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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 340 146 EA 023 821 TITLE America 2000 Communities: Getting Started. INSTITUTION Department of Education, Washington, DC. PUB DATE Jan 92 NOTE 55p.; For more information, call 1-800-USA-LEARN (1-800-872-5327); in the Washington metropolitan area: 401-2000. PUB TYPE Guides - Non-Classroom Use (055) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC03 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Community Action; *Community Involvement; Elementary Secondary Education; *National Programs; Preschool Education; *Report Cards; *School Community Relationship IDENTIFIERS *America 2000; *National Education Goals 1990; *New Amerlcan Schools ABSTRACT This booklet is intended to be a guide for local communities concerning the six National Education Goals articulated in 1990 and on how to become an "America 2000 Community" in the context of that program. There are four principal criteria for an America 2000 Community: (1) Adopt the six National Education Goals; (2) Develop a community-wide strategy to meet them; (3) Design a report card to measure progress; (4) Plan for and support a "New American School." The booklet walks the reader through the National Education Goals, providing guidance on how to get started, tips for assembling a successful steering committee, and how to be designated an America 2000 Community. The emphasis is on local action. Throughout the booklet there are quotations and sidebars providing advice from participants and coalitions around the country. (WTB) ****************************************************h****************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Othce coo Educational Researcn and Improvement ATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION ED CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced es received from the person Of organization originating it 0 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality Points &view or opinions slated in this &xi,- ment do not necessarily represent official OER1 position or policy gm. AMERICA 2000 AMERICA 2000 COMMUNMES: Getting Statied J BEST COPY AVAILABLE tkI THE NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS By the year 2000: 1. All children in America will start school ready to learn. 2. The high school graduation rate will ncrease to at least 90 percent. 3. American students will leave grades four, eight, and twelve having demonstrated competency in challenging subject matter including English, mathematics, ccience, history, and geography; and every school in America will ensure that all students learn to use their minds well, so they may be prepared for responsible citizenship, further learning, and productive employment in our modem economy. 4. U.S. students will be first in the world in science and mathematics achievement. skills 5. Every adult American will be literate and will possess the knowledge and the rights and responsibili- necessary to compete in a global economy and exercise ties of citizenship. 6. Every school in America will be free of drugs and violence and will offer a disci- plined environment conducive to learning. A REVOLUTION IS SWEEPING THE COUNTRY Patsy Duran. president of thA Las Cruces, New Mexico, Board of Education, had already decided that education in her hometown needed a revolution. So when the President of the United States offered her a It takes an entire village to way to start one, Patsy Duran went right to work. educate one child. "As soon as I heard the President's AMERICA 2000 speech in April, I thought, This is what we need in Las Cmces," Ms. Duran said. "So, I got together a steering committee, 92 of us, all sorts of people, African Proverb including Mayor Tommy Tomlin and Dr. Tom Gale, dean emeritus of the College of Arts and Science at New Mexico State University. We adopted the six National Education Goals for the year 2000 already agreed upon by the President and the nation's governors. Then, we divided into six teams one for to decide how to develop a community strategy." each goal Next, Ms. Duran organized a kick-off rally at Las Cruces High School. The Governor, the U.S. Secretary of Education, two high school bands, and 1000 interested citizens came to the rally. Today, the LAS CRUCES 2000 steering committee has grown and is hard at work developing a report hut OM. Wyk. - (fai 4tii nuv. card to measure progress toward the goals. A special task force is thinking about how to design start- BRHCE tuNG, govirsor from-scratch, break-the-mold schools to meet the needs of children gnawing up today. tioii (411114 VI 0 C Hundreds of communitics, some in every state, are doing what Las Cruces is doing: GRAND JUNCIION fl.. IN. ...I fl 2000, SAN ANTONIO 2000, MEMPHIS 2000, OMAHA 2000, WASHINGTON, D.C., 2000, N.M. AN. *WI NW* 04 rtao 111 Ja-maa-mas as sow s osrom FARMINGTON 2000, CHARLOTTE 2000, BANCOR 2000, LEHIGH VALLEY 2000, DETROIT 2000 and 50 ."01611, CVO 0.1110 MAI .10 It IS rz.r. Mao 1.0.16450 .011%. PI "wawa., many others. Some COMMUNITY 2000 efforts are citywide, spanning a number of school districts. Others are only as big as a group of parents or a neighborhood with only a few schools. In rural areas, in We Au ON on cities, in suturball across the countrythe revolution is spreading. Parents, teachers, business leaders, "1AR rwrout IPTRATR FOR ASOIRICA 100C DAY" citizens, governors, legislators, mayors, and others are taking charge of their schools. . e s wit now tr.t rl I Li! f.-1WOo SI. NO trk. . -dery IGO These COMMUNITY 2000 activists realize: Ms, Ix.. OW 7;.7.71.1r.