The NEA Foundation Student Achievement Grants provide funds to improve the academic achievement of students by engaging in critical thinking and problem solving that deepen knowledge of standards-based subject matter. The work should also improve students’ habits of inquiry, self-directed learning, and critical reflection. Maximum Award: $5,000. Eligibility: practicing U.S. public school teachers, public school education support professionals, or faculty or staff at public higher education institutions. Deadline: October 15, 2007.
http://www.neafoundation.org/programs/StudentAchievement_Guidelines.htm
Everyone agrees that students learn better if they feel safe at school. The latest issue brief from the National Center for Education Statistics examines the prevalence of formal practices within public schools that are designed to prevent or reduce school violence. The brief also describes the distribution of the practices by selected school characteristics. It doesn’t appear from these findings that there are nationwide school violence prevention and reduction practices, as schools implemented a variety of different practices, with some being more commonly used than others. In fact, 59 percent of schools formally obtained parental input on polices related to school crime, and 50 percent provided parental training to deal with students’ behavioral problems. Additionally, high schools were more likely than primary schools to implement safety and security procedures, while primary schools were mor e likely to promote training for parents to deal with behavioral problems in students. It might be worth noting that almost as many schools had some type of security officer on hand on a regular basis (45 percent) as those that provided support for parents to engage their children with behavior issues.
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp-pubid=2007010
It is of little importance that Clare Kearney is unable to perform sophisticated dance moves, or that she has Down syndrome and autism, or that, in the beginning she barely looked at her teammates. Now she stands beside them during practice in her "place," a competitive cheerleader practice facility where girls perform intricate moves flawlessly, reports Donna St. George of the Washington Post. Clare’s 11 teammates have similar disabilities and together they comprise Destiny, a cheerleading team that has filled what was missing in many of their lives: a sense of belonging, acceptance and friendship. The team is one part of a grassroots movement to create more activities for children with disabilities. While each success has come one at a time, each achievement has had an immeasurable impact on a child’s life. In the past year, special-needs cheer squads have more than doubled to nearly 160. The need for these types of programs is g reat as 5.5 million school children have disabilities, but there are scarce few options for before- or after-school activities. As a result of their participation, the parents of the Destiny girls say they have become more talkative, more comfortable socially, and more engaged. In addition, belonging to this troupe has given the girls confidence, as they have performed their routine under bright lights before thousands with few problems. Ayaan Ayorinde, a 13-year-old with Down syndrome, finished a performance at the Washington Convention Center with a wave and kisses for the crowd. Allen Crocker, a Harvard University professor, believes there is a social significance that goes beyond the Destiny girls, seeing this as a "breakthrough." Cheerleading, so often associated with snobbery and the social elite, has been "the antithesis of isolation."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2007/09/20/ST2007092002763.html-hpid=artslot
Education at a Glance 2007 [pdf]
http://www.oecd.org/document/30/0,3343,en_2649_39263294_39251550_1_1_1_1,00.html
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published the "Education at a Glance" report since 2001, and it presents a wealth of information about the comparative state of education across its member countries. As the introduction to the report notes, "The indicators look at who participates in education, what is spent on it, and how education systems operate and at the results achieved." This site provides users access to the entire 451-page report from 2007, complete with numerous tables and charts. If this "glance" is a bit too much for casual visitors, there is also an executive summary available here. Visitors will also find "Briefing Notes" for each OECD country covered in the report, along with a host of PowerPoint presentations, podcasts, and report summaries twenty different languages.
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| FSCA eBulletin - September 28, 2007 - News You Can Use |
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Broward County public school officials say they are tired of letting the FCAT consume daily classroom lessons and have started the task of preparing students for the test without compromising day-to-day learning.
The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbfcat0926nbsep26,0,6413660.story
________________________________________________________________________
This week the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) released the results of The Nation’s Report Card: Mathematics 2007 and the The Nation’s Report Card: Reading 2007 which detail the achievement of 4th and 8th graders on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
The 2007 NAEP was administered between January and March of this year to 390,000 4th graders and 310,000 8th graders. While some of the gains from 2005 to 2007 were seemingly small, a broader examination shows a notable increase in student achievement over time. Overall:
· For 4th Grade:
o Average reading and math scores increased
o Higher percentages of students are at or above Basic and at or above Proficient in both subjects
o Scores are up for White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian/Pacific Islander students
o The achievement gap between White and Black students narrowed in reading (not math)
· For 8th Grade:
o Average reading and math scores increased
o Higher percentages of students are at or above Basic in both subjects
o Higher percentages of students are at or above Proficient in math but no change in reading
o Scores are up for White and Black students in both subjects and up for Hispanic students in mathematics
o The achievement gap between White and Black students narrowed in math
Detailed information can be found at: http://nationsreportcard.gov
Child Health Day
Compilation of resources for Child Health Day (first Monday in October), "an opportunity for everyone who cares about and for children to spread the word about preventing illness and injury to build a healthier, safer, brighter future for every child." Includes background and links to material on family support, child development, mental health, nutrition, physical activity, and other children's health topics. From the Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
URL: http://mchb.hrsa.gov/childhealthday/
http://www.springfieldlibrary.org/hispanic/hispanicheritage.html
National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from September 15 through October 15 every year. This page includes recommended reading lists, reference resources and related websites, chosen by our librarians.
