Legislative Report

This is a legislative report for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, filed on December 16, 2004.

This week the U.S. Department of Education announced that Pennsylvania will accept the department's No Child Left Behind Teacher-to-Teacher e-Learning courses as credit toward the state's recertification and "highly qualified teacher" requirements. Launched in October as part of its continuing effort to support classroom teachers, the department's e-Learning program offers teachers on-demand professional development training to meet a variety of educational needs and improve student achievement. The USDOE noted that teachers can take advantage of these in-depth workshops at no cost and at any time that fits into their schedules. The courses may be particularly useful to teachers in the urban and rural areas of the state.

The USDOE had offered schools an opportunity for a demonstration of the e-Learning courses. More than 500 schools responded. The demonstrations will show how teachers, schools and school districts can tailor the program to meet their unique needs for helping students learn to high standards. Designed for elementary and secondary school teachers and offered either online or via satellite TV, the workshops cover a variety of subject areas, from reading instruction to science and mathematics, and are taught by teachers who have had success in those areas.

The e-Learning program is part of the Bush administration's Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative, which helps educators share best practices for putting research about effective teaching to work in the classroom. The initiative includes regional workshops, a national summit, American Stars of Teaching, roundtable discussions with teachers about the support they need to meet the academic needs of their students, a teacher toolkit and electronic "e-byte" updates to provide useful information to teachers. Pennsylvania teachers can also receive credit for participation in the initiative's workshops. More information about the Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative, workshops and No Child Left Behind is available at www.ed.gov.

In other news from the USDOE, America's fourth- and eighth-grade students significantly outperformed many of their international peers, scoring well above the international average in both mathematics and science, according to the latest results from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). In addition, U.S. eighth-graders improved their scores compared to previous years (1999 and 1995), with gains across most student groups, including boys, girls, and minority students. Scores for U.S. fourth graders remained static in mathematics and science.

U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige expressed optimism with the TIMSS results, which measured students from up to 46 nations, including economically developed members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Paige noted that the TIMSS tests are closely linked to the curricula of the participating countries. The TIMSS results followed another international assessment released last week, the Program for International Student Achievement (PISA), which showed America's 15-year-olds performing below the international average in mathematics literacy and problem-solving. The report on the U.S. TIMSS results, Highlights From the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003, was released this week by the Education Department's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in the

Institute of Education Sciences. The international results from TIMSS were released this week by the Amsterdam-based International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement(IEA). Other key findings from TIMSS 2003 report include:

* In 2003, U.S. eighth-graders improved their average mathematics and science performances compared to 1995. The growth in achievement occurred primarily between 1995 and 1999 in mathematics, and between 1999 and 2003 in science. Moreover, the available data suggest that the performance of U.S. eighth-graders in both mathematics and science was higher in 2003 than in 1995 relative to the 21 other countries that participated in the studies.

* No measurable changes were detected in the average mathematics and science scores of U.S. fourth-graders between 1995 and 2003. Moreover, the available data suggest that the performance of U.S. fourth-graders in both mathematics and science was lower in 2003 than in 1995 relative to the 14 other countries that participated in the studies.

* U.S. fourth-grade girls showed no measurable change in their average performance in mathematics and science between 1995 and 2003. U.S. fourth-grade boys also showed no measurable change in their average mathematics performance, but showed a measurable decline in science performance over the same period.

* U.S. African American fourth-graders and eighth-graders and Hispanic American eighth-graders improved markedly in both mathematics and science between 1995 and 2003. Hispanic fourth-graders showed no measurable changes in either subject. As a result, the gap in achievement between White and Black fourth-and eighth-grade students in the United States narrowed

between 1995 and 2003 in both mathematics and science. The gap in achievement between Black and Hispanic fourth-graders also narrowed in science over the same period.

TIMSS is organized under the auspices of the IEA and is directed in the United States by the NCES, with additional financial support from the National Science Foundation. The IEA is an international organization of national research institutions and governmental research agencies that focuses on research in education. TIMSS assesses students every four years to provide participating nations with regular information on their understanding of mathematics and science topics taught through school curricula. TIMSS also provides nations with information on students' classroom experiences, teachers' pedagogical approaches, and school administrators' policies and decision-making processes across the participating nations.

In 2003, TIMSS was administered at the fourth- and eighth-grade levels in participating nations. TIMSS was last administered at fourth grade in 1995, and at eighth grade in 1995 and 1999. For further information on TIMSS or to download the report Highlights from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003, please visit NCES' TIMSS Web site at http://nces.ed.gov/timss. The TIMSS report can also be ordered by calling toll-free 1-877-4ED-PUBS (1-877-433-7827), TTY/TTD 1-877-576-7734; e-mailing edpubs@inet.ed.gov; or making a request via the Internet at http://www.ed.gov/pubs/edpubs.html