An examination of trends in the performance of students in the nation's highest poverty schools found positive gains for these students, which Title I is designed to help. Among the findings, reported in the recently released "Promising Results, Continuing Challenges: Findings from the National Assessment of Title I":
- Since 1992, reading performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) improved for 9-year-olds in the highest-poverty public schools (those with 75% or more low-income children), regaining ground lost in the late 80s. Also, the lowest-achieving 4th graders showed fairly substantial gains between 1994-98 on NAEP.
- Math achievement on NAEP has also improved for 9-year-olds, especially among students in the highest-poverty public schools. The lowest-performing 4th-graders -- those most typically targeted for Title I services -- also showed substantial improvements in math.
- Trends reported from state assessments revealed substantial progress. Of 6 states providing 3-year trends for students in the highest-poverty schools, 5 of 6 states showed progress in reading & 4 of 5 states reported improvement in math. In Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina & Texas, scores went up in both reading & math.
- Federal funds are *targeted* much more heavily on poor communities than are state funds. Since reauthorization, 95% of the highest-poverty schools receive support, up from fewer than 80% in 1993-94. 93% of the highest-poverty secondary schools received Title I funds in 1997-98, up from 61% in 1993-94.
- Despite progress since the 1994 reauthorization, continuing challenges remain. For example, while the performance of students in the highest-poverty schools is improving, they remain much further behind their peers in meeting basic standards of performance in reading & math.
- Many Title I schools continue to employ non-certified paraprofessionals as instructional aides.
Additional findings are available at:
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OUS/eval/elem.html#Title I
(The full report will be online late next month.)
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Last week, as part of the effort to strengthen educational opportunities for America's 6 million students with disabilities, the Department issued final regulations for implementing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Amendments of 1997. The Department had received nearly 6,000 public comments on *proposed* regulations published in October 1997. Among the highlights of the final regulations:
- IDEA establishes the Individualized Education Program (IEP) as the major tool in a student's involvement & progress in the general curriculum. The regulations offer guidance on the types of issues that the IEP should address to achieve the statutory requirements.
- Students with disabilities must be included in general state & district-wide assessment programs. The regulations offer guidance about the participation of children with disabilities in these assessments.
- The 1997 amendments provide that each IEP team include at least one of the child's regular education teachers if the child is or may be participating in the regular education environment. The regulations clarify that attendance of regular education teachers at IEP meetings will be determined on a case by case basis in an effort to be less time consuming.
- The final regulations incorporate the Department's long-standing policy that a student's right to a "free appropriate public education" is terminated upon graduation with a regular high school diploma, but not ended by any other kind of graduation certificate or diploma.
- IDEA '97 authorized schools to remove a student for up to 10 school days for minor disciplinary infractions & for up to 45 days for dangerous behavior involving weapons or drugs & gave schools the ability to ask a hearing officer to remove students who are serious threats to themselves or others. The final regulations incorporate the statutory changes & clarify that services do not need to be provided during the first 10 days in a school year that a child with a disability is removed from his or her regular placement. If a child is subsequently removed for up to 10 school days for other violations of school conduct codes, services must be provided to the extent necessary to enable the child to continue to appropriately progress in the general curriculum & appropriately advance toward the goals of the IEP.
The regulations package & additional information are at:
http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/finrule/1999-1/
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/osep/policy.html
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When issuing the IDEA regulations last week, Secretary Riley noted progress that has been made toward providing a "free appropriate public education" for America's 6 million special education students since passage of IDEA almost a quarter-century ago. This progress includes...
- The number of students with disabilities ages 14-22 graduating with diplomas increased 31% -- from 96,210 in 1986-87 to 126,051 in 1995-96, the most recent year statistics are available.
- The number of disabled students ages 6-21 spending at least 80% of their day in regular classes has more than doubled -- from 1.1 million in 1986-87 to 2.3 million in 1995-96.
- Total numbers of students with disabilities ages 3 through 21 served under IDEA rose 29% from 4.5 million in 1987-88 to 5.8 million in 1996-97.
- More than 90% of school-aged students served under IDEA in 1996-97 were classified in one of 4 categories -- learning disabilities (51% or 2.7 million children), speech or language impairments (20% or 1.1 million children), mental retardation (11% or 0.6 million children) & emotional disturbance (nearly 9% or 0.4 million children).
