Community Update

No. 54, February 1998
U.S. Department of Education

• Community Learning Centers Can Expand Learning and Provide a Safe Haven for Students
• February Town Meeting Will Highlight How Schools and Communities Can Support High Standards in Education
• Community Partnerships Can Improve Quality of Education for Students with Disabilities, Town Meeting Audience Learns
• Getting on Track for College
• Announcements
• Calendar
• Hemmings Motor News Publisher Encourages Parent Involvement in Children's Education
• State of American Education Address
• Arts Education Partnership Helps Strengthen Schools and Education Standards

Community Learning Centers Can Expand Learning and Provide a Safe Haven for Students
February 2, 1998

The 21st Century Community Learning Centers program will enable schools to stay open during non-traditional school hours, and offer mentoring in basic skills, enrichment in the core academic subjects, arts and music classes, and drug and violence prevention can take place in a safe, drug-free, and supervised environment. The program complements President Clinton's America Reads Challenge initiative which seeks to match reading partners with children in before- and after-school programs and during the summer.

"Every child needs someplace to go after-school," President Clinton said. "With after-school programs, we cannot only keep our kids healthy and happy and safe, we can help to teach them to say no to drugs, alcohol and crime; yes to reading, sports and computers."

The current U.S. Department of Education budget for he program includes $40 million for the start-up and expansion of after-school programs. As a result, grants will be awarded in May 1998 that will fund approximately 400 21st Century Community Learning Centers across the country. Under the current legislation, only rural and inner city public schools, or consortia of such schools, in collaboration with other public and non-profit agencies and organizations, local businesses, educational, cultural and scientific organizations, and other community institutions, are eligible to participate. Applications are currently available from the U.S. Department of Education by calling 1-800-USA-LEARN. Priority will be given to programs focused on learning and those that serve adolescents. The application deadline is March 9, 1998.

The U.S. Department of Education, the National Community Education Association and the National Center for Community Education are offering a series of one-day regional workshops in 11 cities across the country to provide technical assistance and examples of high-quality after-school programs to groups that are interested in applying for grants under the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program. For more information, call 1-800-USA-LEARN, or visit http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/21stcclc/.

The U.S. Department of Education's publications Family Involvement in Education: A Snapshot of Out-of-School Time, and Keeping Schools Open as Community Learning Centers: Extending Learning in a Safe, Drug-free Environment Before and After School are available by calling 1-800-USA-LEARN. For more information about the U.S. Department of Education's budget for fiscal year 1999, or the America Reads Challenge initiative, call 1-800-USA-LEARN.

February Town Meeting Will Highlight How Schools and Communities Can Support High Standards in Education

U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley will discuss how raising expectations can transform teaching and learning, as well as the best ways that schools and communities can help students master the basics. He will also address how teachers and administrators can engage parents and members of the community in establishing high expectations for all children. Entitled "Raising Student Achievement: Schools, Communities and Challenging Standards," the hour-long Satellite Town Meeting will air on Tuesday, February 17, at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time.

The U.S. Department of Education produces the Satellite Town Meeting series in partnership with the National Alliance of Business and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, with support from The Bayer Foundation, The Procter & Gamble Fund, and The SC Johnson Wax Fund. Broadcast and cable partners include Discovery Communications, the Public Broadcasting Service, and Channel One. The program will be closed-captioned and simulcast in Spanish.

The satellite coordinates are as follows:

C-Band: Galaxy 3, Orbital Location 95 degrees West; Transponder 21; Horizontal Polarity; Channel 21; Downlink Frequency 4120 MHZ; Audio Subcarriers 6.2 MHZ (Spanish) and 6.8 MHZ (English).

Ku-Band: Telstar 5, Orbital Location 97 degrees West; Transponder 12; Horizontal Polarity; Channel 12; Downlink Frequency 11936 MHZ; Audio Subcarriers 6.2 MHZ (Spanish) and 6.8 MHZ (English).

To participate in the Satellite Town Meeting, ask your local Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member station or Chamber of Commerce if your group can use the facility as a downlink site, or call your local public, education, or government access channel. Call 1-800-USA-LEARN for additional information or to register your participation or visit http://www.ed.gov/inits/stm/.

Community Partnerships Can Improve Quality of Education for Students with Disabilities, Town Meeting Audience Learns

The Satellite Town Meeting focused on ways that families, educators and communities can work together to improve the quality of education for students with disabilities. The program also highlighted the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 1997, which will strengthen academic expectations for America's 5.8 million students with disabilities.

"We cannot have an educational system that is defined by low expectations for any child, disabled or non-disabled," U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley said.

The program featured Julie Ashworth, an elementary school teacher at Hawthorne Elementary School in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Mark Donovan, executive director of the Marriot Foundation for People with Disabilities in Washington, D.C.; Nicole Harper, project director for the Statewide Parent Advocacy Network in Newark, New Jersey; and Bill Henderson, principal of the Patrick O'Hearn Elementary School in Boston, Massachusetts. Panelists encouraged schools and communities to consider the following as they face the challenge of serving students with disabilities in the best possible way:

• Set high expectations for all students, including those with disabilities.

• Increase opportunities for parent involvement in their children's education.

• Make sure children with disabilities are included in student assessments, performance goals and reports to the public.

• Support high-quality professional development for all staff involved in the education of children with disabilities.