Since its creation in 2001, the Department of Education College Opportunities Online (COOL) website has helped hundreds of thousands of students and families learn about colleges and universities. Now, COOL's successor, called College Navigator and located at http://collegenavigator.ed.gov offers consumers even more information in an easy-to-use format.
Launched today, College Navigator is a free consumer information tool designed to help students, parents, high school counselors, and others get information about nearly 7,000 postsecondary institutions in the United States. It offers a wide range of information previously found on COOL -- such as programs offered, retention and graduation rates, prices, aid available, degrees awarded, campus safety, and accreditation. However, College Navigator offers users valuable new information about colleges and universities, and it does so in a way that is vastly more user-friendly. Users can now:
Search
* Search by programs offered, degrees offered, institution type, price, selectivity, distance from home, school size, institutional mission (historically black colleges and universities, single-sex), extended learning opportunities for adults (weekend and evening degree programs), and intercollegiate athletics programs offered.
* Modify or change their search from anywhere within the website.
* Use a simple and intuitive way of selecting keywords to search among programs at a general level (communications, journalism, and related programs), drill down through a menu to a moderate level of detail, and identify highly specific courses of study (health communication).
Compare
* Make comparisons of up to four institutions in one view, and maintain a list of favorite institutions from different searches
Save
* Save their sessions and receive an email with a link taking them back to where they left off.
Export
* Export search results to easily-used formats, such as Excel.
The College Navigator was developed by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) within the Institute of Education Sciences. NCES plans continuing improvements in the content and function of the site, and there are plans for a Spanish version in the coming months.
Visit College Navigator:
http://collegenavigator.ed.gov
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-09/plos-taa091207.php
Public release date: 17-Sep-2007
Contact: Andrew Hyde
ahyde@plos.org
44-122-346-3330
Public Library of Science
Teaching adolescents about condoms
Teaching adolescents to use condoms when abstinence fails is a reasonable strategy for preventing HIV, according to a new research study in PLoS Medicine.
This finding might appear common sense, but the best way to teach HIV prevention to young people has in fact has been controversial. The “abstinence-only” approach, favored in recent years by US government-sponsored programs, reflects the notion that teaching adolescents anything about safer sex (including condom use) might encourage risky activity. However, recent studies have found that abstinence-only programs have failed to reduce HIV risk.
Do “abstinence-plus” programs, which present safer sex as an option when abstinence fails, reduce risk or just confuse the issue"
To answer this question, Kristen Underhill and colleagues screened over 20,000 research reports to identify 39 studies of abstinence-plus programs including more than 37,000 North American youth, typically in schools, community facilities, and healthcare settings. They found that 23 of these reports showed a beneficial effect on at least one sexual behavior reported by the participating adolescents, including increased abstinence, more condom use, and less unprotected sex. No report found that participants who were taught “abstinence plus” increased their risk by starting to have sex at an earlier age, or by decreasing their condom use when they did have sex. The study also found limited evidence that some abstinence-plus programs can reduce pregnancy rates among teenage girls.
Overall, the study suggests that abstinence-plus approaches do not undermine program messages encouraging abstinence, nor do they undermine program messages encouraging safer sex.
In a commentary accompanying the research article, HIV prevention researchers Shari L. Dworkin and John Santelli point out that abstinence-plus programs have been excluded from US funding allocated for abstinence-based programs. They note that US government promotion of abstinence-only programs has created disarray in efforts to prevent HIV in developing countries.
