Professional Development Newsletter January 2002
If the goal of public schools is to educate all children, then we
must critically reflect on our educational practice to ensure that
our students have access to high quality, rigorous instruction at
all times. Teachers, administrators and support staff must be aware
that there continues to be differing expectations of students
depending on gender, ethnic background, socioeconomic status,
and/or perceived entitlements (i.e., gifted and talented, special
education students). These disparities are manifested in what is now
described as the "Achievement Gap." The January issue of the
Professional Development Newsletter explores ways to help educators
understand, and work toward eliminating the "Achievement Gap."
CLOSING THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP
1. Closing the Achievement Gap
2. Good Teaching Matters
3. Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment
4. Turning Around Low-Performing Schools
5. Beyond Heroes and Holidays
6. It Takes More Than Testing
7. Monitoring School Quality: An Indicators Report
8. Closing the Gap
9. Hope for Urban Education
10. Helping All Students Achieve
11. A Closer Look at the Minority Achievement Gap
12. The Achievement Gap in California
13. The Racial Gap in Academic Achievement
14. Closing the Gap One School at a Time
15. High Poverty-High Minority Schools Perform Well
16. Equity & Literacy: The Challenge of the Decade
CURRENT EVENTS
17. Nurturing the Leader Within
18. Summer Seminars and Institutes for Teachers
19. New Teacher Symposium
20. Evaluating California’s Teacher Preparation Programs - Part II
21. Closing the Gap - Telecast Series
22. Journal Of Staff Development: Technology Makes the Grade
1. CLOSING THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP
The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)
provides on-line access to selected chapters from the book, "Closing
the Achievement Gap: A Vision for Changing Beliefs and Practices,"
edited by Belinda Williams. These chapters seek to define the
obstacles to urban academic performance and to identify practices
that will "inform decision-making relevant to overcoming performance
obstacles."
http://www.ascd.org/readingroom/books/williams96book.html#chap2
2. GOOD TEACHING MATTERS
Thinking K-16 (Summer 1998), a publication of The Education Trust,
quotes Kati Haycock, "If we only took the simple step of assuring that
poor and minority children had highly qualified teachers, about half
of the achievement gap would disappear." This report, "Good Teaching
Matters - How Well-Qualified Teachers Can Close the Gap" focuses on
the teacher as the most significant factor in improving student
achievement and offers steps to improving teacher quality.
http://www.edtrust.org/news/8_10_98_ThinkingK16_Releas.asp
http://www.edtrust.org/documents/k16_summer98.pdf
3. RAISING STANDARDS THROUGH CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT
Published by Kappan (October 1998), "Inside the Black Box: Raising
Standards Through Classroom Assessment" focuses on formative
assessment as a tool for effective teaching. It poses three questions
for the teaching profession to study: 1) Does improving formative
assessment raise standards? 2) Is there room for improvement?
3) How can formative assessment be improved? The authors explore
issues in effective teaching and learning.
http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/kbla9810.htm
4. TURNING AROUND LOW PERFORMING SCHOOLS
"Turning Around Low Performing Schools, A Guide For State And
Local Leaders," published by the U. S. Department of Education
(May 1998), offers strategies and approaches to help schools with
low performing students improve student achievement, school climate,
and classroom practice.
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/turning/
5. BEYOND HEROES AND HOLIDAYS
David Stone reviews the book "Beyond Heroes and Holidays" in
Democracy and Education (Fall 1998). He says the book "offers
insight into how the traditional American educational system
perpetuates racism in all curricular areas. It provides a rich array of
resources, models and strategies for promoting multicultural
education. . ." The book suggests four levels of multicultural
education ranging from tolerance to acceptance to respect to
affirmation of cultural differences. In an effort to delineate each
of the levels, the book provides an anthology of promising and
not-so-promising practices and strategies that help teachers
understand racism and "see how it shapes their teaching practices."
http://www.teachingforchange.org/bhh.htm
6. IT TAKES MORE THAN TESTING
The Center on Education Policy report "It Takes More than Testing:
Closing the Achievement Gap" (April 2001) highlights trends, findings
and policy options that add to the Achievement Gap debate. The report
explores the enigma surrounding the differences in student achievement
and offers ways to erase the gap. Citing standards-based reform as
one of the issues that "made the gap a front-burner issue," the
report offers some promising strategies that schools can take
immediately to begin to diminish the gap: " . . . increasing
participation of minority students in challenging academic courses;
investing in teacher professional development; and, strengthening
parent and community support for learning . . ."
http://www.ctredpol.org/pubs/closing_achievement_gap.pdf
7. MONITORING SCHOOL QUALITY: AN INDICATORS REPORT
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) study,
"Monitoring School Quality: An Indicators Report" (December 2000),
is a response to a congressional special study to identify "the
health of the Nation’s educational system." The report identifies
school characteristics that directly and indirectly influence student
learning. The report corroborates much of the current research in the
field, citing "Students learn more from teachers with high academic
skills and teachers who teach subjects related to their undergraduate
or graduate studies ..."
