Fast Report

• The Senate Appropriations Committee approved an education funding bill for fiscal year 2005 Sept. 15 that includes $3.2 billion more than the House bill but still fails to meet local school boards' needs.

Under the Senate's measure (S.2810), Title I would receive an overall increase of $1.1 billion, which is $118 million more than the funding bill (H.R.5006) passed by the House earlier this month. The Senate would increase special education funding by $1.26 billion, which is approximately $161 million more than the House bill.

The Senate bill would eliminate funding for Title V grants for innovative education programs, while the House bill would provide just $20 million.

NSBA is working with members of Congress to support a $2.5 billion increase for Title I, a $2.2 billion increase for IDEA, and restore full funding ($296.5 million) for Title V when the bill reaches a House-Senate conference committee.

Governors propose high school reforms

• The National Governors Association (NGA) launched a yearlong initiative Sept. 9 to redesign America's high schools.

NGA will urge states to promote policies to help students make the best use of their high school years, make the senior year more relevant, and help families save money for college tuition. The initiative includes an online survey of high school seniors nationwide to solicit their ideas on possible reform proposals.

"The voice of students has been missing in the conversation about high school reform," says Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, the chair of NGA.

He says governors can help bridge the divide between secondary and postsecondary systems by calling for college-ready standards and courses for all high school students, and seniors in every school district should have an opportunity to take college-level courses while still in high school.

Teachers express concerns with NCLB

• Most teachers generally agree with the goals of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) but are concerned that its implementation could have a negative impact on the curriculum, instruction, and the ability of underperforming schools to attract and retain teachers.

That's the key finding of a report by the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University, based on a survey of close to 1,500 teachers in Fresno, Calif., and Richmond, Va.

Among the findings:

• Teachers do not believe that identifying schools that had not made adequate yearly progress (AYP) would lead to school improvement.

• Teachers strongly believe that NCLB sanctions unfairly reward and punish teachers.

• Many of the teachers in schools that were identified as needing improvement do not plan to still be there in five years. Teachers also believe NCLB sanctions will cause teachers to transfer out of schools not making AYP.

• NCLB is causing unintended, and possibly negative, consequences. Teachers say they are de-emphasizing or neglecting untested topics and focusing instruction on subjects that are tested, probably excessively.

• If they are to meet high standards and improve student performance, teachers say they need more money for curricular and instructional materials aligned with state standards, more time to collaborate, and small classes.

• They believe public recognition and rewards for improving student performance is more effective than sanctions for poor performance.

www.civil rightsproject.harvard.edu.

'Acceleration' urged for gifted children

• U.S schools should allow academically gifted students to skip grades, enter school earlier, take college courses in high school, or otherwise move through the traditional curriculum at faster rates than average students, urges a study released Sept. 20 by researchers at the University of Iowa.

According to the report, schools generally avoid such "academic acceleration" because of the misguided perception that the practice causes children to become "socially stunted."

But when children are moved ahead, "the results are very positive, not just cognitively, but socially," says Nick Colangelo, co-author of A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America's Brightest Students and director of the Belin-Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development at the University of Iowa.

Students who are moved ahead tend to be more ambitious, and they earn graduate degrees at higher rates than other students. Interviewed years later, an overwhelming majority of accelerated students say acceleration was an excellent experience for them.

Accelerated students feel academically challenged and socially accepted, and they do not fall prey to the boredom that plagues many highly capable students who are forced to follow the curriculum of classmates their own age.

The report says academic acceleration faces several obstacles, including the philosophy that children must be kept with others their age, the belief that acceleration hurries children out of childhood, and political concerns about equity.