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Citation: Underhill K, Operario D, Montgomery P (2007) Systematic review of abstinence-plus HIV prevention programs in high-income countries. PLoS Med 4(9): e275.doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0040275
IN YOUR ARTICLE, PLEASE LINK TO THIS URL, WHICH WILL PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE PUBLISHED PAPER: http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0040275
PRESS-ONLY PREVIEW OF THE ARTICLE: http://www.plos.org/press/plme-04-09-Underhill.pdf
CONTACT:
Dr. Kristen Underhill
University of Oxford
Centre for Evidence-Based Intervention
Barnett House
32 Wellington Square
Oxford, Oxon OX1 2ER
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 1865 280325
Fax: +44 1865 270324
e-mail: kristen.underhill@socres.ox.ac.uk
Related PLoS Medicine Perspective:
Citation: Dworkin SL, Santelli J (2007) Do abstinence-plus interventions reduce sexual risk behavior among youth? PLoS Med 4(9): e276. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0040276
IN YOUR ARTICLE, PLEASE LINK TO THIS URL, WHICH WILL PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE PUBLISHED PAPER: http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0040276
PRESS-ONLY PREVIEW OF THE ARTICLE: http://www.plos.org/press/plme-04-09-dworkin.pdf
CONTACT:
Shari L. Dworkin
Columbia University New York State Psychiatric Institute
HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies
1051 Riverside Drive
New York, NY 10032
United States of America
Tel: +1 212 543 6651
e-mail: sld2011@columbia.edu
About PLoS Medicine
PLoS Medicine is an open access, freely available international medical journal. It publishes original research that enhances our understanding of human health and disease, together with commentary and analysis of important global health issues. For more information, visit http://www.plosmedicine.org
About the Public Library of Science
The Public Library of Science (PLoS) is a non-profit organization of scientists and physicians committed to making the world's scientific and medical literature a freely available public resource. For more information, visit http://www.plos.org
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-09/bc-fmd091807.php
Public release date: 19-Sep-2007
Contact: Charlotte Webber
press@biomedcentral.com
44-020-763-18890
BioMed Central
Friends make dates safe
The US tops global rankings for rates of teenage pregnancy by a considerable margin, but what is the best way to tackle this problem" Numerous initiatives - from abstinence campaigns to improved sex education - encourage teenagers to take preventative measures, but a study published in the online open access journal BMC Nursing suggests that more work should be done among friendship groups. A teenage girl's friends may help to keep her from harm when dating.
Sharyl E Toscano from the University of Vermont interviewed 22 girls aged 15-18 from two Massachusetts high schools. She asked them about their own dating experiences and those of their friends, the influences on those relationships and any experiences of abuse.
From these interviews Toscano identified seven stages in the dating cycle. The couple-to-be typically first meet when their circles of friends interact. They get to know each other better outside the group, but only in a very limited capacity (internet, phone). Next, they start to go out together with other couples (i.e. a "group date") before dating independently of their friendship groups. At this point they re-enter the friendship circle as a recognised couple, maintaining their independent relationship as well as their relationships with in the circle. After a break-up the two have to re-join the circle as independent members once again.
It was found that the circle sets the social rules, norms and values for the dating relationship; friends act as a safety net against anyone not sharing their "terms of engagement." The risk of abuse - an intention to cause verbal, emotional or physical hurt - is greatest at times of stress and when the dating relationship remains outside of the girl's friendship circle (for example when the friends reject the partner).
Toscano also argues that without the circle's support, teenage girls are more uncertain about possible abuse. They see physical abuse as play fighting, control as protection, and sexual pressure (even rape) as normal sexual tension. Girls tend to tolerate abuse more when they fear losing a relationship, when they have lost their virginity or when the relationship involves sexual activity.
When girls are uncertain about possible abuse they look to their friends for confirmation (especially when physical abuse has left visible marks). Friendship groups often act to protect the girl and, in the most severe cases, approach a trusted adult (often a parent) for help. But a girl who has been isolated from her friends is less likely to receive help this way; she may cover up any abuse because she feels shame.
Toscano asserts that the relationships of teenage girls with their peers could be a key indicator for healthcare providers and parents of the risk of abuse (including sexual pressure) in a teenage dating relationship. The maintenance of a strong friendship circle reduces a girl's uncertainty about, and consequently protects her from, abuse.
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Article:
A Grounded Theory of Female Adolescents' Dating Experiences and Factors Influencing Safety: The Dynamics of the Circle
Sharyl E Toscano
BMC Nursing (in press)
During the embargo, article available at: http://www.biomedcentral.com/imedia/1029060536118955_article.pdf?random=692660
After the embargo, article available from the journal website at: http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcnurs/
Article citation and URL available on request at press@biomedcentral.com on the day of publication
For author contact details, please contact: Jennifer Nachbur (Press Office, University of Vermont Medical Communications) on 802-656-7875 or jennifer.nachbur@uvm.edu
BioMed Central (http://www.biomedcentral.com) is an independent online publishing house committed to providing open access to peer-reviewed biological and medical research. This commitment is based on the view that immediate free access to research and the ability to freely archive and reuse published information is essential to the rapid and efficient communication of science.
BioMed Central currently publishes over 160 journals across biology and medicine. In addition to open-access original research, BioMed Central also publishes reviews, commentaries and other non-original-research content. Depending on the policies of the individual journal, this content may be open access or provided only to subscribers.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-09/uoc--tgr092007.php
Public release date: 20-Sep-2007
Contact: Elizabeth Miller
elizabeth.miller@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu
916-734-9064
University of California - Davis - Health System
Teen girls report abusive boyfriends try to get them pregnant
UC-Davis researcher urges healthcare providers to look for signs of intimate partner violence
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Seven years ago, Elizabeth Miller was a volunteer physician in a community-based clinic in Boston, Mass., which offered confidential services to teens. She is still haunted by the memory of a 15-year old girl who asked her for a pregnancy test. It was negative, but two weeks later the girl was treated for a severe head injury in a nearby emergency room. The girl’s boyfriend had pushed her down a flight of stairs.
