<<On the Blackboard>>
Deadline Looming!
EWA is now accepting entries in 19 categories for the 2008 National Awards for Education Reporting. It will recognize for the first time those who do outstanding work in multi-media and will give awards to bloggers. In addition, the magazine category which recognizes outstanding magazine journalists who work in regional, national and local publications -- will accept entries from journalists who write in college alumni magazines. Go here for entry form and rules. Postmark deadline for entries is January 12, 2009 and all should be mailed to Chief Judge, National Awards for Education Reporting, EWA 2122 P Street, NW Suite 201, Washington, DC 20037.
Tightening the Belt, Expanding the Reach
This two-day regional higher ed seminar will be held Feb. 27-28 at the San Francisco Chronicle. Topics include: higher education policy in tough economic times, the effects of declining state appropriations on access, the challenges for Asian students as the "model minority," and the success and failure of transfers from community colleges to 4-year institutions. Scholarships, as always, are available to reporters. This seminar is for reporters only and space is limited. You can contact Raven Hill and watch the EWA website for more information.
In Covering Professional Development, It’s Not Just the Dollars That Count
says EWA public editor Linda Perlstein
In November, as part of the “You Paid For It” series produced by St. Louis’s Fox 2 News station, a televised report complained about the “Taxpayer Tab” of $30,000 for a group of educators to attend an ASCD conference in California. Nobody came off well: not the ambush-happy reporter or the defensive school system administrator who refused to answer his questions. And the story, frankly, didn’t tell us anything about anything.
But it did point to something very important: In public perception, professional development has become a boondoggle.
We want teacher quality to improve, but do we want districts to spend money to make that happen? Most people would say that depends on the quality of the training. That’s where the Fox story failed. How could we assume the conference was a waste of money if the story contained no information about what the St. Louis teachers and administrators, who came from a 14-school district, learned there, or didn’t?
The school improvement industry is massive, with billions of dollars spent each year. Some of that money goes to people: consulting firms for school system audits and school overhauls, motivational speakers, conferences and coaches for teacher training. Some goes to products: computer-based tools, “manipulatives,” the new book everyone has to read and discuss at the next staff meeting. Add to that the business of conferring degrees on aspiring teachers, online and off-, and you’ve got one of the biggest ongoing stories, and budget items, in American education today. Which we aren’t covering.
There are some exceptions—I particularly liked Alec McGillis’s 2004 Baltimore Sun series on peddling educational software—but in general, the media has been weak in exploring who is making money off school improvement, and what kind of impacts these efforts are having. Given the current obsession with teacher quality, professional development is a great place to train our eyes.
Reporters need to be looking at not just how much is spent to send teachers to conferences, but what skills and knowledge they bring back. (In the case of the St. Louis Fox story, I suspect those teachers might have learned a thing or two, given the meatiness of ASCD’s agendas, but I wouldn’t judge one way or the other without far more information.) Reporters should attend the workshops their district cancels school to stage. Read the faddish, required-reading educational leadership books. Sit in on required courses at the local school of education.
If your district is one of the many that spends thousands of dollars on private consultants, ask to tag along as one of those consultants visits a school to evaluate teaching and learning. If you have spent time at that school before, assess whether the lessons the visitor sees reflect what you know to be the norm. See how the consultant makes his or her judgments, what kind of changes are suggested, and whether—months later—any of the recommendations are implemented.
Visit the vendor hall at any educational conference that comes to your town to see what kinds of products are being hawked. Or go to conferences that are held specifically for those in the improvement business. If you are in Washington, D.C., at the beginning of March, for example, check out the Education Industry Association conference, where participants will learn what business opportunities can be made of NCLB reauthorization, dropout prevention and online learning.
Follow not just the money but the politics. Former President Bush adviser Gene Hickok, who was instrumental in the creation of No Child Left Behind, now lobbies on behalf of a coalition of tutoring firms created by the Education Industry Association. He charges that parents don’t take advantage of supplemental services for their children because schools keep the information from them. The EIA boasts on its website that it has “crafted the issue of parent access in a civil rights tone.”
Under No Child Left Behind, states are supposed to ensure that when federal funds are used for professional development, the training is of high quality. According to the research—there is, naturally, research on this, which I can point you to if you’re interested—the most effective programs involve collaboration among colleagues, a narrow focus on the classroom and, of course, time. How is your district spending its professional development dollars? What do teachers say about what helps and doesn’t? Are they grumbling about wasted time? Coming back refreshed with new, sustainable ideas?
For a struggling school district, $30,000—the cost of a first-year teacher’s aide and her benefits for a year, perhaps?—could be a small price to pay to bring in some new great curricular practices. Might not.
