Triangle Coalition Electronic Bulletin

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NCES RELEASES PISA 2009 RESULTS

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The performance of U.S. 15-year-old students improved in science, regained lost ground in mathematics, and held steady in reading, according to the results of an international assessment released last week by the National Center for Education Statistics in the U.S. Department of Education. The report, "Highlights From PISA 2009: Performance of U. S. 15-Year-Old Students in Reading, Mathematics, and Science Literacy in an International Context," compares the performance of U.S. 15-year-old students in reading, mathematics, and science literacy to the performance of their peers internationally. PISA, or the Program for International Student Assessment, is designed to assess what students have learned -- both inside and outside of school -- as they near the end of compulsory schooling, and how well they apply that knowledge in real-world contexts. Some 69 percent of the U.S. students sampled for PISA are tenth-graders. PISA is coordinated by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organization made up of 34 mostly industrialized member countries such as the United States, Japan, Germany, Korea, and the United Kingdom. Some non-OECD member countries, such as Brazil, as well as non-national education systems like Shanghai and Dubai, also participated in the administration of PISA 2009. Other key findings from PISA 2009 include the following:

* In mathematics literacy in 2009, the U.S. average score (487) was lower than the OECD average score (496). Among the 33 other OECD countries, 17 had higher average scores than the United States, 5 had lower average scores, and 11 had average scores not measurably different from the U.S. average.

* A lower percentage of U.S. students scored at or above higher-order proficiency benchmarks in mathematics literacy than the OECD average. Math scores improved from 2006 but were not measurably different from scores on the 2003 assessment. 

* In science literacy in 2009, the U.S. average score (502) was not measurably different from the OECD average (501). Among the 33 other OECD countries, 12 had higher average scores than the United States, 9 had lower average scores, and 12 had average scores that were not measurably different.

* For science, the U.S. average score in 2009 was higher than the U.S. average score in 2006, the only time point to which PISA 2009 performance can be compared in science literacy. The gain means that the U.S. science performance is no longer below the OECD average.

NCES's PISA 2009 report provides international comparisons of average performance in reading literacy and three reading literacy subscales and in mathematics literacy and science literacy; average scores by gender for the United States and other countries, and by student race/ethnicity and school socioeconomic contexts within the United States; the percentages of students reaching PISA proficiency levels, for the United States and the OECD countries on average; and trends in U.S. performance over time. Supplemental tables on the NCES website include additional data from PISA 2009, including the percentages of students in all PISA countries reaching the PISA proficiency levels and information on trends in performance around the world in reading, mathematics, and science. The International Data Explorer also now includes PISA 2009 data for the 65 participating countries and education systems and PISA 2000 reading literacy data.   

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BLACKBOARD ANNOUNCES SUPPORT FOR COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS

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Blackboard Inc. has announced support for the Common Core State Standards, which are now directly accessible for the K-12 community. The integration makes it easy for teachers and administrators to search the standards database from the course environment to ensure that courses and content are aligned to the new standards. To date, 39 U.S. states and territories and the District of Columbia have announced that they will adopt the Common Core State Standards, which define the knowledge and skills students should have in English and math during their K-12 careers in order to be successful in college and the workforce. Blackboard Learn, Release 9.1 already offers alignment with existing academic standards for all 50 states and integrated lesson planning. These new capabilities help teachers align their instruction to standards based curricular requirements and generate reports on consistency. Release 9.1 also includes automated standards mapping which can save districts and teachers countless hours of manual updates when standards change. This capability can also help schools and districts make the transition to Common Core standards much faster.

"The Common Core standards are a key component of education reform efforts, and expanding our standards database to include them is an important step in aligning our course platform to the needs of schools and districts," said John Canuel, Vice President K-12 Education Strategy. "This is a key part of our overall commitment to standards based teaching and learning, and leveraging technology to better support teachers and students." The Common Core standards were developed in collaboration with teachers, school administrators, and experts as part of the Common Core State Standards Initiative, a state led effort coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers. For more information about Blackboard Learn for K-12, click here. For more information about the Common Core State Standards Initiative, visit www.corestandards.org.

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EDUCATION MINISTERS FROM TOP-PERFORMING COUNTRIES

TO GATHER FOR FIRST INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT IN THE U.S.

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U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has announced the U.S. Department of Education, the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), and Education International will convene an International Summit on the Teaching Profession in New York City, the first of its kind. Planning for the March 16-17, 2011 Summit is being overseen by the Summit's U.S. partners, including WNET (Channels THIRTEEN & WLIW21), the Asia Society, the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and the Council of Chief State School Officers. "We have a great deal to learn from other nations that are out-educating us today. To continue and deepen the conversation, we -- together with OECD and other partners -- will convene an International Summit on the Teaching Profession in New York in March to bring together Ministers of Education and national teachers unions from the highest-performing and most rapidly-improving countries," said Secretary Duncan. Attendees will include Ministers of Education from the leading countries in education as measured by the 2009 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results. Leaders from U.S. education associations, top teachers, and international union leaders will also be invited to attend. The Summit will foster the exchange of ideas between nations to better serve youth across the world -- much as WNET's Celebration has become known for creating an atmosphere of candid conversation among educators from all disciplines.

The Summit will serve as a prelude to WNET's sixth annual Celebration of Teaching & Learning, a K-12 professional development conference. The Celebration brings together the world's best experts and more than 10,000 educators from all 50 states and beyond at the Hilton New York on March 18-19, 2011. Educators experience four distinct learning environments through plenary sessions, featured speaker sessions, hands-on "In the Classroom" workshops, and interactive exhibitor halls. To learn more, visit thirteencelebration.org.      

