A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION GOALS 2000 PROGRESS REPORT: STATES SAY 'YES!' TO BETTER SCHOOLS

FOUR YEARS AGO, the state of Kentucky said Yes! to better schools, well-trained teachers, involved parents and families and challenging subject matter for students.

Now, in 1994, Kentucky's comprehensive education efforts are paying off. Students recently demonstrated dramatic improvement on annual statewide achievement tests. To help in its ongoing efforts, Kentucky recently earmarked a $1.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education for family and community involvement programs in schools and improved teacher training -- two areas the state deemed most significant to achieving its education reform goals.

Similar school improvements also are underway in many other states. Massachusetts is developing an on-line system to help students integrate technology into their lessons and to provide better information to teachers. Illinois is setting standards for student achievement in six core subject areas. Oregon reports that efforts have begun to revamp its entire education system.

From Maine to Hawaii, states are taking up the challenge to make education better for their students, Education Secretary Richard W. Riley said. Finally, after a decade of piecemeal efforts, we have a serious framework in place with Goals 2000 to improve teaching and learning.

In the six months since President Clinton signed the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, nearly three-fourths of the states have applied for first-year funding to develop and expand school improvement efforts.

We have moved quickly in approving states' applications because most states already have some kind of education reform activities underway, Riley said. And we want them to be able to use Goals 2000 funds to build on their present work.

So far, 37 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Marshall Islands and Puerto Rico have received Goals 2000 grants, and applications are pending from Iowa, New Jersey, Utah, the Mariana Islands, Micronesia, Palau, the Virgin Islands and the Alaska Federation of Natives.

Goals 2000 encourages bottom-up reform involving states, communities, parents and teachers, businesses and service organizations.

Under Title III of the new law, states are invited to:

set challenging academic content and performance standards that establish what all students should know and be able to do in core subjects such as math and English;
develop and implement comprehensive plans to help students reach the standards, through strategies such as increased parental involvement, improved curricula, more effective professional development for teachers, and increased use of technology;
accomplish these steps with broad-based, grassroots involvement of parents, educators, business and community groups.

The federal government will help states by providing:

models of good practices and exemplary academic standards that states may find of use;
funds to support local school reform efforts;
increased flexibility through waivers of statutory and regulatory requirements in various federal education programs, if those requirements are obstacles to state or local improvement strategies.

In order to receive initial Goals 2000 funding, states are asked to submit a brief application describing how school improvement plans will be developed, how subgrants will be made to communities, and how plans to use technology to improve teaching and learning will be developed. The application deadline is June 30, 1995.

Each state's share of $91.5 million in fiscal year 1994 funds was calculated using a formula based on allocations under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The law requires that at least 60 percent of a state's first-year funds go to local education agencies and individual schools, with the percentage increasing to at least 90 percent in future years.

The Goals 2000 appropriation for the new fiscal year is $403 million. The funds are available through July 31, 1995.