Editor's note: Each year the Education Department recognizes some of the nation's most successful public and private schools as "Blue Ribbon Schools," selecting among elementary and secondary schools in alternate years. This year U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley named 266 secondary schools from 40 states and the District of Columbia as award winners. The schools demonstrated excellence in teaching and instruction, student achievement, leadership, and parental involvement. President Clinton spoke at a ceremony honoring the Blue Ribbon Schools on May 29 in Washington, D.C. The following are excerpts from his remarks:This ceremony is honoring not just a single student, or even a single teacher, but entire schools and the communities that sustain them. The Blue Ribbon Awards are rooted in the belief that schools work only if everyone does his or her part -- if principals set high standards, if teachers teach well, if students work and learn, and if parents and other community leaders stay involved and stay supportive.
You know, I've had the chance, as I've said, to be in a lot of different schools -- elementary, middle and high schools all across the country; public schools, parochial schools. I have seen in all the schools that really work, clearly, one uniform characteristic. ... Every one of them had high standards and high expectations. They actually believed that students could learn and that they would learn if given the right kind of standards, the right kind of support, the right kind of environment.
I told the country's governors at their Education Summit in March that we have to have those kinds of expectations for all of our students. And somehow we have to make sure that they have those expectations of themselves. We have to make every child in this country believe in himself or herself -- believe they can learn difficult things. We have to hold them accountable, but we also need to reward them and pat them on the back when they do well.
... Nothing is as important as preparing the American people and our young people for the 21st century world in which they will live. And that means they have to not only learn things today, but be able to learn for a lifetime.
As long as we have a well-educated citizenry, as long as we have people who can learn whatever they need to learn whenever they need to learn it, and who understand that this is related to the work of citizenship, this country will do just fine. If you succeed, America succeeds. That is the ultimate lesson of today.
Entitled "Women and Girls in Education: What's Working in Schools and Communities," the hour-long Town Meeting will air on Tuesday, July 16 at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The program will be closed- captioned and will be simulcast in Spanish.
U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley and Deputy Secretary Madeleine Kunin will welcome educators and local leaders from around the country who will offer successful strategies for ensuring that girls have equal educational opportunities. Discussion topics will include what kinds of barriers in the classroom discourage girls from achieving to their full potential; what can be done to encourage girls to pursue math and science, fields where they are traditionally underrepresented; and what role families, schools, employers, and community groups have in helping girls develop their full educational potential.
The Department of Education produces the Satellite Town Meeting series in partnership with the National Alliance of Business and the Center for Workforce Preparation with support from the Bayer Foundation, The Procter and Gamble Fund, Microsoft, Inc., and SC Johnson Wax.
Satellite coordinates are as follows ....To participate in the Satellite Town Meeting, contact your local Public Broadcasting System (PBS) member station, Chamber of Commerce, or Johnson Controls branch office and ask if your group can use the facility as a downlink site. Other possible sites are local schools, public libraries, community colleges, cable television stations, universities and technical schools, government offices, hospitals, businesses, hotels, or even private residences with satellite dishes. Call 1-800-USA-LEARN for further information or to register your participation.C-Band: Telstar 401, Orbital Location 97 degrees West; Transponder 7; Vertical Polarity; Channel 7; Downlink Frequency 3840 MHz; Audio Subcarriers 6.2 MHz (Spanish) and 6.8 MHz (English).
Ku-Band: SBS-6, Orbital Location 74 degrees West; Transponder 17; Horizontal Polarity; Channel 17; Downlink Frequency 12120 MHz; Audio Subcarriers 6.2 MHz (Spanish) and 6.8 MHz (English).
Suggestions in the teacher guides included turning a typical classroom conflict between students into an opportunity for learning. The class would be asked to identify the problem, summarize different points of view, brainstorm possible solutions, and decide on a resolution. Teachers were also provided with a pyramid of workplace skills to use as a guideline in planning other learning activities, including communicating, problem-solving, working with others, finding information, and applying technology.
The family guides explored how parents can help encourage strong work habits such as completion of tasks and cooperating with others. Ideas that could be integrated easily into family life included building communication skills by asking for more description from a child about his/her school day. Giving children more responsibility for the tasks that sustain the family was also suggested.
