January 2006
IN THIS
ISSUE:
MORE MATH SPECIALISTS, FULL-DAY KINDERGARTEN PROPOSED
In
Governor Ruth Ann Minner's "State of the State" address, she proposed that the Delaware
add an additional ten math specialists to the 22 that were funded last year.
Like the reading specialists whom the governor made a priority in her first term,
the math specialists assist those students who need extra help with their math
skills and try to keep them from falling behind.
Minner also said that her proposed budget will include funding for the second phase of a
plan to fully implement full-day kindergarten by 2008. This phase will expand
operations funding for districts with existing available classroom space and
continue to fund building costs for those districts that passed referenda for
full-day kindergarten last year.
Governor
Minner also noted that the Student Excellence Equals Degree (SEED) scholarship
program she announced last year will take effect with students entering college
in the fall. The program will be actively promoted in elementary, middle, and
high schools this spring.
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DELAWARE'S PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM HIGHLIGHTED IN ANNUAL EDUCATION WEEK REPORT CARD
The
annual "State of the States" report card in public education,
released earlier this month by Education Week, a national weekly
publication in Bethesda, Maryland, has given Delaware's public education system some
of the highest marks in the country in areas of school climate, standards and
accountability, controlling of financial resources, and efforts to improve
teacher quality.
Today's
nationwide report specifically features Delaware's public schools, its
decade-old reform initiatives, its commitment to standards-based accountability,
and its efforts to raise instructional quality. Calling Delaware "A Small
Wonder," the report praises state and educational leadership over three
administrations and recognizes the First State in pushing National Assessment
of Educational Progress (NAEP) test scores from the low tier of states to well
above the U.S. average in reading and mathematics. It also commends Delaware
for moving students out of the "below basic" in NAEP testing, as well
as closing achievement gaps far greater than the national average.
In
school climate, the Delaware public school system received an overall grade of
"B," which was the highest grade given in the U.S. in this category.
The grade was based upon a number of criteria, including the strength of
existing charter school laws, class-size reduction programs, and the fact that
the average class size in elementary schools is below the national average.
Today's
report also highlighted Delaware either matching or outpacing the average state
in the three remaining graded policy categories. The overall grade given to
Delaware by Education Week was a "B." The average state received
a "C+."
In
Standards and Accountability, Delaware was given a "B+" grade while
the average state was graded a "B-." The report states that Delaware
performs well in this area because it uses assessments aligned to state
standards for all grade spans in all of the four core subjects.
In
Resource Equity, Delaware received a "B-" while the state average was
a "C." Delaware received the second-highest grade in the nation for
the coefficient-of-variation measure, which indicates a low level of disparity
in per-pupil funding across school districts.
In
Teacher Quality, Delaware's grade received a boost because the state finances
professional development for all of its districts and requires and finances
mentoring for all its new teachers.
The
annual report, now in its tenth year, also highlights Delaware's trends in
student achievement and how it compares with trends of the nation as a whole.
Using the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) as their guide,
the "Quality Counts" report shows that, from 1992–2005, Delaware was one of only
four states above the national average in fourth-grade reading results; it was also one of
only three states that was above the national average in grade eight reading. The
report also highlights that Delaware was one of only nine states above the
national average in grade 4 and 8 mathematics.
Delaware was one of only seven states with gains in mathematics that
significantly outpaced the nation as a whole in both grades 4 and 8, the two
grades assessed through NAEP. The other noteworthy states in this category are
Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas.
Delaware was the only state whose gains significantly outpaced the national
average in both grades 4 and 8.
To see
the complete report, click here.
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NEW STATE ACTION FOR EDUCATION LEADERSHIP (SAELP) WEBSITE
The
SAELP website was developed to provide Delaware educators and policymakers
accurate and current information about school leadership—both within the state
and nationally.
The
Delaware DOE was awarded $900,000 over a six-year period to make legislative,
regulatory, and budgetary changes aimed at ensuring that districts throughout
the state can develop, prepare, retain and create the conditions for their
leaders to improve student performance; and to support high-need districts in
an effort to test a variety of strategies aimed at improving the training of
leaders and creating working conditions that allow them to succeed.
Visitors
to the website will find information related to two projects that are currently
taking place in pilot districts in Delaware: Succession Planning and Distributed
Leadership. There is also information about the Aspiring School Leadership
Program for teachers who are interested in becoming assistant principals. There
is also current information regarding the pilot of the Delaware Performance
Appraisal System (DPAS II) and upcoming professional development activities
available to both practicing and aspiring school leaders.
The
SAELP website address is saelp.doe.k12.de.us.
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DELAWARE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION RECEIVED $2+ MILLION GRANT TO "REDESIGN HIGH SCHOOLS"
At the
close of the 2005 National Education Summit on High Schools, Achieve and 13
states formed the American Diploma Project (ADP) Network—an action-oriented
coalition committed to improving America's high schools. Since the Summit, the
Network has grown to include 22 states, which together educate more than 22
million students, or 48 percent of all U.S. students. Delaware is one of those
states.
DOE's
proposal gives in much detail what the Dept. of Education's vision is of how
high schools should change to prepare all students for work and/or college.
To see
the entire proposal, including goals and strategies, click here.
