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Triangle Coalition Electronic Bulletin
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This Week's Topics:
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The U.S. Department of Education has awarded $47,676,723 million in TRIO Educational Opportunity Centers (EOC) program grants to 128 grantees in 44 states, as well as Puerto Rico, to provide counseling and information on college admissions to qualified individuals who want to enter, or continue, a program of postsecondary education. The goal of the EOC program is to increase the number of participants who enroll in postsecondary education institutions. The program also provides services to improve financial and economic literacy, as well as assist participants in pursuing financial aid options. "A college degree or postsecondary certificate has never been more necessary for success in the global economy, and TRIO programs will help increase the number of people who pursue postsecondary education, by helping them learn about the admissions process and how to find financial aid," Secretary Arne Duncan said. "TRIO and other programs are making an essential contribution to meeting the President's goal of having the highest percentage of college graduates by the end of the decade." The President's fiscal year 2012 budget request includes $920.1 million for the Federal TRIO Programs, which includes funds to award continuation grants to EOC projects that were successful under the competition. More information about the EOC program is available online. Responsibility for tomorrow's most daunting environmental problems will fall to the youth of today -- the very people creating some of the most inspired solutions. Helping generate these solutions is the national sustainability challenge for K-12 students, the Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge. Through the challenge, students team up with classmates under teacher/mentors to solve environmental problems in their school (grades K-5), community (grades 6-8), and world (grades 9-12). Now entering its fourth year, the challenge is a collaborative effort of the Siemens Foundation, Discovery Education, the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), and the College Board. Students at all levels use scientific investigation and web-based curriculum tools powered by Discovery Education to create a replicable green solution. Nearly 18,000 elementary, middle, and high school students competed in last year's challenge, offering innovations in areas such as food-waste-to-energy, community-scale battery recycling, phantom-power load reduction, systematic behavior change, erosion control, wildlife habitat restoration, and sustainable agriculture for arid zones. Teachers and mentors can register for the Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge, add their student teams, and begin formulating their projects at www.wecanchange.com. Student and teacher/mentor prizes, which vary according to grade level and value more than $250,000 total, include scholarships, savings bonds, school grants, adventure trips, and a chance to present their idea at the United Nations. A panel of environmental experts and science educators will judge teams based on their research, analysis, and the ability of the solution to be replicated on a larger scale. High school students are specifically challenged to address: energy, biodiversity, land management, water conservation and cleanup, or air and climate. The deadline for all entries is March 15, 2012. More than 6,000 New York area middle school students recently rallied behind science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education at the Harlem Armory and Apollo Theater during "The Dream Tour," a high-energy motivational program presented by Dr. Bernard A. Harris Jr., the first African-American to walk in space. Students from New York City Department of Education schools participated in the two-hour, inspirational program designed to encourage STEM-related careers. The high-tech event, supported by ExxonMobil Foundation, featured interactive science experiments, a simulated shuttle launch and firsthand accounts from ExxonMobil engineers about the rewarding aspects of their careers. The program concluded with a motivational address from Dr. Harris about how he overcame barriers through education and achieved his dreams to become a successful physician, businessman, NASA researcher, and astronaut. "Forty years ago, who would have thought our handheld devices would have the same computing power as the technology used to send humans to the moon?" Harris said. "With The Dream Tour, I want to inspire students to use their talents and creativity to become innovators who can push the boundaries of what people think is possible." The Dream Tour is one of several programs in partnership with The Harris Foundation designed to empower youth to pursue math and science and higher learning opportunities. In September, The Dream Tour made its first international stop -- a three-country African tour -- to expand the program's impact and address the need for strong STEM initiatives worldwide. After successful events in New York City, the tour will also visit Washington, DC; San Antonio, TX; and Dallas, TX this fall. In nearly every city, Dr. Harris will host a forum for educators and community leaders to discuss education issues and generate solutions to transform STEM education in their community. By the end of 2011, The Dream Tour will have visited 39 cities since its inception to achieve its goal of impacting more than 1 million students, teachers, and parents. Find out more at www.exxonmobil.com/community. While high school scores on state English language arts and math tests have risen since 2002 in most states, new data show smaller proportions of states making gains in high school compared with 4th and 8th grades. The data, published in the Center on Education Policy's new report, "State Test Score Trends Through 2008-09, Part 5: Progress Lags in High School, Especially for Advanced Achievers" also show a striking lack of progress and widening gaps at the advanced level in many states. The report is based on state test results from 40 states and the District of Columbia. States were included if they had at least three consecutive years of test data through school year 2008-09 for the high school grade assessed for the No Child Left Behind Act, generally grade 10 or 11. High school students in more than three-fourths of the states analyzed made gains in average test scores and percentages of