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Click here to link to the U.S. Department of Education home page. Final Regulations for Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA) The Secretary of Education announced the final regulations to implement Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA). An official copy of the final Part B regulations of the IDEA was published in the Federal Register on August 14, 2006. More information can be reviewed at www.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/regulations. A fact sheet on the new regulations can be found at http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/speced/ideafactsheet.html April 26, 2010 Background This national competition invited all American high schools to show how they provide students with an excellent education that prepares them to graduate ready for college and career choices. About 1,000 schools applied. Applicants completed four essay questions and submitted information on their school’s academic performance as well as some supplemental data. Each finalist has worked with The Get Schooled Foundation, which includes Viacom and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to create a three-minute video highlighting how the school best fulfills the Challenge’s criteria, including:
The six videos, along with portions of each school’s written application, are being featured on the White House website, www.whitehouse.gov/commencement. The President will select a national winner from among these six finalists. This special edition of CharterED provides you with a snapshot of the two charter school finalists. What makes each of the schools stand out? We called their principals to find out. Environmental Charter High School Environmental Charter High School in Lawndale, CA was about to learn that it had been named one of six finalists in the first annual White House Race to the Top Commencement Challenge. Pandemonium in the school’s front office ensued. “What makes us stand out? We are definitely a unique school,” Principal Taylor explained. We do education a bit differently.” First, there’s a strong emphasis on environmental education. All students enroll in a Green Ambassadors program, which is a class as well as an after-school club and extracurricular program that teaches about environmental issues facing the planet and challenges students to find solutions and strategies to address the issues. The program provides students with what Taylor terms “an authentic learning experience” by enabling them to apply what they’ve studied in school to a problem outside the classroom walls. For example, they learn about green solutions like composting, water conservation, and organic food production, and they use what they have learned to put on events that inspire their communities to become part of the green solutions listed above. These are called “earth positive” events. Students have held community workshops that focused on their special interests and concerns, they’ve given lessons to students at other schools, and they are encouraged to take internships. “Our students get inspired by the opportunity to make things happen,” Taylor explained. “Through that, they develop a passion for important causes.” Second, there’s a strong emphasis on the school’s core curriculum of college prep classes. Students take at least four years of English, four years of math, three years of a social science, two years of a lab science, two years of a foreign language, and a year of visual or performing art, in addition to which they complete a senior thesis and portfolio and perform 80 hours of community service. Eighty percent of its 464 students, selected through a lottery, come from low-income families, about 20 percent of them African American, 68 percent Hispanic/Latino, and the rest white or another ethnicity. About 20 percent of the students’ parents have graduated from college. Yet close to 100 percent of the charter school’s graduates enter four-year colleges—in fact, the school requires that all students apply to a four-year university in order to graduate. As student Jordan Howard explained, “It’s not about will you go to college, but which college will you go to?” Tellingly, the groundswell to apply for the Commencement Challenge award came from the students themselves. “The kids came to (the teachers and administration) and said, ‘Hey, we want to do this,’” Taylor explained. “We have some pretty savvy leaders on campus. A team of kids put a video together and wrote the essays. We helped them with the work, but they were the ones who really made it happen. It was impressive to see their passion and their energy.” The school began in 1999 by a group of parents, educators, businesses, and non-profits. Behind the drive was Alison Diaz-Suffet, who has a law background and who taught in the community. Environmental Charter began with 100 students and added a grade level each year until it reached its current size. The 9th through 12th grade school will open a middle school next fall on a nearby campus, beginning with 6th graders and eventually serving 6th through 8th graders. The middle school will serve the same low income population of students. “I want my students to take away from this school a desire to continue their education,” Taylor said. “I want our students to be equipped with the knowledge, skills, and passion to make a difference in their community. Part of that comes through continuing their education, and part comes through being leaders and making