T C E B
TRIANGLE COALITION ELECTRONIC BULLETIN
SEPTEMBER 20, 2001
VOL. 7, NO. 34
_____________________________________________________

Published by the 
TRIANGLE COALITION 
FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION
_____________________________________________________

THIS WEEK'S TOPICS:
ESEA PASSAGE, SLOWED BY BUDGET, UNLIKELY BEFORE LATE FALL
TOYOTA TAPESTRY GRANT PROGRAM EXPANDS TEACHING GRANTS
FOR THE ENHANCEMENT OF SCIENCE EDUCATION
WHAT'S NEW AT FREE?
MORE PARENTS EXCHANGING E-MAILS WITH TEACHERS
SCIENCE IN FOCUS: FORCE AND MOTION
FOREIGN TEENS SAY ACADEMICS GIVEN MORE PRIORITY BACK HOME
DISCOVERY SELECTS THE FINAL FORTY
ALL BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS SCHOOLS ARE NOW ONLINE
____________________________________________________

ESEA PASSAGE, SLOWED BY BUDGET,
UNLIKELY BEFORE LATE FALL 
(Source: Education Week, September 12, 2001)

When members of Congress returned here last week, they faced the same 
pressing questions on education that they did when the Capitol emptied out 
for the August recess. How much spending should they authorize for K-12 
programs, particularly special education? How much flexibility should they 
give state and local officials in using federal money? And -- perhaps most 
perplexing of all -- how can they devise a method that gives a fair estimate 
of whether a school is failing? None of the leading players in the search for 
those answers knows exactly how or even when the matters will be settled. 
They just know that they'll spend much of the fall trying to reach a deal.

Earlier in the summer, the House and the Senate passed their versions of a 
bill to reauthorize the ESEA with overwhelming support from both Democrats 
and Republicans. While Congress vacationed for most of August, staff members 
met to reconcile minor differences between the two bills, what Washington 
insiders call "clearing out the underbrush." Most of the noncontroversial 
issues have been settled, according to Sandy Kress (President Bush's chief 
education adviser) and Jim Manley, a spokesman for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy 
(D-MA), the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 
Committee. But most of the large issues within Title I -- the program for 
disadvantaged students -- have yet to be resolved. And though the two bills 
have bipartisan support, reaching a compromise won't be easy. While the 
content of the K-12 bill remains up in the air, so does the question of when 
it will be ready to be passed. The reauthorization could become a hostage to 
what is shaping up as a nasty and protracted fight over the federal budget.

(Editor's Note: In reaction to the national emergency, many educational 
meetings regarding the ESEA were postponed.  However, congressional leaders 
have pledged that final work on the education reform bill, H.R. 1, will 
continue behind the scenes.)

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TOYOTA TAPESTRY GRANT PROGRAM EXPANDS TEACHING
GRANTS FOR THE ENHANCEMENT OF SCIENCE EDUCATION

The Toyota TAPESTRY Grants for Teachers program, the largest K-12 science 
teacher grant program in the nation, has expanded and will now award up to 
$550,000 in grants. The TAPESTRY program, sponsored by Toyota Motor Sales, 
U.S.A. Inc. and administered by the National Science Teachers Association, 
has historically awarded 50 grants of up to $10,000 totaling $500,00. The 
program will now include a minimum of 20 additional "mini-grants" of $2,500 
each that are available to K-12 science teachers. Toyota TAPESTRY has also 
added a third category to the program, Science and Literacy. Now, in addition 
to Environmental Science and Physical Science, the new Science and Literacy 
category will support the development of literacy skills in the context of 
science teaching and learning. Projects in all categories should have a 
community connection and involve students in science outside the normal 
classroom setting. Applicants can apply in any of the three categories for 
either the main grant or the "mini-grant" program.