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GLOBAL STUDY ANALYZES PARENTS' MATH ATTITUDES, CAPABILITIES,

and STUDENTS' ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT IN MATH-RELATED LEARNING

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Raytheon Company has unveiled new research exploring parental attitudes toward math, parents' perceived math capabilities, and the level of active engagement in math-related learning among 10-14 year olds across the United States, England, and Singapore. While only 43 percent of 2010 U.S. high school graduates met the ACT college entrance exam "college readiness" benchmark, the study shows that parents can play a key role in helping their children prepare for math and math-related careers. However, the research demonstrates parents must be given the right information and tools in order to provide the required level of support. Key findings of the report summarizing this study, titled "A Cross-Country Exploration of Math-Related Learning in the United States, England, and Singapore: Parent Perceptions and Practices Regarding Math Education During the Middle School Years," include:

* Parents in all regions lack a clear understanding of their children's math performance, though the gaps are most evident in the U.S. and England. Seventy eight percent of U.S. parents and 76 percent of English parents believe their child performs in the top 20 percent of their peer group in math.

* U.S. parents are more confident in their ability to help in all areas of math than their peers. However, once middle school-level math is introduced, confidence wanes. Only 45 percent of U.S. parents report a high ability to help with algebra; 37 percent report the same for geometry.

* In the U.S., 77 percent of parents responding to the survey say they provide math help while only 10 percent report engaging tutors; trends were similar in England. Forty-two percent of parents in Singapore turn to tutors.

* Parents may be the most common provider of math support, but those in the U.S. and England are less likely to report receiving information about how to help their child. In fact, 51 percent of parents in Singapore say they receive information from their child's school to help prepare for math exams; only one in four parents in the U.S. and England report the same.

* While 92 percent of parents in Singapore ensure their children receive extra math instruction beyond regular classroom work, only 47 percent of parents in the U.S. and 48 percent of parents in England do the same.

* While U.S. students are more likely than those in Singapore to participate in spelling competitions, the opposite holds true in math. One-third of parents in Singapore say their child participates in a math competition, while less than one-tenth of U.S. parents report such activity. One-fifth of parents in England say their child participates in a math competition. 

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EXXONMOBIL FOUNDATION AND NACME PARTNER

TO INCREASE DIVERSITY IN ENGINEERING

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ExxonMobil Foundation has announced a $520,000 grant to the National Action Council for Minority Engineers, Inc. (NACME), a non-profit focused on increasing the number of underrepresented students pursuing careers in engineering. Of the total grant, $270,000 is part of an annual grant for organization support and scholarships, and $250,000 will go toward NACME's Pre-Engineering Program and Academies of Engineering (AOE) strategy. ExxonMobil Foundation has been the largest corporate sponsor of NACME since the council's founding in 1974 and has provided the organization with more than $10 million in support. According to research done by NACME, less than 12% of baccalaureate engineering graduates in the United States are underrepresented minorities, and only 4% of minority students leave high school with the skills necessary to pursue engineering degrees. As the demand for highly trained engineers continues to rise, NACME's development programs help prepare growing numbers of talented, young underrepresented minority students with the skills and exposure they need to graduate from high school and pursue a college degree in engineering. NACME anticipates impacting more than 18,000 middle and high school students nationwide by 2012 through its efforts.

"The ExxonMobil Foundation is focused on improving science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, but we need quality partners such as NACME in order to have a greater impact," said Suzanne McCarron, president, ExxonMobil Foundation. "When you consider how few minorities there are among engineering ranks in America, it's imperative that we work together to find solutions to increase the opportunities and exposure for students with diverse backgrounds." Currently, NACME provides scholarship support for approximately 1,250 college engineering students through a national network of 50 Partner Universities.  

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NATIONAL ENERGY FOUNDATION CELEBRATES 10 YEARS

OF IGNITING CREATIVE ENERGY CHALLENGE

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The National Energy Foundation (NEF) and Johnson Controls (JCI), a global leader in providing energy efficient solutions in buildings, invites students from kindergarten through 12th grade to submit innovative ideas on energy and the environment to the Igniting Creative Energy (ICE) national competition. Students are invited to submit creative projects that demonstrate what people can do in their home, school, or community to become better stewards of the environment. Students may choose to express their ideas in any creative format including science projects, essays, stories, artwork, photographs, music, videos, websites, blogs, and multimedia projects. Recent service projects may also be submitted. Entries will be accepted until March 4, 2011. Since 2002, more than 15,000 students have participated for a chance to win national and state prizes. Bob Poulson, president of the National Energy Foundation says, "The Igniting Creative Energy Challenge aligns with our mission to cultivate and promote energy literacy and encourage future energy leaders. It provides participants an opportunity to make a positive impact in their communities through environmental and energy awareness." Each year, ICE challenges students to think creatively about ways to save energy and help conserve environmental resources and this year "ICE water" is an added topic. Entry forms and guidelines can be found at www.ignitingcreativeenergy.org.

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This issue of the TCEB is made possible by a grant from:

3M 

3M is a diversified technology company committed to providing practical and ingenious solutions to help customers succeed.

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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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The TCEB is a newsletter provided to members of the Triangle Coalition. Triangle Coalition members may forward individual articles or the issue in its entirety to internal member lists, providing that credit is given to the Triangle Coalition, and contact information is included in any republication.
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