“I assumed all she needed was to be educated about her contraceptive options,” Miller recalled. “Later, I wondered what I had missed. Could I have asked a question that would have identified that she was in an abusive relationship"”
That nagging question inspired Miller, now a pediatrician with UC Davis Children’s Hospital, to dedicate her career to trying to understand the unique characteristics of adolescent partner violence.
In a new qualitative clinical study published in the September-October issue of the journal Ambulatory Pediatrics, Miller and her research colleagues report that a quarter of the teenage girls interviewed for the study – all of whom had histories of abusive relationships – say their partners were actively trying to get them pregnant. The study, available online today, is the first in the general adolescent health literature to document the role of abusive partners in promoting teen pregnancy.
“Physicians are trained to think about domestic violence in adult terms,” said Miller, a physician trained in both adult and pediatric medicine who specializes in treating adolescents. “Our study suggests that health-care providers who come in contact with teens, especially those seeking pregnancy testing and emergency contraception, should ask about the possibility of abuse in the relationship and specifically whether the young woman’s partner may be trying to get her pregnant.”
Miller’s study is based on interviews with 61 girls from a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds with a known history of intimate partner violence living in the poorest neighborhoods in Boston. The analysis included 53 girls between the ages of 15 and 20 who reported being sexually active and involved in relationships that included recurring patterns of physical, sexual or emotional abuse from a male partner. Twenty-six percent of these girls reported that their partners were actively trying to get them pregnant by manipulating condom use, sabotaging birth control use and making explicit statements about wanting them to become pregnant.
“We were floored by what these girls told us,” Miller recalled. “You think of forced sex as an aspect of abusive relationships, but this takes that abuse a step further to reproductive control of a young woman’s body.”
Despite the small sample size, Miller describes the current study as a critically important first step toward understanding the nuances of control in intimate relationships and its role in teen pregnancy.
“Our study suggests that those providing care, especially reproductive care, to adolescent girls need to ask questions that reveal the complexities of partner violence, specifically whether a partner is actively trying to get her pregnant when she doesn’t want to be,” Miller said. “Historically, assessments in clinical settings have focused on physical and sexual violence – and for good reasons. However, our data argues for including questions, for instance, about whether a boyfriend is flushing birth control pills down the toilet or saying he used a condom when he didn’t. And pregnancy prevention programs should include discussions about reproductive control as a form of abuse in relationships.”
“This study demonstrates for the first time that abusive boys and men often actively promote pregnancy including contraceptive nonuse in their relationships,” said Jay Silverman, director of Violence Preventions Programs for the Harvard School of Public Health and senior author on the study. “The implications are clear – when we see girls who cannot consistently use contraception, who are requesting frequent emergency contraception or who seek repeat pregnancy testing, we need to be asking very directly about abuse from male partners and find ways to support them and promote their safety.”
Miller added that she and her colleagues will next look at the phenomenon of reproductive control in a larger study and at the population level. They just completed a clinic-based survey of 825 youth in the Boston area designed to address the prevalence of intimate partner violence and related behaviors among boys and girls seeking confidential care, and they are in the process of designing a national study to address these same issues.
Miller has also designed a study that would test interventions for partner violence in family planning clinics among women ages 16 to 24 years, and she is planning a study of dating violence intervention to be conducted in school-based clinics in California and Massachusetts. These interventions involve identifying intimate partner violence through screening questions and include a protocol for providing referrals to appropriate resources, such as advocacy groups, shelters, counseling and agencies that can address safety.
“Our work is aimed at documenting the severity and prevalence of intimate partner violence in teens,” Miller said. “Ultimately, we want to reduce teen pregnancy and the devastating effects of partner violence.”
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UC Davis Children’s Hospital is the region’s only comprehensive research hospital for children. From primary care offices to specialty and intensive care clinics, pediatric experts provide compassionate care to more than 100,000 children each year. For more information, visit www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/children. The Harvard School of Public Health fosters new discoveries for improved health and strengthens health capacities and services for communities. For more information, visit www.hsph.harvard.edu.
Sacramento resources for girls seeking services or counseling on intimate partner violence include Women Escaping a Violent Environment (WEAVE) at 916-920-2952 and My Sister’s House at 916-428-3271. Both of these phone numbers are 24-hour help lines.
The current study was supported by grants from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control/CDC and the William T. Grant Scholars Program.
