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PEN Weekly NewsBlast for February 27, 2004
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Public Education Network Weekly NewsBlast
                                    "Public Involvement. Public Education. Public Benefit."
                                    ***************************************************************
                                    MOST PARENTS RAISE MONEY, SPEND MONEY FOR SCHOOLS
                                    Poll results released today by National PTA show that parents are 
                                    worried
                                    about the future of public education. Parents are seeing classrooms 
                                    with
                                    wall-to-wall desks and are opening their wallets to save art and music
                                    programs. Additionally, an overwhelming 93 percent of public school
                                    parents said that education will play a major role in their decision 
                                    about
                                    which candidate to support in this election year. In a national 
                                    telephone
                                    poll of 800 public school parents, more than half of the respondents 
                                    (55
                                    percent) ranked school funding as a top issue facing public schools 
                                    today
                                    -- eclipsing both school safety and quality. Additionally, 85 percent 
                                    of
                                    parents believe the federal government should provide more funding for
                                    education. In response to tightened budgets, parents and schools are
                                    becoming more dependent on fundraisers. According to the poll, 79 
                                    percent
                                    of parents are being asked to fund items and needs that have 
                                    traditionally
                                    been covered by school budgets including paper, cleaning supplies,
                                    transportation, technology, teacher salaries, educational curriculum 
                                    and
                                    art or music programs. 39 percent are contributing more than $100 to 
                                    their
                                    kids classrooms each year and one-in-ten (11 percent) say they're 
                                    giving
                                    more than $300 a year.
                                    http://www.pta.org/aboutpta/pressroom/pr040224.asp
                                    
                                    IS THIS ANY WAY TO PAY FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION?
                                    In New Jersey, a school official is contemplating peddling the naming
                                    rights to the district's only school on eBay, reports Kristen A. 
                                    Graham.
                                    "We understand what's going on in the educational marketplace," said
                                    superintendent John Kellmayer said. "In 10 years, this is going to be a
                                    fact of life. We're aggressive enough to start this now." Aggressive,
                                    creative or crazy: Take your pick. Kellmayer and Bruce Darrow, school
                                    board president and "director of corporate development," preside over a
                                    district that is banking not just on government aid but on selling 
                                    naming
                                    rights, snagging sponsorships, and launching other money-generating
                                    ventures to fund its future. "We're working people," Darrow said. "But
                                    we've got to get our kids on equal footing, and we have to be 
                                    innovative."
                                    To those who fight against commercialization in education, Brooklawn's
                                    current path is a sacrilege, a body blow to the last bastion of
                                    unblemished public space. Gary Ruskin, executive director of Commercial
                                    Alert, a national anti-commercialism group, says the path the school
                                    district is taking is foolish and dangerous. "There's no doubt that
                                    thousands of school districts around the country are desperately short 
                                    on
                                    funds, but the answer is not to put our kids up for sale," said Ruskin,
                                    who believes that Brooklawn administrators could better spend their 
                                    time
                                    lobbying to reverse federal tax cuts to fund education.
                                    http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/living/education/8009054.htm
                                    
                                    NEA CALLS FOR BUSH TO FIRE EDUCATION CHIEF
                                    The National Education Association (NEA) has asked President Bush to 
                                    fire
                                    Education Secretary Rod Paige for calling the union a "terrorist
                                    organization." The White House said Paige's job was safe, reports Ben
                                    Feller. Paige, who made his comment in a recent private meeting with
                                    governors, apologized for his choice of words but maintained that the
                                    union uses "obstructionist scare tactics" in its fight over the 
                                    nation's
                                    education law. Reg Weaver, president of the union of 2.7 million 
                                    teachers
                                    and other school workers, said that NEA members deserve more than 
                                    "unfair
                                    labels and mean-spirited apologies." "We have heard from thousands of
                                    educators who came home from their schools on Monday to hear themselves
                                    and their professional organization referred to as terrorists by the 
                                    top
                                    federal education official," Weaver said. "Our members say that, once
                                    again, this national leader has insulted them, this time beyond repair,
                                    with words filled with hatred -- and merely because they raised 
                                    legitimate
                                    concerns about the president's so-called No Child Left Behind law."
                                    http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/2001864622_nea25.html
                                    
