Outcome of House Vote on IDEA cuts

January 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The House voted on the Labor, HHS and Education Appropriations bill for FY 1996 and it passed 219 – 208.  There were no amendements from the floor, so all cuts to IDEA in special education research and teacher training remained.  The Senate taks up the issue when it returns from August recess.

To reiterate, this bill does not cut from IDEA funding to States to support special education services, but eliminates all funded research in areas like early childhood and severe and profound disabilities. Many of the leading researchers in this area rely on these funds as their primary source of funding to conduct research and develop programs.   Here are some of the currently funded programs that would be cut: An Analysis of the Effectiveness of Staffing Patterns for Young Children Attending Natural Group Environments for Early Intervention (Dr. Mary Beth Bruder, Univ. of Conn)…the project will expand current knowledge and practice in the effects of receiving early childhood intervention in natural group environements.

Efficacy of Early Intervention:  Long Term Effects (Dr. Carl Dunst, Western Carolina Center): project will produce a database on the effectiveness of early intervention. Differential Characteristics and Effects of Family-Oriented Approaches to Early Intervention (Dr. Jackqueline Epstein, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania) Examine the best ways to approach family-oriented early intervention services.

Prenatal Cocaine Exposure and Social Development of Young Children (Dr. Scott McConnel, Univ of Minnesota).  Examine effective strategies for education of children exposed to cocain in utero. Investigations of Early Motor Procedures (Dr. Gerald Mahoney, Kent State).  Investigates the relative effectiveness of two motor intervention approaches (NDT and Peabody Developmental Motor program) fo children with Down Syndrome and children with cerebral palsy. Proactive schooling:  Preventing Dropout in Highest Risk Adolescents (Dr. Katherine Larson).  Examining procedures to prevent dropout among Hispanic students in the LA area.

Transition to adulthood for students with developmental disabilities: The role of Siblings (Dr. Russell Gersten, Eugene Oregon)  examine ways that siblings influence educational outcomes. And, I would be less than forthcoming if I did not confess that one of our very own projects will be cut: Is there a causal relationship between self-determination and positive adult outcomes for youth with mental retardation?  A follow-up study…part of the work we are doing in self-determination for youth with mental retardation.

I give you these to provide a sense of the types of research that is impacted.  I don’t think I have to illustrate the difficulty in recruiting and retaining good teachers in special education if the personnel training funding disappears. Nothing is more effective than a family member telling his or her Senator that these cuts are impact their son or daughter.  It puts a face to those budget cuts.  The Senate takes their appropriations bill up in Septemeber.  Contact them at their home office during the recess and let them know that these cuts represent a failure on their part to support the nations responsibility to educate all students.

 

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IT’S TIME FOR A NATIONAL EDUCATION LABORATORY

January 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -A national survey of 438 colleges and universities finds that early childhood teacher preparation programs will not be able to meet growing federal and state calls for better-trained early childhood teachers.
        Researchers at the National Center for Early Development & Learning (NCEDL) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) found that institutions of higher learning are already understaffed and will be strained by growing demand.
        “Overall, programs will not have adequate faculty to meet the projected workforce needs during this era of stronger teacher preparation requirements. In fact, our data indicates that a 76 percent increase in early childhood faculty would be needed if all current early childhood teachers were required to get a Bachelor’s degree,” said Dr. Pam Winton. She is co-director of the study with Dr. Diane Early, both at NCEDL.
        Research has consistently shown that young children that have better educated teachers in preschool do better academically when they reach elementary school. “Unfortunately, 75 percent of the early childhood teachers in NC have no degree past high school,” Winton said.
        Increasing demand for better-educated and qualified teachers is coming from such agencies as Head Start nationally and Smart Start in North Carolina, and from parents who look for child care centers with higher ratings. The N.C. Division of Child Development reports that a quarter of all Tar Heel children under six attend some form of child care. But less than 20 percent of the licensed child care centers in the state have the highest, five-star rating. That rating is calculated, in part, on the education level of the staff.