= A Their children aren't learning enough. A Their children are growing up differently than the; didoften in more hazardous, less loving, and less supportive circumstances. Proclamation issued by New Mexico Gooerwr Bruce Many adults lack the knowledge and skills they need as citizens, workers, and parents. Ids Cruces King (D) declaring October 7;1991, as Fiesta for AMERICA 2000 Dal. " No one said that it was going to be Patsy Duran and others like her have started a revolution because they know radical changes are needed their in how we think and what we do when it comes to education. They've started a revolution in easy, but if we sit back and say the communities because they know schools can't do it alone, that the African proverb is hue: It takes an goals are too hard, nothing will get entire village to educate one child." accomplished. What each goal provides is a focus for your com- the National They understand that to transform their schools, they must do it themselves. And they see munity. It brings your whole Education Goals as the framework for making the revolution happen in their community. community to focus on one specific task. It is a wonderful right for their Yet they're all doing it their own way, because only local leaders and parents know what's opportunity. community and their children. neighborhood, The foundation of each community revolution is the President's challenge to every city, Cathie Zarlingo and town to become an AMERICA 2000 Community by doing four things: GRAND ILINCTION 2000 1. Adopt the six National Education Goals. 2. Develop a community-wide strategy to meet them. 3. Design a report card to measure progress. 4. Plan for and support a New American School. What It Means To Be an AMERICA 2000 Community Ifs not about federal grants. A community that is an AMER/CA 2000 Community has: developed a United behind common goals to transform the community and its schools, and is making toward its goals. report card so everyone knows what progress the community mold, are the b6,3t schools in the A Committed to creating New American Schools that break the world, and prepare all their students for the chalk-73es of the next century. by Received national recognition as a community rising to the challenges of tomorrow transforming its schools and the quality of life in its neighborhoods today. skilled workforce improved its quality of life and economic health, through a more and schools that make businesses want to locate in the community. Taken charge of its schools, and hemme a place where learning happens. 2 How Can We Get Started? It starts differently in different places. But the revolution always begins with someone willing to stand up and say, "Our kids aren't getting a good enough education. Let's do something about it." I don't think anyone can be against You may be that individual in your community. people shaping their own destinies. And that is what AMERICA 2000 Find a few key alliesindividuals who are committed to transforming education and ready to work hard is all about. to make it happen. All it takes is to pick up the phone and get four or five people together to talk about starting the revolution in your community. Allan Wade Most communities start by assembling a group of individualsa band of doers who can become the MEMPHIS 2000 "steering committee" that will kmd the revolution. Leading the Revolution In Lehigh Valley. Pennsylvania, and in Memphis, Tennessee, existing coalitions became the foundations for steering committees. In other communities, steering committees were assembled from scratch. But most steering committees have this much in common: They consist of people with a stake in educa- tionpeople who stand to gain if schools improve radically, individuals whose leadership can help make real change happen. Typically, a steering committee includes individuals from at least six key groups: parents A business leaders A educators political leaders of both parties SPONSOR A civic organizations r li4C4041 A media In the Who serves on the steering committee is important, because its first challenge is to get every member of the community engaged in the cnisade to reach the National Education GoaLs. Bogatin hdps launch MEMPHIS 2000 Co-chair with school board leadership, govenment officials and other community organizers. 3 Tips For Assembling a Successful Steering Committee We pulled evenjone we could into this original steering committee. 'I. Build on the success of others. You don't need to reinvent the wheel. Use the Next, we asked people to step experiemel of others to avoid mistakes and achieve success more quickly. forward and help on the goals and w e got it. By the time we were 2. Don't go it alone. Contact others who are going through the same coalition-buikling done, we had three hundred people, when process. This network can pmvide ideas, advice, or just support and it was wonderful. People came the going Er's tough. forward and were chairmen of each 3. Select your coalition leadership for influence and action. Find early allies who are goal and they prioritized the needs respected in the conutunity and who are also willing to roll up their sleeves and help of the community. They looked at get the process under way. what we were doing, what we need to do, and how w6.e going to do it. commitment 4 Involve progressive educators. It is difficult to succeed without the active of educators to the change process. Identify school district leaders who are open Cathie Zarlingo to change and recruit them as early participants. GRAND JUNCTION 2000 5. Look for specific "do-able" targets. Teachers and parents know that the way to help a child reach a long-term goal is to create some immediate successes. The where you can have an ssme is true of your coalition. Find a small area immediate and visible impact to help build conunitment to the project. develop staying 6. Be prepared for a long-termprOect. There are no quick fixes, so power early. Texas Business Education Cr...416m% Community Action Handbook TM FOUR-PART CHALLENGE Challenge 1: Adopt the National Education Geals What does "adopting the Nalional Education Goals" mean? commitment to do When a con-urranity adopts the Natk la! Eawation Goals, it makes a whatever it takes to reach them. I 9 4 The result of this activity is a It doesn't mean you have to stop with those six goals. Memphis added two goals: Close the educational deficit for existing students, and enable parents to accept educational responsibility for children. The really intense interest in education. District of Columbia's public schools also added two goals: All students will demonstrate an appreciation In the community, our local televi- for the cultural arts, and parents will be actively involved in their children's education. Other communi- sion stations and newspapers ties have added goals on foreign languages, physical education, and more. Whether or not you add to carry articles and reports every them, adopting the National Education Goals