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 New Urban High Schools National Forum on Attracting... Charter Schools Netday for DC Summer Technology Learning... Videoconference on Telecommunications Direct Loans Budget & Management... Online Library Credits

NEW URBAN HIGH SCHOOLS One of 5 "New Urban High Schools" recognized last month for making instruction relevant & preparing all students for college & career opportunities is Central Park East High School. This small neighborhood school in Harlem is a leader in the movement toward smaller schools characterized by intellectual rigor & a sense of community. Community-based project learning is standard fare for all 460 students (grades 7-12). In grades 8-10, every student performs structured community service. In addition, as a requirement for graduation, each student completes a 1-semester, 100-hour internship accompanied by a portfolio of work. Community service & student internships are mediated through the school's advisory program, an exemplary support system for student learning & career exploration. More than 97% of Central Park East's students graduate, and 90% go on to college. For more information on "Changing the Subject: The New Urban High School" project, please see: http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/03-1997/urb-hs.html

NATIONAL FORUM ON ATTRACTING & PREPARING TEACHERS How can teacher preparation & support for new teachers be improved? On April 17-18, Secretary Riley is hosting "A National Forum: Attracting & Preparing Teachers for the 21st Century" in response to the President's call for every classroom in America to have a talented, dedicated, and well-prepared teacher. You are invited to respond to the same 6 questions being asked of state teachers of the year & higher education & policy leaders participating in the Forum. Those questions & a web form for responding are available at: http://www.ed.gov/comments/nationalforum/ "Your ideas can help inform the Department's thinking about teacher recruitment, preparation & ongoing support as we gear up for the reauthorization of federal legislation addressing those issues: Title V of the Higher Education Act," Secretary Riley writes in a letter on the National Forum web page. "In addition, I encourage you to share your ideas with your local schools, colleges & policymakers."

CHARTER SCHOOLS Secretary Riley announced this week a 60-day preview of a new web site designed for teachers, parents, community groups, museums & others who are planning or operating a charter school. Your comments are invited on "U.S. Charter Schools" -- simply use the Your Comments link at the top left of the home page. After comments have been weighed & improvements made, a "final" site will be unveiled. U.S. Charter Schools was developed by WestEd in collaboration with the California State University Institute for Education Reform & the U.S. Department of Education. http://www.uscharterschools.org Last week, Assistant Secretary for Elementary & Secondary Education Gerald Tirozzi appeared before the House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Youth & Families to testify on charter schools. The full text is available at: http://www.ed.gov/Speeches/04-1997/970409.html

NETDAY FOR DC Secretary Riley has invited Department staff to join other volunteers throughout the Nation's Capital on Saturday, April 19, for D.C. area schools' NetDay 97. Last year, 81 D.C. area schools participated; this year 34 more have registered. Materials will be donated by local companies, and expert wiring technicians will instruct & supervise as volunteers from across the community help install these materials. A list of participating schools can be found at the NetDay East Website: http://www.tcdc.org/netday/ Volunteers can register to help by choosing the "Getting Involved" icon at that web page & filling out a form, by sending an e-mail message to netday-info@cgcs.org or by calling (202) 628-TECH.

SUMMER TECHNOLOGY LEARNING FOR EDUCATORS Is your school district, university or other organization offering a course, institute, or seminar this summer to help teachers integrate technology into instruction? If so, you may want to use our "Summer 1997 Technology Opportunities for Educators" web page to promote it. Simply fill out the form & your technology- focused professional development opportunity will appear there. Organized by state, this web page is maintained by our Office of Educational Technology in support of the President's Technology Literacy Challenge. http://www.ed.gov/Technology/Summer97/

VIDEOCONFERENCE ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS DISCOUNTS "Maximizing Your E-Rate: Making the Most of New Telecommunications Discounts for Schools and Libraries" is the name of a videoconference distributed by PBS June 3 from 1-2:30 p.m. (Eastern Time). Designed to help educators & technology planners make the most of the historic Telecommunications Act of 1996, this live broadcast will offer guidelines for working with state public utility commissions (PUCs) & telecommunications vendors, strategies for optimizing cost reduction (through aggregation of demand), and ways to bundle discounts with other education technology funding sources. The videoconference comes less than a month after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) vote (on May 8) to accept, modify or reject a set of recommendations made by the FCC "Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service." If accepted by the Commissioners, the recommendations would mean deep discounts -- 20% to 90% off Internet access charges & other telecommunication services -- for schools & libraries. For more information, please visit the PBS E-rate website at: http://www.pbs.org/learn/als/programs/live/erate.html Or call PBS at 1-800-257-2578. The FCC home page on Universal Service is at: http://www.fcc.gov/ccb/universal_service/welcome.html

DIRECT LOANS Schools new to the Direct Loan program may want to take advantage of training sessions on the loan process, procedures for sending & receiving data from the Direct Loan Origination Center, and more. Dates, contacts & registration forms are in the March/April Direct Loans Newsletter: http://ifap.ed.gov/IFAPWebApp/archiveDLNewslettersPag.jsp Also, new frequently asked questions, bulletins & a glossary of terms have been added to the Direct Loans home page: http://www.ed.gov/DirectLoan/

BUDGET & MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENTS This week Secretary Riley appeared before the Senate Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-ED Appropriations to testify on the fiscal year 1998 budget request for the Department of Education. Last week Under Secretary Marshall S. Smith appeared before the House Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-ED Appropriations to testify on management improvements at the Department of Education. The full texts are available at: http://www.ed.gov/Speeches/04-1997/98senate.html http://www.ed.gov/Speeches/04-1997/deptmgt.html

ONLINE LIBRARY Recent additions to our Online Library include... "Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and Fact Sheets" presents -- in one place -- more than 20 sets of FAQs and Fact Sheets about the Department & its programs. http://www.ed.gov/faqs.html "Arts Education & School Improvement Resources for Local & State Leaders" is intended to help local & state leaders & arts education practitioners learn about Department programs that can be used to support improvements in arts education & overall student performance. http://www.ed.gov/pubs/ArtsEd/ "Participation in Basic Skills Education: 1994-95" presents rates of participation in basic skills education, examines how these rates are associated with the characteristics of adults, describes selected features of participation, and discusses reported barriers to participation. http://nces.ed.gov/pubs97/97325.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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