SETDA, STATES DISTRIBUTE FREE K-12 CONTENT THROUGH ITUNES U

The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) has announced the availability of a wealth of free content for K-12 educators on Apple's iTunes U. Arizona, Florida, Maine, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Utah -- along with school districts, museums and other educational institutions are now sharing resources not only for K-12 educators in their own states, but for teachers around the world. This initiative creates a destination where professional development, curricula resources, examples of best practices, and student samples are easily accessible. "Teachers can now access these resources in real-time to support teaching and learning. The new K-12 resources on iTunes U address the critical need to engage students through technology-based resources in the core curriculum areas," said Dr. Mary Ann Wolf, SETDA's Executive Director.

iTunes U is an area of the iTunes Store dedicated to providing free education content. iTunes, a free software download for Mac or PC, is required. Focused collections of content designed for use in elementary, middle- and high-school are available in the K-12 category of iTunes U. For more information, click here. The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) is the principal association for state directors of technology and their staff members providing professional development and leadership around the effective use of technology in education to enhance competitiveness in the global workforce. More details are at www.setda.org.

HOUSE EDUCATION COMMITTEE PASSES LEGISLATION TO IMPROVE QUALITY OF STATE PRE-SCHOOL PROGRAMS

On June 26, the House Education and Labor Committee approved legislation to improve the quality of state pre-school programs, which collectively serve over 1 million young children. The Committee passed the legislation, the "Providing Resources Early for Kids Act" (H.R. 3289), by a vote of 31 to 11. Research increasingly demonstrates that the first years of children's lives have a much greater and more lasting impact on their future growth and learning than was previously understood. New research shows that early childhood experiences influence the very architecture and chemistry of a developing brain.

H.R. 3289 establishes a federal-state partnership to expand high-quality early childhood educational opportunities to more children. It provides incentives to states to ensure that their pre-k programs meet children's developmental and educational needs. Under the bill, states receive federal funding that they could use for a variety of program improvement purposes, including: increasing the number of early childhood educators with bachelor's degrees, reducing student-teacher ratios, implementing research-based curricula, and providing vital comprehensive services such as health screenings and nutritional assistance. More details are available online.

LEARNING.COM CREATES NEW TECHNOLOGY LITERACY ASSESSMENT TO ALIGN TO REFRESHED ISTE STANDARDS

Learning.com will launch a new technology literacy assessment in fall 2008 that will align to the "refreshed" 2007 ISTE NETS-S standards, and will add a portfolio assessment capability. Additionally, it will provide states with a rapid path to an assessment specific to their unique technology proficiency standards. ISTE, the International Society for Technology in Education, developed the National Educational Technology Standards for Students in 1998, generally recognized as the roadmap for student technology proficiency. It undertook what it calls a "refresh" and updated those standards, unveiling them at the 2007 National Educational Computing Conference. Learning.com's new technology literacy assessment will roll out in a beta administration with a minimum of 5,000 students nationwide in fall 2008.

Learning.com provides districts and states with a valid technology literacy assessment with TechLiteracy Assessment. Introduced in 2006, TechLiteracy Assessment measures and reports students' knowledge and skills for critical technology concepts and tools. These include spreadsheets, word processing, databases, multimedia, and presentation software. It also assesses students' understanding of systems and technology fundamentals, Internet use and tools, and critical social and ethical issues surrounding technology. A growing number of states are setting technology proficiency standards for their students, usually based on ISTE standards with additional state-specific standards that reflect their own individual state requirements. More details are at www.learning.com.

NEW GEAR UP GRANTS TO HELP MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS OVERCOME BARRIERS TO COLLEGE ACCESS

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings recently announced the award of $41,573,649 for 24 new grants under the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) to help more than 69,000 disadvantaged middle school students receive assistance to prepare for and pursue a college education. "The GEAR UP program partners with the community to reach students early through mentoring, tutoring, financial aid, and other supports," said Secretary Spellings. "This program aims to assure disadvantaged students that college is within their reach, and then provides them with all the help they need to get there."

Nearly $20.8 million is also earmarked for seven state grants to Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. State grants are six-year matching grants that must include both early intervention and scholarship components. Early intervention efforts aim to increase college attendance and success and raise the expectations of low-income students through college awareness and academic preparation activities, financial aid counseling, and college admission preparations. Another $20.77 million is being awarded for 17 partnership grants. Partnership projects are also six-year grants that must include at least one low-income middle school, one college or university, and two community or business organizations. Partners work together to provide all students at a particular grade level and their families a range of support services needed to prepare for college -- such as higher level coursework, summer academies, mentoring, counseling, and help with the college application process. Projects typically begin in sixth or seventh grade and continue through 12th grade. Grantees must match federal funding and partners may contribute in-kind services for their match. GEAR UP is funding 166 continuation projects begun in the last five years, including 34 state grants and 132 partnerships projects that serve more than 738,000 students. More information about the GEAR UP program is available online.

