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April 1, 1998
Vol. 55
No. 7

Resources

Designing Professional Portfolios for Change

Designing Professional Portfolios for Change, Kay Burke.
In this well-illustrated resource and workbook, Burke offers ideas for assembling three types of documents—preservice, career, and research portfolios. She covers everything from collecting data and selecting and organizing contents to collaborating with peers to presenting finished portfolios at conferences and exhibitions. Each chapter includes a research review, a description of the process, four examples of portfolio entries, blackline masters of some of the examples, and a reflections page to record thoughts and reactions. Many examples involve a fictional 11th grade English teacher, giving the book a personal feel.
Available from IRI/Skylight Training and Publishing, Inc., 2626 S. Clearbrook Dr., Arlington Heights, IL 60005; (800) 348-4474 or (847) 290-6600 (e-mail: info@iriskylight.com). Web site: (http://www.iriskylight.com). 176 pp., Paperbound. $25.95.

When Money Matters: How Educational Expenditures Improve Student Performance and How They Don't

When Money Matters: How Educational Expenditures Improve Student Performance and How They Don't, Harold Wenglinsky.
  • More money for instruction and school district administration raised teacher-student ratios, which in turn lifted the 4th graders' average achievement in math. For 8th graders, the same investment reduced behavioral problems and improved the social environment, which in turn helped them in math as well.
  • Spending on facility construction and maintenance, school-level administration, and teacher education levels was not related to student achievement.
  • Students in smaller-than-average classes were well ahead of students in larger-than-average classes. Moreover, students in low socioeconomic schools gained the most from small class size.
Available from Educational Testing Service Policy Information Center (04-R0, Rosedale Rd., Princeton, NJ 08541-0001; (609) 734-5694 (e-mail: pic@ets.org). 1997. 44 pp., Paperbound. $9.50.

A Teacher's Project Guide to the Internet

A Teacher's Project Guide to the Internet, Kevin R. Crotchett.
Crotchett takes you from one of the most basic Internet functions, e-mail, to one of the more difficult, writing Web home pages, with intervening chapters on Usenet Newsgroups, File Transfer Protocols (FTP), Gopher, Veronica, the World Wide Web, and Internet Search Engines.
Each chapter includes classroom project ideas for every grade level from K–12. Projects range from the simple (starting e-mail correspondence through keypals) to finding listserv addresses to setting up a Web site for a classroom or school. Teacher uses—gopher lesson plans and teaching aids, professional listservs such as Galileo, and Novae Group Teachers Networking for the Future—are also included.
The text (with few graphics) comes with a diskette containing hotlinks to the hundreds of sites mentioned in the book. The disk is both IBM and Mac System 7.5 compatible.
Available from Heinemann, 361 Hanover St., Portsmouth, NH 03801-3912; (800) 793-2154. 1997. 174 pp., Paperbound with diskette. $26.50.

Going It Alone: A Study of Massachusetts Charter Schools

Going It Alone: A Study of Massachusetts Charter Schools, Abby R. Weiss, Institute for Responsive Education.
What's working and what's getting in the way in the five charter schools in Massachusetts? To find out, researchers from the Institute for Responsive Education conducted interviews at the schools, which include Boston Renaissance (with more than 1,000 students, one of the biggest charter schools in the nation) and the Cape Cod Lighthouse and Francis W. Parker charter schools—both inspired by Ted Sizer's Coalition of Essential Schools.
The good news was that everyone expressed considerable satisfaction: students felt they were being challenged and respected, teachers appreciated the teamwork with colleagues and the flexibility, and parents felt they belonged to a larger community and were pleased with their children's progress.
The greatest challenge, according to everyone: governance. Researchers found that at several schools, the effort to create a collaborative, efficient decision-making structure was stressful. Teachers felt they should be paying more attention to educational issues—defining student outcomes and developing curriculums and assessments, for example. They also expressed the need to focus their priorities and set realistic goals for themselves. Finally, the very autonomy of these schools created a new problem: isolation. The staff had to function with little support.
Available from Institute for Responsive Education, Northeastern University, 50 Nightingale Hall, Boston, MA 02115; (617) 373-5372 (e-mail: IRE_Publications@lynx.neu.edu. Internet: http://www2.dac.neu.edu/Units/ArtsSci/IRE). 1997. 30 pp., Paperbound. $6 plus $3.95 for shipping and handling.