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HIKOI OF HOPE: Backgrounder No.5: Education

January 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The Hikoi of Hope has identified that accessing high quality, affordable education is proving difficult for many New Zealanders. Education is more important than ever. It’s hard to get a job without a qualification, increasingly a tertiary education is needed. But children from poor families attending schools in poor communities aren’t doing as well at school as children from well-off families.

Income affects achievement

Children’s abilities and talents are randomly distributed among the New Zealand population but children from poor homes don’t do as well as others in terms of their educational performance. This year the Competent Children project found that it’s the level of family income that accounts for some differences in children’s performance.

Researcher Cathy Wylie says in her report on the project, “Children from low income homes will not approach life on a level playing field”. Low family income has enduring effects for children’s competencies – children from these families perform less well in subjects including mathematics, literacy and problem-solving.

Early childhood education

The most recent research on educational achievement shows that early childhood education makes a positive difference to learning. Children demonstrate more competency at primary school if they’ve started early childhood education before the age of three and if they’ve been taught by well-trained, reasonably-paid staff.

A briefing paper to Government states that early childhood services are seriously underfunded affecting the quality of the service that can be offered. Underfunding has a more severe impact on low-income families who are less able to pay. Children from low-income families are less likely to get early childhood education. A 1994 survey showed that only 57% of low-income families (earning less than $25,000 a year) were participating in early childhood education compared with 80% of those earning more than $50,000.

Funding for schools

Government funding for education does not meet school costs. By 1996, 12% of school spending had to be met by school fundraising and voluntary donations. A 1996 report to the United Nations stressed that students with wealthy parents experienced in decision-making are assured of access to better facilities, while students from poorer areas get the bare essentials. Schools serving poor children can raise much less money than others. The result is a growing gap between money available to schools in poorer communities and other schools. All children, regardless of ability or family income, need access to good educational experiences to ensure success in their education. To achieve this we need well qualified and experienced teachers and appropriate class sizes.

Adult Literacy

A Ministry of Education survey on adult literacy found a “high concentration of adults with poor literacy skills (around 1 in 5 New Zealanders). Three quarters of all unemployed were found to be in the two lowest literacy levels.” Poorer literacy was also found to be high among Maori and Pacific Island New Zealanders. These results come from a survey based on a random sample of 4223 New
Zealanders aged between 16 and 65.

Maori Education

Maori achievement and participation in education is improving. But compared to non-Maori, Maori are:
* less likely to participate in all levels of education
* less likely to remain to senior levels of secondary school. (Close to 40% of all Maori children leave school without a qualification.)
* less likely to go to university. (If they enrol for tertiary training it’s more likely to be second chance programmes.)

Schools that foster the learning of Maori language have a high retention rate for Maori students and a reduction in cases of truancy and suspension. An NZ Educational Institute briefing paper states that Maori education is under-resourced, affecting the achievement of Maori children. The paper also highlights the serious shortage of trained Maori speaking teachers.

Who takes up tertiary study?

* One in three students goes on to university from the wealthiest 20% of secondary schools, compared to
* One in sixteen from the poorest 20% of schools. Students from poorer school districts are more likely to go to a polytechnic than a university. School-leavers from private schools are the most likely to attend university.

Student Loans

* Four out of five tertiary students now use the loans scheme first introduced in 1992.
* Over $2.6 million [sic] was owed by about 250,000 borrowers at 31 March this year.
* This is forecast to reach $3 billion [sic] by the end of the year and $4 billion by the year 2000.
* Interest starts accruing immediately even while a student is studying.

The cost of tertiary education is going to keep thousands of New Zealanders in debt throughout their working lives. Even if the income is insufficient to require repayment, the interest – and so the debt – continues to accumulate.

Because of differences in income between men and women:
* 50% of women will still be repaying their loans by the age of 40 and
* 10% will still be repaying at age 64

Up to 35% of Maori women graduates will still be paying off their loans at 64.

