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

A biweekly look at progress on the Secretary's priorities

Table of Contents Goals 2000 Challenging Standards... Competent in Math... Technology and D.C. Schools Web Accessibility Project Funding Opportunities Math Report Card... Online Library Credits

GOALS 2000 Four schools serving many low-income & limited English proficient students in Sarasota, Florida, are using Goals 2000 to provide professional development (for teachers) in authentic assessment & continuous improvement, train new & prospective teachers in curriculum planning & authentic assessment (with the University of South Florida), establish 15 demonstration classrooms where teachers employ authentic assessments, and develop a cadre of substitutes who teach model lessons in thinking &# 38; problem solving. The North East Florida Educational Consortium is using Goals 2000 funds to identify weaknesses in student performance, mobilize resources to address them & analyze the impact of these efforts on student learning. Opportunities for ongoing teacher lea rning & strengthened teacher preparation (with the University of Florida) are helping support & sustain these efforts, which will affect some 5,000 students & more than 350 teachers in 8 pilot schools.

CHALLENGING STANDARDS FOR ALL STUDENTS Last week more than 200 technology industry executives expressed support for the President's proposal to offer voluntary national tests, beginning in the spring of 1999. The California Superintendent of Public Instruction also endorsed the tests, which w ould help parents & teachers see how well their 4th graders are reading & how well their 8th graders are doing mathematics compared to challenging national standards. For more information on the voluntary national tests, please see the new "Voluntary National Tests for 4th Grade Reading & 8th Grade Mathematics" home page, where you'll find answers to frequently asked questions, content frameworks that will be used to develop test items for the national tests & more: http://www.ed.gov/nationaltests/

COMPETENT IN MATH, INCLUDING ALGEBRA, BY END OF 8th GRADE Math scores of Jere Baxter Middle School's 430 5th and 6th graders -- more than 70% of whom receive free lunch -- have increased dramatically in the past year. Faculty at this Nashville, Tennessee, school attribute the improvement to an emphasis on colla borative learning, hands-on instruction, meaningful discussions of math concepts, and approaches that help students construct meaning from what they're learning. Teachers also credit a series of videodisc-based "adventures" (developed by Vanderbilt Univer sity with funding from the National Science Foundation) that offers multiple opportunities for students to formulate & solve problems, reason & communicate, and connect math to science, history & other subjects.

TECHNOLOGY & D.C. SCHOOLS Last week the Vice President announced an effort by a group of information industry companies & the federal government to connect the 150-some schools in Washington, D.C., to the information superhighway & help prepare children in these schools fo r the workplace of the 21st century. Cisco Systems, AMP, Sprint, AT&T and other companies will supply wiring kits for NetDay, a national volunteer effort to connect schools starting on Saturday, April 19th. The federal government will donate more than 1,000 "Internet capable" surplus co mputers -- enough to allow every D.C. school to have at least one computer lab. Bell Atlantic is providing a state-of-the-art laptop computers for each principal. America Online and AT&T are also donating computers, and Web TV is providing Web TV un its & large screen monitors for Internet access. Telecommunications Inc., through its subsidiary ETC, will provide free technology training to one teacher from each school in the District, and schools participating in NetDay will be able to get free training at local technology training centers. Microsoft is donating a variety of software & is partnering with 2 schools. The Vice President also challenged federal employees to volunteer to help wire schools on NetDay, an effort for which the Communications Workers of America has pledged to provide volunteers. For information on NetDay in your state & community, please see: http://www.netday.org/

WEB ACCESSIBILITY PROJECT Last week Secretary Riley announced that the Department will join the National Science Foundation (NSF) in contributing up to $800,000 for a new "Web Accessibility Initiative." This effort, directed by the World Wide Web Consortium, will guide the develo pment of industry sponsored specifications for making the Internet accessible to all Americans, including our nation's 49 million persons with disabilities. The Department's National Institute on Disability & Rehabilitation Research & our Office of Special Education Programs are participating in the initiative, which will explore descriptive video, video captioning, innovative input devices & other technology applications.

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES If you've ever wondered, "What funding opportunities are available from the U.S. Department of Education?" you may want to know about several online resources available through our "Grants & Contracts" home page (http://www.ed.gov/offices/OCFO/gcsindex.html): Announcements in the Federal Register -- A list of all "Notices Inviting Applications" (grant opportunities) from the U.S. Department of Education: http:/legislation/FedRegister/announcements/ "The Guide to U.S. Department of Education Programs" -- A brief description of each of the Department's more than 200 programs. Tells who is eligible to apply & the phone number for more information: http://web99.ed.gov/GTEP/Program2.nsf "What Should I Know About ED Grants?" Designed to de- mystify the Department's grants process & help potential applicants understand ways to apply for & make proper use of federal grant funds: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/KnowAbtGrants/

MATH REPORT CARD FEATURED The "1996 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Mathematics Report Card for the Nation & the States" was featured in the March 14 issue of the Scout Report, a weekly collection of "useful Internet sites for discerning Internauts." http://nces.ed.gov/naep/96report/97488.shtml http://scout.wisc.edu/report/sr/1997/scout-970314.html#1

ONLINE LIBRARY Recent additions to our Online Library include... The full text of the "The Hope & Opportunity for Postsecondary Education (HOPE) Act of 1997," as well as a section-by-section analysis of the legislation, press briefings transcripts, news releases & more: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/PPI/HOPE/ "Education Resource Organizations Directory" can help you identify & contact organizations that provide information & assistance on education-related topics. The Directory, compiled by our National Library of Education, presents more than 1800 state, regional & national organizations & offers a state map showing organizations serving your state or territory (including organizations funded by the U.S. Department of Education). You'll also find a "simple search" form for locating organizations that address a particular education topic or challenge: http://www.ed.gov/Programs/EROD/ Six of 12 reports from studies of school-based management, curriculum reform, early childhood reform in 7 communities, parent & community involvement in the middle grades, systemic reform, and systemic reform in the professionalism of educators (s ponsored by our Office of Educational Research & Improvement): http://www.ed.gov/pubs/SER/ "EDsearch: Education Statistics on Disk" is a computer program developed by the National Library of Education (NLE) in the Office of Educational Research & Improvement (OERI) to provide convenient access to the wealth of education statistics publi shed by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The program offers more than 2,600 compressed tables, charts, and text files from a number of NCES statistical compilations. For more information, see: http://nces.ed.gov/pubs97/97076.html

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.

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Last Updated -- June 21, 2001 (sf)