Deal to act quickly on APS probation

Gov. Nathan Deal will take an active role in helping Atlanta Public Schools prevent loss of its accreditation. Upon the announcement today that the system's high schools are on probation, the governor has reached out to Mayor Kasim Reed and has called a meeting tomorrow with the entire Atlanta legislative delegation.

"I will make every effort to ensure that Atlanta's children are not harmed by the adults who have failed them," Deal said. "I have begun the process of working with Atlanta's leaders, including my friend Mayor Reed, to implement corrective action immediately. The high schools are on probation but they have not lost their accreditation. We must do everything possible to stop an embarrassing situation from snowballing into a destructive situation.

"Children's futures are at stake. My budget showed the priority I place on education. My actions in this situation will demonstrate similar resolve. In addition to working with Atlanta's leaders, I announced today that I've asked the team investigating the APS administration of the CRCT to continue its work. I'm determined to get to the bottom of what happened, so we can guarantee the integrity of testing in Atlanta and throughout Georgia."

The report from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools details a dysfunctional city school board that has failed to serve the students of Atlanta. Current state law allows the governor to remove board members in such a scenario, but the law does not apply in this case because all of the board members were in office before the law took effect.

The probation of Atlanta high schools will have no impact on the HOPE scholarship eligibility of the Class of 2011.
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Most Trial Urban Districts Raise Mathematics Scores Since 2003, Few Make Gains Since 2007, According to Nation's Report Card

/PRNewswire/ -- The mathematics results from the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) paint a mixed picture of student achievement in the 18 urban school districts that participated in the most recent Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA). Among the districts that also participated in earlier years, most showed improvement since 2003 but no significant change since 2007.

The 11 districts that participated in prior years are: Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Boston; Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago; Cleveland; the District of Columbia; Houston; Los Angeles; New York City; and San Diego. The seven districts that participated for the first time in 2009 are: Baltimore City; Detroit; Fresno, Calif.; Jefferson County (Louisville), Ky.; Miami-Dade; Milwaukee; and Philadelphia.

Results were relatively unchanged for 4th- and 8th-graders in most TUDA districts between 2007 and 2009, though eight of the 10 districts that began participating in 2003 have made significant gains in both grades over this six-year period.

Two districts at each grade level raised scores from 2007 to 2009. At grade 4, Boston and the District of Columbia had higher scores in that period. At grade 8, Austin and San Diego made gains. No district had significantly lower scores in 2009 than in 2003 or 2007. All districts had some students performing at or above Proficient in both grades.

The results are detailed in The Nation's Report Card: Trial Urban District Assessment Mathematics 2009, which highlights the achievement of 4th- and 8th-graders in 18 of the nation's largest cities on the NAEP mathematics assessment, administered by the U.S. Department of Education earlier this year. Eighteen districts participated voluntarily -- seven for the first time -- in the representative-sample assessment, which provides an otherwise unavailable common yardstick of student achievement for these districts.

The 2009 TUDA results make it possible to compare the performance of the 18 districts to public school students nationally and in the nation's large cities (cities with populations of 250,000 or more). The report reveals that average scores in 2009 for large cities were higher at both grade levels than in 2003 and 2007. And five of the 18 districts -- Austin, Boston, Charlotte, Houston, and San Diego -- scored above the average for large cities at both grades in 2009.

"The urban school districts that volunteer for this rigorous test should be commended for their willingness to be held to high standards," said David P. Driscoll, chair of the National Assessment Governing Board, which sets policy for NAEP. "The report points to some leaders that have made significant strides in student achievement. While much remains to be done to increase achievement and narrow gaps between groups, we hope to learn more from these cities."

Compared with the national average, Charlotte was the only district to score higher at grade 4. Scores in Austin, New York City, and San Diego were not significantly different from the nation. At grade 8, only Austin scored higher than the nation. Scores in Boston, Charlotte, and San Diego were not significantly different from the national average.

Compared to their large-city peers in grade 4, the TUDA districts with higher average scores were Austin, Boston, Charlotte, Houston, Miami-Dade, New York City, and San Diego. The score for Jefferson County was not significantly different. At grade 8, scores were higher in Austin, Boston, Charlotte, Houston, and San Diego. The scores for Jefferson County, Miami-Dade, and New York City were not significantly different from large cities.

Launched in 2002, the Trial Urban District Assessment is a joint effort developed by the Governing Board, the National Center for Education Statistics of the U.S. Department of Education, and the Council of the Great City Schools.

