Triangle Coalition Electronic Bulletin

Triangle Coalition Electronic Bulletin

July 31, 2008

Volume 14, Number 29

Published by the
Triangle Coalition for Science and Technology Education

This Week's Topics:

FULL-DAY KINDERGARTENERS' READING, MATH GAINS FADE BY 3RD GRADE
MATHCOUNTS NATIONAL FINALISTS HONORED IN WHITE HOUSE CEREMONY
SCHOOL BOARDS AND SUPERINTENDENTS SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN EXECUTIVE GOVERNANCE TRAINING
READING, MATH SCORES UP FOR 4TH AND 8TH GRADERS, FEDERAL REPORT SHOWS
NATIONAL MATH PANEL FORUMS SCHEDULED
"EVALUATING ONLINE LEARNING: CHALLENGES AND STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS"
DAVIDSON INSTITUTE SEEKS EXTRAORDINARY ACHIEVERS TO RECEIVE SCHOLARSHIPS
PREVIOUS ISSUES

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FULL-DAY KINDERGARTENERS' READING, MATH GAINS FADE BY 3RD GRADE

Children in full-day kindergarten have slightly better reading and math skills than children in part-day kindergarten, but these initial academic benefits diminish soon after the children leave kindergarten. This loss is due, in part, to issues related to poverty and the quality of children's home environments. Those are the findings from a new study by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Loyola University Chicago. Published in the July/August 2008 issue of the journal Child Development, the study sheds light on policy discussions as full-day kindergarten programs become increasingly common in the United States. Using data on 13,776 children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999, a study of a nationally representative group of kindergartners, the researchers measured children's academic achievement in math and reading in the fall and spring of their kindergarten and first-grade years, and in the spring of their third- and fifth-grade years. The researchers also looked at the type and extent of child care the children received outside of kindergarten, the quality of cognitive stimulation the children received at home, and the poverty level of the children's families. Overall, the study found that the reading and math skills of children in full-day kindergarten grew faster from the fall to the spring of their kindergarten year, compared to the academic skills of children in part-day kindergarten. However, the study also found that the full-day kindergarteners' gains in reading and math did not last far beyond the kindergarten year. In fact, from the spring of their kindergarten year through fifth grade, the academic skills of children in part-day kindergarten grew faster than those of children in full-day kindergarten, with the advantage of full-day versus part-day programs fading by the spring of third grade. "The results of this study suggest that the shift from part-day to full-day kindergarten programs occurring across the U.S. may have positive implications for students' learning trajectories in the short run," notes Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh and the study's lead author. "They also highlight that characteristics of children and their families play noteworthy roles in why the full-day advantages fade relatively quickly." More details are at www.education.pitt.edu.

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MATHCOUNTS NATIONAL FINALISTS HONORED IN WHITE HOUSE CEREMONY

President Bush recently congratulated the top finishers in the 2008 Lockheed Martin MATHCOUNTS National Competition along with their respective coaches and the first place Texas state team and coach in an Oval Office ceremony. President Bush praised each of the Mathletes for their outstanding achievement and their commitment to academic excellence, and also recognized the volunteer coaches for their service to the MATHCOUNTS program. He went on to remind the middle school students that the U.S. will one day rely on their problem-solving skills and that each student should continue to develop their special abilities in mathematics. The top four individual winners beat 224 other student Mathletes in written and oral competition at the Lockheed Martin National Competition in Denver earlier this year.

The 2009 MATHCOUNTS National Competition is sponsored by Raytheon and will be held in Orlando, FL in May, 2009. The mission of MATHCOUNTS is to increase enthusiasm for and enhance achievement in middle school mathematics throughout the United States. The program relies upon a national network of 17,000 volunteers. Funding for the project comes primarily from its National Sponsors: Raytheon Company, Northrop Grumman Foundation, Texas Instruments Incorporated, National Society of Professional Engineers, Lockheed Martin, 3M Foundation, CNA Foundation, General Motors Foundation, and ConocoPhillips. MATHCOUNTS was founded by The National Society of Professional Engineers, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and CNA Foundation. More information is available at www.mathcounts.org.

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SCHOOL BOARDS AND SUPERINTENDENTS
SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN EXECUTIVE GOVERNANCE TRAINING

The school boards and superintendents of five urban school districts have been chosen to participate in a two-year national training in school board policy best practices, The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation recently announced. The program, called "Reform Governance in Action," trains the nation's most promising reform-minded school boards and superintendents to become effective, high-performing teams. Modeled after the Harvard Kennedy School's training for new mayors and new members of Congress, Reform Governance in Action specifically trains school board-superintendent teams to establish a wide range of efficient and effective policies and processes that will improve board operations, strengthen management oversight and directly improve learning opportunities for students. Participation in the program is by invitation only and is based on demonstrated strong leadership and willingness to work collectively and rigorously to improve learning opportunities for students. School board members and superintendents from the following school districts were chosen to participate: Antioch Unified School District, CA; Elizabeth Public Schools, Elizabeth, NJ; Houston Independent School District, Houston, TX; Memphis City Schools, Memphis, TN: and the School District of Philadelphia, PA.

