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SUBSCRIPTIONS TO THE EDUCATION RESEARCH REPORT While you can still read full-text versions of our back issues from April 2006–January 2007 for free (http://www.queuenews.com/EduResearchRpt.html), you must now subscribe for access to new full-text versions, including the articles in this month's issue. An annual subscription is available for $145. And as an added bonus, you'll continue to automatically receive your state's e-newsletter, a $48 value, for free!! These newsletters will be published by AICE, Inc. an affiliate of Queue, Inc. Call 800-232-2224 to place your order with a credit card. Details can be found here: http://www.queuenews.com/subsstate.html Teacher Brings History to Present Mike Pearce says the best history teachers in today's schools will tell stories, make students relate to the people and events and use technology in order to do both. Starting in 2001, when he was teaching eighth grade, Pearce began integrating his own lesson plans into a PowerPoint system. "It hits every learning style. We live in an electronic age and kids are now very impressed by instruction that is more contemporary," he said. Not only does he use this in his own classroom at Ellison High School, but he began marketing the CDs through his Web site, www.ushistorynut.com "Don't think this is some boring old PowerPoint. I use music, sound, animation and art," he explained. It seems to be working. Last year, when he was teaching eighth grade, 99 percent of Pearce's students passed the social studies portion of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. Seventy-seven percent earned a commended performance, and 21 percent made a perfect score. "I've received letters from students and parents just thanking me for creating this system," he said… To see rest of the article: http://www.kdhnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=16216 $684,373 Grant to School of Excellence in Education in San Antonio to Reward Effective Teaching U.S. Department of Education Chief of Staff David Dunn today joined U.S. Sen. John Cornyn at Rick Hawkins High School to announce a $684,373 grant to the School of Excellence in Education (SEE) in San Antonio, Texas to provide financial incentives to teachers and principals who improve student achievement and close achievement gaps in high-poverty schools. The grant will also be used to recruit effective teachers to those schools, particularly for hard-to-staff subjects like math, science and special education. This grant is expected to be funded for five years for a total of $3.2 million. Dunn presented the award on behalf of U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. "If we expect results for every child, as we do with No Child Left Behind, then we must support teachers who get the job done in America's toughest classrooms," Spellings said. "These grants will help encourage our most effective teachers to work in challenging schools where they can make a real difference in the lives of young people." "This funding is used to encourage school districts and states to develop and implement innovative performance-based compensation systems that reward teachers and principals for raising student achievement and for taking positions in high-need schools. The initiative helps our children and it works," U.S. Sen. John Cornyn said. The grant will fund the Teachers and Principals Awarded for Student Achievement (TAPSA) program, which focuses on recruitment and retention of highly qualified teachers in subjects like math and science, as well as promote an atmosphere for student-teacher and teacher-teacher mentor programs at six high-needs campuses encompassing about 2,300 students. The Teacher Incentive Fund program is President Bush's initiative to develop and implement performance-based teacher and principal compensation systems in high-need, disadvantaged schools, where at least 30 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The goals of the program are to improve student achievement by rewarding effective principals and teachers, and, at the same time, increase the number of effective teachers serving minority and disadvantaged students. The Department is awarding 18 five-year TIF grants for a total of $38,248,518 I their first year. For more information about the Teacher Incentive Fund visit: http://www.ed.gov/programs/teacherincentive/faq.html http://www.tea.state.tx.us/comm/page1.htmlTexas Seventh-graders See Jump in TAKS Passing Rates Most passing rates at other grades increase or are stable Texas seventh-grade students, who have benefited from the state’s Student Success Initiative, earned significantly higher passing rates on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) than did preceding classes. This is the group of students whose teachers in the lower elementary grades were trained in scientifically-based reading instruction. The students’ progress in reading has been monitored closely throughout their school career. When they have struggled with reading or mathematics, additional state funds have been available to this group and younger classmates to provide them with extra help, such as small group tutoring, to improve their skills. This is also the class of students who have been the first group of children required to meet the state’s rigorous standards that required the students to pass the third-grade reading TAKS test to be promoted to fourth grade and the fifth-grade reading and math tests to be promoted to sixth grade. Next year, under a 2001 state law, they will become the first group of students that are required to pass the eighth-grade TAKS reading and mathematics exams before they can enter ninth grade. The budget bills currently under consideration in the Texas House of