THE

SM
ACHIEVER www.ed.gov • June 1, 2004 • Vol. 3, No. 10

ED Releases Guidance on Parental Involvement

schools; local development of parental involvement plans with

T
he U.S. Department of Education recently released guid-
ance on parental involvement to help states, school dis- sufficient flexibility to address local needs; and building par-
tricts and schools ensure that parents—as their child’s ents’ capacity for using effective practices to improve their own
first teacher—have the information they need to help improve child’s academic achievement.
their child’s academic achievement. The guidance is designed to assist state education agencies,
The parental involvement provisions of the Elementary local school districts and schools in administering the parental
and Secondary Education Act as reauthorized by the No Child involvement provisions of the law. It outlines their responsibili-
Left Behind Act address areas to increase parental options, ties and provides sample templates that might be used for the
including expanded public school choice and supplemental development of a district-wide parental involvement policy and
educational services for eligible children in low-performing for a school-parent compact. It clarifies aspects of the law that
have been brought to the Department’s attention by local
The Central Educational Center has
education leaders, parents and others.
27 computer-equipped labs, For an online copy of the guidance, visit www.ed.gov/
including a pre-engineering lab programs/titleiparta/parentinvguid.doc.
built with a $40,000 contribution
from Yamaha. At
right, Pawel
Kochanowski
Central Educatioiana l Center
works in the Prepares Future
org
construction Charter High School in Ge
nds
lab, while direc- Leaders for Future Dema
tor Tom
By Maggie Riechers
Barnett
oversees. turing plant in Coweta
n 1997, the manager of a manufac

I County, Ga., told the superintenden

couldn’t hire the products of the dist
The plant manager complained tha
t of schools that he
rict’s educational system.
t young employees exhibit-
show up for the job on
ed little “work ethic.” They did not
had trouble reading simple
time, had poor attitudes and even
math problems. The super-
instructions and calculating simple
ediately set in motion a
intendent took him seriously. He imm
s and develop solutions.
study group to outline the problem
needed to be raised.
One thing became clear: Standards
cational Center (CEC)
Three years later, the Central Edu
inary name started produc-
was born. This school with an ord
e talented enough to con-
ing extraordinary students. They wer
aha Motor Manufactur-
vince the area’s largest employer, Yam
ring relocating, to stay in
ing Corporation, which was conside
Coweta County.
ool, draws students
CEC, a publicly funded charter sch
s and integrates an academic
from the three county high school
nology and career classes.
education with state-of-the-art tech
ired academic classes at
Students remain enrolled in the requ
le taking specialized courses
Photography by Louis Sohn their “base” public high school whi
continued on page 2
 CEC is set up on a business model. Essential to CEC’s success are the
The Achiever is published semi-
monthly during the school year
As such, Moore is the CEO, not the nearly 200 local businesses that provide
for parents and community leaders principal; teachers are directors; and stu- work-based opportunities for students.
by the Office of Intergovernmental
and Interagency Affairs, U.S. dents are team members. There is strict These include Yamaha, which also gave
Department of Education (ED). Rod Paige, Secretary. enforcement of attendance and tardiness the school $40,000 to build a pre-engi-
For questions and comments, contact: rules. Every student gets a course grade neering lab; the William I. Bonnell
Nicole Ashby, Editor, U.S. Department of Education,
400 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Room 5E217, and a work-ethic grade. The school Company, an aluminum extrusion
Washington, DC 20202, 202-205-0676 (fax), offers students a range of courses from plant; and Newnan Hospital.
NoChildLeftBehind@ed.gov.
welding to 3-D computer animation. The school relies on local businesses
For address changes and subscriptions,
contact: ED Pubs, P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, MD Computer technology, whether learning to help determine its courses. “We have
20794, 1-877-4ED-PUBS (1-877-433-7827), to repair computers or set up a network, advisory boards in each major field,”
edpubs@inet.ed.gov.
is a major field of study, as is health care says CEO Moore. “Industry representa-
For information on ED programs, resources
and events, contact: Information Resource Center, with classes in medical technology and tives come in, see what we’re teaching,
U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland patient care. then advise us.”
Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20202,
1-800-USA-LEARN (1-800-872-5327), Christina Diamond, 18, is a CEC For example, in the construction
usa_learn@ed.gov. senior taking college-level classes field the advisory board consists of a
Disclaimer: The Achiever contains news and through West Central Technical College. member of Habitat for Humanity, a
information about public and private organizations
for the reader’s information. Inclusion does not She will attend Southern Polytechnical local manufacturer, the president of a
constitute an endorsement by the U.S. Department State University this fall, majoring in local commercial construction company
of Education of any products or services offered or
views expressed. architecture. She says the classes she and a developer. In the health care field
took at CEC—such as pre-engineering, there are representatives from hospitals
page 1
continued from information technology and computer- and nursing homes.
at CEC, which are not aided drafting (CAD)—will prepare her CEC has caught the eye of educa-
offered at other schools in the county. A for next year. tors around the county. In March 2004,
key element is that CEC is also a cam- “The environment here is so much on a visit to CEC, Assistant Secretary for
pus of West Central Technical College more mature than in regular high Vocational and Adult Education Susan
and offers college-level courses. school,” says Diamond. “Classes are Sclafani toured the school and said its
“CEC exists because a changing smaller and you get more attention. model is one that should be replicated
global economy demands a knowledge- And, the classes are real hands-on.” around the country. “We believe very
based and skill-based workforce,” says Based on her experience as a CEC strongly in what you’re doing,” she told
Russ Moore, chief executive officer graduate and her second year as an Coweta County school officials. “We’re
(CEO) of CEC. The school was recently architecture major at Georgia Tech, thinking others could benefit from the
named a national Model High School Jessica Jackson verifies what Diamond model you’ve created here.”
by a consortium of professional educa- says. Jackson believes her drafting and For more information about
tion organizations. CAD classes at CEC put her a step CEC, visit www.gacec.com or call
CEC’s student body represents a ahead of her peers. “It gave me the skills 678-423-2000.
cross section of academic skills and per- I needed,” she says.
formance, from high achievers to those
with special needs. Ninety-eight percent
of CEC graduates go on to two- or four-
year colleges, many having already
earned technical certificates, or
enter the workforce already
trained in specific jobs.
“The school seamless-
ly weaves together sec-
ondary and postsec-
ondary education and
training with the needs
of business and indus-
try,” says Moore.