- The per-child allocation of special education dollars from the federal government rose 107% -- from $258 per child in 1984 to $535 per child in 1997. (Additional figures compiled after the report went to press showed the per-child allocation in 1998 was $636 & the estimate for 1999 is $702.)
- Although males & females comprise equal proportions of the school-aged population, males account for approximately two-thirds of all students served in special education. The disproportionate representation of males in special education seems greatest in the learning disability & emotional disturbance categories.
- Significant increases have occurred in the number of students with learning disabilities & orthopedic impairments. From 1987-88 to 1996-97, learning disabilities grew 37.8% & orthopedic impairments 41.4%.
- Overall, girls with & without disabilities had better in-school results than boys with & without disabilities. However, despite their better academic performance, females with disabilities have less positive postschool results than their male peers. They are less likely to be employed, have lower wages & are less likely to enroll in postsecondary education or training.
- Students with emotional disturbance fail more courses, earn lower grade point averages, miss more days of school, & are retained at grade more than students with other disabilities. 55% leave school before graduating.
- A "chronic" shortage exists of special education teachers who are fully certified in their positions.
- Graduation rates vary by disability. Students with speech & language impairments, specific learning disabilities, hearing impairments & visual impairments were most likely to graduate with a diploma or certificate.
These & other statistics are in the 20th Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of IDEA. The full text of the report is now online (in PDF & Word Perfect):
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/OSEP/Research/OSEP98AnlRpt/
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51% of instructional rooms -- classrooms, computer or other labs, school libraries, & media centers -- had Internet access in 1998, compared to 27% in 1997 & 3% in 1994, according to an issue brief released last month by the Department's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The percentage of *schools* with Internet access increased to 89% in 1998, up from 78% in 1997 & 35% in 1994, when NCES conducted the first annual survey. In a significant turnabout since 1997, high poverty & smaller schools in 1998 were as likely to have access to the Internet as low poverty & larger schools. The issue brief, "Internet Access in Public Schools & Classrooms: 1994-1998," is at:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=1999017
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The Schools & Libraries Division (SLD) received nearly 36,500 applications from school & libraries seeking E-Rate discounts in Year 2 (1999-2000), slightly more than the 36,250 received in Year 1 (1998-1999). All E-Rate discounts have been announced for Year 1, with a total of $1.66 billion distributed to 25,785 applicants. 77% of Year 1 applicants were school districts & individual schools, 18% were libraries, & 4% were consortia. 53% were urban (accounting for 67% of all funds), & 43% were rural (accounting for 22% of all funds). The SLD estimates that 82% of all public schools filed 471s in Year 1 & that, as a result of E-Rate discounts in that year, 647,000 classrooms will be connected to the Internet. For more information, please visit:
http://www.sl.universalservice.org/
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Learn how to apply for a GEAR UP grant & how to organize or reinforce local partnerships by participating in the GEAR UP Satellite Teleconference March 30 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. (EST). GEAR UP supports early college preparation & awareness at both the state & local level through Partnership grants & State grants, in an effort to encourage more young people to have high expectations, stay in school, study hard, & take the right courses to go to college. To register, call 1-800-USA-LEARN.
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The Department is seeking qualified educators & practitioners to serve as field readers for new discretionary grant programs:
If you are interested in being a field reader, if you have significant professional experience in a discipline related to one of the programs, & if you can be available to evaluate applications , please send 2 copies of your resume (not to exceed 2 pages) for each program for which you would like to be considered, to: Field Readers; (name of program); U.S. Department of Education, Higher Education Programs, 1280 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20202-5435; Phone (202) 708-8596; Fax (202) 260-4501. For more information, please see:
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/HEP/pmit/readers.html
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- Guidance & other information on the *Reading Excellence* & *Class Size Reduction* programs are now available online.
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/REA/
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/ClassSize/
- "What the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) Means for Systemic School Improvement" is a synthesis of views from educators, policymakers, & researchers about how to interpret & *use* TIMSS results to improve American education.
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/TIMSSBrief/
- "The Student Guide 1999-2000" tells how to apply for grants, loans, & work-study, the 3 major forms of student financial aid available through the federal Student Financial Assistance Programs. This guide is the most comprehensive resource on student financial aid from the Department.
http://www.ed.gov/prog_info/SFA/StudentGuide/
- "K-12 Practitioners Circle" from NCES features statistical information, findings from research, & other information for teachers, parents, & administrators. It announces the latest NCES releases & is updated as data emerge on hot issues.
http://nces.ed.gov/practitioners
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ED Initiatives...