Representatives and Senate continue to provide funding for extra instructional help to students who are struggling to meet the state’s high standards and fund additional teacher training. Test results released today show that 85 percent of the seventh-grade students passed the reading exam, a six-percentage point increase over 2006 results for seventh graders. The passing rate on the mathematics exam increased from 70 percent last year to 76 percent this year. The passing rate on the writing exam went from 90 percent in 2006 to 93 percent this year. Overall, 70 percent of the students passed all tests taken, compared to 64 percent the previous year. The TAKS is given annually to students in grades 3-11. Seniors who have not yet passed the exit-level exam, which is given initially in the 11th grade, continue to retake the exam. Statewide, Texas tested about 3 million students this year. Test results generally increased or held steady for most subject area tests. Below are the results for each grade level. Additional detailed state-level information, including a breakdown of scores by various student groups, is available at: http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/reporting/. The Texas Education Agency does not yet have test results for districts and campuses. The testing contractor has shipped those results directly to school districts and charter holders. Third grade The third-grade results show that 82 percent of third-grade students passed the mathematics test. Eighty-nine percent of the students tested in English passed the reading exam on the first try and 93 percent had passed after the second administration of the test. Among the students who took the Spanish TAKS, 73 percent passed the math exam and 81 percent passed reading on their first attempt. After the second administration of the reading test in Spanish, 88 percent of the students passed it. Students must pass the reading test to be promoted to fourth grade. Any student who has not yet passed the reading test may retake it on June 27. Fourth grade Results show that 75 percent of fourth-grade students who took the TAKS in English passed all tests taken, a two-point increase over the previous year’s results. The passing rate increased from 82 percent on the reading exam in 2006 to 84 percent. There was a whopping 10 point-increase in the number of students who reached the Commended Performance level, which means the students answered at least 39 of the 42 questions correctly. The percentage of students who earned Commended Performance rose from 20 percent in 2006 to 30 percent in 2007. The passing rate on the mathematics exam was 86 percent, up three points. Ninety-one percent of the students passed the writing exam, a one-point decline. Among the students who took the tests in Spanish, 77 percent passed reading, a one-point increase; 72 percent passed math, a three-point increase; and 89 percent passed writing, a one-point decline. Overall, 65 percent of the students passed all tests taken, compared to 62 percent in 2006. Fifth grade Passing rates are up across the board for students who took the fifth-grade TAKS in English. At this grade level, student must pass the reading and math exams to be promoted to sixth grade. Eighty-two percent of the students passed the reading exam on the first administration, up from 80 percent in 2006. Eighty-nine percent had passed after the second testing opportunity this year. Eighty-five percent passed the math test, a four-point increase over 2006 levels. Seventy-seven percent of the students passed the science TAKS, up from 75 percent in 2006, and 31 percent earned the Commended Performance designation on this exam, which is a seven-point increase. Students at this high-performance level correctly answered at least 37 of 40 test questions. Among the students who took the tests in Spanish, 78 percent passed the reading test on the first attempt, which is a 13-percent increase over last year. After the second administration, the passing rate on the reading exam reached 86 percent. The passing rate on the math test increased from 47 percent in 2006 to 50 percent this year. While the passing rate is up four-points on the science test, it continues to be a trouble spot for this group, with only 35 percent passing the test. Any student who has not passed the reading exam may retake it on June 26 and those fifth-graders who have not passed the math exam may retake it on Tuesday and, if necessary, on June 27. Sixth grade The percentage of sixth-grade students who were tested in English and passed all tests taken remained stable at 77 percent. The percentage of youngsters passing the reading test rose one-point to 92 percent. The passing rate on the math test remained unchanged at 79 percent but the percentage of students achieving the Commended Performance level rose from 31 percent to 34 percent. Students must correctly answer at least 41 of 46 questions to earn the Commended Performance designation on the math test. For the 1,029 students who took the 6th-grade tests in Spanish, 75 percent passed the reading test, up from 66 percent in 2006. Fifty-six percent passed the math test, compared to 52 percent in 2006 and 56 percent passed all tests taken, a seven-point increase. Eighth grade Passing rates increased on all tests given to eighth-grade students. Eighty-nine percent of the students passed the reading test, up from 83 percent last year and 42 percent earned Commended Performance status. Students correctly answered 44 or more of the 48 questions to earn this commendation. Seventy-one percent of the students passed the mathematics TAKS, a four-point increase. Eighty-seven percent passed the social studies test, compared to 83 percent the previous year. In the second year that the science TAKS