Tuesday, March 16, 2004
'Highly qualified' rules eased for some teachers
WASHINGTON -- The nation's schools, under deadline to get a top teacher in every core class, have won some wiggle room in areas where the assignment is proving unrealistic.
Rural teachers, science teachers and those who teach multiple subjects will get leeway in showing they are highly qualified under federal law, the Education Department said Monday.
The changes are most sweeping for rural teachers, thousands of whom who will get an extra school year -- until spring 2007, three years from now -- to show they are qualified in all topics they teach. Newly hired rural teachers will get three years from their hire date.
The easing of rules is the latest effort by the Bush administration to show it is trying to answer concerns about the No Child Left Behind Act without watering it down.
The law is at the center of Bush's domestic agenda, and his officials face a public relations challenge as more schools pop up on "needing improvement" lists, state leaders talk of federal intrusion and congressional Democrats complain of shaky federal enforcement.
States must get a highly qualified teacher in all core subjects, from math to history, by the end of the 2005-06 school year. "Highly qualified" means teachers must have a bachelor's degree, state certification and proven knowledge in the subjects they teach.
In practical terms, some schools have found the requirement exasperating, particularly for teachers who handle multiple subjects, as many in rural districts do. To show they are competent in their subjects, current teachers must pass a test in each topic, hold a college degree in that field or meet a standard of subject-matter knowledge as set by their state.
Now, rural teachers will have extra time to prove they are qualified in all their subjects, provided they are highly qualified in at least one subject and get training in the others. The change will affect an estimated one-third of school districts.
"The standard remains very high," said a department official familiar with the change. "We're still saying that teachers need to be highly qualified in all subjects they teach. This is just additional time."
In another change, states can allow science teachers to show they are highly qualified in the broad field of science -- not necessarily in chemistry, biology, or every field of science they teach. States can decide whether to require mastery of individual science disciplines.
The move matches federal law, which gets specific about core subjects such as history, economics and civics but leaves broad the topic of "science," department officials said. This could significantly ease pressure on rural schools, which may only have one science teacher.
The third policy change is more procedural.
Under law, states must set a standard that existing teachers can meet to show they are qualified in each subject without having to take a test or get a new degree. Teachers may qualify, for example, based on such factors as professional training or publishing of articles.
The new guidance makes clear that current teachers don't have to go through this evaluation process for each subject they teach; states can decide whether to give teachers overlapping credit for similar subjects, such as those in the social sciences.
The law does not spell out specific penalties for states that don't get a top teacher in every core class by the deadline. Department officials say they will recognize those that make good-faith efforts, although ultimately, withholding federal money is an option.
WASHINGTON -- The nation's schools, under deadline to get a top teacher in every core class, have won some wiggle room in areas where the assignment is proving unrealistic.
Rural teachers, science teachers and those who teach multiple subjects will get leeway in showing they are highly qualified under federal law, the Education Department said Monday.
The changes are most sweeping for rural teachers, thousands of whom who will get an extra school year -- until spring 2007, three years from now -- to show they are qualified in all topics they teach. Newly hired rural teachers will get three years from their hire date.
The easing of rules is the latest effort by the Bush administration to show it is trying to answer concerns about the No Child Left Behind Act without watering it down.
The law is at the center of Bush's domestic agenda, and his officials face a public relations challenge as more schools pop up on "needing improvement" lists, state leaders talk of federal intrusion and congressional Democrats complain of shaky federal enforcement.
States must get a highly qualified teacher in all core subjects, from math to history, by the end of the 2005-06 school year. "Highly qualified" means teachers must have a bachelor's degree, state certification and proven knowledge in the subjects they teach.
In practical terms, some schools have found the requirement exasperating, particularly for teachers who handle multiple subjects, as many in rural districts do. To show they are competent in their subjects, current teachers must pass a test in each topic, hold a college degree in that field or meet a standard of subject-matter knowledge as set by their state.
Now, rural teachers will have extra time to prove they are qualified in all their subjects, provided they are highly qualified in at least one subject and get training in the others. The change will affect an estimated one-third of school districts.
"The standard remains very high," said a department official familiar with the change. "We're still saying that teachers need to be highly qualified in all subjects they teach. This is just additional time."
In another change, states can allow science teachers to show they are highly qualified in the broad field of science -- not necessarily in chemistry, biology, or every field of science they teach. States can decide whether to require mastery of individual science disciplines.
The move matches federal law, which gets specific about core subjects such as history, economics and civics but leaves broad the topic of "science," department officials said. This could significantly ease pressure on rural schools, which may only have one science teacher.
The third policy change is more procedural.
Under law, states must set a standard that existing teachers can meet to show they are qualified in each subject without having to take a test or get a new degree. Teachers may qualify, for example, based on such factors as professional training or publishing of articles.
The new guidance makes clear that current teachers don't have to go through this evaluation process for each subject they teach; states can decide whether to give teachers overlapping credit for similar subjects, such as those in the social sciences.