                                    WRITE TO SECRETARY PAIGE, LET HIM KNOW YOU VALUE TEACHERS
                                    Click below to join the thousands of concerned citizens who have 
                                    already
                                    sent a letter to Secretary Paige to encourage him to foster a spirit of
                                    mutual respect and cooperation with the men and women who educate our
                                    nation's children.
                                    http://www.givekidsgoodschools.com/campaign/paige
                                    
                                    ROLE OF MEDIA IN CHILDHOOD OBESITY
                                    The Kaiser Family Foundation released a new report reviewing more than 
                                    40
                                    studies on the role of media in the nation's dramatically increasing 
                                    rates
                                    of childhood obesity. The report concludes that the majority of 
                                    scientific
                                    research indicates that children who spend the most time with media are
                                    more likely to be overweight. Contrary to common assumptions, however,
                                    most research reviewed for this report does not find that children's 
                                    media
                                    use displaces more vigorous physical activities. Therefore, the 
                                    research
                                    indicates that there may be other factors related to children's media 
                                    use
                                    that are contributing to weight gain. In particular, children's 
                                    exposure
                                    to billions of dollars worth of food advertising and marketing in the
                                    media may be a key mechanism through which media contributes to 
                                    childhood
                                    obesity. The report cites studies that show that the typical child sees
                                    about 40,000 ads a year on TV, and that the majority of ads targeted to
                                    kids are for candy, cereal, soda and fast food.
                                    http://www.kff.org/entmedia/entmedia022404pkg.cfm
                                    
                                    ALL OF MINNESOTA LEFT BEHIND?
                                    A new report estimates that 80 percent to 100 percent of Minnesota's
                                    school districts will not meet expectations of the federal No Child 
                                    Left
                                    Behind Act, according to a state official familiar with the report. The
                                    much-anticipated Legislative Auditor's report is also expected to say 
                                    that
                                    by 2014, a significant number of schools will have been listed as
                                    under-performing for at least five years, reports John Welsh. That 
                                    means
                                    they would face numerous penalties, ranging from changes in curriculum 
                                    to
                                    possible state takeover under a proposal last month by Gov. Tim 
                                    Pawlenty.
                                    In a state that ranks at or near the top on many national
                                    student-achievement measures, the report's findings that so many school
                                    districts are considered under-performing are sure to be unsettling. 
                                    They
                                    also will add fuel to a smoldering rebellion at the Legislature on the 
                                    No
                                    Child Left Behind Act.
                                    http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/living/education/8041554.htm
                                    
                                    HOME IS WHERE THE SCHOOL IS
                                    Before last fall, the state of Arkansas nose was firmly out of the
                                    business of educating Meredith O'Hara's three daughters. Though a
                                    professed supporter of public schools, O'Hara and her husband had 
                                    either
                                    homeschooled their children or enrolled them in private schools, paying
                                    the entire cost themselves. Enter the Arkansas Virtual School. This 
                                    year,
                                    O'Hara still teaches her children at their West Little Rock home, 
                                    reports
                                    Jennifer Barnett Reed. But the government both picks up the tab -- 
                                    upwards
                                    of $6,000 per child (about $1,500 more than the state spends, on 
                                    average,
                                    on children in "real" public schools) -- and keeps tabs on their 
                                    progress.
                                    O'Hara gets a computer, books and materials and help from a certified
                                    teacher; in exchange, the teacher evaluates her daughters' work every
                                    couple of weeks, and the girls take the state's standardized tests each
                                    spring. O'Hara is thrilled with the arrangement -- not because of the
                                    financial benefit, she said, but because of the high-quality, 
                                    all-in-one
                                    curriculum and the fact that she's accountable to someone for her
                                    children's progress. But as evidenced by a recent dust-up in the
                                    legislature plenty of folks don't share O'Hara's enthusiasm for virtual
                                    schooling.
                                    http://www.arktimes.com/040213coverstorya.html
                                    