A smart society

With the strong emphasis on the need for a high skilled workforce we must face the reality of our dismal lack of qualifications. The 1996 census indicates 895,209 New Zealanders (33.9%) aged 15 and over have no qualifications. This means as well as the educational needs cited above, many young people and workers will need to train and retrain on-the-job. Making that training affordable, accessible and relevant will offer them a way out of unemployment. Education and training are the keys to our children’s future. If we’re serious about becoming a “smart” society we cannot afford to let our children miss out on educational and training opportunities. But a good education shouldn’t depend on how much money parents can afford to spend on their children.

Sources:

Six Years Old & Competent, Cathy Wylie with Anne Else, NZ Council for Educational Research (1998); Think Education, a briefing paper for NZ Members of Parliament, NZEI Te Rui Roa; An Education, Training and Employment Policy for Young People, Interim Report of the Prime Ministerial task Force on Employment (October 1995); Self Managing Schools Seven Years On – What Have We Learnt? Wylie C, NZ Council for Educational Research (1997); Non Governmental Organisations Report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (1996); Adult Literacy in New Zealand: Results from the International Adult Literacy Survey, Ministry of Education; Progress Towards Closing Social and Economic Gaps Between Maori and Non-Maori: A report to the Minister of Maori Affairs, Te Puni Kokiri Ministry of Maori Development (1998); Maori Workload, Te Huarahi (PPTA) and Te Reo Areare NZEI Te Rui Riad (October 1997); The Myth of Equal Opportunity: Wealth of School-District as a Determinant of Tertiary Participation, APSU/NZUSA (1998); Ministry of Education, replies to Select Committee questions (1 May 1998).

 

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Government Spends $280 Million on Education Labs, Research Centers

January 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

WASHINGTON (UPI) — Several universities and education organizations across the country will receive $280 million in competitive federal grants to operate educational laboratories and research centers, the Education Department said Thursday.“This is the greatest investment the federal government has made in educational research and development,” Assistant Secretary Christopher Cross said at a press briefing.
        He said education can only be improved through developing research on innovative ways to reach teachers, parents and children. Ten regional educational laboratories will receive $162 million over the next five years “to help solve pressing education problems in schools and school districts and assist policymakers and administrators in its region,” the department explained. In addition to addressing regional concerns, the labs will focus on improving student retention and meeting the needs of small rural schools.
        Another $118 million over five years will go to several universities to operate 17 education research centers, with each center focusing on a specific topic.
        The 10 regional labs are:
        –Northeastern region, including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands – Regional Laboratory for Educational Improvement of the Northeast and Islands, Andover Mass.
        –Mid-Atlantic region – Research for Better Schools Inc., Philadelphia.
        –Southeastern region – SouthEastern Regional Vision for Education, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
        –Midwestern region – North Centeral Regional Educational Laboratory, Elmhurst, Ill.
        –Appalachian region – Appalachia Educational Laboratory Inc., Charleston, W. Va.
        –Southwestern region – Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, Austin, Texas.
        –Central region – Mid-continent Regional Educational Laboratory, Aurora, Colo.
        –Northwestern region – Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, Ore., which will distribute information about a new program designed to increase Indian parents’ involvement in their children’s education.
        –Western region – Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development, San Francisco.
        –Pacific Basin region – Pacific Regional Educational Laboratory, Honolulu, which will concentrate on early childhood programs.