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NEW REPORT ON ADULT LITERACY
LEVELS, FIRST SINCE 1992,
SHOWS NEED FOR HIGH SCHOOL REFORM
Significant improvement in
African-American literacy;
overall math skills rise.
Washington, D.C.—American adults can read a newspaper or
magazine about as well as they could a decade ago, but have made
significant
strides in performing literacy tasks that involve computation,
according to the
first national study of adult literacy since 1992.
The National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL),
released December 15th by the National Center for Education Statistics
(NCES),
found little change between 1992 and 2003 in adults' ability to read
and
understand sentences and paragraphs or to understand documents such as
job
applications.
"One adult unable to read is one too many in
America," said U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, who
today
announced plans to coordinate adult education efforts in 2006 across
multiple
federal agencies. "We must take a comprehensive and preventive
approach,
beginning with elementary schools and with special emphasis in our high
schools. We must focus resources toward proven, research-based methods
to
ensure that all adults have the necessary literacy skills to be
successful."
African Americans scored higher in 2003 than in 1992 in
all three categories, increasing sixteen points in quantitative, eight
points
in document, and six points in prose literacy. Overall, adults have
improved in
document and quantitative literacy with a smaller percentage of adults
in 2003
in the Below Basic category compared to 1992. Whites, African
Americans, and
Asian/Pacific Islanders have improved in all three measures of literacy
with a
smaller percentage in 2003 in the Below Basic category compared to
1992.
Hispanic adults showed a decrease in scores for both
prose and document literacy and a higher percentage in the Below Basic
category. The report also showed that five percent of U.S. adults,
about 11
million people, were termed "nonliterate" in English, meaning
interviewers
could not communicate with them or that they were unable to answer a
minimum
number of questions.
NAAL in 2003 assessed a nationally representative sample
of more than 19,000 Americans age 16 and older, most in their homes and
some in
prisons. NCES, which is part of the U.S. Department of Education's
Institute of
Education Sciences, conducted the assessment in both 1992 and 2003.
NAAL uses three categories to define English-language
literacy: prose, document, and quantitative. Prose literacy includes
the skills
needed to understand continuous text, such as newspaper articles.
Document
literacy is the ability to understand the content and structure of
documents
such as prescription drug labels. Quantitative literacy involves using
numbers
in text, such as computing and comparing the cost per ounce of food
items.
NAAL reports literacy in each category using a 0-500
scale score. Scores are then grouped in four literacy levels:
Below Basic,
Basic,
Intermediate, and
Proficient. Below
Basic is the lowest level and
indicates having "no more than the most simple and concrete literacy
skills." Those who can perform "complex and challenging" tasks
are considered at the Proficient level.
The report,
A First
Look at the Literacy of America's
Adults in the 21st Century, analyzed literacy results
based on a variety of
factors, including race/ethnicity, gender, age, and level of
educational
attainment. A companion report,
Key
Concepts and Features of the 2003 National
Assessment of Adult Literacy, describes the assessment's
key features and major
data types. It was also released today.
Other report highlights:
- White
adults' scores were up nine points in quantitative, but were unchanged
in prose
and document literacy.
- Hispanic
adults' scores declined in prose and document literacy 18 points and 14
points,
respectively, but were unchanged in quantitative literacy.
- Asian/Pacific
Islanders' scores increased 16 points in prose literacy, but were
unchanged in
document and quantitative literacy.
- Among
those who spoke only Spanish before starting school, scores were down
17 points
in prose and document literacy between 1992 and 2003.
To put its findings in perspective, NAAL also reported on
U.S. population changes between 1992 and 2003. During the decade, the
percentage of white adults decreased from 77 to 70 percent, while the
percentage of Hispanic adults increased from eight to 12 percent. The
percentage of Asian/Pacific Islander adults doubled (to 4 percent). The
percentage of adults who spoke only English before starting school
decreased
from 86 to 81 percent.
To view the reports and for more information, visit
nces.ed.gov/naal
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STUDY SHOWS EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT GENDER GAP GROWING—BOYS FALLING BEHIND
The large academic achievement gap between males and
females is growing significantly decreased, according to a new study
by the U.S. Department of Education.
In elementary school, female fourth-graders outperformed
their male peers in reading (2003) and writing (2002) assessments.
Gender
differences in mathematics achievement have been small and fluctuated
slightly
between 1990 and 2003. At the secondary school level, the gap in the
National
Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading achievement grew from
ten
points in 1992 to 16 points in 2002, with males performing lower than
females.
Females entering college baccalaureate programs were more likely than
their
male counterparts to graduate within six years. In 2001, the overall
participation rate of females in adult education was higher than that
of their
male peers (53 percent vs. 46 percent).
Other findings are that:
- Females
are less likely to repeat a grade or to drop out of high school.
- Differences
based on gender in math and science course-taking appear to be
shrinking.
- Female
high school seniors tend to have higher educational aspirations than
their male
peers.
- Females
have made substantial progress at the graduate level overall, but they
still
earn fewer than half of the degrees in many fields.
"It is clear that girls are taking education very
seriously and that they have made tremendous strides," said U.S.
Secretary
of Education Rod Paige. "The issue now is that boys seem to be falling
behind. We need to spend some time researching the problem so that we
can give
boys the support to succeed academically."
To download or view the report, please click
here.
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FREE
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