                                    DEVELOPING VOCABULARY & DEEPENING READING COMPREHENSION
                                    Successful reading requires more than an ability to decode, or ''sound
                                    out,'' words writes E.D. Hirsch, Jr. It also requires adequate 
                                    background
                                    knowledge, or "cultural literacy." Without background knowledge of
                                    history, literature, art, music, science and math, students will read 
                                    --
                                    but without comprehension. For years, reading scores have remained low.
                                    The achievement gap between advantaged and disadvantaged children is 
                                    not
                                    only dishearteningly wide, but also grows bigger the longer students 
                                    stay
                                    in school. As a consequence of the No Child Left Behind law, some
                                    localities have mandated that schools devote large chunks of time to
                                    reading in early grades. In California, for example, it's 150 minutes 
                                    per
                                    day. You'd think such an intensity of effort would yield 
                                    proportionately
                                    big results; yet, test scores have risen only modestly or not all, and 
                                    the
                                    reading gap between groups remains large. Why? Because many students 
                                    have
                                    been taught to decode, but have not been exposed coherently to 
                                    important
                                    knowledge, such as the history of the Civil War. They haven't developed
                                    the broad vocabulary that comes with general knowledge.
                                    http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20040225/5954180s.htm
                                    
                                    GATES FOUNDATION EDUCATION DIRECTOR POISED TO TAKE ACTION
                                    As the education director for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 
                                    Tom
                                    Vander Ark is shaping what is easily the most aggressive infusion of
                                    private money into the nation's public schools today, if not ever. In 
                                    the
                                    last five years, the foundation has committed more than $1 billion for 
                                    new
                                    and existing public schools, with no intentions of slowing down, giving
                                    Mr. Vander Ark, 44, one of the loudest megaphones around. He is 
                                    anything
                                    but shy about using it, reports Greg Winter. Since joining the 
                                    foundation
                                    in 1999, he has been unflinchingly critical of how the public schools 
                                    have
                                    "failed and forgotten" poor and minority students, a consequence of 
                                    what
                                    he calls a deep-seated "institutionalized racism" rife with low
                                    expectations and a rush of dropouts. His counterattack has come through
                                    investments in about 1,900 public schools, most of them high schools, 
                                    with
                                    the aim of creating small institutions that do not merely hope their
                                    students will go on to college, but demand nothing less of them.
                                    Philanthropists had rarely plunged into the business of creating new 
                                    high
                                    schools, and the choice gave the foundation relatively untrodden 
                                    terrain
                                    on which to make a very public imprint. Mr. Gates and his wife, 
                                    Melinda,
                                    give Mr. Vander Ark wide latitude, largely deferring to his judgment 
                                    about
                                    where the money should go, and why. Still, they question him 
                                    persistently
                                    in long, intense sessions, keenly aware that they are taking very big
                                    risks on schools that are often long-term bets, at best.
                                    http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/25/nyregion/25gates.html?pagewanted=1
                                    
