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ED's "What Works Clearinghouse" Now Available On-Line


FY 2005 Budget Update

Both the House and Senate recessed yesterday for their summer break and to allow members to participate in their respective Party Presidential Conventions. Congress will reconvene on September 7, 2004.

At todayıs Committee for Education Funding (CEF - CEC is a member of this education-focused coalition) meeting, guest speaker Bill Hoagland, Budget and Appropriations advisor to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, outlined the likely schedule for how appropriations would proceed when Congress returns in September.

Hoagland expects the House to take up the Labor,HHS,Education bill in the first week after Labor Day. He expects the House to then roll up all appropriations bills passed to date into an omnibus bill and send it to the Senate.

The Senate would also like to do an omnibus bill in the second week of September. Although a separate Labor-HHHS subcommittee mark-up is possible in the first week back, it is more likely the bill will be folded into the omnibus. Final negotiations would take place in conference, most likely behind closed doors.

The Senate passed the FYı 05 Defense appropriations bill conference report last night, including a provision that sets the overall discretionary spending level for FYı 05 at $821.9 billion. Since the President will likely sign it next week, the Senate will be able to enforce 302(b) caps identical to the House caps for all funding bills with a 60 vote point of order against bills or amendments that exceed the caps.

Since many controversial issues are sure to emerge in any floor debate on funding bills (e.g., minimum wage, overtime, veteransı health, etc.), Hoagland predicts that the Senate will wind up passing a Continuing Resolution (CR) at FY ı04 levels until after the elections. A lame-duck session of Congress is now a near certainty.

He noted that the Senate typically passes only three appropriations bills in Presidential election years. If the White House and the Senate both change hands in November, as happened in 1980, he would expect appropriations bills to be held over until next spring.

He does not see the Senate being able to do better than the House billıs $2 billion education increase for FY Œ05.

Senate and House Committees Act on Respective Perkins Act Bills

(Following are portions of press releases issued by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions [HELP] Committee and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. For more information about the two bills, go to: http://enzi.senate.gov/2686.htm for the Senate bill, and http://edworkforce.house.gov/press/press108/second/07july/voced072104.htm
for the House bill.)

A bill to renew and improve federal programs that provide support for career and technical training was introduced this week by Sen. Mike Enzi, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Employment, Safety and Training, and Sen. Judd Gregg, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. The bipartisan bill, the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2004, S. 2686, provides more coordination and flexibility to ensure students are better prepared for postsecondary education and the workforce.

Nearly every student in America enrolls in at least one career and technical education class at some point during high school, and millions of adults update their skills at the postsecondary level each year. Funding for the programs in FY04 was more than $1.3 billion, representing the largest federal investment in America's high schools, although only a fraction of the overall total invested in career and technical education each year.

The programs were last renewed in 1998. That bill restructured the formula for distributing federal funds and established performance standards and corresponding sanctions and incentives for states to meet those standards.

The Enzi bill builds on these reforms, adding requirements that academic and career and technical curricula be better integrated, that coordination between high school and post-secondary institutions be strengthened and that program offerings be better linked to workforce needs.

Additional Cosponsors: Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Jim Jeffords (I-VT), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jeff Sessions (R-AL)

The bill would provide:

Stronger Academic and Technical Skills

• Establishes as a core performance indicator student achievement in core academic subjects as defined by No Child Left Behind, ensuring that career and technical education students are held to the same high standards as other students.
• Emphasizes the integration of challenging academic course content with technical skill content in local plans, professional development activities, and tech-prep programs.
• Requires States to support local recipients in developing career pathways designed to improve graduation rates and lead students from secondary to postsecondary education and training.
• Places greater emphasis on the involvement of career guidance and academic counselors to improve students' awareness of their career and educational options, and the skills and knowledge they need to succeed.

Emphasis on Workforce Preparation and Partnerships

• Requires States and local recipients to describe how they will link Perkins programs to the needs of businesses, and prepare participants for high skill, high wage or high demand jobs in emerging or established industries.
• Links student learning to the skills and knowledge necessary for success in the 21st century global economy.

Stronger Accountability

• Establishes separate secondary and postsecondary performance indicators, and aligns the postsecondary indicators with other federal job training indicators.
• Requires local recipients to set and meet performance standards that are aligned with State performance standards.
• Requires States to provide technical assistance to eligible recipients and allows eligible recipients to request additional technical assistance from the Secretary.
• Allows States to withhold funds from local recipients that do not meet more than one of their adjusted levels of performance for more than two years.
• Allows States to develop better data systems and requires States to disaggregate data for better accountability.

Flexibility and Streamlined Administration for States

• Gives States broad flexibility within the 15 percent of States' allocations retained at the State level, including by removing caps under current law. The requirement that 85 percent of the allocation be distributed to local recipients is maintained.
• Aligns secondary and postsecondary indicators with those established in other programs to reduce paperwork.
• Allows States to submit one plan for each of the three programs funded under the Perkins Act, so less time is spent on administrative activities and more time is spent on improving education for students.
• Ensures better coordination and collaboration between Tech-Prep consortia and basic state grant activities.
• Allows States to award incentive grants to local recipients who exceed their performance goals and meet State-established criteria.

