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Triangle Coalition Electronic Bulletin
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This Week's Topics:
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| The "Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008" did exactly what its title indicates, consolidating 11 of 12 appropriations bills to allocate funding for fiscal year (FY) 2008 to all areas of the government, save that of the Defense Department. Each one of those 11 appropriations bills was meant to be passed separately by October 1st of 2007, when FY08 officially began, however it would be another two and half months until the Consolidated Appropriations Act would pass. Those two and a half months were funded by extending 2007 funding levels through what are known as "continuing resolutions," or "CRs." Reasons for the delay in funding may be one of the only issues Congress and the Administration have agreed upon of recent: both say the President was unwilling, in the majority of cases, to sign any bills into law that would appropriate funds beyond the levels set in his budget request. Congress' initial requests were around $22 billion, or 2.5 percent, higher than the President's request. A large portion of that increase was in the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill, which, apart from Defense, was the only spending bill that made it to the President's desk. However, it was promptly vetoed because it exceeded the President's request. That version of the Labor-HHS spending bill contained higher levels of funding for programs such as the Math and Science Partnerships (MSP) at the Department of Education, a key program followed closely by the Triangle Coalition. In the final omnibus bill, the MSP program was funded at $4.1 million less than its original allotment, placing it at $3.3 million less than its funding level in FY07. After the Labor-HHS bill was vetoed in November, Congress attempted to split the $22 billion in half to win the President’s support. When the President did not budge, Congress formed the final omnibus package, begrudgingly (for many) aligning it with the President's overall $933 billion budget request. More details and charts highlighting the funding levels for important STEM education programs can be found on the Triangle Coalition's Legislative News site. . |
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The American Geological Institute (AGI) and the AGI Foundation have announced the creation of the Edward C. Roy, Jr. Award for Excellence in Earth Science Teaching. Given annually, this award recognizes one classroom teacher from kindergarten to eighth grade for his or her leadership and innovation in earth science education. The winner will receive a $2,500 prize and an additional grant of $1,000 to enable the recipient to attend an AGI member society conference. To be eligible for this year’s competition, applications must be postmarked by March 1, 2008. This award is named in honor of Dr. Edward C. Roy, Jr., who was a strong and dedicated supporter of earth science education. He served as Past President of AGI, chaired the AGI Education Advisory Committee, and received both the Ian Campbell Medal and the Heroy Distinguished Service award. Click here to learn more about competition requirements, application procedures, and deadlines. . |
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| Education Week recently launched the "Quality Counts 2008" report, grading U.S. states across six areas of education performance and policy. While the U.S. posted a grade of C overall, the average state earned a D-plus on public school achievement, the poorest showing of any graded category. Marks were also low for state efforts to improve teaching, where 10 states earned a grade of D or lower. One of the six areas included in Education Week's report card, the teaching grades cover state efforts to increase accountability, provide incentives for talented people to enter and stay in the profession, monitor and allocate the distribution of talent, and build the capacity of teachers and principals to improve student learning. South Carolina earned the highest grade in the category, an A-minus. In addition, a new analysis by the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, which is used as part of the state report card, finds that the average U.S. public school teacher makes only 88 cents for every dollar earned by individuals in 16 comparable professions, such as accountants, architects, occupational therapists, and registered nurses. The new report "Quality Counts 2008: Tapping Into Teaching, Unlocking the Key to Student Success," is available online. States are also graded in the report on a "K-12 Achievement Index" that focuses specifically on student learning in elementary through high school. The achievement index evaluates how well a state’s students perform compared with those in the top-ranked state on 18 separate indicators. The index takes into account current state performance, improvements over time, and poverty-based achievement gaps. Massachusetts again leads the nation, earning 82.5 points and a B. Maryland was the only other state to receive a B, while New Jersey earned a B-minus. The report found severe poverty disparities in many of the top-achieving states. . |
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A new study funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) found that middle school mathematics teachers in the United States are not as well prepared to teach this challenging subject as are many of their counterparts in five other countries. "Mathematics Teaching in the 21st Century" (MT21) studied how well a sample of universities and teacher-training institutions prepare middle school mathematics teachers in the United States, South Korea, Taiwan, Germany, Bulgaria, and Mexico. Specifically, 2,627 future teachers were surveyed about their preparation, knowledge, and beliefs in this subject area. In comparison to other countries in the study, U.S. future teachers ranked from the middle to the bottom on MT21 measures of mathematics knowledge. "The MT21 study extends the international perspective from students to teachers, and provides new approaches for conducting such a study," said Wanda Ward, deputy assistant director for NSF's education and human resources directorate. "It also offers valuable comparisons about the outcomes of teacher education programs across the participating nations." The length of time needed to complete teacher preparation requirements varied among the countries studied. While some of the requirements could be completed within four years, others involved five to seven years of training. . |
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| Science and Engineering Indicators 2008 (SEI), published by the National Science Board, provides a broad base of quantitative information on the U.S. and international science and engineering enterprise. The report is a comprehensive source of information on research and development conducted by universities, industry, the federal government, and the international science and engineering enterprise. Science and Engineering Indicators 2008 tell a mixed story regarding the achievement of U.S. students in science and math in international comparisons. U.S. grade school students continue to lag behind other developed countries in science and math, although fourth and eighth grade U.S. students showed steady gains in math since 1990. Only fourth graders showed gains in science compared to 1996. High school completion and college enrollment rates across ethnic groups increased steadily in recent years. But college enrollment and completion rates differ across socioeconomic groups. In addition the report showed that in 2000, the United States held about one quarter of the world's 194 million tertiary degrees -- degrees broadly equivalent to a U.S. baccalaureate. Twenty years earlier, the U.S. share was closer to one third of the world's then 73 million tertiary degrees. SEI is prepared by NSF's Division of Science Resources Statistics (SRS) on behalf of the National Science Board. It is subject to extensive review by outside experts, interested federal agencies, Board members, and SRS internal reviewers for accuracy, coverage, and balance. The National Science Board was established by Congress in 1950, and has two roles. It provides oversight for, and establishes the policies of, the National Science Foundation. It also serves as an independent body of advisors to both the President and Congress on broad national policy issues related to science and engineering research and education. To read some key STEM education-specific excerpts from the Indicators in the Triangle Coalition Legislative News, click here; the full report is available here. . |
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TCEB Sponsors
This issue of the TCEB is made possible by grants from: To find out how your organization can sponsor the TCEB or support the Triangle Coalition in other ways, visit www.trianglecoalition.org/support.htm __________________________________________________________________________ |
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