E-News—Issue 7, Number 1

Welcome to the January 2004 issue of E-News!

E-News is designed to keep individuals informed of new developments in urban education and inclusive schooling practices in urban schools. In particular, E-News includes brief items of interest around the work of the National Institute and other organizations engaged in similar work, current research, upcoming conferences and events, new online and off-line products and resources, and other news happening in the field.

Features this month:

• National Inclusive Schools Week Update: President Bush Recognizes National Inclusive Schools Week; the National Institute Wants to Learn About Your Celebrations!
• Publication Highlight: Improving Academic Achievement in Urban Districts: What State Policymakers Can Do
• Events: ASCD (March 20-22); AERA (April 12-16); and CEC (April 14-18)
• News Brief: U.S. Department Of Education Issues New Regulations For Students With Significant Cognitive Disabilities
• New Resources: Using Study Circles; Including Every Child; Differentiated Instruction in Action; Outreach and People with Disabilities from Diverse Cultures
• National Institute Help Desk

National Inclusive Schools Week Update

President Bush Recognizes National Inclusive Schools Week!

In recognition of the growing significance of National Inclusive Schools Week, President George W. Bush issued a Presidential Message on November 28, 2003, to acknowledge all of its participants. The President's letter highlighted the importance of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in ensuring that students with disabilities attend school along with their non-disabled peers. He wrote, "I applaud all those who are dedicated to ensuring that our schools are places of learning, encouragement, and achievement. Your efforts help build an America where all people are celebrated for their abilities and encouraged to achieve their dreams."

For more information about the President's message, please visit
http://www.inclusiveschools.org/press2003.html

The National Institute Wants to Learn about Your Celebrations!

Please let us know what activities you organized as part of the 3rd Annual National Inclusive Schools Week, December 1-5, 2003. We want to understand the impact the Week had on the students, teachers, and families in your school system. We encourage you to send photographs, complete with captions that describe the events; newspaper or newsletter clippings or recordings of TV and radio coverage; letters-to-the-editor; and examples of students' work. Send all correspondence to niusi@edc.org or to:

Bonnie Johnson Barry
National Institute for Urban School Improvement
55 Chapel Street
Newton, MA 02458

Thank you again for making this year's celebration a huge success. Be sure to mark your calendar for the 4th Annual National Inclusive Schools Week, December 6-10, 2004!

Publication Highlight

Improving Academic Achievement in Urban Districts: What State Policymakers Can Do

A key question state policymakers must now face is how to take the improvement of urban students' academic achievement out of the realm of dramatic but isolated accomplishments and into the realm of widespread, ongoing practice. Accomplishing this feat requires understanding that a one-size-fits-all state and federal education policy does not necessarily work well for urban school districts. This is because, while they may face some of the same challenges as their suburban and rural counterparts, urban districts differ significantly from other districts and require state support that is targeted to their unique challenges.To help policymakers tackle this problem more effectively, the Education Commission of the States (ECS) has produced "Improving Academic Achievement in Urban Districts: What State Policymakers Can Do."

The report is available on ECS's Web site:
http://www.ecs.org/html/educationissues/urban/urbanreport.asp

Events

Increasing Rates of School Completion: Moving from Policy and Research to Practice

a free telephone seminar from the National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (NCSET) Tuesday, January 27, 2004

2:00-3:00 p.m. Central Time (10 a.m. Hawaii; 12 p.m. Pacific; 1 p.m. Mountain; 3 p.m. Eastern)

Preventing dropout and improving the rate of school completion is a critical and immediate national goal. Increasing the graduation rate for youth with disabilities is especially important given the high proportion of these youth who are leaving school early. What does the research tell us about effective interventions that keep students with and without disabilities in school? During this interactive teleconference, the presenters will describe critical conceptual issues linked to school completion. In addition, research-based interventions will be summarized. More specifically, Check & Connect, a model designed to prevent dropout and engage students in school and learning will be described. Results from research on the effectiveness of Check & Connect will also be shared. (For more about Check & Connect, visit the Check & Connect Web site at http://ici.umn.edu/checkandconnect/.)

