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VOLUME 2

ISSUE 4

Inside This Issue

New NCLB Guidelines for Students with Disabilities

Spellings: New "Commonsense" Approach
to Implementing NCLB

Study Reveals Many Pre-K Teachers Lack State-Mandated Training

Educational Technology

NCATE-Accredited Institutions Complying with Professional Standards

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State by State...

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WELCOME

Welcome to the Policy Brief. The purpose of this brief is to provide a resource for teacher education professionals, administrators and students from which teacher preparation, recruitment, retention and renewal programs and policies can be developed. The choice of summaries is not an attempt to promote any particular position on issues or polarization of recommendations made by government and educational officials or contributors of the publications.

States can now take advantage of flexibility under the No Child Left Behind Act for some of their special education students this year. Margaret Spellings recently announced that 2% of students in special education who have "persistent academic disabilities" could be tested using modified assessments. The Department of Education will be coming out with final rules in the fall. In the meantime, the short-term option allows states to adjust their adequate-yearly-progress goals for the 2005-2006 school year. The change requires that many conditions be met.  These include: schools must test at least 95% of their students with disabilities, put in place appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities, and make available alternative assessments in language arts and mathematics for students with disabilities who are unable to take the regular tests, even with accommodations.  Read more about this change here.

Source: ASCD SmartBrief [May 11, 2005]

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A recently released study indicates that pre-K teachers often lack the training or degrees that their states require. According to the study, in nine states, more than 10% of the prekindergarten classrooms are led by teachers who are out of compliance with state credential requirements. The study reveals that even though only four states - Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Washington - mandate that assistant teachers hold a child-development-associate credential, only half the assistants in those states have earned that certificate. The study examined 52 state pre-K programs in 40 states. Read more from Education week here. Read the full report here.

Source: Education Week [May 11, 2005]

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Education Week recently released its eighth annual report on educational technology. Technology Counts 2005 tracks the economic and policy forces that are converging to push changes happening at the federal, state and local levels. The report examines important school district angles on technology spending and technology spending priorities of some of the biggest districts. The report also ranks the states based on a number of educational technology factors (e.g., students per instructional computer, e-learning initiatives, technology requirements included in certification for teachers and administrators). The report includes a review of national trends in the use of educational technology, snapshots of the steps states have taken to use technology more effectively and recent state budget pictures.  Read more about the report here.

Source: Education Week (www.edweek.org) [May 5, 2005]

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Over the past five years, hundreds of institutions have been revamping how they collect and use data about their students. Beginning in 2001, NCATE-accredited institutions began implementing "Professional Standards for the Accreditation of Schools, Colleges, and Departments of Education." The standards require education schools to provide evidence that their graduates can successfully teach. Institutions seeking NCATE accreditation must assess their students' performance regularly and use the results to refine and improve their programs. All of the approximately 600 accredited institutions were expected to have put the standards fully in place by this academic year.

A survey of more than 1,000 education school deans and NCATE coordinators found that 93% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that as a result of working with the NCATE standards, their institution showed "better alignment between standards, curriculum, instruction, and assessment."  Read more about this here.

Source: Education Week (www.edweek.org) [May 11, 2005]

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The nonprofit Milken Family Foundation has created a new education foundation designed to address teacher quality requirements in the federal No Child Left Behind law. The Teacher Advancement Program Foundation aims to improve teacher quality by revising the structure of professional development. The new foundation is funded in part by the Milken Family Foundation and the Broad Foundation. Source: U.S. Department of Education, Education Innovator [May 9, 2005]

The Education Statistics Quarterly gives a comprehensive overview of work done across all parts of the National Center for Education Statistics. Each issue includes short publications, summaries, and descriptions that cover all NCES publications and data products released during a three-month period.  View the most recent, released February 3, 2005, here.

Three recent studies have found that national board certified teachers (NBCTs) increase student achievement. The most recent study found that students of NBCTs performed significantly better on the math portion of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). This study, along with the previous research published by Educational Policy Analysis Archives and the Urban Institute, speaks powerfully to the importance of professionalizing teaching to close the achievement gap in America.

In a major post-electoral shake-up of the U.K. government's Department of Education and Skills, Prime Minister Tony Blair has appointed six new ministers, although he has retained Education Secretary Ruth Kelly.  Controversial education advisor Andrew Adonis was named to a post in the department, although Kelly reportedly initially resisted the move.  Read more here. Source: ASCD SmartBrief [May 11, 2005]

The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) has just released a two-part special report  on leadership in school systems. The report provides a wealth of resources on leadership intended to help educators perform their jobs more effectively. Part I focuses on the importance of teacher leadership in boosting student learning and covers numerous issues including teacher preparation, professional development and evaluation practices. Part II takes a look at principal preparation, instructional leadership and management strategies. Learn more at ASCD.

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State Seeks More NCLB Flexibility
Citing Montana's sparse population and small schools, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Linda McCulloch asked the U.S. Department of Education to let the state use more data in determining whether its schools are meeting No Child Left Behind's (NCLB) yearly progress requirements. Currently, progress is measured largely by student test scores. McCulloch and other state officials say district trends, five-year plans and other long-term benchmarks should be included in the mix because they provide a more valid snapshot of Montana. Source: ECS e-clips [5/10/05]

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