        The 17 research centers are:
        –Education Policy and Student Learning at Rutgers: The State University of New Jersey.
        –Learning to Teach at Michigan State University.
        –Literature Teaching and Learning at the State University of New York at Albany.
        –Mathematics Teaching and Learning at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
        –Postsecondary Learning, Teaching and Assessment at Pennsylvania State University.
        –Student Learning at the University of Pittsburgh.
        –Adult Literacy at the University of Pennsylvania.
        –Education in the Inner Cities at Temple University.
        –Educational Quality of the Workforce at the University of Pennsylvania.
        –Families, Communities and Children’s Learning at Boston University.
        –Organization and Restructuring of Schools at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
        –Science Teaching and Learning at Ohio State University.
        –Teacher Performance, Evaluation and Educational Accountability at Western Michigan University.
        –Assessment, Evaluation and Testing at the University of California at Los Angeles.
        –Cultural Diversity and Second Language Learning at the University of California at Santa Cruz.
        –Writing and Literacy at the University of California at Berkeley.
        –Education Finance and Productivity at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

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Education: Against computers in schools (San Jose Mercury News)

January 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

A national group of educators, doctors and children’s advocates flung itself in the path of the technology-in-schools bandwagon Tuesday, saying that billions spent on equipping and wiring classrooms is fueled more by parent fears and corporate sales pitches than any real evidence of computers helping children learn. Instead, computers pose hazards to young children such as eyestrain and obesity, while robbing them of the creativity, human relationships and hands-on learning key to their development, according to the report, “Fools Gold: A Critical Look at Computers in Childhood.”

Written by the Alliance for Childhood and supported by more than 80 educators and child-development experts — including professors at Stanford and the University of California-Berkeley plus primate researcher Jane Goodall — the report calls for an immediate moratorium on adding computers to classrooms so the presumed benefits and hazards can be studied in depth. “To speak against computers is considered blasphemous, not only in Silicon Valley but around the country,” said Lowell Monke, an alliance founding member and assistant professor of education at Wittenberg University in Ohio. “It’s time for a few heretics to stand up and say we need to look at this more closely. We can’t just sit on this bandwagon charging down the road with our public funds and our children.”

The report cites existing research that shows computers have little effect on academic achievement and studies of early childhood development. It received mixed reviews locally, in the heart of the technology movement. Larry Carr of the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group said fostering creativity and computer skills in children are not mutually exclusive. “We do need to produce very well-rounded students who know how to problem-solve, think critically and work in teams,” said Carr, director of education and workforce preparedness. “Technology can be another tool in teaching all those skills. “While the benefits of computers may not have scientific support, University of California-Berkeley psychologist Alison Gopnik, author of “The Scientist in the Crib,” said neither do the claims of the alliance. Still, she said, “Playing with building blocks is more profound intellectually than anything a child could do in front of a computer.” Nevertheless, the report thumbs its nose at technology as the holy grail for public education, a widespread belief that drove President Clinton to hook up classroom computer lines on the first Netday in 1996 and Gov. Gray Davis to call for a dramatic tripling of the state money spent on technology in schools.

In other circles, California is often chided for having just one computer for every 14 students statewide, compared with the national average of one computer per nine students. A recent report card by kids in Common, a local child-advocacy group, gave Santa Clara County a D in providing children access to technology. “You may be doing less damage,” Monke quipped of California’s lag in exposing kids to computers. “We have to stop looking at this issue in terms of quantities of computers in schools. We have to realize education has to be developed around sound principles, and draw technology in where it’s appropriate.”

According to the report, money is being bled from already minimal course offerings to pay for expensive, “unproven technology.” Some of that money could address more pressing issues that affect learning in low-income communities, such as quality child care, preschool, nutrition and lead poisoning. “Nearly 1 million children live in lead-poisoned housing whose health and educational opportunities are being jeopardized, and we know how to remove that problem,” said Edward Miller, co-author of the report
and former editor of the Harvard Education Letter. “It just takes the political will to solve them.”

The report also charges the politics surrounding the “high-tech-for-tots agenda” is heavily weighted with the viewpoint of high-tech executives, who stand to gain from the sales of their products in schools. “Wiring and computerizing America’s schools is an urgent priority — not for children, but for high-tech companies that need to constantly expand their markets,” the report states. Sun Microsystems Vice President Kim Jones denies that profit is the sole motivation for corporate involvement in schools. She said her company made no money by organizing Netday, a volunteer effort in 1996 to wire 12,000 California schools to the Internet. But she says rather than eliminating technology, the industry needs to make it simpler to use.

