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September/October 2007

Letter from the Editor

Dear Readers,

Hello! I would like to introduce myself as the new editor of NCSE-news following the departure of Judy Martinez. Although Judy will be missed, I hope this newsletter will remain informative and helpful. As always, we welcome your ideas and inquiries!

Fall is here, and the new crop of apples is ripening just in time to drop into kids’ lunchboxes and backpacks as they head back to school. Across the country, our children are returning to some innovative changes. Here are just a few…

· Houston Independent School District has changed its policy in order to allow students up to the age of 25 to complete their regular high school degrees. Students who have not been enrolled within the last year will attend separate classes from their younger peers.

· Students attending school in the New Orleans Recovery School District will return to classes with a fraction of the number of students per class due to the addition of 500 new teachers. In addition to new textbooks, they will be able to receive three meals a day, dental care and eye care. There is evidence that the shockingly high truancy rate of the past is dropping. (Nossiter, A. (2007, September 24). A Tamer of schools has plans in New Orleans. New York Times.

· New York City Public School graduates have an additional $500,000 pool of college scholarship money. The Broad Foundation has awarded NYC the Broad Prize for Urban Education due to improved overall academic performance and closing achievement gaps. Improvements are attributed at least in part to the move toward small high schools. Graduates will be eligible for $10,000 to attend a four-year institution, or $2,500 for a two-year institution. See the full article in the Queens Courrier.

Jodi Heilbrunn,

NCSE-News Editor

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COLORADO’S P-20 COUNCIL

Fred Franko

Project Director of the

Colorado AfterSchool Network

On April 24, 2007 Colorado Governor Bill Ritter issued an Executive Order establishing a P-20 Education Coordinating Council. The mission of the P-20 Council is to provide a forum for considering options and developing recommendations to address the issues outlined in the Governor’s policy platform. The premise of the platform, known as the Colorado Promise, is the development of a highly trained workforce to be successful in the 21^st Century economy. The Governor also explicitly stated his goal of cutting the dropout rate and achievement gap in half within ten years and doubling the number of post-secondary certificates and degrees in the same time period. Lieutenant Governor Barbara O’Brien serves as one of three co-chairs of the P-20 Council.

In order to probe issues in more detail, the Council was divided into the following seven subcommittees: Pre-school to Grade 3, Data & Accountability, Dropout Prevention, Retention & Recovery, Educator Recruitment, Preparation & Retention, and Preparation and Transitions. Each subcommittee is charged with making recommendations to the Council as a whole. The Council and subcommittees do not have sunset dates, though they have been asked to submit by November 2007 any proposals for the 2008 legislative session. Policy recommendations are not limited to suggested legislative changes; the Council and subcommittees may also develop policy options that include regulatory changes, gubernatorial executive orders, or the development of coalitions or alliances to meet certain objectives.

The Dropout Subcommittee will be focusing its effort over the next two months on putting together a Dropout Summit to be held the first week of December. The Summit is made possible through a competitive grant from the America’s Promise Alliance. The Alliance was founded by General Colin Powell, USA (Ret) in 1997, to build a strong partnership network to deliver the Five Promises – caring adults; safe places; a healthy start and development; an effective education; and opportunities to help others – to our nation’s youth. The grant will allow the Dropout Subcommittee to sponsor the attendance of individuals from throughout Colorado representing K-12 and higher education, nonprofit organizations, and business groups. One hundred attendees will be sponsored by the subcommittee, while registration will be open to an additional 200. The registration form will appear on the P-20 website (link below) by mid-to late-October.

Recognizing the importance of preparing our future workforce and citizenry, and the need for basic reform to address low test scores and high dropout rates, a number of states have recently established P-16 or P-20 entities to explore possible solutions. The National Association of State Boards of Education and the National Science Foundation have both stated that over half of the states have already established P-16 or P-20 Councils.

General information on the P-20 Council and the various subcommittees, including council and subcommittee membership, meeting minutes, and agendas is available on Governor Ritter’s web site.

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October is student count month! Most schools receive their funding based on enrollment counts. Some states look at average daily attendance, some at attendance over a one-week period or even a one-day-only count. We invite you to write in about a) any recent changes in your state policy and the effect of the new policy, or b) anything new or innovative you are doing to increase attendance and your school funding. Comments will be synthesized for inclusion in the October NCSE-news. Send your insights to info@schoolengagement.org by October 20.

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Find and apply online for competitive grant opportunities from all Federal grant-making agencies.

RGK Foundation - The Foundation's programmatic areas of interest include Education, Community, and Health/Medicine.

The Dollar General offers annual or bi-annual grants in five literacy areas:

· Adult Literacy Grants

· Back-To-School Grants

· Beyond Words: The Dollar General School Library Relief Program (still open)

· Family Literacy Grants

· Youth Literacy Initiatives

Here’s a wonderful 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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The Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement maintains a School Reform and Improvement Database. Search on “School Engagement” in the keyword field, limit your search to 2000 through 2007, and you will find 65 articles, many of which are available online.

The Houston Independent School District posts on their website an extensive list of dropout prevention strategies. Go to the “Expectation: Graduation” page of their website, and click on "Dropout Prevention Strategies" under the "Quick Links" section.