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 All Children Read Well... All Children Master the Foundations of Math... Two Years of College... Talented, Dedicated, Well-Prepared Teacher... All Classrooms Connected to the Internet... High Standards for All Students Budget New Online Credits

HELPING ALL CHILDREN READ WELL BY THE END OF 3rd GRADE More than 800 colleges & universities have signed up to support the America Reads Challenge by dedicating federal work-study students to help children read well & independently by the end of 3rd grade. One signatory, the University of Minnesota, has arranged for federal work-study students to tutor at 13 libraries, 14 recreation centers, elementary schools & other after-school community organizations. Also, the university alumni association is recruiting its members for training & placement as tutors, or to work with parents of students. The Minnesota Literacy Council is developing a corps of adults who will be trained through the university to help parents of children in the program support literacy at home. VISTA, Retired & Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) & AmeriCorps members will provide additional supportive services. For more information on the America Reads Challenge, please see: http://www.ed.gov/inits/americareads/

HELPING ALL CHILDREN MASTER THE FOUNDATIONS OF MATHEMATICS BY THE END OF 8th GRADE Too few students in Dallas, the nation's 8th largest urban school district, were attending college. And too few of those who did attend were adequately prepared for college-level work. To help turn this around, the O'Donnell Foundation developed the Advanced Placement (AP) Incentives program. Under the program, teachers are given financial incentives for attending AP summer training & for teaching AP courses. Students who complete an AP course take the AP exam at half-cost (AP exams cost about $73). Those who earn a 3 or better (on a 5-point scale) receive financial incentives & are reimbursed for the cost of the exam. In May 1995, the year before the program began, students took 312 AP exams in mathematics, science & English. In May 1997, the 2nd year of the Dallas program, this number grew to 1,750. The number of students scoring 3 or higher (during that time period) rose from 139 to 559. For information about additional promising efforts to help all students master challenging mathematics, please see "Mathematics Equals Opportunity": http://www.ed.gov/pubs/math/ A RESOURCE KIT is now available to help schools & districts benchmark their own mathematics achievement, teaching & curriculum against what has been learned about international standards from the most comprehensive international study of education, the Third International Mathematics & Science Study (TIMSS). The kit, "Attaining Excellence," offers complete information about TIMSS, including a video of representative teaching in the U.S., Japan & Germany; and it focuses on practical decisions that superintendents, administrators, teachers & curriculum specialists must make about setting high standards & expectations, selecting challenging curricula & materials, and encouraging best teaching practices. It also suggests ways educators can convey to parents, business & communities the importance of mathematics achievement to students' future success. To order the kit ($94.00) or for more information about TIMSS, including the complete 8th-grade and 4th-grade reports, please see the TIMSS web site: http://nces.ed.gov/timss or call (202) 219-1333. The kit may also be ordered from the Government Printing Office (202) 512-1800 (stock number 065-000-01013-5).

TWO YEARS OF COLLEGE & LIFELONG LEARNING FOR ALL STUDENTS The HOPE Scholarship will be discussed by Secretary Riley during a November 10 teleconference (8:00 - 8:45 p.m. ET) on "everything you need to know about federal financial aid programs." These programs will include Pell Grants, Stafford Loans, PLUS loans, consolidation loans, Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants, work-study programs & Perkins loans. For more information on the "Financial Aid Night" teleconference, please call 1-800-USA- LEARN or see: http://www.ed.gov/inits/stm/finaid.html The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently published a notice (#97-60) providing taxpayers with guidance on the HOPE Scholarship tax credit & other higher education-related tax benefits provided by the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997. A copy is at: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/PPI/HOPE/tax_qa/

A TALENTED, DEDICATED, WELL-PREPARED TEACHER IN EVERY CLASSROOM The application packet for the new National Awards Program for Model Professional Development is now available. Schools & school districts (pre-K-12, public or private) may apply for the program, which is designed to identify & disseminate information about outstanding professional development efforts that provide evidence of improved student learning & increased teacher effectiveness. Ten awards are expected to be made. Applications must be received by January 15, 1998. For complete information, including the application packet, please see: http://www.ed.gov/inits/TeachersWeb/ THIS MONTH'S SATELLITE TOWN MEETING, on November 18 (8:00- 9:00 p.m. ET), focuses on "Supporting Quality Teachers: A Talented Teacher in Every Classroom." For satellite coordinates, the registration form & other information, please see http://www.ed.gov/inits/stm/ or call 1-800-USA- LEARN. NASA Quest will redistribute the broadcast via the Internet. For details, see: http://www.quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/stm

