District Administration - June 2008 - (Page 12)

BRIEFINGS NewsUpdate ABOUT A THIRD OF THE NA tion’s eighth-grade students and almost a quarter of 12th graders are proﬁcient writers, according to recently released test results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Some education experts and U.S. Department of Education oﬃcials, Secretary Margaret Spellings included, are praising the scores as “historic highs,” although the proportion of students demonstrating writing proﬁciency is not signiﬁcantly higher than in 2002 when the exam was last given. But the report does show gains for minority students and male students, with a six-point increase in the average score for black students contributing to a smaller gap between them and their white peers. An eight-point increase in the males’ writing score has also narrowed the malefemale gap. Spellings was encouraged that the average score for Hispanic eighth-graders was higher than in the most previous as- By Zach Miners Students Improve, Barely, on Writing Test Atlanta Public Schools superintendent Beverly L. Hall says their across-the-board increase in all subject areas—writing, reading and math—and grades tested by NAEP is a result of their “eight-plus years of focus on providing intensive instructional support for students. Because of the vigilance and commitment of our students, parents, teachers, administrators and partners, APS continues to move the needle on student achievement.” But not everyone is as positive about the overall U.S. averages of 154 for eighth graders and 153 for 12th graders on a three-hundred-point scale. “Of the students entering high school, 67 percent are writing below grade level, which means they don’t have the writing skills they need to succeed,” says Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education, a Washington-based policy organization. “With employers looking at the ability to write well as essential for any job candidate, our high schools need to do more.” sessments in 2002 and 1998. The test from NAEP, often referred to as the “nation’s report card,” was given to 168,000 eighth and 12th graders who were selected to form a representative sample of all students nationwide in the two grades. Students wrote two 25-minute essays intended to measure narrative, informative and persuasive writing skills. Ten urban districts volunteered to take part in the eighth-grade assessment, and the gains in Atlanta and Los Angeles in particular were greater than those of the state of Georgia and the state of California, respectively. Turning the American Idol Tide CITING A LACK OF STRONG INSTRUCTION IN CIVics ed and a failure to impart students with skills to be responsible citizens, a group of teachers, professors and technology experts are developing a free Web-based project, “Our Courts,” to promote participation in a representative democracy. The Web site’s media-rich interactive learning environment will be designed to captivate and engage students via 21st century learning styles. The program is the brainchild of former Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who says the “evidence is clear and should be profoundly disturbing.” “Two-thirds of American teenagers know at least one of the judges on American Idol,” she said at the National School Boards Association (NSBA) annual conference in March. “Less than one in 10 can name the chief justice of the United States.” Primarily geared toward sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grad- According to a recent study, more American teenagers can name at least one American Idol judge than can name the chief justice of the United States. ers, the Our Courts project will be available to students and teachers nationwide by the fall for use in classes, enrichment programs and extracurricular activities. O’Connor urges educators to contact the site, www .ourcourts.org, to make suggestions on how the content can be delivered and to play a dynamic role in teaching civics. 12 June 2008 District Administration http://www.ourcourts.org http://www.ourcourts.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - June 2008

District Administration - June 2008
Contents
Editor’s Letter
Letters
News Update
Technology Update
Inside the Law
Conversations
Online Edge
Speaking Out
Professional Opinion
Crisis Response
Administrator Profile
District Profile
Cutting Costs from the Inside Out
New Literacies: Entering the Future
Online Videoconferencing
Achievement Today
Transporting Special Needs Students
How Well Does This Web Site Work?
New Products
Problem/Solution
Calendar of Events
Understanding the Times

District Administration - June 2008