3DON-LINE

Sep= tember, 2006 #29

Welcome to Dimensions On-Line, the electronic edition of Dimensions. E-mailed to all members it contains news of interest to FASCD members and Florida educators. This newsletter is a benefit of yo= ur membership in FASCD.

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= Annual FASCD Conference Coming

Mark your calendar now for Friday, December 1 and Saturday morning, December 2 for the annual FASCD Conference. The theme of this conference is: “Reconstructing the Educator’s Toolbox”. Printed announcements and registra= tion details may be found in your mailboxes.

This year the major speaker is Dr. Deborah Estes, a nationally known presenter on how educators can use recent discoveries about learning and the human brain to improve learning opportunities for students. Her presentation is “Effective Brain-Based Presentations.” You can learn more about her and h= er presentation on her website: = = http://www.estes-group.com/<= /span>.

= Dr. Marcy Kysilka and= Dr. Larry Holt will present their brand new book “Instructional Patterns: Strategies for Maximizing Student Performance”. Copies of their book will be ava= ilable for sale at a special conference price.

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Break-out presenters during bot= h days are needed who can speak to programs, teaching strategies, experiences, etc. that will advance the program. Areas of interest include: "Reading Acr= oss the Curriculum", "Applications of Brain Research," Teaching Strategies That Work," "Closing the Achievement Gap for Minority Students," and other similar areas where successes in the classroom ca= n be shared. If you have a presentation or know someone that does, please send an e-mail to = fascd@fascd.org for complete details."

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= Board News

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The next meeting of the FASCD Board is scheduled for Saturday, October 7 at the Hawthorne Suites in Orlando. Agenda highlights include a report= by those Board members who attended the annual ASCD Leadership for Effective Advocacy and Practice Institute (LEAP) conference in Washington, DC. We look forward to Ralph Barr= ett’s leadership as FASCD President this year.&n= bsp;

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Resignat= ion from Board: Alisa Hunt is moving to Connecticut this month and will have to resign her position on the board. Board members shared with Alisa th= at she would be missed and wished her luck on her new venture.

= Get Involved with FASCD

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FASCD is= always looking for folks who want to get more involved in the activities of FASCD.= In order to move forward we need mo= re members who will take a little bit of their time to get involved with their organization. A few recent resignations from the board have created openings for replacements. If you have four Saturdays a year = to help direct our organization, you might consider applying for a board position. If interested, plea= se send a two-page (no more) resume to fascd@fascd.org. The boar= d will review applications and you will be invited to join the board at their next meeting.

We, like= most affiliates group our work around five major areas:

1 – Diverse Active Membership,

2 – Communication/Publications, <= /span>

3 – Programs, Products, and Services,

4 – Influence/Policy, =

5 – Leadership and Governance.

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If you a= re interested in getting involved in activities such as the development of our annual conference, professional development institutes, membership recruitm= ent, influence activities and/or any other areas please send an e-mail to fascd@fa= scd.org indicating your interest. We will get back to you with ways = that you might get involved. =

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= Members in the News

FASCD me= mber Suezan Turknett, Director of Operations & Training for the Institute of School Innovation, becomes Assistant Principal at the Madison Central School in Madison, Florida= . Good luck, Suezan, in your new pos= ition. Suezan may be reached at 4 East Buckhorn Trail, Greenville, FL <= st1:PostalCode w:st=3D"on">32331. Temp e-mail address: mailto:s= turknett@aol.com.

