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ESC-20 Curriculum Communiqué: September 10, 2004
Volume #3
We are continuing the Curriculum Communiqué series as requested. Please continue to share the
information with your staff. If there is additional information that you think would be helpful, please
do not hesitate to let me know.
ESC Contact: Ed Vara, ed.vara@esc20.net or (210) 370-5465
1. TEA Correspondence
New TEA Correspondence has been posted at
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/taa/sortf.cgi?command=bydate
Date: 09/01/2004
Subject: Technology Planning Requirements and Tools
From: Standards and Programs
Date: 08/31/2004
Subject: Make-up Days, 2004-2005 School Year
From: School Finance and Compliance
Date: 09/01/2004
Subject: Updated 2004-2005 Summary of Finances
From: School Finance and Fiscal Analysis
Date: 09/01/2004
Subject: 2003-04 “Near Final” Summary of Finances
From: School Finance and Fiscal Analysis
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2. The September distance learning newsletter is now ready:
http://www.esc20.net/distancelearning/newsletters.htm
In this edition you will find the fall schedule for student videoconferences and Virtual Wednesdays,
information on an exciting videoconference event for Texas high school students called "Texas
Connects", information on distance learning opportunities offered through the Region 20 and the
USDLC, and much more!
Contact: Susan Altgelt, mailto:susan.altgelt@esc20.net or 210-370-5639
3. NCLB UPDATE (http://www.ed.gov/nclb/)
Source: ED Review, August 13, 2004
In a recent letter, Secretary Paige reminds the nation's superintendents that the arts are a core academic
subject under the No Child Left Behind Act and -- contrary to prevailing opinion -- NCLB provides
funding and flexibility that can be used to improve art education. "I believe the arts have a significant
role in education, both for their intrinsic value and for the ways in which they can enhance general
academic achievement and improve students' social and emotional development," he asserts. "The arts,
perhaps more than any other subject, help students to understand themselves and others, whether they
lived in the past or are living in the present." The Secretary cites Title I (disadvantaged students), Title
II (teacher quality), and Title V (innovative programs) as funding streams to support the core subjects.
For example, Arizona is utilizing $4 million in Comprehensive School Reform (Title I, Part F) funds to
support the arts at 43 schools throughout the state. He also references research that shows the arts serve
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as a "critical link" to help students develop thinking skills and become motivated to achieve at higher
levels. For more information, please go to http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/secletter/040701.html.
As states release their 2003-04 student achievement data, the Education Trust, a nonprofit organization
whose mission is to make schools work for all children, has released two documents explaining the
accountability and public reporting provisions of No Child Left Behind. "ABCs of AYP"
(http://www2.edtrust.org/NR/rdonlyres/37B8652D-84F4-4FA1-AA8D319EAD5A6D89/0/ABCAYP.PDF) details new rules for limited English proficient students, students
with disabilities, and participation rates. "Questions to Ask About NCLB Reports"
(http://www2.edtrust.org/NR/rdonlyres/8ABC094A-8403-471B-A9F49C9D28A751AF/0/QuestionstoAsk.pdf) is a guide to information that should be publicly available.
Revised guidance regarding the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act addresses three issues:
whether children awaiting foster care placement are eligible for McKinney-Vento services; whether
children displaced from their homes by a disaster are eligible for McKinney-Vento services; and
whether a school district must provide transportation services to homeless children attending
preschool. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE GO TO
http://www.ed.gov/programs/homeless/guidance.pdf.
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BACK TO SCHOOL CHECKLIST
With some students already back in school and most returning in the upcoming weeks,
Secretary Paige unveiled a three-page checklist of questions and tips for parents, schools, and the
community. The checklist is sorted by "Academic Curriculum and Achievement" ("Does the school
district have written guidelines on the amount of homework given for each grade level?"), "Helping
Parents and Students," "Teacher Training and Quality," and "Student Discipline. For more information,
please go to http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2004/08/08052004-checklist.pdf.
