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PUBLIC AGENDA, REALITY CHECK 2001 (February 2001).

THE COMMITTEE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, MEASURING WHAT MATTERS (February 2001)

	On February 20, CED released a report that hails testing and accountability as key to improving student learning. CED cautions, however, that tests are a means, not an end, to school reform. More work be done to ensure that tests are good measures of learning. See The Committee for Economic Development.

PUBLIC AGENDA, JUST WAITING TO BE ASKED: A FRESH LOOK AT ATTITUDES ON PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT (March 2001).

	Advocates of "public engagement" believe education reforms will be more likely to succeed if the public's concerns are more clearly heard. But how much do educators really want the input? And how much does the public really want to give? In Public Agenda's latest study, Just Waiting to Be Asked?, we found that school leaders say they want to hear from the public, but also say school board meetings are dominated by the most vocal and disgruntled citizens. Among the public, those who rate their local schools the lowest are the most likely to want greater involvement. For more information visit Public Agenda Online.

MetLife, The Metropolitan Life Survey of the American Teacher, 2001 (October 2001).

	Findings from the Metropolitan Life Survey of the American Teacher, 2000 revealed that feelings of alienation from school are prevalent among students, parents, and teachers at the secondary school level. The Survey also found that students hold high expectations for their futures, whereas teachers’ and parents’ views on what the future holds for today’s young people are more pessimistic. Low expectations held by teachers and parents for students’ futures prompted areas for further study. Accordingly, this year’s survey explores this perception gap by examining components of school life through the eyes of students, teachers and principals. The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher, 2001 examines how teachers, principals and students evaluate their own schools on key measures of an effective school environment. For more information visit: www.metlife.com, visited October 2, 2001.

CSR RESEARCH CONSORTIUM. CLASS SIZE REDUCTION IN CALIFORNIA (February 2002).

	FILE ATTACHMENT PENDING. (uploading error date 2/6/2002)From the executive summary: CSR Implementation Is Essentially Complete. California’s CSR reform effort had attained almost full implementation by the 2000–01 school year, the program’s fifth year. As Figure 1 shows, at that time 97 percent of the state’s K–3 students were enrolled in classes of 20 or fewer, and 99 percent of all eligible districts were participating in the program […] This interim report should be read as an update on the CSR program for the 1999–00 and 2000–01 school years. Some of the negative effects previously observed had moderated by 2000–01, but others remained. And important differences between schools serving different student population groups persisted. When we looked at student achievement statewide, we did not find a strong association between achievement and CSR participation. In general, we did not attempt to draw summative conclusions about the overall effectiveness of the CSR program in this report, nor did we develop recommendations for policymakers. The fourth and final CSR evaluation report, which will be issued in June 2002, will synthesize the evidence we have collected over the past four years and will focus on the policy lessons that can be learned. It will also contain additional analyses exploring the relationship between teacher characteristics and student achievement gains in reduced size classes. See Appendix D for a list of topics to be covered in the final report. For more please visit: http://www.classize.org, visited February 6, 2002.

POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE REPORT, VOL. 14, NO. 2, DIRECT INSTRUCTION AND THE TEACHING OF EARLY READING: WISCONSIN LEAD INSURGENCY (March 2001)

	The research institute reviewed the research base for Direct Instruction, surveyed a sample of new Wisconsin teachers to find out what they learned about Direct Instruction in their training programs, and visited in six Wisconsin schools to observe teachers using Direct Instruction and to talk with them, and their principals, about their experience with it. For more information visit http://www.wpri.org/Reports/reports.html.

CENTER FOR EQUAL OPPORTUNITY, THE ABCs OF ENGLISH IMMERSION: A TEACHERS GUIDE (January 2001)

	The Center for Equal Opportunity is proud to offer this guide. In it, we attempt to answer the most frequesntly asked questions about teaching, designing, and evaluating an English immersion classroom and the research underpinnings in favor of English immersion. With the help of this guide, teachers, administrators, and policy makers will reach a better understanding of what structured English immersion is all about, and the special difficulties that affect English-learners at different grade levels, especially older students.

GALE F. GAINES, SOUTHERN REGIONAL EDUCATION BOARD, BEYOND SALARIES: EMPLOYEE BENEFITS FOR TEACHERS IN THE SREB STATES (MARCH 2001).

	One important factor that influences states’ abilities to recruit and retain well-qualified teachers is adequate compensation. Salaries are only part of the cost of paying teachers; employee benefits add thousands of dollars to the total cost. This paper summarizes contribution rates for teachers and employers for the most costly benefits: retirement, Social Security and Medicare, and major medical plans. For more information visit the Southern Regional Education Board.