has been given at this grade level, 70 percent of the students passed the test. If this same passing standard, known as the One Standard Error of Measurement or 1 SEM level, had been in place the previous year, 62 percent of the students would have passed the test. Sixty percent of the students passed all the TAKS exams they took, a three-point improvement over 2006 rates. Ninth grade Eighty-six percent of high school freshmen passed the state’s reading test, a one-point decline over last year’s rates. The students increased the passing rate on mathematics test from 56 percent in 2006 to 60 percent this year. Fifty-nine percent of the ninth-grade students tested passed all the tests they took, compared to 56 percent the previous year. Tenth grade Results were mixed at 10th grade, with the passing rates increasing on three indicators and declining on two. The passing rate increased from 60 percent in 2006 to 63 percent this year on the sophomore math test and rose three points to 86 percent on the social studies exam. The percentage of students passing the English Language Arts test fell one point to 84 percent and dropped two points to 58 percent on the science test. Overall, only half of the students – 50 percent – passed all tests taken, a one-point improvement over last year. The passing rate on all tests taken ranged from 67 percent of white students to 37 percent for Hispanics and 31 percent for African Americans. Eleventh grade Performance was much stronger on the high-stakes exit-level test, given at 11th grade, than on the 10th grade test. Ninety percent of the high school juniors passed the English Language Arts exam, which is a combined reading and writing test. In 2006, the percentage of students passing this test was 88 percent. The math passing rate rose from 77 percent last year to 80 percent. The social studies passing rate remained unchanged at 94 percent. The percentage of students passing the science exam improved two percentage points to 77 percent. Overall, 69 percent of the members of the junior class have passed all the tests they took. Under current state law, students must pass the exit-level tests, along with their courses, in order to earn a diploma from a Texas public high school. Students have five opportunities to take the tests during their junior and senior year. If they have not passed it by the end of their senior year, they can continue to take the test for an unlimited amount of time, even if they are no longer taking classes. Once they pass, they are issued a diploma. Twelfth grade Eighty-four percent of the 244,346 students who were tested as juniors in spring 2006 have now passed all tests they took and are on track to graduate this spring. Ninety-three percent of the Asian-American students and 92 percent of the white students have passed all tests taken. Seventy-six percent of the Hispanic students and 72 percent of the African-American students have passed all tests taken. At this same point last year, 87 percent of the students had passed all the exit-level tests they took after five testing opportunities. The drop in the passing rate is largely attributable to increased passing requirements for students graduating in May 2007. The passing standard for TAKS has been phased in, rising slightly each of the past three years. This is the first graduating class held to this highest passing standard, which means students in this class had to correctly answer more questions to pass the tests than did previous classes. The passing rate on the math exam fell from 92 percent in 2006 to 89 percent this year. The same scenario played out on the science exam with the passing rate falling three points to 89 percent. The percentage of students passing the social studies test fell one point to 97 percent, while the English Language Arts passing rate remained steady at 95 percent. The English Language Arts exit-level retest is scheduled for July 10. The exit-level math retest will occur July 11. The science retest is set for July 12 and the social studies retest is scheduled for July 13. Young people can continue to retake any test they have not passed. Once they have passed the required exams, they will receive a diploma. Every class, beginning with the Class of 1987, has been required to pass a state-mandated test as part of their graduation requirements. Texas has a number of initiatives under way to help improve high school education and increase the graduation rate. The Texas Legislature last May created the Texas high school allotment that provides $275 for each student in grades 9-12, which districts can use in a wide variety of ways to improve academic performance. The state and private partners are also involved in the $271 million Texas High School Project, which focuses on improving the high school graduation rate and the college-going rate. A free math and science diagnostic system is available to help students tune up their skills and personalized TAKS study guides continue to be available to students. The Legislature is considering but has not yet given final approval to a bill that would replace the TAKS at grades 9, 10 and 11 with 12 End-of-Course assessments. If that bill ultimately becomes law, it will be several years before End-of-Course assessments, which must be developed, replace the exit-level TAKS as the graduation requirement.TELPAS Results Show Limited English Proficient Students Making Significant Progress Learning English Limited English proficient (LEP) students in grades 3–12 made significant gains from spring 2006 to spring 2007 in learning English as assessed by the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS). TELPAS helps schools and parents monitor how well students who speak English as a second language are learning the English they need