                                    BEATING THE BUBBLE TEST: THE COST OF BECOMING AN NCLB SUCCESS
                                    Literacy first, canoe trips later, is the new bargain at 
                                    Garfield/Franklin
                                    elementary in Muscatine, Iowa. But with increases on standardized tests
                                    come other more substantive losses, reports Amanda Ripley. Creative
                                    writing, social studies and computer work have all become occasional
                                    indulgences. Now that the standardized fill-in-the-bubble test is the
                                    foundation upon which public schools rest -- now that a federal law 
                                    called
                                    No Child Left Behind mandates that kids as young as 9 meet benchmarks 
                                    in
                                    reading and math or jeopardize their schools' reputation -- there is
                                    little time for anything else. Franklin is one of the new law's success
                                    stories. After landing on the dreaded Schools in Need of Improvement 
                                    list
                                    two years ago, the students and staff clawed their way off it. The
                                    percentage of fourth-graders who passed the reading test rose from 58 
                                    to
                                    74 percent; in math, proficiency went from 58 to 86 percent. Last year
                                    Franklin was removed from "the bad list," as one child calls it. 
                                    Through
                                    rote drills, one-on-one test talks and rigorous analysis of students'
                                    weaknesses, Franklin has become a reluctant model for the rest of the
                                    nation. It has also become a very different place. The kids are better
                                    readers, mathematicians and test takers. But while Democratic 
                                    presidential
                                    candidates have been lambasting the law's funding levels, Franklin's
                                    teachers talk of other things. They bemoan a loss of spontaneity, 
                                    breadth
                                    and play -- problems money won't fix. The trade-off may be worth it, 
                                    but
                                    it is important to acknowledge the costs.
                                    http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C1101040301-593550%2C00.html
                                    
                                    
                                    ORGANIZATIONAL IMPROVEMENT & ACCOUNTABILITY: LESSONS FOR EDUCATION
                                    The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is a performance-based 
                                    accountability
                                    system built around student test results. The accountability system
                                    comprises explicit educational goals, assessments for measuring the
                                    attainment of goals and judging success, and consequences (rewards or
                                    sanctions). But the mechanisms through which the system is intended to
                                    work are not well understood. Brian M. Stecher and Sheila Nataraj Kirby
                                    led an examination of five accountability models from non-education
                                    sectors. Although education faces unique challenges, the authors 
                                    conclude
                                    that educators can learn much from these other sectors. Accountability
                                    guidelines suggest the importance of focused institutional
                                    self-assessment, understanding school and district operations as a
                                    production process, being able to develop and apply a knowledge base 
                                    about
                                    effective practice, and empowering participants in the process to
                                    contribute to improvement efforts. The job training and risk-adjustment
                                    models and the legal and health care accountability models provide
                                    specific guidance on how to enhance system-wide accountability in
                                    education by broadening performance measures; making sure performance
                                    goals are fair to all students and schools; developing standards of
                                    practice in promising areas; and encouraging professional 
                                    accountability.
                                    http://www.rand.org/publications/MG/MG136/
                                    
                                    MAKING THE CASE FOR MORE PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLS
                                    Meaningful parental involvement in schools is more important than ever 
                                    --
                                    and now it means a lot more than helping with homework or working at 
                                    bake
                                    sales. Making the case for a greater role for parents and practical 
                                    advice
                                    on how to make it happen in every school provide the focus of a new 
                                    report
                                    from the Center for Parent Leadership at the Prichard Committee for
                                    Academic Excellence and KSA-Plus Communications. The Case for Parent
                                    Leadership "helps create a new definition of what parents need to be 
                                    able
                                    to do when they work with schools," said Bev Raimondo, director of the
                                    Center for Parent Leadership. The report, noting the national push for
                                    academic proficiency by 2014, contends that the goal will not be 
                                    reached
                                    without a major increase in parental involvement in schools. "Thirty 
                                    years
                                    of research studies show that when parents are engaged in their 
                                    children's
                                    learning, their children do better in school -- and the schools get
                                    better. School improvement programs must take this research into 
                                    account."
                                    http://www.centerforparentleadership.org/products.htm
                                    
                                    THE EFFECTS OF SCHOOL FACILITY QUALITY ON TEACHER RETENTION
                                    The attrition of both new and experienced teachers is a great challenge
                                    for schools and school administrators throughout the United States,
                                    particularly in large urban districts. Because of the importance of 
                                    this
                                    issue, there is a large empirical literature that investigates why
                                    teachers quit and how they might be better induced to stay. Authors 
                                    Jack
                                    Buckley, Mark Schneider, and Yi Shang build upon this literature by
                                    suggesting another important factor: the quality of school facilities.
                                    They investigate the importance of facility quality using data from a
                                    survey of K-12 teachers in Washington, D.C. and find that facility 
                                    quality
                                    is an important predictor of the decision of teachers to leave their
                                    current position.
                                    http://www.edfacilities.org/pubs/teacherretention.html
                                    
