January/February 2004 - IELeadership Connections - Institute for Educational Leadership's bi-monthly newsletter

In September your editors noted recurring themes that we would reflect upon in the coming year, one of which is the need for new partners in tackling educational challenges. Also, in September the Commission on Children at Risk released "Hardwired to Connect: The New Scientific Case for Authoritative Communities," a report documenting that the deteriorating mental and behavioral health of children in the United States had reached crisis proportions and offering research-based recommendations for addressing the crisis. The Commission, composed of 33 medical doctors, researchers, mental health professionals, and youth service practitioners from a number of prestigious universities and schools of medicine as well as the Search Institute, the YMCA of the USA, the Institute for American Values, and the Center for the Family in Transition, found that "In large measure, what's causing this crisis of American childhood is a lack of connectedness. We mean two kinds of connectedness-close connections to other people, and deep connections to moral and spiritual meaning."

The research cited by the Commission (whose members span the spectrum from liberal to conservative) is persuasive, controversial, and in some cases, stunning. Three key findings, for example, are that 1) nurturing environments, or the lack of them, affect gene transcription and the development of brain circuitry-in other words, social context can alter genetic expression; 2) the old "nature vs. nurture" debate-focusing on whether heredity or environment is the main determinant of human conduct-is no longer relevant to serious discussions of child well-being and youth programming; and 3) adolescent risk-taking and novelty-seeking are connected to changes in brain structure and function.

The Commission's bottom line: authoritative-not authoritarian-communities are our best hope for solving the crisis. Authoritative communities are defined as "groups that live out the types of connectedness that our children increasingly lack. They are groups of people who are committed to one another over time and who model and pass on at least part of what it means to be a good person and live a good life." The ten main characteristics of authoritative communities are social institutions that: 1) include children and youth, 2) treat children as ends in themselves, 3) are warm and nurturing, 4) establish clear limits and expectations, 5) perform the core of their work largely by non-professionals, 6) are multi-generational, 7) have a long-term focus, 8) reflect and transmit a shared understanding of what it means to be a good person, 9) encourage spiritual and religious development, and 10) are philosophically oriented to the equal dignity of all persons and to the principle of love of neighbor.

Many of the Commission's recommendations are directly applicable to schools: a more effective response to adolescents' need for risk-taking, novelty-seeking, and peer affiliation; more purposeful attention to the different development patterns of males and females; special attention to disadvantaged, low-income neighborhoods; and more and stronger partnerships between scholars and youth-serving organizations. A particularly challenging recommendation is that youth-serving organizations purposely seek to promote the moral and spiritual development of children. The Commission notes that "This task will not be easy. Because we are a philosophically diverse and religiously plural society, many of our youth-serving programs and social environments for young people will need to find respectful ways to reflect our diversity and pluralism." (To download the press release, executive summary, or order the full "Hardwired to Connect" report, go to http://americanvalues.org/html/hardwired.html.)

The Commission's report is one of several pieces of research suggesting the importance of community in the lives of young people and in their education. Robert Putnam, author of the highly regarded book on social capital, "Bowling Alone," has done research suggesting that "community-based social capital…is considerably more important than any other demographic, economic, or purely educational influence in accounting for interstate differences in educational outcomes," i.e., NAEP scores, SAT scores, and high school dropout rates. (Putnam, R.D. (2001). Community Based Social Capital and Educational Performance, in Ravitch, D. & Viteritti, J.P, (Eds.), Making Good Citizens: Education and Civil Society. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.)

What do these findings mean for schools, which are clearly authoritative communities? What should the relationships between schools and communities be, especially in this era of high-stakes accountability? How can stronger connections between school and community support the school's mission and the community's hopes for its young people?

The Coalition for Community Schools, a partnership of 170+ organizations housed here at IEL, views the community school as a primary vehicle for uniting schools and communities in intentional relationships. Community schools use public schools as a hub and bring together many community partners to offer a range of supports and opportunities to children, youth, families, and communities -- before, during, and after school, seven days a week. The partners work to improve student learning, involve parents and families in their children's education, prepare students for adult roles, involve community members with the school, and ensure the neighborhood is safe and supported. (For more information on the Coalition, go to http://www.communityschools.org/.) Recent journal articles supporting community schools include "Systems Change through Community Schools: District Leaders Cite the Benefits They are Reaping through External Partnering" in the January 2004 issue of School Administrator (available at http://www.aasa.org/publications/sa/2004_01/Blank.htm), "Inviting the Outside In: These Chicago Principals Do Whatever It Takes to Transform Their Buildings into Community Schools" (available at http://www.principals.org/publications/pl/pl_oustide_in_1203.cfm), and the Infobrief published by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), "Community Schools: Educators and Community: Sharing Responsibility for Student Learning," available at http://www.ascd.org/cms/objectlib/ascdframeset/index.cfm?publication=http://www.ascd.org/publications/infobrief/index.html. See the first three items under News from the Field below for related new research in support of student achievement and community.