“I agree 100 percent that technology has not been very effective in the classroom,” said Jones, who oversees global education and research. “I would tend to agree with them that probably studies should be done.” Miller said corporations aren’t the only force driving the frenzy. “It’s fear on the part of parents who themselves feel threatened and uncomfortable with technology,” he said. “They want their children to succeed in school and in life. They see people making huge amounts of money in technology and think…the earlier the better for their children. But that’s what’s fallacious.”

Real-world learning

The report recommends that elementary education return its focus to hands-on, real-world learning and that older students learn not only how to use a computer, but how it works and the ethical and social implications of technology. It also calls for the U.S. surgeon general to do a full report on the physical, emotional and developmental hazards computers pose to children. “It will not stop the tidal wave of technology,” said Larry Cuban, a Stanford professor and former president of the American Educational
Research Association. “It will get more people talking about it when there has been virtual silence among policymakers about the uses and consequences of technology in schools.”

 

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Early Education – A MUST

January 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Two of their most surprising and profound discoveries are that the brain uses the outside world to shape itself and that it goes through crucial periods in which brain cells must have certain kinds of stimulation to develop such powers as vision, language, smell, muscle control and reasoning. ”It’s just phenomenal how much experience determines how our brains get put together,” Pierson, a neurobiologist, said.

”If you fail to learn the proper fundamentals at an early age, then you are in big trouble. You can’t suddenly learn to learn when you haven’t first laid down the basic brain wiring.  That’s why early education is so important, why Head Start is so important,” she said, referring to the federally funded program for preschoolers.

But what the brain can do depends on whether or not it is used. It is the ultimate use-it-or-lose-it machine, and it is eager to learn new skills. The ability to form abstract thoughts, for instance, is now seen as a consequence of the brain’s learning to read. ”In the same way that we evolved a certain cognitive abstract capability as a function of our capacity to read, there is every reason to believe that there are other untapped abstract capabilities of our brains that are not being developed by our traditional educational system.”

 Long thought to be a clean slate to which information could be added at any time, the brain is now seen as a super-sponge that is most absorbent from birth to about the age of 12. Thus, the brain can reorganize itself with particular ease early in life during crucial learning periods. Information flows easily into the brain through ”windows” that are open for only a short duration. Then the windows close, and the fundamental architecture of the brain is completed.

”A kind of irreversibility sets in,” Harvard’s Earls said. ”There is this shaping process that goes on early, and then at the end of this process, be that age 2, 3 or 4, you have essentially designed a brain that probably is not going to change very much more.” The best time to learn foreign languages, math, music and other subjects is between 1 and about 12 years of age, yet these years are usually put on pause, given over to youngsters to ”enjoy their childhood.” Faced with the new evidence about how the brain develops and functions, many scientists are concluding that society is wasting a tremendous amount of the brain power of its young, and creating a lot of unnecessary problems-including crime, aggression and depression-later on in their lives.

That’s not to say that all is lost if this early learning period is not optimized. Using the tools left over from shaping brain cells and their connections, the brain gives its owner a second chance. There is, however, a price to pay. Instead of being easy, learning becomes harder later on. ”If you want to significantly influence a child’s ability to think and to acquire knowledge, the early childhood years are very critical,” said neurobiologist Peter Huttenlocher of the University of Chicago, whose studies helped open the door to understanding the brain’s plasticity.

 

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Research on the Pros and Cons of Non-Parental Childcare

January 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I am a working mother and have a working spouse.  We do not work in the child care environment.  I have a 15 month old daughter who is, like your son, beginning to show her personality and “shine.”  I love it, she is soooo cute and funny and wonderful.

