FOR EDUCATORS
A Special Section from CER

• GREAT HEADLINES: "Girls get extra school help while boys get Ritalin." (USA Today, 8/29/03). This story underscores the challenges schools face about the growing rift between programs that actually help girls but ignore the fundamental differences in boys. "Too often the first reaction to an attention problem is 'Let's medicate,'" Rockville, MD child psychologist Neil Hoffman told USA Today. More information on issues concerning the difference in learning styles between boys and girls may be found at the National Association of Single Sex Public Education, a relatively new influential group that promotes single sex schools as one way to address these problems. Log on to http://www.singlesexschools.org/ for more.

SABOTAGE & SOUR GRAPES: A new teacher certification test, developed by  the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence (American Board) under a federal grant in order to help college educated professionals earn a teaching credential without having to go back to school, was compromised by a rival organization, the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education. The program was intended to hasten states' compliance with the No Child Left Behind Act’s mandate to have a "highly qualified" teacher in every classroom by the 2005-06 school year. Six months of work has been ruined and a new test is now in the works; meanwhile Congressman John Boehner, Chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, has vowed to investigate. See CER Newswire June 17, 2003 for more details.

CERTIFIABLE NONSENSE: There is a long-standing tendency to equate teacher certification with teacher quality. Unfortunately, it simply doesn't hold up under scrutiny. Here's a look at some of the research and analysis that tell the tale.

Parent Power! March 2003: For many years teacher unions have been identified as perhaps THE greatest impediments to implementing real reform in our schools. But what can be done about them, and where else can teachers go to address common problems? Find out in the newest issue of Parent Power!

CLASS STRUGGLE: IS HOMEWORK REALLY SO TERRIBLE? "This allegedly overburdened American child, innocent victim of callous teachers, is averaging less than a half hour of homework each school night.... Schools that demand a half hour a day of academic work at home, less than a fifth of the time these same children spend watching television, do not seem to me to be overdoing it." By Jay Mathews, Washington Post, February 18, 2003. Link to complete article.

NEW READING GUIDE: Take Me On A Reading Adventure, A Literacy Guide For America's Charter Schools provides assistance to charter schools in developing high-quality reading programs. The guide profiles nine charter schools that have implemented reading programs resulting in significant student achievement, and also provides information and resources on how children learn to read, teaching strategies and faculty development, and building family involvement with reading. The Guide was created by America's Charter School Finance Corporation under its Charter School Awareness, Outreach and Literacy Program with assistance from The Center for Education Reform and other charter organizations. Link to more information and Literacy Guide in .pdf format.

TEACHER TROUBLES: A must read from the City Journal of the Manhattan Institute tells the saga of a Teach for America graduate whose work in a Washington, DC school led not to praise by school officials but rather, a lawsuit by parents who were led to believe this teacher had assaulted their kids. The article raises questions about exactly how, when school systems tolerate mediocrity, we will ever attract enough qualified, interested individuals to teach the children. Go to http://www.city-journal.org/html/13_1_how_i_joined.html.

SOLUTIONS TO THE BIG CITY COMMUNICATIONS PROBLEM: Recently CER asked people to submit good suggestions for how New York City -- and others -- can get the word out to parents that there are "supplemental" or tutoring services available for children in schools that are failing. The number and quality of the responses were overwhelming. These are not only ways to inform parents and the community about tutoring, but also about their choices, period. The moral to this story is that there is no end to the good people can do when they put their minds together. Click here for more.

HONORING THE VICTIMS OF 9-11: "As part of the Students in Service to America initiative, the Corporation for National and Community Service and the U.S. Department of Education are encouraging educators and students to honor September 11 victims through community service projects. The agencies are suggesting that educators and others who work with students begin incorporating service activities into their plans for spring term courses and programs. President George W. Bush launched Students in Service to America at the start of the 2002-2003 school year. He urged all American students to begin a volunteer service activity or project this school year as part of the USA Freedom Corps effort to create a culture of service, responsibility, and citizenship." For more information view the entire US DOE press release and visit http://www.studentsinservicetoamerica.org/.

LATEST CHARTER FINDINGS: CER's 2002 Charter School Survey finds the nation's charter schools successfully educating children under-served by traditional public schools, with more instructional time, innovative curricula, and cost-effectiveness. Get the details.
Charter School Closures: The Opportunity for Accountability finds the success rate for charter schools is extremely high: less than 7% have closed in the decade since the first charters opened, compared to federal findings that 11% of the nation's traditional district schools are failing (but continue to cycle children through their doors). Get the details.

