T C E B TRIANGLE COALITION ELECTRONIC BULLETIN OCTOBER 11, 2001 VOL. 7, NO. 37 _____________________________________________________
Published by the TRIANGLE COALITION FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION _____________________________________________________ THIS WEEK'S TOPICS: TCEB SCHEDULING NOTICE CYBER-SCHOOL BILL MOVES FORWARD DISTRICTS TINKER WITH REPORT CARDS TO MAKE BETTER SENSE OF STANDARDS TRIANGLE COALITION MEMBER PROFILE: KISS INSTITUTE FOR PRACTICAL ROBOTICS 2001 CRAFTSMAN/NSTA YOUNG INVENTORS AWARDS PROGRAM HONORS TWO NATIONAL WINNERS AND TEN FINALISTS AS SCHOOLS REDUCE ROLE OF EARTH SCIENCES, SOME FEAR RISK TO KEY FIELDS COLLEGE BOARD WANTS AP COURSES FOR ALL NAEP BOARD CONSIDERS CHANGES IN MATH TESTS ____________________________________________________ TCEB SCHEDULING NOTICE The next issue of the TCEB will be distributed on October 25, 2001. *********************************** CYBER-SCHOOL BILL MOVES FORWARD (Source: The (Philadelphia) Daily News & Inquirer, September 28, 2001) A bill that would add a licensing requirement for cyber schools in Pennsylvania but also make the state pay for the schools is one step closer to becoming law. The House Education Committee voted, 18-1, in favor of a measure requiring Internet-based charter schools to obtain state licensing before they could enroll students who live outside the school district that granted their charter. The bill also would require the state Education Department to set aside funds to pay for the schools. The state education secretary would determine the amount. The bill now goes to the House Appropriations Committee to determine how much it would cost. Under current law, a school district is billed for the tuitions of cyber-school students who live within that district. House Bill 1733 was introduced by committee chairman Jess Stairs (R., Westmoreland) after some school districts refused to pay cyber-school tuitions and challenged the schools' legality. Seven cyber schools are operating in the state this year. Under the bill, those schools would have to exchange their charters for state licenses at the end of this school year. The licenses would remain in effect through the period covered by the original charters. Charter schools receive public funds but are viewed as alternatives to public schools because they are exempt from many regulations. Students enrolled in a cyber charter school receive instruction in their homes via the Internet. While advocates argue that cyber schools are an important new educational option, the Pennsylvania School Boards Association and some individual school districts have filed suits challenging the schools' legality. In the meantime, several school districts are debating whether to allow cyber-school students to participate in extracurricular activities at public schools. The Coatesville Area school board in Chester County was scheduled to take up that issue. Ronald Scott, Jr., president of the Coatesville board, said the district had no students in cyber schools last year. This fall, 36 have enrolled. ************************************ DISTRICTS TINKER WITH REPORT CARDS TO MAKE BETTER SENSE OF STANDARDS (Source: Education Week, September 26, 2001) Chicago public school students will have a little help this fall explaining to their parents just what those marks on their report cards mean. Instead of the simple A, B, C, D, or F in reading, for example, teachers will also report whether students have acquired an adequate knowledge of words for the grade level, use a variety of strategies for understanding what they read, can read a variety of materials fluently, and can respond to literature. The cards will also report how many books each student has read for the term. The 431,000-student district is piloting the newfangled progress reports in 60 schools, covering grades 1-8, that will describe in greater detail what skills students have or have not mastered in reading, writing, and mathematics. The accountability efforts undertaken by many states and school districts have led in recent years to detailed report cards for districts and schools. Parents often have ready access to information on teacher-attendance rates, the number of disciplinary actions taken at a school, and schoolwide test results. But such detailed information on the performance of individual students is not widely available, said Mark D. Musick, the executive director of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) in Atlanta. "The information going to parents about the school has been greatly increased, whereas the information about students' academic performance has been less dramatically expanded," Mr. Musick said. "In some places, there are efforts to offer more information about academic progress, even through things like electronic portfolios, but those things haven't penetrated the system." Abandoning or reconfiguring the letter grades that have become a fixture in American education over the past century has met with resistance from parents and the public in many communities. Several Southern states have begun to standardize the percentage scales schools use to determine letter grades, according to the SREB's Mr. Musick. That has come about, he said, in response to concerns that the awarding of state scholarships based on students' report cards was leading to grade inflation and tremendous variability in what work was worthy of A's and B's. "What is an A? In some places it means 92 to 100 percent, in others 94 to 100 percent," Mr. Musick said. "Some states are insisting on a