The law does not spell out specific penalties for states that don't get a top teacher in every core class by the deadline. Department officials say they will recognize those that make good-faith efforts, although ultimately, withholding federal money is an option.
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
Trend grows for schools as community centers
CINCINNATI, Ohio (AP) -- Betty Zink and all four of her children dropped out of school by the 10th grade. She was worried the same thing might happen to her 9-year-old grandson.
Now she sees hope in a concept being embraced by the Cincinnati Public Schools that may keep her grandson returning to classes: making city schools the hubs of their neighborhoods.
In a growing trend seen around the country, city officials are establishing public schools as centers for medical care, social services and academic aid for adults and children.
"Being able to go to a neighborhood school for tutoring, psychological counseling, health services, parenting classes -- all the things that we needed but couldn't always get to -- will be wonderful," Zink said.
"It will be like a one-stop center. Parents won't have to take off work to take their child to an impersonal health clinic or some counselor miles away from their neighborhood."
The city school district plans by 2012 to build 35 schools and renovate the remaining 31, all to include space for community learning centers geared to individual neighborhoods.
"We provide the space and agencies provide the service," said deputy Superintendent Rosa Blackwell. "Some agencies that receive money to serve our children can't always get children or adults to come to them. This way everyone benefits."
The idea behind the centers -- also known as community schools or neighborhood schools -- dates to the late 19th century when settlement houses offered social services for urban neighborhoods. Educators later began looking at ways to bring services such as dental and health clinics and after-school arts and cultural programs into public schools.
In the past 10 to 15 years, the number of community schools has increased dramatically as school systems work more with community agencies that can pay for additional services or help secure grants, said Martin Blank, staff director for the Coalition for Community Schools in Washington.
"Communities are realizing that partnerships among educators, health and social service agencies and others can turn traditional schools offering only the standard curriculum into facilities that serve everyone in the community and better support the academic, social, physical and emotional needs of urban children," he said.
Budget realities
The exact number of community schools isn't tracked, in part because the concept varies among districts. Blank said a coalition survey showed at least 3,000 community schools five years ago. He estimates there are more than 4,000 today.
A few schools in the Chicago system began offering after-school enrichment programs and social services for children and adults as early as the 1990s. In 2002, the district started a campaign to transform 100 of its 600 schools into community schools, said Beth Swanson, director of the after-school and community school programs.
The main concern is that the extra programs don't interfere with educators' focus on academics, Blank said. That's why schools get help providing and coordinating the services.
School districts still are faced with budget realities, however.
Blackwell said the Cincinnati district must stay within its $985 million capital improvements budget in designing buildings but can add space if community partners secure the funding.
It costs about $80,000 to build the community learning center space into each school. Officials say the services typically cost between $100,000 to $300,000 at each and usually come from grants. In most cases, families are not charged.
Indianapolis, with the help of the United Way, finds agencies to provide physical and mental health services, adult education classes and after-school programs in at least 42 of its 86 schools. The United Way of Central Indiana and the Indianapolis Public Schools each pay about $300,000 annually.
At the Winton Hills Academy elementary school in Cincinnati, officials aren't waiting for their new building before offering medical services and after-school tutoring and workshops. A full-time health clerk transports students from school and handles the paperwork.
"We believe that a healthy child is more likely to learn than one who is not, and if we can capture residents at an early age we can ward off later problems and create a healthier community," said Miriam Crenshaw, the health center's executive director.
Shoni Potter said her four sons, who attend George Washington Community School in Indianapolis, benefit from after-school sports and tutoring. They also have received dental exams at the school.
"It makes it so much easier when you don't have to get off work to take them all over town for some of these things," she said.
CINCINNATI, Ohio (AP) -- Betty Zink and all four of her children dropped out of school by the 10th grade. She was worried the same thing might happen to her 9-year-old grandson.
Now she sees hope in a concept being embraced by the Cincinnati Public Schools that may keep her grandson returning to classes: making city schools the hubs of their neighborhoods.
In a growing trend seen around the country, city officials are establishing public schools as centers for medical care, social services and academic aid for adults and children.
"Being able to go to a neighborhood school for tutoring, psychological counseling, health services, parenting classes -- all the things that we needed but couldn't always get to -- will be wonderful," Zink said.
"It will be like a one-stop center. Parents won't have to take off work to take their child to an impersonal health clinic or some counselor miles away from their neighborhood."
The city school district plans by 2012 to build 35 schools and renovate the remaining 31, all to include space for community learning centers geared to individual neighborhoods.
"We provide the space and agencies provide the service," said deputy Superintendent Rosa Blackwell. "Some agencies that receive money to serve our children can't always get children or adults to come to them. This way everyone benefits."
The idea behind the centers -- also known as community schools or neighborhood schools -- dates to the late 19th century when settlement houses offered social services for urban neighborhoods. Educators later began looking at ways to bring services such as dental and health clinics and after-school arts and cultural programs into public schools.
