We are nearing the end of the year. Make sure everything is turned in and check your points at the next meeting. Fun prizes to come.

Mark Your Calendars: March 11-18 - (Fri.;M-F) Parent Conferences - MINIMUM DAYS Tuesday, March 17 - EdSource Forum, Manhattan Beach Monday, Mar. 21 - Reflections Reception, SVUSD Board Room, 7:00 PM Wed., Mar. 23 - Superintendents' Forum, SVUSD Conference Room, 9:30 AM Thurs., Mar. 24 - SVPTA Council Meeting, 10:00 AM, Rancho Canada Elem. School, L.F. (TLC portable) - DUE: All applications for Fourth District PTA Awards/Evaluations Thurs., Mar. 24 - Fourth District PTA Administrator's Dinner, DoubleTree Hotel, Santa Ana March 28-April 1 - SVUSD Spring Recess - NO SCHOOL Friday, April 8 - Convention Delegate Orientation, Costa Mesa Comm. Center Tuesday, April 12 - School Board Meeting, SVUSD Board Room, 7:00PM Monday, Apr. 25 - SVPTA Council Meeting, 10:00 AM, Rancho Canada Elem. School, L.F. April 20-21 - Sacramento Safari April 28-May1 - California PTA State Convention, Sacramento

Program Goals:

• Increase the amount of time children spend reading and talking about books.
• Promote helping relationships between older and younger children.
• Increase the confidence and self-esteem of older children.
• Promote collegiality among upper-grade and primary-grade teachers.
• Make reading a highly visible activity in the school.

Books on the Menu seeks to increase reading motivation at two critical junctures: at the stage when young children are beginning to read, and when older children are expected to be proficient readers. The program presents upbeat, fun activities based on research into what best motivates children to read and to learn in a mentoring relationship.

For further information and program resources available, visit the "Reading is Fundamental" website at www.rif.org.

ODYSSEY OF THE MIND is an international educational program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students from kindergarten through college. Kids apply their creativity to solve problems that range from building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretation of literary classics. They then bring their solutions to competition on the local, state, and World level. Thousands of teams from throughout the U.S. and from about 25 other countries participate in the program. Students learn at a young age skills that will last a lifetime. They work in teams so they learn cooperation and respect for the ideas of others. They evaluate ideas and make decisions on their own, gaining greater self-confidence and increased self-esteem along the way. They work within a budget, so they learn to manage their money. They see that there's often more than one way to solve a problem, and that sometimes the process is more important than the end result.

For further information and program resources available, visit the website at www.odysseyofthemind.com.

National Education Technology Plan

The U.S. Department of Education's new report "Toward a New Golden Age in American Education: How the Internet, the Law, and Today's Students Are Revolutionizing Expectations" offers seven major recommendations:

1. Develop a new generation of tech-savvy leaders
2. Devise innovative budgeting for technology
3. Improve pre-service and in-service teacher training in technology
4. Support e-learning and virtual schools
5. Encourage broadband access
6. Move toward digital instructional content
7. Integrate data systems.

This report echoes a message that the International Center has been sharing with educators since the early 1990s. It also reflects some of the best practices involving the appropriate uses of technology that we have found in America 's most successful schools. The full report is available free online in pdf format at http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/os/technology/plan/2004/plan.html.

LIFE AFTER HIGH SCHOOL

The recently released report prepared by Public Agenda entitled "Life After High School: Young People Talk About Their Hopes and Prospects" looks at attitudes among a random sampling of 1000-plus young adult Americans aged 18-25. The survey was conducted in fall 2004. Among the findings:

• Roughly one in three young adults does not go on to any form of postsecondary education or training directly from high school.
• About nine out of ten young adults finished with high school expect their financial circumstances to be improved by age 30.
• Three in four believe that college prepares people for the real world.
• Many believe high school does not.
• Forty-six percent of African-American and 53% of Hispanic young adults say that that their friends are "really impressed" by someone who graduates from college.
• In contrast, 70% and 68% of Asian and white young adults, respectively, say that college graduation is "just something routine and expected."
• Overall, 63% said that they found their current job "by chance" as opposed to by aspiration.

The survey data seems to debunk the myth that young adults in minority cultures undervalue the importance of college education; such an attitude was clearly not prevalent among the respondents. The report also suggests that some educators' worst fears are not generally true - that cynicism about access to postsecondary education has created a kind of "sour grapes" mentality among African-American and Hispanic young adults. While most students recognize that affordability and access are factors in college accessibility, few have slipped into a "college doesn't really matter" mind-set.

Above all else, our goal in education must be to keep the dream alive by providing realistic pathways to help every high school student to reach his or her fullest potential as an adult.

The complete Public Agenda report is available free at http://www.publicagenda.org/research/pdfs/life_after_high_school.pdf

AMERICA'S MOST SUCCESSFUL HIGH SCHOOLS

The high-performing high schools that we studied in 2004 believe that passing the test is the minimal definition of helping all high school students to achieve excellence. A wide variety of delivery and support systems must be in place to enable students to achieve their full potential as adults. Simply attaining college admission is not enough.

Read about Boston Arts Academy and other high-performing high schools in America's Most Successful High Schools - Case Studies and Resources on Best Practices (c)2004 Successful Practices Network of the International Center for Leadership in Education, http://www.leadered.com/04videos_pubs.html#america.

BY THE NUMBERS:

• In 2001, 88% of all 25- to 29-year-olds had completed high school with a diploma or high school equivalency certificate, an increase since 1971.
• 29% percent of 25- to 29-year-olds had at least a bachelor's degree in 2001, up from 17 percent in 1971.
• Although the percentage with a Bachelor's degree or higher increased for all three racial/ethnic groups, the black and Hispanic gaps with whites widened slightly.
• By 2001, 58% of all 25- to 29-year-olds had completed some college, with whites (65%) more likely than blacks (51%) or Hispanics (32%) to do so.
• The percentage completing some college increased between 1971 and 2001 for each racial/ethnic group, but less for Hispanics than for whites or blacks.
• In the early 1980s, women aged 25-29 were less likely than their male counterparts to have a Bachelor's or higher degree, but that difference has disappeared. In 2001, women were more likely than men to have graduated college.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (2002). The Condition of Education 2002 (NCES 2002-025) http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=27