Over the past 11 years TAPESTRY has awarded nearly $4.5 million in grants to 
443 teams of teachers from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S 
Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Toyota TAPESTRY is open to 
elementary, middle, and high school science teachers in the United States and 
its territories, including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. For more 
information or to receive an application for both grant programs, call 
800-807-9852 or visit www.nsta.org/programs/tapestry. Entry deadline for both 
programs is January 17, 2002.

************************************
WHAT'S NEW AT FREE?

Many new resources in the arts, science, and social studies have been added 
to the Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE) website.  FREE 
(www.ed.gov/free) makes it easy for teachers, parents, students, and others 
to find teaching and learning resources from more than 40 federal 
organizations. Some of the new resources include:

"Human Genome Project Education Resources" 
(www.ornl.gov/hgmis/education/education.html) offers curriculum modules, a 
newsletter, a molecular genetics primer, tutorials on biomolecules and 
biological processes, an overview of research on mutant genes and hereditary 
diseases, an online resource for learning biology, publications, teaching 
aids, animations, and other learning resources related to genetics. 

"MicroWorlds" (www.lbl.gov/MicroWorlds/) looks at materials sciences research 
at the Advanced Light Source, a facility that produces light one billion 
times brighter than the sun and offers opportunities for studying 
semiconductors, polymers, malaria, the electronic structure of matter, and 
other topics.  Instructional modules explore why Kevlar is 20 times stronger 
than steel under water, how contaminants move and change in an ecosystem, and 
what makes a material a good electrical conductor. 

"Windows to the Universe" (www.windows.ucar.edu) explores the Earth, planets 
of our solar system, and the universe.  It includes images, animations, and 
data sets in addition to information about books, movies, scientists, and 
myths.

************************************
MORE PARENTS EXCHANGING E-MAILS WITH TEACHERS
(Source: Ed.Net Briefs, September 10, 2001
Original Source: The Charlotte Observer, September 2, 2001)

According to a survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, more 
than one in four (28 percent) parents of Internet-connected homes report they 
have exchanged electronic messages with a teacher. Most parents think 
Internet use benefits their children, even though they continue to have some 
concerns about access to inappropriate content. Most parents deal with the 
issue of inappropriate content by closely supervising use of the Internet by 
their children. The survey found that 55 percent of parents describe their 
teenage children's regular use of the Internet as a good thing. Six percent 
said their teenage children's regular use of the Internet has been a bad 
thing. Thirty-eight percent said it has had no effect on their children.

************************************
SCIENCE IN FOCUS: FORCE AND MOTION

Beginning October 10 the Annenberg/CPB Channel presents SCIENCE IN FOCUS: 
FORCE AND MOTION, a new science content workshop for K-8 teachers, produced 
by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. It explores science 
concepts in force and motion so that the viewer comes away with a deeper 
understanding that will help engage students in their own explorations. With 
science and education experts as guides, viewers learn more about gravity, 
friction, air resistance, magnetism, and tension through activities, 
discussions, and demonstrations. Extensive footage shot in real classrooms 
shows students learning and building on ideas as they explore the 
relationships among motion, force, size, mass, and speed. Individual workshop 
program titles, Annenberg/CPB Channel broadcast dates, and complete program 
descriptions are available at www.learner.org/channel/workshops/force. 

************************************
FOREIGN TEENS SAY ACADEMICS
GIVEN MORE PRIORITY BACK HOME
(Source: Education Week, September 12, 2001)

Foreign-exchange students living in the United States believe American 
teenagers spend less time on schoolwork and care less about academics than do 
students in the visitors' home countries, according to a study scheduled for 
release this week by the Brookings Institution's Brown Center on Education 
Policy. Drawn from a survey of foreign-exchange students, the finding is part 
of an effort by the center for the second year in a row to provide a status 
report on American schooling. The report "The Brown Center Report on American 
Education: 2000 -- How Well Are American Students Learning?," is available 
from the Brown Center on Education Policy at 
www.brook.edu/gs/brown/bc_report/2000/toc.htm. 
  
