November 12, 2010
...a bi-weekly update
on U.S. Department of Education activities relevant to the Intergovernmental
and Corporate community and other stakeholders
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ACROSS
THE POND
Last week,
Secretary Duncan made his first official trip to Europe. First, he
traveled to London, where he met with British Secretary of State for Education
Michael Gove to discuss common challenges and goals for reforming
education. As Secretary Duncan explained in a new entry on the
Department’s blog (http://www.ed.gov/blog/2010/11/foreign-countries-find-common-challenges/),
“England is also struggling to turn around low-performing schools and is
working to recruit and prepare the next generation of talented teachers and
principals. Throughout our discussions, I found that the United States
and England are taking similar approaches to addressing these challenges, and
we have much to gain from sharing our experience.” The Secretary
also visited Mossbourne Community Academy, which once was known as one of the
worst schools in Britain. In 2004, the school underwent a transformation
to improve student learning through such efforts as extending the school
day, instituting smaller “learning areas,” and investing in
educator professional development. This year, more than 90% of Mossbourne
students taking the national examination received the highest rating.
Next,
Secretary Duncan traveled to Paris, where he delivered remarks at the United
Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Forum,
highlighting the Obama Administration’s education reform agenda and
underscoring the role of education in economic competitiveness and global
prosperity. “I want to provide two overarching messages today about
America’s efforts to boost educational attainment and achievement,”
he said in his speech (http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/vision-education-reform-united-states-secretary-arne-duncans-remarks-united-nations-ed).
“First, the Obama Administration has an ambitious and unified theory of
action that propels our agenda. The challenge of transforming education
in America cannot be met by quick-fix solutions or isolated reforms. It
can only be accomplished with a clear, coherent, and coordinated vision of education
reform. Second, while America must improve its stagnant educational and
economic performance, President Obama and I reject the protectionist Cold War
era assumption that improving economic competitiveness is somehow a zero-sum
game…. I want to make the case to you today that enhancing
educational attainment and economic viability, both at home and abroad, is
really more of a win-win game. It is an opportunity to grow the economic
pie, instead of carve it up.” (Note: The Secretary recently made
similar remarks before the Council of Foreign Relations and penned an essay in Foreign Affairs
magazine on enhancing U.S. education and competitiveness.) In welcoming
further international dialogue, the Secretary also mentioned some of his own
future commitments, including joining the Secretary General of the Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for the announcement of the
2009 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) results in December
and sponsoring an International Summit on the Teaching Profession in March.
Then,
Secretary Duncan attended the OECD Ministerial on Education, where he
participated in a plenary working lunch, attended breakout sessions with fellow
education ministers and government officials from member countries and key
emerging economies, and met with OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria and U.S.
Ambassador to the OECD Karen Kornbluh.
A reminder:
Next week is International Education Week,
celebrating international education and exchange worldwide. During the
week, Deputy Secretary Tony Miller will lead an agency delegation to Australia,
to participate in the inaugural Australia-U.S. Education Roundtable.
(Secretary Duncan will participate via video conference.) The small
delegation will also travel to New Zealand to meet with education
officials. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE GO TO http://iew.state.gov/.
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NATIONAL
EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY PLAN
On November
9, Secretary Duncan released the Department’s plan for transforming
American education through technology, a process that would create an engaging,
state-of-the-art, cradle-to-college school system nationwide. The
National Education Technology Plan was written and refined over 18 months by
leading education researchers, with input from the public, industry officials,
and educators and students from across the country. Development of the
national plan was led by the Department’s Office of Educational
Technology (OET) and involved the most rigorous and inclusive process ever
undertaken for a plan. It is a crucial component of the Obama
Administration’s efforts to have America lead the world in college
completion by 2020 and help close the academic achievement gap so that all
students graduate from high school ready to succeed in college and careers.
“Our
nation’s schools have yet to unleash technology’s full potential to
transform learning,” the Secretary stressed in his remarks (http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/%E2%80%9C-digital-transformation-education%E2%80%9D-us-secretary-education-arne-duncan).
“We’re at an important transition point…. We need to
leverage technology’s promise to improve learning.”
The plan,
“Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology,”
presents a model with key goals in five areas: learning, assessment, teaching,
infrastructure, and productivity. Each section outlines concepts for
using technology to holistically transform education, with the aim to achieve
each goal by 2015. Overall, the plan addresses trends that could
transform education, such as accessibility and mobility, the rise of digital
content, and the rise of online social networks for information, collaboration,
and learning. Also, it stresses that technology in the classroom only
works when paired with effective teaching. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE
GO TO http://www.ed.gov/technology/netp-2010.