                                    NEW PRE-K BRIEFS SHOW NEED FOR HIGH-QUALITY PROGRAMS
                                    Fight Crime: Invest in Kids releases new state-by-state briefs on the 
                                    need
                                    for high-quality pre-kindergarten. These briefs show that thousands of 
                                    the
                                    most at-risk children are not receiving high-quality programs proven to
                                    reduce crime and save money, and that parents are unable to afford the
                                    programs that are offered.
                                    http://www.fightcrime.org/reports/stateCC.html
                                    
                                    WHO GRADUATES? WHO DOESN'T?
                                    The most extensive set of systematic empirical findings to date on 
                                    public
                                    school graduation rates, this study includes detailed descriptive
                                    statistics and analytic results for the nation as a whole, by 
                                    geographical
                                    region, and for each of the states. The study by Christopher Swanson 
                                    and
                                    also offers a detailed perspective on high school completion by 
                                    examining
                                    graduation rates for the overall student population, for specific 
                                    racial
                                    and ethnic groups, and by gender, and analysis of graduation rate 
                                    patterns
                                    for particular types of school districts. Barely half of all black,
                                    Hispanic and Native American students who entered U.S. high schools in
                                    2000 will receive diplomas this year, according to a new report by the
                                    Urban Institute that challenges conventional methods of calculating
                                    graduation rates. Of all students who entered 9th grade four years ago,
                                    only 68% are expected to graduate with regular diplomas this year and 
                                    the
                                    rates for minorities are considerably lower. Methods of calculating
                                    graduation rates are a perpetual subject of debate, and there are many
                                    differences in the ways states and school systems report data.
                                    http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=410934
                                    
                                    TOWARD A STRONG PROFESSION
                                    Sociologists have, of course, written many volumes about the
                                    characteristics of a profession. According to Ellen Condliffe Lagemann,
                                    strong professions have two outstanding features. First, they can 
                                    certify
                                    the competence of their members to act more effectively on the problems 
                                    of
                                    their guild than nonmembers can do. Second, they exercise considerable
                                    influence in the governance of the domain in which they act. How could
                                    education become a strong profession? Lagemann offers four bold steps 
                                    in
                                    this Education Week feature:
                                    http://www.edweek.com/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=24lagemann.h23
                                    
                                    RAISE THE STATUS OF THE TEACHING PROFESSION
                                    Teachers should have various levels of expertise to attain similar to
                                    those recognized by professorial rank at a university. For example, a
                                    teacher might begin as an intern, with succeeding steps such as teacher
                                    and master teacher awarded with experience and demonstrated competence. 
                                    To
                                    keep it truly professional the evaluation should be done by peers from
                                    other schools to ensure objectivity and professional integrity. 
                                    According
                                    to Alfred S. Posamentier, no profession pays all its practitioners the
                                    same salary. We cannot imagine all lawyers, physicians and accountants
                                    working from the same fee schedule. Why, then, should we pay all 
                                    teachers
                                    from the same salary schedule? If teaching is to be a proper 
                                    profession,
                                    let's pay the most effective teachers more. And, in recognition of 
                                    supply
                                    and demand, let's pay the teachers in high-need areas more. Working
                                    conditions are the most important factors in obtaining and retaining 
                                    high
                                    quality teachers. To increase professionalism, the radical suggestions
                                    here might first be tried on a limited basis, and if successful they 
                                    could
                                    be spread further. But if we do not try, then we are not addressing the
                                    issues that can significantly improve the school system. Merely raising
                                    teacher salaries "across the board," without any changes in the
                                    professional status of teachers, solves little.
                                    http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vppos243683966feb24,0,7110031.story?coll=ny-viewpoints-headlines
                                    