to succeed academically. In spring 2007, more than 350,000 LEP students in grades 3–12 were tested. TELPAS performance is reported in terms of four English proficiency levels – Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced, and Advanced High. Every student identified as LEP in kindergarten through grade 12 is assessed with TELPAS in the language areas of listening, speaking, reading and writing. Results from the spring 2007 administration show 39 percent of the LEP students in grades 3–12 received the highest composite rating possible –Advanced High. This represented a seven-point gain over the previous year’s 32 percent. In addition, the percent of students making at least one proficiency level of progress from the previous year rose from 57 percent to 63 percent. The gains students made were consistent in the four language areas TELPAS assessed. Performance gains were modest, but consistent for students in kindergarten through grade 2 with 1-2 percentage point gains per language area in terms of students reaching the highest English language proficiency level. This year alone more than 80,000 teachers received TELPAS training to help them identify the English language levels of LEP students and support their academic progress. Various other statewide initiatives for these students are ongoing as well. A training developed and funded by Title III funds called Leer M‡s (Read More) II provided bilingual teachers with specific guidelines and tools to facilitate the transfer of reading skills from the students’ first language to English. In addition, the LEP Student Success Initiative funded by the state at $10 million per year provided additional training and resources through the Institute for Second Language Achievement and TESORO. These resources and a Best Practices for English Language Learners document are available to the public at http://ell.tamucc.edu/mission.html and http://www.tea.state.tx.us/curriculum/biling/. The Texas Education Agency developed TELPAS in order to meet the federal testing requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). The reading component of TELPAS is assessed using the Reading Proficiency Tests in English (RPTE), which debuted in the 1999-2000 school year, prior to the NCLB act. This is the last year for the RPTE in its current form. Texas will transition to a new version of this assessment with the 2007-08 school year. The new version, to be called TELPAS Reading, will extend down to second grade and will, at all grades, place more emphasis on the ability to read and understand English used in core content areas such as mathematics and science. Statewide results for the TELPAS administration are available at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/reporting/results/summary/sum07/telpas/telpas_stat ewide07_tagged.pdfMore Than 1.2 Million Students Will Not Graduate in 2007 Detailed Graduation Data Available for Every U.S. District and State In-depth Labor-Force Analysis Finds Strong Relationship Between Today’s high school graduates enter a world in which they’ll need at least some college to gain access to decent-paying careers, according to a report released by Education Week. And those without even a high school diploma will face increasingly bleak labor-market prospects. The report, Diplomas Count: Ready for What? Preparing for College, Careers, and Life After High School, draws on two national databases to examine the distribution of jobs nationally and within each state, and the relationship between education and pay levels. The report also includes the latest analysis by the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center of graduation rates nationwide, finding that an estimated 1.23 million students, or about 30 percent of the class of 2007, will fail to graduate with their peers. Native American, Hispanic, and African-American students are among the groups with the lowest graduation rates. A Road Map to State Graduation Policies To provide context for high school graduation rates, Diplomas Count examines state policies in three key areas: definitions of college and workforce readiness, high school completion credentials offered, and exit exams. To see Texas Report: http://www.edweek.org/media/ew/dc/2007/tx_SGB07.pdf Pre-K – The South Leads the Nation Over the last 140 years, Southern states have made significant progress in catching up with the nation in education and income, but in recent decades the South’s gains have virtually flattened as the world economy continues to elevate the critical role of education in innovation, productivity and income. Today, most Southern states remain where they were in the early 1980s, closer to the national average than they were decades ago, but still at or near the bottom of the nation’s major rankings in education, income and well-being. There is an all-important exception to this pattern of Southern underperformance: high-quality, early childhood education – pre-kindergarten (Pre-K). Several Southern states have become the nation’s leaders in Pre-K over the last 10 years. As a result, the South in 2007 leads the nation in offering state-funded Pre-K to three- and four-year-old children: 19% of three- and four-year-olds in the South are in state-funded Pre-K, more than double the rate in non-South states. But Pre-K has not developed uniformly across the South. For instance, as of the start of 2007, Mississippi was the only Southern state that had no state Pre-K program. Alabama has a state program with only a minuscule enrollment. In contrast, Georgia and Oklahoma have ranked at the top of the nation in terms of both enrollment and high-quality standards for the last several years, and Arkansas has emerged as a new national leader in Pre-K. • Two-thirds of the states with the highest