CEC Policy Insider

House Education Committee Holds Hearing on Federal Role in School Accountability

Yesterday, the House Education and the Workforce Committee convened a hearing to discuss the appropriate role of the federal government in the educational accountability system, as it prepares for the reauthorization – rewrite – of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act/No Child Left Behind.

Raising the Bar: Exploring State and Local Efforts to Improve Accountability, featured four witnesses who all highlighted the need for the federal government to issue accountability parameters that maintain a key tenant of NCLB:  the public reporting of student achievement by subgroup.  Since NCLB, this requirement has allowed the public to know how students who have been historically disadvantaged, including students with disabilities, are performing.   Many members of Congress echoed keeping this requirement in the next version of ESEA, a position CEC supports. 

Yesterday’s hearing featured testimony from:

• Mr. John White, Louisiana State Superintendent
• Dr. Chris Richardson , superintendent of the Northfield Public Schools, Minnesota
• Mr. Eric S. Gordon, Chief Executive Officer of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, Ohio
• Mr. Matthew Given, Chief Development Officer, EdisonLearning, Inc.

The witnesses also spoke about the importance of recruiting and retaining effective teachers, which led some members of Congress to question what elements should comprise a teacher evaluation system.  John White, Louisiana State Superintendent, called for observations and evidence of student progress, and emphasized the need to have greater accountability for teacher preparation programs through reporting of entry requirements, measurable outcomes for programs, and performance of program graduates.

For the last six years, Congress has been working to reauthorize ESEA, a process which has had bursts of activity  followed by stalled gridlock.  Throughout this time, CEC has been working to ensure that as legislation is drafted, the needs of children and youth with disabilities and the professionals who work on their behalf are considered.  Read CEC’s ESEA Recommendations.  

Read or Watch an Archive of the Hearing

CEC Member’s Leadership Recognized in Newsweek … Again!

This week Newsweek released its top 100 high schools across the country.  Topping this list – for the second year in a row – is the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky, a public high school located on the campus of Western Kentucky University and led by CEC member, Dr. Julia Link Roberts!

As the Executive Director of the Gatton Academy and through her leadership within The Association for the Gifted, World Council for Gifted and Talented Children and the National Association for Gifted Children, Dr. Roberts has committed her professional career to advancing the lives of high ability children. 

Newsweek’s list,  America’s Best High Schools 2013, recognized 2,000 high schools from across the United States. The Gatton Academy was ranked fifth in 2011 and first in 2012. 
 
International Baccalaureate School at Bartow High (Florida), BASIS Scottsdale (Arizona), School of Science and Engineering Magnet (Dallas, Texas), and The School for the Talented and Gifted Magnet High School (Dallas, Texas) complete Newsweek’s top 5 schools. 
 
Newsweek’s methodology for their rankings highlights schools that prepare students for college. Each school’s score comprises of six components: four-year, on-time graduation rate (25 percent), college matriculation rate (25 percent), Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) tests per student (25 percent), average SAT/ACT scores (10 percent), average AP or IB scores (10 percent), and percent of student enrolled in an AP course (5 percent). 

CEC congratulates Dr. Roberts and the staff and students of the Gatton Academy for their impressive accomplishment! 

Representatives Chu and Hinojosa Introduce CEC Supported “Equal Access to Quality Education Act” in the U.S. House of Representatives

CEC is applauding Representatives Judy Chu (D-CA-27) and Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX-15) for introducing the Equal Access to Quality Education Act (H.R. 2902), legislation that ensures schools facing the greatest challenges are also staffed by the highest quality teachers.

Of particular interest to CEC and special educators, the Equal Access to Quality Education Act invests in expanding and strengthening programs that prepare special education teachers and bilingual teachers to meet the needs of diverse classrooms.

In 2011, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights found that schools serving mostly African-American students are twice as likely to have teachers with one or two years of experience than schools within the same district that serve mostly Caucasian students. Additionally, the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) recently released a report that notes that bachelor’s degrees in education were awarded predominantly to white candidates (82 percent) with females making up more than 75 percent of graduates of teacher preparation programs.

This legislation would establish a grant program to help develop strong, high quality pathways into the teaching profession. In this way, Representatives Chu and Hinojosa hope to address the influx of young, inexperienced teachers into the schools with the highest needs.  Additionally, the legislation seeks to increase the diversity of teachers by addressing barriers that may prevent entry to teacher preparation programs, such as poverty. 

CEC supports this legislation and its approach to increasing diversity and access to high quality teachers and education for all students. For updates, stay tuned to the Policy Insider!

U.S. Department of Education Awards over $65 Million in Grants to Support Students with Disabilities and Special Educators

The following higher education institutions, clinics and companies have received grants from the U.S. Department of Education:

The University of Connecticut was awarded a $1.2 million grant to fund a Personnel Center which will address a need apparent in recent studies which necessitate strengthening the skills needed by the early childhood workforce, who are dedicated to improving developmental and learning results for infants and toddlers with disabilities. For more information, please click here.

The University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill was awarded a grant of $3.69 million to fund a Technical Assistance Center which will partner with states to provide a framework for high-quality technical assistance and intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities. The center will provide technical assistance to states to improve outcomes for infants and toddlers with disabilities and research-based interventions. For more information please click here.

The University of Kansas was awarded a $4.9 million grant to fund the Technical Assistance Center for Inclusive School-Wide Reform which will share information with educators and stakeholders on educating students with disabilities in inclusive settings. This center’s focus will center on improving the knowledge and skills as educators and the capacity of schools to educate students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms and extracurricular activities. For more information, please click here.

The University of Florida received a $5 million grant to support the development of effective special educators for students with disabilities. The grant will focus on technical assistance for improving state certification and licensure standards, restructuring and improving teacher preparation programs and using data outcomes for students with disabilities. For more information, please click here.

Want to be a Fulbright Scholar?

The application process for the Fulbright Scholar Program opened is now open. The program is designed to give participants the opportunity to pursue teaching, research or a combination of the two in one of over 125 countries for the 2013-2014 academic year. In addition to awards designed for university faculty and administrators, there are awards designed for other professions including artists, journalists, scientists, lawyers, independent scholars. The awards span 45 academic disciplines as well as 167 general awards open to applicants of all disciplines.