involves getting every group and organization in the week about education because the community to commit to these goals. media sees something in which there's public interest, and then In many places, the school board, city council, chamber of commerce, and others have passed resolutions adopting the goals. But it requires more than just passing a resolution. Making the National Education their response intensifies public Goals the community's goals, making them into a vision of what the community wants for itself and its interest. children, getting the entire community "on board" and ready to do the hard work necessary to reach those goals this is what "adopting the goals" is about. Ed Donley LEHIGH VALLEY 2000 By adopting the National Education Goals, a community signals that it is ready to make big changes changes in attitudes about education, about the way schools operate, and about the relationship between community and school. Rather than setting out to make modest improvements in schools, a community that adopts the goals is committed to thinking and doing things in radically different ways in order to reach 41e goal.,. It focuses fix what already exists. on in agining what is possible rather than simply trying to How do we spread the revolution throughout the community? You can start with a kick-offan event where local political, civic, and business leaders join with educa- reach the tors, parents, and sometimes state or national leaders to declare the community's commitment to National Education Goals. After launching its revolution, the Memphis ste,..ing committee formed a "resource group"Thu repre- of sentatives of professional, civic, religious, and business organizations. Its mission: to enlist the si ipport people in a broad range of organizations for MEMPHIS 2000. In Massachusetts, FALL RIVER 2000 provided a weekly report to the local daily newspaper to keep the community informed and involved. However it's done, discussion of the goals and what they mean must engage the larger community. People are more likely to do their part if they've been part of the discussion about how to reach the goals. 5 t/ BEST COPY AVAILABLE Basically, you get up front, all the Challenge 2: political views and parties in- Community-Wide Strategy Develop a volved, and get them to buy into the weans. Once that happens, How do we begin developing a community-wide strategy for reaching the goals? that puts politics in the back seat Many steering committees start by creating "task forces" or "goal teams" that focus on a particular goal or and puts education in the front topic. seat. In Grand Junction, Colorado, for instance, there is a task force for each goal that meets several times a Allan Wade month to investigate the issues and ideas related to reaching its particular goaL MEMPHIS 2000 Some communities have created task forces for challenges that cut across the goalsa task force on student assessment, parent involvement, or reporting progre, toward the goals. °then on the You may want each task force to include some people with expertise relevant to that goal. each task task foice may simply care a lot about that goaL But steering committees should ensure that force is representative of its community. developing answers to However your community is organizing itself, creating a community-wide strategy means f ^ four important questions: Where do we want our community to be by the year 2000? them in your N lw that you've adopted the National Education Goals, what does it mean to achieve and community? It' going to mean doing things very differently. les going to take imagination innovation. Step back and envision what is possible. Where are we now? goals. How many It's time for an honest assessment of where your community is in relation to the schools students in your community are "at risk"? How many go on to college? Are students and operated? Do your in your community performing adequately? How are schools governed and help in making the schools have enough qualified teachers and principals? Do students receive from transition from school to work? What resources are out there to help your community get where you are to where you want to be? Communlatir in Levis-ton, Maine, arc committed it takes to reach the goals. to doing 6 REST COPY AVAILABLE While gathering information about where your community stands, try not to get distracted by making excuses or determining "who's to blame" for where you are. What will it take to get there? No single solution will do. It may require changing many things at oncesuspending all assump- tions about the way children have been educated for the past 100 years. Since children spend only I see AMERICA 2040 really as a nine percent of their time from birth to age eighteen in school, communities should consider their catalyst to get communities to do role in how children spend the other 91 percent of their time. It will involve rethinking the roles what they ought to do anyway. and responsibilities of everyonestudents, teachers, parents, neighbors, relatives, churches, the chamber of commerce, the YMCA, the housing authority, and many others. Bill Gibbons While it's helpful to determine what the state or federal government can do to help, a community MEMPHIS 2000 that waits for others to transform its schools will probably still be waiting in the year 2000. By taking charge at the community level, you'll form change from the bottom up. What are other communities doing ? Every challenge you may face in reaching the National Education Goals is being met successfully somewhere by someone. By looking around the couniq and the world, you can discover innova- tive approaches and ideas that may be right for your oomrwmity. Developing answers to these four questions for each of the six National Education Goals is what creating a community-wide strategy is all about. GOAL 1 Where do we want to be? By the year 2000, all children in our community will start school ready to learn. What exactly does it mean to be "ready for school" in your community? Where are we now? A natio. 21 survey lhows that, according to kindergarten teachers, 36 percent of children nationwide Between birth and age 18, children spend only nine in the classroom. perwit of their 1tt come to school unprepared. 7 1.9 BEST COPY AVAILABLE