The culmination of the Learning Together program was the celebration of National Family Learning Days from May 3-5. U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Madeleine Kunin spoke at the kick- off event in Detroit, Mich., where the key role of families in children's learning was emphasized. Shawntel Smith, the reigning Miss America, also participated in the event; she has been named America's school-to-work ambassador by Education Secretary Richard Riley and Labor Secretary Robert Reich. Nearly 100 children's museums across the country celebrated National Family Learning Days by offering special discounts to families.
Chrysler's Chairman and CEO, Robert Eaton, explained why his corporation sponsored the Learning Together program and National Family Learning Days. "Today, America needs people who can learn quickly, think logically, and work creatively with others. To them will go the good jobs, and on their shoulders will rest the future of the country."
Secretary Riley and steering committee members will be joined by national co-chairs Tipper Gore, wife of the Vice President and a lifelong child advocate; Bo Jackson, star athlete and actor; Joan Dykstra, National PTA President; and Ted Sanders, President of Southern Illinois University.
Steering Committee members include:
The READ*WRITE*NOW! national reading and writing program, now in
its second summer, anticipates reaching one million children
before school resumes in the fall. The program challenges
students to practice their reading and writing skills over the
summer, a time when many students lose progress they have made
during the school year. Students are asked to read daily, set
summer reading goals, and complete learning activities with an
adult or older teen reading partner. READ*WRITE*NOW! provides
kits for participants that include an activity book, bookmarks, a
certificate, and a coupon for free food at Pizza Hut.Many organizations are coordinating efforts to bring together children of all ages and backgrounds to help each other improve their reading and writing skills. The Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., Title I educators, the Kansas City School District, and American Multi-Cinema, Inc. (AMC) have collaborated on a plan to provide Title I students in Kansas City, Mo. with learning partners. Seventy-five Girl Scouts received training on how to be reading tutors, incorporating READ*WRITE*NOW and other activities that facilitate language arts learning. After the initial training sessions, the Girl Scouts will pass on their knowledge to others who will become learning partners for younger children.
Many local and national groups have requested materials and guidance to supplement already existing programs or to start new programs focusing on literacy and the intergenerational one-on- one reading the program encourages. To support these efforts, READ*WRITE*NOW! kits were mailed to every public library in the nation.
To find out more about READ*WRITE*NOW!, or to obtain a kit, call 1-800-USA-LEARN.
Since the Statement of Common Purpose was signed, religious communities have stepped forward to turn their words into action. One of the most universally embraced programs by the religious members of the Partnership has been the national initiative for reading and writing, READ*WRITE*NOW. B'nai B'rith Youth Organization has actively supported the use of READ*WRITE*NOW by signing up their teenage members to serve as reading partners to inner city children during the summer. The Christian Brothers Conference and the Jesuit Secondary Education Association have agreed to make READ*WRITE*NOW one of the service projects that their high school students perform during the school year.
Many retired Catholic sisters are tutoring disadvantaged children this summer using the READ*WRITE*NOW program. The Church of God in Christ and the Rabbinical Assembly are also working to engage their members in READ*WRITE*NOW activities. Finally, the National Council of Churches is sponsoring a workshop in the fall for a wide variety of church and family leaders that will include the READ*WRITE*NOW program.
The leaders of many other religious organizations are also supporting activities of the Partnership for Family Involvement in Education. Several elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints have met with Secretary Riley to discuss ways that their church members can use their many programs supporting family involvement in learning to reach out to their local communities. The Progressive National Baptist Church is signing on local congregations to the Partnership and sponsoring a fall event for the America Goes Back to School: Get Involved!. initiative (see p. 3). The United Methodist Church recently released a report, Education: The Gift of Hope, in which local churches are challenged to be involved in education within their local communities.
Because of their historical commitment to families and their leadership position in the community, religious groups play an important role in the Partnership for Family Involvement in Education.
Special guest Dr. James Comer of Yale University, a leading expert on school reform and children's learning, established the connection between discipline and student achievement. "When young people are developing well, they will learn. Therefore it is necessary to pay attention to creating a climate that allows all the adults in the environment to support the development of young people."