More Effective Research and Professional Development

• Requires States to describe how professional development activities will improve instruction, the recruitment and retention of career and technical education teachers, the transition to teaching from industry, links to business, and student preparation for the workforce.
• Emphasizes professional development activities that align technical and academic curricula with the needs and skills demanded by the modern workforce.
• Emphasizes the use of scientifically based research where applicable, including in professional development activities for teachers and administrators, and for national research activities.

Authorization

• Authorizes "such sums" for 6 years, through FY2010.

The Senate was supposed to mark-up its Perkins bill this week, but the mark-up was postponed. No alternate date has been set.

House Committee Passes Perkins Act Bill

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce (Boehner, R-Ohio) passed its bill to reauthorize the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act on Wednesday, the same day the Senate HELP Committee passed its bill (see above). H.R. 4496, the Houseıs bill, which was introduced by Education Reform Subcommittee Chairman Mike Castle (R-DE), is entitled the "Vocational and Technical Education for the Future Act." The Subcommittee passed the bill by voice vote last week.

³The Vocational and Technical Education for the Future Act is the next logical step in our ongoing efforts to strengthen and reform education in America,² said Education & the Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner (R-OH). ³The bill will build on the foundation of the No Child Left Behind Act, and ensure students participating in vocational and technical education at the secondary and postsecondary levels have greater educational opportunities now and into the future.²

In 1998, reforms made to the Perkins Act increased the focus on academic and technical skills and on ensuring students complete their programs and are equipped to transition into postsecondary opportunities including further education or successful employment. The Vocational and Technical Education for the Future Act would build on those reforms, so states and local communities can adapt to the changing needs of America ıs education and workforce systems. To improve educational opportunities and strengthen vocational and technical education, the bill would:

• Help states better utilize federal funds for secondary and postsecondary vocational education programs;
• Increase accountability and emphasize student achievement; and
• Strengthen opportunities for coordination between secondary and postsecondary vocational and technical education, including the creation of model sequences of courses.

CEC is disappointed that the committee defeated an important amendment offered by Congresswoman Woolsey (D-CA) concerning state administrative costs. Presently, the bill cuts those amounts allowed for state administrative costs from 5 percent of the total state allocation to 2 percent. The Woolsey amendment, which would have restored the amount allowed for state administrative costs to 5 percent, was defeated by a 22-23 party-line vote, with only Tom Osbourne (R-NE) voting with the Democrats. CEC wrote letters in support of the amendment to Chairman Boehner and Congresswoman Woolsey. Congresswoman Woolsey may offer the amendment when the full House considers the bill.

A summary of the Vocational and Technical Education for the Future Act can be viewed online at http://edworkforce.house.gov/issues/108th/education/voced/billsummary.htm.

House Passes Resolution Honoring AFT President Feldman

The House of Representatives on Monday passed a resolution (H.Res.714) in honor of Sandra Feldman, who last week resigned as president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the senior Democrat on the House education committee, who introduced the resolution, cited Feldmanıs ³tireless efforts to improve the quality of teaching and learning² in urging his colleagues to support the measure.

³Sandy Feldman understands that the right to a sound public education is one of the most basic of our civil rights,² said Miller. ³Her contributions to our nationıs education system have been immeasurable. This resolution is a small recognition of her efforts. The best evidence of her dedication is found in all of our schools.²

Feldman worked as an advocate for children during the civil rights movement of the 1960ıs, and then taught in the New York City school system. She was elected president of the United Federation of Teachers in 1986, and was elected AFT president in 1997.

CEC is grateful to Ms. Feldman for her many years of dedication and commitment to Americaıs teachers, and the education of all children, including those with disabilities. CEC wishes her the best in her next life endeavor.

To read the full text of the statement Miller delivered on the House floor, go to his Web site at: www.house.gov/georgemiller.

EDıs ³What Works Clearinghouse² Now Available On-Line

A new clearinghouse designed to provide the education field with a ³one-stop shop² of what is actually working in education is now available on the Web at http://www.w-w-c.org/

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC), established in 2002 by the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences, aims to promote informed education decision making through a set of easily accessible databases and user-friendly reports that provide education consumers with ongoing, high-quality reviews of the effectiveness of replicable educational interventions (programs, products, practices, and policies) that intend to improve student outcomes. To do this, the WWC developed standards for reviewing and synthesizing research and selected topics for review. The WWC is currently conducting systematic reviews of existing research, and producing WWC Reports that describe the findings of these reviews. A Technical Advisory Group (TAG) composed of leading experts in research design, program evaluation, and research synthesis works with the WWC to ensure the quality and integrity of its efforts. The TAG advises on standards for the WWC Reports, monitors and informs the methodological aspects of the WWC Reports, and reviews and recommends improvements to the WWC Reports.

According to the site, ³On an ongoing basis, the WWC gathers studies of the effectiveness of educational interventions (programs, products, practices, and policies). We review the studies that have the strongest design, and report on the strengths and weaknesses of those studies against the WWC Evidence Standards so that you know what the best scientific evidence has to say.

³The WWC does not endorse any interventions nor does it conduct field studies. Rather, we provide reports with a rating system that gives you a sense of how much you can rely on research study findings.²

© 2004 ConnSENSE Bulletin