sure that they are inspiring others.” For more information, visit: www.echsonline.org Denver School of Science and Technology “When you walk into our school, everyone says it feels different,” Campus Director Bill Kurtz explains. “We host hundreds, if not thousands of visitors each year, and they all say the same thing.” That “feel,” Kurtz believes, comes from the school’s “strong, powerful sense of community,” which is grounded in Denver School of Science and Technology’s outstanding track records of student achievement and its reputation for being one of the leading open enrollment STEM schools in the nation. (STEM is science, technology, engineering, and math.) Students know that their community expects them “to become high-performing students who achieve great things academically,” Kurtz explained. Students understand, too, that they attend a school where each student is known and supported to achieve his or her potential. Many have humble starts. Forty-five percent are economically disadvantaged, half are first-generation college bound, and 70 percent are minority, most of them Hispanic or African American. Yet DSST, which was founded in 2004, has an outstanding track record of student achievement. Most students enter DSST at least one grade level behind in math and English. But it is regularly the top-performing or close to the top-performing high school in Colorado in student learning growth and absolute student performance on State tests. The school’s first graduating class had the second lowest college remedial class record of any high school in Colorado. One hundred percent of DSST’s first three graduating classes went on to such diverse colleges as Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, Bowdoin, MIT, Pomona, Howard, Fisk, University of Colorado/Boulder, Cal-Tech, Mesa State College, Wesleyan, and Metropolitan State College of Denver. Says Kurtz: “This demonstrates that all kids can achieve and all kids can go to college.” The school typically has 700s applications for 140 slots in the 9th grade, all of them filled through a lottery. (The school recently expanded to included 6th through 8th graders.) Many students apply because of its reputation as one of the leading open enrollment STEM schools in the country. Others aren’t keenly interested in STEM subjects but are drawn to the school because it has enough academic rigor to prepare them well for college. About 45 percent of DSST graduates go on to pursue a STEM field of study. (The national average is 14 percent.) “With our diversity, we’re opening up the worlds of science, engineering, and math to students who haven’t traditionally had access,” Kurtz said. In order to graduate, students must take six year-long science classes, four years of English, three of social studies, and four of math, including a precalculus class required for graduation. Science and technology electives include such things as astrophysics, biotechnology, building bridges, engineering models, environmental biology, javascript programming, and neurobiology. The school was founded by a board led by lawyer David Greenberg, who among other things was a member of the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, and a former legal advisor and speechwriter to Colorado Governor Richard Lamm. The school was supported by former Colorado Governor Bill Owens’ administration and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the latter of which continues to provide money. DSST’s mission statement emphasizes the importance of having science and technology being available to women, minorities, and the economically disadvantaged, and to develop good leaders in STEM fields. But the mission statement also is centered on six core values: respect, responsibility, integrity, courage, curiosity, and doing your best. These values are central to the school community and guide students, teachers, and parents in every aspect of school life. DSST expects parents to be actively involved with their child’s education; parents are required to pick up their student’s report card at the end of each trimester, and the school constantly encourages parents to check homework and support the school. For more information, visit: www.scienceandtech.org April 20, 2010 The U.S. Department of Education (ED) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will be holding four Listening and Learning about Early Learning meetings in the coming weeks. Recently announced on the ED’s blog, the meetings will focus on topics related to early learning (birth through 3rd Grade): Understanding Preschool – Grade 3 Structures, Workforce and Professional Development, Family Engagement, and Standards and Assessments. Since the majority of preschool settings in the United States are run by private entities, the nonpublic school community is encouraged to attend and register to make comments at the meetings. Each meeting will consist of a panel of experts who will speak on specific topics. Meeting times are 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on each of the dates scheduled. The following topics and locations have been selected for the meetings: Friday, April 23, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010 Denver, CO
