FEBRUARY 2003 HIGH SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
1. Resources: Smaller Learning Communities
2. Grant on Smaller Learning Communities
3. STAR Test Prep
4. New CAHSEE Remediation Planning Guide
5. Changes to the 2002 Base API
6. Close Teacher Gap to Close Student Performance Gap
7. Retaining the Best Teachers
8. “Profoundly Multicultural Questions”
9. Equity and Opportunity Web sites
10. Teacher’s Guide to Black History Month
11. Decisions Districts Must Make About Reform
12. Feds Initiate Office of Innovation and Improvement
13. Student Mobility and Achievement
14. After School Education Pays Off
15. “Data Driven Districts”
16. Providing Data for Your Board”
17. Juvenile Bipolar Disorder
18. Stan Chambers Journalism Award Contest
19. Resource for Funding Opportunities
20. Grant: CalSafe Continuing Funding Application 2003-04
=============================
1. RESOURCES ON SMALLER LEARNING COMMUNITIES
=============================
There is a growing body of research and best practices that point to
reducing the size of large schools, and especially high schools, as
a means to promote higher student achievement. The publication "New
Small Learning Communities: Findings from Recent Research" from the
Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory presents an excellent
summary of key findings in this area.
http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sirs/nslc.pdf
Additional resources on building smaller learning communities are
available from the following Web sites:
U.S. Department of Education: Smaller Learning Communities Web site
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OVAE/HS/SLCP/
U.S. Department of Education: Smaller Learning Communities- Non-
regulatory Guidance
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OVAE/HS/SLCP/faqslcp.html
An Overview of Smaller Learning Communities in High Schools
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OVAE/HS/SLCP/overview.html
High School! Monthly Newsletter for California Educational Leaders
http://www.cde.ca.gov/shsd/newsletter/
What is a Smaller Learning Community?
http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sslc/
Learn About SLC Structures and Strategies
http://www.sedl.org/slc/structures.html
From Large to Small: Strategies for Personalizing the High School
http://www.jff.org/jff/PDFDocuments/Largetosmall.pdf
Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory-Serving Smaller Learning
Communities
http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sslc/index.shtml
California Partnership Academies
http://www.cde.ca.gov/partacad
Downsizing Schools in Big Cities
http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed393958.html
School Size- Considerations for Safety and Learning
http://www.wested.org/online_pubs/po-01-03.pdf
Small Schools: The Numbers Tell a Story
http://www.smallschoolsworkshop.org/klonsky.html
Elements of Smallness Create Conditions for Success
http://www.essentialschools.org/cs/resources/view/ces_res/275
Transforming High Schools Conference-The Role of Central Offices
and Reform Support Organizations (Bibliography)
http://annenberginstitute.org/mediacenter/THS_overview.html
Career Academies as Smaller Learning Communities
http://www.nccte.org/publications/infosynthesis/in-brief/in-brief20/index.asp
For those who could not open this link, copy the entire URL and
paste it into your browser address window.
Small Learning Communities Meet School-To-Work- Whole-School
Restructuring for Urban Comprehensive High Schools
http://scov.csos.jhu.edu/crespar/techReports/Report31.pdf
The Early College High School Initiative
http://www.earlycolleges.org/Index.html
Jobs for the Future- Youth Topic: Small Learning Communities
http://www.jff.org/jff/kc/knowledgecenter.html?start:int=20&topiclist=1017&topictype=&p_primarytopic=1017
For those who could not open this link, copy the entire URL and
paste it into your browser address window.
=============================
2. GRANT OPPORTUNITY ON SMALLER LEARNING COMMUNITIES
=============================
The U.S. Department of Education anticipates that the Smaller
Learning Communities program grant application for the next
competition will be released mid-February 2003. As of now, high
schools with a student enrollment of over 1,000 are eligible to
apply. Last year’s application and additional information are
available online. Check the Web site frequently for updated
information.