REMEMBERING, ONE YEAR LATER: In the wake of the 9-11 terrorist attacks, how can schools best teach about this assault on American citizens, ideals and traditions? Check out Mom, Apple Pie and the Schools for timely, constructive lesson plans and reflections on valuing and achieving civic literacy in our schools.

SIZING UP WHAT MATTERS: The Importance of Small Schools: It is taken almost as an article of faith that smaller classes produce better academic results, and that reducing class size is a proven way to help America's schools. What is proclaimed less often is the truth of "smaller is better" when applied to school size, which is in fact far more important than having children sit in small classes. Get the full story. (For a look at the small class size debate, check out CER's Debunking the Class Size Myth as well as the latest report from the CSR Research Consortium.)

Beyond Brick and Mortar: Cyber Charters Revolutionizing Education: The joining of the internet and the decades old charter movement is leading to a whole new 21st Century school house, and offering parents additional choices, especially for children physically or emotionally unable to attend traditional schools.

Can Students Survive on Junk Food? Eighteen years ago, A Nation At Risk warned of a "rising tide of mediocrity" in American schools. This report examines how little progress has been made, and looks at recent and alarming trends in school standards, from local measurement to international standings. Here, you'll find both general and a subject-by-subject look at student achievement.
More on the learning gap in reading and math.

10 QUESTIONS TO ASK THE NEA : Do the NEA and school employee unions represent the best interests of teachers, parents, and children?

Flawed textbooks are hurting our children's education. CER looks at how textbook adoption processes are adding to the problem. In PDF format

PUBLIC EDUCATION SPENDING & STAFFING: A new report from the Education Intelligence Agency provides important insight into how states spend their money on education: From teacher compensation, to classroom instruction as a percentage of total school workforce, to number of classroom teachers per district administrator. With more than a dozen tables, it's a "should not miss" report. You can find it at: http://members.aol.com/educintel/eia/

MAKING A DIFFERENCE: The latest research from highly regarded Tennessee professor William Sanders shows that teacher effectiveness has a stronger relationship to student performance than class size, ethnicity, location and economic status. In a report to the Nashville (TN) Metro School Board, Dr. Sanders also described data showing that the best teachers are not leaving the inner city schools to teach in the suburbs, and that there is an even distribution of effective teachers across economic lines. Link to the story.

THE CHARTER ADVANTAGE: Survey findings reveal that educators' primary motivation for entering the charter school field is "to have an opportunity to achieve excellence," and "escape the constraints of traditional schools." The survey was conducted as part of the launch of "Hire Standards," a non-profit executive search initiative designed to place charter school principals and reform-minded school superintendents nationwide. To get a copy of the survey or learn more about Hire Standards, visit their website at www.hirestandards.org or call them at 202-835-2000.

AT THE CORE: CURRICULUM 

MATH WARS: Around the nation, parents, mathematicians and other concerned educators are going head to head with educrats over what makes a good math program. Get the full story....

THE READING CORNER: Updates on what's happening in reading policy and curriculum.

SAT SCRAMBLE: All about the latest tinkering, tweaking and dumbing down of this high school milestone.

SCHOOL SPOTLIGHT:   Check out the great things   schools and educators are doing  around the country.

SUPPORT RESOURCES ...

BEYOND THE NEA AND THE AFT:

• National and State Alternative Professional Educator Associations.

• Disassociation from the NEA, published by the Education Policy Institute (EPI), explains how teachers can terminate all formal ties to a teacher union -- NEA, AFT, or any school employee union --, including any obligation by nonmembers to pay service fees to the union as a condition of employment. Disassociation from the NEA is available free of charge from EPI. For more information, visit http://www.educationpolicy.org/EPIseries/disassociation-bklt.htm.

The American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence (ABCTE): ABCTE is committed to increasing the supply of highly qualified teachers essential for achieving student success, and is creating new assessments to evaluate them.

SCHOOL REPORT CARDS: Many states offer "report cards" on their schools and school districts, to help parents and taxpayers see just how and where schools are performing, or coming up short. CER now provides links to these school-by-school evaluations for 37 states. 

And visit visit CER's Grants Alerts and Job Watch pages for funding and employment opportunities.

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