Tuesday, May 4, 21010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Registration Visit ED’s blog for complete details and information on registration, webinar attendance, submission of written comments, and special accommodations and assistance to individuals with disabilities. April 15, 2010 2010 U.S. Department of Education's Reading Institute The U.S. Department of Education's 2010 Reading Institute will be held in Anaheim, California, on July 19-21, 2010. This Reading Institute is a key part of the Department's strategy to support the efforts of schools that receive federal funding to improve literacy instruction and to assist State and local policymakers and program administrators to develop effective, comprehensive pre-kindergarten to third grade literacy programs. The conference might be of particular interest to those schools identified as Persistently Low Achieving (PLA) and the organizations partnering to improve student achievement. Some of the sessions are focused on early childhood literacy and might be of interest to those planning to use some of their Title I funds to support early childhood programs. This year, ED will collaborate with the National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to convene a separate strand at the 2010 Reading Institute entitled, "Learning and Development: Birth to Third Grade." This strand will share knowledge and information about early childhood literacy research and how to use that research in practice. Among the keynote speakers will be Assistant Secretary Thelma Melendez, Michael Kamil and Catherine Snow. Reading Institute topics are scheduled to include: • Practical strategies for increasing vocabulary; • Multiple approaches to reading comprehension; • Reading and writing connection; • Sessions focused on English language learners; • Early language development and reading success; • Coaching – embedded professional development; • Providing high-intensity intervention for students with serious reading difficulties; • Literacy and technology integration; • Building literacy success in schools and district; • Exploring the relationships between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension; • Early childhood literacy instruction and assessment; and • Transition from pre-kindergarten to kindergarten. Teachers, coaches, principals, and administrators at the school, district and State levels are invited to attend this important event. There is no registration fee. For more information about the 2010 Reading Institute, please visit the conference website at http://www.mikogroup.com/2010readinginstitute/. April 15, 2010 CharterED Welcome to CharterED, a resource provided by the Charter Schools Program in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Innovation and Improvement. We hope that everyone involved in developing charter schools will find news and information here to guide their work. In This Issue:
U.S. Department of Education News Delaware and Tennessee Win Race to the Top
Competition The two states were selected from among 16 finalists who presented their proposals to panels of peer reviewers in early March. Altogether 40 states and the District of Columbia submitted applications for the first phase. The Department will have about $3.4 billion available for the second phase of the Race to the Top competition, for which applications are due on June 1. The peer reviewers awarded Delaware and Tennessee high marks for their commitment to reform from key stakeholders, including elected officials, teacher union leaders, and business leaders. In both states, all school districts committed to implementing Race to the Top reforms. Delaware and Tennessee also have aggressive plans to improve teacher and principal evaluation, use data to inform instructional decisions, and turn around their lowest-performing schools. In addition, both states have put in place strong laws and policies to support their reform efforts. The $4.35 billion Race to the Top Fund is designed to reward states that are leading the way in comprehensive, coherent, statewide education reform across four key areas. These include: (1) adopting standards and assessments that prepare students to succeed in college and the workplace; (2) building data systems that measure student growth and success and inform teachers and principals how to improve instruction; (3) recruiting, developing, rewarding, and retaining effective teachers and principals, especially where they are needed most; and (4) turning around their lowest-performing schools. To help states applying for Phase 2 of the competition, the Department of Education has made all Phase 1 applications, peer reviewers comments, and scores available on its website; videos of state’s’ presentations are also being made available. The Department is making one change to the rules for the Phase 2 competition. To fund as many strong applications as possible, the Department is requiring states’ budgets to be within the ranges that were suggested in the original notice. For more information, visit: http://www2.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2010/03/03292010.html Bill Revamping Student Loans The Student Aid and fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA), included in the health care reconciliation bill, makes college more affordable and accessible for millions of Americans in several ways:
For more information, visit:http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/03/30/meaningful-progress-american-people Nation’s Report Card in Reading for 4th, 8th