Board me= mber Donna Wissinger has been selected as August’s spotlight artist on http://w= ww.southernartistry.org. One of over 500 Southern artists and groups profiled on this adjudicated, online registry, Donna has been hailed as a dynamic international star whose concerts include an acclaimed debut at Carnegie Ha= ll and recital tours throughout Europe, the US, and Asia. Donna frequently pla= ys musical interludes during our annual conference. Congratulations, Donna!=

Have you<= /span> had a recent eve= nt to share with others in FASCD (like a job change, promotion, retirement, aw= ard or recognition received, unique travel experience, etc.)? We would like to include your information in the next Electronic Dimensions. Send it to us: mailto:fascd@fascd.org<= u>

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<= u>Districts and Schools in the News<= /span><= u>

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Publicize Your Good Work<= /span>

Is your = school or school district doing any unique curriculum, instruction, assessment, or staff development programs, projects, or material development you are willi= ng to share with others? Here is an opportunity for sharing the good work your schools and/or district is doing. Please contact Harry Teitelbaum at fascd@fa= scd.org with information.

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<= u><= span style=3D'mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK6'><= span class=3DCharChar>ASCD= Educat= ion Advocacy Center

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If you w= ant to make a difference with laws and regulations affecting all aspects of educat= ion, check out the ASCD Education Advocacy Center at: www.ASCD= .org

<= u>Positions Available<= /span><= u>

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Post pos= itions here. Send position announcem= ents to fascd@fascd.org= .

<= u>Correction<= u>

In the A= ugust 2006 newsletter Dr. Harry Teitelbaum was introduced as having a joint appointment at Jacksonville University and the University of North= Florida. The statement should read that Dr. Teitelbaum is a full-time member of the School of Education faculty at Jacksonville Univers= ity while serving part-time as an adjunct professor of education at the University of North Florida.

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FO= R YOUR INFORMATION - NEWS OF INTEREST FROM OTHER SOURCE= S

READY OR NOT? SHOULD KIDS BE IN SCHOOL AT 5?<= /b>

As the s= chool year begins, many parents of 5-year-olds wrestle with the kindergarten question: At what age should your child first enter the school system? Pare= nts who think their children are not ready may not send them to kindergarten at= the traditional age -- a practice experts find more prevalent with boys than gi= rls. Nationwide, 90 percent of eligible children attend kindergarten, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, with 73 percent starting at age 5, 13 percent at age 6 and 7 percent at 4. Experts say because kindergarten has evolved from the social experience it was a few decades ago, many parents feel anxiety over whether their child is mentally, physically and emotionally prepared for today's in= itiation of early academic skills. Proponents of mandating kindergarten at age 5 rar= ely recommend holding back even a child struggling developmentally, reports Maudlyne Ihejirika. For additional information, go to = http://www.suntimes.com/output/education/cst-nws-kinder3= 0.html

= PUBLIC VS. PRIVATE SCHOOL REPORT SPURS CONTROVERSY=

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Public s= chools perform favorably with private schools when students' income and socioecono= mic status are taken into account, according to a new report from the U.S. Depa= rtment of Education. The findings counter a popularly held notion, that private schools outperform public schools. The report has generated controversy due= to what some call its overly low-key release, reports Claudio Sanchez. That spurred critics to charge that the Bush administration, long a supporter of private alternatives to public schools, was playing politics by burying dat= a it doesn't like. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings calls her critics' charges ridiculous, saying the administration strongly supports public education. But, she says, the administration also believes parents should h= ave choices. For additional information, go to

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3D5= 584516

= PRIVATE SCHOOLS: AN ACTION GUIDE FOR PARENTS & COMMUNITI= ES=

Private school students were first eligible for state services with the Elementary = and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), which was then reauthorized by No C= hild Left Behind in 2001. These programs all provided services to private school students, parents and teachers, not to the private schools themselves. Priv= ate schools are covered in Title I and Title IX, Part E of No Child Left Behind= , as well as the equitable services provided in ESEA. Since the passing of ESEA = in 1965, private school students have had access to federal funding for secular education services through a provision called the ""child benefit theory"" which allows private and religious school students to receive funding of services under Title I without violating the church-state provisions of the First Amendment. No Child Left Behind has made some chang= es from the original ESEA, including more flexibility in the way poverty data = for private school students. For additional information, go to http://www.publiceduc= ation.org/portals/nclb/private_schools/index.asp