Contact: Karen Finney, Office of Public Affairs, UC Davis Health System
916-734-9064
karen.finney@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu
Todd Datz, Office of Communications, Harvard School of Public Health
617-432-3952
tdatz@hsph.harvard.edu
Public release date: 24-Sep-2007
Contact: Deborah Baum
deborah_baum@brown.edu
401-863-2478
Brown University
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- A study of more than 400 children of first-generation immigrants is among the first longitudinal studies to demonstrate that one’s ethnic identity forms prior to adolescence. Furthermore, the three-year study found that a child’s positive sense of ethnic identity is associated with the desire to socialize with children of different racial and ethnic backgrounds.
Cynthia Garcia Coll, professor of education, and Amy Marks, both affiliated with Brown University’s Center for the Study of Human Development, conducted the research with colleagues from Howard University and University of Illinois–Chicago. Their findings are published in The International Journal of Behavioral Development.
The sample included two groups of children in first and fourth grades from first-generation Cambodian, Dominican and Portuguese families in Providence and East Providence, R.I. Researchers assessed the children’s emerging ethnic identities through a label selection procedure that involved the children selecting labels that described themselves. Categories included labels of nationality (i.e., Portuguese, Dominican); hyphenated (i.e., Portuguese-American); panethnic (i.e., Latino, Asian); racial (white or black); and ethno-linguistic (i.e., Spanish, English, Khmer). Each child was also asked a series of questions about their degree of ethnic pride, the centrality of their ethnic identity, and which label makes them the happiest.
Results demonstrate that second-generation children in three very different ethnic groups showed a robust awareness of their ethnic heritage and identified with being both part of their parents’ culture of origin, as well as being American.
Other findings include:
“This research indicates these children are actively constructing this part of their identities, learning, and choosing from the environments they are part of,” said Garcia Coll, the Charles Pitts Robinson and John Palmer Barstow Professor of Education, Psychology and Pediatrics at Brown. “As adults we can’t adopt a color-blind posture, but should support them in these important psychological tasks.”
During years two and three of the study, children were asked about their preferences for socializing with children of their own and other ethnicities and racial groups. Displaying sets of photographs of white, black, Asian, and Latino groups of children, interviewers asked how comfortable the child was playing with and socializing with each group. Researchers measured each child’s social preference for the “ingroup” and a social preference for the “outgroup.”
Researchers found:
“What we found at this early age is that children want to play with peers from their own ethnic backgrounds and peers from other backgrounds as well,” said Marks, adjunct assistant professor of human development at Brown’s Center for the Study of Human Development. “Importantly, the better children feel about their own ethnic identities, the more they want to play with others, regardless of ethnicity.”
Marks continued, “This has implications for understanding how to foster children’s social skills and friendships in today’s increasingly multicultural classroom environments. Today, one in five schoolchildren are from immigrant families, and that proportion is growing. Parents and teachers should support children in forming strong, positive cultural identities while encouraging children’s curiosities for interethnic group contact and friendships.”
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This research was funded the Mittlemann Family Directorship at the Center, the John D. and Catherine T. McArthur Foundation, and the William T. Grant Foundation.
Editors: Brown University has a fiber link television studio available for domestic and international live and taped interviews, and maintains an ISDN line for radio interviews. For more information, call 401-863-2476.
The Changing Racial and Ethnic Composition of U.S. Public Schools [pdf]
http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/79.pdf
Throughout the United States, there has been a growing concern about the future of the racial and ethnic makeup of public school districts. After a number of prominent court decisions, some people have become concerned that many school districts will become segregated again in a matter of years. Recently, the Pew Hispanic Center's Rick Fry authored an important report on the changing racial and ethnic composition of U.S. public schools. The 17-page report was released in August 2007, and it offers a comparison of public school enrollment date from 1993 to 2006. One of the report's findings is that during this time period, "white students became less isolated from minority students while, at the same time, black and Hispanic students became slightly more isolated from white students." Interestingly, these trends can be traced to the tremendous increase in the number of Latino students in public school systems and throughout the country in general.
Source: http://www.schoolcounselor.org/content.asp?pl=325&sl=133&contentid=267
Working With Boards of Education 
Here are some tips for school counselors to keep in mind when dealing with administration and local boards of education:
For additional information, check out this list of articles addressing the effectiveness of school counseling.
Florida College Access Network Conference
Oct. 10-12, 2007
InterContinental Hotel
Tampa, Fla.
The Third Annual Florida College Access Network (FCAN) Conference "Appreciating the Past: Building for Our Future" will be held at the InterContinental Hotel, Tampa, Fla., Oct. 10-12. The FCAN Conference is the Florida Department of Education’s flagship event for schools, colleges, educational institutions and organizations that promote improving college access for Florida’s students. FCAN encourages collaboration among people who are committed to increasing the number of Florida's college-bound high school graduates. Individuals interested in intercultural issues, parental involvement, and ways to improve student achievement should attend this event. The Network focuses primarily on services and educational resources that address specific needs of historically underrepresented students: racial and ethnic minorities, English language learners, economically disadvantaged students, and students with disabilities. To learn more about the Conference or to register, visit www.fldoe.org/FCAN/conference.asp.