I am a civil servant and the daycare I am able to use is on an Army installation.  Besides being NAEYC accredited, they must comply with the Army regulation on Child Care which is sometimes as strict, if not more, than NAEYC.  All the providers at our daycare have some type of background in early childhood education.  I feel that my children are much better off in my particular daycare environment than at home with me because they are not babysitters — they are educators.  I feel my children are learning something everyday and it has been evidenced through watching my 4-year-old grow up there.  I do not feel that I could stimulate them as much as the educators at their daycare because these people are trained and specialized in this area.  I know there’s something to be said for being with your child and I love every minute.  But, I feel very comfortable with the daycare environment due to the opportunity I have with the facilities available to me.  I never worried about either of my children even the first day I left them because I knew they were being well taken care of and loved.

To parents who are concerned  about commercial daycare centers.  I can say my situation is very ironic.  I worked in daycare for many years and when recently graduated from college with a degree in child development. I believe that any caregiver who truly respects children will do a great job with your child.  The ironic thing about my career choice is, I too, never placed my children ( now 6 yrs. and 19 months ) in a daycare center for fear of them being mistreated. Believe me, I understand.  However, I want to reasure parents who have to work, or just chose to work.  Staying at home is not an easy job.  If being a fulltime mom means being stressed all day and yelling at your child because you are going nuts being in the house all the time, face it, not all moms can be stay at home moms.  It’s okay.  There are however, people like myself who truly enjoy being with children all day long.  I truly hope that parents will research each daycare center before choosing one for your little ones.  They are precious and deserve to be treated with respect just as adults demand to be treated with respect. I wish that we could say all daycares even home daycares, were good ones if licensed.  Not so, sadly, but not so.  Just be aware of what’s out there.  Not all day cares are bad.  Like myself, I got tired of seeing children mistreated and underfed at lunchtime.  I decided to get my college degree and open my own center. There truly are professionals out there who work in commercial daycares.  Check it for yourself.

I, too, am the Director of two child care centers.  For the past 15 years we have opened and operated five centers.  We have combined centers the last few years because we now do consulting work and do quite a bit of traveling.  I only hire quality people–people that I really know, most times our parents who we have gotten to really know over the years.  Look for NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) accredited centers to guarantee QUALITY centers with low staff/student ratios.  This is our National organization.  If you have any questions about child care centers, I’d be glad to help you out and try to answer them.  I am a certified teacher and have taught in my schools for 15 years as well as administrate.  I also do consulting work in the field of early childhood education and staff training, etc.  If anyone has a need for this type of work, please e-mail me and let me write a proposal for you. Thanks.  Anyone out there in early childhood education?  I’d like to talk to you and get to know you in the newsgroups.  I am new to this forum.   Faith

 

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2000-06-03 Radio Address Paper on Investing in Education

January 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

PRESIDENT CLINTON CALLS ON CONGRESS TO INVEST IN ESSENTIAL EDUCATION PRIORITIES

Today President Clinton will call on the Congress to pass a budget that invests in our schools and demands more from them.  In February the President sent the Congress a balanced and responsible budget that made investments in key educational initiatives to raise standards, increase accountability, and invest in what works.  The Congressional Republicans have passed a budget plan built on misguided priorities and insufficient resources.  To pay for risky and irresponsible tax cuts, the Congressional Republican budget would cut investments in domestic priorities $29 billion below the President’s level, an average cut of 9 percent.  The budget plan passed on a party-line vote by the U.S. House of Representatives appropriations committee:

