July 9, 2003 - Issue #4
Education Development Center, Inc.
Improving education and health worldwide since 1958
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
In this issue:
- Bobbie D'Alessandro on School Leadership
Former Cambridge (Mass.) superintendent joins EDC to direct national project
- Mentoring Science Teachers
A model program emphasizes science knowledge and teacher retention
- "Eight out of 10 students respect non-drinkers"
Study explores social norms marketing to prevent underage drinking
- Building Digital Bridges
EDC helps design IT training for the University of Bamako, Mali
- Bringing Business, Engineering, and Technology into High School Classrooms
The Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies
- EDC Commentary in the News
"Balancing Priorities in the Evaluation of Educational Technology"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
1. Bobbie D'Alessandro on School Leadership
Former Cambridge (Mass.) superintendent joins EDC to direct national project
In her 10-plus years as a superintendent in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Fort Myers, Florida, Bobbie D'Alessandro believed that reaching preschool age children was as much a part of her job as overseeing the education of the thousands of students in the schools (more than 7,000 in Cambridge and more than 60,000 in Fort Myers). "In Florida, we dropped off packets to new moms in the hospital; we went into the projects to teach adults to read. I was constantly out in the community. Of course," she adds, "I worked 80 hours almost every week."
Not that D'Alessandro is advocating the 80-hour week as the best course for other superintendents. In fact, in her new position at EDC, D'Alessandro is helping a network of superintendents and principals around the country find ways to pace themselves and avoid the inevitable burnout that has led to a dearth of qualified administrators in many communities.
Read more: http://main.edc.org/newsroom/features/dalessandro.asp
2. Mentoring Science Teachers
A model program emphasizes science knowledge and teacher retention
Mentoring ranks high among programs recommended for retaining new teachers. A new project at EDC's Center for Science Education has set out to see what happens when you build a teacher mentoring program around academic content -- in this case, standards-based middle school science. "Generic mentoring programs are not uncommon now, but they don't go far enough in terms of improving content teaching," says Project Co-Director Marian Pasquale. "The traditional emphasis in mentoring programs is on nurturing new teachers; our emphasis is on standards-based instruction."
Read more: http://main.edc.org/newsroom/features/mentoring.asp
3. "Eight out of 10 students respect non-drinkers"
Study explores social norms marketing to prevent underage drinking
Will a media campaign to correct teenagers' misperceptions that their peers drink more than they actually do lead to an overall reduction in drinking?
SNAPPY, which stands for Social Norms Alcohol Problem Prevention for Youth, is EDC's division of Health and Human Development programs (HHD) new feasibility study on using social norms marketing to reduce alcohol use among high school students. The study, funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, is currently being conducted in two Massachusetts high schools. Similar campaigns on college campuses have proven effective at reducing binge drinking, and the strategy is undergoing rigorous research through HHD's Social Norms Marketing Research Project, a five-year randomized study at 32 colleges around the country. SNAPPY is the first study to test the approach's viability at the high school level.
Read more: http://hhd.org/hhdnews/hhdstories/fs_05_2003.asp
4. Building Digital Bridges
EDC helps design IT training for the University of Bamako, Mali
Just two years ago, faculty members and students at the University of Bamako had little knowledge or access to information communications technologies (ICTs). An earlier University of Bamako project assessed IT needs and installed 11 servers and 240 computers with Internet access -- a network of unprecedented size in Mali. A new project of USAID/Mali, the University of Bamako, and EDC aims to ensure that students, faculty members, and university administrators not only have access to these computers but are able to use them to improve the quality of teaching and learning. Two types of training are underway: training of LAN/WAN managers, and faculty training in Microsoft Office and basic Internet use.
The Mali project is part of the dot-EDU initiative, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and managed by EDC and several partners.
Read more: http://main.edc.org/newsroom/features/digitalbridges.asp
5. Bringing Business, Engineering, and Technology into High School Classroom
The Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies
"Many people believe that industrial jobs demand a lot of physical strength and ability to withstand harsh working conditions, but, in fact, most industrial jobs are highly technical and require much math and science background, knowledge of environmental policy, and international relations," explains Karen Hlynsky, project director of the high school program called the Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies (Ford PAS).
The project, a collaboration of Ford and EDC, will bring knowledge of industry careers back to a network of high schools around the country. Ford PAS is a standards-based high school curriculum for college-bound students interested in careers in business, engineering, and technology. Its three core elements are academic knowledge, business concepts, and interpersonal and human performance skills. Beginning in tenth grade, students in Ford PAS take a sequence of five interdisciplinary elective courses in which they apply academic knowledge in real-world business contexts, while developing critical-thinking, problem-solving, communication, and teamwork skills.
Read more: http://main.edc.org/newsroom/features/ford.asp
6. EDC Commentary in the News
"Balancing Priorities in the Evaluation of Educational Technology"
In the June 2003 issue of Harvard Family Research Project's "Evaluation Exchange," Katie McMillan Culp and Margaret Honey, from EDC's Center for Children and Technology, discuss the importance of research rigor and local validity in their evaluations of educational technology.
Read more: http://cct.edc.org/report_summary.asp?numPublicationId=132
type full url here
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
If you have comments about the EDC Online Report or any items mentioned, we'd like to hear from you. E-mail us at: onlinereport@edc.org.
If you would like to subscribe to the EDC Online Report, simply enter you e-mail address below and press submit.
EDC does not rent, sell, or otherwise distribute to third parties the e-mail addresses on this list. You can always modify your info or unsubscribe from the list via a link at the bottom of every e-mail we send.
|
