Greetings from the Assistant Secretary
We have come to the end of another year, and it is a good time to reflect upon our accomplishments and plan for the future. Although the President recommended a more flexible approach to funding a high school initiative that married rigorous academics with the relevance of career and technical education, Congress has moved forward with reauthorization of the Perkins Act. The House and Senate have each passed bills that will go to conference in the next months. With a realization that academic preparation is key to successful careers in technical education, both bills focus on how states may best provide that combination. We expect that accountability for results will be a component of the final legislation, as well as the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). WIA is moving forward with a focus on adult education serving the needs of current and future workers, and it maintains its focus on the use of data in program improvement.
This year, the Office of Vocational and Adult Education has worked to assist states in their implementation of effective formula grants, and it has enabled states to come together in small groups to focus on specific areas, whether data quality in Perkins or reading instruction or pay for performance in adult education. At meetings of state directors, the states have had the opportunity to share ideas and promising practices that enrich every state's offerings. In addition, the office sponsored a joint financial management seminar to ensure that financial experts in each state were working closely with program staff to maximize the opportunities the funding provided.
Our community college working groups and the community college virtual summit brought together those focused on the improvement of community college to discuss how to provide smooth transitions and successful completion of postsecondary credentials and degrees. Our Labor-Market Responsiveness study gave community colleges information on the characteristics of labor-market responsive community colleges and an opportunity to assess themselves against those characteristics. In addition, the office brought together representatives of nine federal agencies to discuss funding opportunities for community colleges.
Our Smaller Learning Communities (SLC) and our High School Initiative: Preparing America's Future have focused attention on rethinking the current high school design. Through meetings, regional conferences, and a national conference, teams from schools, school districts and states have asked how best to serve the students in our schools today. We must recognize that they are different than we were, and that they bring great talent, initiative, love of technology and commitment to their education, components that can be prime ingredients in a new design for high school. Our challenge is how to help every student discover his or her talents and interests and prepare for the challenges that follow high school in the workplace and in further education. Summer will give us time to reflect on what we have done to date and develop plans to improve our efforts for the next year ahead.
As we look toward next year, we will have further activity in our 11 adolescent and adult literacy research projects, implementation of our SLC adolescent literacy grants, and new cohorts in the SLC initiative. In addition we will investigate how technology can assist in accessing information about adult education and in providing interactive activities that develop literacy. We will continue our national activities in transitions to community college, dual enrollment, and improvements in adult education.
As you end this school year, you are to be congratulated for the contributions you have made to the young people and adults you serve. Without you, many of those lives would have seen fewer opportunities and even fewer successes. We appreciate what you have done, and we take seriously our responsibility to serve you as you serve your students. We will continue to focus on the challenges you face and work to develop solutions with your collaboration and involvement. Hopefully you will take some time to refresh yourselves and develop new insights into the work we do. We look forward to joining you next fall with new ideas, better information and research, and a continued commitment to serve our students and serve our nation. Enjoy the summer!
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Assistant Secretary Susan Sclafani Participates in TV Show About Science Education
Assistant Secretary Susan Sclafani was a participant in the May broadcast of the U.S. Department of Educations TV show “Education News Parents Can Use“. The May program focused on science education and the need to properly prepare students for a global economy.
Dr. Sclafani discussed why it is important to afford students comprehensive science education what parents can do to ensure qualified professionals are teaching their children, and what quality instruction should look like at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.
Other guests on the program included Dr. John Marburger, Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President; Dr. Ioannis N. Miaoulis, the President and Director of the Boston Museum of Science; Mr. Greg Hall, the Assistant Superintendent for Assessment and Research in the Washington State Department of Education; Mr. Stephen Sills, the principal of Discovery Key Elementary School in Lake Worth, Florida; Ms. Monica Shah, the Manager of Science and Technology for the Girl Scouts of the USA; 2004 Presidential Award Recipient for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching, Ms. Melvina Jones, a K-6th grade science teacher at John Burroughs Elementary School in Washington, D.C.; and Dr. Mae Jemison, the National Spokesperson for the Bayer Corporation's Making Science Make Sense Program.
To view the May show, view other archived shows, or learn more about “Education News Parents Can Use,” visit http://www.connectlive.com/events/ednews
Deputy Assistant Secretary Hans Meeder Departs OVAE After Nearly Four Years of Service
After almost four years of service to the Bush Administration, Deputy Assistant Secretary Hans Meeder left OVAE on May 11. In his capacity as a Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy for OVAE, Mr. Meeder focused on policy, research, and planning for the Carl Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act and the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act. He also directed the department-wide High School Initiative, Preparing America’s Future.
Mr. Meeder left the Department of Education in order to set up a consulting practice that will focus on high school reform, career technical education, community colleges, and adult education. Please contact Ginger DeMint at Ginger.DeMint@ed.gov with any questions.
Hill Round Up
Congress continued to work throughout May on legislation that would reauthorize the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act and the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act. The House Committee on Education and the Workforce also held two hearings that highlighted the need to improve the academic achievement of high school students.