Also: OIIA's "Tools for Student Success" catalog presents brief descriptions of available material for
parents and teachers, as well as information on how to obtain these publications in hard copy or online
at no cost. For more information, please go to: http://www.ed.gov/parents/academic/help/tools-forsuccess/.
_______________________________________________________________
RESULTS AGENDA
Accountability is a mantra Secretary Paige not only advocates on the road but practices at home. As
evidence, the "U.S. Department of Education's Results Agenda" highlights valuable results that the
people of the agency are producing, describes how the agency is operating more effectively to produce
results, discusses how a results-oriented enterprise benefits the people of the organization, and outlines
additional results that are in the process of being realized. Consider the following paragraph: "From a
financial management perspective, the Department of Education is unique among federal government
agencies. The Department has a high number of appropriations, (over 200) which it must manage,
consolidate, and account. Yet, it maintains the smallest number of employees while managing the third
largest discretionary budget of Cabinet-level agencies.... This achievement is evidenced by the
Department's 'clean opinions' on the audits of its fiscal year 2002 and 2003 financial statements. (In the
history of the Department, a clean opinion has been received only once before in 1997.)" Bulleted lists
of results are also offered for elementary and secondary education, postsecondary education, special
education and rehabilitative services, evidence-based education, and civil rights. FOR MORE
INFORMATION, PLEASE GO TO
http://www.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/results2004/.
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HOMESCHOOLING
According to a new report from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), nearly 1.1
million children, or 2.2 percent of the country's children ages 5-17, received their education at home in
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2003. That number represents a 29 percent increase from 1999, when 850,000 children, or 1.7 percent
of the country's school-age children, were being home schooled. And, more than 60 percent of the
parents who home schooled said they did so for one of two reasons: they were concerned about the
environment in their children's regular schools or they wanted to provide religious or moral instruction.
Only 16 percent claimed dissatisfaction with the academic instruction at other schools as the most
important reason for home schooling. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE GO TO
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2004115.
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FROM THE INTERAGENCY STAFF...
Thanks to a $320,000 grant from the Qwest Foundation, the congressionally charged
National Council of the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial is distributing educational CD-ROMs that allow
students to explore important aspects of the expedition through the eyes of historians and American
Indians. The CD-ROM includes a curriculum for fourth- through twelfth-grades designed by a team of
educators from Philadelphia and St. Louis and linked to National Council for Social Studies and
National Science Teachers Association standards; teachers can easily incorporate three to six lesson
units into existing lesson plans. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE GO TO
http://www.backtoschoolwithlewisandclark.org/.
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QUOTE TO NOTE
"There is a culture of callousness around us. Everywhere we see violence, crime, disrespect, hatred,
indifference, and disregard. The culture of callousness spreads like a disease, infecting our music, our
movies, our motives, and our minds. Skepticism, nihilism, and relativism threaten any effort at value
formation. We see the results. Polls over the past several years have shown that a majority of our
citizens identify a decline in moral values as one of the major causes of our problems. A much larger
percentage of our citizens say that our values have weakened over the past generation. But there are
those who remain committed to a life of responsibility. Individual personal responsibility is key to
fulfilling the obligations we owe both to our families and ourselves. It also is the way we fulfill the
obligations we owe to our community and to our nation."
-- Secretary of Education Rod Paige (8/3/04)
________________________________________________________
UPCOMING EVENTS
September is Library Card Sign-Up Month, sponsored by the American Library Association.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE GO TO
http://www.ala.org/ala/pio/piopresskits/librarycardsignupmonth2004/.
The first "Education News Parents Can Use" broadcast of the season, "Back to School:
Ready to Read, Ready to Succeed," is scheduled for September 21 at 8:00 p.m. FOR
MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE GO TO http://registerevent.ed.gov/.
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4. Grant Information
Grant Title: Theoni Pappas Incentive Grants
Organization: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)
Eligibility: 9-12 Mathematics Teachers who are members of NCTM
Value: Up to $2,000 per award
Deadline: December 3, 2004
See http://www.nctm.org/about/met/pappas.htm for more information.
