PACE Weekly Newsletter                   Date: November 8, 2007

                            Important Dates:

November 14, Wednesday, 7pm, PACE Steering Committee Meeting ~ Join us for an update on the Elementary Math Curriculum Renewal Committee and planning for upcoming activities.  We'll be meeting at East View Elementary Community Room, (630) 636-2800, 4209 Route 71, Oswego (located across the street from OHS).  Parents who would like to join the Steering Committee or get more involved in PACE are most welcome!

November 10, Saturday, 10:30am, The Balsters Duck Soup Magic Show at Oswego East High School Performing Arts Center ~ Duck Soup is a one hour magic and entertainment show and features a dazzling combination of illusions, comedy, music and audience participation that will entertain the entire family.  Show is presented for the students and families in our community by the Oswego Foundation for Educational Excellence.  Tickets are available for $6.00 at www.oepac.org or at the door. Children 2 and under are FREE if they sit on adult's lap. For additional information, contact Todd Mielcarz, OEHS Theater Manager, at 636-2248.  Proceeds from this performance will help fund grants awarded by the Oswego Foundation for Excellence in Education to enhance the educational opportunities of youth in Oswego School District 308. 

November 13, Tuesday, 7:30pm, LaGrange Area League of Women Voters presents "Illinois, What is Intelligence Worth?: Our need to Support Young, Emerging, Bright Minds": Event is held at The Community Bank of Western Springs, Lower Level, Handicapped Accessible, 1000 Hillgrove Avenue, Western Springs.

  Come learn about

·      Gifted Education in Nearby Elementary Districts
·      State Funding History
·      Current State Funding Provisions
·      Insuring That Our Brightest Students Are Served 

  Join in discussing

·      Proposed State Funding Level
·      Plan Based on Limited Availability
Survey results from area school districts and other research will be presented. The community as well as local school district administrators are invited. This announcement comes from Stephanie Nelson, Education Issues Study Group, The LaGrange Area League of Women Voters.

INFORMATION & NOTES:

1)  Information on high school AP(Advanced Placement) courses and examinations offered in our District are now on the OEHS website at http://www.oswego308.org/schools/oehs/academics/studentservices/students/ap/default.htm  Please visit to find information on AP, including courses offered in each department, prerequisites to taking the courses, benefits of AP, and eye-opening current research.  We would like to thank Asst. Principal Jim Seput for the information.

2)  Important Updates on State Gifted Funding from Dr. Sally Walker, Executive Director of IAGC(IL Assoc. for Gifted Children): The following information is from recently published IAGC Courier Publication, Fall 2007: 

This summer a $5 million line item for Gifted Education was added to the Fiscal Year 2008 budget bill.  While there are many champions of gifted education in the General Assembly, we would first like to recognize House Republican Leader Tom Cross (R-Oswego), whose insistence that the budge include funding for gifted education carried the day during budget negotiations. 

Many have asked what the next step will be.  The money will go to ISBE (IL State Board of Education), which has a list of priorities for spending.  These include the following initiatives:

Start up grants for model programs - Programs for underserved gifted children will be encouraged as well as programs for their teachers and parents. 

Professional development - In order for educators to understand the characteristics and needs of gifted students, it is recommended that a statewide Gifted Education Institute course be updated, revised, and taught across the state.  Teachers who have learned how to differentiate for the needs of gifted students have been found to make better classroom accommodations for all learners.

On-line distance learning course in gifted - Many districts in Illinois are isolated and unable to obtain college course work in gifted education.  In order for educators to be knowledgeable about gifted students and best practices for the classroom, on-line classes would be made available state-wide.

IAGC Standards - Since there is no state certification for gifted, the IAGC Standards Committee has been working for the past 10 years to develop knowledge and performance standards and assessments based on what teachers of the gifted should know and be able to do to meet the needs of these special students.  A knowledge assessment component has been developed by this committee and is included in the new rules and regulations.  This project needs to be finalized.

3)  Important Updates from NAGC (National Association for Gifted Children) from Janet Clarenbach, Director, Public Education & Affiliate Relations:  The following information is also from IAGC Courier, Fall 2007:

Javits Program - Thanks to the efforts of many advocates throughout the country, our friends in Congress allocated $7.6 million for the Javits program.  It is less than what was requested, but far better than the funding picture for gifted at this point last year.  $7.6 million is not enough to run a state grants competition, but it's enough to keep the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented research projects going.  It is expected that there will be a competition in the spring for 5-year research grants.