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OVAE/HS/SLCP/
=============================
3. STAR TEST PREP
=============================
As the STAR testing window approaches, it is important to keep in
mind the test preparation policy adopted by the State Board of
Education on September 7, 2000. To assist districts and schools in
evaluating any test preparation procedure being considered, the
California Department of Education has posted a document that
delineates the test preparation policy and provides examples of
appropriate and inappropriate test preparation. In addition, we are
reminded that the best preparation for STAR is good instruction
aligned to the California Academic Content Standards.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/statetests/star/regs/testprep.pdf
=============================
4. NEW CAHSEE REMEDIATION PLANNING GUIDE
=============================
A new resource for the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE)
has been posted on the Internet. Entitled "Promoting Student
Success: Remediation Planning Guide for Districts and Schools,"
this resource is designed to help districts and school support all
students in meeting the content standards they need to pass the
CAHSEE. This planning guide includes a suggested site action plan
for providing supplemental instruction; camera-ready worksheets,
checklists and masters for overhead presentations; an annotated list
of resources; and other useful information designed to assist
administrators, teachers and support staff in planning remediation
efforts.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/statetests/star/resources/blueprints.html
=============================
5. CHANGES TO THE 2002 BASE API
=============================
On January 8, 2003, the State Board of Education adopted revised
indicator weights for the 2002 Base and 2003 Growth API. Weights
for the Norm-Referenced Test (NRT) for elementary and middle schools
was reduced from 40% to 20%, and the weight for the NRT for the high
schools was reduced from 29% to 12%.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/psaa/api/
=============================
6. CLOSE TEACHER GAP TO CLOSE STUDENT PERFORMANCE GAP
=============================
“If I Can’t Learn From You… Ensuring Highly Qualified Teachers for
Every Classroom” is the 2003 annual “Quality Counts” research report
from EdWeek. Among the findings of the report is the fact that
schools that serve high minority and high poverty students have the
greatest gap in student performance as well as the highest numbers
of non-credentialed teachers, inexperienced teachers, or teachers who
are teaching outside of a major or minor area of preparation. The
reports notes that many districts are increasing the numbers of
credentialed teachers overall; however they are not focusing their
efforts on recruiting teachers for the schools with the lowest
student performance.
http://www.edweek.org/sreports/qc03/
=============================
7. RETAINING THE BEST TEACHERS
=============================
While many teachers enter teaching each year, many new teachers
leave the profession within five years. The Alliance for Excellent
Education report, “New Teacher Excellence, Retaining Our Best”
highlights strategies to support and retain exceptional new teachers.
http://www.all4ed.org/policymakers/NewTeacherExcellence/NTE.pdf
=============================
8. “PROFOUNDLY MULTICULTURAL QUESTIONS”
=============================
Questioning which students take upper level courses in high school,
the money spent on the education and the space provided for learning
of different ethnic groups, author Sonia M. Nieto writes about
“Profoundly Multicultural Questions” (Education Leadership, December
2002-January 2003). Nieto states, “We must address the deeply
ingrained inequities of today's schools by asking difficult questions
related to equity and access.”
http://www.ascd.org/readingroom/edlead/0212/nieto.html
=============================
9. EQUITY AND OPPORTUNITY WEB SITES
=============================
“Web Wonders/ Equity and Opportunity” (Educational Leadership,
December 2002-January 2003), written by Christy Thorp, lists a
number of national organizations and agencies that have resources
on issues of equity and opportunity for students.
http://www.ascd.org/readingroom/edlead/0212/thorp.html
=============================
10. TEACHER’S GUIDE TO BLACK HISTORY MONTH
=============================
Teachersplanet.com, in association with History Channel.com,
presents a list of resources compiled to help students celebrate
Black History Month. Links include lesson plans, general resources,
articles and related documents, activities for students, and selected
biographies of famous African Americans.
http://teachersplanet.com/subjects/bhm.shtml
=============================
11. DECISIONS DISTRICTS MUST MAKE ABOUT REFORM
=============================
“While many districts share the goal of helping all students achieve
at high levels, few qualify as high-performance systems.” Tom Vander
Ark, Executive Director of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,
outlines the strategic choices that district leaders must face as
they attempt to steer their systems toward success in the article
“Toward Success At Scale” (Phi Delta Kappan Online Article, December
2002).
http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k0212va1.htm
=============================
12. FEDS INITIATE OFFICE OF INNOVATION AND IMPROVEMENT
=============================
The U.S. Department of Education Office of Innovation and
Improvement Web site provides information about educational
innovations and grant opportunities available through the federal
government.
