THE CENTER FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION — This post is from blogger Jillian Luchner, who is a Policy Associate with the Afterschool Alliance. The Afterschool Alliance is a nonprofit public awareness and advocacy organization working to ensure that all children and youth have access to affordable, high-quality afterschool programs.
The passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the long-awaited successor to No Child Left Behind, creates a unique framework for school boards, teachers, administrators and communities to work together to make sure all children have access to high-quality, well-rounded education.
At the NSBA’s January 19 forum, “Public Education Agenda for America’s Success,” panelists discussed how the new law, new administration, and new Congress would affect education across the nation. Despite some level of uncertainty, panelists spoke to how school boards and local – even family level -decision making could be expected to play a larger role than in the recent past. When asked specifically about what school boards might do, much of the panelists’ conversation focused on the regular school day, but panelist Gerard Robinson of the American Enterprise Institute noted that afterschool programs are a time-tested, research-based part of the solution that should not be overlooked.
Afterschool and summer programs across the nation have a strong history of supporting school systems’ efforts to provide students with a well-rounded education that puts them on the path to wellness and success. These out-of-school-time programs provide students with educational opportunities, enrichment activities, access to physical activity and nutritious meals and snacks, as well as opportunities to build leadership and social connections. Notably, afterschool programs do all that during what’s sometimes called “prime time for juvenile crime” – the afternoon hours when children are most likely to be either perpetrators or victims of crime and when working parents worry most about their children’s safety.
Research shows that students who regularly attend quality afterschool programs improve their academics, have better school attendance and are more likely to graduate. Moreover, , the Afterschool Alliance’s recurring, nationally representative parent survey, consistently finds that parents strongly support afterschool programs. In the 2014 survey, the most recent, 89 percent of parents with a child in a program reported being satisfied with the program. In addition, 84 percent of all parents supported public funding for afterschool, while more than 7 in 10 said they think afterschool programs reduce the chance that their child will participate in risky behavior. Additionally, 80 percent of parents report that their children’s programs offer students opportunities for physical activity, and three in four parents are happy with the healthy snacks their student’s program provides. Despite high demand, for every child enrolled in an afterschool program, the parents of two more children say they would sign their children up, but cannot either because a program isn’t available or because it isn’t affordable.
District school boards often play an important role in leveraging resources to expand access to afterschool and summer opportunities. Afterschool and summer programs are frequently operated as a partnership among community nonprofits and school districts, with funding from federal, state and local sources as well as businesses, foundations, parent fees and other contributions. The average 21st Century Community Learning Center (a federally funded program that supports competitive grants in every state) has nine partner organizations with which it coordinates, which contribute in financial and in-kind support.
Across the nation, school system partnerships with afterschool programs have expanded opportunities for students while helping districts meet their goals for student success and family involvement.
The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Public School System has an out-of-school-time office that works with 80 different district partners to oversee summer programming for thousands of district students. Using research-based systems of support, the office coordinates closely with out-of-school time providers in the district and supports data, quality and systems-building to meet the city’s goals of graduation and college- and career-ready students.
In the early 1990s, the Corbin Independent School District (Kentucky) created the Redhound Enrichment afterschool program after conducting a community needs assessment in the district. Originally focused on providing a much-needed safe place for children in the afternoon hours, the program subsequently expanded its offerings to include more academic components, with the support of a 21st Century Community Learning Center grant. Twenty-five years later, the program is still in operation, employing a project-based learning model to provide a mix of academic supports, hands-on activities, physical activity and opportunities to primary and secondary students.
In Redwood City, CA the district builds partnerships with non-profit and private providers including youth centers, parks and recreation, Boys and Girls Clubs and the YMCA to offer afterschool opportunities. The programs give children opportunities for academic support, developing new skills and relationship building as well as other opportunities. Parent surveys show 97% satisfaction with the programs.
