Yesterday Secretary Riley announced 10 John Stanford Education Heroes. The 10 honorees were selected for extraordinary commitment to improving schools and communities and increasing learning opportunities for students. They were cited for using innovative approaches to support education, including engaging students in science, technology, the arts, or nature to inspire learning; involving parents and communities in establishing respectful learning environments for diverse student groups; helping parents better communicate with schools; and spreading the message of the importance of better education. http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/12-2000/121400.html

Teachers are invited to apply for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching Program. Recognition is given to K-12 teachers in 4 award groups: elementary mathematics, elementary science, secondary mathematics, and secondary science. (The secondary groups can include middle, junior, and senior high school teachers.) Four Presidential Awards will be given in 2001 in each state and the 4 U.S. jurisdictions. The award includes a $7,500 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to the awardee's school (to be spent under the awardee's direction over a 5-year period, to improve school math and science programs), gifts to awardees and their schools from private sector donors, and more. The application deadline is February 12, 2001. Additional information, application packets, and "best lessons" contributed by awardees are at http://www.ehr.nsf.gov/pres_awards/

U.S. 8th-graders are above the international average in math and science performance, according to the Third International Mathematics and Science Study-Repeat (TIMSS-R). Highlights of the report and the *full* report -- "Pursuing Excellence: Comparisons of International Eighth-Grade Mathematics and Science Achievement from a U.S. Perspective, 1995 and 1999" -- are at
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2001028
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2001027

The American Teachers Awards will recognize 33 exemplary U.S. teachers and one Outstanding Teacher of the Year. The program, to be aired on Lifetime Television on December 22 at 7:00 p.m. (ET/PT), will feature video clips from awardees' classrooms. For more information about the program, which is part of Disney's Learning Partnership, please see http://disney.go.com/disneylearning/ata/index.html

Last week Secretary Riley announced the winners of the Department's new National Awards Program for Effective Teacher Preparation. These programs, he said, "provide powerful examples for others seeking to ensure that their graduates make a measurable difference in the achievement of K-12 students." Applicants were asked to demonstrate the link between their teacher preparation programs and graduates' abilities to improve student learning in reading and math. http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/12-2000/120700.html

Initiatives to save $600 million for students over the next 5 years are now being challenged in a law suit against the Department. The suit, brought on November 3 by a number of lenders in the government-guaranteed student loan program and their associations, challenges various fee and interest rate reductions and repayment incentives the Department offers direct loan borrowers and borrowers in the Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL) program who consolidate their loans with the Department. The Clinton Administration has worked hard to make college more affordable. The initiatives challenged in this suit save students and parents money and help prevent defaults. The Department will work with the Justice Department to defend these benefits and savings for student loan borrowers. The Department expects to file its brief in early 2001. For more information, please see http://www.ed.gov/News/001215.html

Last week Secretary Riley announced the Pathways to College Network, a new partnership between private foundations and non-profit organizations that will complement the Department's GEAR UP and TRIO initiatives. This partnership is important because while more and more Americans are enrolling in college, too many disadvantaged students in America still lack the support, resources, motivation, and high expectations that they need to succeed. http://www.ed.gov/Speeches/12-2000/001206.html

Today Secretary Riley released the Department's new national education technology plan, "e-Learning: Putting a World-Class Education at the Fingertips of All Children." The report -- which was developed in consultation with educators, researchers, parents, industry, and others -- is at http://www.ed.gov/Technology/elearning/

After more than a year of deliberation and analysis of testimony from hundreds of individuals and organizations, the Web-based Education Commission will issue its report on December 19 at 1:00 p.m. (ET) at the National Press Club. The report -- a comprehensive analysis of e-learning in K-12 education, higher education, and corporate training -- will be unveiled on the Commission's website to during the event, which will be webcast live http://www.webcommission.org

A new Scholarship for Service initiative will fund about 175 students to study information security in exchange for a commitment to work for a specified amount of time for the federal government. The effort, part of the National Science Foundation's Federal Cyber Services Training and Education initiative, aims to help meet the demand for information technologists and security specialists. It also supports the development of information security faculty and facilities through capacity building grants. Scholarship for Service offers tuition for junior and senior academic years of undergraduate study, or 2 years of master level study, summer employment in a federal agency, and a living stipend. Proposals are due in late January.
http://www.ehr.nsf.gov/EHR/DUE/programs/sfs/
http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?nsf0111