5. Third Annual San Antonio Mathematics and Science Saturday
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"ALL Mathematics and Science for ALL Students"
Saturday October 2, 2004
Harlandale High School
114 E. Gerald Street
San Antonio
Over sixty one and two-hour seminars and workshops on proven techniques to enhance student
learning in K-12 mathematics and science will be presented by outstanding classroom teachers and
college faculty members.
Our emphasis this year is on ALL students including special education, GT, Bilingual, and ESL.
Featured Presentations from Dr. Arthur Eisenkraft, past NSTA President; Dr. Karen L. Ostlund,
Uteach Program, College of Natural Science, University of Texas at Austin. Our lunch speaker will be
a NASA Scientist/Astronaut. Breakfast and Lunch are provided.
Many commercial vendors and informal science providers exhibit during the seminar. Special exhibits
and presentations from NASA are featured. Six hours of CE professional development credits are
available.
Cost for educators: $20.00
Cost for college students and student teachers: $15:00
The full program and information are available at http://satec.saisd.net/usp/index.htm Click on
Saturday Seminar
For additional information contact Roger Kramer at: Roger.Kramer@harlandale.net or (210) 921-4488
6. State Center for Early Childhood Development Reports Significant Findings to the Texas
Legislature -- September 2, 2004
AUSTIN - The State Center for Early Childhood Development at the Center for Improving the
Reading of Children for Learning and Education at The University of Texas Health Science Center at
Houston is charged with promoting school readiness for children in preschool settings by the 78th
Texas Legislature. The center, in conjunction with the State Center for Early Childhood Development
Advisory Committee, has developed recommendations to better serve Texas' children in traditional
preschool settings. These findings are described in a report given to the Texas Legislature on Sept. 1.
Senate Bill 76 charged the center and the advisory committee with the following:
*
*
*
Determine the current status of early child care and education programs;
Develop pilot projects on the integration of early care and early education services; and
Develop a quality rating system and a parent initiative to support school readiness at home
"Children are this state's most precious resource," said Shirley J. Neeley, Commissioner of
eEucation. "We need to work together to give them the best start possible. This new report spotlights
the current status of early childhood education and offers suggestions for improvement."
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In reviewing the current conditions of early education, the advisory committee found that there is
no available data to determine school readiness nor are there clear standards to show school readiness.
Moreover, they found that many of the agencies serving these children did not work together; thereby
neglecting to implement proven approaches that serve the whole child in a setting that promotes school
readiness.
"We need much more understanding of how our children are developing and what they need prior
to entering public school," said Dr. Susan Landry, Knight Professor of Pediatrics and center director.
Dr. Pedro Reyes, Associate Vice Chancellor for Planning and Assessment in the University of
Texas System, said: "We congratulate the efforts of the advisory committee and the State Center
located at UT Health Science Center - Houston. Their important work is part of an ongoing, organized
system-wide effort to address literacy from early childhood to adulthood."
The report given to the Legislature outlined findings among three pilot programs.
Through the Texas Early Education Model (TEEM) pilot, the State Center brought together in half
of the eleven sites selected for the program, the three primary sources of services for children in
preschool settings -- pre-k, Head Start and child care centers. In those sites, resources were combined
among the three service providers, and the program using a research-based curriculum, teacher training
and progress monitoring was executed. The report shows the substantial - and often significant - gains
for the preschool children in early literacy and language development for both English- and Spanishspeaking children. These results were attained after only a two- or three-month period in the spring of
2004. Beginning this August, all 11 sites will benefit from this integrated model.
The second pilot involves the development of a framework for a quality rating system that focuses
on whether children enter kindergarten with the necessary cognitive skills in early literacy, early math
and social skills. The new system, named the Texas School Readiness System, will be tested this fall in
four additional communities: Midland, Abilene, Odessa and Tyler.