Such efforts are the tip of the iceberg, as afterschool programs across the nation work with school districts to promote student success.
With the Every Student Succeeds Act going into full implementation this year, now is a perfect time for districts to coordinate more closely with afterschool and summer learning programs. Final state plans are due to the federal Department of Education in either April or September and many state drafts (see our map) are out now. As part of that process, school districts will engage parents and other community stakeholders to consider how to meet state goals for improving graduation rates, academic achievement and student engagement and reducing chronic absenteeism.
Afterschool and summer programs are well-poised to help meet all these goals, and the 50 statewide afterschool networks stand ready to help connect school districts with afterschool and summer learning programs in their communities.
Jillian joined the Afterschool Alliance team as a Policy Associate in 2015. Her work involves tracking trends in afterschool policy and programs at the state and federal level and communicating successful and innovative approaches toward supporting youth during out-of-school time. Jillian worked for years as a teacher and afterschool educator in the Washington D.C. region. She also served as an AmeriCorps VISTA and community development director in California’s Central Valley. She holds undergraduate degrees in Economics and Geology and a Master’s in Public Policy specializing in education from the University of Maryland at College Park.
HARRISBURG, Pa. – The administration in Washington, D. C., may redirect billions of dollars of federal funding to charter and private schools, and that has public education advocates concerned.
Donald Trump’s transition leader for education, Gerard Robinson, said under the Trump presidency, federal education priorities will focus on entrepreneurship and private-school options.
According to Susan Spicka, executive director of Education Voters of Pennsylvania, that would be bad news for the state’s public schools.
“It means that our local school districts will see a big cut in federal funding, and in order to make up for this cut, they’re going to be forced to raise taxes on the local level or cut programs and services,” she explained.
Republicans in Congress have said proposed regulations on the distribution of federal education funding are too restrictive.
Spending priorities are not the only changes on the way. Robinson also indicated that the Trump administration could significantly limit the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights. Spicka said that means students who experience discrimination may have no remedy.
“If a school district doesn’t enroll any minority students in gifted or AP programs, that would continue,” she said. “If a school district suspended students with disabilities or minorities at a higher rate, that would just go unchecked.”
On the state level, Republicans have gained additional seats in both the House and Senate, which Spicka said could mean another round of difficult budget negotiations in Harrisburg.
Education Voters is one of 50 organizations that have formed the Campaign for Fair Education Funding. Spicka said their message to state lawmakers is simple.
“We need adequate funding for schools, we need equitable funding for schools, and all of our children need an opportunity to learn,” added Spicka.
Is preschool worth it? Policymakers, parents, researchers and us, at NPR Ed, have spent a lot of time thinking about this question.
We know that most pre-kindergarten programs do a good job of improving ‘ specific skills like phonics and counting, as well as broader social and emotional behaviors, by the time students enter kindergarten. Just this week, a study looking at more than 20,000 students in a state-funded preschool program in Virginia found that kids made large improvements in their alphabet recognition skills.
So the next big question to follow is, of course, Do these benefits last?
New research out of North Carolina says yes, they do. The study found that early childhood programs in that state resulted in higher test scores, a lower chance of being held back in a grade, and a fewer number of children with special education placements. Those gains lasted up through the fifth grade.
The research, published this week in the journal Child Development, studied nearly 1 million North Carolina students who attended state-funded early childhood programs between 1995 and 2010, and followed them through fifth grade.
They concluded that the benefits from these programs grew or held steady over those five years. And when the researchers broke the students down into subgroups by race and income — they found that all of those groups showed gains that held over time.
“Pre-kindergarten and early education programs are incredibly important,” says Kenneth Dodge, the lead author on the study and the director of the Duke Center for Child and Family Policy. “Especially for parents, for business leaders — because of the workforce development aspect — and for policy makers who are spending the money on it.”
This new research confirms what researchers recently found in Tulsa, Okla. – one of the most highly regarded preschool programs in the country. In that study, children who attended Head Start had higher test scores on state math tests up through eighth grade.
