CAROL’S SUMMARY:
Today’s article from the School Library Journal features a new program called START (Service & Technology Academic Resource Team) that draws upon our school communities’ brightest experts in the field of technology: students. Sponsored by Microsoft and the Corporation for National and Community Service, the program aims to help teachers and staff better integrate technology into schools, starting with six pilots at the following locations:

* New York’s Lower East Side Preparatory High School M515,
* Mississippi’s Tupelo Middle School,
* Pennsylvania’s Parkway West High School,
* North Carolina’s East Garner Magnet Middle School,
* Virginia’s VA Star program at Forest Park High School, and
* California’s Winston Churchill Middle School.

The Director of the Office of Education Technology of the DOE, Karen Cator, says that the START program offers a “unique way of incorporating science and technology into service, providing students with a way to give back to their school community and giving them a taste of actual work in that field.”

Empowering students to teach what they know helps develop their critical thinking and service skills, which is a powerful combination for today’s 21st century learner. LifeBound’s aim is to help equip students with these skills through our stair-step program for grades 5-12. Relevant to this article, our new edition of Making the Most of High School, designed for the 8th to 9th grade transition, includes a chapter on Technology. To reserve a review copy, please call toll free 1.877.737.8510 or email contact@lifebound.com.

ARTICLE
School Library Journal
by Lauren Barack

The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) believes that when it comes to technology training, we should look no further than a terrific resource already in the classroom—students.

That’s why Microsoft and the Corporation for National and Community Service has launched a new initiative that empowers middle and high school students to help teachers and staff better integrate tech into schools.

“The concept of students as tech support and even teacher support has been around for several years,” says Karen Cator (pictured), Director of the Office of Education Technology at the U.S. DOE. “I think what this initiative does is take the best practices and take them to scale.”

Called START (Service & Technology Academic Resource Team), the program will combine five existing projects such as GenerationYES!, in which students help teachers come up with compelling assignments using technology, and MOUSE, where students act as tech support in schools, and bring them together under one umbrella.

To view the entire article visit

http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6717185.html

CAROL’S SUMMARY
How many hours does a teacher spend preparing students for “multiple assessments”? According to the first of a two-part report from the ASCD (formerly the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development; Part 2 will be released tomorrow), the answer depends on what you mean by the term assessments: if you’re talking about everything from pop quizzes to standardized tests, many teachers might answer that they spend all their time teaching, if not to the tests, then with the tests in mind. Over the past 10 years, particularly with the advent of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), school culture has become a testing culture. Some educators lament that prepping for tests means taking time away from deeper learning. Marge Scherer, editor-in-chief of ASCD’s Educational Leadership says that teachers should understand the various assessments and try to raise understanding, not just student scores. David Heistad, executive director of Research, Evaluation and Assessment for Minneapolis Public Schools, says that test preparation in large amounts is “counterproductive.” He strongly discourages teachers from doing too much. “The best way to learn [reading comprehension] is to read a diversity of books. For math, keep up with daily assignments,” Heistad said in an interview for “ThreeSixty” magazine, a publication by the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis.

As assessment experts Stephen Chappuis, Jan Chappuis, and Rick Stiggins write (p. 15), “NCLB has exposed students to an unprecedented overflow of testing. But do all these multiple measures really lead us to achieve the three most often cited goals of testing: Building proficiency in basic skills, closing achievement gaps, and fostering the top-notch knowledge and skills that students will need in a competitive global society?”

Other questions to consider:

Now that the United States is poised to enter a new testing era: All but two states have agreed to work toward creating common academic standards, with the eventual goal of establishing common assessments. What will become of tests like the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)?

With these common standards, what might be a better way to construct assessment systems, and what tools can be implemented to help students develop their critical and creative thinking skills to solve real-world problems?

ARTICLE
Educational Leadership
by Marge Scherer
How many hours of classroom time do you typically spend administering standardized tests to students each school year? In my search for that statistic, I found one high school teacher estimating he spent 40 school days each year administering and prepping students for “bubble tests.”

Perhaps an even more important question is, How many hours does a teacher spend preparing students for “multiple assessments”?

That answer depends on the interpretation of the term assessment—are you counting pop quizzes and spelling bees, essays and multimedia projects, teacher-made and standardized tests, entrance and exit tests, pre-tests and post-tests, interim and benchmark assessments, statewide and national tests, and preparation for the AP exam, SAT, and ACT? Are you adding in daily, minute-by-minute checks for understanding? If all answers apply, many teachers might answer that they spend all their time teaching, if not to the tests, then with the tests in mind.

To read the entire article visit
http://bit.ly/tk11H

Since there is a strong link between health and learning, our nation’s obsession with food containing salt, sugar and fat is creating a generation of unhealthy students. A study published in the April 5, 2006, issue of the Journal of the American Medi­cal Association found that 17.1 percent of children and adolescents ages 2 to 19 were overweight. Being overweight puts children and teenagers at greater risk for a number of serious health conditions. Type 2 diabetes; risk factors for heart disease, including high blood pressure; other health conditions including asthma and sleep apnea, and psychosocial effects such as decreased self-esteem have been associated with childhood obesity in recent studies. Fortunately, healthy eating and a physically active lifestyle can help children achieve and maintain a healthy weight and reduce obesity-related chronic diseases.

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According to the article below from USA Today, President Obama will be distributing $11.5 billion to state schools that comply with reform rules, which include:

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