On May 4, 2005, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Vocational and Technical Education for the Future Act (H.R. 366), which would reauthorize the Perkins Act. The U.S. Senate passed comparable reauthorization legislation, the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2005 (S. 250), in March 2005. House and Senate members are expected to work this summer to resolve the differences between the two bills and agree upon final legislation. More information about H.R. 366 can be found on the website of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce at:
http://edworkforce.house.gov/
In addition, on May 18, 2005, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions voted to report the Workforce Investment Act Amendments of 2005 (S. 1021). The legislation includes provisions that reauthorize the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act. The Senate is expected to consider the bill later this summer.
On May 17, 2005, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce held a hearing on high school reform. Governors W. Mitt Romney (MA) and Tom Vilsack (IA) discussed the efforts that their states are taking to reform high schools and improve the academic achievement of high school students. Copies of the testimony can be found at:
http://edworkforce.house.gov/
Finally, on May 19, 2005, the House Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness held a hearing on challenges to American competitiveness in math and science. Mr. Norm Augustine, the retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lockheed Martin Corporation, and other witnesses stressed the importance of improving the preparation of American youth for careers in math and science. “A few years ago, when America did not finish in its traditional first-place in Olympic basketball the uproar could be heard throughout the nation,” testified Augustine. “How should Americans feel about being in 15th place out of 16 nations in the advanced math, based on international examinations of high school seniors? Or about finishing 16th out of 16 in science?” Copies of the testimony can be found at:
http://edworkforce.house.gov/
Data Quality Institute to be Held in Phoenix Arizona
DHSPCE/SAAG will be hosting a Data Quality Institute (DQI) for state directors of career and technical education in response to the accountability data requirements of the Perkins III legislation. The institute will be held June 14-16, 2005, in Phoenix, Arizona; the theme of the institute will be “Strategies to Implement Data Quality.“
This institute is one in a series of previously held institutes on topics having to do with ensuring quality data collection and reporting. These institutes demonstrate OVAE’s continuing efforts to ensure that data is complete, accurate, and useful in measuring the outcomes and impacts of the Perkins formula grant programs.
For more information, please go to http://www.edcountability.net or e-mail: John.Haigh@ed.gov
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One Third of US Adults Take Work-Related Courses
One third of all US adults take job-related courses or training outside of degree, certification, or apprenticeship programs, reports the National Center for Education Statistics. While increases in adult participation in work-related training were documented during the 1990s, for the agency’s recently released 2003 Adult Education for Work-Related Reasons (AEWR) researchers interviewed nearly 13,000 adults to find out why they signed up for courses. Nearly all adults surveyed reported they took the courses to help them at work. They found learning opportunities at colleges or universities or went to seminars, training sessions, or workshops offered by employers, unions, government agencies, and others. Almost all of the participants were employed at the time they took courses and sought to improve skills they already had. About three fourths wanted to learn something new that applied to their work.
Research suggests that the demand for work-related learning opportunities for adults stems from labor market changes that require higher skill levels from workers throughout a global economy. Technology is a major force pushing all workers to know and be able to do more on the job—from handling math to run statistical process control systems to making decisions about just-in-time production.
Edward J. Kame'enui Named Department's First Commissioner for Special Education Research
Edward J. Kame'enui, an international authority on learning problems and special education, has been named the nation's first commissioner for special education research. He will lead the National Center for Special Education Research, a newly established office within the Institute of Education Sciences (IES)—the research, evaluation, and statistical arm of the U.S. Department of Education. The center was established by Congress in the 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
"We are so pleased to have someone with Ed Kame'enui's background and considerable skills fill this key position," said Grover "Russ" Whitehurst, IES director. "In establishing this center, Congress charged us with sponsoring research to expand knowledge and understanding of students with disabilities in order to improve their education results, and Ed is uniquely qualified to lead that effort."
A native of Hawaii, Kame'enui began his special education career in 1971 as a teacher and houseparent at a Wisconsin residential treatment center for children identified with serious emotional and behavioral problems. He comes to IES from the University of Oregon, where he has been a faculty member for the past 17 years. In the mid-1980s, Kame'enui was a professor of special education at Purdue University, and he served one year as a research specialist and project officer in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in the U.S. Department of Education.
Kame'enui earned a bachelor of arts degree at Pacific University in Oregon and a master's degree and Ph.D., both in special education, at the University of Oregon. He is a widely traveled lecturer on reading and learning disabilities, the author or coauthor of more than a dozen textbooks and more than 100 scholarly articles and book chapters.
The National Center for Special Education Research is one of four centers within IES, an independent arm of the U.S. Department of Education, established by the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002. The other three centers are the National Center for Education Research, the National Center for Education Statistics, and the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance.
The new National Center for Special Education Research will sponsor rigorous research aimed at improving education results and services for students with disabilities and will evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
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