CFK Weekly— May 13, 2002
We encourage distribution of this information! If reprinting in whole or part, please attribute it to Connect for Kids (www.connectforkids.org).
NEW ON CONNECT FOR KIDS
**Standing Up & Speaking Out
**Teens Urge States to Protect Gay, Lesbian Students
MAKING THE CASE FOR A BETTER WORLD FOR CHILDREN
**The State of Children in America's Union: A 2002 Action Guide to
Leave No Child Behind
**UN Summit for Children
**Bad Words for Good: How Foundations Garble Their Message and Lose
Their Audience
KEY DATA AND REPORTS
**Trends in Well-Being of America's Children and Youth 2001
EARLY CARE, EARLY LEARNING
**Better Training, Smaller Classes Improve Outcomes for Kids in Child
Care
**State Developments in Child Care, Early Education and School-Age
Care 2001
**Who is Caring for Our Children?
IMPROVING SCHOOL LEARNING
**A Delicate Balance
**The Nation's Report Card: U.S. History
**No Child Left Behind: Low-Performing Schools Policy Brief
**Improving Public Schools Toolkit
HIGHER LEARNING ? A NARROWING GATEWAY
**Losing Ground
**Access and Barriers to Post-Secondary Education in Michigan
**What the Public Thinks
DIGITAL AGE FOR ALL AGES
**Technology Counts 2002: E-Defining Education
**Youth, Pornography and the Internet
TAKE A COURSE
**Bullies in School: Who They Are and How to Make Them Stop
**Training to Engage More Parents in Youth Programs
FEEDING BABIES
**Duration of Breastfeeding and its Link to Adult Intelligence
**More Babies Malnourished
**WIC Works
FEEDING THE HUNGRY
**Farm Bill Restores Food Stamps to Legal Immigrants
**Participation in the Food Stamp Program Continues to Rise
**Calls to Improve School Food Safety
**Ideas for Action Against Hunger
IMPROVING HEALTH CARE SERVICES
**Providing Language Interpretation Services in Health Care Settings
**2002 State Immunization Chart
**Federal Legislation Introduced
FOCUS ON THE STATES
**High Unemployment Hits Some States Hard
**State-by-State News
SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE
_________________________________
NEW ON CONNECT FOR KIDS
**Standing Up & Speaking Out
by Holly St. Lifer
High school student Farheen Haider has taken her painful experiences
as the target of ethnic bullying, and used them to teach her fellow students
about respecting difference and standing up to intimidation. Holly St.
Lifer profiles this Pakistani-born teenager.
http://www.connectforkids.org
**Teens Urge States to Protect Gay, Lesbian Students
by Shauna Curphey
Gay and lesbian teenagers, frustrated by the harassment they get at
school, are asking their state legislators to step in and pass laws that
would do what their teachers and principals are failing to do: protect
them. This article first appeared on WomensEnews.com.
http://www.connectforkids.org
_________________________________
MAKING THE CASE FOR A BETTER WORLD FOR CHILDREN
**Children or Tax Cuts?
?The State of Children in America's Union: A 2002 Action Guide to Leave
No Child Behind? is a report and call to action from the Children's Defense
Fund that assesses the state of children in our nation; how well the Bush
administration has kept its promises to Leave No Child Behind® -- CDF's
trademarked mission statement; and calls on the President and Congress
to increase funding for quality child care to help more families work and
2 million more children get ready for school.
http://www.childrensdefense.org/release020508.php
**UN Summit for Children
The Special Session on Children, held 8-10 May 2002, brought together
government leaders, nonprofits, advocates and young people in an unprecedented
meeting of the UN General Assembly dedicated to the children and adolescents
of the world. Turning the spotlight on the world's children showed how
much needs to be done to protect the children of the world, along with
the serious clashes in values between the U.S. representatives and others
over reproductive health services and other issues.
http://www.unicef.org/specialsession/
**Bad Words for Good: How Foundations Garble Their Message and Lose
Their Audience
Before you ?operationalize? your action plans or ?incentivize? your
stakeholders, read Tony Proscio's report in which he blames the widespread
use of unclear writing and jargon for making it hard for foundations and
nonprofit organizations to reach a broader audience and be persuasive.