The Brown Center surveyed a random sample of 500 out of 2,200 students who 
participated last school year in exchanges sponsored by AFS Intercultural 
Programs Inc. Seventy-three percent of the students responded. The foreign 
students overwhelmingly viewed American classes as easier than those in their 
home countries. Fifty-six percent of the respondents described classes as 
"much easier," and 29 percent characterized them as "a little easier." More 
than half --  56 percent -- also said U.S. students spend "much less" or "a 
little less" time on schoolwork than students in their homelands. Exchange 
students also tended to say that American students don't place as much 
importance on academic subjects such as math as their peers back home do. At 
the same time, American students give more priority to sports, the foreign 
students said. Responses to the survey also showed that more than 70 percent 
of exchange students had not held part-time jobs during the school week at 
home. The study cites other sources that indicate many American teenagers, by 
contrast, work part time.

Mr. Loveless acknowledges in the report that foreign-exchange students are 
not representative of all students in their countries. They tend to be 
wealthier and have better schooling opportunities than their counterparts at 
home do, as well as in comparison with many students in the United States. 
But at the same time, Mr. Loveless says, their views suggest that American 
students can work harder.

************************************
DISCOVERY SELECTS THE FINAL FORTY

Discovery Communications, Inc. and Science Service have announced the names 
of America's Final Forty middle school science students competing in the 3rd 
annual Discovery Young Scientist Challenge (DYSC) for the title of "America's 
Top Middle School Scientist of the Year."  Next month, the Final Forty will 
travel to the nation's capital and compete for more than $100,000 in college 
scholarships and other awards in science competitions that will take place at 
Smithsonian Institution museums and the National Zoo. While working alongside 
the nation's leading scientists and historians at the Smithsonian 
Institution's National Museum of Natural History, National Museum of American 
History, and the National Zoo, as well as scientists from Celera Corporation 
in Rockville, MD, these students will tackle some of the 21st century's top 
science issues, including human genome mapping, renewable energy, and animal 
conservation. 

While the DYSC rewards the nation's top middle school student who 
demonstrates the best skills in leadership, teamwork, and scientific problem 
solving, it specifically seeks to identify the student who can most 
effectively communicate science -- a key component of the judging that 
further differentiates the DYSC from other contests, and reflects Discovery's 
philosophy that scientific knowledge is most valuable and effective when 
shared. A complete listing of the names of the Final Forty, their project 
title, school, and state, is available at www.discovery.com/dysc.  

************************************
ALL BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS SCHOOLS ARE NOW ONLINE

Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton has praised the strong partnership that 
recently brought the last Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) school online. 
Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Neal McCaleb, teachers, and students 
celebrated the final hookup recently at the Chichiltah/Jones Ranch Community 
School on the Navajo Reservation outside Gallup, NM. BIA created the Access 
Native America project, with the goal of bringing online all 185 elementary 
and secondary schools, serving nearly 50,000 students, many in some of the 
most remote locations in the United States. At the time, only one school had 
Internet access. Partnerships were forged. The U.S. Geological Survey 
provided engineering and networking expertise; Microsoft, Intel, and 
ProjectNeat provided hardware and software; and the Universities of Texas and 
Kansas developed education content and training for teachers and students. 

This summer, 50 teachers from BIA schools received training at the Pueblo of 
Laguna in Laguna, NM through Intel's "Teach to the Future" program. Each 
teacher will return to their school and train 10 of their co-workers how to 
connect technology with instruction. By the end of next year, more than 500 
teachers will be skilled at using the Internet in their classrooms. In 
addition, parents and others in Indian communities will be given the 
opportunity to use Internet access at the school facilities to link to online 
libraries, museums, scientific and educational sites, and to strengthen and 
share their unique cultural heritage. The program's total cost was about $20 
million.
_____________________________________________________

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 
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************************************
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.
************************************

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