Presented by:
Dr. Camilla Lehr, Research Associate
Institute on Community Integration
University of Minnesota

Dr. Sandra Christenson, Professor, Educational Psychology
University of Minnesota

Dial 703-736-7227 a couple of minutes before the call begins, and refer to the "NCSET Teleconference Call" if asked by the operator. During the call, if using a speakerphone, please press the mute button when listening. The only cost to you is the long distance fee to the 703 area code. You do not need to RSVP to participate in this call.

For more information, visit NCSET's Web site at
http://www.ncset.org/teleconferences/.

Association for the Supervision and Development of the Curriculum
presents Faces of Education: Courageous Actions, Powerful Stories

March 20-22, 2004 • New Orleans, LA

" Faces of Education" features more than 600 sessions, which will focus on what it takes to create better schools, how to improve programs for teaching and learning, how to build stronger learning communities, which practices ensure that all students are learning, what to question about traditional practices, and much more. A special series of presentations will focus on closing the achievement gap, engaging and motivating students to excel, and reading. For example, Kay Toliver, star teacher from the Peabody Award-winning documentary "Good Morning Miss Toliver" will demonstrates effective strategies that she used at PS 72 in East Harlem, New York, to engage students' interest. Tom Vander Ark will explore the underlying causes of current graduation rates among Hispanic and African American students. Irene Smalls will speak about an educational and entertaining approach to integrating storytelling, literacy, and differentiated learning.

For more information, visit
http://www.ascd.org/cms/index.cfm?TheViewID=446

American Educational Research Association announces Enhancing the Visibility and Credibility of Educational Research

April 12-16, 2004 • San Diego, CA

The theme of the 2004 Annual Meeting in San Diego is "Enhancing the Visibility and Credibility of Educational Research." AERA believes it is important to consider what counts as evidence in high-quality educational research, how educational research informs and is informed by practice, and the nature of the social, political, and historical contexts in which educational research is conducted and used. The conference has three sub-themes:

• Brown v. Board of Education: 50 Years Later. The 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education provides an opportunity to consider how educational research has informed policy in an important domain that affects educational opportunities for all members of society. What do we know from research about the issues that animated the Brown decision? How have research-based claims entered the discourse and decision making relevant to equity and access? How can research continue to contribute to addressing issues of educational quality and inclusiveness?
• Teacher Learning and Development. In a time of increasing diversity in our society, the press for accountability and shifting educational goals and priorities has placed new demands on teachers. At the same time, the role of institutions of higher education in the preparation and continuing education of teachers is being questioned. Thus, it is important to understand the process of teacher change and to identify effective ways of fostering teacher learning
• Justifying Evidence-Based Claims. AERA encourages presenters to design sessions that consider what counts as evidence in high-quality educational research. Important issues include trustworthiness, verifiability, replicability, and generalizability of claims in various research traditions as well as the social, political, and historical contexts in which research is conducted and used.

For more information, visit http://www.aera.net/meeting/index.htm

Council for Exceptional Children's Annual Convention & Expo

April 14-18, 2004 • New Orleans, LA

Register for CEC's annual convention to find out how No Child Left Behind and the new IDEA will affect you and to receive guidance on meeting the needs of diverse exceptional learners. Pre-conference workshops and division showcase sessions will focus on a variety of topics related to the education of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, such as:

• proven strategies for beginning reading instruction
• culturally responsive pedagogy
• peer-assisted learning strategies for English Language Learners with
  learning disabilities
• exploring Native American gifted identity through photo elicitation

For more information or to register, visit
http://www.cec.sped.org/neworleans/reg_instruct.html

News Brief

U.S. Department Of Education Issues New Regulations For Students With Significant Cognitive Disabilities

U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige recently announced a new provision of the No Child Left Behind education reform law. Under final rules published in the Federal Register, states, school districts and schools will have the flexibility to count the "proficient" scores of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities who take assessments based on alternate achievement standards. Without this flexibility, those scores would have to be measured against grade-level standards and considered "not proficient" when states measure adequate yearly progress.

