\doc\web\99\07\ncee.txt Date sent: Mon, 10 May 1999 20:57:02 +0100 To: "ClearingHouse" From: "eca@fastlane.net" Subject: [education-consumers] NCEE & Harcourt Brace Send reply to: "eca@fastlane.net" ===================================================================== See two new Policy Briefings on how teacher training is accredited and how value-added assessment provides a better means of identifying well trained teachers. ===================================================================== Here's an excerpt from Ohio trustee Diana Fessler's web site concerning NCEE and Harcourt Brace: http://www.fessler.com/reply.htm The Response states that membership in the New Standards Project has fluctuated and that some partners have discontinued their membership. Although I am aware of the fluctuation in membership, that they are being phased out since the groundwork has already been completed, and the fact that most memberships expire this year, I did not mention those facts in the Report. Instead, I pointed out on page 17 that in June of 1997, New Standards, in a joint venture with Harcourt Brace Educational Measurement, will be selling their wares to school, districts and/or states. NCEE will no longer be funded through membership/partnership fees but rather through the sale of their goods and services. Membership gave states and districts access to the "Tasks" that were, and are being, developed for use in classrooms all across the nation. I find it noteworthy that standardized "tasks" show up in the proposed Standards for Schools. More noteworthy, the inclusion of "tasks" in the document was not at the request of the Standards Committee; it was simply inserted by the ODE writing team. On the surface, the inclusion of the term seems simple enough, however, the inclusion of it means that we have unknowingly laid the foundation for the use of NCEE's assessment tasks, thereby aligning us with NCEE's agenda. Jeanne ===================================================================== EDUCATION CONSUMERS CLEARINGHOUSE networking and information for parents and taxpayers on the internet Subscriptions & Archives: http://education-consumers.com or You are currently subscribed to education-consumers as: arthurhu@halcyon.com TO UNSUBSCRIBE: Send a blank email to leave-education-consumers-989462S@lists.dundee.net ===================================================================== For less mail, click on the following link and choose 1) a daily digest, 2) a daily list of subjects, or 3) no mail (read postings on Web) http://lists.dundee.net/scripts/lyris.pl?enter=education-consumers For more help & info: http://www.lyris.com/help or