Graders A nationally representative sample of more than 178,000 4th graders and 160,000 8th graders participated in the 2009 assessment. At each grade, students responded to questions designed to measure their knowledge of reading comprehension across two types of texts: literary and informational. At grade 4, the average reading score in 2009 was unchanged from the score in 2007 but was higher than the scores in earlier assessment years from 1992 to 2005. About 67 percent of the 4th graders performed at or above the Basic level in 2009, and 33 percent performed at or above Proficient. Eight percent of 4th graders performed at the Advanced level, which was the same as in 2007 but higher than in 1992. At grade 8, the average reading score in 2009 was one point higher than in 2007 and four points higher than in 1992 but was not consistently higher than in all the assessment years in between. Gains since 2007 were seen for lower- and middle-performing students at the 10th, 25th, and 50th percentiles, while scores for higher-performing students at the 75th and 90th percentiles showed no significant change. In 2009, about Trends in scores for student groups (by race-ethnicity, gender, or type of school) were generally similar to those for students overall. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan had a tepid reaction to the results. He said they “once again show that the achievement of American students isn’t growing fast enough. . . Like the 2009 NAEP math scores released last fall, the reading scores demonstrate that students aren’t making the progress necessary to compete in the global economy. We shouldn’t be satisfied with these results. By this and many other measures, our students aren’t on a path to graduate high school ready to succeed in college and the workplace.” For more information, visit: http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pubs/main2009/2010458.asp. Duke and Butler Debunk NCAA Tournament Myths Duke, which won the championship title, and Butler, the runner-up, had the two highest NCAA graduation rates—92 percent and 90 percent respectively—of any of the men’s basketball teams in the Sweet Sixteen. Furthermore, they graduate more than 75 percent of their African-American players. At the same time, not one of the 12 men’s teams in the NCAA tournament with graduation rates below 40 percent made it to the Final Four this year. Anyone who filled out their Sweet Sixteen brackets this year based in graduation rates alone would have had Duke and Butler going head-to-head in the final. The women’s basketball teams are also showing us why star players are both students and amateur athletes—and not just participants in big-time college sports entertainment. All four teams in the women’s Final Four graduated more than 80 percent of their players, black and white—and Connecticut and Stanford, the winner and runner-up respectively, both graduate 100 percent of their players. “It is time to boost graduation rates for a number of NCAA tournament basketball teams with poor academic records and indefensible disparities in the grad rates of white and black players,” Secretary Duncan said. For more information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/blog/2010/04/duke-and-butler-debunk-ncaa-tournament-myths/ Charter School a Commencement Challenge Finalist The finalists, announced by President Obama, were among those submitting applications showing their dedication to providing students with an excellent education that will prepare them to graduate ready for college and career choices. Applications were judged based on the schools’ performance, four essay questions, and supplemental data. President Obama ultimately will visit the winning high school to deliver the commencement later this spring. Over the next few weeks, the six schools will create a short video highlighting how their school best fulfills the Challenge’s criteria. These videos, along with portions of each school’s written application, will be featured on the White House website in the coming weeks, and the public will have an opportunity to vote for the three schools they think best meet the President’s goals. Obama will select the national winner from among the three finalists. For more information, visit: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/04/09/race-top-commencement-challenge-finalists-announced Research and Evaluation School Choice—Enrollment Trends These figures and those that follow update two previous reports: Trends in the Use of School Choice: 1993 to 1999, and Trends in the Use of School Choice: 1993 to 2003. The reports are from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Of all those enrolled in charter schools in 2007, the majority (64 percent) of these students attend a charter school in a city. Twenty-two percent of all those enrolled in charter schools attend school in a suburb; the remaining 14 percent attend a charter school in a town or a rural community. Regarding the region, 45 percent of all charter school students live in the West; about 24 percent in the Midwest, 20 percent in the Northeast, and 10 percent on the South. Regarding their race/ethnicity, 36 percent of all charter school enrollees are white; about 28 percent black/ 30 percent Hispanics, and the rest Asian or Pacific Island or another race. Of the total number, 54 percent are males, and 46 percent are females. Regarding their economic status, 34 percent of all those enrolled are considered poor, 19 percent near-poor, and 47 percent non-poor. For more information, visit: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2010004 Conversion Schools vs. Start-Up Charters The Brookings Institution examined data on public schools that have been converted to charter schools in California, the state with the most and many of the oldest conversions. Data from 49 schools in 2004 and 60 schools from 2008 showed little change in student test scores in reading and math—a finding mirrored across all low-performing schools in the “How Well Are American Students Learning?” report, which Brookings released in March. However, compared with start-up charter schools, the study found that conversions are even more likely to be concentrated in urban areas, have larger student enrollments, and serve greater numbers of Hispanic and black student. Teachers in conversion schools are also more experienced and more likely to hold teaching certificates, particularly in bilingual education, the report said. “It is clear that future evaluations of charter schools must