Meanwhile, through December 17, K-12 students, parents, teachers,
administrators, and pre-service teachers from across the country have the
opportunity to share their ideas and opinions on education and technology,
through Project Tomorrow’s annual Speak Up survey (http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup/).
This year’s survey includes questions about emerging technologies:
digital textbooks, online learning, and the use of smart phones within
instruction. Students are also asked to design their own “mobile
app” for learning. The results are shared with participating
schools, so that they can use the data for planning and community
discussions. Results are also used by government agencies and other
organizations to inform their programs and policies.
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TEACH
CAMPAIGN
This week,
Secretary Duncan and Grammy Award-winning artist John Legend visited Howard
University in Washington, D.C., to encourage students to choose teaching
careers. This visit was part of the Department’s TEACH campaign, a
national teacher recruitment initiative launched earlier this year to recruit
more diverse, high-quality teachers and celebrate the teaching
profession. The Secretary and Legend hosted a town hall meeting with
students and educators. Legend specifically discussed his involvement in
education and his work with the TEACH and Show Me campaigns. FOR MORE
INFORMATION, PLEASE GO TO http://www.ed.gov/blog/2010/11/secretary-duncan-and-john-legend-team-up-to-encourage-students-to-pursue-teaching/.
The TEACH
campaign encourages more minorities, especially males, to pursue careers in the
classroom. Nationwide, more than 35% of public school students are
African-American or Hispanic, but less than 15% of teachers are
African-American or Hispanic. Moreover, less than 2% of our
nation’s teachers are African-American males.
To learn
more about the TEACH campaign and to view public service announcements (PSAs)
by celebrities such as John Legend, visit TEACH.gov.
The web site provides information and resources for students and prospective
teachers, including a new interactive “pathway to teaching” tool
designed to help individuals chart their course to becoming a teacher.
More than 7,000 teacher job listings also are posted on the site.
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NEW
RESEARCH PRIORITIES
On November
1, the National Board for Education Sciences unanimously approved new research
priorities for the Department’s Institute of Education Sciences
(IES). Proposed by Director John Easton and submitted for public comment
this summer, these new priorities are intended to make education studies more
relevant to educators and help practitioners become more involved in developing
and using research. IES’s topics of study will remain much the same
under the new priorities. Yet, these new priorities place greater
emphasis on putting research findings into context, “to identify
education policies, programs, and practices that improve education outcomes,
and to determine how, why, for whom, and under what conditions they are
effective.” IES has also set as a priority identifying new and
rigorous methods to measure outcomes in education research and building
partnerships with educators and the community to develop greater
“analytic capacity” at the local level. These priorities will
be used to craft requests for proposals for new grant competitions in
January. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE GO TO http://ies.ed.gov/director/board/priorities.asp.
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THE
BIG READ
The
National Endowment for the Arts’ (NEA) The Big Read provides U.S.
communities with grants and numerous resources to read and discuss a single
book or the work of a poet. Libraries, municipalities, and non-profit
organizations are encouraged to apply for one of approximately 75 grants to be
awarded for programming between September 2011 and June 2012. The
application deadline is February 1, 2011. Aside from a grant, the
following educational and promotional materials are provided and available
online: reader’s and teacher’s guides and audio guides with
commentary from artists, educators, and public figures; Spanish translations of
selected reader’s guides; and posters, banners, and bookmarks. For
this cycle, communities will choose from 28 book titles (the recent additions
include In the Time of
the Butterflies by
Julia Alvarez and A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean) and three works of
poets. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE GO TO http://www.neabigread.org/.
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ODDS
AND ENDS
·
Secretary
Duncan observed Veterans Day by visiting Manor View Elementary School at Fort
Meade, Maryland, and celebrating the unveiling of the school’s new
library. As part of Target’s School Library Makeover Program, the
library received a complete transformation, featuring 2,000 new books; Smart
Boards (interactive, electronic whiteboards); and new carpet, furniture, and
lighting. Also, each student received seven new books to take home and
begin his or her own at-home library.
·
A
slideshow, transcript, and video from the Department’s October 11
Education Stakeholders Forum, covering the Race to the Top Assessment
Competition, the Promise Neighborhoods Program, and the TEACH Campaign, is
available online at http://www.ed.gov/blog/2010/10/ed-hosts-first-education-stakeholders-forum-for-2010-2011/.
