March 2007
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Education News

For back issues of this newsletter, as well as current and back issues of our other newsletters, U.S. Education News and Education Research Report, please to our newly-redesigned website: http://www.queuenews.com/

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Georgia Public Schools Advanced Placement

21.6% increase in the number of students participating between 2005 and 2006

In 2006: 37,968 Georgia Public School Students took AP Exams
In 2005: 31,236 Georgia Public School Students took AP Exams
In 2001: 18,792 Georgia Public School Students took AP Exams
In 1996: 10,383 Georgia Public School Students took AP Exams
• Since 2001, the number of Georgia Public School students participating in AP increased by 19,176 or 102.0%.

Exams Taken

22.4% increase in the number of AP Exams taken between 2005 and 2006

In 2006: Georgia Public School Students took 60,306 AP Exams
In 2005: Georgia Public School Students took 49,258 AP Exams
In 2001: Georgia Public School Students took 30,219 AP Exams
In 1996: Georgia Public School Students took 15,008 AP Exams
• Since 2001, the number of AP Exams taken by Georgia Public School students increased by 30,087 or 99.6%.

Exams Scored 3 or higher

19.2% increase in the number of AP Exams scored 3 or higher between 2005 and 2006

In 2006: Georgia Public School Students scored 3 or higher on 32,005 AP Exams
In 2005: Georgia Public School Students scored 3 or higher on 26,843 AP Exams
In 2001: Georgia Public School Students scored 3 or higher on 15,776 AP Exams
In 1996: Georgia Public School Students scored 3 or higher on 9,346 AP Exams
• Since 2001, the number of AP Exams scored 3 or higher taken by Georgia Public School students increased by 16,229 or 102.9%.

To read the complete, highly detailed report on GEORGIA please go to: http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/about/news_info/ap/2007/georgia_ap-report_07.pdf

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U.S. Chamber Report Card on Education Says States Failing our Students, Risking our Future

Leaders and Laggards: A State-by-State Report Card on Educational Effectiveness graded all 50 states and Washington, DC, on nine broad categories including academic achievement, return on investment, truth in advertising, rigor of standards, and data quality. 

Georgia scored 2 A’s, 2 B’s, 1 C and 4 D’s

A summary of Georgia’s scores is available online: http://www.uschamber.com/icw/reportcard/default

To see the full report:
http://www.uschamber.com/NR/rdonlyres/ej5ny2pjqrdchnsde2sqo2hj2ybch7xf7gw2wjhwbxfvfxvpu7r54syv637naxtxbgqx3q73u74vaa/Resource1.pdf

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Georgia Leads In State-Funded Preschool

State-funded preschool continues to be the most rapidly expanding segment of the U.S. educational system but in many states the commitment to early education is fickle: funding is as likely to be cut as it is to be increased.

That's the message of the authoritative annual review of state preschool programs produced by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER), based at Rutgers University. The report is called The State of Preschool 2006: State Preschool Yearbook.

The launch of Florida's Voluntary Pre-kindergarten for all 4-year-olds in 2005-2006 had a significant impact on the national picture. In its first year, the Florida program enrolled 105,896 children, but spent only $2,165 per child (35th of the 38 states with programs) and met only four of NIEER's ten quality benchmarks.

Nationally, total enrollment in state pre-K programs was 942,766, an increase of 130,709. Most states increased enrollment, but in nine states enrollment went down. Oklahoma (70 percent enrollment) and Georgia (51 percent enrollment) were the only states to serve more than half of their 4-year-olds.

To see full report: http://nieer.org/yearbook/pdf/yearbook.pdf

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New Online Resources for State Teacher Certification Test Preparation Launched by Georgia Professional Standards Commission

Web Resources to Help Faculty Working With Georgia’s Pre-Service Teachers Developed by National Evaluation Systems

The Georgia Professional Standards Commission has launched its new online Faculty Resources, the latest enhancement to the Georgia Assessments for the Certification of Educators® (GACE®) Web site. The new resource area was developed by National Evaluation Systems™ (NES®), the teacher licensure testing business of Pearson Education. The GACE Faculty Resources area is designed to help teacher preparation program faculty members confirm that their curricula are aligned with state, national and P-12 Georgia student standards, and assist them in interpreting and analyzing teacher candidate test results. NES also developed and manages the GACE, the state’s assessment of the knowledge and skills of prospective public school educators.