differentiate between start-ups and con versions because of the
significant institutional differences between the two types of
charters,” the report says. “More must be learned about conversion
charters if they are to realize their promise as a tool of school
reform. Professional Development in Mathematics The Middle School Mathematics Professional Development Impact Study, Findings After the First Year of Implementation included 77 schools in 12 districts in 2007-2008. The PD, although purposely designed to be relevant to the curricula that teachers were using in their classrooms, focused primarily on developing teachers’ capability to teach positive rational number topics effectively. Teachers who taught core 7th grade math class in the study schools were assigned by lottery to either receive the professional development or not. Teachers in all of the study schools continued to be eligible for district-provided PD. Other key findings include:
To view the report, please visit: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pubs/20104009 School Violence Prevention in Middle School The report, “Impacts of a Violence Prevention Program for Middle Schools: Findings from the First Year of Implementation,” was released by the Department’s Institute Education Sciences. It used survey data collected from 6th grade students in 40 middle schools, with half of the schools assigned by lottery to use the violence prevention program. The findings held for both the full sample of students and a subgroup of students identified as high-risk for violent behavior. The purpose of the program is to provide middle schools with a comprehensive approach to violence prevention that targets both individual students and the school environment. A second report is expected and will include findings from two and three school years of implementation. To view the report, please visit: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pubs/20104007 National Charter School Resource Center Enhances
Website The website, www.charterschoolcenter.org, delivers news, research, resources, and information about upcoming events and training opportunities. It also connects people with organizations and experts knowledgeable about operating charter schools. New features include links to current federal programs and grant information as well as a highlighted charter school. In addition, users now are able to easily submit studies, events, and other information for posting. The website serves charter school leaders, teachers, and staff as well as state and local education agencies and authorizers that monitor performance. Its information is organized according to the Charter School Center’s five priority areas: assistance to state agency personnel who oversee charter school activity, quality authorizing of charter schools, charter school facilities, charter school leadership, and successful charter models for turning around low-performing schools under Title I School Improvement. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Innovation and Improvement, under a contract with Learning Point Associates, developed the National Charter School Resource Center to promote effective practices, provide technical assistance, and disseminate the resources critical to ensuring the success of charter schools across the country. For more information, please contact the Charter School Center at 877-277-2744 or charterschoolcenter@learningpt.org. 2010 Charter School Facilities Institute Come join us for the U.S. Department of Education’s 2010 Charter School Facilities Institute. This free, full-day event is in partnership with the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and is being held immediately prior to its national conference in Chicago at the Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile, 540 N. Michigan Avenue. The institute is on June 28, the day before the conference officially begins. The institute will complement the facilities strand at the conference and is being conducted by the National Charter School Resource Center at Learning Point Associates. Featured topics include:
Register at: http://www.nationalcharterconference.org/facilities_institute.php Grants and Funding Applications must be transmitted by May 14 for the Department’s national activities projects under the Charter Schools Program. Applicants should make a well-reasoned and compelling case for the national significance of the problems or issues that will be the subject of the proposed project and of the approach the project would take to addressing those problems or issues. The Secretary of Education is particularly interested in projects designed to improve or expand a State’s capacity to support high-quality charter schools in urban and rural areas in which a large number of public schools have been identified for improvement, corrective action, or restructuring under Title I, Part A of the ESEA. Further specifics of the competition and its priorities can be found at:http://www2.ed.gov/programs/charter/applicant.html. State Education Agencies You may also visit: http://www2/ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/announcements/2010-1/032310f.html Peer Reviewers for Office of Charter School Programs