statewide standard, but that doesn't mean an A in one place is the same as an A in another. More information about what exactly a student knows would be better." Despite the ambiguity, many educators predict a difficult transition and suggest the power of tradition will not fade easily. "I can just [imagine] a conversation when a grandmother asks, 'How did Betsy do on her report card?,'" said Mr. Forbes of California's Rocklin district. "The mother will say she got three 4's and a 2, and when the grandmother asks what that means, the mother will say, 'She got three A's and a B.'" ************************************ TRIANGLE COALITION MEMBER PROFILE: KISS INSTITUTE FOR PRACTICAL ROBOTICS Triangle Coalition member, KISS Institute for Practical Robotics (KIPR), is a private non-profit educational organization based in Norman, OK, that uses the field of robotics to communicate the excitement, knowledge, and practical understanding of science, computer programming, math, and technical problem-solving to the public. KISS stands for the acronym Keep It Simple Stupid - an old engineering term that still proves useful. KISS Institute's primary goals are to educate the general public about robotics and to reach out to students, particularly those who may be at risk, inspiring them and increasing their levels of skill and experience. Robotics is a multidisciplinary field that helps students make the connection between the science and math they learn in their classrooms and their ability to create real technology. KISS Institute's main outreach activity is the Botball program, a national program for middle and high school students, conducted as a series of regional Botball Tournaments across the country. Botball uses the highly engaging activities of robot design, construction, and programming to increase students' science and math skills and appreciation. Botball starts off with a hands-on professional development workshop for teachers, showing how to use robotics to support science and math curricula, and culminates in high energy regional and national Botball events across the country, including tournaments and exhibitions. All robots are student-built and programmed by students (no remote control); however mentors from industry are welcome to help guide teams. KISS Institute is currently registering teams for the next Botball season which takes place early in spring. Interested parties are encouraged to check www.botball.org for more information. For more information about KIPR, call 405-579-4609 or e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] ************************************ 2001 CRAFTSMAN/NSTA YOUNG INVENTORS AWARDS PROGRAM HONORS TWO NATIONAL WINNERS AND TEN FINALISTS Sears Craftsman tools and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), co-sponsors of the 2001 Craftsman/NSTA Young Inventors Awards Program, have announced that $70,000 worth of U.S. savings bonds will be presented to grade-school children to honor their efforts creating a new tool or re-thinking an existing one. Each of the 12 children (six in the second-through-fifth-grade category and six in the sixth-through-eighth-grade category) has won a $5,000 U.S. savings bond. Two of those students -- one from each grade category -- have been selected as national winners of an additional $5,000 U.S. savings bond. The national winners of the $10,000 U.S. savings bonds are Phillip Mitchell, who was in fifth grade at J. B. Stephens School in Bangs, Texas, when he invented "Easy Trim" -- an adjustable tool, "based on ergonomics," that makes it easier to groom goats and lambs for livestock shows; and Jonathan Edwards, who was in sixth grade at Panhandle Junior High School in Panhandle, Texas, when he invented "Step Ramp" -- steps that easily convert into a ramp for pushing wheelchairs or moving heavy objects. The Craftsman/NSTA Young Inventors Awards Program is designed to teach students the scientific principles of how tools operate, introduce them to working with hand tools, encourage them to think creatively about the world around them, and enable them to develop practical solutions to everyday problems. For a complete list of the winners, including the 10 finalists, visit www.nsta.org/programs/craftsman.asp. ************************************ AS SCHOOLS REDUCE ROLE OF EARTH SCIENCES, SOME FEAR RISK TO KEY FIELDS (Source: The Dallas Morning News, October 2, 2001) As much as any state, Texas has prospered from the bounty of the earth. But a group of geologists, academics, and corporate executives is arguing that the state is risking its future prosperity by letting its schools' commitment to the earth sciences erode. State officials acknowledge that a series of recent decisions has helped to move earth science to the margins. But they say it's the unintended consequence of well-meaning reforms. "The unfortunate net result is that earth science has become something we never meant it to be, which is essentially ignored," said Chris Castillo-Comer, director of science in the Texas Education Agency's division of curriculum and professional development. Ms. Castillo-Comer and advocates for earth science say the root causes for the shift are several converging changes in the past few years. Among them is the state's new curriculum, adopted in 1998, which eliminated focused study of earth science in third, fifth, and eighth grades as part of a shift toward broader "general science" classes that touch on each field of science in every grade. And last year, the State Board of Education changed a rule that allowed high school