October 2006
Copyright © 2006, Queue, Inc.

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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 go to: http://www.queuenews.com/

For the latest education research news, please go to:
http://www.queuenews.typepad.com/education_research_report/

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Letters to the Editor

In our May issue, we published the following Letter to the Editor. It was not an editorial, nor an expression of our opinion, but a message from one of our readers. We then received a number of letters in response, which we published in the September 2006 newsletter. (You can see the past e-newsletters by visiting: http://www.queuenews.com/GAnews.html) The discussion continues; we've included the latest comments to the September Letters to the Editor segment below.

Georgia is close to becoming the first state in the nation to pass a bill mandating the development of curriculum to teach Bible studies in public schools.

Demand that Governor Perdue defend the Constitution and Georgia's citizens from the attack on the doctrine of separation of church and state.

To the delight of the radical religious right, the Georgia State Senate passed two pieces of legislation that pose a serious threat to the separation of church and state. One would create state-funded Bible classes in Georgia public schools. The second would allow the Ten Commandments to be displayed by county governments.

By singling out the Bible and the Ten Commandments as symbols to be promoted in the public sphere—one in classrooms and the other in government buildings—the government of Georgia is showing preferential treatment to a specific religion and violating the rights of its citizens. Both bills are on Governor Sonny Perdue's desk, and he is contemplating whether or not to sign them. That's why we need you to take action today.

The religious right will stop at nothing to push their theology in the public square or our public schools. And now, they want to use public dollars to do it!

Urge Georgia's Governor to veto these bills and protect the sanctity of our nation's Constitution and the doctrine separating church and state.

Sincerely,

Michael Lawley

Here are some of the responses we received following the release of the September newsletter:

Were there no responses that were in support of Mr. Lawley’s letter? 

It is disturbing to me that the promotion of a single religion by the State of Georgia is not seen as a real departure from the protections provided for in the constitution against a state sponsored religion. 

I wonder what the response would be if the proposed classes were to promote the Bhagad Vida, or the Koran, or the writings of Confucius?  And if those classes were taught by people who grew up in a culture that was dominated by those particular belief systems and a practicing member of those religious beliefs would the respondents so offended by Mr. Lawley be so offended when he wrote the same letter protesting those classes?

Robert Y. Skinner
Social Studies Department Chair
Northgate High School

Thank goodness!  It is refreshing to see a group finally fighting for the rights of Christians like me!!!

A middle school teacher who believes and lives by the Ten Commandments,
Diane Martin

Regarding the responses to the editorial:

It saddens me to see how many teachers are ready and willing to deny the rights of their students in order to push their own agendas.  This is not about being liberal or conservative.  It is about the rights of ALL our students to worship as they choose.  I would challenge any Christian teacher to imagine the shoe on the other foot.  If their children were being taught the Qu'ran in school, how would they feel?  The public school is not the place for religious instruction.

-Jeremy Williams

I am all for the bills being passed.

Carolyn Fields

Please sign these bills! We have pushed God out of our schools and our schools have begun to fall apart.  God is what holds everything together.  America was built on these Christian principles and it should remain that way.  I would want my child and family to have the opportunity to learn about God in their school environment.

Jami Shivers

I have to say that I agree with what everyone else is saying about this matter. I agree that taking God out of everything is what is wrong with our nation today. I will take my children out of public schools before I let them be taught that homosexuality is "normal"  and should be excepted (sic).

Another religious fanatic,

Kristen Owens

That’s what’s wrong with America today, No Prayer or Bible Study in school.  I am involved in a school system and I see everyday from first hand, the behaviors and languages from the students.  Believe you me, it certainly couldn’t hurt having Prayer and Bible Study.  Those that don’t want it just don’t participate, why should we(Christians) suffer for your ignorance.  We’ll pray for you.

PLEASE SIGN SONNY!!!!!!!

P. ERWIN

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 Makes Historic Gains on SAT

Georgia improved its national SAT ranking to 46, up from last place among all states in 2005.

This year Georgia bypassed Florida, Hawaii, Pennsylvania and South Carolina. Public schools fared even better in the SAT rankings, jumping from 48 in the nation in 2005 to 44 this year.

Georgia’s African-American students outscored their peers across the nation, scoring an average of 1,293 on the test, ranking 34 in the nation and two points higher than the national average for African-American students.

Georgia’s Hispanic students also showed improved performance with an average score of 1,419, ranking 34 in the nation and averaging 48 points higher than the national average for Hispanic students. Georgia continues to have one of the smallest achievement gaps among student subgroups in the nation.

• Online SAT prep courses became available to all Georgia high school students in September 2005. In 2005 approximately 100,000 students took advantage of the free online prep course. The test prep is being offered again this year to all students in public, private and home school programs. (More info here: http://www.gadoe.org/pea_communications.aspx?ViewMode=1&obj=1200).
• GAcollege411.org went online in February 2005 with free access to SAT and ACT sample tests and information on entrance requirements, programs, costs, and campuses of nearly 100 public and private colleges in Georgia.
• Georgia has seen a 20 percent increase in the number of students taking Advanced Placement courses in high school, and a 16.9 percent increase in the number of students receiving a three, four or five on AP exams, therefore qualifying for college credit.

