From the Capital to the Classroom: Year 4 of the No Child Left Behind Act

"On March 28, 2006, the Center for Educational Policy released its fourth annual report on the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act. The report is a comprehensive analysis of how the law is being implemented at the state, district and local levels. Based on a survey of 50 states, 299 school districts and 38 case studies of school districts, the report provides the most up-to-date information about the law's implementation and shares the opportunities and challenges that it has presented for states and districts" (From the CEP Website)

The Center for Educational Policy describes itself as a national, independent advocate for public education and for more effective public schools. Funders include The George Gund Foundation, The Gates Foundation and Phi Delta Kappa International.

EBSCO Offers Free Access to Teacher Reference Center

EBSCO Publishing (http://www.epnet.com/) is offering free access to the new Teacher Reference Center, a bibliographic index of more than 260 titles from teacher and administration trade journals, periodicals, and books. The database, delivered via the EBSCOhost platform, is available as a free resource to anyone interested in teaching and education.

Teacher Reference Center is currently available at http://www.libraryresearch.com/, along with EBSCO Publishing’s free Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts (LISTA) database. In the coming weeks it will move to http://www.teacherreference.com. Existing EBSCOhost customers may request to have Teacher Reference Center added to their existing EBSCOhost profiles at no additional charge. http://www.infotoday.com/newsbreaks/wnd060410.shtml#3[ITI NewsLink NewsBreaks]

Windows Live Academic Released in Beta

A beta version of Windows Live Academic was released this past week. If you are familiar with Google Scholar, you will see many similarities with Windows Live Adademic. It currently claims to index content related to computer science, physics, electrical engineering, and related subject areas, and limit to peer reviewed materials.

School Libraries and Student Achievement

"A study funded by the Ontario Library Association offers the first Canadian finding that shows a positive correlation between student achievement and library resources and staff. Released April 6, School Libraries and Student Achievement in Ontario includes assessment data from more than 50,000 students and over 800 of the province’s publicly funded elementary schools.

Among the findings were:

• Grade 3 and 6 students in schools with teacher-librarians are more likely to report that they enjoy reading.
• Schools with trained library staff are more likely to have a higher proportion of grade 6 students who meet Ontario standards on reading test scores.
• Schools without trained library staff tend to have lower achievement on the grade 3 and 6 reading tests."

From American Libraries Online.

WSU COE Library and Research News Friday Roundup

Paying Back, Not Giving Back: Student Debt's Negative Impact on Public Service Career Opportunities

PIRG has issued a new report which looks at the issue of unmanageable debt as it pertains to college graduates entering two critical public service careers: teaching and social work.

The state Public Interest Research Groups are a network of independent, state-based, citizen-funded organizations that advocate for the public interest. Each state Public Interest Research Group is independent and locally based. The state PIRGs work together nationally to share ideas and resources and cooperate on regional and national issues. The Michigan PIRG is PIRGIM (Public Interest Research Group in Michigan).

ERIC's Structured Abstracts Initiative

ERIC acknowledges the recent focus on evidence-based decision-making in the Educational Community, and has begun a structured abstract initiative for research submitted directly to ERIC through its Online Submission System. (These are the types of reports formerly submitted through the Clearinghouses as ERIC Documents).

ERIC wants to make it simpler for decision-makers and researchers to see at a glance such key elements in the abstracts as Background, Purpose, Research design and Findings.

Contributors of research through ERIC's Online Submission System located in the My ERIC section of the ERIC Web site are asked to provide this information when submitting research report for review and inclusion in the ERIC database.

Guys Read--literacy for boys

Jon Scieszka is a former elementary school teacher, and children's book author. His innovative program GUYS READ, was established to help boys read. Take a look at his innovative website for inspiration on encouraging guys of all ages to read.