When the President announced "High Hopes for College for America's Youth" earlier this month, one of the programs highlighted was Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID).
AVID partners colleges with middle or high schools to provide low-income students with academic assistance, information about college prep courses & financial aid, tutoring, & other support to encourage them to go to college. The program is administered by a site team composed of the AVID coordinator, the principal, core academic teachers, & students -- all of whom meet monthly to discuss effective practices for accelerating student performance & removing barriers to rigorous curriculum. Local college students serve as tutors & mentors for AVID students, working with them in small groups & individually during the AVID class.
AVID serves more than 30,000 students in almost 600 schools in 11 states, as well as Department of Defense schools in 13 countries. Independent evaluations of AVID have found that:
- Nationwide, 93% of AVID graduates enroll in college & 60% are accepted in 4-year institutions. In San Diego, 89% of AVID graduates are still enrolled in college after 2 years.
- In San Diego, 55% of African-American AVID students & 43% of Latino AVID students enroll in 4-year colleges compared to national averages of 33% & 29%, respectively.
- In 1996-97, 90% of high school AVID students nationwide were enrolled in college prep courses.
For information on "High Hopes for College for America's Youth," please see: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/PPI/highhopes.html
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The Schools & Libraries Corporation (SLC), which opened its website January 30, has received more than 15,000 applications from schools & libraries for E-Rate discounts. Applications must be submitted (both Forms 470 & 471) by April 14 in order to be treated as if they arrived simultaneously. For more information on the E-Rate, which was created as part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to help U.S. schools & libraries have affordable access to modern telecommunications & information services, please visit: http://www.sl.universalservice.org/ or call 1-888-203-8100.
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All parent involvement programs featured in a recent report, "Family Involvement in Children's Education: Successful Local Approaches," offer parent workshops on a range of issues, including children's language development & learning styles, parent nurturing & discipline strategies, child abuse prevention, and nutrition & health practices. The Parent Resource Center in Stockton (CA) hosts 4-6 parenting workshops each month on topics such as the relationship between child achievement & parent expectations, "protective parenting" skills to prevent children from engaging in unhealthy behaviors, & anger management. The center also trains mentor parents at 3-day institutes. As mentors, they help other parents learn about strategies for helping children learn & ways of building partnerships between schools & families.
Additional ideas for overcoming barriers to family involvement, drawn from 20 local Title I programs, can be found in the 150-page report at: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/FamInvolve/
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Information technology skill standards are now available in a 228-page document, "Building a Foundation for Tomorrow: Skill Standards for Information Technology," for 8 career clusters:
database administration associate, information systems operator/analyst, interactive digital media specialist, network specialist, programmer/analyst, software engineer, technical support representative & technical writer.
The standards were developed by the NorthWest Center for Emerging Technologies (NWCET) & the Regional Advanced Technology Education Consortium, with input from more than 200 information technology professionals, human resource experts & others (with support from the National Science Foundation & the School-to-Work program).
ON FEBRUARY 9, the National Skill Standards Board (NSSB) announced grants to 3 industry clusters to establish comprehensive skill standards within their industries: restaurants, hospitality & tourism; education & training; and communications, entertainment & information. The grants are part of an ongoing effort by businesses, labor, educators & state governments to develop portable certificates of skill achievement to help businesses & workers in every major sector of the nation's economy. These clusters join 2 industry coalitions, manufacturing & retail, that received NSSB awards in 1996.
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Teachers & principals from award- winning schools across the country, along with nationally recognized researchers, will discuss strategies that have helped turn schools around in a March 24 teleconference, 3:30 - 5:00 Eastern time. The teleconference, "Students at the Center: A National Satellite Teleconference on School Reform," includes moderated panel discussions on student learning, learning communities & professional development, and engaging the community. Registrants will receive additional information & materials, including "No Excuses," a not-yet- released guide for turning around schools. For satellite coordinates, registration & other information, please see:
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The Workplace Learning: Strategies for Success conference in Milwaukee (WI) on April 20-21 offers a chance to join workforce development advocates & practitioners in sharing successful strategies for building & enhancing partnership programs, and for designing & evaluating workplace learning initiatives. The conference features 4 program tracks:
- partnerships
- program design & evaluation
- new resources & technologies
- trends affecting the workplace & workers.
Last year, more than 1,000 individuals from 5 countries & 46 states attended this conference, which includes workplace tours, exhibits & 100+ concurrent sessions. For details & registration information, please see the Center on Education & Work website: http://www.cew.wisc.edu/workplace
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Experience & learn about the February 26 solar eclipse with sun-earth experts stationed along its path across the Southern Caribbean. They will be sharing images, interviews & other information during a 1-hour webcast at 7:00 PST the night before the eclipse (Feb.25) & during 2 hours of events starting at 9:00 PST on Feb. 26. Additional information & education activities can be found on the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Eclipse Page: http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/eclipse/eclipse.htm
Sponsored by the Sun-Earth Connection Education Forum, a Goddard Space Flight Center/UC Berkeley partnership: http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov
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A new feature of the Department's redesigned homepage, "Cross-Site Index," allows you to search quickly the complete contents of 150+ ED-sponsored websites. http://search.ed.gov/
Assessment of Student Performance examines how performance assessment can support a number of education reforms, particularly improvements in curriculum & instruction. Includes case studies, implications for policy & more. http://www.ed.gov/pubs/SER/ASP/index.html
Brief summaries of 29 grants made under the 1997 Field-Initiated Studies Educational Research Grants Program awards are now available online. http://www.ed.gov/offices/OERI/FIS/
Investing in School Technology: Strategies to Meet the Funding Challenge provides state & local policy makers tools & pointers for thinking about their educational technology plans & for developing comprehensive strategies for funding those plans. http://www.ed.gov/pubs/techinvest/
Issue Brief: Distance Education in Higher Education Institutions: Incidence, Audiences, & Plans to Expand provides a statistical snapshot of distance education in higher education institutions. http://nces.ed.gov/pubs98/98132.html
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ED Initiatives...