"Making teaching a year-round profession is the future of American education," Secretary Riley said in his February State of American Education Address. Schools could use time during the summer, he said, to provide professional development for teachers and extra help for students who need it. He believes that teachers should be paid at their regular salary rates for this additional time. Descriptions of 4 schools, including 2 charter schools, that are bringing teachers together during the summer to improve teaching and learning are at http://webx.ed.gov/cgi-bin/WebX?14@@.ee6b48b

What do you think of this idea? Join an online discussion about how teachers and schools could use summers to improve teaching and learning. Simply go to http://webx.ed.gov/cgi-bin/WebX?14@@.ee6b48b and join the discussion.

Education Statistics Quarterly is an overview of products released in a given quarter by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Highlights in the fall 2000 issue include -- but are not limited to -- reports on the following topics:

• K-12
  • children who repeat kindergarten or enter it late
  • high school dropouts
  • sources of newly hired teachers
  • salaries of teachers
  • public schools with a focus on middle schools
  • condition of America's public school facilities
  • the 100 largest public school districts in the U.S.
    http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2001/quarterly/fall/elem_toc.html
• Postsecondary
  • students with disabilities
  • women and minorities in science and engineering
  • debt burden 4 years after college
  • college quality and earnings of recent graduates
    http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2001/quarterly/fall/post_toc.html
• Past issues looked at...
  • teacher quality (spring 1999)
  • instructional practices (summer 1999)
  • life after college (fall 1999)
  • civics achievement (winter 1999)
  • America's kindergartners (spring 2000)
  • common core of data (summer 2000)
    http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2001/quarterly/fall/note.html

Information about services, resources, and accomplishments of the 15 Comprehensive Centers which provide technical assistance to the thousands of high- poverty, low-performing schools and districts -- can be found on the redesigned Comprehensive Centers Network (CC Network) website. Visitors can register for conferences, see research on effective practices in low-performing schools, find CC Network publications, contact a Center for information, and more. These Centers work primarily with states, school districts, tribes, schools, and other recipients of funds under the Improving America's Schools Act (IASA). Priority for services is given to high-poverty schools and districts, Bureau of Indian Affairs schools, and IASA recipients implementing schoolwide programs. http://www.ccnetwork.org

"Monitoring School Quality: An Indicators Report" explores why some schools may be better than others at helping students learn. This NCES report reviews 13 characteristics of schools, classrooms, and teachers that are most likely related to school quality and student learning. http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2001030

The National Clearinghouse for Comprehensive School Reform now offers "Bookmark," an email newsletter that offers research, publications, and links to educational materials, funding opportunities, announcements, and other information related to comprehensive school reform. http://www.csrclearinghouse.org/

"Evaluation of the Public Charter Schools Program" is the first-year report of a 4-year study of the federal Public Charter Schools Program (PCSP). The report looks at how charter schools use PCSP grants, progress these schools are making, and other issues. http://www.ed.gov/offices/OUS/PES/chartschools/title.html

The "Directory of Resources for Foreign Language Programs" is a database of national associations, professional organizations, state foreign language offices, funders, publishers of language learning materials, clearinghouses, instructional materials, websites, conferences, listservs, and more. http://www.cal.org/ericcll/ncbe/fldirectory/

The ERIC database is now searchable in German and Spanish. Users search by entering keywords and then receive descriptions of relevant journal articles and documents in both languages. Visit http://SearchERIC.org or select "Search ERIC" from the home page of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation at http://ericae.net

The "National Directory of Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Programs" lists U.S. colleges and universities that provide early childhood education preparation. The website includes highlights from a survey of early childhood preparation programs. http://www.cdacouncil.org/ndir/ndir_intro.htm

ED Initiatives is made possible by many contributors, including Douglas Arnold, Stephanie Babyak, Jim Bradshaw, Robin Chait, Peter Donahoe, Jane Glickman, Adam Honeysett, Peter Kickbush, Bob LeGrande, Jerry Malitz, Sara Mead, Alex Medler, Meredith Miller, Tracy Sisser, Irene Spero, Carole Wacey, Terry Wick, and others.

Have a comment or suggestion on ED Initiatives? Please send it to Kirk Winters in the Office of the Under Secretary at kirk.winters@ed.gov.