Lee County School District Receives National Educational Designation
The Ford Motor Company Fund, the philanthropic arm of Ford Motor Company, has recently designated Lee County Public Schools as a Leadership Level Career Academy Innovation Community. The District was chosen by the Ford Career Academy Innovation Community (Ford CAIC) recognition program because area educators and community leaders have implemented an action plan designed to increase the number of students who have access to successful career academies, which combine academics with technical training.
Through this designation, career academies in the District will have the option of implementing the Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies (Ford PAS) program, a project- and inquiry-based academic and personal development curriculum that brings real life skills to the classroom. Ford PAS is currently being used in more than 130 sites across 22 states in the United States.
2007-2008 Career Cruiser
The Florida Department of Education Division of Workforce Education recently distributed the 2007-2008 Career Cruiser, a career and education magazine to all middle schools. The Career Cruiser includes information on occupations, personal assessment activities, and career planning. Students can learn more about themselves and how to match their interests and abilities to career and education options. A Teacher’s Guide is only available on the Workforce Web site at www.fldoe.org/workforce/ced. Additional resources for the career and education planning course include the Educator’s Toolkit at www.fldoe.org/workforce/ced, CHOICES Planner or CHOICES Explorer at www.flchoices.org, and FACTS (www.facts.org).
Each school district is invited to select the District Scholar(s) who will represent them in the Sunshine State Scholars program (SSSP), a competition that provides the opportunity for every district in Florida to showcase excellent student performance in mathematics and science. Scholars must be graduating seniors who are distinguished in math and science. Districts may set up their own procedures to select their scholar(s). District Scholars must be available to participate in the regional competition on Jan. 9, 2008, and if selected as a Regional Scholar, to compete in the state competition in Tallahassee March 8-11, 2008.
On Jan. 9, 2008, the District Scholars in each region of the state will participate in a common mathematics/science assessment, which will identify the 10 Regional Sunshine State Scholars. A team of mathematics and science professors from universities throughout Florida will develop and administer the assessment. Assessment activities will become available through the Sunshine State Scholars Web site at www.unf.edu/dept/sunshine, and will be shared with educators throughout the state. The top scholar from each of the six regions who performs highest in their regional competition will be designated a Regional Scholar. In addition, the highest performing four from the remaining 89 District Scholars participating in the regional competition will also be designated as Regional Scholars. This year, the SSSP is developing an online system for designating District Scholars, and superintendents will be notified of how to use the system as soon as it is available (operational by Nov. 1, 2007). District offices should submit their District Scholars’ information by Nov.16, 2007.
If you have questions or need clarification about this program, please contact Lance King at lance.king@fldoe.org or (850) 245-0667. You may also contact Dr. William Caldwell at wcaldwel@unf.edu or (904) 620-2496.
Family Day – A Day To Eat Dinner With Your Children
Research by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University consistently finds that children who often eat dinner with their families are less likely to smoke, drink or use drugs. Florida Family Day, a day to eat dinner with your children, will be celebrated on Monday, Sept. 24. Family Day emphasizes the importance of regular family activities and encourages Americans to make family dinners a regular feature of their lives.
CASA created Family Day in 2001 as a national effort to promote family dinners as an effective way to reduce substance abuse among children and teens. Family Day is celebrated annually on the fourth Monday in September.
For more information on Family Day or to find tips on how to talk to your children about drugs, visit www.casafamilyday.org.
National Hispanic Heritage Month, 2007
A Proclamation By the President of the United States of America
Hispanic Americans have strengthened our country and contributed to the spirit of America. National Hispanic Heritage Month is an opportunity to honor these contributions and celebrate the rich cultural traditions of our Hispanic-American community.
Hispanic Americans have helped establish America as a place of freedom and opportunity, and their contributions have illustrated what is best about our great Nation. Their hard work, love of country, and deep commitment to faith and family have shaped the character of our country and helped preserve the values we all cherish. By sharing their vibrant culture and heritage, Hispanic Americans have also enriched the American experience and helped define the unique fabric of our Nation.
Americans of Hispanic heritage have carried on a proud tradition of service to our Nation. In times of great consequence, they have answered the call to defend America as members of our Armed Forces. These brave men and women bring honor to America, and we are grateful for their service and sacrifice. In our towns and communities, Hispanic Americans have also shown the good heart of our Nation by volunteering to help their fellow Americans. Their kindness and compassion have made a difference in the lives of others and have made our country a more hopeful place for all.