                                    
                                    DESIGN YOUR OWN PROFESSIONAL LEARNING PLAN
                                    "By Your Own Design," a self-paced tool from the Eisenhower National
                                    Clearinghouse and the National Staff Development Council, can help
                                    teachers create and implement an individual professional learning plan.
                                    "Our goal is to provide key resources about important aspects of
                                    learner-centered professional development. We hope also to inspire you 
                                    to
                                    adapt strategies to meet your needs and to work with your peers to 
                                    solve
                                    problems in your schools." At the project homepage, teachers find an
                                    overview of the materials, a description of four "pathways" (teacher 
                                    who
                                    is just starting, teacher with learning plan in place, teacher leader 
                                    or
                                    staff developer, and principal), and access to a wealth of resources. 
                                    (Use
                                    the Jump Start link, one example: how to build a professional learning
                                    community in your school.) This is a huge resource -- well worth
                                    exploring!
                                    http://www.enc.org/professional/guide/index.shtm
                                    
                                    BARNSTORMING FOR NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND LAW
                                    As he campaigns for re-election, President Bush hopes to capitalize on 
                                    the
                                    law, known as No Child Left Behind, as one of the pillars of his 
                                    domestic
                                    agenda. But the Democratic presidential candidates have made it a 
                                    frequent
                                    target of criticism and ridicule. And things are not going that well 
                                    even
                                    in Utah, one of the most Republican of states. Not only the law's
                                    financing, but provisions that expand standardized testing to improve
                                    achievement and that label schools as underperforming when even small
                                    groups of students miss proficiency targets, have stirred discontent
                                    nationwide among educators and local politicians. So Ken Meyer's job --
                                    and the job of more than 10 other federal education officials -- is to
                                    barnstorm the country, serving as part goodwill diplomat, part
                                    flak-catcher, calming emotions and clarifying misunderstandings, writes
                                    Sam Dillon.
                                    http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/2001862877_nochild22.html
                                    
                                    U.S. STUDENTS STILL GETTING THE PADDLE 
                                    The debate over whether corporal punishment has a place in American
                                    education became very personal for Ralph McLaney when the principal of
                                    Carver Middle School ordered him to paddle a sixth-grade student who 
                                    had
                                    acted up in class. A decision last month by the Canadian Supreme Court 
                                    to
                                    outlaw the use of the strap by teachers has left the United States and 
                                    a
                                    lone state in Australia as the only parts of the industrialized world 
                                    to
                                    allow corporal punishment in schools, according to anti-paddling
                                    activists. While 28 U.S. states have outlawed paddling over the past 
                                    three
                                    decades, the practice remains commonplace across much of the Bible 
                                    Belt,
                                    reports Michael Dobbs. In Mississippi, the nation's top paddling state,
                                    nearly 10 percent of students are paddled every year, according to
                                    statistics collected by the federal Department of Education. In poorer
                                    parts of the state, where a higher proportion of children are from
                                    minority and single-parent families, the use of corporal punishment is
                                    even more frequent. "The point is to get the students' attention, not 
                                    to
                                    inflict pain," said Carver Middle School principal Earnest Ward.
                                    "Sometimes all you have to do is hold a paddle up, and it will scare a
                                    student to death. Others are not afraid of it at all."
                                    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59059-2004Feb20.html
                                    
                                    BLACK STUDENTS DISCIPLINED MORE 
                                    Black students are still more likely than white students to be 
                                    disciplined
                                    at school - three decades after American education documented the
                                    disparity. The difference in discipline and punishments is blamed on
                                    stereotypes, culture, poverty and behavior, writes Jennifer Mrozowski 
                                    and
                                    John Byczkowski. Three-fourths of 40 Southwest Ohio school districts
                                    disciplined African-Americans at higher rates than whites last year, an
                                    analysis of school discipline data shows. In more than half of schools,
                                    blacks were twice as likely to be suspended and sent home for at least 
                                    one
                                    day. Comparable data for Northern Kentucky schools is not available.
                                    However, a state report released in January said that black public 
                                    school
                                    students across Kentucky accounted for 22 percent of disciplinary 
                                    actions
                                    even though they made up just 10 percent of the student population. 
                                    "Our
                                    response should be colorblind" when kids get into trouble at school, 
                                    "but
                                    for some reason it's not," says Alton Frailey, superintendent of
                                    Cincinnati Public Schools. City schools expelled African-American 
                                    students
                                    at twice the rate of whites last year, and gave blacks out-of-school
                                    suspensions at triple the rate of whites. Frailey says school districts
                                    must carefully examine reasons for the black/white disparity and then
                                    search for ways to confront it.
                                    http://www.enquirer.com/discipline/disciplineday3main.html
                                    