The big difference between the long-term findings in North Carolina and Tulsa and the fade out in Tennessee, researchers say, is the quality of the preschool program.
Having a high-quality program is key, says Dodge. “The long-term impact,” he says, “depends entirely on quality and how well elementary schools build on the foundations set in pre-K.”
Experts cite several key elements in “high-quality” preschool: small class sizes, student-directed learning and lots of open-ended play. And researchers have warned that outcomes are short-lived when those elements are not present.
“I think that the question is turning away from whether we should do pre-kindergarten and instead to how should we do pre-kindergarten,” says Dodge.
While President Obama made universal, high-quality preschool a priority, it’s unclear at this early stage whether that focus will continue in the Trump administration. Conversations about broad changes may continue to happen more at the state and local level.
Most states have some version of pre-K — 42 states plus the District of Columbia had state-funded programs in the 2014-2015 school year, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research, based at Rutgers University.
“I don’t think we can anticipate that the federal government is going to roll out a single universal preschool program,” says Dodge. “The reality is that preschool is becoming a state and local and community initiative.”
Dodge says that’s why research looking at these state programs – which often vary in size, quality and funding – is so important.
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos stirs up controversy with nearly every public appearance and speech, and many of those have been at schools around the country in recent weeks.
DeVos racked up several trips to schools in the Mountain West and Midwest during her “Rethink School” tour in the early phase of September. And she took a separate West Coast tour in September. Some of her critics charge that during school tours she focuses too much on private schools and gives public schools short shrift, as one Florida superintendent said recently.
All 50 states and the District of Columbia have now submitted their plans for the Every Student Succeeds Act, and U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and her team are ready to examine the dozens of plans submitted by the second deadline last month.
Thirty-four states and Puerto Rico turned in their ESSA plans in September and October. (The official deadline for submitting plans was September 18, but hurricane-ravaged Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, and Texas got extensions). And all of those plans have now been deemed “complete” by the feds. That means the plans aren’t missing key details, at least according to the department’s initial review…
The newspaper reports Davis Magnet International Baccalaureate World School is in Jackson, Miss, and is a predominantly black public elementary school. The president of the school’s Parent-Teacher Association told the Jackson Public Schools Board of Trustees on Tuesday night (Oct. 17) that “school stakeholders” voted to change the school’s name to Barack Obama Magnet IB. The report did not say who the stakeholders were.
“Jefferson Davis, although infamous in his own right, would probably not be too happy about a diverse school promoting the education of the very individuals he fought to keep enslaved being named after him,” the PTA president told the board, according to the report.
CHICAGO — The American Library Association (ALA) is accepting nominations for the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Author/Illustrator Lifetime Achievement Award. The award is named for award-winning children’s author Virginia Hamilton (1936-2002), recipient of the 1983, 1986 and 1996 Coretta Scott King Book Award, 1974 National Book Award and the 1975 John Newbery Medal. In 1994, she was awarded the prestigious Hans Christian Anderson Author Award for the body of her work and was named a fellow of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in 1995.
The award pays tribute to the quality and magnitude of Hamilton’s exemplary contributions through her literature and advocacy for children and youth, especially in her focus on African-American life, history and consciousness. Authors, illustrators or author/illustrators will be honored in even-numbered years, while practitioners will be recognized in odd-numbered years. Previous recipients of the Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Author/Illustrator Lifetime Achievement Award include Jerry Pinkney, Patricia and Fredrick McKissack and Ashley Bryan.
The Author/Illustrator Award honors an African American author, illustrator or author/illustrator for a body of his or her published books for children and/or young adults who has made a significant and lasting literary contribution. The body of work selected must represent distinguished writing and/or illustrations by and about the African American experience for children and/or young adults over a period of time. Committee members may also pay particular attention to bodies of work whose interpretation consistently motivates youth readers to stretch their imagination and thinking; that denote exceptional examples of specific types of literature; and that represent trend-setters, innovations or fresh explorations of themes or topics or perspectives in African American literature for children and/or young adult. The body of work must include at least one CSK Award winner (Author, Illustrator, New Talent winner or Honor Book for either category).