In the past 10 to 15 years, the number of community schools has increased dramatically as school systems work more with community agencies that can pay for additional services or help secure grants, said Martin Blank, staff director for the Coalition for Community Schools in Washington.
"Communities are realizing that partnerships among educators, health and social service agencies and others can turn traditional schools offering only the standard curriculum into facilities that serve everyone in the community and better support the academic, social, physical and emotional needs of urban children," he said.
Budget realities
The exact number of community schools isn't tracked, in part because the concept varies among districts. Blank said a coalition survey showed at least 3,000 community schools five years ago. He estimates there are more than 4,000 today.
A few schools in the Chicago system began offering after-school enrichment programs and social services for children and adults as early as the 1990s. In 2002, the district started a campaign to transform 100 of its 600 schools into community schools, said Beth Swanson, director of the after-school and community school programs.
The main concern is that the extra programs don't interfere with educators' focus on academics, Blank said. That's why schools get help providing and coordinating the services.
School districts still are faced with budget realities, however.
Blackwell said the Cincinnati district must stay within its $985 million capital improvements budget in designing buildings but can add space if community partners secure the funding.
It costs about $80,000 to build the community learning center space into each school. Officials say the services typically cost between $100,000 to $300,000 at each and usually come from grants. In most cases, families are not charged.
Indianapolis, with the help of the United Way, finds agencies to provide physical and mental health services, adult education classes and after-school programs in at least 42 of its 86 schools. The United Way of Central Indiana and the Indianapolis Public Schools each pay about $300,000 annually.
At the Winton Hills Academy elementary school in Cincinnati, officials aren't waiting for their new building before offering medical services and after-school tutoring and workshops. A full-time health clerk transports students from school and handles the paperwork.
"We believe that a healthy child is more likely to learn than one who is not, and if we can capture residents at an early age we can ward off later problems and create a healthier community," said Miriam Crenshaw, the health center's executive director.
Shoni Potter said her four sons, who attend George Washington Community School in Indianapolis, benefit from after-school sports and tutoring. They also have received dental exams at the school.
"It makes it so much easier when you don't have to get off work to take them all over town for some of these things," she said.
Tuesday, March 02, 2004
No Parent Left Behind?
WASHINGTON (AP) -- As the mother of three black children, Loraine Carter wanted to know how minority students were doing in her suburban Philadelphia district. She uncovered even more: the powers promised to today's public school parents.
Achievement numbers by race, teacher qualifications, test explanations, offers to transfer students from struggling or dangerous schools -- the No Child Left Behind education law requires all of it and more be provided to parents.
In Carter's case, she found that a high percentage of black students were below grade level in reading and math. She is using the information to rally black parents and lobby Lower Merion School District leaders to do better.
More personally, she came to believe that her son was being held to lower standards than other students because he has a medical condition that affects his speech and hearing. She has demanded that those expectations be raised.
"We have to know this law, we have to understand it, and we have to use it," Carter said. "And then, collectively, we have to go in and present the community's issues."
No education law has made more promises to parents. Its goal of getting all students to grade level in reading and math is itself built on this promise: Parents will get vast, timely, understandable information about schools, and use it to make the best choices for their kids.
Yet as the second full school year under the law winds down, many in education say the parental provisions are potentially powerful, but too enormous to deal with or too easy to sidestep while other aspects of the law demand attention.
As a result, many parents who stand to gain do not know what they are missing.
Awareness campaigns
"Unless you really work in the field, you don't know how desperate parents are," said Lisa Tait of Lilburn, Georgia, a leader of an education network for parents in her state. "With No Child Left Behind, and with the services being available, they should not be this desperate."
Groups such as Tait's are out to explain the law in churches, social service centers and Boy Scout meetings. The National PTA, which fought for the law's parental promises, is trying to inform constituents about their rights. Many school districts are reaching out with letters and advertisements, some geared for Spanish-speaking adults.
Federal officials are campaigning, too.
The Education Department has given millions of dollars to promote school choices to parents. With help from a private foundation, the department created a Web site to make it easier for parents to get data about their schools. The department plans to highlight school districts that do a good job informing parents.
"Our hope is once districts see how this is done, they'll have a road map to follow rather than give up and say, 'This is too complicated, this is too burdensome to notify each and every parent,"' said Nina Rees, the deputy undersecretary who oversees school choice.
Some observers say the outreach efforts are scattershot at best.
Frustrated parents
"My impression is not only are most communities doing a miserable job of giving parents timely and clear information, but also that states are doing next to nothing about monitoring it," said Chester Finn Jr., president of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation and an assistant education secretary under President Reagan. "And the feds are only monitoring it if and when somebody complains."
Maria Fenton had reason to complain. The Boston parent found out with three days' notice that she had the right to transfer her son, Michael, out of his struggling elementary school. But she could not find an open spot elsewhere or get answers to her questions. Fed up, she moved her son into a private school and helped create an advocacy group for parents.
