District Administration - March 2009 - (Page 6)

Editor’s Letter Motivating Forces There is no denying ThaT The elecTion of The firsT african-american president has generated great excitement in our country. The enthusiasm demonstrated at the inauguration of Barack obama was boundless, affecting people regardless of their political affiliation. attendees interviewed on the spot expressed a mixture of joy and hope for our country. The most moving comments for me, however, came from african-american students, mainly boys, expressing that now they had hope and a goal for the future—they too could strive to become president of the country. The Obama Effect A 13-year-old Colorado student waves an American flag during the national Democratic convention. already there is a study of the “obama effect” on african-american student achievement. it shows that a performance gap between african-americans and whites on a 20-question test given before obama’s nomination all but disappeared when the test was administered again after his acceptance speech and once more after the election. This simple study, performed on 18- to Take advantage of this historical 63-year-old black and white test takers by Vanderbilt University moment to seize any and all real- management professor ray friedman and his fellow researchers, life opportunities to help set high shows promising results. could affecting student achievement overall be as simple as this? could hispanic students and girls also emulate goals for all students. the successes of hilda solis, the hispanic nominee for secretary of labor, and the new secretary of state, hillary clinton? Motivation and enthusiasm like this can be formulated and created by school districts. Take advantage of this historical moment to seize any and all real-life opportunities to help set high goals for all students. Many students ready to take a stab at higher education and greater opportunities are stopping short, as many of the financial vehicles once available have become more limited. Various school districts are devising creative programs to motivate every student to think of attending college, and many states and private entities are partnering with school districts to help pick up the tab. in “The college Promise” we share some of the programs we discovered in our research. offering economic rewards is another method of student motivation very much in the news lately and on the opposite end of the spectrum to emulating real-life experiences. does this type of material reward work in the long term? What happened to the love of learning for learning’s sake? We discuss this debate in “do economic rewards Work?” send me an e-mail to tell me what you think of our coverage. We welcome your feedback. Judy Faust Hartnett, Editor jhartnett@districtadministration.com 6 March 2009 District Administration

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - March 2009

District Administration - March 2009
Contents
Editor’s Letter
News Update
Health & Fitness
Online Learning
Conversations
District Profile
Administrator Profile
The College Promise
Do Economic Rewards Work?
The SIFication of America
Disciplining Students with Disabilities
How Well Does This Web Site Work?
Tech Disruptions
New Products
Product Focus
New Books
Research Center

District Administration - March 2009