“At the Georgia Professional Standards Commission, we are committed to placing highly qualified teachers into Georgia public school classrooms. To achieve this goal, we ask our state’s prospective teachers to demonstrate that they possess the knowledge and skills necessary to best educate our students,” said F.D. Toth, Ph.D., executive secretary. “Our collaboration with the outstanding team at NES has resulted in the important addition of Faculty Resources to the GACE Web site. These new resources provide the faculty of Georgia teacher preparation programs with a powerful tool for transforming the way they advise their students and counsel certification candidates.”

Deans from Georgia colleges and universities are meeting today at Macon State College with the Professional Standards Commission and NES staff to review the Faculty Resources and discuss strategies for using them with faculty, program advisors and certification candidates.

“NES is proud to have worked with Georgia education leaders to develop an innovative Web resource to help ensure that their pre-service teachers are prepared for the state certification examinations,” said William Gorth, Ph.D., president, NES. To view the GACE Faculty Resources, visit the GACE Web site at www.gace.nesinc.com/GACE_faculty_resources.asp.

About National Evaluation Systems

National Evaluation Systems (NES) (www.nesinc.com) provides customized assessments for teacher licensure testing. As the most experienced provider of custom tests, NES collaborates with state education agencies to develop and administer licensure tests for prospective teachers who want to enter the profession and for experienced teachers who want to teach a new subject or work in a new state. Today, NES tests about 50 percent of prospective U.S. teachers in more than 100 content fields, in professional teaching skills and in the basic skills of reading, writing and mathematics.

NES is a business of Pearson Education, the world’s largest integrated education company, which in turn is part of Pearson (NYSE: PSO), the international media company. Pearson’s other primary operations include the Financial Times Group and the Penguin Group.

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Georgia's Top Two Youth Volunteers Selected in 12th Annual National Awards Program

Roswell and Alma students earn $1,000 awards, engraved medallions and trip to nation’s capital
Honors also bestowed on other top youth volunteers in Georgia

David Mulcahy, 18, of Roswell and Jonathan Peacock, 14, of Alma have been named Georgia's top two youth volunteers for 2007 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism. The awards program, now in its 12th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

David was nominated by Marist School in Atlanta, and Jonathan was nominated by Bacon County 4-H in Alma. As State Honorees, each will receive $1,000, an engraved silver medallion, and an all-expense-paid trip in early May to Washington, D.C., where they will join the top two honorees – one middle level and one high school youth – from each of the other states and the District of Columbia for several days of national recognition events. Ten of them will be named America’s top youth volunteers for 2007 at that time.

David, a senior at Marist School, developed a program that helps financially disadvantaged kids become soccer referees so that they can earn money to help themselves and their families. David, who loves soccer, earns his spending money by refereeing soccer games. “I know the benefits of refereeing: pride, a sense of accomplishment, and, of course, the money,” David said. “I simply thought that what was good for me might be good for others.”

David started in 2002 with the idea of helping just one underprivileged youngster receive referee training, but he didn’t stop there. To date, he has raised more than $3,500 in donations from churches, businesses, family and friends to pay for referee courses, fees, uniforms and other equipment for dozens of young people. He identifies suitable candidates for his program, recruits mentors for them, arranges transportation to classes, assists with tutoring if needed, and helps place his newly trained referees in positions at area soccer clubs. He recently persuaded his high school soccer team to sponsor eight kids, and the Georgia Soccer Association to provide 25 free spaces in its referee classes. David is now providing advice to a similar program in Florida. “In attempting to give pride and a sense of accomplishment to others, I realize that I have done the same for myself,” he said.

Jonathan, an eighth-grader at Bacon County Middle School, spent three months planning and preparing a time capsule to help celebrate his community’s centennial last year. When the head of Alma’s centennial committee asked him to help make the town’s celebration more memorable, Jonathan thought about a time capsule and began doing research. He found a company to provide an aluminum capsule canister, and delivered a Power-Point presentation on his plan. With $1,000 from the committee, Jonathan purchased the capsule and bought a newspaper ad asking the public for ideas on what to put in it. He then collected things such as photos, a telephone book and technology items, carefully packed them into the canister, injected nitrogen to preserve the contents, and organized a ceremony to bury the capsule under the town’s centennial square. “When people living here in 2106 open it, they will be able to see what the town is like now,” said Jonathan.