To obtain more information about IDEA, call 1-800-USA-LEARN, the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services clearinghouse at (202) 205-8241, or visit http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/Policy/IDEA/.

Getting on Track for College

Editor's Note: New studies show that almost all parents want their children to go to college. Yet, often parents don't realize that preparing a student for college academically and financially should begin by sixth or seventh grade and continue through middle school and high school. Members of the Partnership for Family Involvement in Education support programs that help middle and high school students get on track for college. Part of a soon-to-be-launched nationwide effort aimed at getting middle school students prepared for college, the Young Scholars Liberty Partnership Program of Utica College is profiled here.

The Young Scholars Liberty Partnership Program (Young Scholars LPP) is a collaborative project of Utica College and the Utica City School District. The multi-year program was created to produce more students with New York Regents diplomas from the ranks of Utica's diverse student population, and provide support services aimed at raising student expectations and academic performance as a means of getting ready for college.

Participating students must meet certain academic goals throughout their middle and high school years. The Young Scholars LPP will help them work to their full potential and meet those goals by offering year-round educational opportunities and individual support through a structured program of counseling and encouragement.

During the summer of 1997, the Young Scholars LPP Summer Program served 200 students in grades 7 through 12. Program support continues throughout the year, with services that include tutoring provided by 75 college students (daily, Saturdays, and evenings), PSAT and SAT preparation, counseling and social work services including referral, various workshops, special classes, career exploration, social and enrichment activities, and community service involvement. The Young Scholars LPP also offers a mentor program to provide a one-to-one relationship for students. More than 60 mentors from the community participate in this effort. In addition, Utica College has established a fully endowed college scholarship fund for graduates of the Young Scholars LPP.

The Young Scholars LPP participates in the College/Community Partnership Program, a collaboration of the Consortium for the Advancement of Private Higher Education (CAPHE) and the Citizens' Scholarship Foundation of America (CSFA) funded by the DeWitt Wallace-Readers Digest Fund. For more information about the Utica College Young Scholars Liberty Partnership Program, contact Marsha R. Basloe, Young Scholars LPP Director, 1600 Burrstone Road, Utica, New York 13502, or Carol Fox, Director of Curriculum, Utica City Schools, 1710 Mohawk Street, Utica, New York 13502.

Announcements

Hemmings Motor News Publisher Encourages Parent Involvement in Children's Education

"Let's make the first day of school a celebration, not a day of misery," Ehrich said. "Let's use it to coach parents in their children's learning and to begin the school year forming and renewing partnerships between parents, teachers and students--between schools and communities--partnerships to improve education all year long."

Ehrich's First Day Foundation working with schools to help them develop their own First Day of School program or celebration. The foundation is also working with factories, law firms, banks and dozens of other employers throughout Vermont (and in a few test markets nationwide) to help them plan ahead to enable their employees to attend a host of events in schools throughout Vermont for a few hours during the first day of school.

Last year, 11 schools in five towns in Southwestern Vermont developed First Day of School programs which welcomed and encouraged parental involvement in their children's education. Over 120 employers participated, including the Bennington Police Department, the highway crew, town offices and even the regional hospital. Over 1,000 parents visited schools, met with teachers, got previews of the coming school year and obtained tips on how to help make a successful school year for their children. For more information about the First Day of School program, call (802) 447-9625 or visit http://www.firstday.org. For more information about the Partnership for Family Involvement in Education, call 1-800-USA-LEARN or visit http://www.ed.gov/PFIE/.

Arts Education Partnership Helps Strengthen Schools and Education Standards

The enactment of the bipartisan Goals 2000: Educate America Act of 1994 recognized the arts as a core area of study in which American children are expected to achieve competency. In response to this challenge, the Arts Education Partnership, a coalition of education, arts, business and funding organizations, is committed to improving the quality of American schools by promoting the arts as a way to help all students achieve high levels of academic, personal and career success.

The Arts Education Partnership, formed in 1995 through a cooperative agreement between the National Endowment for the Arts, the U.S. Department of Education, the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, and the Council of Chief State School Officers, helps states and local school districts integrate the arts into their educational improvement plans and initiatives. Over 140 national organizations have joined the Arts Education Partnership to affirm the arts as fundamental to quality education, and to help identify ways that the arts can become a central component of state and local education reform.

"Good schools require the arts," said Dick Deasy, Arts Education Partnership director. "They are essential for creating a school culture and community conducive to learning, and they are essential to high academic achievement in core subject areas for all students. The arts are integral to any genuine school improvement effort."

The Arts Education Partnership includes state teams composed of representatives from state education agencies, state arts agencies and state alliances of art educators. The Arts Education Partnership also maintains and links databases on state level policies and funding for the arts, and provides regular reports on how the arts can strengthen education and improve school-community partnerships at the national, state and local levels. Designed to encourage mutually beneficial relationships among the education, arts, community and business sectors, the Arts Education Partnership also coordinates issue-focused task forces to study how the arts can help children develop early readiness reading skills, enhance their creativity, and contribute to their understanding of cultural differences.

For more information about the Arts Education Partnership, call (202) 326-8693. The publication The Arts and Education: Partners in Achieving Our National Education Goals is available by writing to the Arts Education Partnership, One Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Suite 700, Washington, D.C. 20001. The video "The Arts and Children: A Success Story" is available by calling (202) 347-6352 or (800) 321-4510, extension 241.

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