in Augusta, Ga., and rural Jefferson County, Ga., about 60 miles away. During the fourth and fifth grades, half the children will get two intense learning sessions per week over four weeks of Life Skills Training, developed by Dr. Gilbert J. Botvin, director of the Institute for Prevention Research at Cornell University Medical College. Children will learn basics such as communication skills, decision-making and assertiveness. Their parents/guardians will get similar instruction as well as additional information on topics such as being a good role model and effective parenting skills. Pilot studies in 60 families showed Life Skills Training increased refusal skills and self-esteem, better-equipping kids to say no to a friend’s offer of a cigarette, Dr. Tingen says. Parents and guardians also liked working with their children on the project. In those studies, 40 percent of the parents said they smoked, 80 percent of children reported that their parents smoked and all children had saliva testing that showed they were exposed to second-hand smoke. Dr. Tingen estimates that 30-40 percent of the parents/guardians in the new study will be smokers. They also will receive self-help information, motivational interviewing and the nicotine patch. Motivational interviewing focuses on an individual’s strengths in prior situations to help quit smoking. Children in the control group will receive the standard health curriculum in Georgia and their parents/guardians will receive general health education information on nutrition, physical activity and risk factors for cancer and cardiovascular disease. Levels of cotinine, a breakdown product of nicotine readily measured in saliva, will be documented in both groups at baseline, at two years and as a follow-up at three years. “Cotinine levels can be measured so precisely, it can tell if you are a smoker, if you are not a smoker but are exposed to second-hand smoke, or if you are not a smoker and not exposed,” Dr. Tingen says. “We are trying to create this environment where parents work with kids on expectations at home so they can say, ‘We are just not going to be one of those families that have smoking going on,’” she says. “Young children are greatly influenced by what their parents do. When parents role model cigarette-smoking, it has a dramatic effect on their children. In fact, most children who smoke got their first cigarettes from their parents.” Her goals include turning things around so that children become change agents for parents. Having Life Skills Training as a part of the standard curriculum would help, she says, noting the courses offered through the grant would be an easy permanent fit since they meet 70 percent of mandated state health education requirements. Dr. Tingen, a certified Life Skills trainer, will teach health teachers, school nurses and counselors to lead the programs. Children will start taking classes in January. “Tobacco has been and still is the number-one cause of premature death and disability,” Dr. Tingen says. “It’s directly linked to many cancers, not just the lungs, but also the jaw, the stomach, the bladder, as well as cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure and stroke.” As long as nicotine is in the body, it’s doing damage, she says. “That’s in addition to the other 4,000 chemicals in cigarettes that you are huffing and puffing on or that you are exposed to.” Whites tend to metabolize and excrete nicotine more quickly than blacks, resulting in more adverse effects in blacks, according to her previous studies looking at four genes that metabolize nicotine. Smoking rates among all Georgia students have increased since 1991, with black students experiencing the highest increase at 80 percent. Black youths also tend to have high exposure rates to second-hand smoke, MCG researchers say. “Every child at some point in his/her life, is given the opportunity to start smoking,” Dr. Tingen says. “Study after study has been done on kids in the ninth and 10th grades, asking if they could quit and they all say they could easily quit before graduation if they want. But you go back and survey them and they can’t quit. Quitting smoking is incredibly difficult; the average person tries five times before they are successful. Our goal is that children never start and that parents role model this expectation.” The Nation’s Report Card: 2007 Trial Urban District Assessment in Reading This report presents results for four years of trial school-district-level reading assessments in NAEP at grades 4 and 8. Five urban public-school districts voluntarily participated in NAEP in 2002 and 2003: Atlanta City, City of Chicago School District 299, Houston ISD, Los Angeles Unified, and New York City Public Schools. In 2003, four additional districts participated: Boston School District, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Cleveland Municipal School District, and San Diego City Unified. In 2005 and 2007, Austin ISD also participated. Results are reported for these 10 districts and for the District of Columbia, which regularly participates