All nominees must be living at the time of the award to be considered. The winning recipient will be announced during the ALA Youth Media Awards during the ALA Midwinter Meeting on Monday, Feb. 12, 2018 in Denver. The winner will be honored at the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Breakfast during the 2018 ALA Annual Convention Conference in New Orleans and will receive a medal and a $1,500 cash award.
Nominations will be accepted through Monday, Dec. 4, 2017. The winning recipient will be notified on Monday, Feb. 12, 2018 during ALA Midwinter. To view the Award criteria and submit a nomination, please visit http://www.ala.org/emiert/cskhamilton-submit.
The recipient will be selected by a five-member award jury from the Coretta Scott King- Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement Committee of the Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT). The award is administered by the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee of EMIERT and is supported by the ALA Office for Diversity, Literacy and Outreach Services.
The Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Lifetime Achievement Award is part of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards, which honor African American authors and illustrators of outstanding books for children and young adults that demonstrate sensitivity to “the African American experience via literature and illustration.” The award is designed to commemorate the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and to honor the late Mrs. Coretta Scott King for her courage and determination to work for peace and world brotherhood.
District of Columbia sent this bulletin at 10/17/2017 02:09 PM EDT
SBOE Welcomes New Student Representatives
Tallya Rhodes’ Swearing-In Ceremony at HD Woodson High School
Late last month, the State Board of Education proudly held swearing-in ceremonies for its two new student representatives, Tallya Rhodes (HD Woodson HS, Ward 7) and Tatiana Robinson (Ballou HS, Ward 8). State Board President Karen Williams was joined by Ashley Carter (At-Large) and Markus Batchelor (Ward 8) at both high schools as our newest student representatives were sworn in with proud teachers, classmates, and family members cheering them on!
Tallya and Tatiana are the first students from their respective high schools to be selected as student representatives. These two outstanding students were chosen through an open application process due to their academic excellence and deep involvement at school and in the community. Tatiana and Tallya will also chair the State Board’s Student Advisory Committee of youth leaders from schools around the city who will advise the State Board on its work over the next year.
The Student Advisory Committee serves as the voice of students in the State Board’s work and is consulted on all issues of policy before the Board. The Student Advisory Committee conducts its meetings approximately once per month and is happy to accept new members. If you are a District of Columbia resident and either a sophomore, junior, or senior in either a traditional public or public charter high school and would like to join, please contact us via email at sboe@dc.gov.
The October 11th meeting of the task force marks the halfway point of their important work on high school graduation requirements. During this meeting, a draft problem statement was discussed, which was synthesized from input from task force members after a series of engagement opportunities with students, graduates, counselors and other stakeholders. Feel free to watch the robust discussion below.
Our SBOE ESSA Task Force held its third meeting on October 3rd, continuing their important work of devising education policy recommendations related to the District’s implementation of ESSA. At this month’s meeting, Task Force member Josh Boots of EmpowerK12 presented information on 2017 PARCC data for the District. Representatives from the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) provided an overview of the report card creation process and introduced a public engagement facilitation toolkit that task force members can utilize in upcoming focus group sessions. Check out the meeting materials here and watch the replay here.
Earlier this month, the task force started holding focus groups around the District to ensure that families are informed about the new state education and the work of the task force. To find an upcoming focus group that you can attend, please visit sboe.dc.gov/essa. The next task force meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 7, 2017 at 6:00 p.m.
Working Session To Be Held on November 6th * Meeting Date Change *
Please be advised that the date for our November working session has been moved to Monday, November 6, 2017. We will hold this working session at 6:00 p.m. in Room 1114 at 441 4th St. NW. For more information regarding upcoming meetings, please visit sboe.dc.gov.