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2001/2001030.pdf
8. CLOSING THE GAP
"Closing the Gap," a special report sponsored by the Council for
Basic Education and the Johnson Foundation (February 2000) highlights
the proceedings of a public forum designed to dialogue possible
solutions to the barriers and challenges of implementing high
standards for all students. The key questions driving the discussion
were, "What are the biggest challenges the standards movement
currently faces? How can we overcome those challenges to make a
difference in the education of our children?" The report identifies
the barriers to "standards-driven reform" as: lack of coherent
professional development; high-stakes, state-level standardized
tests; instructional leadership; equity; and public trust.
http://www.c-b-e.org/PDF/ws1999CloseGap.pdf
9. HOPE FOR URBAN EDUCATION
This study compares and contrasts nine high performing urban schools
that serve children of color. "These schools have attained higher levels
of achievement than most schools in their states or most schools in
the nation. They have achieved results in reading and mathematics
beyond that achieved in some suburban schools." Among some of it’s
suggestions for reform, the Hope for Urban Education (December 1999)
study recommends that all schools: build the capacity of principals
to provide instructional leadership; create clear, measurable an
rigorous school accountability provisions; help educators create
regular opportunities for true professional development; and build
the capacity of teachers and parents for increasing parental
involvement at school.
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/urbanhope/differences.html
10. HELPING ALL STUDENTS ACHIEVE
Kati Haycock, quoted in Educational Leadership (March 2001) says
"To increase the achievement levels of minority and low-income
students, we need to focus on what really matters: high standards,
a challenging curriculum, and good teachers." The article seeks to
provide a researched-based, experiential understanding of achievement
patterns and outlines four lessons that can be learned from the data
and from communities that have been successful in closing the gap for
their underrepresented students.
http://www.ascd.org/readingroom/edlead/0103/haycock.html
11. A CLOSER LOOK AT THE MINORITY ACHIEVEMENT GAP
Stating that the future academic achievement and success of America’s
five and six year olds may be a "function of their race and ethnicity,"
Joseph J. D’Amico bases his research, found in ERS Spectrum
(Spring 2001) on economic and educational disparities. "A Closer
Look at the Minority Achievement Gap" traces the history of the
achievement gap back to 1785 providing facts, statistics, and various
causes (both school-associated and socio-cultural) for the trends.
His study examines what can be done to close the Achievement Gap
looking at research related to data and assessment, instruction,
school and classroom organization, student programming, and
implications for education leaders.
http://www.ers.org/spectrum/spg01a.htm
12. THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP IN CALIFORNIA
The 1998 California School Boards Association solicited the
assistance of WestEd liaison Joan McRobbie to explain the Achievement
Gap in California. The presentation addressed the questions: What is
the Achievement Gap? Why do we have it? How does it play out in
California? What can we do about it? In an effort to ferret out
answers to each question, McRobbie defines problems and suggests
ways that school board members can address the challenges.
http://www.wested.org/policy/pubs/full_text/achievement.htm
13. THE RACIAL GAP IN ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
In "The Significance of Race In The Racial Gap In Academic
Achievement," released in the Education Rights Column of Motion
Magazine (June 2000), Pedro Noguera and Antwi Akom discuss the
disparities in the achievement of black, Native American, and Latino
students on all academic indicators (grades, test scores, drop-out
and graduation rates). Questioning the purpose of high stakes tests
which are not aligned to curriculum, the low achievement rates of
poor students in inner-city and rural schools, and educational
practices that hinder opportunities for poorer students, the authors
explain phenomena that lead poor children of color to perform
significantly lower than white students.
http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/pnaa.html
14. CLOSING THE GAP ONE SCHOOL AT A TIME
Michael Sandowski offers solutions to the black/white achievement gap
in his article "Closing the Gap One School at a Time," recently published
in the Harvard Education Letter (November/December 2001).
Highlighting national problems and local solutions, Sandowski
contends that teachers and administrators have become researchers as
they work to narrow the gap. There is a need to "conduct home-grown
research . . . before [schools can] understand what goes into and what
can change student learning."
http://www.edletter.org/past/issues/2001-mj/gap.shtml
15. HIGH POVERTY-HIGH MINORITY SCHOOLS PERFORM WELL
In the report, "Dispelling the Myth Revisited," (December 2001) the
Educational Trust released a "first of its kind state-by-state and
national analysis of over 4,500 high-poverty and high minority schools
that scored in the top 1/3 of all schools in their states, often
out-performing predominantly white schools in wealthy communities."