"I was thoroughly frustrated with the process, frustrated with the fact that I didn't know what to do, and feeling kind of humiliated and embarrassed that I didn't know what to do," Fenton said. "I take good care of my children, so I should know how to navigate them through this mess. I couldn't."
School officials say they understand such concerns, but add they have valid ones of their own. The law's parent provisions are complicated; some affect all schools, some apply only in districts or schools that get poverty aid.
The task can also be overwhelming and expensive. It can mean sending letters home about unqualified teachers or reporting about bilingual teaching methods or giving notice about invasive physical exams. The law even says state tests should result in reports on the individual academic needs of every student.
When Bruce Hunter of the American Association of School Administrators trained superintendents about the parental notifications, his list took up three full slides.
"I could just see their eyes glaze over," he said. "It was too much."
Enforcement will improve as school districts learn the law, get better guidance from Washington and improve their data collection, said Patty Sullivan, deputy executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers. For now, Sullivan said it does not appear any state has the oversight necessary to make sure parents get all the information they should.
School leaders say the parental requirements of the law often fall behind other priorities such as getting a highly qualified teacher in all core classes or trying to figure out how a school can make enough progress to avoid an unfavorable "needs improvement" list.
But Rees said picking and choosing which provisions to follow is not a tactic the department supports. "All of the pieces are important," she said, "and we're going to pay attention to all of them."
WASHINGTON (AP) -- As the mother of three black children, Loraine Carter wanted to know how minority students were doing in her suburban Philadelphia district. She uncovered even more: the powers promised to today's public school parents.
Achievement numbers by race, teacher qualifications, test explanations, offers to transfer students from struggling or dangerous schools -- the No Child Left Behind education law requires all of it and more be provided to parents.
In Carter's case, she found that a high percentage of black students were below grade level in reading and math. She is using the information to rally black parents and lobby Lower Merion School District leaders to do better.
More personally, she came to believe that her son was being held to lower standards than other students because he has a medical condition that affects his speech and hearing. She has demanded that those expectations be raised.
"We have to know this law, we have to understand it, and we have to use it," Carter said. "And then, collectively, we have to go in and present the community's issues."
No education law has made more promises to parents. Its goal of getting all students to grade level in reading and math is itself built on this promise: Parents will get vast, timely, understandable information about schools, and use it to make the best choices for their kids.
Yet as the second full school year under the law winds down, many in education say the parental provisions are potentially powerful, but too enormous to deal with or too easy to sidestep while other aspects of the law demand attention.
As a result, many parents who stand to gain do not know what they are missing.
Awareness campaigns
"Unless you really work in the field, you don't know how desperate parents are," said Lisa Tait of Lilburn, Georgia, a leader of an education network for parents in her state. "With No Child Left Behind, and with the services being available, they should not be this desperate."
Groups such as Tait's are out to explain the law in churches, social service centers and Boy Scout meetings. The National PTA, which fought for the law's parental promises, is trying to inform constituents about their rights. Many school districts are reaching out with letters and advertisements, some geared for Spanish-speaking adults.
Federal officials are campaigning, too.
The Education Department has given millions of dollars to promote school choices to parents. With help from a private foundation, the department created a Web site to make it easier for parents to get data about their schools. The department plans to highlight school districts that do a good job informing parents.
"Our hope is once districts see how this is done, they'll have a road map to follow rather than give up and say, 'This is too complicated, this is too burdensome to notify each and every parent,"' said Nina Rees, the deputy undersecretary who oversees school choice.
Some observers say the outreach efforts are scattershot at best.
Frustrated parents
"My impression is not only are most communities doing a miserable job of giving parents timely and clear information, but also that states are doing next to nothing about monitoring it," said Chester Finn Jr., president of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation and an assistant education secretary under President Reagan. "And the feds are only monitoring it if and when somebody complains."
Maria Fenton had reason to complain. The Boston parent found out with three days' notice that she had the right to transfer her son, Michael, out of his struggling elementary school. But she could not find an open spot elsewhere or get answers to her questions. Fed up, she moved her son into a private school and helped create an advocacy group for parents.
"I was thoroughly frustrated with the process, frustrated with the fact that I didn't know what to do, and feeling kind of humiliated and embarrassed that I didn't know what to do," Fenton said. "I take good care of my children, so I should know how to navigate them through this mess. I couldn't."
School officials say they understand such concerns, but add they have valid ones of their own. The law's parent provisions are complicated; some affect all schools, some apply only in districts or schools that get poverty aid.
The task can also be overwhelming and expensive. It can mean sending letters home about unqualified teachers or reporting about bilingual teaching methods or giving notice about invasive physical exams. The law even says state tests should result in reports on the individual academic needs of every student.
When Bruce Hunter of the American Association of School Administrators trained superintendents about the parental notifications, his list took up three full slides.
"I could just see their eyes glaze over," he said. "It was too much."