http://www.emcf.org/pub/index.htm
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KEY DATA AND REPORTS
**Trends in Well-Being of America's Children and Youth 2001
This sixth annual report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services charts the data available about the lives of the more than 70
million children and adolescents in America, with the most recent estimates
on more than 80 indicators of well-being. http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/01trends/intro.htm
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EARLY CARE, EARLY LEARNING
**Better Training, Smaller Classes Improve Outcomes for Kids in Child
Care
?Child-Care Structure, Process, Outcome: Direct and Indirect Effects
of Child-Care Quality on Young Children's Development,? published in the
May 2002 issue of the journal Psychological Science, finds that better
caregiver training and lower staff-child ratios in childcare settings from
child care centers to family day care homes to care by relatives lead to
improvements in children's cognitive skills and social competence.
http://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/features/mccartney05052002.html
**State Developments in Child Care, Early Education and School-Age Care
2001
In 2001, many states made sizable new investments and passed improved
policies in child care, early education, and school-age care, but there
were significant setbacks as well, according to this Children's Defense
Fund report. Twenty states had waiting lists for child care assistance,
four stopped accepting applications for subsidies and seven states decreased
state funds available for child care.
Florida repealed its pre-kindergarten program, Massachusetts cut funding
for pre-Kit and eliminated two programs for school-age children, and Ohio,
once a leader in providing nearly universal access, is cutting its state
funds for Head Start programs and replacing them with federal welfare funds
Governors' budget proposals and legislatures' early actions indicate that
cuts like these will be even more prevalent in 2002.
http://www.childrensdefense.org/head-resources.htm
**Who is Caring for Our Children?
Millions of caregivers will need better training if children ? especially
toddlers and preschoolers -- are to get a good start on learning, concludes
this new study on the size and make-up of the child care workforce. The
study found that the paid child care workforce, one of the fastest growing
occupations of the decade, is much larger than previously thought, and
less well trained. Among the 2.3 million people paid to care for children
0-5, more than one third are relatives caring for children on a regular
basis.
http://www.hspc.org
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IMPROVING SCHOOL LEARNING
**A Delicate Balance
Amidst all the talk about improving education, it's often hard to picture
what different teaching approaches look like in a classroom. This Education
Week article about a school in Texas that offers dramatically different
classroom styles ? Montessori and Direct Instruction? can help fill in
the gaps.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/newstory.cfm?slug=34aldine.h21
**The Nation's Report Card: U.S. History
The National Center for Education Statistics report card for student
understanding of U.S. history found that scores are higher since 1994 for
fourth- and eighth-graders, while changes for high school seniors are not
statistically significant. Higher scores were correlated with daily reading
in social studies textbooks (fourth-graders), reading primary sources weekly
(eighth-graders), or extra-curricular reading (twelfth-graders) and with
greater use of computer research aids (eighth- and twelfth-graders).
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/ushistory/
**No Child Left Behind: Low-Performing Schools Policy Brief
The concept of evaluating school performance relative to making adequate
yearly progress is not new to states. What has changed is that states previously
had more latitude in this area. Under the new Elementary and Secondary
Education Act, state responsibilities for intervention are more prescribed.
This Education Commission of the States brief explores strategies states
can use to help improve the lowest performing schools including requiring
an improvement plan from the school, district, state or a designated entity;
providing onsite expertise to schools, encouraging data use, identifying
promising practices or promoting early learning.
http://www.ecs.org/html/newsMedia/e-Connection.asp#ep
**Improving Public Schools Toolkit
This toolkit from the National League of Cities highlights the many
roles that municipal leaders can play to enhance the quality of public
education in their communities, with examples and topics including promoting
adequate school funding, removing obstacles to achievement, sharing of
information and resources between cities and school districts and supporting
learning outside of schools. Contact Andrea Reid (202-626-3006; reid@nlc.org
for a copy. http://www.nlc.org/iyef
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HIGHER LEARNING ? A NARROWING GATEWAY
**Losing Ground
Due to tuition increases, a lack of financial aid, and insufficient
state support for higher education, college has become less affordable
for all but the wealthy, forcing many to forego higher education or rely
heavily on mounting student loans. Learn more in this report from the National
Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.
http://www.highereducation.org/reports/losing_ground/ar.shtml
**Access and Barriers to Post-Secondary Education in Michigan
This report offers quantitative and qualitative data that emphasize
the critical need for child care subsidies to support parents on welfare
who both work and go to school.
http://www.umich.edu/~cew/cfite.html
**What the Public Thinks
According to a Public Agenda analysis of polling data, the public thinks
students should have the opportunity to get a higher education, but public
support for a government role in making college affordable is not a high
priority.
