Education & Pedagogy

The first two issues of this newsletter by the National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education are presented. The first consists of an article on the United States Department of Education's Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs (OBEMLA) and its role in providing leadership in high quality education for linguistically and culturally diverse students. This includes a statement of the agency's mission to promote equal access to high quality education for this population and explanations of its four primary goals: (1) to help limited-English-proficient (LEP) students reach challenging academic standards; ensure that schools serving LEP students have access to high quality research, information, and technical assistance; ensure that LEP students are taught by well-trained teachers; and coordinate services to LEP students across the Department of Education. The second issue contains two articles. The first article summarizes results of a survey of the states' limited-English-proficient students and available educational programs and services for 1994-95, including a brief report on LEP students' academic progress. The second article considers what has been learned from research and experience about the factors contributing to schools' success in educating LEP students. (MSE)

This report presents specific recommendations to the Department of Health and Human Services and Congress from the Council on Graduate Medical Education that address Medicare's direct and indirect graduate medical education (GME) payments and the monies allocated by the Public Health Service that is targeted toward physician education and primary care research. These include: continued funding of Medicare GME for U.S. medical school graduates, but reduced payments for international medical residents; targeted incentives for generalist physician training; transition programs to assist international medical graduate-dependent institutions; specifying Medicare capitation rates specifically for GME; demonstration projects to foster consortia to manage education policy and financing; reauthorization of the National Health Service Corps, Title VII, and primary care research at 1995 appropriation levels; consolidating Title VII programs; funding Title VII educational programs that have demonstrated their effectiveness; and reauthorizing the Council on Graduate Medical Education. The report text is supported by several figures and data tables. (Contains 25 footnotes.) (CH)

A survey of 39 special and general education teachers and administrators from 7 New Mexico towns assessed their knowledge and acceptance level of fully inclusive education within the rural, culturally and linguistically diverse state. The results were analyzed by two subpopulations, general and special education teachers, and the total population of educators, administrators and related service personnel. Results indicate that while most professionals were generally supportive of inclusive education, a small percentage (7-15 percent) was consistently unsupportive on all items. Rural areas face special problems in implementing the New Mexico State Department of Education's Policy on Full Inclusion and providing a full spectrum of special education services. The survey results give credence to the view that professionals located in rural New Mexico have several areas of confusion concerning inclusive education. In general, the educators were supportive of the inclusion philosophy but unsupportive of specific actions or practices (such as therapists in the general classroom) that would occur during implementation of inclusion. The survey questionnaire and response rates are included. (Author/TSP)

On September 8, 2005, 43 Tennessee state educational and policy leaders participated in the Tennessee Education Forum in Nashville, Tennessee, to discuss ways to improve students' transitions from high school to postsecondary education and careers. The forum was sponsored by the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) and the League for Innovation in the Community College and supported by the U.S. Department of Education. The forum focused on five desired outcomes: (1) decreased need for remediation at the postsecondary level; (2) increased enrollment and persistence in postsecondary education; (3) increased academic and technical achievement at the secondary and postsecondary levels; (4) increased attainment of postsecondary degrees, certificates or other recognized credentials; and (5) increased entry into employment or further education. This report organizes information from the forum in terms of how Tennessee fares in building transitions, what challenges it faces improving transitions and what actions it can take to improve high school to college and career transitions. The following are appended: (1) "HSTW" Goals for continuous improvement, Key Practices for improving student achievement, and recommended curriculum; and (2) Example Career Pathway Implementation Strategies. (Contains 1 figure and 93 footnotes.)

Agreeing on what the major goals of art education should be is particularly important in an era of national school reform and accountability. The need to be accountable and to provide data that supports that accountability is evident, although not always provided. Without clear and measurable goals, art education cannot be made accountable in today's reform climate. This book analyzes the changes in the social context of art and how these changes have impacted K-12 and university-level education. The changes described, plus the current culture of accountability, have led many art educators to question the goal or message of arts-based curriculum. The authors reaffirm art's place in education by describing it as not just a discipline or form, but an idea, even a language, and advocate that art is a social enterprise essential to a complete education. Contents include: (1) Introduction: Social Theory: Multiple Views; (2) Changes in the Social Context of Art; (3) Changes in Art Education K-20; (4) The Sociology Discipline; (5) Art as Idea; (6) Art as Language; and (7) Art as Form.