Enforcement will improve as school districts learn the law, get better guidance from Washington and improve their data collection, said Patty Sullivan, deputy executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers. For now, Sullivan said it does not appear any state has the oversight necessary to make sure parents get all the information they should.
School leaders say the parental requirements of the law often fall behind other priorities such as getting a highly qualified teacher in all core classes or trying to figure out how a school can make enough progress to avoid an unfavorable "needs improvement" list.
But Rees said picking and choosing which provisions to follow is not a tactic the department supports. "All of the pieces are important," she said, "and we're going to pay attention to all of them."
Friday, February 27, 2004
Poll: Most parents raise, spend money for schools
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The three-campus Capitol Hill Cluster School needed it all: paper, paint, ink cartridges, locker parts and those little metal glides to fix wobbly chairs.
Who raised the money? Parents, mainly.
Most of the $105,000 raised by the school's PTA this school year is going for classroom basics, a trend playing out nationwide, according to a poll of public school parents commissioned by the 6.2-million member National PTA.
Beyond fund-raising, the poll found, many parents are spending their money for teacher salaries, sports equipment, art supplies and other items schools used to cover.
"I don't recall my parents ever having to purchase what I consider essential items just to make a school run," said Suzanne Wells, vice president of the PTA at Capitol Hill Cluster School, where her son, Joshua, attends fifth grade. Parents in her community -- by no means wealthy, she said -- raised money with events from gift-wrapping to Capitol Hill home tours.
"This is not the answer," she said. "Every school won't have parents who can do this."
The PTA hopes the poll will help propel its election-year drive for greater education spending by elected leaders at all levels.
More than nine in 10 parents in the poll said that their political support is influenced by candidates' education stands. And more parents chose spending as their top education concern over any other issue, including such choices as school crowding and teacher quality.
"Of course (parents) will do whatever it takes to help their schools. But fund raising is a Band-Aid, not a solution," said Linda Hodge, National PTA president and a parent of three children.
Looking for balance
Education is traditionally a responsibility of state and local governments, which pick up about 90 percent of the cost and have seen their cash flows fall in recent poor economic times.
At a Washington news conference, PTA leaders pushed hardest Tuesday for more money from federal officials, who are demanding more of schools than ever.
The No Child Left Behind Act orders states to ensure that schools make yearly progress and that all students can read and do math at grade level by 2014, with a mix of help and sanctions for those that fall short. The Bush administration says it is spending record levels on schools, particularly for poor and disabled children. Some parents say they don't see it.
"I have to wonder why a school system is so underfunded that it can't do its basic job," Wells said. "I'm torn over what the right balance should be -- parents volunteering and contributing money versus having a school system that should be doing these basic things."
Almost one-quarter of parents, 22 percent, said they were expected to participate in five or more fund-raisers a year; the same percentage, however, said one or zero fund-raisers a year was typical. The rest of the parents polled, a majority, expected two to four such events.
The telephone poll of 800 public school parents, conducted between January 19 and 21 by Ipsos-Public Affairs, has an error margin of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The three-campus Capitol Hill Cluster School needed it all: paper, paint, ink cartridges, locker parts and those little metal glides to fix wobbly chairs.
Who raised the money? Parents, mainly.
Most of the $105,000 raised by the school's PTA this school year is going for classroom basics, a trend playing out nationwide, according to a poll of public school parents commissioned by the 6.2-million member National PTA.
Beyond fund-raising, the poll found, many parents are spending their money for teacher salaries, sports equipment, art supplies and other items schools used to cover.
"I don't recall my parents ever having to purchase what I consider essential items just to make a school run," said Suzanne Wells, vice president of the PTA at Capitol Hill Cluster School, where her son, Joshua, attends fifth grade. Parents in her community -- by no means wealthy, she said -- raised money with events from gift-wrapping to Capitol Hill home tours.
"This is not the answer," she said. "Every school won't have parents who can do this."
The PTA hopes the poll will help propel its election-year drive for greater education spending by elected leaders at all levels.
More than nine in 10 parents in the poll said that their political support is influenced by candidates' education stands. And more parents chose spending as their top education concern over any other issue, including such choices as school crowding and teacher quality.
"Of course (parents) will do whatever it takes to help their schools. But fund raising is a Band-Aid, not a solution," said Linda Hodge, National PTA president and a parent of three children.
Looking for balance
Education is traditionally a responsibility of state and local governments, which pick up about 90 percent of the cost and have seen their cash flows fall in recent poor economic times.
At a Washington news conference, PTA leaders pushed hardest Tuesday for more money from federal officials, who are demanding more of schools than ever.
The No Child Left Behind Act orders states to ensure that schools make yearly progress and that all students can read and do math at grade level by 2014, with a mix of help and sanctions for those that fall short. The Bush administration says it is spending record levels on schools, particularly for poor and disabled children. Some parents say they don't see it.