ALL CLASSROOMS CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET; ALL STUDENTS TECHNOLOGICALLY LITERATE An effort to move more than 70,000 surplussed federal computers into America's neediest classrooms this year was announced last month by the Vice President. A number of transportation systems & movers are partnering with the Department of Defense to transport donated computers, free of charge, from federal agencies to classrooms under the "Computers for Learning" effort. Schools & educational non-profit organizations can sign up for the program at http://www.computers.fed.gov This website also suggests how to find assistance if computers require upgrading & how to contact volunteers with technical computer knowledge. Schools & non-profits without access to the Internet may register by calling 1-888-362-7870.

HIGH STANDARDS FOR ALL STUDENTS The Department invites comments on proposed regulations for implementing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Amendments of 1997, passed with bipartisan support in Congress & signed by President Clinton on June 4. The proposed regulations, which were published in the October 22 Federal Register, aim to help improve results for America's 5.8 million children with disabilities by promoting early identification, early provision of services & ensuring access to general education curriculum & reforms. Comments may be provided in writing via email (comments@ed.gov) or regular mail (Thomas Irvin, Office of Special Education & Rehabilitative Services, U.S. Department of Education, Room 3090, Mary E. Switzer Building 330 C Street, SW, Washington, D.C. 20202). Also, 3 of 7 public meetings for oral comment (noted in the October 17 "ED Initiatives" update) remain: November 18 in Denver, November 21 in San Francisco & November 24 in suburban Chicago (Northbrook, IL). After reviewing comments, the Department will publish final regulations to carry out IDEA. For a copy of the Federal Register notice, please see: http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/proprule/ (or call 1-800-USA-LEARN). The IDEA homepage is at: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/Policy/IDEA/index.html STW GRANTS TOTALLING $15.9 million were awarded last month by the Departments of Labor & Education to school-to-work (STW) partnerships serving urban & rural areas, out-of-school youth & Indian communities. The 32 Urban/Rural Opportunity Grants (UROGs) went to STW partnerships in high-poverty communities, which often face particular challenges in creating STW programs -- few large employers, students who may be unaware of postsecondary opportunities & who may be struggling against negative peer pressure, and dropout rates sometimes exceeding 50%. The 11 Out-of-School Youth Grants were awarded to STW partnerships to "reconnect" students no longer in school, as well as high school graduates who are inadequately prepared, with opportunities to reach high standards of academic achievement & to receive employment training. The 6 STW Indian Grants were awarded to combat particular problems within Indian communities: high unemployment, few high-skill & high-wage jobs, unequal access to education, and remote locales that can limit career awareness. Partnerships funded by all 3 of these STW programs aim to provide every young person in their communities with the academic skills, work-based learning opportunities & exposure to career possibilities s/he will need to pursue the high-skill, high-wage jobs of the future.

BUDGET The Department continues to operate at 1997 spending levels, as required by the current continuing resolution (CR). Congress is expected to work through the weekend & possibly next week to pass the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill, which will establish fiscal year 1998 funding levels for the Department. It is expected that this bill will be signed into law before Congress ends this legislative session & goes home until January 1998. Meanwhile, Congress & the White House continue to work out an agreement on voluntary national testing. We hope to be able to report details on both the budget & voluntary national testing next week.

NEW ONLINE Try our new search engine! One of many improvements being made in response to your comments on the "Internet Customer Survey" (http://www.ed.gov/Survey/cust.html), this new search engine is based on state-of-the art information retrieval technology & provides faster, more accurate search results. http://search.ed.gov/ The Department's strategic plan, submitted to Congress in September 1997 in response to the Government Performance & Results Act, is now available. "The U.S. Department of Education Strategic Plan, 1998-2002" describes our goals, objectives & strategies, and it includes performance indicators for measuring progress. http://www.ed.gov/pubs/StratPln/ "1996 Science Performance Standards Achievement Results for the Nation & the States" and "What Do Students Know? 1996 NAEP Science Results for 4th, 8th & 12th Graders." http://www.nagb.org/pubs/students/kids.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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