But viewers in St. Louis may never know.
Linda Perlstein is available to help you. Contact her at 410-539-2464 or mailto:lperlstein@ewa.org.
Reports: Adult Literacy, Benchmarking Success and Pre-k News
NCES to release new Adult Literacy Report
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) will release a new report on adult literacy rates Thursday, January 8. The report comes from the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL). Data for adult literacy rates for individual states and counties will be based on the 2003 NAAL and the 1992 National Adult Literacy survey. The full report and interactive web tool will be available starting at 10 a.m. A conference call for reporters will start at 12 p.m. on the day of the report’s release. For more information, contact Raquel Maya at rmaya@hagersharp.com, or (202) 842-3600, Ext. 212.
Making Sure Education Gets a Piece of the Pie
It seems everybody is trying to get a piece of the economic stimulus package and the higher ed community is no exception. About 30 higher education associations including the American Council on Education, National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities and the United Negro College Fund have called on lawmakers to make higher education a part of the proposed $775 billion stimulus package. The groups want Congress to increase student aid, enhance the student loan program, and launch a higher education infrastructure initiative to support campus projects that provide jobs and strengthen the academic capacity of institutions.
Higher education leaders are making their voices heard in other areas as well.
President-elect Barack Obama has gotten some new suggestions on policies concerning science, technology, research and higher ed. The Association of American Universities released it recommendations to the president-elect’s transition team to reaffirm its commitment to research-based institutions. The group has 30 policy areas it would like the new administration to address including asking for the elimination of the 26 percent cap on reimbursements of university administration costs of federally funded research, address the nation’s energy challenge, launch Acceleration and STEM education initiatives. You can read what else the group is proposing here.
Benchmarking for Success
U.S. governors, the state chief school officers and an education think tank have recommended new strategies to ensure the country’s educational system continues its global competitiveness. “Benchmarking for Success: Ensuring U.S. Students Receive a World-Class Education” is a report released by the International Benchmarking Advisory Group, put together by Achieve, Inc., that provides states guidance on how to improve the performance of k-12 schools against their international counterparts. In a meeting held in December in Washington, D.C., officials described an American education system that is not living up to new challenges, especially in math and science testing. The report calls for states to take charge on five points of action: adopting a common core of international benchmarked standards in math and language arts; all textbooks, digital media and assessments are aligned to international benchmarked standards; states aggressively revise policies recruiting, preparing and professionally developing school leaders drawing on international best practices; schools and school systems are held accountable for performance using international best practices; and states measure student achievement/attainment through an international context.
Sign of the Times
The Dallas Morning News and Fort Worth Star Telegram were once fierce competitors. Now the two newspapers are sharing content. So are the Sun-Sentinel and Palm Beach Post. The Associated Press reports it is just the sign of the economic times for journalism as more newspapers in the same coverage area are now sharing resources to combat staff and budget cuts. You can take a look at some print and television collaborations. News sharing may be good for media outlets, but the Associated Press points out that the public loses a journalistic voice and reporters don’t sustain their competitive drive.
The Pre-K Pinch
With the economy in peril states are facing some tough decisions that could doom some pre-K programs.
Virginia is facing a $3 billion budget deficit that is threatening Gov. Tim Kaine’s plans to expand early childhood programs in the state.
Pre-k enrollment in Tennessee has grown over the past five years from 3,000 to 17,000 pupils. Gov. Phil Bredesen, a strong proponent of early childhood programs, is clamping down on the state’s expenditures. In November, he told Tennessee colleges they are likely to lose 15 percent of their funding in the next budget cycle. To offset costs, the state’s flagship institution the University of Tennessee is laying off workers. While the higher ed community is in financial dire straits, at least one local columnist questions why the governor is still willing to commit millions of dollars to early childhood programs and not more for colleges.
Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts has scaled back his ambitious plans to provide a free public education for pre-school and college students.
All the news is unsettling for states, but advocates for early childhood education say governments will have to pay now or later.
A recent study of Minnesota schools found the k-12 system loses $113 million annually because students are unprepared for kindergarten.
However, it is getting harder for parents to get children ready to perform in the early grades. Pre-K Now says middle-class parents are having a harder time sending children to quality programs. It finds the eligibility requirements and high costs lead families to sacrifice basic household needs to pay for early education and care, or to settle for low-quality options with unproven benefits.
Reporting Position, Fellowship, and Workshops
The Morning News is seeking an education reporter to cover public and private schools in Benton County, Arkansas. The reporter should be able to do interesting enterprise stories, create alternative story forms and multimedia for the web. The person will work from the Rogers office. Some night work is required. If interested, please send resume and clips to Lisa Thompson,Managing EditorP.O. Box 7/2560 N. Lowell Road, Springdale, AR 72765-0007.