Formula Grant Legislation was introduced by Rep. Elton Gallegly (CA), one of our long-time supporters.  Fourteen state associations sent letters to his office endorsing the legislation H.R. 2925.E.  Illinois was one of the states.  Similar to legislation last introduced in 2003, the bill would create a formula-grant-to-states program, based on a state's relative student population size, in which states would determine for themselves how to spend the funds based on 5 key areas:

- professional development to ensure that school personnel understand the educational needs of gifted students

- innovative programs and services, including service learning

- making materials and services available through state regional educational service centers, institutions of higher education, or other entities

- challenging, high-level course work that utilizes emerging technologies, including distance learning, for individual students or groups of students; and

- direct educational services and materials, including strategies designed to address the educational needs of gifted students such as curriculum compacting, acceleration, independent study, and dual enrollment.

To secure passage of this legislation, our first step is to secure cosponsors.  NAGC needs your help to get more cosponsors for the bill.  Bobby L. Rush (IL) is one of the co-sponsors.  It would be fantastic if you sent emails to your Representatives urging them to cosponsor the bill as a way of showing support for the educational needs of high-ability learners.  As always, email addresses for Representatives are available at www.house.gov.

Higher Ed Act - Senate passed its version of the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA, S.1642), which included language that supports gifted learners.  The definition of "teaching skills" has been modified to include that teachers would know how to address the learning needs of gifted children.  Also, teacher preparation institutions that receive Title II teacher preparation grants are required to increase what pre-service teachers learning about gifted children.

The House education committee hasn't acted yet, but appears likely that similar language will be included.  Once the legislation is passed and the President signs it into law, there will be much to do to educate universities about how they might better prepare pre-service teachers to know how to identify and serve gifted students in their classrooms.  But, this is a task that we are all looking forward to!

Science and Math - House and Senate both passed the America "COMPETES" Act, which is essentially a compilation of three bills from the last Congress devoted to energy conservation, tax issues, and improvements in education.  The most exciting provision for gifted education advocates is that the bill provides federal matching funds for statewide math/science public high schools.

No Child Left Behind - House education committee will be introducing its bill after Congress returns in September.  Although the House is likely to pass that bill, the future for NCLB in the Senate is not at all clear, and no bipartisan bill has emerged from the Senate education committee.  For now, below-proficient children will remain the focus of the legislation, with modifications made to how districts measure and report AYP.  We've heard that using growth models for measuring student achievement will be an option for states, but, again, the students whose progress is being measured for accountability purposes will be struggling learners, and not all learners.  NAGC has urged the Senate committee to focus on improving the reporting requirements (including reporting the numbers of students participating in Gifted/Talented programs and services), and removing disincentives to giving students out-of-level tests so that districts can see how far above grade level students are actually performing.

4)                   How does your gifted child or student experience the classroom?  NAGC is looking for cartoons, verse, or short poems (50 words or less) that shed light on a gifted child's experience.  The submissions may come from you or directly from the child - there's no age limit -- everyone can participate.  They will display the cartoons and poems at the NAGC convention, include them in their advocacy and membership materials, and share them with those with limited gifted education experience.

They want to know the good, the bad, and the ugly of being gifted in today's schools.  For more information, go to http://www.nagc.org/index.aspx?id=2078

5)  NAGC 2008 Wall Calendar is available ~ Proceeds go to support the Nicholas Green Award fund.  The calendar notes the dates of conventions

 and meetings important to the gifted community and photographs of Washington DC, NAGC's headquarters. They are useful, beautiful, and

support a good cause.  They also make great gifts.  For details, please go to https://www.nagc.org/nagc2/ngcShopper/

6)  Your Input is needed - We invite you to participate in a research study being conducted by The University of Iowa’s Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education.  On September 20, 2004, the report A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America’s Brightest Students was released. The report was endorsed by the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) and was featured in TIME Magazine and in other media. It is now three years since the report was released.

The purpose of this brief survey is to assess the impact of the report A Nation Deceived on attitudes, practices, and policies about academic acceleration.

To participate in this brief survey, go to https://bbcdata.honors.uiowa.edu/nd/three_year_survey/

Please send items you'd like to share, questions, & suggestions to Jill Ko at ko7@sbcglobal.net.  Visit us at www.pace308.org.  If you know someone who may find the weekly updates helpful, please pass it along.

"A fundamental goal of the People of the State is the educational development of all persons to the limits of their capacities." - Illinois Constitution, ARTICLE X, SECTION 1.