= BILL GATES, THE NATION'S SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS?=

Warren Buffett's gift of $31 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will double the foundation's assets, bringing it to more than $60 billion, and w= ill increase its annual giving to nearly $3 billion. Never before has an indivi= dual given such a large amount of money to someone else's foundation, writes Dia= ne Ravitch. Never before has a private foundation had assets of this dimension. Never before has any individual or foundation had so much power to direct t= he course of American education, which is one of the primary interests of the Gates Foundation. Educators are waiting with bated breath to see which direction this multibillion-dollar behemoth will take. When judged by their influence on education, foundations have a decidedly mixed record. With the ability to hand out more than $1 billion or more every year to U.S. educato= rs without any external review, the Gates Foundation looms larger in the eyes = of school leaders than even the U.S. Department of Education. For additional information, go to

http://www.latimes.com/

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= DROPOUTS ARE NEITHER LAZY NOR UNINTELLIGENT=

Those wh= o have studied the dropout issue in = South Carolina have seldom posed one critical question:= Why should students who are unmotivated or have a record of poor academic experience want to stay in school? For students at the margins of academic performance or social acceptance, the pain of their current school experien= ces often trumps their concerns about the future. Neither state law, nor the admonit= ions of their families, nor the prospect of long-term minimum wage employment is powerful enough to overcome these students' decision to withdraw from schoo= l. There have to be reasons students want to attend school, writes Hayes Mizel= l, and for most the educational, social and legal imperatives are adequate if = not always compelling. But students on the dropout trajectory are not just reluctant to attend school. Over time, they become so disengaged from the educational and social dimensions of school that dropping out is merely the final act in a long process of alienation.= For additional information, go to http://greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=3D= /20060728/OPINION/607280318/1016<= span style=3D'mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK3'>

= NEIGHBORHOOD-SCALE SCHOOLS GREATLY PREFERABLE= =

Today, o= ne of the biggest causes of unsustainable sprawl in our towns and cities is when school districts place new schools on the peripheral fringe -- isolated from the neighborhoods where our students live. Worse still, school districts th= en build mega-sized schools surrounded by vast asphalt parking lots on these remote sites (sometimes because they are forced to do

so by st= ate law -- as is the case in Alab= ama). The end result being that students= can neither walk nor ride their bike to these isolated ""super-sized&= quot;" schools. Indeed, studies continue to show that this movement away from buil= ding neighborhood-scale schools toward focusing on large remotely located ones results in a variety of concerning trends such as: Lower student test scores; Lower s= tudent attendance; Higher student dropouts; Worse student health; and Higher overa= ll school district costs. In the end, by building super-sized schools on the sprawling fringes of our cities, school districts are causing great damage = to children, K-12. For additional information, go to http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articl= e?AID=3D/20060611/OPINION0101/606090396/1012/OPINION

= A HANDBOOK= FOR = SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS & TEACHER UNION PRESIDENTS= =

This han= dbook from Knowledge Works Foundation by Robert Barkley, Jr. contains practical information and advice to help superintendents and teacher organization pre= sidents manage their relationships. The handbook also provides a basis for discussi= on and reflection across the traditional lines of labor management. It covers the often avoidable difficulties these positions regularly have with each other, and offers explicit lessons for dealing with these difficulties and many other aspects= of their relationship and of leadership in general. The primary role of superintendents (of all leaders) is teaching others in the system that, fir= st, it truly is a system, and second, that each part of that system, and each person in it, is interdependent on each other part and person. In other wor= ds, building relationships is not optional; it is essential. For additional information, go to http://devpublic.kwfdn.org/resource_library/_resources/B= ARKLEY%20book%20final.pdf