In addition, the program judges recognized six other Georgia students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion:

Carson Hand, 18, of Columbus, a senior at Northside High School, delivers motivational speeches and songs across the country to inspire young people and adults who are battling cancer. After his own successful treatment for liver cancer, Carson prepared a speech and wrote a song about making the best of every opportunity, which he now shares with cancer-related groups, school students, service clubs, military personnel, and other audiences across the United States.

Gabrielle Richards, 17, of Snellville, a senior at South Gwinnett High School, created and leads the “Heaven Sent Foundation,” a group of community volunteers who visit and provide encouragement and small gifts to children and elderly people in medical facilities. After meeting with medical facility activity coordinators and obtaining permission from school officials, Gabrielle developed an ongoing plan to recruit both teen and adult volunteers, publicized her efforts, solicited donations of small gift items from local businesses and private sponsors, and began coordinating visits by “Heaven Sent” volunteers.

Jordan Schwartz, 13, of Marietta, a member of the East Cobb YMCA and an eighth-grader at the Atlanta Girls’ School in Atlanta, built a Web site to encourage and support girls undergoing treatment with human growth hormones (www.ugrowgirl.org). In addition, Jordan, who has been diagnosed with Turner’s Syndrome, has delivered motivational presentations, written an article for a magazine published by the Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities, and raised money for disaster relief efforts by selling “reminder bands” on her Web site.

Jena Sims, 18, of Winder, a senior at Winder-Barrow High School, organizes “Prince and Princess of Hope” beauty pageants to boost the morale of children and teens fighting terminal illnesses. Jena canvasses for applicants, recruits volunteers and ‘judges,’ solicits donations from local and national businesses, and produces events that make each participating child feel beautiful and special. So far, 1,100 children in four states have benefited from her pageants.

Michelle Waters, 18, of Savannah, a senior at Savannah Arts Academy, developed a program designed to provide comfort to grieving children by helping them create Web sites to honor the memories of lost loved ones. After creating a plan and working with a grief center counselor and a high school technology teacher, Michelle obtained approval for her project, developed a questionnaire and permission slips, created a master Web site, and attended weekly children’s grief counseling sessions to prepare for working with individual children.

Laura White, 16, of Alpharetta, a junior at Northview High School in Duluth, organized monthly swimming lessons for more than 50 disadvantaged children in the Atlanta area. After obtaining permission and developing a plan, Laura obtained a grant to help fund her program, recruited volunteer instructors, drew up lesson plans and schedules, and began coordinating classes that teach children not only how to swim, but also how to be safe and have fun in the water.

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Georgia’s First LEED-Silver Public High School

Innovative DeKalb County School Also Features Environmental Curriculum, Small Learning Communities

Perkins+Will, the world’s leading sustainable architecture firm, designed Arabia Mountain High School in DeKalb County to be Georgia’s first LEED-Silver public high school and what could be the prototypical public school of the future.

“The DeKalb County School Board took the lead to ensure that students will be in a sustainable learning environment that improves their opportunities for success,” said Barbara Crum, Perkins+Will’s principal K-12 architect in Atlanta, at today’s groundbreaking ceremonies. Turner Construction is the firm’s design/build partner.

“There’s no doubt that America is moving toward increased sustainability in all things, including its schools. That’s why we’ve received so much recognition for our designs of such schools in South Carolina, Illinois, Texas, and now Georgia,” said Crum.

Located in the environmentally important Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area, the DeKalb County high school also features small learning communities – another Perkins+Will signature design element – that foster improved grades, graduation rates and mentoring opportunities.
Sustainable features of the school include:

• Bioswales with natural plantings to filter water runoff before it enters local streams;
• Reduced water use with low-flow plumbing fixtures, waterless urinals, sink sensors;
• North-South positioning to reduce energy use;
• Construction materials that are 10 percent to 20 percent recycled;
• Exclusion of materials that emit noxious, harmful odors;
• Individually controlled HVAC to reduce energy waste in unoccupied areas.

Another Perkins+Will design signature, increased natural daylight in classrooms, will boost energy efficiency while improving students’ attention and positively impacting their grades. The 240,000-square-foot facility, with 42 classrooms, 10 science labs, a 600-seat auditorium and 1,400-seat gymnasium, also includes:

• Bicycle and walking paths;
• Walls of glass providing views of Arabia Mountain;
• Frontal views over athletic fields and the woods and mountain beyond;
• Tree-save areas, including some preservation of old-growth specimens;
• Georgia’s first hands-on environmental curriculum.