standards for Pre-K quality are in the South. An overwhelming body of independent research confirms that early childhood education has become strategically important in shaping a child’s real-life prospects and a state’s long-term future. The research shows that high-quality, state-supported Pre-K across the South is helping all children – especially low-income, African American and Latino children – prepare for school. In Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Oklahoma, South Carolina and West Virginia, independent researchers have recently undertaken studies that found strong evidence of positive effects on young children’s learning in areas of language, literacy and math skills. In some states, primarily Oklahoma, Louisiana and Georgia, the results appear phenomenal. In six Southern states, independent cost-benefit studies consistently document very large economic gains from investing in Pre-K. In Texas, for example, for each dollar invested in high-quality Pre-K, the state can realize as much as $3.50 in direct benefits or as much as $7.70 in direct and indirect benefits. The research evidences substantial economic gains for all Southern states where these studies have been undertaken. To see the full report: Building Transitions from High School to College and Careers For Texas' Youth (2007) This report is based on the Texas Education Forum held September 13, 2006. Sponsored by the League for Innovation in the Community College and the Southern Regional Education Board, and supported by the U.S. Department of Education, the forum focused on the goals of the College and Career Transitions Initiative. The report details the outcome of the forum and suggests actions Texas can take to improve students' transitions from high school to postsecondary studies and careers. To see report: http://www.sreb.org/programs/hstw/publications/2007pubs/07V12_CCTI_texas.pdf Carnegie Learning, Inc. Signs Houston Independent School District Forty-five Houston Schools, More Than 8400 Students to Participate in Math Curriculum Study by RAND Corporation The Houston Independent School District is among the districts participating in a five-year study funded by the U.S. Department of Education and conducted by RAND Corporation that will evaluate the effectiveness of Carnegie Learning’s technology-based Algebra I curriculum. Forty-five middle schools and high schools with 8400 Algebra students will participate in the study, which will evaluate whether the Cognitive Tutor® curriculum is effective for a wide range of students and environments. In the randomized experiment, half of the schools will use Carnegie Learning Algebra I and the other half will continue to use the schools’ existing Algebra I course for two years. Carnegie Learning’s curricula include classroom instruction and a software program that adapts to individual students’ understanding of algebraic concepts to improve their problem-solving skills. In addition to providing text book and software, Carnegie Learning will conduct initial teacher training and ongoing professional development throughout the five year study. In addition to Houston Independent School District, another five U.S. school districts will participate in the RAND study. Alvin ISD Chooses PLATO Learning for District-Wide Credit Recovery Student preference for PLATO® instructional content a key factor in decision PLATO Learning, Inc. a leading provider of K–adult computer-based and e-learning solutions, today announced an agreement with Alvin (Texas) Independent School District to provide web-delivered credit recovery, intervention, and on-grade enrichment solutions using the PLATO Learning Environment™, the complete library of PLATO® secondary intervention instructional content, and PLATO® Courses—38 whole-semester online courses. Alvin ISD joins other Houston-area school districts that have selected PLATO Learning, including Aldine ISD, Pearland ISD, Clear Creek ISD, Galveston ISD, La Marque ISD, and Hitchcock ISD. These districts have a combined enrollment of 122,500 students and 116 schools. The district will start the implementation at its two high schools, Manvel and Alvin High Schools, where it has been a challenge to prepare hundreds of new students—many who are Hurricane Katrina evacuees—for the state-wide Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) examination. The district’s PLATO Learning solution includes TAKS Connect—an integrated test utility that aligns PLATO® instructional content with student results on the state assessment in order to provide additional instruction in the content areas where students demonstrate a need for improvement. “We wanted an up-to-date online learning solution that delivered rigorous content with animation, graphics, and audio that motivated and engaged students,” said Shawn Williams, assistant principal of Alvin High School. “Other area districts were using PLATO Learning, and we heard positive feedback about the results other districts were realizing with the products. But, the single most important reason we chose PLATO was the students’ excitement when interacting with the products. The kids simply want to work with the PLATO software and are more engaged with it than with any other solution we’ve tried.” Williams and others in the district agreed PLATO was the right solution for their credit recovery needs because of the products’ extensive features, including ongoing assessment, robust reporting, and course customization—an exclusive ability to re-sequence the content within PLATO Courses to match district pacing guides and add locally created resources as desired—helping to support key concepts that students are learning in the classroom while aligning content to state standards. “PLATO Learning gives us so much content in