GEORGIA EDUCATION NEWS
March 2006
IN THIS ISSUE:
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
 
The following letters were sent in response to the February 2006 newsletter articles. Back issues of this e-newsletter can be found here.
My name is Joy M. Williams, a two-time Teacher of the Year and a two-time Who's Who Among America's Teachers.  I have a book entitled Classroom Discipline Without Confusion, located on the http://www.bn.com website. I love working in the Atlanta Public Schools and have found techniques, which makes my classroom enjoyable to teach daily.

I would love to help "any" teacher with overwhelming issues related to school requirements.  I have been teaching since 1983.  I am a certified K-12 Health and Physical Education teacher.  My class load is 180–210 students per week, in addtion to morning duty and other required assignments.  My heart is filled with sadness for those who are stressed beyond belief.

I am an excellent organizer and very efficient at keeping records. I worked in elementary school from 1983–2000.  The techniques from my book allowed me to transfer to high school from 2000–2006, where I am now.  I would love to help those who are in the teaching profession.

Sincerely,

Ms. Joy M. Williams

 
I am the Public Relations Coordinator for the Consulate General of Japan in Atlanta. The Japanese government has many programs each year that could deeply enrich many students and educators, yet we struggle to make them aware of it. For example, we are currently approaching application periods for two programs aimed at high school graduates of three and five years, respectively.  Not only are these full scholarships for the duration, but they also provide substantial monthly allowances, among other benefits.

Another program, directed at high school teachers, has recently wrapped, but the benefits are striking. It is a one and a half year program for teachers to study a track of their choosing.  The scholarship included transportation to and from Japan, university fees, housing, an arrival stipend of around $215, a monthly stipend of around $1500, and subvention of part of medical expenses while in Japan.  This is a wonderful program for the teachers, but I think you will agree the benefit to students would be immeasurable.  Frustratingly, we couldn't muster one application.

Your publication seems ideal for alerting educators to programs such as these.

Sincerely,

Ryan Pelkey
Consulate General of Japan in Atlanta
http://www.japanatlanta.org


To submit letters to the editor for this e-newsletter, please reply to jdk@queueinc.com.  Please indicate whether or not we have permission to publish your comments in future newsletters.  The editor reserves the right to trim content for length purposes when necessary, but will not edit the tone of the letters.
 
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GEORGIA'S ADEQUATE YEARLY PROGRESS IN 2004–2005

On December 14, 2005, Education Week released "Room to Maneuver," a special report on the progress of the No Child Left Behind Act. Eighty-two percent of Georgia schools showed adequate yearly progress in 2004–2005. That was up from 80% in 2003–2004.

Fourth-grade reading proficiency was up to 87%, from 79% a year ago, but 4th-grade math and both 8th-grade scores were down. Eighth-grade math proficiency was the lowest at 69%, a decrease from 73% a year ago.

Ninety-seven percent of Georgia teachers were deemed highly qualified.

For this and other data, see:  http://www.coloradoea.org/media/nclb_1214.pdf

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GEORGIA SCHOOLS OF EXCELLENCE NAMED

State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox has named the 2006 Georgia Schools of Excellence. The 20 schools come from all over the state and include 17 elementary schools, two middle schools and a high school.

"These are the schools that are getting it done," Superintendent Cox said. "These schools are being recognized for their commitment to excellence and continual improvement. Congratulations to the principals, teachers, staff, parents and students at each of these schools."

This is the 26th year that the Georgia Department of Education has awarded the Schools of Excellence and the third year that the winners have been chosen using criteria closely aligned with No Child Left Behind. There are two categories of Schools of Excellence: student achievement and overall improvement.

To learn more about the Schools of Excellence program and the criteria used to pick the winners, please go to:
http://public.doe.k12.ga.us/tss_learning.aspx?PageReq=TSSLearningSOE

The 2006 Schools of Excellence annual banquet was held on Friday, May 5, 2006, at the Georgia World Congress Center.

2006 Schools of Excellence (by Congressional District*)

District 1

District 2

District 4

District 5

District 6

District 7

District 8

District 10

District 11

District 12

District 13

    * Some districts did not have a winner in any category or in just one category.

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CUTS SEND ED-TECH PROGRAMS REELING
Students in Poor Rural and Urban Districts Are Hurt the Worst

By Robert Brumfield, Assistant Editor, eSchool News
February 8, 2006
 
President Bush's 2007 budget proposal would cut the main source of federal funding for school technology out of the budget entirely--but state and local school leaders already are grappling with a sharp reduction in ed-tech funding this fiscal year. The cuts are likely to affect poor urban and rural districts most acutely, because these are the districts most in need of continued funding to support existing technology initiatives, educators say.
 
President Bush's budget proposal for 2007 would eliminate the federal Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) block-grant program altogether, but school technology directors already are reeling as they try to absorb the more than $200 million cut from the program this year.
 
The 45-percent reduction in EETT funding signed into law on Dec. 30 is part of the first decline in federal education spending in nearly a decade.

For more information, visit here: http://eschoolnews.com/news/showstory.cfm?ArticleID=6075
 
Losing $221 million in educational technology dollars has left state and local officials wondering how they can continue to support the hardware, software, and professional development they've purchased already through EETT, the primary source of federal funding for ed-tech initiatives.
 
