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Association & Related News
CCSSO Presents VLM at ED Education Policy Briefing Series
Arts Education Partnership Fall National Forum: Charting a Course for the Arts and 21st Century Learning
Advocacy in Action
New Federal School Improvement Grants Proposed Requirements Released
CCSSO Response to ED’s Race to the Top and State Fiscal Stabilization Fund Notices
Education Newsbriefs
"Hawaii Education Officials Tout Step Up Campaign as Opening Up Opportunities" (HI)
"Energy Savings in Public Schools" (ID)
"Mich. Districts Submit Plans for Retooling Schools" (MI)
"New Education Commissioner Outlines Her 3-Year Plan" (RI)
"It's in Our Hands: Participation in the 2010 Census Matters"
"41st Annual PDK Poll Reveals Strong Public Support"
Association & Related News
CCSSO Presents VLM at ED Education Policy Briefing Series
By Linda Pittenger
CCSSO Executive Director Gene Wilhoit and Council staff presented an overview of the Virtual Learning Magnet (VLM) for Space Science and Mathematics at the Department of Education (ED) Education Policy Briefing Series. The VLM is an online learning opportunity through which students can study high school curriculum in the context of an area of special interest.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) provided funding for a limited proof of concept for the VLM this spring. Thirty-five students from eight states participated in a precollege physics course using NASA resources to explore physics concepts. The Smithsonian Institution Air and Space Museum and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory also collaborated with CCSSO for additional content. The collaboration between the Smithsonian and CCSSO was highlighted at the ED briefing in July.
For more information about CCSSO’s Virtual Learning Magnet program, or the presentation of the VLM at the ED Education Policy Briefing Series (meeting participants pictured below) please contact Elizabeth Partoyan at elizabethp@ccsso.org.
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Arts Education Partnership Fall National Forum: Charting a Course for the Arts and 21st Century Learning
By Laura Smyth
October 2–3, 2009, in Cambridge, MA, the Arts Education Partnerships (AEP) will be hosting a lively exploration of the connections and synchronicities between the arts and 21st century learning. The AEP will be looking especially at the ways the principles of 21st century learning, particularly imagination, creativity, and innovation, are incorporated, articulated, and supported throughout the education system from pre-K to higher education. The meeting will be hosted by Lesley University.
Confirmed sessions and speakers include:
- Opening Plenary: Take Back the Mic, an exciting presentation by dynamic performer, artist and activist Derrick Ashong, of the musical group Soulfège
- Plenary Panel: Education Leadership: Redesigning Learning Systems for the 21st Century, confirmed panelists include Carol Johnson, Superintendent of Boston Public Schools, and Paul Reville, Massachusetts Secretary of Education
- Plenary Panel: Navigating New Waters: Arts Learning and Higher Education Policy, Research and Practice, confirmed panelists include Shirley Brice Heath, linguistic anthropologist and international scholar on learning in the arts, Martha McKenna, Provost, Lesley University and James Catterall, Champions of Change author and eminent researcher, with respondent David Haselkorn, Associate Commissioner of the Center for Educator Policy, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
- Plenary Panel on Statewide Initiatives for 21st Century Learning and the Arts, confirmed panelists include Ken Kay, President, Partnership for 21st Century Skills, and Susan Sclafani, Director of State Services, National Center for Education and the Economy
For more information on the forum and registration, please contact Teka Phan at aep@ccsso.org or 202-326-8683. To see a timeline and more information on the agenda of the forum, please click here. Registration deadline is September 15.
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Advocacy in Action
New Federal School Improvement Grants Proposed Requirements Released
On August 26, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan published a notice of proposed requirements for the federal School Improvement Grants program (SIG). The proposed requirements would govern grants to state education agencies (SEAs) and sub-grants to local education agencies (LEAs) with funds appropriated under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) as well as the FY09 appropriations. Funds from these two sources would be consolidated into a single fund totaling $3.546 billion, which will be allocated to all states by formula based on state applications to the U.S. Department of Education (ED).
In this notice, ED would require SEAs to target funds to LEAs with the greatest “need,” in that they have the lowest performing schools and the strongest “commitment,” in that they demonstrate fidelity to significant interventions and the capacity to carry out those interventions. The notice promotes a significant shift in principles regarding the use of SIG funds, which includes targeting funds to the lowest performing schools (the lowest performing schools must focus interventions based on four options, outlined in detail within the notice,) and that funds should also target low-performing middle and high schools.
Public comments on the notice are due to ED by September 25, 2009. For additional information on School Improvement Grants, please contact advocacy@ccsso.org.
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CCSSO Response to ED’s Race to the Top and State Fiscal Stabilization Fund Notices
On August 28, ED closed the public comment period for response to the proposed priorities, requirements, definitions, and selection criteria for the $4.35 billion Race to the Top Fund (RTTT) and the remaining 33 percent of the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, Phase II (SFSF). The RTTT notice outlined ED’s vision for $4 billion of the fund, while the remaining $350 million of RTTT set aside for assessments will be part of a later competition with more information to come. CCSSO filed comments in response to both notices.