In other words, those students will be assessed by their achievement of standards deemed appropriate for their intellectual development, thus allowing states to more accurately gauge their progress.

Nationally, about nine percent of the total student population is served in special education, of which about nine percent have the most significant cognitive disabilities.

The complete provision as well as a fact sheet and Web cast are available at http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2003/12/12092003.html.

 

New Resources

Using Study Circles to "End the Blame Game"

" An End to the Blame Game," an article from the National Association of Secondary School Principals' "Principal Leadership," discusses how study circles can help communities create the schools they need. Study circles bring together educators, students, and average citizens from different backgrounds to talk in small groups about what matters to them in education, what challenges face the educational system, and what the community can do to address those challenges in productive ways. Study circles are part of a larger program that has easy-to-use, fair-minded discussion materials and trained facilitators who reflect the community's diversity. Each circle comprises a diverse group of eight to 12 people who meet for fourtwo-hour sessions. A facilitator leads the sessions and
helps manage the discussion but does not teach the group about the issue or take sides. To help group members respect one another and get results, the circle sets its own ground rules. Starting with their personal stories, members of the circle consider an issue from many points of view. Next, group members talk about how they want things to be. Finally, they make plans for action and change. The purpose of the program is to move a community to action when the study circles conclude.

To read the read article, go to
http://www.principals.org/publications/pl/pl_blame_game_1203.cfm

Including Every Child

During the 2000-2001 school year, teachers at the Patrick O'Hearn School in Boston worked with the Project for School Innovation (PSI) to explore and document their effective inclusion practices. In the how-to book, Including Every Child, educators can find detailed steps, tips, and ideas for replicating five key practices that have been key to the success of the inclusion program at the O'Hearn: 1) making inclusion a way of thinking, 2) collaboration and teamwork, 3) assessment tools, 4) consult meetings, and 5) curriculum modifications.

The same teachers who worked with PSI to write Including Every Child are also available to lead workshops and trainings for other schools interested in replicating their success. To order your copy of Including Every Child or to inquire about training, visit http://www.psinnovation.org/psi/btft02.html, then click, "How-To Books."

Differentiated Instruction in Action (2 CD-ROMs)

Drawing from a recent Association for the Supervision and Development of the Curriculum conference on differentiated instruction, two interactive CDs are available that include presentations from leading authorities, plus selected handouts and readings from their presentations. The CDs include 12 presentations, such as "Hallmarks of Quality Differentiation" by Carol Ann Tomlinson, "Differentiated Instruction and Students with Special Needs" by Marcia Imbeau, and "Instructional Strategies: Cubing, RAFTs, and Learning Contracts" by Kay Brimijoin.

For more information, visit
http://shop.ascd.org/ProductDisplay.cfm?ProductID=504031

Outreach and People with Disabilities from Diverse Cultures: A Review of the Literature

People with disabilities who are also from diverse cultures are often
significantly hampered in realizing outcomes of full participation in many aspects of society due to a host of barriers. A small but growing body of research on this issue indicates that barriers include the lack of culturally appropriate outreach, language and communication barriers, attitudinal barriers, and the shortage of individuals from diverse cultures in the disability services professions. For over a decade, the National Council on Disability (NCD) has worked to make national disability policies, laws, programs, and services more responsive to people with disabilities from the broad array of cultures that enrich our country. As a part of its Cultural Diversity Initiative (CDI), NCD sought to answer fundamental questions about outreach: What is it? What are current outreach definitions, themes, models, and challenges? What is the state of disability/diversity outreach at the national level by the federal government?

For more information, visit
http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/advisory/cultural/cdi_litreview.html

National Institute Support Desk

For more information about the National Institute for Urban School Improvement, please feel free to contact us.