The 2006 cuts are affecting different districts differently, but the consensus appears to be that the loss of EETT funding will most severely affect poor, minority students in urban areas and at-risk, low-income students in rural areas who depend on distance education and other technology-supported services.
 
For complete article, visit here: http://www.eschoolnews.org/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=6102

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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:
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  http://nces.ed.gov/naal

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RESEARCH LINKS STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT TO SCHOOL LIBRARIES: LIBRARY ADVOCATES ATTEND TRAINING ON RESEARCH RESULTS
 
Keith Curry Lance of the Library Research Service in Denver, Colorado is the author of the study "Powerful Libraries Make Powerful Learners: The Study of Illinois School Libraries."
 
The report, which sampled 661 Illinois public elementary and secondary schools, compared Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) and Prairie State Achievement Examination (PSAE) scores with the presence of school libraries and librarians.
 
"The study confirms that the strongest library predictor of high student achievement scores is a staff that includes at least one trained librarian, as well as support staff," says Lance. "Reading, writing, and ACT scores rise when students have larger, more current book collections and computers connected to library databases and catalogs."
 
Key research findings of the study include:
  1. Schools with better-staffed libraries have more students who succeed on tests.
  2. High schools with computers that connect to library catalogs and databases average 6.2% improvement on ACT scores.
  3. Students that visit the library more frequently receive improved reading and writing scores.
  4. Students with access to larger, more current book collections achieve higher reading, writing, and ACT scores.
The study was commissioned by the Illinois School Library Media Association with a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant awarded by the Illinois State Library, a division of the office of Jesse White, Secretary of State and State Librarian. Funding for the study was also provided by the 21st Century Information Fluency Program, a grant funded project that trains teachers, librarians and students in enhancing their ability to locate, evaluate and use digital information resources. The study is endorsed by the Illinois State Board of Education, who provided data for the research.
 
The Illinois School Library Media Association, based in Canton, was created in 1988 to provide leadership and support for the development, promotion, and improvement of the school library media profession and programs in Illinois.
 
For more information, including the executive summary, video, and fact sheets go to:  http://www.islma.org/news.htm

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QUALITY COUNTS 2006
   
A decade of state efforts to carry out standards-based education shows a positive relationship with gains in student achievement on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, according to "Quality Counts 2006." For the first time ever, the 10th edition of the report, by Education Week, examines the progress that states have made on a core set of policy indicators related to standards-based reform. The report was first released in 1997. An original analysis conducted for "Quality Counts at 10: A Decade of Standards-Based Education" by the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center finds that state efforts to devise standards, tests, and accountability systems in education are positively related with gains on NAEP reading and math tests in grades 4 and 8 from 1996 to 2005.
 
For the 10th edition of "Quality Counts," the Educational Testing Service of Princeton, New Jersey, conducted a series of special analyses of NAEP scores between 1992 and 2005. The analyses highlight how each state's improvement over the past decade compares with the performance of the nation as a whole. The report also takes a much closer look than previous studies at which states have made significant progress in closing achievement gaps between black and white, Hispanic and white, and poor and non-poor students.

The results in mathematics are particularly encouraging. Nationally, NAEP scores in fourth-grade math have increased by 18.5 points on a 500-point scale—or nearly two grade levels—since 1992, near the start of the standards movement. Grade 8 math performance improved by 10.7 points. Seven states had gains in mathematics that significantly outpaced those for the nation as a whole in both grades 4 and 8: Arkansas, Delaware, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas. North Carolina posted the largest gains: 28.4 points at grade 4 and 23.4 points at grade 8. Other states saw significantly less growth than the nation as a whole at both grade levels: Iowa, Maine, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Utah.

In contrast, the national average in reading barely budged from 1992 to 2005, inching up just two points in grades 4 and 8. However, even here, somewhat better news lies beneath the surface. The scores for black, Hispanic, and low-income youngsters in fourth-grade reading increased at nearly triple the national average, or about two-thirds of a grade level. Delaware was the only state whose reading gains significantly outpaced the national average in both grade 4 between 1992 and 2005 and in grade 8 between 1998 and 2005. But Florida, Maryland, and New York experienced reading gains significantly above the national average in grade 4, and Massachusetts and Wyoming did so in grade 8.
 
A special research report with an extended presentation of the results is available online at http://www.edweek.org/qc06

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UPCOMING EDUCATION EVENTS

For a calendar of national education events, with links, see:
http://tx.mdrinfo.net/hostedmessage/message.aspx?178902.10639.1139372049.#Events

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FREE STUDENT WORKBOOKS AVAILABLE FOR PREVIEW (Advertisement)
 
Queue, Inc. offers previews of its Georgia test preparation workbooks to public schools.  Queue publishes test prep books in English/Language Arts, Mathematics, Reading Comprehension, and Composition for Grades 3–high school, as well as Practice Tests in Math and English/Language Arts.
 
Queue also offers Math and Reading workbooks for grades 1 and 2, and publishes a wide variety of other workbooks in Literature, Science, History, Government, Health, and ESL.  Samples of student workbooks are available for preview.
 
For further information and to order free previews, click here to visit our Georgia Workbooks webpage, http://www.qworkbooks.com/georgia.html.

or call: 800-232-2224
 
or fax: 800-775-2729
 
or e-mail: jdk@queueinc.com
 
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