	Nespelem School


	Education Links

Washington State Reform	U.S. Education Sites	National Reform Movements
Maps and Lessons	Scientific American Frontiers	Live Interactive Lessons
Thursday's Classroom (Science)	Service Learning Sites	Passport to Knowledge (interactive)

Washington State Reform

Many people are interested in the recent reform issues in Washington State, such as the new educational standards: The Essential Academic Learning Requirements.

The following links will guide you to the official sites:

Washington State's Learning Space

http://www.learningspace.org/

OSPI Home Page Main page: http://www.k12.wa.us/

OSPI Accountability System: http://www.k12.wa.us or try the assessment center: http://www.k12.wa.us/assessment/

WSRC Diagnostic Tool---"Just For Kids" link: http://www.spu.edu/wsrc

Service Learning

School-to-Work

School-to-work related reform in Washington State, check out (scroll down to find school-to-work):

Washington Education: http://www.k12.wa.us/CareerTechEd/stw/

To learn about Service Learning--integrating academic learning with the world of work and service, visit the Northwest Rural Learn & Serve Project (NWRLS)

http://www.nwrel.org/ruraled/learnserve/

For businesses, employers, or educatiors, see the Oregon Business Council's new "Worksite 21" Web site to understand school-to-work, work-based learning, and education transformation:

http://www.worksite21.org

United States Education Sites

To search for educational articles and lesson plans, see the ASK ERIC site:

http://ericir.syr.edu/

To visit the extensive United States Government education site, including "No Child Left Behind", click to:

http://www.ed.gov/

To learn about the current educational initiatives, visit:

http://www.ed.gov/pubs/EDInitiatives/98/98-03-20.html#2

To learn the most current recommendations for students with reading difficulties, see the National Research Council's report at the "America Reads" site:

http://www.ed.gov/inits/americareads/ReadDiff/index.html

or view or purchase the 400 page report from the National Academy Press:

http://www.nap.edu/catalog/6023.html and click the book to the left

National Reform Movements

The National Paideia Center provides information for the Paideia Program. "Paideia" comes from the Greek word paidos meaning the "upbringing of a child."

The Paideia Program supports a rigorous liberal arts curriculum for grades K-12 that allows students to develop the skills for earning a living, the ability to think and act critically and responsibly as a citizen, and the desire to be a life-long learner. Methods of teaching are an integrated and combined didactic, coaching, and seminar approach through cooperative, project-and product-oriented learning.

For more information, see the National Paideia Center:

http://www.paideia.org/
or reviews on the program at: http://www.unctv.org/paideia/Welborn.html

The Coalition of Essential Schools

Ted Sizer founded the Coalition of Essential Schools movement in 1984. Ten Common Principles guide the efforts of those schools involved. The principles guide curriculum that develops the intellect, incluces the academic essentials, meets diverse needs, meets personal learning goals, is active learning, and demands mastery demonstrations through student created products. The relationship between teacher, student, and academic matter is the primary emphasis of a school. Nearly 800 schools are participating; traits these schools have in common are: smaller school populations, smaller class sizes, reduced curriculum, outcome-based, school-site managed, and use of alternative assessments.

For much more information see Brown University's site:

http://www.essentialschools.org/

The United States Geological Survey

This site provides access to all types of mapping data and information:

http://mapping.usgs.gov/

and lesson plans:

http://www.usgs.gov/education/

Scientific American Frontiers

This site directs you to information and lessons from the science series hosted by Alan Alda. This is terrific information for 5th-12th grades.

http://www.pbs.org/saf/

Passport to Knowledge

This Passport to Knowledge site is part of a program designed for all students all over the world to particpate in live research connected to lessons in their own classrooms or homes with email connections to the scientists involved. Components include email, live and taped video programs, teacher guides, posters, slides, etc.

Passport to Knowledge: http://passporttoknowledge.com/

Live from the Sun: http://passporttoknowledge.com/ptk_lfsun.html or http://passporttoknowledge.com/sun/
Life from the Storm: http://passporttoknowledge.com/ptk_storm.html or http://passporttoknowledge.com/storm/

Thursday's Classroom:

Science lessons at different reading levels on the same topics sponsored by NASA.

http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com