Education About Asia

Education About Asia,Association for Asian Studies.
This new 80-page magazine focuses on improving classroom teaching on Asia at all levels from elementary school through university. It is published three times a year.
The journal began in February 1996. It includes feature articles and essays on selected topics, for example: the status of women in South Asia, India's caste system, and the many meanings of Hiroshima. The intent is to deepen westerners' understanding of Asian people, issues, history, and culture, and, in the process, dispel the stereotypes that have resulted from partial, shallow, and biased information.
For more information, write Association for Asian Studies, One Lane Hall, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109; (313) 665-2490. 80 pp. $14 per year, domestic; $18 per year, international. Discounts available for bulk orders.

The ABCs of Investing in Student Performance

The ABCs of Investing in Student Performance, Mary Fulton, Education Commission of the States.
To boost student achievement, "policymakers need a more rigorous, thoughtful process for making decisions," says Mary Fulton, a policy analyst for the Education Commission of the States. This report reviews research on education reforms enacted over the past dozen or so years.
Fulton looks at three categories of initiatives: (1) those that have a long, reliable track record of providing a return on one's investment (challenging courses and curriculum, reading in the early years, early childhood education, smaller schools); (2) those that are relatively new and not widely used, and for which the evidence is inconsistent or contradictory (smaller classes, teacher professional development, teacher certification and licensing, integrating education with health and social services, restructured schools, children- and family-focused programs, content and performance standards); and (3) those that are fairly new and popular but largely unevaluated (performance-based pay for teachers, public school choice, school-based management, school-to-work programs, technology use to improve teaching and learning).
Available from Education Commission of the States, 707 17th St., Suite 2700, Denver, CO 80202-3427; (303) 299-3692 (e-mail: ecs@ecs.org. Internet: http://www.ecs.org). November 1996. 52 pp., Paperbound. $15 plus $4.24 for postage and handling. Discounts for bulk orders.

Computers in Classrooms: The Status of Technology in U.S. Schools

Computers in Classrooms: The Status of Technology in U.S. Schools, Richard J. Coley, John Cradler, and Penelope K. Engel.
Technology may be the one educational change that can make a real difference for disadvantaged students, allowing them to transcend the boundaries of their schools, some reformers argue. Based on this overview of research findings, we have far to go.
For example: Among last year's college-bound seniors, minority group students were less likely to have courses or experience in word processing and computer literacy, and less likely to use computers in English courses and to solve math and science problems. (Girls were more likely than boys to have word processing experience and less likely to use computers to solve math and natural science problems.) On the other hand, 12th graders receiving Title I services and those attending rural or small town schools were more likely to report daily computer use than were other students.
Other chapters show that nationally, the student-computer ratio ranges from about 6 to 1 in Florida, Wyoming, Alaska, and North Dakota to 16 to 1 in Louisiana. (Access to cable TV ranges from 91 percent of Connecticut schools to 36 percent of Vermont's.) In addition, 18 states don't require technology courses for teacher licensing.
The book includes practical chapters on "Connecting Teachers and Technology," "Assessing the Content and Quality of Coursework," and guidance for courseware developers.
Available from the Educational Testing Service, Policy Information Center, Mail Stop 04R, Rosedale Rd., Princeton, NJ 08541-0001; (609) 734-5694 (e-mail: pic@ets.org. Internet: http://www.ets.org). 1997. 66 pp., Paperbound. $9.50.

This article was published anonymously, or the author name was removed in the process of digital storage.

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