students to take earth science to fulfill science requirements. Officials want to be sure all students study biology, chemistry, and physics. Starting with freshmen this fall, earth science counts only as an elective. Some schools still offer earth science classes as electives, but Ms. Castillo-Comer said few students take them if they can't be counted toward science graduation requirements. "The result of this is that earth science is going to be just a middle school subject in Texas," said Mike Smith, director of education for (Triangle Coalition member) the American Geological Institute, which has been coordinating the lobbying efforts in Texas. "Kids may learn earth science as 11- or 12-year-olds and never encounter the subject again." He said that, if there is a national trend in earth science education, it's to increase its presence in the curriculum as environmental and energy issues become more important. For example, North Carolina made high school earth science a required course for graduation last year. The National Science Education Standards, produced by the National Research Council in 1996, includes earth science in its standards at each grade through senior year. ************************************ COLLEGE BOARD WANTS AP COURSES FOR ALL (Source: Ed.Net Briefs, October 1, 2001 Original Source: USA Today, September 26, 2001) The College Board is making a concerted effort to open the Advanced Placement Program to all students, regardless of the high school they attend. The goal is for all 24,000 secondary schools nationwide to offer the rigorous advanced placement (AP) courses that can lead to college credit. Minorities and urban and rural schools have been specifically targeted. There are 35 AP courses in 10 subject areas offered in about 57 percent of U.S. schools. These AP courses culminate in special exams in which high school students may earn college credit. This year, 1.4 million exams were taken by students, who paid $78 for each course. The College Board receives $22 million from the federal government to help supplement exam fees for low-income students. College Board president Gaston Caperton has said the greatest challenge facing the Advanced Placement program may be to prepare more teachers who are willing to teach the courses. The College Board recently began offering teacher-training workshops around the country. Last year, more than 12,000 secondary teachers received pre-AP training nationwide and more than 400 new schools offered AP courses. The most popular AP course is U.S. history, followed by English literature and composition, calculus, and biology. (Editor's Note: For more information, visit www.collegeboard.com.) ************************************ NAEP BOARD CONSIDERS CHANGES IN MATH TESTS (Source: Education Week, October 3, 2001) Should 4th graders master addition, subtraction, and other simple arithmetic? Should 8th graders be tested on the basics of algebra even though the subject still isn't usually taught until high school? Should any student taking a math test have the aid of an electronic calculator? The debates over such questions have been centered on state and local decisions -- until now. The National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees the only federal testing program, is proposing to change the guidelines that define the content on its mathematics exams. In doing so, the board has spawned a debate over what should be tested on the flagship National Assessment of Educational Progress and what help students should receive in taking the tests. A committee of mathematicians and educators impaneled by the board has recommended slight changes to the existing frameworks that spell out what will be on the math tests that are given every four years. The tests produce national results and scores for individual states that participate in the program. Results of the math tests administered last year showed 4th and 8th graders posting steady increases over the decade since NAEP began using the current form of the tests. (Editor's Note: For more information, visit www.nagb.org.) _____________________________________________________ This TCEB is made possible by a grant from AT&T. Please visit www.att.com/learningnetwork for more information about AT&T's support for education. The TCEB is a newsletter provided to members of the Triangle Coalition. Members may forward individual articles or the issue in its entirety providing that credit is given to the Triangle Coalition, and all of the following contact information is included in any republication. For TCEB subscription or membership information, contact: Triangle Coalition for Science and Technology Education 1201 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005 phone: 800-582-0115 fax: 202-289-1303 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.triangle-coalition.org To submit information for possible inclusion in TCEB, contact: Joanne Van Voorhis, Target Marketing, Editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] ************************************ THE MISSION OF THE TRIANGLE COALITION IS TO FOSTER COLLABORATION AMONG LEADERS IN EDUCATION, BUSINESS, AND GOVERNMENT TO IMPROVE SCIENCE, MATHEMATICS, AND TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION. The Triangle Coalition membership includes business, labor, education, science, mathematics, technology and engineering organizations, and community and state-based alliances. ************************************ -- This is the ISTA-talk mailing list. 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