BOEING HOSTS EDUCATORS FROM AROUND THE WORLD FOR WEEK-LONG SPACE JOURNEY

The Boeing Company recently sent more than 90 teachers from around the world to the 17th Annual Boeing Educators to the Space Camp program at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL. The Boeing Educators to Space Camp program uses space exploration initiatives to enhance teachers' skills in presenting math, science, and technology lessons that will inspire students and help ensure a skilled workforce for a globally competitive technology market. The teachers completed hands-on workshops that include simulated space missions, astronaut training, and presentations by rocketry and space exploration experts. The workshops helped bring the excitement of real-world engineering challenges to student levels for a better understanding of scientific and mathematic principles. The teachers also received resources to implement in the classroom to help their students meet national standards for science, math, and technology.

Boeing worked with U.S. and international education institutions who selected more than 90 applicants from 12 countries for the week-long course -- the largest group of educators from the most countries to date. Since 1992, more than 600 teachers have participated in Boeing's annual program, reaching an estimated 30,000 students around the world. Boeing's support of Space Camp aligns with the company's community investment focus area in primary-secondary education, which promotes the professional development of teachers and provides them with the tools and resources they need to help improve student performance. "Space Camp provides a hands-on learning environment where the excitement of science, math, and technology are explored and practiced through the mysteries and wonders of space," said Katrine Balch, director of Education at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. "For educators, Space Camp provides a place to become a learner again and to join with other educators who share the same passions for teaching and learning." More details about Space Camp are available online.

GLOBAL BAYER FOUNDATIONS CREATE INTERNATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL CLIMATE CHANGE CAMP

An international summer science camp for high-school students that centers on environmental education has been created by Bayer Corporation in partnership with RiverQuest and Creek Connections of Allegheny College. The Bayer Climate Fellows Sustainability Camp, based in Western Pennsylvania, is an innovative, two-week residential camp that is running from July 11 - 25 to provide students from Germany and the United States with hands-on group learning about environmental sustainability and global climate change through rural- and urban-river experiences that are fun, academically challenging, and physically engaging. The new camp -- funded by the Bayer USA Foundation and the Bayer Science and Education Foundation, two of Bayer's three global foundations -- is an outgrowth of the recently launched Bayer Climate Program. Dr. Attila Molnar, President and CEO of Bayer Corporation and President of the Bayer USA Foundation explains that "at Bayer, our commitment to sustainability, science education, and corporate social responsibility has us on a constant mission to not only reduce our own impact and greenhouse gas emissions, but also to create educational opportunities for today's students so they may grow into their roles as the environmental stewards of tomorrow."

During the first week, the students spend their days in a hands-on, inquiry-based study of biology, fresh-water ecology, and sustainability. During the second week, students board the environmental learning vessel, Discovery, for a series of green science excursions and experiments, and will explore sustainability issues at Duquesne University. In addition, experts from Bayer MaterialScience and Bayer CropScience will contribute to the curriculum and be on hand to serve as guest speakers on the latest in green-building construction and sustainable-farming techniques, two areas these Bayer businesses are pioneering. The Bayer USA Foundation is the primary source of Bayer Corporation's philanthropy in the United States, with a programmatic focus on the environment and sustainability, education and workforce development, arts and culture, and health and human services. The foundation creates and supports organizations that improve communities in which Bayer employees live and work, as well as society at large. Find out more at www.bayer.com.

NEW MATH AND SCIENCE RESOURCES AT FREE WEBSITE

More than thirty Federal agencies formed a working group in 1997 to make hundreds of federally supported teaching and learning resources easier to find. The result of that work is the Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE) website. The following are recent additions in the areas of science, mathematics, and technology:

"Teaching with Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum" (National Science Foundation) provides modules that help students build spreadsheets to solve mathematical problems in the context of their courses. Topics include compound interest, chemical equilibrium, household budgets, medication dosages, mortgage payments, consumer price index, rock density, carbon sequestration in trees, accounting data, radioactive decay, earthquakes, modeling a healthier weight, and others.
"Cleaning Water" (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) is a lesson in which students (Grades 3-5) create and test a system to filter "gray" water. Astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) recycle their water, including moisture from their sweat and exhalations and water from showering and shaving. These wastewaters are purified and then used as drinking water.
"Engineering Design Challenges: Thermal Protection Systems" helps students in grades 6-9 learn how NASA engineers design thermal protection systems to protect spacecraft from the heat of atmospheric friction during launch and re-entry.
"Nanotechnology: The Power of Small" (National Science Foundation) is the companion website for a public television series on nanotechnology and the environment, health, and privacy.  
"What Is A Planet?" (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) is a lesson in which students (Grades 9-12) compare characteristics of planets, comets, asteroids, and trans-Neptunian objects; create a definition for the term "planet;" and formulate an argument for or against the planet status of a hypothetical newly discovered object in our solar system.