each course, we can match our scope and sequence to the product in any way we want,” said Williams. “The PLATO solution is an excellent value for the price because it allows us to offer so much more content over time.” Most importantly, Williams stressed that the appealing look-and-feel of the PLATO Learning software was at the heart of the district’s decision-making process. “We wanted to purchase a solution that would keep the kids motivated while they learned. We know that the PLATO Learning solution will go a long way towards boosting our kids’ interest in learning.” Study Concludes istation’s Online Assessment of Reading Skills as Valid as DIBELS Automated Assessment Praised for Efficiency and Cost Effectiveness A study has concluded that Istation Indicators of Progress (ISIP™) is as valid an indicator of kindergarten through third grade reading skills as Dynamic Indicators of Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS®). The study, completed in April of 2007 by the Southern Methodist University’s (SMU) Institute for Reading Research under the direction of Patricia G. Mathes, Ph.D., further concluded that ISIP was more predictive of third grade Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skill’s (TAKS) reading results than DIBELS oral reading fluency. The study was conducted in four elementary schools in a mid-sized, southwestern suburban and urban school district in the Dallas Metropolitan area of Texas. District personnel identified these schools as having highly diverse, multicultural and multi-ethnic student populations that were representative of the United States population as a whole. Each school identified 20 students from their kindergarten through third grade classes to participate in the study. Principals at the schools expressed eagerness to participate in the ISIP study because DIBELS takes so much time from student instruction.
The examiners who conducted the field testing at the four elementary schools in February and March repeatedly commented on how easy it was to use the automated ISIP assessment. Unlike DIBELS, which is teacher administered and requires about 20 minutes per student, ISIP took only 20 minutes to screen an entire class. Adding to ISIP’s ease of use, the examiners did not have to enter, review, correct information or wait for results to be processed. ISIP data was available online as each subtest was completed. Mr. Grayson continued, “Until now, districts have been faced with the high cost of teacher-administered assessments that can be frustrating to teachers and take valuable instruction time. We developed ISIP to ease the burden of administration on teachers while providing instant access to data to evaluate student progress and the effectiveness of instruction. In addition, students enjoy ISIP activities, and testing anxiety is virtually eliminated.” ISIP provides data on skills that have been shown through research to be predictive of student success at learning to read. That data is used to provide reports that track progress and categorize students as being At Risk, Some Risk or On Track. ISIP also automatically links continuous progress monitoring results to individualized instruction through links to teacher-directed lessons provided on the istation Priority Report. The performance data is analyzed; students at risk of reading failure are grouped by skill needs; links are provided to lessons addressing skill needs; and a history of interventions is tracked. Mr. Grayson added, “Our mission is to use computers and the Internet to transform education. With ISIP, we have taken another step in that direction. Taken together, The Imagination Station and ISIP automate administration, scoring and reporting of DIBELS-equivalent benchmarks and continuous progress monitoring. The resulting real-time data is used to individualize instruction in The Imagination Station and provide district, school, class and student reports that categorize risk and show skill growth. Data is made actionable in the classroom through links to teacher-directed lessons for use in individual interventions and small group instruction. By using data from research-validated, online assessments to differentiate instruction on the computer and in the classroom, teachers can ensure all students learn to read to the best of their ability.” For details, read the full study at www.istation.com/en/corpsite/research/pdfs/isipcv.pdf. About ISIP ISIP, the first online automated benchmark and continuous progress monitoring assessment of early reading skills, benchmarks students four times a year, monitors their progress every four weeks between benchmarks, provides on demand assessments and provides results in the form of data files, graphs and reports instantly. Customers have the ability to adjust ISIP’s assessment calendar and specify which dates the benchmark and CPM assessments are run. Subscribers of The Imagination Station receive ISIP built into the program, with ISIP-specific teacher resources and a teacher manual covering both programs at no additional cost. With ISIP standalone subscriptions, school districts not only receive the teacher resources and a manual, but also istation’s Priority Report that analyzes data, pinpoints specific areas of need, groups students by need, recommends teacher resources for use in intervention and documents a history of intervention. About istation istation is an educational software developer and publisher of ISIP and The Imagination Station, an Internet-based interactive reading instruction and intervention program that teaches students to read fluently with comprehension. Developed using scientifically based reading research, The Imagination Station systematically teaches students to learn developmentally appropriate skills in the five essential