"I have to wonder why a school system is so underfunded that it can't do its basic job," Wells said. "I'm torn over what the right balance should be -- parents volunteering and contributing money versus having a school system that should be doing these basic things."
Almost one-quarter of parents, 22 percent, said they were expected to participate in five or more fund-raisers a year; the same percentage, however, said one or zero fund-raisers a year was typical. The rest of the parents polled, a majority, expected two to four such events.
The telephone poll of 800 public school parents, conducted between January 19 and 21 by Ipsos-Public Affairs, has an error margin of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Tuesday, February 17, 2004
Women a minority of tenured faculty and administrators
NEW YORK (AP) -- When Hunter College salutatorian Chamion Thomas peers into the future, she sees graduate school followed by a professional career -- but not in higher education.
Women comprise 58 percent of the nation's 13 million college undergraduates and, in 2002, earned more doctorates than men. They're a dominant force on college campuses -- until they receive a degree.
Drawn to the private sector by higher pay and the opportunity for speedier promotions, women like Thomas are rejecting teaching and other careers on college campuses.
"It has to do with the salary," Thomas said moments before receiving a degree in applied mathematics at Hunter's winter commencement ceremonies. "Plus, teachers don't get the credit they deserve."
Others say that, while universities seem like bastions of idealism, smashing through the glass ceiling in the academic world can be particularly tough.
"Higher education has traditionally been the playground of male academics," said Leslie Annexstein, director of the legal advocacy fund for the American Association of University Women. "It's their turf. And sharing that turf is difficult for many of them."
The upshot, said Claire Van Ummersen, a vice president of the American Council on Education, is that just slightly more than one-third of the tenured or tenure-track faculty positions on U.S. college campuses are held by women.
The gender gap is especially prominent in the hard sciences such as math, biology and chemistry, she added.
Woman are "marginalized. They're not elected to serve as department heads or key committees," said Van Ummersen, who is also director of the ACE's office for women and higher education and a former president of Cleveland State University.
"As a result, they have no influence on important decisions that are made. It creates a sense of being undervalued."
'Things move very slowly'
Annexstein said discrimination takes the form of "unbelievable" reasons highly qualified women are denied tenure or advancement. The AAUW still fields complaints about decision-makers who become perplexed when female professors become pregnant, or who flagrantly block the promotion of women.
In a lawsuit filed last year, law professor Daisy Hurst Floyd claimed the former president of Texas Tech University used "the lewdest and crudest of terms" when he told a colleague he "would not appoint a woman to be dean of the law school."
At the time, Floyd was a candidate for interim dean. She dropped the suit in January after being named dean of the law school at Mercer University in Atlanta. Texas Tech did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Annexstein said sexism on college campuses is generally more subtle than the Texas Tech case would suggest.
Early in her career, Elizabeth Farokhi asked permission to attend a professional conference on effective governing by women in college administrations. Farohki said a colleague suggested she omit the word "women" before submitting her proposal.
She did and was allowed to attend the conference. "It was typical of the roadblocks that have been set up," said Farohki, now an administrator at Georgia State University.
After Farokhi co-authored a 1999 report criticizing gender inequality at Georgia State, the school responded by establishing a faculty advancement committee to assist and elevate women to senior faculty and administrative positions.
"There are some steps being made," said Farohki. "But things move very slowly."
In general, women are making the best progress at smaller schools, said Richard Ekman, president of the Council of Independent Colleges.
Women represent nearly 40 percent of the provosts and deans and 30 percent of the chief executives of the 500 schools in the council, he said.
"This is a deliberate effort on the part of higher education institutions to clean up their act," said Ekman. "And it's clearly working."
A recent report co-authored by Mary Ann Mason, the dean of the University of California Berkeley's graduate division, said another obstacle for women is tenure-track jobs that parallel the end of childbearing years.
Women whose doctoral studies forced them to stay in school into their 30s often wind up choosing family over entry-level faculty positions that require teaching heavy course loads, Mason said.
Ultimately, Van Ummersen believes the shortage of tenured women professors and top-level college administrators creates a cycle that deters female undergraduate and graduate students from pursuing their own careers in higher education.
"In a sense, we're not losing them because they may be doing very good things in the corporate sector," she said. "But they are lost to (higher education). And that's why role models are so critical."
NEW YORK (AP) -- When Hunter College salutatorian Chamion Thomas peers into the future, she sees graduate school followed by a professional career -- but not in higher education.
Women comprise 58 percent of the nation's 13 million college undergraduates and, in 2002, earned more doctorates than men. They're a dominant force on college campuses -- until they receive a degree.
Drawn to the private sector by higher pay and the opportunity for speedier promotions, women like Thomas are rejecting teaching and other careers on college campuses.
"It has to do with the salary," Thomas said moments before receiving a degree in applied mathematics at Hunter's winter commencement ceremonies. "Plus, teachers don't get the credit they deserve."
Others say that, while universities seem like bastions of idealism, smashing through the glass ceiling in the academic world can be particularly tough.