students scoring proficient, the study found. But compared with grades 4 and 8, a smaller share of states made gains -- and a larger share showed declines. In addition, high school gains tended to be smaller than gains in grades 4 and 8. "These trends show that progress in raising achievement is lagging in high school, so these students may not be adequately prepared for life after graduation," said Jennifer McMurrer, CEP research associate and co-author of the study. The study also reveals a lack of progress among high school students at the advanced achievement level. Although the percentage of high school students reaching the advanced level has increased since 2002 in a majority of the states analyzed, one-third or more of these states showed declines at the advanced level for high school students. Declines at this level were more prevalent at high school than at grades 4 and 8. Moreover, achievement gaps have often widened at the advanced level in high school, in contrast to a broad trend of narrowing gaps for high school students at the proficient level and in average test scores. Gaps in the percentage of high school students reaching the advanced level widened more often than they narrowed, especially in math. The African American-white gap in advanced high school achievement widened in two-thirds of the states analyzed, and the Latino-white gap widened in three-fifths of these states. "These trends show a need to rethink high school education," said Jack Jennings, CEP's president and CEO. "The adoption by 44 states of common academic standards for high schools affords us the opportunity to do that." The report, along with achievement trends for individual states, can be accessed free of charge online. Today there are at least 1,000 schools across the U.S. that offer an expanded schedule. As interest in expanded learning time grows, so does a corresponding concern for how schools can ensure that adding time will actually translate into a better education for every student. The National Center on Time & Learning has recently released a new report to address this issue. "Time Well Spent: Eight Powerful Practices of Successful, Expanded-Time Schools," outlines specific practices that can lead to dramatic increases in student achievement and preparation for success in college and the workforce. The report offers an in-depth examination of 30 expanded-time schools serving high-poverty populations with impressive track records of student success, and demonstrates how these schools leverage their additional time in order to implement other critical reforms. The report focuses on how high-performing, expanded-time schools use time, and makes eight recommendations, based on the practices of the schools studied: 1. Make every minute count -- maximize added time; 2. Prioritize increased hours that are tailored to the school and their students; 3. Individualize added time for each student based on diverse needs; 4. Build a positive school culture of high expectations and mutual accountability; 5. Provide new experiences for students to make their education more well-rounded; 6. Prepare students for the future by encouraging college readiness and career goals; 7. Strengthen instruction by providing increased time for teacher professional development; and 8. Evaluate how well goals are met by assessing and analyzing data. The Dow Chemical Company has announced it is joining more than 80 organizations around the U.S. as part of 100Kin10, a collaborative movement to support the national imperative of preparing, deploying, and supporting 100,000 new, best-in-class science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) teachers in the next 10 years. Dow, through its philanthropic arm, The Dow Chemical Company Foundation, is pledging $500,000 over three years to 100Kin10, whose mission is to reverse our country's decades-long decline in STEM subjects, to ensure all children have the basic STEM literacy to be full participants in our economy and democracy, and to enable our country's students to address the most pressing national and global challenges. "The most highly trained and knowledgeable teachers -- and a substantial supply of them -- are an essential element to ensuring the U.S. can educate and employ the best and brightest STEM candidates to create jobs and inspire innovation here in America," said Bo Miller, Dow's global director of corporate citizenship and president of The Dow Chemical Company Foundation. Dow's commitment to 100Kin10 aligns directly with the company's most recent STEM investments announced at the Clinton Global Initiative America meeting this past June: Stepping Up STEM for Students, Teachers and Jobs. Dow committed to helping scale up two initiatives: Support for the Chemical Education Foundation's "You Be The Chemist" challenge and the National Science Teacher Association's (NSTA) New Science Teacher Academy. To learn more about Dow's efforts to support STEM education, visit www.dow.com/education. 100Kin10 (http://100kin10.org) is a multi-sector mobilization that responds to the national imperative to prepare, deploy, and support 100,000 excellent STEM teachers over the coming 10 years. Partners, including but not limited to corporations, school districts, museums, institutes of higher education, foundations, federal agencies, professional associations, states, and nonprofit organizations, apply their particular assets to creatively and strategically address the challenges of increasing the supply of excellent STEM teachers, developing and retaining excellent STEM teachers, and building the 100Kin10 movement. Many Triangle Coalition members have already pledged their support. Whatworks.ed.gov (WWC) has a fresh new look to offer better ways to find what works in education. The government resource has a mission to be a central and trusted source of scientific evidence for what works in education. They have redesigned the website to be more informative, more user-friendly, and easier to navigate than ever before. WWC publications are now categorized into 15 topic areas such as literacy, math, and student behavior. With one click, you can view all publications and resources related to a topic area, including intervention reports, practice guides, quick reviews, and other materials. With more accountability for achieving results in education, school board members, superintendents, principals, teachers, and policy makers must make well-informed decisions backed by solid research evidence. Find out more at http://whatworks.ed.gov.
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