To see more information about the SAT, please go here: http://public.doe.k12.ga.us/DMGetDocument.aspx/SAT 2006 Presentation.pdf?p=6CC6799F8C1371F6FC53B16DC0466C814A1423FFA50E8FC92C958A1C2A45820E&Type=D

To see school-level data, please go here: http://public.doe.k12.ga.us/DMGetDocument.aspx/2006_SAT_Most_Recent_by_School.xls?p=6CC6799F8C1371F61B0A18E39F3B0E5491EAE24EE6BDC28079A959ED089864FD&Type=D

To see system-level data, please go here: http://public.doe.k12.ga.us/DMGetDocument.aspx/2006_SAT_Most_Recent_by_System.xls?p=6CC6799F8C1371F6A738FCCA152E2F0CA019BF9D47FD2586FBCF0C00B5A26B83&Type=D

The top 25 schools in Georgia for SAT average were: 1. Davidson Magnet School (Richmond County) – 1752 2. Walton High School (Cobb County) – 1705 3. DeKalb School of the Arts (DeKalb County) – 1679 4. Northview High School (Fulton County) – 1670 5. Trion High School (Trion City) – 1669 6. Chamblee High School (DeKalb County) – 1666 6. Chattahoochee High School (Fulton County) – 1666 8. Roswell High School (Fulton County) – 1663 9. Lakeside High School (DeKalb County) – 1660 10. North Springs High School (Fulton County) – 1647 11. Milton High School (Fulton County) – 1641 12. Columbus High School (Muscogee County) – 1639 13. Centennial High School (Fulton County) – 1638 14. Lassiter High School (Cobb County) – 1637 15. Pope High School (Cobb County) – 1634 16. McIntosh High School (Fayette County) – 1629 16. Brookwood High School (Gwinnett County) – 1629 18. Druid Hills High School (DeKalb County) – 1622 19. Lakeside High School (Columbia County) – 1605 20. Starrs Mill High School (Fayette County) – 1605 21. Savannah Arts Academy (Chatham County) – 1604 22. Etowah High School (Cherokee County) – 1599 23. Alpharetta High School (Fulton County) – 1596 24. Duluth High School (Gwinnett County) – 1593 25. Parkview High School (Gwinnett County) – 1590

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Georgia's New Curriculum: No. 5 in the Nation

The state's new curriculum, the Georgia Performance Standards, is the fifth-best state curriculum in the nation according to a report released this week.

The Thomas B. Fordham Institute released its report on all state curricula entitled "The State of State Standards" this week. The report gave Georgia's curriculum an overall grade of B+, up from a C- in 2000, the last time a review was done. Georgia's overall ranking jumped 16 points from 2000.

HIGH MARKS IN ALL AREAS

Over the past couple of years, the Institute has been reviewing different sections of state curricula. The grades were combined to come up with an overall grade of B+ for Georgia. The report reviewed standards in five core areas -- English, U.S. History, Geography/World History, Math and Science.

• The Science standards received a grade of "B," which is up from an "F" in 2000.
  
• The Geography/World History standards received a grade of "A," up from a "D" in 2000.
  
• The U.S. History curriculum received a grade of "B," up from a "C" in 2000
  
• The English and Math standards received grades of "B," the same as 2000

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE REPORT

The authors had plenty of praise for Georgia's Curriculum:

• On the Geography/World History Standards: "States seeking strong models for world history standards should have Georgia on their minds."
• On the Science Standards: "It's a peach of a document."
• On the Math Standards: "The K-8 standards especially are clear, concise and are generally free of edu-jargon."

The Institute's review of the curriculum has been ongoing over the past few years and does not include the state's revised standards in U.S. History and some revisions to the math standards.

ABOUT THE GEORGIA PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

The Georgia Performance Standards are being rolled out in phases over several years. In 2005-2006, students were taught using the new standards in English (all grades), Science (grades 6 and 7, 9-12) and Math (grade 6).

This school year, students are being taught using the new standards in Math (grades K-2, 7) and Science (grades 3-5).

To see the Fordham Institute "State of State Standards" report, go here: http://www.edexcellence.net/foundation/publication/publication.cfm?id=358

To see the state rankings, go here: http://public.doe.k12.ga.us/DMGetDocument.aspx/curriculumchart.doc?p=6CC6799F8C1371F6FAD6E010D5E9FD9DFBCCA004C528108D5807B6F957B7F921&Type=D
To get more information on Georgia's new curriculum, go here: http://www.georgiastandards.org/

To get more information on subject-specific reviews of the Georgia Performance Standards, go here: http://www.gadoe.org/pea_communications.aspx?PageReq=PEACommFordham

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Georgia Teacher Wins National Award

   Kristen L. Drake, a teacher at DeKalb's Vanderlyn Elementary School, was named a 2006 Milken Family Foundation National Educator of the Year in a surprise assembly at her school..

   Ms. Drake is in her third year of teaching at Vanderlyn and has taught in both public and private schools. She lives in Gwinnett County.

  Ms. Drake will attend a national conference of award-winners in April and receives a check for $25,000 that she can spend however she wants.

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Six Schools Named "Blue Ribbon" Winners

   Six Georgia schools have been named National Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education.

The six 2006 Blue Ribbon School for Georgia are:

• Alexander II Magnet School, Bibb County
  
• Dawson County High School, Dawson County
• Kedron Elementary School, Fayette County
  
• Main Elementary School, Rome City
  
• Robert A. Cross Middle Magnet School, Dougherty County
• Savannah Arts Academy, Savannah/Chatham County

ABOUT THE BLUE RIBBON SCHOOLS PROGRAM  

   The No Child Left Behind - Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes schools that make significant progress in closing the achievement gap or whose students achieve at very high levels. The schools are selected based on one of two criteria:

1. Schools with at least 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged backgrounds that dramatically improve student performance to high levels on state tests.
2. Schools whose students, regardless of background, achieve in the top 10 percent of their state on state tests or in the case of private schools in the top 10 percent of the nation on nationally-normed tests. 

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