in NAEP. Student performance is reported in terms of average scale scores on the NAEP reading scale and percentages of students who attained the achievement levels set by the National Assessment Governing Board. Comparisons are made to results in large central cities. Student performance is reported by race/ethnicity, eligibility for free/reduced-price school lunch, and for students with disabilities and English language learners. At grade 4, average reading scores increased between 2002 and 2007 in four districts and in two districts between 2005 and 2007. One district had a lower average score when 2007 was compared with 2005. At grade 8, increases were noted in two districts when comparing 2007 to 2002 and in four districts when comparing 2007 with 2005. Full report: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2008455 Atlanta Snapshots 4th Grade: http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pdf/dst2007/2008465XA4.pdf 8th Grade: http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pdf/dst2007/2008465XA8.pdf The Nation’s Report Card: 2007 Trial Urban District Assessment in Mathematics This report presents trial school-district-level results of the NAEP mathematics 2003, 2005, and 2007 assessments at grades 4 and 8 for 10 urban public-school districts: Atlanta City, Boston School District, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, City of Chicago School District 299, Cleveland Municipal School District, Houston ISD, Los Angeles Unified, New York City Public Schools, and San Diego City Unified. In 2005, Austin ISD was added and also participated in 2007. These districts participated voluntarily in the trial assessment. Data for the District of Columbia, which regularly participates in NAEP, are also included. Student performance is reported in terms of average scale scores on the NAEP mathematics scale and the percentages of students who attained the achievement levels set by the National Assessment Governing Board. Comparisons are made to results for public schools in large central cities. Student performance is reported by race/ethnicity, eligibility for free/reduced-price school lunch, and for students with disabilities and English language learners. At grade 4, between 2003 and 2007, mathematics performance improved in 8 of the 10 districts that participated in both years. Between 2007 and 2005, four districts scored higher and one scored lower. At grade 8, eight districts had higher scores in 2007 than in 2003, and six had higher scores when 2007 was compared with 2005. Full report:http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2008452 Two Teachers Win National Award and $25,000 Two Georgia teachers got a big surprise today when they were named 2007 Milken National Educators of the Year -- an award that includes a $25,000 prize. The teachers did not know they had even been nominated. They attended an assembly at their schools, thinking they were going to hear inspirational words from State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox about academic achievement. But, instead, the assemblies were to name the two Milken Award winners. They are:
ABOUT THE WINNERS Wendy R. McCarron, Northview High School, Fulton County Wendy McCarron has been a teacher for 15 years. She has been at Northview High School since 2002 and has taught Geometry, Honors Algebra II, Trigonometry and Algebra I. She has also been a leader in the school, having served as a trainer for new faculty, a member of the Professional Learning Communities committee, a member of the strategic plan committee and the lead teacher for a number of subjects. She has also served as Junior Varsity Cheerleading Coach. Before joining Northview, Ms. McCarron taught at Chattahoochee High School in Fulton County (1995-2002) and Norcross High School in Gwinnett County (1992-1995). She has also been a consultant to the College Board and has spoken at conferences throughout the state and the nation. She was a member of the rewriting team for the Georgia Performance Standards. Ms. McCarron is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin in Eau-Claire. Jill Ryerson, North Whitfield Middle School, Whitfield County Jill Ryerson has been a teacher for 14 years, having spent the past eight years at North Whitfield Middle School. She teaches English Language Arts and has also served as the lead language teacher for five years and was a member of the county design team. She also is trained in teaching English Language Learners, the Developmental Reading Assessment and several other programs within her school and district. Before joining North Whitfield Middle, Ms. Ryerson spent one year as a fifth-grade teacher at Westside Elementary School in Whitfield County and spent six years (1993-1999) as an elementary school teacher in the Highland County (Fla.) School District. Ms. Ryerson received her undergraduate degree from Warner Southern College in Lake Wales, Fla., and received her Master's Degree in School Counseling from the University of West Alabama. |
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