Through the program, district leaders will join a network of nearly 100 school board members and superintendents nationwide who have participated in Reform Governance in Action since 2005. Over the course of the two-year training, which includes four off-site training institutes and ten on-site consulting visits, participants dig deeply into the real challenges facing urban governance teams struggling to improve student achievement, district operations, and civic capacity. Teams evaluate the effectiveness of their current district policies and practices, develop new approaches, connect their districts to best practices nationwide, and determine how to measure their progress. Participants also learn directly from leading school board members and other education experts nationwide and from one another, intensely debating various education reform approaches and working through challenging scenarios. District teams provide one another with critically useful feedback on their own board policy drafts prior to final board approval, sharing best practices across school districts. The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation is a national venture philanthropy established by entrepreneur and philanthropist Eli Broad to advance entrepreneurship for the public good in education, science, and the arts. More details are available at www.broadfoundation.org.

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READING, MATH SCORES UP FOR 4TH AND 8TH GRADERS,
FEDERAL REPORT SHOWS

The nation's fourth and eighth graders scored higher in reading and mathematics than they did during their last national assessment, according to the federal government's latest annual statistical report on the well-being of the nation's children. Not all the report's findings were positive; there also were increases in the adolescent birth rate and the proportion of infants born at low birthweight. These and other findings are described in "America's Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2008." The report is compiled by the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, a working group of Federal agencies that collect, analyze, and report data on issues related to children and families, with partners in private research organizations. It serves as a report card on the status of the nation's children and youth, presenting statistics compiled by a number of federal agencies in one convenient reference. The report offers several content areas, including: Demographic Background, Family and Social Environment, Economic Circumstances, Health Care, Physical Environment and Safety, Behavior, Education, and Health.

With regard to education, the report found that mathematics and reading scores increased from the previous year reported, as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). For fourth graders, average mathematics scale score increased 2 points (on a scale of 0–500 points), 238 in 2005 to 240 in 2007. For eighth graders, scores also increased by two points from 279 to 281, during the same time period. Mathematics scores for these age groups were higher than in all previous assessments, with 39 percent of fourth-graders and 32 percent of eighth graders at or above the Proficient level, a level indicating solid academic achievement. The Forum's website contains all data updates and detailed statistical information accompanying this year's America's Children in Brief report. As in previous years, not all statistics are collected on an annual basis and so some data in the Brief may be unchanged from last year's report.

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NATIONAL MATH PANEL FORUMS SCHEDULED

The U.S. Department of Education, in partnership with the Conference Board of Mathematical Sciences, will host the first in a series of National Math Panel forums in Washington, D.C. on October 6-7, with the goal of building a sustained effort to improve math education. As the panel's findings are extensive and cover many areas, this initial forum will focus on four of seven recommendation topics: learning processes, instructional materials, teachers and teacher education, and research policies and mechanisms. Other topics, such as curricular content, instructional practices, and assessment, may be discussed and will be addressed during future forums. Interested parties committed to improving the teaching and learning of math are encouraged to register by August 8.

The National Mathematics Advisory Panel (National Math Panel) was charged with reviewing the best available scientific evidence and making recommendations on improving mathematics education with a focus on readiness for and success in algebra and mathematics education in grades K–8. The Panel's final report, "Foundations for Success," was issued in March. The report contains 45 findings and recommendations on numerous topics, including curricular content, learning processes, instructional practices and materials, teachers, assessments, and future research priorities. More details on the forums are online.

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"EVALUATING ONLINE LEARNING:
CHALLENGES AND STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS"

The U.S. Department of Education recently release "Evaluating Online Learning: Challenges and Strategies for Success," a report that features seven evaluations of online learning programs or resources. The evaluations represent variety both in method of evaluation and in the program or resource that was examined. According to the report, education in this country has evolved dramatically from the days of one teacher in a one-room schoolhouse. Today, student learning is no longer confined to a physical space. Computers and the Internet have broken through school walls, giving students greater opportunities to personalize their education, access distant resources, receive extra help or more challenging assignments, and engage in learning in new and unique ways. Although online learning is a relatively new enterprise in the K-12 arena, it is expanding rapidly, with increasing numbers of providers offering services and more students choosing to participate. As with any education program, online learning initiatives must be held accountable for results.

The new report is design to help students and their parents -- as well as administrators, policymakers, and funders -- access data about program and student outcomes and, if relevant, about how well a particular program compares to traditional education models. The guide specifically focuses on challenges and response strategies. All of the evaluations illustrate strong assessment practices and robust findings, and they are models for demonstrating how program leaders and evaluators can handle the challenges of evaluating online learning. The guide also features a variety of online programs and resources, including virtual schools, programs that provide courses online, and websites with broad educational resources. Some serve an entire state, while others serve a particular district. The guide also includes distinct kinds of evaluations, from internally led formative evaluations to scientific research studies by external experts. The full report is available online.

DAVIDSON INSTITUTE SEEKS
EXTRAORDINARY ACHIEVERS TO RECEIVE SCHOLARSHIPS

The Davidson Institute for Talent Development is offering high achieving young people across the country the opportunity to be named as 2009 Davidson Fellows, an honor accompanied by a $50,000, $25,000, or $10,000 scholarship in recognition of a significant piece of work in Science, Technology, Mathematics, Music, Literature, Philosophy, or Outside the Box. To be eligible, applicants must be under the age of 18 as of October 1, 2009, and a U.S. citizen or permanent U.S. resident residing in the United States. There is no minimum age for eligibility. The deadline to apply is March 4, 2009. Applicants must submit an original piece of work recognized by experts in the field as significant and it must have the potential to make a positive contribution to society. The scholarship must be used at an accredited institute of learning. For more information on the Davidson Fellows scholarship, or to download an application, visit www.DavidsonFellows.org.

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