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OII/
=============================
13. STUDENT MOBILITY AND ACHIEVEMENT
=============================
Author Russell W. Rumberger looks at the correlation between academic
achievement and student mobility in his June 2002 article published
in the ERIC/EECE Publications Digest. Rumberger reminds the reader
that residence changes are not the sole cause of student mobility. Also
contributing to mobility are policies related to suspensions and
expulsions, overcrowding, class size reduction, and increased
parental options offered by the No Child Left Behind legislation.
Unfortunately, although some reasons for school changes are well-
intentioned, research shows that “ . . . school mobility between the
first and eighth grades increased the odds of dropping out of school
during high school even after controlling for eighth-grade
achievement.”
http://ericeece.org/pubs/digests/2002/rumberger02.html
=============================
14. AFTER SCHOOL EDUCATION PAYS OFF
=============================
“After School Education: A New Ally In School Reform,” (Gil C. Noam,
Harvard Educational Letter: Research Online, November/December 2002)
is heralded as a “reimagining of the school day for the first time in
decades.” With careful planning, after school programs can be powerful
tools to support school reform efforts. Noam reports that there is
strong support in the community for supporting after school programs
in the “risky time” between three and five in the afternoon as well as
evidence that student performance improves when attending focused
after school classes.
http://www.edletter.org/past/issues/2002-nd/afterschool.shtml
=============================
15. “DATA DRIVEN DISTRICTS”
=============================
School reform efforts are increasing the need for good data. Author
Scott Laffe, reports on four diverse school districts and the
different ways in which they use data to make educational decisions
(School Administrator Web Edition, December 2002.) Also at this
Web site are other articles on how data are used in educational
settings.
http://www.aasa.org/publications/sa/2002_12/LaFee.htm
=============================
16. “PROVIDING DATA FOR YOUR BOARD”
=============================
Helping school boards understand student performance data is not
always easy. Even more importantly, helping boards learn to
make policy decisions based upon the results of the data is a
critical task. In the article “Providing Data for Your Board”
(School Administrator Web Edition, December 2002), Linda J. Dawson
suggests four guiding principles for how data should be presented
to boards.
http://www.aasa.org/publications/sa/2002_12/LaFee_Dawson.htm
=============================
17. JUVENILE BIPOLAR DISORDER
=============================
Steven Schlozman, writing on “The Shrink in the Classroom: An
Explosive Debate: The Bipolar Child” (Educational Leadership,
November 2002) notes that until recently, this disorder was not
widely recognized in the medical community. Now, more physicians are
diagnosing and treating students with this disorder. Schlozman
offers information on the treatments that children are receiving and
the impact of children with bipolar disorder in a classroom.
http://www.ascd.org/readingroom/edlead/0211/schlozman.html
======================================
18. STAN CHAMBERS JOURNALISM AWARD CONTEST
======================================
KTLA is sponsoring an essay writing contest open to all L.A. County
high school seniors. The goal of the contest is to help high school
seniors who are interested in developing their writing skills. The
essay must be 150 words or less, and entries must be received by
midnight on Mar 3. The winner will receive $1,000 and the
opportunity to assist in the video production of the winning essay.
For details contact the KTLA at 323-460-5991.
=============================
19. RESOURCE FOR FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
=============================
E-School News Online lists regular updates on funding opportunities
for schools.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/resources/funding/opps.cfm
=============================
20. GRANT: CalSAFE CONTINUING FUNDING APPLICATION 2003-04
=============================
The California Department of Education announced the CalSafe
Continuing Funding Application. “The California School Age Families
Education (Cal-SAFE) Program is a comprehensive, integrated,
community-linked, school-based program for expectant/parenting teens
and their children.” The application deadline is March 3, 2003.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/funding/profile.asp?id=291
This electronic newsletter is sponsored by the Region 8 California Professional Development Consortium (CPDC) administered by the Kern County Superintendent of Schools Office.
To subscribe or unsubscribe from this newsletter, or to subscribe to our other our free electronic Newsletters for Middle School or Professional Development issues, email, call or fax Christina Doyle: email - cdoyle@kern.org, phone (661) 636-4331 or fax (661) 636-4135.
|