Peer reviewers with charter school expertise in at least one of the following areas are needed: state education agency (SEA) charter school program (CSP) grant administration; charter management organizations; charter school planning, program design and implementation; charter school assessment and evaluation; charter school policy and research; charter school authorizing; charter school technical assistance and resources; charter school leadership and professional development; and charter school administration and operation. If you would like to be considered as a peer reviewer, please email your resume to CharterSchools@ed.gov. Please identify the grant competition you would be interested in reviewing. For more information about the CSP and eligibility requirements for peer reviewing, go to: http://www2.ed.gov/programs/charter/index.html. Calendar April 30-May 2: The Pennsylvania Coalition of Charter Schools’ Leadership Institute will take place at the Marriott Hotel and Convention Center in Lancaster. It is being convened to share best practices and to challenge Pennsylvania charter school constituents to take the charter school movement in that state to new heights. This is the first time PCCS will bring together charter school leaders from across the state in a forum dedicated to leadership, governance, and strategic issues. The target audiences for this event include school CEOs, principals, business/operations managers, board members, and other members of each school's leadership teams (deans, vice principals, site directors, etc). Please contact: 484/356-0191. May 2-8: This is National Charter Schools Week 2010, spearheaded by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. The week is intended to celebrate the important work accomplished by public charter schools across the country and the increasing momentum that the charter school movement has enjoyed during the past year. For more information, visit: http://www.publiccharters.org/ June 28: Come join us for the U.S. Department of Education’s 2010 Charter School Facilities Institute. This free, full-day event is in partnership with the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and is being held immediately prior to its national conference in Chicago at the Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile, 540 N. Michigan Avenue. The institute is on June 28, the day before the conference officially begins. The institute will complement the facilities strand at the conference June 28—July 1: The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools is hosting the 10th National Charter School Conference in Chicago. The keynote speaker on June 29 is Bill Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The conference will also feature Reed Hastings, founder, Chairman and CEO of NetFlix, which has changed the way in which many Americans watch movies. There are two official conference hotels: the Hyatt Regency Chicago and the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place, which is adjacent to the McCormick Place-Lakeside Convention Center. Free shuttles will be available to transport conference attendees between the former hotel and the convention center. For more information, visit: http://www.nationalcharterconference.org/ April 14, 2010 CharterED Notepad 2010 U.S. Department of Education's Reading Institute The U.S. Department of Education's 2010 Reading Institute will be held in Anaheim, California, on July 19-21, 2010. This Reading Institute is a key part of the Department's strategy to support the efforts of schools that receive federal funding to improve literacy instruction and to assist State and local policymakers and program administrators to develop effective, comprehensive pre-kindergarten to third grade literacy programs. The conference might be of particular interest to those schools identified as Persistently Low Achieving (PLA) and the organizations partnering to improve student achievement. Some of the sessions are focused on early childhood literacy and might be of interest to those planning to use some of their Title I funds to support early childhood programs. This year, ED will collaborate with the National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to convene a separate strand at the 2010 Reading Institute entitled, "Learning and Development: Birth to Third Grade." This strand will share knowledge and information about early childhood literacy research and how to use that research in practice. Among the keynote speakers will be Assistant Secretary Thelma Melendez, Michael Kamil and Catherine Snow. Reading Institute topics are scheduled to include:
Teachers, coaches, principals, and administrators at the school, district and State levels are invited to attend this important event. There is no registration fee. For more information about the 2010 Reading Institute, please visit the conference website at http://www.mikogroup.com/2010readinginstitute/. April 8, 2010 CHARTER ED NOTEPAD FREE PRE-CONFERENCE EVENT, JUNE 28th 2010 Charter School Facilities Institute Register Today-FREE http://www2.learningpt.org/NCSRCFacilitiesInstitute/register.aspx June 28, 2010 Are you searching for a school building that will make the educational vision of your charter come to life? Is your school currently housed in a space that doesn’t meet your needs? Are you overwhelmed by the process of constructing a new school? Not sure how to access financing? Come join us for the U.S. Department of Education’s 2010 Charter School Facilities Institute. This free, full-day event is in partnership with the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and is being by conducted the National Charter School Resource Center at Learning Point Associates. This pre-conference session will complement the facilities strand at the 2010 National Charter Schools Conference, which will begin on June 29, 2010. Learn from charter school leaders and national experts about the facilities planning process and financing as you engage in interactive conference sessions. Each session will provide meaningful step-by-step assistance in one phase of the planning process. Featured topics include:
For questions or additional information, please contact Peggie Garcia by telephone (312-288-7642) or e-mail (peggie.garcia@learningpt.org). ________________________________________________________ And Don’t Forget to Register Today for the10th National Charter Schools Conference! www.nationalcharterconference.org June 28 - July 1, 2010 in Chicago, Illinois We hope you will join us at the 10th National Charter Schools Conference which will be held June 28 - July 1, 2010 in Chicago, Illinois. Each year, the conference provides the sole opportunity for the entire movement to gather – leaders, teachers, and board members of charter schools; authorizers and legislators; and supporters in business and philanthropy. The 2010 theme is "Innovators in Education: Leading the Race to the Top" -- chosen because the charter school sector is truly at the cutting edge of education reform. Now serving more than 1.5 million students in 4,900 schools, public charter schools provide outstanding examples of innovation and quality. The conference will be divided into eleven strands including Law and Policy; Finance; the role of Charter Support Organizations; Quality Innovation, Student Achievement; and Governance. March 31, 2010 In this issue of The Education Innovator we feature National Lab Day, one of five innovative partnerships that comprise the "Educate to Innovate" campaign that is designed to improve the performance of America's students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. If you would like to subscribe to or unsubscribe from The Education Innovator, please use the registration form. For users with Assistive Technology devices, please visit our newsletter at: The Education Innovator The purpose of the U.S. Department of Education's online newsletter The Education Innovator is to promote innovative practices in education; to offer features on promising programs and practices; to provide information on innovative research, schools, policies, and trends; and to keep readers informed of key Department priorities and activities. The Department's Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII) is responsible for the newsletter's research, writing, and production. Select this link for this month's Innovator. CharterEd Notepad Charter School Program National Leadership Competition For FY 2010, the Department is holding a grant
competition for national activities projects For further information, please contact Richard
Payton, U.S. Department of Education, 400 ______________________________ [Federal Register: March 23, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 55)] [Page 13740-13745] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov [DOCID:fr23mr10-53] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Innovation and Improvement; Overview Information; Charter Schools Program Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.282N Dates: Applications Available: March 23, 2010. Purpose of Program: The purpose of the CSP is to increase national understanding of the charter II. Award Information Type of Award: Discretionary grants. Estimated Available Funds: The FY 2010 appropriation for the Charter Schools Program is56,031,000, of which an estimated $3,500,000 will be used for this competition. Contingent upon the availability of funds and the quality of the applications received, we may make additional awards later in FY 2010 and in FY 2011 from the list of unfunded applications from this competition. Estimated Range of Awards:50,000-$750,000 per year. Estimated Average Size of Awards: $500,000 per year. Estimated Number of Awards: 5-7. Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this notice. Project Period: Up to three years. III. Eligibility Information 1. Eligible Applicants: State educational agencies (SEAs) and local educational agencies (LEAs) IV. Application and Submission Information 1. Address to Request Application Package: Richard Payton, U.S. Department of Education, If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), Individuals with disabilities can obtain a copy of the application package in an accessible format a. Electronic Submission of Applications. Applications for grants under the Charter School Programs--CFDA number 84.282N--must be We will reject your application if you submit it in paper format unless, as described While completing your electronic application, you will be entering data online that will be saved VII. Agency Contact FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Payton, U.S. Department of Education, SPECIAL INNOVATOR ALERT: INVESTING IN INNOVATION (i3) FUND GUIDELINES