From left, CEO Russ

Moore and team mem-
bers Rosvin Recinos,
Jennifer Freeman and
Jennifer Medeiros solve an
algebraic equation with math
2 director Randy Moore.
 be Horizon
par ents have, the better they will e
“The more choices

On th

:
righ t environ m ent for their child.”
able to pick the ated in the
st
n Rod Paige, as
by U. S. Secr etary of Educatio the ce lebration of
Remarks lease of May 3, 2004, on
ess re
Department’s pr
l Ch arte r Schools Week.
Nationa June 15
8:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m. E.T.
Education News Parents Can Use

-U
p: No Child monthly broadcast will focus on keep-
ing children healthy, physically fit and
Left Behind
Close

learning during the summer months.

Charter Schools Visit www.ed.gov/news/av/video/edtv
or call 1-800-USA-LEARN for details.

L
ast month senior officials at the U.S. Department
of Education visited charter schools around the June 16-18
country to mark National Charter Schools Week, Miami, Fla.
May 3-7. U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige kicked off National Charter Schools Conference,
the celebration with a visit to the School for Arts in Learning, a sponsored by the U.S. Department
charter school in Washington, D.C., on May 3. On May 5, the Department of Education. Visit
announced the awarding of a $4 million grant to the state of Massachusetts to www.uscharterschools.org.
enhance the credit of its charter schools to help meet their facility needs.
The Department’s Credit Enhancement for Charter Schools Facilities grant