                                    GIFTED EDUCATION AS A WHOLE SCHOOL MODEL
                                    Joseph S. Renzulli, director of the National Research Center on the 
                                    Gifted
                                    and Talented, advocates for lessons that challenge all levels of 
                                    learners,
                                    including gifted students. In this interview with Education World,
                                    Renzulli argues that "the most important thing we can do to raise
                                    expectations is to broaden our concept of achievement beyond the rather
                                    simplistic notion that it is only what is measured on achievement 
                                    tests.
                                    High expectations should include a broad range of higher level thinking
                                    skills and creative and practical thinking, as well as the ability to
                                    apply knowledge to real life experiences, engage in problem finding and
                                    focusing as well as problem solving, work cooperatively with others, 
                                    and
                                    learn how to evaluate one's own work in order to make continuous
                                    improvements."
                                    http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/chat/chat092.shtml
                                    
                                    A YELLOW LIGHT FOR DRIVER EDUCATION AS FUNDS DRY UP 
                                    It's a rite of passage, that first turn behind the wheel in driver's
                                    education, and one that generations of students have steered through in
                                    courses taught at public high schools in Washington state. But those
                                    courses may be going the way of two-door hardtops and dollar-a-gallon 
                                    gas,
                                    reports Gregory Roberts. The Legislature eliminated a long-standing 
                                    state
                                    subsidy for driver's ed in 2002, and cash-strapped school districts
                                    responded by increasing the fees for the courses to cover their 
                                    operating
                                    costs. Enrollment has declined, with students either unable to afford 
                                    the
                                    higher costs or migrating to commercial driving schools, which offer 
                                    the
                                    required instruction at comparable prices and in a shorter time period
                                    than what the state mandates for the public system. With driver's ed,
                                    teens as young as 16 can get a license; without it, they must wait 
                                    until
                                    they are 18. And as fewer students sign up for the public-school 
                                    courses,
                                    the cost per student rises. As a result, more and more school districts
                                    are dropping the courses altogether.
                                    http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/161826_ecenter24.html 
                                    
                                    |---------------GRANT AND FUNDING INFORMATION--------------|
                                    
                                    "VH1 Battle of the Bands Contest Announced"
                                    To promote music education in both schools and at home, Paramount Home
                                    Entertainment, VH1 Save The Music and the American Music Conference 
                                    have
                                    banded together to develop a nationwide contest encouraging students to
                                    create and record their own original song. Celebrating the DVD release 
                                    of
                                    SCHOOL OF ROCK on March 2, the "VH1/SCHOOL OF ROCK Battle of the Bands
                                    Contest" will enable middle and high school students aged from 13-19 to
                                    compete for the chance to have their original recording produced into a
                                    music video and aired by VH1. The contest will run through March 31, 
                                    2004.
                                    http://www.pnnonline.org/article.php?sid=5023
                                    
                                    "Technology Preparation for K-12 School Leaders"
                                    The University of Minnesota School Technology Leadership Initiative is
                                    addressing the nationwide shortage of school administrators who can
                                    effectively facilitate the implementation of technology in schools and
                                    school districts. The only academic program in the country based on the
                                    National Educational Technology Standards for Administrators (NETS-A), 
                                    the
                                    STLI is at the national forefront of technology preparation for K-12
                                    school leaders and is supported by nearly 40 corporate and 
                                    organizational
                                    partners. Deadline for applications is April 12, 2004.
                                    http://www.schooltechleadership.org/
                                    