·
A
new Department video shows Tim Bailey, the 2009 Preserve America National
History Teacher of the Year, in his classroom at Salt Lake City’s
Escalante Elementary School, where he taught U.S. history and civics until the
current school year. Many of his students are first- and
second-generation immigrants whose families come from countries in Latin
America, Africa, and Asia. Regardless of their backgrounds, he gets his
students engaged and excited about the story of America. FOR MORE
INFORMATION, PLEASE GO TO http://www.ed.gov/blog/2010/11/helping-students-from-immigrant-families-discover-an-%E2%80%9Cemotional-connection%E2%80%9D-to-u-s-history/.
·
Speaking
of teachers, Secretary Duncan saluted the 662 most highly effective teachers in
the District of Columbia Public Schools at “A Standing Ovation for
Teachers.” FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE GO TO http://www.ed.gov/blog/2010/11/giving-teachers-a-standing-ovation/.
·
The
Department held a National Policy Forum for Family, School, and Community
Engagement on November 9. Several senior officials from the Department
and other education stakeholders delivered remarks or participated in panel
discussions, focusing on the shared responsibility and best practices to
support children’s learning, from cradle-to-career, in the home, school,
and community. The Administration is proposing to double funding for
parent and family engagement -- from 1% to 2% of Title I funding, or a total of
$270 million. At the same time, in order to drive innovation, it will
allow states to use another 1% of Title I funding, roughly $145 million, for
grant programs that support, incentivize, and help expand school
district-level, evidence-based parental involvement practices.
·
The
Education Trust has honored four public schools with 2010 “Dispelling the
Myth” Awards: Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary School in New Orleans; Jack
Britt High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina; Griegos Elementary School in
Albuquerque; and Morningside Elementary School in Brownsville, Texas. FOR
MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE GO TO http://www.edtrust.org/dc/press-room/news/four-public-schools-receive-the-8th-annual-dispelling-the-myth-awards.
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QUOTE
TO NOTE
“[M]oving forward, the question is
going to be can Democrats and Republicans sit down together and come up with a
set of ideas that address core concerns. I'm confident that we can.
I think that there are some areas where it’s going to be very difficult
for us to agree on, but I think there are going to be a whole bunch of areas
where we can agree on…. I think everybody in this country thinks
that we’ve got to make sure our kids are equipped in terms of their
education, their math background and science background, to compete in this new
global economy. And that’s going to be an area where I think
there’s potential common ground.”
-- President Barack Obama (11/3/10), during a press conference the day
after the mid-term elections
______________________________________________________________________
UPCOMING EVENTS
Results from
the 2009 National Assessment for Educational Progress’ (NAEP)
twelfth-grade assessments in reading and math will be released on November 18,
at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE GO TO http://www.nationsreportcard.gov/.
On November 19,
the Department’s Early Childhood and Reading Group will host a Striving
Readers Comprehensive Literacy Program public input meeting at the Potomac
Center Plaza (550 12th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024). The group
is seeking input, including written input, from literacy experts, literacy
organizations, states, other stakeholders, and the public, to inform the design
and development of a notice inviting applications (NIA) that establishes the
requirements for this competition. There will be two sessions: 9:00 a.m.
to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Please note that technical
assistance for grant applicants will be provided at a later date. This
meeting is strictly for providing input concerning the development of a
NIA. FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER, PLEASE GO TO http://www2.ed.gov/programs/strivingreaders-literacy/input-meetings.html.
Over the next
two weeks, the Department will exhibit at the iNACOL (International Association
for K-12 Online Learning) Virtual School Symposium in Glendale, AZ (November
14-16), the National Dropout Prevention Conference in Philadelphia (November
14-17), the National Alliance of Black School Educators’ Conference in
Fort Worth, TX (November 17-21), the National Council of Teachers of
English’s Convention in Orlando (November 18-21), and the American
Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages’ Convention in Boston
(November 19-21). If you are attending any of these events, please stop
by the Department’s booth.
______________________________________________________________________
Please feel free to
contact the Office of Communications and Outreach with any questions:
Director,
Intergovernmental Affairs -- Stacey Jordan, (202) 401-0026,
mailto:[log in to unmask]
Program
Analyst -- Adam Honeysett, (202) 401-3003, mailto:[log in to unmask]
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be added or removed from distribution, or submit comments (we welcome your
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contact
Adam Honeysett. Or, visit http://www2.ed.gov/news/newsletters/edreview/.
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