Fails to narrow the digital divide through Community Technology Centers.  The House freezes funding for Community Technology Centers at $32.5 million, $67.5 million below the President, eliminating support for up to 1,000 centers for thousands of families in high-poverty areas.  Denies hundreds of thousands of teachers training in use of modern learning technologies.  The House provides only $85 million of the President’s $150 million request for Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology.Fails to improve teacher quality by ignoring the President’s request for $1 billion to improve teacher quality through standards-based professional development, teacher recruitment, teacher peer review programs, teacher quality awards, and professional development for early childhood educators.  Research shows that teacher quality is a key indicator of student performance. Denies help to 5,000 schools to make urgently needed repairs.  The House appropriation ignores the President’s $1.3 billion plan to help states and localities make $6.5 billion in emergency repairs to crumbling schools.  Fails to create smaller classes for as many as 2.9 million young children.  The House appropriation provides none of the President’s $1.75 billion request for class-size reduction.  It backs away from the bipartisan agreement to hire 100,000 new teachers and jeopardizes the federal commitment to hire as many as 20,000 new teachers next year and to continue support for the 29,000 teachers already hired.  Research shows that small classes in the early grades help students master the basics and raise student achievement. Denies nearly 650,000 low-income middle-school students the extra college preparation they need through the GEAR UP initiative.  GEAR UP provides disadvantaged youth early college preparation and awareness activities including mentoring, tutoring, college visits, and financial aid information.  The House committee freezes GEAR UP at this year’s level, rather than increasing it to $325 million as requested by the President, denying GEAR UP to roughly 650,000 disadvantaged students. Mentoring and college preparation activities are key strategies to help disadvantaged youngsters learn about higher education opportunities. Refuses as many as 1.6 million children extended learning opportunities in safe, drug-free environments.  The House committee provides only $600 million for 21st Century Community Learning Centers, rather than the $1 billion requested by President Clinton, preventing help to 900 communities.  Extended learning time is an essential strategy to help all students master challenging academic material and reach high standards.  The President’s budget would enable all students in low-performing schools to participate in high quality after-school and summer school programs to raise student achievement. Dramatically cuts state and local efforts to improve low-performing schools.  By eliminating Title I Accountability grants, for which President Clinton requested $250 million, the House committee would deny extra assistance to at least 80 percent of the 7,000 schools identified for improvement or corrective action under Title I.  States and localities use this funding to intervene in low-performing schools to turn them around and also to provide greater public school choice for students in low-performing schools. Denies more than 260,000 disadvantaged students Title I services to help them learn the basics and reach high standards.  The House plan also fails to provide new resources needed to improve teacher quality and strengthen school improvement efforts. Title I funding is the cornerstone of state and local efforts to ensure that all students learn challenging academic material and reach high standards.

Cuts Youth Opportunity Grants from $250 million to $175 million.  The President requested $375 million to provide comprehensive employment and training assistance to 75,000 out-of-school youth in high poverty areas. Fails to help 100,000 students learn to read independently and well by the end of the third grade by freezing funding for the Reading Excellence Act at $260 million, $26 million below the President’s request.  The President has set a goal that all students will read independently and well by the end of the third-grade, something that research shows is crucial for future academic success.

Moreover, the House and Senate have ignored the President’s major education tax cuts:  – Nearly $25 Billion in School Modernization Bonds to help build and modernize 6,000 schools.  Districts urgently need help accommodating record enrollments and repairing crumbling buildings. Because interest on the bonds would be paid by federal tax credits, the bonds allow districts to borrow interest-free.  The Nearly $30-Billion College Opportunity Tax Cut to make college more affordable and accessible.  The College Opportunity Tax Cut would give families the option of taking a tax deduction or claiming a 28 percent credit for up to $10,000 in tuition and other expenses, when fully phased in after 2002, providing up to $2,800 in tax relief per family.

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Why Children Talk to Puppets

January 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

“Our society is desperately in need of individuals who are able to look at the old and familiar in startling new ways,” wrote Ernest L. Boyer, President of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Educational reformer and theorist, Jeffrey L. Peyton has discovered untapped elements in a familiar concept. He is the architect of Puppetools, a learning language based on the need to communicate through play. Puppetools is an invention akin to Fortran, the language that made computers programmable. Puppetools is not theater; it is a visual language that works on the “high touch” end of the communication spectrum—from preschool to college foreign language classes.

Puppetools merges the seemingly disparate elements of paper and play behavior into “a language of hand held symbols and concepts.” Puppetools transforms the dynamism puppetry into a practical model of interactive play language. Recent research on questions relating to language suggest an emerging focus on the importance of communicative play. ”Vigotsky’s Theory: The Importance of Make-Believe Play,” (Young Children, November 1994), by Laura E. Berk, targets a critical link between play and learning in adult-child communication. ”Why Children Talk to Themselves,” also by Berk, (Scientific American, November, 1994), explores the phenomenon of private speech behavior in children.

