ASCD Introduces Institutional Membership
In response to numerous member requests, ASCD has unveiled its Institutional Membership category. Designed with the needs of school-based leaders in mind, ASCD Institutional Membership provides a cost-effective method of distributing ASCD publications and professional-development opportunities broadly within a single institution. The new Institutional Member Benefits Package features an array of ASCD's most popular publications—Educational Leadership, Education Update, and Curriculum Update—plus exciting new services, such as Institute and Conference Vouchers and an exclusive Institutional Member Web site with online discussion groups and opportunities to contact ASCD authors.
As an Institutional Member, a school or district office receives 10 Institutional Member Benefits Packages, plus a Premium Membership for the principal or site coordinator. For more information, contact the ASCD Service Center.
Parental Perceptions of Standardized Tests
- Overall, parents do not feel informed about standardized assessment tests or equipped to help their children prepare for them.
- A majority of parents do not believe that mandated state testing is a true or valid measurement of what their children have learned.
- Half the parents are unsure of or do not know what the state standardized tests measure.
- Nearly half the parents surveyed find inconsistencies between their children's standardized test results and their report cards.
- More than half believe that some academic skills and areas of enrichment are being neglected as a result of the emphasis on state-mandated assessment.
To see the full survey results, visit the ASCD Web site.
Call for Candidate Recommendations
The 2000-2001 Nominations Committee would like to receive your nominations for candidates to run in the general membership and Board of Directors elections in 2001. For a set of candidacy forms, please contact either the Nominations Committee Chair Tony Mello at 15 Dogwood Ln., Tuxedo Park, NY 10987 (email: AnMello@aol.com, phone and fax 914-753-3795), or Becky DeRigge at ASCD headquarters (e-mail: bderigge@ascd.org, phone: 800-933-2723 or 703-575-5601). The completed forms must be returned to the chair by January 31, 2001. Please note that some positions may be affected by the outcome of the fall member vote on the proposed constitutional changes. You may check ASCD's Web site (http://www.ascd.org) and look for the new "Governance" link or contact Becky DeRigge by e-mail to check the status of available positions.
ASCD Resources on "Differentiated Learning"
The following is a partial list of ASCD resources on this topic. For a more complete listing, visit ASCD's Web site or call the ASCD Service Center.
- The Differentiated Classroom. (1999). Tomlinson, C. A. Price: $17.95 (member); $21.95 (nonmember). Stock no. 199040.
- Providing Leadership for Differentiated Classrooms. (2000). Tomlinson, C. A. Price: $11.95 (member); $14.95 (nonmember). Stock no. 200084.
- Differentiated Instruction. Price: $495 (member); $595 (nonmember). Stock no. 497023.
- Differentiated Instruction. (2000). Price: $19.95 (member); $23.95 (nonmember). Stock no. 101032.
- Differentiating Instruction for Mixed-Ability Classrooms. Price: $159 (member); $191 (nonmember). Stock no. 196213.
- Differentiated Instruction. Price: $24.99. Visit the ASCD Web site for details on how to register.
Trainers in Differentiated Instruction
ASCD has organized a cadre of differentiated instruction trainers who will be available to help schools and districts that are committed to developing differentiated instruction. The team members represent a diverse group of school-, district-, and university-level educators across the United States. The team includes EL authors Carol Ann Tomlinson and Sandra Page. For more information, contact Julie Garity at 800-933-2723.
ASCD and AOL@School
ASCD has joined with America Online, Inc., to review content for its new Web-based program, AOL@SCHOOL (http://school.aol.com). The new initiative is designed to provide quality Internet information to education communities throughout the world. The site will give schools free e-mail, reference tools, and filtered Internet searches that are age-appropriate for students across the K–12 spectrum. AOL@School has pledged to have no advertising in the Internet areas that students enter and to comply with the Children's Online Privacy and Protection Act (COPPA).
For Your Calendar
- 2000: Boston, March 17-19
- 2002: San Antonio, March 9-11
- 2003: San Francisco, March 8-10
- Designing Teacher Evaluation Systems to Promote Professional Learning, Tampa, Florida: Oct. 21, 2000
- Learning-Focused Mentoring,San Francisco, California: Nov. 13-14, 2000
- Classroom Management, San Francisco, California: Nov. 13-14, 2000