The two percent in additional construction costs contributed by these features will be offset by operational savings of 20 percent annually over a five-year period, according to Crum.

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Honeywell Instant Alert and Digital Video Manager Help Keep Georgia School District Safe and Secure

Ware County School District -- which serves almost 6,500 students in the Waycross, Ga. area -- will implement Honeywell Instant Alert(TM) for Schools. The Web-based notification service will allow the district to quickly reach parents with emergency or school news. In addition, Honeywell will install its Digital Video Manager(TM) (DVM), a video management and surveillance system that will increase visibility into activities at the county's schools.

"In today's sensitive security environment, we have to be more prepared around safety and security issues," said Dr. Joseph Barrow, superintendent, Ware County School District. "Honeywell was a perfect choice because its technology gives the district a proven method to inform our parents and staff, and we had a previous relationship with the company."

Ware County faces unique communication challenges because of its location in Georgia, a state that is vulnerable to severe tropical storms forming in both the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. An hour from the coast, the district is often used as a receiving ground for evacuees during a hurricane warning -- an agreement the district maintains with the Georgia Emergency Management Association. Instant Alert, used by nearly 1,000 schools nationwide, gives Ware County the ability to reach thousands of people within minutes, and notify the community of a potential shutdown when a hurricane strikes and evacuees need a place to stay.

To use the service, which broadcasts messages to phones, cell phones, pagers, e-mail or PDAs, a representative from the district initiates an alert via the Internet or phone. Once it's finished, the message is instantly broadcast to all relevant contact points. Parents can update their contact information online and specify how they prefer to be reached -- e-mail for routine communication, and e-mail and cell phone for emergency messages, for example.

Instant Alert will replace the phone trees the district currently uses for emergency notification. In addition, Ware County plans to use the service to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of routine communications (currently handled by auto dialers), such as notifying parents when a bus is running late.

As part of the contract, Honeywell also will install a closed-circuit television (CCTV) system and cameras at the district's two middle schools, as well as upgrade existing cameras at the high school. Powered by DVM and Honeywell Enterprise Buildings Integrator(TM) (EBI), the CCTV system allows school personnel to view, record, play back and store security video clips. As a result, the district will have a better line of sight into activities in and around its buildings.

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Free Rock & Roll Education for Atlanta Public Schools

Little Kids Rock (LKR), a non-profit music program that provides free instruments and instruction for public school students, today announced that it will be launching a chapter in Atlanta. The Atlanta chapter launch has been made possible through a generous grant from the Music Lives Foundation. The $70,000 grant will be used to provide 600 Atlanta-area students with the gift of music education. Students who participate in the music program will receive free music classes, guitars and cases.

The chapter launch kicked off with a free two-day workshop for all teachers who wish to bring the LKR program into their schools.

Participating Atlanta schools include: Brown Middle School, Grady High School, Jean Childs Young Middle School, Morningside Elementary, Morris Brandon Elementary School, Neighborhood Charter School, North Atlanta High School, Parkside Elementary, Sutton Middle School, Sylvan Hills Middle School and Therrell High School.

Little Kids Rock teaches kids how to play pop, rock, funk, blues, rap and hip-hop music. LKR students not only perform, but they also compose and record their own music. They have released four full-length CDs as well as music videos featuring student-written originals. To date, the Little Kids Rock program has served more than 7,000 students in California, Louisiana, New York, New Jersey and Tennessee. Supporters of the program include Paul Simon, B.B. King and Bonnie Raitt.

ABOUT THE MUSIC LIVES FOUNDATION

The Music Lives Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit corporation formed to support projects and organizations dedicated to the study and appreciation of music, with a particular emphasis on children's education. Additional information is available on the Foundation's website: www.musiclives.org.

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Technology Association of Georgia’s WebChallenge 2007 Competition

WebChallenge 2007 is an annual educational event of the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) and Web design competition providing scholarships for Georgia high school students.

Started in 1998, WebChallenge has served as an annual Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) educational event designed to get Georgia high school students excited about using Web and Internet technologies.

WebChallenge 2007 participants will create Web sites based on the theme, "Entertaining the Web." Winning teams will compete for up to $15,000 in college scholarships. The winners are selected based on their creative approach to designing and developing an entertaining Web site. "

For more information about WebChallenge 2007, or to register your school’s team, visit www.webchallenge2007.org or contact the Technology Association of Georgia at www.tagonline.org.

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