September 2, 2010
etc. (News You Need)
- The National Council on Economic Education issued its Report Card—Survey of the States: Economic, Personal Finance, and Entrepreneurship Education in Our Nation’s Schools in 2007. The Survey concludes that states haven’t made enough progress on their commitment to offer or require economic and finance education in our nation’s schools. Consequently, the majority of students aren’t receiving the essential real-life economic skills they need to become knowledgeable consumers, prudent savers and investors, and productive members of the workforce.
- The Center for American Progress has issued a report that found teacher absences hurt low-income public-school students the most. Those teachers average nine or ten days out of their classrooms per year. “Students in schools serving predominantly low-income families experience teacher absence at higher rates than students in more affluent communities. Part of the achievement gap is thus due to a teacher attendance gap,” the report concludes. It recommends that the federal government require school districts to provide data on teacher absences under the No Child Left Behind law, that state legislators re-examine teachers’ leave privileges, and that local policymakers experiment with incentives to reduce teacher absences.
- According to a 2003 study from the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, nearly 33 percent of new teachers leave the classroom after three years, and almost 50 percent leave after five years. Teacher recruitment and retention are the subjects of “Wanted: Good Teachers,” by the Center for Public Education. This online information “packet” includes basic facts about recruiting and retaining good teachers, current research, and strategies for building a recruitment program.
- The U.S. Department of Education provides a publication for parents, Empowering Parents School Box: A Tool To Equip Parents For the School Year, that it is free and available online in .pdf form. The school box contains three booklets: “What Parents Need to Know,” “Taking a Closer Look,” and “Learning Checklists”; a brochure: “Examples of Resources”; a poster: “Empowered Parents Stay Involved With School”; a bookmark; and a door hanger. The school box provides tips on working with children from birth to high school; guidelines for taking advantage of free tutoring opportunities; steps for selecting a high-quality school; ways to get involved in children’s schools; information about financial aid and scholarships; and resources for improving learning. It also includes success stories of schools where parent involvement made a difference.
- From Education World comes “Show Me the Money: Tips and Resources for Successful Grant Writing,” an online article that presents practical tips to help first-time grant writers get the grants they need for their classroom activities and materials. Additional Grant Writing Resources are included in this piece by Linda Starr.
- The Horace Mann Educator Scholarship program is offering scholarships for educators in public and private schools to take college courses. The maximum award is $5,000. Eligibility requirements: Educators must be employed by a U.S. public or private school district or U.S. public or private college/university at the time of application and at the time the scholarship is awarded, and must have at least two years of teaching experience. (This program is not open to residents of Hawaii, New Jersey, or New York.) The deadline is March 12, 2009.