NEWS FROM THE FIELD

"Parsing the Achievement Gap: Baselines for Tracking Progress," by Paul Barton for the Educational Testing Service, identified 14 "correlates of achievement" based on a review of existing research. The correlates were then disaggregated to determine if there were gaps between minority and majority students and low-income and high-income families. The correlates included those that were directly within the school environment, and those, such as birth weight, student mobility, television watching, and nutrition, that reflect the home and community environment. To download the report, go to http://www.ets.org/research/pic.

The Search Institute (a youth development institute) has published "Boosting Student Achievement: New Research on the Power of Developmental Assets" which found that "The difference in academic performance three years later between those [students] who had very few assets and those who were asset rich is equal to the difference between a C and a B+ average." The report include a list of 40 external and internal developmental assets developed by the Institute. To download your pdf copy, go to http://www.search-institute.org/research/Insights/IE-10-03-Achievement.pdf.

Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) researchers reviewed 371 studies on Out-of-School-Time (OST) strategies for improving reading and math achievement for low-achieving or at-risk students and identified 56 methodologically rigorous studies for analysis. They found that statistically significant increases in achievement resulted from OST interventions and that grade level and type of intervention affected the results. To download the two-page research brief or the 113-page report, both in pdf format, go to http://www.mcrel.org/newsroom/OSTsynthesis.asp.

A new study from the National Center for Communities and Schools at Fordham University, "Equity or Exclusion: The Dynamics of Resources, Demographics, and Behavior in the New York City Public Schools" examines 1) the relationship between school resources and student behavior, and 2) whether resources that relate to student behavior are distributed equitably across race and poverty lines. To learn what the study found and to read the Center's recommendations for a more equitable distribution of resources, go to http://www.ncscatfordham.org/pages/viewfull.cfm?ElementID=120.

"Best Practices for Producing Community-wide Study Circles - What Works: Study Circles In The Real World" is a practical, short compilation of best practices in organizing community-wide study circles that can engage the community with the public schools. These include strategies such as creating a broad-based coalition, supporting facilitators, recruiting diverse participants, contributing to change, and linking dialogue with action. Drawn from a two-year research study conducted by Roberts & Kay, Inc. for the Study Circles Resource Center, the publication and the full research report are available in pdf format at http://www.studycircles.org/pages/otherpr.html.

Respect for authority and civility towards others were once common in the school system and our communities, but thanks to the explosion in litigation, these values are not often taught or reinforced. Common Good and the AEI-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies co-sponsored a forum in November to explore how legal fear and bureaucracy are undermining the ability of teachers and principals to do their jobs effectively. One panelist, Alan Bersin, San Diego's school superintendent (and a lawyer himself), described the legal threat under which educators operate today as the "python in the chandelier" (from a Chinese proverb). Download "The Effects of Law on Public Schools," a resource book compiled for the forum at http://cgood.org/library/download/The%20Effects%20.%20.%20.Public%20Education%20Final.pdf?item_id=36992.

As we mentioned in our September 2003 issue, we will be following the Brown v. Board of Education 50th Anniversary observations. Education Week began a five-part series last month, "Brown at 50," which will "take stock of the role of race in education, looking at key issues, developments, and localities." The first installment contains two stories, "In U.S. Schools, Race Still Counts" and "Stuck in Time," which describes the beginning of desegregation in Summerton, SC, and how it derailed. To read both stories and preview the upcoming ones, go to
http://www.edweek.org/sreports/special_reports_article.cfm?slug=brown.htm.

"Brown at 50: King's Dream or Plessy's Nightmare?" by Gary Orfield and Chungmei Lee has been released by The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University. The authors find that "U.S. schools are becoming more segregated in all regions for both African American and Latino students." They also note, however, that "school segregation is not inevitable" and find hope in recent Supreme Court decisions on affirmative action and desegregation in higher education. To read the press release and link to the full report, go to http://www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu/news/pressreleases.php/record_id=42/.

As another reminder of how far we have come and yet have to go since Brown v. BOE…. Claudio Sanchez of National Public Radio, in his opening remarks as moderator at a briefing to reveal findings from The Century Foundation's new report, "America's Untapped Resource: Low-Income Students in Higher Education, "said that the policy and goal of The Higher Education Act of 1965 "has either been delayed or betrayed." The report's essays, written by a group of notable experts on higher education (including Anthony Carnavale of ETS, and Michael Timpane of the Aspen Institute) examine higher ed's substantial economic divide, discuss its ramifications, and offer specific recommendations for not only increasing the number of economically-disadvantaged students entering but also completing college. The full transcript of the briefing, which includes some rather startling highlights from the findings, is available at http://www.tcf.org/Publications/Education/AUR_transcript.pdf. The book can be ordered from 1-800-552-5450 (for $14.95).

"Quality Counts 2004: Count Me In: Special Education in an Era of Standards," EDUCATION WEEK's eighth annual state-by-state report card on public education, addresses the issue of how to include students with disabilities in accountability systems in a way that's fair and appropriate. The report includes state data on standards and accountability policies and the results of a survey of 800 general and special education teachers. To download or order your copy, go to http://www.edweek.org/sreports/qc04/.

A new government Web site, http://www.grants.gov, will help organizations find grant opportunities from all federal grant-making agencies as well as apply for them on-line. The list of participating agencies continues to grow and includes the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Interior, Justice, Labor, and Transportation. There are a variety of search options, a tutorial, a newsletter, and more.