AVAILABLE On Monday, March 8, 2010, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan
announced the final priorities The press release announcing the launch of i3 is available at the
Department of Education's Web The i3 Web site (http://www2.ed.gov/programs/innovation/applicant.html)
includes a variety of
As you know from the March Innovator feature
article, the Department of Education also recently All questions about i3 may be sent to: i3@ed.gov. March 25, 2008 As a valued customer of ED Pubs, we are sending you this email
to let you know of In an effort to serve you better, the U.S. Department of
Education's ED Pubs (Education Center on Educational Governance at USC - Charter School Indicators This new report from the Center on Educational Governance at
USC draws on a quantitative For a copy of this report, go to www.usc.edu/dept/education/cegov/CSI_USC.pdf Report to the Legislature on Michigan's Public School Academies A new study finds that public charter schools are helping close the
achievement gap in For a copy of this study, go to www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/Item_I1_217074_7.pdf New
IDEA 2004 PowerPoint Presentations Now Available Online Charter School Achievement: What We Know (4th Edition) This report provides an update of the literature on charter
school achievement. Of the 39 The authors note that while the record is skewed toward
charters, it is still mixed. As the Visit: http://www.publiccharters.org/content/article/detail/3064/ Charter Schools and Special Education Information about how charter schools are educating students
with disabilities is available This is the seventh and final report produced by the Project
Intersect team at the University However, the report also raises questions about whether some
charter schools are fulfilling Margaret Spellings, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, recently sent out an annual notice to all school superintendents about the responsibilities of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). FERPA information can be found under Hot Topics at this web address: <http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/hottopics/index.html> Secretary Spellings provided additional guidance on FERPA to enable schools to better balance parents' and students' privacy rights with school and safety concerns. The FERPA guides are also available online at: <http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/safeschools/index.html>. The Secretary's letter and handout on emergency management resources are available online at <http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/secletter/071030.html>. Youth with Disabilities A report from the National Center for Special Education Research provides longitudinal information about the perceptions and expectations people have of youth with disabilities. The report provides a picture of how youth with disabilities differ across disability categories and demographic groups and how they compare with youth in the general population. The report addresses questions such as how youth with disabilities describe their feelings about themselves and their lives, their secondary school experience, their personal relationships, and their expectations for the future. For information, visit: http://ies.ed.gov/ncser/pubs/20073006/chap1.asp. Website on Charter School Finance The National Resource Center on Charter School Finance and Governance has launched a new website designed to disseminate information and technical assistance to charter leaders. Site highlights, some of which will soon be added to the site, include:
The project is a collaboration of the Center of Educational Governance, the Finance Project, and WestEd. The National Resource Center on Charter School Finance and Governance received a National Leadership grant from the Department's Charter Schools Program. Visit the new website at http://www.charterresource.org/index.asp. Measuring the Achievement of Students with Disabilities The U.S. Department of Education has released final regulations under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) providing additional flexibility to states to more appropriately measure the achievement of certain students with disabilities. These regulations allow states to develop modified academic achievement standards that are challenging for eligible students and measure a student's mastery of grade-level content, but are less difficult than grade-level achievement standards. The new regulations are part of an ongoing effort to ensure that all students, including those with disabilities, fully participate in a state's accountability system and are assessed in an appropriate and accurate manner. For more information, go to: www.ed.gov/parents/needs/speced/twopercent.html Guide to Identifying Good Educational Research Practices The field of K-12 education contains a vast array of
educational interventions intended to This guide summarizes the process the Department recommends for
evaluating whether an
The guide includes examples of good randomized controlled
trials and explains how the The guide was prepared for the Institute of Education Sciences
by the Coalition for Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative The Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative was designed by teachers for
teachers in order to provide To go to their website, click here. |