http://www.highereducation.org/reports/affordability_pa/affordability_pa.shtml
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DIGITAL AGE FOR ALL AGES
**Technology Counts 2002: E-Defining Education
Programs and policy changes across the states are opening the doors
of online education to tens of thousands more students, but the rapidly
shifting e-landscape is also raising concerns including what is lost without
face-to-face contact. Along with its state-specific data, Education Week's
annual 50-state report on educational technology looks in depth at the
online learning experiences of students and teachers, the experience of
South Dakota, which leads the nation in e-learning, and emerging opportunities
and concerns.
http://www.edweek.org/
**Youth, Pornography and the Internet
When it comes to protecting children from Internet pornography, this
comprehensive National Academies of Science study found that filters and
other technologies have an important role to play but technology alone
cannot provide even a nearly complete solution. The report describes
social and educational strategies, technology-based tools and legal and
regulatory approaches that can be mixed and adapted to fit different communities'
circumstances.
http://www4.nationalacademies.org/onpi/webextra.nsf/web/porn?OpenDocument
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TAKE A COURSE
**Bullies in School: Who They Are and How to Make Them Stop
Bullying is a widespread problem that has serious ramifications on
students' ability to progress academically and to grow emotionally and
socially, but too often parents and teachers only know how to teach the
victim to be more assertive or ignore the behavior. This online class helps
you understand better responses to bullying that target the cause of the
problem, and offers information on successful research and prevention and
intervention plans.
http://universalclass.com/i/education/education/classes/2743.htm
**Training to Engage More Parents in Youth Programs
The Onyx Group has developed a training program that helps staff of
youth programs increase the involvement of parents and guardians.
For more information contact the Onyx Group (610-617-9971; onyxcom1@aol.com).
http://www.onyx-group.com
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FEEDING BABIES
**Duration of Breastfeeding and its Link to Adult Intelligence
In the most definitive research to date, research published in the
Journal of the American Medical Association concludes that breastfeeding
through nine months contributes to a significant gain in intelligence into
adulthood.
http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v287n18/abs/joc11087.html
**More Babies Malnourished
In an early indication of the impact of an economic downturn and declining
welfare benefits on low-income families, the Boston Globe reports that
the Boston Medical Center is seeing an increasing percentage of infants
and toddlers coming for emergency care who are hungry or malnourished.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/128/metro/Study_finds_more_infants_going_hungry+.shtml
**WIC Works
A study assessing the impact of the federal WIC (Special Supplementation
Program for Women, Infants and Children) program found that infants who
received WIC were taller and weighed more throughout their first year of
life.
http://www.newswise.com/articles/2002/5/WIC.SPR.html?sc=wire
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FEEDING THE HUNGRY
**Farm Bill Restores Food Stamps to Legal Immigrants
The President has said he will sign the Farm Bill, passed last week
in Congress, which restores food stamp eligibility for certain groups of
legal immigrants and makes numerous improvements in the Food Stamp Program.
The Food Research and Action Center has a chart summarizing food stamp
restorations for legal immigrants in the new farm bill compared to current
law.
http://www.frac.org/html/publications/fbchart.pdf
**Participation in the Food Stamp Program Continues to Rise
More than 19 million people participated in the Food Stamp Program
in February 2002, a nearly 115,000 increase from the increases in the previous
month, according to the Food Research and Action Centers analysis of preliminary
data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
http://www.frac.org/html/news/fsp/02feb.html
**Calls to Improve School Food Safety
The General Accounting Office reports that tainted school food, while
rare, is increasing, sickening more United States children every year.
Most cases of food-related outbreaks at schools were due to poor food storage,
handling and serving practices.
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d02669t.pdf
**Ideas for Action Against Hunger
Summer is almost here, so it's not too early to work on expanding opportunities
in your community for kids to participate in the federal Summer Food Service
Program.
http://www.frac.org/html/federal_food_programs/programs/sfsp.html
Anti-hunger advocates can help local 21st Century Community Learning
Centers take advantage of federal help to include nutritious food for kids
in their programs.
http://www.frac.org/html/news/21stCenturyAnlysis.htm
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IMPROVING HEALTH CARE SERVICES
**Providing Language Interpretation Services in Health Care Settings
This Commonwealth Fund and the National Health Law Program explores
examples from the field to find ways to improve access to interpreter services
in health care settings ? ways to develop reliable funding sources to pay
for interpreters and to increase the quantity of interpreters and the quality
of the service they provide. In most instances, these efforts represent
partnerships between government, providers, and communities.
http://www.healthlaw.org/pubs/200205.cmwfrelease.html
**2002 State Immunization Chart
Childhood vaccinations continue to be one of the most successful and
cost-effective public health interventions at the dawn of the 21st century.