?????
program provides funds on a competitive basis to help public and nonprofit entities
with loan guarantees, insuring debt and other means of leveraging funds to help
charter schools obtain school facilities through such means as purchase, lease and Did
donation. The funds may also be used to help charter schools construct and renovate
school facilities. You
Charter schools are public schools under contract or charter from a public
agency that is seeking to create alternatives within the public school system. Free and
open to all students, these schools expand options for parents.
Know
This year marks the 12th anniversary of the opening of the first charter school.
Charter schools are being founded
Since then, almost 3,000 charter schools have opened in 38 states and the District
and supported by well-known
of Columbia, educating more than 700,000 children.
individuals such as Bill and Melinda
The creation and support of charter schools are key elements of the No Child
Gates, tennis legend Andre Agassi,
Left Behind Act. President Bush’s fiscal year 2005 budget proposes almost $320 mil-
actress Laura San Giacomo, gospel
lion for charter schools, including $100 million for the Credit Enhancement for
musician Marvin Winans and count-
Charter School Facilities grant program.
less highly successful educators and
For more information about the Credit Enhancement for
community leaders who say charter
Charter School Facilities program, visit www.ed.gov/programs/
schools give them the ability to
charterfacilities, and for the State Charter School Facilities
focus solely on what children need.
Incentive program, www.ed.gov/programs/statecharter.
Source: www.uscharterschools.org.

Technology Toolkit leverag-

ing met at SETDA’s second annual

T
he State Educational Technology
Directors Association (SETDA)
recently unveiled its 2003 SETDA
National Leadership Institute Toolkit:
States Helping States Implement No
Child Left Behind. Developed with
input from state and national experts,
the kit offers resources and best prac-
tices on improving learning for all stu-
dents through the use of technology. It
addresses five content areas:
• building partnerships and
resources;
• technology
leadership skills
for the 21st century;
• data collection and data-driven
decision making;
• building high-quality professional
development programs; and
• virtual schools and distance
learning.
The toolkit contains the outcomes
of five corresponding work groups that
National Leadership Institute held in
December 2003. The institute was
attended by over 100 education tech-
nology leaders from 46 states, along
with U.S. Department of Education
representatives and other interested
parties.
SETDA has also compiled for its
Web site a profile report outlining each
state’s technology plans. For more
information, visit www.setda.org.
3
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
ED PUBS THE POSTAGE AND FEES PAID
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF
P.O. Box 1398
JESSUP, MD 20794-1398

OFFICIAL BUSINESS
ACHIEVER EDUCATION
Permit NO. G-17

PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE $300 SM June 1, 2004 • Vol. 3, No. 10 FIRST CLASS

“When it comes to
the education of our
children ... failure is
not an option.”
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH

NEW WEB SeITE! l

Provides Nationa
Online Resourc ring Services
of Free Tuto
Network
nter last month
ati on al Se rv ice s Quality (SESQ) Ce
he Supplemental Ed uc lp parents of
rsforkids.org—to he

T site— ww w.tu to
launched a new W eb lemental
ad va nt ag e of fre e tu toring and other supp
eligible children take Act of
req ui red un de r th e No Child Left Behind
academic enrichmen
t services (SES) must be offered
en tal educational services
2001. Under the law , su pp lem en designated as
att en d a Ti tle I school that has be
to low-income child ren wh o ited infor-
fam ilies are rec eiving confusing or lim
any eli gib le ove research
o ye ar s or lo ng er. After finding that m ns na tio nw id e to coordinate and impr
t for tw ganiza tio at will
needing improvemen e SE SQ Ce nter created a network of or rn ed fro m its ac tiv ities into resources th
mation about their op
tions, th turns the lessons lea
lem en tal ed uc ational services. SESQ
and assistance on supp they need.
ch ild ren ge t th e ex tra academic support
help ensure eligible
The site includes— iteria; SES process;
’s SE S pr ov ision , including eligibility cr ict s, po lic ym ak ers , and providers in the
• An overview of th
e law tes and school distr
tlining th e ro les of families, educators, sta
• Charts ou ers; and research; and
A state-by -st ate listing of SES provid zations do ing rel ate d work, news articles
• orga ni
line resources, such as m the Office of
• Links to other on ev en ts; eri ca n In sti tutes for Research fro
• A calendar of SE
S- fo cu sed grant to th e Am kids.org or call
wa s est ab lishe d in late 2003 through a r m or e in fo rm ati on , visit www.tutorsfor
The SESQ Center ent of Education. Fo
an d Im pr ov em en t at the U.S. Departm
Innovation
1-866-544-8686.