To help policymakers and educators get an idea of how their state compares to others, the Council of Chief State School Officers has issued "Meeting NCLB Goals for Highly Qualified Teachers." Using Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) data, the report looks at two parameters for teachers in grades 7-12: state certification and college major in assigned subject areas. Trends and shortages of highly qualified teachers are then analyzed. To download your pdf copy of the report, go to http://www.ccsso.org/publications/details.cfm?PublicationID=224.

Rand Education has released "Working Smarter to Leave No Child Behind: Practical Insights for School Leaders" in order to help policymakers and administrators "comply with the legislation and make their schools as effective as possible." Contents include the background of the law, underlying conditions necessary for NCLB to work, and practical guidance on how to implement the law to maximize results. To download your copy, go to http://www.rand.org/publications/WP/WP138/.

The U.S. Department of Education published a press release on its Web site in January containing a "checklist" of items that illustrate the flexibility states have in implementing No Child Left Behind. The checklist categories include Adequate Yearly Progress, students with special needs, highly qualified teachers, unique schools, and the definition of "persistently dangerous," as well as examples from a variety of states. Download the release at http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2004/01/01142004.html.

Would you like to participate in an on-line survey on how educators are experiencing the implementation of No Child Left Behind as it relates to professional development? The survey, from the NCLB Task Force of the National Staff Development Council, is short (20 questions), on-line, and anonymous. To take the survey, go to http://tinyurl.com/xpl2.

THINGS TO WATCH

Leadership: The inaugural issue of IELC carried a blurb requesting that readers nominate education's "positive deviants," those educators whose exceptional practices elicit better results than colleagues with the same resources, for an National Staff Development Council (NSDC) study. The results are now available in "From the Inside Out: Learning from the Positive Deviance in Your Organization" which describes six schools that are achieving above average results with average resources. To order the book or read related articles on positive deviance, go to http://www.nsdc.org/connect/projects/positivedeviance.cfm.

Accountability: The Broad Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, the National Center for Educational Accountability, and Standard & Poors' School Evaluation Services jointly launched a new Web site, http://www.SchoolResults.org, at the National Press Club on January 29th. The Web site will display publicly reported NCLB data for the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico by the fall. (Data from six states-DE, FL, MN, PA, VA, and WA-are now available.) The site will allow data comparisons between districts and schools in a state and provide summaries of state data. Site development and maintenance for the first two years will be provided by the public-private partnership, but states will be asked to underwrite an estimated $10-15 million per year for maintaining the site in subsequent years. We'll revisit the site later this year to see how many states are on-line.

READER SURVEY: YOUR OBSERVATIONS IN THE COMMUNITY

IELC readers are our eyes and ears in the field. We want to know what you're observing in your neighborhood as schools try to connect with the community, become authoritative communities, or better serve the students, families, and the larger community. Share your most important observations, both successes and challenges.

Send your response to survey@iel.org with "survey" in the subject line. You can be cryptic as long as we understand your point. Please remember that IELC surveys are informal exchanges and are not intended to be "scientifically-based research." We will collect your responses and use them to inform future issues of IELC. We will not be able to provide a personal response to each submission.

FYI: A discussion of the high school survey results will be included in the next edition of IELC.

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Submission deadline for the next issue: March 19, 2004

First, we note that our esteemed assistant editor, Jerry Medrano, has left the IELC fold and moved down the hall to the Theme High School Network. We miss his enthusiasm and technical expertise-but at least he's not too far away. Second, your co-editors have noticed two recent dissemination statistics that may indicate that some readers are not receiving their copies of IELC: 1) about 15% of the e-mails bounced back and apparently never reached their destination, and 2) about 8% of new subscription requests came from people who are already subscribers. We suspect that this is a result of spam controls implemented by Internet service providers (ISPs)-controls that have been tightened even further since the last issue of IELC due to the MyDoom worm. We realize that subscribers who are not receiving IELC will miss this note unless they visit the IEL Web site, so we suggest that all readers check out their ISP's spam procedures as a preventive measure.

IELeadership Connections is a free bi-monthly e-newsletter focusing on leadership for education. The editors are Mary Podmostko and Denise Slaughter. Please feel free to share this newsletter with interested parties. The editors will do their best to provide active links and information but cannot be responsible for expired links.

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For forty years, the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL) - a non-profit, nonpartisan organization based in Washington, DC - has worked to achieve better results for children and youth. At the heart of IEL's effectiveness is a unique ability to bring people together to identify and resolve issues across policy, program, and sector boundaries. As a natural outgrowth of IEL's work, diverse networks have been created and nurtured. Today, IEL is working to help individuals and institutions increase their capacity to work together to improve outcomes for children and young people. We are building and supporting a cadre of diverse leaders, strengthening the capacity of education and related systems, and informing the development and implementation of policies. IEL supports a national network of over 15,000 policymakers and practitioners, publishes books and reports, facilitates meetings, produces seminars and conferences, and disseminates ideas that have an impact on policy at all governance levels. Please visit our Web site at www.iel.org to learn more about IEL.