This report examines access to higher education in underserved regions of Michigan. This study focuses on specific concerns about postsecondary education access in three geographically diverse areas of the state: suburban Macomb County; the city of Saginaw; and six rural counties in the northeastern Lower Peninsula. The report provides a summary of findings regarding access to higher education in each of the three areas and proposes broad recommendations and policy alternatives to address the challenges of access to postsecondary degrees and institutions statewide. While findings from the three regions varied due to differing demographic and geographic conditions, a number of consistent patterns were found, including concerns about the affordability of a college education; poor public transportation systems; a lack of easily accessible four-year institutions; and, above all, the need to develop a college-going culture among Michigan residents. (Contains 9 figures and 2 boxes.) [For a brief summary of this report, see ED501511.]

In this column the author summarises what is known about student transfer between the vocational education and training (VET) and higher education sectors. Transfer occurs when a student who has enrolled in one sector subsequently commences a qualification in the other. Some students have completed their first qualification, but some have not. The second qualification may be in the same field of education as the first or a different one. Transfer may occur early in a person's career and be part of a period of adjustment as they refine their career goals. It may also occur at a much later stage and be related to new career directions. The author finds that data on transfer between these tertiary education sectors is subject to many limitations and that estimates of the magnitude of transfer in both directions vary greatly. [This work has been produced by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) under the National Vocational Education and Training Research and Evaluation (NVETRE) Program, which is coordinated and managed by NCVER, on behalf of the Australian Government and state and territory governments. Funding for this paper was provided through the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.]

This is the fifth survey since 1998 on the state of economic and personal finance education in the fifty states conducted by National Council on Economic Education (NCEE). A leader in promoting economic and personal finance education, NCEE conducts these surveys to gauge how the state standards, their implementation, course requirements, and state testing change over time. Responding to growing interest, this survey also includes, for the first time, data on the related area of entrepreneurship education. Progress continues to be made in the teaching of economics and personal finance in this nation's schools. However, much more work still needs to take place in terms of placing a greater emphasis on economics and personal finance in the K-12 curriculum; requiring separate, stand-alone courses in these subjects as part of high school graduation requirements; and testing student knowledge levels. Entrepreneurship Education, by comparison, is less emphasized in the curriculum. [For the "Survey of the States: Economic and Personal Finance Education in Our Nation's Schools in 2004", see ED494860.]

The mission of the Education Law Center (ELC) is to ensure public school children access to an equal and high quality education. Over the past year, they expanded their efforts to achieve that goal using the innovative advocacy strategies presented in this report. Highlights include: (1) Providing legal services to 479 low income and disadvantaged students, the highest number in ELC's history, as well as responding to hundreds of requests for help from advocates, attorneys, community organizations, and state and local leaders; (2) Expanding the assistance ELC offers to advocates and attorneys seeking to address educational inequity in states across the nation; (3) Intensifying their efforts to support coalitions, campaigns and networks of local and statewide advocacy organizations working to advance education equity, with special emphasis on sustaining the landmark Abbott reforms; and (4) Working to hold education officials accountable for performance, and to expand the successful programs, such as their nationally acclaimed Abbott preschool program; and (5) Opening a satellite office in Camden to better serve students in the state's southern region and to build local capacity among Camden community stakeholders.

"The Condition of Education" is a congressionally mandated report that provides an annual portrait of education in the United States. This document includes information from "The Condition of Education 2009" about homeschooled students. In the spring of 2007, about 1.5 million, or 2.9 percent of all school-age children were homeschooled in the United States, an increase from both 1999 and 2003. More White students were homeschooled than Black or Hispanic students or students from other racial/ethnic groups, and White students constituted the majority of homeschooled students (77 percent.) Overall the "Condition of Education" reports focus on participation and persistence in education, student performance and other measures of achievement, as well as the environment for learning and resources for education. The 2009 report includes 46 indicators. (Contains 2 figures and 4 tables.) [Information and corresponding tables are taken directly from "The Condition of Education 2009" therefore the pagination may not be sequential. For full report "The Condition of Education 2009," see ED505415. For "The Condition of Education 2009 in Brief," see ED505416.]