= PICKY PARENTS ASK FOR CERTAIN TEACHERS= =

They send letters. They = call. Sometimes they even drop in on principals during the summer to be sure their recommendations are heard. Hundreds of picky elementary school parents in m= etro Atlanta= are using their influence to order up classroom teachers like fast-food fries, = writes D. Aileen Dowd. Norma = Miller, = lower school principal at Greater Atlanta Christian School in Lilburn, says many parents don't want to take a chance on their child being mismatched with a teacher for a whole school year. ""We are living in a society whe= re the parents want to create a perfect world for their children,"" = said Miller. Some requests are possible; others are not. At Hutchinson Elementary School in Atlanta, for example, some parents have= asked for a ""male influence"" for their kids or a teacher wh= o is fluent in a second language. For additional information, go to http://w= ww.ajc.com/news/content/metro/stories/0731teacher.html=

= SCHOOL VACCINE SEASON GROWS MORE COMPLEX=

The grow= ing list of childhood vaccinations reads like an alphabet soup: Hib, HepA, HepB, IPV, PCV, MCV4, DTaP, Tdap, varicella and influenza. Parents dragging their kids to the doctor's office for those required school shots can expect to h= ear about more vaccines and, if they're uninsured, new expenses. Twenty years a= go, it cost $75 to $100 to immunize a child with the four available vaccines. Today, 12 are generally recommended for kids and adolescents, at a private-sector cost of about $1,250. And the government is expected to recommend a 13th vaccine for girls -- a shot that protects against cervical cancer. It costs about $360 for the three-dose series, potentially raising = the per-child vaccination bill to more than $1,600. ""The good news i= s we can now prevent so many diseases. The bad news is it's gotten more complica= ted,"" said Dr. Anne Schuchat, who heads immunization programs for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For additional information, go to http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/07/31/school.vaccinati= ons.ap/index.html

= SCHOOLS FIND CORPORATE SPONSORS TO NAB EXTRA CASH= =

A growing number of cash-strapped cities and schools are selling naming rights to par= ks, gyms, locker rooms and even the principal's office. Kitchens at two high schools in Sheboygan, Wisconsin will soon be called the Kohler Credit Union kitchens, thanks to a $45,000 donation. The cafeterias are up for grabs for $300,000. Cities and schools = can get one-time payments<= /p>
in exces= s of $500,000 for naming big facilities. Schools have been selling the rights for several years, and now an increasing number of cities are joining the trend, says Larry Foxman of the National League of Cities. Chicago is accepting bids to name the freeway now called the Chicago Skyway. Washington, D.C., considered selling na= ming rights to its subway stations.

Las Vegas sells n= aming rights for its monorail. Dean Bonham, CEO of the Bonham Group, a sports marketing company that negotiates naming rights, says the deals work for schools and cities because ""it costs them nothing to create this revenue." For additional= information, go to http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20060728/a_nam= ing28.art.htm

= SOME FEAR SCHOOLS WILL SUFFER IF STATE REPLACES TAX SOURCE=

Idaho public schools may face lean financial years and an erosion of local control if lawmakers opt to pull $250 million in property taxes from Idaho education and replace it with mo= ney from an increased sales tax, school administrators, school board leaders and some parents say. Lawmakers might come to Boise next month for a special legislative session to vote on a=

property= tax relief proposal. If approved, critics say, state schools could trade a stab= le funding source for one that may not keep pace with education needs. The res= ult could leave schools squeezed for money as the state scrambles to meet all i= ts commitments if the economy falters as it did following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, reports Bill Roberts. ""I don't want to see property tax relief on the backs of children,"" said Phoebe Smith, chairman of= the Boise School District's Parent-Community Advisory Council. The plan co= uld make Idaho one of the few states in which the public education system is funded almost entirely with state sales taxes. For additional information, go to http://w= ww.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=3D/20060721/NEWS01/60721036= 6/1001/NEWS

= NEW POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION RESOURCE IS NOW AVAILABLE= =

A new gu= ide for high school and college professionals to help them assist underserved students, independent students, those with disabilities, and foster youth prepare academically, financially, and emotionally for postsecondary educat= ion and training success is now available FREE from Casey Family Programs. "&