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April 2009 The GAO has put out a new study, Access to Arts Education, analyzing elementary school instructional time dedicated to the arts between 2004-2005 and 2006-2007. From a school engagement perspective, the good news is that only 7% of teachers reported a decrease in arts education time, while 5% reported an increase. The bad news is that reductions were both more likely and greater in schools designated as “in need of improvement” under NCLB, and schools that serve higher proportions of low-income students. Also of concern is the fact that this study does not measure changes in arts education in middle schools, a time when much (too much?) of the “fun stuff” of elementary school tends to drop away and kids must often make a big adjustment to an increase in academic rigor. Not too long ago I visited a middle school that had made significant gains in its test scores. And I learned they had done so in part by canceling all visual arts education and offering it as an afterschool activity only. Part of the trouble with moving arts education off the required list of subjects is that it sends the message that art is less important, and therefore success in art is also less important. Yet often, kids who have learning disabilities that make reading or math really difficult find a way to maintain their sense of self-esteem by succeeding in visual arts, music or theater. Kids need to be offered the most varied opportunities possible, because if the feeling of success dies, sooner or later effort dies as well. On a much different note, please note that our next session of How to Evaluate Your Truancy Reduction Program will be held on May 28-29. Registration may be accessed via the link in the Conference section below. Jodi Heilbrunn, Invitation for Letters to the Editor Do you have feedback regarding our feature article or strategy of the month? Would you like to submit a feature article on a topic of your choice? Send your commentary or ideas to info@schoolengagement.org for possible publication in our next issue. Please make the subject of your message “Newsletter commentary.” I would love to hear from you!
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The PACTT Training Candace Putter, Director, PACTT Autumn Dickman, Project Manager, Models for Change
As part of the Models for Change Initiative sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation, and linked below in the Resources section, the Pennsylvania Council of Chief Juvenile Probation Officers has developed the PACTT Alliance in order to strengthen the education which students receive in delinquent placement, thereby easing the transition back into school. Developing residential education programs in
Scope of the Problem Delinquent youth returning from residential placements face immense challenges during the transition back to their community. The majority of these youth do not complete high school, making sustainable employment all the more difficult in today’s economy. A recent study (Cohen, 2007) found that that the present monetary value to the public of saving a high-risk youth is estimated to range from $2.6 to $4.4 million, over the young person’s lifetime. For delinquent youth, the process of preparation to complete school and be job-ready must begin while they are in placement, and continue seamlessly when they return to the community.
Project Description The Pennsylvania Academic and Career/Technical Training Alliance(PACTT), capitalizing on the combined influence of Allegheny and Philadelphia Counties, strives to improve the academic and career and technical training that delinquent youth receive while in residential placement, and in their home communities upon return. The project’s initial focus is on the residential facilities and transition programs used by Allegheny and
Project Implementation • Project includes three senior staff and an administrative assistant • Two Education and Career/Technical Training Specialists work to advance reforms in education and career/technical training in delinquent residential facilities, improve communication with home schools and school re-entry programs and expand options for the continuation of training in the schools and the community after discharge • The Project Director is responsible for developing the linkage between the juvenile justice, child welfare, education, and career/technical training in order to support the work of the project and promote its goals throughout the state and country
More information about the PACTT Alliance may be found in a presentation entitled Academic and Career/Technical Training for Placed Youth by Candace Putter, and a news brief entitled “New project strives to break cycle of youth crime in Pennsylvania.”