In 1999, 80 percent of two-year-olds were fully immunized against diphtheria,
tetanus, pertussis, measles, mumps, rubella and polio, representing at
least a 40 percent increase in immunization rates since 1992. But disparities
among states and racial groups, and a growing movement concerned about
vaccine risks, indicate there is still work to do in public education and
access. An overview and state-specific data is available from this Children's
Defense Fund report.
http://www.childrensdefense.org/hs_tp_immuniz.php
**Federal Legislation Introduced
The World Wildlife Fund praised Rep. Slaughter (D-NY) for introducing
new federal legislation to substantially increase federal research on hormone
disrupting chemicals, helping to meet the critical need to protect children
from dangerous chemicals that are impairing their ability to learn, behave,
resist disease, and ultimately, reproduce.
http://www.worldwildlife.org/news/headline.cfm?newsid=349
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FOCUS ON THE STATES
**High Unemployment Hits Some States Hard
The national unemployment rate hit six percent last month, its highest
level since 1994. But joblessness is even higher in many states as
foreign competition combines with the downturn in the business cycle to
produce an economic double whammy.
http://www.stateline.org/story.do?storyId=236484
**State-by-State News
California
The Children¹s Partnership's new Web resource provides information
on California¹s Express Lane Eligibility efforts. Learn how to help
enroll the more than 700,000 California children in need in the health
insurance programs for which they are eligible. http://www.expresslane.info
Central California's ?HealthWorks!? health education program is seeking health education videos to air on its public access channel. If you have a lending library or catalogue, contact Kristi Kelty (kdkelt@eathlink.org).
Illinois
A federally funded program that would provide health coverage to thousands
of low-income, working parents earning less than $11,300 (for a family
of four) must be approved by the Illinois House and Senate in order to
begin next year, reports Illinois Voices for Children.
http://www.voices4kids.org/alert050602.html
Indiana
Information, data and reports on child well-being are available from
the Indiana Youth Institute's ?Kids Count in Indiana Data Book,? including
specific data for each of the state's 92 counties. Cost: $12.50 (includes
postage & handling).
The Indiana Youth Institute has been invited to present a workshop on
building capacity for youth-serving organizations at the National Youth
Summit in June. Congratulations, Hoosiers!
http://www.iyi.org
Maryland
Maryland has become one of the first states to try to tie its school
finance system to the state's education accountability standards. The new
law that mandates that every district establish full-day kindergarten programs
for all students and preschool programs for all 4-year-old low-income students
by 2007-08 is funded in part by a $.34 increase in the tobacco tax for
cigarettes.
http://www.ecs.org/html/newsMedia/e-Connection.asp#ws
The Maryland Juvenile Justice Coalition, which seeks to reduce the over-incarceration
of youth of color in the state's juvenile justice system, is holding a
community forum on May 28.
http://www.buildingblocksforyouth.org/md_flyer.html
Massachusetts
The Boston Globe reports that the state is cutting back on social services
funding for those in need, citing a $2 billion budget gap for the current
fiscal year (2002). The proposed 2003 budget includes many of the same
cuts in services for the poor. Thousands of residents are expected to be
affected: 8,000 legal immigrants who get state-funded food stamps, 16,000
children, elderly, and disabled residents who receive state assistance
checks, and 1,800 families using the state's emergency rent assistance
program.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/119/metro/Thousands_take_brunt_of_cuts_in_state_aid+.shtml
Montana
In Montana, almost 90-percent of eligible children are not receiving
help with their child care, according to Janet Bush of the Montana Child
Care Resource Network.
http://www.montanachildcare.com/
Ohio
The new Farm Bill includes several food stamp reforms that could extend
food stamp benefits for tens of thousands of eligible people in Ohio, including
not requiring applicants to re-enroll as often, simplifying applications,
and extending transitional benefits to five months instead of three months
for families leaving welfare rolls.
http://libpub.dispatch.com/cgi-bin/documentv1?DBLIST=cd02&DOCNUM=19101&
Keep up the good work, everyone!
Jan Richter, Policy and Outreach Specialist, and the Connect for Kids
team
Jan@benton.org