Georgia Governor Roy E. Barnes noted, "These data show that the
achievement gap can indeed be closed. This reports helps dispel the
myth and the excuses by showing that, even for children living in
poverty, we are correct in raising expectations, providing resources,
supporting quality leadership and teaching, and yes, even insisting
on accountability."
http://www.edtrust.org/news/12_12_01_dtm.asp
The Educational Trust has also created an interactive website,
"Dispelling the Myth Online" which is a "searchable database that
can generate instant lists of schools based on user’s own search
criteria."
http://64.224.125.0/dtm/
16. EQUITY AND LITERACY: THE CHALLENGE OF THE DECADE
The California Professional Development Consortia has published
excerpts from Enid Lee’s presentation at the 2001 Professional
Development Conference for Teacher Leaders. Enid Lee says,
"To speak of equity without recognizing inequity is to engage in
nonsensical talk. . . We need to look at very specific indicators
such as the level of challenge in the learning activities that are
provided for groups of students of particular ethnic, racial, and
linguistic backgrounds. We need to examine the advanced placement
classes that are offered and take note of who is not in those
classes. We need to pay attention to students who don’t have
teachers who are equipped to help them learn the English they need
to learn in order to access texts . . ." Literacy is one tool that
can help bring about equity.
http://www.scoe.org/Depts/pdc/PDF/Enid_Lee_brief.pdf
CURRENT EVENTS
17. NURTURING THE LEADER WITHIN
The California Professional Development Consortia, the California
Department of Education, and the Education Alliance encourage
participation in the annual conference for California teachers,
"Nurturing the Leader Within" in Costa Mesa from March 20-22, 2002.
The conference offers renowned national and state speakers; more than
60 interactive sessions designed to address the challenges faced by
teachers, school boards, communities, and legislators; and
opportunities to network with teacher leaders from throughout the
state. To receive a registration packet, contact the Education
Alliance at 831-457-7991 or fax requests to 831-425-1244.
http://www.edualliance.org
18. SUMMER SEMINARS AND INSTITUTES FOR TEACHERS
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has released a list
of summer seminars and institutes for teachers and college/university
faculty. Seminars are designed to give teachers opportunities for
intensive study in the humanities in an effort to strengthen the
quality of humanities instruction at all grade levels. The
application deadline for these residential summer institutes is
March 1, 2001. Participants will receive stipends based on the
length of the institute, ranging from $2,800 to $3,700. For more
information, email sem-inst@neh.gov, phone 202-606-8463, or consult
the website.
http://www.neh.gov/projects/si-school.html,
19. NEW TEACHER SYMPOSIUM
The Fourth Annual Symposium on Teacher Induction sponsored by the
New Teacher Center at UC Santa Cruz will feature keynote speakers
Linda Darling-Hammond, Bob Chase, Lee Shulman, Enid Lee,
Lily Wong Filmore, and Marilyn Cochran Smith. Offering more than
50 concurrent sessions, participants "will explore how induction
programs and mentoring can help launch . . . school and classroom
practices towards excellence and equity." The Symposium will be
held January 27 - 29, 2002 in San Jose, California. For more
information contact the New Teacher Center at 831-459-4323.
http://www.newteachercenter.org
20. EVALUATING CALIFORNIA’S TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAMS – PART II
"The greatest asset any school has to educate children are able
teachers. The greatest challenge that California faces in bolstering
the performance of its schools is developing a workforce of
high-caliber teachers." "Teach Our Children Well", a report of the
Little Hoover Commission (September 2001), analyzes and discusses
its major findings and recommendations in the following policy areas:
1) Teacher Preparation; 2) Credentialing; 3) Compensation;
4) Teaching Environment; 5) Administrative Practices, and
6) Workforce Management.
http://www.lhc.ca.gov/lhcdir/report160.html
21. CLOSING THE GAP - TELECAST SERIES
"Closing the Gap" is a series of television broadcasts highlighting
the remarkable success of six California public schools in their
quest to improve the achievement of students typically left behind."
Parts One and Two have already aired, however copies of the telecasts
can be ordered. Parts Three through Six are schedule to air on
January 29, March 12, April 23 and June 4, 2002. For more
information contact Laurie Maclin at (661) 646-4763 or by e-mail at lamaclin@kern.org.
http://www.edgateway.net/cs/ctg/print/docs/ctg/home.htm.
22. JOURNAL OF STAFF DEVELOPMENT: TECHNOLOGY MAKES THE GRADE
The Journal of Staff Development (Winter 2002) has devoted their
winter issue to technology, the focus of the December Professional
Development Newsletter. Feature articles include: Loading the
E-Learning Shopping Cart; Inside the Wired District; Missed
Connections can be Instructive; Visit to a Virtual Training Program;
Part Digital Training, Part Human Touch; and Teachers Must Push
Technology’s Tidal Wave.
http://www.nsdc.org/library/jsd/jsd.htm
This electronic newsletter is sponsored by the Region 8 California
Professional Development Consortium (CPDC) administrated by the
Kern County Superintendent of Schools Office. For more information about the
CPDC call (661) 636-4331 or send a fax to (661) 636-4135. To subscribe
or unsubscribe from this newsletter, email Christina Doyle at Cdoyle@kern.org,
or send a fax to (661) 636-4135..
If you wish to receive our free electronic High School Newsletter,
Email Christina Doyle at cdoyle@kern.org, or send a fax to (661) 636-4135.
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