Finally, the third pilot implemented by the center was to create a parent initiative to promote school
readiness skills in the home. This pilot includes materials developed to include parent activities,
workshops, monthly newsletters and teacher-led feedback.
In concluding its report, the center and its advisory committee laid out its recommendations:
* Children should be served in integrated partnerships with all the relevant early care and early
education service providers participating
* Uniform school-readiness standards should be developed taking into consideration adequate
flexibility and support to meet those standards
* Statues and policies should be revised to facilitate child care coordination
The recommendations and conclusions are intended to guide the Legislature to better serve the
state's preschoolers.
View the report here: Link to State Center homepage: http://www.uth.tmc.edu/circle/
Link to UT System ESA office homepage: http://www.utsystem.edu/esa/
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The State Board of Education (SBOE) will hear an update on Science at the September 9 Committee
on Instruction meeting. This item will give Committee members an opportunity to hear an update on
current science courses, including a brief outline of the knowledge and skills taught at each grade level
and in each science course. A timeline of when the Science TEKS will be revised and an update on the
Middle School Science TAKS tested at Grade 8 will also be presented.
7. The Texas Regional Collaboratives is proud to announce that the Texas Inquiry Physics (Teacher
Quality Grant Part A) is now on-line. Please visit our website at http://regcol.edb.utexas.edu/. You will
find the TIP materials when you click on the Teacher Quality Grant button. We believe we have high
quality materials and an excellent site to navigate. Our web designer will also be formatting the CD. It
will be coming out next week as it needs to be formatted differently. Thanks to everyone who took part
in the development of this project.
Contact: Marsha Willis, marshawillis@mail.utexas.edu or (512) 471-9400
8. I'm writing today to introduce you to a new, TEKS compliant, air quality curriculum available for
free to K-12 teachers. The curriculum is part of a state-sponsored air quality campaign called Drive
Clean Across Texas (DCAT) Downloadable Curriculum. Now Available for grades K-12
The "For Teachers http://www.drivecleanacrosstexas.org/for_teachers/ " section of the Drive Clean
Across Texas website features a new set of air quality lessons and activities for grades K-12. The
curriculum covers topics such as defining air pollution, explaining how transportation affects our air
and illustrating how each of us can do our part by driving clean across Texas. Each lesson is matched
to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and includes teacher preparation material,
directions, activities and quizzes. Best of all, it's free! To access the downloadable curriculum, please
see:http://www.drivecleanacrosstexas.org/for_teachers/
Downloadable coloring and activity book (recommended for K-5)
A downloadable coloring and activity book
http://www.drivecleanacrosstexas.org/for_teachers/activity_book/ is available. The activity book
features the fun coloring opportunities and activities with The Clean Air Crew! The Crew-Tex, Dot,
Cool Jay and Ollie Ozone-help make learning about air quality and transportation fun for everyone
primarily by presenting positive air quality messages and behaviors.
Teacher Involvement Encouraged
Attention Teachers! The DCAT team needs your valuable input and evaluation to ensure quality and
improvement of the lessons. Please feel free to access the lessons
http://www.drivecleanacrosstexas.org/for_teachers/ and evaluate whether the materials would be an
appropriate match for your classroom. We are interested in any comments or suggestions for
improvement as well. If you decide to teach a lesson(s), please use the feedback form
on the web, http://www.drivecleanacrosstexas.org/for_teachers/feedback/ or contact Kelly West at kwest@tamu.edu to provide feedback. Teachers who provide feedback will receive free coloring and
activity books (hard copy) and a hard copy of the final curriculum, as well as recognition on the DCAT
website. A free cartoon video will also be available in the fall.
What is "Drive Clean Across Texas" (DCAT)?