Dr. Comer, the Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry and Associate Dean of Yale Medical School, created the School Development Program, which has improved academic performance and student behavior in 600 school sites nationwide. The program actively involves parents in guiding school decisions and setting goals for students.
Reports on two model schools also demonstrated the principle that good behavior can be taught. At Limerick Avenue School in Canoga Park, Calif., the message of positive student behavior is communicated before every student assembly, on bulletin boards in every classroom, on murals in the hallways, and through a special character education program.
At Ruffner Middle School in Norfolk, Va., mandatory school uniforms have been part of a program to dramatically improve discipline and student achievement. The decision to adopt uniforms was made after extensive consultations with parents, school staff, and students themselves.
Guest panelist Pamela Riddick, principal at Ruffner School, reported that the number of classroom disruptions dropped by 50 percent in the first year of the school uniform policy. School staff, who also voted to adhere to a dress code, consistently enforced Ruffner's discipline code. "We established a no- nonsense approach to what we expect from children, and a high standard of expectation that is not negotiable," Riddick said. "As a result, children began to view themselves as having an opportunity to be successful."
A telephone call to the program from Oscar Sierra of Los Angeles, Calif. exemplified the kind of positive changes that students can make with the proper support. After participating in an arts program called Living Literature Colors United, Sierra, a former gang member, returned to school, was elected student body president, and completed his studies. "The arts are often a way to reach young people who otherwise might not get engaged," Deputy Secretary Kunin said.
The role that school security officers can play in contributing to safe and orderly schools was described by panelist John McLees, the Executive Director for School Safety in the Philadelphia, Pa. school district. He supervises nearly 300 school police officers stationed at local schools. "Every one of our officers act as positive role models for the children. They're there to talk to the kids. And the kids come to confide in them. If our officers can't come up with the proper response, we reach out to the school support team."
The perspective of parents was represented by Rosemary Lynch, First Vice President of the Fairfax County Council of PTA's in Fairfax, Va. When youth violence became a problem in the community, Lynch and other parents secured a grant from the Department of Education to implement a conflict resolution program for students, teachers, and parents. "Parents are a very important part of the solution," Lynch said.
Guest panelist Ruben Zacarias, Deputy Superintendent of the Los Angeles School District, also recognized the important role of parents and the community. "School discipline is a collective responsibility," he said.
Education Secretary Richard Riley summarized the consensus reached during the Town Meeting. "Prevention is the important thing that all of us ought to be working on day by day. That's what works."
The Education Department has a packet of materials to support school discipline programs, including a manual on school uniforms. To request the materials, call the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Clearinghouse at 1-800-624-0100.
As this edition went to press, U.S. Secretary of Eduation Richard Riley urged House members to protect the nation's investment in education and support the president's full request for 1997. "More students than ever before will be in our nation's classrooms this fall -- nearly 52 million. We need a budget that is in touch with the future needs of this country and the growing educational needs of our students," Secretary Riley said.
The chart below compares the funding levels for major education programs in the House subcommittee bill and President Clinton's 1997 budget request, and also shows the difference between what Congress and the president have proposed.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
| President's | House |
Major Education | Request, | Subcomm. Bill, | Difference
Programs | FY 1997 | FY 1997 |
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-|-=-=-=-=-=-=-=|=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-|-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Raise Standards | | |
of Achievement: | 491,000 | ELIMINATED | -491,000
Goals 2000 | | |
| | |
----------------------|--------------|--------------------|----------------
Improving the Basics: | 7,165,000 | 6,730,348 | -434,652
Title I | | |
| | |
----------------------|--------------|--------------------|----------------
Safe and | | |
Drug-Free Schools | 540,000 | 440,978 | -99,022
| | |
----------------------|--------------|--------------------|----------------
Strengthening Teacher | | |
Skills: Professional | 610,000 | ELIMINATED | -610,000
Development | | |
| | |
----------------------|--------------|--------------------|----------------
Bring Computers | | |
into Classrooms | 325,000 | 48,000 | -277,000
| | |
----------------------|--------------|--------------------|----------------
Gifted and | | |
Talented Education | 10,000 | 3,000 | -7,000
| | |
----------------------|--------------|--------------------|----------------
Vocational Education | 1,100,000 | 972,750 | -127,250
| | |
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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