"Higher education has traditionally been the playground of male academics," said Leslie Annexstein, director of the legal advocacy fund for the American Association of University Women. "It's their turf. And sharing that turf is difficult for many of them."
The upshot, said Claire Van Ummersen, a vice president of the American Council on Education, is that just slightly more than one-third of the tenured or tenure-track faculty positions on U.S. college campuses are held by women.
The gender gap is especially prominent in the hard sciences such as math, biology and chemistry, she added.
Woman are "marginalized. They're not elected to serve as department heads or key committees," said Van Ummersen, who is also director of the ACE's office for women and higher education and a former president of Cleveland State University.
"As a result, they have no influence on important decisions that are made. It creates a sense of being undervalued."
'Things move very slowly'
Annexstein said discrimination takes the form of "unbelievable" reasons highly qualified women are denied tenure or advancement. The AAUW still fields complaints about decision-makers who become perplexed when female professors become pregnant, or who flagrantly block the promotion of women.
In a lawsuit filed last year, law professor Daisy Hurst Floyd claimed the former president of Texas Tech University used "the lewdest and crudest of terms" when he told a colleague he "would not appoint a woman to be dean of the law school."
At the time, Floyd was a candidate for interim dean. She dropped the suit in January after being named dean of the law school at Mercer University in Atlanta. Texas Tech did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Annexstein said sexism on college campuses is generally more subtle than the Texas Tech case would suggest.
Early in her career, Elizabeth Farokhi asked permission to attend a professional conference on effective governing by women in college administrations. Farohki said a colleague suggested she omit the word "women" before submitting her proposal.
She did and was allowed to attend the conference. "It was typical of the roadblocks that have been set up," said Farohki, now an administrator at Georgia State University.
After Farokhi co-authored a 1999 report criticizing gender inequality at Georgia State, the school responded by establishing a faculty advancement committee to assist and elevate women to senior faculty and administrative positions.
"There are some steps being made," said Farohki. "But things move very slowly."
In general, women are making the best progress at smaller schools, said Richard Ekman, president of the Council of Independent Colleges.
Women represent nearly 40 percent of the provosts and deans and 30 percent of the chief executives of the 500 schools in the council, he said.
"This is a deliberate effort on the part of higher education institutions to clean up their act," said Ekman. "And it's clearly working."
A recent report co-authored by Mary Ann Mason, the dean of the University of California Berkeley's graduate division, said another obstacle for women is tenure-track jobs that parallel the end of childbearing years.
Women whose doctoral studies forced them to stay in school into their 30s often wind up choosing family over entry-level faculty positions that require teaching heavy course loads, Mason said.
Ultimately, Van Ummersen believes the shortage of tenured women professors and top-level college administrators creates a cycle that deters female undergraduate and graduate students from pursuing their own careers in higher education.
"In a sense, we're not losing them because they may be doing very good things in the corporate sector," she said. "But they are lost to (higher education). And that's why role models are so critical."
Wednesday, January 28, 2004
Home-schooled students head to college
(AP) -- Home-schooling advocate Karl Bunday used to get a lot of blank looks when he visited college fairs in his native Minnesota and pitched the virtues of students educated around the kitchen table.
Nearly a decade later, things have changed. "It seems like this time, everybody has heard of home schooling," said Bunday, who operates the Web site learninfreedom.org about "taking responsibility for your own learning."
Until recently, educators say, home-schooled students mostly gravitated to small, primarily religious colleges. Now, as the movement keeps gaining in popularity, they can be found on many -- even most -- campuses nationwide.
"As the numbers (of home schooled) have increased, and there have also been more admitted to college, they've actually performed quite well," said Barmak Nassirian, a policy analyst with the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.
While exact figures are not available, the number of middle and high school students educated at home is now estimated at between 1 million and 2 million.
Such young people have grown up academically with a greater emphasis on learning -- rather than testing -- compared with conventionally educated students, said Laura Derrick of the Home Education Network.
Derrick thinks colleges are starting to recognize that. Schools are "looking at kids as human beings and as people who bring a specific experience to their school rather than just a grade or a grade point average," she said from her home in Austin, Texas.
Educated at home from kindergarten through high school, Holly Porter said the flexibility of home schooling made the transition to university life easy.
"It prepared me better than going to a regular high school would have because I was independently motivated," said Porter, now a graduate student at the University of Denver.
Overcoming stereotypes
Asher Albertson was home schooled until age 16, when he started attending classes at a community college.
Now a junior at the University of Wyoming, Albertson said finding his way to classrooms was the most difficult adjustment to college life. "Before, it was the dining room table," he joked.
Academically, Albertson added, the move to campus was nearly seamless.
"In college, you go to class, but you spend most of your time studying outside of class getting ready for tests, so it wasn't much different from what I was doing before," he said.