DCAT is the nation's first statewide public outreach and public education campaign designed to boost
awareness and change attitudes about air pollution and to ultimately inspire changes in driving
behavior that will help clean up the air in Texas. Although industrial activities contribute to air
pollution, cars and trucks create much of the harmful emissions polluting our busy cities. Thus, the
initial focus of the campaign is on mobile source pollution. DCAT is sponsored by the Texas
Department of Transportation, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Federal
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Highway Administration. The program has been endorsed by The Texas Department of Health, as well
as local air quality coalitions from across the state. The Texas Transportation Institute is the
contracting state agency assisting with the campaign.
Initiated in March of 2002, the campaign has heretofore focused primarily on adults. That, however, is
changing as the campaign introduces a complete, K-12 curriculum to educate young Texans about the
importance of air quality. The goal is to properly educate youngsters, so they will encourage their
parents to make transportation decisions that positively affect air quality and to then adopt responsible
habits as adults.
Contact: Kelly West, Research Editor, Texas Transportation Institute (TTI), (979) 845-8867
9. Best Practices in Chemistry Education will take place October 1-2 at the Plaza Hotel in
downtown Ft. Worth. You may register on-line at http://www.swrm.org and may contact Diane Mason
at dmason@unt.edu for further information.
10. FYI
A letter to districts concerning the new TELPAS (Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment
System) score reports was posted on the Student Assessment Division website on August 20. This
letter informs districts of when they will get score reports letting them know their students' English
language proficiency levels as determined by spring 2004 Observation Protocols (OPs), RPTE, and
TAKS. Districts may opt to use these results to meet Title III requirements for notifying parents within
30 days of the start of the school year of their children's English proficiency levels.
This letter was sent to superintendents and copied to ESC executive directors as well as ESC and
district bilingual/ESL coordinators and test coordinators. Districts will begin receiving the letters in the
next day or two.
To access the letter on the web, go to the following web page and click on "Letters to Districts" in the
menu that's on the left side of the page.
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/index.html
11. A message from NASA:
You are invited to participate in a Webcast that will connect students and teachers from around the
country to NASA scientists and engineers at work in the Arizona desert. During the Webcasts you will
be able to view NASA's Desert Research and Technology Studies (RATS) team field testing a variety
of spacesuits, field assistant vehicles, and other scientific equipment that has been designed to support
future space and planetary exploration.
The dates for the one-hour Desert Rats Webcasts are:
·September 16, 2004 1 PM CT
·September 21, 2004 12 PM CT
·September 23, 2004 1 PM CT
Additional information (including pre- and post-event activities) is available on the Desert Rats
Webpage: http://education.grc.nasa.gov/DesertRats/
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ESC Contact: Susan Altgelt, susan.altgelt@esc20.net or 210-370-5639
12. OEYP
To support LEAs and Charters implementing Optional Extended Year Programs, the Center is offering
training for teachers. This training is designed to meeting the staff development requirements for
OEYP and teachers involved in extended day and extended week models.
13. Important Dates…
September 10 – Last day to register Alternative Education Campuses for 2005 Accountability Ratings
September 15 -- Deadline for 2004-2005 OEYP Application
September 15 -- eGrants Evaluation Reports are due (Consolidated Federal Application)
September 16 -- OEYP PEIMS Student Participation Data Submission 4
September 30 -- ARI/AMI final program reports due; OEYP Report of Project Expenditures (paper
report) due; OEYP Program Evaluation (in eGrants) due; 2003-2004 Early reading Instruments (ERI)
Report due (if not previously submitted)
October 13 – Federal Program Directors’ Series (ESC-20)
October 15 -- OEYP Revised Report of Project Expenditures (paper report)
November 10 – New Federal Program Director Series
November 15 -- 2004 AYP Preliminary Data Tables released to school districts and Appeals begin
December 1 – Appeals Deadline for School Improvement (Campuses that don’t appeal by December 1
must notify parents of school improvement options.)
December 17 – Appeals Deadline for district and campus 2004 AYP data
January 19 – New Federal Program Directors’ Series
February 23 – AYP Status to School Districts
February 24 – 2004 AYP Status released to the public (12 noon)