During National Hispanic Heritage Month, we celebrate the diversity that makes America stronger, and we recognize the many ways Hispanic Americans have enriched our Nation. To honor the achievements of Hispanic Americans, the Congress, by Public Law 100 402, as amended, has authorized and requested the President to issue annually a proclamation designating September 15 through October 15 as "National Hispanic Heritage Month."
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 15 through October 15, 2007, as National Hispanic Heritage Month. I call upon public officials, educators, librarians, and all the people of the United States to observe this month with appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twelfth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-second.
GEORGE W. BUSH
The National Center on Student Progress Monitoring (NCSPM) will be offering a FREE webinar, Sept. 26, 2007, from 2-3:30 pm (ET) and 1-2:30 pm (CT). The presentation, featuring Dr. John Hintze, will focus on the use of curriculum-based measurement (CBM) within the RtI model. Details are provided below in the September issue of their e-newsletter and at studentprogress@air.org .
The Department of Education has issued the following memorandum regarding the The 2008 Effective Strategies Institute on Dropout Prevention. The memorandum may be viewed at:
http://info.fldoe.org/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-4602/k12-2007-148.pdf
Application Deadline: October 5, 2007
Description: The Mary Byron Foundation created the Celebrating Solutions Awards to showcase and applaud local innovations that demonstrate promise in breaking the cycle of violence. The foundation selects programs that can serve as models for the nation, and offers cash awards in recognition of their pioneering efforts.
Who May Apply: Both the nominated program and the institution must have been operating for a minimum of three years. The program must address the issue of domestic violence, and be part of a nonprofit 501(c)(3) or government agency. The program should be replicable, or if it is national in scope, the program should have applications for individual communities, regardless of their size or ethnic population.
Funding Amount: $10,000 awards
For more information, go to:
http://www.marybyro
National After School Association Call for Proposals
The National After School Association conference, a key professional development experience for afterschool professionals, is looking for best practices, ideas and strategies. Deadline: rolling until November 1. The conference will be held March 12-14, 2008 in Florida.
~ Statewide program is now underway to educate children and keep them safe online ~
TALLAHASSEE, FL – Continuing his statewide kick-off which began yesterday in Tampa, Attorney General Bill McCollum today visited Miami Springs Middle School and spoke to students, teachers and administrators about the importance of cybersafety. Members of the Attorney General's Child Predator CyberCrime Unit are taking the 50-minute cybersafety program into middle and high schools statewide beginning this school year. The cybersafety program is designed to empower children to use the internet safely by combining real-life stories and examples of both dangerous and safe internet use.
“We are committed to bringing cybersafety education to all middle and high school students in Florida and by doing so, giving them awareness of the dangers on the internet and the skills needed to protect themselves online,” said Attorney General McCollum. “Technology plays a significant and positive role in our children’s lives. However, as technology becomes more sophisticated, predators find new and easier ways to prey on our children. We must take every precaution to keep kids safe and that process begins with education and outreach.”
In partnership with the Florida Association of District School Superintendents and with the support of both the Florida School Resource Officers Association and the Florida Sheriffs Association, the Attorney General’s victim advocates will present the 50-minute cybersafety program in public and private middle and high schools throughout the state. The program will help students identify the ways they could be victimized online as well as important safety tips to protect themselves from internet child predators.
During the presentations, the students will receive information about internet dangers as well as the tactics used by online predators. They will also learn what constitutes a cybercrime and how to report it. An open line of communication between the students and the victim advocates will be strongly encouraged to give the opportunity for private disclosure of any offenses. Students will be taught how to recognize when a friend is in “cyber danger” and what they can do to help. The victim advocates will offer counseling to any child who discloses victimization and can refer any reported offenses to law enforcement for investigation.
In March, the Attorney General and the Florida Association of District School Superintendents formed a partnership aimed at educating students on cybersafety. The partnership focused on planning, constructing and maintaining the Attorney General’s CyberSafety Educational Initiative. Attorney General McCollum emphasized the importance of the support provided by the District School Superintendents, noting they will be instrumental in helping reach Florida’s school children with the message of cybersafety, a message echoed by the Florida Association of District School Superintendents.
"Florida's superintendents are eager to be a part of this creative and much-needed approach to ensure the safety of our children. We applaud the Attorney General in his efforts and are excited about the partnership,” said Bill Montford, Chief Executive Officer of the Florida Association of District School Superintendents. “Our children will be better prepared to deal with the potential dangers of encountering predators through the internet."
The Florida Association of School Resource Officers (SRO) has also committed its support to the Attorney General’s efforts. The SRO Program is a collaborative effort by certified law enforcement officers, educators, students, parents and the community to offer law-related educational programs in the schools. The purpose of the program is to reduce crime, drug abuse and violence and provide a safe school environment.