"The Condition of Education" is a congressionally mandated report that provides an annual portrait of education in the United States. This document includes information from "The Condition of Education 2009" about knowledge and skills of young children. A smaller percentage of children born in 2001 who were in poverty demonstrated proficiency in various cognitive skills at about 2 years old and at about 4 years old than did their peers who were at or above poverty. Overall the "Condition of Education" reports focus on participation and persistence in education, student performance and other measures of achievement, as well as the environment for learning and resources for education. The 2009 report includes 46 indicators. (Contains 2 figures and 12 tables.) [Information and corresponding tables are taken directly from "The Condition of Education 2009" therefore the pagination may not be sequential. For full report "The Condition of Education 2009," see ED505415. For "The Condition of Education 2009 in Brief," see ED505416.]

This paper describes a preservice elementary education program that incorporated more time spent at school sites. The program consisted of three consecutive semesters of courses combined with fieldwork. The first semester included a methods course, a reading class, and a children's literature class. Additional time was spent in the field observing and teaching elementary students. The next semester, students took five methods courses (mathematics, science, social studies, language arts, and reading). They spent every day in their field sites and an intensive week at their assigned schools, where they were expected to teach longer projects and units. Student teaching encompassed the third and final semester of the program. Special education and early childhood education students often felt overwhelmed by the requirements of their majors as well as those of the program, so a better curriculum was designed for them. When they realized that the program's courses could help them better prepare for their roles as future teachers, the courses became more relevant to them. The program addressed specific strategies that all students could use to individualize teaching (e.g., cooperative learning and thematic projects). Today, a cohesive atmosphere exists between students in special education, early childhood education, and elementary education. (SM)

This study of basic education in El Salvador was carried out between September and December of 2003 by a team of researchers. This publication has two parts: (1) The introduction which addresses the main findings of the study and proposes education policy priorities for the next reform effort; and (2) A summary of the original study of basic education. This report focuses specifically on preschool and primary education, as well as on subsystems that affect educational quality at these levels: teacher training, educational financing, and educational management, with special attention to educational evaluation and the definition of standards. In addition, the report analyzes educational policies applied over the past decade in response to demands on the country imposed by globalization. Finally, it examines the contributions made by donor agencies to education in El Salvador. (Contains 9 annexes.) [Financial support was received from USAID/El Salvador under the Indefinite Quantity Contract (IQC) for Education.]

The Multicultural Awareness Project for Institutional Transformation (MAP IT) was developed at the University of Minnesota's General College with the goal of integrating multicultural education within higher education. As the acronym indicates, the aim is transformative. MAP IT is an adaptation of "Diversity Within Unity: Essential Principles for Teaching and Learning in a Multicultural Society" (Banks et al., 2001), created to make the report findings regarding primary and secondary multicultural education applicable to higher education. MAP IT has culminated in the comprehensive set of 10 Guiding Principles presented in this Executive Summary. This publication also contains four survey instruments designed to aid in measuring the extent to which institutions of higher education centralize multicultural education and incorporate the guiding principles. A process is advocated that utilizes the principles and questionnaires to bring about a multicultural transformation in higher education. A bibliography of suggested readings is also provided.

The Dakar 2000 goal of Education For All (EFA) is at the center of UNESCO's education activities worldwide. The wide-ranging efforts to achieve EFA in many countries involve education reform, development strategies and plans. Decentralization, a major component in modernizing the public sector, is also applicable to the education sector. The handbook offers an introduction and step-by-step guidelines on planning tools that aim to assist education administrators in planning and decision making for education policy, on both national and local levels. The handbook contains a detailed coverage on the Analysis and Projection Model (ANPRO Model) based on a planning concept and tool which has been applied jointly by the Ministry of Education in Viet Nam and UNESCO in 2003-2004. ANPRO Model is a data-based tool that analyzes the educator sector (and sub-sectors) and projects the student population and required budgets and resources. Education administrators are strongly encouraged to leverage planning tools such as the ANPRO Model prior to policy planning and implementation, in addition to the monitoring and review cycle. The handbook also includes the ANPRO Model, population and graphical analytical tools, and a monitoring plan in Excel. [Published by the UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education.]