                                    "Target"
                                    Target will release applications on March 1 for grantmaking in the area 
                                    of
                                    arts, early childhood reading and family violence prevention. Grants 
                                    range
                                    from $1,000-3,000 and applications will be accepted through May 31, 
                                    2004.
                                    http://target.com/target_group/community_giving/index.jhtml
                                    
                                    "Department of Education Forecast of Funding"
                                    This document lists virtually all programs and competitions under which
                                    the Department of Education has invited or expects to invite 
                                    applications
                                    for new awards for FY 2004 and provides actual or estimated deadline 
                                    dates
                                    for the transmittal of applications under these programs. The lists are 
                                    in
                                    the form of charts -- organized according to the Department's principal
                                    program offices -- and include programs and competitions we have
                                    previously announced, as well as those they plan to announce at a later
                                    date. Note: This document is advisory only and is not an official
                                    application notice of the Department of Education. They expect to 
                                    provide
                                    updates to this document through July 2004.
                                    http://www.ed.gov/fund/grant/find/edlite-forecast.html
                                    
                                    "Grantionary"
                                    The Grantionary is a list of grant-related terms and their definitions.
                                    http://www.eduplace.com/grants/help/grantionary.html
                                    
                                    "GrantsAlert"
                                    GrantsAlert is a website that helps nonprofits, especially those 
                                    involved
                                    in education, secure the funds they need to continue their important 
                                    work.
                                    http://www.grantsalert.com/
                                    
                                    "Grant Writing Tips"
                                    SchoolGrants has compiled an excellent set of grant writing tips for 
                                    those
                                    that need help in developing grant proposals.
                                    http://www.schoolgrants.org/tips.htm
                                    
                                    "FastWEB"
                                    FastWEB is the largest online scholarship search available, with 
                                    600,000
                                    scholarships representing over one billion in scholarship dollars. It
                                    provides students with accurate, regularly updated information on
                                    scholarships, grants, and fellowships suited to their goals and
                                    qualifications, all at no cost to the student. Students should be 
                                    advised
                                    that FastWEB collects and sells student information (such as name,
                                    address, e-mail address, date of birth, gender, and country of
                                    citizenship) collected through their site.
                                    http://www.fastweb.com/
                                    
                                    "Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE)"
                                    More than 30 Federal agencies formed a working group in 1997 to make
                                    hundreds of federally supported teaching and learning resources easier 
                                    to
                                    find. The result of that work is the FREE website.
                                    http://www.ed.gov/free/
                                     
                                    "Fundsnet Online Services"
                                    A comprehensive website dedicated to providing nonprofit organizations,
                                    colleges, and Universities with information on financial resources
                                    available on the Internet.
                                    http://www.fundsnetservices.com/
                                    
                                    "eSchool News School Funding Center"
                                    Information on up-to-the-minute grant programs, funding sources, and
                                    technology funding.
                                    http://www.eschoolnews.com/resources/funding/
                                    
                                    "Philanthropy News Digest"
                                    Philanthropy News Digest, a weekly news service of the Foundation 
                                    Center,
                                    is a compendium, in digest form, of philanthropy-related articles and
                                    features culled from print and electronic media outlets nationwide.
                                    http://fdncenter.org/pnd/
                                    
                                    "School Grants"
                                    A collection of resources and tips to help K-12 educators apply for and
                                    obtain special grants for a variety of projects.
                                    http://www.schoolgrants.org
                                    
                                    QUOTE OF THE WEEK
                                    "Each man takes care that his neighbor shall not cheat him. But a day
                                    comes when he begins to care that he does not cheat his neighbor. Then 
                                    all
                                    goes well -- he has changed his market cart into a chariot of the sun."
                                    -Ralph Waldo Emerson (author/philosopher/poet)
                                    
                                    
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