There are large demographic differences between urban districts and the nation. For example, 48 percent of 4th-graders and 43 percent of 8th-graders were eligible for free/reduced-price school lunch nationally compared with between 46 percent and 100 percent in the participating districts. The percentages of English language learners (ELL) in the nation were 10 percent at grade 4 and 6 percent at grade 8, respectively. But the percentages of ELL students in Austin, Fresno, Los Angeles, and San Diego were higher in both grades than the percentages in both the nation and large cities.

The 2009 NAEP mathematics assessment was administered by the National Center for Education Statistics of the U.S. Department of Education to representative samples of between 1,800 and 4,300 4th- and 8th-graders from each of the 18 TUDA districts. The Nation's Report Card: Trial Urban District Assessment Mathematics 2009 and additional data collected from the 2009 mathematics assessment are available online at http://nationsreportcard.gov/.

The Nation's Report Card is the only nationally representative, continuing evaluation of the condition of education in the United States and has served as a national yardstick of student achievement since 1969. Through the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), The Nation's Report Card informs the public about what America's students know and can do in various subject areas, and compares achievement data between states and various student demographic groups.

The National Assessment Governing Board is an independent, bipartisan board whose members include governors, state legislators, local and state school officials, educators, business representatives, and members of the general public. Congress created the 26-member Governing Board in 1988 to set policy for NAEP.

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Growing Demand for Online Learning Not Yet Matched by Opportunities at K-12 Schools, Districts

/PRNewswire/ -- Despite growing interest in online learning, the availability of online classes have not kept pace with demand in K-12 schools and districts, according to a survey report from Project Tomorrow(R), a national education nonprofit organization, and Blackboard Inc. (NASDAQ:BBBB) , a global leader in education technology.

According to the survey, more than 40 percent of 6-12th graders have researched or demonstrated interest in taking a course online, but only 10 percent have actually taken an online course through their school. Meanwhile, comparable percentages of middle school students (7 percent) and high school students (4 percent) have instead pursued opportunities outside their school to take online courses, underscoring the disconnect between the supply and demand of online learning in today's classrooms.

At the same time, a majority of school principals, 58 percent, say that online classes currently offered in their districts are primarily for teachers; just 31 percent say the classes are primarily for students. Additionally, while a full one-third of teachers have taken an online course for professional development - a 57 percent increase from 2007 - only 3 percent of teachers surveyed say they have taught a class online, a number that has not changed in three years. Just 13 percent are interested in teaching online, a considerable mismatch with the growing student desire to learn online.

The findings are included in the report Learning in the 21st Century: 2009 Trends Update, which offers an analysis of data from Project Tomorrow's Speak Up project, an annual survey which has collected and reported on the views of more than 335,000 U.S. K-12 students, parents and educators about online education and 21st century learning.

"While many of our nation's K-12 schools clearly recognize the advantages of online learning and instruction in teacher professional development, there remains a lag in utilizing this technology for student achievement," said Julie Evans, CEO of Project Tomorrow. "Educators must embrace these emerging technologies to enhance student learning and fully prepare today's students for future success."

"Today's students are eager to embrace technology in school but there is still a wide gap between the way they live and the way they learn," said Jessie Woolley-Wilson, president, Blackboard Learn K-12. "As schools and districts look to complement traditional learning methods with digital and online tools, teachers and principals must learn how to effectively use technology in a way that gives students more control of the learning process and contributes to student achievement."

The report revealed that K-12 students want to pursue online learning to gain more control of their own learning experience, have access to more courses and work at their own pace. When asked why learning through an online class might make school more interesting, 47 percent of 9-12th graders, 39 percent of 6-8th graders and one in four 3-5th grade students said they want to learn online to "be in control of my learning." Students do not expect courses to be easier online, but they do expect the online format to make it easier to succeed because they can review materials when they want and are more comfortable asking teachers for help.

The desire for online opportunities is best expressed through the words of students themselves. When asked, "What is the one thing that you would do to improve schools to ensure that all students had the skills they needed to be successful in life," a 10th-grade student from Alcoa High School in Tennessee responded, "I would provide personal laptops for each student and provide online classes. Every school does not have all the classes a student is interested in and online classes (provide) another option."

Teachers who have experience teaching online overwhelmingly agree: 76 percent believe that online learning benefits students by giving them greater control of their learning, compared to just 10 percent of all teachers surveyed.

School principals cited funding and teacher preparation as key barriers to offering expanded access to online courses, with 22 percent reporting that online learning was not a funding priority in their district. Specific to teachers, principals felt that teachers are not comfortable using the tools (18 percent) or teaching online (17 percent), are reluctant to try (14 percent), or their school does not have the expertise to create online courses (14 percent).

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