ARCHIVES

The last month's worth of ECS' e-Connection may be accessed below. Please note that key items from previous issues appear in various places on the ECS Web site. For example, "Good Reads" have been placed in the "Research and Readings" category of the Education Issue sites to which they pertain. Items from "What States Are Doing" also appear in the Education Issue sites under the category by the same name.

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March 8, 2010

NEW ECS PUBLICATIONS

CHRONIC EARLY ABSENCE – The newest issue of The Progress of Education looks at two recent research studies on the issue of chronic early absence and examines: the impacts of chronic early absence; why it has been overlooked; 3) contributors to chronic early absence; and what can be done to reduce chronic absence in the early grades.
http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/84/20/8420.pdf

EARLY LEARNING CONTINUITY – This policy brief looks at transition and alignment — two key components for creating continuity across early learning and the early grades — and provides examples of successful state efforts.
http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/84/07/8407.pdf

WHAT STATES ARE DOING

EDUCATOR SURVEY - MARYLAND Governor Martin O’Malley, joined by state and local education officials, principals and teachers, today unveiled the results of the first ever statewide survey of Maryland educators, an initiative titled TELL Maryland. More than 43,000 educators took advantage of the survey, providing school-level data on more than 1,000 schools throughout Maryland.
http://www.governor.maryland.gov/pressreleases/100304.asp

COMMON COURSE NUMBERING - SOUTH DAKOTA has begun the work of adopting a common course numbering system in: Health and Physical Education, Fine Arts, Language Arts/Foreign Language, Math, Science and Social Studies.
http://doe.sd.gov/educationonline/2010/March/art_3.asp

NAMES IN THE NEWS

The Kansas Board of Regents has unanimously selected ANDY TOMPKINS as the Board's next President and CEO. Tompkins is currently the Dean of the College of Education at Pittsburg State University, a position he has held since 2007. Tompkins will begin as the Board's President and CEO on June 1.
http://www.kansasregents.org/download/news/030510%20-%20Press%20Release%20-%20Tompkins.pdf

March 1, 2010

WHAT STATES ARE DOING

DATA ANALYSIS - The TENNESSEE Department of Education has announced a partnership with SAS Institute Inc. to provide valuable teaching resources for Tennessee's Colleges of Education. Future educators and administrators will learn how to improve teaching effectiveness and student performance by working with simulated reports and results from the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS).
https://news.tennesseeanytime.org/node/4643   

HIGH SPEED INTERNET - School systems across ALABAMA are getting much faster computer connection speeds at no cost to the schools. The Alabama Supercomputer Authority is monitoring each school system's Internet usage. As systems begin to max out their available bandwidth, the Authority is upgrading their connectivity to faster speeds. So far, 34 school systems have received the upgrades without cost to the systems and three more school systems are scheduled to receive the faster connection speeds soon.
http://governorpress.alabama.gov/pr/pr-2010-02-26-01-tech_upgrades.asp

PRE-ENGINEERING - The OREGON University System and the Engineering and Technology Industry Council have announced $203,774 in grants to Oregon middle and high schools for the implementation of pre-engineering curricula and activities for students. The grants will allow the 21 schools awarded to expand pre-engineering programming to many more students across the state.
http://www.ous.edu/news_and_information/news/022510.php

GOOD READS

MIDDLE SCHOOL – A report from EdSource shares results from a study that identifies district and school policies and practices that are linked to higher student performance in the middle grades. The study provides a set of inter-related, actionable practices that middle grades educators and leaders can implement now by making smart, strategic choices. (Free registration may be required.)
http://www.edsource.org/middle-grades-report.html  

RESTRAINT AND SECLUSION POLICIES – The U.S. Department of Education has released a summary of state laws, regulations, policies and guidelines regarding the use of restraint and seclusion techniques in schools. The report section includes the descriptive information verified by each state and territory.
http://www2.ed.gov/policy/seclusion/summary-by-state.pdf

NAMES IN THE NEWS

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently named BONNIE REISS as education secretary. Reiss has served on the University of California Board of Regents since 2007. She serves on the board of directors for After School All-Stars and the Governor and First Lady’s Conference on Women. From 2004 to 2006, Reiss served on the California State Board of Education.
http://gov.ca.gov/press-release/14494/  

February 22, 2010

WHAT STATES ARE DOING

HIGHER EDUCATION REFORM - Members of LOUISIANA'S Postsecondary Education Review Commission have recommended changes in higher education governance, improved accountability and stronger performance-based funding. The commission approved their final report after six months of studying the key postsecondary education issues.
http://www.regents.state.la.us/pdfs/PubAff/2010/LAPERC_Feb-2010.pdf

COLLEGE TRANSITIONS - MAINE Governor John Baldacci recently joined officials of the state's community colleges, university system and the Maine Department of Education on Monday for a celebration of new agreements among the three entities to further improve the highly successful College Transitions program for adults, which prepares students for college-level math, reading and other skills, offers counseling and support services, career planning, a college experience, and follow-up support.
http://www.maine.gov/tools/whatsnew/index.php?topic=DOENews&id=89647&v=article

ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION - WISCONSIN State Superintendent Tony Evers has released a framework developed by the Wisconsin Entrepreneurship Education Task Force to help infuse entrepreneurial skills and competency throughout the PK-12 curriculum. The group was charged with developing a framework for schools and districts interested in initiating or enhancing entrepreneurship education. (See ECS' StateNote on entrepreneurship education laws in the states.)
http://dpi.wi.gov/eis/pdf/dpinr2010_07.pdf


GOOD READS

REAUTHORIZING THE ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION ACT - The Center on Education Policy has released a report containing its recommendations for reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act. The recommendations are based on a two-year review of current and past federal policies and a wide range of research, including CEP's own comprehensive studies of NCLB and student achievement in all 50 states.
http://www.cep-dc.org/document/docWindow.cfm?fuseaction=document.viewDocument&documentid=301&documentFormatId=4592
COMPUTER-BASED ALGEBRA INSTRUCTION - A brief from the Institute for Education Science looks at results from a study examining whether the I CAN Learn computer-based curriculum is more effective than traditional classroom instruction at teaching pre-algebra and algebra concepts to middle and high school students.
http://www.ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/quickreviews/QRReport.aspx?QRID=125

February 8, 2010

WHAT STATES ARE DOING

HIGHER EDUCATION – The TENNESSEE Complete College Act requires the Tennessee Higher Education Committee to develop a statewide master plan that meets the goal of increasing educational attainment, which includes approving institutional mission statements. It also requires the development of a new funding formula to incentivize outcomes to a greater degree across a range of variables.
http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/106/Bill/SB7006.pdf

CLOSING THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP – A wide-ranging bill in MASSACHUSETTS recently was signed into law with the aim of closing the achievement gap. One notable section of the law creates innovation schools, which are public schools with increased autonomy and flexibility in one or more of the following areas: (1) curriculum; (2) budget; (3) school schedule and calendar; (4) staffing policies and procedures; (5) school district policies and procedures; and (6) professional development.
http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/senate/186/st02/st02247.htm    

GOOD READS                                               

THE EXCELLENCE GAP – A new report from the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy reviews national and state assessment data for the existence of "excellence gaps," differences between subgroups of students performing at the highest levels of achievement in all 50 states.
https://www.iub.edu/~ceep/Gap/excellence/ExcellenceGapBrief.pdf

CHARTER SCHOOLS v. "TRADITIONAL" SCHOOLS? - A brief from the Center for Mental Health in Schools finds that arguing about charters vs. "traditional" schools masks the failure of school improvement policy and practice to enhance equity of opportunity. The brief then examines what type of policy shift is needed to stimulate development of a comprehensive, cohesive and coherent system to replace the prevailing piecemeal and marginalized approach to student and learning supports. 
http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/chartermissing.pdf

February 2, 2010

NEW ECS PRODUCTS
KINDERGARTEN POLICIES – Read a recently updated ECS StateNote detailing state policies on
kindergarten. The note has state policy information on everything from kindergarten class size to
provisions for skipping kindergarten.
http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/83/14/8314.pdf

WHAT STATES ARE DOING
POSTSECONDARY GRADUATION RATES – The California State University system, the largest public
university system in the country, has announced an initiative to raise graduation rates system-wide. The plan
is anticipated to cut in half the existing gap in degree attainment by CSU's underrepresented students.
http://www.calstate.edu/PA/News/2010/release/3graduation-initiative.shtml

STEM EDUCATION - DELAWARE Governor Jack Markell recently signed an executive order creating a statewide council to improve student preparedness in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects. The council will institutionalize collaboration between stakeholders and help the department of education reach its goal of increasing student enrollment in STEM careers by 50% from 2010 to 2013.
http://governor.delaware.gov/news/2010/1001january/20100119-stemeducation.shtml#TopOfPage

HIGH SCHOOL REMEDIATION – GEORGIA Superintendent Kathy Cox today announced a free online
remediation course for high school students to help them pass the science and/or social studies portion
of the Georgia High School Graduation Test. FreeOnline ExPreSS will be offered by the department of
education online to all high school students and certificate of attendance recipients who were unsuccessful
on or who have not yet taken the science and/or social studies test.
http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/pea_communications.aspx?ViewMode=1&obj=1912

GOOD READS
TOP TEN ISSUES TO WATCH – The Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education has released a
report that examines the issues they predict will be the most important to the public education sector
in 2010. While Georgia-specific, the report focuses on several issues that have urgency at the national
level, including state education budgets, Race to the Top and the four reform areas within the Race to
the Top criteria.
http://www.gpee.org/fileadmin/files/pdf/_GPEE_Top_Ten_2010_.pdf