reading areas. Aligned to national standards, The Imagination Station is the only reading program that provides data-driven individualized instruction, delivers continuous progress monitoring and easy-to-use reports, cumulatively assesses student performance, recommends teacher-directed lessons, analyzes data to pinpoint specific areas of need and documents a history of intervention. To learn more about istation, ISIP and The Imagination Station, visit www.istation.com. Texas Students in One of the World’s Largest K-12 Science Competitions Envision Future Technologies The Toshiba/National Science Teachers Association ExploraVision Awards Program, one of the world’s largest K –12 science and technology competitions, today announced its first- and second-place national winners for 2007. (Full list of winners attached.) This year’s winning student teams imagined amazing advancements in fields such as nanotechnology and polymer creation. They conceptualized future technologies ranging from innovative treatments for diabetes and kidney disease to a possible solution to the worldwide scarcity of drinkable water, a novel treatment for drug addiction, a potentially lifesaving fire extinguishing system, and an ingenious method for harnessing “wasted” energy from automobile use. There was even an idea for a special dental hygiene device that would brush all your teeth at once – and provide a song while doing it! Exploring Science to Imagine Future Technological Breakthroughs Now in its 15th year, the ExploraVision program, sponsored by Toshiba and administered by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), challenges students to research scientific principles and current technologies as the basis for designing innovative technologies that could exist in 20 years. Students work in teams of two to four, and since the program’s inception, more than 230,000 students have submitted entries. This year’s top winners were selected from a group of 4,705 team entries, representing the participation of 14,681 students from the United States and Canada. For their project, Diabetes Assistance and Prevention E-System (D.A.P.e.S.),” four 4th grade students from Texas won first prize in the 4-6 grade category. Their proposed technology could help prevent diabetes before it starts by helping children manage their intake of potentially dangerous foods. A nanosensor would be implanted in a tooth to analyze harmful food intake for adolescent diabetics. The sensor would continuously monitor and provide information such as sugar levels to a portable electronic system via wireless communication and warn or reward children according to their consumption patterns. Students on the four first-place ExploraVision teams will each receive a $10,000 U.S. Series EE US Savings Bond. Students on second-place teams will each receive a $5,000 bond. 2007 EXPLORAVISION NATIONAL FINALISTS 2007 First Place Winners Grades 4-6 Diabetes Assistance and Prevention e-System (D.A.P.e.S.) Implants a nanosensor in a tooth to analyze harmful food intake for adolescent diabetics. The nanosensor continuously monitors and provides information such as sugar levels to a portable electronic system via wireless communication and warns or rewards children according to their consumption patterns. Fitch Ratings has assigned an 'A+' rating to DeSoto Independent School District, Texas' (DeSoto ISD) bond. The 'A+' rating reflects the DeSoto ISD's trend of healthy reserves, a growing tax base, and above-average area wealth levels. The rating also reflects the district's high debt levels with additional borrowing planned, below-average principal amortization, and ongoing operating and capital pressures associated with growth. The prospect for continued development appears promising, given the district's proximity to the diverse Dallas-Fort Worth economy, the surrounding major highways, and available land. Current financial performance and expected tax base growth suggest the district will be able to maintain its solid financial profile satisfactorily over the near term. DeSoto ISD is located approximately 15 miles southwest of downtown Dallas on Interstate Highway 35 East in a suburban residential area that encompasses 23 square miles. Serving primarily the cities of DeSoto and Glenn Heights, enrollment is currently estimated at slightly more than 8,600 students and has grown by an annual average of nearly 4% since 2002. Given the pace of development, officials expect current enrollment to almost double at full build-out over the next 10-15 years. Tax base growth continues to outpace student enrollment gains at slightly less than 9% annually over the past five years. Most residents commute to work throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Recently completed improvements to Interstate Highway 35E will spur additional commercial/retail development. Fiscal 2006 continued the district's six-year trend of adding to general fund balance, bringing the total to $12.2 million or 24.3% of expenditures and transfers out. Liquidity levels remained solid as well. The district expects to add to or maintain general fund balance by the close of fiscal 2007, despite operating pressures that include competition with area districts for teacher recruitment. The district has historically outperformed budget projections through cost containment measures. District debt levels are high and are expected to remain so considering growth pressures, even after factoring in state support for a portion of existing debt service. The new money portion of the current offering is the second installment of a $116 million authorization, the largest in the district's history, which was approved by 55% of the voters in September 2005. |
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