Deeper Learning Panel at Public Meeting
At September’s public meeting, the SBOE welcomed an expert panel on “deeper learning.” The panel delved into the current research on deeper learning as the State Board continues to push District schools to provide all students with an education that prepares them for college, career, and life. The State Board was honored to receive a grant from the National Association of State Boards of Education to assist us in our work in this area.
Don Long, Director of Teaching, Leading & Learning Policy at the National Association of State Boards of Education, Dr. Loretta Goodwin, Senior Director at the American Youth Policy Forum, and Phillip Lovell, Vice President of Policy Development and Government Relations at the Alliance for Excellent Education, shared with the Board current research into the deeper learning idea and how it can impact students. These representatives spoke to deeper learning as educational strategies that develop students’ abilities to master academic content, think critically and solve complex problems, work collaboratively, communicate effectively, and learn how to learn. Panelists discussed the benefits of integrating deeper learning with social and emotional learning in a more holistic way. Click here to review their presentation.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Board of Education (WVBE) received an update on the SecondLaunch Initiative at its October board meeting. The initiative, which was created by the West Virginia Department of Education in June 2015, continues to expand its reach, providing much needed technology to students throughout the state. Now, in its third year, SecondLaunch has saved the state $3 million in technology costs and has provided more than 8,000 computers to students in 47 counties.
Computers and other technology equipment are donated to SecondLaunch from West Virginia government agencies as well as private industry. Equipment is then wiped, cleaned and upgraded to meet the requirements of the programs used in schools. Computers, monitors, keyboards and mice are packaged together for ease of use and assembly, and schools can pick the computers up at the SecondLaunch warehouse in Charleston.
“Through the SecondLaunch Initiative, we are working to ensure that all students have access to technology and resources they need” said West Virginia Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Steven Paine. “Our goal is to have the program in all 55 counties, and work with educators to make sure that a lack of resources is never an obstacle for educators to provide the best education possible for our students.”
In addition to state agencies, private industry has also joined in and donated equipment to SecondLaunch.
“The program’s success depends on the donations we receive,” said David Cartwright, who oversees the program. “We have been fortunate to form a partnership with Toyota Motor Manufacturing in West Virginia, who has become a generous and recurring participant. Our hope is to expand our private partnerships so we can continue to see the program grow.”
SecondLaunch helps students interact with the technology they will encounter in life after high school, whether it be college or the workforce. Some of the state’s earliest learners also have access to the SecondLaunch materials, allowing West Virginia students to utilize 21st century learning resources every day.
When asked to share part of her writing process, fourth grade Wisconsin student, Aster Anderson focused on her love for animals. She also kept her audience in mind as she detailed, “I made a new paragraph to divide it up so people can see what they would like to read about most.”
Aster participated in the Wisconsin Writes series, which, before this year, featured professional writers from across the state. For the 2017-18 school year, the series will feature student writers, celebrating their talents, viewpoints, and passion for writing. Aster is the first student to share her writing process for the year.
Aster’s advice for students about writing surrounds the importance of reading what you write. She says she likes to “read it over after I’m done. I like to go back and look at stuff. If I make a mistake and keep on going I can go back and look at it in the end.”
You can find Aster’s videos on the Wisconsin Writes Department of Public Instruction web page. The first video is of her writing process, where she writes about baboons, focusing on factual information and structure. In Aster’s second video, she answers interview questions about writing, concentrating mainly on revision and editing, with the biggest focus on spelling and punctuation.
Questions about Wisconsin Writes?
For more information and to follow the series featuring students this year, go to: https://dpi.wi.gov/wisconsin-writes.
Contact Marci Glaus, English Language Arts Consultant for additional information.
Is preschool worth it? Policymakers, parents, researchers and us, at NPR Ed, have spent a lot of time thinking about this question.