Beyond academics, the uptick in home schooled students on college campuses has helped them overcome the stereotype that they're socially maladjusted, said Mark Hegener, the publisher of Home Education magazine.
When Porter moved into her first undergraduate residence hall at Denver five years ago, she felt like it was the conventionally schooled freshmen who had trouble adjusting.
"It was kind of a shock," she recalled.
"I had been given a lot of independence and a lot of freedom inside my parent's home. And I kind of got the feeling that there were all these girls that had never been away from their families before and they just went hog wild."
Within a week, Porter transferred to a dormitory that emphasized academics.
Porter and others say the home-schooled develop their social skills through volunteerism and other networks that allow them to join in as many or more extracurricular activities than conventional students.
Texas State University admissions director Christie Kangas said home schooled applicants almost always list more community service than those conventional students.
Nassirian said the barriers that once discouraged the home schooled from attending secular colleges began to fall five years ago after the schools overcame "fundamental misgivings" about applications who lacked grade transcripts and report cards.
Porter encountered some of those obstacles.
"On paper, I looked like a high school dropout," she said.
"I had a (high school equivalency diploma) but I didn't do an accredited high school curriculum. So I had to explain that I'm not a high school dropout -- that I have had a lot of unique experiences that a regular high school student doesn't have."
Tom Bear, dean of admissions at the University of Evansville, credits home-schooled students' strong performances on standardized tests for changing their image.
Additionally, applicants to Evansville -- a private institution in southern Indiana -- must submit a reference from a coach, minister or another source.
"We have some checks and balances in place," Bear said. "But the home schooled kids who are here have done well."
(AP) -- Home-schooling advocate Karl Bunday used to get a lot of blank looks when he visited college fairs in his native Minnesota and pitched the virtues of students educated around the kitchen table.
Nearly a decade later, things have changed. "It seems like this time, everybody has heard of home schooling," said Bunday, who operates the Web site learninfreedom.org about "taking responsibility for your own learning."
Until recently, educators say, home-schooled students mostly gravitated to small, primarily religious colleges. Now, as the movement keeps gaining in popularity, they can be found on many -- even most -- campuses nationwide.
"As the numbers (of home schooled) have increased, and there have also been more admitted to college, they've actually performed quite well," said Barmak Nassirian, a policy analyst with the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.
While exact figures are not available, the number of middle and high school students educated at home is now estimated at between 1 million and 2 million.
Such young people have grown up academically with a greater emphasis on learning -- rather than testing -- compared with conventionally educated students, said Laura Derrick of the Home Education Network.
Derrick thinks colleges are starting to recognize that. Schools are "looking at kids as human beings and as people who bring a specific experience to their school rather than just a grade or a grade point average," she said from her home in Austin, Texas.
Educated at home from kindergarten through high school, Holly Porter said the flexibility of home schooling made the transition to university life easy.
"It prepared me better than going to a regular high school would have because I was independently motivated," said Porter, now a graduate student at the University of Denver.
Overcoming stereotypes
Asher Albertson was home schooled until age 16, when he started attending classes at a community college.
Now a junior at the University of Wyoming, Albertson said finding his way to classrooms was the most difficult adjustment to college life. "Before, it was the dining room table," he joked.
Academically, Albertson added, the move to campus was nearly seamless.
"In college, you go to class, but you spend most of your time studying outside of class getting ready for tests, so it wasn't much different from what I was doing before," he said.
Beyond academics, the uptick in home schooled students on college campuses has helped them overcome the stereotype that they're socially maladjusted, said Mark Hegener, the publisher of Home Education magazine.
When Porter moved into her first undergraduate residence hall at Denver five years ago, she felt like it was the conventionally schooled freshmen who had trouble adjusting.
"It was kind of a shock," she recalled.
"I had been given a lot of independence and a lot of freedom inside my parent's home. And I kind of got the feeling that there were all these girls that had never been away from their families before and they just went hog wild."
Within a week, Porter transferred to a dormitory that emphasized academics.
Porter and others say the home-schooled develop their social skills through volunteerism and other networks that allow them to join in as many or more extracurricular activities than conventional students.
Texas State University admissions director Christie Kangas said home schooled applicants almost always list more community service than those conventional students.
Nassirian said the barriers that once discouraged the home schooled from attending secular colleges began to fall five years ago after the schools overcame "fundamental misgivings" about applications who lacked grade transcripts and report cards.
Porter encountered some of those obstacles.
"On paper, I looked like a high school dropout," she said.
"I had a (high school equivalency diploma) but I didn't do an accredited high school curriculum. So I had to explain that I'm not a high school dropout -- that I have had a lot of unique experiences that a regular high school student doesn't have."
Tom Bear, dean of admissions at the University of Evansville, credits home-schooled students' strong performances on standardized tests for changing their image.
Additionally, applicants to Evansville -- a private institution in southern Indiana -- must submit a reference from a coach, minister or another source.
"We have some checks and balances in place," Bear said. "But the home schooled kids who are here have done well."