The National Staff Development Council is seeking a communications director to work in its Dallas office. It is a 12-month position that will require some travel. Salary is $85,000, plus benefits. Deadline for applications is Monday, February 9. For more information, please contact Horn, Smith, Wood & Preston, LLC, Educational Consultants, 314 Laurel Trail, Terrell Texas, 75161; hswpllc@yahoo.com; 972-978-8661.
The University of Michigan Knight-Wallace Fellows program is accepting applications for its 2009-10 program. The fellowship is for full-time U.S. journalists with five years' of professional experience and whose work appears regularly as an employee or freelance in US, or non-media. Print, broadcast, photo, film and Internet journalists are eligible. Individuals may nominate themselves or by employers. Journalists must agree to not publish or broadcast during the fellowship, and that they will return to their place of employment. Fellows will receive a $55,000 stipend, plus all tuition and fees. In addition, they must maintain an Ann Arbor residence, attend program seminars and meetings. Fellows will attend some special seminars at Wallace House, a gift from newsman Mike Wallace and his wife Mary. Deadline for applications is February 1. To apply visit http://www.mjfellows.org/apply/info.html
Sign up for the Knight Digital Media Center’s News Entrepreneur Bootcamp. It will be held May 16-21 in Los Angeles. Deadline for applications is February 16.
From the Beat
Rhee Plans Shake-Up of Teaching Staff, Training
by Bill Turque
The Washington Post
At the heart of Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s vision for transforming D.C. schools is a dramatic overhaul of its 4,000-member teacher corps that would remove a "significant share" of instructors and launch an ambitious plan to foster professional growth for those who remain. Rhee plans to move the District away from the regimen of courses and workshops that have defined continuing education for teachers. Borrowing from best practices in surrounding suburban districts, she is building a system of school-based mentors and coaches to help instructors raise the quality of their work. She also wants to import a nationally prominent Massachusetts consulting firm with a reputation for improving teachers' skills.
Principal challenges transient students
by Alexis Stevens
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Osborne High School junior Charlie Santiago has moved so many times since kindergarten, it gets hard to explain.
Students come and go throughout the school year at Osborne, as migratory families move — often in search of work. The school’s transient rate is about 64 percent. Estimated family income levels in the school’s ZIP code show that 45 percent of households have a yearly income of $35,000 or less. The school didn’t make Adequate Yearly Progress under federal No Child Left Behind guidelines, and is on the “Needs Improvement” list. But principal Steven Miletto doesn’t believe in making excuses. And his mission of uniting a school with a less than stellar reputation is paying off.
SAT Changes Policy, Opening Rift With Colleges
by Sara Rimer
The New York Times
This March, high school juniors taking the SAT will have the option of choosing which scores to send to colleges while hiding those they do not want admissions officials to see. The new policy is called Score Choice, and the College Board hopes it will reduce student stress around the SAT and college admissions. But when it comes to college admissions, few things are ever simple. Some highly selective colleges have already said that they will not go along with Score Choice, and the policy is stirring heated debate among high school counselors and college admissions officials.
In Detroit, a lesson in same-sex schools
by James Vaznis
The Boston Globe
Time after time, their team was passed over. As other groups sized them up to be partners in the robotics competition, they kept hearing the whispers: There's no way an all-girls team could build a robot that worked. Detroit has been at the forefront of a growing but controversial movement that aims to boost student achievement by splitting the sexes into different schools. Now Boston officials are fighting to open the state's first single-gender public schools in more than a generation.
Please send your best stories and member news to Mesha Williams at publications@ewa.org.
**About us**
The Education Writers Association is the national professional organization of education reporters dedicated to improving education reporting to the public. Contact us by email at ewa@ewa.org, by phone at (202) 452-9830, by fax at (202) 452-9837 or by mail at 2122 P Street NW, Suite 201, Washington, DC, 20037.Our officers include: Richard Whitmire of USA Today, president; Kent Fischer, education reporter at the Dallas Morning News, vice president/actives; Marie Groark, senior policy officer and spokeswoman for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, vice president/associates; Kathy Baron, morning host/education reporter at northern California's KQED-FM (on leave), secretary; Linda Lenz, publisher of Catalyst, immediate past president. Our board members include Dale Mezzacappa, former reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and now a Philadelphia-based freelance writer, Tanya Schevitz, higher education reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle; John Merrow of Learning Matters Inc.; Rodney Ferguson, executive vice president of Lipman Hearne Inc. Find contact information at our Web site, http://www.ewa.org.