“I commend Attorney General McCollum for placing such a high priority on our children’s safety,” said Robert Tricquet, president, Florida School Resource Officers Association. “The association is committed to supporting the Office of the Attorney General to ensure Florida students are provided with the information needed to keep them safe while online.” The administrators of the school cybersafety program will share appropriate information with the school resource officers in the local schools so they can keep their eyes and ears open to potential "hot spots." The officers can then focus on those students and their specific concerns.
To compliment the school program, the Child Predator CyberCrime Unit has also developed the Internet Student Advisory Council, designed to match technology-savvy teenagers with the unit’s cybercrime law enforcement team. The unit’s investigators will work closely with the students to identify new and popular internet trends, including those that could be potentially harmful to young people. Using information provided by the student advisors, cybersafety presenters will speak to kids in their own language and empower them to protect themselves and one another.
In May, Attorney General McCollum’s office launched a new cybersafety website, located at http://www.safeflorida.net/safesurf to provide valuable information to adults, teens and kids about staying safe while surfing the internet. The SafeSurf children’s page includes several entertaining and educational games that teach internet safety. The teen SafeSurf page offers tips on safeguarding personal information and avoiding dangerous situations. It also provides a forum for stories from teenagers who were victimized on the internet. The web page for adults offers a guide to popular internet language used in chat rooms and gives safety advice on how to monitor what your children are doing on the internet. Since its inception in May, more than 9,000 people have visited the Attorney General’s SafeSurf website. More information on the Attorney General’s cybersafety initiative is available at http://www.safeflorida.net
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-09/udg-acc091007.php
Public release date: 10-Sep-2007
Contact: Professor Emilio Mart�nez de Victoria Mu�oz
emiliom@ugr.es
34-958-248-321
Universidad de Granada
A chocolate cookie a day puts 20 pounds on an energetically-balanced kid in 4 years
After summer holidays, miracle-diet adherents stick to these diets to lose the weight gained in the last months in record time. Gyms also become overcrowded with people making a final sprint of sacrifice whose results do not exactly match previous expectations and with few benefits for health. In the field of nutrition, miracles do not exist: in the same way we gain weight as years pass by, weight loss should be equally progressive, states Professor Emilio Mart�nez de Victoria Mu�oz, Head of the Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology Centro Mediterraneo at the University of Granada (Universidad de Granada) in Spain.
Energy balance
It becomes clear that the energy needed by the body to carry out its functions comes essentially from food. Nevertheless, a whole range of hormonal and nervous mechanisms take part in body weight regulation, which makes such process a bit more complex.
When the amount of consumed calories is similar to that of calories used during the day, the energy balance is kept stable and, therefore, weight is kept constant. However, when consumed calories exceed used calories this balance is disturbed and weight is gained, as excess calories are stored as fat in the body. As an example, Professor Mart�nez de Victoria points out that an energetically-balanced girl who is given a chocolate cookie a day during four years will gain 20 lbs (approximately 9 kg) in that time.
Easy lost, easy back
The researcher affirms that miracle diets are useless to get a stable negative energy balance. There are no scientific foundations behind the vast majority of these diets and they usually restrict consumption of certain food groups, which entails nutrient deficiency whose consequences are serious health problems. In addition to this, miracle diets only help to lose weight in the form of glycogen and water � not fat � that being the reason why rapidly lost pounds are immediately recovered.
Among those panacea diets, and absolutely ignoring all medical recommendations on what a healthy diet should be like, consumers will come across the South Beach diet, a revolutionary plan that allows you to eat as much as you wish while assuring that to lose weight you will have to undergo a two-week purifying period based upon the elimination of sugar and simple carbohydrates. Atkins nutritional method is another example: with this diet you can eat unlimited amounts of fats � such as butter � as well as of meat, fish, eggs and dairy products, whilst restricting vegetables and fruit. These are only two of the endless list of miracle diets, in which the Artichoke diet or the Blood Type diet also occupy leading positions.
Keeping weight under control
Prof. Mart�nez de Victoria insists that the best way to control body weight is to combine a limited food intake with regular physical exercise. In this sense, he states that with a 500 to 700 calorie deficit, depending on body weight, age and physical exercise, a person can gradually lose 6.5 lbs a month, with the guarantee of not recovering double the weight they lost in half the time they lost it.
In the same way, this researcher stresses the fact that a high-fibre diet helps control obesity, as fibre-rich foods facilitate a lower intake because their mastication time is longer and, due to their volume, produce the filling sensation more quickly. Furthermore, fibre speeds intestinal transit time while slowing food absorption. All these data have been recently presented in the University of Granada�s summer course Healthy Food and Physical Activity (Alimentaci�n Saludable y Actividad F�sica), organised by the UGR's Centro Mediterraneo.
New and Interesting Resources
Release of The Nation's Report Card for Math and Reading 2007 