CCSSO remains strongly supportive of the RTTT competitive grant program. However, CCSSO made several key suggestions to ED to improve upon the proposed notice, including recommending a new competitive priority for state applications that emphasize the integration of comprehensive, birth-to-five early learning reforms. Furthermore, while CCSSO supports ED’s recognition of state-led common standards, CCSSO believes that it is unrealistic to expect that the common standards will have been adopted by each applicant by the spring of 2010. CCSSO recommends that the phase 2 criterion be revised to call on states to demonstrate formal commitment and progress toward adoption of the common standards.
CCSSO also remains very supportive of the SFSF, but felt that the timeline ED put in place for adoption of the 12 elements of the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science Act (COMPETES) Act is also unrealistic. CCSSO suggests that ED allow states to outline their own timelines and then award those states that demonstrate progress toward that goal. CCSSO also believes that the financial burden of collecting and reporting will largely fall on SEAs, and thus ED should provide additional resources to aid SEAs in this endeavor. To view CCSSO’s complete, filed comments, visit CCSSO RTTT Comments or CCSSO SFSF Comments.
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Education Newsbriefs
Hawaii Education Officials Tout Step Up Campaign as Opening Up Opportunities
Honolulu Advertiser (HI) (08/26/09)
The Hawaii P-20 Partnership for Education has rolled out the Step Up Campaign to get students to pledge to earn the State Board of Education's voluntary Step Up diploma, which has more rigorous curriculum requirements such as college prep courses in math, English, and science. The diploma is being offered to current freshman, and the partnership hopes to enroll three-quarters of them statewide by December. It also hopes to earn the support of 100 local businesses and community organizers. According to State Superintendent of Education Patricia Hamamoto, "The recognition diploma opens up more opportunities for scholarships both in state and out of state, it will provide opportunities to bypass placement in college courses. . . . Our goal with this diploma is that when our students graduate and get a job or enter college or a university, there is meaning and weight behind the courses they took." For more information about the Step Up Campaign, click here.
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Energy Savings in Public Schools
Fox 12 KTRV (Boise, Idaho) (08/28/09)
In Idaho, about 703 schools will see $17.5 million flow into heating and cooling systems to improve those systems and reduce energy expenses by $11,000 annually per school. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna says of the governor's plan, "Every dollar we can save in that area is one more dollar we can get into the classroom where it's needed the most. Other smaller communities like Homedale and others across the state they may not have replaced a building in decades, so those schools may be functional and safe but they're not efficient." The expected $11,000 in savings could translate into 22 computers or 110 textbooks, and the government investment in the heating and cooling upgrades is expected to generate a return in fewer than 18 months. Once the heating and cooling systems are updated, phase two of the project will begin to replace windows, lighting, and HVAC systems, which could generate 250 new jobs over the next three years.
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Mich. Districts Submit Plans for Retooling Schools
Chicago Tribune (08/30/09)
In response to a call from Michigan Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan for school districts to rethink educational methods, the state has received approximately 70 proposals. As many as 20 of the proposals will be selected and used as potential models in the hope that they will better position the state to obtain federal stimulus funds. Some of the proposals call for students to take up a stringed instrument in kindergarten or achieve fluency in Spanish or Mandarin Chinese by eighth grade and for schools to be allowed to replace English, social studies, and other traditional courses with in-depth projects that could be more meaningful to students.
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New Education Commissioner Outlines Her 3-Year Plan
Providence Journal (RI) (08/30/09) Steiny, Julia
Rhode Island Education Commissioner Deborah Gist says Rhode Island is poised for success in education with a solid foundation of standards, high-quality assessments, and the diploma project. "We're in a climate nationally where aggressive reform is expected and encouraged. And I think the people of Rhode Island are pushing for improvement. Young people are pushing. Teachers are excited. Even the fiscal crisis is pushing for improvement by making us take a much deeper look at how we're doing business in the first place. [At the Department of Education], we're certainly looking at how the state could achieve efficiencies," Gist says. Among her top five priorities are recruiting, supporting, and evaluating effective teachers and leaders; improving school performance through community support; establishing high-quality and internationally competitive standards and assessments; and developing data systems that provide educators with the information they need to bolster student achievement.
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It's in Our Hands: Participation in the 2010 Census Matters
Census.gov (08/27/2009)
As part of the U.S. Census Bureau's partnership with Scholastic, schools have access to a standards-specific curriculum for K-12 intended to increase participation in the 2010 Census. The lessons teach map skills and data literacy and aim to get students involved in Census activities in their homes and communities. Schools are urged to hold a Census Week at the beginning of next year, and lesson plans and activities will be available on the Census' Web site. Experts underscore the importance of Census participation, as the data determines $400 billion in annual federal awards to states and communities, Title I, and special education funding to schools, and the location of new schools, among other things. For more information, click here.
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41st Annual PDK Poll Reveals Strong Public Support
Phi Delta Kappa International (08/25/09)
A recent annual Phi Delta Kappa International and Gallup Poll survey of Americans on the Public's Attitudes Toward Public Schools reveals support for President Barack Obama's goals for education reform. Among the proposals from the administration are higher standards and more funding for early learning centers, charter school expansion, merit pay for effective teachers, and the adoption of common state standards. About 67 percent of those surveyed support charter schools, though many Americans are unsure whether those schools are public schools that can impose tuition fees, can teach religion, or choose their own students. Moreover, nearly 50 percent of Americans were supportive of using education stimulus money to prevent teacher layoffs, while 81 percent would like kindergarten to be required.
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