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Due to the editor's travels in Italy during April, there will be no strategy spotlight for this month's edition. |
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Check out the Education World Grant Center, there are fifteen grant categories you have time to apply for in the 2008-2009 school year. The School Funding Center has a free newsletter that includes a limited number of grant announcements and grant writing tips. It also advertises a huge database of grants to which you may subscribe for various periods of time for different rates ranging from $99 for two months to $397 for a year. Grants are available for schools and non-profits Find and apply online for competitive grant opportunities from all Federal grant-making agencies. Here’s a great webpage that lists endless grant opportunities for K-12 schools, and has a page on grant writing tips! They also offer a subscription to Schoolgrants Biweekly Newsletter for $45 a year. |
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Balfanz, R. and T. West, (2009) Progress Toward Increasing National and State Graduation Rates, Everyone Graduates Center, the Center for Social Organization of Schools, This is the first in a series of data briefs to come out of the Everyone Graduates Center (at
Zimmer, R. et. al., (2009) Charter Schools in Eight States Effects on Achievement, Attainment, Integration, and Competition, RAND Corporation. This study asks four primary research questions about charter schools in eight varied sites. (1) What are the characteristics of students transferring to charter schools? (2) What effect do charter schools have on test-score gains for students who transfer between TPSs and charter schools? (3) What is the effect of attending a charter high school on the probability of graduating and of entering college? (4) What effect does the introduction of charter schools have on test scores of students in nearby TPSs? The authors write, “This study was the first to examine the effects of charter schools on long-term attainment outcomes. In the two locations with attainment data (
Griffin, P. and M. Hunninen, (no date) “Preparing Youth for Productive Futures,”
American Bar Association’s This website has more resources than I can possibly describe here. There are succinct tools especially geared for judges, attorneys, caseworkers and educators; special education fact sheets; and longer reports on many topics including the myths of confidentiality laws to lessons learned from state efforts to promote educational stability for children in foster care. There is a listserv called CHILD-EDUCATION to which anyone can subscribe, and much else. A wonderful resource!
CSEE’s goal is to promote positive and sustained school climate: a safe, supportive environment that nurtures social and emotional, ethical, and academic skills. CSEE helps schools integrate crucial social and emotional learning with academic instruction, thereby enhancing student performance, preventing drop outs, reducing physical violence and bullying, and developing healthy and positively engaged adults. You can read online The School Climate Challenge: Narrowing the Gap Between School Climate Research and School Climate Policy, Practice Guidelines and Teacher Education Policy. Or you may purchase the more recent School Climate: Research, Policy, Practice, and Teacher Education published in Teachers College Record in January 2009. The It provides probation officers and others the information they need to advocate effectively for children in, or returning from, out-of-home placements. It is a legal manual based specifically on
Models for Change: Systems Reform in Juvenile Justice 21st Century Schools conducts more workshops and conferences on more topics in more locations that I can possibly include in thIS Conference section. Go to their website and pick your next professional development series.
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The Center for Data-Driven Reform in Education Spring K–12 Leadership Institute Increasing Student Achievement: Using Data to Lead Change La Jolla, CA April 17–18, 2009
How to Evaluate Your Truancy Reduction Program May 28-29 This training is an introduction to program evaluation with a focus on truancy reduction programs. It is designed for those at beginning to intermediate levels, and is not appropriate for those with more sophisticated evaluation needs. During day one, we will introduce different types of evaluations, and the benefits and drawbacks of different methods of data collection. Participants will begin to build logic models of their programs or the programs they are in the process of developing, and will participate in a survey question writing exercise. On Day two, we will introduce the TRAIN database in which truancy reduction program staff can track the progress of their students. Contact Jodi Heilbrunn for registration information. 9th Annual National Charter Schools Conference June 21-24 Hear Keynote speakers Michelle Rhee, maverick Chancellor of Washington DC Public Schools, and Joel Klein, Chancellor of the NYC Department of Education. Conference registration includes a free pre-conference professional development day for the first 500 classroom teachers who register. Registration is currently open. June 28 – July 1, 2009 This conference will bring together approximately 2,000 pre-kindergarten to post-secondary professional school counselors, counselor educators, supervisors and graduate students. Conference sessions allow attendees to take away solid, practical ideas they can put to work tomorrow, make valuable contacts in the school counseling field and discover the latest techniques in school counseling. Registration is now open, and by registering before March 1 you qualify for the supersaver rate. You still qualify for a smaller discount by registering before May 1. Keynote speakers Louis Gossett Jr., Harry Wong and Frank Warren.
National Association of School Resource Officers 19th Annual SRO-School Safety Conference June 29 – July 3, 2009 Register by May 23 for a reduced rate. Keynote speakers address bullying, drug recognition, constitutional law regarding FERPA, IDEA and other issues, and adolescent brain development. Special SRO training classes will be offered during the conference.
Center for Social and Emotional Education 12th Annual Summer Institute entitled Promoting Healthy and Democratic K-12 School Communities July 7 - 9, 2009 Register by May 17 for the early bird rate. This three day institute is designed to support school teams and individuals developing school climate improvement plans to promote safe, caring and civil schools that support positive youth development, democratic school communities, student learning/achievement and “upstander’ behavior (or the inclination and ability to say “no” to bully-victim behavior).
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