By contrast, a paper entitled “Why Dogs Bark,” presented at a recent American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting, suggests that the question raised here, “Why Children Talk to Puppets,” offers a reasonable basis for research and broad interest given the need for education reform and brain science applications. Peyton’s inventions and theory are based on the observation that children respond unconditionally to puppets, that the puppet

archetype is evolutionary. It is a form of behavior unique to human play that mirrors and facilitates the growth of consciousness inherent in brain process. The archetypal hand puppet induces human play and audio-vocal and psycho-social interaction. It synthesizes symbolic thought and visualization, emotion, humor, and nurturance. The importance of play was recognized by the ancients. Heraclitus wrote, ”Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play.” As a biological birthright of learning in mammals, play is recognized as a key element in early childhood education. Research on play behavior relating to early childhood education fills the shelves of bookstores and academic libraries.

Nevertheless, as Berk discloses, “a search of the literature reveals no research on the subject of adult-child play relationships.” According to Paul D. MacLean, Senior Research Scientist, Department of Neurophysiology, NIH, the subject of play as a form of behavior has proved similarly elusive in the field of brain science. In view of the prominence of play among mammals and its civilizing influence in human evolution, it is curious that it has received so little attention in neurobehavioral research. In one handbook of experimental psychology, for example, the subject of play is dealt with in less than a page, and in a three-volume handbook of neurophysiology, there is no reference to play.

Peyton establishes a program for research by casting a light on specific neurological conditions leading to human play, communication and learning. Supported by current research in brain science, Peyton’s puppet language is a principle-centered teaching model with important ramifications for education leaders, and is virtually cost-free. Communicative play language has a direct role in the education and socialization of children in mass society. It offers a way to adopt communicative play as a governing principle of human learning. And given the exploding role of high technology and problem solving with computers, it offers a more visual approach to thinking that will be required.

Albert Einstein observed: “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” If a new level of thinking and communicating is to be achieved for education, what will it look like–and what tools will it use? Could this new level of thinking help struggling school systems create a fundamental change in the way children learn? Is it possible for a host of educational challenges to be solved with a comprehensive vision in the same way Einstein attempted to unify our understanding of the physical world with a single theory? Roman philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca may have left a trail marker in answer to these questions when he wrote: ”True wisdom consists of not departing from Nature but in molding our conduct according to her laws and model.”

 

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US-GA-Atlanta: GEORGIA LOTTERY FUNDED PRE-K LEAD TEACHER

January 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

ARAMARK is a $9 billion world leader in providing managed services — including food, facility and other support services, uniform and career apparel, and childcare and early education.  ARAMARK has leadership positions serving the business, education, healthcare, government, sports and recreation sectors.   In 2002, ARAMARK is rated No. 1 in the outsourcing services category in FORTUNE Magazine’s ‘Most Admired Companies in America’ and is among the Top 50 companies overall.  Headquartered in Philadelphia, ARAMARK has approximately 200,000 employees serving customers in 17 countries.

Children’s World Learning Centers, a division of Aramark Educational Resources, is now hiring Pre-K teachers for Dekalb, Gwinnett, Cobb and Fulton counties. Interested candidates should have previous early childhood education experience and excellent customer service skills. Candidates will need the following education/experience to be considered for a position: -2 year AA Degree in Early Childhood Education (CDA not accepted); OR -4 year BA degree in Early Childhood Education or Elementary Education; OR -Valid Georgia Certified Teacher Credential; OR -Valid Certified Teacher Credential from another state (you will have one year to obtain Georgia certificate). We offer an competitive salary, as well as childcare discount, health/dental/life insurance, 401(k), paid vacation/illness/personal time off. Aramark Educational Resources is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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